Windows Vista Performance Tweaks - 5 Steps user can take to speed up windows vista out of the box

Now that you have the Windows Vista operating system, you are likely pleased with the new look and feel. However, Vista is loaded with lots of pretty features that can affect its overall performance. You can make several simple tweaks to speed up Windows Vista right out of the box.

First, access the Performance Information and Tools center by going to the Control Panel and clicking on Performance Information and Tools.

From here, you’ll have access to a set of tools you can use to adjust the system’s performance. Five simple tweaks will speed up Windows Vista right away.

1. Manage your start up items – Vista comes pre-loaded with Windows Defender, an anti-spyware program. Windows Defender also has a useful tool for limiting the programs that start up with Windows at each boot. The more programs loaded, the slower your system performs. By limiting the programs, you will notice an improvement in performance.

This program is easy to use. Make sure you don’t disable critical components from starting up such as your anti-virus program.

1. Adjust visual effects – Visual effects are pretty but they sap your system’s resources. By clicking on the Adjust visual effects link, you can change them for performance.

Vista has preset options you can choose from. To get the best performance out of Vista, choose the option titled, “Adjust for best performance.”

1. Adjust indexing options – indexing your entire computer’s contents makes searching much faster but at a price: performance. Click on Adjust indexing options, click the Modify button and clear the check box from the list of items that are indexed.
   
   
2. Adjust power settings – power settings can be adjusted for either power saving features or performance or a balanced mix. If you want to gain performance, opt for the High performance settings.

1. Clean up your disk – The Disk clean up link will let you clear out temporary files and increase the amount of temporary storage space available. In addition, you can clear out extra restore points and shadow copies that are clogging your hard disk and affecting performance.

These five steps will give you a start right off the bat in speeding up Windows Vista. While you’re in this Performance Tools section, click on Advanced. Here you will see suggestions for performance based on your individual system as well as gain access to a variety of performance monitors and reports.