Since defragging the disk won't do much to improve Windows XP performance, here are 23 suggestions that will. Each can enhance the performance and reliability of your customers' PCs. Best of all, most of them will cost you nothing.
1.) To decrease a
system's boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by
not buying defragmentation software -- the built-in Windows defragmenter works
just fine -- and instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA
hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.
2.) If a PC has
less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and
easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.
3.) Ensure that
Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you're not sure, here's how to
check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive,
then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32,
then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and
then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key.
This process may take a while; it's important that the computer be
uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will
be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security,
reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.
4.) Disable file
indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other
files on the hard drive and creates a "searchable keyword index." As
you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.
The idea is that
the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should
they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the
document they want. Windows XP's built-in search functionality can still
perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes
longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find
what the user is looking for.
Most people never
need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate
environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server.
But if you're a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and
medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I
recommend disabling it.
Here's how:
First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive,
then select Properties. Uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk
for fast file searching." Next, apply changes to "C: subfolders and
files," and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as
"Access is denied"), click the Ignore All button.
5.) Update the
PC's video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS.
For more information on how to configure your BIOS properly, see this article
on my site.
6.) Empty the
Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can
"prefetch" portions of data and applications that are used
frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the
user. That's fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded
with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens,
Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading
them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to
delete.
7.) Once a month,
run a disk cleanup. Here's how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then
right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup
button -- it's just to the right of the Capacity pie graph -- and delete all
temporary files.
8.) In your
Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and
ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and
Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then
click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to "DMA
if available" for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with
the Secondary IDE Channel.
9.) Upgrade the
cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve
these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire
Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly
assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must
be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector
on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these
signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum
potential. Also, because these cables inherently support "cable
select," the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these
reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.
10.) Remove all
spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or
SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to
check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either
program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to
run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if your
customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall
it. For more information on removing Spyware visit this Web Pro News page.
11.) Remove any
unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the
MSCONFIG utility. Here's how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and
click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don't want to start
when Windows starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process
Library. It contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware
references and explanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the
filenames using Google or another Web search engine.
12.) Remove any
unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the
Control Panel.
13.) Turn off any
and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for
optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different
settings in this area. Here's how to do it: First click on the System icon in
the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button
located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered
here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer --
only its responsiveness.
14.) If your
customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try
some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.
15.) Visit
Microsoft's Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled
Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.
16.) Update the
customer's anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they
have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software
is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.
17.) Make sure
the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The
more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP
handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows,
too many fonts -- that is, anything over 500 -- will noticeably tax the system.
18.) Do not
partition the hard drive. Windows XP's NTFS file system runs more efficiently
on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a
reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses
people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example,
instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called
"D drive." You'll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate
partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your
free space won't be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be
limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won't need to
resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can
result in lost data.
19.) Check the
system's RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free
program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette
(your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC's memory
automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run
until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program
encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of
memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad
memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.
20.) If the PC
has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer's Web site for updated
firmware. In some cases you'll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster
speed. Best of all, it's free.
21.) Disable
unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer
most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your
client, visit the Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.
22.) If you're
sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of
your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools,
then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to "Launch
folder windows in a separate process," and enable this option. You'll have
to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.
23.) At least
once a year, open the computer's cases and blow out all the dust and debris.
While you're in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also
inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaks. For more information
on this leaking-capacitor phenomena, you can read numerous articles on my site.
Following any of
these suggestions should result in noticeable improvements to the performance
and reliability of your customers' computers. If you still want to defrag a
disk, remember that the main benefit will be to make your data more retrievable
in the event of a crashed drive.
