How to supercharge Windows Vista - Overclock.net

wierdo124 · 07-13-08

Ok, so this guide is going to be about supercharging your Windows Vista experience. Please note, if you cannot do some things, I apologize, I’m running Vista 64 bit, so things may be different in Vista 32bit.

These tricks and tools are all from my own experience, and yes, I did have a lot of time on my hands when I was unemployed and had my Wireless card on RMA

I hope you get the best of this. If you have something to add, let me know, I’ll be glad to put it up and give you credit.

First, let’s do the most common trick.
MSCONFIG – Getting rid of the unneeded startup programs
Step 1) Press the start button, and in the search field type “msconfig” , and hit enter. The System Configuration Utility should open. It will look like this:

Now, take a close look through the programs in the “Services” and “Startup” tabs. When you see one that you don’t need, uncheck the box on the left of the name. iTunes? See ya! Steam? I’ll start that when I need it. You shouldn’t have more than 25 checked usually. Warning: Do not uncheck boxes with “NVIDIA”, ATi, or any display things. Some of the ones I left checked are:
Windows Defender
HD Audio Control Panel
Realtek Voice Manager
Logitech Gamepanel Software (G15)
Wireless LAN monitor
Microsoft Windows Operating System (DO NOT UNCHECK THIS)
Folding@Home (Fold for Overclock.net)

Now, when you’re done, hit “Ok” and press “Exit without restarting” as we’ll do that later.

Second is something some people don’t know about.
Step 1) Start, control panel, and double click Programs and Features. (you might uninstall unneeded programs while we’re at it) and on the left hit “Turn Windows Features On Or Off”. Wait for a couple seconds and you’ll have this screen:

(yours may vary)
Now, you’re able to turn features on and off in here, depending on what you need and don’t need. Now, there’s a lot of stuff in here you can have turned off without worrying about. Personally, who needs Tablet PC crap? Not me *click* The only ones I have checked are:
Games – Might wanna play some crappy windows game occasionally

Framework 3.0 (XPS Viewer only)
Print Services (Internet printing client only)

That’s all for that one. Hit “OK” and you’re done with that part.

Speed up your rig by killing some special effects. To do this go to Control panel, Performance Information and Tools, and on the left sidebar press Advanced Performance Options. It looks like this:

Now, hit the “Custom” option, and go through clicking things you don’t need and do need. There’s a ton you can get rid of, I’m sure. This can help majorly to get rid of the stupid Aero stuff you don’t need. It will make the biggest difference in performance if you are using an Integrated Graphics Processor, or IGP. When you’re done, hit OK and proceed to the last thing.

Last but not least, there’s one thing that is very big, and unknown to most people.
Step 1) Press start, and type “services.msc”, and hit enter. The Services window should open, and it will look something like this:

Now, when you see a service you don’t need, or want to know more about, double click it, or right click>properties (they do the same thing) Now, be familiar with these settings:
Automatic: The service starts when you log on to Windows
Manual: The service starts when needed by something, you don’t need to do anything though.
Disabled: Doesn’t start at all

So, you’re at the Properties window, it should look like this:

By the “Startup Type” thing, it will have a dropdown menu. Most will be set to Automatic. If you want the service, leave it. If not, disable it. If you’re not sure what it is, read the description and if you’re still not completely sure but want it there, just set it to Manual, as it will then be started when needed. My iPod Service dialog is going to be set to “Manual” because I like some of the things it does.

DO NOT DISABLE THESE:
Plug and Play
Superfetch
Audio (Windows or your sound card thing)
Windows Driver Foundation

Here’s a screeny of the ones that I have and what is disabled. My X-Fi is disabled ATM because I took it out temporarily. (a friend is borrowing it briefly.)

Finally, go through what you want and don’t want, apply them all, and exit out of the Services window.

RESTART YOUR COMPUTER!!!!

On a smaller note, some other things you may want to consider are
-Going to a non-Aero theme
-Overclocking your CPU
-Using Readyboost
-Superfetch
-Uninstalling some programs
-Defragmenting your hard drive
-Doing a general tune-up
-Checking out this tip if you’re on XP.

And that’s it! Now your rig should be running much faster.

I thank you for reading this guide, and I hope you got something out of it!

BiG O · 07-13-08

Nice guide

Tufelhunden · 07-13-08

Agreed very nice guid. Thanks!

Mongo · 07-13-08

Hey thanks. I got a question. I did one of these alittle while back, and I disabled something that I wish I hadnt. I was wondering if you knew what I did and how to get it back? OK what I disabled was in the address bar. If I type in a location like "www.cnn.com" when I restart my computer anything that was in the address bar is going. So I have to retype every place that I want to go to everyday. Do you know how to fix this?

Sonic · 07-13-08

I don't know if this works but you could give it a shot. If you have a C2Q or C2D, go to msconfig, go to boot.ini or boot, go to advanced options, were you see /NUMPROC check it and put the cores you want to use to boot up.

I read this from another guide I don't know where, but it said it will use the number of cores you selected to boot up as opposed to the standard 1. I can't test this because I'm still using my P4.

wierdo124 · 07-13-08

Thanks for the compliments guys. Not sure about the interwebz issue, Mongo, sorry.

noobdown · 07-13-08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonic

I don't know if this works but you could give it a shot. If you have a C2Q or C2D, go to msconfig, go to boot.ini or boot, go to advanced options, were you see /NUMPROC check it and put the cores you want to use to boot up.

I read this from another guide I don't know where, but it said it will use the number of cores you selected to boot up as opposed to the standard 1. I can't test this because I'm still using my P4.

thats true

why not some links to explain what the processes are and if they are safe to turn off