The Best PC Speed Up Tool?

barginboyrob

Hi, i'm getting really fed up with the time it takes for my PC even get to the log in screen (as we have 4 different users). Everything seems to churn along all the time. even when just i minimise a window, often the windows is jerky in minismising.

So, i was wondering which program everyone thinks is the best to bring my PC to how it was again when i bought it(if possible)

i've tried Ashampoo, Registry Mechanic, Spyware Doctor, Ad aware, Spybot, o&o defrag, and start up faster 2004.

Mr_Skint_2

Er how much ram have you got on an XP system?

My Computer,Right Click,Choose Properties, See it?

rogerramjet

Best way is to reformat and re-install...however, that's a bit drastic.

You could try something like xp-antispy which removes a lot of microsoft spyware...or even try xray-pc which allows you to check and remove items from start up which should make your system run faster as you will not have so much running in the background hogging memory

Mr_Skint_2

rogerramjet wrote:

Best way is to reformat and re-install...however, that's a bit drastic.

Cmon Now Mr ramjet youre scaring me :rolleyes:

Rex_Mundi

or even try xray-pc which allows you to check and remove items from start up

Why do you need a tool for this? You can do this easily enough without one.

Start>Run> type in msconfig then click the startup tab. Untick anything you don't need to start up when you start your computer. Then click apply, then OK. Restart the computer without the items you have unticked.

Mr_Skint_2

Are you also just swithching users or logging other users off then logging on, as logging off completely is better as other accounts will be multi-tasking in the background.

rogerramjet

Rex_Mundi wrote:

Why do you need a tool for this? You can do this easily enough without one.

Start>Run> type in msconfig then click the startup tab. Untick anything you don't need to start up when you start your computer. Then click apply, then OK. Restart the computer without the items you have unticked.

Gives you more info on the running application than msconfig, also easier to use for those less affay with msconfig.

StrikeEagle

Windows seems to slow down every 6 months or so - I tend to format every 6 months to speed everything up (this is when it helps having windows on a seperate partition to documents and other files).

You could always try: http://www.tweakxp.com/tweakutility/ but it will never beat a reinstallation of windows.

barginboyrob

i have 512mb ram, i really don't want to reinstall windows, as i don't have the time to backup and reconfigure the drivers for the broadband etc. Too much Hassle!!

Quark_2

I use Webroot Window Washer and Macecraft Reg Supreme for cleaning unnecessary crap off my machine (in addition to my spyware removers and AV).

I recommend removing unnecessary programs from control panel -> add/remove programs and deleting the files they leave behind from C:\program files then running Reg Supreme to delete their registry entries.

Also as aforementioned keeping your startup items to a minimum is a good idea.

deary65

Run Disk Cleanup and remove all but the last restore point. See if your System Restore
cache and Recycle Bin size is set at a reasonable level (Say 1024Mb) on each drive,
and reduce the IE Temporary Internet Files cache and History cache to the minimum.
Install CCLeaner and clean out all of the junk files. Unhide all files and folders
and remove the hotfix uninstallers ( $NTUninstaller$ ) from the hidden C:\Windows
folder and remove their entries from Add-Remove programs.
(Note: Some Security updates should NOT be removed so check in add-remove programs
- before - doing this task.)
Then remove the contents of:

The C:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Installations folder
The C: WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download folder
The C:\WINDOWS\Temp folder
The C:\Windows\pchealth\helpctr\Datacoll folder, and...
The C:\Windows\Prefetch folder
If you don't use file checking,then double click my computer,right click c: drive. Un check file searching for files and folders.
you can also compress your registry with NTREGOPT.
http://www.larshederer.homepage.t-online.de/erunt
(You can add these folders to EmpTemp if you have this program installed.) Then run
chkdsk and defrag.