Windows Vista Speed Tips

I use Windows Vista at work and though I have no qualms about using it (unlike some other techies) I find that some of the newer features designed to speed up the system have the opposite effect for me.

While disabling these features means you are certainly losing some functionality, I am happy to lose it in exchange for the dramatic speed increase on both my Dell laptop and work PC, remember that all these items can be re-enabled at any time.

Visual Effects

I’m constantly surprised by the number of people that never change these settings, they have been adjustable since I can remember (running back through all the version of windows I’ve ever used) and they can have a substantial hit on system performance if you have them all turned on and (like me) have multiple windows open simultaneously.

1. Click into the start menu
2. Right click on “Computer” and select “Properties” from the available options
3. On the left in the tasks pane click “Advanced system settings” (and click continue in the UAC prompt)
4. Click the “settings” button in the “performance” section
5. Select the “Custom:” radio button, then just turn on
   1. Enable desktop composition
   2. Enable transparent glass
   3. Show preview and filters in folder
   4. Show thumbnails instead of icons
   5. Show translucent selection rectangle
   6. Show window contents while dragging
   7. Smooth-edges of screen fonts
   8. Use a background image for each folder type
   9. Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop
   10. Use visual styles on windows and buttons
6. Click OK
7. Click OK

And you’re done!

Realistically if you want to get the best performance possible you could also turn off some additional options like transparent glass & thumbnails, but I find them useful so I’ve left them on.

Indexing

Indexing is a great feature for a lot of home users, it’s what makes Windows search so snappy, it works the same as Google Desktop by creating a large database (or Index) of all the files on your computer so that when you search for an item it can quickly search the database instead of having to manually search over every file in your system.

While it is great for a lot of users, the only thing I use search for is to find items in the start menu quickly (which really doesn’t require an index), and disabling indexing can make your system both noticeably faster and quicker to boot.

Just be aware that disabling indexing also impacts the search speed if you’re using Outlook 2007, searching in the quicksearch bar at the top of your email list will no longer use a database.

1. Click into the start menu
2. Right click on “Computer” and select “Manage” from the available options (then click continue in the UAC prompt)
3. In the left pane double-click “Services and Applications” then click “Services”
4. Scroll down the list to “Windows Search”, Right click it and select “Properties” from the available options
5. Click “Stop” to stop the service, then change the “Startup type:” to Disabled using the drop-down list
6. Click Ok

If you have Nero 7 (or newer) installed then you can disable Nero’s Cache as well

1. Scroll down the list to “NMIndexingService”, Right click it and select “Properties” from the available options
2. Click “Stop” to stop the service, then change the “Startup type:” to Disabled using the drop-down list
3. Click Ok

Offline Files

If you don’t use Offline Files (where you can have a local cache of a network folder etc) then you can disable it completely, otherwise just set it to manually start (when required instead of automatically).

1. Scroll down the list to “Offline Files”, Right click it and select “Properties” from the available options
2. Click “Stop” to stop the service, then change the “Startup type:” to Disabled or Manually using the drop-down list
3. Click Ok

ReadyBoost

Readyboost lets you plug a USB stick or other removable media into the PC to act as additional RAM, if you don’t use it then you can either disable it completely or set it to manually start (when required instead of automatically).

1. Scroll down the list to “ReadyBoost”, Right click it and select “Properties” from the available options
2. Click “Stop” to stop the service, then change the “Startup type:” to Disabled or Manually using the drop-down list
3. Click Ok

SuperFetch

SuperFetch monitors which applications you use the most and pre-loads these into your system memory on startup so they load faster when you need to use them, this is great for people with a lot of ram, but on computers with less ram (laptops especially) this can have a big hit on system performance.

1. Scroll down the list to “SuperFetch”, Right click it and select “Properties” from the available options
2. Click “Stop” to stop the service, then change the “Startup type:” to Disabled using the drop-down list
3. Click Ok

You can now close the Computer Management window.

A Less Annoying UAC

While the UAC (User Account Control) is great in concept (asking user permission for every large system decision) the fact that it elevates the prompt to a secure desktop ends up getting annoying having to wait for the darkened screen to come up.

The reason for it going to the heightened desktop is a simple one, increased security, because it means a program can’t spoof the pop-up (because it doesn’t have access to the heightened desktop).

What I do is disable the secure desktop but still leave UAC turned on, so instead of seeing a darkened screen with a prompt overlaying everything, the prompt just appears like a normal dialogue box. While you are more at risk of a Shatter Attack (where malware fakes a UAC prompt) because you don’t have that extra level of security, it doesn’t bother me at all, I like to think I’m above randomly clicking prompts not knowing what they are prompting me for.

1. Click into the start menu
2. In the search bar, type “Local Security Policy” then click the program (and click continue in the UAC prompt)
3. Double click “Local Policies” in the left pane
4. Click “Security Options”
5. Scroll down the list to “User Account Control: Switch to the secure desktop when prompting for elevation”, double click the option then select the “Disabled” radio button
6. Click Ok

You can now close the Local Security Policy window.

I have done all of these on my own machine with no ill effects, remember any of these settings can be changed at any time so don’t be afraid to change them.