1. Tuning and Maintaining Windows Kegs May 2008 David Dodge Windows SIG Leader

2. Why Tune Windows? Improve performance on existing hardware Clean up Software installations to reclaim disk space Optimize memory usage Purge background clutter Keep everything alive until you can afford a new computer Make gliches go away to enhance stability

3. Where should I start? Usually with the basics Checkdisk/scandisk or Norton Utils. DEFRAG!!! Still using FAT16? FAT32 or NTFS is better Then the interface Clear the Desktop, icons and junk Clean up the background, Bitmaps Active Desktop

4. What next? Segment data and programs Partition for storage(Partition Magic) Smaller partitions defrag quicker Data is found faster Searches are quicker(root folder clean) Move swap file to different physical drive Eliminate any un-necessary apps from loading Could also buy faster drive. Disks are cheap

5. What Next 2? Clean up after uninstalled programs Do the disk “look and see” Browse through drives to spot old stuff Check for forgotten directories and discover old treasures(then archive them to CD-R) Do some research Extreme-Tech, Tom’s Hardware, PC Magazine, google searches, Technet

6. What Next 3 ? Optimize your BIOS Update from Mainboard manufacturer Turn off un-needed features Turn off extra ports Ser, Par, USB Check out http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzo ne/newsgroups/reader.mspx?dg=microsoft.pu blic.windowsxp.perform_maintain http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzo ne/newsgroups/reader.mspx?dg=microsoft.pu blic.windowsxp.perform_maintain This is an XP performance and maintenance newsgroup.

7. Process Explorer Free Download from Microsoft www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/Pr ocessExplorer.mspx www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/utilities/Pr ocessExplorer.mspx Shows all the processes running on your system and allows you to kill the app Be careful killing stuff. System may crash… Use to identify things that you possibly don’t need or may be left over from uninstalled software or un-needed apps.

8. Autoruns Another Sysinternals Utility. Shows extensive information and registry locations of stuff that starts all by itself. More in depth than a lot of tools. Another way to show what is loading Bounce your autoruns with this list to validate identity and check ir you want to uncheck to run at startup http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php

9. Benefits? Improved awareness of what is slowing things down. Better knowledge of what is on your system Improved speed Better stability (usually) Extended PC and Software longevity