Speed Up Windows Vista – Master Tutorial to Make Windows Vista Super Fast

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So you are using Windows Vista and feel that its slower than Windows XP? Then you have come to the right place.

Following tutorial will help you in tweaking your Windows Vista to the max and you'll feel a significant improvement in your system performance. So without wasting any time lets start:

1. Following is a registry file containing a few registry modifications, which are completely safe and can increase the performance of Windows Vista. Just download the attached ZIP file, extract it and then run the file:

Tweak Windows Vista

Restore Default Settings (Use this file if you want to restore default Windows settings)

2. Right-click on My Computer icon on Desktop and select Properties (or press <WIN> key + <Pause/Break> key), click on Advanced system settings link in left side pane (You can also open it by typing sysdm.cpl in RUN or start menu search box and press Enter). Now click on Settings button in Performance section:

Now disable all unnecessary options in Visual Effects tab, you can remain following options enabled according to your requirements:

Enable desktop composition (If you want to use Windows Aero theme)
Enable transparent glass (If you want to use transparency in Windows)
Show preview and filters in folder (If you use Details Pane in Explorer)
Show thumbnails instead of icons (If you want to show thumbnails in Explorer)
Show window contents while dragging (If you want windows to show content while moving them)
Smooth edges of screen fonts (If you want to show smooth fonts)
Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop (If you want to show shadows under desktop icon labels)
Use visual styles on windows and buttons (If you want to use Windows Aero or Basic theme.)

3. Open Windows Explorer and click on Organize -> Folder and Search Options. Now go to View tab:

Now disable following options:

Display file size information in folder tips.
Display simple folder view in Navigation pane.
Hide extensions for known file types.
Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color.
Show pop-up description for folder and desktop items.

Other options don't affect the system performance. You can enable/disable them according to your requirements.

4. Right-click on My Computer icon on Desktop and select Manage (You can also open it by typing services.msc in RUN or start menu search box and press Enter).

Now goto Services & Applications -> Services. Here you can set a few unnecessary services to Manual, which will not start with windows and will decrease the boot time and will increase system performance.

Please follow the following tutorial to know about which services can be safely set to MANUAL:

Windows Vista Services Configuration: Turn Off / Disable Unnecessary Services to Optimize Performance

5. Type msconfig in RUN or Startmenu search box and press Enter. Now goto Startup tab and deselect the unnecessary entries, which you don't want to start automatically with Windows, e.g. you can disable VGA driver utility, Sound Card utility, etc to speed up the startup time and to increase system performance.

You can also disable these items using Windows Defender. Open Windows Defender and click on Tools and then click on "Software Explorer".

6. Open Sound in Control Panel (or type mmsys.cpl in RUN or Startmenu search box and press Enter), goto Sounds tab and select No Sounds in Sound Scheme section. Or you can remain some of your favorite sounds but set Exit Windows, Windows Logoff, Windows Logon and Start Navigation to (None).

7. Also don't forget to:

Defrag the hard disk regularly
Install only necessary software
Use the latest device drivers
Keep your Windows up-to-date

After following all the above mentioned points, you'll definitely notice major improvements in your Windows Vista performance.

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This article was posted by VG in following section: Windows Vista.

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VG

^^ I think Vista Ultimate should run smooth on your system.
Carlos

Hey thanks for a quick reply! :)

And should I do an update or a fresh install?
VG

^^ I always advise for a fresh install unless you don't have sufficient time to reinstall everything.
Lawence Codye

umm...I have a question pretaining to no. 5. what are the VGA driver utility & Sound Card utility that I can disable? I don't know what they are so disabling them is out of the question...don't want to mess up my system by disabling the wrong stuff...regardless I did all the other steps. This should do wonders for my Vista system performance, thanks...
VG

^^ Almost all sound and graphics driver setup install an application which can be used to change the settings. You can access these applications from system tray. But no one uses them regularly, so you can safely disable them from startup.
software development uk

That was inspiring,

I downloaded the zip file, extracted it and double-clicked on it and the file opens up. How do I merge it into the registry??

Thanks for bringing this up
VG

^^ Right-click on it and select "Merge".
Jhon Richmond

you are a Genious Dear i have tried your tweaks everything is working great on my Vista ultimate 32bit ...Thanks for being there ....GOD BLESS U
Computer

I can't download the file.

I want help.
Carlos

Hi VG.

I was reading about a registry tweak that "makes Vista faster" you have to navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\PriorityControl and change the "Win32PrioritySeparation" value.

Could you explain what happens and what are the advantages and disadvantages of doing this?

Thanks.