How to Speed Vista Up in 5 Simple Steps

I was first asked how to speed Vista up when a friend of mine bought a new computer shortly after Windows Vista started coming pre-installed on most new computers. I spent a considerable amount of time researching and started referring people to a 5 step program for how to speed Vista up.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. ~Shutdown Unnecessary Services & Programs~
   
   Many programs run in the background when you're not using them, and eat up valuable system resources while doing so. These can usually be safely disabled to help speed Vista up. This can be done a couple ways. First, click the start menu, type msconfig, and hit enter. This will bring up a system configuration menu. Go through the Startup and Services tabs and uncheck any unnecessary services. The second way is just to shut down currently running services through the task manager. You can access the task manager by hitting CTRL + SHIFT + ESC.

2. ~Disable The Vista Sidebar~
   
   It may look pretty but it certainly won't help you to keep it running when you're figuring out how to speed Vista up. Disable it by right clicking it, going to properties, and unchecking the box 'Start Sidebar when Windows starts'.

3. 

   ~Turn Off Indexing~
   
   The indexing service in Vista maintains a large list of files to make searching for them faster on your computer. The problem is that it wastes a ton of resources in the process. If you search your computer often, I recommend using Google Desktop instead.
   
   To disable the indexing service in Vista, click the start menu, type services, and hit enter. Scroll down toward the bottom and find the service called 'Windows Search' and double click it. Click the drop down menu next to 'Startup type:' and select 'Disabled'.

4. ~Use 3rd Party Defragmentation Software~
   
   So let's face it, using the built in defragment function in Vista is not how to speed Vista up. Without going into too many details, I'll just tell you that it doesn't do the full job of Actually defragmenting your hard drive. Defraggler is a good free alternative, but if you need more user friendliness and scheduling flexibility, I recommend using Tuneup Utilities.

5. 

   ~Clean Your Registry~
   
   Free Registry Cleaner is a good free choice to do this task for you. But, again, if you're looking for support and user friendliness, then I recommend using Tuneup Utilities or PC Tools Registry Mechanic. I've placed links to each of them below.

Tips & Warnings

• System optimization software like Tuneup Utilities, Registry Mechanic, and Advanced System Optimizer can perform all of the tasks mentioned above and many other optimizations for speeding up Windows Vista. While you can do most of it on your own, programs like these are real time-savers.
• This isn't a fix all-things-Vista how to. Speed, Vista, and sanity don't always mix well together. In the long run, I recommend using a different operating system (XP, Linux, Windows 7?), or purchasing a third party software like TuneUp Utilities to handle the dirty work of keeping Vista in good shape.

Resources

• TuneUp Utilities
• PC Tools Registry Mechanic