How to Fix a Slow Vista File Transfer

Since Microsoft Vista's release, it has been the victim of unfavorable comparisons to Microsoft XP in terms of speed. One of the most common complaints is that file transfer speeds---whether you're moving a large file from one folder to another, or one computer to another---is far slower than it should be. Luckily, there are a handful of easy-to-implement steps that will cut file transfer times in half or eliminate them completely.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Microsoft Vista

Potential Fixes

1. Turn off Vista's search indexing function, which runs in the background of your computer at random times and slows things down noticeably. Click on the Start Menu, and in the search bar, type "Services." Select the program that comes up called "Services." A window will appear; scroll down to the "Windows Search" service. Right-click on it, select "Properties," and next to "Startup Type," select "Disabled." Press "Apply," then "OK." Then, right-click on the "Windows Search" service again and select "Stop."

2. Disable the navigation pane on Vista windows by clicking on the Start menu, selecting "Computer," then the "Organize" button, then the "Layout" option, and then deselecting "Navigation Pane."

3. Give yourself full ownership on your hard drive. (As odd as it sounds, even administrators are not given full ownership rights by default in Vista.) Click on the Start menu, select "Computer," right-click your main hard drive (usually "C:"), select "Properties," then the "Security" tab, then "Advanced," then the "Owner" tab, and finally the "Edit" button. In the window that comes up, the "Current owner" will either not be visible or will be set to "Trusted Installer." Click on "Administrators," check the "Replace owner on subcontainers and objects" box, and then press "Apply." The process will take about 10 minutes but, once finished, is what does the trick for most people with slow transfer times.

4. Obtain the latest service pack for Vista. According to Microsoft, certain hardware configurations can result in slow file transfers between two computers, but Vista service packs have repaired most of these bugs; see Resources below.

Tips & Warnings

• Turning off the search indexing feature will make your future searches run more slowly. In order to get a Vista service pack, you must have a genuine copy of Windows Vista installed.

References

• Hardware Central
• Microsoft
• Vista4Beginners

Resources

• Obtain the Latest Vista Service Pack