How to Speed Up XP by Turning Off Indexing Services

The Indexing Service constantly monitors your hard drives for file changes, new files, documents and programs. Windows XP uses this index to speed up response time when you search for a file. In practice, the indexing implementation in Windows XP uses a great deal of memory and makes your system run slower. There is no reason to keep the indexing service active unless you frequently use the Windows search function. The search function will still work when you do need it, just not as quickly.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Your Computer
• A healthy hand to navigate your mouse.

1. Open the "Start" menu and click on the "Run" option. Type "services.msc" in the box and click "Run."

2. Scroll down the list of services and double-click the "Indexing Service" option. Click the "Stop" button if the service is running.

3. Click the "Startup Type:" drop-down menu and select the "Disabled" option. Click "OK."

Tips & Warnings

• Its always a good idea to back your computer up before doing any maintenance. Disabling Indexing Services should not have any adverse affects on your computer at all.

References

• Microsoft Windows XP Professional Product Documentation: Default Settings for Services