Making Windows XP snappier
Windows XP sure looks nice, but all these niceties comes at a price. Like your PC's components, Windows XP comes with lots of stuff, some you'll need and some you won't. There are even some you probably come to hate. For example, some of these features will make your PC 'feels' slower, since Microsoft put all those slick and splashy transitions and animations for your toolbar, your start menu etc. Call me old fashioned, but if i just bought a brand new PC that's supposed to be fast, i want my Windows XP to display everything I want in a snap and not slowly fading in / out. Thankfully, Microsoft realize this and still allows you to make the adjustments.Desktop and User Interface
If you used PCs before, you'll probably notice that by default Windows doesn't put anything on your desktop. You could find the usual icons are now placed in the Start menu. You could put them back on the desktop. Right click on the desktop and choose 'Properties'. This will bring up the 'Display Properties' window. Choose the 'Desktop' tab and left click on the 'Customize Desktop' button. Check on the icons you want to be displayed on the desktop.
Let's change Windows XP so it will work faster! Bring up the 'System Properties' window again. You still remember how to do that, don't you? For starters, choose the 'System Restore' tab. While actually this is a good idea, it's not that good in real life. Check the 'Turn off System Restore' option to turn it off. Next is the 'Automatic Updates'. Again, another good idea, but personally I don't like Windows trying to connect to the Internet when I don't want it to. You can still update manually through the Windows Update website, just turn it on again before you do so. Again, check 'Turn off Automatic Updates'. Next of course, is the 'Remote'. Mmm, i think you probably can figure what i think about this. Uncheck both options - 'Allow Remote Assistance....' and 'Allow users to connect....' to turn this feature off.
We're finally here - the 'Advanced' tab. You could quickly see that we want to choose the 'Performance' part. Left click the 'Settings' button to open another window, you'll see two tabs here - 'Visual Effects' and 'Advanced' (what's with all the 'Advanced' stuff, anyway). Now, while some of you might be tempted to choose the 'Adjust for best performance' option, I do like the new Windows XP look, but not all the added baggage that came with it. Basically, what i do is choose the 'Custom' option. You could pick what feature you want on and what you don't want. Here are the ones I've chosen:
- Show translucent selection rectangle
- Show window contents while dragging
- Smooth edges of screen fonts
- Smooth-scroll list boxes
- Use visual styles on windows on windows and buttons
Turn everything else to off and you'll have a good balance of between that Windows XP look and your PC's performance.
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