Here I will continue the tips from the last post, how to make your Windows XP faster part 1.
8. In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to “DMA if available” for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.
9. Upgrade your hard drive cable. Please make sure you use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. If you are not sure what cable you are using now, please unplug it and bring it to the PC store.
10. Remove all spyware, viruses, and trojans from your computer. You can use any free and safe program like AdAware by Lavasoft, Spybot Search and Destroy, and Avira Antivirus by GmbH. You can download them all at filehippo.com. After you install, use the program to check and clean your Windows XP. Don’t forget to update your antivirus definitions regularly.
11. Remove unwanted programs and disable startup tasks. You can use CCleaner to do this. Please uninstall any unwanted software and disable any unwanted startup items. This will make your boot time much faster.
12. Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here’s how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance.
13. Update your Windows XP regularly with the Windows Update program. It is in the Control Panel menu.
14. Reduce or delete fonts that are never used. Please make sure you don’t have more than 500 fonts in your fonts folder under the Windows directory. Please delete some unwanted fonts.
15. Don’t use more than 2 partitions on your hard drive. Windows XP’s NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The reason I’m using 2 partitions rather than 1 is for disaster recovery. At least if the system crashes and I want to reinstall (sometimes need to reformat), I don’t lose my data on the other partition.
16. Test your RAM and ensure it is operating properly. You can use MemTest86, which is in bootable ISO format. You can burn it to a CD and run it to test your RAM.
17. Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services at startup, and sometimes they are not necessary unless you really know what you want. To determine which services you can disable for your client, you can Google it.
18. Clean your PC from dust at least once a year. Open your PC case and clean it from dust. Check all your fans and ensure they are working properly.
Okay that’s from me. If you have questions or any other tips, please leave a comment.