Vista4Experts makes changing Vista easy

Oddly enough, Vista4Experts is likely to be most helpful to those who are not experts.  Ironically-titled Vista4Experts actually takes most of the common system adjustments made to Windows Vista (turning off excessive notifications, disabling automatic file indexing, etc) and organizes them into one extremely simple interface.  Just select the changes you wish to apply (the most common are preselected by default), and click the “Perform Actions” button.  That’s all you need to do.

Download Vista4Experts

Give Vista a Performance Boost

ReadyBoost is a feature in Windows Vista that allows free space on a USB flash drive to be used as RAM.  ReadyBoost will only work with USB drives that have a fast read/write speed.  Windows will automatically detect whether or not your drive is fast enough.

To use ReadyBoost, simply plug your flash drive into a USB port.  The Windows Autorun window will pop up.  Click the Speed Up My System option. (If your USB drive is not fast enough for ReadyBoost, this option will not be displayed)

On the next screen, click the box marked Use this device.

Use the slider to adjust the amount of space on the USB drive that you would like Windows to use as RAM.  Microsoft recommends using at least 215MB.  Click the OK button when you’re done.  Vista will use that space until you remove the drive.

Boost Speed in Windows Vista: Advanced

If you’ve tried the tips in our first article but are still dealing with poor performance from Windows Vista, here are some additional ways to speed things up.

1.  Disable User Access Control (UAC)

One of Vista’s most notorious new features is the UAC warning.  This is the warning that pops up and asks your permission to do…well, just about everything, it seems.  Sometimes it can pop up 3 or more times while you’re installing a single piece of software.  The security that UAC provides is obvious: nothing can be installed in the background without the user knowing.  This is helpful in keeping spyware and viruses off of a computer.  But if you generally practice safe web browsing and are not prone to installing every free game you can download, then UAC becomes redundant and very annoying.  Turning it off is simple, but should only be done if you’re comfortable taking on an increased security risk.

1. Click the Start menu and select Control Panel
2. Select User Accounts
3. On the left side, click the Turn User Account Control on or off link
4. Uncheck User Account Control box
5. Restart the computer

2.  Disable Excess Services

All versions of Windows automatically run a large number of background services.  Disabling some unnecessary services from starting up can free more system resources.

1. Click the Start menu and select Control Panel
2. Select Administrative Tools
3. Choose System Configuration
4. Click on the Services tab
5. You can deselect:

• Offline Files (unless you use offline file syncing)
• Tablet PC Input Service (unless you use a Tablet PC)
• Windows Search (you can still run searches if this is turned off)
• Fax (unless you fax from your PC)

3.  Increase Hard Drive Speed

Vista has a built-in feature designed to gain a little extra performance from your hard drive.

1. Click the Start menu and select Control Panel
2. Open Device Manager
3. Expand the Disk Drives branch
4. Right-click on your hard drive and select Properties
5. Click the Policies tab
6. Check Enable Advanced Performance
7. Click OK

4. Utilize multiple CPU cores during boot-up

Most modern CPUs contain two or more processing cores, but Windows still only uses one during start-up.  To speed up your boot time, you can tell Windows to use more than one core.

1. Click the Start menu and type msconfig into the Search box
2. Open msconfig
3. Select the Boot tab
4. Click Advanced
5. Check the Number of processors box, and select the number of cores in your processor (usually 2 or 4)
6. Click OK

Boost Speed in Windows Vista

If you are using Windows Vista and have noticed that your new computer seems to be running slower than the one you bought in 1995, try a few of these tricks to get Vista running at a respectable pace.

1. Install Windows Updates

Microsoft releases new updates for Windows every month. While most of these are intended to fix software glitches and increase security, occasionally updates are released that enhance system performance. The recently-released Vista SP1 update is said to offer up to a 10% performance increase. Windows Updates can be found in the Start Menu.

2. Turn Off Windows Aero

The most noticable difference between Windows XP and Windows Vista is Vista’s shiny new look, which Microsoft calls “Aero.” The animated menus and transperant windows sure do look pretty, but all that beauty takes a toll on your computer’s hardware. If you can live without the extra aesthetics, you can regain some power from your processor.

• Right-Click on an open area of the desktop and select Personalize, then click on Window Color and Appearence.
• Near the bottom of the next page, click on the Open classic appearance properties for more color options link.
• Under the classic appearance tab, in the Color Scheme box, select Windows Vista Basic (no extra effects, but still a pleasing color scheme) or Windows Vista Standard (classic Windows look). Once you’ve made your choice, click Apply.

3. Turn Off Automatic Disk Defragmentation

In the past, disk defragmentation was a manual task. With Vista, Microsoft has helpfully made it an always-on utility. The problem? Having disk defragmentation constantly running may keep your file system streamlined, but it has a negative impact on system resources. You can get those resources back by turning off the automatic feature (just remember to manually run a defrag every month or so).

• Click on the Start Menu, then select Computer.
• Right-click the C: drive, and select Properties.
• From the Properties window, click on the Tools tab.
• Under the disk defragmenter, deselect the Run on a schedule box.

4. Disable Windows Search Indexing

The indexing feature is constantly checking your files for changes. This enables Vista to do instant searching for files and file content. It also slows down file transfers and access times. Turning off this feature will not disable Vista’s ability to perform searches, they just won’t be instantaneous. This applies only for the Windows search feature, and does not affect online searches.

• Click on the Start Menu, then select Computer.
• Right-click on the C: drive, and select Properties.
• In the General tab, deselect the Index this drive for faster searching box.
• A window will pop up. Check the box that says Include subfolders and files, and click OK.

5. Uninstall Excess Windows Features

Vista has a lot of features built in that are unnecessary in normal, everyday use. Uninstalling these can help boost your computer’s performance.

• Click the Start Menu, and select Control Panel.
• Open Program Features.
• On the left side of the window, click on Turn Windows Features on or off.
• You can safely deselect:

Indexing Service
Remote Differential Compression
Tablet PC Optional Components (unless you’re using a Tablet PC, of course)
Windows DFS Replication Service

• Click OK.