[n_g_429]

I have 2 GB of RAM but I have a LOT of music on my computer (20.7 GB). Will my computer speed up tremendously if I move all of the music files to my external hard drive?

[aconstas]

Originally Posted by n_g_429

I have 2 GB of RAM but I have a LOT of music on my computer (20.7 GB). Will my computer speed up tremendously if I move all of the music files to my external hard drive?

Your computer's "speed" is based on alot more things than RAM and whether or not your files are on an internal hard drive...

Before you start doing drastic changes, try downloading and installing CCleaner run that and fix any errors, defragment your PC, run antivirus and adaware to remove unwanted files from your computer. these things will help your computer run much faster.

[Kenny94]

Will my computer speed up tremendously if I move all of the music files to my external hard drive?

Not really. But with all the music you have... I would purchase a external hard drive to back up all your songs. In case your hard drive goes bad!

Making a computer quicker is not a simple task; it depends upon many things. However, there are some adjustments you can do yourself to enhance performance.

Deleting rubbish from your PC.

Double Click My Computer (WinXP: Navigate to Start >My Computer)

You will see an icon representing your hard drive (most likely C: Drive) Right Click on the hard drive icon and click Properties at the bottom of the fly out window.

On the very first tab (General) you will see a button labelled "Disk Cleanup"...click that button.

Make sure the following are checked:

• Downloaded Program Files
  Temporary Internet Files and
  Recycle Bin
  Compress Old Files

Click OK and Disk Cleanup will delete those files for you.

Next, go to Start>Run>type in %temp% hit Enter and delete the content of all the temp folders shown (only the content, not the folder). A couple of files may be in memory and will not therefore delete, this is normal.

Please download ATF Cleaner by Atribune.
This program is for XP and Windows 2000 only

• Double-click ATF-Cleaner.exe to run the program.
  Under Main choose: Select All
  Click the Empty Selected button.

If you use Firefox browser

• Click Firefox at the top and choose: Select All
  Click the Empty Selected button.
  NOTE: If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.

If you use Opera browser

• Click Opera at the top and choose: Select All
  Click the Empty Selected button.
  NOTE: If you would like to keep your saved passwords, please click No at the prompt.

Click Exit on the Main menu to close the program.
For Technical Support, double-click the e-mail address located at the bottom of each menu.

A fragmented drive causes a slow system.
Easy steps to defragment your drive:

1. open My Computer.
2. Rightclick on the drive you want to defragment and select "Properties".
3. Click on the Tools tab.
4. Select Defragment Now....


Disable Indexing

1. Double click My Computer
   
2. Right click on your system hard drive (probably C )
   
3. Choose Properties
   
4. Uncheck “Allow Indexing Service etc” this may take a while
   
5. Apply > OK

Disabling “eye candy”, “bells and whistles”

Windows XP contains a huge list of special effects and visual enhancements such as animated menus, fade effects, cursor shadows, menu shadows etc. Disabling some of these settings can make Windows XP running faster and use fewer system resources

1. Open Control Panel from the Start menu and choose "System." Choose the "Advanced" tab.
2. Select the "Settings" button under the Performance section.
3. Check the "Adjust for best performance" box and click "Apply" to apply the settings.
4. Alternatively, you can choose the "Custom" open, you can then selectively enable or disable each specific effect. The cursor shadowing effect can have a noticeable impact on performance.

Display Properties
Well, it is sad to say goodbye to special effects, but we want to speed up the computer.

1. Open Control Panel from the Start menu and choose Display.
2. Choose the "Desktop tab and set the Background to "None."
3. Select the "Appearance" tab.
4. Under "Windows and buttons," choose "Windows Classic Style" from the drop-down menu.
5. Click the "Effects" button.
6. Deselect all options and click OK.
7. Click OK to close the Display Properties and apply the changes.

Start Menu and Folders

Context click (usually known as Right click) on the Windows XP Start button and choose "Properties" from the contextual menu.

1. Choose "Classic Start Menu"
2. Click the "Customise" button
3. Select the "Show Small Icons in Start Menu" option
4. Deselect any other items that you don't use often.

Folder Options

1. Open My Computer
2. Open the C: Drive or any other drive
3. Choose "Folder Options" from the Tools menu
4. Select "Use Windows classic folders"
5. Select the "View" tab.
6. Deselect the "Automatically search for network folders and printers" option.
7. Click "Apply"
8. Click the "Apply to All Folders" button
9. Click OK.

Now, you can enjoy your PC and Windows XP faster.

[JohnWill]

Moving files that aren't being accessed won't affect the speed at all.

[Kenny94]

Hey John..

Moving files that aren't being accessed won't affect the speed at all.

True.

[flavallee]

Click Start - Run, type in MSCONFIG, then click OK - "Startup" tab. All entries with a checkmark next to them are loading during startup and running in the background. Most of them don't need to load and run. The smaller the startup list is kept, the better and faster a computer will run.

This site will assist you in trimming down the startup list.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A large buildup of temp/junk files can also slow down a computer and cause other problems, so get rid of them. Delete everything inside these TEMP folders:

C:\WINDOWS\TEMP

C:\DOCUMENTS AND SETTINGS\(USERNAME)\LOCAL SETTINGS\TEMP

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[BIGALX58]

Hi...In my Disk Cleanup ( Properties.... General tab), I don't have the "compress old files" category. Why? Should I have it? How can I get it, if it's important? Thanks.

[Kenny94]

Originally Posted by BIGALX58

Hi...In my Disk Cleanup ( Properties.... General tab), I don't have the "compress old files" category. Why? Should I have it? How can I get it, if it's important? Thanks.

Unlike the other categories, Compress Old Files doesn't delete any files from the drive. It compresses files that Windows hasn't accessed for a specified period of time. The files are still available, but there will be a slight increase in access times because the files will be decompressed the next time they are accessed. Note that when Compress Old Files is highlighted an Options button appears. Clicking it will allow you to set the number of days to wait before an unaccessed file is compressed.

http://www.theeldergeek.com/disk_cleanup_utility.htm

[BIGALX58]

I'm sorry, but have my questions been answered?...

[Kenny94]

Originally Posted by BIGALX58

I'm sorry, but have my questions been answered?...

OK.

I don't have the "compress old files" category. Why?

It seems that you've lost the compress old files option. Sounds like the "Compress old files registry key" is missing.

Should I have it?

Yes.

How can I get it

System File Checker (SFC) should restore this option.

it's important?

No.

Thanks.

You're welcome.

[ferrija1]

http://forums.techguy.org/tech-tips-...-programs.html

[nvnmenon]

1) Go to start -> run-> prefetch->delete all the files that come up there.

2) Do an Msconfig -> click on system.ini -> click new -> add this entry exactly as u see
MinSPs=32
apply -> close -> reboot -> check the speed...

[WhitPhil]

Originally Posted by nvnmenon

1) Go to start -> run-> prefetch->delete all the files that come up there.

2) Do an Msconfig -> click on system.ini -> click new -> add this entry exactly as u see
MinSPs=32
apply -> close -> reboot -> check the speed...

First, number one is a myth of the worst kind, since it actually will cause a decrease in performance

Reference (of many)

And lastly, number 2 is a Windows98 option (that has nothing to do with performance), that does absolutely nothing on a XP system.

[nvnmenon]

Try it and let me know sir..

[ferrija1]

Originally Posted by nvnmenon

Try it and let me know sir..

WhitPhil is right, I suggested it somewhere in here and they convinced me it's bad to.
http://forums.techguy.org/tech-tips-...-programs.html