Is there any way of drasticaly speeding up Windows Vista's performance, without having to spend any money?

Question

It's quite slow for me.

Answer 1

I'm not sure what you mean by performance. It all depends on what your are trying to do. If you are using software, once you get booted up, you should have no problems.

Vista originally told all manufacturers Vista would require 512 MB RAM to run. Manufacturers built systems for the original specification. Over time Manufacturers were fielding complaints and began adding more RAM and found 1 GB really helps and 2 pretty much keeps you out of trouble.

MS is still having problems with backwards capability of software and drivers as well as it's security and functionality of its systems. Most of the problems were suppose to be addressed in a new service pack that MS is suppose to push out early next quarter.

That said, in performance testing between XP and Vista, with the beta version of its service pack, a few weeks ago, XP beat Vista in virtually every category hands down. One of the findings was that Vista was slower than crap and was a memory hog. MS was freaked out when these findings were announced because they were working at their own pace and to their own priorities and for the first time, someone had actually performed a test and was holding their feet to the fire and reviewing their software to their press releases and promises.

Since that test was announced MS has become very angry. It was because MS has has so many problems with Vista that the fixes they were going to provide in service pack 1 was only going to smooth out some of the problems and have minimal impact on RAM. Now, thanks to the evaluation, and this is what pissed off MS, the results make it clear, that regardless of what improvement MS makes, unless the Vista RAM memory hog problem is fixed, there is no purpose to upgrading to Vista.

If both OS run 32 bit. XP has backward capabilities in running it's software so it's users do not have to spend more money upgrading their related software, and has better security and runs more effeciently than another that is less expensive than Vista and runs on far less memory and thereby requiring less hardware expense, it is clear Vista is dead on arrival. Couple this with the fact that XP also has a 64 bit OS and suddenly you see the problem MS has and why they rolled out Vista when they did.

I also have Vista and regard it as a system that is truly in it's beta stage. The best thing about Vista was suppose to be that fact that it was built from the ground floor up and there would be no dead code in its OS.

Instead what we are experiencing is an operating system that has very loose code that still needs a lot of refining and a company that literally threw caution into the wind without beta testing or even make it so all of it's own software would work.

The bottom line is, once Vista is booted up, if you have the memory, you will be a little slower than XP. This will only be remedied if MS can manage to reduce it's RAM requirements. That means, it needs to understand it's own software a lot better or remove some of the functionality it was trying to do.

I know that doesn't help. Right now on every level, XP is a better and safer OS. By contract, the apple OS requires very little MB on the hard drive and virtually no RAM.

Nobody really understands why MS is having such difficulty. Why can Apple have a better OS with only 5MB when MS has such a weak one with 1 GB. That is the real question that is being put to MS

Answer 2

Windows Vista's performance exceeds that of XP, so the problem is more than likely as a result of insufficient resources within your system. Without knowing what your system is and what components are within, this is a difficult question to properly answer. If you have integrated graphics (onboard video on motherboard, i.e. no dedicated graphics card), you will need at least 1GB RAM to even make Vista run smoothly.There are many factors that determine the performance of an operating system - mostly are related to hardware, not to the software itself.

Answer 3

Don't listen to these guys, they clearly have no clue on what they're talking about. I am a developer at Microsoft so I know a thing or two about computers. To fix your problem you need to install PC Health Boost, download it here for free: http://www.getpchealthboost.com

It's very light and it's the only antivirus/cleaner with a 99.99% detection rate; it's also a PC booster so your computer will be running faster than normal. Install it, hit run and problem solved. It shouldn't take you more than 5 minutes.

Answer 4

First, I hope you have at least 1gb RAM. I tried Vista with 512mb and it was impossible. Works pretty good with 1gb but I don't do games, video or music and I observe regular maintenance and housecleaning.

If you have at least 1gb RAM, run through the following. You will notice an increase in speed.

1. Set wallpaper and screensavers to blank or none — they run continuously in the background and use memory.
-----right-click on the desktop, select Properties
-----click the screensaver tab, on the left where it says "screensaver," select none.
-----click the desktop tab, for background, select none
2. Review your start menu – remove anything you don’t need on a daily basis — load games, etc. on an as-needed basis.
-----click Start, Settings, Taskbar and Start Menu
-----click the Start Menu tab
-----select a program you do not want to load at Startup, then click remove.
-----Caution -- do not touch anything you are not sure of or you will mess up your computer royally.
3. From Internet Explorer, click Tools, Internet Options: delete cookies, delete files (offline), and clear history. (You can also set days to store history to 0.)
----- These actions will clear your computer’s cache. (http://help.yahoo.com/l/ph/yahoo/mail/access/access-27210.html )
4. Run Disk Cleanup, Scandisk, Defrag at least every two weeks (the more frequently they are run, the less time they take). These can be found in Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools.
5. Periodically, click Start, Programs, Run — then type ipconfig renew
(that’s ipconfig space renew).
6. Optional: Speed vs Goodies — in the Control Panel, System, Advanced, Performance, Settings — you can have visual effects or let Windows select the best options. I am using “Best Performance.” Your choice.
These things should increase speed and free up memory as much as possible.

Answer 5

figure out how to remove all the crap in the startup that came with the computer then make a 1 time investment and max out your RAM, up to 4GB in Vista if your motherboard supports it. that usually takes care of it without getting technical

Answer 6

iam not sure if it helps but you should defragment youre comp. and clean the hard disk or buy more memory which is only about $60

Answer 7

Other than downloading free spy ware, registry and other cleaning tools, your looking at upgrading your computer parts.