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Possible Duplicate:
Which windows tweaks do you use and they actually work?

One per answer please (to allow for voting).

What single free/inexpensive thing can someone do to improve Windows performance for a typical user.

Ideally I'm thinking config/install/uninstall based rather than hardware.

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This is a little more focused then the windows tweaks question. Similar but not exactly the same. – James McMahon Jul 21 '09 at 16:09
I agree, this isn't a dupe at all. This question is specifically asking for a performance tweak, and it is asking for what one single one you would use. The other windows tweaks question could encompasses any tweak, not just performance. – Charles Roper Jul 21 '09 at 17:43
Half of the possible dupe are nothing to do with performance including the top rated and accepted one (which is top rated by a distance). – Jon Hopkins Jul 21 '09 at 18:57
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closed as exact duplicate by TheTXI Jul 21 '09 at 16:05

This question covers exactly the same ground as earlier questions on this topic; its answers may be merged with another identical question. See the FAQ.

7 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

Disable unnecessary memory resident / start-up programs. De-fragment disk. Free up disk space (delete files) if less than 10-15% of your disk is free. Helps swap file performance.

Ultimately more memory is the best solution but that costs money.

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up vote 2 down vote

Turn off unnecessary services (and more RAM).

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up vote 2 down vote

Cleaning out startup items/processes.

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up vote 1 down vote

Uninstall all applications, which you didn't using.

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up vote 1 down vote

ccleaner.

more ram.

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up vote 1 down vote

Money

And by money, I mean hardware. More RAM and faster processors are the easiest way to improve the performance of any OS.

See Hardware is Cheap, Programmers are Expensive, where Jeff Atwood says:

For example, I just bought two very powerful servers for Stack Overflow. Even after accounting for a third backup server and spare hard drives for the RAID arrays, my total outlay is around $5,000. These servers, compared to the ones we're on now, offer:

  • roughly 50% more CPU speed
  • 2 to 6 times the memory capacity
  • almost twice the disk space (and it's a faster RAID 10 array)

Under this new hardware regime, we can expect average page response times to improve by about half. All that for less than one month of an average programmer's salary.

I know this is a drastic example, but it really does show that a bit more RAM and CPU power really can improve performance drastically

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That's what I want! – James McMahon Jul 21 '09 at 16:07
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