Speeding up Windows Vista

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Speeding up Windows Vista

Nikhil Rastogi, Sep 16, 2007 1419 hrs IST

Is Windows Vista slowly sucking the life away from your PC? Fret not. In this article, we show you expert tips and tweaks to speed up Vista.

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Side Please! Sidebar
The second most obvious resource hog is Windows Vista Sidebar. Yes - that thing, which makes Windows Vista look as pretty as Mac OS and provides instant access to gadgets. (Gadgets are those small applications that provide easier access to most frequently used tools, such as the clock or the yellow sticky notes, etc.)

Although this can be very useful, but it's also a top resource hog - especially if your computer is lacking processing power or free memory. If this is the case, you have no choice but to disable it. But then, what happens to the accessing these applications when you want them? What have you forgotten already? Good old fashioned Windows shortcuts is the way.

1. Just right-click the Windows Sidebar icon, and then click "Exit".
2. You may be asked whether you want to remove Windows Sidebar from starting with Windows: choose "Yes" to bar it from starting with Windows.
3. If you didn't get that choice, simply right-click the icon before you exit, click on "Properties", deselect "Start Sidebar when Windows Starts".

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Discussion Board

(29) Comments

Hari Nair

,Bangalore, on Jan 26, 2009 08:03 PM

Excellent tips! My Vista's performance has really shot up now and its begining to close in XP performance. Thanks for the tips - Nikhil and keep up the good work, !!

manak

,mohali, on Mar 09, 2008 11:12 PM

now i can use vista very fastly

linux4life

,Mumbai, on Sep 16, 2007 11:13 PM

Most basic question of all... are there enough people buying Vista in India? If someone is so fed up of XP and want an upgrade, better go for Linux. There are quite a few distributions which look as nice or better than vista with better performance.

ANAND

,Baroda, on Sep 21, 2007 11:01 AM

Hey Linux man, <br> SUSE linux 10.1 has better option. <br> But here people uses piracy eventhough it's linux/windows. Indians cannot use only pirated Mac. It's a shame that over 70% people in india using pirated OS.

Sameer

,Mumbai, on Sep 22, 2007 02:18 PM

Normal PC user is not concerned whether the OS is Open Source or not. Who cares when u can get Vista (Pirated) as free. Ultimately what matters is usability, and Microsoft has no competition in this issue. Linux sucks big time which needs to write (code) configs for making ur Network drivers work, forget about other external devices.

Kartz

,VSP, on Jan 16, 2008 06:03 PM

Hey man different linux os having great environments than vista but linux have less softwares than windows.This is the main reason one is not interested in linux....

ravi

,chennai, on Dec 09, 2007 04:21 PM

please inform where and what price readyboost flash memory vaialable.need one for sony vaio laptop

raju

,jsr, on Sep 29, 2007 09:41 AM

I have vista operting system.I want to know how to configure tv tuner card in this operting system.

Sagar Saxena

,Ghaziabad, on Oct 24, 2007 08:56 AM

its so easy install updated driver first for ur device, then open media center , default application of win vista

Sagar Saxena

,Delhi, on Sep 29, 2007 11:31 AM

if u want to increase speed of xp, 2003 & vista do this, disable auto update service, disable security center service, disable windows defender service, disable firewall service, disable user access control from user accounts, disable error reporting service, delete startup entry of windows defender from msconfig. now your system is running perfect, its 100% working, its my invention. bye bye, call me 09818557585

vimal

,Karanja, on Sep 25, 2007 05:40 PM

It has really helped me!

Anonymous

,SY, on Sep 23, 2007 05:38 PM

These tips are very useful... shall use it. Thanks http://www.audiobooksportal.com/

gane

,delhi, on Sep 21, 2007 12:58 AM

with vista,what must be a right config. 3ghz proc/2 gb ram/good fsb/ but in a laptop best to go for desktop replacement laptop since i have been using a laptop with vista which really test patience.

neil

,mumbai, on Sep 20, 2007 12:07 AM

pretty dumb article, like we didnt already know that shutting aero will speed it up! sheesh, talk about stupid. u speed up a system by stopping unnescesary services not shutting any process that uses up a lot of resources. if ur gonna run vista widout aero, mite as well use win 98, theres not much difference. and abt the guys cribbing abt vista - i have tried vista ultimate, xp, mac os x and ubuntu. ubuntu sux coz its not at all user-friendly for the non-geeks among us. simple processes that are automated in windows and mac, need millions of commands and code. mac os ROCKS!!! i have a macbook pro, and the mac os is ten times better than vista in most aspects, except for some things. the main problem is the shortage of softwares and support for macs in india. also, some things like auto network detection in xp are missing in macs, and a lot of config is needed. and vista rocks too, thanks to its new look, but windows crashes and BSODs are still a big problem! so overall, in india, if u have a gud pc, wid 2 gb ram and stuff, go for vista nyday!

anony

,realworld, on Sep 17, 2007 08:40 PM

windows sucked, it sucks now, and it will keep sucking in the future, till microsoft learns to make better stuff for the people and not just goody-goody eyecandy

Abhy!!

,Mumbai, on Sep 17, 2007 07:03 PM

the stats show 250 copies of Vista sold in China and approx 250 in India ...officially . well , ppl instead of crying and cribbing for OS ... I urge ya'll to use UBUNTU ...The future is OPEN SOURCE and very user friendly and it even looks stylish and kewl . Vista is namesake but UBuntu is here to live forever . I'd place my bets with VIsta+sp1 . . .

Nevarre

,Gurgaon, on Sep 17, 2007 03:42 PM

We can assemble Vista ready PC in very very low budget now with powerful C2D, Dx GPU and 2GB RAM. E4400 5k + 8600GT 6k + 2GB DDR2 RAM 3.4k + 160GB SATA2 HDD 2k = 16.4k (Vista will fly, I guarantee. Grow up guys. Dont blame Microsoft If UR PC is outdated).

Rob

,AP, on Sep 17, 2007 12:04 PM

Vista is good, I have just upgraded to Vista Home Premium from XP Prof but again my hardware is good, 2 GB RAM and a Quad Core and believe me its faster and much better than XP. I guess you should not even try to install Vista if you have less than 1 GB of RAM.

Nevarre

,Gurgaon, on Sep 17, 2007 03:36 PM

Yes fulfill Vista demands and it will fly, faster than XP. XP starts to slow down after some days. But Vista remains fresh thanks to its Prefetch feature. XP is current and Vista is future.

Anonymous

,motocity, on Sep 16, 2007 05:53 PM

Best Tip: uninstall vista and use XP

Rocks

,Philadelphia, on Sep 16, 2007 07:15 PM

Ha ha. Tomorrow you will say to Uninstall XP and use 2000. Grow up!

Anonymous

,blr, on Sep 16, 2007 08:21 PM

guss, You need to grow up!!

ragsbava

,nasiCko, on Sep 17, 2007 07:59 AM

ur aWsome dUde.....aWsome tiP..........kEEp it uP.........u area mOre ON and ON and Onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Aman

,Bangalore, on Sep 17, 2007 09:50 AM

u should use win98 Se.. Better for u

Deeptiman

,New-Delhi, on Sep 17, 2007 05:53 AM

Its good .........Keep it up to date

Anonymous

,Sydney, on Sep 17, 2007 05:18 AM

Thanks very useful and very timely

Vikram

,Chennai, on Sep 17, 2007 12:29 AM

I've installed Vista Ultimate in my laptop, though it is resource hungry i dont see any difference in performance when compared with XP which came default with this laptop with that of Vista. Vista is a Good upgrade in terms of security, looks, performance, system drivers and many more. Also the DX10 allows the games to work better as well.

GadgetGuy

,Hyderabad, on Sep 17, 2007 02:38 AM

ha ha... hay you must be Using Either TOP END hardware or (Most Likely) using "Vista Home Basic" try using "Vista Home Premium" or "Vista Ultimate Edition" & then Talk man...

Ameya Sohoni

,Mumbai, on Sep 16, 2007 09:46 PM

Pretty banal article...it's something any Tom, Dick and Harry cud write on his blog! C'mon guys, are you running out of ideas???

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