If you are like me, Vista isn't really as attractive as it appears. I certainly don't want to buy new applications to do what I already do now. So, what can we do to speed up the old XP machine so it feels like new? Well there are several things you can do on a regular basis that will keep your machine humming along like new. Lets jump right in.

Clean up your PC

1  Remove old applications. If you haven't used it in the last 6 months and don't forsee using it in the near future, remove it. Go to the control panel Start>Settings>Control Panel>Add remove software.

2. Run the disk cleanup utility. - Click My Computer>Right Click your C: drive>properties on the General Tab click the disk cleanup button. Check off the items there and clean up the drive. Make sure your recycle bin is empty before you go to the next step.

3. Defragment your drives- In the same properties window you will see a Tools tab. Click on the Defrag now button there. This will take a while so you should do this when you don't need the computer. I usually do it before I go to bed.

Speed up your PC

Turn off those non essential programs that start up when you turn on your PC.

 After you have removed programs you no longer need or use, you can stop several programs from starting up when you turn on your machine. The original intention of Microsoft was that, some of the programs you use could pre-load before you actually started up the application. This would make it feel like the application started up very quickly. Well, when you have 20-40 programs attempting to pre-load at start up, your machine slows to a crawl. Then, once it is finally started, you have all these applications taking up system resources. With all these programs running in a preloaded state, you get less resources to run the programs you actually want to use!

 There is one place where you can turn off all of these programs at once. It's called MSCONFIG. Go to the start menu> Run and type in msconfig. This will bring up a window that has multiple tabs at the top. You want the Startup tab. If you want the best performance from your PC you can choose to disable all or if you're not sure about some programs you can uncheck each line individually. I have personally run my machine with all items disabled for a very long time without any issues but you may find that you want certain things on. Have no fear, you can turn all of them back on at any time. Ultimately, when you actually use a program you disabled in that list, whatever it needs to run will run at the time you use it, rather than all the time. Personally I think this is the best method.

Keep up your PC!

While these are not the most cutting edge techniques to speeding up your PC, these tips can and should be used on a regular basis. Cleaning up your PC, defragging your hard drive, and controlling programs via msconfig are all items you can do once every 3-6 months depending on how much you use your computer. If you area heavy user you should do it more frequently, if you are a light user, then once every 6 months might be in order. Regardless of when or with what frequency you do these things, I can guarantee that doing these things will speed up your PC or keep it running smoothly for years to come.