How to speed up Windows Vista: developer tips. Optimizing Windows Vista

Soon after the release of Windows Vista, many proposals appeared regarding changes to the OS in order to improve its performance. Unfortunately, most of them were disappointing: they either created the illusion of more high performance, or rephrased existing tips for Windows XP that were not applicable to Vista.

Still, there are plenty of opportunities to improve productivity. Vista works. Over the past few months, I've been observing what works, what doesn't, and what their effects are. With just a little effort, you can make Vista run smoothly.

Here I have compiled the results of my own research into what exactly makes Vista work more efficiently. I've listed them in descending order of effectiveness, starting with the most useful.

1. Adding memory

There is one undeniable Vista performance change that actually works: more memory.

Yes, I know, Vista requires a ton of memory. You need at least 512 MB of RAM to install Vista - much more than Windows XP requires. As much as it's discussed, this is how Vista works, and there's no point in beating around the bush about this issue (in fact, Vista requires 512 MB to install, but I've found that you can run Vista after the initial installation with less memory).

It's been six years since XP was released, and the main memory allocation for running the latest systems is 512 MB or more. The price of memory has dropped significantly compared to the price of two years ago, so there is no reason to not provide the system with the required amount of memory. As a result, everything, not just Vista, will work well.

The basis for good everyday work in Vista will be 1 GB. If you have 512 MB, increase the memory to 1 Giga (or even more). My Sony laptop The VAIO, for example, works well with Vista with 1GB of memory, since I don't use games or any memory-intensive applications (and Office 2007 works fine).

There are reasons why adding memory may be impractical or impossible. One of them is cost, especially if the only way to upgrade your existing system is to replace all existing DIMMs rather than adding new ones. The best suggestion in this case would be to save money. If you save $10 weekly, then in a couple of months you will have accumulated the required amount and will have a great opportunity to purchase an excellent set of the required 1GB DIMMs at the current market price.

One of the questions I asked: is it true that the 32-bit version of Vista does not work well with more than 3GB of memory? Unfortunately, this is true. If you are running a 32-bit edition of Vista, even if you have more than 3GB of physical RAM, Vista will not use more than 3GB anyway. Memory beyond 3GB on a 32-bit system is eaten up by system devices (such as the video card) and cannot be effectively removed from the map for user applications.

Boot into 64-bit Vista and the allocated memory will change radically, allowing you to resolve the issue. One of the things that turns a lot of users off from running Vista 64-bit, even if they have a 64-bit machine, is driver support. external device– Most legacy devices will probably never be able to get drivers for 64-bit Windows.

Generalization: if you use 32-bit Windows, you can limit yourself to 2GB of memory and not feel disadvantaged in any way. Depending on what you do, you may not need that much.

A memory-saving trick I've seen is disabling unnecessary system services. Not the best idea for many reasons, since not very many of them are easily disabled. The total amount of memory gained after disabling selected system services will not have a major impact on performance. The exception is PCs with severely limited memory, on which Vista will not work anyway.

And yet, a program that does not create any difficulties when disabled is Sidebar. It is installed selectively, and if you use it from time to time, then there is no reason to use it (I don’t use it myself).

2. Search for reasons for unstable system operation

On existing hardware Vista shouldn't be slow. But if this happens, it means there is a flaw somewhere, and you will need to find it yourself. Therefore, you need to check the performance of the CPU and I/O devices. Don't try to guess what the reason is - take this issue seriously and conduct a detailed analysis. Sometimes the answer lies on the surface.

To study such problems, I chose the unimportant Process Explorer utility from Sysinternals. Download it, extract it to some directory in your user settings and use it as a replacement for Task Manager. When I use it, I usually select "Show Details for All Processes" from the file menu to run it as an administrator to view information about system services, as well as my own applications. Then I turn on CPU and I/O history (located under Options) and load it into the taskbar. If things start to slow down, I look at the CPU and I/O counters to see if they are showing any spikes. If yes, then we move the mouse cursor over the counters to find what “eats” most of the resources.

Constant use hard drive is the main symptom that something is wrong. Using Process Explorer will help you determine what is causing these problems and how serious they are. If you are using a disk and there is no or minimal I/O history, this means that the programs or application you are running must run at that low speed according to I/O priorities, and anything you do can be immediately canceled. In this case, the color of the disk becomes bright red.

(a sneaky trick. If your PC is at eye level, try placing the system unit under the table and see how much your perception changes. I discovered this when I was completely oblivious to the color of the hard drive; almost all the time I had no idea that the system was constantly loaded with something)

Some programs that can use I/O or CPU are system components. Here are the most common ones and their functions:

• TASKENG.EXE: The Task Scheduler Engine (task scheduling subsystem). Any task running as a scheduled task (such as defragmentation) will be listed as the main process.
• SVCHOST.EXE: Service Host(service node), a process that runs system services. When you double-click SVCHOST.EXE in Process Explorer and then click on the Services shortcut, you will see what services are loaded within that process. You can also hover your mouse over SVCHOST.EXE in the Process Explorer task list and see a recommended tool listing all the services implemented by that process.
• TrustedInstaller.exe: The system process used to install such system components, How Windows Update s (Windows update). Most people have noted that TrustedInstaller.exe starts up and runs quite aggressively for two minutes, sometimes slowing down or interrupting other tasks (such as games), and then stops (there have already been a large number of complaints about this, so I consider this component candidate for fixing in Service Pack 1).

Another great feature of Process Explorer is that you can display a "company name" column for any given EXE file to find who created it. If you see something that's causing a lot of trouble, and it's not a Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) system element, then you've most likely discovered the source of evil.

Introduction

Let me assume that many laptop owners would like their laptops to work faster. To do this, you need to take the following measures:

1. Installing and updating drivers;
2. Windows update and Service Pack installation;
3. Cleaning startup from unnecessary programs;
4. Optimizing hard drive performance;
5. Disable unnecessary services.

There are also other ways. Among them are overclocking the processor/video card, various kinds of upgrades (replacing laptop components), and various fine-tuning of the system. These methods will be described in the following materials.

And so, let's consider each of the above methods.

1. Installing and updating drivers

The Windows distribution contains a large number of standard drivers. When installing the system, the necessary ones are installed and the system can work with this or that equipment. The problem is that often the standard drivers are outdated. Also, for some devices, Windows does not have drivers at all. How to solve and install this problem necessary drivers described in this material: .

Particular attention should be paid to updating the drivers for the video card. You can read how to do this in these materials: and. The remaining drivers do not need to be updated. As they say: “Does it work? Don’t touch it!”

When all the drivers are installed, you can move on to the next step.

2. Windows Update

This may sound a little banal, but the system is worth updating. Vulnerabilities and errors are often fixed, but sometimes there are slight speed improvements.

In addition to the Service Pack, it is also worth installing DirectX. The latest version can be downloaded from the same Microsoft website or from this link: /.

Let's look at how to install updates on Windows:

Installing updates on Windows XP

First you need to go to Control Panel and select item Automatic update:

Let's turn it on:

When updates are downloaded in the background, the following prompt will pop up near the clock:

Click on this sign:

Choose Custom installation and click Next:

We select which updates we want to install and click Install. During installation you may be required to agree to the following terms:

After installing the updates, you can restart your laptop. Let us now consider the update process on Windows Vista And Windows 7

Installing updates on Windows Vista and Windows 7

Installing updates on Windows Vista and Windows 7 is essentially no different. Therefore, their description can be combined.

Let's go to Control Panel and launch Update Center:

At the end of the search, click to select which ones to install and which ones not to:

Choose necessary updates and press Install:

We agree to the license agreement:

After installing the updates, it is advisable to restart the laptop. Also, the necessary drivers may often come with updates.

3. Cleaning startup from unnecessary programs

It just so happens that many programs and drivers love to be registered in startup. In other words, they boot with Windows. This is fraught with the fact that Windows takes longer to load because of them, and running program takes up a certain amount of memory and processor resources. Among such programs, some are necessary (antiviruses, for example), and some are not so good. Let's look at how to remove unnecessary programs from startup and thus speed up your laptop.

There are many programs to solve this kind of problem. Autoruns is considered the most functional. In the same article we will look at managing startup using System Configurations.

First we open the window Execute:

Enter the command there and click Enter:

A window should open with System configuration. Go to the tab:

We mark the programs that should be loaded with Windows. You can understand where and what program using the columns Startup item And Team.

Discussion on the forum: If you don’t know what to disable and what not, then please refer to this forum thread: .

When finished, click apply and reboot:

4. Optimizing hard drive performance

This part will cover the following points:

1. Disable disk indexing and scheduled defragmentation;
2. Enable caching;
3. Enable DMA.

4.1 Disable disk indexing for quick search.

This option should be disabled if you are using the NTFS file system. The fact is that the contents of the disk are constantly indexed. This allows you to quickly search for files and folders. If you do not use search, then this option should be disabled. To do this, go to the disk properties:

Windows Vista and Windows 7 defragment on a schedule by default. Defragmentation is a very useful thing, but it is better to run it manually. To disable automatic defragmentation, you need to go to the tab in the disk properties Service and click on

Uncheck and click OK:

That's it. If you wish, then on this tab you can configure automatic defragmentation in the way that is convenient for you.

4.2 Enabling caching

What is caching and what is the use of it you can read in this material: NCQ Technology. In a nutshell, the benefits of caching are many. It allows you to significantly speed up work with your hard drive.

Let's look at how to enable it. To do this, open and go to the tab Equipment:

Select your hard drive and click on the button Properties. In the properties window, go to the tab Policy:

Put a check mark there and click OK. Caching is now enabled.

4.3 Enabling DMA

DMA (Direct Memory Access) technology should be enabled by default, but there are cases when it is disabled. In this case, playback of music, movies, and the laptop as a whole may slow down.

To check if it is enabled, you need to go to . In Windows Vista, to do this you need to go to computer properties:

We are interested in IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers. Let's go to their properties:

As you can see, on the tab Additional options the check mark is:

This means everything is fine.

We sorted out the hard drive. Let's move on to services.

5. Optimization of system services

Windows Vista introduced such technology as UAC, which is particularly intrusive. Constant dialog boxes asking you to confirm this or that action are the result of her work. It's been tweaked a bit in Windows 7, but it's still annoying to use sometimes.

To turn off UAC, you need to go to Control Panel and select item User Accounts:

And uncheck:

Click OK and reboot. That's it.

Let's now look at setting up system services. Service is small program, which runs in the background and performs a specific function. Setting up services is quite a complex task and requires special knowledge. This operation can be completely abandoned.

To go to configuring Windows services, right-click on Computer (My computer) and select from the menu:

In the window on the left select Services:

That's it. Thank you for your attention.

If you have any questions about this material, you should first read it and then ask a question on the forum.

Please post all questions about setting up Windows in this forum thread: .

You can make all comments and suggestions regarding the article itself through this contact form: Please note that if something doesn’t work out for you, then you should only ask. This kind of emails will be ignored.

Solving the problem with an upside-down image from a laptop webcam.

Do you feel an irresistible desire to customize the behavior of Windows Vista to suit yourself, and not to the taste of Microsoft? Then use these useful settings.

You've fired up Windows Vista, played around with the new Aero interface, and maybe even made some changes to Vista's internal structure to see what makes it work. What's next?

And now it all begins. There are many ways you can tweak Windows Vista, twist it into bending your will, and generally make Windows Vista behave the way you want, rather than what Microsoft intended.

Where to start? Here are the 10 most best settings. They will allow you to do everything in terms of increasing Windows performance Aero, open a super-secret administrator account and animate the right-click context menu - and, of course, tame the formidable User Account Control (UAC). So if you want to take control of Windows Vista, keep reading.

Warning: Some settings require changes to the Windows Registry, which may be unsafe. So before you start working with the registry, use System Restore to make a restore point so that you can return to the previous version of the registry if something goes wrong. To make a restore point, select Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Restore files from backup > Create a restore point or change settings.

10 Best Settings for Windows Vista:

1. Setting up User Account Control.

User Account Control in Windows Vista is the most criticized feature of the new operating system. Yes, it helps protect you, but after a while it causes nothing but irritation.

If UAC has brought you to the boiling point, you can turn it off. And there are several ways to do this. One of them is: Control Panel > User Accounts and Family Safety > User Accounts, then click on Turn User Account Control on or off ).

You can also launch the System Configuration Utility (the so-called msconfig utility) by entering msconfig in the command line or in the search field. After launching it, go to the Tools tab and scroll down to the Disable UAC item. Select it and click the Launch button, then reboot. To turn it back on, do the same and select Enable UAC.

And if you are a registry fan, you can disable UAC using the Registry Editor. Launch Registry Editor by typing regedit in the search field or command line and pressing Enter. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Policies\ System\ EnableLUA and change the key value to 0. You must reboot for the changes to take effect.

UAC is also guilty of another "annoyance" in Windows Vista. When you run a command from the command line, you are told that you need administrator rights to execute it, even though you are logged in as an administrator.

This is because UAC requires you to run Command Prompt as an administrator - called elevated command prompt. Logging in as an administrator is not enough; you still need to run an elevated command prompt.

One way to do this is to type cmd into the Start menu search box, right-click the Command Prompt icon that appears at the top of the Start menu, and then select Run as administrator ).

But if you don’t want to do similar actions every time you start the command line, then this can also be solved. You can create a desktop shortcut for the elevated Command Prompt, or place the elevated Command Prompt in the Start menu.

To create a desktop shortcut:

1. Right-click on the desktop and select New > Shortcut;
2. In the text field of the Create Shortcut dialog that appears, enter cmd, then click Next;
3. On the next screen, enter a name for created shortcut, such as Elevated Command Prompt. Click Finish;
4. Right-click on the newly created shortcut and select Properties;
5. Select the Shortcut tab and click the Advanced button;
6. Check the box labeled Run as administrator.

Now, to launch an elevated command prompt, just double-click on the created shortcut.

If you want to place an elevated command prompt in the Start menu, drag the shortcut from your desktop onto the Start button and place it where you want.

2. Opening a super-secret Administrator account.

Deep inside Windows Vista there is a secret Administrator account, and it is different from the simple Administrator account you usually put on your computer. This Administrator account is not part of the Administrators group. (Nothing bothers you? But it should). She is a kind of super administrator, and in this way she is similar to the root user in Unix systems; By default it is turned off and made hidden. (From now on, we will always use a capital letter “A” for the secret Administrator account to distinguish it from the simple Administrator account, which we will write with a lowercase letter.)

In versions of Windows prior to Windows Vista, the Administrator account was not hidden, and many people used it as their main, if not only, account. This account had full rights to manage the computer.

In Windows Vista, Microsoft changed this matter. The Administrator account is not covered by UAC, while the Administrator account is, and so on. So the Administrator can make any changes to the system and will never see UAC warnings.

How to enable the Administrator account is explained below. First, launch an elevated command prompt by typing cmd in the Start menu search box, right-clicking the command prompt icon that appears at the top of the Start menu, and then selecting Run as administrator ( Run as administrator) - or using the shortcut created in the previous setup.

Then, enter the following command and press Enter:

net user administrator /active:yes

From now on, the Administrator account will be available for selection on the Welcome screen along with other created accounts. Use it like any other account. Be careful, as it does not yet have a password, so it would be a good idea to set one.

If you need to disable this Administrator account and make it hidden, enter this command at an elevated command prompt and press Enter:

net user administrator /active:no

3. Setting the borders of Aero's glass windows.

The borders of system windows, such as dialog boxes and the Control Panel window, are transparent in the Aero interface in Windows Vista. These borders are customizable: you can stretch them, make them larger, change their color and level of transparency.

To make window borders larger or smaller:

1. Right-click on your desktop and select Personalize;
2. Click Window Color and Appearance;
3. Click Open classic appearance properties for more color options;
4. In the dialog box that opens, make sure that the color scheme is selected Windows Aero. Click the Advanced button located on the right side of the dialog box. A new Advanced Appearance dialog box will open ( Additional settings);
5. Select an item Border Padding(Framing) in the Item drop-down list. To change the border size, enter a new value (the default value is 4). Click OK, then OK again. The size of the borders will change.

That's not all you can do with window borders. To change border color, transparency, and other settings, right-click on your desktop and select Personalize > Window Color and Appearance.

1. Choose a color for your windows at the top of the screen from the built-in colors, or customize the color yourself by clicking on Show color mixer and moving the sliders that appear until you get the desired color.
2. To change the transparency of window borders, move the Color intensity slider to the left for greater transparency and, accordingly, to the right to increase color saturation.
3. To turn off transparency, uncheck the Enable transparency checkbox.

One of the most useful features of Vista, which is also one of the most dangerous, is the use of metadata. Metadata is information about files that you don't usually see, but that can help you find it.

For example, music files usually contain the name of the artist, the type of music, and so on. And photo files can contain various information: the date when the photo was taken, the author of the photo, the camera model, and the like. Document and spreadsheet files also contain information about their creator, including who created it, how long they spent editing it, who viewed the document, and so on.

In many cases, the program automatically generates its own metadata when creating a file. Users can also easily create or edit metadata. Right-click on the file, select Properties, select the Details tab. Then click in any field and type in any metadata, but remember that some metadata is not editable, such as when the file was last printed.

This metadata can be really useful because Windows Vista's search engine makes extensive use of it. So if you want to find all the music tracks written by, for example, Mozart, enter Mozart in the search field and Vista will search the metadata of the music files for the specified match.

However, there are also times when you do not want file metadata to be accessible to others or people outside your organization. Analyst firm Gartner Inc. indicates that in business, information about the buyer is often entered into the metadata of the file, for example, the marks “good buyer”, “bad buyer” - and it is unlikely that the seller would want this information to become public. Likewise, the personal information in the metadata in your documents is not particularly intended for outsiders.

It's pretty easy to remove any metadata from any file:

You can also remove metadata from a group of files at once. Select all the files from which you want to remove metadata, right-click on them and follow the instructions above. However, for this to work, the files must have common metadata fields, which will be deleted.

The right-click menu (also called the shortcut menu) in Windows Explorer in Windows Vista is extremely useful. Right-click on a file and a menu appears that allows you to perform numerous tasks such as opening the file, printing it, deleting it, copying it, creating a shortcut for it, and so on. The specific set of commands in this menu depends on the system settings and installed programs.

If you want, you can add options to the context menu. Hold down the Shift key while right-clicking on a file, and you'll see several new menu options, highlighted in the photo below:

Here's a list of the new menu items added and what each one does:

• Open as Read-Only: self-explanatory name, opens the file for read only.
• Pin to Start Menu: This command adds a file shortcut to the top of the Start menu. To remove a shortcut from the Start menu, right-click on it and select Remove from this list.
• Add to Quick Launch: Adds a shortcut to your file to the Quick Launch toolbar located on the left side of the taskbar. To delete a shortcut, right-click on it and select Delete.
• Copy as Path: This command copies the file name and location to the clipboard, for example, C:\Budget\2007 memo.xls. Now you can paste this information anywhere.

Windows Aero allows you to add some liveliness to the interface, but it all depends on your hardware, so Aero can significantly slow down the performance of your computer. But to increase it again, you can disable the Windows Aero interface, either entirely or in parts.

To turn off the Windows Aero interface:

What if you like some things in the Windows Aero interface, such as window animation, but others don't suit you, like, say, the transparency of window borders? You can turn off some of Aero's features to speed up your computer, but still keep the ones you like best.

To do this, select Start > Computer > System Properties. Select the Advanced system settings tab and in the Performance section click on the Settings button. The following window will appear:

Select Custom, uncheck the boxes where you think necessary, and click OK.

7. Disable the login window on Windows Vista computers with many users.

When you have more than one account on your Windows Vista computer, every time you bootstrap or reboot, a welcome window appears containing all the accounts on the machine. You need to click on one of them and then enter the password in the field that appears to start working in Windows Vista.

But what if, like many people, you only use one main account and others only occasionally? I'd like to skip the Welcome window showing all users and automatically log into Windows Vista every time I start - but Vista doesn't seem to be up to the task.

In fact, this is possible, as you will see later. Follow further instructions, and you can automatically boot into your main account and then switch to any other user:

1. In the search field or command line, type control userpasswords2 and press Enter. The User Accounts window will appear;
2. Select the account under which you want to automatically log into Vista, then uncheck the Users must enter a user name checkbox and password to use this computer (Require username and password). Click OK;
3. The Automatically Log On dialog box appears. Enter the account password for automatic login (if the displayed user account does not suit you, enter the name and password of the desired account). Click OK;
4. You can now automatically log in using this account. Once logged in, if you need to switch to another account, use Fast User Switching: Click the Start button, click the arrow in the lower right corner of the Start menu, and select Switch User.

In Windows Vista, the blinking cursor is razor thin and sometimes becomes difficult to find, especially if you are using a laptop. But it's easy to make the cursor as thick as you want. Select Control Panel > Ease of Access ( Accessibility) > Optimize visual display. Scroll all the way down to Make things on the screen easier to see, as shown below:

Here you can “fatten” Windows cursor Vista. Select a number from the drop-down list. The higher the number, the thicker the cursor. In the preview window you can see the result of the proposed changes. If everything is satisfactory, click Save. Now throughout Windows Vista the cursor will be thicker and therefore easier to spot.

For reasons inaccessible to mere mortals, Microsoft does not allow you to customize the operation of the screen saver - for example, change the number of bubbles for the Bubbles screensaver, or the number and thickness of ribbons for the Ribbons screensaver.

If you're not afraid to get your hands dirty digging around in the registry, then you can set them both up. For the Bubbles screensaver, for example, you can make the bubbles appear metallic or transparent, configure whether the bubbles have a shadow, and whether they appear against the desktop background or against a solid black background. And for the Ribbons screensaver, you can change the number and thickness of the ribbons.

To customize the Bubbles screensaver, launch the Registry Editor by typing regedit in the Start menu search field or command line and pressing Enter:

You can configure the Ribbons screensaver in the same way. To do this, open the Registry Editor, and then:

1. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Screensavers\ Ribbons Select Edit > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value and create new parameter DWORD, calling it NumRibbons. Select the decimal number system and in its value field enter the number of tapes to be displayed when the screen saver is running. The minimum number is 1, the maximum is 256;
2. Create a new DWORD value, calling it RibbonWidth, select the decimal number system, and in its value field enter a number that determines the thickness of the ribbons. The lower the number, the thinner the tape;
3. After leaving the Register, the changes made will take effect.

If you want to change the settings for these screensavers, go into the Registry Editor to the created values ​​and change them as necessary. To return to the original settings, simply delete these created settings.

10. We make Windows animation in slow-motion mode.

And now, when my hands are up to my elbows in mud after poking around in the Registry, here’s another great setting for a snack. It is completely useless, except for entertainment, and it’s nice to look at... It allows you to slow down the process of minimizing and maximizing windows from the taskbar at your command.

To do this, you first need to edit the Registry. After that, if you want a slow motion animation, press and hold down the Shift key. Releasing it will return to normal speed.

Launch Registry Editor by typing regedit in the Start menu search box or in the command line and pressing Enter. Then:

1. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM;
2. Choose Edit > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value and create a new DWORD value calling it AnimationsShiftKey. In its value field, enter the number 1;
3. Close the Registry, then exit Windows and log back in, or better yet, reboot;
4. Press and hold the Shift key and minimize and maximize windows. The animation will slow down significantly. To make the animation run at its normal speed, release the Shift key.

The VistaGeeks team has begun working on a “Windows Vista Tweaking Guide” to help users get comfortable with the new operating system without losing any of its benefits. Yes, we all know that Vista has higher hardware performance requirements. It is for this reason that the idea was born to write this guide…

Despite the fact that not everyone can afford to upgrade their computer, much less buy a new one, it is still possible to work comfortably in Vista. The only thing you need to do is optimize it a little and perform a couple of tweaks. This is exactly what our guide is about. We strongly recommend that you make a complete backup of your important information before following our instructions. And although we have checked our tweaks dozens of times, there is still a risk of incorrectly changing the registry key, which can lead to complete system inoperability. Therefore, we ask you to save important data. Remember that this step will prevent you from many “oopssss” in the future. Let's get started!

Here is the configuration of our computer on which we will optimize Windows Vista.

Before optimization, the computer had difficulty handling Windows Vista. The goal of our guide is to get the most out of your computer’s hardware. It is worth noting that most of the tweaks described in the guide are applicable not only to owners of old computers, but also to any high-end system.

Disabling UAC

UAC, otherwise known as UAP (User Account Control/User Account Protection), is one of those features that distracts you from your work. This function was created with a focus on the average user, who needs this type of protection from all sorts of troubles. If you're reading this guide, chances are you know how to manage your Vista. Here's how to disable UAP:

1. Press Windows Key + R (winkey + R);
2. In the Run dialog, write “msconfig” without quotes;
3. Go to the Tools tab, scroll the list to the end and select “Disable UAP”;
4. A console appears that says “Command completed successfully” – the command was completed successfully;
5. Reboot your computer and enjoy your freedom.

Disable some visual effects

We go along the following path: Control panel/ System/ Advanced system settings/ Advanced tab/ Performance-Settings/ Visual effects (Default Tab) and uncheck the following items:

• Animate controls and elements inside windows
• Fade or slide menus into view
• Fade or slide tooltips into view
• Fade out items after clicking
• Show shadows under menus
• Show shadow under mouse pointer
• Show translucent selection rectangle
• Slide open combo boxes
• Slide taskbar buttons

You can turn this off if you want, but it will reduce Vista's visual appeal:

• Enable transparent glass
• Enable Desktop composition
• Use a background image for each folder type

Save the changes.

Changing the amount of virtual memory

Memory management in Windows Vista is very similar to that in Windows XP. The only exceptions are Superfetch technology and the use of indexing. On the other hand, memory management is different from that used in previous versions of the OS: Windows 95/98/SE/ME. It doesn't matter how much physical memory you have, but your virtual memory settings - Windows Vista Virtual Memory (aka Swapfile or Pagefile) - will have a huge impact on overall system performance.

Before setting the paging file size, you must first clear the existing one. To perform this action, you must select the No Paging File option and click on the Set button, then restart the computer. This operation does two things at the same time: first, it deletes the page file, eliminating potential damage to the page file that could be caused by an improper shutdown (remember this - it will help get rid of many problems in the future); secondly, it places the newly created paging file in one unfragmented block on the hard drive, which again increases the performance of the memory subsystem.

Once the page file is cleared, you can start creating a new one. On which disk or partition the paging file should be located can be selected based on the following rules:

1. One hard drive and one partition: The page file is located on the main partition of the hard drive (there are no other options);
2. One hard drive and several partitions: The page file should be located on the first partition, because it is the fastest. Placing it on another partition negates the benefits of creating multiple partitions, because the hard drive's read head cannot be in two places at the same time.
3. Two or more hard drives: The paging file must be located on physical disk, on which Windows and other applications are not installed. This will reduce the amount of read head movement on the primary drive and speed up page file access time on the other drive.

This information is based on our own tests:

Go to Control panel/System/Advanced system settings/Advanced/Performance-Settings/Advanced/Virtual Memory-Change...

Save the changes by clicking the Apply button and restart the computer.

Disabling System Restore

In Windows Vista, the system restore service - System Restore - is one of the main reasons for poor performance. Even though the new version is an improvement over previous versions of Windows, we recommend backing up your data instead of performing a system restore. To disable the System Restore feature, you must follow these steps:

1. Open the Start menu;
2. Right-click on the Computer icon and select Properties;
   
3. On the left side of the panel, select the Advanced Settings link;
   
4. If UAC asks for confirmation, click Allow;
   
5. Go to the System Protection/System Restore tab;
   
6. Uncheck the boxes next to the logical drives listed in the list;
   
7. Save the changes.

In this article we will tell you how you can make Windows Vista run faster while consuming less memory.

It is no secret that after installation the system does not work in the best way, since a bunch of unnecessary programs, services, etc. are launched. This is what MirSovetov will do now - we’ll tell you how to disable unnecessary services, programs and optimize the registry and virtual memory. Windows edition– Windows Ultimate (32 bit). But everything stated above is also suitable for other versions of this OS. It is assumed that you already have the system and all necessary software installed. Keep in mind that the list of services may vary slightly on different PCs, since different software is installed, but the main ones remain unchanged. So let's begin.

Removing unnecessary Windows components

Go to “Programs and Features” in the Control Panel and select “Turn Windows features on or off.”

Most home PC users are unlikely to need the following components installed by default: Telnet-server, Additional components for tablet PCs, Telne client t, TFTP client, component SNMP, subsystem Unix-applications, RIP Listener,IIS service, DFS Replication Service, NFS services .
Some users may not require components Windows Indexing Service(you can remove this if you rarely search your computer), Print Services (if you don't have a printer), Windows Scan and Fax Services (if you don't have a scanner and fax). Uncheck the boxes next to the names of unnecessary services, click OK, wait for Windows to remove them, and restart your computer.

Interface optimization

If your PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, then you can forget about the beautiful Windows Aero interface. We disable it: right-click on “Computer”, in the “System” window, select “Advanced system settings”, click on the button in the “Performance” frame, on the “ tab Visual effects» set “Ensure the best performance”.

Click the “OK” button (this item is also useful for those who do not like all the modern bells and whistles of the Windows interface, but prefer the strict style of Win 98). If you want to disable something that you personally don’t need—for example, the transparency effect or you just don’t like the Windows Aero interface—then just uncheck the box next to the description.

Let's take a look at the taskbar. Right-click on it and select “Properties”. A window opens as in the picture.

The following checkboxes affect performance: “Display sample windows” (this is when a thumbnail of the window appears when you hover over a button on the taskbar) and, to a very small extent, “Group similar taskbar buttons”. To improve performance, it is better to disable window thumbnails. MirSovetov recommends leaving the grouping of buttons, since with a large number of open windows it is easier to find the right window.

Set the switch to “Classic Start Menu”. But if you don’t like the classic menu look, then you can optimize the one that Vista offers. To do this, on the “Start Menu” tab, set the switch to the “Start Menu” position (if it was not already there) and press the “Customize” button

Performance is largely influenced by the element "Highlight recently installed programs"(on many computers with the flag enabled, noticeable slowdowns appear when opening the menu), so it is better to remove it.
The “Search” element has a lesser effect; it can be left in place.

The remaining parameters configure the display of various menu elements, this is at personal discretion, this does not affect performance.
The two remaining tabs “Notification Area” and “Toolbar” are used to customize the menu, so everyone decides for themselves what to enable, what to disable, etc.

Registry optimization

Optimizing the Windows Vista registry is, in most cases, speeding up work OS by 40-50%. But, at the same time, this is the most risky setup step, so we won’t stop here, but will only talk about safe registry settings.

Note. Most OS customizer programs also optimize the registry; MirSovetov will talk about one such program at the end of the article. This section contains registry settings that the program does not change.

Let's enter the registry editor: press the key combination “Windows” + “R”, a window opens "Run", in it we enter regedit and press the button "OK"

The Registry Editor will open. Go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE branch, then SYSTEM, CurrentControlSet section, FileSystem subsection (see screenshot

Attention! This is a setting for those who have hard drives file system NTFS! You can find out what file system you have in the disk properties (go to “Computer”, select the hard drive, right-click the menu, select “Properties”).

Double-click the left mouse button on the NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation parameter and set it to 1 in the “Value” window. This option prevents the creation of backup file names on the system in MS-DOS format (8 characters - file name + 3 characters extension), which is created for compatibility with MS-DOS. Who needs this compatibility now...

Next, open the NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate parameter and set the value 1 . This will speed up your hard drive. If the value of the NtfsEncryptPadingFile parameter is not equal to 0, then set it to 0. This option provides encryption for the page file, but for most home users it is completely useless. We don't touch anything else here.
Scroll down the list below and find the PriorityControl section .

The Win32PrioritySeparation setting allocates CPU resources between background and active applications. You can set from 0 to 32, but the recommended value is 6. Do not set it to 0, as this will simply freeze your computer.
This concludes the optimization of the Windows Vista registry (we will set the remaining parameters using the program described at the end of the article).

Service optimization

Services (or services) are system programs necessary for the operation of OS components. But not all components are exactly what you need. The list of services on different PCs may vary, because... they run different software. You can access services through “Control Panel” - “Administration” - “Services”.

If you highlight a service name, you will see a description of that service on the left.
Double click left mouse button on the service name will bring up a dialog box, as in the figure.

The “Startup type” drop-down list specifies whether the service can be started:
1.automatically (Auto) – the service starts when the OS starts;
2.manually – the service starts on demand;
3.disabled – the service does not start under any circumstances;
4. delayed start – the service does not start when the OS starts, but a little later.

Below are names of services for the Russian version of Windows Vista

English names of services are given in brackets. Some services do not have Russian names and are written in English everywhere. Please note that the service name is internal name, the one used when accessing it, often an abbreviation of the English name, the display name is what you see in the list of services. In some cases, the service name may have nothing at all to do with the displayed name, not even its English abbreviation.
Below is a service setup that will suit most users. World of Soviets draws your attention to the fact that you may not have some services, and some of your services may not be in this description! So, setting up services:

• DHCP client (DHCP Client) - manually (but if you don’t know if you need DHCP to access the Internet - set Auto).
• DNS Client – ​​Manually.
• InstallDriverTableManager – Manually.
• KtmRm for Distributed Transaction Coordinator – Disabled.
• Microsoft .Net Framework (the version number follows) – Manually.
• Plug-and-Play - Auto.
• Quality Windows Audio Video Experiense – Manual.
• ReadyBoost – if you do not want to use flash memory to speed up the system – Disabled, otherwise – Auto.
• Superfetch - Auto.
• Windows Audio - Auto.
• Windows Card Space - Disabled.
• Windows Driver Foundation – User-Mode Driver Framework – Auto.
• WmiPerfomanceAdapter - Manually.
• Offline Files – Disabled. Most home users don't need support offline files.

Note. By and large, after disabling this service, it would be a good idea to disable the Offline Files driver. This can be done in Device Manager. But since when manipulating system drivers there is a high risk of bringing the system into an inoperative state, this operation is not described here (for the same reason, the article does not describe the part devoted to manipulating system drivers).

• IPSEC Policy Agent – ​​Disabled.
• Windows Backup - Manually.
• Windows Firewall ( Windows Firewall) – Disabled. It's better to install a third-party firewall.
• Web Client - Disabled.
• Virtual Disk – Manually.
• IP Helper—Disabled.
• Secondary Logon – Be sure to DISABLE!
• Peer Networking Grouping – Manually.
• Dispatcher automatic connections(Remote Access Auto Connection Manager) – Manually.
• Print Spooler – if there is no printer, then disable it. If you have a printer, try installing Manually; if it doesn’t work (this depends on the printer driver), then Auto.
• Note. If you disable this service, icons from the Printers folder may disappear.
• Remote Access Connection Manager - Manual.
• Desktop Window Manager Session Manager - Provides a Windows Aero interface. If you use it, then Auto, otherwise – Disabled.
• Peer Networking Identity Manager – Disabled.
• Security Accounts Manager (SAM) – Auto.
• Access to HID devices (Human Interface Devices Access) – if there is a USB keyboard or mouse, as well as a wireless keyboard/mouse, then Auto, otherwise – Manual.
• Windows Event Log – Auto.
• Performance Logs & Alerts – Manual.
• Windows Defender - Disabled. It's better to install a third-party program.
• Protected Storage – Manually.
• CNG Key Isolation – Manual.
• Windows Management Instrumentation – Auto.
• Application Experience Information - Disabled. You already have applications, don't you?
• Group Policy Client – ​​Auto.
• Distributed Links Tracking Client – ​​Disabled.
• Distributed Transaction Coordinator – Disabled.
• Cache Windows fonts Presentation Foundation (Windows Presentation Foundation Font Cache) – Manually.
• Licensing software(Software Licensing) – Auto.
• SNMP Trap – Disabled.
• Remote Procedure Call Locator (RPC) – Disabled.
• Routing and remote access(Routing and Remote Access) – Disabled. Most home users do not need this, but if your local network does not work, try setting this service to Auto.
• IPsec Keying Modules for Internet Key Exchange and IP Authentication (IKE and AuthIP IPsec Keying Modules) – Disabled.
• DCOM Server Process Launcher – Auto.
• Launch module Windows services Media Center ( Windows Media Server Service Launcher) – Manually.
• NetBios support module via TCP/IP (TCP/IP NetBios Helper) - most users do not need it, Disabled.
• Terminal Services Configuration – Disabled.
• Windows Connect Now – Config Registrar – Manual.
• SSDP Discovery – Disabled.
• Interactive Services Detection - Manual.
• Computer Browser – Disabled.
• Internet Connection Sharing – Disabled.
• Shell Hardware Detection – Auto.
• Trusted Platform Module Base Services – Disabled unless you are using TMP and/or BitLocker chips.
• Terminal Services UserMode Port Redirection - Manual.
• PnP-X Bus Enumerator - Manual.
• Task Scheduler – Auto (otherwise you won’t be able to switch keyboard layouts).
• Multimedia Class Scheduler – Auto (otherwise you will be left without sound).
• Problem Reports and Solutions Control Panel Support - Manual.
• Windows Search (Windows Searcher) – If you don’t search much on your computer, then Disabled.
• Smart Card Removal Policy – ​​Disabled if you do not have smart cards.
• Wired AutoConfig – Manually.
• Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider - Manual.
• PNRP (Peer Name Resolution Protocol) – Manual.
• Function Discovery Resource Publication – Disabled.
• Workstation – if the computer is not used as a server, then Manually.
• Certificate Propagation – Disabled.
• Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) – Manual.
• DFS Replication – Disabled.
• Parental Control – Disabled. If necessary, it is better to install a third-party program. Because any student who has the slightest understanding of the principles of operation of such programs can disable this parental control. And you can be sure that everyone at this age is a hacker.
• Windows Event Collection – Disabled.
• Application Information - Manually.
• Server – if the computer is not used as a server and sharing of files and folders is not needed – Disabled.
• Thread Ordering Server – Manual.
• Network Logon (Netlogon) – Disabled.
• Network Connections – Auto.
• Com+ Event System – Manual.
• Systemic Com app+ (COM+ System Application) – Manually.
• SSTP Service - Manual.
• WinHTTP Web Proxy Auto-Discovery Service – Disabled.
• WLAN AutoConfig service (WLAN AutoConfig) – if there is no WiFi, then Disabled, otherwise – Auto.
• Base Filtering Engine – Auto.
• Tablet PC Input Service – Disabled. Unless, of course, you work on a tablet.
• Windows Time Service – Disabled.
• Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) - Manual. If the scanner/digital camera does not want to work (again, it depends on the driver) – Auto. If there is neither a scanner nor a camera and there will not be one – Disabled.

Note. If you disable this service, icons from the Scanners and Cameras folder may disappear.

• Network Store Interface Service - Manual.
• Windows Media Center Extender Service – Disabled. If you don't have this media console.
• Block Level Backup Engine Service – Manual.
• Service public access to Net.TCP ports (Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service) – Disabled.
• Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service - Manual.
• Portable Device Enumerator Service – Disabled.
• Windows Media Center Scheduler Service – if not used, then Disabled.
• Bluetooth Support Service – if there is no Bluetooth, Disabled, otherwise Auto. If you set it to Manual, for some reason the service does not start when necessary.
• Diagnostic Policy Service - Manual.
• Program Compatibility Assistant Service – Disabled.
• User Profile Service – Auto.
• PNRP Machine Name Publication Service - Manual.
• Registration Service Windows errors(Windows Error Reporting Service) – Disabled.
• Windows Media Center Receiver Service – Disabled if not used.
• Network Location Awareness – Auto.
• Network List Service – Auto.
• Software Licensing Notification Service (SL UI Notification Service) – Manual.
• System Event Notification Service – Manual.
• Windows Remote Management (WS-Management) Service – Disabled.
• Application Layer Gateway Service - Manual.
• Cryptographic Service – Auto.
• Terminal Services – Manually.
• Smart Card – if not, Disabled.
• Windows Audio Endpoint Builder – Auto (otherwise you will be left without sound).
• Telephony – Manually.
• Themes – if not used, Disabled, otherwise – Auto. For the Aero interface to work, this service must be started as Auto.
• Volume Shadow Copy - Manually.
• Link-Layer Topology Discovery Manager - Manually.
• Remote Procedure Call (RPC) – Auto.
• Remote Registry – Disabled.
• Diagnostic System Host - Manual.
• Diagnostic Service Host - Manual.
• UPnP Device Host – Disabled.
• Application Management – ​​Manually.
• Health Key and Certificate Management – ​​Disabled.
• Windows Installer ( Windows Installer) – Manually.
• Windows Modules Installer - Manual.
• Fax – if not, Disabled, otherwise Manual. If the fax does not work – Auto.
• Background Intelligence Transfer Service (BITS) – Disabled.
• Function Discovery Provider Host – Disabled.
• Color Windows system(WCS) (Windows Color System) – Manual.
• Security Center - How tired everyone is of him... Disabled.
• Center Windows updates(Windows Update) - Manually. If you want updates to be downloaded automatically – Auto.

These are the main Windows services, but you may have other services. If you experiment with them, remember the startup type of each service so that later you can restore the system.