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Abhishek Baxi (Moderator): We are pleased to welcome our Expert for today’s chat. I will have himm introduce himself now.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): A: Good afternoon everyone
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Welcome to this webchat. Let me introduce myself.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Myself Vishal Gupta. A Microsoft MVP in Windows: Shell/User
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Today I'll tell about some interesting points, which can be used to speed up your Windows. You'll notice a big improvement after following these points.
Abhishek Baxi (Moderator): Let’s begin the chat. We welcome you to begin submitting your questions for Vishal.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): I'll explain each point one by one and once a point is completed, you can put up any query. I'll try my best to answer your question.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): So here we go. Tighten your seat belts and get ready for our journey to make Windows Vista super fast...
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): I'll cover all points from newbies point of view to power users.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): cool. So here we start with first point.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): 1. Install only necessary software in your system.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Many times we install lots of software in our Windows without even know what this software does?
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Many software add their entry in system startup, so it may slow down your system.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): So its better to install only those software which are required.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): 2. ScanDisk and Defrag Windows regularly
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Whenever we install a software or create any document, its stored in hard disk sectors randomly.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): So its good to defrag the hard disk regularly using Windows defragmenter. It'll move all parts of a file to a single place and it'll speed up the system.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): 3. Use updated drivers and Automatic Windows Updates.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Always keep your system updated. Make sure all your Windows drivers are updated.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Also don't forget to update your Windows regularly. Keep Windows Automatic Updates ON. So that it can check for new updates.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): There are many security and other updates which can make your Windows more reliable and faster and also more secure.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): If you have any query, you can ask in the middle
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): otherwise I'll move on to next point.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): 4. Disable eye candy effects like Animations, Shadows, etc.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): There are many cool effects in Windows Vista like Windows animations, shadows under menus, mouse cursors.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): It looks cool but also takes some resources
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): so if you want to speedup your Windows, disable all such animations.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): And you'll notice an improvement
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): To disable the animations, right-click on "My Compuer" icon on Desktop,
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): and select Properties.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Now click on "Advanced System Settings" link in left side pane.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Click on "Settings" button in "Performance" section.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): and here you'll get a list of various options
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): like "Animate Controls and elements inside Windows"
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): "Animate Windows while minimizing and maximizing"
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): etc.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): You can these options without any problem.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): most of them are only for cool animations.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): You can leave following options checked:
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Enable Desktop Compsition (If you are using Aero theme)
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Enable Transparent Glass (If you want transparency in Windows)
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Show Previews and filters in folder (if you want to see Details Pane in folders)
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Smooth edges of screen fonts (which is a good option to see smoother fonts)
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Use drop shadows for icon labels on desktop (to have transparent background in desktop items name)
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Use visual styles on windows and buttons (to use Windows themes)
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Thats are only 4 or 5 options which you should enable. All remaining options can be safely disabled.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Now open Folder Options in My Computer
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Organize -> Folder and Search Options
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Goto "View" tab.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Now following options can be safely disabled to speed up Windows:
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Display file icon on thumbnails. (It'll not show file type icon on thumbnails)
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): "Hide Extensions for known file type" (Yuo should always disable this option)
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): It helps in rectifying virus in system.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): many times a few virus create an EXE file having Folder icon. So if this option is enabled, you can't distinguish between normal folders and virus EXE file
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): so its always better to disable this option.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Show envrypted or compressed NTFS files in color (you can disable this option. It shows compreesed NTFS files in blue color)
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): \Use checkboxes to select items (Its a good option to have a checkbox whenever you hover cursor over an item)
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): You can enable/disable this option according to your requirements.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Hi Saurav
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Next point is to disable unwanted items fro startup.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): As I told earlier. Many software add their entry in system startup. So whenever we start WIndows, they automatically start and run in background.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Its always good to disable them from startup so that they don't take system resources.
Abhishek Baxi (Moderator): For guests who have joined us late, the topic for today is Speeding up Windows Vista. We have Vishal Gupta, an MVP, as expert.
Abhishek Baxi (Moderator): Please continue, Vishal.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Thanks.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): You can view a list of those startup items using "msconfig"
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Click on Start button and type msconfig in Run dialog box or Searchbox
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Now goto "Startup" tab.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Here you can see all items which are set to start automatically with Windows.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): You can uncheck any item which you think is not important and necessary.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Like You can see "Winamp" entry there if you have Winamp installed in your Windows
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): You can see your VGA driver utility, Sound utility, and many others.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): You can disable them and if you feel that you disabled an important item, then you can enable it again
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): so its safe.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): In Vista you can also get the same list in Windows Defender
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Open Windows Defender
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Click on Tools and then click on "Software Explorer"
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): It'll show all startup items with description.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Along with these items there are many services which are started automatically with Windows.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): You can see which services are running in background using Task Manager.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Right click on taskbar and select Task Manager
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): you can also use "Ctrl+Shift+Esc" key combination to open Task Manager
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Here goto "Processes" tab
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): and it'll show a list of all services running in background
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): There are a few services which can be stopped to speedup Windows.,
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): But you need to be careful in choosing the services.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): To change services settings you'll need to open "services.msc"
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): You can open it using RUN.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): It'll show all services list.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Sort them by "Startup Type"
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): The services having "Automatic" as their Startup Type start automatically with Windows.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Double click on a service and it'll open its Properties
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Here you can change its Startup Type.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): You'll see 4 options in Starup Type:
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Automatic (Delayed Start)
Automatic
Manual
Disabled
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Never choose "Disabled" for any service.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Because if you set any service to "Disabled" and Windows need that service for anything, it'll show error and you might face problems.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): So its always better to set unwanted services to "Manual"
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): so that whenever Windows need a service, it can start the service on demand
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Next point is Diable unwanted Sounds
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Windows plays various sound clips upon activities
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): like log on, log off, navigating through folders, emptying recycle Bin, Restarting, Shutting Down, etc.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): All these sounds make Windows a bit slow.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): You can disable these sounds also.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Welcome Gary4gar
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Its still running
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): To disable Sounds, Open Control Panel
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): and double click on "Sound"
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): It'll open Sounds applet
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): now goto "Sounds" tab which will be the 3rd tab
Abhishek Baxi (Moderator): Vishal has been talking about tips and tricks for speeding up Windows Vista. Please feel free to ask questions if you have any.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Here you can disable sounds which are not required.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): I'll advise to disable "Windows Logoff", "Windows Logon", "Exit Windows" and "Start Navigation" sounds
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): These sounds can help in making system startup/shutdown a bit faster.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): New laptops come with lots of utilities pre-installed
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): which are called crapware
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): bye Utkarsh
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Q: Will disabling sound will speed up Vista? OK, Like disabling startup sound but for other sounds related to events, will it also help in speeding up ?
A: Yep. It can
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Q: ok but in my new laptop no crapware i found
A: Crapware are utilities bundled with new machines.
Abhishek Baxi (Moderator): Vishal is catching up on existing questions, we welcome you to continue submitting your questions.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Q: crapware is certainly there, but its not that crap
A: You can disable them using msconfig.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Q: ok but they can be find out in control panel or add/remove progs.
A: Yep. Most of them can be found
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): @iMav. You can read their description in "Services.msc"
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): And also there dependencies upon other services.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): So if you feel that a service is not required, set it to "Manual".
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Q: i also get a error everytime i boot in vista that logmon.exe has stopped
A: It monitors activity logs in Windows.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): There must be some problem in otehr services which logmon.exe depends upon
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Q: multi-tasking in chat clients like google chat does not work, when i am chatting with more than two people, one person's sending me a message locks the other chat window for a few moments, this doesn't happen in XP. Is there any known reason for this?
A: Sorry but it must be a limitaion in Google Chat software. I think its not compatible for Vista. Or may be a few features of Google Chat.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): @Gary4gar. Seems like your system is facing some services corruption problem.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Thats why logmon.exe and error reporting services are not working properly.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): You should do a Windows repair to fix these problems.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Q: but the same version works with windows XP without any problems at all!
A: Yeah. Thats what I said. Its not compatible with Vista.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Q: but my manufacturer didn't give me a DVD, damm,. It is possible with a dvd?
A: There should be a repair Disk
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Q: just got a langage pack cd and nothing else
A: Strange. Then ask your system dealer to repair Windows and this time also ask him to provide a Vista DVD.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): There are a few registry tricks also which can be used to speed up Windows.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): I can't paste the registry code here. So interested people can take a look at the registry code in point 1 in following link:
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): http://www.askvg.com/master-tutorial-to-make-your-windows-xp-super-fast/
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): There are lots of 3rd party utilties which also do lots of tweaks in Windows.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Microsoft also provides a tweaking utility for Windows
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): "TweakUI"
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): but there is no version available for Vista at the moment
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Q: can i get a cd downloaded from MS
A: If you have TechNet or MSDN subscription, then you can get a Vista DVD from Microsoft.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Q: provided if i provide my product key
A: Yeah. May be possible. I'm not sure.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Q: is TechNet or MSDN subscription free or paid?
A: Its paid.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): @iMav. Link is working fine at my side.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Q: then why do i need to pay up again, if i had paid for vista once?
A: Yeah right. I think you can contact Microsoft about the issue and you might get a DVD
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): One more thing. There is a hidden utility "gpedit.msc" in Windows.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): You can perform lots of tweaks in Windows using this great utility.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Just type "gpedit.msc" in RUN and it'll open it.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): @Sachin. Exactly
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): There are various categories containing lots of tweaks.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Which you can enable.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Its a free tweaking software from Microsoft
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Yep.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): The link I gave recently, contains a reg file which you can run and it'll help in making system startup/shutdown faster
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): The best tweak to make system startup and shutdown faster is to change services and task kill timeout.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): to use it, open regedit
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): and goto: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): In right side pane, create new DWORD values:
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): sorry "String" values.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): following is name of String values with their value items:
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert):
"AutoEndTasks"="1"
"HungAppTimeout"="1000"
"MenuShowDelay"="8"
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="2000""LowLevelHooksTimeout"="1000"
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): For eaxmple, create new String value with name AutoEndtasks
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): and set its value to 1
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): same applies for others.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): There is also a trick to ibcrease your Windows Performance Index to upto 9.9
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): which will not increase in reality but it can help in getting a few features which can only be used in Vista if you have Index more than 3.0
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Like you can get a toolbar in Picture Slide Show
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): which you don't get if your performance Index is less tahn 3
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Q: if i correctly remember the kill timeout. kill timeout thing was also in windows xp also
A: Yep. Most of tweaks are same in XP and Vista
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): To increase Windows Vista Performance / Experience Index
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Type following in RUN or Serachbox:
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): %windir%\Performance\WinSAT\DataStore
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): and press <Enter>
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): You’ll see one or more .xml files in the folder. Sort them by Date Created or look at their name. The file name will be in following format:
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): 2007-11-08 22.23.17.858 Assessment (Initial).WinSAT.xml
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Where “2007-11-08 22.23.17.858″ might differ from machine to machine and Windows Installation date/time.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Open the latest file in “Wordpad” and goto line having <WinSPR>. It’ll be approx. 12th line and will look like following:
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert):
<WinSPR>
<SystemScore>1</SystemScore>
<MemoryScore>4</MemoryScore>
<CpuScore>3.4</CpuScore>
<CPUSubAggScore>2.9</CPUSubAggScore>
<VideoEncodeScore>3.9</VideoEncodeScore>
<GraphicsScore>1</GraphicsScore>
<GamingScore>1</GamingScore>
<DiskScore>4.2</DiskScore>
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Now you can edit the numbers between > & < and can increase them upto 9.9 as following:
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert):
<WinSPR>
<SystemScore>9.9</SystemScore>
<MemoryScore>9.9</MemoryScore>
<CpuScore>9.9</CpuScore>
<CPUSubAggScore>9.9</CPUSubAggScore>
<VideoEncodeScore>9.9</VideoEncodeScore>
<GraphicsScore>9.9</GraphicsScore>
<GamingScore>9.9</GamingScore>
<DiskScore>9.9</DiskScore>
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Thats it. Save the file and check the Index again in System Properties. It’ll 9.9 now.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): The full tutorial with screenshots can be read here:
http://www.askvg.com/trick-to-increase-windows-vista-performance-experience-index-upto-99/
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): It'll help in using those features which were unavailable because of lower Index
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): You'll not gain any perforance gain but can unlock a few features as I said
Abhishek Baxi (Moderator): We are nearing the end of today's chat.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): One I told earlier a toolbar having back, forwardm play, pause, themese, etc buttons in full screen slide show
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Q: which toolbar?
A: When you open pictures in Windows Picture Viewer and run full screen slide show
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): OK guys
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): the chat is going to end
Abhishek Baxi (Moderator): Thank you Vishal for joining us today on a Microsoft Community Chat to talk about Speeding up Windows Vista.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Q: where to report bugs in vista?
A: You can report BUGs at MeraWindows.com
Abhishek Baxi (Moderator): We hope you join us for our next chat on November 27, 2007. We will post the transcript from today’s chat very soon.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Following is a list of a few tweaking utilities which can make Vista faster:
http://www.askvg.com/windows-vista-tweaking-software-list/
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): So you can take a look at them
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): Thats all for now.
Abhishek Baxi (Moderator): Thank you for joining us today.
Vishal Gupta [MVP] (Expert): I hope you all enjoyed the webchat.