Many people are interested in maximizing your hardware. So here are 10 simple tips on how to make your Windows XP computer run faster without having to purchase additional hardware.

1. Disk Defrag to speed access to data

One of the factors that diminish PC performance is disk fragmentation. When files are fragmented, the computer must search the hard disk when the file is opened to piece it back together. To speed response time, that month should run Disk Defragmenter, a Windows utility that defrags and consolidates fragmented files for quicker computer response.

* Follow Start> Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Disk Defragmenter
* Click on the drives to defrag and click Analyze
* Click Defragment


2. Detect and repair disk errors

Over time, the hard disk develops bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down hard disk performance and sometimes make data writing difficult or even impossible. To detect and repair disk errors, Windows has a built-in tool called the Error Checking utility. That will search the hard drive for bad sectors and system errors and repair them for faster performance.

* Follow Start> My Computer
* In My Computer, right-click the hard drive to scan and click Properties
* Click on the Tools tab
* Click on Check Now
* Select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box
* Click Start


3. Disable Indexing Service

Indexing Services is a small application that uses a lot of CPU. For indexing and updating lists of all files on your computer, that helps you do a search for something faster as it scans the index list. But if you know where your files, you can disable this system service. It will do no harm to your machine, if you search often or very often.

* Go to Start
* Click Settings
* Click Control Panel
* Double-click Add / Remove Programs
* Click on Add / Remove Windows Components
* Disable Indexing Service
* Click on Next


4. Optimize Display Settings

Windows XP is a looker. But the cost of system resources is used to display all the visual elements and effects. The windows look good if you disable most of the settings and exit of the following:

* Show shadows under menus
* Show shadows under mouse pointer
* Show translucent selection rectangle
* The use of shadows for icon labels on the desktop
* Use visual styles on windows and buttons


6. Disable Performance Counters

Windows XP has a performance monitor utility which monitors several areas of your PC's performance. These utilities take up system resources for disabling is a good idea.

* Download and install the performance counter list extensible (http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/reskit/tools/existing/exctrlst-o.asp)
* Then select each counter in turn in the "Extensible performance counters 'and uncheck the box" performance counters enabled' in the bottom button below


7. Optimize your page file

You can optimize your pagefile. Setting a fixed size to your pagefile saves the operating system need to change the paging file size.

* Right click on My Computer and select Properties
* Select the Advanced tab
* Under Performance choose the Settings button
* Select the Advanced tab again and under Virtual Memory select Change

* Select the drive containing your page file and the initial size of the same as the maximum file size.


8. Remove sources of speed

Fonts, especially TrueType fonts, use some system resources. For optimal performance, trim your fonts to only those who need to use on a daily basis and fonts that applications need.

* Open Control Panel
* Open Fonts folder
* Move fonts you do not need a temporary directory (eg C: \ FONTBKUP) if you need or want to take some of them again. The sources uninstall, the more system resources will win.


9. Use flash memory to increase performance

To improve performance, install additional RAM. Going to let the operating system boot faster and run many applications and access data faster. There is no easier and more elegant technique for doing that use eBoostr (http://www.eboostr.com).

eBoostr is a little program that lets you improve a performance of any computer equipped with Windows XP in the same way as Vista's ReadyBoost. With eBoostr, if you have a flash drive as a USB flash drive or SD card, you can use to make your computer run better. Simply plug a flash drive via a USB port and Windows XP will use eBoostr to use flash memory to improve performance.

The product has the best results for frequently used applications and data, which becomes a great feature for people who are using office programs, graphics applications or developer tools. That will surely attract a special attention of laptop owners as laptop upgrade is usually more complicated and laptop hard drives are by definition slower than desktops.


10. Make a boot defragmentation

There is a simple way to speed up XP startup: make your system do a boot defragment, which will all boot files next to each other on your hard drive. When boot files are very close to each other, the system will start faster.

In most systems, boot defragment should be enabled by default, but may not be yours, or could have been changed inadvertently. To ensure that boot defragment is enabled:


* Run the Registry Editor
* Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Dfrg \ BootOptimizeFunction
* Set the string value of the asset and if not already set to Y.
* Exit the Registry
* Restart