Yesterday was one of those days where I got to play with Vista, trying some of the tricks and tips that I have seen recently posted on the Internet. The tips I like to try are the ones that promise ‘increased performance’, which in my experience normally do little. But maybe, just maybe, some of these tips would benefit Vista and make it more responsive.
There are a few things I know about computers that over the years have held true. The faster the cpu and the more RAM you have will improve system performance. No duh, you say. Than why is it that someone with a 1G cpu and 512 MB of RAM, can’t understand why Vista runs so slow on their system? There is something else that happens to all computers as they get older. They slow down, just like we do as we age. Mechanical parts start to wear and performance takes a hit.
Tip #1 The default power setting in Vista is set at Balanced. According to the tip, this limits the cpu to 50% power. Which makes it sound like your cpu is crippled and will only run at 50% power all of the time. That is not the case. During normal usage the cpu is limited but when full power is needed it does kick in to 100%. The main purpose of this setting is for laptops and to extend battery life by not having the cpu use juice when it is not needed. The tip recommends using the Performance setting for ‘full throttle’. I changed over to the Performance setting as recommended and I immediately noticed that my system took off like a jet. Everything was running at top speed and it was like having a new computer! Smoke started to bellow out the sides as the cpu cranked up to ‘full throttle’. If you believe this than at the end of this article I’ll provide you with my address where you can mail me a check to buy shares in the Brooklyn bridge.
Tip #2 Turn off the Aero interface. While you are at it, get ride of the sidebar as well and setup the system to run in classic mode. You know have the look of Windows XP. Without these you might as well format the disk and install Windows 95! Maybe I missed something but wasn’t one of the purposes to Vista was to add some eye candy to the system?
Tip #3 Ready Boost. Finally a tip that does work. Vista is a memory hog. For those who are using 1G of RAM you may wish to try this tip. Basically it is adding a USB stick to the system and configuring Vista to use the stick as extra memory. The nice part about this feature is it cheaper to buy a 1G or larger memory stick [especially when it is on sale], than to buy a stick of 1G RAM. Several things come into play. First, your results may vary depending on how many programs you have open. Second, the USB drive is only used when Vista runs out of stick RAM and uses the USB drive in place of disk swapping. This will not make your system run faster overall, but will provide a performance boost when you are running heavy duty multiple apps., that tax the system.
One word of caution. As with any new operating system, you will see ads on the Internet that claim a ‘100% performance increase guaranteed’ while using Vista. Be cautious of these claims. If these programs were that good we all would be using them. 🙂
Comments welcome.
[tags]vista, performance, tips, [/tags]