PC & Laptop Guide : Make Vista Start, Run and Shutdown Faster (1)

1. Go to BIOS settings, by pressing Del key during boot-up, and disable 'seek floppy drive' option. This saves time for those who do not use floppy drives. There are also some BIOS hacks like Enabling Quick Post, Disabling Boot Delay, etc but best to refrain from these.
2. Change Boot-Order Sequence : Normally, the Bios is set to boot from floppy first, then CD and then Hard Disk. Changing the Boot-Order to be: Hard Disk first, then maybe CD/Floppy, could possibly "shave" a second, I guess !
3. Restrict the number of start-ups. Why have programs starting up when you don't really use them. Even those you use can always be started manually by clicking on the. I personally prefer not to have ANY startups. So decide for yourself which one's you really need as start-ups. Do also remove any pre-installed crapware which may have come pre-installed on your new Vista machine, as many a time its these craplets that cause a machine to crawl ! One small and simple tip ! Restart your PC at least once a week, especially if you use it a lot. Restarting a PC is a good way to clear out its memory and ensuring that any errant processes and services that started running get shut down.
4. Windows Vista has around 130 services installed ! Disable services which one may not require. For example, if your pc is a stand-alone one, there may be several services which you can disable or switch over to manual mode. Auto-starting and closing down of services takes time & resources. These can be saved.
5. Reducing visual effects (eye candy). Right-click on “My Computer” > Properties > Advanced > Performance-Settings > Visual Effects > Adjust for best performance > Apply > OK. To allow the themes and the glass effects, you may have to check on the boxes : enable transparent glass and use visual styles; this way atleast the spirit of Vista will be preserved- else be prepared for a really bland Vista ! Use your discretion. I know disabling all can actually negate the purpose of 'eye-friendly' Vista.
6. The default power setting in the "Power Saver" plan limits the CPU to 50 percent. Open the Power Options control panel and change it to "High Performance" to give your CPU full throttle.
7. Defragment your System Disk & Fine Tune your Registry. If you find the Vista's in-built defragger slow, you can try freeware Auslogics Disk Defrag which works on Vista too ! Use the freeware CCleaner to clear up your PC Junk and clean up the Registry. Compacting the Registry occasionally is a good idea too !
8. Ensure that boot defragmentation is enabled, so that files used during start-up are clubbed together. Start Regedit. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Dfrg\ BootOptimizeFunction . Select Enable from the list on the right. Right Click on it and select Modify. Change the value to Y to enable and N to disable. Reboot.
9. Disable the ScreenSaver if you don't need it. Rt-Click desktop > ScreenSaver > None > OK. Useful esp if have any tasks running in the background.
10. Get rid of all the extra programs Windows Vista installs. You may not be using some like WLM, Calculator, Games, Meeting Space, Fax, etc. Go To Control Panel\ Programs\ Programs and Features > Turn windows On or Off and do the needful. But wait, before you rush, exercise a little caution here ! For instance you may want to turn off "Tablet PC Components etc"; but then get set to miss the Clipping Tool too !