Maximizing XP performance in older computers

Stopping unneeded background services

Training: Understanding and Upgrading Memory



Maximizing XP performance in older computers

Many students have attempted to upgrade their older systems to Windows XP. For instance, we have seen many systems such as Celeron 500's P II 300, etc, that were not meant to run XP. While the system may run, it runs slowly. One of XP's features that can significantly slow the system is it's bubbly and colorful GUI. You can alter this so that the system spends no resources on unnecessary graphics. Here's how:

- Right click on My Computer, and choose 'Properties'.
- Choose the 'Advanced' tab.
- Click the 'Settings' button in the 'Performance' section.
- Under the 'Visual Effects' tab, choose the radio button labeled 'Adjust for best performance'.
- If the student doesn't want to lose all of the nice effects, you can help customize the features by choosing 'Custom' and then selectively unchecking the different effects listed below.

If the student chooses the best performance option, the deskopt will revert to a classic Windows theme, with no fading or scrolling effects.



Stopping unneeded background services

When a Windows system starts up, a portion of its resources gets used for 'services' that run in the background. Unlike applications sitting in the system tray, services are programs that run in the background to support applications that you may use, such as web publishing, firwall, etc. These services are set by default to run in the background on startup. You can stop that from happening, and release some resources, by forcing some unnecessary services to start only when you open the app that needs them. Such services include:

- FTP Publishing Service
- Message Queuing
- Remote Registry Service
- Run As Service
- Distributed Link Tracking Client
- RIP Listener
- World Wide Web Publishing Service

These services are not necessary, and can be set to activate when you activate the associated application. Here's how.

- Right click on My Computer, and choose 'Manage'.
- In the right-hand pane, double-click 'Services and Applications'
- Double-click 'Services'. Maximize the screen.
- Lengthen the 'Name' column to see the name of each service.
- If you see any of the services listed above, choose one and double-click it.
- Next to 'Startup type', expand the menu, and choose 'Manual'.
- Below that, click the 'Stop' button to stop the service from currently running.
- By setting the service to 'Manual', you do not disable it. Therefor, the associated app will still function.

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