Vista Performance Tweaks – the quick and dirty version

June 25, 2008 in Software

Read my updated version of Vista Performance Tweaks for more recommendations.

No explanations just the quick and dirty tweaks for a leaner and faster Vista computer.

1. Disable User Account Control (UAC): navigate to start-> run-> type “msconfig”, select “tools” tab, scroll to “disable uac”, click launch, close msconfig and reboot.
2. Disable System Restore: start-> control panel-> system and maintenance-> select backup and restore center, select “create a restore point or change settings”, select “system protection” tab, uncheck your hard drives, select the “turn system restore off” button, click OK
3. Disable Indexing: start-> type “services”, locate the service named “windows search service”, right click and select “properties”, then choose “disabled” for the start type, click OK. Reboot.
4. Disable Windows Sidebar: right click on an unused area of the sidebar, select “properties”, uncheck start sidebar when windows starts, click OK.
5. Disable Vista Aero theme: start-> control panel-> appearance and personalization-> personalization-> theme, from the drop down box, select “windows classic”, click OK

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Related posts:

  1. Vista Performance Tweaks
  2. Why you should never buy Vista 32-bit.

Tagged as: Vista

  • Slydog
    So, Tsu... does this mean that you support upgrading to Vista?
    Inquiring minds wish to know.....

    :-)
  • Yes.
    Should you go buy Vista simply because it is on the shelf? No.

    I've yet to see the killer functions that create a need factor for Vista. However, it is stable, the UI isn't terrible and the kernel has some excellent security improvements. It does require more horsepower but I'm afraid the days of OS performance are giving way to the days of OS experience. Trim it down and it runs fine.
  • Question, isn't the point of some of these items to increase security and overal useability? I am by no means a "Vista" expert... but some of these like indexing and system restore seem like good ideas - at least from my experiences with XP...
  • The only item that contributes to the overall security of the system is UAC. It is a great idea that is poorly implemented. It simply annoys me but it does make a system more secure.

    All the other features that I disable contribute to a healthier system. System Restore is nightmare feature that is a refuge for malware and seldom fixes anything. Indexing is pointless and I gladly discard the sidebar and glassy themes to gain more performance.

    I decided against a long explanation in favor of quick list of the things I change. The How in lieu of the why.
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