Vista is a fine operating system but it is a bit slow and quite bloated. I’m a performance junky that intends to squeeze every bit of power out of a system. I wrote an initial post called Vista Performance Tweaks – The Quick and Dirty but I’m excited to offer this more complete list that incorporates recommendations from a PCWorld piece on disabling unnecessary features to maximize Windows Vista performance. 12 Unnecessary Vista Features You Can Disable Right Now
1.) Disable Windows Vista Sidebar: Right click on the sidebar or sidebar icon, and choose properties. Then Uncheck the “Start Sidebar when Windows starts” checkbox. Finally, right-click on the sidebar tray icon, and choose Exit.
2.) Disable the Windows Aero Interface:Right-click an empty spot on your desktop and click Personalize. Click on the Window Color and Appearance link. This time the Appearance Settings window will not appear as before, but instead you’ll see a larger Windows Color and Appearance window. Click on the “Open classic appearance properties for more color options” link. (For more info on the terrible Aero see Petri‘s article)
3.) Disable Visual Effects: Click Start, right-click Computer, and select Properties. Click the Advanced System Properties link, the Advanced tab, and then the Settings button inside the Performance box. Select “Adjust for best performance,”
For the next adjustments open Windows Services by Clicking Start and type “Services” and hit enter.
4.) Disable ReadyBoost: Find and double-click “ReadyBoost”. Then click the “Stop” button and thin in the ‘Startup type’ drop-down menu, select Disabled, and then click OK.
5.) Disable Search Indexing: Find and double-click “Windows Search”. Then click the “Stop” button and thin in the ‘Startup type’ drop-down menu, select Disabled, and then click OK.
6.) Disable Offline Files: Find and double-click “Offline Files”. Then click the “Stop” button and thin in the ‘Startup type’ drop-down menu, select Disabled, and then click OK.
7.) Disable Error Reporting: Find and double-click “Windows Error Reporting Service”. Then click the “Stop” button and thin in the ‘Startup type’ drop-down menu, select Disabled, and then click OK.
The last two tweaks involve uninstalling a couple of Vista features. To do so open Control Panel, then select “Programs” and under the “Programs and Features” click the Turn Windows features on or off link on the left. This will open the Windows Features dialog box.
8.) Uninstall Windows Internet Printing: Expand the Print Services section and uncheck Internet Printing Client.
9.) Uninstall Windows Meeting: Uncheck Windows Meeting Space
If you are running the tablet or Ultimate version of Vista there are some more tips in the article. For the full article please see 12 Unnecessary Vista Features You Can Disable Right Now by Lincoln Spector.
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