Speed up your Windows

Here's a few quick tricks to get Windows to run faster. The first methods are better-known, but use all of them to get the most horsepower available without resorting to system de-stabilizing methods like over-clocking.

Right-click on the 'My Computer' button and choose 'Properties' from the drop-down menu. Left-click on the 'Performance' tab, then the 'File System' button. Be sure that the 'Read-ahead optimization' slider is all the way to the right, then change the 'Typical role of this computer' from 'Desktop Computer' to 'Network Server'. Because of a difference in the manner in which data is handled (cached), you'll pick up some speed through better efficiency. Click OK.

Left-click on 'Graphics ...' & make sure the slider is set to 'Full', then click OK. Click on 'Virtual Memory' and change the setting to 'Let me specify my own virtual memory settings. Set both the minimum and maximum to two and one-half times the amount of RAM on your computer (32MB would be 80, 64MB would be 160, 96MB would be 240 and so on). Put the newly created swap-file on an small, unused drive partition if available. Click on OK, ignore and close the scary warning & re-start your computer.

You'll also want to open the C:\Windows\System\System.ini file (it opens in notepad) and under the [386Enh] section, enter: "ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1" (without the quotes) to prevent the system from using that slower swapfile before it uses the faster available RAM. This will require a reboot.