1. START/RUN/ Type "MSCONFIG" hit ENTER/STARTUP TAB
Disable anything you possibly can get by without
Will make a huge difference
Use SPYBOT to protect against shit being added without your knowledge
2. CONTROL PANEL / SYSTEM / ADVANCED TAB / PERFORMANCE / SETTINGS
Select "Adjust for best performance" in visual effects tab
Select PROGRAMS for both options under advanced tab
Virtual memory CHANGE button / CUSTOM SIZE / enter 2222 in BOTH BOXES and click "SET". If you have a second hard drive, select it, custom size again/2222/set
Click APPLY/OK until you're out
3. MY COMPUTER / RIGHT CLICK C DRIVE / PROPERTIES / UNCHECK "ALLOW INDEXING SERVICE" / CLICK APPLY / APPLY TO ALL SUBFOLDERS AND FILES
4. CONTROL PANEL / SYSTEM / SYSTEM RESTORE TAB
Move the slider down to something reasonable.. no more than 2gb
5. CONTROL PANEL / SYSTEM / HARDWARE TAB / DEVICE MANAGER
Look for any conflicts with the yellow "!"
6. Run windows update.. Install SP2 and all other relavent updates. DO NOT INSTALL SERVICE PACK 3 no matter what
7. Download Disk Keeper at
http://www.diskeeper.com/defrag.asp
Use the boot time defragmentation feature.
It will defragment the paging file, mft, and even system files because it can run without windows. Getting your paging file to a set size and getting it contiguous makes a BIG DIFFERENCE in performance.
8. Take the bottom cover off of your laptop and make sure that the fan port isn't obstructed in any way. Excess heat increases resistance and can slow a machine to a crawl.
9. Another good idea is to run a check disk.. START/RUN/CHKDSK /F
It'll check the drive for errors and fix any it might find
10. Look for updated drivers for everything in your machine.
Get them from the manufacturers and not from windows update.