About Our Windows XP Tweaks

No buggy, expensive, spyware-infested software is required to do our Windows XP tweaks.

So... what makes us different from all the other million Windows XP tweaking sites? We show you how to do these tweaks in PLAIN ENGLISH. In other words, to do these tweaks you do not even have to know computers!

Before you take a look at Our Tweaks, we need you to change a couple of Windows XP settings so you can better follow our guides. Please do both of these very quick changes in order:

Switch to the Classic Menu
Switch to Classic View

Boost Hard Drive Performance
Windows XP automatically updates the date and time stamp with information about the last time you accessed a file. This updating can slow down your hard drive.

Disable Balloon Tips
Yes, you can disable those super annoying balloon tips that keep popping up in Windows XP!

Disable Disk Monitor
Windows XP has a built in performance monitor that examines various areas of your system. Most of us have little interest in this sort of performance monitoring application. Geek translation: it's more for businesses than it it is for home users. This can slow down your PC so turn it off.

Disable Indexing Service
Indexes contents and properties of files on local and remote computers; provides rapid access to files through flexible querying language. What did you just say? Geek translation: If you do not do a million file searches in Windows XP you can turn this off for a overall speed boost.

Disable Windows XP Sounds
You know those sounds you hear when you click a folder etc.? not only are they useless and can get annoying they also slow Windows XP down.

Enable DMA
DMA is not turned on for some computers. We'll show you how to see if it's on or off. You for sure want DMA on. This is one major tweak that really can show results!

Improve Shut Down Time
Does it take ages for you to shutdown your PC? this registry tweak will speed it up!

Improve Visual Performance
Don't worry, we are not going to disable ALL Windows XP visual settings. We are just going to disable the ones you can't see that slow your Windows XP down.

Shutdown Services
A lot of these services that are keeping your Windows XP bogged down you will NEVER use!

Clean Junk from Your PC
Cleaning out junk files will give you some extra hard drive space and speed things up.

Clean Your Desktop
Desktop Cleanup Wizard removes unwanted shortcuts from your Microsoft Windows XP desktop. By default, Desktop Cleanup Wizard will run every 60 days but what about if you want your desktop clean RIGHT NOW? This guide will show you just that.

Defrag Your Hard Drive
If you do not defrag, not only does your PC slow down to the point it's unusable, it can also wreck your whole Windows XP install!

Delete Prefetch Files
Windows XP has a feature called Prefetch. This keeps a shortcut to recently used programs. However, it can fill up with old and obsolete programs.

Delete Unused Fonts
Having too many fonts can really slow down how fast programs start up. You should make sure you have no more than 200 fonts. The less fonts you have, the more faster your programs will start up.

Disable Hibernation
If you don't use the Hibernation feature Windows XP offers, it's taking up a lot of unnecessary hard drive space. The space it takes up depends on your RAM. If you have 128 MB RAM, Hibernation uses 127 MB.

Kill MSN Messenger
So, you installed the new Windows Live Messenger and yet you still have the old MSN Messenger running? This guide will show you how to get rid of that old MSN Messenger for good.

Protect/Update XP
In this guide you will find out how to protect your Windows XP from spyware and update hardware drivers for your PC.

Reduce Recycling Bin Size
If you're running low on hard disk space, always remember to empty the Recycle Bin. You can also restrict the size of the Recycle Bin to limit the amount of hard disk space it takes up.

Slow Loading Icons
Do you start up Windows XP and see icons load on your desktop one at a time? Here is a fix that will solve this very annoying problem!