How to Make Windows Vista Run Faster and More Efficiently

Instructions

Change the Display settings. Running Windows Vista on Aero takes up far more RAM than necessary, and after a couple weeks, the novelty of Aero wears off quickly. Instead, switch your display to Windows Standard. To do this, go to Control Panel > Personalization > Window Color and Appearance. In the "Color Scheme" menu, click on "Windows Standard", and then click OK.

Disable the Windows Welcome Screen. Go to Control Panel > Welcome Center, and uncheck the box at the bottom of the window that reads "Run at startup".

Disable Windows Vista Features. Go to Control Panel > Programs and Features. Click "Turn Windows Features on or off," located on the left-hand side. Uncheck everything, unless there is anything in particular you need to keep enabled.

Uninstall any unused programs. New computers often come loaded with unnecessary programs that have little use and are never used. Go to Control Panel > Programs or Features and look through the list of programs. Uninstall anything that you do not use by right-clicking the program and selecting "Uninstall".

Remove unused items from the taskbar. Right-click the taskbar and click "Properties". Click the 'Notification Area' tab and then click "Customize". Go through the list of programs. On the right-hand side, you have the choice of selecting 'Show', 'Hide when Inactive' and 'Hide'. Click 'Hide' for anything you do not use. Click OK.

Clean up your desktop. The less icons you have on the desktop, the better. Delete as many as you don't use regularly, or, optimally, all of them.

Configure Windows startup. Click on the Start Menu and go to Accessories > Run. Type "msconfig" and hit enter. Select the 'Startup' tab. You can remove any programs here which you do not need to load at startup, but be careful -- some of these programs are necessary for Windows Vista to function properly. Do not disable anything unless you are sure that program or component is unnecessary.

Configure Windows Services. Click on the Start Menu and go to Accessories > Run. Type "services.msc" and hit enter. As with Step 7, you can disable services here that are not necessary, but don't reconfigure anything unless you're absolutely sure you know what you're doing. There are guides you can find online that will explain what services you can disable without affecting Windows functionality.

Clean out your Windows Registry. You can use a Freeware program such as Piriform CCleaner to clean out your registry and other unnecessary files. Make sure you backup your system before doing this, however.