Source: http://www.brighthub.com/computing/windows-platform/articles/21052.aspx
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Disable the Windows Indexing feature, Workstation and Windows Time
If you do not use this service, you can disable it altogether by turning it off. Here’s how to do it:
- Click on the Start button, and then select Control Panel.
- Click Administrative Tools in the Control Panel window.
- Click Service. This opens the Services window.
- Locate the service named: Windows Search, Windows Time and Workstation. (Do one by one) Right-click on this entry and select Properties from the drop-down menu that opens.
- Change the Startup Type to Disabled. Now click on the Stop button and then click OK. This will completely disable the Windows Indexing Service.
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Turn off the Automatic Windows Defender Operation
Windows Defender is a new, free anti-malware application of Vista, which provides real-time protection against malware. If you have a reliable anti-malware application that you prefer to use, disabling this feature can free up system resources and help speed up your system. Here’s how to disable it:
- Click on the Vista Orb to open the Start menu
- Select All Programs, then Click Windows Defender.
- Click on Tools, then click Options.
- Uncheck the Use Windows Defender check box, under Administrator options
- Click Save. Type in your password or provide confirmation if prompted to. And you are done.
Nullify Windows Vista Security Pop-up Notifications
If you choose to use third-party security utilities such as anti-virus and anti-spyware programs, these programs may disable particular components in the Security Center in order to function. Vista will constantly open pop-up alerts informing you that these components have been disabled, as well as let you know if any updates are available. To avoid getting slowed down by these pop ups, you can disable the notifications. Here’s how:
Right click on the tiny red shield icon in the bottom.
Select Open Security Center from the context menu.
Click on the link that reads: Change the way Security Center alerts me.
Select the third option: Don’t notify me and don’t display the icon.
Disable Remote Assistance
Vista’s Remote Assistance is a convenient way to allow someone you trust to access your computer over the Internet, and help you troubleshoot your computer. This service is launched on startup but may rarely be used. Disable this service if you never use it. Here’s how:
- Click on the Vista Orb and then select Control Panel.
- Click System and Maintenance and then click System.
- In the left hand pane, click on Remote settings in the category.
- Enter a password or give confirmation if you are prompted by the User Account Control. Click on Continue.
- Un-check the option: Allow remote connections from this computer.
- Make sure that the option: Don’t allow connections to this computer is still checked. Click OK to apply your new settings.
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Turn off Remote Differential Compression
Remote Differential Compression (RDC) is a feature that comes with Vista, which monitors changes in your files so as to transfer them over a network with the minimal bandwidth. In effect, it eliminates the need to transfer an entire file that you have previously moved. However, this continual monitoring hinders system performance, and disabling it will speed it up.
Vista’s Remote Assistance is a convenient way to allow someone you trust to access your computer over the Internet, and help you troubleshoot your computer. This service is launched on startup but may rarely be used. Disable this service if you never use it. Here’s how:
- Click on the Vista Orb. Select Control Panel.
- Click on the Uninstall a Program link in the Programs node. This opens the Uninstall or Change a Program window.
- Click on the Turn Windows Features On or Off link in the left-hand pane. This opens the Windows Features window.
- Un-check the Remote Differential Compression checkbox.
- Click the OK button.
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Disable the Automatic Network Printer Search
Windows Vista, by default, will monitor shared folders and network computers to make it easier for you to connect to a shared resource such as a printer. To do this, it will periodically scan the computers on your network, eating up system resources as it goes. You can disable this feature for maximum system performance. Here’s how:
- Tap the Alt key to reveal the menu bar.
- Click Tools and then Folder Options.
- Uncheck: Automatically Search for Network Printers.
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Configuring a New Hard Drive
One of the main selling points of Windows is that it can work with all kinds of hardware. The Plug ‘n Play technology has made life much easier for those of us who like to upgrade or generally mess around with our computers.
However, it isn’t all plain sailing as I’m sure you know. Not seeing a hard drive appear when you have added one, or re-installed Windows is an all too common occurrence. This can be caused by a couple of things. The first one is simple to address and takes a couple of minutes. The other can take a little longer and may involve more reading.
If you have installed a new drive and it spins up when you turn on the computer, the motherboard BIOS should detect it and it will show up on the screen when the computer first boots. If after this, it doesn’t appear in Windows, the first thing to do is check Disk Management. Whatever kind of disk it is, hard drive, DVD or Blu-Ray drive it should show up in here if Windows has detected it.
Right click on My Computer, select Manage, then Disk Management. Let the screen load and check to see if your drive appears here. This screen contains a lot of information about all the drives attached to the system.
One of the many reasons for a disk drive not showing up in Windows is that it hasn’t been allocated a drive letter. In systems that have removable drives like USB memory sticks, the drive letter is automatically allocated by Windows. If one of these drives is attached while you install a different drive, for some reason Windows either tries to allocate the drive letter that the USB already has, or doesn’t allocate one at all.
If the new drive appears in the Disk Management window, highlight it in the top pane right click, and select “Change drive letter and paths.” Select an unused drive letter and click Ok. Windows should then populate the bottom pane with the new drive and it should appear. If the device is a new hard disk, it may need formatting to enable Windows to use it, but the Disk Management application will tell you that, and offer to format it for you.
If all that doesn’t work, then we need to dig a little deeper into the system. Open Device Manager through the Control Panel and see if the new drive is there. If it appears, right click on the drive in question and select uninstall.
Rebooting the machine should force Windows to rediscover the drive and hopefully install it correctly. If this doesn’t work, repeat the process and also uninstall the appropriate driver. For a hard drive it may be the secondary IDE controller, for USB it will be the USB controller and so on.
Reboot the machine again and force Windows to reload all the necessary drivers and rediscover the drive.
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