So, today I became fed up with Vista’s crap…
I have been using Vista for a long time, a very long time. Since the CTP builds in February 2006 all the way through the RC and the final release. Generally, I like Vista and it has many benefits over XP. But now I have heard the call and I can’t hide it anymore - this OS is bloated, slow, and just plain counterintuitive sometimes.
So today I found two great things that I have implemented that really help. I’ll continue to post more fixes as I find them.
Warning: The first fix is potentially dangerous as it involves editing the registry. Back up all important data, set system restore points, and basically know what you are doing before you try this at home. If you feel comfortable with your computer skills, by all means:
1) One of the things that bothers me about Vista the most is the disk thrashing issues. Vista constantly POUNDS my hard drive, making it overworked and driving me insane! Here’s how to fix it…
Open the registry editor by going to Start > Run and typing “regedit”
Go to File > Export and then save a copy of your registry in case things go bad. Then do the following:
Here are the two keys that needs to be changed:
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters\
Change EnableSuperfetch from 3 to 0.
And:
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
Change DisablePagingExecutive from 0 to 1.
SOURCE: UMPC Blog
A few other things I do:
- Change your virtual memory to a static 3 GB (or whatever is “recommended” by Vista when you get to the window)
- Windows Key + Pause/Break
- Advanced System Settings
- Performance > Settings
- Advanced Tab
- Under Virtual Memory click Change
- Look at the recommended size, click on Custom radio button
- Change the initial size and maximum to the same number (the recommended)
This will make Vista not have to keep changing the size of the page file, it’ll just access it when needed.
- Get rid of Vista’s Aero interface. Sure it looks nice and provides a lot of eye candy, I certainly enjoy Aero, but if you want functionality, change the appearance to Vista Basic. It uses less RAM and looks just fine.
Let me know how you fair in the comments section!
Update: After a while of using these configuration options, I found that the registry edits make the hard drive thrash less, but also reduce performance. I reset my registry back to the defaults and my performance increased.
