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Link: http://www.newsapp.info/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=187

Vista is very resource heavy. The following tips show you how to disable some of the unnecessary stuff, speed up your PC, and use Vista more effectively:

Warning:These tips are for power users only - don&Some of these settings (e.g. disabling defender) make your PC more vulnerable to malware etc. Also, disabling some services can cause your PC to malfunction / behave unpredictably, and / or pop up a video of Steve Ballmer doing the developper dance. Or not.By following these tips you agree that if you mess your PC I&VISTA Tips and Tricks list:1. Disable Windows defenderOpen control panel- click classic view.Open defender - it&Click Tools - then Options - and untick everything you see, such as:Untick automatically scan my PCscroll down, untick use real time protectionuntick advanced options, click saveIf user access control is on, you may get a warning. Click continue.2. Disable User Access ControlOn most versions of Vista, User Access Control is enabled - basically this is a security procedure which warns you before you (or any application) enables to do something considered risky, e.g. modifying system settings. Disable it only if you know what you are doing.Open Control PanelOpen User AccountsClick turn user account control on/off.Untick use user access controlclick OK (you may need to restart).3. Turn off hibernationIf you don&To do this, run &4. Press AltIn most windows, you can get the traditional menu (File, Edit, View..) by just tapping the Alt key.5. Turn on hidden files viewIn any drive window, click Alt, then click Tools - Folder OptionsClick View tabSelect Show hidden files and folders.You can also untick various other annoying &6. Disable the sidebarIf you get tired of the sidebar, you can disable it easily via the control panel.Open Control Panel - Sidebar PropertiesUntick start sidebar when windows starts7. Move swap file to another drive/partitionIf you have another drive, you can speed up Vista a bit by moving the swap file to that drive. Even if you are using only one drive, moving the swap file to another partition is useful (if you intend to back up your primary partiton via a compressed mirror, saving space on the primary partition will speed up the process and reduce the backup file size).Press Windows + Pause/break keyClick advanced system settingsClick the advanced tabClick the settings buttonNow click Advanced (yes I know this is a bit confusing)Under virtual memory click changeUntick automatically manageSelect the new drive/partition you want to use for swap file and click system managed, click set (Note: Unlike Ubuntu, windows will not wipe the drive or partition - instead it just makes a file called pagefile.sys).To cancel the swap file on C click C and select no page file, click set8. Disable unnecessary servicesWarning - disabling services can cause your system to behave unpredictably, reduce security, not boot at all, or rupture the space-time continuum. Proceed with caution, only if you know what you are doing:Navigate to: control panel - administrative tools - services Then try disabling the following (doubleclick, select disabled under startup type, click OK).Background Intelligent Transfer ServiceDHCP client (Only if you use a static IP, see Dan&Diagnostic policy serviceDiagnostic System HostDistributed link tracking clientDNS clientIP HelperOffline Files (See http://207.46.197.98/Windows/en-US/Help ... 91033.mspx for more info on what this is)Portable Device Enumerator ServiceReadyBoost (if you are not using this feature (no flash drive)Secondary Logon (This may prevent you from using the &Security Center (prolly kills off defender etc).Shell Hardware Detection Service (Kills autorun - and good riddance).SSDP discovery (Something to do with UPNP devices. Darned if I know or care)Superfetch (This is Vista&System Event Notification Service.Tablet PC input service (If no.. tablet PC?).Terminal Serives.Web client.Windows Defender (First disable it from control panel).Windows Error Reporting.Windows Event Log.Windows Image Acquisition (if no scanner and you are using your digital camera via a card reader).Windows Search (This is that annoying indexing utility. Keep it if you need to find files fast).Windows Time.Windows Update (if you can&Print spooler (if you dont have a printer).Tip: Don&9. Setting up custom network settingsVista will usually automatically detect your network, but if you need to set it up manually, heres how:Right click the Network Icon on the taskbarclick Network and Sharing centerClick the blue View Status link (if it&Click propertiesDoubleclick Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)Enter your custom network configuration (The IP for this PC, the subnet, default gateway and DNS server - gateway and DNS server are usually your routers IP.You may need to restart your PC.After restarting, you can select your type of network (e.g. Home) and you are good to go.If you have other tips for Vista, please list them here as comments!1. If you hate the look of Aero, click Start/Control Panel/Themes and you can choose a non-Aero theme, such as Windows Classic.2. Windows Vista's installer can detect serial-ATA (SATA) drives without the need to provide a driver diskette. Don't bother creating a diskette for your SATA drives before you install Vista.3. If, for some reason, the Vista installation gets interrupted due to an unintentional shutdown or reboot, start the computer without booting the Vista DVD. Windows Vista's installer should pick up where it left off. If it does-n't, then restart the installation over from scratch.

4. When you perform a search with Vista's new, instant search feature, you can save the search in a special folder. This powerful feature allows you to create a virtual folder which, by default, is saved in your \\Searches\ folder. Every time you open such a folder, the search results are updated.5. In Windows Vista, you can add additional clocks to the system tray. Click the clock, and then click Date and Time Settings. Click the Additional Clocks tab. You can add one or two additional clocks to the tray and select their time zones.6. You can save your progress in most of the games included with Windows Vista&7. You can create XML documents, which are more secure than regular text files or even word processor docs. Just create a document in a word processor, print it via the options menu, and select the XPS printer.8. If you upgrade your graphics card in preparation for Windows Vista, be sure to get a new card with as much local memory as possible. Since Windows Vista renders everything&9. Windows Vista games deposit their saves into a special directory, called Saved Games, in your personal folder. In theory, that will make upgrading to a new system much easier for gamers, who like to migrate their game saves.10. When using the Help system, it's usually advantageous to include Microsoft's online database in your search. The online/offline status of your search is located on the bottom right of the Help window. You can click it to toggle.11. The Games folder is a powerful repository of all things gaming. From within, you launch games, update games with the latest patches, enable parental controls to protect younger users from harmful content, and more. Invoke it by clicking Start/Games.12. Several applications are available to help you tweak Windows Vista for maximum performance. They in-clude TweakVI (http://www.totalidea.com), TweakVista (http://www.tweakvista.com/tweakvistautility), and VistaBootPRO (http://www.vistabootpro.org). And don't forget about Windows ReadyBoost, which lets you use a removable flash memory drive to boost system memory.13. Do you use the icon in the upper left corner of system and application windows? A quick double-click closes the window (instead of a single click on the X at the upper right). Though Microsoft left the icon out in Vista, the function remains.&14. In Microsoft Windows Explorer, you can use column headers (Name, Size, and so on) to sort files. Savvy users may right-click on a column head to remove items or add some&15. If you've become used to surfing your Program Menu to get to applications, you'll be in for a shock when you first use Microsoft Windows Vista. The new Program Menu shows you only recently used applications and requires extra clicks to navigate to submenus. This can be very frustrating but, thankfully, the Search box Microsoft has added to the Start menu is a great replacement&