Performance Gobblers
Spyware.
Some programs such as 'Real' player, Quicktime viewer, Java or DivX check for updates in the background and spies on your computer by sending info back down the internet. Hence the name 'Spyware' can apply to reputable as well as non-reputable software. This slows down your machine and internet connection and compromises your privacy. A firewall keeps out the hackers and gives you some control over programs that try to do this. Download a firewall such as the free version of Zonealarm to limit this sort of activity.
'Ad-Aware' or Spybot detects and removes spyware from your programs and dump dubious 'cookies'. Lavasoft (Ad-Aware) say that some programs might not work properly with spyware removed but I have never had that problem. Spybot seems to dig deeper and find more
Dialers
Not much of a problem these days, now that dial-up is being replaced by broadband, but there was a trend for 'dialers' to hitch-hike their way into computers to actually dial premium rate phone numbers silently in the background. It was possible for people to run up hundreds of pounds of bills without even knowing how. The dialer often showed up as a new network connection with plausible name but a starred out phone number. I saw one calling itself 'default' to look convincing. The cure was to delete it and run Spybot. Prevent dialers and spyware from installing: http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Background processes.
MS Office insists on installing 'find fast' and 'office startup' in your startup directory. This works in the background to make Office applications start better - but at the cost of nobbling some performance when you do other things. A Screensaver can gobble up computer power but usually when it doesn't matter. Some of them contain virusses. Turn it off if you burn CDs or use slow processes like video rendering or number crunching.
Antivirus programs can noticably slow down your computer but it is absolutely necessary these days. You might recover some speed if you can adjust settings to reduce its activity, to scan on bootup or to schedule it for idle time - but always make sure that it monitors accesses to removable media such as memory sticks and CDs. Antivirus software nobbles performance but you must use it - unless you live in a bubble and don't ever use internet, email or removable discs in your PC. Be suspicious of all cracked software. Windows Defender is the free Microsoft spyware scanner but it tends to scan when you least want it to.
Professional audio software companies tell you not to use the ASPI settings when you first set up the computer. Later models have enough performance spare for it not to be too much of a nobbler.
Windows Animations, etc.
In Windows XP, there is a setting for maximum performance which turns off lots of minor effects, such as menu animations. I have found that these tweaks make a noticable performance improvement on slower PCs. Press 'Windows' + 'Pause' (together) > Advanced > Settings > Visual Effects.
The system tray (on right of taskbar) might be full of stuff that you don't use, such as dual language keyboard, scheduler, etc. which can be disabled from the control panel if they are not needed.
Lots of Users
Not a problem at home but where there are large numbers of users, it can slow things down if each is allowed to establish a 'Personal Profile'. In Win 98, this is disabled in the Control Panel > Passwords, to force everyone to use the same one. Win 2k/XP has a profile manager to achieve the same effect. Otherwise, each user's own profile will store loads of downloaded files, cookies and different settings for such as the explorer window, etc. After a while, actions such as opening windows explorer will be very slow as each profile is scanned to look up individualised settings.
Polish the Registry
Keep the registry clean as it stores all kinds of hardware and software settings which can end up disjointed and full of junk, a bit like disc fragmentation. Download a registry cleaner to keep it in good order. CCleaner - is a reputable and free program which will clean the registry. This will often cure problems caused by installing and uninstalling programs.
Two Hard Disc Drives?
A computer expert friend told me that he achieved a 33% increase in PC performance just by moving the swap/paging file to his second HDD (with the system drive on IDE0 and drive 2 on IDE1). The reason is that there can be simultaneous reads/writes on separate IDE lines, not on just the one. This tweak is for the knowledgeable ones to play with - but then they would know this anyway. For the same reason, there is a performance increase if programs are on one drive and data files on another (not another partition on the same drive). On older computers, make sure that DMA is selected in the HDD hardware configuration.
CPU Priority
Multimedia software, such as video editing, might run best with 'processor scheduling' set to 'background services'. Press 'Windows' + 'Pause' (together) > Advanced > Settings > Advanced. This is the same utility that allows you to set the paging file size and location in Win 2k/XP.
