ReadyBoost is a Vista feature that uses a compatible USB flash device to enhance performance. Note that the oft-misunderstood feature isn’t a replacement for a memory upgrade, and it doesn’t affect game performance—you won’t see higher frame rates by adding a keychain drive to your system.
ReadyBoost caches disk reads on
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One of the best ways to speed up Windows Vista that we’ll cover is simple.
Simply use it!
Vista’s Superfetch feature, its prefetching powerhouse, is incredibly powerful on its own—don’t mess with it.
Vista monitors your computing habits and caches the stuff you use the most. It also moves things on the hard
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If you’ve somehow gotten the impression that Windows Vista doesn’t need to be defragged, think again. Vista comes with a defrag program (Microsoft’s worst yet, in terms of usability) and it even comes preconfigured to defrag the hard drive once each week.
Unless you keep your computer on 24 hours a
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Next up are a few hacks I’ve come across in my travels. The first is for systems that have an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) with a reliable battery attached.
If your system is equipped with a serial-ATA (SATA) hard drive, go to Device Manager (the quickest way to do that is
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Windows Vista features what some of us think is the prettiest GUI in the OS industry. Its stylish transparencies and nifty animations—driven by Direct3D and your graphics card—give it a polished look that’s a pleasure to use.
Unfortunately, that shiny, new interface, called Aero, is also a resource hog. If you’re
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For the most streamlined operation, it’s essential that your computer has as few programs running in the background as possible. You can tell a bit about how much junk is running behind the scenes by looking at the system tray (the area next to the clock on the taskbar). The
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If you installed Vista yourself and have experience installing previous Windows OSes, you surely noticed that Vista hardly asks any questions about your computer—and what you plan to do with it—than did prior OSes. Windows Vista makes all kinds of assumptions about your computing habits and the features you may
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