speeding up an install without formatting

[invictius]

I've disabled all non-essential startup items, and still have a pretty slow laptop (amd 2800, 512mb ram). Is there any way to speed up startup, and general performance, without formatting? Is defragmenting useful only for FAT32, or NTFS as well?

[AngelfireUk83]

What OP system are you using XP Home or Pro and what Service Pack if any? If your running either of these with a SP1 or SP2 (SP2 should be the best bet). You can disable some un-needed services which will free up more memory and should speed up the system.

You have already disabled Start-Up items in MSCONFIG that's a start but disbaling services will also help. As for Defrag the inbuild one isn't the best or so people say but wether it's FAT32 or NTFS defrag once a month or after a game install help the system find files quicker.

FAT32 has alot more speed over NTFS but can only be put on a drive with 40GB's or lower over 40GB NTFS kicks in. NTFS is kinda slower but has more to do with security on your files so I have read in the past.

[Pinky]

Defragmenting helps a lot. There was an excellent article in maximum pc magazine this month about trimming boot times. I can't remember all the different suggestions, but each was worth 2-5 seconds per tweak for a total of about 30 seconds saved. I think trimming startup items, startup services, and defragmenting were the biggest...

[Pinky]

As for Defrag the inbuild one isn't the best or so people say but wether it's FAT32 or NTFS defrag once a month or after a game install help the system find files quicker.

FAT32 has alot more speed over NTFS but can only be put on a drive with 40GB's or lower over 40GB NTFS kicks in. NTFS is kinda slower but has more to do with security on your files so I have read in the past.

As far as I know the windows defragmenting software is more than enough. The only shortfall is it won't optimize system files, but that's mostly because they're in use at the time of defragmentation.

I have read nothing that says fat32 is a 'faster' file system than NTFS. In past discussions the conclusions was it didn't make a difference in performance, and with the added security and file system stability NTFS is the no-brainer choice.

[invictius]

What OP system are you using XP Home or Pro and what Service Pack if any? If your running either of these with a SP1 or SP2 (SP2 should be the best bet). You can disable some un-needed services which will free up more memory and should speed up the system.

You have already disabled Start-Up items in MSCONFIG that's a start but disbaling services will also help. As for Defrag the inbuild one isn't the best or so people say but wether it's FAT32 or NTFS defrag once a month or after a game install help the system find files quicker.

FAT32 has alot more speed over NTFS but can only be put on a drive with 40GB's or lower over 40GB NTFS kicks in. NTFS is kinda slower but has more to do with security on your files so I have read in the past.

XP pro, SP2. All un-needed services and startup items are disabled - the only startup items are zonealarm, kapersky AV, and daemon tools. As for services, I took the advice of that blackviper (can't remember the URL) site, and disabled everything that isn't absolutely essential.

[ErikD]

Deframenting does make a noticable difference at times, but it really depends on if it is needed or not. After a frehs install, insatlling programs, removing programs, just running for a while, it will speed up boot times noticably. That is on NTFS or FAT32. If you have been running the same install for a while, and never done a defrag give it a try. You have nothing to lose, and it usually does help some.

[klingens]

you don't need to format to reinstall windows. a disk with 2-3 GB free is enough. Just delete/rename the Windows, Documents+Settings and Program Files. Then install windows fresh