Yeah i must agree with Suspishio that it can make a big difference in performnance if you have, say, a 5200 rpm drive compared to a 7200 rpm drive. This is not very noticable usually, but if you are doing a lot of disk intensive operations (e.g logging, hence why servers have high speed disks) or swapping, then it can make a difference (this is why if you dont have much ram and therefore swap a lot on a laptop it always seems significantly slower to the user than the same scenario on a desktop, which would have a faster drive).

My main tips:

reduce startup programs. if its an OEM installed system it will come bundled with so much crap. You will notice that vista runs 2-3 times faster on a clean end-user install, due to this.

Also, reduce unnecessary effects and buy more ram (2gb is what i recommend - don't need more than 2.5 or 3 unless you are into heavy video editing or a gamer) and most importantly, get a decent video card. You will notice vista will be much faster if you upgrade from, say a crappy intel integrated solution, to a low end Nvidia card (something like an 8400, which can be picked up for very cheap) will provide a speed boost.

Where do I find out the information on RAM, ect? I dont know where to find this? Also, how do I know the additional programs listed in the thread will not do damage to my system? Those listed to clean ms config ect....

I dont know, I just like XP...maybe we can make progress..Guys thanks for the help.

To check how much ram you have, and what type, use the memory scanner on Crucial Memory , its a good website. Can order from there too.

first let me say we do not recommend program that will harm your computer.
as for cpu-z install it and go to SPD section along the top.and it will give you the info on the ram,click slot#1 to change from one slot to another to check to see ram in all slots

where is CRUTIAL MEMORY??? +

http://www.crucial.com/