First of all- what processor is in the computer, what is the speed, and how much RAM does it have. If you have an old, slow processor and a relatively small amount of RAM, there's only so much you can do to get any measurable performance boost out of the beast.

One thing to do is to make sure that you aren't starting up any programs that you don't absolutely need. A lot of programs (AIM, MSN messenger, multimedia programs, etc.) will set themselves to automatically run when Windows starts, and even if you aren't actively using them, they're still idling in the background chewing up memory and other system resources.

You can see (and alter) what programs are set to run at system startup by choosing the "Run..." option under your start menu and typing the following command in the resulting dialog box:

msconfig

Here's a short tutorial on msconfig:

http://netsquirrel.com/msconfig/

Hey Jelly Head, as DMR said, more information is needed in order to give much advice. To get this info, right-click on My Computer, and then click on Properties. With the General tab selected, you should find most of what DMR requested.

As for defragmenting, there are different opinions; some say as seldom as two or three times a year, I say once a week. If it's only done a couple of times a year, it could take hours each time. The more frequently it's done, the less time it takes and the better your computer is running all the time. Note: Defragging normally will not make a noticable difference in speed, but it will be running more efficiently.

Here's a thread that may help with more suggestions:
http://www.daniweb.com/techtalkforums/thread9205.html

Some things you can do to speed things up:

-- Delete all temp files (c:\windows\temp\*.tmp)

-- Delete temporary internet files (c:\windows\temporary internet files\*.*)

-- If you use I.E., click on Tools, Internet Options, Delete Files, select "delete all off-line content", click OK

-- Click on Start, Programs, Accessories, Systems Tools, Disk Cleanup

-- Download AdAware, check for updates, run it and remove whatever it finds

-- Download Diskeeper and defrag

Set Diskeeper to run in the background and it will keep things cleaned up regularly. If not, then at least once a week.

Finally, someone with the same view on defragmenting as me. My brother thinks I'm crazy....

If you defragment, say, once a year, then you have to watch as your computer gets slower and slower, and at the end of the year, your computer will be out of commision probably for at least 24 hours while it defragments. During this time you have to worry about power fluctuations which could cause horrible write errors. Doesn't it make more sense to divide this time evenly over the year instead of all at once? Then you have a computer running at fully defragmented speed all the time, and you don't have to wait. I defragment once a week, and it never takes more than 30 seconds to do. That's a forth of the time it takes for me to microwave my canned lasagna every morning.

I have some other advice. I'm afriad I can't verify if this is true, but I've heard from my lan friends that if you have fewer icons on your desktop and use a solid color instead of a wallpaper, you can get a bit of a speedup. Try turning down your resolution, and use 16bit color instead of 32bit.

I've heard this too, can anyone verify it?

As for the resolution, I think it's best to have it set as Optimized, or the highest setting your moniter will allow to avoid eye stess and headaches.

Canned lasagna for breakfast? :eek:

Technically, this is true. Graphics are comparatively resource-intensive, and the more complex an image is, the more time it will take the system to draw that image on your screen. However, unless you have a pretty old machine and/or a very low-end video card, you won't notice much (if any) performance increase by using a simple, low-res desktop; today's systems have enough graphics firepower to display a complex desktop without lag.