To remove the sluggishness in windows xp , it needs tobe taken care from time to time periodically through some extremely in telligent windows xp management ,
There are lots of free utilities available in the market.
Delete or compress files:
can be done using the built in software on windows xp i.e. go to Start>All Programmes>Accessories>System Tools>DIsk Cleanup
Use this tools to clean up each of the drives one by one periodically . Then manually dele te these temporary files by opening the folders %temp% and C:\WIndows\Temp.
If you use Internet Explorer for web browsing Delete the temporary file cache after each month for this go to Tools>Internet Options unde r the the temporary int ernet file section, click delete files , then che ck the box in front of Delete all offline content and then click OK.
For Opera users Tools>Preferences go to Advance Tab, click on history , and then left click Empty now .
For Firefox users go to Tools>Options, go to cache and click Clear Cache Now.
To clean Outlook go to Tools>Options>Mail Setup, then clcik the data files button, select Archieve Folders from the list , click Settings , and clcick Compact Now, This will compress/zip the particular folder ; do the same for all lsitings in the list .
To clean Outlook Express , select File>Folder>Compact All to do the exact thing as of the above outlook .
Relocating Outlook mail and address book to a different location.Open registery Editor,if you are using Outlook 2003 then go to [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\office\11.0\Outlook]
For Outlook XP , replace “11.0” with “10.00”;for Outlook 2000,it’s”9.0″.Create anExpandable string value (REG_EXPAND_SZ) called ForcePSTPath, and set it to equal the full path of the personal foldermay be E:\MyDeskMail (this destiantion to be created before hand).Exit the registery and log out to and then log in to take the changes to take effect.
For Outlook Express, go to Tools>Options>Maintaenance>Store Folder and click change…. derive the new location.
Use CCleaner to remove all traces of uninstalled programmes ,unwanted entries ,unused and temporary files, cookies, Recycle bin entries, Windows hot-fix files, old prefetch data, history and cache files in many applications such as Internet Explorer and Firefox and much more. It will check the Windows Registry for invalid entries.. Do check the settings for each program before you run them, backup and/or create a Restore Point before you start.
Defragment:
For this see my article on disc defragment to know it more on this blog.
Organise FIles and Folders :
Relocate My Document folder ,which nromally resides on C drive to D drive or other such drives .
Right click on My Documents, clcik on Properties , enter E:\My Document in the Target box and click OK , Then you will be asked whether you wish to move all the documents from the old location to the new location, then click Yes. Then organise your files .
For indexing you may install X1 Enterprise Client or Google Desktop search ,Exalead
For Windows 98 and later use Copernicus Desktop Search
Back up your files
XP has free back-up utility. Go to Start>All Programms>Accessories>System Tools>Back-up.
In windows xp home it will not be installed automatically , then you have two ways , get it from
windows backup site
or Insert the original windows xp home edition cd, and migrate to [CD Drive]:\VALUEADD\MSFT\NTBACKUP.
Double click on Ntbackup.msi and it will start a wizard tha t will be installing the Back-up Utility.
After installing open the back-up or restore wizard from start menu ,then click next , select Back-up filesand settings radio button then click next , click all the information in this computer on the wha t to back-up page , then clcik next , clcik choose a place to save your back-ups and select your external hard drive,or cd/dvd drive on the back-up type, destination ,nad name page and clcik next , clcik fifnish on the completing the back-up or restore wizard page.
After the process completes the windows back-up saves copy of you files on the external drive and iof you lsoe some data , then run the restore wizard and sele ct restore files settings and radio button , then the wizard is self explanatory .
It is recomended to back -up your files in every ten day or ina fort night .
