Hello all, i wish to increase the performance of my PC. Most people would buy new hardware but i'm pretty useless when it comes to upgrading my hardware.

So my question is, what's the best software to increase my system performance? E.g. Some utilities and programs that do a great job of clearing un-needed files, saving hard drive space and closing any system processes that aren't needed (i get about 4 different iTunes related processes slowing my comp down)

If anyone has any recommendations i would greatly appreciate them, or any help you can give. :thumbsup:

Go into the system tools on your computer, assuming you are running windows, and use Disk Cleanup, and Disk Defragmenter. Also you should try CCleaner, it does a lot of stuff, it also has the ability to change programs that appear when you start your computer, which will slow it down a lot. Also you might want to uninstall old software that you don't use and you may also want to think about increasing the page file size on your computer. These things will help, but a hardware upgrade is still better. Another thing you may want to think about is reinstalling the operating system. Then just reinstall your software. This is very time consuming and should be a last resort if your computer is really bogging down, but is still an option. Hope this helps

I should also mention if your mother board isn't locked down you could also think about overclocking. Just a word of advice though, if you are not familiar with overclocking you may want to find a buddy to help you with that.

Thanks for help, i'll try ccleaner. I'm a little unsure about disk defrag though, i much preferred the XP version of it than the new one that ships with Vista.

I would like to reinstall Vista again but unfortunately i haven't got the disk for it since it came bundled with the computer when i bought it.

EDIT: Just checked my Windows Experience Index and apparently Vista thinks I've got 18.0GB's of RAM!

I don't know what rig you've got, but I heartily recommend AMD's Fusion for Gaming. Very nice app that with one click turns off Vista's redundant processes when activated. You've got three settings, Basic, Advanced and Expert. Each shuts down more of the processes, sometimes with negative effects (i.e. Firefox stops connecting for me under advanced), but it's a very nifty free application. I don't know if it'll work on an Intel based system, but there's a good possibility it will.

Thanks for help, i'll try ccleaner. I'm a little unsure about disk defrag though, i much preferred the XP version of it than the new one that ships with Vista.

I would like to reinstall Vista again but unfortunately i haven't got the disk for it since it came bundled with the computer when i bought it.

EDIT: Just checked my Windows Experience Index and apparently Vista thinks I've got 18.0GB's of RAM!

THAT'S AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! why do you need an upgrade then?

I don't know what rig you've got, but I heartily recommend AMD's Fusion for Gaming. Very nice app that with one click turns off Vista's redundant processes when activated. You've got three settings, Basic, Advanced and Expert. Each shuts down more of the processes, sometimes with negative effects (i.e. Firefox stops connecting for me under advanced), but it's a very nifty free application. I don't know if it'll work on an Intel based system, but there's a good possibility it will.

Yeah i tried that before but all i got was a black box whenever i ran the program, i'll install it again and do a FPS check to see what difference it makes. I have a dual core AMD processor, 6000 X2 i believe.

I just tried some of the performance enhancing tools in vista, i managed to stop about 10 different processes from running whenever i turn the computer on, and i managed to free about 15GB's using Disk Cleanup. :grin:

If you're really serious about performance, I have a tactic that has served me well the past two years. I use a Drive Sled to switch in an out hard drives with their own operating systems (but you could do 2 partitions internally).

What I do is install all my games on one drive with XP. I boot this one when I want to play games (completely starts in under 30 seconds). The second drive has all my application stuff like word processors, video tools, programming utilities, etc. I too have a AMD 6000+ X2, and both drives start up under half a minute and Windows runs smoothly.

I don't know if you really want to do something like this though. The best way is to just have 2 separate drives and keep each one working independent, but it should work with 2 partitions with two installs of Windows. I'm not sure if this works with Vista, but I know that I haven't lost any speed due to program installs or the "wear and tear" Windows seems to have as time goes on.