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    Launch Speed

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by darklich, Feb 22, 2007.

  1. darklich

    darklich Notebook Consultant

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    Ok, I have a noob question and a lack of patience.

    What determines the launch speed of applications? It seems to me that whatever I launch, be it Firefox, Explorer, Word, or whatever, that the speed at which it opens is not any faster on my fast notebook than on my slow desktop.

    BTW, I'm running XP on both computers and they both have 7200rpm hard drives. The notebook has 2GB of memory and the desktop only has 512MB.

    How can I make things open faster?
     
    darklich, Feb 22, 2007
    #1
  2. hehe299792458

    hehe299792458 Notebook Deity

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    Do you have Vista? If so, try using ReadyBoost w/ an SD card
     
    hehe299792458, Feb 22, 2007
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  3. Airman

    Airman Band of Gypsys NBR Reviewer

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    Yes, or try Readyboost with a flash drive.
     
    Airman, Feb 22, 2007
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  4. darklich

    darklich Notebook Consultant

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    I don't have Vista. Any advice for XP?
     
    darklich, Feb 22, 2007
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  5. hehe299792458

    hehe299792458 Notebook Deity

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    You could try:

    Scanning for spyware
    Defrag hd
    clean out junk and registry
    Bootvis (shortens boot time)
    Start menu --> run --> msconfig --> uncheck all the unnecessary programs under start up
     
    hehe299792458, Feb 22, 2007
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  6. Calum

    Calum Notebook Consultant

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    And check your prefetch settings, also clear out your prefetch folder.
     
    Calum, Feb 23, 2007
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  7. Jalf

    Jalf Comrade Santa

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    The main bottleneck is likely to be the harddrive. There's just not that much to do about it, the application needs to load everything off the harddrive initially. That takes time.
    Both XP and Vista tries to "predict" what you might load, and preload it (although Vista does it far more aggressively), but fundamentally, there's not that much more you can do. Make sure the files aren't fragmented. And maybe just don't close the applications. Leave them open so they stay in memory.
     
    Jalf, Feb 23, 2007
    #7
  8. Matt

    Matt Notebook Deity

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    Very true.

    Hard drive speed and defraggind your hard drive are the only things you can do to improve that. RAM won't really make a difference unless you are running 5+ applications and processor speed most likely won't make any difference at all.

    Matt
     
    Matt, Feb 23, 2007
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  9. jetstar

    jetstar Notebook Deity

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    Try and eliminate as many resource hogging software (Norton being a prime example). This should result in an increase in overall performance.
     
    jetstar, Feb 23, 2007
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  10. Matt

    Matt Notebook Deity

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    Oh yeah, forogt to mention. You might want to turn indexing off. Do this by:

    1) Right-click on your hard drive (Default: C drive)
    2) Click 'Properties'
    3) Uncheck 'Allow Indexing'
    4) Click 'OK'
    5) On the first error it gives click 'Ignore All'. I believe it throws this error because system files are in use.

    Matt
     
    Matt, Feb 23, 2007
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  11. usapatriot

    usapatriot Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Use a stopwatch.

    :p
     
    usapatriot, Feb 23, 2007
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  12. qohelet

    qohelet Senior Member

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    try using TUNEXP. i think it makes my laptop a little faster! just google it.
     
    qohelet, Feb 23, 2007
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  13. Matt

    Matt Notebook Deity

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    Download TuneXP (from Cnet)

    Here's their review as well:
    Matt
     
    Matt, Feb 23, 2007
    #13