Fine tune Windows Vista

Remove surplus software

The more applications and Windows components you have installed, the slower your system is likely to be. Click Control Panel > Programs, then follow the links to uninstall surplus programs and remove any Windows features you don’t really need.

Plain but speedy

Click Control Panel > System and Maintenance > Performance Information and Tools > Adjust visual effects > Adjust for best performance to speed up PCs with a sluggish video card. Check ‘Enable transparent glass’ if that’s a little too plain.

Early spring cleaning

Still in Performance Information… click Open Disk Cleanup to delete redundant files. Then click Start, enter defrag in the search box and press Enter, click Defragment Now, and wait while your hard drive is optimised (this may take a while).

Tame the Windows Sidebar

The Sidebar is fun, but the more gadgets you add, the more system resources they’ll consume and the slower your PC will be. Remove gadgets you don’t need, or rightclick on the Sidebar, select Properties and clear ‘Start Sidebar’ to disable it altogether.

Disable devices

Click Control Panel > System and Maintenance > System > Device Manager, right-click hardware you don’t need – an unused network adapter? – and select Disable. Disable the wrong thing and your PC won’t reboot, so if in doubt, leave it.