Configuring the Page File
Now that you've configured all relevant memory management options it's time to get to grips with the Page File itself. Depending on what site or forum you visit, the question "What should I set the Page File size to?" - is sure to bring a variety of responses and ensuing arguments. A few things to bear in mind...
- Vista automatically increases the Page File size should it be necessary (reducing it afterwards). This essentially means you can only notionally create a "Permanent Page File" (Initial size = Maximum size).
- If you have a single hard drive split into multiple partitions, the Page File should be set to the partition Vista is installed to. You should not create multiple Page Files for different partitions in this case.
- If you have multiple hard drives installed, it is beneficial to locate the Page File on the Hard Drive Vista is not installed to, but only if the other hard drive is of a similar or better performance.
- The Page File should not be located on a mirrored Drive, e.g. RAID array, if possible as fault tolerance / backup is not required and may decrease performance.
Note any Page File restrictions on location and size as a result of the Write debugging information setting previously selected.
Although I have previously recommended using the Task Manager to determine an optimal Page File size, given the increased size of hard drives that procedure is now somewhat redundant. Instead I would simply recommend assigning 1 - 2 GB (1024 - 2048MB) to the Page File.
Once more open System Properties, select the Advanced system settings tab and press the Performance Settings button, selecting the Advanced tab, finally pressing the Change button.
Taking heed of the previous points, select the appropriate Drive, click Custom and set the Initial / Maximum size (MB), then click Set.
Now click Ok and restart your PC as required.
Performance trade-offs, misc. tweaks
While not the kind of "tweaks" we like to recommend, Windows Vista is a new operating system designed to run on faster computers, no matter what the minimum requirements tell you, the faster system you have the more enjoyable (or less painful) your Vista experience is going to be.
Disabling Vista's Search Indexer
One of the nicest things of Vista's search is that it's well integrated into the user interface, so if you rely on desktop search a lot, just ignore this tip, but if you rarely use Vista's built-in search or have no idea what I'm talking about then you may enjoy a smoother experience disabling Windows Search.
- Go to Start
- In the search/run box type "services.msc" then hit Enter. This will open the Windows Management Console.
- On the right pane, scroll down and look for a service called "Windows Search", then double-click it.
- On the properties window of Windows Search, click on the Stop button.
- Then in the "Startup type" drop down, click on Disabled.
- Close the windows and restart your system for the changes to take effect.
You can always go back and enable Windows Search, the only trade-off is that Vista will have to scan your hard drive again which can take minutes up to a few hours (all done in the "background").
Disabling unnecessary services
Similarly to what we did above, we could potentially disable a number of unnecessary services that are run by default on the background. There is no set list of what services should be running or not for everyone, but those will depend on personal preference and usage so your mileage will vary.
You can access the Windows Management console as indicated above and choose what services to disable from running. To assess yourself you can consult our old Windows XP Services guide (we may write a Vista-based one soon), or here's an external guide that may also be of help.
Disabling Vista Aero
Unless you are running on a very old graphics board - or even worse, integrated graphics - chances are you are not having much trouble with Aero. As with all eye candy however, Aero UI does takes its toll in overall system performance. You may want to try disabling it and see if this pleases your desire for a more responsive system:
- Right-click on the desktop and then click on Personalize.
- Click on the first option called "Window Color and Appearance."
- Look for the link "Open classic appearance properties for more color options." This will open a window similar to the one found in XP for choosing a color scheme.
- Instead of Windows Aero, you can choose from the less shiny "Vista Basic" or the older "Windows Standard" and "Windows Classic".
Removing unnecessary programs from startup
The classic tweak, and in many instances the most necessary one. No matter how trusted the software you install in your computer is, there is an ever increasing trend on developers setting its software to run at Windows startup in obvious (Start > Programs > Startup) and not so obvious ways.
Fortunately Vista's Defender is more capable than before, and you don't have to deal with the registry or even run 'msconfig' for detecting such unwanted applications...
- Go to Start
- In the search/run box type "defender" then hit Enter. This will open the Windows Defender panel.
- At the top menu click on Tools, then go to Software Explorer.
- This will display a friendly menu of currently running startup programs with useful information on the developer, file path, name and if you are lucky even more.
- For disabling a startup item, just select it from the left menu, then click the "Disable" on the bottom right (this is preferable over Remove unless you are 100% sure you don't want this running on startup).
A few more hints...
If a program is legit, it's likely it will show useful information, if it's just some generic non-sense you may be looking at spyware. If you are unsure of whether you should remove a program from startup, we have a searchable filename index that can help.
Oh, did we mention you can disable the Vista sidebar from this screen? You may want to think again if the Windows Sidebar is worth running or not and save some cycles and memory on the way (You can also remove it by closing it from the taskbar and choosing not to run it at startup when prompted).
ReadyBoost, BIOS and Closing
ReadyBoost
Do you have you any external flash memory laying around? If so, you may be interested in ReadyBoost, which allows Windows to use suitably fast flash memory for OS caching purposes as detailed by Microsoft:
ReadyBoost supports the use of nonvolatile flash storage devices to boost system performance. Devices enhanced for ReadyBoost provide dedicated space outside main memory where SuperFetch can store a cache of performance-crucial data for fast random access. Although not as fast as main memory, nonvolatile flash memory significantly outperforms conventional disk media in random reads by avoiding the rotational and seek latencies. All data written to the cache is compressed at a 2:1 ratio and encrypted by using AES-128 to ensure security of the data.
Upon connecting such devices Windows AutoPlay will prompt as to whether you wish to Speed up my system by using ReadyBoost and allocate the amount of memory you wish to allocate to it assuming the device passes the performance test.
ReadyBoost can provide noticeable performance improvements particularly on systems that meet only minimum memory requirements (1GB or less). We have tried it and it works quite well in such scenarios.
BIOS Settings
By default most BIOS settings are configured for compatibility over performance. As such, it's worth checking your BIOS settings to determine whether any options can be altered to allow for improved performance without adversely affecting system stability (RAM settings in particular like Latency timings, as well as Hard Drive related, e.g. ATA Transfer mode). BIOS options vary greatly depending on the age of the motherboard, the manufacturer and chipset. Options may also be added or removed depending on the BIOS revision used.
I recommend checking the Definitive BIOS Optimization Guide for optimal setup tips. The Memory Subsystem section alone covers 70 options.
Final Thoughts
If you have tweaked Windows XP in the past you will have noticed Vista has less options and in general less room for manual optimizations. Now, this is not a bad thing as we found out that Microsoft has automated in Vista many of those settings we used to recommend on XP, and in some other cases they have set optimal values as default. The bad news is that even then Vista continues to be a resource hog for many, especially those with older systems, leaving no choice but to keep XP for a while longer.
Should you seek further information on Windows Vista tweaking, be sure to check our Windows OS Forum and our "Tips & Tricks" section at the blog.