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XP Hack for low memory computers




If you are running Windows XP on a low memory computer, this might help speed things up a little.  (Note:- Computers with 1gig or more memory installed will not benefit from this). This Hack involves resetting’ the XP swap file, causing a dramatic increase in performance.

Have you ever noticed how fast your PC is after a fresh OS/Software install?  How the OS seems crisp and fast, and applications load up almost instantly?

And how… after a few months of use, your PC seems to slow down to a crawl?  How even booting up seems to take forever, how launching the simplest applications causes your PC to struggle?  Well I’ve always wondered what causes this ‘Windows Rot” phenomenon (aside from poor programming at M$).

So, try deleting the swap file.  The best way to do this was by setting it to a small size - e.g. 2MB, restarting the PC, and setting it back to the original size.

Here’s the procedure:
(this procedure refers to XP but you can follow similar methods in other windows versions, also, don’t attempt to drastically reduce swap file space, even temporarily, on machines with under 512MB ram).

Caution:  don’t mess with your swap file unless you know what you are doing!

Right click my computer, select properties
Click the ‘Advanced’ tab
Under performance, click Settings
Click the ‘Advanced’ tab
Click ‘change’ under Virtual memory
Make a note of the existing swap file(s)
Set the current swap file to a very small size (e.g. 2mb)
Restart the PC, and resize the swap file back to its original size Initial Size equal to the 1.5 to 2.0 times your physical RAM.
Restart the PC once more

Results:

The results were dramatic and surprising. I think I can confirm that (for XP, on a PC with under 1GB ram) this procedure returns your PC to (almost) the original post software install stage.

Applications which struggled to load earlier now load up rapidly, just as they used to when the XP installation was fresh.  Everything just works faster - even simple tasks like switching between windows!








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