Guide to Windows XP optimisation

This tutorial offers a method of getting rid of spyware, virus and other parasites from your computer. By default, the Windows XP operating system is a long way off being optimized for maximum performance.

There are a number of programs that will offer you miracle “all in one” solutions to get your configuration in place. These programs are often simple and therefore do not always adapt to the system that they are installed on. This means that in certain cases, configuration problems will not be fixed and could even take longer then if you fixed them yourself.

You should therefore not confuse optimization with a super solution to your problems: also understand that this isn’t a question of over clocking or a magic solution. Windows XP is an operating system that likes resources and if you don’t have a solid hardware base, then you can not hope to go far. To give you an idea, the recommended configurations are:

Minimum:

• 233 MHz processor
• 64MB of RAM (this amount will result in limited performance)
• 1.5GB of Hard Disk space
• Super VGA resolution (800 x 600 pixels)
• CD-Rom or DVD
• Compatible keyboard and mouse
  

Recommended:

• 300MHz processor
• 128MB of RAM (You will still be better off with 256MB)
• 1.5GB of Hard Disk space
• Super VGA resolution (800 x 600 pixels)
• CD-Rom or DVD
• Compatible keyboard and mouse
• Network card
• Sound card and speakers
  

Note: Windows XP has two limitations

• It can manage a maximum of 4GB of RAM (this is mostly on the 32bit version of Windows XP)
• It can manage a maximu of 2 phisical processors (or 4 virtual processors with hyperthreading)
  

Now that you have an idea, let’s have a look at attacking viruses.