Speed Up Windows XP Without Defrag By Boosting Performance and Capacity

Learn how you can increase the speed of WinXP without defrag, increase capacity to improve the performance of WinXP and why upgrading to Windows 7 may not be as easy as you think.

While Windows 7 has been in retail for several months now, Windows XP is still the most widely used operating system in the world. Performance, however, remains an issue, with users still looking for ways to speed up Windows XP.

Check out the articles below to learn how you can increase the speed of WinXP without having to defrag disks and discover nearly a dozen ways to boost performance and increase capacity.

Also, if you think making the move to Windows 7 will solve your performance woes, learn about the pitfalls CRN’s Test Center experienced when making the upgrade from WinXP to Windows 7.

23 Ways to Speed WinXP without Defrag

If you’re trying to increase the speed of Windows XP machines used by your customers, defrag is not the answer. While many still believe that defragmenting hard-disk drives keeps PCs operating at peak performance, the concept of defrag is behind the times. With PCs and servers containing faster-RPM hard-disk drives and WinXP’s ultra-efficient NTFS (NT File System), defragmenting makes little, if any, improvement to system performance.

So what are your options for speeding up WinXP? This article examines 23, including adding more memory, ensuring WinXP is using the NTFS, not partitioning the hard drive, running a disk cleanup, upgrading the cabling and more.

11 New Tips For Boosting Windows XP Performance

Are you looking for a way optimize WinXP boxes to ensure customers are getting the best possible performance from their systems? By restoring the zip of WinXP-based PCs -- both old and new -- you can provide clients with a faster-running OS.

This article will show you where to look for WinXP problems, such as fragmented disks and unused network devices. Learn how to boost the CPU cycles, memory and the performance of Windows XP overall by removing unused programs, disconnecting unused connections, removing remnants of old SP2 installs and other tips.

Analysis: Upgrading from XP to Vista to Windows 7? Good Luck

Looking for the most efficient way to upgrade from WinXP to Windows 7? Microsoft has stated that the best upgrade option to Windows 7 is to not skip the upgrade to Vista. So not surprisingly, a number of issues emerged as reviewers in the CRN Test Center set out to find the easiest way to get Windows 7 deployed on XP clients. Most notably, older hardware, though not near the end of its business life cycle, may be impossible to upgrade and the extra step in the upgrade process adds complexity and time that was not needed in previous upgrades.

Learn more about the testing process and why VARs will need to do some significant planning and testing before tackling an upgrade to Windows 7.