There are a lot of conflicting views about whether the registry in Windows XP is the source of computers running slow.
The only way to really know for sure is to try it for yourself.
There are two problems that will arise from this.
First of all there are so many registry software tools available in the marketplace that it is very difficult to choose one that will work for.
The other problem is that you have to spend money to get these software programs.
Since we are not positive that they work, it does not seem very reasonable to spend money on something like that.
If Windows XP registry cleaning software does not work then the cause of a computer slowing down must be elsewhere.
So the best thing you can do is make some tweaks and changes to the windows operating system and see if this helps improve your systems performance.
You have nothing to lose as these tips are free to implement and do not require any further investment.
Here is the first thing you can do to try and improve performance.
Improve your hard drives efficiency.
If your hard drive makes a lot of noise when idle this is because all the files on the drive are being indexed.
Windows tries to index all the files so it can find them quicker.
The irony is that it puts so much strain on your hard drive that it sort of cancels itself out and is in essence a waste.
Shutting of this service should improve your hard drive access and prolong your hard drives life.
To turn of file indexing here is what you do.
Double click my computer to open it.
Hit CTRL + E to bring up the search menu on the left side.
Click on "Change Preferences" on the bottom of the menu.
Click on "With indexing service (for faster local searches).
Then click the circle to enable the option "no, do not enable Indexing Service.
Click OK and you're done.
The next thing you can do is increase your virtual memory.
If your computer does not have a whole lot of physical memory (RAM), the virtual memory kicks in and uses hard drive space to simulate memory.
Increasing the amount of hard drive space that is allocated to virtual memory can essential increase the amount of memory your computer has.
A couple of pointers about virtual memory.
When you get to the menu and select the custom size check box.
Make sure to keep the initial and maximum size the same so that your CPU does not waste time having to update the virtual memory paging file.
Lastly set your virtual memory size at least 1.
5 times higher than the size of your RAM.
Follow these steps to access the virtual memory options.
Go to start button and then control panel.
Click performance and maintenance and then click system.
Go to the advanced tab and under performance click settings.
under virtual memory click change.
Find your system drive on the list, usually C: drive.
Under the paging file size click the custom size box.
Enter what you want and click set.
Try these steps out for yourself and see if you notice and system performance increases.
If not you can check out some of my other articles about tweaking windows XP or as a last resort you can try a registry cleanup tool.