Respected Windows 7 Tweaks

xiphrex

xiphrex

xiphrex

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Hi,

I just installed windows 7 the other day after using windows xp for more than 10 years. Im so used to having to tweak windows xp heavily that I feel agitated sitting now on windows 7 with pretty much no tweaks.

Is there a website that people trust that can give tips on what to tweak and what to deactivate for maximum performance?

Currently windows 7 is running loads of stuff but I dont know if its worth running them, like security center, bitdefender, windows firewall, etc.

From google searches there are too many sources which are saying different things, or giving the easy option of just to turn off everything, which isnt what I want, I want to turn off what is necessary to turn off and leave the good things that are actually useful.
 
I used to be the same, but honestly with Windows 7 there is nothing that is 'necessary' to turn off. I disable System Restore, other than that all my tweaks are purely cosmetic.
 
Using Readyboost on an external USB pen (has to be a fast one) is the only thing in Windows 7 I've actually noticed a difference after doing. It's not even a tweak as Readyboost is obviously part of the OS. It's the only thing that helped performance, all the tweaks online were more psychological than anything else I think as we use to disable all of those services etc in previous versions, but in Windows 7 I honestly couldn't see an improvement.
 
The new service control manager will turn services on and off as and when you need them, so apart from third party software that likes to have it's own permanent service running for no real reason you might as well let Windows manage its own services.

Beyond basic maintenance there are no "tweaks" I would recommend. Just keep an eye on your startup items and you're good to go.
 
Most of the tweaks you read about are completely useless, or worse, are actually detrimental for your computer. Most tweaks come about from people who have absolutely no idea what they are doing.

A lot of tweaks are also hold-overs from Windows XP, so rarely - if ever - apply to Vista/7.
 
I've disabled the following:
Windows Search
Media Centre Extender Service
Routing and Remote Access
Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service
 
The search in Vista/7 is very good. I rarely use the All Programs list anymore as I just search for what I want. I use it also for finding specific control panel items or config windows. Third party option is pointless since it is doing exactly what Windows Search is doing! :/
 
Yeah the search in earlier versions of Windows sucked. I still don't think it's quite as good as Spotlight in OSX but it certainly does the job.
 
Spotlight indexes near instantaneously using metadata and integrates seamlessly with the built in OS X apps like Mail.

Type a word into spotlight and it'll give you a pile of email results within a couple of seconds.
 
Windows Search indexes your Outlook emails too :D

Can't really comment on Windows Search's indexing speed as I haven't sat there and watched it! Though once it has finished indexing it keeps track of new items and changes in real-time.
 
my fav tweak is in msconfig > boot > advanced options > Number of Processors > 4 in my case (depends on CPU), this makes it start up using all the processors, iirc by default window's only uses one :)
 
To be honest it's probably purely subjective, but for documents Spotlight tends to nearly always get the "top hit" correct whereas in Windows can make me open up the more meaty search sometimes. There isn't a lot in it, and as an application launcher they're as good as each other.
 
Ah fair enough. I generally don't use search to find documents as I am pretty well organized! I tend to use the Jump Lists a lot too for Office stuff.
 
That was what I thought as well, a lot of the tweaks Ive read have come from previous users of windows xp and I wasnt sure if they would enhance win7 or make it worse.

Ive had to turn off windows firewall as even when I told it to allow a certain game (counterstrike source) it still was giving me lag issues. Turned it off and lag issues disappeared.

Things like that I consider to be unacceptable by Microsoft, sure we should be protected and security is high on the list, but if that interferes with what I want to use the PC for then its pointless.
 
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