postheadericon How To Turn Off Vista’s Useless Junk And Speed Up Your PC

There are well over a hundred services inside Vista’s innards, and most of them do absolutely nothing for the common, average user other than slow down his PC to a crawl and require outrageous amounts of hard drive space, RAM and CPU cycles. If you are even remotely considering using Vista, you had better have an uncle in the PC business as you’re going to require a system with some truly massive power. All the people who think that just because their Centrino 512MB RAM laptop has a sticker that says it’s “Vista Ready” that you’ll actually be able to do something with it. Lots of luck!

There is so much sheer unadulterated trash gumming up the works on Vista that the average, normal user is truly well off by just turning the vast majority of it off. The readers of my Hubs are not generally the top multinational enterprise administrator types, but regular men and women who just use their computers for everyday common uses. I can assure you that well over 99% of these readers do not have any need whatsoever for the following Windows Vista services running all the time and turning your speedy computer into a mud bog slogger:

  • Infrared Monitor Service
  • KTMRM for Distributed Transaction Coordinator
  • Network Access Protection Agent
  • Peer Name Resolution Protocol
  • Pen Service
  • PnP-X IP Bus Enumerator Service
  • Remote Access Connection Manager
  • Remote Registry
  • Secondary Logon
  • SL UI Notification Service
  • SSDP Discover Service
  • Tablet PC Input Service
  • TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
  • UPnP Device Host
  • Virtual Disk
  • WebClient
  • Windows Management Instrumentation
  • Windows Media Center Extender Service
  • WinHTTP WebProxy AutoDiscovery Service
  • and let’s not even mention Aero! (Gag!)

These are the ones that can be easily terminated in common, everyday scenarios and you’d never miss them for an instant. However, there is a really great resource over at Black Viper. It lists every single service that runs on every flavor of Vista and which ones can be terminated and under what situations. It also gives you specific and easy to follow instructions on how to do that! Turning many of these off will make your system fast and responsive again. If you were stupid enough to buy Vista, do something smart for a change! Go check out that website and start turning off all that useless OS junk!

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148 Responses to “How To Turn Off Vista’s Useless Junk And Speed Up Your PC”

  • Donald Mccants:

    Come on guys get with the times, leave Vista alone and upgrade
    your PCs then you won’t feel it be slow.

  • Robert Reed:

    Since vista was released in 2007, YOU CANT HAVE A COMPUTER WITH
    512 RAM RUNNING IT GOOD. That was the standard for way back in
    2003.

  • Richard Mendez:

    Avoid Vista at all costs.. It’s not worth the time, the regret
    and the mass of services it runs, and what it requires to do so.
    Stay XP, Go Mac, Do the Unbuntu whatever your Operating System,
    it’s far superior to Vista, in any shape or Form.

  • Samuel Fisher:

    We would if we had a copy of XP to use and give to her. The
    computer didn’t even come with an official Vista disc, just
    recovery discs.

  • Carolyn Ramsey:

    adamjthompson: It’s very interesting that you say that, as I
    have a two day old Q8200 Quad Core 2.3 GHz 45nm 3 GB RAM Dell right
    here. I’ve just timed Photoshop CS2 on Vista Home Premium at a 17
    second launch. Hmm… I feel another computer & OS comparison
    coming up. I have NEVER experienced the performance that many
    people claim with Vista. It’s always been a slug for me! :(

  • Heidi Ambrose:

    Don’t have Vista, don’t want it, but just in case I’m forced to
    get it one day, I’m going to bookmark this hub.

  • Casandra Carroll:

    Anyway Great article man. Did all this stuff on my computer.
    Works better than it did. I love it even more now. :D

  • Kenneth Kim:

    Let me know if that solves it! :)

  • Michael Sawyer:

    If you have 4GiB of ram, at bootup Vista (with its default
    superfetch) will spend about 7+ minutes trying to fill it up, I’ve
    tried to minimize hard drive access as much as I can, and the hard
    drive still gets accessed about every half minute or so, rather or
    not I’m doing something. Not good for notebooks! UAC will prompt
    about 4 to 6 messages warning about changing your start menu around
    every time you want to change it. At least after turning off
    superfetch and UAC this is at least an ok os. It has better more
    descriptive error messages than XP, and is more user friendly to
    move/copy files (after removing UAC). Linux is better, but you have
    to deal with the weaknesses of X11, and software installation. MACs
    only have one mouse button. Every OS has its problems. Its pluses
    and minuses, pick the best combination and go wiith it. Having
    multiple OSs on a computer etc can get confusing, but can serve as
    a backup when the other one goes nuts. Pick your balance.

  • Clyde Mills:

    healthgoji: I know of a guy who tried to install Vista Business
    on his Celeron notebook with 256MB RAM. He claims it DOES run… I
    don’t believe him though! :)

  • Wanda Gault:

    Excellent excellent information – especially for computers which
    are less than the latest and greatest.

  • Jeffrey Hammonds:

    Great tips. There’s nothing more annoying that unknown programs
    running in the background that slow you down.

  • Bradley Aquino:

    Nice hub. I will do these steps to a friends laptop to speed it
    up. If they work to my satisfaction than I will once again
    purchasing a PC for the laptop I am considering. At this point it
    is going to be a MacBook but they do cost more.

  • Joe White:

    Are you sure those “useless services” are always a part of
    Vista?

  • Marion Price:

    I will never use Vista! It stinks from its very start!

  • Catherine Bozarth:

    Great article — my fiance bought his mother a new computer and
    it came with Vista (didn’t have a choice). It started off at a
    crawl, with only 512MB included (why do they think 512MB is
    enough?) and Vista Home Basic is what was installed.

  • Natasha Smith:

    Well for all of you vista haters know this…XP is on its way
    out and if you dont like vista upgrade your machines….This is
    nothing new you should be used to it by now. quit complaining and
    upgrade your computers memory and processors…Or hang on to Xp by
    the skin of your teeth until forced into another operating system.
    Besides the majority of bugs are worked out of vista now…It just
    took years to do it!!!! Now that all of the market testing is done
    you should be able to enjoy it….Nitro

  • Margaret Smith:

    This whole article is nonsense. I ran through my system services
    and most of the services listed aren’t even running anyway. They
    are “manual” and currently “off”.

  • David Lee:

    i am trying to find someone who will take it off and install xp.
    I even went so far as to consider iMac!

  • Julio Millington:

    Everyone hates Vista. But most of us are not geekified enough to
    mess with it much. My computers hard drive croaked (just after the
    warranty expired of course). I had a new hard drive put in and it
    runs faster than it ever has although a few things dont work well
    or at all. Go figure. Unless you really know what you are doing I
    wouldnt mess with delicate tasks to get it running faster. You can
    kill your computer.

  • Norberto Fullilove:

    Will Post on your own blog with the answer if I get to resolve
    it.

  • Joseph Wheeler:

    Shirley Anderson, half a Gig of RAM on Vista is like trying to
    compete in a Formula 1 race on a skateboard. I have several PCs,
    and one of them is a dual core with 2GB or RAM, and it’s still not
    quite enough. The sweet spot right now for Vista 32 seems to be 3GB
    RAM, and when matched up with my quad core CPU, I am finally
    experiencing reasonable performance… at least somewhat close to
    XP, but with a far less capable computer.

  • Kenneth Albert:

    Very useful information thank you a whole bunch!

  • Juanita Allen:

    I believe that there is a lot useless stuff in vista, but what
    about playing games. Unfortinatly Direct X10 is only available for
    vista. Do you think it make sence ti turn this stuff off while
    playing?

  • William Huynh:

    One way or another after a certain amount of time Windows PC’s
    (at least mine) get sluggish in their performance. I’ll try your
    tips.

  • Roy Stuart:

    Depending on where you bought it, call them up and read them the
    riot act. Tell them that you’re very unhappy with the delay and for
    compensation they can re-date the invoice so you qualify for W7.
    Might work!

  • Helen Williams:

    Sue, you have the evil WAN Miniport problem with Vista SP1. It’s
    rather common. Here is the fix:

  • Mark Worsham:

    I am one of the few that love my vista. There are a few programs
    that I have removed but I do use a lot of those that you mentioned.
    I will say that I do like the new features of the Power Point. I
    give a lot of Presentations.

  • Anthony Palmer:

    good article.. Just upgraded and although its all good now I
    keep hearing how Vista won’t take long to start slowing down.

  • Elden Dexter:

    I understand that some people have had problems with the Vista
    OS, but they’re already producing the next OS. Look up “Windows 7″.
    Supposedly, they’re starting from scrap and creating an entirely
    new OS.

  • Joyce Ho:

    Fantastic… I have been using Vista for awhile and I hate it!
    Not only is it slow but to top it off the spooling service will
    randomly just stop working for no good reason.

  • Melissa Moseley:

    This will delete the WAN Miniport. If you want to install it
    again it should be on your network disks.

  • Elsie Tran:

    Linux is free. Try ubuntu, or xubuntu7.10

  • Grayce Dudley:

    Im running on a phenomII 955, With 4 gigs of ram, And you people
    are running on peices of crap computers that you expect vista to
    run on.

  • Paul Huffman:

    I noticed in the Sunday retail ads that Best Buy will speed up
    your new PC purchase for an additional $40. Shouldn’t your new PC
    run great right out of the box? Why is Vista such a bulky pain, and
    when is MS going to configure it for speed on their end so we don’t
    have to?

  • William Rodriguez:

    I’ve played around with the W7 beta. Yes, it’s entire orders of
    magnitude better than Vista. There is still room for improvement,
    however, and it still isn’t in the class of the latest OS-X, but
    overall, it’s great!

  • Lauren Cusumano:

    Hi, Heartaday. Most likely, yes. Although there many other
    reasons for the “mysterious chug” and none of them are good!

  • Ellis Hicks:

    Carmen Borthwick: In many cases RAM is the magic bullet. Just
    throw more RAM at any PC and watch it soar! Thanks! :)

  • Bill Burns:

    I LOVE the picture. I like features of Microsoft, but not all of
    them; and, slowing down a computer is not nice. I suppose they will
    sell additional software or hardware to speed it up.

  • Gerald Vaughn:

    I still use XP, and more and more Linux and I am going to switch
    to Apple Leopard OS, soon, to leave that Microsoft Vista misery,
    for ever.

  • Barbara Robinson:

    first i hated vista as well as the most of you…wel but now i
    get used to it :P a dual core and 2Gb are some minimum requirements
    i think…Sp1 did make al lot things good!and vista is pretty but
    i’m waiting for windows 7

  • Carl Shanks:

    Vista was supposed to be a phenomenal system but the elimination
    of WinFS and other key features during the development process
    turned it into a huge slug.

  • Frank Schroeder:

    I noticed that whenever I visit (merriam webster’s
    website), my firefox locks up. Not sure if it’s firefox or vista,
    but I’d like to blame vista for it!

  • Jean Boudreaux:

    Disabling some of those services just might help speed up Vista
    a little more. I’ll definitely suggest it to my fiance in case he
    wants to give it a try.

  • Terry Lockwood:

    Thank you very much for the kind words, I really appreciate your
    comments! :)

  • Victor Kent:

    Upgraded (?!) the laptop (amd dual core 2gb mem) to vista 5
    months ago. Loved it at first, but then i tried to copy and move
    files!! From then on it was downhill all the way. Reinstalled it
    once, and fiddled with the internals but no good.. She died on the
    operating table… Luckily enough i found my trusty xp sp2 install
    disc, blew off the dust and vwalla!! Im happy
    again…………….

  • Jason Gordon:

    Thanks Hal. Unfortunately I bought it before June 26 but it
    STILL hasn’t been delivered so maybe I can make some kind of case
    for getting the invoice post-dated!

  • Amanda Hernadez:

    Uninstalling all the junk that comes pre-installed with most
    computers broke it somehow. There was an issue with a common Vista
    problem with needing an update, and without that update you can’t
    update (huh?). Vista had to be reloaded and then the updates
    installed and all that junk software uninstalled again.

  • Sam Boyce:

    isn’t it time you got an imac????? come on man, cross over and
    enjoy life !!!!

  • Christie Saucedo:

    wonderful advice! I was hesitating to buy a new pc because thet
    insist on selling it with Vista.

  • Christian Lovelace:

    Great post, thanks for reminding me: I haven’t bothered to crawl
    through the services and disable all the useless stuff since I
    bought my Vista machine. I remember when Black Viper went down a
    few years ago… I’m glad it’s back! Maybe this is the conspiracy
    nut in me, but I really believe that selling a bloated OS to people
    who don’t know how to optimize results in more system sales over
    time (as those people replace their “slow” computers), which in
    turn results in more OS sales. Devious!

  • Timothy Jacques:

    In the meantime everyone hope you all have a great thanksgiving
    this year have fun keep safe.

  • Samantha Luft:

    My laptop came with Vista and I didn’t know any better. It takes
    about 5 minutes to boot up and longer to shut down, drives me
    crazy. The computer only came with 512 MB, which obviously isn’t
    enough RAM. I have issues all the time – browser freezing, horrible
    response times from the sytem, always something. I curse a blue
    streak at it often, have even hit it in frustration. Whose bright
    idea was Vista, anyway? Bill Gates’ joke before he left?

  • Joann Batchelor:

    Good hub. I agree that there are a lot of programs out there
    that most people do not use.

  • Robert Butterfield:

    No wonder that tosser gates is laughing all the way to the bank!
    if I had known just how bloody AWFUL & USELESS vista is, I
    wouldn`t have touched it with a bargepole!

  • Debbie Gonzalez:

    Isn’t Microsoft developing a new operating system to replace
    Vista? Any idea when it will be available? After reading this hub,
    not a moment too soon.

  • Michael Ivy:

    “Every OS Sucks!” – pretty good words.. and pretty good article
    - thumb up!

  • Janet Maury:

    You may have to find the course Hardware ID device from the
    Device Manager and selecting the Details tab-> Hardware IDs if
    it is not ‘ms_sstpminiport’ which is causing the problem.

  • Denis Tse:

    folow the link above, also go to | | or

  • Jenette Russell:

    A very informative read, glad I found it. Will definitely tell
    others. One question though, out of the 5 free cleaners you listed,
    which one is your favorite?

  • Verna Thomas:

    Mr. E-Tutor, Windows Seven is the next generation and it is
    expected in about a year. The jury seems to be out on the current
    beta as it seems to still carry a bit of Vista’s baggage and is
    skewed far more than I would like towards touchscreen and voice
    recognition, which I need like a hole in the head.

  • Lacey Shaw:

    Lightning fried my old PC. Bought one with vista installed. I
    hate it. It is always kicking me off the internet.

  • Agnes Laughlin:

    I disabled the services listed above in my Windows 7 which was
    performing very poorly. It did improve general speed. I then
    attempted several times to install Office 2010 but I got the
    following error every time “There was a problem setting up
    Microsoft Office 2010…”. I renabled all the services I’d altered
    and the install worked.

  • Theresa Lovett:

    As someone who has owned just about every computer from the
    Timex Sinclair, TI 99, VIC, C64, Amiga, Apple, Mac up to my current
    Sony VAIO….I can truly say that Vista is EXCELLENT. Stop bashing
    it. It is not bad..just new. Each successive system does leave some
    good features behind but also brings new features. I was really sad
    when we went from Windows 3.5 to Windows 95 but I got used to it.
    Vista bashers will get used to it by the time it is replaced with
    something else….then they can bash the next ‘new’ OS.

  • Carolyn Richardson:

    Thank you for compiling this list. I wonder if some of that is
    what makes my computer mysteriously chug for an hour for no
    reason?

  • Billie Simpson:

    Sorry, psyche. I can’t publish profanity. Please restate your
    comment in a family friendly format.

  • Leah Lutz:

    Oh good, I’ve been looking for a list of all the stuff I can
    safely turn off. I run XP on my desktop, but Vista is on my laptop
    and it drives me insane.

  • Jodi Keith:

    Very, Very, Very useful hub. Thanks a lot!

  • Sharon Dugas:

    Arkan, as this is a family friendly site, I’m entering your
    comment with censure:

  • Kimberley Sheppard:

    It’s only economy. When you can’t afford 64 gigabytes of memory,
    would you? Of course not.

  • Lucy Roberts:

    Actually, I have an even better idea for you. Uninstall that
    horrid Vista junk and install XP! It will make your 512MB RAM PC
    fly! :)

  • Michael Gibbs:

    Billrrrr, Vista has its supporters and its detractors. I will
    firmly remain among the countless millions of PC users who have
    tried Vista and detested it.

  • Cynthia Tucker:

    No, just a Dell. But it’s got 3GB of RAM and a quad core
    processor. It opens word in less than 2 seconds…Photoshop takes
    less than 3 seconds to load. Pretty sweet. :-P

  • Ralph Hearn:

    Hal, I was very interested to see this hub because, although
    I’ve had no problems, I’m always into speeding up my system. I have
    a new (refurbed) PC that I bought online at the Dell/Outlet
    website. It’s an Inspiron 530 with an LCD wide-screen flat panel
    monitor – the Altec Lansing speakers I bought seperately. It came
    with Vista Home Premium installed. I was nervous because I’d heard
    so many horror stories, but I gotta tell you, I love it. I’ve had
    absolutely no problems at all.

  • Mark Ralph:

    Just remember, as the Trolls said, “Every OS Sucks!”

  • Tanya Schwab:

    I didnt see one person who said they downloaded this fixer and
    their computer ran better…just a lot of complaints about Vista so
    for now I will not download this supposed fixer..

  • Jessica Kelliher:

    I agree with the ealier comment about using XP. Heck, I’d take
    it one step back – to Win 2K. (No, it’s NOT the same as the
    dreadful ME)

  • Juan Vail:

    I tend to agree with your conspiracy theory. After all, I really
    can’t see any reason whatsoever why Windows 7 (let alone Vista) is
    going to be any better than Windows 98 SE. I know people that are
    still running that OS brilliantly! :)

  • Jacqueline Fierro:

    Let’s hope and pray that Bozo Ballmer does something right and
    offers the rumored FREE UPGRADE TO 7 to recent buyers of PCs with
    Vista installed. I’d take him up on that right away!

  • William Ho:

    Huh? Which Hub are you reading?

  • Christopher Mcnerney:

    You have elicited quite a few comments here, Hal! Great hub. I,
    too, am a Vista hater, as I have one at work and it gives me
    constant problems. If it’s not the internet shutting down randomly,
    it’s the Mozilla internet freezing up for visiting a popular
    website such as !

  • Laurence Talarico:

    Thank you very much for your great hub, for good advice, good
    wishes and support. Thanks for sharing your experience with all of
    us.

  • Larry Barrett:

    Thanks Hal for the useful information. I have to laptops: one 2
    years old running XP and a new one running Vista… I can’t get
    along with Vista… So slow… Maybe with these information I’ll
    start using more the new laptop.

  • Randy Roney:

    Thanks. My computer (with Vista) has started to freeze up. Hope
    taking out some of the junk will help.

  • Grayce Dudley:

    The only thing thats tottaly compatible with vista is a papper
    shredder!! Take out the disc and place in one and it works
    perfectly!!

  • Demetrice Hinkle:

    Great! Thank you for sharing. It’s better to always check
    programs that are running and oly run those that we use.

  • Kenneth Hall:

    6 pack abs, Vista will be much happier with the more CPU
    horsepower and RAM volume you can throw at it.

  • Adrian Haden:

    I’ve run Windows Vista for more than a year now and my only
    problem with the OS was UAC (User Account Control). It seriously
    messed up some of the programs I run daily. However, when I bought
    a 2GB RAM upgrade and turned off UAC, my computer runs a lot faster
    and stronger than any other computer I’ve used. I can run near
    every program on my computer now and it still won’t lock up.

  • Helen Coakley:

    newsworthy, steer away from Vista if you can. By all means
    experiment with the Windows 7 beta. A far superior OS.

  • Michael Schneider:

    Staci, Vista is going to be to around long after Windows 7′s
    debut. Microsoft has announced that it will distribute Vista until
    at least January 2011, finally ending mainstream support by April
    2012. What’s interesting is that there are some rumors that XP may
    be supported after that date which would be very strange given the
    fact that XP was released several years before Vista. But I guess
    it speaks to XP’s popularity! :)

  • Colin Williams:

    vista is designed to perform better on multi core processors. my
    3 year old computer badly needs some tweaking. cheers.

  • Marion Price:

    Yeah, good luck recovering anything off those Vista recovery
    disks. They might as well have sent you coasters! :)

  • Tracy Fitzpatrick:

    Wow, is THIS a godsend or what?! Thanks!

  • Beth Sletten:

    If you buy a prebuilt computer for more than 500 dollars that
    has 512 ram, You most likely got ripped off.

  • Elsie Akers:

    Read my Hub on Google Chrome OS:

  • Angela Anderson:

    I think that all the problems of Vista would fill an
    encyclopedia! :) Thanks!

  • Patricia Mccain:

    Son one bought new computer had vista installed. I have printed
    an sendon to him.

  • Earl Shannon:

    Mega thanks for this info! Printing it out for my teen who could
    use it for his college PC :) Thanks!

  • Tameka Bailey:

    Windows is the lousiest software ever written. It is impossible
    to do anything with it or find anything one needs in their own
    computer. Its impossible to get any answers on the internet, and
    Microsoft’s answer is spend more money with them. No solutions only
    more questions. Bill Gates took the best computer system in the
    world and garbage canned it because they wouldn’t sell it to him.
    Would that we could go back to some reality. Nough Said….. One of
    millions of unhappy users.

  • Maria Brown:

    and you’ll change your mind. It’s nothing but a Linux distro
    that only runs a browser. Big deal! :)

  • George Moore:

    P.S. I love the picture with Bill Gates:)

  • Matthew Reed:

    I’m not a Mac person, but I’m DEFINITELY not a Vista person.

  • Barry Stalcup:

    Good info. My computer is so powerful, though, it runs Vista
    without even blinking. :-)

  • Michael Wheeler:

    Er… what download? Black Viper is a website.

  • Jacqueline Weeks:

    Starscream14, Windows 7 does look to be a major improvement over
    Vista and it might be out by the end of 2009. We can only hope and
    pray! :)

  • Marline Day:

    I agree wholeheartedly. I have spent countless hours fixing what
    novice users screwed up by not having a clue what they’re doing.
    Unless you are thoroughly qualified, try to find a quality geek
    with references in your area and entrust your PC’s maintenance to
    them.

  • Justin Tarrant:

    gerbil, it’s obvious that on a system such as my Core i7 920
    with 12 GB of RAM Vista’s horrific overheads are not obvious, but
    not everyone in the world is running systems like this. Windows 7
    shows how Microsoft can create an OS that works equally well on
    virtually any system around today, and there is no excuse for the
    paunchy misbegotten POS that Vista was, especially pre-SP1.

  • Douglas Boice:

    I have Vista on my Laptop, when I first got it is was fine I was
    so intrigued about the Aero function. I’ve had my laptop for
    hmm…6 months and already it is starting to slow down. It was very
    gradual but ever since last week the gradual slow down has been
    very noticable as my parents also bought one too. And there’s is
    lightiening fast (they bought it less than a month ago.) But
    anywways I turned off a whole bunch of stuff now it looks plain but
    is running faster=) Next time I buy a computer, I’m getting a Mac.
    I alswyas wanted one, and virsuses are non existent. Anyways, just
    thanking you until I throw this laptop out =)

  • Tim Clift:

    Although I can’t agree with you that the Vista rollout was
    responsible for Bill Gates’ “retirement”, I do agree with you that
    Vista is a very poor OS. However, it’s still better than Windows ME
    and Bob! :)

  • Vickie Huston:

    There is one problem that I am having and that is hooking up a
    printer to it. My son and I are now trying a second printer and it
    isn’t functioning yet!!!!

  • Barry Stalcup:

    I still have´nt got the remedy for Wan Miniport but it
    seems that if your Internet keeps going off and you mess around
    with that repair Ip thing on the bottom of the Bar thats where the
    problem can start. So one day just by sheer luck I reckon we
    managed to get rid of it by messing around with the repair Ip
    thing. Moral of the Story if your Internet keeps going off just
    switch off your Router and let it redo itself. DONT mess with the
    repair Ip if you have Windows Vista like riding a bucking bronco
    believe you me.

  • Frank Blume:

    joeblow, Hubbers have NO CONTROL over the ads that are placed on
    their pages, so believe me, I wouldn’t want to advertise Vista. As
    to how to accomplish these fixes, just follow the link in the
    article to very detailed, exhaustive, and up to date pages of
    instructions.

  • Mark Russell:

    is pretty good to talk about all the is wrong with vista, and
    then to get paid for advertizing it at the bottom of this page, u
    say we should shut down all the services in ur forum that u
    suggest, but not any where in this forum is anything saying how to
    do this. lol at least have the guts to tell us
    how………………

  • Dorothy Estes:

    Why does everyone hate vista? It doesn’t AT ALL bog down my
    computer even with all the crap installed. Then again…

  • Anthony Reynolds:

    This is scary. I’m thinking of buying a new sony laptop but this
    just pushes me to my usual direction- apple macs.

  • Vincent Anderson:

    Vista SP1 has fixed a lot of the incredibly stupid problems that
    the initial version was damned with, but it’s still way too big an
    OS to run on most lower end computers. Even with all the problems,
    I wouldn’t downgrade from Vista to XP on a new PC. I know that
    there are some people who do that, but if your PC is even somewhat
    capable you’re really better off not to. When did you buy your PC?
    If you can show that it was June 26 or later, you can get Windows 7
    absolutely free in October. Now that is definitely the way to go.
    W7 is fantastic! And even if your invoice is after that date,
    Microsoft is preselling W7 at half price until July 11. Get it now.
    you won’t be sorry! :)

  • Noah Turner:

    Wanted to just put out there that although this is a great Hub
    and tweaks on any OS are always fun and sometimes helpful, that you
    will have a much, much better experience using 2 GB of RAM and at
    least a Dual-Core Processor. It’s simply not worth your time
    otherwise. I run both XP and Vista on my Desktop and Laptop
    accordingly, and love both of them. I wasn’t too fond of Vista
    myself until I got used to it. Now I love it. Point being: 2GB RAM
    & a Dual-Core Processor are almost necessary. Just a quick tip
    for all of you reading through this.

  • Loretta Back:

    if anyone here do not mind in just explaining the process of
    disabling these junk files on the vista. i m also working on vista
    software it will really halp me in improving the speed of my
    processing my thoughts..

  • Justin Ellis:

    Thanks, Hal! I admit that I do like Vista but sometimes the
    programs do crash on me… I just freed my computer of 10GB of disk
    space and it’s running smoother. Can’t wait for Windows 7. If I get
    a laptop, I’m gonna have to install the Se7en RC or Linux or just
    wait for the Google Chrome OS…

  • Joann Floyd:

    vista should be against the law. a complete peice of sh*t. gates
    jumped ship because micrsoft put that garbage out to make money,
    forced people to buy it, and it is worse than any prior os. i know
    what im talking about.

  • Phyllis Johnson:

    Everybody says that we should move on and get on with the latest
    advancement in technology: Windows Vista. But what if the “latest
    advancement in technology” actually brought us backwards?

  • David Romero:

    I haven’t seen those ads, but I suspect that they’re
    overclocking the CPUs. Vista is dead as a doornail. Windows 7
    should be coming out late this year and it is a real zoomer! I can
    hardly wait! :)

  • Dora Gill:

    Use the following commands to be carried out as the user
    Administrator (Run as Administrator) from Command prompt
    (cmd):netcfg -e -u ms_sstpminiport

  • Eric Rubin:

    good article. i had switched from vista to xp when i purchased
    my laptop. it used to get stuck in the middle of an simple task and
    that forced me to move out to xp. may be i need to sit with the
    technicians and try to tell them what needs to be done. this
    article is an eye opener for me and how to make vista work for me
    the way i want it to be. thank you!

  • Tim Clift:

    I’m glad my computer actually came with the XP disc and other
    discs if I decide to install all the junk.

  • Scot Claytor:

    In 10 years you’ll wonder why anybody would have ever run
    XP.

  • Li Rios:

    I’ve used XP 64 bit and now Vista 64 bit as I have 12 GB RAM,
    and it’s an absolute revelation. I’m counting the days until the W7
    launch. The half price deal is a bit overwrought, however, as I
    plan on getting an RTM in about a month. I need Microsoft’s support
    like I need (another) hole in my head, so it works out fine for me! :)

  • Lucille Dunton:

    YOur tips on speeding up a system is quite useful but also
    dangerous. I think not everybody can deal with installing and
    uninstalling or even formatting a hard disk. All the same, YOU did
    a great job. I will try it and see if my system will be a little
    faster. If possible, i will uninstall the Visita. Love you.

  • Jennifer Bridges:

    We have hope now. Windows 7 is available for pre-order at 50%
    until July 11th. It promises to be faster, lower CPU usage, take
    advantage of 64bits CPUs and (gulp!) be more reiliable. I’m keeping
    my fingers crossed.

  • Frances Dale:

    Thanks for all the kind words. I appreciate it. Hopefully Win7
    will be here soon and Vista will only be a bad memory! :)

  • Anthony Donaldson:

    I wish all OS’s would do what vista did, weed out the retards…
    people need to learn how to setup their systems. You adjust the
    seat in a new car when you get in it to fit you don’t you? Or do
    you just drive around with your face stuck in the winshield
    complaining about how unconfortable the brand of car is?

  • Samuel Creel:

    I think Vista will be great later on, in 2009 or 2010, and maybe
    till then Microsoft will upgrade it and make a better
    version…

  • Jenny Pendleton:

    Thanks! I needed this . . . Is there anything good about Vista?
    What about the new Windows they’re working on – is there any info
    out on that?

  • Lacey Richardson:

    My friend got a new computer with vista installed – disaster!
    Took it back to the shop and got XP put on.

  • Joseph Dabrowski:

    I’m assuming (from the recent comments) that Vista hasn’t
    improved one iota in the last 2 years? I’m waiting delivery of a
    new PC which has Vista installed (no choice). I had XP on my old
    machine so I could possibly uninstall Vista and install XP, though
    I’m a bit scared to embark on that as I’m not a techie person. Do
    you think it’s bad enough that it would be worth going through the
    pain of doing that?

  • Angela Ross:

    This Vista system can reduce you to tears lol. For about 4 weeks
    now I have a window coming up and blocking the surfing which says
    wan mini port ppp o and all the blah blah blah anyone else with the
    same problem I tried uninstalling it (wan mini port) and it says I
    need Microsofts persmission hou do you like that?

  • Carolyn Richardson:

    I had more RAM installed in my laptop, just so I didn’t have to
    wait for an eternity to accomplish even something minor. My
    husband’s been looking for ways to uninstall junk for a long time
    so thanks for the tips and links.

  • Gloria Delaney:

    Vista is great for most new computers that run multi-core cpus
    and at least a gb of ram. my pc runs 64-bit with a dual processor
    and 3gbs of ram and runs great. vista is majorly flawed due to the
    amount of processes always running. single cores will lag and die
    with vista. my moms laptop died on vista.

  • Leola Thomas:

    Thanks for the info. Personally, I didn’t want Vista but when I
    was buying, nothing else was being offered.

  • Harold Dunn:

    Sorry Hal I missed your Info about wan miniport wnen I can
    actually get rid of it thanks very much for your Info have visited
    your hubpages very nice. Somebody who know how to write should
    write an e-book about all these vista problems they could probably
    make a fortune!!!. Well Hal here comes that dreaded mini port again
    now its once every two pages depends on the time of day and the
    speed of this computer which is very very very slow I´m not
    kidding when I say that.

  • Jorge Marvin:

    wow, thanks for the warning. I’m just about to buy a new laptop
    with windows vista pre-installed. Now I know what to do!

  • Anne Lewis:

    And they are still selling PC systems with only 512MB of RAM and
    Vista OS????????

  • Alice Gray:

    Don`t waste your money on this dire OS!

  • Isabel Patel:

    Other than that I love my Vista!

  • Teresa Norris:

    Hi, Sue. Thanks for the update! Turning off the router is always
    a good policy. Disconnect it from the electricity socket entirely
    and wait for a couple of minutes, then plug it back in. I
    appreciate your information!

  • Jennifer Lemus:

    But, it can always be better, right? So, I looked for the
    “useless services” you listed above, intent on unchecking them, but
    they were nowhere to be found in my computer! What I DID uninstall
    was Roxio. It’s a huge file which I’ve never used – I like Windows:
    Movie Maker, Media Canter, and Media Player. I also went to the
    website link you provided, but found nothing there I wasn’t
    using.

  • Andra Adkins:

    oh god i just had my first lap top and this peace of sheat vista
    is in. its crazy i can not even play worms a game made in the
    nintees. now my background has been disapeared it shows a black
    wall like there is no backrund any way i want to change it and it
    says that thisfunction has been disabled. what should i do?

  • John Bryant:

    Warning: Disabling these services prevents the installation of
    Microsoft Office 2010!!

Leave a Reply

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