Computer Matters

1. Registry Tweaks:

Following topic contains a few registry tweaks to optimize your system performance and add a few useful extras:

Collection of Registry Tweaks for Windows 7

You just need to download the ZIP file, extract it and run the file. It'll ask for confirmation, accept it. Restart your system to take affect.

2. Right-click on Computer icon on Desktop and select Properties (or press WIN + Pause/Break keys). Now click on Advanced system settings link in left side pane (You can open it directly by giving sysdm.cpl command in RUN or start menu search box). Now click on Settings button in Performance section:

It'll open another window. Disable all unnecessary options in Visual Effects tab, you can remain following options enabled according to your requirements:

Enable desktop composition (If you want to use Windows Aero theme)
Enable transparent glass (If you want to use transparency in Windows)
Show thumbnails instead of icons (If you want to show thumbnails in Explorer)
Show window contents while dragging (If you want windows to show content while moving them)
Smooth edges of screen fonts (If you want to show smooth fonts)
Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop (If you want to show shadows under desktop icon labels)
Use visual styles on windows and buttons (If you want to use Windows Aero or Basic theme.)

3. Open Windows Explorer and go to "Organize -> Folder and Search Options" and click on View tab.

Now disable following options:

Display file size information in folder tips
Hide extensions for known file types
Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color
Show pop-up description for folder and desktop items

4. Right-click on Computer icon on Desktop and select Manage (You can also open it directly by giving services.msc command in RUN or start menu search box).

Now go to Services & Applications -> Services. Here you can set a few unnecessary services to Manual, so that these services don't start automatically with Windows and you can get a faster startup.

Visit following tutorial to know which services can be set to MANUAL to increase system performance:

Windows 7 Services that can be Safely set to MANUAL

5. Type msconfig in RUN or Startmenu search box and press Enter. Now go to Startup tab and disable unwanted startup entries. You can disable your graphics card's driver utility, Sound Card utility, etc to speed up the system startup and to increase system performance.

6. Open Sound applet in Control Panel (or type mmsys.cpl in RUN or Startmenu search box and press Enter). Now go to Sounds tab and select No Sounds from Sound Scheme section. You can keep some of your favorite sounds enabled if you want but make sure to set Exit Windows, Windows Logoff, Windows Logon and Start Navigation to (None).