Here are 6 Windows Vista tweaks that can help improve performance:

1. Turn off Windows Search Indexing

Windows Vista search indexing is constantly reviewing files on your system to make their contents available for quick searching. This is handy, but can severely impact system performance.

To disable constant indexing:

Click Start then Computer

Right Click the C: Drive

On General Tab, Uncheck Index this drive for faster searching

On the subsequent dialog box, Select Include subfolders and files

2. Turn off Automatic Windows Defender Operation

Windows Defender real-time protection against malware continues to run despite having Automatic operation disabled.

To disable this feature:

Open Control Panel

Select Windows Defender

Choose Tools from the top menu

Select Options

Uncheck Auto Start at the bottom of the window

3. Turn off Automatic Disk Defragmentation

Windows Vista and its always-on defragment feature isn’t really that necessary and can cause system slow down. Just remember to run a defrag manually every week or so.

To disable this:

Click Start then Computer

Right Click the C: Drive

Click on Properties

Select the Tools Tab

Click on Defragment Now

Uncheck Run on a schedule

4. Turn off System Restore

Analysis and restore point creation by Windows Vista can eat a fair amount of system resources. Disabling this service will obviously mean the system restore feature in Vista will not be available in the event of a system crash. Change this at your own risk.

To disable this service:

Control Panel>System

Click System Protection on the left panel

Uncheck the main system drive

Agree to the confirmation

5. Disable User Access Control (UAC)

This much-loathed new Vista feature attempts to protect your system from malware infection by making you manually confirm a whole host of everyday user operations. While it doesn’t directly impact performance, it can be annoying and might be more hassle than good.

To disable User Access Control:

Click Start then Control Panel

Select User Accounts

Select Turn User Account Control on or off

Uncheck User Account Control Box

Restart as recommended

6. Enable Advanced Performance

Click Start then Control Panel

Open Device Manager

Expand the Disk drives branch

Double-click on your disk drive to open Device properties

Click on the Policies tab

Check Enable advanced performance

Click Ok