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2. Free Up Hard Drive Space
One of the easiest ways you can restore much of your system's zip is to free up space on your hard drive. When your hard drive is more than 90 percent full, everything on your system slows down, and we mean slooooowww. The easy fix is to clean up your drive, either manually with your own search-and-destroy mission or by taking advantage of Windows' Disk Cleanup option.

To run the automated process, first go into My Computer and right-click on Local Disk (C:). Then choose Properties, click on the General tab, and click on the Disk Cleanup button.

If you have Windows XP, you can also set up a Scheduled Task and automatically run Cleanup periodically. To do this, go to your Control Panel | Scheduled Tasks | Add Task. A wizard quickly and easily walks you through setting up a schedule.

3. Defragment Your Hard Drive
If cleaning up your hard drive is the easiest way to get some added zip, then defragging your hard drive is the second easiest.

Operating systems manage files in small pieces called clusters. The OS files these clusters in order, like books in a library, but the more the files are used, the more they become disorganized and scattered around the drive. The operating system then quickly places clusters wherever they'll fit.

That is the problem. After you make a data request, finding all the clusters of a file becomes a game of hide-and-seek, which steals precious milliseconds every time you need fresh data. Both FAT (File Allocation Table) and NTFS (New Technology File System) disks are subject to fragmentation.

When you defrag your hard drive, the clusters are filed back in order, contiguously. Defragging takes time—sometimes hours with a 40GB disk—but starting the process takes mere seconds.

It's easy. Before you leave your office or go to bed, click on My Computer, then right-click on Local Disk (C:). Choose Properties, then the Tools tab, and then Defragment Now. You can also set up a Scheduled Task to defrag your disk every week.

If you use Windows 95, 98, or Me, however, chances are that your attempts to defrag keep getting interrupted because of disk activity. Simply reboot your system in Safe Mode, then run a Defrag.

In case you're still unsatisfied or having difficulties, several other defragging programs are out there, such as Executive Software's Diskeeper (www.execsoft.com), Raxco Software's PerfectDisk 2000 (www.raxco.com), and the SpeedDisk utility in Symantec's Norton Utilities (www.symantec.com).

4. Use NTFS For Faster Drive Access
The New Technology File System in Windows NT, 2000, and XP adds many advanced features that are not part of FAT file systems (found on Windows 95 and 98), such as better performance when handling large files, like those ubiquitous graphics. Although the performance improvement usually amounts to mere milliseconds, you may see a difference with large, often-used files. Better still, NTFS adds more reliability and security to your file system.

Take note, however, that DOS and older Windows 95/98/Me utilities will no longer recognize your files or disks when they have been converted to NTFS. If you move an NTFS drive to a Windows 95, 98, or Me system, it won't be readable at all. To check which file system you are running, go to My Computer, right-click on a drive, and choose Properties; your PC will tell you whether it's NTFS or FAT.

For a new drive, simply partition and format it as NTFS during setup. Windows lets you convert FAT hard drives to NTFS (as long as they have sufficient space) using the command-driven utility Convert.exe. First, open a Command window (Start | Programs | Accessories | Command Prompt). Second, at the Command prompt (C:\), type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS /V. (You can substitute another drive letter for the C: in the command, or type CONVERT /? for help.) As with defragging, the process is quick to start but slow to finish, so let it run overnight.

5. Index Your Drive for Faster Searches
If you can't remember where you put things—those reading glasses must be somewhere—you're probably familiar with the Windows search function. You can cut your search time from hours to seconds by simply indexing your disk (that's how Web search engines are so fast). Indexing takes time, but it should be a one-shot process; start it, go out and grab a bite to eat, and when you get back it should be finished.

Indexing becomes a continuous process that kicks in when you create, change or move files, or when Windows thinks you're not using your system (even if you are). If you don't need or use indexing, you can switch it off.

Under Windows 95/98/Me, the chief indexing problem is the FastFind utility in the Office suite. Disable it by removing it from your Startup programs. Windows 2000 and XP have their own indexing service, which you control through Start | Settings | Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Computer Management | Services and Applications | Indexing Service. You can switch indexing on and off as well as control it when it kicks in.

If your disk is nearly full, indexing can be incredibly slow. Free up hard drive space to avoid the problem.

6. Boost Boot-Up Speed
If you think one of the most annoying delays happens during system boot-up, you're not alone. If you have Windows 2000 or XP, you could avoid the boot-up wait by leaving your system on all the time, but if you try this on a different version of Windows, in many cases, your system may crash and perhaps will not resume. If you prefer not to subsidize the electric company, speed up your boot-up by eliminating some needless disk searching.

You can trim several seconds off your boot-up time by using your BIOS's advanced-setup option to change your boot order to start up first from your hard drive. Some BIOSs let you specifically omit your floppy disk drive from the boot-up search; if yours does, select this. Others let you specify the order in which your PC seeks drives for an operating system; if possible, make sure it looks at your C: drive first. The only time you should set your system to boot from a floppy disk or CD is when you're having hard drive problems and need to load an operating system from elsewhere (such as a recovery disk).

Systems that are no more than two years old and have Windows NT, 2000, or XP also have a "Quick Boot" BIOS option that skips the lengthy power-on tests. Selecting this option can cut your boot time significantly.

One alternative for such new systems is to avoid booting up entirely. Instead of shutting down your system, use standby, or—even better for notebooks running on battery—hibernation. Use the "soft off" button on the front of your newer PC or on your keyboard. (For a "hard" off that bypasses Windows shutdown, hold the power button down for 4 seconds or longer.)

Although Windows 95, 98, and Me can switch to standby or hibernate, these operating systems are not stable when run for long periods. You'll want to reboot every day or two to guard against crashes.

Bonus tip: If you don't yet have Windows XP but have the memory (at least 256MB) and the money, make the upgrade to Windows XP to gain even quicker boot times. Microsoft also provides a free utility, BootVis.exe, that shows you where Windows XP is spending its time in the boot process.

7. DMA Your Disks
The blazing speeds quoted for today's hard drives—in fact, all speeds higher than 33 MBps—rely on a technology called direct memory access (DMA), which bypasses your system's microprocessor when moving bytes into memory. This feature is great when activated, but some versions of Windows and some disk installation programs opt to be conservative about speed. They don't activate DMA even when your CD or hard drive makes the option available (as nearly all new drives do these days). Although the DMA function is built into disk drives, whether it is used is determined by your disk controller.

Check your settings by clicking on Start | Settings | Control Panel | System | Hardware | Device Manager, then double-clicking on your IDE ATA/ATAPI controller to expand it. Double-click on your Primary IDE Channel and choose the Advanced Settings tab if it is displayed; if not, chances are that your controller doesn't put DMA under your control.

In many cases, having the Intel Application Accelerator loaded will also make the Advanced tab disappear. Check in Control Panel | Add or Remove Programs to see whether the Intel Application Accelerator is listed. You can uninstall it, see whether the Advanced tab reappears, check the DMA settings, then reinstall the Intel Application Accelerator. Just make sure you have downloaded the Intel Application Accelerator from www.intel .com before you uninstall it. Make sure "DMA if available" appears for both Device 0 and Device 1, your primary and secondary IDE drives.

8. Simplify Video Speed
If you're an LCD monitor owner, you can get more speed if you're willing to settle for a little less resolution and color in your on-screen graphics. The issue is elementary: The more data you have to move, the longer it takes. Don't waste time pushing around meaningless bytes. Although your display system might be capable of 32-bit color or even just 24-bit color, most LCD monitors can't show all the hues. Downshift to 16-bit color and your video system can open its throttle, saving a few microseconds.

The more-for-less technique also works for resolution on both LCDs and CRTs. Seeing more than 1,024 by 768 pixels on a 17-inch screen takes sharp eyes, a sharp monitor, and your nose almost touching the screen. Opting for a higher resolution will only waste micro-time while making text and graphics displays smaller and harder to read. Go for higher resolutions only when you need to dump big spreadsheets across your screen.

9. Upgrade Your DirectX Files
One of the biggest challenges left for computers with today's multigigahertz processors is synthesizing video images for games and interactive displays. Much of this software relies on Microsoft DirectX for fast screen updates.

You can add a bit more zip to your video and multimedia displays by using the latest, fastest version of DirectX, currently in release 9. It's a free download that costs only connection time. Log on to the Microsoft download center at www.microsoft.com/windows/directx, and choose the version of DirectX that matches your operating system.

10. Eliminate Unnecessary Autoloading Programs and Utilities
Did you know that when you install new software and hardware, programmers have added their own often-invisible utilities, which load automatically when you start your PC? Each one of those little programs steals a share of your system's performance. Stop the madness. It's time to get rid of those unwanted automatic start-ups.

Windows 98, Me, and XP come with a utility called MSconfig.exe, which lets you manage all start-ups through a simple menu system. You can also use this program with other Windows versions.