How to speed up Windows XP Pro SP3 with USB drives

[Janairo]

That looks a bit better solution. I do not think a usb can fix the system performance. Compared to a hard drive a USB is much slower and you cannot force it perform well using ReadyBoost. It is just a small utility I think. I am using Ubuntu and giving 10GB partition as swap space. Swap space it the page file of Linux. The difference between Windows and Linux Page File is, if you assign a space in Linux you cannot use that. The space is completely dead. You have to create a different partition which remains hidden. Upgrading is another better solution you can go for. I am going to get a new system now with more processing power which can handle multi-tasking in better way. For gamers they need to speed more.

[Patter-Son]

My system is slow due to theming. I love to decorate Windows. I had installed many themes and screen saver. That has cause a issue in the system performance. The Task Manager shows 80% of my RAM usage always. That is the reason I keep a disk image with me. After fresh Windows installation I create a disk image file with the help of Acronis. I also install required software. It allows me to restore my system quickly if such issue arises.

[CoYoTeA]

If only performance is the prime motive then going for a SSD is best. At this point you must ignore the cost. Compared to regular drive SSD offers you high data transfer rate. It is just like using usb flash chips inside your hard drive. They are thin and reliable, but they lack a good amount of storage space. SSD's are good for backup. A regular 120GB SSD will cost you $370. You can run Windows on that while the others drives can be used for data.

[Lucile]

SSD are of high speed. They are much better compared to regular hard drive. You can expect a quiet much from them. SSD are similar like RAM. If you had a good system, then adding up SSD is a good choice, or else it is no worth at all to buy it on older system. To use it you need a better hardware also. Like you cannot get a better output from SSD if you are on a single core cpu. For those users how just need to work on day to day application going for SSD is not recommended. ReadyBoost is add-on feature in Vista which manages your system performance and make it better. Just check your system which applications or programs are hampering the system performance.

[Brandy]

For Windows XP the regular options that are available to increase performance is getting a good page file, disk defragmentation and disk cleanup. So it looks that XP users does not own much alternative here. For older system SSD is not at all suitable. Vista somehow has a bit better support. There are many apps in system which keeps on consuming a prescribed amount of RAM. Like the antivirus, the email client, chat messengers, theme utility, etc. You must disable all this stuff to improve your system performance.

[Hayworth]

SSD's are fine and if you are thinking about the performance then you must get this one. There are some issue with SSD also. There is a limit on read and write cycle of a SSD. But that last for long time. Like if you to for SLC type SSD then the write cycle is around 100,000 and for MLC it is between 5,000 to 10,000. This keeps on degrading the performance making it weaker as time goes on. To get a better and improved swap file you must turn of System Restore. This will give a bit better boost in the output. Most of the older SSD does not survive for more than 2 or 3 years. And the warranty provided lied below a year. It is actually a loss. I had seen a number of articles which discuss about wear levelling. You need to keep your system clear and take care of the drive by using tuneup utilities.

[Bollea]

I am bit confuse here. I was expecting to get a bit answer on improving XP performance through SSD support. I own a OCZSSD2-1VTX120G Vertex Series 120GB SATA II SSD. I do know whether it is SLC or MLC. But I had gain a better performance on the same. I had installed Windows on the SSD and a second drive which is regular one has DATA in it. I had searched on Google to locate the way to find what type my SSD is. But that looks a bit complicated to find. Another thing I want to mention that SSD used on old system does not allow you to use the full potential of this hardware compared to the new one. A better hardware offers you better output.

[IRVING]

Windows XP is fine with 1GB ram. I am using that and it is nice. I agree that if you keep on adding software the system gets slower and slower. Also one more thing that badly hampers the system performance is the bad sector. I had checked the same in disk defragmentation. There are number of bad sectors listed in the same. There must be some way by which we can fix that. My second drive is going to die already.

[Elwin-K]

SSD has time limitation but performance point of view they are the best. They can be costly to some extent, if you need performance you have to adjust something. USB drive can give you more page file space. Windows XP does not has a option to automatically adjust the page file and count your usb space in it. While Vista can offer you ReadyBoost which does the same. It uses the empty space and use it in place of ram. Somehow there are less chances that a SSD can give you longer performance. It is just temporary. instead of spending amount of SSD better buy or upgrade your system. That would be better I think. Adding one more drive will give your system option to use more page file. It is not worth to discuss about SSD's here.

[Domi.nick]

SSD's are better but the wear issue is long discussed. I found that you can expect a SSD to die after 100,000 writes. That is quiet more than enough. And there is no way you can keep a record of writes. The same thing is also applicable for a hard drive. It too has a life cycle. Compared to SSD, regular hard drive offer you more. People prefer to stick with regular hardware still as they are easy to upgrade and comes at cheaper rates. If there was any way by which you can improve the speed of Windows XP system with a USB then I would have added a couple of sticks.

[Myra]

I am using a SSD drive and it is almost 6 months. It is working fine. I had seen certain article which talk about the write cycle of SSD's. Those are bit complicated to understand but it shows clearly that a SSD has a less life compared to regular driver. There are certain calcs present on web which gives you the total life cycle. Some of them even showed that the drive is expected to live for many years. But is that true. We never found information on the same. Because either the system is changed or sold. The oldest hard drive that I had seen was around a 6 year old. It was a IDE drive very slow but still working. SSD needs more time to develop and get a better support. Degradation is common for all hardware. As they are used they keep on going lower. There are nice comparison article on web that offer you a clear info on getting the right hard drive you want.

[Amosz]

I will not prefer to go for SSD till yet. As my system is old and I have enough storage space. What I need is a bit better performance. Hard drive can survive if use properly. My uncle is still using his old computer which works quiet well. I had tested and found a number of results that your hard drive degrades upon usage. There is no way renaming other than upgrading the same. Anyhow common practice shows that a average users normally upgrades his system in the time frame of 3 to 5 years. Because new technology keeps on appearing that gives more better performance.

[Stuartl]

The wear levelling is the only issue that makes many people way from buying it. It is not good to determine a life of hard drive on the basis of writes. It reduces its importance. I had tried some third party software that boost the system performance. There are number of tune up utility available that can guide you for the same. Also SSD do not use SMART. They work on their own standard. That is reason some of the benchmarking tools cannot give you intact information on the performance. Better going for a complicated technology you must look for a decent solution which would be helpful.

[Jason A]

I take in another way. SSD are good for system partition. As that is the only section where maximum process goes. SSD are made of flash chips like one we have in usb. They offers you high data transfer speed. Your process is initiated in seconds. While compared to that a regular drive works on more number of hardware. If we tink

[Chapal]

You can improve performance of Windows XP in many ways. There are great guide on web that can help you do this. First do not keep useless icons on your desktop. Keep your files inside a folder so that the desktop can start up first. Disable all themes, screensavers, etc settings to free up some ram. Scan your system for virus. There can be spyware who can quietly consume your system resource. Optimize your system registry to perform much better. There are number of registry tweaker which are capable of cleaning registry and giving you a better performance. Disable startup programs. That would be much better.