[Zolitare]

Hi guys,

Upgraded my Dell Mini10 form XP to Windows 7 - a very painless experience. I used the MS WET(ware) [insert joke here] to backup/restore settings etc.

1st thoughts were damn, this is sluggish, so set about finding ways to streamline the system.

1st thing I did was to create a 'God Mode' control panel (not necessary but useful) - LINK (explains about it in a bit of detail)

Next step, click Start>Control Panel>System --- under performance, click settings>Adjust for best performance, click apply and wait for it to do it's stuff.

Next in the same Performance Options box, click the tab which says Advanced & set your Virtual memory by selecting change. I changed this to a 'custom size' minimum of 256mb (default was 16Mb) & a maximum of 2048mb (note you may have to click off 'Automatically manage paging file size for all drives' 1st. Click set (important!), then OK, OK.

back on the System Properties box, click on Remote - untick the box (unless you want to let someone remotely access your computer for diagnostics or other). click Apply. (optional: you can also switch off system restore if you want)

reboot if asked

next comes the science bit - visit the Black Viper Website - this is a brilliant site which tells you about 'Services' and which services can be altered to enhance your experience; he covers XP, Vista & Windows 7 so you get the best experience and more importantly use less resources.

reboot.

this streamlining has helped a great deal - to further speed things up, get yourself a fast USB mini-stick that is compatible with the 'Ready Boost' system, this can offer a bit of a speed increase & help ease the system a bit - not all memory sticks are compatible, check the follwoing web page for more info - MS Webpage all about it

By doing this, you will find windows 7 is a bit more nippier on your Dell Netbook - now anyone know how to mount a USB stick inside the case

Share your other tips here and help others break out of the box with Windows 7

Cheers

Darin (Zol.)

[nd4spdbh]

readyboost is an utter joke.

If you want the best win 7 expierence... go to V lite forums and learn how to strip win 7 down. Got my custom install of win 7 on my mini 9 that feels so much faster than xp ever did.

[Zolitare]

Readyboost doesn't offer a great deal of enhancement, but it is there to help

I looked briefly at V-lite, but it's designed for Vista & not Windows 7 - with no specific build for Windows7 - the stuff listed above is post install anyway, which everyone can get access to.

Why is there no specifics info on this forum to help all users?

[holmes4]

Zoltaire, there is lots of "specific info" here. Do you have a specific question?

I do not agree that the steps you took were necessary. Windows 7 already starts services on demand only, so if you don't need them they don't run. I found that Win7, "out of the box", was excellent in my Mini 9.

[Zolitare]

On a limited resource machine anything that doesn't need to be checked/run can speed up a system (if only in small ammounts)

unfortunetely I'm stuck with a Mini10 with *only* 1Gb of memory, so running Windows 7 on this is pretty good in it's self - disabled Aero (who needs it?), so you see anything that will help with a post install windows 7 install will be useful.

trouble is info is out there but is scattered here & there, there is no collected source as it were

[holmes4]

My opinion is that Windows 7 on its own is quite zippy. However, your choices of other installed software can cause problems. Antivirus programs, in particular, vary quite a bit in system load.

I also find that the first few minutes after I boot or resume, the system is doing a lot of background stuff. It gets much better after that.

[Zolitare]

I agree, AVG Free used to be quite good as an anti-virus software, but nowadays it just sucks resources, I'm now using AVIRA

I also use the MS Readyboost on a 2Gb Pretec 'Bulletdrive' - used exclusively for the purpose of helping the system out - file handling seams smoother and web use seams better (less slowdowns with many tabs/windows open)

Improving iTunes Video playback - improved that by selecting Quicktime Preferences > Audio > Audio Output device Latency (msec) to 125.000 & 'Play audio Using' > Safe mode (waveOut only) - less choppy QT video (whilst audio catches up)

Overall I do find the Win7 to be hell of a lot better than XP, even on this netbook and the way it handles seams much nicer

[belldude]

There have been some upgrades at V lite. It now works on windows 7 as well as it had worked for window Vista in the past. I have tried it personally. I love the fact that the installation is unattended, which means you don’t have to be there and bare through the tedious installation process. It works as great too, it removes unwanted features that might possibly slow down the booting system. It is much convenient compared to you have to do all the manual work yourself.

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