Less is More: Freeing-up CPU Bandwidth on Your Home Computer (Part 1)

The problem, simply stated:

In our busy lives, we may install software without fully understanding how it will be used over the long-haul by folks (including ourselves) who share our home computer. Without this knowledge, this sometimes leads to picking non-optimal installation options for music, greeting card, printer, photo, and other popular software we use at home.

Over time, the accumulation of less-than-optimally installed software - along with early-version or badly-written software that may be insensitive to computer resources - may lead to diminished performance of your home PC. This can slow down more important, frequently-used applications such as e-mail and web browsers, as well as educational and personal-finance software.

Let's assume that a hard-drive "reset" (backup, low-level reformatting, restoration of OS, applications and data) isn't required or the quickest path to a faster system (but it often is!). Here are five surgical tips that have worked for me over the years in recovering CPU bandwidth. The first two are described below. The remaining three will be outlined in Part 2 of this series.

Note: All five tips are for PCs running the Microsoft XP operating system.

1. Watch Processes (know your friends).
If you're on the path to burning a DVD from footage you've just shot on digital video (DV) tape, you're bound to run into the dreaded "transcoding" step, requiring a significant amount of your CPU's processing power. If you inspect Windows Task Manager and realize CPU Usage is at 100% (example screenshot above) while you're performing this step, you may end up introducing digital distortion to your end product. Freeing your processor from non-burning related activities is called for.

2. Identify Software that can be ran "On-Demand" (lighten the boot-time load).
Stop applications from starting automatically at boot time and adding to ongoing processor load. Useful OS/installed tools to use include "Add or Remove Programs" (in Windows Control Panel) to change start-up options or remove software from computer, "MSConfig.exe" (Start -> Run -> MSConfig), or changing startup options from within the offending software.

Author's Note: Part 2 of this series will run next week, right here on CR4.