If you’ve put off updating your slow computer because you’ve heard horror stories about Windows Vista, from my personal experience, I’d say that the tales of woe are overdone. I’ve used Windows Vista quite happily at home for about a year and during that time, have had very few problems. I will say that Windows Vista doesn’t necessarily behave as well in a networked environment.

Will Windows 7 Speed Up Computer Performance

I happen to be one of those people who think that Windows 7 will tend to perform more or less as advertised. I also think that users who expect to hang tight with an operating system that has been in office longer than any sitting president since FDR will be in for a rough ride.

Microsoft has improved many things in Windows 7, from its speed and stability, to its look and ease of use. Certain elements are still around – like the registry, for example. I expect the registry to behave much like the registries we’ve seen in other versions of the Windows operating system. I also suspect that there will still be a need for registry management tools like RegCure.

I think users can expect better driver performance and better driver policing on the part of Microsoft. Users will have drivers for the most common peripherals available right out of the gate. (Microsoft won’t want to break its corporate leg on the same step twice, especially since the company’s initial response to Windows Vista driver issues amounted to a permanent turn-off by most consumers.)

I believe you’ll see better performance from Windows 7 than you did from Vista. In most cases, Windows 7 outperforms both Windows Vista and Windows XP. That’s good for users who are looking for some guidance on whether to upgrade to Windows 7 or to update their computers.

My personal take on the upgrade v. update debate is this: if you’re working on a computer that’s three years older or more, you may get more efficiency out of updating your computer to a compact desktop model, like Dell’s Studio Hybrid computer that comes pre-loaded with Windows 7, rather than struggling with upgrading your hardware and then installing the new OS. The Dell Studio Hybrid (and others just like it) take up very little desktop space and can be had complete with OS for about $500. Given the cost of an upgrade, a low-cost update option would still allow you to use your old XP/2000/ME/NT/98/95 (or dare I even say Windows 3.x?) computer and allow you to get to know Windows 7 for about the same amount of money.

Photo Credit: Tripu, via Flickr

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In my last post, I talked about one way in which you can speed up computer performance by disabling the User Account Control warning messages found in Windows Vista and Windows XP. The change to the registry setting doesn’t speed up the processor in any way, but instead eliminates delays and interruptions. On the negative side, disabling the messages leaves you open to engaging in actions that are possibly dangerous to your computer.

Today, I have another registry change that will speed up your computer by eliminating a delay. Once again, I don’t advocate editing the registry if you’re a complete novice when it comes to using a computer. Editing the registry is highly effective at changing the behavior of your computer, but it makes the changes you ask for immediately, and there’s no way to “undo” what you’ve done short of restoring an unchanged copy of your registry.

I’ll again recommend that you back up your registry before you make any changes of any kind. RegCure creates a registry backup each time it operates and before it makes any changes to the computer. It will also restore registry backups if a change puts your computer into a bind.

Today’s registry edit will disable the autoplay feature that is turned on by default for CDs and DVDs that are inserted into the drive. In some cases, this feature is useful, but you may find that reading and playing a disc takes an unacceptably long time, especially if you don’t really want the disc to start playing in the first place!

This particular registry change won’t affect your ability to play discs you’ve inse rted. You’ll just have to start the discs manually. To disable the autoplay feature:

Start RegEdit
Within RegEdit, find:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer
Right-click New, then Key. Name the new key NoDriveTypeAutoRun. Press Enter. Right click the key you just created and select New/DWORD Value.
Enter a name for the DWORD Value and press enter.
Double-click the DWORD to open the Edit DWORD Value dialog box. Enter 000000FF into the DWORD Value box. Click OK and then close RegEdit. This change will take effect when the computer is restarted.

The computer will not autoplay discs that have been inserted in the drive. You’ll need to manually start each disc. To return to the default behavior (autoplay), use RegEdit to remove the registry key.

Photo Credit: In Veritas Lux, via Flickr