Many people have been becoming frustrated with their new computer systems. They are finding that once they start using the new system, they are much slower than expected. Some manufacturers are simply not putting enough RAM into their baseline systems that can handle all of Vista's new features.

• Buy a PC or laptop with a at least a dual core Intel processor, 1.5+ GB RAM, and stay away from Intel Celeron and AMD processors
  • Celeron and AMD processors do not have enough built in processor memory (on-board cache)
    
• Remove all support software put on by a manufacturer or Internet Service Provider
  • These programs often run in the background and cause the OS to slow down considerably
    
• From Windows Vista's Welcome Center
  • Click "View computer details"
  • Click "Show more details" near the upper right of the window
  • Click "Advanced system settings"
  • On the "Advanced" tab, click the "Settings..." button under Performance
  • Click the radio button "Adjust for best performance", then click "OK"
  • Vista does have some pretty cool features in the performance settings that you might really like, read down the list and turn them on one or two at a time. See how performance is affected and uncheck them as necessary. If you just have two or three windows open at a time, you can skip this performance tweak provided that you have enough RAM.
    
• In most cases, programs that are not "compatible" with Vista can still be installed on a Vista system.
  • Once the program is installed, right click on the desktop shortcut and click "Properties"
  • Click the "Compatibility" tab
  • Under the "Compatibility mode" section, click the checkbox "Run this program in compatibility mode for:"
  • Select Operating System, then click "OK"