8.9 Netbook Review

So you may of decided to put Windows 7 Ultimate on your netbook, either via your own knowledge or my eHow article. The problem you may of noticed is that there’s a reason for the Windows 7 Starter edition: Windows 7 ultimate (in its default state) uses too much of the netbook’s resources. So lets look at how to customize the operating system to run more efficiently for what we need.

1. First we need to disable some unnecessary services.
   
   1. Press WIN+R (The WIN key is the key next to CTRL that has the windows logo)
   2. Type in “services.msc”
   3.On the list, locate the following services and disable them:
   
   Application Management
   Bluetooth Support Service
   BranchCache
   Certificate Propagation
   Distributed Link Tracking Client
   IP Helper
   Microsoft iSCSI Initiator Service
   Netlogon
   Network Access Protection Agent
   Offline Files
   Parental Controls
   Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator
   Remote Registry
   Smart Card
   Smart Card Removal Policy
   SNMP Trap
   Storage Service
   Windows Connect Now – Config Registrar
   Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service
   Windows Search
   
   You can disable each service by:
   1. Right clicking the service
   2. Click properties
   3. Set the drop-down box to Disabled.
   4. Click OK
2. Next we’ll disable a few unnecessary features. These may vary depending on your needs, but try to disable as many as you can do without.
   
   User Account Control
   ——————–
   What it Does: Presents you with pop-up prompts confirming you wish to make any administrative change. Most found this feature annoying and redundant.
   
   To Disable:
   
   1. Head to Start
   2. Select Control Panel
   3. Select System and Security
   4. Select Change User Account Control settings under Action Center header
   5. Select the Continue button (if UAC is active)
   6. Select the slider on the left and drag it down to “Never notify”
   7. Select the Ok button to close the panel
   8. Select the Yes button (since UAC is still active) to continue modification of the settings
   9. Close the remaining open windows
   
   
   System Restore and Search (Indexing) Features
   ——————————————-
   What it Does: System Restore provides snapshots of your computer’s state to restore it to an earlier time. However, this can easily take up 15% of your hard drive and use up processing power in the background.
   –
   Search indexing simply makes the search a few minutes faster, however regular searches do not take long enough to justify this process running all the time.
   
   To Disable:
   System Restore
   ——–
   1. Head to Start
   2. Select Control Panel
   3. Select System and Security
   4. Select System
   5. Select System Protection (on the left side)
   6. Select the Continue button (if UAC is active)
   7. Select System Protection Tab (should be there already)
   8. Select a hard drive listed under “Protection” that has “On” in the column
   9. Select the Configure button
   10. Select the “Turn off system protection” radio button
   11. Drag the “Max Usage” slider all the way to the left to 1%
   12. Select the Delete button if you wish to get rid of the current backups (not a wise idea if you are wanting to keep System Restore active)
   13. Select the Ok button to apply the settings (you may get several warning dialogs that you have too little space allocated or that you are deleting old restore points.
   
   To Disable:
   Search Indexing
   ——-
   1. Head to Start
   2. Select Control Panel
   3. Select Programs
   4. Select under Programs and Features “Turn Windows Features on or off”
   5. Scroll down to Windows Search and uncheck it
   6. Select the Ok button to close the panel
3. Finally, we need to avoid extra programs running on startup.
   
   First, Remove the programs that are already running:
   1. Press WIN+R
   2. type in MSCONFIG and press enter
   3. Click on the Start-up tab.
   4. Uncheck every item that isn’t necessary. Technically all of these can be disabled except for any anti-virus you might have installed.
   
   Next, be sure to set any new programs you install to NOT run when windows starts.
   
   Now your system just needs a reboot and you should be able to run a smooth Windows Ultimate netbook.