If your PC having Windows® XP installed is behaving in a sluggish manner the whole time, maybe it is time to tweak it and optimize its performance. Tweaking is a term used to define a procedure in which you disable some of the unnecessary options of your system, and change the settings in some others, in an attempt to improve the performance of your PC.

So, how do you go about tweaking your Windows PC? Here are the steps that you should start with:

1. Run Disk Cleanup: Seriously, many Windows users underestimate the power of this nifty little tool. Disk Cleanup can clear out old log files, Recycle Bin, and temporarily stored internet files, all in one smooth step. Simply run the tool on any partition on your PC. Right click on the drive letter in My Computer and choose Properties. In the Properties box, the tab named General should already be selected. Click on the button Disk Cleanup, check the boxes, and click on OK. Allocate some time for this; if you haven’t run this utility before, it will take some time.

1. Disable Services: Click on Start button, and then on Run. In the box named Open, type “services.msc” (without the quotes), and hit Enter. Once it opens, scroll down the list and disable (or set to Manual Mode) all the services that you never use. Telnet, Print Spooler and Automatic Update should be the ones you disable first. However, there is a minor caveat to this process. You have to remember (or jot down) which services you are disabling, in case you need to enable those in future. For instance, if you disable Print Spooler, you will not be able to print anything. However, if you do not have a printer, you can easily disable this service. Also, if you disable Automatic Updates in the services, you must run it manually.

1. Uninstall unnecessary software: If you needed a file converter or an MP3 encoder just once in your life, and won’t likely need that again, then it is no use keeping it in your hard disk. Uninstall it to free up disk space. The more free space you have in your hard disk, the better your PC will run.

Tweak your PC frequently to make sure that it runs at the peak efficiency level at all times. Only by doing so you will ensure that you get nothing but the best from your powerhouse computer. After doing these tweaks, I suggest you run this free internet speed test to check the performance of your internet connection too.