Most budget PC installed with Windows Vista Home premium have 1 GB of Ram. Not much if you are going to do video editing or even use the full feature. But by doing a few things you can make it run faster. Remember, VISTA is memory HUNGRY!!

1. Goto Control Panel

2. Performance Information and Tools

3. See your base score there. Try to improve the score. If it says 2.0, there is something wrong. You could be using the full features of VISTA on a 1GB and running bunches of TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident Programs which take some part of the Memory) that’s a no no!! Options? Buy more Ram if you have cash. Or better make the best out of what you already have. So how can you improve the score.

4. At startup, load only the program you will be using. For example. Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, or even other devices that just stay on your system’s tray for easy access to their operation aren’t necessary. You can actually get rid of them from Start up Menu since you can load them by clicking on their icon on the desktop. So make use of the “Manage Startup Programs” and remove those you think are not necessary.

5. Change Theme from VISTA to Window’s Classic. Remove stuffs that would use more graphics.

6. Adjust visual affects. I find just turning on a few can improve a lot of performance.

7. Do once a week disk clean-up, Defrag hard disk. If possible get yourself an external hard disk and store your media files such as videos, photos.

8. Install only the programs you will be using. Don’t install bunches of programs that you think you will use after a year!

9. When not doing any art work or graphic design, change back the desktop resolution to 1024×768 16 bits instead of 32 bits. The more color you use the more memory your PC will require.

10. Adding another 1 GB doesn’t mean you might need to buy 2GB. If your computer has two slots for memory and both of them are full giving you 1GB. To change to 2GB, you will need to purchase 2 memory cards each 1GB. Price would be around 50 to 60 Dollar and then the tax and shipping charge. Most people try to use what they have. Perhaps you could save that money for next cutting-edge PC.

11. Get rid of desktop wallpaper. Let’s be honest, they are to impress our friends more than for us. Have we really liked them that much or even have the time to look at the details they offer? Fancy Desktop wallpapers are useless when all we want to do is get our jobs done fast and make our computer run faster. I use just black and white.

Well, those were some tips. Now share your experience of what you would do or have been doing with your VISTA on a 1GB RAM to make it run faster without spending extra.

If you have any questions, just comment.