Works in: Vista, 7 Everybody loves bells and whistles, but Windows' eye candy come at a price--especially on older PCs with single-core processors or minimal RAM. If you're more concerned with zippy performance than you are with transparent windows and animated controls, consider turning off the visual effects.

Open the Control Panel, type visual in the Search field, and click Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows. Choose Adjust for best performance, and then click Apply. After a few seconds you'll see a decidedly plainer Windows interface--and enjoy a much snappier response. If the look is too stark, you can choose the Custom option and then select any effects you want to restore. Just remember: The more you enable, the greater the performance hit.

Works in: XP, Vista, 7 To this day many PC manufacturers insist on stuffing new systems with that consumes drive space and slows startup. We're talking security suites you may not require, games you might not want, and vendor-branded utilities that are more nuisance than necessity.