BEST PERFORMANCE (help)

1) Reformat, if you haven't already. Dell preloads lots of crapware that bogs down the system - ESPECIALLY Norton antivirus, which brings me to...

2) Don't use antivirus or antispyware programs, at least not the real time scanning kinds, and especially not Norton or McAfee, those are both known to slow the system down dramatically. I know you might be thinking, oh no I'll get spyware and viruses... Use Mozilla Firefox for web browsing and Mozilla Thunderbird for email. Keep your Windows XP updated. Use a router. Don't run exe files that you are suspicious of. If you just be careful (and don't use Internet Explorer unless you turn security settings way up! - and outlook uses internet explorer for viewing emails, so same goes for it) then you won't get spyware or viruses.

3) Yes, I believe there are ways to overclock the processor and/or video card of your system. However, don't you think your laptop gets warm enough already?? If you really want to risk damage from high temperatures, go right ahead. I prefer to leave my system at stock speed. Also, I have recently had problems with my processor fan and I found out that when the processor gets hot, it will force-enable speedstep to lower the speed in an attempt to drop temperatures - my 2ghz Core 2 Duo was running at a constant 1ghz, locked, because the fan wasn't effectively cooling it off and it was warm. So, overclocking might even slow down your system if it causes high enough temperatures in your processor - I would bet the Core Duo has similar temperature-saving features.

4) For better video performance, you might want to try an enhanced driver. I am currently using the video driver provided by Dell, but laptopvideo2go.com has some special drivers that "fix problems and reveal hidden features". I figure, don't try to fix what's not broken, which is why I'm still using the Dell drivers, but it seems to be a popular modded driver and I'm sure it's worth a try. Just make sure to at least HAVE a driver! When (or if) you reformat your laptop, Windows will be using its default video driver. While you may be able to change it to your desired resolution and have things appear to work fine, it is a horribly slow driver - to see it yourself, just go to some webpage and scroll down; even just scrolling websites, you can see the tearing effect and very slow redraw speed. So, make sure to at least have a driver other than Microsoft's default driver at all times.

5) Make sure Windows knows that you are using a multiprocessor machine and is enhanced for it. This is ESPECIALLY important to do after a reformat, because these changes will not be made for you! This thread explains: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=60416

6) The common sense rule: the more things you have running at once, the slower your system will be. Similarly, the more things you have set to start with Windows, the longer it will take your Windows to boot up. Always make sure you don't have things running in the background or at startup that you don't want - Go to Start, Run, and type msconfig and then go to the startup tab to see things that start up. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc (or Ctrl+Alt+Del and select Task Manager) (or start > run > taskmgr) and go to the Processes tab to see running processes. For both of these tools, if you see a program that you don't know about, search for it on google or processlibrary.com.

I think that pretty much covers the tricks I know. Of course, there are little things here and there that you can do to Windows, but they usually provide very little, unnoticeable performance increase, or they sacrifice a very useful feature (for instance, turning off System Restore - sure, it speeds up hard drive changes, but then what do you do when you install a program that deeply roots into your system or installs spyware, and refuses to get out? Without system restore, you would most likely end up destroying half of your Windows system files in an attempt to remove the program or reformatting altogether!).

Good information.

How do we reload the vital software after reformatting?

All vital software can be found at the Drivers and Downloads page specific to your computer at Dell.com. This includes QuickSet, which monitors hotkeys and special buttons (i.e. the media buttons on the front of Inspiron and XPS noteooks), Bluetooth and wireless software, touchpad software/drivers, and optional Dell software. However, all of this software is optional; the notebook will function just fine without it, and I think the Function key combinations will even work without QuickSet (at least some of them) - basic bluetooth software is built into Windows XP, and wireless functionality is also in XP. Drivers are the most important software, but I recommend the other software provided in the section at Dell.com because it all adds functionality and compatibility that default Windows XP features might not include.

One thing I forgot to mention concerns Windows Vista: it might not be the best idea to upgrade as soon as it comes out. Vista is coming out sometime in January, I believe it has been shipped to the manufacturers already (at least, by the time you read this it probably has). You may have gotten a free Vista upgrade offer with your laptop; keep it, but like I said don't upgrade as soon as you get it.

The simple reason for this is that many hackers are most likely keeping bugs and exploits to themselves. The beta has been around for a while, so they have had plenty of time to inspect Vista, and I would be willing to bet they did not report all of the bugs they found to Microsoft. As soon as it's released, many unsuspecting people will upgrade and they will unleash their viruses and spyware - at least, I'm making this prediction. I hope I'm wrong, but it's unlikely.

Anyway, Vista does have good security; I'm not saying it doesn't. After Vista is released to the public and the bugs are unleashed, found, and squashed, then you should upgrade to Vista. It is certainly a superior operating system, especially in its security features, but I feel that it will have a rough time in the beginning.

I just wanted to go ahead and mention Vista, because there is much confusion as to exactly what to do, and now that manufacturers are giving out free Vista upgrades (or cheap ones), it is the time that consumers are getting ready to upgrade. It's a shame that many unsuspecting people will probably be hit by the exploits (again, just my prediction, I could be wrong!) but we shall wait out the storm. I will be right alongside of you, using XP for a few months after Vista is released until I feel it is safe.

I also listen to a couple podcasts, and I highly recommend them if you are into technology and have a few hours each week to listen to them. There is Security Now (http://www.grc.com/securitynow/), hosted by Leo Laporte and featuring Steve Gibson. Steve is the person who coined the term 'spyware', and Leo Laporte does many podcasts (I think something like 14 now), and a radio show in California. His radio show is The Tech Guy on KFI (http://www.twit.tv/KFI), and it is also in podcast form, so it's the other one that I recommend. These are my two favorite podcasts, and I have listened to every single Security Now episode (proudly ). You can jump right into his KFI show at any point - download a couple of the most recent, listen to them to go ahead and get a feel for them, and then grab them when they are published on Saturday and Sunday. Security Now is every Thursday, and I actually recommend starting from episode 1 and working your way up - they are VERY educational in security and technology issues that are present today, tomorrow, and forever, and I think they are just fun to listen to. Also, some of the more recent Security Nows have referenced topics that they covered in past episodes, so you will be less informed if you skip them. These podcasts have been SOOOO informative, I'm hooked and now I keep up with about 5 podcasts, but these are the two worth mentioning.

Anyway, there you go. Yet again I made a HUGE post, rambling on and on, but I hope you read it all and at least consider the things I suggest. I have been getting positive feedback on that first reply - keep it coming. Anyone else who thinks of something I didn't cover, go ahead and say it, don't be shy! I would love suggestions - while I would like to think I know everything about Windows, I know it's not true, and I am just getting into the notebook world - I bought this E1705, my first laptop, just two months ago!