I hear a lot of people complain that they find Vista to be slower then the “almighty” XP

So, here are a few steps you can take to speed up your Vista:

Turn off Windows Hibernation

Windows hibernation background services can use a large amount of system resources. If you don’t use the Hibernate feature on a regular basis, you may want to disable it to give Vista a performance boost.

To disable Hibernation:

1. Select the Control Panel then Power Options
2. Click Change Plan Settings
3. Click on Change Advanced Power Settings
4. Expand the Sleep selection
5. Expand the Hibernate After selection
6. Move the slider down to zero
7. Click Apply.

Turn off Remote Differential Compression

Remote Differential Compression measures the changes in files over a network to transfer them with minimal bandwidth rather than transferring an entire file that has previously been moved. By constantly checking for file changes, this service can hinder system performance, to disable this service:

1. Open Control Panel
2. Switch to Classic View
3. Select Program Features
4. Choose Turn Windows features on and off
5. Scroll down and uncheck Remote Differential Compression.

Turn off Automatic Disk Defragmentation

Windows Vista and its always-on defragment feature isn’t really that necessary and can cause system slow down. Just remember to run a defrag once in a while on your own. 

1. Click Start then Computer  
2. Right Click the C: Drive
3. Click on Properties
4. Select the Tools Tab Click on Defragment
5. Now Uncheck Run on a schedule
6. Reboot.