Windows Vista has always been an operating system that people have complained about being a bit slow. It does take up quite a few resources which can cause it to lag a bit. There are plenty of things that you can do that will help you speed up your Vista system.
First of all, be sure to update your operating system. You need to get these updates not only for security but to fix bugs that there might be.
Turn off all the visual effects that you really do not need. There are many effects in Vista that you simply do not need that are taking up your computer's resources. Turn these off for more speed.
Get rid of any bloatware that exists on the system. Many times there will be free offers and other applications trying to get you to upgrade to a certain service. These many times cause problems in terms of reducing speed.
Defragment your hard drive from time to time. This will make tasks that use your hard drive much quicker since things will be organized better on your system.
Make sure that everything is not starting when you boot up your machine. Turn off any application that opens automatically when you start your computer for best results.
You may consider disabling the User Access Control. This is made to help you protect your system from installing malicious software. If you know what you are doing, turn this off to speed up the system.
Be sure that you have plenty of disk space on your machine. At times filling up your hard drive with Vista causes your system to be slower.
Add more ram to your system to get better results with Vista since it's RAM intensive.
Deal with any heat your computer has. Heat slows down systems and will cause your hardware to fail much faster.