Ok, so essencially my original post had a quick way of doing things. But now lets speed it up even faster.

1. Install

1.1 Win 7 SP1 integrated

So for WinXP you would have slipstreamed the Service Packs. But screw that we got broadband. Download an integrated Iso from:

http://www.mydigitallife.info/official-windows-7-sp1-iso-from-digital-river/

1.2 USB Install

Installing from USB, is usually faster than installing from a DVD.

1. Copy all the contents of the Win7 ISO to an USB-Drive (3GB free space required).
2. Right-click on “Computer” – > Manage and navigate to Disk Management
3. Right-click on the Partition you copied the Win7 Files to and select “Mark Partition as Active”
4. Plug the USB-Drive in the PC to be set up and boot from the USB-Drive.
5. Install

Note: If you have a USB3-Port you may need additional drivers to install via USB.

1.3 Partitions

The sole purpose of Partitions is organization. However you want to organize you files you create any number of partitions accordingly. Best Practice is to have at least 100GB of space for the Operating Install Partition so you have plenty of space to install more Programs. Note: To gain a speed advantage one must use  multiple physical Hard drives and then configure the Swap Files. However placing the Swap-file on the same physical disk will is not give any performance boost.

2. Initial Settings via Powershell

• Open Powershell as Administrator
• type  Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted
• Copy (and modify)  following Code into a new Textfile

#Enable Windows Classic Theme
Write-Host "Enabling Classic Theme"
& $env:Systemroot'\Resources\Ease of Access Themes\classic.theme'

#Set Explorer Settings
Write-Host "Configuring Explorer-Settings"
$explorerKey = 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced'
Set-ItemProperty $explorerKey NavPaneShowAllFolders 1
Set-ItemProperty $explorerKey NavPaneExpandToCurrentFolder 1
Set-ItemProperty $explorerKey Hidden 1
Set-ItemProperty $explorerKey HideFileExt 0

#Set Taskbar Settings
Write-Host "Taskbar Settings"
Set-ItemProperty $explorerKey TaskbarSmallIcons 1
Set-ItemProperty $explorerKey TaskbarGlomLevel 1

#Disable Customer Experience Improvement Program
Set-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\SQMClient\Windows' CEIPEnable 0

#Desktop Items
Write-Host "Display Icons"
$desktopKey = 'HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons'
new-item -path $desktopKey
new-item -path $desktopKey\ClassicStartMenu
new-item -path $desktopKey\NewStartPanel
new-ItemProperty -path $desktopKey\ClassicStartMenu -name '{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}' -value 0
new-ItemProperty -path $desktopKey\ClassicStartMenu -name '{59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}' -value 0
new-ItemProperty -path $desktopKey\ClassicStartMenu -name '{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}' -value 0

new-ItemProperty -path $desktopKey\NewStartPanel -name '{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}' -value 0
new-ItemProperty -path $desktopKey\NewStartPanel -name '{59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}' -value 0
new-ItemProperty -path $desktopKey\NewStartPanel -name '{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}' -value 0

#Disable Remote Assistance
Set-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Remote Assistance' fAllowToGetHelp 0

#Restart Explorer
Stop-Process -processname explorer

#Disable UAC
Write-Host "Disabling User Account Control (UAC)"
Set-ItemProperty 'HKLM:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System' EnableLUA 0
Write-Host "System needs to be rebooted"
#Disable Services
#Windows Search
(gwmi win32_service -filter "name='WSearch'").ChangeStartMode("Disabled")
#Windows Features
DISM /Online /Disable-Feature /FeatureName:WindowsGadgetPlatformDISM /Online /Disable-Feature /FeatureName:TabletPCOC /NoRestartDISM /Online /Disable-Feature /FeatureName:Printing-XPSServices-Features /NoRestart
DISM /Online /Disable-Feature /FeatureName:Xps-Foundation-Xps-Viewer /NoRestart
DISM /Online /Disable-Feature /FeatureName:Printing-Foundation-InternetPrinting-Client /NoRestart
DISM /Online /Disable-Feature /FeatureName:MediaCenter /NoRestart
DISM /Online /Disable-Feature /FeatureName:OpticalMediaDisc /NoRestart
DISM /Online /Disable-Feature /FeatureName:WindowsMediaPlayer /NoRestart

• Save as “windowsConfig.ps1″ at C:\
• In Powershell execute C:\windowsConfig.ps1 (works only with full path)

• Useful Services Configuration Black Vipers Guide

3. Applications

3.1 Internet Explorer 9

To prevent downloads of unneeded updates, install IE9 prior to running windows update.

IE9 Download

3.1 Ninite

Visit www.ninite.com you can choose from a selection of free programs and then download an automatic installer.

Further Links:

Speed Up Windows 7 How to

Tweaking Windows 7 for Maximum Performance

The Ultimate Guide to Speed up Windows 7