In Windows Vista, IPv6 is enabled by default. No doubt someday you may want to use IPv6. But at this point it's not used much, pretty much the only services using it are Windows Meeting Space and apps that rely on the Windows Peer-to-Peer Networking platform.

Having IPv6 enabled can slow down you network slightly and lead to slightly increased CPU and memory usage. While turning off IPv6 want result in a blazing speed increase on your computer, it will provide a small gain. And since it's not needed anyway, you might as well disable IPv6 in Vista to get the best performance possible.

If you want to turn IPv6 in Vista, here are the steps to do that:

1 - Go to the Start menu, right-click on Network and select Properties from the menu.

2 - In the left side of the window that opens, click on Manage network connections.

3 - Right click on your network and select Properties.

4 - Select the Networking tab (if you are not already there).

5 - You see a bunch of items listed in a section with a heading of This connection uses the following items:. Uncheck the box next to Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6).

6 - Click OK as needed to save your change.

You'll then have IPv6 disabled on your computer. If you later find that you need the IPv6 service enabled for something to work, you can repeat the process and check the box to turn it back on.