DISABLE UNNECESSARY SERVICES <-- MY FAVORITE TWEAK
Because Windows XP has to be all things to all people it has many services running that take up system resources that you will never need. Below is a list of services that can be disabled on most machines:
Alerter
Clipbook
Computer Browser
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Fast User Switching
Help and Support - (If you use Windows Help and Support leave this enabled)
Human Interface Access Devices
Indexing Service
IPSEC Services
Messenger
Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing (disabled for extra security)
Portable Media Serial Number
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager (disabled for extra security)
Remote Procedure Call Locator
Remote Registry (disabled for extra security)
Remote Registry Service
Secondary Logon
Routing & Remote Access (disabled for extra security)
Server
SSDP Discovery Service - (Unplug n' Pray will disable this)
Telnet
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Upload Manager
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Windows Time
Wireless Zero Configuration (Do not disable if you use a wireless network)
Workstation
To disable these services:
Go to Start and then Run and type "services.msc"
Double **** on the service you want to change
Change the startup type to 'Disable"
TURN OFF SYSTEM RESTORE
System Restore can be a useful if your computer is having problems, however storing all the restore points can literally take up Gigabytes of space on your hard drive. To turn off System Restore:
Open Control Panel
**** on Performance and Maintenance
**** on System
**** on the System Restore tab
Tick ‘Turn off System Restore on All Drives’
**** ‘Ok’
DEFRAGMENT YOUR PAGEFILE
Keeping your pagefile defragmented can provide a major performance boost. One of the best ways of doing this is to creat a separate partition on your hard drive just for your page file, so that it doesn’t get impacted by normal disk usage. Another way of keeping your pagefile defragmented is to run PageDefrag. This cool little app can be used to defrag your pagefile, and can also be set to defrag the pagefile everytime your PC starts. To install:
Download(http://www.sysinternals.com) and Run PageDefrag
Tick “Defrag at next Reboot”,
**** “Ok”
Reboot
SPEED UP FOLDER ACCESS - DISABLE LAST ACCESS UPDATE
If you have a lot of folders and subdirectories on your computer, when you access a directory XP wastes a lot of time updating the time stamp showing the last access time for that directory and for ALL sub directories. To stop XP doing this you need to edit the registry. If you are uncomfortable doing this then please do not attempt.
Go to Start and then Run and type “regedit”
**** through the file system until you get to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Cur rentControlSet\Control\FileSys tem”
Right-**** in a blank area of the window on the right and select ‘DWORD Value’
Create a new DWORD Value called ‘NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate’
Then Right **** on the new value and select ‘Modify’
Change the Value Data to ‘1?
**** ‘OK’
DISABLE SYSTEM SOUNDS
Surprisingly, the beeps that your computer makes for various system sounds can slow it down, particularly at startup and shut-down. To fix this turn off the system sounds:
Open Control Panel
**** Sounds and Audio Devices
Check Place volume icon in taskbar
**** Sounds Tab
Choose “No Sounds” for the Sound Scheme
**** “No”
**** “Apply”
**** “OK”
IMPROVE BOOT TIMES
A great new feature in Microsoft Windows XP is the ability to do a boot defragment. This places all boot files next to each other on the disk to allow for faster booting. By default this option in enables but on some builds it is not so below is how to turn it on.
Go to Start Menu and **** Run
Type in “Regedit” then **** ok
Find “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\M icrosoft\Dfrg\BootOpt imizeFunction”
Select “Enable” from the list on the right
Right on it and select “Modify”
Change the value to “Y to enable”
Reboot
IMPROVE SWAP FILE PERFORMANCE
If you have more than 256MB of RAM this tweak will considerably improve your performance. It basically makes sure that your PC uses every last drop of memory (faster than swap file) before it starts using the swap file.
Go to Start then Run
Type “msconfig.exe” then ok
**** on the System.ini tab
Expand the 386enh tab by **** on the plus sign
**** on new then in the blank box type”ConservativeSwapfileUsage =1?
**** OK
Restart PC
MAKE YOUR MENUS LOAD FASTER
This is one of my favorite tweaks as it makes a huge difference to how fast your machine will ‘feel’. What this tweak does is remove the slight delay between **** on a menu and XP displaying the menu.
Go to Start then Run
Type ‘Regedit’ then **** ‘Ok’
Find “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\”
Select “MenuShowDelay”
Right **** and select “Modify’
Reduce the number to around “100?
This is the delay time before a menu is opened. You can set it to “0? but it can make windows really hard to use as menus will open if you just look at them - well move your mouse over them anyway. I tend to go for anywhere between 50-150 depending on my mood
MAKE PROGRAMS LOAD FASTER
This little tweak tends to work for most programs. If your program doesn’t load properly just undo the change. For any program:
Right-**** on the icon/shortcut you use to launch the program
Select properties
In the ‘target’ box, add ‘ /prefetch:1? at the end of the line.
**** “Ok”
Voila - your programs will now load faster.
IMPROVE XP SHUTDOWN SPEED <-- I LOVE THIS TWEAK
This tweak reduces the time XP waits before automatically closing any running programs when you give it the command to shutdown.
Go to Start then select Run
Type 'Regedit' and **** ok
Find 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\'
Select 'WaitToKillAppTimeout'
Right **** and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
**** 'OK'
Now select 'HungAppTimeout'
Right **** and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
**** 'OK'
Now find 'HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop'
Select 'WaitToKillAppTimeout'
Right **** and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
**** 'OK'
Now find 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Cur rentControlSet\Control\'
Select 'WaitToKillServiceTimeout'
Right **** and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
**** 'OK'
PS : It is not required to apply all the changes. All procedures defined are 100% safe…. But even then if you somehow manage to mess up something… I AM NOT TO BE BLAMED!!
Thanks,
Bilal
Speed up Windows XP (part 2 of 2)
-
bilalghouri
- Posts: 56
- Joined: Sat Mar 10, 2007 11:36 am
