Welcome to my Windows XP SP2 tweaking guide
The Mother Of All CPU Charts Can be Found At the Bottom Of This Post!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DISCLAIMER: If you don't understand what I am talking about - don't do it, I can't be held responsible for a crapped OS but can assure you these methods are tried and tested. You should always back up your data before attempting any registry tweaks
__________________________________________________ _________________________________
These tweaks can make a huge impact on the overall responsiveness of the system! The purpose is to save disk space, speed up the OS and use fewer system resources plus there's a few just for the fun of it!
1st up - maintenance of your system
Maintenance on your PC is VERY important and should be done just as you would maintain your automobile or any other equipment you value. Run MS Antispyware scanner every few days, defragment your hard disks and perform regular virus scans. When the little balloon pops up saying updates are ready for your computer click on download/install now. DO NOT ignore these balloon tips for the OS and anti virus software, if it suggests an update just do it - they are classified as "critical Updates" and are most often fixes for security breaches in the OS and updated virus definitions. I run Windows Cleaner and Registry Mechanic to clear out update downloads, temp files, dns cache, redundant/duplicate registration entries etc, it's a big help in keeping a clean OS. Some appz I use to maintain my pc and keep the adware/spyware in check are:
Windows Cleaner
Defragmentor Pro Plus
Registry Mechanic
Windows Defender
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Useful links & FREE Downloads:
-Browser Alternatives to IE:
http://www.flashpeak.com/sbrowser/
Or this one:
http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/
-A Great FTP Program - Server and Client Versions - Filezilla:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showf...group_id=21558
-Some Handy Appz Available Here:
http://www.fosiwarez.tk/
-FREE M$ Windows Defender - Anti-spyware program available here:
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Interne...iSpyware.shtml
Excellent program - it also locks your homepage & registry from unknown changes
-FREE Avast Antivirus For Home Users Found Here:
http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
-Another Excellent Anti Virus App - AVG FREE:
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5
-Codecs - Having troubles Playing Movies or Getting Windoze Media Player to Play DVD's?
Download/Install the Klite Codec Pack here:
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/...Codec_Pack.htm
Download/Install Real Alternative for those that hate Real Player like me:
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/...lternative.htm
-Can't afford to buy M$ Office?
Try this amazing FREE program to handle all your Excel, Word and Powerpoint documents:
http://www.openoffice.org/
-More FREE Downloads
PowerToys for XP from M$ themselves Smile The Image Resizer is sweeet - The Easiest Way to Resize All your Pics!
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/d...powertoys.mspx
-XP Services Guide
Turn off those useless services running in the background, found here:
http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm
-Video Card Reference Charts Here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/site/vgacharts/index.html
-Build Your Own PC - Full Guide Here:
http://www.buildyourown.org.uk/
-NEC Hacked Firmware Site Here:
http://www.herrie.org/
-Daily Deals On PC Goods And More:
http://www.redflagdeals.com/deals/main.php
-Free Income Tax Return Software:
http://www.studiotax.com/
__________________________________________________ ________________________________
FYI:
How to log in as the real "Administrator" ?
To get Admin account on the "Welcome Screen" as well as the other usernames, make sure that there are no accounts logged in.
Press "ctrl-alt-del" twice and you should be able to login as administrator!
All accounts have to be logged out first speaking of which, you really should set a password on the Administrator account, otherwise it's an easy in for hackers!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Work arounds for Windoze Update and the WGA (Windows Genuine Advantage) check for those that have lost their key:
1 - Use Mozilla Firefox instead of Internet Explorer then go to this site:
http://windowsupdate.62nds.com/ It'll require installing an extra plug in on your 1st visit.
__________________________________________________ ______________________________
System Restore:
By default takes a big chunk of your hard drive space and there's just no need of it!! Go to Start>Control Panel>System, click on the "system restore" tab, highlight each drive then click on settings, turn the drive usage down to the minimum or turn it off. I turn system restore OFF for any secondary partitions. It usually frees up a few gigs and a load of system resources! I turn it off altogether then open services.msc with the “run” command from the start menu to disable the system restore service altogether! Muahaha!
__________________________________________________ _______________________________
Does anyone use hibernation on a desktop pc?
I don't but XP has it enabled by default so rightclick on the desktop and go to properties, on the screensaver tab click on the "power" tab near the bottom, click on the hibernation tab and uncheck it. This frees up the equivilent of your ram in hard disk space!! I'll designate my hard drive space the way I want thanks! I've also added this to the regedits below.
__________________________________________________ _______________________________
Temp internet files eat your hard drive space!
Go to start>Control Panel>Internet Options then click on the "settings" tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section and set "amount of disk space to use" to 10mb. By default this can take 500mb or more and is solely responsible for heavy disc fragmentation when you do a lot of surfing not to mention eating your hard drive space up for no apparent reason!
__________________________________________________ ________________________________
Speed up Windows Explorer!
Browse "My Computer" or any other folder, click on the "tools" tab at the top, then click on folder options then click the "view" tab, uncheck "automatically search for network folders and printers", check "launch folder windows in a seperate process" and uncheck "Use simple file sharing (Recommended)". This makes a noticable difference in response time!
__________________________________________________ ________________________________
Another easy OS speed up!
Go to Start>Control Panel>System and click the "Advanced" tab, click on the "settings" tab, click on "Visual Effects" in the performance tab, then click on "adjust for best performance" and apply. This will make the OS look like Windows 98/2000 and turns off most of the graphical interface wonders of Windows XP. If you prefer to keep it "looking" like XP then scroll down to the bottom of that window and check "Use visual styles on windows and buttons" A worthy move to free up some system resources.
__________________________________________________ ________________________________
Manual regedits:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Speed up the Start Menu:
The default speed of the Start Menu is pretty slow, 400ms to be exact but you can fix that by editing a Registry Key. Fire up the Registry Editor >start>run>regedit>enter and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ MenuShowDelay
By default the value is 400. Change this to 0 to speed up the entire OS menu response time, big difference!
__________________________________________________ ________________________________
Memory Tweak:
Located in the windows registry at: (Start>Run>Regedit) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management
DisablePagingExecutive - When enabled, this setting will prevent the paging of the Win2k Executive files to the hard drive causing the OS and most programs to be more responsive. It’s advised that people should only perform this tweak if they have more than 128 MB because this setting uses a wee bit of memory. By default the value of this key is 0. Set it to 1 to enable it.
__________________________________________________ ________________________________
TCPIP Errors:
SP2 limits the incomplete TCPIP connections to 10 which can give you error code "4226" if you do a lot of downloading with P2P and/or .torrent clients, this can interfere with your downloads but there's help. If you find any of these errors you will likely benefit by editing the tcpip.sys files to change the limit to 50. To check this open the event viewer...... go to Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Event Viewer, click on "system" in the left pane, you'll see the yellow exclamation mark with error code 4226 in the right pane if you are affected. To edit your TCPIP.sys files download this small patch program here:
http://www.lvllord.de/?lang=en&url=downloads#4226patch Unrar the program and execute it, when prompted type "y" for yes, then you'll get a prompt to insert your XP cd to replace the files that have just been modified (windows file protection), cancel out of it to keep the new files, press any key to exit the program and reboot. Problem solved!
__________________________________________________ ________________________________
Make an automated regedit file to perform many tweaks at once!
Create a regedit file as described below, it's an easy way to perform a lot of tweaks at once and it really does make quite a difference! Here's a list of exactly what it does:
-Speeds up NTFS performance
-Speeds up shutdown/reboot time
-Boot Optimization - boot ini from hard disk
-Disables Imapi CD-Burning Service - No need for this if you use Nero or other burning engine
-Disables Remote Registry Service - do you remotely control your registry? lol...I sure don't.
-Allows renaming of Recycle Bin, I like TRASH! heheh
-Disables Automatic Restart in the event of a BSOD - it can actually help to see what that screen says sometimes, hehe
-DNS Browsing speed up tweak
-Disables the Desktop Cleanup Wizard
-Changes MenuShowDelay from 400 to 0
-Disables Messenger Service, nothing to do with msn
-Changes max downloads in IE from 2 to 10
-Enables Google As Main/Default Search Page
-Fixes DSO Exploit problem found by Spybot S&D
-Enables Opening Of .nfo Files In Notepad
-Enables Tahoma Font In Notepad - very easy to read!
-Enables Word Wrap In Notepad - AWESOME!
-Disables Grouping Of Similar Taskbar Buttons
-Removes the Windows Alexa key
-Disables Hibernation
-Disables Unread Mail Message At Welcome Screen
-Disables the Indexing Service
-Disables the Remote Desktop Help Session Manager Service
-Disables Routing and Remote Access Service
-Disables the Help And Support Service
-Disables the Remote-Desktop Service
-Sorts start menu and favorites alphabetically
Do this with the registry entries below:
************begin copy and paste***********
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
;Speed up NTFS performance
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\FileSystem]
"Win31FileSystem"=dword:00000000
"Win95TruncatedExtensions"=dword:00000001
"NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate"=dword:00000001
;Speeds up shutdown or reboot time a lot
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l]
"WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="2000"
;This allows boot files to be placed optimally on the hard-drive for faster boots.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOpt imizeFunction]
"Enable"="Y"
;Disable Imapi CD-Burning Service, no need for this if you use Nero or other software
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\ImapiService]
"Start"=dword:00000004
;Disable Remote Registry Service, most of us don't need to control the registry remotely
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\RemoteRegistry]
"Start"=dword:00000004
;Allow renaming of Recycle Bin, I like TRASH heheh
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder]
"Attributes"=hex:50,01,00,20
"CallForAttributes"=dword:00000000
;Disable Automatic Restart in the event of a BSOD
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\CrashControl]
"AutoReboot"=dword:00000000
;DNS Browsing speed up tweak
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Dnscache\Parameters]
"CacheHashTableBucketSize"=dword:00000001
"CacheHashTableSize"=dword:00000180
"MaxCacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:0000fa00
"MaxSOACacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:0000012d
;Disable the Desktop Cleanup Wizard
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Explorer\Desktop\CleanupWiz]
"NoRun"=dword:00000001
;Change MenuShowDelay (Start Menu load speed)
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"MenuShowDelay"="0"
;Disable Messenger Service (to block spam. Does not affect MSN or Windows Messenger)
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Messenger]
"Start"=dword:00000004
;Max your Internet Explorer's simultaneous downloads to 10 (default was 2)
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Internet Settings]
"MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server"=dword:0000000a
"MaxConnectionsPerServer"=dword:0000000a
;Enable Google As Main/Default Search Page
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"Search Page"="http://www.google.ca"
"Search Bar"="http://www.google.ca/ie"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchURL]
@="http://www.google.ca/search?q=%s"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Search]
"SearchAssistant"="http://www.google.ca/ie"
;Fix DSO Exploit
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Internet Settings\Zones\0]
"1004"=dword:00000003
;Enable Opening Of .nfo Files In Notepad
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.nfo]
"Application"="NOTEPAD.EXE"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.nfo\OpenWithList]
"a"="Explorer.exe"
"MRUList"="ba"
"b"="NOTEPAD.EXE"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.nfo\OpenWithProgids]
"MSInfo.Do<censored>ent"=hex(0):
;Enable Tahoma Font In Notepad
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Notepad]
"lfFaceName"="Tahoma"
;Enable Word Wrap In Notepad
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Notepad]
"fWrap"=dword:00000001
;Disable Grouping Of Similar Taskbar Buttons
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"TaskbarGlomming"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"TaskbarGlomming"=dword:00000000
;Remove Windows Alexa key
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Extensions\{c95fe080-8f5d-11d2-a20b-00aa003c157a}]
;Disable Hibernation
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Power]
"Heuristics"=hex:05,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,00, 00,00,00,00,00,3f,42,0f,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Se ssion Manager\Power]
"Heuristics"=hex:05,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,00, 00,00,00,00,00,3f,42,0f,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Power]
"Heuristics"=hex:05,00,00,00,00,01,00,00,00,00,00, 00,00,00,00,00,3f,42,0f,00
;Disable Unread Mail Message At Welcome Screen
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\UnreadMail]
"MessageExpiryDays"=dword:00000000
;Disable Indexing Service
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\cisvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
;Disable Remote Desktop Help Session Manager Service
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\RDSessMgr]
"Start"=dword:00000004
;Disable Routing and Remote Access Service
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\RemoteAccess]
"Start"=dword:00000004
;Disable Help And Support Service
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\helpsvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
;Disable Remote-Desktop Service
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Terminal Server]
"fDenyTSConnections"=dword:00000001
"fAllowToGetHelp"=dword:00000000
;Sort Start Menu And Favorites In Alphabetical Order
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Explorer\MenuOrder]
************end copy and paste***********
Make a new text file, copy and paste the above into it (you can open this with notepad or wordpad for later editing). Go to file>save as” save it as regedit.reg, you may have a drop down window for “save as type” - it’s set to .txt by default so change this to “all file types”, save it then close and you’re almost done! Merge it into the registry with a rightclick and go to "MERGE" or give it a double-click, click yes when prompted. Reboot for the changes to take effect.
You can personalize your new regedit file to meet your specific needs and likes anytime with a rightclick and go to "edit", just delete anything you don't want it to do. Save the file in a safe place for future use, I use a customised one on every OS install
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now I'm going to drink more beer!!! mmmmmmm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE MOTHER OF ALL CPU CHARTS!!
Click a thumbnail for full size image!
AMD
Intel
XP Tips & Tweaks
Linear Mode
