To all computer geeks (and want to be geeks out there!) we have decided to spend a few days and get a list together of some of the best hacks and tweaks out there to speed up a windows xp computer. All these recommendations are "AT YOUR OWN RISK" and we are not responsible for any changes. We recommend you make a few changes and note the things you change and RESTART your computer to see the changes after a few of the changes. To fully impliment this list it will take about 1-2 hours. But you will be very pleased with the changes and the speed of your computer.
This list was compiled for a few reasons, namely because of people being fustrated over the slow loading software and computer load up times and secondly wanting to serve and bless other people at our bible school: http://www.calvarychapelbiblecollege.com , Please take time to read the Gospel message on this page: http://www.calvarychapel.com/?show=TheGospel
God Bless and enjoy all the steps below:
1. Disable Indexing Services
Indexing Services is a small little program that uses large amounts of RAM and can often make a computer endlessly loud and noisy. This system process indexes and updates lists of all the files that are on your computer. It does this so that when you do a search for something on your computer, it will search faster by scanning the index lists. If you don't search your computer often, or even if you do search often, this system service is completely unnecessary. To disable do the following:
1. Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Double-click Add/Remove Programs
5. Click the Add/Remove Window Components
6. Uncheck the Indexing services
7. Click Next
SOFTWARE RECOMMENDATIONS: You should download and use one of these 2 software options instead to still have the capability to search your computer:
Windows Desktop Search - http://desktop.msn.com/ - choose the download option without the toolbar. Once you have installed it, index your drive. I have choosen not to run the program as a startup programa nd I run it everytime when I want to search something so it doesn't take up system resources.
Google desktop search - http://desktop.google.com/ - download this and install and index your computer. It has a option to have a sidebar with many features that are helpful such as a system resources being used, but you can disable it because it does run more system resources.
2. Optimise Display Settings / Paging File
Windows XP can look sexy but displaying all the visual items can waste system resources. To optimise:
1.Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Click System
5. Click Advanced tab
6. In the Performance tab click Settings
7. Clik on the selection: "Adjust for Best Performance" (NOTE: this will change your entire them to the standard windows 2000 look if you don't want this then choose "custom" and then check ONLY: "use visual styles on windows and buttons" and "smooth edges for screen fonts". then press apply.
8. Go to the Advanced Tab and choose "background services" for processor scheduling and press on the "change button under virtual memory and choose "custom size" and then put the intial size number one number below the maxium size that is already there! so if its is 2688 for the maximum size then simply put in 2687 for the initial size and press OK.
3. VERY USEFUL SOFTWARE PROGRAMS TO RUN:
Advanced Windows Care: http://www.iobit.com/WindowsCare.htm - This free download will automatically automize many settings on your windows xp computer. Use the analyze function first and then prepare and otimize, and you can run to maintain your computer later on, I suggesting running this package once a month.
*(We will update this as we find more applicable software titles).
4. Speedup Folder Browsing
You may have noticed that everytime you open my computer to browse folders that there is a slight delay. This is because Windows XP automatically searches for network files and printers everytime you open Windows Explorer. To fix this and to increase browsing significantly:
1. Open My Computer
2. Click on Tools menu
3. Click on Folder Options, choose "use windows classic folders"
4. Click on the View tab.
5. Uncheck everything except: "do not show hidden files and folders", "Hide protected system files", "show and manage the pair as a single file" and "remember each folders view settings"
6. Click Apply to all folders
7. Click OK
5. Desktop Picture / Etc.
Your desktop background consumes a fair amount of memory and can slow the loading time of your system. Removing it will improve performance. Also themes and other enchanments are not needed and take up alot of memory and power.
1. Right click on Desktop and select Properties
2. Select the Desktop tab
3. In the Background window select None
4. Choose the "Appearance Tab" and choose the effects button and deselect everything on that page except for the "clear type" option and choose OK. And press OK again.
6. Remove Fonts for Speed
Fonts, especially TrueType fonts, use quite a bit of system resources. For optimal performance, trim your fonts down to just those that you need to use on a daily basis and fonts that applications may require.
1. Open Control Panel
2. Open Fonts folder
3. Move fonts you don't need to a temporary directory (e.g. C:\FONTBKUP?) just in case you need or want to bring a few of them back. The more fonts you uninstall, the more system resources you will gain. I would recommend having between 80-100 fonts at the most installed.
7. Disable Unnecessary Services
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
Telnet
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Upload Manager
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Windows Time
Workstation
To disable these services:
Go to Start and then Run and type "services.msc"
Doubleclick on the service you want to change
Change the startup type to 'Disable"
FOR ADVANCED USERS: Here is a comprehensive list of services and to tune down more of them go to this website:
http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm
8. 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
Click on Performance and Maintenance
Click on System
Click on the System Restore tab
Tick 'Turn off System Restore on All Drives'
Choose the "remote tab" and deselect that option and press OK.
============
*(NOTE: from this point on all the registry hacks can damage your computer if not done properly or changing other registry options so follow the steps carefully and if you are not sure don't do it).
============
9. Speedup 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"
Click through the file system until you get to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem"
Right-click in a blank area of the window on the right and select 'DWORD Value'
Create a new DWORD Value called 'NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate'
Then Right click on the new value and select 'Modify'
Change the Value Data to '1'
Click 'OK'
10.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
Click Sounds and Audio Devices
Check Place volume icon in taskbar
Click Sounds Tab
Choose "No Sounds" for the Sound Scheme
Click "No"
Click "Apply"
Click "OK"
11. 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 Click Run
Type in "Regedit" then click ok
Find "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOpt imizeFunction"
Select "Enable" from the list on the right
Right on it and select "Modify"
Change the value to "Y to enable"
12. Improve Swapfile 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
Click on the System.ini tab
Expand the 386enh tab by clicking on the plus sign
Click on new then in the blank box type"ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1"
Click OK
Exit without restarting.
13. Make Your Menus Load Faster
This is one of my favourite tweaks as it makes a huge difference to how fast your machine will 'feel'. What this tweak does is remove the slight delay between clicking on a menu and XP displaying the menu.
Go to Start then Run
Type 'Regedit' then click 'Ok'
Find "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\"
Select "MenuShowDelay"
Right click and select "Modify'
Reduce the number to around "50"
14. Improve XP Shutdown Speed
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 click ok
Find 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\'
Select 'WaitToKillAppTimeout'
Right click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now select 'HungAppTimeout'
Right click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now find 'HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop'
Select 'WaitToKillAppTimeout'
Right click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now find 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\'
Select 'WaitToKillServiceTimeout'
Right click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
15. Unload DLLs to Free Up Memory Usage
By Default, Windows XP keeps DLL files in memory after applications have finished using them, in case they are needed again. What are DLL (Dynamic Link Library) Files? In a nutshell, they are a small collection of functions that carry out tasks that are needed by an application. Windows, by default, keeps DLLs cached in the memory for some time after the application it was associated with is closed. To prevent this behavior and force Windows XP to unload the DLL when the program closes, follow this guide.
Click start then run
Type regedit then click
Navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
On the right hand side, Right Click and select New then DWord
Then type AlwaysUnloadDLL for the name
Then Double Click on the new Dword and change the value to 1
Click OK
16. Reduce Application Kill Time
When shutting down, by default, Windows XP gives open programs 20 seconds (20000 milliseconds) to clean up and close before it automatically closes them. If this is too long (or not long enough), you can be short (or lengthen) this time by following this guide.
Click Start then run
Type regedit then click OK.
Then navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
On the right hand side locate the key named waittokillapptimeout and then double click on it then change the value to 1000.
then press OK.
17. Remove Shared Folders
The Shared Documents folder in My Documents is new in Windows XP Professional. This folder appears when two or more user accounts are created on the local computer. Files can be shared among multiple users of the same computer. In a network environment, files can be copied or moved to a folder on another computer. By default, the Shared Documents folder is automatically shared and made accessible to all other computers on the network. If you do not want this feature, you can disable the Shared Documents folder by following this guide:
Click Start then run
Type regedit then click OK.
Then navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\DelegateFolders
Under DelegateFolders there will be a Sub-Key named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}, right click on this key and delete (by deleting this sub-key you can remove the other files stored on this computer group)
Then press OK.
18. 'What to Throw Away' Files and Folders to delete
Here are files on Windows XP that YOU CAN delete that you don't need and will save valuable hard drive space:
"i386" is from the sp1 or sp2 setup and can be from 250-500 mbs.
WINDOWS SOFTWARE DISK CLEANER: Removing unused programs is a great way to free up disk space, which will speed up your computer. Another way to find wasted disk space is to use the Disk Cleanup tool by following these steps:
1. Open My Computer, right-click Local Disk, and then click Properties.
2. On the General tab, click the Disk Cleanup button. Disk Cleanup will spend a few minutes examining your disk.
3. The Disk Cleanup dialog box opens. Select the desired check boxes in the Files to Delete list, and then click OK. Disk Cleanup will spend several minutes clearing space. If you have more than one hard disk, repeat this process for each hard disk listed in My Computer. Press OK.
WINDOWS SOFTWARE DISK DEFRAGMENTER: You need administrator privileges to defragment a drive or volume. Although fragmentation is complicated, it's easy to defragment your computer by following these steps:
1. Open My Computer, right-click Local Disk, and then click Properties.
2. On the Tools tab, click Defragment Now. The Disk Defragmenter opens.
3. Click your first hard disk, and then click Defragment. Disk Defragmenter will work for at least several minutes, though it may take several hours. If you have more than one hard disk, repeat this process for each hard disk listed.
===========
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED SOFTWARE:
CCleaner - http://www.ccleaner.com/ this software will clear your registry and computer of most files that you don't need to have. I would recommend running it almost every few days that you run your computer. It will get rid of anywhere between 5-500 megs of information that you don't need on your computer.
===========
19. Speed up shutdown times
Don't have XP clear your paging file at shutdown. For security reasons, you can have XP clear your paging file (pagefile.sys) of its contents whenever you shut down. Your paging file is used to store temporary files and data, but when your system shuts down, information stays in the file. Some people prefer to have the paging file cleared at shutdown because sensitive information such as unencrypted passwords sometimes ends up in the file. However, clearing the paging file can slow shutdown times significantly, so if extreme security isn't a high priority, you might not want to clear it. To shut down XP without clearing your paging file, run the Registry Editor (click Start > Run, then type regedit in the Run box) and go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
Change the value of ClearPageFileAtShutdown to 0. Close the Registry, and restart your computer. Whenever you turn off XP from now on, the paging file won't be cleared, and you should be able to shut down more quickly.
===========
*(NOTE this section of the tweaks and hack is more advanced and is recommended you are a intermediate user).
===========
20. Remove Autostart Programs
The next step in restoring your computer's performance is to identify any unnecessary programs that start automatically. Often, programs configure themselves to run in the background so that they appear to start quickly when needed. Some of these programs show an icon on your taskbar to let you know that they're running, while others are completely hidden. These autostart programs probably won't noticeably slow down your computer as it starts up, but they will steal away trace amounts of memory and processing time as your computer runs. Windows XP comes with the System Configurationtool (Msconfig.exe), an excellent way to manage the startup process. To start it:
1. Click Start, click Run, type Msconfig, and then press Enter.
2. On the Startup tab, you'll see a list of all the programs and processes that are set to run when Windows XP loads.
3. Speed up your overall start time by clearing the check box next to any item you think you don't need.
4. Click Apply, and then restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
(ADVANCED STEPS):
My favorite way to examine autostart programs is to use the Autoruns freeware tool: http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/autoruns.shtml Autoruns lists every program that will automatically start and allows you to quickly delete the link to the program. Many autostart entries are important parts of Windows XP, including Userinit.exe and Explorer.exe. So you should not simply delete everything that you don't recognize. Instead, you should look up each entry at Paul Collins' Startup Applications List to determine whether you want it to start automatically: http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php
21. Disabling hibernation
If you don't use the hibernation switch it off (hibernation is very useful for laptops). Hibernation makes it possible to switch you computer on in the state you left it at shutting down. The main memory is stored in a file called hiberfil.sys on your C: partition. Disabling is done by Control Panel, Power Options, tab Hibernate, disable the Enable hibernation option. After a reboot the hiberfil.sys file will be disappeared (which gives you a lot of extra hard disk space).
22. Registry defragmenting (optimizing)
You can diminish the registry by at least 10 percent. Registry defragmenting doesn't delete anything, it just makes a smaller registry with the same information. This saves a lot of memory, which is important for the performance of your system. The freeware utility NT Registry Optimizer (download: www.snapfiles.com/get/ntregopt.html) is the a very useful tool to realize the registry defragmentation. First the NT Registry Optimizer application calculates the possible size reduction, which will be realized after a reboot. In this case the registry will be reduced by 10% (click Yes to reboot).
This list was compiled for a few reasons, namely because of people being fustrated over the slow loading software and computer load up times and secondly wanting to serve and bless other people at our bible school: http://www.calvarychapelbiblecollege.com , Please take time to read the Gospel message on this page: http://www.calvarychapel.com/?show=TheGospel
God Bless and enjoy all the steps below:
1. Disable Indexing Services
Indexing Services is a small little program that uses large amounts of RAM and can often make a computer endlessly loud and noisy. This system process indexes and updates lists of all the files that are on your computer. It does this so that when you do a search for something on your computer, it will search faster by scanning the index lists. If you don't search your computer often, or even if you do search often, this system service is completely unnecessary. To disable do the following:
1. Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Double-click Add/Remove Programs
5. Click the Add/Remove Window Components
6. Uncheck the Indexing services
7. Click Next
SOFTWARE RECOMMENDATIONS: You should download and use one of these 2 software options instead to still have the capability to search your computer:
Windows Desktop Search - http://desktop.msn.com/ - choose the download option without the toolbar. Once you have installed it, index your drive. I have choosen not to run the program as a startup programa nd I run it everytime when I want to search something so it doesn't take up system resources.
Google desktop search - http://desktop.google.com/ - download this and install and index your computer. It has a option to have a sidebar with many features that are helpful such as a system resources being used, but you can disable it because it does run more system resources.
2. Optimise Display Settings / Paging File
Windows XP can look sexy but displaying all the visual items can waste system resources. To optimise:
1.Go to Start
2. Click Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Click System
5. Click Advanced tab
6. In the Performance tab click Settings
7. Clik on the selection: "Adjust for Best Performance" (NOTE: this will change your entire them to the standard windows 2000 look if you don't want this then choose "custom" and then check ONLY: "use visual styles on windows and buttons" and "smooth edges for screen fonts". then press apply.
8. Go to the Advanced Tab and choose "background services" for processor scheduling and press on the "change button under virtual memory and choose "custom size" and then put the intial size number one number below the maxium size that is already there! so if its is 2688 for the maximum size then simply put in 2687 for the initial size and press OK.
3. VERY USEFUL SOFTWARE PROGRAMS TO RUN:
Advanced Windows Care: http://www.iobit.com/WindowsCare.htm - This free download will automatically automize many settings on your windows xp computer. Use the analyze function first and then prepare and otimize, and you can run to maintain your computer later on, I suggesting running this package once a month.
*(We will update this as we find more applicable software titles).
4. Speedup Folder Browsing
You may have noticed that everytime you open my computer to browse folders that there is a slight delay. This is because Windows XP automatically searches for network files and printers everytime you open Windows Explorer. To fix this and to increase browsing significantly:
1. Open My Computer
2. Click on Tools menu
3. Click on Folder Options, choose "use windows classic folders"
4. Click on the View tab.
5. Uncheck everything except: "do not show hidden files and folders", "Hide protected system files", "show and manage the pair as a single file" and "remember each folders view settings"
6. Click Apply to all folders
7. Click OK
5. Desktop Picture / Etc.
Your desktop background consumes a fair amount of memory and can slow the loading time of your system. Removing it will improve performance. Also themes and other enchanments are not needed and take up alot of memory and power.
1. Right click on Desktop and select Properties
2. Select the Desktop tab
3. In the Background window select None
4. Choose the "Appearance Tab" and choose the effects button and deselect everything on that page except for the "clear type" option and choose OK. And press OK again.
6. Remove Fonts for Speed
Fonts, especially TrueType fonts, use quite a bit of system resources. For optimal performance, trim your fonts down to just those that you need to use on a daily basis and fonts that applications may require.
1. Open Control Panel
2. Open Fonts folder
3. Move fonts you don't need to a temporary directory (e.g. C:\FONTBKUP?) just in case you need or want to bring a few of them back. The more fonts you uninstall, the more system resources you will gain. I would recommend having between 80-100 fonts at the most installed.
7. Disable Unnecessary Services
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
Telnet
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Upload Manager
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Windows Time
Workstation
To disable these services:
Go to Start and then Run and type "services.msc"
Doubleclick on the service you want to change
Change the startup type to 'Disable"
FOR ADVANCED USERS: Here is a comprehensive list of services and to tune down more of them go to this website:
http://www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm
8. 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
Click on Performance and Maintenance
Click on System
Click on the System Restore tab
Tick 'Turn off System Restore on All Drives'
Choose the "remote tab" and deselect that option and press OK.
============
*(NOTE: from this point on all the registry hacks can damage your computer if not done properly or changing other registry options so follow the steps carefully and if you are not sure don't do it).
============
9. Speedup 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"
Click through the file system until you get to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem"
Right-click in a blank area of the window on the right and select 'DWORD Value'
Create a new DWORD Value called 'NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate'
Then Right click on the new value and select 'Modify'
Change the Value Data to '1'
Click 'OK'
10.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
Click Sounds and Audio Devices
Check Place volume icon in taskbar
Click Sounds Tab
Choose "No Sounds" for the Sound Scheme
Click "No"
Click "Apply"
Click "OK"
11. 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 Click Run
Type in "Regedit" then click ok
Find "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOpt imizeFunction"
Select "Enable" from the list on the right
Right on it and select "Modify"
Change the value to "Y to enable"
12. Improve Swapfile 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
Click on the System.ini tab
Expand the 386enh tab by clicking on the plus sign
Click on new then in the blank box type"ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1"
Click OK
Exit without restarting.
13. Make Your Menus Load Faster
This is one of my favourite tweaks as it makes a huge difference to how fast your machine will 'feel'. What this tweak does is remove the slight delay between clicking on a menu and XP displaying the menu.
Go to Start then Run
Type 'Regedit' then click 'Ok'
Find "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\"
Select "MenuShowDelay"
Right click and select "Modify'
Reduce the number to around "50"
14. Improve XP Shutdown Speed
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 click ok
Find 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\'
Select 'WaitToKillAppTimeout'
Right click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now select 'HungAppTimeout'
Right click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now find 'HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop'
Select 'WaitToKillAppTimeout'
Right click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now find 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\'
Select 'WaitToKillServiceTimeout'
Right click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
15. Unload DLLs to Free Up Memory Usage
By Default, Windows XP keeps DLL files in memory after applications have finished using them, in case they are needed again. What are DLL (Dynamic Link Library) Files? In a nutshell, they are a small collection of functions that carry out tasks that are needed by an application. Windows, by default, keeps DLLs cached in the memory for some time after the application it was associated with is closed. To prevent this behavior and force Windows XP to unload the DLL when the program closes, follow this guide.
Click start then run
Type regedit then click
Navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
On the right hand side, Right Click and select New then DWord
Then type AlwaysUnloadDLL for the name
Then Double Click on the new Dword and change the value to 1
Click OK
16. Reduce Application Kill Time
When shutting down, by default, Windows XP gives open programs 20 seconds (20000 milliseconds) to clean up and close before it automatically closes them. If this is too long (or not long enough), you can be short (or lengthen) this time by following this guide.
Click Start then run
Type regedit then click OK.
Then navigate to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
On the right hand side locate the key named waittokillapptimeout and then double click on it then change the value to 1000.
then press OK.
17. Remove Shared Folders
The Shared Documents folder in My Documents is new in Windows XP Professional. This folder appears when two or more user accounts are created on the local computer. Files can be shared among multiple users of the same computer. In a network environment, files can be copied or moved to a folder on another computer. By default, the Shared Documents folder is automatically shared and made accessible to all other computers on the network. If you do not want this feature, you can disable the Shared Documents folder by following this guide:
Click Start then run
Type regedit then click OK.
Then navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace\DelegateFolders
Under DelegateFolders there will be a Sub-Key named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}, right click on this key and delete (by deleting this sub-key you can remove the other files stored on this computer group)
Then press OK.
18. 'What to Throw Away' Files and Folders to delete
Here are files on Windows XP that YOU CAN delete that you don't need and will save valuable hard drive space:
"i386" is from the sp1 or sp2 setup and can be from 250-500 mbs.
WINDOWS SOFTWARE DISK CLEANER: Removing unused programs is a great way to free up disk space, which will speed up your computer. Another way to find wasted disk space is to use the Disk Cleanup tool by following these steps:
1. Open My Computer, right-click Local Disk, and then click Properties.
2. On the General tab, click the Disk Cleanup button. Disk Cleanup will spend a few minutes examining your disk.
3. The Disk Cleanup dialog box opens. Select the desired check boxes in the Files to Delete list, and then click OK. Disk Cleanup will spend several minutes clearing space. If you have more than one hard disk, repeat this process for each hard disk listed in My Computer. Press OK.
WINDOWS SOFTWARE DISK DEFRAGMENTER: You need administrator privileges to defragment a drive or volume. Although fragmentation is complicated, it's easy to defragment your computer by following these steps:
1. Open My Computer, right-click Local Disk, and then click Properties.
2. On the Tools tab, click Defragment Now. The Disk Defragmenter opens.
3. Click your first hard disk, and then click Defragment. Disk Defragmenter will work for at least several minutes, though it may take several hours. If you have more than one hard disk, repeat this process for each hard disk listed.
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HIGHLY RECOMMENDED SOFTWARE:
CCleaner - http://www.ccleaner.com/ this software will clear your registry and computer of most files that you don't need to have. I would recommend running it almost every few days that you run your computer. It will get rid of anywhere between 5-500 megs of information that you don't need on your computer.
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19. Speed up shutdown times
Don't have XP clear your paging file at shutdown. For security reasons, you can have XP clear your paging file (pagefile.sys) of its contents whenever you shut down. Your paging file is used to store temporary files and data, but when your system shuts down, information stays in the file. Some people prefer to have the paging file cleared at shutdown because sensitive information such as unencrypted passwords sometimes ends up in the file. However, clearing the paging file can slow shutdown times significantly, so if extreme security isn't a high priority, you might not want to clear it. To shut down XP without clearing your paging file, run the Registry Editor (click Start > Run, then type regedit in the Run box) and go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
Change the value of ClearPageFileAtShutdown to 0. Close the Registry, and restart your computer. Whenever you turn off XP from now on, the paging file won't be cleared, and you should be able to shut down more quickly.
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*(NOTE this section of the tweaks and hack is more advanced and is recommended you are a intermediate user).
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20. Remove Autostart Programs
The next step in restoring your computer's performance is to identify any unnecessary programs that start automatically. Often, programs configure themselves to run in the background so that they appear to start quickly when needed. Some of these programs show an icon on your taskbar to let you know that they're running, while others are completely hidden. These autostart programs probably won't noticeably slow down your computer as it starts up, but they will steal away trace amounts of memory and processing time as your computer runs. Windows XP comes with the System Configurationtool (Msconfig.exe), an excellent way to manage the startup process. To start it:
1. Click Start, click Run, type Msconfig, and then press Enter.
2. On the Startup tab, you'll see a list of all the programs and processes that are set to run when Windows XP loads.
3. Speed up your overall start time by clearing the check box next to any item you think you don't need.
4. Click Apply, and then restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
(ADVANCED STEPS):
My favorite way to examine autostart programs is to use the Autoruns freeware tool: http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/autoruns.shtml Autoruns lists every program that will automatically start and allows you to quickly delete the link to the program. Many autostart entries are important parts of Windows XP, including Userinit.exe and Explorer.exe. So you should not simply delete everything that you don't recognize. Instead, you should look up each entry at Paul Collins' Startup Applications List to determine whether you want it to start automatically: http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php
21. Disabling hibernation
If you don't use the hibernation switch it off (hibernation is very useful for laptops). Hibernation makes it possible to switch you computer on in the state you left it at shutting down. The main memory is stored in a file called hiberfil.sys on your C: partition. Disabling is done by Control Panel, Power Options, tab Hibernate, disable the Enable hibernation option. After a reboot the hiberfil.sys file will be disappeared (which gives you a lot of extra hard disk space).
22. Registry defragmenting (optimizing)
You can diminish the registry by at least 10 percent. Registry defragmenting doesn't delete anything, it just makes a smaller registry with the same information. This saves a lot of memory, which is important for the performance of your system. The freeware utility NT Registry Optimizer (download: www.snapfiles.com/get/ntregopt.html) is the a very useful tool to realize the registry defragmentation. First the NT Registry Optimizer application calculates the possible size reduction, which will be realized after a reboot. In this case the registry will be reduced by 10% (click Yes to reboot).
posted by speedupwindowsxp @ 3:23 PM
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