Guide to tweaking fresh install of XP?

[Damien]

Sorry if this is discussed already, but I was wondering if there's a guide somewhere out there that gives you the FULL run-down of stuff to tweak and what to disable and all that to get the maximum performance out of XP

Thanks alot :toast:

[Damien]

Anyone? =\

[enzoR]

i know tweaktown has one. damn i cant remember this other reall good site. blackviper or something i think it was.

[HermS]

blackviper tweaks (http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm)

[JFettig]

The first thing I do is uninstall all the crap you get, like windows messenger, IE, outlook express, and a few others, I dont install any extra crap. Theres a tweak for browing networks that I use, it speeds it up a bit.

When using Windows XP's My Network Places to access shared resources on
computers running older versions of the Windows operating system, you
may have noticed that the process can be excruciatingly slow.

What's the reason for this slowdown? By default, Windows XP scans all remote
computers for scheduled tasks--a neat, but seldom used, feature.

However, you can override this configuration with a simple registry
edit. Follow these steps:

1. Open the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe).

2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current
Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace.

3. Under the NameSpace branch, locate the subkey named
{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}.

4. To make a backup copy of this key, right-click the key, and select
Export.

5. In the Export Registry File dialog box, select a folder, and give
the file a descriptive name.

6. Right-click the key, and select Delete.

7. Close the Registry Editor, and restart Windows XP for the change to
take effect.

NOTE: Editing the registry is risky, so be sure you have a verified
backup before making any changes.

I also dont run any antivirus software, it speeds things up but you gotta watch out.

Jon

[Damien]

How do you uninstall IE and windows messenger and outlook and all that?

[JFettig]

go to the add remove programs thing, on the left side is add/remove windows components or something similar to that.

Jon

[Damien]

OK, so how do you know if you're uninstalling or installing when un-checking or checking something to remove IE, outlook, and all that? It doesn't even say...

[D_o_S]

All unchecked stuff is uninstalled, all checked stuff is installed.

[Skeen]

Keep in mind, though, that if you uninstall IE, you won't be able to download windows updates.

[KoolDrew]

Windows XP is tweaked out of the box. I would ignore tweaking sites out there. Especially blackviper. Every single one I have seen gives out false information and alot of stupid advice.

[Franky 4 Finger]

true

[KoolDrew]

Actually here is a very good tweaking guide.

http://www.ge0ph.com/xptweaks.htm

[Tube]

Actually here is a very good tweaking guide.

http://www.ge0ph.com/xptweaks.htm

that's a great guide. exactly how I did it on my working rig except that I uninstalled messenger. running since 2001.

[KoolDrew]

I did the same thing that great guide suggested, but then I switched to Windows classic. I hate the new XP look.

[Tony420]

LOL thats funny stuff

[dexx]

Windows XP is tweaked out of the box. I would ignore tweaking sites out there. Especially blackviper. Every single one I have seen gives out false information and alot of stupid advice.
Some of the tweaks are pointless. But things like selecting services reduced my boot memory footprint 30%. And before you say saving 30mb at point is worthless in a 1GB system, it also reduced my boot time by 10 seconds.

[D_o_S]

In my very humble opinion, Windows XP is not tweaked for performance straight out of the box. Yes, what you guys have posted is all true for perfect compatibility, and if you wanted to tweak your system for maximum and best compatibility, yeah, I agree with you - install Windows and let it be.

But keep in mind that there is another side to tweaking - the PERFORMANCE and USEFULLNESS side. Take this as an example:

I have no WiFi or Bluetooth adapters whatsoever - and yet I did find the Wireless Zero service running happily in Windows XP. Now, what harm does it do to turn it off, and turn it back on when I need it?

And I hear you say, heh, disabling services is pointless. Well, how about trying Diagnostic Boot up from the msconfig menu. I find that it boots faster - but if you don't, alright, then for you there is no point in performance tweaking Windows whatsoever. But if you DO experience a faster boot up and higher benchmark scores, you've just started your complex journey of performance tweaking your system. So why don't I run Windows in Diagnostic Mode? Because of the usefullness - no internet, and others. So, slowly, I try to find the optimal performance between usefullness and performance.

[KoolDrew]

Some of the tweaks are pointless. But things like selecting services reduced my boot memory footprint 30%. And before you say saving 30mb at point is worthless in a 1GB system, it also reduced my boot time by 10 seconds.

Yes, by disabling services you will get a better boot time, but if RAM is needed the amount of memory used by the service will be down to practically nothing. So saving that extra RAM is pointless.


I have no WiFi or Bluetooth adapters whatsoever - and yet I did find the Wireless Zero service running happily in Windows XP. Now, what harm does it do to turn it off, and turn it back on when I need it?

It does no harm leaving it running either. Also yes boot time will be slightly faster if disabling services, but there is no real world performance gains after bootup.

[pfisto]

http://www.tweakguides.com/
This is a must have pdf with much in depth info
another good info and util site
http://www.dougknox.com