More WinXP tweaks

[Smizack]

Just some various XP tweaks...



Install an ASPI Layer:

WinXP does not install an ASPI layer. Most of the problems with WinXP and CD burning software are ASPI layer problems. After installing WinXP, before installing any CD burning software do a few things first:

1. Open up "My computer" and right click on the CD Recorder. If your CD recorder was detected as a CD recorder there will be a tab called "Recording". On this tab uncheck ALL of the boxes. apply or OK out of it and close my computer.

2. Next install the standard ASPI layer for NT. Reboot when asked.
Disable Autorun:

Start -> Run... -> type "gpedit.msc"


+-Computer Config
'-+-Administrative Templates
'-+-System
3. Double Click 'Turn off Autoplay'
Customise MP3 Ripping in WMP8:

NOTE: This applies only if you have the mp3 plugin installed, I think MS removed it in certain versions of WMP8, I'm not sure about the specific details however...
Open regedit and enter the following:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/MediaPlayer/Settings/MP3Encoding]
"LowRate" =dword:0001f400
"MediumRate" =dword:00027100
"MediumHighRate" =dword:0002ee00
"HighRate" =dword:0003e800

This corresponds to 64, 128, 192 and 256 Kbps.

You can change this to your liking using the following dword hex values:

320 Kbps = dword:0004e200
256 Kbps = dword:0003e800
224 Kbps = dword:00036b00
192 Kbps = dword:0002ee00
160 Kbps = dword:00027100
128 Kbps = dword:0001f400
112 Kbps = dword:0001b580
64 Kbps = dword:0000fa00
56 Kbps = dword:0000dac0

Clear Page file on shutdown:

Open Control panel -> Administrative tools -> local security policy

+-local policies
'-+-security options

Enable "Shutdown: Clear Virtual Memory Pagefile"

Increase BROADBAND speed:

This is for broad band connections. I didn’t try it on dial up but might work for dial up.
Log on as local "Administrator" user account, not just as user with admin rights.

Start -> Run... -> type gpedit.msc
+-local computer policy
'-+-Computer Configuration
'-+-Administrative templates
'-+-Network
'-+-QoS Packet Scheduler
Double click "limit reservable bandwidth" Select "enabled" then set "Bandwidth limit %" to 0

Remove Shared Documents from My Computer:

Open regedit and browse to key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer/ MyComputer/NameSpace/DelegateFolders

Delete the {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee} sub-key.
Remove Windows Messenger:

Start -> Run... -> type "gpedit.msc"
+-Computer Configuration
'-+-Administrative Templates
'-+-Windows Components
'-+-Windows Messenger
Here you can enable:
"Do not allow Windows Messenger to be run"
"Do not automatically start Windows Messenger initially"

Check Firmware of your drives:

Right click My Computer -> Manage

+-Removable Storage
'-+-Libraries
Right click required drive -> Properties -> Device Information

Faster Shutdown:

Open regedit and set the following keys:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\
"HungAppTimeout" = 5000 (Default value)
"WaitToKillAppTimeout" = 4000 (Default is 20000).

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\
"WaitToKillServiceTimeout" = 4000

Another thing that helps to speed up shutdown:

Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services
Set "NVidia Driver Helper service" to Manual

Tip from Gavin Ballard @ TweakTown
Tweak XP Prefetcher:

The XP Prefetcher service monitors programs that initialize during startup, then in future fetches them quickly. You can improve its performance. Open regedit and set the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters
"EnablePrefetcher" = 5

Disable ZIP Folders:

Windows XP has built-in support for .ZIP files, however the system uses a sizeable portion of resources doing this. To disable:

Start -> Run... -> type "regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll"

Unload unused DLLs:

Explorer often leaves DLLs cached in memory for a long period of time after they have been finished with. To turn off this behavior open regedit and create key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Explorer
"AlwaysUnloadDLL" = DWORD:1

Set to 0 to disable.

Note: A restart is needed for this to take effect.
Manually Set L2 Cache:

Open regedit and browse to key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management\
"SecondLevelDataCache"
Be sure to edit this key in Decimal mode.

Disable Windows File Protection:

To totally disable Windows File Protection, Open regedit and browse to key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
"SFCDisable" = FFFFFF9D

Automatically Kill Programs At Shutdown:

Open regedit and browse to key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
AutoEndTasks = 1

Memory Performance Tweaks:

Open regedit and browse to key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management Disable Paging Executive
XP pages sections RAM to the hard drive. We can stop this happening for a performance boost. (256+ MB RAM needed)
"DisablePagingExecutive" = 1

System Cache Boost
This will allocate all but 4MB of system memory to the file system cache allowing the XP Kernel to run in memory. The 4MB of memory left is used for disk caching, this tweak improves performance by a fair bit but can, degrade performance in some apps. (256+ MB RAM needed)
"LargeSystemCache" = 1

Speeding Up Network Shares:

When you connect to another computer, Windows checks for any Scheduled tasks on that computer. This can take up to 30 seconds. Open regedit and browse to key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace

Delete the {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF} sub-key and reboot.

Prioritizing IRQs:

The main components of your computer have an IRQ number assigned to them we can boost performance of that IRQ by increasing its priority. The component that will benefit most from this is the System CMOS/real time clock.

Open System Properties (Windows+Break) -> Hardware -> Device Manager

Double click the component you want the IRQ for and click Properties -> Resources

If there is no IRQ number, select another device. Open regedit and browse to key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/System/CurrentControlSet/Control/PriorityControl
IRQ#Priority (where ’#’ is the IRQ number) = DWORD:1

[JBELL]

man I hate WinXP!!! I have spent ALL NIGHT removing the w32.kleg virus from it - ended up having to format!

[Smizack]

Originally posted by JBell
man I hate WinXP!!! I have spent ALL NIGHT removing the w32.kleg virus from it - ended up having to format!

Well, that dosen't have anything to do with the OS!;) I like it.
It's Tweakable!:p

[JBELL]

Originally posted by Smizack


Well, that dosen't have anything to do with the OS!;) I like it.
It's Tweakable!:p

anything is tweakable! and XP still sucks! :-p

[JBELL]

2k pro up and running!!! works FLAWLESS!!!!!!!

[Smizack]

Originally posted by JBell


anything is tweakable! and XP still sucks! :-p

Hehe. Yeah it does. But I'm having fun with it while I wait for a service pack.

[Smizack]

Originally posted by JBell
2k pro up and running!!! works FLAWLESS!!!!!!!

Yeah, you've got your stability, but what does your start button say??:D

[JBELL]

Originally posted by Smizack


Yeah, you've got your stability, but what does your start button say??:D

start

but only till I hack the hex code for it!

*looks at linux, back to windows and over to linux again*

silly boy with your XP!

[Smizack]

Originally posted by JBell


start

but only till I hack the hex code for it!

*looks at linux, back to windows and over to linux again*

silly boy with your XP!

Hey, I'm working on a Linux machine as well!

[Smizack]

Faster boot speed. XP only though.. (http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/platform/performance/fastboot/default.asp)

[JAWS]

Thanks Smizack! I can honestly say I've done most of them!

[Smizack]

Originally posted by JAWS
Thanks Smizack! I can honestly say I've done most of them!

Me too. I like it much better now.:D

[Tweaked!]

Hey Smiz, any idea where to obtain that "Bootvis.exe" from now since Microsux stopped offering it? I've done a google search for it, and all the links that offered it just had their download linked to ms' site.

[Tedinde]

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=664

[sjohnson]

XP *still* seems to have too much "ma and pa" stuff running, making it friendly but also seems to use more resources. Why do I need to tune QOS (for instance) when Win2k Pro doesn't have it/doesn't seem to need it? :)

Yah, I'll prolly end up with at least one box running XP, but working with and supporting iit extensively *at work* has seemed to leave a bad taste.

[Smizack]

Originally posted by sjohnson
XP *still* seems to have too much "ma and pa" stuff running, making it friendly but also seems to use more resources. Why do I need to tune QOS (for instance) when Win2k Pro doesn't have it/doesn't seem to need it? :)

Yah, I'll prolly end up with at least one box running XP, but working with and supporting iit extensively *at work* has seemed to leave a bad taste.

Yeah it's like they leave everything open on purpose, then put out updates for things that should have been taken care of long ago.

qos is a net traffic controller, but you don't need it running. I have mine set to manual.

[Peckers]

Originally posted by Smizack
Increase BROADBAND speed:

This is for broad band connections. I didn’t try it on dial up but might work for dial up.
Log on as local "Administrator" user account, not just as user with admin rights.

Start -> Run... -> type gpedit.msc
+-local computer policy
'-+-Computer Configuration
'-+-Administrative templates
'-+-Network
'-+-QoS Packet Scheduler
Double click "limit reservable bandwidth" Select "enabled" then set "Bandwidth limit %" to 0

It's true that XP reserves 20%(default in XP) bandwith for "QoS-aware" programs. But if no QoS compatible aplications run then no bandwith is reserved. QoS will only reserve bandwith when it needs too and only as much as it needs. QoS is a good thing IMO, for example it helps avoid annoying buffering when streaming films over the net.


Originally posted by sjohnson
Why do I need to tune QOS (for instance) when Win2k Pro doesn't have it/doesn't seem to need it?

Win2000 has it as well.

[sjohnson]

I'd like to see where, never seen it as a service or whatever.

Do you know where it's "hidden" :)

[Peckers]

open properties for a connection and make sure you have QoS Packet Scheduler installed, then have a look under Admin Tools in the start menu. For small networks and home use you can leave everything at default.
Unfortunately I do not have win2k installed here but I'm pretty sure that you can monitor QoS activity from sysmon.

[sjohnson]

OK, looks like I didn't see it because it must be installed. I'll look into it tonight. TX!

[Peckers]

np :)