Leech_Killer
02-13-2003, 10:25 AM
These Tip & Tricks were written by 'Faimous One.'
I don't know how many of these work, certainly the ones I've tried do. But be warned if your messing about with the windows registry make sure you make a SAFE COPY FIRST. To do this click on 'File' then on 'Export' and save it to a known directory.
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Windows XP Tips and Tricks (Gathered from various sites on the net!):
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B) How do I change the default folder in Windows Explorer?
By default, Explorer opens showing the "My Documents" folder. This trick will show you how to make it open up in the C: drive!
Point to Start > Programs > Accessories
Right-click Windows Explorer > Properties
Change the "Target:" field from
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe
to
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /n, /e, /select, C:\
Click OK
Explorer will now open at "My Computer" showing all drives starting with C:
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B) Prevent "New Programs Installed" balloon from appearing (This does not apply to the Windows Classic Style Start menu) :
Right click the Start button
Click Properties > Customize > Advanced
Untick Highlight newly installed programs
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B) Prevent Windows XP from handling ZIP files as folders:
WinXP has built-in support for .ZIP files enabling you to view and utilize their compressed contents as you would a normal folder.
This inevitably uses a sizeable portion of resources. To disable this feature:
Click Start > Run
Type regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll
Press Enter
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B) Turn off Error Reporting:
WinXP comes with "Error Reporting". When ever an error closes a program, a small bit of info will be sent to Microsoft to help them to debug the issue. Here is how you turn this "spyware" off:
Right-click My Computer>Properties
Click the Advanced tab. Click Error Reporting at the bottom.
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B) Windows XP issues with auto reboot:
Right-click My Computer>Properties
Click the Advanced tab. Click Settings button under StartUp and Recovery.
Uncheck the Automatic Restart under System Failure.
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B) AVI files using 100% of the CPU:
I know what the problem is ... The "preview" of the .AVI files makes explorer.exe go crazy ! ... I found a way to remove this by a key in the register! This also takes care of issues when trying to delete a file! Now it works perfectly !
Disclaimer: Whenever you mess with the Registry, you are messing with your machines internal functions! Be VERY CAREFUL WHEN DOING THIS! Always make a backup of your registry before working on it! Use at your own risk!
Start -> Run -> type in: Regedit
Find the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.avi\shellex\PropertyHandler\ directory and delete the "DEFAULT" key !
Explorer.exe runs at 0-1% on idling! And files can be erased with EASE!!!
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B) To increase system performance and keep the GUI:
Right click my computer.
Click properties.
Click advanced.
Click settings (under performance).
Click Adjust for best performance.
Scroll to the bottom and check the last one “use visual styles on windows and buttons”.
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B) For the more Advanced User...
If you would like to change your boot up screen follow the directions below. These instructions assume that you have a place to download the boot screen from the net. If you would like to download a boot screen, visit http://www.themeworld.com
1. Backup (copy) the file %windir%\system32\ntoskrnl.exe (most likely C:\windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe - the boot screen)
2. Download the .zip to your computer
3. Extract ntoskrnl.exe to a directory other than %windir%\system32 (most likely C:\windows\system32)
4. Reboot your computer into Safe Mode (hit F8 before the boot screen) or into true DOS (from a boot disk)
5. Overwrite the file %windir%\system32\ntoskrnl.exe (which should have been backed up) with the extracted exe
6. Reboot your computer as you normally would
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B) To stop certain services from running in the background:
Click the start button.
Select Run.
Type services.msc and click ok.
Once the services window has loaded we are ready to turn off unneeded services.
For instructional purposes we are going to turn off the Portable Media Serial Number service.
Find this service in the list and select it with the mouse.
Right click and select Properties.
Once the properties Windows has loaded, locate the "Start up type" drop down box and select disable.
Then just click ok and the next time the computer starts the service will not be loaded.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) Increasing Nero Speed
Click the start button.
Select Run.
Type services.msc and click ok.
if you use nero and you want to speed up how quickly it runs
go to IMAPI CD-Burning Com Services open it and click on start up type, change to "Disabled".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) These Settings will fine tune your systems memory
management -at least 256MB of ram recccomended
go to start\run\regedit -and then to the following key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
1.DisablePagingExecutive -double click it and in the decimal put a 1 - this allows XP to keep data in memory now instead of paging sections of ram to harddrive yields faster performance.
2.LargeSystemCache- double click it and change the decimal to 1 -this allows XP Kernel to Run in memory improves system performance a lot
3.create a new dword and name it IOPageLockLimit - double click it and set the value in hex - 4000 if you have 128MB of ram or set it to 10000 if you have 256MB set it to 40000 if you have more than 512MB of ram -this tweak will speed up your disckcache
Reboot
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B) NTFS is a great filesystem, but its feature-set comes at a slight cost in performance. You can negate this a little with the following tips:
* By default NTFS will automatically update timestamps whenever a directory is traversed. This isn't a necessary feature, and it slows down large volumes.
Disable it by pointing regedit to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem and set 'DisableNTFSLastAccessUpdate' to 1.
* NTFS uses disparate master file control tables to store filesystem information about your drives. Over time these core MFT files grow and become fragmented, slowing down all accesses to the drive. By setting aside a little space, MFT's can grow without becoming fragmented. In the same key where you disabled the last access feature create a new DWORD value called 'NtfsMftZoneReservation' and set it to 2.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) Just like Windows 2000, Windows XP still fails to set the DMA mode correctly for the IDE device designated as the slaves on the primary IDE and secondary IDE channels. Most CD-ROMS are capable of supporting DMA mode, but the default in XP is still PIO. Setting it to DMA won't make your CD-ROM faster, but it will consume less CPU cycles. Here's how:
1. Open the Device Manager. One way to do that is to right click on "My Computer", select the Hardware tab, and Select Device Manager.
2. Expand "IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers" and double-click on "Primary IDE Channel"
3. Under the "Advanced Settings" tab, check the "Device 1" setting. More than likely, your current transfer mode is set to PIO.
4. Set it to "DMA if available".
Repeat the step for the "Secondary IDE Channel" if you have devices attached to it. Reboot.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) Windows Explorer caches DLLs (Dynamic-Link Libraries) in memory for a period of time after the application using them has been closed. This can be an inefficient use of memory.
1. Find the key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer].
2. Create a new DWORD sub-key named 'AlwaysUnloadDLL' and set the default value to equal '1' to disable Windows caching the DLL in memory.
3. Restart Windows for the change to take effect.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) This is an unique technique for XP, which could improve the performance significantly by tweaking the prefetcher. Recommended hardware: PIII 800 or higher, 512M RAM or more.
1. run "regedit";
2. goto [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters\EnablePrefetcher];
3. Set the value to either 0-Disable, 1-App launch prefetch, 2-Boot Prefetch, 3-Both ("3" is recommended).
4. reboot.
It will decrease the boot time but double and increase the performance of your XP. Try it!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) For Users with 256 MB RAM or more this tweak will boost their Windows- and Game-Performance.
What it does: It tells Windows not to use any Swap File until there is really no more free RAM left.
Open the System Configuration Utility by typing msconfig.exe in the RUN command. There in your System.ini you have to add "ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1" under the 386enh section.
Restart your Windows and enjoy better Game performance
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) Here is a tweak I got off the net some where; this will give you another 20% bandwidth.
This tweak is designed for broadband users:
1.Log on as "Administrator".
2. Run - gpedit.msc
3. Expand the "Local Computer Policy" branch
4. Then expand the "Administrative Templates" branch
5. Expand the "Network" branch
6. Highlight the "QoS Packet Scheduler" in left pane.
7. In the right window pane double-click the "Limit Reservable Bandwidth" setting
8. On the settings tab check the "Enabled" item
9. Change "Bandwidth limit %" to read 0
10. Then go to your Network connections Start=>Control Panel>Network & Internet connections>Network Connections and right-click on your connection. Then under the General or the Networking tab, (where it lists your protocols) make sure QoS packet scheduler is enabled.
It may take effect immediately on some systems. To be sure, just re-boot.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) Windows shuts by itself.
Click on start, control panel, performance and maintenance, power option and choose apm from the 5 above (It's the fourth one) and tick the enable advanced power management support.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't know how many of these work, certainly the ones I've tried do. But be warned if your messing about with the windows registry make sure you make a SAFE COPY FIRST. To do this click on 'File' then on 'Export' and save it to a known directory.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Windows XP Tips and Tricks (Gathered from various sites on the net!):
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) How do I change the default folder in Windows Explorer?
By default, Explorer opens showing the "My Documents" folder. This trick will show you how to make it open up in the C: drive!
Point to Start > Programs > Accessories
Right-click Windows Explorer > Properties
Change the "Target:" field from
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe
to
%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /n, /e, /select, C:\
Click OK
Explorer will now open at "My Computer" showing all drives starting with C:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) Prevent "New Programs Installed" balloon from appearing (This does not apply to the Windows Classic Style Start menu) :
Right click the Start button
Click Properties > Customize > Advanced
Untick Highlight newly installed programs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) Prevent Windows XP from handling ZIP files as folders:
WinXP has built-in support for .ZIP files enabling you to view and utilize their compressed contents as you would a normal folder.
This inevitably uses a sizeable portion of resources. To disable this feature:
Click Start > Run
Type regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll
Press Enter
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) Turn off Error Reporting:
WinXP comes with "Error Reporting". When ever an error closes a program, a small bit of info will be sent to Microsoft to help them to debug the issue. Here is how you turn this "spyware" off:
Right-click My Computer>Properties
Click the Advanced tab. Click Error Reporting at the bottom.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) Windows XP issues with auto reboot:
Right-click My Computer>Properties
Click the Advanced tab. Click Settings button under StartUp and Recovery.
Uncheck the Automatic Restart under System Failure.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) AVI files using 100% of the CPU:
I know what the problem is ... The "preview" of the .AVI files makes explorer.exe go crazy ! ... I found a way to remove this by a key in the register! This also takes care of issues when trying to delete a file! Now it works perfectly !
Disclaimer: Whenever you mess with the Registry, you are messing with your machines internal functions! Be VERY CAREFUL WHEN DOING THIS! Always make a backup of your registry before working on it! Use at your own risk!
Start -> Run -> type in: Regedit
Find the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.avi\shellex\PropertyHandler\ directory and delete the "DEFAULT" key !
Explorer.exe runs at 0-1% on idling! And files can be erased with EASE!!!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) To increase system performance and keep the GUI:
Right click my computer.
Click properties.
Click advanced.
Click settings (under performance).
Click Adjust for best performance.
Scroll to the bottom and check the last one “use visual styles on windows and buttons”.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) For the more Advanced User...
If you would like to change your boot up screen follow the directions below. These instructions assume that you have a place to download the boot screen from the net. If you would like to download a boot screen, visit http://www.themeworld.com
1. Backup (copy) the file %windir%\system32\ntoskrnl.exe (most likely C:\windows\system32\ntoskrnl.exe - the boot screen)
2. Download the .zip to your computer
3. Extract ntoskrnl.exe to a directory other than %windir%\system32 (most likely C:\windows\system32)
4. Reboot your computer into Safe Mode (hit F8 before the boot screen) or into true DOS (from a boot disk)
5. Overwrite the file %windir%\system32\ntoskrnl.exe (which should have been backed up) with the extracted exe
6. Reboot your computer as you normally would
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) To stop certain services from running in the background:
Click the start button.
Select Run.
Type services.msc and click ok.
Once the services window has loaded we are ready to turn off unneeded services.
For instructional purposes we are going to turn off the Portable Media Serial Number service.
Find this service in the list and select it with the mouse.
Right click and select Properties.
Once the properties Windows has loaded, locate the "Start up type" drop down box and select disable.
Then just click ok and the next time the computer starts the service will not be loaded.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) Increasing Nero Speed
Click the start button.
Select Run.
Type services.msc and click ok.
if you use nero and you want to speed up how quickly it runs
go to IMAPI CD-Burning Com Services open it and click on start up type, change to "Disabled".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) These Settings will fine tune your systems memory
management -at least 256MB of ram recccomended
go to start\run\regedit -and then to the following key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
1.DisablePagingExecutive -double click it and in the decimal put a 1 - this allows XP to keep data in memory now instead of paging sections of ram to harddrive yields faster performance.
2.LargeSystemCache- double click it and change the decimal to 1 -this allows XP Kernel to Run in memory improves system performance a lot
3.create a new dword and name it IOPageLockLimit - double click it and set the value in hex - 4000 if you have 128MB of ram or set it to 10000 if you have 256MB set it to 40000 if you have more than 512MB of ram -this tweak will speed up your disckcache
Reboot
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) NTFS is a great filesystem, but its feature-set comes at a slight cost in performance. You can negate this a little with the following tips:
* By default NTFS will automatically update timestamps whenever a directory is traversed. This isn't a necessary feature, and it slows down large volumes.
Disable it by pointing regedit to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem and set 'DisableNTFSLastAccessUpdate' to 1.
* NTFS uses disparate master file control tables to store filesystem information about your drives. Over time these core MFT files grow and become fragmented, slowing down all accesses to the drive. By setting aside a little space, MFT's can grow without becoming fragmented. In the same key where you disabled the last access feature create a new DWORD value called 'NtfsMftZoneReservation' and set it to 2.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) Just like Windows 2000, Windows XP still fails to set the DMA mode correctly for the IDE device designated as the slaves on the primary IDE and secondary IDE channels. Most CD-ROMS are capable of supporting DMA mode, but the default in XP is still PIO. Setting it to DMA won't make your CD-ROM faster, but it will consume less CPU cycles. Here's how:
1. Open the Device Manager. One way to do that is to right click on "My Computer", select the Hardware tab, and Select Device Manager.
2. Expand "IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers" and double-click on "Primary IDE Channel"
3. Under the "Advanced Settings" tab, check the "Device 1" setting. More than likely, your current transfer mode is set to PIO.
4. Set it to "DMA if available".
Repeat the step for the "Secondary IDE Channel" if you have devices attached to it. Reboot.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) Windows Explorer caches DLLs (Dynamic-Link Libraries) in memory for a period of time after the application using them has been closed. This can be an inefficient use of memory.
1. Find the key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer].
2. Create a new DWORD sub-key named 'AlwaysUnloadDLL' and set the default value to equal '1' to disable Windows caching the DLL in memory.
3. Restart Windows for the change to take effect.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) This is an unique technique for XP, which could improve the performance significantly by tweaking the prefetcher. Recommended hardware: PIII 800 or higher, 512M RAM or more.
1. run "regedit";
2. goto [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters\EnablePrefetcher];
3. Set the value to either 0-Disable, 1-App launch prefetch, 2-Boot Prefetch, 3-Both ("3" is recommended).
4. reboot.
It will decrease the boot time but double and increase the performance of your XP. Try it!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) For Users with 256 MB RAM or more this tweak will boost their Windows- and Game-Performance.
What it does: It tells Windows not to use any Swap File until there is really no more free RAM left.
Open the System Configuration Utility by typing msconfig.exe in the RUN command. There in your System.ini you have to add "ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1" under the 386enh section.
Restart your Windows and enjoy better Game performance
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) Here is a tweak I got off the net some where; this will give you another 20% bandwidth.
This tweak is designed for broadband users:
1.Log on as "Administrator".
2. Run - gpedit.msc
3. Expand the "Local Computer Policy" branch
4. Then expand the "Administrative Templates" branch
5. Expand the "Network" branch
6. Highlight the "QoS Packet Scheduler" in left pane.
7. In the right window pane double-click the "Limit Reservable Bandwidth" setting
8. On the settings tab check the "Enabled" item
9. Change "Bandwidth limit %" to read 0
10. Then go to your Network connections Start=>Control Panel>Network & Internet connections>Network Connections and right-click on your connection. Then under the General or the Networking tab, (where it lists your protocols) make sure QoS packet scheduler is enabled.
It may take effect immediately on some systems. To be sure, just re-boot.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
B) Windows shuts by itself.
Click on start, control panel, performance and maintenance, power option and choose apm from the 5 above (It's the fourth one) and tick the enable advanced power management support.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------