Increase speed by tweaking prefetcher settings

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\Contro l\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.

Read more!

If CD ROM Stops AutoPlaying...

Solution:
The service: "Shell Hardware Detection" has been set to Manual or Disabled. Go to Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services. Return this service to "Automatic".

Read more!

CDFS Tweaks

Here is the changes that must be made

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\FileSystem\CDFS

Look for that registry key, if not there, we must create a new key, then add the following values

CacheSize, this must be added as a binary value, then type in this value: ff ff 00 00

Prefetch, this key must be added as a DWORD value, then type in this value: 4000 hex

PrefetchTail, this key must be added as a DWORD value, then type in this value: 4000 hex

After that tweaking, try copying something across from CD, and you will notice it does produce a speed boost, but it becomes apparent after a while of using this tweak, you may or may not see it at first.

Read more!

Correcting System Hang at Startup

If your system hangs about 2 or 3 minutes at startup, where you can't access the Start button or the Taskbar, it may be due to one specific service (Background Intelligent Transfer) running in the background. Microsoft put out a patch for this but it didn't work for me. Here's what you do:

1. Click on Start/Run, type 'msconfig', then click 'OK'.
2. Go to the 'Services' tab, find the 'Background Intelligent Transfer' service, disable it, apply the changes & reboot.

Read more!

This tweak enables XP to turn off your computer automatically at shutdown.

1. Goto /Start/Control Panel/Performance and Maintenance/System.

2. Select the Hardware tab and then select Device Manager.

3. Under the 'View' menu select Show Hidden Devices. Double click NT/Apm/Legacy Interface
Node and enable device. De-select show hidden devices again and re-boot.

Now your PC will shutdown automatically just like good old Windows 98.

Read more!

Easy Way to Adjust LargeSystemCache

1. Right click My Computer
2. Select Properties
3. Click Advanced
4. Choose Performance
5. Click Advanced again
6. Select either Programs or System Cache under Memory Usage.

Programs = 0 for the registry tweak equilavent
System Cache = 1 for the registry tweak equilavent

Read more!

Stop jerky graphics

1.Right click "My Computer"
2.Select "Manage"
3.Click on "Device Manager"
4.Double click on your Zip under "Disk Drives" ( it may be listed as "IMG VP01" or something similar - pick the one that's not a hard drive)
5.Disable the device

Read more!

Swap File Tweak

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

Read more!

Boot XP faster

1. Open notepad.exe, type "del c:\windows\prefetch\ntosboot-*.* /q" (without the quotes) & save as "ntosboot.bat" in c:2. From the Start menu, select "Run..." & type "gpedit.msc".
3. Double click "Windows Settings" under "Computer Configuration" and double click again on "Shutdown" in the right window.
4. In the new window, click "add", "Browse", locate your "ntosboot.bat" file & click "Open".
5. Click "OK", "Apply" & "OK" once again to exit.
6. From the Start menu, select "Run..." & type "devmgmt.msc".
7. Double click on "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers"
8. Right click on "Primary IDE Channel" and select "Properties".
9. Select the "Advanced Settings" tab then on the device 0 or 1 that doesn't have 'device type' greyed out select 'none' instead of 'autodetect' & click "OK".
10. Right click on "Secondary IDE channel", select "Properties" and repeat step 9.
11. Reboot your computer.

Read more!

Speed up the HDD slowdown when booting

If you have a 3min+ or slower boot time where Windows XP seems to sit for 2+ or so minutes with the XP logo doing nothing before everything comes to life, then do the following.

Download Bootvis from Microsoft and run it the next time you boot. Do a 'Trace'
If it shows a very long 'HDD init' time of minutes rather than seconds then this is how to fix it.

This example assumes you have 1 Hard drive on your primary IDE channel and a DVD-ROM(or CD)
and CD-R on your two secondary IDE channels.

Go to start > right click on my computer > click properties. Click Hardware > Device Manager.

Go to IDE/ATAPI Controllers. Select primary channel. Right click properties. Click the Advance settings tab. Then on the device (0 or 1)that does not have 'device type' greyed out select 'disable' instead of 'autodetect'. This should stop windows trying to find a drive that isn't there.

If you have your IDE channels set up differently simply repat the above for the secondary IDE channel settings.

When I did this my boot time went from 3mins 20 to 35 seconds.

Read more!

Convert FAT32 To NTFS

To change from FAT 32 to NTFS for more stability and security, open the command prompt and type: "Convert C: /FS:NTFS". Make sure there is a space between the C: and the foward slash (/). Once you press enter it will ask you for confirmation and press Y. Then press Y and enter once more to reboot. It will take between one hour and 15 minutes to convert to NTFS. Now you can set passwords for files and use encryption. This also works for windows XP Home.

Read more!

Restoring Access to CD ROMs

If you removed CD Burning software, or for some other mystical reason, can not longer access your CD ROM's,
in most cases following registry keys needs to be deleted:

Locate and delete the UpperFilters and LowerFilters values under the following key in the registry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

Read more!

Install XP from DOS

If XP will not install from the CD or if you have a new drive with no operating system on it yet try these:


Install Windows XP from the hard drive with Windows 98 already installed:

Boot Windows 98
Insert the XP CD into your CD reader
Explore Windows XP through My Computer
Copy i386 folder to C:Go into C:\i386 folder and double click on winnt32.exe to launch the setup from the hard drive

Install Windows XP from DOS (ie. no OS on a new hard drive):

Boot with a Windows 98 Start Up disk
Insert the Windows 98 CD into the CD reader
Run smartdrv.exe from the Win98 directory on the windows 98 CD (file caching)
Type cd.. to back up to the root directory
Insert Windows XP CD into the CD reader
Copy the i386 folder to C:Go into C:\i386 folder on C: and type winnt.exe to launch the setup from the hard drive.

Read more!

Get Rid Of Pesky Un-Signed Driver Installation Warnings

Many new drivers aren't signed by Microsoft so WinXP will warn you or even prevent you from installing new drivers for a device. To prevent this warning or to allow new un-signed drivers to be installed do the following:

1. Go to start/run/ then type secpol.msc
2. Browse to local policies/security options
3. Change "Devices: Unsigned driver installation behavior" setting to Silently succeed.
4. Reboot Computer.

Read more!

Windows XP boot defragment feature

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.

Start Regedit. If you are unfamiliar with regedit please refer to our FAQ on how to get started.
Navigate to 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 and N to disable.
Reboot your computer.

Read more!

Disable XP Boot Logo

It is possible to disable XP splash screen, which will slightly speed up the overall boot process. Be aware that removing the splash screen will also cause you not to see any boot-up messages that might come up (chkdsk, convert ... ), but if your system runs without any problems then it should not matter.

1. Edit boot.ini
2. Add " /noguiboot" right after "/fastdetect".

(or check the /noguiboot switch in msconfig on the boot.ini tab)

Upon restarting, the splash screen will be gone. It can be re-enabled by removing the new switch.

Read more!

Disable Debug Scripting in Internet Explorer

Don't you hate it when you are browsing a page it asks you "Would you like to debug this page?" Well here's a nifty and easy way to turn it off.

Right Click on Internet Explorer and Click Properties
----- or -----
Open Internet Explorer. Click Tools | Internet Options

Click The "Advanced" Tab

The 4th Item in "Browsing" should say "Disable Script Debugging"

Check it and you are all set! Enjoy a Debug-Free Browsing experience.

Read more!

Increase your Applications startup time

By default, Microsoft includes the /prefetch:1 switch to speed up it's Windows Media Player application start time. This switch can be used for other Windows applications and also many third party programs.

Example #1

You have AOL 8.0 installed on the computer. Complete the steps outlined bewlo to add the /prefetch:1 switch to AOL's Target path.

1. Right click on the AOL shortcut and select properties from the menu.

2. In the Target: Field add the /prefetch:1 switch to the very end of the path, like this: "C:\Program Files\America Online 8.0\aol.exe" /prefetch:1 and then click ok.

Now start AOL. It would load at least 50 times faster than ever before.

Example #2

1, Go to the Start button/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools

2. Right click on System Restore and select properties from the menu that appears. Add the /prefetch:1 to the Target Path entry so it looks like this %ystemRoot%\System32\restore\rstrui.exe /prefetch:1 and click ok.

Now System Restore will start immediately when executed.

Note: This switch will only work with some programs. Others will return a message saying the program in the target box is invalid. Just remove the switch.

Read more!

Clicking AVI Files on explorer causing 100% CPU Usage?

1. Open up regedit
2. Goto HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.avi\shel lex\PropertyHandler
3. Delete the "Default" value which should be "{87D62D94-71B3-4b9a-9489-5FE6850DC73E}"

Voila! Please not that this will no longer provide you with the windows properties displaying the AVI file information such as width, height, bitrate etc. But its a small price to pay for saving you resources.

NOTE: Please use caution when using regedit. Improper usage may cause windows to behave imcorrectly. Backup your registry first.

Read more!

Make windows XP shut down somewhat faster?

Start Regedit.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control.
Click on the "Control" Folder.
Select "WaitToKillServiceTimeout"
Right click on it and select Modify.
Set it to a value lower than 2000, say 1000 as a test.

Read more!

Best website to download a driver?

one of the best website to download a driver .
DriverGuide

Read more!

Making your display look better and update faster:

I don't know about every Windows installation, but my XP installed and defaulted to 60Hz refresh rate. This is the speed at which the stuff you see on your screen updates. The faster the better. 60Hz is pretty poor. Go on the web and find the driver for your monitor and install it. Then go in your display properties from the control panel. Goto SETTINGS -> ADVANCED -> MONITOR and check off the "hide modes that this monitor cannot display", then turn your refresh rate up to 85Hz or 100 or whatever you can. I run mine at 100Hz. Caution: If no driver is available for your monitor don't go fooling with refresh rates unless you are sure your monitor can handle it. Doing so could damage your monitor. If there is no driver, consult the monitor manual or the manufacturer's website. They will usually say what Hz your monitor will work and at what resolutions.

Read more!

Turn off Windows XP's built-in support for ZIP files

Annoyed with Windows XP's built-in Zip support? Now there's a way to turn it off.

By default, Windows XP treats ZIP files like folders. If you're not familiar with ZIP files, this can be convenient. However, if you've already got a utility in place to manage your ZIP files (such as WinZip), this new feature can just get in the way. For example, Windows will search inside ZIP files when using Search - For Files or Folders, a process that not only causes searches to take longer, but one that may cause incomplete information to be displayed in the In Folder column of the search results.

Naturally, Microsoft hasn't provided any easy way to turn this feature off. Here's how to do it:

Select Run from the Start Menu.
Type regsvr32 /u %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll at the prompt, and click Ok.
The change will take effect immediately, but you may have to restart Windows for all traces of the built-in ZIP support to disappear.


If, at any time, you wish to re-enable Windows XP's built-in ZIP support, just follow these steps:

Select Run from the Start Menu.
Type regsvr32 %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll at the prompt, and click Ok.
The change will take effect immediately, but you may have to restart Windows for all features of the built-in ZIP support to be available.

Read more!

Delete files that are undeletable or blocked with permissions.

Open a Command Prompt window and leave it open. Close all open programs. Click Start, Run and enter TASKMGR.EXE Go to the Processes tab and End Process on Explorer.exe. Leave Task Manager open. Go back to the Command Prompt window and change to the directory the AVI (or other undeletable file) is located in. At the command prompt type DEL where is the file you wish to delete. Go back to Task Manager, click File, New Task and enter EXPLORER.EXE to restart the GUI shell. Close Task Manager.

Read more!

Selective startup screen after using MSConfig

When you use Msconfig and then reboot, you will have that stupid Selective startup screen appear... Majorly annoying... Download and install this file. It will stop that from appearing....

Disable Selective startup screen save it to your Desktop (you may want to right click and use Save Target As). Double-click the xp_nomsconfig.vbs file after closing MSConfig. You will not see the Selective Startup screen on the next boot. This script can be viewed in Notepad or any text editor, as to the specific Registry key and value that are updated.

Enable Administrator Account on Startup Page Open the ZIP file you just downloaded and extract the contents to your hard disk. Double click the EXE file that you extracted to run the utility. This utility will allow you to toggle the Administrator account to Enabled or Disabled (on the Welcome Screen), depending on its current state.

This one stops Windows Messanger from Auto running. You can stop it in Msconfig, but if you ever use the Program then it will automatically turn itself back on in Msconfig.... Stop Windows Messanger from Auto Running Navigate to where you saved it and double click the file. A confirmation dialog will appear and remind you to log off/back on or restart your computer..


Note: Some of these items are User specific settings. It may be necessary to run each VBS/EXE file while logged into to that User's desktop. If your anti-virus software warns you of a "malicious" script, this is normal if you have "Script Safe" or similar technology enabled. These scripts are not malicious, but they do make changes to the System Registry.

Read more!

Another Way To Tweak Boot Time

*Warning* - Changing Registry setting is tricky and could crash your system. Use the following tweak at your own risk, always back up first before modifying anything in the Registry.

Start , run, type "Regedit"

Follow this string :-
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> SYSTEM -> CurrentControlSet -> Control -> SessionManager -> MemoryManagement -> PrefetchParameters.

Then look at the Prefetch string and change the value from 3 to 5. it doesn't matter if you keep it Hexadecimal or Decimal.

Close registry and restart WindowsXP; it should load up between 5-15 seconds (or even more) faster.

*Tip - run bootvis and record the boot time before applying this tweak.

Read more!

Another Way To Speed up Web Browsing

When you connect to a web site your computer sends information back and forth, this is obvious. Some of this information deals with resolving the site name to an IP address, the stuff that tcp/ip really deals with, not words.

This is DNS information and is used so that you will not need to ask for the site location each and every time you visit the site. Although WinXP and win2000 has a pretty efficient DNS cache, you can increase its overall performance by increasing its size.

You can do this with the registry entries below:


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servi
ces\Dnscache\Parameters]
"CacheHashTableBucketSize"=dword:00000001
"CacheHashTableSize"=dword:00000180
"MaxCacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:0000fa00
"MaxSOACacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:0000012d


Make a new text file and rename it to dnscache.reg. Then copy and paste the above into it and save it. Then merge it into the registry.

Read more!

Increase your cable modem or DSL speed in XP

This tweak is for broadband cable connections on stand alone machines with winXP professional version - might work on Home version also. It will probably work with networked machines as well but I haven't tried it in that configuration. This is for windows XP only.

This tweak assumes that you have let winXP create a connection on install for your cable modem/NIC combination and that your connection has tcp/ip - QoS - file and print sharing - and client for microsoft networks , only, installed. It also assumes that winxp will detect your NIC and has in-box drivers for it. If it doesn't do not try this. In the "My Network Places" properties (right click on the desktop icon and choose properties), highlight the connection then at the menu bar choose "Advanced" then "Advanced Settings". Uncheck the two boxes in the lower half for the bindings for File and Printer sharing and Client for MS networks. Click OK

1. From the windows XP cd in the support directory from the support cab, extract the file netcap.exe and place it in a directory on your hard drive or even in the root of your C:\ drive.

2. Next, open up a command prompt window and change directories to where you put netcap.exe. then type "netcap/?". It will list some commands that are available for netcap and a netmon driver will be installed. At the bottom you will see your adapters. You should see two of them if using a 3Com card. One will be for LAN and the other will be for WAN something or other.

3. Next type "netcap/Remove". This will remove the netmon driver.

4. Open up control panel / system / dev man and look at your network adapters. You should now see two of them and one will have a yellow ! on it. Right click on the one without the yellow ! and choose uninstall. YES! you are uninstalling your network adapter, continue with the uninstall. Do not restart yet.

5. Check your connection properties to make sure that no connection exists. If you get a wizard just cancel out of it.

6. Now re-start the machine.

7. After re-start go to your connection properties again and you should have a new connection called "Local area connection 2". highlight the connection then at the menu bar choose "Advanced" then "Advanced Settings". Uncheck the two boxes in the lower half for the bindings for File and Printer sharing and Client for MS networks. Click OK.

8. Choose connection properties and uncheck the "QOS" box

9. Re-start the machine

10. After restart enjoy the increased responsiveness of IE, faster page loading, and a connection speed boost.

Read more!

Check List For Windows XP/2000 System Crashes

Have you been experiencing random crashes in Windows XP or Windows 2000, and you can't find any reason for them? Windows XP and Windows 2000 are both supposed to be (and typically are) much more stable than Windows 9x/Me, but there are still things that can bring down the entire system in a heartbeat, displaying the BSD (Blue Screen of Death) or simply restarting. Go over this checklist and see if any of these apply to you.

Power Supply - a bad (or insufficient) power supply is the most common cause for random crashes, especially if you have a lot of cards, drives, or fans, or have a dual-processor motherboard. A 350W or 400W power supply is recommended if you're experiencing this problem.

A mix of FAT32 and NTFS drives - If you have more than one hard disk, and there are different file systems on each one, try converting them all to NTFS.

Audio Card Drivers - try removing your sound card, or at least uninstalling and then reinstalling the drivers.

USB Hub - if you have a USB hub, try eliminating it and see if that solves the problem (especially if you have a USB-based Palm cradle and your system crashes every time you hotsync).

Overheating - a computer will crash if the processor overheats. Make sure the CPU fan/fans are working, and that the processor temperature (read in the BIOS screen) is within normal limits. Make sure your computer case has adequate ventilation.

Bad memory - a bad memory module can cause this problem. Try removing one of the modules to see if that solves the problem; rotate through all modules until you've found the culprit. Note that some computers require memory to be installed in pairs, so, for example, if you have four modules, you'll have to remove two (no more, no fewer) for this test.

Note: these things aren't necessarily problems in and of themselves, so if you're not experiencing random crashes, don't waste your time solving problems that aren't there.

Read more!

Speed Up Web Browsing!

If you are in a networked environment and browse via network neighborhood, this tweak is for you. It speeds up your network browsing experiance.

Click Start | Run | Then type Regedit

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

Locate and delete this key {D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}

Reboot.

Read more!

Speed Up Boot-Time Connecting To LAN

Sometimes when connected to a LAN the boot time can take a few minutes. Load times shouldn't be anywhere near that! Signs of this include the system seemingly freezes after logging in, your desktop showing up but for some reason you just can't click on anything or run things for a minute or two. This can be traced back to mrxsmb.dll by using bootvis.exe. This can of course be a number of other things but most of the time it's your file and printer sharing.

1. Right click on Network Places --> Properties
2. Right click on your Ethernet Adapter connection --> properties
3. Un-check "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks" --> OK
4. reboot
5. If you need file or printer sharing, repeat the above, re-check the box and re-boot again

Read more!

Adding SafeBoot to the Boot Menu

Adding SafeBoot to the Boot Menu

1 Open a command prompt

2 Copy the current c:\boot.ini to another name (just in case)

3 With your favorite text editor, edit c:\boot.ini

4 Copy then edit the current boot line to another line. For example:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
might copy and then change to:
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Micro soft Windows XP Professional Safeboot" /fastdetect

5 Start MSCONFIG

6 Click on the BOOT.INI tab

7 Highlight the second line with the additional name of Safeboot

8 Check the /SAFEBOOT box with option you want
Minimal - Minimal set of drivers
Network - With Network Support
Dsrepair - Directory Services Repair
Minimal (Alternate Shell) - Standard Explorer Desktop

Read more!

Disable Unneeded Startup Services

To disable unneeded startup services for a safer, faster XP, use the "Services" Admin Tool (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services). If you are a single user of a non-networked machine, you can disable the following items, with no ill effect.

Alerter
Clipbook
Computer Browser
Fast User Switching
Human Interface Access Devices
Indexing Service (Slows the hard drive down)
Messenger
Net Logon (unnecessary unless networked on a Domain)
Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing (disabled for extra security)
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager (disabled for extra security)
Remote Procedure Call Locator
Remote Registry (disabled for extra security)
Routing & Remote Access (disabled for extra security)
Server
SSDP Discovery Service (this is for the utterly pointless "Universal P'n'P", & leaves TCP Port 5000 wide open)
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Telnet (disabled for extra security)
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Upload Manager
Windows Time
Wireless Zero Configuration (for wireless networks)
Workstation

Read more!

How to Speedup Browsing Folders

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 when you open Windows explorer. To stop XP from doing this follow the instructions below.

Open My Computer
Click on Tools menu
Click on Folder Options
Click on the View tab.
Uncheck the Automatically search for network folders and printers check box
Click Apply
Click Ok
Reboot your computer
Try it now, you will see a significant increase in speed.

Read more!

How to 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 completley unnessesary.

Go to Start
Click Settings
Click Control Panel
Double-click Add/Remove Programs
Click the Add/Remove Window Components
Uncheck the Indexing services
Click Next
That's it, you have now uninstalled the Indexing service, you system will not have more RAM and be more responsive.

Read more!