Tweak Guide 1
 « Back 


1. Getting Rid of Windows "eye candy"

1A. Disabling Windows Themes, transition effects, and smoothing fonts

One thing you'll notice if your upgrading from an older version of Windows is that the start menu and all the windows now have this Bluish theme. Since this is a tweaking guide we're going to get rid of this bluish theme to save RAM. First thing you'll want to do is right click anywhere on the desktop. It'll come up with a menu, click on properties and a window will come up called display properties.

Themes, Select Windows Classice from the slide down menu --> apply.

Desktop, select none from the list of background --> apply.

Screensaver, select none from the drop down list of screen savers --> apply.

Appearance, go down and select "effects", a new screen will pop up, unselect everything including transition effect and smoothing of fonts --> ok --> apply.

Settings, don't need to do anything

1B. Customizing the appearance of the start menu and task bar

Right click anywhere on the task bar, a menu will pop up, select properties.

A. Task Menu

Task appearance, customize this to your liking.

Notification area, customize this to your liking.

B. Start Menu

Start menu, this is the XP default start menu leave it if you like it.

Classic start menu, this is the older version of the start menu found in older OS's like Windows 2000 or Windows 98, if you perfer this start menu select it and apply. Once applied, Windows will dump the My Computer, Recycle Bin, etc... icons onto the desktop.

C. Select which menu you want, either default or classic, and to the left is the customize button. A new pop up window will come up for either one and customize the look of the start menu to your liking.


2. Gaining performance through system properties

2A. "Advanced" tab in they system properties window

The first three tabs in system properties you won't need to change, but the third tab called "Advanced" you will. There are some options here you can disable to improve performance. In this tab you'll notice five things you can select: performance, user profiles, start up an recovery, enviromental variables, and error reporting.

A. Select the settings button for the "performance" section and click on the "adjust for best performance option" --> apply --> ok.

B. Select the "Error Reporting" button. Next, select the "diable error reporting" option and uncheck the "but notify me when critical errors" box.

C. The "Remote" tab, uncheck the "Allow Remote Invatations" button, You'll want to turn this feature off for security reasons. If you actually use this feature leave it on.

D. Automatic Updates Tab, Select "Turn off Automatic Updates" option and proceed to next tab.

E. System Restore, You'll want to select the "Turn off System Restore" option. I think this feature is a complete waste of system resources, but for you paranoid psychos out there who think their computer could die at any minute then you can leave this on. Otherwise turn it OFF! It will give you a warning message when you disable it, just click yes when it comes up.


3. Increasing file system browsing

Another thing XP has changed is the way the folder icons look. It used to be small icons for the all the drives and the controll panel now it's made up of rather large icons that consume their fair share of the system resources.

3A. To prevent the large icons from taking up too much system resources start by clicking on the view button --> list

3B. Next click on the view button again --> status bar.

3C. Double click on my computer, a window will pop up, at the top of the window click on the tools button --> folder options.

A. General tab, you won't need to do anything here.

B. View tab, it's comprised of two sections, folder view and advanced settings. In the advanced sections area start by making sure you have the same settings as listed below,
:: Folder Options


Uncheck - Automatically search for network folders and printers
Uncheck - Display file size information in folder tips
Uncheck - Display simple folder view of Explorer's Folders list
Check - Display the contens of system folders
Check - Display the full path in the address bar
Check - Display the full path in the title bar
Check - Do not cache thumbnails
Check - Show hidden files and folders
Uncheck - Hide extensions for know file types
Check - Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)
Uncheck - Launch folder windows in a seperate process
Uncheck - Remember each folder's view settings
Uncheck - Restore previous folder windows at logon
Check - Show control panel in My Computer
Check - SHow encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color
Uncheck - Show pop-up description for folder and desktop items
Check - Use simple file sharing

After you're done checking and unchecking all of of those options, click on apply button at the bottom of the window, then at the top. Click on the "Apply to All Folders" button to apply the same settings to ALL windows folders. Click on the X to close the window. You won't need to do anything else on the other tabs.

Now browsing through the Windows file system should be immensely faster.


4. Getting rid of all the extra programs Windows XP installs

4A. Double click on My computer --> control panel --> Add/remove Programs. To the left of the Add/remove Programs window there are three options, choose the last one "Add/Remove Windows Components"

Once the Windows Components Wizard window pops up start unchecking everything except Internet Explorer and Update Root Certificates. When you unselect MSN Exploer it will give you a warning message, just ignore it and click yes. There are some small programs in "Accessories" like calculator, paint, and the games that come with XP. If you need any of them click on "Accessories" then click on "Details" and check and uncheck the ones you need. When you are done with all this exit back to the Wizard and click next. When it's done, click on finished.


5. Windows Services

One of the most crucial components of Windows. In this section of the guide we'll disable unnecessary servies. I really don't want to explain what each and every service does as it would take quite some time. If you curious here's a link to a fantastic website that's all about Windows services and what each service does, click here. What I'm going to do is list all the services you can safely disable without worrying it'll screw up windows, all the services you should leave at manual, and the services you should always leave at automatic.

A. First of all right click on the My Computer icon and click on Manage, a new window will pop up on the left is the menu, go down click on the plus for "Services and Application" to expand the menu. Last, click on the little icon with the gears named services.

B. To disable a service right click on it's name --> properties. I new window will pop up and with a description of the service, startup type roll down menu, and buttons to stop/start/ pause/resume. Simply select "disable" from the "start up type" menu to disable a service.

C. Services you can safely disable:
:: Services

1. Disabled - Alerter
2. Disabled - Application Layer Gateway Service
3. Manual - Application Management
4. Disabled - Automatic Updates
5. Disabled - Background Intelligent Transfer Service
7. Disabled - Clipbook
8. Manual - COM+ Event System
9. Manual - COM+ System Application
10. Disabled - Computer Browser *1
11. Enabled - Cryptographic Services *1b
12. Disabled - DHCP Client *2
13. Disabled - Distributed Link Tracking Client
14. Disabled - Distributed Transaction Coordinator
15. Automatic - DNS Client
16. Disabled - Error Reporting Service
17. Automatic - Fast User Switching Compatibility *3
18. Disabled - Help and Support *4
19. Manual - Human Interface Device Access
20. Disabled - IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service *5
21. Disabled - Indexing service
22. Disabled - ICF/ICS *6
23. Disabled - IPSEC Service
24. Manual - Logical Disk Manager
25. Manual - Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service
26. Disabled - Messanger
27. Disabled - MS Software Shadow Copy Provider
28. Disabled - Net Logon
29. Disabled - NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing
30. Manual - Network Connections
31. Disabled - Network DDE
32. Disabled - Network DDE DSDM
33. Disabled - Network Location Awareness
34. Disabled - NT LM Security Support Provider
35. Manual - Performance Logs and Alerts
36. Automatic - Plug and Play
37. Disabled - Portable Media Serial Number
38. Disabled - Print Spooler *7
39. Automatic - Protected Storage
40. Disabled - QoS RSVP
41. Disabled - Remote Access Auto Connection Manager
42. Disabled - Remote Access Connection Manager
43. Disabled - Remote Desktop Help Session
44. Automatic - Remote Procedure Call
45. Manual - Remote Procedure Call Locator
46. Disabled - Remote Registry
47. Disabled - Removable Storage *8
48. Disabled - Routing and Remote Access
49. Disabled - Secondary Logon
50. Automatic - Security Accounts Mangaer
51. Automatic - Server
52. Disabled - Shell Hardware Detection
53. Disabled - Smart Card *9
54. Disabled - Smart Card Helper *9
55. Disabled - SSDP Discovery Service
56. Manual - System Event Notification
57. Disabled - System Restore Service *10
58. Disabled - Tast Scheduler
59. Disabled - TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
60. Manual - Telephony
61. Disabled - Telnet
62. Disabled - Terminal Services *11
63. Disabled - Themes
64. Disabled - Uninterruptible Power Supply *12
65. Disabled - Universal Plug and Play Device Host
66. Disabled - Upload Manager
67. Disabled - Volume Shadow Copy
68. Disabled - WebClient
69. Automatic - Windows Audio
70. Disabled - Windows Image Acquisition *13
71. Manual - Windows Insatller
72. Manual - Windows Management Instrumentation
73. Manual - Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions
74. Disabled - Windows Time
75. Disabled - Wireless Zero Configuration
76. Disabled - WMI Performance Adapter
77. Automatic - Workstation



*1 = If you only have one computer in your network you can leave this service disabled. If you have more than one computer in your network, at least ONE of the computers in your network must be running this service in order for computers to show up when you go into My Network Places --> Entire Network --> Microsoft Windows Network --> Name of workgroup.

*1b = Needed for verifying updates downloaded from Microsoft (Windows Update, DirectX, Service Packs, etc...)

*2 = If you're using DHCP in your network, leave this service at Automatic.

*3 = If you have more that one person (e.g. family computer) using the computer you'll be tweaking leave this service on automatic.

*4 = Need lots of help? Leave this service on automatic instead of disabled.

*5 = Leave this service on automatic if you like XP's integrated CD burning feature.

*6 = Leave on automatic if you use ICS to share a connection with other computers on your network

*7 = Have a printer? If you do leave this service on automatic or else you won't be able to use your printer at all.

*8 = If you have a removable device in your computer leave this service on automatic.

*9 = Use Smartcards? If so leave both on automatic?

*10 = The psychotic paranoid type who thinks his/her computer is going to die at any minute people should leave this service on automatic.

*11 = If you use Remote Desktop leave at Automatic.

*12 = Leave at automatic if you use a UPS.

*13 = If you have a scanner attached to the computer and use it, leave at automatic


6. Restart!

Finally after doing all this tweaking you should restart and see how much faster it goes! Another thing I want to mention is to always defrag reguarly or else performance will slowly degrade.

7. Last Words

If you don't want MSN Messanger to start at startup simply logon to your accout and go to tools --> options to disable it. If you don't have an account, as it won't let you change the options without first logoning on to an account. Click on the Start Button --> run and type in "regedit", then go to,

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Currentversion\Run

Delete the key that says,

MSMSGS - REG_SZ - "C:\Program Files\Messenger\msmsgs.exe" /background

And Another thing, if you're the only person that uses the computer you can easily disable the fast user switching feature by going to My Computer --> Control Panel --> User Accounts

A new windows will pop up, on the menu to the left click on "Change the way users log on and off" and finally, unselect the "use welcome screen" option --> apply option

8. Conclusion

I hope this guide helped you out and made your computer just a little faster. Because Windows XP comes with so many useless things you can easily disable them to increase performance. The performance isn't with a price though. There won't be any "eye candy", fading folders or menus, previews of pictures and mp3's, and no more Windows Themes. In other words it won't look nice and pretty with all the effects turned off, but it won't really matter once you realize just how much faster things are!

 

---

Increase XP NTFS performance

Last access time stamps
XP automatically updates the date and time stamp with information about the last time you accessed a file. Not only does it mark the file, but it also updates the directory the file is located in as well as any directories above it. If you have a large hard drive with many subdirectories on it, this updating can slow down your system.

To disable the updating, start the Registry Editor by selecting Run from the Start menu, typing regedit in the Open text box, and clicking OK. When the Registry Editor window opens, navigate through the left pane until you get to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Filesystem

In the right pane, look for the value named NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate. If the value exists, it's probably set to 0. To change the value, double-click it. You'll then see the Edit DWORD Value screen. Enter 1 in the Value Data field and click OK.

If the value doesn't exist, you'll need to add it. Select New | DWORD Value from the Edit menu. The new value will appear in the right pane, prompting you for a value name. Type NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate and press [Enter]. Double-click the new value. You'll then see the Edit DWORD Value screen. Enter 1 in the Value Data field and click OK. When you're done, close Regedit. Your registry changes will be saved automatically. Reboot your workstation.

The Master File Table
The Master File Table (MFT) keeps track of files on disks. This file logs all the files that are stored on a given disk, including an entry for the MFT itself. It works like an index of everything on the hard disk in much the same way that a phone book stores phone numbers.

NTFS keeps a section of each disk just for the MFT. This allows the MFT to grow as the contents of a disk change without becoming overly fragmented. This is because Windows NT didn't provide for the defragmentation of the MFT. Windows 2000 and Windows XP’s Disk Defragmenter will defragment the MFT only if there’s enough space on the hard drive to locate all of the MFT segments together in one location.

As the MFT file grows, it can become fragmented. Fortunately, you can control the initial size of the MFT by making a change in the registry. Making the MFT file larger prevents it from fragmenting but does so at the cost of storage space. For every kilobyte that NTFS uses for MFT, the less it has for data storage.


Memory Performance Tweak

These Settings will fine tune your systems memory

management -at least 512MB of ram recommended

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 yeilds faster performance.

2.LargeSystemCache- double click it and change the decimal to 1 -this allows XP Kernel to Run in memory improves system performance alot

Reboot and watch your system fly ..happy tweakin

Note: This tweak may cause problems with ATI cards *this is documented by ATI(tweak forum Admin)
To limit the size of the MFT, start the Registry Editor by selecting Run from the Start menu, typing regedit in the Open text box, and clicking OK. When the Registry Editor window opens, navigate through the left pane until you get to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Filesystem

In the right pane, look for the value named NtfsMftZoneReservation. If the value doesn't exist, you'll need to add it. Select New | DWORD Value from the Edit menu. The new value will appear in the right pane, prompting you for a value name. Type NtfsMftZoneReservation and press [Enter]. Double-click the new value. You'll then see the Edit DWORD Value screen.

The default value for this key is 1. This is good for a drive that will contain relatively few large files. Other options include:

* 2—Medium file allocation
* 3—Larger file allocation
* 4—Maximum file allocation


To change the value, double-click it. When the Edit DWORD Value screen appears, enter the value you want and click OK. Unfortunately, Microsoft doesn't give any clear guidelines as to what distinguishes Medium from Larger and Maximum levels of files. Suffice it to say, if you plan to store lots of files on your workstation, you may want to consider a value of 3 or 4 instead of the default value of 1.

When you're done, close Regedit. Your registry changes will be saved automatically. Reboot your workstation. Unlike other registry changes, which take place immediately for maximum benefit, NtfsMftZoneReservation works best on freshly formatted hard drives. This is because XP will then create the MFT in one contiguous space. Otherwise, it will just modify the current size of the MFT, instantly fragmenting it. Therefore, it's best to use this if you plan to have one drive for data and another for applications.

Short filenames
Even though NTFS can support filenames with 256 characters in order to maintain backward compatibility with DOS and Windows 3.x workstations, Windows XP stores filenames in the old 8.3 file format as well as its native format. For example, if this article is named "Increase XP NTFS performance.doc," Windows XP will save this file under that filename as well as INCREA~1.DOC.

To change this in the registry, start the Registry Editor. When the Registry Editor window opens, navigate through the left pane until you get to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Filesystem

In the right pane, look for the value named NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation. If the value exists, it's probably set to 0. To change the value, double-click it. In the Edit DWORD Value screen, enter 1 in the Value Data field and click OK.

If the value doesn't exist, you'll need to add it. Select New | DWORD Value from the Edit menu. The new value will appear in the right pane, prompting you for a value name. Type NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation and press [Enter]. Double-click the new value. You'll then see the Edit DWORD Value screen. Enter 1 in the Value Data field and click OK. When you're done, close Regedit. Your registry changes will be saved automatically. Reboot your workstation.

Other ways to speed drive access
There are other ways to speed drive access that aren't NTFS-specific. These include:

* Caching—If your XP workstation has more than 256 MB of RAM, you might be able to increase hard drive access speeds by tweaking the amount of RAM cache that XP uses. For more information about how to do this, see the article "Squeeze more performance out of Windows XP with CachemanXP 1.1."
* Striping—If you have more than one hard drive on your system, you can use XP's striping feature to have the file system store data across multiple drives. This feature works best with SCSI drives, but it can work with multiple ATA drives as well. You'll make the change using the Logical Disk Management service in the Computer Management utility.
* Defragmenting—Even though NTFS is more resistant to fragmentation than FAT, it can and does still fragment. You can either use XP's built-in defragmenter or a third-party utility such as Diskeeper.
* Disable Compression—Compressing files may save space on your workstation's hard drive, but compressing and decompressing files can slow down your system. With the relative low cost of hard drives today, investing in an additional hard drive is better than compressing files on a workstation.