Version Notes: Two new tricks added. One BIOS Tweak and one Misc. Tweak.



If anyone intends on doing everything in this guide, can you please give me some before and after benchmark scores for statistics please?


Contents:

Linklist

Clean Up Your Disk (All OS's)

Remove Malicious Programs (All OS's)

Clean Up Your Startup List (All OS's)

Clean Up And Optimize Your Registry (All OS's)

Disable Unneeded Services (XP)

Have The Latest Microsoft Updates (All OS's)

Update Your Drivers (All OS's)

Have The Latest Version Of DirectX (All OS's)

Convert Your File System To NTFS (All OS's)

Use ScanDisk (All OS's)

Defragment Your Hard Drive (All OS's)

Registry Tweaking (XP)
>>>>>Regedit 1
>>>>>Regedit 2
>>>>>Regedit 3
>>>>>Regedit 4
>>>>>Regedit 5
>>>>>Regedit 6
>>>>>Regedit 7
>>>>>Regedit 8
>>>>>Regedit 9
>>>>>Regedit 10
>>>>>Regedit 11
>>>>>Regedit 12
>>>>>Regedit 13

BIOS Tweaks (All OS's)
>>>>>BIOS Tweak 1
>>>>>BIOS Tweak 2
>>>>>BIOS Tweak 3
>>>>>BIOS Tweak 4
>>>>>BIOS Tweak 5

Other Tips And Tricks
>>>>>Trick 1
>>>>>Trick 2
>>>>>Trick 3
>>>>>Trick 4
>>>>>Trick 5
>>>>>Trick 6
>>>>>Trick 7
>>>>>Trick 8
>>>>>Trick 9
>>>>>Trick 10
>>>>>Trick 11
>>>>>Trick 12
>>>>>Trick 13
>>>>>Trick 14
>>>>>Trick 15
>>>>>Trick 16
>>>>>Trick 17
>>>>>Trick 18

Credits






Programs mentioned in this guide will be listed here. Clicking on a program will take you to its home page:

Spybot Search And Destroy

AVG Free

Registry Mechanic

Crap-Cleaner

Extensible Performance Counter List

HiJack This

PageDefrag

ZoneAlarm

ThreatFire







Clean Up Unneeded Programs From Your Hard Drive:


Hard disks greatly range in space in each computer. Most likely you will have a computer with around 80 gigs. You have to keep in mind that you have to leave at least 20% of your hard disk free for optimal performance. As soon as it goes under this percentage, you will notice the computers performance start to degrade. This is made even worse seeing as how most computers have a performance bottleneck in the hard drive meaning that is the slowest place for data. The best ways to keep disk space free are:

Disk Cleanup: This is found in Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools. Disk cleanup is a quick and easy way to free up space. You can delete everything that comes up in the check list. NTFS users (most of you) will have a compress old files box. If you compress files you will make them smaller but it will be slower to access them (not too much but it can be noticeable on larger programs). This is all optional.

Add/Remove Programs: This is a program found in the control panel (Start > Settings/Control Panel). Look through this list and remove any programs you dont use. Remember that it is stupid to remove any programs that you dont know of. Dont touch anything on a computer that you are not familiar with.

Programs Folder: This is found in the main partition/hard drive of the computer. Look though here for familiar programs that you dont need. Use this method of the program is not found in the Add/Remove Programs list.

Another program to use is called Crap-Cleaner. Simply select what you want to delete from a relatively large list, click analyze, review whats going to be deleted, then click run cleaner (if this is your first time using it on your computer, expect to have a lot to be deleted...in some cases in the gigabytes!). Crap-Cleaner also has a registry scanner, which will come useful when explained later.

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Remove Malicious Programs:


Malicious programs are basically bits of code that range from being designed to relentlessly annoy you with popup ads, to literally destroying all of your computers data. These programs are categorized as Adware, Malware, Spyware or Viruses, in order from least to most damaging. You pick up these programs from things like opening up an attachment from someone you dont know or going onto untrustworthy or pornographic sites (im cyber-pointing at guys here! ;) ). The way to prevent and remove these things is to use anti spyware/virus programs. I highly recommend Spybot Search And Destroy for everything except viruses (its not an anti virus program), and AVG for viruses. Using a firewall is also an effective method of filtering out unsafe programs and of course, the main problem - hackers. One of the best free programs out there to use is ZoneAlarm.

Another way to help stop unwanted programs from affecting your computer is by having a hosts list full of untrustworthy sites and by using system immunization, both of which are located in Spybot. These are just Extra protective measures that wont affect your internet...if it does though, go through your hosts list and remove your website from the list...though you shouldnt have to resort to that.

A unique defensive program that is slowly becoming more of a necessity is a program called ThreatFire. This program is unique in the way that it detects highly destructive malicious programs that other conventional programs cannot detect. Apart from detecting rootkits, it can also detect ever increasing zero-day threats, which can be potentially disastrous to your computer.

A final protection layer which will sort out anything else is this little program in Spybot called TeaTimer. Its a program that is constantly running in the background using up about 20 megs of memory. It will monitor system critical components such as the registry, and other slightly less important parts like ActiveX and the BHO's (these wont have to be discussed here).

If you are having problems removing spyware etc., try scanning in safe mode and/or on startup.

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Clean Up Your Startup List:


Your startup list is really just a list or programs that start up along with system critical components as soon as you turn on your computer. If you are not careful, this list can grow and increase the time it takes for you to finish loading your computer and general performance. To look at your startup list, go to Start and click on Run. Type in msconfig and press enter. Your startup list in under the startup tab (duh). Again, dont touch any startup entries that you are unfamiliar with. You can also do this in Spybot. If you do it though spybot, the entries are colour coded. Green is regular entry, meaning it is safe. Yellow is one that it potentially harmful, not really needed, a resource hog, or depends on whether or not you need it. Red is harmful and you should remove it as soon as possible. The fewer startup entries you have, the sooner you can start up and shut down your computer, the faster your computer can generally go, and also reduces the amount of processes being active. Startup entries are directly related to processes.

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Clean Up And Optimize Your Registry:


The computers registry is one of the most important parts of the computer. Every time you open a program, the registry is most likely being used. Seeing how it is used constantly, you can speed up registry access by cleaning up dead keys (bits of text that dont do anything anymore because the program it points to does not exist anymore) and optimizing it. Registry mechanic is one of the best programs for the job. However, the free version only looks at 2 of the many categories of the registry and so will not be effective unless you buy it. There are full version freeware registry cleaners out there so you will have to do a bit of research to see which one is the best tool to use. Some registry tools will come with an optimize registry function. Use it.

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Disable Unneeded Services:


Ever looked at your processes list and seen all these svchost processes? Service Host as it is called runs the services which are on the computer. Alone, they do not use many resources, but as a group, they will consume a bit. To change services status, go to the control panel and in administrative tools you will see services. Now everyones computers purposes are different so you have to make sure that disabling a service will not affect anything important. Some services that can safely (ie: wont stop your computer from starting up) be disabled are:

.NET Runtime Optimization Service
As the name suggests, it is pretty much a service that makes something, in this case, the .NET runtime more optimized. you can leave this on or off, but the difference made with this service on wont really be noticed when .NET is optimized.

Alerter
Notifies selected users/computers of administrative alerts. You can disable it if you, as an administrator, do not need this function, or know that this function isnt needed.

Application Layer Gateway Service
Provides support for 3rd party protocol plug-ins for Internet Connection Sharing and the Windows Firewall.

Application Management
Provides software installation services such as Assign, Publish, and Remove.

ASP.NET Service
Provides support for out-of-process session states for ASP.NET.

Automatic Updates
Enables the download and installation of Windows updates without the need to have internet explorer open at Windows Update. Windows Update cannot function while this is off.
Note: This service is required to allow updates from microsoft. Either leave this setting alone, or start and stop it as required.

Background Intelligent Transfer Service
Enabled idle bandwidth file transmission. Windows Update cannot function without this service. BITS is known to cause 2 minute freezes on bootup.
Note: This service is required to allow updates from microsoft. Either leave this setting alone, or start and stop it as required.

ClipBook
Enables storage of information to be shared with other computers.

COM+ Event System
Supports System Event Notification Service, which provides automatic distribution of events to subscribing COM components. SENS will not function without this service.

COM+ System Application
Manages the configuration and tracking of COM based components.

Computer Browser
Maintains an updated list of computers on the network and supplies this list to computers designated as browsers.

DHCP Client
Manages network configuration by registering and updating IP addresses and DNS names. For those without wireless connections.

Distributed Link Tracking Client
Maintains links between NTFS files within a computer or across computers in a network domain.

Distributed Transaction Coordinator
Coordinates transactions that span multiple resource managers, such as databases, message queues, and file systems.

DNS Client
Resolves and caches Domain Name System (DNS) names for this computer. For those who have a static IP address.

Error Reporting Service
Allows error reporting for services and applictions running in non-standard environments in the event of an error.

Event Log
While this service cannot be stopped, it can be disabled so it doesnt start up next time. Do not disable if you require the Event Log or may need the Event Log.
Note: This service is required to allow updates from microsoft. Either leave this setting alone, or start and stop it as required.

Fast User Switching Compatibility
Provides management for applications that require assistance in a multiple user environment.

Help And Support
Enables the Help and Support function on XP. No help files can be accessed while this service is off.

HTTP SSL
This service implements the secure hypertext transfer protocol (HTTPS) for the HTTP service, using the Secure Socket Layer (SSL).

HID Input Service
Enables generic input access to Human Interface Devices (HID), which activates and maintains the use of predefined hotkeys on devices.

Indexing Service
Indexes files to allow for faster searching

InstallDriver Table Management
Provides support for the Running Object Table for InstallShield Drivers

IPSEC Services
Manages IP security policy and starts the ISAKMP/Oakley (IKE) and the IP security driver.

Logical Disk Manager
Detects and monitors new hard disk drives and sends disk volume information to Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service for configuration.

Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service
Configures hard disk drives and volumes. The service only runs for configuration processes and then stops.

Machine Debug Manager
Supports local and remote debugging for Visual Studio and script debuggers. If this service is stopped, the debuggers will not function properly.

Memory Check Service
Monitor memory usage and provide the ability to release unused memory.

Messenger
Transmits net send and Alerter service messages between clients and servers. This service is not related to MSN. Alerter will not function with this service off.

Messenger Sharing Folder USN Journal Reader Service
Enables the usage of Windows Live MEssenger sharing folders.

MS Software Shadow Copy Provider
Manages software-based volume shadow copies taken by the Volume Shadow Copy service. If this service is stopped, software-based volume shadow copies cannot be managed.

Net Logon
Supports pass-through authentication of account logon events for computers in a domain.

Net. Tcp Port Sharing Service
Provides ability to share TCP ports over the net.tcp protocol.

NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing
Enables an authorized user to access this computer remotely by using NetMeeting over a corporate intranet.

Network DDE
Provides network transport and security for Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) for programs running on the same computer or on different computers.

Network DDE DSDM
Manages Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) network shares. If this service is stopped, DDE network shares will be unavailable.

Network Location Awareness
Collects and stores network configuration and location information, and notifies applications when this information changes.

Network Provisioning Service
Manages XML configuration files on a domain basis for automatic network provisioning.

NT LM Security Support Provider
Provides security to remote procedure call (RPC) programs that use transports other than named pipes.

Office Source Engine
Required for reinstal, or install an "on demand" feature in Microsoft Office 2000/2003, as well as the ability to use those two versions of office. Disable if your version is different to 2000 or 2003.

Performance Logs and Alerts
Collects performance data from local or remote computers based on preconfigured schedule parameters, then writes the data to a log or triggers an alert.

Portable Media Serial Number Service
Retrieves the serial number of any portable media player connected to this computer. If this service is stopped, protected content might not be down loaded to the device.

Printer Spooler
Loads files into memory for later printing. Printers may still function while off.

Protected Storage
Provides protected storage for sensitive data, such as private keys, to prevent access by unauthorized services, processes, or users.

Qos RSVP
Provides network signaling and local traffic control setup functionality for QoS-aware programs and control applets.

Remote Access Auto Connection Manager
Creates a connection to a remote network whenever a program references a remote DNS or NetBIOS name or address.

Remote Desktop Help Session Manager
Manages and controls Remote Assistance. If this service is stopped, Remote Assistance will be unavailable. Before stopping this service, see the Dependencies tab.

Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator
Manages the RPC name service database.

Removable Storage
Used for certain peripherals such as Zip Drives, Tape Drives and Graphics Pens. Enable, or set to manual if you think this service is causing your peripherals to stop working.

Routing and Remote Access
Offers routing services to businesses in local area and wide area network environments.

Secondary Logon
Enables starting processes under alternate credentials.

Security Center
Monitors system security settings and configurations.

Server
Supports file, print, and named-pipe sharing over the network for this computer.

Shell Hardware Detection
Provides notifications for AutoPlay hardware events.

Smart Card
Manages access to smart cards read by this computer. If this service is stopped, this computer will be unable to read smart cards.

SSDP Discovery Service
Enables discovery of UPnP devices on your home network.

Task Scheduler
Enables a user to configure and schedule automated tasks on this computer. If this service is stopped, these tasks will not be run at their scheduled times.
Note: Some systems may decrease in performance after being disabled. Change this service alone to not any performance changes first, then change or keep the settings as required.

TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Enables support for NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT) service and NetBIOS name resolution.

Uninterruptible Power Supply
Manages an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) connected to the computer.

Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Provides support to host Universal Plug and Play devices.

Visual Studio Analyzer RPC Bridge
Re-enable, if you experience trouble with Visual Studio.

Volume Shadow Copy
Manages and implements Volume Shadow Copies used for backup and other purposes.

WebClient
Enables Windows-based programs to create, access, and modify Internet-based files.

Windows CardSpace
Securely enables the creation, management, and disclosure of digital identities.

Windows Driver Foundation - User Mode Driver Framework
Manages user-mode driver host processes

Windows firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)
Provides network address translation, addressing, name resolution and/or intrusion prevention services for a home or small office network.

Windows Installer
Adds, modifies, and removes applications provided as a Windows Installer (*.msi) package.
Note: This will stop .msi programs from installing and uninstalling, so either leave this setting alone, or enable it as needed.

Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service
Shares Windows Media Player libraries to other networked players and media devices using Universal Plug and Play

Windows Time
Maintains date and time synchronization on all clients and servers in the network. If this service is stopped, date and time synchronization will be unavailable.

Wireless Zero Configuration
Provides automatic configuration for the 802.11 adapters. Leave this service on if you have a wireless connection.

WMI Performance Adapter
Provides performance library information from WMI HiPerf providers.

Workstation
Creates and maintains client network connections to remote servers. If this service is stopped, these connections will be unavailable.



These are all the disabled services on my computer and ive had it like this with no problems for several years. Ive also added a few more that i have found while searching for some. Remember that you dont have to disable everything in this list. They are just some of the many services you can disable safely. There are 3 Service modes:

Automatic: Service starts up when the computer turns on.

Manual: Service starts when you make it start up, or when an application needs the service.

Disabled: Service will not start up no matter what tries to use it. Any other service that depends on it will also fail to start.


Before disabling a service, check the dependency tab to see if there are any services that you need in the list. If there are nor services in that list, or a service you plan to stop, you can disable it. If you encounter a problem, re enable the service (it is advisable to disable in small batches, like 5 or 10 at a time).


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Have The Latest Microsoft Updates:


Microsoft periodically releases updates for security issues, driver updates and otherwise critical or useful things. Every month go to microsoft update and download every critical update and driver update there is, and then have a look at the optional software to see if there is anything you might want. This will keep you up to date and helps with speed and security.

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Update Your Drivers:


Drivers are required so that your computer knows what do do with the hardware thats been connected to it. No driver, no working hardware. The most up to date drivers will help in speeding things up (especially video cards) and fix up any bugs in previous versions. Therefore it is advisable to download the newest drivers for optimum performance. This includes the BIOS drivers, as there may be an addition feature included in the update. In rare cases though, you may need to roll back to a previous driver version because there may be a new bug in the newer version.

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Have The Latest Version Of DirectX:


DirectX is a series of files that enhance the way software and hardware communicate with eachother, so it would seem obvious to have the latest version of DirectX on your computer. Windows XP can go up to version 9.0c. Windows Vista goes up to 10 and graphics cards are already starting to become DirectX 10 compatible. DirectX can be downloaded from Microsoft.

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Convert Old Drive Systems To NTFS:


There have been many different types of file systems over the years, and the ones most in use are FAT32 and NTFS. More and more people now have NTFS as it is the best, most secure and fastest file system to use. It is so organized, that it makes defragmenting obsolete.

Before starting the conversion, back up your data. The risk of data loss is minimal but it may happen. Converting a drive to NTFS will not need a format.

Firstly, bring up Run and then type in 'convert *drive letter*: /fs:ntfs'
This is pretty much saying convert the drive letter (eg. C drive) to the file system (fs) ntfs. Follow the prompts. When the conversion is complete, it should say so. Then all you have to do is quit the command prompt.

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Use ScanDisk:


ScanDisk is a feature built into Windows which is designed to check for errors in your system. These can include lost clusters, bad sectors, and a plethora of invalid dates, names, times and so on. Over time, these will build up and like everything else, slow your system down. The easiest way to fix this is by running the ScanDisk (or CheckDisk/chkdsk) utility by opening up my computer, right clicking and selecting properties on the drive(s) you want, clicking the tools tab, and selecting the ScanDisk utility. Select both boxes and click start. It will ask you to schedule a scan after restarting. Click yes, and the restart your computer. Now during the booting phase, your drive will be scanned. This can take 2 minutes, but it can be more if there is a lot that needs to be fixed.

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Defragment Your Hard Drive:


If you have a file system older than NTFS, you will have to monthly defragment your computer to bring the most used files to the beginning of the hard drive and organize it so that the different clusters of the files are as close as possible to eachother, therefore, taking the strain off the hard drive and increasing its life. The defrag utility is found in System Tools along with the Disk Cleanup utility.

Note that the defragmenter that comes with XP will not defragment everything. The Paging File is the biggest file that will not get defragmented. To defragment the Paging File, use PageDefrag.

Honestly though, just convert to NTFS and get with the times :P

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Remember that every little bit or performance that you squeeze out of the computer helps. A bit from here and a bit from there will add up and you will notice a difference. Plus it will further prolong your urges to get a new computer or a hardware upgrade.


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Registry Tweaks:

Registry tweaking is rather risky if incorrectly done, but can noticeably improve many aspects of your computer. Always create system restore points to be on the safe side. For people who havent done registry editing before heres what you do:

Click start, go to run, and type in regedit. On the side of regedit is a directory tree. In these tweaks, when it says navigate to 'something/something/something', it means you start off looking for the folder mentioned on the left and work your way towards the right, with the last one being the folder you need. Now to create a registry key, you right click on the last folder mentioned in your tweak and go to new. Then, depending on what your tweak says, you create the appropriate type of key. It will appear in your main field (ie. not the directory tree). Give it the right name, and enter the right value and there you go. If you are modifying an existing key, all you have to do is double click the key and enter the right value. Be careful as to what type of data it mentions as regedit takes decimal (normal numbers), and hexadecimal numbers, so you have to have the right type selected for that key. Just so you know, the chances of something going wrong are rather slim, seeing as all registry tweaks posted here have been implemented on my computer. Ok, now we can begin:



Regedit 1:

Change your Contiguous File Allocation size:
This setting optimizes the contiguous file allocation size for the file system and can be especially useful for disk intensive applications. Open up your registry and go to:


HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \System \CurrentControlSet \Control \FileSystem
Create a DWORD value named 'ConfigFileAllocSize' and set the value to '200' (in hex) or 512 (decimal)


Regedit 2:

Increase NTFS Performance:
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.


Regedit 3:

Improve Memory Performance:
You need at least 512 megs of RAM for this to be effective. Go to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\ Control\ Session Manager\ Memory Management
Edit these keys:

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 the hard drive.

LargeSystemCache - Double click it and change the decimal to 1. This allows XP Kernel to Run in memory.

Note: This tweak may cause problems with ATI cards.


Regedit 4:

Disable the 8.3 Naming function:
XP uses two forms of file naming. One form is the one you see on all your files and folders, and the other one is the name MSDOS uses. Do not apply this tweak if you use DOS only software, of if you work in conjunction with Windows operating systems earlier than 95. However, for everyone else heres how to disable it:

Find the key 'NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation' under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\ CurrentControlSet\ Control\ FileSystem, and change its value to 1.

Note: if some programs start acting up, simply changing this value back to 0 will solve it.


Regedit 5:

Force XP to unload a programs DLL files after closing it:
DLL's are files containing data or functions that Windows programs can read when needed by linking to them. Most if not all windows software will include instructions to the operating system as to which DLL's it will need to access, and XP will cache these files into the memory for faster access.
The problem lies within the time when you close the program in question. These DLL's are not unloaded, and while they are rather insignificant alone, a few of them could mean that you miss out on an extra 2 frames a second on your games. So, to make sure that XP unloads these files from memory:

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer, and create a new key named 'AlwaysUnloadDLL', with a value of 1.


Regedit 6:

Stop the Master File Table from getting fragmented:
If you have an NTFS file system (most people), especially if there are a lot of files on the partition or drive, then the MFT will get fragmented. This is one of the few places where NTFS fragmentation is of any real problem. To stop the MFT from getting fragmented, simply navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\ CurrentControlSet\ Control\ Filesystem

Change or create the DWORD key 'NtfsMftZoneReservation' to a value of 2.


Regedit 7:

Disable User Tracking:
Certain applications track your activities for the purpose of customizing some features like the user assist function, which is located when you press start and displays your recently clicked shortcuts. Therefore, disabling user tracking will no longer allow you to see these features. however, you may still work around the start menu problem by pinning your most used shortcuts to the list, and it works just as well. Make sure you set the user assist number of entries to 0, or you will have a gap in the list. To disable:

Navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Policies\ Explorer

Create or modify the DWORD key 'NoInstrumentation', and set the value to 1


Regedit 8:

Change Your Prefetch Settings:
Not surprising, but the useful prefetch function is not as simple as on or off. There are many levels to prefetching which determine how many system resources actually go to prefetching application data. Depending on the number of boot processes you have on the computer, you can get performance boosts using settings up to 9. Firstly though, find the registry key EnablePrefetcher in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\ Control\ Session Manager\ Memory Management\ PrefetchParameters. This setting therefore affects loading times of your most frequently launched applications. However, the optimal setting would be around 5, but there is insufficient proof that higher settings result in faster. The default setting of this key is 3.


Regedit 9:

Disable LastKnownGood Configuration Creation:
This setting allows you to disable the creation of the LastKnownGood configuration, which stores a copy of the configuration after each successful boot-up, therefore skipping the process and loading the computer faster. To do this, navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows NT\ CurrentVersion\ Winlogon and change the key ReportBootOk to 0.


Regedit 10:

Kill Crashed Applications Faster:
Part 1: This registry tweak allows Windows to find and kill a crashed application faster. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Control Panel\ Desktop and add or edit the string HungAppTimeout to a Value of your choice between 1000-5000 for optimum results. Default setting is 5000 milliseconds.
Part 2: This tweak allows Windows to automatically kill the crashed or hung application without you having to wait. In the same path as part 1, find or create the key AutoEndTasks and set the value to 1.
Part 3: This tweak allows you to still auto close the application is it has crashed, but allows the application some time to ’fix’ itself, for instance, when loading. Again, found in the same directory, find or create the value called WaitToKillAppTimeout, and enter a value in milliseconds.



Regedit 11:

Network Intelligently:
If you are using a CPU intensive program which requires the internet, then this will help a lot. For anything else, you may still get some boost out of this. This tweak basically frees the processor from networking related tasks. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\ Services\ Tcpip\ Parameters and add or edit String = DisableTaskOffload to a Value of 1.


Regedit 12:

Disable The Thumbnail Cache:
The thumbnail cache is there for the purpose of storing those little graphics showing what a photo is, what a movie contains, or what photos and/or videos a folder contains so that they can be loaded and therefore viwed faster. However, this has nothing to do with loading the actual file, just as a preview. This cache actually takes up space on the computer and is especially evident on computers with many graphics or videos. Turning this feature off will save you space. It will still allow you to see the previews, but it will need to load them every time. There is not much of a point to it, so you might as well disable it. Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Explorer\ Advanced and add or edit the DWORD value DisableThumbnailCache to a Value of 1.


Regedit 13:

Defragment specific files and folder with Shell:
I wont explain what shell is, but basically, this allows you the option to select whatever files and folders you want to defragment, directly from explorer, without having to have Defrag.exe do the entire disk. This is especially useful if you want to quickly bring, say, a game folder, to the beginning of the drive for faster performance with the specific selection. To do this, navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ Drive\ Shell and create a new string value called Defrag. Once created, select this value (single click), and then right click it and choose another string value (Edit --> New --> String Value). Name it command. Double click the standard value and type in the value Defrag.exe%1. Exit the registry editor, and right click on something you wish to defragment. You will see a new option called Defrag. Select this to defragment your selection. If you do not see the option, double check and make sure you have added this correctly, and restart.

Note: This tweak has yet to be tested. I will report back with results soon.




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BIOS Tweaks:

BIOS tweaks are related to the settings that are located within the BIOS. There are some powerful settings in here which can destroy your hardware if you set values to insane amounts. As always, never touch any settings that you are unfamiliar with. Now getting into the BIOS is very easy. Right after you start up your computer, somewhere on the screen (it varies with different manufacturers), there will be some text saying press *button* to enter BIOS/CMOS. This *button* can vary, but generally it would be either Esc, Del, or F2. Sometimes it may be necessary to repeatedly press the button to get into the BIOS. Once you are in, you will see low graphics menus (note that there may also be a password. If you arent sure what the password is, read on to find out how to solve this). The BIOS will have a legend showing what different keys do. Always save before exiting unless you havent changed any settings, or want to undo something to which you dont remember the original value for.

Now everyone makes mistakes, and if you save something which renders your system inoperable, there is a simple solution to your problems (this applies for the password problem as well). If you open up your computer, look for a metal disk. This is actually one of those flat batteries you see in car remote controls etc. You can try one of two things; Remove the battery and disconnect the power cable to your computer, or look for the 'Clear CMOS' Jumper. A jumper is a small piece of plastic about 1/4 of the size of your thumb nail and it connects two pieces of metal together (sticking up from the motherboard) to create a circuit, and therefore, represent an on/off value. Make sure the computer is off before going either one of these, and make sure you touch the case metal to remove any static electricity that may be in you. If you start up your computer now, it should notify you that the default settings have been restored, and therefore your computer can be used again.



BIOS Tweak 1:

Disable Unneeded Ports Or In-Built Motherboard Features:
In this age of computing, everything comes loaded with features, many of which we dont even use. Think of disabling unneeded services, and then think of the hardware part of it. Unnecessary resources are being used for your serial ports (they look like the VGA ports, but they are the 'male' versions), which few of us use, then your parallel ports (think of those large printer ports that have the red/pink/maroon colour), and then any other additional feature which you may come across while looking through the BIOS. To disable your unneeded components, look through your BIOS for 'Integrated Peripherals', or something similar. If you dont need a port or function, and you dont intend on using it anytime in the future, then it is safe to disable it. Keep in mind though, if you use a printer connected to the parallel port (printers using the LPT1/2/3 ports), do not disable it or your printer wont work.


BIOS Tweak 2:

Alter Memory Latency Settings:
In a nutshell, latency settings change how long it takes for your RAM to send and receive data. So therefore, setting lower latency times for your memory will therefore improve your performance. Just like overclocking, there is a limit to what you can do before you cause instability (it can of course be reset if you do something wrong).
To change these settings, look for the 'advanced chipsets' menu (some BIOS's may support the alteration of these settings). From here, you simply lower the settings. It is inadvisable to go from slow to fast in one go, but no harm comes from doing so. Find the settings that are stable for you (ie. if you can run your computer normally with no lag or freezing) and give your computer a test run with a game or similar high end application.


BIOS Tweak 3:

Overclocking your system:
The popular overclocking function works by making certain hardware, like RAM, GPU and CPU, go faster by moving more data at faster speeds. This ultimately leads to having to also increase the voltage flowing through these components, and therefore increasing the amount of heat created. Before proceeding, check in your BIOS under something that may be called PC Health, or similar, for your temperatures, with emphasis on CPU temperature. It is inadvisable to overclock if your CPU idles (isnt doing anything) at 65 degrees C or over. CPU's can withstand up to around 90 degrees before they get destroyed or damaged by heat. Also keep in mind that without proper cooling, a CPU at such high temperatures will also wear out faster and therefore lose several years off its lifespan.

Before continuing, some background information on overclocking; The way the speed of a CPU is calculated is from the information of the FSB speed, multiplied by the CPU multiplier (hence its name). For example, if your FSB is 200 Mhz, and the CPU multiplier is 10, then your CPU speed becomes 2000 Mhz, or 2 Ghz. The FSB is the path on the motherboard which is used to move information between the CPU and RAM. The speed of this would typically run at the speed of the RAM, but newer chipsets are capable of making the RAM run faster than the FSB. Overclocking the FSB is one of the best ways to increase the performance of your computer, as most information passes through this area.

To overclock your FSB, first find the settings for your memory and/or FSB. This should be located in a menu named 'Frequency/Voltage Control', or similar. Remember to always increase in increments when it comes to overclocking, then remember the number (best to use paper for this), save and restart. Repeat this process until you cant boot into XP. This is when your computer becomes unstable (its just a name, its not as bad as it sounds). Once youve found the unstable setting, go back into the BIOS and change the setting to the highest setting that worked (this is where that paper comes in handy). You will most likely need to reset the BIOS to get back into it.

The CPU multiplier can make larger differences with smaller changes, than the FSB, but it isnt that simple, as you are only altering the speed within the CPU, and therefore you do not get a performance increase throughout the entire system. Sometimes it may actually be necessary to decrease the multiplier to increase your performance via the FSB to achieve a faster FSB while still maintaining stability. To change your CPU multiplier, find the multiplier settings, which should be in the same menu as the FSB settings. Again, always go one step at a time. It is recommended to do this in unison with your FSB settings.

Now for the part which can be potentially fatal to your computer. The voltage of the CPU and RAM. Once you have reached the maximum stable limit of frequency alteration, you may now consider increasing the voltage to increase the stability of overclocked hardware. This is the single most important area in which a beginner must step-up one at a time, or risk buring out hardware. This should also be possible to modify through the same menu. Then, once youve changed the voltage, step up a frequency or multiplier and observe the results.

Thats it! Now also note that you may want to consider getting better cooling due to the increased heat made. Its not a nice feeling to be in the middle of something, then get a busted CPU...and a lighter wallet. So its recommended to invest 30 to 50 dollars in cooling, rather than paying 200 up to 1500 dollars (depending on your CPU) for a new CPU.


BIOS Tweak 4:

Disable floppy drive seek
The floppy drive seek option sets whether your PC will attempt to detect the floppy drive(s) during boot up. Whether it finds one or not, there is no point to it, as control of hardware devices including drives are handed over from the BIOS to Windows.
By disabling the 'floppy drive seek' option in the 'advanced BIOS features' menu, you can save a few seconds while booting, and since there is no point to it, you might as well disable it anyway.


BIOS Tweak 5:

Free up hard disk access resources by disabling S.M.A.R.T:
S.M.A.R.T is a monitoring tool on your hard drive which monitors hard disk performance and activity, and notifies you if there is a potential hardware failure, among other things. Its basically a tool in diagnosing problems. If you dont want these extra resources going to S.M.A.R.T, then you can go into the BIOS and disable it. It is found in the Advanced BIOS Features menu.



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Other Tips and Tricks:


Trick 1:

Isolate Paging File:
The paging file is pretty much extra memory placed on the hard drive and is generally 1.5x the size of your computers RAM. It is slower than the RAM because the hard drive has moving parts but if you have enough memory, it shouldnt really be needed. If you have more than one hard drive, you can speed up access of the paging file by isolating the paging file in another hard drive (that does not contain the currently running operating system). To do this, it is best to have a partition made that is a bit bigger than your paging file. Once that is out of the way, right click on My Computer and click properties. Go advanced and click on performance settings. While you are here, select or deselect some visual options as these use up resources. Once done, go to the advanced tab and click change under virtual memory. Here you can change the size of the paging file and which drive/partition it can be located on. Once adjusted, click set and restart the computer.


Trick 2:

Adjust graphics and detail:
Graphics are major users or resources so it would benefit you to optimize it. The first thing to adjust is the resolution and colour depth. right click on an empty space on your desktop and click properties. Go to the settings tab. You will see a slider. Move it to the left to decrease resolution, making the computer go faster and making things appear larger. Move it to the left to do the opposite. Find a happy medium between speed and detail. Next, go to the drop down list. the higher the bit depth, the more colours can be used, but again, will decrease performance. Find that balance again. Next thing to do is to adjust the refresh rate of the monitor. The refresh rate is the speed at which the monitor will change its pixels to show new images. This is especially important if you want extremely smooth movement of graphics on the screen. Do not incorrectly set this as some monitors can get damaged from incorrect settings. Unless you are a gaming freak, someone who does video editing or similar, or just has a lot of performance to burn, this setting can be set at 60 hertz. Note that setting it to 60 hertz may increase eye strain, so if you do get affected by that, then increase the refresh rate to 75. Now, another thing that can slow down a computer is its wallpaper. When people get wallpapers they usually set it to stretch so it fits the graphic to the exact resolution the monitor is at. Tiled setting is just as bad. If you select Center it will use less resources trying to render it each time it is displayed. Use small files that fit to your computers dimensions as much as possible, try to use a compressed file format such as .gif or .jpeg, and dont even think about using uncompressed formats like .png. Even .bmp degrades performance more than other compressed types.

Another thing to try is to go to the system properties (windows key + pause/break), clicking on the advanced tab, opening up the performance settings, and adjusting the graphics for best performance. Windows XP has all these nice animations and effects like sliding or fading menus, shadows and so on. Some of these are rather stupid and take up too many resources, so you can disable one or two...or several, but you dont have to disable all of them unless you are squeezing performance out of your computer. Happy medium....


Trick 3:

Speed Up Folder Access:
This one is a no-brainer. If you have ever tried to open up a folder with a lot of files in it, or a fair few amount of .AVI files in it, you will know why this one is a good one to do. Ok so firstly, you go to the control panel and go into the Folder Options. under the View tab you will see some check boxes. Uncheck the following:

Automatically Search for network folders and printers
Do not cache thumbnails
Launch windows in separate process

Thats all. Now if you dont have a network, you dont need the first one as it will just use up those precious resources. As for the second one, the thumbnails are those big boxes with a graphic in it which will also show a preview of a graphic if the icon leads to a graphic file. The cache is like the temporary internet files folder. It just helps speed things up. However, too many things in the cache will slow it down. The worst part of this is that your computer will go really show if you have a folder full of .AVI files. .AVI files are uncompressed video files and they take up a hell of a lot of space. Lastly, launching each window in a separate process will lead to slightly faster folder exploring and better reliability. For example, if explorer crashes, you should still have your other windows because they were seperate from explorer.exe.


Trick 4:

Make sure your computer is using DMA:
DMA, or Direct Memory Access should always be on as this will help make your computer transfer data more efficiently. To check whether you are using DMA or not (and to enable it):

Press Windows Key+ Pause/Break to bring up the system properties.
Under the Hardware tab, click Device Manager.
Expand the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers.
Double click Primary IDE Channel.
Under the Advanced Settings tab, open the drop down menu next to transfer mode and choose DMA if available. If you see a device 0 and device 1 there, do it for both.
Repeat steps 3 to 5 if you have another Primary IDE Channel in the device manager.
Restart the computer.


Trick 5:

Set CPU priority for processes:
This is done whenever you may need that extra power for a certain program. Press Ctrl+Alt+Del and bring up the process manager. Look for the process name of the program you want to change priority to. Right click on it and where set priority is, select the CPU priority. Realtime is the fastest but it will suck CPU power up from every other process, so therefore it isnt recommended. anything under that is fine. For something like Word or similar, use the Idle priority as it is only text and it is easy to process.


Trick 6:

Reduce the number of icons on your Desktop, System Tray and Quick Launch Bar:
This will help a lot when you exit high resource using programs. Its very simple, have as little amount of icons as you can. I recommend that you make a main folder on your desktop and place everything you access frequently in there. It acts like a second Start menu to help avoid congesting it. You can easily get your icons down to 2 or 3 on your desktop and just have the show desktop icon on your quick launch bar. Your System Tray on the other hand, is a bit more tricky as when you exit the programs, they will come back again after a restart. To stop this, you either disable the show icon in the System Tray, or disable it in the startup entries.


Trick 7:

Clean out your prefetch folder from time to time:
The prefetch function is a technique in XP which is like a cache. Its there to speed up access to the files in there. However. after a while, this folder will become congested with files that have rarely been used and all that clutter will decrease performance. Now to clean it up, go to your system drive (the one with the operating system, which is most likely C):/Windows/prefetch, and delete all files that havent been used in a while. This will vary from person to person. If you use high end software then you may want to remove all files older than a week, whereas others may want to remove ones older than a month. Either way, you will notice an increase in performance. Do not, however, delete these files too often as you will decrease performance instead.


Trick 8:

Decrease application loading time:
If youve read the previous trick, you should already know what prefetching is. Now to prefetch programs; Find or make a shortcut to the program you want to prefetch. Rick click on the shortcut and select properties. In the text field called Target, add to the end of the path " /prefetch:1" (there is a space before the slash...and no quotes). Click ok and there you go.


Trick 9:

Start up the computer faster with less fonts:
When the computer starts up, it loads many things. Among them are the fonts the computer uses for different styles of text. The more fonts you have, the longer it takes to load. So simply, remove unnecessary fonts like wingdings etc from your fonts folder found in the control panel.


Trick 10:

Adjust cache parameters:
We all know what the cache is by now, so lets look at it in detail. Aside from the min and max cache size, we can also adjust a few other things. Chunk size, as the name suggests, determines the size of each bit of info in the cache. if you use high end software, its best to change the size to around 2 megs (2048 KB). Lower this setting if you mainly use low end software. 2 other setting you can change are the name and directory cache. The Name and Directory cache work in conjunction with eachother and control how much memory is set aside for caching the filenames and directories that are used by programs, which can speed up subsequent accesses.
Now to my knowledge, there is no simple way to change all these at once. However, there is a program about 200 KB made by AnalogX called CacheBooster. Unfortunately, I cannot link the site because neoseeker blocks the first part of the websites name, so if you do a google search for CacheBooster, you will find the file.


Trick 11:

Use RAM Conservatively:
When we have multiple programs, or use programs that eat through our memory, the ram isnt used in a smart way, to put it simply. The best thing to do is to make sure that the computer uses every last bit of RAM before it starts to page data to the hard drive. To do this, go to run, and type in msconfig. Click on the SYSTEM.ini tab. click the plus next to [386enh]. Click New and type in 'ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1'. Click apply and ok, then restart the computer.


Trick 12:

Disable Performance Counters:
Just like Windows 2000, XP comes with performance counters that most of us would never even use, let alone be aware of. These performance counters pretty much monitor your computer and record data for someone to read. If you own the computer youre sitting at, and dont read it, disable it. To do this:

Download the Extensible Performance Counter List, install it, and open up 'exctrlst.exe' in the area you installed the program. Once you have it open, select one counter, and uncheck the box at the bottom labeled 'Performance Counters Enabled'. Do this for every counter in the list. Once youre finished, close the program, and you should see no information when you try to open up the performance logs under administrative tools in the control panel.


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This message was edited by hiigaran on Apr 15 2009.

Trick 13:

Use HJT:
HJT, or HiJack This, is a small and simple, yet very powerful tool that is less than a megabyte in size. HiJack This is capable of detecting many different aspects of your system, and will display them on your screen and if selected, also a logfile. Remember that with HJT, it will NOT scan your computer for malicious files. It is a detection tool that will look at things like your default start pages for internet, browser helper objects (BHO's),
ActiveX, extra buttons or toolbars, and more. So, once youve downloaded HiJack This (see linklist), install it and open it up. Before you decide to do anything, just click the button that is labeled 'Do a system scan only'. After about 10 to 20 seconds, you will see a list of results. They are not necessarily harmful. In fact, most of them should be safe and crucial to the systems operation. Now the first thing that people see are those codes which start at each result. Here is some information on interpreting them:

R0, R1, R2, R3 - Internet Explorer Start/Search pages URLs

F0, F1 - Autoloading programs

N1, N2, N3, N4 - Netscape/Mozilla Start/Search pages URLs

O1 - Hosts file redirection

O2 - Browser Helper Objects

O3 - Internet Explorer toolbars

O4 - Autoloading programs from Registry

O5 - IE Options icon not visible in Control Panel

O6 - IE Options access restricted by Administrator

O7 - Regedit access restricted by Administrator

O8 - Extra items in IE right-click menu

O9 - Extra buttons on main IE button toolbar, or extra items in IE 'Tools' menu

O10 - Winsock hijacker

O11 - Extra group in IE 'Advanced Options' window

O12 - IE plugins

O13 - IE DefaultPrefix hijack

O14 - 'Reset Web Settings' hijack

O15 - Unwanted site in Trusted Zone

O16 - ActiveX Objects (aka Downloaded Program Files)

O17 - Lop.com domain hijackers

O18 - Extra protocols and protocol hijackers

O19 - User style sheet hijack

O20 - AppInit_DLLs Registry value autorun

O21 - ShellServiceObjectDelayLoad Registry key autorun

O22 - SharedTaskScheduler Registry key autorun

O23 - Windows NT Services

Now, to go a little more in depth into deciding what may be safe, and what may be harmful:

R0, R1, R2, R3:
If you dont recognize a website, check it online, and remove it if necessary. Fix all R3 entries unless it mentions a program you recognize.

F0, F1:
Fix all F0 entries, and look for more info on programs listed as F1 to determine if it is safe or not.

N1, N2, N3, N4:
Same as the R entries, but for Firefox and Netscape. These are generally safe as Firefox and Netscape pages are rarely hijacked.

O1:
Host file redirections are best left alone, as you may undo some or all host file settings created by third party programs such as Spybot.

O2:
Browser Helper Objects (BHO's) are extra bits of functionality for internet explorer. Most of the time these are safe, but you will have to use your discretion as with most other entries in HJT as to whether or not you will remove it.

O3:
Internet Explorer toolbars, like the Google toolbar, are also added functionality, but at the cost of less viewing space, increase resource consumption, and more clutter. If you dont need a toolbar remove it. If you dont know what the toolbar is, do some research via google.

O4:
Startup entries loaded via the registry or the startup group. Removing an entry from here is like disabling it through Spybot or msconfig.

O5:
Determines whether or not you have the Internet Options control visible in control panel. If you are the administrator of your computer, and you cant find your internet options, then fix this, as some malware will disable it.

O6:
Restricts what you can do in the internet options control. Unless you have enabled this, fix it.

O7:
Unless you have put this restriction in yourself, fix it, as regedit becomes restricted.

O8:
Like the toolbars and BHO's, the extra items in the context menu of internet explorer can be removed if need be.

O9:
Similar to O8, but come in button forms.

O10:
Winsock Hijackers can be fixed here or through Spybot, unless it is classified as unknown, in which case you will have to find other ways of removing it.

O11:
Currently, only CommonName is the only one that should have this entry, so it is safe to remove it.

O12:
These are mostly safe. Only OnFlow would add anything malicious into this group.

O13:
Always fix these.

O14:
Fix these if the URL is not the provider of your ISP or computer.

O15:
If you dont want something in the trusted sites zone, you can remove it from here.

O16:
ActiveX objects must be left alone or removed just the same way as BHO's. Always use your judgment and never touch anything you are unsure about.

O17:
If the URL is not of your ISP's, fix it. For DNS servers, google them to see if they are safe or not.

O18:
Few harmful items are found here. CommonName, Lop.com and HuntBar are the only known ones to lurk here. If you find one of these 3, fix them.

O19:
CSS Hijacks are currently only done by CoolWebSearch. Remove these (although CWShredder might be better for the job).

O20:
Few legitimate programs use this. Norton and AVG are some that use it. Do your research on the entry and then decide to keep or remove it.

O21:
Treat with extreme care. Some windows components are listed on this, but many wont be visible because HJT has a whitelist. So any entries found there are either malicious, or windows components which havent been whitelisted.

O22:
So far, only one variant or CoolWebSearch uses this. Fix it. For everything else, leave it alone.

O23:
Non Microsoft services. Some trojans will use this in addition with startup entries to keep reinstalling themselves, so disable and remove the service before fixing anything else, or you wont remove the entire program.

Also, anything with '(file missing)' on the end of the entry is safe to remove.

The most crucial piece of information to remember is to do your research, never touch anything you arent sure about, and always create a backup of your registry and system.

Now if you are not too confident with fiddling around with these system settings, you can always click the other button when the program opens, labeled 'Do a system scan and save log'. Then, go to this thread and upload your log to the provided uploader which is linked through that thread. From there, someone can look over your log and tell you what to fix.



Trick 14:

Manually Set Network Card Settings:
Most people would have an Ethernet connection for their internet and LAN uses. However, there is an auto detect feature that will find out whats the best transfer rate and whether or not to use half or full duplex mode. It is possible to get some more speed out of the computer by having this setting set manually according to the manual that came with the card (if you dont have one, experiment to see which one works - Its perfectly safe). This is also rumored to have drastically reduced 3D game lagging. To change this setting, go to the device manager, and double click on your network adapter. Go to the advanced tab and then change the link speed/duplex mode setting. Restart the computer so that you may immediately rule out a possible problem if your connection quits. In the event that it does, simply lowering the setting should fix it.



Trick 15:

Implement RAID on your computer:
Firstly, what is RAID? RAID is an abbreviation for Redundant Array or Inexpensive Disks. Why have RAID? The whole idea of RAID is to improve performance, security or both, through using two or mode disks as mirrors of eachother, or as one big drive. In more detail, making mirrors of eachother improves data security, in case one hard drive fails, and making several hard drives act as one means that the workload can be shared over 2 or more drives, as well as having a larger amount of space to work with, rather than several smaller drives. There is also a combination of these, as the problem with making several drives act as one can result in complete data loss in the event of one drive failing. Who can use RAID? Anyone with XP professional (if using software RAID), and 2 or more disks, depending on what array is needed (at least 2, for the purpose of this guide).

There are several different types of RAID arrays, and these are the common ones:

RAID0 - Distributes data across several disks for improved performance
RAID1 - Uses two or more disks to store the same data as eachother for backup purposes in the event of a disk failure. Total capacity is one disk.
RAID5 - Combines three or more disks to protect against data loss of any one disk. Total storage capacity is 1 disk less than total disks.
RAID10 - A combination of RAID0 and RAID1, which would therefore involve a common number of 4 disks.

Remember that your drives need to all be of the same capacity, or each disk will have a maximum storage capacity of the smallest drive.

There are two ways to create a RAID array. Through hardware, or software. Doing it through hardware involves actualy buying a RAID array card (as this guide is on speeding up your computer without paying for anything, hardware RAID will not be included), through which you connect your disks to, wheras software can be set up via XP Professional, but with the limitation that it can only do a striped array (RAID0). However, that is the one that results in the performance gain, so there shouldnt be any worries. Obviously the performance gain will be less via software than hardware RAID.

To do it via software, first ensure that the Logical Disk Manager service is activated and set to Automatic. Then, right click my computer, and click manage. Click on disk management. The next step is to convert the drives from basic to dynamic disks. Dynamic disks can only be read by the windows operating systems newer than the 9x series, and are required for the creation of RAID arrays. To convert, right click the gray box on the left that contains the disk names, and select convert to dynamic disk. Select all the drives you want for the array, and click ok to start converting. Once they are listed as dynamic, right click the unpartitioned space of any of the drives converted and click new volume. Select Striped, click next, and add all the disks you want to be in the array. Decide on the amount of space on both disks you want for the striped volume. You many select some of the drive, or all of it. Choose a drive letter or folder to use, and the formatting method, and thats it. Your hard drives should now be combined and only show up as one disk with double the capacity when you look into my computer.



Trick 16:

Use OpenDNS as your DNS server:
When you enter a web address into the address bar, the computer has to look up the IP address of the site you wish to access, so it may open it and therefore allow you to view it. To do this, Windows uses a DNS Server, or Domain Name System Server, to find the data. The default DNS address is the one that comes with your ISP, so you do not have to enter any information. Depending on how good your ISP performance is, the reliability of their DNS can vary. Even the biggest ISP companies have unreliable DNS Servers.
The DNS Server is therefore one aspect of your internet browsing that may slow it down. There is however, a free service called OpenDNS (Site), which is a faster and more secure way of browsing, as well as it being very reliable. This is especially so if you live in or near America or England. Not only does it help you to speed up your browsing, but it is also another security layer which does not interfere with your browsing performance. It includes many settings, from basic phishing protection, to protection for children against inappropriate content. Moving away from the performance and security aspect, there is also a great deal of customization when you create a free account (not required, but it really helps). You can create shortcuts to your sites. For example, if you wanted to go to neoseekers operating systems ans software forum, then instead of typing in the long address each time, you can simply copy and paste the address into the shortcut creator, then add your own shortcut to it, so all you have to do is type that shortcut in (eg: just type 'oss' into the address bar and youre there).
Now first things first. Go to the control panel, and go into your network connections. Right click on the connection you use for the internet and click properties. Click on TCP/IP and click the properties button. Now select 'Use the following DNS server addresses' and type '208.67.222.222' in the 'preferred' field, and '208.67.220.220' in the 'alternate' field. Click ok and close. Thats the main part finished. Now, for the extra features, click on the link provided in the above paragraph. Roll the mouse over your connection situation (so if you are using this at home, go for home. If it is a business, select business), and then click the link labeled 'start using it now'. Follow the prompts and fill out the information required. From here on, you may log in and explore, customize or leave the service to do everything in the background.

In the unlikely event that your connection dies out, then simply changing the DNS address back to automatic will fix the connection, and it will revert back to using the ISP's DNS Server.



Trick 17:

Adjust Priorities of System Resources and RAM:
Depending on how your system is set up, there are 2 settings that can have a significant impact on the way your computer performs, which are found in System Properties --> Advanced tab --> Performance options --> Advanced tab. They are processor scheduling and memory usage. Processor scheduling is an option which allows the system to either divert resources to foreground applications (ie. most .exe files that you open or open on startup), or have an equal share amongst foreground and background. Gamers and high end users would want this set to the 'Programs' option. The second option decides what proportion of RAM goes to what, and therefore deciding whether programs have the best performance, or the system cache. Again, most gamers and high end user would want this on 'Programs', but if you are using the computer as a server, or using programs requiring large caches, then set this to 'System Cache'.



Trick 18:

Boot XP Faster By Disabling The 'Loading XP' Screen:
This tweak disables the screen you see with the XP logo, and the loading bar underneath it for a faster boot. To do this, go to Start, Run, and type in msconfig. Go to the BOOT.INI tab, and select the checkbox labelled /NOGUIBOOT. This will shave a second or two off your booting time.



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Credits:

Pr3tzals:
Provided 3 registry tweaks

Freeze:
Provided 1 2/3 Registry tweaks


Please notify me of spelling, grammar or tweak mistakes, dead external or internal links, or tweaks not listed here (submissions will be credited above if they are members).

Happy tweaking...

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This message was edited by hiigaran on Apr 15 2009.

Great guide. Would be even better if you could provide links to programs you mention, like AVG and Spybot Search And Destroy.

all you really need to do is google them. the reason i didnt link them is because the links might change and id have to redo them over and over again. but when i have time will add in a sort of mini linklist, like the one at the top of this forum.

EDIT: added a linklist with 3 programs in it

[size=1][color=#666666]This message was edited by hiigaran on Nov 04 2007.

i use ace utilities 4. that program works great.

...ok...thats nice to know.

why go through all that stuff you posted. this way is faster and alot easier.

i dont know, maybe theres something here that isnt in that program perhaps?

well its been a while and recently i stumbled upon a nice little program around 200 KBs that can modify the cache in many ways. you have to do a google search for it though because neoseeker blocks the first part of the address, as mentioned in the guide.

Nice guide. But did you write it? Seems like its just beem compied and pasted to me.

yes, actually i typed up at least 90%. i find the info i need, re type it into my own words and then elaborate on it. then i add some markup and internal linking for simplification and later use (i know i still use it!) and theres my guide...and so far i have not come across another guide like this one (ive searched and searched and found nothing)

ok problem:#
i cant get search and destroy on my computer

why not? cant you find the download? or does it give you an error when you try to install it? i need more details before i can help you solve this.

and for everyone who reads this thread, i suggest you download the third line of service packs for XP. it is still not verified to be bug freem but i havent noticed any bugs yet - and SP3 can be easily uninstalled if need be.

ok i was using spyware doctor cant remember where i got the link and found the viruses. (yay!)

but i cant get rid of them because i didnt buy the full version (not yay)

o and i have to transfer the dowload setup you get from the site to a flash drive and then put the flash drive on the infected computer and go from there but in the middle of the download it gives me an error message i will try to tell you the specifics of the error message i just have to run my computer again.

just so you know, as i pointed out in the HJT thread, i never said anything about spyware doctor. use spybot for spyware and AVG Free for viruses.