Windows XP Optimization Guide

[Wile E]

i always make mine a minimum size just to save disk space.. but assuming u have enough real ram windows wont use its fake hardrive memory.. why the hell should it..

once u turn out of the real stuff windows will use its pagefile.sys.. when it does your machine will grind to a halt..

years ago windows really had to use its pretend ram.. but years ago windows had to run on 32 megs of the real stuff.. most of what u read is way out of date.. just ignore it..

trog

That's not entirely true. Some programs require you to have a pagefile, or else they just won't run correctly.

 

[Athlon2K15]

like photoshop,lol

 

[Wile E]

like photoshop,lol

Yep. lol.

 

[piebobs71]

Here is a pretty good guide 175 pages I implemented the recommended tweaks and shaved at least 10-15 seconds off my boot time and my system shuts down in 4 seconds- http://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html

i downloaded the pdf but i read on this site somewhere the other night about certain pages to read which would be most beneficial but i cant find the thread now anybody know which one it is?

 

[AsRock]

i downloaded the pdf but i read on this site somewhere the other night about certain pages to read which would be most beneficial but i cant find the thread now anybody know which one it is?

It pretty much depends on the programs you use. A fixed one some programs still may crash the best way i found over the time is to have a separate 6-10GIG partition on your hard drive which 10GIG would be plenty. You could try using Rivatuner and running your highest usage apps and see how much that says your taking and add a little extra for just in case.

By putting the pagefile on it's own partition you should not see any fragmentation at all IF you did all you would have to do is to turn off the page file reboot and sure the pagefile has been deleted ( Hidden file at root of drive ) and delete it empty recycle bin and make a new one then reboot.

 

[deyamag]

Thank you very much, good effort.

 

[Atom_Anti]

Does someone already wrote a good nLite guide?

I would need one, because I cannot make any good Windows XP with it.

 

[AsRock]

Does someone already wrote a good nLite guide?

I would need one, because I cannot make any good Windows XP with it.

Here ya go.
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=46004&highlight=nlite+guide

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=19914&highlight=nlite+guide

 

[eidairaman1]

nice little tweak guide

 

[MrHydes]

nice thread

 

[KBD]

Very nice guide!

It needs to be modified a bit though: Jimmy2004 is right, do not disable the Task Scheduler service as it will turn off prefetching and slow things down. Distributed Link Tracking Client should be switched to Manual if using NTFS.

There are also other services that can be disabled as well in addition to whats mentioned in the guide, i have them turned off on my PC, read the description and see if you actually need them:

Alerter Service
ClipBook Service
Messenger Service
NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing Service
Network DDE Service
Network DDE DSDM Service
Network Location Awareness (NLA) Service (turn this off if you have Firewall/ICS service disabled)
NT LM Security Support Provider Service
Portable Media Serial Number Service
Routing and Remote Access Service
Server Service
SSDP Discovery Service
Telnet
Terminal Services Service

Also, i left IPSEC Services Service on Manual but i read it could be disabled.

 

[Cooldog]

SecurityCenter

This is that annoying little program that installs with service pack 2 that tells you that you don’t have antivirus protection, a firewall or if you don’t have automatic updates turned on. It doesn’t really help out at all.​

Iv Learned that there is a reason for it, if you happen to get a virus that turns off The protection that you use, it will warn you that its not on. (For people who never check to see if its on).
So if you turn Security Center off, and don't ever look to see if you're protection is on, and you get a virus that turns the protection off, it could do serious damage the further it gets.

I know that this is old, but it does seam like an Imported thing for people to know.

 

[King Wookie]

Handy info.

Thx to all who contributed.

 

[eidairaman1]

Iv Learned that there is a reason for it, if you happen to get a virus that turns off The protection that you use, it will warn you that its not on. (For people who never check to see if its on).
So if you turn Security Center off, and don't ever look to see if you're protection is on, and you get a virus that turns the protection off, it could do serious damage the further it gets.

I know that this is old, but it does seam like an Imported thing for people to know.

that capability was designed for drastic times before better AVs (Non Norton or McAfee) came about and before majority had Routers or even Broadband internet and MS never really updated it so its worthless.

 

[Cooldog]

that capability was designed for drastic times before better AVs (Non Norton or McAfee) came about and before majority had Routers or even Broadband internet and MS never really updated it so its worthless.

Not for me, because idk how, virus are always popping up on this comp (I bet its from someone else on this network), and it does help for me to get an early knowing of it. Stupid virus always killing my protection. :|

 

[Wile E]

Not for me, because idk how, virus are always popping up on this comp (I bet its from someone else on this network), and it does help for me to get an early knowing of it. Stupid virus always killing my protection. :|

Get a better antivirus. Use Kaspersky or NOD32, and you won't have that problem. Things like AVG don't cut it these days.

 

[eidairaman1]

Not for me, because idk how, virus are always popping up on this comp (I bet its from someone else on this network), and it does help for me to get an early knowing of it. Stupid virus always killing my protection. :|

Your computer was probably infected before you got updates to it even your AV installed, There are more than just Virus out there, Trojans, Worms, Grayware, Malware, Virus are easy to get rid of, Worms are not.

 

[Cooldog]

Get a better antivirus. Use Kaspersky or NOD32, and you won't have that problem. Things like AVG don't cut it these days.

I have Nod32.

 

[eidairaman1]

I have Nod32.

Same here and i dont have the problems your experiencing, Only reason i still have it is the AV protected my Brothers Unpatched machine and denied quite a few attacks when he was on Dialup.

 

[Sir_Real]

I remember reading somewhere something about turning off windows logging to decrease ram usage & increase performance. Theres an official microsoft prog to do just this.

I installed it, run it & removed all ticks ! Don't seem to have effected anything & as for performance i think it helped push up my 3dmark 06 score. By a tiny bit anyway.

 

[eidairaman1]

any way of reversing the affects if you discover a Problem, because Logging applies to the OS partition aswell, its a Journal based System.

 

[Sir_Real]

Ye run the prog & put the ticks back

 

[Wile E]

I have Nod32.

If NOD32 is getting disabled, the problem lies elsewhere I'm willing to wager.

 

[FryingWeesel]

(Non Norton or McAfee)

a little note for you, norton 2k8 and older are SHIT, but by all reviews and reports 2009 is great, im using the corp(symantec endpoint protection) version and its fully replaced my need for any other AV apps.

the fact is that the worst AV's currently on the market in wide use are AVG and mcafee, (mcafee is free from many isp's like crapcast)

as a backup manual scaner i recomend people try clamwin and/or moon secure(based on cameav core) they are free and opensorce and have a good rep.

 

[eidairaman1]

I stopped using Norton along time ago and Never Have looked back.