Home » The PARIS Forums » PARIS: Main » XP tweaks?
| XP tweaks? [message #62821] |
Tue, 10 January 2006 16:51  |
![John [1] is currently offline](/theme/PARIS_Forum_Template/images/offline.png "John [1] is currently offline")
John [1]
Messages: 2229
Registered: September 2005
|
Senior Member |
|
|
Comments?
See below ------- for descriptions
2 audio Partitions
Use NTFS drives with 64k clusters
In BIOS disable USB, LPT1, Serial port
Remove Messenger
Classic Mode
Classic Start Menu
Disable Screen Savers
Power Schemes: you can have the monitor turn off but set Turn Hard
Drives off to NEVER
Disable Hibernation
Disable automatic update
Disable system restore
Disable the Computer Browser in Services to improve mapped drive browsing.
Disable your network card by right clicking on the nic icon
Defrag regularly
Keep your desktop clean
No wallpapers
No screensavers
Set video to highest color depth
Visual Effects for best performance
Processor Scheduling for Background Services
Uncheck Remote Assitance
Increase your IRQ priority
Turn off your visual effects
Disable Error Reporting
Disable Power Management
Set graphic acceleration to full
Disable your system sounds
Disable background applications
Specify your own virtual memory settings, If you have 512MB RAM or
higher set this to 384 for Min and Max on same drive as XP
Disable auto-insert notification
Disable USB
Graphical window settings
Remove Taskbar popup baloon
Speed up Menus
Disable offline files
Disable Internet Synchronise Time
Disable Hide Inactive Icons
Disable Automatic Desktop Cleanup Wizard
Disable NTFS Last Access Time Logging (NTFS Only)
Disable disc indexing
Maker sure DMA mode is enabled on drives
Do Not Map through Soundcard
Restart your machine at this point in time. When you come back the first
thing you should do is defrag the main drive even if it doesn't say it
needs it. This way the swap file has been truly set and you're ready to
continue.
------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------
Partitioning. A useful tip when configuring your audio disc, is to
split this into two partitions. Set up a smaller "audio scratch"
partition - say 6GB of a 30GB hard disc. This partition will be used for
the songs that you are currently working on. The benefit of a smaller
partition is obviously quicker defragmentation. If you use the entire
30GB as one partition, then this will take ages to defragment. When you
are finished with a song, transfer the audio files to the non-scratch
partition, where disc I/O performance isn't so critical.
Messenger starts up at the windows load up but we can get rid of that in
no time at all..
Start Menu>Run
Type this in exactly as it is here:
RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
Hit Enter...you will see a DOS-like shell appear and disappear very
quickly and then it will ask you to restart.
Right-click on your desktop, and then click Properties.
Click on Themes tab
Set Themes to Windows Classic
Also do this for the Start Menu:
Right-click the Start button, and then click Properties.
Click Classic Start menu.
Click the Customize button to select items to display on the Start menu.
By default, selecting the Classic Start menu also adds the My Documents,
My Computer, My Network Places, and Internet Explorer icons
to your desktop.
Click on the Screen Saver tab, Set Screensaver to None, Press the Power
button near the bottom
Hibernate..If this is Enabled uncheck it. This is mainly for Laptops but
uses a very large chunk of data.(I've seen this not show up on the first
boot of XP..when you restart it will be there but it's disabled)
Disable automatic update - Since Windows XP will connect to the internet
to find updates automatically for you, you will want to disable this.
Sometimes beneficial but unnecessary and often annoying, you can ditch
it by going to Start » Settings » Control Panel » Performance and
Maintenance » Automatic Updates and select "Turn off automatic updates".
Disable system restore - Windows XP has a built in function to back up
system files to help reduce the risk of crashes due to lost data,
software conflicts and so on. The drawback, is that a fair bit of system
overhead is used to perform this and can be disabled if you choose by
right clicking on "My Computer", clicking on "Properties" » "System
Restore" and choosing "Turn off system restore on all drives."
Advanced tab: Press Settings tab under Performance Visual Affects tab:
set to Adjust for Best Performance.
Advanced tab: Processor Scheduling: Set this for Background Services
----------------------------------------
Increase your IRQ priority - You can increase the IRQ priority of the
real-time CMOS clock to gain some system performance by doing the following:
1.) First create a text file with the extension .reg
2.) Paste the following into the file:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Priorit yControl]
"IRQ8Priority"=dword:00000001
3.) Double-click on the file to enter the tweak into your registry.
This can be un-installed should you need to by repeating the three steps
above with a new file, except this time use the following in your .reg file:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Priorit yControl]
"IRQ8Priority"=dword:00000000
----------------------------------------
Turn off your visual effects (aka, eye-candy) - This can be done by
going to "Control Panel" » "System" » "Advanced" » "Performance
Settings" » "Visual Effects". Select "Custom" and deselect the visual
effect options. Next, set the Windows theme to "Classic". It'll make
your OS look a bit more boring (and less like a Barbie toy), by right
clicking on your desktop, and selecting "Properties", select "Windows
theme" and choose "Classic".
Disable Error Reporting - You can use this for troubleshooting, but you
can also disable it. Go to "Control Panel" » "System" » "Advanced" and
choose "Disable" to disable error reporting.
Disable Power Management - Power management can be disabled by going
Start» Settings » Control Panel » Power Management. Set the Power Scheme
to "Always On" and set "System Standby", "Turn off hard disks" and "Turn
off monitor" to "Never".
Disable Screen Savers - Screen savers can cause unexpected performance
glitches, so you'll want to disable them. Disable any screen savers by
right clicking on your desktop and right clicking » Click on
"Properties" » Click on the "Screen Saver" tab and set it to "None".
Set graphic acceleration to full - You can do this by going to your
desktop, right clicking and clicking on "Properties" then on "Settings",
"Advanced" and the "Performance" tab. Make sure the Hardware
Acceleration slider is set to "full" to reduce the load on your CPU.
Disable your system sounds - Go to Start» Settings » Control Panel »
Sounds and select "No Sounds" as the sound scheme.
Disable background applications - Background applications start up when
your computer starts up and can use up unneccicary resources. To prevent
these from starting up go to Start » Run and type "msconfig" in the run
box. Click on the "startup tab" and disable (uncheck) programs such as
"taskmon", "load power profile", "real player", "office startup",
"winamp agent" and so on. Keep programs like "scan registry", "system
tray" and programs relating to interfacing with your audio card (such as
console software to control its features).
Specify your own virtual memory settings - You can tell Windows to set
your virtual memory settings to a fixed size so that it will not re-size
its swap file as you work (causing glitches with your audio). To do
this, right click on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop and select
"Properties". Click on the "Performance" tab and select "Virtual
Memory". Click on "Let me Specify my own virtual memory settings" and
for hard disk select your "working disk" (generally the fastest one you
use in your system for audio) and set the "minimum" RAM to twice the
amount of physical RAM in your system. If you have 256 megabyts, set it
to 512. The "Maximum" will already be set for you as the remainder of
the free space on your drive. Windows will warn you once you click "ok"
(ignore the warning) and you will have to reboot before the settings
take efect.
Disable auto-insert notification - Disabling this for all of your
CDROM/DVD-ROM/CDR drives will be benificial. To do this, right click on
the "My Computer" icon on your desktop and select "Properties". Click on
the "Device Manager" tab and locate your CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drives under the
CD-ROM section. Click on "Properties" for each drive and un-check "Auto
Instert Notification". You will likely have to reboot for these settings
to take effect.
Disable USB - If you do not have any devices actively using USB in your
system (this includes dongles for your software), disable USB as it is
known to sometimes cause problems in certain DAW configurations. Not
only will this help to increase system performance, but it will also
free up an IRQ. Right click on your "My Computer" icon on your desktop
and select "Properties". Click on the "Device Manager" tab and scroll
down until you see the USB section. Click on the "Properties" for the
USB device and check off "Disable in this Hardware Profile". You will
have to reboot for these settings to take effect.
Graphical window settings - Go to Start » Settings » Folder options and
click on the "View" tab. Under "Visual settings" check off "Show window
contents while dragging. This is more of a usability tweak, as it will
allow you to see the contents of windows on the screen as you drag them
around (instead of them going blank).
Now, let's stop that annoying balloon from popping up from our system
tray, Click Start , click Run , type regedit , and then press ENTER.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced Right-click the right pane, create a
new DWORD value, and then name it EnableBalloonTips . Double-click this
new entry, and then give it a hexadecimal value of 0 . Quit Registry
Editor. Log off Windows, and then log back on.
Speed Up Menus
You can use this tip to speed up the Start Menu in Windows XP. You can
customize the speed of the Start Menu by editing a Registry Key. Click
Start, and then click Run. Type Regedit in the box, and then click OK.
Expand the menu in the left panel and select the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop folder. Scroll down in the right
panel and double click on the MenuShowDelay file. In the Value Data box,
change to default value for the menu speed from 400 to a lesser number,
such as 1. Click OK.
Disable Offline Files. Start > Settings > Control Panel > Folder
Options > Offline Files > Untick "Enable Offline Files"
Disable Internet Synchronise Time -- Start > Settings > Control Panel >
Date and Time > Internet Time > Untick "Automatically synchronize with
an internet time server"
Disable Hide Inactive Icons, Start > Settings > Taskbar and Start Menu
> Taskbar TAB > Uncheck "Hide Inactive Icons"
Disable Automatic Desktop Cleanup Wizard, Start > Settings > Control
Panel > Display > Desktop > Customise Desktop > Untick "Run Desktop
Cleanup Wizard every 60 days"
Disable NTFS Last Access Time Logging (NTFS Only), Start > Run >
regedit > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CURRENTCONTROLSET > CONTROL >
FILESYSTEM Add a new DWORD value - "NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate"
(without quotes) and set the value to 1. Then reboot to make changes
effective
Disable Disc Indexing, Indexing Service is a service that extracts the
information from a set of documents and organizes it in a way that makes
it quick and easy to access that information through the Windows XP
Search function, the Indexing Service query form, or a Web browser.
This information can include text from within a document, (its
contents), and the characteristics and parameters of the document, (its
properties), such as the author's name. Once the index is created, you
can search, or query the index for documents that contain key words,
phrases, or properties.
Do Not Map Through Soundcard, Start > Settings > Control Panel > Sounds
and Audio Devices > Hardware Tab > (highlight your soundcard from the
list) > Properties > Audio Devices > (highlight your soundcard from the
list) > Properties, and check the "Do not map through this device"
checkbox.
|
|
|
|
| Re: XP tweaks? [message #62825 is a reply to message #62821] |
Tue, 10 January 2006 19:45  |
Chris Ludwig
Messages: 868
Registered: May 2006
|
Senior Member |
|
|
HI John,
Most of this info looks like it's from 98SE and windows 2000.
The tuning tips page on www.musicxp.net is all you really have to do.
Anything else will have no or very little positive impact.
Don't over tweak!!!
:)
Chris
John wrote:
> Comments?
>
>
> See below ------- for descriptions
>
> 2 audio Partitions
No Point at all. The second partition will be just as slow as if you
left the drive as a full partition. Also if you were trying to write to
both partitions at once your gonna kill the throughput of the drive big
time. You will also add to to the confusion of have to always be moving
files back and forth.
> Use NTFS drives with 64k clusters
Very Very minor difference.
> In BIOS disable USB, LPT1, Serial port
You shouldn't ever need to disable the USB ports unless your motherboard
is not functioning properly. I usually disable the serial port and LPT
sense I haven't used on of these in years.
> Remove Messenger
No point if it not running it is not effecting the system. Just disable
it from start when windows starts.
> Classic Mode
Only if you don't like the look of the new xp theme. You will save a
little bit of ram and thats about it. If you have a really old video
card then you might need to use this mode.
> Classic Start Menu
Ditto
> Disable Screen Savers
Yep
> Power Schemes: you can have the monitor turn off but set Turn Hard
yes
> Drives off to NEVER
yes
> Disable Hibernation
yes
> Disable automatic update
yes
> Disable system restore
yes but not until you are sure everything is running stable. Such as a
fresh install of xp.
Then just us drive imaging software to do roll backs.
> Disable the Computer Browser in Services to improve mapped drive browsing.
pointless
> Disable your network card by right clicking on the nic icon
Same as USB. Unless you are having specific issues with there is no
point. I personally would be able to work with out. At least not easily.
> Defrag regularly
Only system drive!!!!
> Keep your desktop clean
That will never happen ...:)
> No wallpapers
Makes no difference. You'll save a minor amount of ram.
> No screensavers
yep
> Set video to highest color depth
yes most all video cards are native 32 bit. If you have on that doesn't
work well with that setting then your video sucks.
> Visual Effects for best performance
Yes. Otherwise known as Classic Mode
> Processor Scheduling for Background Services
YES YES this is the only real tweak that makes the most difference.
> Uncheck Remote Assitance
I would but I use it allot. It has no impact unless you are using and
its impact is minor.
> Increase your IRQ priority
No point. Worked well on 98 and on older motherboards but doesn't have
any effect on current hardware.
> Turn off your visual effects
Your repeating yourself
> Disable Error Reporting
Make sure you leave the critical notification checked.
> Disable Power Management
As mentioned above yes
> Set graphic acceleration to full
Yes. You should never set it to anything else. When you do this you are
tell the video card top let the CPU do all the work instead.
> Disable your system sounds
Of course
> Disable background applications
Depends on what you mean by that.
> Specify your own virtual memory settings, If you have 512MB RAM or
> higher set this to 384 for Min and Max on same drive as XP
No. That was go good setting for 98 but not for XP. I usually set it to
double or 3x the ram in the system but set the min/max to the same. If
I'm using more than 2 gigs then I just set it to equal the amount of ram.
> Disable auto-insert notification
No point unless your system is really slow.
> Disable USB
Doh not again
> Graphical window settings
What?
> Remove Taskbar popup baloon
Why? You won't be able to mouse over the icon to see what it is as easily.
> Speed up Menus
If you want but I think they fast enough.
> Disable offline files
It will save disk space thats about it.
Un-checking "use fast user switching will a more useful effect by not
loading as much user info into ram if you have multiple account on the
system.
> Disable Internet Synchronise Time
If you want but it won't have any effect on performance.
> Disable Hide Inactive Icons
Yes
> Disable Automatic Desktop Cleanup Wizard
Yes just because is annoying.
> Disable NTFS Last Access Time Logging (NTFS Only)
It helps a little but you probably won't be able to see a difference.
> Disable disc indexing
Yes
> Maker sure DMA mode is enabled on drives
Shouldn't be an issues at all on a current motherboard but might be on
older motherboards running xp.
> Do Not Map through Soundcard
No
>
> Restart your machine at this point in time. When you come back the first
> thing you should do is defrag the main drive even if it doesn't say it
> needs it. This way the swap file has been truly set and you're ready to
> continue.
>
If this is a fresh install and you have run disk clean up then yes this
can make sense.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------
>
> Partitioning. A useful tip when configuring your audio disc, is to
> split this into two partitions. Set up a smaller "audio scratch"
> partition - say 6GB of a 30GB hard disc. This partition will be used for
> the songs that you are currently working on. The benefit of a smaller
> partition is obviously quicker defragmentation. If you use the entire
> 30GB as one partition, then this will take ages to defragment. When you
> are finished with a song, transfer the audio files to the non-scratch
> partition, where disc I/O performance isn't so critical.
>
> Messenger starts up at the windows load up but we can get rid of that in
> no time at all..
> Start Menu>Run
> Type this in exactly as it is here:
> RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
> Hit Enter...you will see a DOS-like shell appear and disappear very
> quickly and then it will ask you to restart.
>
> Right-click on your desktop, and then click Properties.
> Click on Themes tab
> Set Themes to Windows Classic
>
> Also do this for the Start Menu:
> Right-click the Start button, and then click Properties.
> Click Classic Start menu.
> Click the Customize button to select items to display on the Start menu.
> By default, selecting the Classic Start menu also adds the My Documents,
> My Computer, My Network Places, and Internet Explorer icons
> to your desktop.
>
> Click on the Screen Saver tab, Set Screensaver to None, Press the Power
> button near the bottom
>
> Hibernate..If this is Enabled uncheck it. This is mainly for Laptops but
> uses a very large chunk of data.(I've seen this not show up on the first
> boot of XP..when you restart it will be there but it's disabled)
>
> Disable automatic update - Since Windows XP will connect to the internet
> to find updates automatically for you, you will want to disable this.
> Sometimes beneficial but unnecessary and often annoying, you can ditch
> it by going to Start » Settings » Control Panel » Performance and
> Maintenance » Automatic Updates and select "Turn off automatic updates".
>
> Disable system restore - Windows XP has a built in function to back up
> system files to help reduce the risk of crashes due to lost data,
> software conflicts and so on. The drawback, is that a fair bit of system
> overhead is used to perform this and can be disabled if you choose by
> right clicking on "My Computer", clicking on "Properties" » "System
> Restore" and choosing "Turn off system restore on all drives."
>
> Advanced tab: Press Settings tab under Performance Visual Affects tab:
> set to Adjust for Best Performance.
> Advanced tab: Processor Scheduling: Set this for Background Services
>
> ----------------------------------------
> Increase your IRQ priority - You can increase the IRQ priority of the
> real-time CMOS clock to gain some system performance by doing the
> following:
> 1.) First create a text file with the extension .reg
> 2.) Paste the following into the file:
>
> REGEDIT4
> [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Priorit yControl]
> "IRQ8Priority"=dword:00000001
>
> 3.) Double-click on the file to enter the tweak into your registry.
>
> This can be un-installed should you need to by repeating the three steps
> above with a new file, except this time use the following in your .reg
> file:
>
> [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Priorit yControl]
> "IRQ8Priority"=dword:00000000
> ----------------------------------------
>
> Turn off your visual effects (aka, eye-candy) - This can be done by
> going to "Control Panel" » "System" » "Advanced" » "Performance
> Settings" » "Visual Effects". Select "Custom" and deselect the visual
> effect options. Next, set the Windows theme to "Classic". It'll make
> your OS look a bit more boring (and less like a Barbie toy), by right
> clicking on your desktop, and selecting "Properties", select "Windows
> theme" and choose "Classic".
>
> Disable Error Reporting - You can use this for troubleshooting, but you
> can also disable it. Go to "Control Panel" » "System" » "Advanced" and
> choose "Disable" to disable error reporting.
>
> Disable Power Management - Power management can be disabled by going
> Start» Settings » Control Panel » Power Management. Set the Power Scheme
> to "Always On" and set "System Standby", "Turn off hard disks" and "Turn
> off monitor" to "Never".
>
> Disable Screen Savers - Screen savers can cause unexpected performance
> glitches, so you'll want to disable them. Disable any screen savers by
> right clicking on your desktop and right clicking » Click on
> "Properties" » Click on the "Screen Saver" tab and set it to "None".
>
> Set graphic acceleration to full - You can do this by going to your
> desktop, right clicking and clicking on "Properties" then on "Settings",
> "Advanced" and the "Performance" tab. Make sure the Hardware
> Acceleration slider is set to "full" to reduce the load on your CPU.
>
> Disable your system sounds - Go to Start» Settings » Control Panel »
> Sounds and select "No Sounds" as the sound scheme.
>
> Disable background applications - Background applications start up when
> your computer starts up and can use up unneccicary resources. To prevent
> these from starting up go to Start » Run and type "msconfig" in the run
> box. Click on the "startup tab" and disable (uncheck) programs such as
> "taskmon", "load power profile", "real player", "office startup",
> "winamp agent" and so on. Keep programs like "scan registry", "system
> tray" and programs relating to interfacing with your audio card (such as
> console software to control its features).
>
> Specify your own virtual memory settings - You can tell Windows to set
> your virtual memory settings to a fixed size so that it will not re-size
> its swap file as you work (causing glitches with your audio). To do
> this, right click on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop and select
> "Properties". Click on the "Performance" tab and select "Virtual
> Memory". Click on "Let me Specify my own virtual memory settings" and
> for hard disk select your "working disk" (generally the fastest one you
> use in your system for audio) and set the "minimum" RAM to twice the
> amount of physical RAM in your system. If you have 256 megabyts, set it
> to 512. The "Maximum" will already be set for you as the remainder of
> the free space on your drive. Windows will warn you once you click "ok"
> (ignore the warning) and you will have to reboot before the settings
> take efect.
>
> Disable auto-insert notification - Disabling this for all of your
> CDROM/DVD-ROM/CDR drives will be benificial. To do this, right click on
> the "My Computer" icon on your desktop and select "Properties". Click on
> the "Device Manager" tab and locate your CD-ROM/DVD-ROM drives under the
> CD-ROM section. Click on "Properties" for each drive and un-check "Auto
> Instert Notification". You will likely have to reboot for these settings
> to take effect.
>
> Disable USB - If you do not have any devices actively using USB in your
> system (this includes dongles for your software), disable USB as it is
> known to sometimes cause problems in certain DAW configurations. Not
> only will this help to increase system performance, but it will also
> free up an IRQ. Right click on your "My Computer" icon on your desktop
> and select "Properties". Click on the "Device Manager" tab and scroll
> down until you see the USB section. Click on the "Properties" for the
> USB device and check off "Disable in this Hardware Profile". You will
> have to reboot for these settings to take effect.
>
> Graphical window settings - Go to Start » Settings » Folder options and
> click on the "View" tab. Under "Visual settings" check off "Show window
> contents while dragging. This is more of a usability tweak, as it will
> allow you to see the contents of windows on the screen as you drag them
> around (instead of them going blank).
>
> Now, let's stop that annoying balloon from popping up from our system
> tray, Click Start , click Run , type regedit , and then press ENTER.
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
> CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced Right-click the right pane, create a
> new DWORD value, and then name it EnableBalloonTips . Double-click this
> new entry, and then give it a hexadecimal value of 0 . Quit Registry
> Editor. Log off Windows, and then log back on.
>
> Speed Up Menus
> You can use this tip to speed up the Start Menu in Windows XP. You can
> customize the speed of the Start Menu by editing a Registry Key. Click
> Start, and then click Run. Type Regedit in the box, and then click OK.
> Expand the menu in the left panel and select the
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop folder. Scroll down in the right
> panel and double click on the MenuShowDelay file. In the Value Data box,
> change to default value for the menu speed from 400 to a lesser number,
> such as 1. Click OK.
>
> Disable Offline Files. Start > Settings > Control Panel > Folder
> Options > Offline Files > Untick "Enable Offline Files"
>
> Disable Internet Synchronise Time -- Start > Settings > Control Panel >
> Date and Time > Internet Time > Untick "Automatically synchronize with
> an internet time server"
>
> Disable Hide Inactive Icons, Start > Settings > Taskbar and Start Menu
> > Taskbar TAB > Uncheck "Hide Inactive Icons"
>
> Disable Automatic Desktop Cleanup Wizard, Start > Settings > Control
> Panel > Display > Desktop > Customise Desktop > Untick "Run Desktop
> Cleanup Wizard every 60 days"
>
> Disable NTFS Last Access Time Logging (NTFS Only), Start > Run >
> regedit > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CURRENTCONTROLSET > CONTROL >
> FILESYSTEM Add a new DWORD value - "NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate"
> (without quotes) and set the value to 1. Then reboot to make changes
> effective
>
> Disable Disc Indexing, Indexing Service is a service that extracts the
> information from a set of documents and organizes it in a way that makes
> it quick and easy to access that information through the Windows XP
> Search function, the Indexing Service query form, or a Web browser. This
> information can include text from within a document, (its contents), and
> the characteristics and parameters of the document, (its properties),
> such as the author's name. Once the index is created, you can search, or
> query the index for documents that contain key words, phrases, or
> properties.
>
> Do Not Map Through Soundcard, Start > Settings > Control Panel > Sounds
> and Audio Devices > Hardware Tab > (highlight your soundcard from the
> list) > Properties > Audio Devices > (highlight your soundcard from the
> list) > Properties, and check the "Do not map through this device"
> checkbox.
>
>
>
--
Chris Ludwig
ADK
chrisl@adkproaudio.com <mailto:chrisl@adkproaudio.com>
www.adkproaudio.com <http://www.adkproaudio.com/>
(859) 635-5762
|
|
|
|
| Re: XP tweaks? [message #62856 is a reply to message #62825] |
Wed, 11 January 2006 04:46 |
John [1]
Messages: 2229
Registered: September 2005
|
Senior Member |
|
|
These tweaks were taken from pages that were specific to xp and even
intentionally left out things like vcache that now longer have any
effect. My impression is that these should make a difference though the
sites of course could be wrong. Many of these did come from musicxp.net
too. Anything specific that won't make a difference?
John
Chris Ludwig wrote:
> HI John,
>
> Most of this info looks like it's from 98SE and windows 2000.
> The tuning tips page on www.musicxp.net is all you really have to do.
> Anything else will have no or very little positive impact.
> Don't over tweak!!!
> :)
>
> Chris
>
>
>
> John wrote:
>
>> Comments?
>>
>>
>> See below ------- for descriptions
>>
>> 2 audio Partitions
>
>
> No Point at all. The second partition will be just as slow as if you
> left the drive as a full partition. Also if you were trying to write to
> both partitions at once your gonna kill the throughput of the drive big
> time. You will also add to to the confusion of have to always be moving
> files back and forth.
>
>> Use NTFS drives with 64k clusters
>
> Very Very minor difference.
>
>> In BIOS disable USB, LPT1, Serial port
>
>
> You shouldn't ever need to disable the USB ports unless your motherboard
> is not functioning properly. I usually disable the serial port and LPT
> sense I haven't used on of these in years.
>
>> Remove Messenger
>
>
> No point if it not running it is not effecting the system. Just disable
> it from start when windows starts.
>
>
>> Classic Mode
>
>
> Only if you don't like the look of the new xp theme. You will save a
> little bit of ram and thats about it. If you have a really old video
> card then you might need to use this mode.
>
>> Classic Start Menu
>
>
> Ditto
>
>
>> Disable Screen Savers
>
>
> Yep
>
>> Power Schemes: you can have the monitor turn off but set Turn Hard
>
>
> yes
>
>> Drives off to NEVER
>
>
> yes
>
>> Disable Hibernation
>
>
> yes
>
>> Disable automatic update
>
>
> yes
>
>
>> Disable system restore
>
>
> yes but not until you are sure everything is running stable. Such as a
> fresh install of xp.
> Then just us drive imaging software to do roll backs.
>
>> Disable the Computer Browser in Services to improve mapped drive
>> browsing.
>
>
> pointless
>
>> Disable your network card by right clicking on the nic icon
>
>
> Same as USB. Unless you are having specific issues with there is no
> point. I personally would be able to work with out. At least not easily.
>
>> Defrag regularly
>
>
> Only system drive!!!!
>
>
>> Keep your desktop clean
>
>
>
> That will never happen ...:)
>
>> No wallpapers
>
>
> Makes no difference. You'll save a minor amount of ram.
>
>
>> No screensavers
>
>
> yep
>
>> Set video to highest color depth
>
>
>
> yes most all video cards are native 32 bit. If you have on that doesn't
> work well with that setting then your video sucks.
>
>> Visual Effects for best performance
>
>
> Yes. Otherwise known as Classic Mode
>
>
>> Processor Scheduling for Background Services
>
>
> YES YES this is the only real tweak that makes the most difference.
>
>> Uncheck Remote Assitance
>
>
> I would but I use it allot. It has no impact unless you are using and
> its impact is minor.
>
>> Increase your IRQ priority
>
>
> No point. Worked well on 98 and on older motherboards but doesn't have
> any effect on current hardware.
>
>
>> Turn off your visual effects
>
>
> Your repeating yourself
>
>
>> Disable Error Reporting
>
>
> Make sure you leave the critical notification checked.
>
>
>> Disable Power Management
>
>
> As mentioned above yes
>
>
>> Set graphic acceleration to full
>
>
> Yes. You should never set it to anything else. When you do this you are
> tell the video card top let the CPU do all the work instead.
>
>
>> Disable your system sounds
>
>
> Of course
>
>
>> Disable background applications
>
>
> Depends on what you mean by that.
>
>> Specify your own virtual memory settings, If you have 512MB RAM or
>> higher set this to 384 for Min and Max on same drive as XP
>
>
> No. That was go good setting for 98 but not for XP. I usually set it to
> double or 3x the ram in the system but set the min/max to the same. If
> I'm using more than 2 gigs then I just set it to equal the amount of ram.
>
>
>> Disable auto-insert notification
>
>
> No point unless your system is really slow.
>
>> Disable USB
>
>
> Doh not again
>
>
>> Graphical window settings
>
>
> What?
>
>
>> Remove Taskbar popup baloon
>
> Why? You won't be able to mouse over the icon to see what it is as easily.
>
>> Speed up Menus
>
>
> If you want but I think they fast enough.
>
>
>> Disable offline files
>
>
> It will save disk space thats about it.
> Un-checking "use fast user switching will a more useful effect by not
> loading as much user info into ram if you have multiple account on the
> system.
>
>> Disable Internet Synchronise Time
>
>
> If you want but it won't have any effect on performance.
>
>
>> Disable Hide Inactive Icons
>
>
> Yes
>
>> Disable Automatic Desktop Cleanup Wizard
>
>
> Yes just because is annoying.
>
>> Disable NTFS Last Access Time Logging (NTFS Only)
>
>
> It helps a little but you probably won't be able to see a difference.
>
>
>> Disable disc indexing
>
>
> Yes
>
>> Maker sure DMA mode is enabled on drives
>
>
> Shouldn't be an issues at all on a current motherboard but might be on
> older motherboards running xp.
>
>
>> Do Not Map through Soundcard
>
>
> No
>
>>
>> Restart your machine at this point in time. When you come back the
>> first thing you should do is defrag the main drive even if it doesn't
>> say it needs it. This way the swap file has been truly set and you're
>> ready to continue.
>>
>
> If this is a fresh install and you have run disk clean up then yes this
> can make sense.
>
>
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------
>>
>> Partitioning. A useful tip when configuring your audio disc, is to
>> split this into two partitions. Set up a smaller "audio scratch"
>> partition - say 6GB of a 30GB hard disc. This partition will be used
>> for the songs that you are currently working on. The benefit of a
>> smaller partition is obviously quicker defragmentation. If you use the
>> entire 30GB as one partition, then this will take ages to defragment.
>> When you are finished with a song, transfer the audio files to the
>> non-scratch partition, where disc I/O performance isn't so critical.
>>
>> Messenger starts up at the windows load up but we can get rid of that
>> in no time at all..
>> Start Menu>Run
>> Type this in exactly as it is here:
>> RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
>> Hit Enter...you will see a DOS-like shell appear and disappear very
>> quickly and then it will ask you to restart.
>>
>> Right-click on your desktop, and then click Properties.
>> Click on Themes tab
>> Set Themes to Windows Classic
>>
>> Also do this for the Start Menu:
>> Right-click the Start button, and then click Properties.
>> Click Classic Start menu.
>> Click the Customize button to select items to display on the Start menu.
>> By default, selecting the Classic Start menu also adds the My
>> Documents, My Computer, My Network Places, and Internet Explorer icons
>> to your desktop.
>>
>> Click on the Screen Saver tab, Set Screensaver to None, Press the
>> Power button near the bottom
>>
>> Hibernate..If this is Enabled uncheck it. This is mainly for Laptops
>> but uses a very large chunk of data.(I've seen this not show up on the
>> first boot of XP..when you restart it will be there but it's disabled)
>>
>> Disable automatic update - Since Windows XP will connect to the
>> internet to find updates automatically for you, you will want to
>> disable this. Sometimes beneficial but unnecessary and often annoying,
>> you can ditch it by going to Start » Settings » Control Panel »
>> Performance and Maintenance » Automatic Updates and select "Turn off
>> automatic updates".
>>
>> Disable system restore - Windows XP has a built in function to back up
>> system files to help reduce the risk of crashes due to lost data,
>> software conflicts and so on. The drawback, is that a fair bit of
>> system overhead is used to perform this and can be disabled if you
>> choose by right clicking on "My Computer", clicking on "Properties" »
>> "System Restore" and choosing "Turn off system restore on all drives."
>>
>> Advanced tab: Press Settings tab under Performance Visual Affects tab:
>> set to Adjust for Best Performance.
>> Advanced tab: Processor Scheduling: Set this for Background Services
>>
>> ----------------------------------------
>> Increase your IRQ priority - You can increase the IRQ priority of the
>> real-time CMOS clock to gain some system performance by doing the
>> following:
>> 1.) First create a text file with the extension .reg
>> 2.) Paste the following into the file:
>>
>> REGEDIT4
>> [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Priorit yControl]
>> "IRQ8Priority"=dword:00000001
>>
>> 3.) Double-click on the file to enter the tweak into your registry.
>>
>> This can be un-installed should you need to by repeating the three
>> steps above with a new file, except this time use the following in
>> your .reg file:
>>
>> [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Priorit yControl]
>> "IRQ8Priority"=dword:00000000
>> ----------------------------------------
>>
>> Turn off your visual effects (aka, eye-candy) - This can be done by
>> going to "Control Panel" » "System" » "Advanced" » "Performance
>> Settings" » "Visual Effects". Select "Custom" and deselect the visual
>> effect options. Next, set the Windows theme to "Classic". It'll make
>> your OS look a bit more boring (and less like a Barbie toy), by right
>> clicking on your desktop, and selecting "Properties", select "Windows
>> theme" and choose "Classic".
>>
>> Disable Error Reporting - You can use this for troubleshooting, but
>> you can also disable it. Go to "Control Panel" » "System" » "Advanced"
>> and choose "Disable" to disable error reporting.
>>
>> Disable Power Management - Power management can be disabled by going
>> Start» Settings » Control Panel » Power Management. Set the Power
>> Scheme to "Always On" and set "System Standby", "Turn off hard disks"
>> and "Turn off monitor" to "Never".
>>
>> Disable Screen Savers - Screen savers can cause unexpected performance
>> glitches, so you'll want to disable them. Disable any screen savers by
>> right clicking on your desktop and right clicking » Click on
>> "Properties" » Click on the "Screen Saver" tab and set it to "None".
>>
>> Set graphic acceleration to full - You can do this by going to your
>> desktop, right clicking and clicking on "Properties" then on
>> "Settings", "Advanced" and the "Performance" tab. Make sure the
>> Hardware Acceleration slider is set to "full" to reduce the load on
>> your CPU.
>>
>> Disable your system sounds - Go to Start» Settings » Control Panel »
>> Sounds and select "No Sounds" as the sound scheme.
>>
>> Disable background applications - Background applications start up
>> when your computer starts up and can use up unneccicary resources. To
>> prevent these from starting up go to Start » Run and type "msconfig"
>> in the run box. Click on the "startup tab" and disable (uncheck)
>> programs such as "taskmon", "load power profile", "real player",
>> "office startup", "winamp agent" and so on. Keep programs like "scan
>> registry", "system tray" and programs relating to interfacing with
>> your audio card (such as console software to control its features).
>>
>> Specify your own virtual memory settings - You can tell Windows to set
>> your virtual memory settings to a fixed size so that it will not
>> re-size its swap file as you work (causing glitches with your audio).
>> To do this, right click on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop and
>> select "Properties". Click on the "Performance" tab and select
>> "Virtual Memory". Click on "Let me Specify my own virtual memory
>> settings" and for hard disk select your "working disk" (generally the
>> fastest one you use in your system for audio) and set the "minimum"
>> RAM to twice the amount of physical RAM in your system. If you have
>> 256 megabyts, set it to 512. The "Maximum" will already be set for you
>> as the remainder of the free space on your drive. Windows will warn
>> you once you click "ok" (ignore the warning) and you will have to
>> reboot before the settings take efect.
>>
>> Disable auto-insert notification - Disabling this for all of your
>> CDROM/DVD-ROM/CDR drives will be benificial. To do this, right click
>> on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop and select "Properties".
>> Click on the "Device Manager" tab and locate your CD-ROM/DVD-ROM
>> drives under the CD-ROM section. Click on "Properties" for each drive
>> and un-check "Auto Instert Notification". You will likely have to
>> reboot for these settings to take effect.
>>
>> Disable USB - If you do not have any devices actively using USB in
>> your system (this includes dongles for your software), disable USB as
>> it is known to sometimes cause problems in certain DAW configurations.
>> Not only will this help to increase system performance, but it will
>> also free up an IRQ. Right click on your "My Computer" icon on your
>> desktop and select "Properties". Click on the "Device Manager" tab and
>> scroll down until you see the USB section. Click on the "Properties"
>> for the USB device and check off "Disable in this Hardware Profile".
>> You will have to reboot for these settings to take effect.
>>
>> Graphical window settings - Go to Start » Settings » Folder options
>> and click on the "View" tab. Under "Visual settings" check off "Show
>> window contents while dragging. This is more of a usability tweak, as
>> it will allow you to see the contents of windows on the screen as you
>> drag them around (instead of them going blank).
>>
>> Now, let's stop that annoying balloon from popping up from our system
>> tray, Click Start , click Run , type regedit , and then press
>> ENTER. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
>> CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced Right-click the right pane, create a
>> new DWORD value, and then name it EnableBalloonTips . Double-click
>> this new entry, and then give it a hexadecimal value of 0 . Quit
>> Registry Editor. Log off Windows, and then log back on.
>>
>> Speed Up Menus
>> You can use this tip to speed up the Start Menu in Windows XP. You can
>> customize the speed of the Start Menu by editing a Registry Key. Click
>> Start, and then click Run. Type Regedit in the box, and then click OK.
>> Expand the menu in the left panel and select the
>> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop folder. Scroll down in the
>> right panel and double click on the MenuShowDelay file. In the Value
>> Data box, change to default value for the menu speed from 400 to a
>> lesser number, such as 1. Click OK.
>>
>> Disable Offline Files. Start > Settings > Control Panel > Folder
>> Options > Offline Files > Untick "Enable Offline Files"
>>
>> Disable Internet Synchronise Time -- Start > Settings > Control Panel
>> > Date and Time > Internet Time > Untick "Automatically synchronize
>> with an internet time server"
>>
>> Disable Hide Inactive Icons, Start > Settings > Taskbar and Start
>> Menu > Taskbar TAB > Uncheck "Hide Inactive Icons"
>>
>> Disable Automatic Desktop Cleanup Wizard, Start > Settings > Control
>> Panel > Display > Desktop > Customise Desktop > Untick "Run Desktop
>> Cleanup Wizard every 60 days"
>>
>> Disable NTFS Last Access Time Logging (NTFS Only), Start > Run >
>> regedit > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CURRENTCONTROLSET > CONTROL >
>> FILESYSTEM Add a new DWORD value - "NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate"
>> (without quotes) and set the value to 1. Then reboot to make changes
>> effective
>>
>> Disable Disc Indexing, Indexing Service is a service that extracts
>> the information from a set of documents and organizes it in a way that
>> makes it quick and easy to access that information through the Windows
>> XP Search function, the Indexing Service query form, or a Web browser.
>> This information can include text from within a document, (its
>> contents), and the characteristics and parameters of the document,
>> (its properties), such as the author's name. Once the index is
>> created, you can search, or query the index for documents that contain
>> key words, phrases, or properties.
>>
>> Do Not Map Through Soundcard, Start > Settings > Control Panel >
>> Sounds and Audio Devices > Hardware Tab > (highlight your soundcard
>> from the list) > Properties > Audio Devices > (highlight your
>> soundcard from the list) > Properties, and check the "Do not map
>> through this device" checkbox.
>>
>>
>>
>
|
|
|
|
| Re: XP tweaks? [message #62911 is a reply to message #62856] |
Wed, 11 January 2006 16:17 |
John [1]
Messages: 2229
Registered: September 2005
|
Senior Member |
|
|
I rewrote them to reflect the musicxp.com site. I hope they help
musicxp.com tips
Processor Scheduling for Background Services
Visual Effects for best performance
Switch Off Desktop Background Image
Disable Screen Saver
Disable Fast User Switching
Switch Off Power Schemes
Switch Off Hibernation
Disable System Sounds
Do Not Map Through Soundcard
Disable System Restore
Disable Automatic Updates
Startup and Recovery Options
Disable Error Reporting
Disable Remote Assistance
Fixed Swap File (Virtual Memory)
Speed up Menus
Disable Offline Files
Disable Remote Desktop
Disable Internet Synchronise Time
Disable Hide Inactive Icons
Disable Automatic Desktop Cleanup Wizard
Disable NTFS Last Access Time Logging (NTFS Only)
Disable Notification Area Balloon Tips
Disable CDROM Autoplay
Disable Disc Indexing
-----------------------------------------
Additional tips
-----------------------------------------
2 audio Partitions
Use NTFS drives with 64k clusters
In BIOS disable USB, LPT1, Serial port
Remove Messenger
Classic Mode
Classic Start Menu
Power Schemes: you can have the monitor turn off but set Turn Hard
Drives off to NEVER
Disable the Computer Browser in Services to improve mapped drive browsing.
Disable your network card by right clicking on the nic icon
Defrag regularly
Keep your desktop clean
No wallpapers
Set video to highest color depth
Increase your IRQ priority
Disable Power Management
Set graphic acceleration to full
Disable background applications
Disable USB
Graphical window settings
Disable NTFS Last Access Time Logging (NTFS Only)
Maker sure DMA mode is enabled on drives
Restart your machine at this point in time. When you come back the first
thing you should do is defrag the main drive even if it doesn't say it
needs it. This way the swap file has been truly set and you're ready to
continue.
Details
------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------
Processor scheduling should be set to background services and not Programs.
Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Advanced > Performance
Settings > Advanced Tab > Background Services
Advanced tab: Press Settings tab under Performance Visual Effects tab:
set to Adjust for Best Performance.
Switch Off Desktop Background Image
Right Click Desktop > Properties > Desktop Tab > Background None
Click on the Screen Saver tab, Set Screensaver to None, Press the Power
button near the bottom
Disable Fast User Switching
Start > Settings > Control Panel > User Accounts > Change the way users
log on or off > Untick Use Fast User Switching
Switch Off Power Schemes
Start > Settings > Control Panel > Power Options > Always On > Turn off
monitor and turn off hard discs to Never
Switch Off Hibernation
Start > Settings > Control Panel > Power Options > Hibernate > Untick
Hibernation
Disable System Sounds
Start > Settings > Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Sounds Tab
> Sound Scheme to None.
Do Not Map Through Soundcard
Start > Settings > Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Hardware
Tab > (highlight your soundcard from the list) > Properties > Audio
Devices > (highlight your soundcard from the list) > Properties, and
check the "Do not map through this device" checkbox.
Disable System Restore
Start > Settings > Control Panel> System > System Restore Tab. Tick the
"Turn off System Restore on all Drives"
Disable Automatic Updates
Switch off Automatic Updates by going to Control Panel, System,
Automatic Updates and ticking the box labelled "Turn off automatic
updating. I want to update my computer manually."
Startup and Recovery Options
Right click My Computer and click on Properties > Advanced > Start Up &
Recovery Settings and uncheck "Automatically Restart".
Disable Error Reporting
Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Advanced TAB > Error
Reporting > Click the Disable Error Reporting box (Tick the "But Notify
Me When Critical Errors Occur" if you prefer)
Disable Remote Assistance
Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Remote > Untick "Allow
Remote Assistance Invitations to be sent from this computer"
Fixed Swap File (Virtual Memory)
Select the Advanced tab of the Systems applet and then select the
Performance settings button. Then select the Advanced page. In here it
is possible to customise the Virtual Memory. For custom size, this is
often recommended to be 1.5 to 2 times the amount of your total RAM for
both initial and maximum size. Set this to a fixed minimum and maximum
value according to your existing RAM
Speed Up Menus
You can use this tip to speed up the Start Menu in Windows XP. You can
customize the speed of the Start Menu by editing a Registry Key. Click
Start, and then click Run. Type Regedit in the box, and then click OK.
Expand the menu in the left panel and select the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop folder. Scroll down in the right
panel and double click on the MenuShowDelay file. In the Value Data box,
change to default value for the menu speed from 400 to a lesser number,
such as 1. Click OK.
Disable Offline Files
Start > Settings > Control Panel > Folder Options > Offline Files >
Untick "Enable Offline Files"
Disable Remote Desktop
Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Remote > Untick "Allow users
to connect remotely to this computer"
Disable Internet Synchronise Time
Start > Settings > Control Panel > Date and Time > Internet Time >
Untick "Automatically synchronize with an internet time server"
Disable Hide Inactive Icons
Start > Settings > Taskbar and Start Menu > Taskbar TAB > Uncheck "Hide
Inactive Icons"
Disable Automatic Desktop Cleanup Wizard
Start > Settings > Control Panel > Display > Desktop > Customise Desktop
> Untick "Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 days"
Disable NTFS Last Access Time Logging (NTFS Only)
Start > Run > regedit > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CURRENTCONTROLSET
> CONTROL > FILESYSTEM Add a new DWORD value -
"NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate" (without quotes) and set the value to 1.
Then reboot to make changes effective
Disable Notification Area Balloon Tips
Click Start , click Run , type regedit , and then press ENTER.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced Right-click the right pane, create a
new DWORD value, and then name it EnableBalloonTips . Double-click this
new entry, and then give it a hexadecimal value of 0 . Quit Registry
Editor. Log off Windows, and then log back on.
----------------------------------------------
Disable CDROM Autoplay
One of the very important (and well documented) tweaks in Windows 98SE,
was to disable CDROM autoplay (auto insert notification). Disabling
CDROM autoplay no longer offers a significant performance benefit in
Windows XP, and therefore you do not need to disable it. Just don't
insert a CD during a crucial recording.
However, if you really want to disable it then here a few different methods.
Method 1
Start > Run > Regedit
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdrom
Set autorun to 0.
Method 2
Open My Computer Right Click on each CDROM and choose Properties Click
on the Auto Play tab In the drop down box you can choose the Action for
each choice shown in the drop down box
Method 3
Go to Start->Run->gpedit.msc Computer Config -> Administrative Template
-> System Double click Turn off Autoplay Enable it.
----------------------------------------------
Disable Disc Indexing
Indexing Service is a service that extracts the information from a set
of documents and organizes it in a way that makes it quick and easy to
access that information through the Windows XP Search function, the
Indexing Service query form, or a Web browser.
This information can include text from within a document, (its
contents), and the characteristics and parameters of the document, (its
properties), such as the author's name. Once the index is created, you
can search, or query the index for documents that contain key words,
phrases, or properties.
-----------------------------------------
Additional tips Descriptions
-----------------------------------------
Partitioning. A useful tip when configuring your audio disc, is to
split this into two partitions. Set up a smaller "audio scratch"
partition - say 6GB of a 30GB hard disc. This partition will be used for
the songs that you are currently working on. The benefit of a smaller
partition is obviously quicker defragmentation. If you use the entire
30GB as one partition, then this will take ages to defragment. When you
are finished with a song, transfer the audio files to the non-scratch
partition, where disc I/O performance isn't so critical.
Messenger starts up at the windows load up but we can get rid of that in
no time at all..
Start Menu>Run
Type this in exactly as it is here:
RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
Hit Enter...you will see a DOS-like shell appear and disappear very
quickly and then it will ask you to restart.
Right-click on your desktop, and then click Properties.
Click on Themes tab
Set Themes to Windows Classic
Also do this for the Start Menu:
Right-click the Start button, and then click Properties.
Click Classic Start menu.
Click the Customize button to select items to display on the Start menu.
By default, selecting the Classic Start menu also adds the My Documents,
My Computer, My Network Places, and Internet Explorer icons to your
desktop.
----------------------------------------
Increase your IRQ priority - You can increase the IRQ priority of the
real-time CMOS clock to gain some system performance by doing the following:
1.) First create a text file with the extension .reg
2.) Paste the following into the file:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Priorit yControl]
"IRQ8Priority"=dword:00000001
3.) Double-click on the file to enter the tweak into your registry.
This can be un-installed should you need to by repeating the three steps
above with a new file, except this time use the following in your .reg file:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Priorit yControl]
"IRQ8Priority"=dword:00000000
----------------------------------------
Disable Power Management - Power management can be disabled by going
Start» Settings » Control Panel » Power Management. Set the Power Scheme
to "Always On" and set "System Standby", "Turn off hard disks" and "Turn
off monitor" to "Never".
Set graphic acceleration to full - You can do this by going to your
desktop, right clicking and clicking on "Properties" then on "Settings",
"Advanced" and the "Performance" tab. Make sure the Hardware
Acceleration slider is set to "full" to reduce the load on your CPU.
Disable background applications - Background applications start up when
your computer starts up and can use up unneccicary resources. To prevent
these from starting up go to Start » Run and type "msconfig" in the run
box. Click on the "startup tab" and disable (uncheck) programs such as
"taskmon", "load power profile", "real player", "office startup",
"winamp agent" and so on. Keep programs like "scan registry", "system
tray" and programs relating to interfacing with your audio card (such as
console software to control its features).
Disable USB - If you do not have any devices actively using USB in your
system (this includes dongles for your software), disable USB as it is
known to sometimes cause problems in certain DAW configurations. Not
only will this help to increase system performance, but it will also
free up an IRQ. Right click on your "My Computer" icon on your desktop
and select "Properties". Click on the "Device Manager" tab and scroll
down until you see the USB section. Click on the "Properties" for the
USB device and check off "Disable in this Hardware Profile". You will
have to reboot for these settings to take effect.
Graphical window settings - Go to Start » Settings » Folder options and
click on the "View" tab. Under "Visual settings" check off "Show window
contents while dragging. This is more of a usability tweak, as it will
allow you to see the contents of windows on the screen as you drag them
around (instead of them going blank).
Disable NTFS Last Access Time Logging (NTFS Only), Start > Run >
regedit > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CURRENTCONTROLSET > CONTROL >
FILESYSTEM Add a new DWORD value - "NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate"
(without quotes) and set the value to 1. Then reboot to make changes
effective
|
|
|
|
| Re: XP tweaks? [message #62926 is a reply to message #62911] |
Wed, 11 January 2006 21:58 |
Chris Ludwig
Messages: 868
Registered: May 2006
|
Senior Member |
|
|
HI John,
Sorry my first post seemed a bit pushy. I just don't to see people
over tweak systems and end up with more problems than they started with...:)
Any more tweaks other than ones I said yes too are pretty questionable
as to being useful on a DAW.
Chris
John wrote:
> I rewrote them to reflect the musicxp.com site. I hope they help
>
>
> musicxp.com tips
>
> Processor Scheduling for Background Services
Yes This is the most important one. Especially for ASIO based sound cards.
> Visual Effects for best performance
Yep Frees up some ram and can make older video cards perform better
> Switch Off Desktop Background Image
na unless your background is a huge BMP that takes lots of ram
> Disable Screen Saver
yep
> Disable Fast User Switching
yes save a bunch of ram if you use multiple accts.
> Switch Off Power Schemes
Yes
> Switch Off Hibernation
Yes
> Disable System Sounds
Oh yes .. nothing like having a windows beep reset your sample rate to
22k while your recording
> Do Not Map Through Soundcard
No point in doing this unless you are trying to trouble shoot something.
> Disable System Restore
Yes but I wouldn;t do it till after you install all your drivers
software etc and your are sure the system is running well. Then it is
OK. At that point make a drive image of the system and put it in safe
place!!!
\
> Disable Automatic Updates
Yes. BUt don't disable the service just turn it off in the control panel.
> Startup and Recovery Options
> Disable Error Reporting
Yes but leave the critical error notification checked.
> Disable Remote Assistance
Doesn't matter but it won't hurt. I use it all the time on my machines
at home and if I need stuff from work. It's a great thing to use if you
have a old system or laptop and want to remotely control your DAW such
as in a vocal booth.
> Fixed Swap File (Virtual Memory)
Yep. I usually set it to 1536 min/max for up to 1gig or ram and 2048 for
2 gig and above. Never saw and change in the system past that other than
hard drive space being used.
> Speed up Menus
I guess. Personally I think they fats enough ..:)
> Disable Offline Files
I will save some disk space if you are on th internet allot.
> Disable Remote Desktop
Same as remote assistance
> Disable Internet Synchronise Time
If your not on the Internet then yes.
> Disable Hide Inactive Icons
Yes. Some important icons can't been seen with it on.
> Disable Automatic Desktop Cleanup Wizard
Yes. It's annoying.
> Disable NTFS Last Access Time Logging (NTFS Only)
Yes. But it has a very minor and probably unnoticeable on current systems.
> Disable Notification Area Balloon Tips
Nah unless you have a very slow machine and/or video card.
> Disable CDROM Autoplay
Hasn't ever been an issue for me in XP It might effect things on slower
machines.
> Disable Disc Indexing
Yes.
>
> -----------------------------------------
> Additional tips
> -----------------------------------------
>
> 2 audio Partitions
Seems like waste of space and time sense you will always be moving stuff
around the time. The newer 16 meg cache drives start at 52 megs or so
and slow down to maybe 40 near the end of the drive so I don't see being
a big deal. Older drives may benefit from it.
> Use NTFS drives with 64k clusters
Yes. It does seem to help with streaming large file chunks.
DON'T do this to the system drive if you are using a 3rd party format
utility. Only do it on audio drives.
> In BIOS disable USB, LPT1, Serial port
The LPT and serial ports I could see. I need USB so not an option. Some
older Intel and AMD motherboards did have issues with USB chip sets but
I'm talking like 4/5 years ago. If your not using the USB you might you
might as well disable it. EDS cards don't share IRQ DMA resources as
well as more current devices so they might work better with no USB. My
machine has 2 UADS 1 Powercore (old one) , and a Fireface. Every slot
shares with some USB sense there are 8 USB ports. No problems.
> Remove Messenger
Other than saving maybe 10 megs of hard drive space. If it is running
just go into it's options at set it not to start up at boot and it is of
no concern.
UNder SP2 Messenger is already set to not start on boot.
> Classic Mode
If you mean the windows classic them e then don't bother sense you
already set visual setting to best performance which is basically
windows classic.
> Classic Start Menu
If you don't like the navigation of the current one then yes.
> Power Schemes: you can have the monitor turn off but set Turn Hard
Yep. I turn them all off. Burn in isnt ans issue on LCDs just CRTs.
> Drives off to NEVER
yep as stated above
> Disable the Computer Browser in Services to improve mapped drive browsing.
Don't bother. This would only be an issue if you had large network
folder shares. Pretty rare in an audio setup.
> Disable your network card by right clicking on the nic icon
If you really want to have it not be there. The install the drivers as
normal then disable it in the BIOS. Disabling it in windows does not
prevent it from using memory/IRQ and power resources.
> Defrag regularly
You shouldn't defrag your audio drives. You only should do your system
drive and only if it says you need too.
> Keep your desktop clean
I guess but thats never worked for me
> No wallpapers
ONly if you want to save a couple of megs of ram
> Set video to highest color depth
Yes 32 bit is the native resolution of all current video s cards and
they will all work better at the setting.
> Increase your IRQ priority
Maybe on a really old motherboard
> Disable Power Management
yep
> Set graphic acceleration to full
Hell yes. I don;t want the CPU to do the work of the video card.
> Disable background applications
Thats kind of a gray area but yes I guess all only essential ones.
> Disable USB
see above
> Graphical window settings
I assume you mean visual performance setting. If so then see above.
> Disable NTFS Last Access Time Logging (NTFS Only)
already covered
> Maker sure DMA mode is enabled on drives
Should only be an issue on older motherboards or older chipset drivers.
Haven't seen this as an issue in couple of years.
>
> Restart your machine at this point in time. When you come back the first
> thing you should do is defrag the main drive even if it doesn't say it
> needs it. This way the swap file has been truly set and you're ready to
> continue.\
If you want too. Don;t think it will make a difference.
>
>
> Details
> ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------
>
> Processor scheduling should be set to background services and not Programs.
> Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Advanced > Performance
> Settings > Advanced Tab > Background Services
>
> Advanced tab: Press Settings tab under Performance Visual Effects tab:
> set to Adjust for Best Performance.
>
> Switch Off Desktop Background Image
> Right Click Desktop > Properties > Desktop Tab > Background None
>
> Click on the Screen Saver tab, Set Screensaver to None, Press the Power
> button near the bottom
>
> Disable Fast User Switching
> Start > Settings > Control Panel > User Accounts > Change the way users
> log on or off > Untick Use Fast User Switching
>
> Switch Off Power Schemes
> Start > Settings > Control Panel > Power Options > Always On > Turn off
> monitor and turn off hard discs to Never
>
> Switch Off Hibernation
> Start > Settings > Control Panel > Power Options > Hibernate > Untick
> Hibernation
>
> Disable System Sounds
> Start > Settings > Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Sounds Tab
> > Sound Scheme to None.
>
> Do Not Map Through Soundcard
> Start > Settings > Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Hardware
> Tab > (highlight your soundcard from the list) > Properties > Audio
> Devices > (highlight your soundcard from the list) > Properties, and
> check the "Do not map through this device" checkbox.
>
> Disable System Restore
> Start > Settings > Control Panel> System > System Restore Tab. Tick the
> "Turn off System Restore on all Drives"
>
> Disable Automatic Updates
> Switch off Automatic Updates by going to Control Panel, System,
> Automatic Updates and ticking the box labelled "Turn off automatic
> updating. I want to update my computer manually."
>
> Startup and Recovery Options
> Right click My Computer and click on Properties > Advanced > Start Up &
> Recovery Settings and uncheck "Automatically Restart".
>
> Disable Error Reporting
> Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Advanced TAB > Error
> Reporting > Click the Disable Error Reporting box (Tick the "But Notify
> Me When Critical Errors Occur" if you prefer)
>
> Disable Remote Assistance
> Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Remote > Untick "Allow
> Remote Assistance Invitations to be sent from this computer"
>
> Fixed Swap File (Virtual Memory)
> Select the Advanced tab of the Systems applet and then select the
> Performance settings button. Then select the Advanced page. In here it
> is possible to customise the Virtual Memory. For custom size, this is
> often recommended to be 1.5 to 2 times the amount of your total RAM for
> both initial and maximum size. Set this to a fixed minimum and maximum
> value according to your existing RAM
>
> Speed Up Menus
> You can use this tip to speed up the Start Menu in Windows XP. You can
> customize the speed of the Start Menu by editing a Registry Key. Click
> Start, and then click Run. Type Regedit in the box, and then click OK.
> Expand the menu in the left panel and select the
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop folder. Scroll down in the right
> panel and double click on the MenuShowDelay file. In the Value Data box,
> change to default value for the menu speed from 400 to a lesser number,
> such as 1. Click OK.
>
> Disable Offline Files
> Start > Settings > Control Panel > Folder Options > Offline Files >
> Untick "Enable Offline Files"
>
> Disable Remote Desktop
> Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Remote > Untick "Allow users
> to connect remotely to this computer"
>
> Disable Internet Synchronise Time
> Start > Settings > Control Panel > Date and Time > Internet Time >
> Untick "Automatically synchronize with an internet time server"
>
> Disable Hide Inactive Icons
> Start > Settings > Taskbar and Start Menu > Taskbar TAB > Uncheck "Hide
> Inactive Icons"
>
> Disable Automatic Desktop Cleanup Wizard
> Start > Settings > Control Panel > Display > Desktop > Customise Desktop
> > Untick "Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 days"
>
> Disable NTFS Last Access Time Logging (NTFS Only)
> Start > Run > regedit > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CURRENTCONTROLSET
> > CONTROL > FILESYSTEM Add a new DWORD value -
> "NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate" (without quotes) and set the value to 1.
> Then reboot to make changes effective
>
> Disable Notification Area Balloon Tips
> Click Start , click Run , type regedit , and then press ENTER.
> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
> CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced Right-click the right pane, create a
> new DWORD value, and then name it EnableBalloonTips . Double-click this
> new entry, and then give it a hexadecimal value of 0 . Quit Registry
> Editor. Log off Windows, and then log back on.
>
> ----------------------------------------------
> Disable CDROM Autoplay
> One of the very important (and well documented) tweaks in Windows 98SE,
> was to disable CDROM autoplay (auto insert notification). Disabling
> CDROM autoplay no longer offers a significant performance benefit in
> Windows XP, and therefore you do not need to disable it. Just don't
> insert a CD during a crucial recording.
>
> However, if you really want to disable it then here a few different
> methods.
>
> Method 1
>
> Start > Run > Regedit
>
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdrom
>
> Set autorun to 0.
>
> Method 2
>
> Open My Computer Right Click on each CDROM and choose Properties Click
> on the Auto Play tab In the drop down box you can choose the Action for
> each choice shown in the drop down box
>
> Method 3
>
> Go to Start->Run->gpedit.msc Computer Config -> Administrative Template
> -> System Double click Turn off Autoplay Enable it.
> ----------------------------------------------
>
> Disable Disc Indexing
> Indexing Service is a service that extracts the information from a set
> of documents and organizes it in a way that makes it quick and easy to
> access that information through the Windows XP Search function, the
> Indexing Service query form, or a Web browser.
>
> This information can include text from within a document, (its
> contents), and the characteristics and parameters of the document, (its
> properties), such as the author's name. Once the index is created, you
> can search, or query the index for documents that contain key words,
> phrases, or properties.
>
>
> -----------------------------------------
> Additional tips Descriptions
> -----------------------------------------
>
> Partitioning. A useful tip when configuring your audio disc, is to
> split this into two partitions. Set up a smaller "audio scratch"
> partition - say 6GB of a 30GB hard disc. This partition will be used for
> the songs that you are currently working on. The benefit of a smaller
> partition is obviously quicker defragmentation. If you use the entire
> 30GB as one partition, then this will take ages to defragment. When you
> are finished with a song, transfer the audio files to the non-scratch
> partition, where disc I/O performance isn't so critical.
>
> Messenger starts up at the windows load up but we can get rid of that in
> no time at all..
> Start Menu>Run
> Type this in exactly as it is here:
> RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
> Hit Enter...you will see a DOS-like shell appear and disappear very
> quickly and then it will ask you to restart.
>
> Right-click on your desktop, and then click Properties.
> Click on Themes tab
> Set Themes to Windows Classic
>
> Also do this for the Start Menu:
> Right-click the Start button, and then click Properties.
> Click Classic Start menu.
> Click the Customize button to select items to display on the Start menu.
> By default, selecting the Classic Start menu also adds the My Documents,
> My Computer, My Network Places, and Internet Explorer icons to your
> desktop.
>
> ----------------------------------------
> Increase your IRQ priority - You can increase the IRQ priority of the
> real-time CMOS clock to gain some system performance by doing the
> following:
> 1.) First create a text file with the extension .reg
> 2.) Paste the following into the file:
>
> REGEDIT4
> [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Priorit yControl]
> "IRQ8Priority"=dword:00000001
>
> 3.) Double-click on the file to enter the tweak into your registry.
>
> This can be un-installed should you need to by repeating the three steps
> above with a new file, except this time use the following in your .reg
> file:
>
> [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Priorit yControl]
> "IRQ8Priority"=dword:00000000
> ----------------------------------------
>
> Disable Power Management - Power management can be disabled by going
> Start» Settings » Control Panel » Power Management. Set the Power Scheme
> to "Always On" and set "System Standby", "Turn off hard disks" and "Turn
> off monitor" to "Never".
>
> Set graphic acceleration to full - You can do this by going to your
> desktop, right clicking and clicking on "Properties" then on "Settings",
> "Advanced" and the "Performance" tab. Make sure the Hardware
> Acceleration slider is set to "full" to reduce the load on your CPU.
>
> Disable background applications - Background applications start up when
> your computer starts up and can use up unneccicary resources. To prevent
> these from starting up go to Start » Run and type "msconfig" in the run
> box. Click on the "startup tab" and disable (uncheck) programs such as
> "taskmon", "load power profile", "real player", "office startup",
> "winamp agent" and so on. Keep programs like "scan registry", "system
> tray" and programs relating to interfacing with your audio card (such as
> console software to control its features).
>
> Disable USB - If you do not have any devices actively using USB in your
> system (this includes dongles for your software), disable USB as it is
> known to sometimes cause problems in certain DAW configurations. Not
> only will this help to increase system performance, but it will also
> free up an IRQ. Right click on your "My Computer" icon on your desktop
> and select "Properties". Click on the "Device Manager" tab and scroll
> down until you see the USB section. Click on the "Properties" for the
> USB device and check off "Disable in this Hardware Profile". You will
> have to reboot for these settings to take effect.
>
> Graphical window settings - Go to Start » Settings » Folder options and
> click on the "View" tab. Under "Visual settings" check off "Show window
> contents while dragging. This is more of a usability tweak, as it will
> allow you to see the contents of windows on the screen as you drag them
> around (instead of them going blank).
>
>
> Disable NTFS Last Access Time Logging (NTFS Only), Start > Run >
> regedit > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CURRENTCONTROLSET > CONTROL >
> FILESYSTEM Add a new DWORD value - "NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate"
> (without quotes) and set the value to 1. Then reboot to make changes
> effective
--
Chris Ludwig
ADK
chrisl@adkproaudio.com <mailto:chrisl@adkproaudio.com>
www.adkproaudio.com <http://www.adkproaudio.com/>
(859) 635-5762
|
|
|
|
| Re: XP tweaks? [message #62934 is a reply to message #62926] |
Thu, 12 January 2006 04:17 |
John [1]
Messages: 2229
Registered: September 2005
|
Senior Member |
|
|
thanks for the great feedback Chris, I'm very appreciative to know what
matters and what doesn't
Chris Ludwig wrote:
>
> HI John,
> Sorry my first post seemed a bit pushy. I just don't to see people over
> tweak systems and end up with more problems than they started with...:)
> Any more tweaks other than ones I said yes too are pretty questionable
> as to being useful on a DAW.
>
> Chris
>
>
> John wrote:
>
>> I rewrote them to reflect the musicxp.com site. I hope they help
>>
>>
>> musicxp.com tips
>>
>> Processor Scheduling for Background Services
>
>
> Yes This is the most important one. Especially for ASIO based sound cards.
>
>> Visual Effects for best performance
>
>
> Yep Frees up some ram and can make older video cards perform better
>
>> Switch Off Desktop Background Image
>
>
> na unless your background is a huge BMP that takes lots of ram
>
>> Disable Screen Saver
>
>
> yep
>
>
>> Disable Fast User Switching
>
>
> yes save a bunch of ram if you use multiple accts.
>
>> Switch Off Power Schemes
>
>
> Yes
>
>
>> Switch Off Hibernation
>
>
> Yes
>
>> Disable System Sounds
>
>
> Oh yes .. nothing like having a windows beep reset your sample rate to
> 22k while your recording
>
>> Do Not Map Through Soundcard
>
>
> No point in doing this unless you are trying to trouble shoot something.
>
>
>> Disable System Restore
>
>
> Yes but I wouldn;t do it till after you install all your drivers
> software etc and your are sure the system is running well. Then it is
> OK. At that point make a drive image of the system and put it in safe
> place!!!
> \
>
>> Disable Automatic Updates
>
>
> Yes. BUt don't disable the service just turn it off in the control panel.
>
>> Startup and Recovery Options
>> Disable Error Reporting
>
>
> Yes but leave the critical error notification checked.
>
>> Disable Remote Assistance
>
>
> Doesn't matter but it won't hurt. I use it all the time on my machines
> at home and if I need stuff from work. It's a great thing to use if you
> have a old system or laptop and want to remotely control your DAW such
> as in a vocal booth.
>
>
>
>> Fixed Swap File (Virtual Memory)
>
>
> Yep. I usually set it to 1536 min/max for up to 1gig or ram and 2048 for
> 2 gig and above. Never saw and change in the system past that other than
> hard drive space being used.
>
>> Speed up Menus
>
>
> I guess. Personally I think they fats enough ..:)
>
>> Disable Offline Files
>
>
> I will save some disk space if you are on th internet allot.
>
>> Disable Remote Desktop
>
>
> Same as remote assistance
>
>> Disable Internet Synchronise Time
>
>
> If your not on the Internet then yes.
>
>> Disable Hide Inactive Icons
>
>
> Yes. Some important icons can't been seen with it on.
>
>> Disable Automatic Desktop Cleanup Wizard
>
>
> Yes. It's annoying.
>
>> Disable NTFS Last Access Time Logging (NTFS Only)
>
>
> Yes. But it has a very minor and probably unnoticeable on current systems.
>
>> Disable Notification Area Balloon Tips
>
>
> Nah unless you have a very slow machine and/or video card.
>
>
>> Disable CDROM Autoplay
>
>
> Hasn't ever been an issue for me in XP It might effect things on slower
> machines.
>
>> Disable Disc Indexing
>
>
> Yes.
>
>>
>> -----------------------------------------
>> Additional tips
>> -----------------------------------------
>>
>> 2 audio Partitions
>
>
> Seems like waste of space and time sense you will always be moving stuff
> around the time. The newer 16 meg cache drives start at 52 megs or so
> and slow down to maybe 40 near the end of the drive so I don't see being
> a big deal. Older drives may benefit from it.
>
>
>> Use NTFS drives with 64k clusters
>
>
> Yes. It does seem to help with streaming large file chunks.
>
> DON'T do this to the system drive if you are using a 3rd party format
> utility. Only do it on audio drives.
>
>
>> In BIOS disable USB, LPT1, Serial port
>
>
> The LPT and serial ports I could see. I need USB so not an option. Some
> older Intel and AMD motherboards did have issues with USB chip sets but
> I'm talking like 4/5 years ago. If your not using the USB you might you
> might as well disable it. EDS cards don't share IRQ DMA resources as
> well as more current devices so they might work better with no USB. My
> machine has 2 UADS 1 Powercore (old one) , and a Fireface. Every slot
> shares with some USB sense there are 8 USB ports. No problems.
>
>
>> Remove Messenger
>
>
> Other than saving maybe 10 megs of hard drive space. If it is running
> just go into it's options at set it not to start up at boot and it is of
> no concern.
> UNder SP2 Messenger is already set to not start on boot.
>
>
>> Classic Mode
>
>
> If you mean the windows classic them e then don't bother sense you
> already set visual setting to best performance which is basically
> windows classic.
>
>
>> Classic Start Menu
>
>
> If you don't like the navigation of the current one then yes.
>
>> Power Schemes: you can have the monitor turn off but set Turn Hard
>
>
> Yep. I turn them all off. Burn in isnt ans issue on LCDs just CRTs.
>
>
>> Drives off to NEVER
>
>
> yep as stated above
>
>> Disable the Computer Browser in Services to improve mapped drive
>> browsing.
>
>
> Don't bother. This would only be an issue if you had large network
> folder shares. Pretty rare in an audio setup.
>
>
>> Disable your network card by right clicking on the nic icon
>
>
> If you really want to have it not be there. The install the drivers as
> normal then disable it in the BIOS. Disabling it in windows does not
> prevent it from using memory/IRQ and power resources.
>
>> Defrag regularly
>
>
>
> You shouldn't defrag your audio drives. You only should do your system
> drive and only if it says you need too.
>
>
>
>> Keep your desktop clean
>
>
> I guess but thats never worked for me
>
>> No wallpapers
>
>
> ONly if you want to save a couple of megs of ram
>
>> Set video to highest color depth
>
>
> Yes 32 bit is the native resolution of all current video s cards and
> they will all work better at the setting.
>
>
>> Increase your IRQ priority
>
>
> Maybe on a really old motherboard
>
>
>> Disable Power Management
>
>
> yep
>
>> Set graphic acceleration to full
>
> Hell yes. I don;t want the CPU to do the work of the video card.
>
>> Disable background applications
>
>
> Thats kind of a gray area but yes I guess all only essential ones.
>
>> Disable USB
>
>
> see above
>
>
>> Graphical window settings
>
>
> I assume you mean visual performance setting. If so then see above.
>
>
>> Disable NTFS Last Access Time Logging (NTFS Only)
>
>
> already covered
>
>> Maker sure DMA mode is enabled on drives
>
>
> Should only be an issue on older motherboards or older chipset drivers.
> Haven't seen this as an issue in couple of years.
>
>>
>> Restart your machine at this point in time. When you come back the
>> first thing you should do is defrag the main drive even if it doesn't
>> say it needs it. This way the swap file has been truly set and you're
>> ready to continue.\
>
>
> If you want too. Don;t think it will make a difference.
>
>
>>
>>
>> Details
>> ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------------------------
>>
>> Processor scheduling should be set to background services and not
>> Programs.
>> Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Advanced > Performance
>> Settings > Advanced Tab > Background Services
>>
>> Advanced tab: Press Settings tab under Performance Visual Effects tab:
>> set to Adjust for Best Performance.
>>
>> Switch Off Desktop Background Image
>> Right Click Desktop > Properties > Desktop Tab > Background None
>>
>> Click on the Screen Saver tab, Set Screensaver to None, Press the
>> Power button near the bottom
>>
>> Disable Fast User Switching
>> Start > Settings > Control Panel > User Accounts > Change the way
>> users log on or off > Untick Use Fast User Switching
>>
>> Switch Off Power Schemes
>> Start > Settings > Control Panel > Power Options > Always On > Turn
>> off monitor and turn off hard discs to Never
>>
>> Switch Off Hibernation
>> Start > Settings > Control Panel > Power Options > Hibernate > Untick
>> Hibernation
>>
>> Disable System Sounds
>> Start > Settings > Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Sounds
>> Tab > Sound Scheme to None.
>>
>> Do Not Map Through Soundcard
>> Start > Settings > Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Hardware
>> Tab > (highlight your soundcard from the list) > Properties > Audio
>> Devices > (highlight your soundcard from the list) > Properties, and
>> check the "Do not map through this device" checkbox.
>>
>> Disable System Restore
>> Start > Settings > Control Panel> System > System Restore Tab. Tick
>> the "Turn off System Restore on all Drives"
>>
>> Disable Automatic Updates
>> Switch off Automatic Updates by going to Control Panel, System,
>> Automatic Updates and ticking the box labelled "Turn off automatic
>> updating. I want to update my computer manually."
>>
>> Startup and Recovery Options
>> Right click My Computer and click on Properties > Advanced > Start Up
>> & Recovery Settings and uncheck "Automatically Restart".
>>
>> Disable Error Reporting
>> Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Advanced TAB > Error
>> Reporting > Click the Disable Error Reporting box (Tick the "But
>> Notify Me When Critical Errors Occur" if you prefer)
>> Disable Remote Assistance
>> Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Remote > Untick "Allow
>> Remote Assistance Invitations to be sent from this computer"
>>
>> Fixed Swap File (Virtual Memory)
>> Select the Advanced tab of the Systems applet and then select the
>> Performance settings button. Then select the Advanced page. In here it
>> is possible to customise the Virtual Memory. For custom size, this is
>> often recommended to be 1.5 to 2 times the amount of your total RAM
>> for both initial and maximum size. Set this to a fixed minimum and
>> maximum value according to your existing RAM
>>
>> Speed Up Menus
>> You can use this tip to speed up the Start Menu in Windows XP. You can
>> customize the speed of the Start Menu by editing a Registry Key. Click
>> Start, and then click Run. Type Regedit in the box, and then click OK.
>> Expand the menu in the left panel and select the
>> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop folder. Scroll down in the
>> right panel and double click on the MenuShowDelay file. In the Value
>> Data box, change to default value for the menu speed from 400 to a
>> lesser number, such as 1. Click OK.
>>
>> Disable Offline Files
>> Start > Settings > Control Panel > Folder Options > Offline Files >
>> Untick "Enable Offline Files"
>>
>> Disable Remote Desktop
>> Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Remote > Untick "Allow
>> users to connect remotely to this computer"
>>
>> Disable Internet Synchronise Time
>> Start > Settings > Control Panel > Date and Time > Internet Time >
>> Untick "Automatically synchronize with an internet time server"
>>
>> Disable Hide Inactive Icons
>> Start > Settings > Taskbar and Start Menu > Taskbar TAB > Uncheck
>> "Hide Inactive Icons"
>>
>> Disable Automatic Desktop Cleanup Wizard
>> Start > Settings > Control Panel > Display > Desktop > Customise
>> Desktop > Untick "Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 days"
>>
>> Disable NTFS Last Access Time Logging (NTFS Only)
>> Start > Run > regedit > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM >
>> CURRENTCONTROLSET > CONTROL > FILESYSTEM Add a new DWORD value -
>> "NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate" (without quotes) and set the value to 1.
>> Then reboot to make changes effective
>>
>> Disable Notification Area Balloon Tips
>> Click Start , click Run , type regedit , and then press ENTER.
>> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
>> CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced Right-click the right pane, create a
>> new DWORD value, and then name it EnableBalloonTips . Double-click
>> this new entry, and then give it a hexadecimal value of 0 . Quit
>> Registry Editor. Log off Windows, and then log back on.
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------
>> Disable CDROM Autoplay
>> One of the very important (and well documented) tweaks in Windows
>> 98SE, was to disable CDROM autoplay (auto insert notification).
>> Disabling CDROM autoplay no longer offers a significant performance
>> benefit in Windows XP, and therefore you do not need to disable it.
>> Just don't insert a CD during a crucial recording.
>>
>> However, if you really want to disable it then here a few different
>> methods.
>>
>> Method 1
>>
>> Start > Run > Regedit
>>
>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdrom
>>
>> Set autorun to 0.
>>
>> Method 2
>>
>> Open My Computer Right Click on each CDROM and choose Properties Click
>> on the Auto Play tab In the drop down box you can choose the Action
>> for each choice shown in the drop down box
>>
>> Method 3
>>
>> Go to Start->Run->gpedit.msc Computer Config -> Administrative
>> Template -> System Double click Turn off Autoplay Enable it.
>> ----------------------------------------------
>>
>> Disable Disc Indexing
>> Indexing Service is a service that extracts the information from a set
>> of documents and organizes it in a way that makes it quick and easy to
>> access that information through the Windows XP Search function, the
>> Indexing Service query form, or a Web browser.
>>
>> This information can include text from within a document, (its
>> contents), and the characteristics and parameters of the document,
>> (its properties), such as the author's name. Once the index is
>> created, you can search, or query the index for documents that contain
>> key words, phrases, or properties.
>>
>>
>> -----------------------------------------
>> Additional tips Descriptions
>> -----------------------------------------
>>
>> Partitioning. A useful tip when configuring your audio disc, is to
>> split this into two partitions. Set up a smaller "audio scratch"
>> partition - say 6GB of a 30GB hard disc. This partition will be used
>> for the songs that you are currently working on. The benefit of a
>> smaller partition is obviously quicker defragmentation. If you use the
>> entire 30GB as one partition, then this will take ages to defragment.
>> When you are finished with a song, transfer the audio files to the
>> non-scratch partition, where disc I/O performance isn't so critical.
>>
>> Messenger starts up at the windows load up but we can get rid of that
>> in no time at all..
>> Start Menu>Run
>> Type this in exactly as it is here:
>> RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove
>> Hit Enter...you will see a DOS-like shell appear and disappear very
>> quickly and then it will ask you to restart.
>>
>> Right-click on your desktop, and then click Properties.
>> Click on Themes tab
>> Set Themes to Windows Classic
>>
>> Also do this for the Start Menu:
>> Right-click the Start button, and then click Properties.
>> Click Classic Start menu.
>> Click the Customize button to select items to display on the Start menu.
>> By default, selecting the Classic Start menu also adds the My
>> Documents, My Computer, My Network Places, and Internet Explorer icons
>> to your desktop.
>>
>> ----------------------------------------
>> Increase your IRQ priority - You can increase the IRQ priority of the
>> real-time CMOS clock to gain some system performance by doing the
>> following:
>> 1.) First create a text file with the extension .reg
>> 2.) Paste the following into the file:
>>
>> REGEDIT4
>> [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Priorit yControl]
>> "IRQ8Priority"=dword:00000001
>>
>> 3.) Double-click on the file to enter the tweak into your registry.
>>
>> This can be un-installed should you need to by repeating the three
>> steps above with a new file, except this time use the following in
>> your .reg file:
>>
>> [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Priorit yControl]
>> "IRQ8Priority"=dword:00000000
>> ----------------------------------------
>>
>> Disable Power Management - Power management can be disabled by going
>> Start» Settings » Control Panel » Power Management. Set the Power
>> Scheme to "Always On" and set "System Standby", "Turn off hard disks"
>> and "Turn off monitor" to "Never".
>>
>> Set graphic acceleration to full - You can do this by going to your
>> desktop, right clicking and clicking on "Properties" then on
>> "Settings", "Advanced" and the "Performance" tab. Make sure the
>> Hardware Acceleration slider is set to "full" to reduce the load on
>> your CPU.
>>
>> Disable background applications - Background applications start up
>> when your computer starts up and can use up unneccicary resources. To
>> prevent these from starting up go to Start » Run and type "msconfig"
>> in the run box. Click on the "startup tab" and disable (uncheck)
>> programs such as "taskmon", "load power profile", "real player",
>> "office startup", "winamp agent" and so on. Keep programs like "scan
>> registry", "system tray" and programs relating to interfacing with
>> your audio card (such as console software to control its features).
>>
>> Disable USB - If you do not have any devices actively using USB in
>> your system (this includes dongles for your software), disable USB as
>> it is known to sometimes cause problems in certain DAW configurations.
>> Not only will this help to increase system performance, but it will
>> also free up an IRQ. Right click on your "My Computer" icon on your
>> desktop and select "Properties". Click on the "Device Manager" tab and
>> scroll down until you see the USB section. Click on the "Properties"
>> for the USB device and check off "Disable in this Hardware Profile".
>> You will have to reboot for these settings to take effect.
>>
>> Graphical window settings - Go to Start » Settings » Folder options
>> and click on the "View" tab. Under "Visual settings" check off "Show
>> window contents while dragging. This is more of a usability tweak, as
>> it will allow you to see the contents of windows on the screen as you
>> drag them around (instead of them going blank).
>>
>>
>> Disable NTFS Last Access Time Logging (NTFS Only), Start > Run >
>> regedit > HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CURRENTCONTROLSET > CONTROL >
>> FILESYSTEM Add a new DWORD value - "NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate"
>> (without quotes) and set the value to 1. Then reboot to make changes
>> effective
>
>
|
|
|
|
Goto Forum:
Current Time: Thu Feb 13 05:58:54 PST 2025
Total time taken to generate the page: 0.03201 seconds
|
The PARIS Forums
Search
Help
Members
Register
Login
Home
