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Forums - Computer music & technology
Subject: XP Tweaks
Viewing all 6 messages - View by pages of 10: 1
Original Message 1/6 07-Jul-03 @ 11:23 PM Edit: 07-Jul-03 | 11:23 PM - XP Tweaks
Only hardcore XP freaks need apply, also attached for easy saving:
___________________________________
WINDOWS XP TWEAKS:
Clean your prefetch to improve performance
This is an unique technique for WinXP. We know that it is necessary to
wash registry and TEMP files for Win9X/ME/2000 periodly.
Prefetch is a new and very useful technique in Windows XP.
However, after using XP some time, the prefetch directory can
get full of junk and obsolete links in the Prefetch catalog, which
can slow down your computer notablely.
My suggestion is: open C(system drive):/windows/prefetch,
delete those junk and obsolete files,reboot.
It is recommended that you do this every month.
Accelerate Your WinXP by Speeding Diskcache
Diskcache plays a very important role in WinXP.
However, the default I/O pagefile setting of XP is conservative,
which limits the performance. Some better values for different RAM are given below.
1. run "regedit";
2. goto [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\IoPageLockLimit];
3. modify the value in Hex depending on the size of your RAM:
RAM: modified value(Hex)
64M: 1000;
128M: 4000;
256M: 10000;
512M or more: 40000.
4. reboot.
Though some good tools (such as "Cacheman") can do this,
it is an interesting experience for you to work it out by yourself and let your XP fly.
XP memory tweaks
Below are some Windows XP memory tweaks.
They are located in the windows registry at:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/ SessionManager/MemoryManagement
DisablePagingExecutive - When enabled, this setting will prevent the paging of the
Win2k Executive files to the hard drive, causing the OS and most programs to be more
responsive. However, it is advised that people should only perform this tweak if they
have a significant amount of RAM on their system (more than 128 MB), because this
setting does use a substantial portion of your system resources. By default, the value
of this key is 0. To enable it, set it to 1.
LargeSystemCache - When enabled (the default on Server versions of Windows 2000),
this setting tells the OS to devote all but 4 MB of system memory (which is left for disk caching)
to the file system cache. The main effect of this is allowing the computer to cache the OS Kernel
to memory, making the OS more responsive. The setting is dynamic and if more than 4 MB is
needed from the disk cache for some reason, the space will be released to it. By default, 8MB is
earmarked for this purpose. This tweak usually makes the OS more responsive. It is a dynamic
setting, and the kernel will give up any space deemed necessary for another application
(at a performance hit when such changes are needed). As with the previous key, set the value
from 0 to 1 to enable. Note that in doing this, you are consuming more of your system RAM
than normal. While LargeSystemCache will cut back usage when other apps need more RAM,
this process can impede performance in certain intensive situations. According to Microsoft,
the "[0] setting is recommended for servers running applications that do their own memory
caching, such as Microsoft SQL Server, and for applications that perform best with ample memory,
such as Internet Information Services."
Disable User Tracking (Windows 2000/XP)
This setting stops Windows from recording user tracking information including
which applications a user runs and which files and documents are being accessed.
Open your registry and find the key below.
Create a new DWORD value named "NoInstrumentation" and set the value equal
to "1" to enable the restriction.
You may need to log-off for the change to take effect.
Note: If this restriction is enabled customized menus and other features
that require user tracking information are disabled.
(Default) REG_SZ (value not set)
NoInstrumentation REG_DWORD 0x00000001 (1)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre
ntVersion\...
Registry Settings
User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr
entVersion\Policies\
Explorer]
System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Cur
rentVersion\Policies\
Explorer]
Value Name: NoInstrumentation
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (1 = enable restriction)
To make Windows XP use L2 cache
By default windows doesn't recognise your L2 cache on processor and doesn't make use of it,
to enable it run regedit and navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Control > Session Manager > MemoryManagment
there is a DWORD called "SecondLevelDataCache" double click it,
select Decimal and set the amount of L2 cache you have
(e.g. if you have 256KB, then just type 256, and make sure you enter it in Decimal, not Hexadecimal)
Faster shutdown of WinXp
[Start] [Run] [Regedit]
Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro
l
Modify/Create the Value Name [WaitToKillServiceTimeout] according to the Value Data listed below.
Data Type: REG_SZ [String Value] // Value Name: WaitToKillServiceTimeout
Value Data: [Default = 20,000 (expressed in milliseconds) Modify to preference.]
*set to 1000*
it will definately speed up the shutdown of your pc.
Exit Registry and Reboot
Teach Xp to Auto-Play VCDs (other?)
"I was a bit disappointed to find out XP could recognize and autoplay DVDs but included
no support for its little brother the VCD.
My disappointment was however short lived, when I stumbled upon a Registry key I'd never
seen before in Win9x. I wrote this document to show how I taught XP to recognize and
automatically play a VCD or SVCD when it is inserted into the CD/DVD drive.
For those who are unfamiliar with VCDs, it's basically a CD that contains movie files. The
VCD (Video CD) format is comparable to the VHS standard in quality and uses MPEG1
standard. The SVCD (Super Video CD) is closer to DVD quality and uses MPEG2 standard.
A full length movie generally occupies 2 to 3 CDs in VCD format or 3 to 4 in SVCD format.
From the number of disk switching you can see why Autoplay recognition is a plus.
The Registry key in question is:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr
entVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\ContentTypeSn
iffers\VideoFilesContentSniffer
and the specific Value name we'll be modifying within this key is "RelPattern" which is
REG_MULTI_SZ (Multiple String). This Value type is properly recognized only by
Regedt32.exe, NOT by Regedit.exe, therefore Regedt32 will be used in this case.
Note that there are quite a few zero terminated strings already in this structure, and when
we add our strings we must take care to preserve those already there. The Edit box pops up
with all elements in there selected, so it's easy to type a single key and wipe out everything
already present. Make sure to click once in the box or use a cursor key so the data gets
deselected first. Then we can add these 4 strings after the last one in the structure:
MPEGAV\AVSEQ01.DAT
MPEG2\AVSEQ01.DAT
MPEGAV\AVSEQ01.MPG
MPEG2\AVSEQ01.MPG
Click OK and exit Regedt32.
All that's left is the association with the executable you want to use to play video files,
such as WMP8 or PowerDVD.
You could simply just leave it in prompt mode, so it asks what you want to use to play
every time a file with this extension is opened.
The VCD/SVCD standard is implemented loosely, but those 4 lines comprise the majority
of disks I've seen. As an aside, I'm of the opinion that this key and its siblings are responsible
for that annoying bug in XP where you're sometimes unable to delete media files.
They are currently being sniffed, so you get the "in use" error.
Another possibility is they are being indexed with that Fastfind reincarnation called Indexing Service.
A quick fix I've found for that is to open a command prompt to the folder you want to delete
the file from, then open Task Manager and End Task on Explorer.exe and/or Cidaemon.exe.
Then delete from the prompt.
Afterwards you can restart the shell from the Task Manager using the New Task button."
Speed up browsing in XP
When you connect to a web site your computer sends information back and forth.
Some of this information deals with resolving the site name to an IP address,
the stuff that TCP/IP really deals with, not words. This is DNS information and
is used so that you will not need to ask for the site location each and every time
you visit the site. Although Windows XP and Windows XP have a pretty efficient
DNS cache, you can increase its overall performance by increasing its size.
You can do this with the registry entries below:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servi
ces\Dnscache\Parameters]
"CacheHashTableBucketSize"=dword:00000001
"CacheHashTableSize"=dword:00000180
"MaxCacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:0000fa00
"MaxSOACacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:0000012d
Make a new text file and rename it to dnscache.reg. Then copy and paste the above
into it and save it. Merge it into the registry.
Brand your copy of xp
Have you used someone's new Hewlet Packard with their OEM version of Windows XP?
You've seen that HP has their own icon in the Start Menu, underneath Run, that goes to
their Help Site. Now, you can have your icon that does anything you want
(website, program, etc) and says anything you want. Basically, you are "branding" Windows XP
(Home or Pro), great for if you are a computer builder and sell them, or you just want to make
Windows XP your own. It involves Regedit.
1. Start up Notepad and creat a new registry file (*.reg) and copy and paste the following into it:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}]
@="YOUR TITLE HERE"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\DefaultIcon]
@="YOUR ICON HERE"
00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00
,68,00,70,00,6c,00,69,00,\
6e,00,6b,00,2e,00,69,00,63,00,6f,00,00,00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\InProcServer32]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00
,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00
,32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,\
64,00,6f,00,63,00,76,00,77,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c
,00,00,00
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\Instance]
"CLSID"="{3f454f0e-42ae-4d7c-8ea3-328250d6e272}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\Instance\InitPropertyBag]
"CLSID"="{13709620-C279-11CE-A49E-444553540000}"
"method"="ShellExecute"
"Command"="YOUR TITLE HERE"
"Param1"="YOUR FUNCTION HERE"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf- 00c04f60b9f0}\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\{2559a1f
6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}]
@=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex\MayChangeDefaultMenu]
@=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\ShellFolder]
"Attributes"=dword:00000000
2. Edit where it says YOUR ICON HERE to a path to an icon (ex. c:\icon.ico),
it must be 24x24 pixels and in *.ico format.
3. Edit both places where it says YOUR TITLE HERE to what you want it to say
in the Start Menu (ex. Elranzer Homepage).
4. Edit where it says YOUR FUNCTION here to what you want it to do when you
click it, it can be anything... your website, a local HTML document, a program,
a Windows funtion, whatever your imagination can provide (ex. http://www.elranzer.com).
5. Save this file as brand.reg, double-click it to enterin your information, and refresh Explorer
(log off/on) to see it in the Start Menu!! This works in both Home and Professional
(and probably 64-Bit Professional) Editions!
Bare minimum services list for gaming!!!
After installing Windows XP and all service packs and applications I am likely to use on it,
I find it useful to disable services I am not likely to use on it to a bare minimum using
MSCONFIG to stop additional CPU/MEM usage going on in the background.
Here is a list of those services that I use, based on the fact that I have a cable
broadband connection that is always on, and a Soundblaster Live Value Soundcard
Go into Start Menu,
Open RUN command, type MSCONFIG
Goto SERVICES tab, select DISABLE ALL, APPLY,
and check the following services to start with Windows and hit APPLY afterwards
DHCP Client - AUTOMATIC
Plug and Play - AUTOMATIC
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) - AUTOMATIC
Windows Audio - AUTOMATIC
There are also a few other services I use but not all the time,
these are listed below and I would either put them on MANUAL
if I use them sometimes or DISABLE them completely if I didn't use them at all
Goto START MENU, PROGRAMS, ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS, SERVICES,
and modify the following by right clicking, going to PROPERTIES and change the STARTUP TYPE
Print Spooler - MANUAL (Only needed if you have a printer)
Server - AUTOMATIC (Needed for internet connection sharing and access to network drives)
Workstation - AUTOMATIC (Also needed for internet connection sharing and access to network drives)
That's it, hope this works for you as it gained me at least 50MB of memory back, not to mention
a little bit of extra freed CPU time. If you get rid of all STARTUP items from MSCONFIG,
you stand to free up even more resources.
Reinstall xp without reactivating
If you were to reinstall Windows XP, you normally must re-activate it as well,
even if your hardware is unchanged... luckily, there's a way around this.
First, your hardware between reinstalls must NOT change..
XP keeps the activation information in a file named "wpa.dbl", which can be found in _:\WINDOWS\System32\
After your activating Windows XP, back this file up to a floppy or some other type of media.
Now, if you ever need (or want) to reinstall Windows XP, go through the whole procedure as
you normally would. Once you get into Windows itself, copy the file from your media back
into _:\WINDOWS\System32\... You may need to be in safe mode to do this, however.
Remove Owner column From Explorer's Details view to dramatically speed up display
Do you sit and wait while Explorer seems to take it's time showing the owner of each file/directory that is displayed?
If so, then you might find the following useful:
1. Open Explorer and select "Details" under the "View" menu
2. Right click on any of the column headers (such as "Name", "Size", or "Owner")
3. Uncheck "Owner"
You should see immediate improvements as you navigate around.
To make this permanent for all folders,
4. Select "Folder Options" from the "Tools" menu
5. Select the "View" tab
6. Click the "Apply to All Folders" button
Now, you will not see "Owner" in any folder. If you want to re-display it,
simply follow the instructions above and re-check "Owner" in step 3.
Change the Registered Organization/Owner of Windows XP
This tweak allows modification of the registered owner and organization of the Windows XP software.
Note: This tweak has nothing to do with Windows Product Activation (WPA)
and will not allow you to register illegal XP software.
[Start] [Run] [Regedit]
Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
Modify/Create the Value Data Type(s) and Value Name(s) as detailed below.
Data Type: String Value // Value Name: RegisteredOrganization
Data Type: String Value // Value Name: RegisteredOwner
Setting for Value Data: [Modify the Values to Reflect Current Information]
Exit Registry and Reboot
Broadband Speed Increase Via QoS Manipulation
I ran across this tweak and did some research on it after I had tried it and found it didn’t
seem to make any difference on my computer.
While looking for additional information I came across this article from Microsoft Product Support Services.
Windows XP Quality of Service (QoS) Enhancements and Behavior (Q316666)
It provides substantial information relating to Networking Quality of Service (QoS)
which is in essence the basis for this tweak. After reading the article I have decided to
leave the tweak here for you to view and try if you wish, but as Microsoft notes from the above article:
“There have been claims in various published technical articles and newsgroup postings
that Windows XP always reserves 20 percent of the available bandwidth for QoS.
These claims are incorrect. The information in the "Clarification about QoS in End
Computers That Are Running Windows XP" section of this article correctly describes
the behavior of Windows XP systems.”
I agree with their statement and urge you to read the entire article listed above to determine
if this tweak would really be worthwhile implementing.
Additional Suggested Reading:
Quality of Service Technical Overview
For those who wish to implement:
Log on as Administrator, not as a user with Administrator privileges.
[Start] [Run] - Type gpedit.msc
Left Window Pane
[Local Computer Policy]
[Administrative Templates]
[Network]
[QoS Packet Scheduler]
Right Window Pane
Double click [Limit Reservable Bandwidth]
Check [Enabled]
Change [Bandwidth Limit Percentage] to zero (0)
Click [Apply] [OK]
Restart Windows XP
This tweak removes the 20% bandwidth reserve limit XP imposes under certain circumstances.
Disable XP Boot Logo
It is possible to disable XP splash screen, which will slightly speed up the overall boot process.
Be aware that removing the splash screen will also cause you not to see any boot-up messages
that might come up (chkdsk, convert ... ), but if your system runs without any problems then it should not matter.
1. Edit boot.ini
2. Add " /noguiboot" right after "/fastdetect".
Upon restarting, the splash screen will be gone. It can be re-enabled by removing the new switch.
Disable Indexing Services
Indexing services is a small program that hogs HUGE amounts of RAM
and can often make a computer endlessly loud and noisy. This system process
indexing and updates lists of the files on your system, so you can search for
them quickly, but it's completley unnessesary.
To disable it, go to the Control Panel and click Add/Remove Programs.
Click the Add/Remove Window Components.
Simply unclick the Indexing services and click next!
Memory Tweak:
These Settings will fine tune your systems memory
management -atleast 512MB of ram recccomended
go to start\run\regedit -and then to the following key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
1.DisablePagingExecutive -double click it and in the decimal put a 1 - this allows XP to keep
data in memory now instead of paging sections of ram to harddrive yeilds faster performance.
2.LargeSystemCache- double click it and change the decimal to 1 -this allows XP Kernal to Run
in memory improves system performance alot
Reboot and watch your system fly ..happy tweakin
Note: This tweak may cause problems with some Nvidia cards & drivers (tweak forum Admin)
___________________________________
___________________________________
WINDOWS XP TWEAKS:
Clean your prefetch to improve performance
This is an unique technique for WinXP. We know that it is necessary to
wash registry and TEMP files for Win9X/ME/2000 periodly.
Prefetch is a new and very useful technique in Windows XP.
However, after using XP some time, the prefetch directory can
get full of junk and obsolete links in the Prefetch catalog, which
can slow down your computer notablely.
My suggestion is: open C(system drive):/windows/prefetch,
delete those junk and obsolete files,reboot.
It is recommended that you do this every month.
Accelerate Your WinXP by Speeding Diskcache
Diskcache plays a very important role in WinXP.
However, the default I/O pagefile setting of XP is conservative,
which limits the performance. Some better values for different RAM are given below.
1. run "regedit";
2. goto [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\IoPageLockLimit];
3. modify the value in Hex depending on the size of your RAM:
RAM: modified value(Hex)
64M: 1000;
128M: 4000;
256M: 10000;
512M or more: 40000.
4. reboot.
Though some good tools (such as "Cacheman") can do this,
it is an interesting experience for you to work it out by yourself and let your XP fly.
XP memory tweaks
Below are some Windows XP memory tweaks.
They are located in the windows registry at:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/ SessionManager/MemoryManagement
DisablePagingExecutive - When enabled, this setting will prevent the paging of the
Win2k Executive files to the hard drive, causing the OS and most programs to be more
responsive. However, it is advised that people should only perform this tweak if they
have a significant amount of RAM on their system (more than 128 MB), because this
setting does use a substantial portion of your system resources. By default, the value
of this key is 0. To enable it, set it to 1.
LargeSystemCache - When enabled (the default on Server versions of Windows 2000),
this setting tells the OS to devote all but 4 MB of system memory (which is left for disk caching)
to the file system cache. The main effect of this is allowing the computer to cache the OS Kernel
to memory, making the OS more responsive. The setting is dynamic and if more than 4 MB is
needed from the disk cache for some reason, the space will be released to it. By default, 8MB is
earmarked for this purpose. This tweak usually makes the OS more responsive. It is a dynamic
setting, and the kernel will give up any space deemed necessary for another application
(at a performance hit when such changes are needed). As with the previous key, set the value
from 0 to 1 to enable. Note that in doing this, you are consuming more of your system RAM
than normal. While LargeSystemCache will cut back usage when other apps need more RAM,
this process can impede performance in certain intensive situations. According to Microsoft,
the "[0] setting is recommended for servers running applications that do their own memory
caching, such as Microsoft SQL Server, and for applications that perform best with ample memory,
such as Internet Information Services."
Disable User Tracking (Windows 2000/XP)
This setting stops Windows from recording user tracking information including
which applications a user runs and which files and documents are being accessed.
Open your registry and find the key below.
Create a new DWORD value named "NoInstrumentation" and set the value equal
to "1" to enable the restriction.
You may need to log-off for the change to take effect.
Note: If this restriction is enabled customized menus and other features
that require user tracking information are disabled.
(Default) REG_SZ (value not set)
NoInstrumentation REG_DWORD 0x00000001 (1)
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre
ntVersion\...
Registry Settings
User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr
entVersion\Policies\
Explorer]
System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Cur
rentVersion\Policies\
Explorer]
Value Name: NoInstrumentation
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (1 = enable restriction)
To make Windows XP use L2 cache
By default windows doesn't recognise your L2 cache on processor and doesn't make use of it,
to enable it run regedit and navigate to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Control > Session Manager > MemoryManagment
there is a DWORD called "SecondLevelDataCache" double click it,
select Decimal and set the amount of L2 cache you have
(e.g. if you have 256KB, then just type 256, and make sure you enter it in Decimal, not Hexadecimal)
Faster shutdown of WinXp
[Start] [Run] [Regedit]
Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro
l
Modify/Create the Value Name [WaitToKillServiceTimeout] according to the Value Data listed below.
Data Type: REG_SZ [String Value] // Value Name: WaitToKillServiceTimeout
Value Data: [Default = 20,000 (expressed in milliseconds) Modify to preference.]
*set to 1000*
it will definately speed up the shutdown of your pc.
Exit Registry and Reboot
Teach Xp to Auto-Play VCDs (other?)
"I was a bit disappointed to find out XP could recognize and autoplay DVDs but included
no support for its little brother the VCD.
My disappointment was however short lived, when I stumbled upon a Registry key I'd never
seen before in Win9x. I wrote this document to show how I taught XP to recognize and
automatically play a VCD or SVCD when it is inserted into the CD/DVD drive.
For those who are unfamiliar with VCDs, it's basically a CD that contains movie files. The
VCD (Video CD) format is comparable to the VHS standard in quality and uses MPEG1
standard. The SVCD (Super Video CD) is closer to DVD quality and uses MPEG2 standard.
A full length movie generally occupies 2 to 3 CDs in VCD format or 3 to 4 in SVCD format.
From the number of disk switching you can see why Autoplay recognition is a plus.
The Registry key in question is:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr
entVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\ContentTypeSn
iffers\VideoFilesContentSniffer
and the specific Value name we'll be modifying within this key is "RelPattern" which is
REG_MULTI_SZ (Multiple String). This Value type is properly recognized only by
Regedt32.exe, NOT by Regedit.exe, therefore Regedt32 will be used in this case.
Note that there are quite a few zero terminated strings already in this structure, and when
we add our strings we must take care to preserve those already there. The Edit box pops up
with all elements in there selected, so it's easy to type a single key and wipe out everything
already present. Make sure to click once in the box or use a cursor key so the data gets
deselected first. Then we can add these 4 strings after the last one in the structure:
MPEGAV\AVSEQ01.DAT
MPEG2\AVSEQ01.DAT
MPEGAV\AVSEQ01.MPG
MPEG2\AVSEQ01.MPG
Click OK and exit Regedt32.
All that's left is the association with the executable you want to use to play video files,
such as WMP8 or PowerDVD.
You could simply just leave it in prompt mode, so it asks what you want to use to play
every time a file with this extension is opened.
The VCD/SVCD standard is implemented loosely, but those 4 lines comprise the majority
of disks I've seen. As an aside, I'm of the opinion that this key and its siblings are responsible
for that annoying bug in XP where you're sometimes unable to delete media files.
They are currently being sniffed, so you get the "in use" error.
Another possibility is they are being indexed with that Fastfind reincarnation called Indexing Service.
A quick fix I've found for that is to open a command prompt to the folder you want to delete
the file from, then open Task Manager and End Task on Explorer.exe and/or Cidaemon.exe.
Then delete from the prompt.
Afterwards you can restart the shell from the Task Manager using the New Task button."
Speed up browsing in XP
When you connect to a web site your computer sends information back and forth.
Some of this information deals with resolving the site name to an IP address,
the stuff that TCP/IP really deals with, not words. This is DNS information and
is used so that you will not need to ask for the site location each and every time
you visit the site. Although Windows XP and Windows XP have a pretty efficient
DNS cache, you can increase its overall performance by increasing its size.
You can do this with the registry entries below:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servi
ces\Dnscache\Parameters]
"CacheHashTableBucketSize"=dword:00000001
"CacheHashTableSize"=dword:00000180
"MaxCacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:0000fa00
"MaxSOACacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:0000012d
Make a new text file and rename it to dnscache.reg. Then copy and paste the above
into it and save it. Merge it into the registry.
Brand your copy of xp
Have you used someone's new Hewlet Packard with their OEM version of Windows XP?
You've seen that HP has their own icon in the Start Menu, underneath Run, that goes to
their Help Site. Now, you can have your icon that does anything you want
(website, program, etc) and says anything you want. Basically, you are "branding" Windows XP
(Home or Pro), great for if you are a computer builder and sell them, or you just want to make
Windows XP your own. It involves Regedit.
1. Start up Notepad and creat a new registry file (*.reg) and copy and paste the following into it:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}]
@="YOUR TITLE HERE"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\DefaultIcon]
@="YOUR ICON HERE"
00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00
,68,00,70,00,6c,00,69,00,\
6e,00,6b,00,2e,00,69,00,63,00,6f,00,00,00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\InProcServer32]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00
,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00
,32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,\
64,00,6f,00,63,00,76,00,77,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c
,00,00,00
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\Instance]
"CLSID"="{3f454f0e-42ae-4d7c-8ea3-328250d6e272}"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\Instance\InitPropertyBag]
"CLSID"="{13709620-C279-11CE-A49E-444553540000}"
"method"="ShellExecute"
"Command"="YOUR TITLE HERE"
"Param1"="YOUR FUNCTION HERE"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers]
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf- 00c04f60b9f0}\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\{2559a1f
6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}]
@=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\shellex\MayChangeDefaultMenu]
@=""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{2559a1f6-21d7-11d4-bdaf-00c04f60b9f0}\ShellFolder]
"Attributes"=dword:00000000
2. Edit where it says YOUR ICON HERE to a path to an icon (ex. c:\icon.ico),
it must be 24x24 pixels and in *.ico format.
3. Edit both places where it says YOUR TITLE HERE to what you want it to say
in the Start Menu (ex. Elranzer Homepage).
4. Edit where it says YOUR FUNCTION here to what you want it to do when you
click it, it can be anything... your website, a local HTML document, a program,
a Windows funtion, whatever your imagination can provide (ex. http://www.elranzer.com).
5. Save this file as brand.reg, double-click it to enterin your information, and refresh Explorer
(log off/on) to see it in the Start Menu!! This works in both Home and Professional
(and probably 64-Bit Professional) Editions!
Bare minimum services list for gaming!!!
After installing Windows XP and all service packs and applications I am likely to use on it,
I find it useful to disable services I am not likely to use on it to a bare minimum using
MSCONFIG to stop additional CPU/MEM usage going on in the background.
Here is a list of those services that I use, based on the fact that I have a cable
broadband connection that is always on, and a Soundblaster Live Value Soundcard
Go into Start Menu,
Open RUN command, type MSCONFIG
Goto SERVICES tab, select DISABLE ALL, APPLY,
and check the following services to start with Windows and hit APPLY afterwards
DHCP Client - AUTOMATIC
Plug and Play - AUTOMATIC
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) - AUTOMATIC
Windows Audio - AUTOMATIC
There are also a few other services I use but not all the time,
these are listed below and I would either put them on MANUAL
if I use them sometimes or DISABLE them completely if I didn't use them at all
Goto START MENU, PROGRAMS, ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS, SERVICES,
and modify the following by right clicking, going to PROPERTIES and change the STARTUP TYPE
Print Spooler - MANUAL (Only needed if you have a printer)
Server - AUTOMATIC (Needed for internet connection sharing and access to network drives)
Workstation - AUTOMATIC (Also needed for internet connection sharing and access to network drives)
That's it, hope this works for you as it gained me at least 50MB of memory back, not to mention
a little bit of extra freed CPU time. If you get rid of all STARTUP items from MSCONFIG,
you stand to free up even more resources.
Reinstall xp without reactivating
If you were to reinstall Windows XP, you normally must re-activate it as well,
even if your hardware is unchanged... luckily, there's a way around this.
First, your hardware between reinstalls must NOT change..
XP keeps the activation information in a file named "wpa.dbl", which can be found in _:\WINDOWS\System32\
After your activating Windows XP, back this file up to a floppy or some other type of media.
Now, if you ever need (or want) to reinstall Windows XP, go through the whole procedure as
you normally would. Once you get into Windows itself, copy the file from your media back
into _:\WINDOWS\System32\... You may need to be in safe mode to do this, however.
Remove Owner column From Explorer's Details view to dramatically speed up display
Do you sit and wait while Explorer seems to take it's time showing the owner of each file/directory that is displayed?
If so, then you might find the following useful:
1. Open Explorer and select "Details" under the "View" menu
2. Right click on any of the column headers (such as "Name", "Size", or "Owner")
3. Uncheck "Owner"
You should see immediate improvements as you navigate around.
To make this permanent for all folders,
4. Select "Folder Options" from the "Tools" menu
5. Select the "View" tab
6. Click the "Apply to All Folders" button
Now, you will not see "Owner" in any folder. If you want to re-display it,
simply follow the instructions above and re-check "Owner" in step 3.
Change the Registered Organization/Owner of Windows XP
This tweak allows modification of the registered owner and organization of the Windows XP software.
Note: This tweak has nothing to do with Windows Product Activation (WPA)
and will not allow you to register illegal XP software.
[Start] [Run] [Regedit]
Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
Modify/Create the Value Data Type(s) and Value Name(s) as detailed below.
Data Type: String Value // Value Name: RegisteredOrganization
Data Type: String Value // Value Name: RegisteredOwner
Setting for Value Data: [Modify the Values to Reflect Current Information]
Exit Registry and Reboot
Broadband Speed Increase Via QoS Manipulation
I ran across this tweak and did some research on it after I had tried it and found it didn’t
seem to make any difference on my computer.
While looking for additional information I came across this article from Microsoft Product Support Services.
Windows XP Quality of Service (QoS) Enhancements and Behavior (Q316666)
It provides substantial information relating to Networking Quality of Service (QoS)
which is in essence the basis for this tweak. After reading the article I have decided to
leave the tweak here for you to view and try if you wish, but as Microsoft notes from the above article:
“There have been claims in various published technical articles and newsgroup postings
that Windows XP always reserves 20 percent of the available bandwidth for QoS.
These claims are incorrect. The information in the "Clarification about QoS in End
Computers That Are Running Windows XP" section of this article correctly describes
the behavior of Windows XP systems.”
I agree with their statement and urge you to read the entire article listed above to determine
if this tweak would really be worthwhile implementing.
Additional Suggested Reading:
Quality of Service Technical Overview
For those who wish to implement:
Log on as Administrator, not as a user with Administrator privileges.
[Start] [Run] - Type gpedit.msc
Left Window Pane
[Local Computer Policy]
[Administrative Templates]
[Network]
[QoS Packet Scheduler]
Right Window Pane
Double click [Limit Reservable Bandwidth]
Check [Enabled]
Change [Bandwidth Limit Percentage] to zero (0)
Click [Apply] [OK]
Restart Windows XP
This tweak removes the 20% bandwidth reserve limit XP imposes under certain circumstances.
Disable XP Boot Logo
It is possible to disable XP splash screen, which will slightly speed up the overall boot process.
Be aware that removing the splash screen will also cause you not to see any boot-up messages
that might come up (chkdsk, convert ... ), but if your system runs without any problems then it should not matter.
1. Edit boot.ini
2. Add " /noguiboot" right after "/fastdetect".
Upon restarting, the splash screen will be gone. It can be re-enabled by removing the new switch.
Disable Indexing Services
Indexing services is a small program that hogs HUGE amounts of RAM
and can often make a computer endlessly loud and noisy. This system process
indexing and updates lists of the files on your system, so you can search for
them quickly, but it's completley unnessesary.
To disable it, go to the Control Panel and click Add/Remove Programs.
Click the Add/Remove Window Components.
Simply unclick the Indexing services and click next!
Memory Tweak:
These Settings will fine tune your systems memory
management -atleast 512MB of ram recccomended
go to start\run\regedit -and then to the following key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
1.DisablePagingExecutive -double click it and in the decimal put a 1 - this allows XP to keep
data in memory now instead of paging sections of ram to harddrive yeilds faster performance.
2.LargeSystemCache- double click it and change the decimal to 1 -this allows XP Kernal to Run
in memory improves system performance alot
Reboot and watch your system fly ..happy tweakin
Note: This tweak may cause problems with some Nvidia cards & drivers (tweak forum Admin)
___________________________________
Message 2/6 10-Jul-03 @ 08:35 PM - RE: XP Tweaks
all safe? and...show actual improvement in performance? or just fun to do cuz youre a geek?
Message 6/6 14-Jul-03 @ 03:04 PM - RE: XP Tweaks
I'd be caureful with the tweaks that keep all of the OS in memory. You're sucking up space where large audio files could be stored 
-Craig
-Craig
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