Our Favorite Tweaks

[nowhereman]

"First, we need to dispel anything you've heard about fragmentation on the Pagefile.

To make a long explanation as short as possible, it does not happen, and fragmentation of the Pagefile is not an issue, even when expansion is enabled...disregard any advice that might recommend a static Pagefile...it is a counterproductive idea in XP...what is a good idea though is to defrag the pagefile with the free pagefile defrag program posted on the free programs thread."

=========================
I'm confused. If Pagefile deframentation "does not happen, and fragmentation of the Pagefile is not an issue", why is it "a good idea though is to defrag the pagefile"?

 

[Perris Calderon]

the pagefile can become fragmented on creation but that's it, that's what needs to be defragmented,

if you've changed the size of the initial minimum it can become fragmented becuase that is creating the pagefile anew.. however in those scenarios it remains in those identicle fragments forever

unless you defrag it, then it will remain in that condition forever on a healthy drive

 

[nowhereman]

Thanks perris, for clearing that up for me.

Have a great day.

 

[nowhereman]

I think perhaps a note of caution on this tweak to shrink down your title bars and fonts - I was idly playing around and took mine down to six point ariel - then noticed that in my task bar all the tray icons were shrunk to microdot size and rearraneged into a grid in the tray also, more seriously, looks like my quicklaunch toolbar has lost it's icons completely! Perhaps the tweak needs a little fine tuning or approaching with caution?

[EDIT] this reset itelf - possibly after a reboot - enabling the slimmer title bar tweak to be reatined without untowards effect [/EDIT]

Same happened here. Increasing the size of icons in Desplay Options corrected it.

 

[kcnychief]

Again, forgive me if it's already here...

Verify the Boot Defragment is enabled to help speed up boot times..

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction

Edit the Enable string value to Y if it isn't already, exit registry and reboot.

Voila!

 

[nowhereman]

Again, forgive me if it's already here...

Verify the Boot Defragment is enabled to help speed up boot times..

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction

Edit the Enable string value to Y if it isn't already, exit registry and reboot.

Voila!

Thanks kcnychief,

I'll give this a shot. Have a great day.

 

[kcnychief]

No problem, hope it's useful to some

 

[isandx]

Thanks

 

[lmd90]

does anyone now were i could get a genuinecheck.exe because my son has just reinstalled windows xp on his machine and he needs it to make his computer able to download the updates

 

[chaos945]

File below is accumulation of valid xp tweaks I use for my rollouts on new machines. Run source.exe for complete rollout. Vista tweak version coming soon.

 

[chaos945]

Here is an update on my new machine rollout. It has matured a lot since my last posting and the blacklists have grown. Currently these scripts support Windows 2000, XP Home/Pro, and the Vista flavours. Errors should be minor, but keep in mind these are used to cleanup systems and may remove programs or features you actually use. If you decide to go ahead anyways just reinstall any affected softwares.

HKLM & HKCU List Engine.exe - Compares known HKLM and HKCU startup registry entries and prompts the user for action is any new items are found. If certain items have been blacklisted they will be removed from the registry, whitelisted items are left alone. This program does not actually remove any of the entries, but just builds the list that is used by Script Engine.exe.

Script Engine.exe - Launches all *.reg and *.cmd files found in each operating system folder. If you place any *.reg or *.cmd files in these folders they will be executed by Script Engine.exe if launched. All of my personal tweaks are already located in each folder pertaining to the desired operating system. Currently to get around Vista's security features I am utilizing this elevation script.

Whitelist Process Killer.exe - Using a whitelist this program utilizes SysInternal's pskill.exe program to terminate any programs not entered into the whitelist. For my purposes I use this to terminate any unwanted programs that may interfere with my other routines.


Just for fun here is what my current complete maintenance routine looks like. Each program is run in sequence and waits for me to finish working before launching the next.

RunWait("Whitelist Process Killer.exe /silent")
RunWait("HKLM & HKCU List Engine.exe /silent")
RunWait("Script Engine.exe")
RunWait("StartupCPL.exe")
RunWait("pagedfrg.exe")
RunWait("SpywareBlaster\Launcher.exe")
ProcessWaitClose("SpywareBlaster.exe")
RunWait("ccleaner.exe")
Run("RegCure 1.5.exe")
WinWait("RegCure", "", 30)
WinWaitClose ("RegCure" , "")
RunWait("Spybot - Search & Destroy\Launcher.exe")
ProcessWait("SpybotSD.exe")
ProcessWaitClose("SpybotSD.exe")
ProcessClose($regcure)
MsgBox(0, "Maintenance Routine", "All processes Complete.", 30)

 

[Perris Calderon]

Here is an update on my new machine rollout. It has matured a lot since my last posting and the blacklists have grown. Currently these scripts support Windows 2000, XP Home/Pro, and the Vista flavours. Errors should be minor, but keep in mind these are used to cleanup systems and may remove programs or features you actually use. If you decide to go ahead anyways just reinstall any affected softwares.

HKLM & HKCU List Engine.exe - Compares known HKLM and HKCU startup registry entries and prompts the user for action is any new items are found. If certain items have been blacklisted they will be removed from the registry, whitelisted items are left alone. This program does not actually remove any of the entries, but just builds the list that is used by Script Engine.exe.

Script Engine.exe - Launches all *.reg and *.cmd files found in each operating system folder. If you place any *.reg or *.cmd files in these folders they will be executed by Script Engine.exe if launched. All of my personal tweaks are already located in each folder pertaining to the desired operating system. Currently to get around Vista's security features I am utilizing this elevation script.

Whitelist Process Killer.exe - Using a whitelist this program utilizes SysInternal's pskill.exe program to terminate any programs not entered into the whitelist. For my purposes I use this to terminate any unwanted programs that may interfere with my other routines.


Just for fun here is what my current complete maintenance routine looks like. Each program is run in sequence and waits for me to finish working before launching the next.

RunWait("Whitelist Process Killer.exe /silent")
RunWait("HKLM & HKCU List Engine.exe /silent")
RunWait("Script Engine.exe")
RunWait("StartupCPL.exe")
RunWait("pagedfrg.exe")
RunWait("SpywareBlaster\Launcher.exe")
ProcessWaitClose("SpywareBlaster.exe")
RunWait("ccleaner.exe")
Run("RegCure 1.5.exe")
WinWait("RegCure", "", 30)
WinWaitClose ("RegCure" , "")
RunWait("Spybot - Search & Destroy\Launcher.exe")
ProcessWait("SpybotSD.exe")
ProcessWaitClose("SpybotSD.exe")
ProcessClose($regcure)
MsgBox(0, "Maintenance Routine", "All processes Complete.", 30)

love the whitelist idea for startup programs. nice

 

[Not Bman]

How do I remove or hide the Startup folder in XP's Start Menu?

 

[Dark Atheist]

right click on it - delete it

 

[Not Bman]

lol your kidding right? That doesn't do anything.

 

[Dark Atheist]

works here - no startup foldering showing or go to c:\documents and settings\all users\ (and no i forget where it is) not on xp anymore

 

[Not Bman]

That does not work and that should not work. I'm talking about in the start menu.

There used to be some hack or something to hide it.

 

[Dark Atheist]

so am i - can even del it from vista start menu - i just did it

 

[Not Bman]

Well that does not work for me, have you restarted since you deleted it, should come back.

 

[American Zombie]

How do I remove or hide the Startup folder in XP's Start Menu?

Do you mean the one located at Start/All Programs/Startup?

If so you can hide it by right-click on it > properties > general tab > under attributes tick box Hidden