Encyclopedia of XP tweaks

[a1ehouse]

Originally posted by Ramanuman
Thanks Dealer. I appreciate.

(But I maintain that it is Dealer's energy that does keep this thread flourishing. For one thing, he's really good at making people feel welcomed here).

ditto



Sing's to the tune of "Pass the Dutchie" by Musical Youth:
"bestd forum on de net ma frend"

 

[2z]

Hi Dealer
Gotta say what a fantastic thread you’ve started, I’ve learned so much since reading these forums, & I couldn’t come on without digging up a bit of controversy, I’m no techie so its layman’s terms, going of what I’ve read & personal experience. I’ll start with the page file; you need at least one on your windows partition, the size of the page file needs to be a minimum of 1.5 x RAM, because when windows encounters a problem it will dump the contents of RAM to the page file thus resulting in less errors, like a safety net. This page file is not in the ideal location for the normal running of programs, so windows lets us choose a better location for the second page file, ideally this would be on a separate drive in its own partition, but it still works on a single drive, the filing system for that partition should be changed to fat16 as this is fastest, right click on the drive icon - format \ fat16 (leave at least 100 meg free, disable restore monitoring & Recycle bin option for this partition). Now that you have two page files these can be static, the minimum & the maximum set to the same value. The total size of both files being equal to or more than the recommended maximum amount (I have my second page file set at 400meg min & max on a fat16 - 500meg partition). $MS recommends that PCs’ are built with one partition this is because the NT filing system is so good resulting in fewer support calls, but for experienced users & gamers a single NTFS partition is horrible, its slow, system restore leaves a right mess, the hiberfil, the page file & the bloated MFT free system space leaves game installs all over the place, the ideal place for games would be on a separate drive in a FAT32 partition, but this also works on a single drive. Also a FAT32 or NTFS partitions are ideal for storage, backups, downloads, beta installs, ECT. To reduce seek time on a multi partitioned single drive, don’t install any program that is associated with windows such as $MS Office & any programs that have an entry in msconfig or services to any other drive other than the windows drive, its not so much of a performance thing but boot time will be slower. A little tip for defragging the windows drive, disable Hiberfil & Page file, defrag using Norton Speed Disc, enable page file 1.5 x RAM, see the difference …… Along with all the other tweaks I’ve picked up from this thread I’m more than happy with XP. Many thanks to Dealer & everyone else who’s made a contribution to these forums.
…………….. TwoZigzagColt45…………….

 

[Perris Calderon]

I love this post two...though it's probably best on it's own topic...anyway, let me debate a coupla points;

according to this white paper, Microsoft proves (to itself anyway) that fat is not faster in XP. they also say in that paper that optimization does not take place across partitions...what's perceived as a performance gain in partitions will be shortlived, as the OS cannot optimize file locations for seek times.

BTW...they also tell you here that the myth of placeng files on the edges are counter productive...file location that need to be accesed often belong in the middle of the disk


another point... it's fine to have a static page file if you are setting the page to a huge, huge value, but even then, there is absolutely nothing sacrificed by leaving expansion enabledc...the remains static at all times ...unless there is a dire need to increase...you see...dynamic is the same as static, unless you are about to crash or hang something...you aren't saving anything by setting the file static,,,.

also, by default, debugging is not dumping the whole code, you have to set that.

XP wants to be able to let you use all of the ram that you have installed...it doesn't matter if your needs for your ram are not as high as your ram...xp anticipates the need for all of the ram...it wants to be able to create addresses for faults...these are not used unless necessary, ram is always used when it's available...the fact that the page file is active in no way indicates page is used instead of ram.

for those that haven't followed this discussion on otherthreads...do not lower your page file...serves no purpose, and you will suffer a huge performance hit when the day comes that you are actually usung the ram you have installed...plus it's totally unnecessary to make the file static...you gain nothing, and sacrifice a safety margin...

thanx again, two for your excellent post...

I'm hoping it's moved to it's own topic...morre people will get something out of it there

 

[2z]

Dealer can you post that link again all I get is Sorry, there is no Microsoft.com web page matching your request. It is possible you typed the address incorrectly, or that the page no longer exists. As an option, you may visit any of the pages below for information about Microsoft services and products.

 

[Perris Calderon]

and now, to get back on track...I just found this keyboard shortcut, and I haven't seen it in print.

while in ie, hit control+b...cool right?...here's a thing I did with that window right away;

I took my favorites, and put groups in folders, for example, I put all my pornin a folder, so when people are lookin ove my shoulder...well you get the idea

 

[Perris Calderon]

sorry, I'll fix the link later...this is it

here

 

[Jewelzz]

Originally posted by dealer
I put all my pornin a folder

 

[damnyank]

dealer - did that a long time ago -put all my porn in one folder using organize favorites - 2nd option under favorites.

Thanx for the ctrl + b - wasn't aware of that!

 

[2z]

porn

for added security move this folder to a different location

 

[dejav00]

...

Ok, a tip, do NOT name your porn links "Porn Stuff"

If it's at work, name it "Family Stuff"

If it's at home, name it "Work Stuff"

Also, definitely back it up...

 

[Perris Calderon]

Re: ...

Originally posted by dejav00
Ok, a tip, do NOT name your porn links "Porn Stuff"

If it's at work, name it "Family Stuff"

If it's at home, name it "Work Stuff"

Also, definitely back it up...

dejavoo...I think what you just wrote is the second most important fujism on this whole thread...the first important fujism is located here

 

[Perris Calderon]

ps...I'm selling my very excellant porn folder to the highest bidder...(I need to raise money for my cafe)

 

[gonaads]

Re: ...

Originally posted by dejav00
Ok, a tip, do NOT name your porn links "Porn Stuff"

If it's at work, name it "Family Stuff"

If it's at home, name it "Work Stuff"

Also, definitely back it up...

Even better,
Creat a folder in a folder that seems like some sort of system folder or driver folder. Then hide it deep, ie...

Parent Folder: Common Files
Sub Folder: System
2nd Sub: Updated Drivers
3rd Sub: Old Drivers
4th Sub: Old Progam Drivers

Parent and System are real.
2 & 3 are dummies.
4 is the motherload.

 

[dejav00]

...

Amen dealer...

gonaads...that's great...you could even have subfolders of the "Old Drivers"

Like:

3rd Sub A: Old Drivers
3rd Sub B: Detonators
3rd Subs C:
23.11
27.42
28.32

You get the idea

 

[Druce]

i wouldn't say its always easy, i have run into a few bumps now and then, but generally it goes pretty smooth, given you have good copies of the bios rom and a good loader

 

[Perris Calderon]

ok, this is pretty good...once in a while, window services hang on shutdown...windows waits 20 seconds to force the sevices off...for me, that's too long on a hang...10 seconds is plenty for me, and I'm thinking of making that lower too...anyway, here's how to make the adjustment;

hklm>system>currentcontrolset>control...open the control folder, then on the right, find "WaitToKillServiceTimeout"

click on that...20 seconds is represented by "20000"

change the value...start with 10000 if you want to try this one

 

[Druce]

you know there is a program that does alot of these tweaks for you at the click of a button - x-setup by xteq and its free!

 

[Druce]

hrmm, there is another program too called registry robot - it tweaks (can u guess?) the registry - things like OEM branding, disabling video preferences, and disabling the right clik function to name a few... with that you could make a very secure browsing system that wouldn't allow you to do anything else (good for kiosks) - not like i am into those or anything - there are a few good power tweaks in there too... I will look for some more tweaks and help you guys get them known....

 

[NetRyder]

Create a list of files

Ok, here's another nice one for you guys ... it can be very useful at times!

This tweak basically adds a new item to your right click context menu called "Create File List Here" that generates a list of all files/subfolders and their attributes in a .txt file.

Here's how:
1) Open Notepad and enter in the following line:
dir /a /-p /o:gen >Contents.txt

2)Use "Save as" and save the file as "filelist.bat" (Again, don't forget the inverted commas! ) Save the file in the WINDOWS folder
3) Open Windows Explorer (Winkey+E) and go to Tools>Folder Options and click the File Types tab
4) Choose "Folder" and click the "Advanced" button
5) Click the "New..." button and in the "Action" box type in Create File List Here. For the application used to perform the action browse and find the file you just created (filelist.bat) and click OK

You're all set! All you gotta do is right click a folder and select "Create File List Here". When you go into the folder, you should see a file Contents.txt with all the files/subfolders and their attributes. You can always print Contents.txt if you like

Happy tweaking!

 

[Dirk Diggler]

Now thats a good little tweak XPMagic