MASTER TUTORIAL: Make Your Windows XP Super Fast

Vishal Gupta

Microsoft MVP
Joined
27 Feb 2008
Messages
105
Guys!

This tutorial is meant for increasing the performance of Windows XP, either it can be a fresh installed windows or an old windows. 🙂
Actually these r some tips/tricks, which I always apply whenever I do a fresh installation of windows. So here I’m sharing many of those tips-n-tricks:

1.) First I’ll tell some Registry tricks, which can be applied without any problem or doubt and I believe these tricks will surely help in increasing the performance of your windows. Copy the following code in Notepad, save the file with name "Vishal.reg" (including quotes) and then run the file:

Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

 [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Copy To]
@="{C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}"
 
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Move To]
@="{C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Shell\DosHere]
@="Command &Prompt Here"
 
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Shell\DosHere\Command]
@="%windir%\\System32\\cmd.exe /k cd \"%1\""
 
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\Shell\DosHere]
@="Command &Prompt Here"
 
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\Shell\DosHere\Command]
@="%windir%\\System32\\cmd.exe /k cd \"%1\""
 
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"Link"=hex:00,00,00,00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"AutoEndTasks"="1"
"HungAppTimeout"="1000"
"MenuShowDelay"="8"
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="2000"
"LowLevelHooksTimeout"="1000"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoLowDiskSpaceChecks"=dword:00000001
"ClearRecentDocsOnExit"=dword:00000001
"NoRecentDocsHistory"=hex:01,00,00,00
"LinkResolveIgnoreLinkInfo"=dword:00000001
"NoResolveSearch"=dword:00000001
"NoResolveTrack"=dword:00000001
"NoInternetOpenWith"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control]
"WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="2000"

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer]
2.) Right-click on Desktop and select Properties, Now in the new window goto Appearance tab and click on Effects button. Now in the new opened window uncheck the following options:

a.) Use the following transition effect for menus & tooltips.
b.) Show shadows under menus.
c.) Show window contents while dragging. (you may remain this option checked as I hv in my screenshot. It depends upon ur choice.)
d.) Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts. You may select “Standard” for this. I hv selected “Clear Type” coz I hv a TFT, it doesnt work properly for CRT monitors.

image2cj1.jpg


3.)
Right-click on My Computer icon on Desktop and select Properties (or press <WIN> key + <Pause/Break> key), now goto Advanced tab in new window and click on Settings button in Performance section:



Now uncheck all the options in Visual Effects, but u can remain following options checked acc. to ur choice:

a.) Show window contents while dragging.
b.) Smooth edges of screen fonts.
c.) Use common tasks in folders (If u use the left side pane in My computer, I don’t use it.)
d.) Use drop shadows on icon labels on the desktop. (to make the desktop icons label transparent.)
e.) Use visual styles on windows and buttons. (If u use XP themes.)

image4rs5.jpg


4.)
Open Tools -> Folder Options and click on View tab:

image5yk3.jpg


Now uncheck following options:

a.) Automatically search for network folders & printers.
b.) Display file size information in folder tips.
c.) Display simple folder view in Explorer’s Folders list.
d.) Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color. (I don’t use this option.)
e.) Show pop-up description for folder and desktop icons.
f.) Use simple file sharing.

Other remaining options are totally based upon user’s requirements, they usually don’t affect the performance! So u can enable/disable them acc. to ur requirements.

5.)
Right-click on My Computer icon on Desktop and select Manage. Now goto Services & Applications -> Services. Here you can set many services to Manual, which u don’t want to start as soon as the windows starts. Following is a thread, in which I posted a small tutorial for knowing about which service should be set to MANUAL and which should be set to AUTOMATIC:

Windows XP Services that can be Safely set to MANUAL

6.) Start -> Run and type msconfig, now goto Startup tab and uncheck the entries, which u don’t want to start automatically with the windows, like u can get display settings utility entry there, and many more.

7.) Open Sound & Audio Devices in Control Panel (or type mmsys.cpl in RUN), goto Sounds tab and select No Sounds in Sound Scheme section. Or u can remain some of ur favorite sounds there but set Exit Windows, Start Windows, Windows Logoff, Windows Logon to (None).

8.) For more options/tips-n-tricks for better performance, u can use TweakUI, Tuneup Utilities 2006 and gpedit.msc (Windows XP Professional built-in tool)!
 
And here is a small description of each registry trick mentioned above: 🙂

Adds "Copy To" option in context menu:
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Copy To]
@="{C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}"

Adds "Move To" option in context menu:
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Move To]
@="{C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}"

Add "Command Prompt Here" in context menu of folders:
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Shell\DosHere]
@="Command &Prompt Here"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Shell\DosHere\Command]
@="%windir%\\System32\\cmd.exe /k cd \"%1\""

Add "Command Prompt Here" in context menu of drives:
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\Shell\DosHere]
@="Command &Prompt Here"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\Shell\DosHere\Command]
@="%windir%\\System32\\cmd.exe /k cd \"%1\""

Remove "Shortcut to..." Prefix on Shortcuts:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"Link"=hex:00,00,00,00

Following tweaks helps in making the shutting down process faster:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]

Automatically End Task of Hung application:
"AutoEndTasks"="1"

Specify the Response Time for Hung Applications:
"HungAppTimeout"="1000"

Makes the menu opening faster:
"MenuShowDelay"="8"

Specify the time to wait before ending task of hung application:
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="2000"

Setting a low value (in milliseconds) means that if the hooked program does not respond within timeout period, one that has set the hook would not become unstable or go in infinite wait but would kill itself saving windows resources and improving performance.
"LowLevelHooksTimeout"="1000"

Following tweaks makes system faster:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]

Don't prompt that you are on low disk space:
"NoLowDiskSpaceChecks"=dword:00000001

Clear recent documents/applications history while exiting windows:
"ClearRecentDocsOnExit"=dword:00000001

Doesnt store recent documents history:
"NoRecentDocsHistory"=hex:01,00,00,00

Disable Automatic Network Shortcut Resolution:
"LinkResolveIgnoreLinkInfo"=dword:00000001

Disable Comprehensive Search for Broken Shortcuts:
"NoResolveSearch"=dword:00000001

Disable Tracking of Broken Shortcut Links:
"NoResolveTrack"=dword:00000001

Doesnt prompt you to search the required application on Internet, when you select "Open With" for opening a file:
"NoInternetOpenWith"=dword:00000001

Speed up shutdown:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control]
"WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="2000"

Speed up Network Browsing by removing Network Scheduled Tasks:
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer]
 
I haven't looked at all the hacks visal but they look pretty good, I'm glad you included an explanation with the reg entries so the user can decide for themselves if they want the hack or not

nice tutorial
 
Last edited:
The Vishal.reg that you allow us to create is awesome, but can you also make us (at least me haha) an uninstall of that please.
 
Just make either a restore point before or back up your reg...
 
All you have to do is add minus signs.

If you wanted to remove:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Copy To]
@="{C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}"


Just add a minus sign to the start of the key in your reg file:

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Copy To]
@="{C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}"
 
That would erase the line ... now if the line was needed and only the dword was changed from 1 to 0 or vise versa your way would leave the user without the line ..
 
You can apply following code to go back to default settings: 🙂

Code:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Copy To]

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\AllFilesystemObjects\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Move To]

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Shell\DosHere]

[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Drive\Shell\DosHere]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"AutoEndTasks"="0"
"HungAppTimeout"="20000"
"MenuShowDelay"="400"
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="20000"
"LowLevelHooksTimeout"="20000"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoLowDiskSpaceChecks"=dword:00000000
"ClearRecentDocsOnExit"=dword:00000000
"NoRecentDocsHistory"=hex:00,00,00,00
"LinkResolveIgnoreLinkInfo"=dword:00000000
"NoResolveSearch"=dword:00000000
"NoResolveTrack"=dword:00000000
"NoInternetOpenWith"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control]
"WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="20000"
 
Thing is these tweaks have been around forever and all tweak programs do this stuff without the hasstle ... don't really see where reinventing the wheel turns out to be all that great ...
 
not all tweak tools are free, and why pay when you can do it yourself 😛
 
Or you can just say thank you, or if it doesn't help you ignore the thread. Damn man. It is obviously helping some people.
 
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

And there are just hundreds of places like this ...
You can find such registry tweaks at almost every tweaking site. Its just a matter of time, some one posts them today and some one will post them tomorrow.

Since I'm new to this forum, I was just trying to share what I know and I was hoping that may be it'll help a few ppl here.

Kelly is also an MVP and a good friend of mine. No doubt her site is an excellent place for all such kind of tweaks.
 
Its ok but to be honest if your machine is slow there is a serious problem, these things are more along the lines of the sugar pills we think they help. Its all good everyone is entitled to an opinion, we dont all have to think alike.

If you want to take the time to write all this stuff great good for you ... but its all small fry, there is nothing here that is gonna make any real differences thats all ..
 

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