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68 Comments
- Bullsnot, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Not bad, but no dig for me. The batch file will speed up your next startup, but its going to slow down your shutdown process. This is actually more important to me when it hits 5:00 and I have to wait for my laptop to shut down so I can undock it before I can leave.
I can see how this would be good for desktop users that just click shutdown and walk away. - nogami, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3What I'd REALLY like is a program so that everything in my startup group, as well as the programs that auto-launch through the registry when windows comes up are executed sequentially, rather than windows trying to launch all of them at the same time and grinding the HD.
For example, if you have 20 programs that need to launch when windows comes up, it fires-off all of the programs AT THE SAME TIME. If it waited until one program had finished executing before starting the next one (or allowed a configurable delay before launching each program in order), it would speed things up dramatically.
I seem to recall seeing a 3rd party utility a while ago to do just this, but I can't remember the name of it. - tsupersonic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"Nothing to see here, move along.
Some of the lamest tips I've ever seen."
Great, just about the lamest comment I've seen on this story. Go away, if it's not valuable to you, fine, don't post here. If it's valuable and would like to tell us your opinion, post away. It's users like you who make my digg experience worse.
Anyways, boot times on my laptop with a celeron M processor isn't that bad, that is after I disabled whatever programs I didn't need to start up. My laptop's boot screen takes just about 25-30 seconds to goto the desktop, which isn't bad considering I'm booting up an antivirus, antispyware, a firewall. I will see if some of these tweaks will apply. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Vermin:
Don't forget to go to the services tab, and check the box that says hide all MS services... then uncheck unneccessary services from there as well. - tharealmegaman, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2No digg. The batch trick didn't speed up my startup but it did slow down my shutdown.
Startup was fast already, though. Its all about having very few processes and startup programs. - foxhoundadmin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1way to speed up windows:
reinstall every year. seriously. the installation, deinstallation, and reinstallation of software is what makes windows slow. ever heard of the registry?
as long as you don't have too many games or large applications on your computer, this shouldn't be a big deal. - jschrab, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I know a way you could get Windows XP to go 32 feet per second per second...
- six6to8eight, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Batch file tweak can only be done in XP Pro, since gpedit.msc isn't included in Home.
Any other way to do this for us Home users? - CigarJack, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Here is all I use to keep my system in decent speedy working order.
msconfig to disable unneeded Startup items and services. This isn't much of an issue on a clean Windows XP install but if you bought a system from Dell/HP/Tosh/Sony they enjoy adding about 50 different items to startup.
I run CCleaner once and awhile espeically when I've been doing some uninstall/reinstalls. Also when I'm working on somebody elses computer I run this prior to doing a virus/spyware scan because it will save you some time on the scan. And many applications do a terrible job of cleaning up the temp folders. - vermin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Yea.. like tharealmegaman says, if you're smart you already limiting the processes that load on startup. Just type 'msconfig' in run, and go to startup and disable whatever you don't need. No need for a batch file.
- vermin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What are the unnecessary services though? Which ones are safe to always disable?
- icehouseyo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Why doesn't everyone just Hibernate instead of shutting down. after clicking Start -> Turn off Computer -> Hold down the SHIFT key and Stand by will change to Hibernate. Hibernate turns off your computer but when you turn it back on, Windows does not have to reboot because it saved your session to the hard drive and Windows comes back on with in seconds. Just my 2 cents
- RiddickRom, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Disabling prefetch is a stupid idea. It speeds up your startup time, thats its main job. There is absolutely no need to regularly delete the prefetch data either as many tweak guides claim, it is automatically kept up to date by windows.
This guide was *****. There are very few worthwhile tweaks you can do in XP that give you more than they take away. Recommending you run memory management software on top of windows already quite adequate memory management is unnecessary. You can really sum up the tweaks XP benefits from in a few lines.
Setup your virtual memory to marry well with your particular setup and windows use. Disable services you know you wont ever need (and have a good understanding of what the implications of disabling those services are) and use the built in tweaks windows gives you to enhance performance while decreasing eye candy. Be selective about what you allow to run at startup and dont let your temporary internet files get out of control, set a lower limit for that if you're on broadband and thats it.
Anything else is just either taking away some functionality you might need, increasing the risk of instability or giving you such small improvements that they truly become negligible. The time you put into implementing them will probably never be re-gained in savings.
I'm completely ignoring any overclocking stuff here as we are getting into hardware tweaking there and that's a whole other story. - aa3000, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"4.I n the TCP/IP properties, click 'Use the following address' and enter an IP address for your PC. If you are using a router this is usually 192.168.0.xx or 192.168.1.xx. If you are not sure what address you could check with your ISP or go to 'Start/run' and type 'cmd' and then 'ipconfig/all'. This will show your current IP settings which you will need to copy.
5. Enter the correct details for 'Subnet mask', 'Default gateway' and 'DNS Server'. Again if you are not sure what figures to enter use 'ipconfig/all' as in stage 4.
"
Not good for dynamic ISP IP's. Because if you set an static local ip for the machine (i.e. 192.168.0.100) it requires you to set the DNS servers. While some routers allow you to set the gateway address (i.e. 192.168.0.1) as the DNS, some don't and require the actual DNS servers provided by you ISP. Now if you have, lets say, a power outage, or need to reset your modem. There is a small chance that the dns servers will change also. Now sometimes the old DNS settings will still work, but sometimes they will not and this will leave your computer unable to access the internet.
I have had this happen with one of my clients who use Comcast. I had a static IP in the machine for VNC purposes, and when she had a 2 different power outages, the DNS servers changed and did not allow her to get on the internet.
Just my 2 cents. - hotwaterham, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"Wow. I can actually trim 20 seconds off my boot time!
I heard there was this economist who is working on a way to ---get this---earn an additional eleven cents per year, at any job!"
What's wrong with trying to speed up boot times? 20 seconds is a long time to sit in front of a computer while it boots. Why do you think that there is a constant push towards "instant-on" computers? - danio, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1just get nlite
- thisnameisfake, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Is windows so slow that the issue deserves the hundred or so articles I have seen? Having not used it in a long time I don't recall if windows was that slow.
- adizzy615, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Also windows anti spyware beta makes it really easy to see what programs are executed on start up and block them. Got to advanced tools - > System explorer, and in the tree click on startup programs
- IceColdFever, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1totally un-impressed with this article. Those aren't new tips and they aren't even that great of tips.
It's like telling someone that if they delete all their programs, their computer will run faster. That is true, but then what do they do with an empty OS? - MrMysterious, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Too bad they can't speed up their server....looks like it's down.
- hotwaterham, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Is windows so slow that the issue deserves the hundred or so articles I have seen? Having not used it in a long time I don't recall if windows was that slow."
Windows (without any tweaking) boots a hell of a lot faster than Fedora Core 4 or Ubunutu does for me. - goopie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0[quote]
"What's wrong with trying to speed up boot times? 20 seconds is a long time to sit in front of a computer while it boots. Why do you think that there is a constant push towards "instant-on" computers?"
Boot time? Time to run to the bathroom, grab a cup of joe, lock the security cable to the laptop, pet the cat... Why would I want to shave 20 seconds off these moments of Zen?
[/quote]
Exactly! 20 Seconds is time for a little mental stress break. And how often are your rebooting your computer anyways? I think I've rebooted my computer 3x so far this month... that is only once every 4 days. And one of those times was because I swapped video cards.
Articles like this tend to cause Me more grief than they assist as my less computer savvy friends will apply some of the suggestions, then call me when things don't work quite right anymore. - northLite, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0nogami, I remember that program too, I think I saw it on Neowin software a long time ago. I tried it out though and all it did was slow down startup even more.
- mesostinky, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Why would deleting your history files and especially the default user history affect anything?
Why would deleting your temp folder speed things up?
Windows doesn't specially process this directories on boot anymore than any other directories. You might as well say delete c:whatever. Your not going to see some sort of big increase by deleting these files. Sorry. - riggITup, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Another thing it would be a pest and a lengthy process to delete and clean out a spammed junk filled pc, just reinstall Xp it will rid itself of the plaguing files and install a clean copy.
- WalterDirt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Does anyone know how to speel anymore?
- Wrathernaut, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0For sequential running of your startup programs, revert to the good old batch file, and put it in your startup folder.
---
Creating the Delay:
Most of this comes from: http://www.ericphelps.com/batch/samples/sleep.txt
Sample StartOrder.bat:
@echo off
rem DELAY CODE BEGIN
echo Starting!
echo Wscript.Sleep 10000> sleep.vbs
start /w wscript.exe sleep.vbs
echo Done!
del sleep.vbs
rem DELAY CODE ENDS
start "c:applicationstartupstuff1.exe /begin"
rem DELAY CODE BEGIN
echo Starting!
echo Wscript.Sleep 10000> sleep.vbs
start /w wscript.exe sleep.vbs
echo Done!
del sleep.vbs
rem DELAY CODE ENDS
start "c:anotherappstartupstuff2.exe"
Hope this helps. - Durrok, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Dugg for the batch file and being able to disabled prefetch... very good stuff.
- yiffzer, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Free Up Memory
I found this useful app via FixMyXP. ClearMem Is an Excellent Tool for speeding up your XP Computer (especially if your system has been on for awhile and you have a lot of applications open). What it does, is it Forces pages out of physical memory and reduces the size of running processes if working sets to a minimum. When you run this tool, the system pauses because of excessive high-priority activity associated with trimming the working sets. To run this tool, your paging file must be at least as large as physical memory. To Check your Paging File:
1. Go to your control panel, then click on 'System', then go to the 'Advanced' Tab, and Under 'Performance' click 'Settings' then the 'Advanced' Tab
2. On the Bottom you should see 'Virtual Memory' and a value. This is the value that must be at least as large as how much memory is in your system.
3. If the Virtual Memory Value is smaller than your system memory, click Change and change the Min Virtual Memory to a number that is greater than your total system memory, then click 'Set' and Reboot.
_______________________________________________________________________________________
He's wrong about that. You should not just double up your page file memory. The person with 4 GB RAM should not double it up to 4 GB page file either (or even disable it). Windows use page filing no matter what you do, so it's required. Just put page filing to a maximum of how much programs you run go over your RAM total. For example, if you have 1 GB and you run programs that reach 1.2 GB, set the page file to approximately 256 to 384 MB. Leave a little bit of headroom (128 MB is considered a safe headroom space).
-J. - hotwaterham, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"Boot time? Time to run to the bathroom, grab a cup of joe, lock the security cable to the laptop, pet the cat... Why would I want to shave 20 seconds off these moments of Zen?"
That's an adaptation to an unfortunate computer fact. Those "moments of Zen" will be all but forgotten soon enough. I won't miss them! - INHUMANITY, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The Virtual Memory setting always confused me. I've got 4GB in my machine, so do I want to set the virtual memory to 4GB as well?
- raf717, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0if you really want to speed up your system then make sure that the hdd is the first place your computer boots from, have at least 512MB of ram, make sure that you have no viruses/ad ware/spy-ware by running and the proper utilities to scan your computer, disable any program and or services that you do not need to load at start including the Microsoft office ones, defrag your boot drive, turn off any unnecessary visual add-ons like the drop shadows on the desktop and the smooth scroll for the windows, disable any peripherals or ports that you are not using like the parallel port for example unless you have a parallel printer which is rare this age. Do not let your kids download anything from a peer to peer network (unless you have properly taught them what they can/cannot download) software is usually a no no, especially if it is a porn game like its name says. Use an anti-virus other than Norton ( I think Norton is a good anti-virus but one that is just too heavy on the system). There are other ways that may speed up boot times but these are just a few examples of what you could do.
- BigJuiceMan, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Looking forward to the next post reading something like...
"More Ways to Keep Your Site From Being Hammered By Digg.com" - wired4u, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0All ms services are necassory, :}
- wjglenn, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Sorry, links didn't come through:
http://www.tech-pro.net/startup-guru.html
http://www.tech-pro.net/startup-organizer.html
http://digg.com/software/Control_order_and_timing_of_startup_programs_in_Windows_XP - lazn, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Inhumanity: Nope, with 4GB you could probably disable virtual memory and be fine, but rather than do that, read this: http://www.rojakpot.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=143&pgno=0
-Lazn - tbear, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"He's wrong about that. You should not just double up your page file memory. The person with 4 GB RAM should not double it up to 4 GB page file either (or even disable it). Windows use page filing no matter what you do, so it's required. Just put page filing to a maximum of how much programs you run go over your RAM total. For example, if you have 1 GB and you run programs that reach 1.2 GB, set the page file to approximately 256 to 384 MB. Leave a little bit of headroom (128 MB is considered a safe headroom space)." - Quote from yiffer
Your right about not doubling the memory. but really you shouldn't go beyond 1024 on a desktop unless a specific application requires it. Rule of thumb is mem*4 but not over 1024. Also for speed it should be set to a static ammount 1024-1024. With the OS not always changing the size of the pagefile, this will increase performance. - mancat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I rarely turn my Windows machines off, so startup times are not exactly a huge point of frustration. I guess they could be if you're rebooting every half hour. Who does that?
- riggITup, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I have read into and have experimented somewhat in tweaking the XP enviro, and found many ways to speed things up for starters press ctrl-alt-del notice there are several tasks that are currently running on the system you are using, now many of these tasks use (hog) memory and bog the cpu if excessive from what I have seen so run the Msconfig.exe program and can tell Xp which programsto have running upon boot up. a comment on prefetch is that removing it is not a wise Idea removing it it speeds up access to programs. With the virtual memory thing in properties my computer, the ammount of HD space you should allocate in the swap file should be more according to the ammount of physical RAM (DIMMS) in the computer. if you have 128MB of Ram try using a larger page file about 300-500MB. If you are running on a system with more than 512MB of ram 128MB should be sufficient of the programs launched are not really large, most are small. Keep the hard drive at 50% if possible 80 GB 40 GB FREE free space this will speed up the access to the hard drive if you had it 80% full. more free space the better I have found. If you have spyware that's a whole other issue. Also try getting rid of the fancy shmancy things in the display that just makes the pc slower by loading up colorfull effects in menus drag and drop etc you can fremove alot of that in the properties my computer. main thing I start with is the removing of unused programs running minimized on the task bar. keep the pc cleaned set the maxium of stored web page files to a minimum of MB like 100 is a good ammount. Deleteting temporary files helps in the cleanup and frees HD space.
- INHUMANITY, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Thank you Lazn. :)
- hcetrepus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0What's wrong with trying to speed up boot times? 20 seconds is a long time to sit in front of a computer while it boots. Why do you think that there is a constant push towards "instant-on" computers?
Ive always questioned the sanity of anyone who sits and stares at the monitor just to wait for windows to load. Power on, go grab some coffee (Mt Dew, BlueBawls, or whatever) take a leak, let the dog out, brush your teeth, empty the trash... and when youre back, viola! Login!
Where I tech, I hear this complaint alot. From teachers mind you. I'm like... go to your room first! Power on, and then go to the faculty lounge for the donut 0_o andmaybe NOT get crumbs in on my keyboards,lol - tsupersonic, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"seriously, if you aren't going to "digg" a story, then fine, don't do it. but nobody wants to ***** hear your insipid little posts on why you, *random anonymous internet nerd* won't give this story your glorious "digg". ***** off."
I never said I wouldn't digg it, but seeing as how you responded with cruel language, I'm don't wanna go down to your (pathetic) level, but I just might. I don't know about you, but some of these posts help users. Now if you don't have interest in the story, fine then go along. However, it is WRONG of someone who doesn't have an interest and says "Lame tips," or something like that. Now if you have an interest and have something nice to say about, by all means go ahead post away. Users like you (framitz, and mrfreeze) are the stupid ones. mrfreeze, ***** off, you messed with the wrong person and you'll be sorry you ever said that. - tbear, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The best thing in this whole article was the DMA portion regarding the HD's. Everything else is common stuff.
I would also recommend two things,
Set your page file to a static mem*4 but not more than 1024(unless it's a server in which case I hope your not reading this for directions).
Also you might try downloading the Intel Application Accelerator(free). It will tell you if it's compatible and if it is it will increase performance of your Intel chip by around %20. They don't unlock the true potential of the chips because of fear of law suits. I haven't had this application to ever cause any incompatibilities with other software. At least not in my experience with it. Which I migrated the Sacramento County of 2800+ PC's and it worked like a champ. I have used it since then at numerous other jobs and have always had good success when it's compatible. - Genius16, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This digg is sadly a bad thing if you ask me. The ways listed to speed up windows xp are for the most part good things. But it doesnt do much to educate the user as to what you are actually doing, and why making these changes will speed up windows. And if later down the road one of the changes adversly effects your machine, the average-uneducated user will be left in the dark. Not know what those changes made, nor knowing how to reverse or which one to reverse.
People actually trying some of these suggestions:
1) DO NOT use a static IP address unless you have a router, or unless your isp supports it (ie, has given you static ip information to use) Why? If your high speed provider is setup for DHCP, and requires you to obtain your ip via dhcp (which is 99% of providers, unless you pay extra for a truely static ip address) you are most likely breaking your terms of service by using a static ip address when you shouldnt be. Yes, it will most likely work to setup your ip address statically when you should use dhcp. But it WILL eventually cause you problems.
After the lease for the ip address expiers, and you have it set to use it statically, someone else will obtain that ip via dhcp. And one of you will get kicked off line. and vice versa. Also its illegal to set an ip address statically in some states (i believe) unless you are under a business class service (illegal, along with going against your terms of service). And if you have it set statically and you have to call tech support, you will be a target of jokes outside in the smoking booth of said call center. (I know for a fact. I work in an internet support call center haha)
But yeah. If you have a router, it is not a bad idea to set it for a static ip. Since its on your local network it will not effect anything with the cable modem or internet side. (Unless you set your router to use your isp's DHCP leased ip statically. which is just as bad as setting your computer to do so.) - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This guide should be part of it : http://www.rojakpot.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=143&pgno=0
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0@tsupersonic:
"I never said I wouldn't digg it, but seeing as how you responded with cruel language, I'm don't wanna go down to your (pathetic) level, but I just might. I don't know about you, but some of these posts help users. Now if you don't have interest in the story, fine then go along. However, it is WRONG of someone who doesn't have an interest and says "Lame tips," or something like that. Now if you have an interest and have something nice to say about, by all means go ahead post away. Users like you (framitz, and mrfreeze) are the stupid ones. mrfreeze, ***** off, you messed with the wrong person and you'll be sorry you ever said that."
umm... was i talking to you? did you see me mention your name on that post? i quoted you cuz i actually *AGREE* with you that the loser who posted the comment "Nothing to see here, Some of the lamest tips I've ever seen" should NOT have bothered to post here if he did not like the story. so settle down there, nancy and next time don't be so quick to take people out of context.
BTW, how was i going to be "sorry i ever messed(?) with you"? were you going to tell kevin rose to text message me "cruel" harrassing messages until i caved? or maybe you were going to call my mommy and tell her how i made you use "cruel" language even after you said you weren't going to stoop to my level? don't spend to much time on here, sweetheart... go out and get laid! trust me, you won't be as passive-agressive toward random anonymous internet users! - Jack324, on 02/05/2008, -0/+0How about 26 Windows XP Speed Tweaks, seems more detailed and up to date
http://www.pccallouts.co.uk/freexpspeedtweaks.html - jefftp, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Don't touch the tips given here for networking. Setting static IP and DNS doesn't save you any time on boot up; XP grabs an IP while booting up.
As for reconfiguring your network card from Autodetect to a hard set speed and duplex? Leave it auto-detect. If the switch cannot determine the speed/duplex during auto-negotiation the IEEE 802.3 spec says to default to 10 meg half-duplex. If you hard set your connection for 100-full you're going to get nothing but CRC errors on your line.
Basically, don't screw around with network settings. You probably don't know what you are doing and the people who do are sick of you screwing it all up. - mousky, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1No digg. From the article:
"Prefetch is designed to speed up program launching by preloading programs into memory - not a good idea is memory is in short supply, as it can make programs hang."
Yet another person who has no idea what prefetch does in Windows XP. Prefetch does not, I repeat, DOES NOT preload programs into memory. It creates an index to the location of those files on the hard disk, including the order in which they’re loaded. This helps Windows load in programs faster. The prefetch directory is also used by the defrag utility to optimize files.
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=743
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=621
http://www.edbott.com/weblog/?p=24
http://blogs.msdn.com/ryanmy/archive/2005/05/25/421882.aspx - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0All of these tweaks are marginal at best. Some of them do more harm than good (like a static IP address isn't always an option), disabling prefetch and clearing temp files and history will speedup boot times but slow down access to those files as they're cached again. (or in the case of prefetch you lose the entire benefit of prefetching).
And none of them are anything I haven't seen before. -
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