Edogg's xp tweak guide

[Edogg]

Ok I mentioned in that "ouch" thread that I would post my XP tweaks. Now please keep in mind that some of these may not be for everyone. Just think of it as a buffet of tweaks that you can pick and choose what works for you.


here is a list of services that I know for sure are safe to stop and disable. Some of these services you may use depending on what you do with your pc. I can tell you that if you game, surf the web,check email, do homework or programming that these will not have a bad effect for you. These are services that I disable in XP pro, so if you have Home and dont see some of these dont worry about them.

1.automatic updates: If you know how to check Microsoft's web site for patches periodically, then you dont need this.

2.Help and support: this contains windows help fles and services. If you are confident that you can solve windows and hardware problems on your own, then you dont need this.

3.Indexing service: This basically allows you make fast searches for files. Searches wil just take a little bit longer without it.

4.Messenger : This one everyone should disable. This is the sneaky devil that pops up those irritating windows messenger popup spams during your gaming sessions.

5.Netmeeting remote desktop sharing : Unless you want people to be able to remotely access files on your computer, you can disable this.

6.Remote registry: Unless you want someone to be able to remotely access your registry(you dont...trust me) you can disable this.

7.Routing and remote access : More remote access stuff. Just disable it.

8.Smart card : If you dont use smart cards or plan on using smart cards, you can disable this.

9.Smart card helper: If you disabled smart card then you can disable this.

10.system restore : If you have a habit of messing up windows, you should leave this alone. It will restore your system to the last known working condition. Advanced users can disable this.

11.Task scheduler: If you dont have your system perform scheduled maintenance, you can disable this.

12.telnet : More remote access stuff. If you dont know what it is, you can disable it.

13.Themes:this service is what makes xp all pretty looking. If you dont need that, then you can disable it.

14.Uninterruptable power supply : If you dont use a UPS or battery backup, you can disble this.

15.wireless zero configuration : If you dont have a wireless card installed, you can disable this.

16.Nvidia driver helper service : Just disable this

17.portable media serial number If you dont use any portable music devices with your computer such as mp3 players, you can disable this.



Ok, here are some other windows tweaks I do:

1. delete as many icons off the desktop as possible. Dont delete recycle bin.

2. Remove as many of the icons fron your task bar as possible. These startup with windows and slow the process down.

3.Remove your background if you dont really need or want one. This will free up a small amount of memory.

4.defrag your hard drive regularly. If you are constanlty deleting and installing files, this needs to be done.

5. Do not download free programs that are loaded with spyware and adware. Avoid these like the plague.


Here are some bios tweaks:

1. disable onboard features that you dont use. If you dont use usb 2.0 disable it. If you dont use your serial ports disable them. If you dont use your parallel ports disable them. If you dont use serial ata, disable it. If you dont use your onboard lan, disable it. If you dont use your onboard sound or video, disable them. If you dont use infrared devices disable the IR port.

2. disable hyperthreading. I find that for games it is actually faster to have HT disabled. HT is only faster for multitasking.




well thats all i can think of right now.

[Ryan Profile]

Simply AWESOME. Thank you edogg!

[MMmmGood]

Originally posted by Edogg
2. disable hyperthreading. I find that for games it is actually faster to have HT disabled. HT is only faster for multitasking.

Is this from your personal experience? Or is there actual tests to prove it? Do you get higher FPS with it disabled?

[Irish]

I heard the same thing about HT. It will actually slow down the PC so that you can multitask without locking up. Example would be if you run nine programs at once. HT will slow the computer down so it doesn't lock up but your really not doing anything faster. If you didn't have HT then after nine programs you would probally get a freeze up. So, if your just running games there is really no chance of a lockup so disable it.

[Edogg]

Originally posted by residue
this is normally a service that can be disabled unless perhaps you are on a work system. however, it is [b]not the direct cause of popup spam. some unwanted popups may appear if you have adware on your system that utitilizes the messenger service but it is not a result of the service itself.

run adaware and spybot to help clean up these rogue files. [/B]

nope you are wrong. There have been times where I have just done a clean install of windows and installed my lan drivers with nothing else installed and one of those messenger ads popped right up on my desktop. It never happens again once you disable it.

[Edogg]

Originally posted by MMmmGood
Is this from your personal experience? Or is there actual tests to prove it? Do you get higher FPS with it disabled?

Yep its from my experience. all of these tweaks are. You can go to any tech/gaming forum and they will tell you the same thing about HT and game performance.

[Chacal Profile Website]

Good job Edogg!

Suggestion: disable QoS in network properties.

[Bullhead]

Originally posted by Edogg
.

14.Uninterruptable power supply : If you dont use a UPS or battery backup, you can disble this.

Small edit to the above: even if you do use a battery backup / UPS, but do not have a data cable connected to the UPS (usually serial or USB) you can also disable this service.

For those trying to disable stuff in the taskbar; if you cannot find any option in the program to do so, run (via start -> run) msconfig and select the startup tab. You can uncheck stuff there to disable it from loading (although a few stubborn ones will find their way back in )

[Edogg]

Originally posted by Bullhead
Small edit to the above: even if you do use a battery backup / UPS, but do not have a data cable connected to the UPS (usually serial or USB) you can also disable this service.

For those trying to disable stuff in the taskbar; if you cannot find any option in the program to do so, run (via start -> run) msconfig and select the startup tab. You can uncheck stuff there to disable it from loading (although a few stubborn ones will find their way back in )

nice comment on using msconfig. It was late when I typed this out, and I was getting a little lazy when it came to the specific details.

[Jeffro Profile YIM]

How do i disable hyperthreading in the bios...


I have none of those options in my bios settings when i press f12 at the start!


NEVERMIND!

I can't enable it considering you have to have a 3.06 ghz or higher

[Agent-Commando]

Originally posted by MMmmGood
Is this from your personal experience? Or is there actual tests to prove it? Do you get higher FPS with it disabled?

HT was meant for passive applications, whereas for games you don't need it on since games aren't considering as passive applications. The benchmarks everywhere on the net proves this. Now, the new P4 Special Editions with L3 cache however and HT.... *drool* the power....oh baby!

[(>Tool<)]

Thats nice, thanks Edogg, I didn't know if some of those were safe and I don't like finding out the hard way, other then that, I do everything else you've listed. I defrag once per maybe 5 installs of something. I'm a crazy performance freak lol.

[Edogg]

well Im glad some of you guys find it useful. Just remember that even if you do everything on that list, it still wont do miracles for your computer. you might get a couple extra fps in games. Your computer might boot up a little faster. You might have a little better stability because of less things running in the background. You also might find things to be a little quicker while farting around on the desktop. Thats about the extent of it though. It definitely wont double your framerates in BF or RTCW or anything like that.