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PC Pitstop Optimize

Discussion in 'Other PC Software' started by Christer, 2007/05/08.

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  1. 2007/05/08
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff Thread Starter

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    Hello all!

    The discussions about the usefulness of registry tools and the possible damage they can do have popped up on a regular basis. Just for fun (?) I downloaded and ran PC Pitstop Optimize and found that it is very similar to a registry tool in that it not only changes values but also removes entries. I did a search on WindowsBBS for "Pitstop Optimize" and found four threads. No one was told to "stay away from PC Pitstop Optimize" and my simple (?) question is if it is considered to be different than other registry tools?

    It recommended some changes to my registry in order to speed up the Internet connection and a few other settings to speed up Windows itself. If anyone cares to take a look, I will post them for comments.

    Thanks for your time,
    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #1
  2. 2007/05/08
    Whiskeyman Lifetime Subscription

    Whiskeyman Inactive Alumni

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    It's been ages since I used PC Pitstop. I would never allow it to amke the changes for me. Instead I would do some research on the recommended fixes than figure out if they would really help and how to do it myself.
     
    Whiskeyman,
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  4. 2007/05/08
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff Thread Starter

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    That's how I learnt about the registry. My main source of information was WinGuides but it has apparently been renamed PC Tools Guides. I never bought the program but did the changes manually.

    Just like WinGuides, PC Pitstop Optimize gives the exact registry value to change but not which to clean.

    The list of suggested changes to me (or rather to my computer) is attached.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #3
  5. 2007/05/08
    Whiskeyman Lifetime Subscription

    Whiskeyman Inactive Alumni

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    I just spent almost an hour replying with links to the registry areas that needed to be edited. When I went to submit the reply the site had logged me out and everything was lost. I'll have to do it again tomorrow after work in Word then submit it.
     
    Whiskeyman,
    #4
  6. 2007/05/09
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff Thread Starter

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    Whiskeyman,
    thanks for your efforts and I'm really sorry ... :( ... that all your work was lost!

    I'm not in "panic mode" so, do it as and when you find the time!

    As a side note, PC Pitstop Optimize claims to REMOVE unnecessary registry entries and unnecessary programs running in the background but it ADDED an unneccesary registry entry to make itself run unnecessarily to remind me that they had not yet ripped me off ... :rolleyes: ... !

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #5
  7. 2007/05/09
    Whiskeyman Lifetime Subscription

    Whiskeyman Inactive Alumni

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    These programs will let you input the suggested changes.

    DrTCP

    CableNut

    SG TCP Optimizer

    TCP Optimizer Help

    TCP Optimizer FAQ

    You can find the registry areas to change manually for some of the settings below.

    Warning: Backup the registry and create a System Restore point before trying the manual changes to the registry.

    You will need to reboot the computer as each registry edit is made.

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/904710

    The Use HTTP 1.1 through proxy connections setting is turned on when Group Policy sets the ProxyHttp1.1 registry entry to 1 under the following registry subkey:

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings

    To locate the Use HTTP 1.1 through proxy connections setting, follow these steps:

    • 1. Start Microsoft Internet Explorer.
      2. On the Tools menu, click Internet Options.
      3. Click the Advanced tab.
      4. In the Settings box, locate HTTP 1.1 settings.


    Change the Default Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU) Size Settings for PPP Connections or for VPN Connections

    TCP/IP and NBT configuration parameters for Windows XP

    Registry Tweak for Windows2000/XP/NT: Change Your Default TTL

    http://www.xptuneup.com/tip0075.htm

    How to Troubleshoot Black Hole Router Issues

    Performance Enhancements in the Next Generation TCP/IP Stack

    Inbound connections limit in Windows XP

    Frequently asked questions about Ctfmon.exe

    Disregard the suggestion to clean the registry of the following;

    Remove invalid TypeLib entries
    Remove invalid Interface entries
    ----------------------------------------------------------

    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop . Scroll down in the right panel and double-click on the menu MenuShowDelay. In the Value Data box, change the default value for the menu speed from 400 to 250. Click OK. You can adjust this even lower. Use whats feels good.

    Speed Up NTFS Performance

    Enable/Disable Logon Screen Saver

    Anything not shown is either due to I couldn't find it because of their wording or I didn't trust the source or importance of the tweak. In fact many of these probably won't help all that much.
     
    Whiskeyman,
    #6
  8. 2007/05/09
    noahdfear

    noahdfear Inactive

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    That's been my experience with optimizing the internet connection. I got on an optimize kick for a while and went through tweak after tweak, speed test after speed test, when I finally realized that no matter how much I tweaked, my connection was still limited by the available upload/download bandwidth from not only my ISP, but the available bandwidth on every site/server from which my PC requested information, as well as hardware limitations.
     
    noahdfear,
    #7
  9. 2007/05/10
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff Thread Starter

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    Whiskeyman,
    thanks again for your efforts!

    I will study your suggestions and follow the links to educate myself on the subjects. If I decide to implement some of the changes, I have a few monthly Ghost Images to restore if something should go wrong. I can also create a fresh Ghost Image with the changes made and thus have a way to go "back and forth" to see if I notice any difference.

    Dave,
    my ISP provides 100 Mbps down and 10 Mbps up. When downloading large files, the system never runs at its full potential. The speed varies over time but it has hit figures of over 50 Mbps.

    One would believe that large companies have good connections (to the web) but yesterday, I went to Ahead to download the most recent reincarnation of Nero 7. I treid and aborted several times when the speed did not get higher than 50 kBps ... :rolleyes: ... !

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  10. 2007/05/10
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Hi Christer
    That's standard for Nero - whichever download site you choose. BTW 50 is fast for Nero :D
     
    PeteC,
    #9
  11. 2007/05/10
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff Thread Starter

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    Hi Pete!

    I expected the file (181 MB) to take something like 20 seconds or so to download ... :rolleyes: ... well, theoretically at least. At 1/10 of the potential speed it would have taken approximately three minutes which would have been a more reasonable expectation.

    When I finally gave up and let it tick on, it finished in a little over one hour at ~50 kBps (note, 50 kBps = 500 kbps) which is ~1/200 of the potential speed. No tweaks in the book will fix that!

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #10
  12. 2007/05/11
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff Thread Starter

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    I substituted the attachment in post #3. It is now updated with the regkeys connected to each suggested change. I have not yet started messing around but will when I find the time. PC Pitstop Optimize has been "uninstalled" by restoring a Ghost Image.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #11
  13. 2007/05/12
    Rockster2U

    Rockster2U Geek Member

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    I usually visit PCPitstop (after doing an installation) to get a quick relative measure of general machine performance. I do not agree with their recommended changes re: connection settings to optimize internet performance. The best little tool I have found is referenced by Whiskeyman - DRTCP. I wrote about (posted) this a few years back and Newt explained all the technical aspects of each setting to some poster who wasn't quite of the same opinion. DSLReports has some very good testing tools for maximizing throughput and I would highly recommend following their guidance as opposed to PCPitstop in this regard. Christer - the last two registry keys referenced in your pdf file are the same as the old tweaks for speeding up dialup connections by circumventing http 1.0 and http 1.1 compliance. I've found some improvement can be garnered through their use with broadband on 9x, but have not been impressed with using these for XP. The values you have referenced (6) for both of these DWord settings are actually a little conservative for broadband but again, I have not found any sustained improvement using these keys with XP.

    ;)
     
    Rockster2U,
    #12
  14. 2007/05/12
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff Thread Starter

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    Hi Rock!

    I will try to find your thread and have a look. You and Newt together must be worth reading. Actually, the more I read on the subject, the stronger becomes the urge to sit on my hands to prevent myself from doing anything unnecessary or even stupid.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #13
  15. 2007/05/24
    toasale

    toasale Inactive

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    Wrecking the registry

    Unless you've backed up your data and have the original install media, you'd best not play with the registry! It is too deep and wide an issue to be playing in - you'll become an advanced user by always reinstalling the op system, because of wrecking the registry. :eek:
     
    toasale,
    #14
  16. 2007/05/24
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff Thread Starter

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    Hi toasale,
    thanks for the warning!

    I use Norton Ghost 2003 to back up my system. Using Ghost makes you bold and you learn a lot ... :p ... a minute or two just before you have to restore an Image but it makes you a lousy trouble shooter ... :rolleyes: ... !

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #15
  17. 2007/05/24
    Whiskeyman Lifetime Subscription

    Whiskeyman Inactive Alumni

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    I've been wrecking the registry on purpose for over 10 years and love doing it. There's no better way to test the limitations of the OS.

    Christer, I tried the SG TCP Optimzer last week. I ran the scan then followed the recommendations. I gained about 10% on my download speed but lost about 2% on my upload. It made no difference in downloading programs, but webpages load alot faster.
     
    Whiskeyman,
    #16
  18. 2007/05/24
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff Thread Starter

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    Thanks for that, Whiskeyman. I'm a bit short on time right now but will do some tests when time permits.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  19. 2007/05/25
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff Thread Starter

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    Whiskeyman,

    Which utility did you use to verify the speed changes? I assume one run before and another after.

    I assume that is the "feeling" you have when browsing the web, right?

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #18
  20. 2007/05/25
    Whiskeyman Lifetime Subscription

    Whiskeyman Inactive Alumni

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    At the left click on TCP/IP Analyzer. This will show you areas to be changed.

    As for webpages loading faster it not really a feeling. The graphics load and the page appears quicker.
     
    Whiskeyman,
    #19
  21. 2007/05/25
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff Thread Starter

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    I clicked on SG Speed Test and found that it is more of a test of the connecting servers than my system. The speeds were never over 10% of my theoretical maximum speeds (100 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up).

    I will make the changes and see what happens but for the time being, I have filed the tests under "jokes ".

    In SG TCP Optimizer, the speed slider only goes to ... :eek: ... 20000 kbps.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #20
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