Speed up XP

Some years ago I found some articles on speeding up my computer by removing various files such as *.tmp, *.bak and several others. These related to Win98 at the time. Is there any such information relating to XP or does it do a pretty good job of tidying these things up itself?. The speed up I refer to is booting, shutting down, opening programs. I have cleared out all of the un-needed programs. I know I can add memory, new processor etc etc but just wish to maximize what I can currently get without spending.

 

Understand what you are doing before making any changes. Document what you have changed so you can revert it if problems arise.

http://www.tweakxp.com/

 

TuneXP 1.5

I've used TuneXP 1.5 for years with 3 flavors of XP. The only
setting that's obsolete is under Hardware UDMA66. Most systems have a
faster bus now and clicking that generates an error(but there's no
damage.. just disconcerting to see an error pop up when you
optimize something.)

The other thing is if you optimize NTFS you should have an UPS
in case of power outs. It allows write caching to speed up your
HD. If you don't have battery backup for your PC it's better not
to do write caching. NTFS is what they call a "journaling file system "
so it's tough to hurt it. It's pretty stable.

In the utility there's a link to a guide suggesting which
optimizations to use

Here's the link:


http://www.softpedia.com/get/Tweak/System-Tweak/DH-TuneXP.shtml

 

Hi, MilesAhead. Welcome to Windows BBS!

1. Given one has a UPS in place, could serious issues arise with write caching enabled and the computer BSODs as opposed to BSODs while not having write caching enabled?

2. What about lock-ups such as keyboard/mouse lock-ups which require pressing the Reset button to reboot?

3. In your years of experience running XP with write caching enabled, have you ever had serious issues arise that you think might be related to write caching?

4. Where, in Windows XP, does one enable write caching?



I'm tempted to enable write caching but I want to avoid serious computer muckups in the event my computer BSODs or locks up.

I use System Restore so it seems that should take care of registry settings that might get corrupted during a crash. If I recall correctly, I have read posts in the past stating SR can sometimes be unreliable so I'm not certain I want to make separate weekly exports of my entire registry. However, I will consider that as an extra layer of precaution if that seems practical.

BTW, I'm not trying to hijack warpy55's thread. I think warpy55 might benefit from answers to my questions as well.

 

write caching

Hi mailman. Looking at TuneXP 1.5 again I see my memory was faulty. It appears there is no setting to enable write caching but an improve NTFS perfomance setting that turns off the "last access" time stamp(which speeds things up quite a bit if you don't need the stamp. I don't run any database or anything that uses last access time so I enabled that optimization.)

If your HD supports write caching then in Device Manager if you right click on the HD, select Properties and click the Policies tab, there should be an option for it. A utility like HD Tune should tell you which features are supported by your HD.

As far as the file system and crashes, write caching disabled is safer than write caching enabled. But write caching enabled gives better performance.I ran NT Server 4 on a machine for a while. It didn't allow write caching, being a server edition of the OS. Every time I saved a file I could hear the disk access. All writes were executed right away.

If you google on NTFS Journaling File System and journaling file systems generally, you can get some idea how the journaling minimizes the damage.

For registry I run a little freeware called ERUNT. It comes with instructions how to set it up to run automatically and save some selectable amount of days in a rotating backup. I used to rely on Restore Points also, but after running into some nasty IE BHO that deleted my partition I bit the bullet and shelled out for an imaging backup program and some external drives to save system snapshots. I got in the habit of relying on restore points because back in the Win9x days the backup programs I tried didn't seem to be worth the effort.

 

Once you have cleaned up and whatnot then take a looksy at eBoostr www.eboostr.com

I use XP and this loads up the Op Sys much faster at startup; apps also load faster. Using Outlook as an example, i did a speed test (done with eBoostr) and left it on its 5 pass run...1st run took 16 sec to load, at 5th run it open in 6 secs.

eBoostr can support up to 4 devices and is better if USB2 flash memory sticks are used; i use 2 USB2 mem sticks (4GB/2GB) + 4GB on two H/D partitions; these will be removed when i get another 2 mem sticks.

So if you want speed for your XP then use the above after your cleanup. You can trial the program; it gives 2 hrs at startup then stops working until you next start. USB1 is no good as this has the opposite effect and actually slows things down.

 

Thanks for your input, MilesAhead and Zykan.

Thanks! I was looking in the wrong section of the System Properties.

Heh...Turns out I already have had write caching enabled for probably at least a couple years (and forgot about it)...and apparently Windows XP remains pretty stable for me. I have had BSOD's and freezes from time to time but have managed to clear them up (or they somehow fixed themselves).

Thanks again!

 

warpy55,

If you want to experiment with disabling unnecessary startups to try to speed up your boot time, here are some links.

Choose one of the following handy stand-alone utilities for controlling your startups. (You do not need to install the application.) I suggest you use one of these utilities instead of MSCONFIG to control your startups.

• Microsoft/Sysinternals Autoruns
• Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel

CAUTION: Be certain you do not disable any necessary startups. See the references below for details that will help you decide what is reportedly safe to disable.

Check out the following links to help you decide what startups you might want to disable.

• Pacman's Startups - Contents: (I suggest you read this "Contents" page for background information.)
  ***Please read my cautions/disclaimers at the end of this message.
  

Another resource that may be helpful is

• AnswersThatWork.com: TASK LIST PROGRAMS (including WinNT4/2000/XP/2003/Vista Services)
  Keep in mind this database includes descriptions of memory-resident processes that are not necessarily automatically started when you boot your computer.

==========

Other Resources:

• helpwithwindows.com (a WindowsBBS Sister Site): Improve Boot Performance
  There is a download link on that page to the BootVis.exe Tool which was apparently originally provided by Microsoft and later removed from Microsoft's servers. CAUTION: Use at your own risk.

• Search the Windows BBS forums.
  There are lots of other old threads in this forum dealing with slow startups which you can search for at your heart's content. Click the "Search" menu item near the top of any forum page and select the "Advanced Search" option so you can search only the Windows XP forum if desired.
  
  I found the Bootvis.exe link via one of the treads found when I searched for slow start in the Windows XP forum. You can try other Key Word(s) variations such as slow startup, slow boot, etc. I think the search utility ignores search words shorter that 3 characters though.

==========

***Here are more cautions/disclaimers.

In case you ever decide to use HijackThis (mentioned in Pacman's Startups - Contents page I linked above), ...

CAUTION: DO NOT have HijackThis "fix" anything without carefully following expert guidance. Otherwise, you might render your computer unstable or even unbootable.

In your case, I suggest not using HijackThis unless you suspect you have malware festering in your computer. If you suspect malware, then suggestions and the latest version of HijackThis may be obtained via this link.


In case you consider editing your registry (also mentioned in Pacman's Startups - Contents page I linked above), ...

DISCLAIMER/CAUTION: Editing/cleaning/repairing your computer's registry is potentially dangerous. You might render your computer unstable or even unbootable. Before you edit/clean/repair your registry with any method, be sure you make a backup of your registry. Also be sure you know how to access and use that backup in case you muck up your computer.

If you decide to manually edit your registry, then be sure you are comfortable with editing the registry and I suggest you save a backup of at least the section you edit ahead of time in case you need/want to reverse your changes. Editing the registry can produce serious undesirable consequences if done incorrectly.

In any case, you should know ahead of time how to restore your original registry settings and prepare to do so in case the need arises.

• MVPS.org (Ramesh's Site): How to backup the Windows XP Registry?
• Microsoft KB322756: How to back up and restore the registry in Windows XP and Windows Vista
• Symantec: Backing up the Windows registry

I also suggest you create a System Restore point before making any changes (regardless of what method you use). System Restore may be accessed as follows.

• Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore

Microsoft KB306084: How to restore the operating system to a previous state in Windows XP

 

One very handy utility for cleaning out .tmp files, temporary Internet files, and the like is ATF Cleaner by atribune. Note: If you clear your Internet browser cookies (and perhaps other options in ATF Cleaner), then you will need to manually re-enter your web site password(s) the next time you visit those sites which require your password.

 

journaling is good

Yeah, that journaling makes a big difference. I noticed the same thing with ext3 fs in Linux. You might get some files messed up, but it's rare that the file system gets messed up. Esp. in Linux next time you boot up it says "want me to fix it?" and you answer yes.

 

As usual, Wikipedia has a decent primer page on the concept of journaling file systems. I don't understand all of it but I certainly get the gist RE: operating system stability and how the NTFS file system in Windows XP (if one elects to use the NTFS file system for Windows XP) seems to fix its own stability issues sometimes.

That also seems to explain some of the unmovable blocks I see displayed when I run the Norton "Speed Disk" disk defragmenter. In the old days with FAT file systems, I grew accustomed to seeing a nice clean display after a defrag and now I understand (partly) why the NTFS file system doesn't allow such a clean display after a defrag, especially on the OS partition. The "messy" display after a defrag won't bother me so much any more.

Thanks again for your fishing bait, MilesAhead!


EDIT: BTW, warpy55, have you defragmented your hard drive recently? If not, then defragmenting your hard drive might also improve your computer's performance. Windows XP has a native "Disk Defragmenter" you might choose to use. Click Start > Help and Support and search for defragmenter to find details.


EDIT #2: Here are a few handy links for the benefit of others who are curious about the file systems discussed above.

• Microsoft KB100108: Overview of FAT, HPFS, and NTFS File Systems

• Wikipedia: NTFS

• Wikipedia: File Allocation Table (FAT)

 

there are lots of things that you can do
Windows has to be all things to all people / users running all kinds of things that you do not need
Lots are cosmetic as well
It drives nubes crazy when you set the system properties > advanced to "best performance" rather than " let windows choose what is best for my computer "

you can run a program Tweak XP Pro and it will catch most of the tweaks
run the auto tweak first
system tuning strong
services tuning weak
Note that if you are using a wireless adapter on the computer that this will turn the windows wireles utulity off

to turn on
start > run > services.msc
Turn the wireless utility service on ( manual or automatic)
If you have problems you can always set back to windows defaults

after you have run the automatics then to through the tweaks manually to fine tune
do a system restore point before you do all of this just to be sure that you can go back to where you were if you have problems

You can run the tweak xp program 30 times as a trial - you should only need 5 runs if that to tweak your xp system

Also make sure to have your drivers - especially video drivers up to date to take full advantage of your hardware
If you need or want older less demanding versions of direct x or other utilities such as adobe reader - you can find them at oldversion.com


the link for tweak xp

http://www.download.com/Tweak-XP-Pro/3000-2086_4-10551016.html?tag=lst-2

 

speaking of defrag

My pleasure mailman.

Speaking of defrag, one of the nice featurs of TuneXP is the "super fast booting" option. It rearranges the boot files and then defrags using the built-in defragger in XP. I run it maybe once every 6 months. Also it has a fast shutdown that's just a registry hack to reduce the time the OS gives services to shut down in response to a system shutdown message. But it's neat to have a lot of tweaks in one place that you can set individually. I haven't dared to run it on my Vista machine. I'm not lookin' for trouble!