Windows XP performance settings (part I)

Windows XP high performance settings (part II)

Now Windows (including the updates) is installed, it's time to modify the Windows settings to get a more user friendly system. A
description of the different settings and modifications is spread over two parts.

Advanced system settings

On the tab Advanced (Control Panel, System) you can change many settings to optimize your system.

First thing to do, is disabling the Error Reporting. Most times the Error Reporting doesn't solve anything, you will rarely receive
positive and useful feedback! Use the button Error Reporting to disable this option and you are released from the error reporting
messages.

At the Startup and Recovery area, button Settings you are able to disable the Automatically restart of Windows, in case of
problems.
By disabling many visual effects (the Settings button in the Performance area, tab Visual Effects), you are able to improve system
performance. Select Adjust for best performance (all options are disabled) followed by enabling three options: Use common tasks
in folders, Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop (transparancy of the desktop icon labels) and Use visual styles on
windows and buttons, as shown below. All unnecessary visual effects are disabled now, which improves the system performances
enormous (you only need to recover the Control Panel).
The next tab Advanced offers the possibility to change the Virtual memory with the Change button:
To prevent frequent changes to the size of the virtual memory, you probably better fix the custom size and the maximum at the same
level. Mostly, there is no need to set the virtual memory higher then 1 GB. If you are already provided with a lot of RAM-memory, it
can be more profitable to disable the virtual memory. You can change the virtual memory (or change it to another partition) with the
button Change. Don't forget to press Set to make changes permanent. In this case, the location of the virtual memory is moved to the
F:-partition.
CLEARING THE PAGEFILE

If you prefer to clear the pagefile at shutdown because you are worried someone might try to read it, you can clear it at shutdown.
Create a DWORD-value ClearPageFileAtShutdown with the value 1 (use the value 0 to disable this option). There is only one big
disadvantage: shutting down Windows will be very slow! Only do this registry tweak in case of strong security issues. This tweak is
done in the following register key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\ Session Manager\Memory Management

Other system settings

Lets go back to the system settings (Control Panel, System), to discuss the other tabs.

Tab System Restore:

I prefer to switch off system restore on all disks, this is done by enabling the option Turn off System Restore on all drives. The
system restore function is useless (I prefer a system image) and consumes a lot of system resources (one of the biggest
consumers.....). By disabling system restore, you are no longer able to turn back in time to a previous state. Be careful with the
system restore function, I have seen cases where people lose data or have boot troubles afterwards. The system restore is responsible
for creating the folders System Volume Information on each disk (those can be deleted after disabling system restore).

WAIT WITH DISABLING SYSTEM RESTORE

Wait with disabling the system restore, until you are finished installing your Windows. You might need if something goes wrong. If
you are satisfied with the total result, turn off system restore and make sure you create an image of your Windows system. If
something might go wrong in the future, you can always go back to your initial state (in a few minutes your Windows is recovered to
it new state......works much better then the Windows system restore function).

Tab Remote:
Windows XP offers the possibility of remote control. You can invite a (trustworthy...) friend to take control over your computer, even
if he is on the other end of the world. Your friend is able to view your desktop, just like he is behind your monitor. With this option
your friend is able to show you how to fix a certain problem (you see his mouse moving over your screen.....). For security reasons, I
prefer to switch this option off.

Tab Computer Name:

With this option you are able to give your computer a name, which will be used to identify your computer in your network. Your
computer name must be unique for your network. The name of the network must also be the same for all computers. There is more
information about creating a (wireless) network elsewhere on this website.

Windows Messenger

By default Windows XP has been provided with the Windows Messenger. With the Windows Messenger you can see who of your
friends are online, and if they are you can chat with them. Although Windows Messenger is very popular, most people would like to
disable or remove it (if you don't need it or rather use the much better Live Messenger (download:
http://get.live.com/messenger/overview). With the following command you are able to remove it (Start, Run, paste the command):

RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection C:\Windows\inf\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove

(select the text with your mouse, copy it with Ctrl-C and paste it in Start, Run with Ctrl-V)
Besides that, you need a registry tweak to realize a quicker start of Outlook Express. In the registry editor change the DWORD-value
Hide Messenger into 2. Navigate to the following key to make the suggested change.:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express

If removing the Windows Messenger a bit to much for you, you can also deactivate the Windows Messenger as well. Start the
Messenger, Tools, Options, tab Preferences. Disable the options Start this program at Windows start and Run this program in
background.

Burning: writing to a CD-ROM with the Windows Explorer

Not many people know this, but XP offers the possibility to write files to a CD-ROM within the Windows Explorer. Copy or drag
files and/or folders to the CD or DVD writer (for example your personal data, to create a backup). You will see the following in the
Windows Explorer if you navigate to your CD-writer:

If you are ready composing your CD-ROM, select File, Write these files on the CD. You are asked to give the new CD a label and to
place an empty (or used) CD-R/CD-RW and the writing will start. As you see: very easy to do yourself!

Compatibility problems with older software

If you would like to use very old software, you will probably get troubles running the software (compatibility problems). You can
always try to change a setting, and make the old utility believe he is in an older Windows version. You can change the compatibility
mode by right clicking the program file (or shortcut), tab Compatibility and change the compatibility mode, like below. Sometimes it
works.
TIP: If one of your older tools still doesn't function properly, you can decide to run it in a virtual computer within your current
operating system. This can be done with the Microsoft's free tool Virtual PC (download: www.microsoft.com).

Changing the search function

Windows XP has a search function, which is a bit annoying (even irritating...) if you are familiar with searching. You can change the
preferences of the search function by opening the search function, select Change preferences. Select Without an animated screen
character to remove the annoying dog. Select the op Don't show balloon tips as well to remove the annoying balloon tips. At the
part Change files and folders search behavior select Advanced to enter the search function with one click.

Windows XP performance settings (part II)

Windows XP high performance settings (part I)

Taskbar/Start Menu

You can change the taskbar and the Start Menu with the option Taskbar and Start Menu in the Control Panel. On the tab Taskbar, you
can switch on all options. By default the taskbar is show at the bottom, I prefer the option to hide the taskbar (you can show the taskbar by
moving your mouse down or even quicker with the Windows-key). Hiding is done by enabling the option Auto-hide the taskbar. Most option
are described on the page about the Start Menu and the Quick Launch toolbar.

Windows Explorer

Browsing your hard disk (CD-ROM, floppy disk, memory card, external hard disk, ...) is done with the Windows Explorer. Besides that, the
Windows Explorer is very easy to copy and/or move files and folders and creating new folders. You will find the Windows Explorer by
Start, All Programs, Accessories, icon Windows Explorer. This is a very strange location, first thing to do is placing it on a logical location:
right click the icon and select pin the program to the start menu (now it is quickly available in the start menu).

By default, many (system) files and folders are hidden. If you are not that experienced, you probably like this setting, but I prefer to see all files
and folders. For that purpose, I especially like the following changes within the Windows Explorer: Tools, Folder Options, tab View:

Enable Display the content of system folders

Eenable Show hidden files and folders.
Disable Hide extensions for known file types (for example it is nice to know if a picture is JPG-, GIF- and BMP).
Disable Hide protected operating system files.

With some other changes, the folder options should look like this:
I prefer to disable the first option (Automatically search for network folders and printers), if there are no files and printers to share on the
network. Showing files and folders will be noticeably faster. If there are troubles with one of the Windows of the Windows Explorer process,
all Windows will be closed automatically. If you don't like this setting, you can enable the option Launch folder windows in a separate
process (remember that enabling this option, Windows Explorer will use more system resources).

Furthermore, I prefer to see all file and folder details (filenames, dates, file size, file type): this makes analyzing your files a lot easier. To view
all details, like below: View, select Details. Go back to Tools, Folder options, tab View, button Apply to All Folders, to make sure all folders
will have the detailed view.

SHOW SMALL PICTURES IN STEAD OF A DETAILED VIEW

Go to your My Pictures folder, which will be in details as well. If you are used to see the small pictures, change the view by View,
Thumbnails (instead of Details).

FASTER OPENING FOLDERS WITH AVI-FILES

By default, opening folders containing AVI files (audio/video) can be very slow because Windows is trying to extract non important
information. This can be solved, by deleting the following key with the registry editor:
HKCR\CLSID\{87D62D94-71B3-4b9a-9489-5FE6850DC73E}
To be able to go back to the previous situation, you first have to export this key (File, Export).

WINDOWS EXPLORER TIPS

If you think the file view is not up to date, you can update/refresh it with the key F5 (just like the Internet Explorer). With the key
combinations CTRL-C/CTRL-X you can respectively copy/move files/folders and place them on a different location with CTRL-V. The key
combinations SHIFT-HOME and SHIFT-END and/or the SHIFT and CTRL can be useful if you would like to select multiple files/folders.

DISABLING AUTOMATICALLY EXPANDING FOLDER TREES

The folder view on the left in Windows Explorer automatically expands if you click on a folder containing sub-folders. You can disable this
function with a registry tweak: change the DWORD-value FriendlyTree to 0 (instead of 1) in the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
Automatically expanding folders will be disabled, expanding a folder is now done by double clicking the folder.

Screensaver

To setup a screensaver, right click the dekstop and select Properties, tab Screen Saver. The most valued screensaver is probably the slideshow
of the personal pictures (My Pictures Slideshow). In this window, the option On resume, password protect can be activated to make sure
that user has to unlock the welcome screen (by entering the password of the user account) to gain access to the user interface. Another (power
saving) option is to switch off the monitor when the computer has not been used for a certain amount of time. The amount of time to switch off
the monitor and the hard disk is set at Power options in the control panel, tab Power Schemes (also available by the button Power at the
bottom of the tab Screen Saver). The time to wake-up of modern monitors is very short, which makes it a good alternative compared to a
screensaver.
Hibernation

The tab Power Schemes can be used to change the stand-by and hibernation settings (the hibernation option can be used only when this option
is activated on the tab Hibernate!) to save energy. When the option system stand-by is activated, the computer is switched to energy saving
mode but stays 'on'. Hiberantion really switches off the computer by saving the memory (which includes the running programs) into the
hibernation file C:\HIBERFIL.SYS (the filesize of this file is exactly the same as the total amount of RAM memory, so disabling hibernation
will save a lot of disk space!). After the computer has been turned on again, this file is loaded in the memory which results in a relatively quick
boot compared to a normal boot of Windows. This energy saving feature is especially useful for laptop comptuers because they have a limited
amount of power in the batteries. By the way, it is also possible to manually switch the computer to hibernation by clicking Turn Off
Computer in the Start Menu, pressing the SHIFT key will change the button Stand by into Hibernate. Another option is to program the
on/off button (at the front of the computer) at the tab Advanced to apply hibernation after pressing this button (after this change, switching off
the computer has to be done by the Start Menu!). It is advised not to use the hibernation without a frequent reboot of Windows, to prevent
errors.
TIP: If it is not possbile to enable hibernation on the tab Hibernate, verify the support for APM (Advanced Power Management) or ACPI
(Advanced Conifiguration and Power Interface) in the BIOS: for the use of the hibernation feature, it is necessary that this option is enabled. If
this is already the case but the option to activate the hibernation is still not available, then probably the motherboard drivers have to be
installed.

ATTACHED USB DEVICES DON'T OPERATE ANYMORE AFTER WAKING UP

In case specific USB devices (like the mouse, keyboard, printer, scanner, e.a.) refuse to work after returning from hibernation make sure the
latest available motherboard drivers are installed. If this doesn't solve the problem, make sure the USB devices won't hibernate as well. Open
the Windows Device Manager, navigate to the Universal Serial Bus controllers, right click the USB Root Hub (repeat this procedure when
there are multiple hubs), select Properties, tab Power Management and deactivate the option Allow the computer to turn off this device to
save power. Notice that this is not an energy saving change.

DISABLE THE WELCOME SCREEN AFTER WAKING UP FROM STAND-BY/HIBERNATION

Windows shows the welcome screen by default after the computer returns from sleep or hibernation, even if the user account isn't provided
with a password! This security option can be disabled by the sub Power Options in the control panel. Select the task Require a password on
wakeup in the task pane, click the link Change settings that are currently unavailable and activate the option Don't require a password.

Even if no password has been set to the user account, Windows show the window to unlock the computer after the computer returns from the
stand-by or hibernation! If this window is not desired, it can be disabled by the option Power Options in the control panel. Select the tab
Advanced and deactivate the option Prompt for password when computer resumes from standby.

Recycle Bin settings

By right clicking the Recycle Bin (desktop) and select Properties you are able to change some recycle bin settings. I prefer to keep them
unchanged. Did you know that you can delete files and folders bypassing the recycle bin? You can achieve this by deleting them while you
hold down the SHIFT-key. If your fingers were faster there your brains, you might delete files, you wished you didn't. No problem, with the
PC Inspector File Recovery utility (download: www.pcinspector.de) you are able to recover those files, even if you have emptied your
recycle bin. Install this utility first, for possible future use! If you overwrite a file, you won't be able to recover it anymore.
Keyboard settings

You were probably asked what keyboard layout you have and what the default input language is. If there is more then one layout, you can
change with the left ALT key combined with the right SHIFT key. Sometimes you hit this combination by accident, which will result in a
strange keyboard layout. If you don't know better, you have to restart Windows to solve this issue (know you know better.....). By removing the
unused keyboard layout, you won't have this problem anymore You can change those settings by Control Panel, Regional and Language
Options, tab Languages, button Details. Remove the unused installed services (the bold one is the active service).

EURO SIGN

The -symbol is probably available with the key combination ALT-5 or with the ASCII code 0128 on the numeric keyboard (hold down the
ALT-key).

INSTALLING FONTS

Be careful installing extra fonts, these fonts use a lot of system resources. You can change the fonts by Control Panel, Fonts.
Disabling Task Scheduler

The task scheduler enables automatic scheduled tasks (like regularly downloading of virus definitions). Many applications need this service. If
you prefer to do everything yourself, you can disable the task scheduler, as show below:

TROUBLES TASK SCHEDULER WITHOUT USER ACCOUNT PASSWORD

If you use the task scheduler, there is a chance it doesn't function well because you are not using a password on your user account. This can be
solved with a registry tweak with the registry editor. Change or add the DWORD-value limitblankpassworduse with value 0 in the following
key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Lsa

Sounds and audio

You can disable the irritating sounds of your Windows system. Go to Control Panel, Sounds and Audio Devices, tab Sounds and disable it at
the Sound scheme combo box. You can also partly disable sounds in the Program events area. On the tab Volume you can manage the sound
volume and (if you wish to do so) disable the volume icon in the taskbar.

Default XP Software

By default Windows XP installs some extra software and tools, while you also have the possibility to install some extra. Go to the Control
Panel, Software, tab Add or Remove Programs. Check them all and select/deselect items of your choice, for example you could decide to
(de)select the Fax console or the Windows Messenger.
MORE WINDOWS SOFTWARE ITEMS TO DISABLE

You can add hidden items to the list of software by following the next steps (to be able to remove them from your system):
1: Open the file C:\WINDOWS\INF\SYSOC.INF with a simple text editor like Notepad (Start, All Programs, Accessories)
2: Change all the ",hide," items by ",," (just delete all the hide entries)
3: Save the file and restart the item Add or Remove Programs, and see what happened...

Internet options

By Control Panel, Internet Options you are able to change the Internet Explorer settings (this option is also available in the Internet
Explorer through Tools, Internet options). First change the default page with one of your favorites, mine is a blanc page (or
www.google.com).