- Status
Vishal Gupta
Microsoft MVP
Pls take a look at Windows Tips/Tweaks section in Common Topics Covered / Frequently Discussed Topics posted by alib_i 
readermaniax
Ambassador of Buzz
Hey what you can do id defregment the hard disk with normal defregmentar or frm these softwares:-
*www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/defragmentation.shtml
And the best way is fresh install win xp
*www.thefreecountry.com/utilities/defragmentation.shtml
And the best way is fresh install win xp
GeekyBoy
In the zone
You can gain a lot on the speed of your computer by disabling some of the unwanted Microsoft Services.
How to Access Your Microsoft Services:
1. Click Start
2. Click Settings
3. Select Control Panel
4. Double click Administrative Tools
5. Double click Services
6. Scroll down and highlight the service you want to adjust
7. Right-click on it and choose Properties
8. Click the stop button.
9. Select Disable or Manual in the Startup Type scroll bar.
Services to Disable:
Smart Card / Smart Card Helper - If you don't have a smart card system, you don't need this service. As smart cards have really never taken off... I doubt you need this. Kill it.
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper service - Unless you run NetBIOS on your system, you don't need this service. Kill it.
Uninterruptible Power Supply - don't. If you don't have an UPS then disable this service.
Remote Registry service - This service allows one to remotely edit the registry through a network connection. If you are editing your registry remotely, then you are too jedi-ninja to be reading this guide. The rest of us should have this off for security alone.
Error Reporting Service - A program crashes and microsoft wants to know about it. Give up your extra CPU cycles to help Gates polish his OS, or you can just disable it.
Wireless Zero Configuration - Unless you use wi-fi, you can safely stop this service. If you use wi-fi, this is actually a nice little service.
Alerter - This is so useless SP2 turns this off for you. For the rest of you folks, you should turn it off too.
Clipbook - This service allows you to cut and paste across your private network. Most programs that actually allow you to do this use their own ways for doing this.Useless.Stop it.
Computer Browser - If you are on a LAN, keep it enabled. If not, stop it. It allows you to see the other computers on your network.
FastUser Switching Compatibility - If you keep multiple users/logins on your current computer, you should leave this enabled. If you always log-in the same way as the same person, you should disable this.
Messenger Service - Kill this if you do not want Windows Messenger to load up.
NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing Service - If you don't use NetMeeting, you should stop this service.
Network DDE/Network DDE DSDM - DDE DSDM was an excellent idea by Microsoft that flopped. Disable both of these.
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager Service - you should not have it enabled unless you use it.
Telnet Service - This allows you to use telnet to log into your system from a remote location. It's a security risk so don't keep it enabled unless you use it.SP2 disables it by default now.
How to Access Your Microsoft Services:
1. Click Start
2. Click Settings
3. Select Control Panel
4. Double click Administrative Tools
5. Double click Services
6. Scroll down and highlight the service you want to adjust
7. Right-click on it and choose Properties
8. Click the stop button.
9. Select Disable or Manual in the Startup Type scroll bar.
Services to Disable:
Smart Card / Smart Card Helper - If you don't have a smart card system, you don't need this service. As smart cards have really never taken off... I doubt you need this. Kill it.
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper service - Unless you run NetBIOS on your system, you don't need this service. Kill it.
Uninterruptible Power Supply - don't. If you don't have an UPS then disable this service.
Remote Registry service - This service allows one to remotely edit the registry through a network connection. If you are editing your registry remotely, then you are too jedi-ninja to be reading this guide. The rest of us should have this off for security alone.
Error Reporting Service - A program crashes and microsoft wants to know about it. Give up your extra CPU cycles to help Gates polish his OS, or you can just disable it.
Wireless Zero Configuration - Unless you use wi-fi, you can safely stop this service. If you use wi-fi, this is actually a nice little service.
Alerter - This is so useless SP2 turns this off for you. For the rest of you folks, you should turn it off too.
Clipbook - This service allows you to cut and paste across your private network. Most programs that actually allow you to do this use their own ways for doing this.Useless.Stop it.
Computer Browser - If you are on a LAN, keep it enabled. If not, stop it. It allows you to see the other computers on your network.
FastUser Switching Compatibility - If you keep multiple users/logins on your current computer, you should leave this enabled. If you always log-in the same way as the same person, you should disable this.
Messenger Service - Kill this if you do not want Windows Messenger to load up.
NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing Service - If you don't use NetMeeting, you should stop this service.
Network DDE/Network DDE DSDM - DDE DSDM was an excellent idea by Microsoft that flopped. Disable both of these.
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager Service - you should not have it enabled unless you use it.
Telnet Service - This allows you to use telnet to log into your system from a remote location. It's a security risk so don't keep it enabled unless you use it.SP2 disables it by default now.
readermaniax
Ambassador of Buzz
*www.thinkdigit.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34428
1.) To decrease a system's boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software -- the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine -- and instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.
2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.
3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you're not sure, here's how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it's important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.
4.) Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a "searchable keyword index." As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.
The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP's built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.
Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you're a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it.
Here's how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching." Next, apply changes to "C: subfolders and files," and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as "Access is denied"), click the Ignore All button.
5.) Update the PC's video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS.
6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can "prefetch" portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the user. That's fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.
7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here's how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button -- it's just to the right of the Capacity pie graph -- and delete all temporary files.
8.) In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to "DMA if available" for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.
9.) Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support "cable select," the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.
10.) Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it.
11.) Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here's how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don't want to start when Windows starts.
12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.
13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here's how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer -- only its responsiveness.
14.) If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.
15.) Visit Microsoft's Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.
16.) Update anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.
17.) Make sure you fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts -- that is, anything over 500 -- will noticeably tax the system.
18.) Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP's NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called "D drive." You'll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won't be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won't need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.
19.) Check the system's RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC's memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.
20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer's Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you'll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it's free.
21.) Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.
22.) If you're sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to "Launch folder windows in a separate process," and enable this option. You'll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.
23.) At least once a year, open the computer's cases and blow out all the dust and debris. While you're in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaks.
Following any of these suggestions should result in noticeable improvements to the performance and reliability of your customers' computers. If you still want to defrag a disk, remember that the main benefit will be to make your data more retrievable in the event of a crashed drive.
You may well want to read this article (*www.globetechnology.com/serv...hnology/techBN/)
before you do that.
Do you really want to - i mean if it's running fine as is then i wouldn't worry too much about it.
I believe point #18 is mainly aimed at lower-spec Pc's
1.) To decrease a system's boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software -- the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine -- and instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.
2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.
3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you're not sure, here's how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it's important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.
4.) Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a "searchable keyword index." As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.
The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP's built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.
Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you're a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it.
Here's how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching." Next, apply changes to "C: subfolders and files," and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as "Access is denied"), click the Ignore All button.
5.) Update the PC's video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS.
6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can "prefetch" portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the user. That's fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.
7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here's how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button -- it's just to the right of the Capacity pie graph -- and delete all temporary files.
8.) In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to "DMA if available" for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.
9.) Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support "cable select," the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.
10.) Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it.
11.) Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here's how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don't want to start when Windows starts.
12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.
13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here's how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer -- only its responsiveness.
14.) If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.
15.) Visit Microsoft's Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.
16.) Update anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.
17.) Make sure you fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts -- that is, anything over 500 -- will noticeably tax the system.
18.) Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP's NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called "D drive." You'll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won't be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won't need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.
19.) Check the system's RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC's memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.
20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer's Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you'll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it's free.
21.) Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.
22.) If you're sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to "Launch folder windows in a separate process," and enable this option. You'll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.
23.) At least once a year, open the computer's cases and blow out all the dust and debris. While you're in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaks.
Following any of these suggestions should result in noticeable improvements to the performance and reliability of your customers' computers. If you still want to defrag a disk, remember that the main benefit will be to make your data more retrievable in the event of a crashed drive.
You may well want to read this article (*www.globetechnology.com/serv...hnology/techBN/)
before you do that.
Do you really want to - i mean if it's running fine as is then i wouldn't worry too much about it.
I believe point #18 is mainly aimed at lower-spec Pc's
GeekyBoy
In the zone
Here are tweaks for your Win98se system:
Control Start-up programs
Use the System Configuration Utility to identify unnecessary start-up items.
Select Start, Run, type msconfig and click OK. Click the Selective Startup radio button and switch to the Startup tab, then scroll through the list of start-up entries.
If there are any that you can do without, make a note of them and then uncheck them. Click Apply and restart your computer to find out if the items are necessary for a successful boot, as some start-up entries are important to Windows.
Return to MSConfig and reinstate the items if you had a problem. If not, find out where the start-up entry exists and then remove the start-up option in the parent program; otherwise delete the Registry entry or start-up shortcut.
Speed up your disks
Faster disk drives means a faster PC.
Windows rarely optimises disk settings by default, so there are plenty of speed gains to be had just by setting up Device Manager properly. In Windows 98 right-click My Computer, choose Properties and select the Device Manager tab.
DMA (Direct Memory Access) enables your disk drives to transfer data quicker. It should be enabled by default on compatible drives, but if it’s not you first need to verify that your drive is capable of handling DMA – check its instruction manual or the manufacturer’s Web site. Note that if you enable DMA on a drive that doesn’t support it you may render Windows unbootable. If it is compatible, right-click My Computer, select Properties and switch to the Device Manager tab. Open Disk Drives and double-click the drive in question, then from its Settings tab make sure DMA is ticked – if it’s greyed out check your BIOS settings.
Do the same thing for CD and DVD drives, but also check that Sync Data Transfer has been turned on.
If you use Windows 98, it’s worth checking to see if your drive is running in 32-bit mode. Right-click My Computer and choose Properties, Performance. If the file system and virtual memory are reported as 32-bit all well and good, but if they are 16-bit, you can improve things a little.
To upgrade 16-bit drive settings to 32-bit click File system button on the same tab of System Properties. Switch to the troubleshooting tab and clear the box marked Disable all 32-bit protected mode drivers. Click OK.
In Windows 98 you can set the size of supplemental hard drive cache for your CD-ROM. Right-click My Computer and select Properties, Performance, File system, CD-ROM, and make the supplemental cache size as large as you can afford.
You can flash the BIOS of a CD or DVD drive in a similar manner to your motherboard BIOS. Check the drive manufacturer’s Web site or run a Web search for the Firmware Page, whose URL changes from time to time. Download and apply updates with the same caution reserved for your main BIOS.
Data fragmentation is the main cause of hard drive inefficiency. You can’t stop fragmentation occurring, but you can beat it back with regular defragmentation sessions.
The Disk Defragmenter tool comes as part of Windows 98, and you should run this once a month. It can take several hours though, so leave it to perform the task at a time when you won't need to use your computer.
Run Scandisk regularly to ensure there are no data arrangement errors on your drives, which can cause delays of loss of data.
Maintenance tasks
Regular maintenance will provide you with plenty of performance gains, but striking a suitable balance is important. Running disk defragmenter every day might keep your data compact, but the time you’d gain wouldn’t cover the time you spent doing it. Here’s a list of suggested maintenance tasks, excluding backups, which you should schedule as frequently as is practical.
Everyday, delete emails that you no longer need and empty the deleted items folder in your email program.
Every week, give your desktop a clean, removing unnecessary files and short cuts. Empty the Recycle bin.
Every other week, run Scandisk or Check disk without a full surface scan. Consider emptying your browser cache.
Run a full scandisk every month. Clean out your email, deleting old messages that are no longer important.
Defragment your drive monthly to rearrange the data and speed up your system's performance.
Don’t forget that disk defragmenting must be done when there are no background processes running, so run it in Safe mode.
The Registry and Services
Registry settings can improve performance.
The Registry in Windows 98 is a large file containing much Windows configuration information. It’s a one-stop shop, but hard to do without if it fails. Back it up before you make any changes.
To back up the Registry click Start, Run and type Regedit into the Open box, then click OK. In Windows 98 choose Registry, Export Registry File, give the file a name and click Save.
To restore the Registry in Windows 98, click Start, Run and type scanreg /restore. Press OK, Yes and choose the Registry backup to restore. Click OK and restart your PC.
If you can’t get Windows to boot, use a start-up disk to boot into DOS and type scanreg /restore at the A:\ prompt.
Use Find Next, which you can launch through the Edit menu, to scan for strings within Registry keys. This tracks down wayward entries for software that you’ve removed.
Run a search for flt.dll. It’s a piece of spyware that eats up system resources.
Make a performance-boosting program like MaxMem run from start up without using the Start-up folder. Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. Right-click in the left-hand pane and choose New, String Value.
Double-click the new entry and make the value name the same as the program concerned. For the data value enter the file path of the executable for the program.
Disable animated menus for quicker access. Open the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop, and create the string value MinAnimate. Give it a zero value.
Increase the number of downloads you can make from a Web site. Open this key in Regedit: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Internet Settings. You now need to create two Dword values unless they already exist, which are MaxConnectionsPerServer and MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server.
Now set the values to whatever values you want. By default the MaxConnectionsPerServer value is set to two, which gives you two simultaneous downloads from any one site. MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server defaults to four, giving you a maximum of four simultaneous downloads from multiple sites. Increase this number if you wish.
The previous edits can affect the stability of the HTTP protocol. Be prepared to switch them back if your browsing becomes unstable.
Reduce fragmentation in Windows 98 by setting a minimum contiguous free space to use for writing data. You can do this by modifying HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\CurrentControlSet\ Control\FileSystem.
In the above key create a Dword value called ContigFileAlloc Size if it doesn’t already exist. The value is the size of the space in Kb. Larger values mean less fragmentation but less efficient storage.
Control Start-up programs
Use the System Configuration Utility to identify unnecessary start-up items.
Select Start, Run, type msconfig and click OK. Click the Selective Startup radio button and switch to the Startup tab, then scroll through the list of start-up entries.
If there are any that you can do without, make a note of them and then uncheck them. Click Apply and restart your computer to find out if the items are necessary for a successful boot, as some start-up entries are important to Windows.
Return to MSConfig and reinstate the items if you had a problem. If not, find out where the start-up entry exists and then remove the start-up option in the parent program; otherwise delete the Registry entry or start-up shortcut.
Speed up your disks
Faster disk drives means a faster PC.
Windows rarely optimises disk settings by default, so there are plenty of speed gains to be had just by setting up Device Manager properly. In Windows 98 right-click My Computer, choose Properties and select the Device Manager tab.
DMA (Direct Memory Access) enables your disk drives to transfer data quicker. It should be enabled by default on compatible drives, but if it’s not you first need to verify that your drive is capable of handling DMA – check its instruction manual or the manufacturer’s Web site. Note that if you enable DMA on a drive that doesn’t support it you may render Windows unbootable. If it is compatible, right-click My Computer, select Properties and switch to the Device Manager tab. Open Disk Drives and double-click the drive in question, then from its Settings tab make sure DMA is ticked – if it’s greyed out check your BIOS settings.
Do the same thing for CD and DVD drives, but also check that Sync Data Transfer has been turned on.
If you use Windows 98, it’s worth checking to see if your drive is running in 32-bit mode. Right-click My Computer and choose Properties, Performance. If the file system and virtual memory are reported as 32-bit all well and good, but if they are 16-bit, you can improve things a little.
To upgrade 16-bit drive settings to 32-bit click File system button on the same tab of System Properties. Switch to the troubleshooting tab and clear the box marked Disable all 32-bit protected mode drivers. Click OK.
In Windows 98 you can set the size of supplemental hard drive cache for your CD-ROM. Right-click My Computer and select Properties, Performance, File system, CD-ROM, and make the supplemental cache size as large as you can afford.
You can flash the BIOS of a CD or DVD drive in a similar manner to your motherboard BIOS. Check the drive manufacturer’s Web site or run a Web search for the Firmware Page, whose URL changes from time to time. Download and apply updates with the same caution reserved for your main BIOS.
Data fragmentation is the main cause of hard drive inefficiency. You can’t stop fragmentation occurring, but you can beat it back with regular defragmentation sessions.
The Disk Defragmenter tool comes as part of Windows 98, and you should run this once a month. It can take several hours though, so leave it to perform the task at a time when you won't need to use your computer.
Run Scandisk regularly to ensure there are no data arrangement errors on your drives, which can cause delays of loss of data.
Maintenance tasks
Regular maintenance will provide you with plenty of performance gains, but striking a suitable balance is important. Running disk defragmenter every day might keep your data compact, but the time you’d gain wouldn’t cover the time you spent doing it. Here’s a list of suggested maintenance tasks, excluding backups, which you should schedule as frequently as is practical.
Everyday, delete emails that you no longer need and empty the deleted items folder in your email program.
Every week, give your desktop a clean, removing unnecessary files and short cuts. Empty the Recycle bin.
Every other week, run Scandisk or Check disk without a full surface scan. Consider emptying your browser cache.
Run a full scandisk every month. Clean out your email, deleting old messages that are no longer important.
Defragment your drive monthly to rearrange the data and speed up your system's performance.
Don’t forget that disk defragmenting must be done when there are no background processes running, so run it in Safe mode.
The Registry and Services
Registry settings can improve performance.
The Registry in Windows 98 is a large file containing much Windows configuration information. It’s a one-stop shop, but hard to do without if it fails. Back it up before you make any changes.
To back up the Registry click Start, Run and type Regedit into the Open box, then click OK. In Windows 98 choose Registry, Export Registry File, give the file a name and click Save.
To restore the Registry in Windows 98, click Start, Run and type scanreg /restore. Press OK, Yes and choose the Registry backup to restore. Click OK and restart your PC.
If you can’t get Windows to boot, use a start-up disk to boot into DOS and type scanreg /restore at the A:\ prompt.
Use Find Next, which you can launch through the Edit menu, to scan for strings within Registry keys. This tracks down wayward entries for software that you’ve removed.
Run a search for flt.dll. It’s a piece of spyware that eats up system resources.
Make a performance-boosting program like MaxMem run from start up without using the Start-up folder. Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. Right-click in the left-hand pane and choose New, String Value.
Double-click the new entry and make the value name the same as the program concerned. For the data value enter the file path of the executable for the program.
Disable animated menus for quicker access. Open the key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop, and create the string value MinAnimate. Give it a zero value.
Increase the number of downloads you can make from a Web site. Open this key in Regedit: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Internet Settings. You now need to create two Dword values unless they already exist, which are MaxConnectionsPerServer and MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server.
Now set the values to whatever values you want. By default the MaxConnectionsPerServer value is set to two, which gives you two simultaneous downloads from any one site. MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server defaults to four, giving you a maximum of four simultaneous downloads from multiple sites. Increase this number if you wish.
The previous edits can affect the stability of the HTTP protocol. Be prepared to switch them back if your browsing becomes unstable.
Reduce fragmentation in Windows 98 by setting a minimum contiguous free space to use for writing data. You can do this by modifying HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ System\CurrentControlSet\ Control\FileSystem.
In the above key create a Dword value called ContigFileAlloc Size if it doesn’t already exist. The value is the size of the space in Kb. Larger values mean less fragmentation but less efficient storage.
readermaniax
Ambassador of Buzz
Are these twaeks above written by you are what//
it would be better if you give us the link
it would be better if you give us the link
sreevirus
Certified Nutz
@ GeekyBoy, u might want to mention the source: *support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;EN-GB;835821
i will consider this your mistake this time, but in future please provide the links to the source of the information, or you will be put on a warning for plagiarism, which is not allowed on this forum.
i will consider this your mistake this time, but in future please provide the links to the source of the information, or you will be put on a warning for plagiarism, which is not allowed on this forum.
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