Tweak Your Way to a Faster PC

Upgrade your system for free with Black Viper's XP tweaks.

By Black Viper


At some point you've probably wondered whether your system's performance can be improved without spending any money on hardware or software upgrades. In almost all circumstances the answer is yes.

On tonight's episode of "The Screen Savers" I give you some tips to help determine whether the default Windows installation is giving you the best bang for your buck.


Read on for some great tweaks that will let you get the most out of your system. Make sure you're logged in as "Administrator" or have administrator rights before performing these steps.


Reclaim your RAM


Reducing overhead associated with the new themes in XP Home and XP Pro can save you between 4MB and 12MB of RAM.


Here's how to optimize your system if you're using the default Category Control Panel in XP.



Click the Start menu.
Select Control Panel.
Select Performance and Maintenance.
Select System.
Select Advanced Tab.
Under Performance, select the Settings button.
Select the Visual Effects tab.
Select "Adjust for best performance."
Click OK.

If you're using the Classic Control Panel, follow these steps instead.



Click the Start menu.
Select Control Panel.
Select System.
Select the Advanced tab.
Under Performance, select the Settings button.
Select the Visual Effects tab.
Select "Adjust for best performance."
Click OK.
Select Disable and Stop the Themes Service.

You can also shut off XP's themes a different way.


If you're using the default Category Control Panel, follow these steps.



Click the Start menu.
Select Control Panel.
Select Performance and Maintenance.
Select Administrator Tools.
Select Services.
Scroll down and double-click "Themes" in the right menu.
Select the General tab.
Select Disabled under "Startup type."
Click OK to close the panel.

If you're using the Classic Control Panel, follow these steps.



Click the Start menu.
Select Control Panel.
Select Administrator Tools.
Select Services.
Scroll down and double-click "Themes" in the right menu.
Select the General tab.
Under "Startup type" select Disabled.
Click OK to close the panel.

You can also adjust your system further by disabling additional unneeded services. Visit my site for in-depth guides related to computer background processes and services. I've got guides for Windows 2000 and Windows XP.


Speed Up Boot Times With Msconfig

It's not a good idea to adjust your service configurations using Msconfig. When used correctly, however, Msconfig is a powerful tool that reduces the amount of memory Windows uses at boot time.


You can keep several programs from automatically launching by removing them from the startup tab in Msconfig. Launching these programs at startup delays when you can begin using the system, as well as your PC's overall responsiveness.


Use Msconfig to keep programs from automatically loading by following these steps.



Click the Start menu.
Select Run.
Type "msconfig" (without the quotes).
Click OK or press Enter.
Under the "Startup" tab you'll find programs that automatically start when the system boots.
Uncheck the box next to a program to disable it as a startup item.

The best way to determine if you need a particular program is to figure out what installed the item. Then you can make an educated guess as to the program's importance.


Most often, the unneeded programs are listed under the "Locations" column as "SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run." Unfortunately, there's no hard-and-fast rule for determining in Msconfig if you need a startup item.


Virtual-Memory Tweaks Aren't for Everyone

This procedure is valid for Windows XP Home and Pro. However, every Windows OS to date uses some form of virtual memory or page file.


Shrinking the size of your virtual memory or page file can increase your system's performance. However, depending on your particular usage patterns and installed applications, it can also decrease performance.


Can you get rid of the page file altogether? Yes and no.


If you have a boatload of memory (greater than 1GB), you may be able to function just fine without it. However, some applications and games require a certain amount of swap space to run, no matter how much RAM is available.


Also, some hardware (a sound card, for example) could malfunction in applications and games without a swap file. If you decide to test your luck with no swap space or page file, be careful. Every person uses a system differently. I recommend keeping the virtual memory settings on your system at the default values unless you really feel like experimenting.


If you're an experimenter, here's how to tweak your virtual memory settings.


If you're using the default Category Control Panel in XP, do the following.



Click the Start menu.
Select Control Panel.
Select Performance and Maintenance.
Select System.
Select the Advanced tab.
Under Performance, select the Settings button.
Select the Advanced tab.
Under Virtual Memory, select the Change button.
Adjust as needed or select "No paging File." Then select the Set button.
Click OK to apply the settings. You must reboot for the changes to take effect.

If you're using the Classic Control Panel, do the following.



Click the Start menu.
Select Control Panel.
Select System.
Select the Advanced tab.
Under Performance, select the Settings button.
Select Advanced Tab.
Under Virtual Memory, select the Change button.
Adjust as needed, or select "No paging File." Then select the Set button.
Click OK to apply the settings. You must reboot for the changes to take effect.

Create a swap space of a constant size, preferably on a separate partition. For example, select Custom Size, type 1000 in "Initial Size" and 1000 in "Maximum Size," and then click the Set button. This will reduce the amount of work needed to dynamically resize the page file.


From fastest to slowest, these are the configurations you can try.



No swap file at all. Some software may fail. You also need a lot of memory to do this (more than 1GB of RAM).
A static swap file on a separate hard drive (and preferably a separate controller) from Windows and frequently accessed data.
A dynamic swap file on a separate hard drive (and preferably a separate controller) from Windows and frequently accessed data.
A static swap file on a separate partition, but on the same physical hard drive as Windows.
A dynamic swap file on a separate partition, but on the same physical hard drive as Windows.
The default: A dynamic swap file on the same partition and physical hard drive (usually C:) as Windows.
Defragment Your Way to Paradise

Defragmenting the files on your hard drive speeds up the overall responsiveness of applications and games. Even if your defragmentation program reports it doesn't need to be run, run it anyway. After all, if it were really efficient, you wouldn't be reading this page.


The location of your system's defragmentation tool varies from version to version. More often than not, it can be found by following these steps.



Click the Start menu.
Select Programs.
Select Accessories.
Select System Tools.
Select Disk Defragmenter.
After defragmenting a hard drive, you shouldn't need to do it again for a while -- unless you delete, uninstall, or reinstall a lot of stuff.


This is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to tweaking an operating system for better performance. You can find many more tips and much more info for various operating systems on BlackViper.com.


Originally posted December 16, 2003