Computer PERFORMANCE TWEAKS. Post your favorites!

[leftyandproud]

I think we need a thread full of tweaking tips to maximize PC performance.

I'll start with some basics.

First, make sure you PC is CLEAN of spyware and viruses.

Download Spybot Search and Destroy
http://www.download.com/Spybot-Search-Destroy/3000-8022_4-10289035.html?tag=lst-0-2

and Ad-Aware SE.
http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-SE-Personal-Edition/3000-8022_4-10319876.html?tag=lst-0-2

If you don't have an antivirus program, download AVG Free.
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/1/

Make sure to UPDATE all programs and run complete scans to kill the spyware/viruses slowing your computer down. Use the "immunize" feature in Spybot to prevent a lot of bad stuff from loading on your computer in the future.

Before scanning with these programs, you may want to turn off system restore to delete old restore points that contain the spyware/viruses.
After you clean the system out, turn it back on.

Next, defragment your hard drive.
Start, programs, accessories, system tools, defragment.

To speed things up overall, get rid of the flashy XP themes and move back to Windows classic style. Do this by going to start, control panel, appearance and display. Click the desktop tab and change your theme to Windows classic. Hit apply and exit.

Now right click on your new "my computer" icon on the desktop, choose properties, advanced, performance options. Click "adjust for best performance", leaving everything blank except the "drop shadows" and "font smoothing" boxes. Hit apply and exit.

Next go to control panel again, choose folder options, go to "view" tab, and untick "automatically search for network printers". Apply and exit.

One more thing you can do is visit www.blackviper.com and print out a copy of his XP Service Pack 2 configuations. Most people can use his "safe" configuration without any problem. I was able to disable around 12 unneeeded services running on my computer.

For some quick registry tweaks, you can download TuneXP here:
http://www.driverheaven.net/dforce/showdoc.php?doc=txp_about

It has some easy tweaks to increase CPU performance and other things. It also has a nifty feature that can rearrange boot files for faster bootups.

To clean your registry out, I highly recommend the shareware version of Tune Up Utilities. Not only does it clean your registry of unneeded (broken) keys, but it also has a registry defragmenter to compact your registry and improve performance.
http://www.tune-up.com/

After you do all of this cleaning/optimizing, reboot your system and defragment one more time. Your system should be running nice and SMOOTH now. (worked for me!)

Now that I've got the ball rolling, please post your favorite PC trips, registry TWEAKS, or tweaking programs here. Lets help every DUer get the most out of their PC.

[Maestro]

1. Wait till I get home

I have a ton to post. Sheesh!!!!!!!!

[leftyandproud]

9. bump!

[billyskank]

2. The best acceleration for a PC running Windows

is 9.81 metres per second squared.

(Especially if it's Windows ME).

[Zero Gravitas]

4. ME sucks

I've got a new puter on order... it'll have the best acceleration of all: more RAM! (as in a gig! <droool>)

[China_cat]

25. I have that much

if you do graphics at all...it's not enough.

Not nearly enough.

[BattyDem]

48. ME works fine if you turn off System Restore

I have ME on my old computer, which I now use as a file server. For some reason, System Restore slows ME to a crawl! It just can't handle it. Turning it off made a huge difference.

And you're right ... RAM is the best acceleration. I just upgraded my puter to 1GB of RAM (from 512MB). It's sweeeeet!

[madbelgiancow]

3. I recommend format c:/

see my sig line :-)

To be honest, I didn't even get around to it this time - Windows totally crashed (some virus, virus prog removed some, then ask for reboot - now I halt at startup *sigh*)

So what did I do (this was nov 1!!) just HAVINg to get on DU fast : used my linux dual boot which I once installed in a whim. Worked in a jiffy.

[billyskank]

7. No doubt you've already tried the ultimate Linux performance tweak

rm -rf /

do it as root for best results! ;)

On edit: please don't do that. I'd feel so guilty if you did when I was only pulling your leg!

[madbelgiancow]

8. thanks for the edit :-)

I was not gonna do it - but I do admit I'm only a wannabe geek so I'm certainly nOOb enough.

I use mandrake/KDE and almost never do any serious stuff in Linux.

just posing, nothing to see here :-)

[qnr]

42. lol, I've been using Linux since the early 90's, and two days ago,

I actually did an "rm *" in my home directory. Luckily I noticed immediately and did a CTRL-C so I didn't lose much (backed up four days ago, so didn't really lose anything). Well, I needed to prune it anyway, it was packed with junk.

Haven't done that in at least a decade :)

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

5. RegSupreme...

KMCS Deluxe System Suite and PageDefrag.

Run:

First, put PageDefrag on the HDD and run it to run everytime you boot.

1. KMCS Disk Cleaning Tool

2. RegSupreme

3. KMCS Registry Compressor

4. Reboot.

Defrag: Either Diskkeeper Lite(Free) or VoptXP(30 Day)

[Princess Turandot]

18. Will Diskkeeper Lite defrag partitions automatically..

or do they need to be done individually?

I use a vbs script from Doug Knox's site at http://www.dougknox.com/
to defrag my 12 partitions on two drives weekly by just starting the script. The script is in the utility category, on the bottom of the right hand column.

[Plausible]

6. I hate Spyware

Been spending hours taking it off people's computers. I made a cd with programs needed to take with me now.

Besides what is mentioned above, I put a firewall on their computers. Usually, the free version of zone alarm.

Also, the free version of win patrol, which prevents changes you don't authorize, shows any IE helpers installed and makes them easy to delete.

Another free program, Spyware Guard, which guards against browser hijacking and BPOs etc.

[Princess Turandot]

19. Do you also explain to them that frequneting sites..

which let you download 'free' screensavers, cursors and other crap are part of their problem and that they should just cease and desist with doing that?! Or have you give up on that?

[u4ic]

10. Spywareblaster

prevents spyware from downloading onto your computer. http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

The only spyware I get now are a couple of tracking cookies. No programs like I used to.

[DS1]

11. I know this might sound crazy, but I don't run antivirus software anymore

That sped stuff up a lot. My router handles the crap coming my way, it's configured professionally by yours truly (not really) (the yours truly part, not the professional part), common sense and experience handles the rest. In fact, I'm off to do one of those trendmicro free antivirus scans, I'll post honestly if something comes up.

Talk about laying it all out on the line in public :D

[leftyandproud]

12. I don't think thats wise...

Routers can not differentiate between normal traffic/programs and a virus. They can only stop port scans and attacks, but can't stop spyware and viruses from installing themselves through web pages, emails, and downloads.

If you get run a scan with those (updated) programs, I'm willing to bet you will find lots of bad stuff lurking on your computer.

[DS1]

14. I just found 4 outdated and patched java classes

probably due to some stupid java based quiz or chat engine, my mistake.

Spybot handles changes to my registry automatically, and free.

[cheezus]

16. i don't either

I'm still xp pre service pack 1, and I have no anti-virus. just never open anything you don't trust, and be very firewalled.

[LTR]

13. This guy's got lots of good XP tweaks

http://www.blackviper.com/

Just make sure you know what you're doing.

[leftyandproud]

15. one more..

sounds like common sense but many people don't do it..

If you don't have much ram, make sure to get rid of any fancy background on the screen. Those pretty wallpapers can take up to 8MB of RAM to be displayed. I personally have no background...just a plain dark blue/purple color. If you want a background, go with a simple tiled pattern to save memory.

Also, setting your page file to a fixed number will save XP the trouble of dynamically resizing it. Right click on my computer, properties, advanced, performance, advanced. Then change the minimum/maximum size of virtual memory to a fixed number. Example: Min/Max 512/512

Every little tweak helps! ;)

[leftyandproud]

22. ooh oooh! Look what I found!

PAGE DEFRAG!

This is the only program I've seen that defragments the paging file on a PC. It can really speed things up, especially if you have limited RAM.

Free too of course! :)

http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/pagedefrag.shtml

[Celeborn Skywalker]

17. Kick!

[Princess Turandot]

20. Another good one, althought you need to use it with care..

is 'Hijack This". You can download it at:
http://www.spywareinfo.com/~merijn/downloads.html

It is about halfway down the page. It will identify all sorts of things running on your computer. If you try it, and turn up quite a few items, don't start deleting things on your own unless you know exactly what they are. Click on save log, which I just save to the Hijack This folder. Then open it with notepad and copy what it says.


Then go to the nice folks at ComputerCops.biz to their Hijack forum & let someone help you by posting your results into the HJ forum.

Here is the Hijack This forum page:
http://computercops.biz/forum67.html

You need to register, but it is no big deal to do so.

(This page will give you an idea of what the types of items are that it finds:
http://computercops.biz/HijackThis.html)

[porkrind]

21. I like AntiVir instead of AVG for anti-virus.

Both are free.

Also, a huge solution is to ditch Microsoft Inernet Explorer and use Mozilla Firefox instead. (It's free and it ROCKS!) No popups.

Also, (important) use a firewall like ZoneAlarm. (free version is good). It keeps spyware from calling home.

Don't use Realplayer because it is full of adware.

[leftyandproud]

23. Antivir is great...

I'm running both actually ;)

If you download one of those startup manager programs, you can set it to activate only the AVGuard program, which I don't think conflicts with the AVG control center. Double virus protection + spywareblaster + sygate firewall = rock solid

[jmowreader]

24. Throw RAM at it with both hands

We can talk about killing spyware and viruses all day long, but there are exactly two ways to really speed up a computer:

1) Put enough RAM in it that it's not often tempted to go to its virtual memory system, which is hard disk-based

and

2) Put another hard disk in it for the exclusive use of the virtual memory cache.

[Maestro]

26. Kelly's Korner

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp.htm

[Maestro]

27. Marfer's Notes

http://www.geocities.com/marfer_mvp/xp_notes.htm

http://www.neowin.net/

http://www.pctools.com/registry-mechanic/ Also just check out www.pctools.com in general.

www.jv16.org A great free reg cleaner here.

[leftyandproud]

28. good stuff..thanks! *nt*

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

29. Make sure your HD and CD/DVD drives are connected to DIFFERENT IDEs

Some PC makers will put both on the same cable to cut costs. Get hold of another cable and plug the CD/DVD in the SECONDARY IDE of the motherboard. Also make sure both IDEs are enabled in the BIOS setup.

Also, always use the IDE cables with the "finer" wires (80-Conductor): http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/if/ide/confCable80-c.html

[TrogL]

30. Overclocking

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

31. Nerdy kick (nt)

[leftyandproud]

33. double kick *NT*

[bettyellen]

32. Lefty! How nice of you! Thanks I was just wondering how to ...

do these things myself! It's uncanny!

[leftyandproud]

34. glad this is helping people...how bout one more BUMP!

[Celeborn Skywalker]

35. Here's another kick!

:kick:

[leftyandproud]

38. and another

[RagingInMiami]

36. Keep bumping and kicking this thread

It's very worthwhile to the rest of the computer ignoramus out here.

Yes, I'm talking about people like me.

[leftyandproud]

37. okay!

one for the weekend ;)

[Celeborn Skywalker]

39. Let's get this back up top!

:kick:

[Squeech]

40. Kick

so I can find this thread tomorrow and print it out at the office :-)

[leftyandproud]

41. double kick

[leftyandproud]

43. end of the weekend..FINAL BUMP to top for newbies. *NT*

[UTUSN]

44. "No Digital Signature"?

Downloaded the spyware and got a security warning that the publisher is unknown and there is no digital signature. Is this O.K.? My security message say this:

**********QUOTE******

Should you run downloaded software that has no valid digital signature?
Probably not. A valid digital signature identifies the publisher of the software and verifies that the software has not been tampered with since it was signed. Without a valid digital signature, you have no way to verify that the software is what it claims to be.

If you have software on your computer that you downloaded from the Internet, don't open or run it without asking these questions:

Did you ask for the software?

Did you click a link on a Web site to start this download, or did the software show up without any action on your part? If you did not start the download, you should be very cautious. If you don't need the software, cancel the download. If you choose to run the software, make sure you know what it is for and what it will do to your computer before you proceed.

Do you know who published the software?

If the file has no valid digital signature, you cannot be certain that the software is actually from the source it claims to be from, or that it has not been tampered with. You should not run the software unless you trust the publisher and know what the software will do to your computer.

Do you know what the file will do to your computer?

The Web site providing the file should tell you what the file is for and any special details you need to know about the file to run it. If this information is not available, you should be cautious about downloading the file.

***********UNQUOTE**********

[no name no slogan]

45. Was this from M$?

I went to install the newest FireFox from Netscape, and got the same message. I'm not an M$ conspiracy theorist, but you never know. I wonder if this 'signature' could be part of MS's new DMCA program?

If you trust the publisher, you're probably okay running it. Just make a backup of any critical files first.

[UTUSN]

47. O.K., Now What? I Downloaded But Did Not Install

pending an answer. I'm ready to go ahead based on trusting DUers and now reading the site description and reviews, but above in this thread somebody says not to mess with spyware.

So how do I "run" the download, where is it to click on without downloading again?

[leftyandproud]

51. Are you talking about Ad-Aware and Spybot?

If so, those programs are fine. I've been using them for many months now with no problems.

[progressoid]

46. A gentle tap tap tap with a ball peen hammer

[Blue_Tires]

49. ttt

[Solon]

50. Get rid of Windows...

Running Linux right now, its a blast, and for the naysayers who say there are no games and such, I got Neverwinter Nights, Unreal, and quite a few other games running on this machine, and much faster than under Windows too. Surprised by that frankly. Oh, and the best part, ITS FREE.

If in doubt, get a live CD distro, boot from the CD and try it out, won't touch your hard drive.