WinXP & Win2K Services Tweaks

[-F7]

There is a lot of confusion and discussion about the Services area of WindowsXP and Windows2000. What services do you absolutely need to be running? What services can you disable to improve your overall system performance?

Here is the best guide I have found for knowing what you need running and what can be shut off.

It's broken down into categories: Web Server, Gaming Machine, etc. Also, it explains WHAT the service does so in case something isn't working right, you know service you have to enable.

Windows XP Service Tweaking Guide (http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm)

Windows 2000 Service Tweaking Guide (http://www.blackviper.com/WIN2K/servicecfg.htm)

Enjoy! :)

[Turkish]

I think you need to mention that Blackviper has to be the best at what he does, which is Windows Services.

I've been reading his site for almost 2 years and love it.

I noticed when I performed (just) his "winxp pro safe" settings, I gained RAM back. (ie performing a ram-defrag, using the tweaks, restarting, and performing another ram-defrag)

I highly recommend BlackViper's Services Tweak.



Approved by the Turk.

[radio667]

I didnt know , you can defrag ram...to be honest - i tried to follow what blackviper wrote , but damn it is so confusing to a noob like me -so confusing in fact . That i am super scared to tweak anything on my own :confused: !!

[-F7]

Some of these tweaks involve changing registry entries. Editing the registry can cause serious problems. You should always do a registry backup before making any changes. I have personally tried all of these registry tweaks and they work fine, however your experience may differ. Use them at your own risk. :) Neither GA nor myself are responsible for any problems you may have.


Uninstall unwanted components

It seems that some components in WinXP can't be uninstalled. Well... they can. Use this trick to uninstall MSN Messenger, MSN Explorer and Microsoft Games.

First, make a copy of sysoc.inf (found on the hard disk at \winnt\inf\sysoc.inf) before proceeding so that you can restore the initial configuration if necessary. Give the copy a different name, such as sysoc2.inf.

Open the Sysoc.inf file. Each line of text in the file represents a component that can be displayed in the Add/Remove Windows Components dialog.

Delete the word HIDE for any component that you want to see in the dialog (do not erase the commas).

Save the Sysoc.inf file, then close it, and reboot your computer.

The Add/Remove Windows Components dialog will now display the items you want.


Remove the Shared Documents folders from My Computer

One of the most annoying things about the WinXP user interface is that M$ saw fit to provide links to all of the Shared Documents folders on your system, right at the top of the My Computer window. I can't imagine why this would be the default, even in a shared PC environment at home, but what's even more annoying is that you cannot change this behavior through the shell: Those icons are stuck there and you have to live with it. Until now, that is.

Simply fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ My Computer \ NameSpace \ DelegateFolders

You'll see a sub-key named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}. If you delete this, all of the Shared Documents folders (which are normally under the group called "Other Files Stored on This Computer") will be gone.

You do not need to reboot your system to see the change


Stop Windows Messenger from Auto-Starting

If you're not a big fan of Windows Messenger simply delete the following Registry Key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Run\MSMSGS



Enable ClearType on the Welcome Screen!

Microsoft's ClearType technology in WinXP really makes a big difference for readability. But the this feature is enabled on a per-user basis in WinXP, so you can't see the effect on the Welcome screen; it only appears after you logon.

But you can fix that. Fire up the Registry Editor and look for the following keys:

(default user) HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ FontSmoothing (String Value)
HKEY_USERS \ .Default \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ FontSmoothingType (Hexadecimal DWORD Value)

Make sure both of these values are set to 2 and you'll have ClearType enabled on the Welcome screen and on each new user by default.


Speed up Internet Explorer 6 Favorites

For some reason, the Favorites menu in IE 6 seems to slow down dramatically sometimes--I've noticed this happens when you install Tweak UI 1.33, for example, and when you use the preview tip to speed up the Start menu. But here's a fix for the problem that does work, though it's unclear why:

Just open a command line window (Start button -> Run -> cmd) and type sfc, then hit ENTER. This command line runs the System File Checker, which performs a number of services, all of which are completely unrelated to IE 6. But there you go: It works.



Speed up Start Panel

The default speed of the Start Menu is pretty slow, but you can fix that by editing a Registry Key. Fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\MenuShowDelay

By default, the value is 400. Change this to a smaller value, such as 0, to speed it up.

If your confounded by the slow speed of the Start Menu, even after using the tip above, then you might try the following: Navigate to Display Properties then Appearance then Effects and turn off the option titled Show menu shadow. You will get much better overall performance.


Never re-activate after a new installation

If you have to reinstall WinXP you normally will have to re-activate too. Well not anymore. Just copy wpa.dbl after you activated the first time. It is located in the system32 folder. Now if you reinstall WinXP just copy the file back and you're up and running again.


Simple auto-logon

To auto logon try this one:

1. At a command prompt, type:
rundll32 netplwiz.dll,UsersRunDll

2. In the User Accounts dialog that appears, clear the "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer" check box and click OK.

3. Enter the user name and password of the account you want to automatically log on.

This will not work if your computer is joined to a domain.



Speed up browsing

When you connect to a web site your computer sends information back and forth, this is obvious. Some of this information deals with resolving the site name to an IP address, the stuff that tcp/ip really deals with, not words. This is DNS information and is used so that you will not need to ask for the site location each and every time you visit the site. Although WinXP and W2K have a pretty efficient DNS cache, you can increase its overall performance by increasing its size.

You can do this with the registry entries below:

************begin copy and paste***********
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Dnscache\Parameters]
"CacheHashTableBucketSize"=dword:00000001
"CacheHashTableSize"=dword:00000180
"MaxCacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:0000fa00
"MaxSOACacheEntryTtlLimit"=dword:0000012d

************end copy and paste***********

Make a new text file and rename it to dnscache.reg. The copy and paste the above into it and save it. Then merge it into the registry.



Registry security entry

If your running server versions, add the following reg_dword in the location shown and set it to "0". This will help keep an icmp re-direct attack from taking over your server.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Tcpip\Parameters]
"EnableICMPRedirect"=dword:00000000

Works in both Win2k and XP (mars)



BroadBand connections Performance Tweak

May or may not work, it depends on your configuration. Add the Dword values shown below.

This increases the number of buffers that the redirector reserves for network performance. It may increase your network throughput. The range is 0-255. It is set at 100 here. Make MaxCmds & MaxThreads have the same value. The default is 15.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters]
"MaxCmds"=dword:00000064
"MaxThreads"=dword:00000064

[-F7]

Stop Windows Explorer from automatically opening folders

To stop Windows Explorer from expanding a folder automatically when you click on it instead of clicking on the '+' do the following:

Control Panel -> Folder Options
Click on the Views tab, and uncheck "Display Simple Folder View in Explorer's Folder's list" - That'll keep the folders from opening automatically. As far as the zip file thing, mine doesn't do that, so can't help there.



How to uninstall Windows XP to 98

Some people say it isnt possible to uninstall XP. Fact is, it is! Use your Win98 Cd-ROM Autostart thing and go to DOS. There go to your XP-Drive and do a format -u. This will delete any XP-Files. Add to format -u an r and it restores the overwritten files from the last os (you won't see the RESTORED_OS-Folder since it is implemented in the Partition!

format -ur


Cable Modem not detected at install

If anyone has noticed, when you ran the compatibility test prior to installing XP, your cable modem may not be compatible. This is because MS has not finished testing out the cable modems.

I booted up in SAFE mode after I couldn't get it to install normally, even though XP detected it at that point, and installed it there. It works like a charm now.

So I suggest if you encounter any problems with getting your cable modems re-installed, try doing it via SAFE mode. That's by hitting F8 after you reboot and prior to Windows loading.

Change Web Page Font Size on the Fly

(Works in any version of IE)

If your mouse contains a wheel for scrolling, you can change font size on the fly when viewing a Web page. To do so:

Press and hold Ctrl. Scroll down (or towards yourself) to enlarge the font size. Scroll up (or away from yourself) to reduce the font size.

You might find it useful to reduce font size when printing a Web page, so that you can fit more content on the page.



WinXP Clear Page file on shutdown

WINXPCPS.REG (WinXP Clear Page file on shutdown)

This Registration (.REG) file clears the Page file when you power off the computer.
Restart Windows for these changes to take effect!
ALWAYS BACKUP YOUR SYSTEM BEFORE MAKING ANY CHANGES!

Browse to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Session Manager \ Memory Management

and add the DWORD variable "ClearPageFileAtShutdown"=dword:00000001

You can also do this without reg hacking.
Go to Control panel Administartative tools, local security policy. then goto local policies ---> security options.
Then change the option for "Shutdown: Clear Virtual Memory Pagefile"


Group Policy for Windows XP

One of the most full featured WinXP configuration tools available is hidden right there in your system, but most people don't even know it exists. It's called the Local Group Policy Editor, or gpedit for short. To invoke this editor, select Start and then Run, then type the following:

gpedit.msc

After you hit ENTER, you'll be greeted by gpedit, which lets you modify virtually every feature in Windows XP without having to resort to regedit. Dig around and enjoy!

Add album art to any music folder

One of the coolest new features in Windows XP is its album thumbnail generator, which automatically places the appropriate album cover art on the folder to which you are copying music (generally in WMA format). But what about those people that have already copied their CDs to the hard drive using MP3 format? You can download album cover art from sites such as cdnow.com or amguide.com, and then use the new Windows XP folder customize feature to display the proper image for each folder. But this takes time--you have to manually edit the folder properties for every single folder--and you will lose customizations if you have to reinstall the OS. There's an excellent fix, however.

When you download the album cover art from the Web, just save the images as folder.jpg each time and place them in the appropriate folder. Then, WinXP will automatically use that image as the thumbnail for that folder and, best of all, will use that image in Windows Media Player for WinXP (MPXP) if you choose to display album cover art instead of a visualization. And the folder customization is automatic, so it survives an OS reinstallation as well.

[Salyavin]

If you're a bit timid about editing the registry, many of these tweaks can be done through TweakUI user interface. Go to http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp and get TweakUI from the Download list on the right.

Some of the other PowerToys are handy too, especially CmdHere which allows you to open a command prompt to any folder by right-clicking it in Explorer and selecting "Open Command Window Here" from the menu.

Cheers,
Salyavin

[Turkish]

I didnt know , you can defrag ram...to be honest - i tried to follow what blackviper wrote , but damn it is so confusing to a noob like me -so confusing in fact . That i am super scared to tweak anything on my own :confused: !!


If you use his WinXP home/pro safe settings it'll be easy.

TO make it even easier....

NM it looks like his site is down,

if you really need to know give me a PM and i'll send you his already complete, push one button, automatic, regedit version.

which does everything that is stated on his webpage and has never caused me any problems.