ok guys here i will be posting some tutorials ( off course not by me but found by me after some research ) .
we will cover a wide range of subjects. no requests for softwares please as ddf rules do not permit this.

u can always put ur queries. will try to answer as much as possible.

cheers !

lets start with some basic tuts. how to keep ur pc in optimal performance.

credits to matthias sanne the original author.

Matthias Sanne's Guide to optimal PC performance on Windows XP SP2 desktop PC's and Laptops.


01 | Tip One: watch your step and always be careful

(you won't have to do anything yet but pay attention)

So far the guide is pretty easy because you already do that, right? Wrong!
99% of pc-failures are your own fault! Everybody always blames Microsoft, when it's actually their own fault! (or low-quality/broken hardware)
Here are a few pointers on working safely on your computer to avoid problems. Even if you are experienced, just read them quickly.

On the internet

· You did nothing and yet suddenly a Pop-up appears...They are never right, they can never be trusted! Never click "ok", "close me" or "no thanks", just close the window immediately. Because the programmers can give a button tagged "no thanks" the meaning "yes install this virus". Even if it looks very trustworthy. remember: If you didn't click on anything there shouldn't be anything moving!.

· Many people try downloading cracks/warez/illegal stuff... Of course I don't encourage this, but it's a fact. And it's a very dangerous fact. If you are going to download illegal stuff... Well, then do it trough warez-forums or sites where the downloaders can give comment on the warez/cracks which are released. So you can read if they work just fine or contain viruses. Even then, be aware and virus-scan every file before you open it!
Certainly don't download illegal stuff trough pear2pear networks like Kazaa or Limewire... i'm not even going to explain. Just DON'T! ok? Downloading through eMule or Bittorrent is pretty safe when you use verified Torrents or verified ed2k-links.

· Read reviews of programs before you download and install them. Because sometimes they can damage your system pretty badly.

· Just stay off the Warez-and pornographic sites and even avoid them.

· Don't hand out your private e-mail address so easily. Create a back-up hotmail address which you can use in forums/registrations... Where you can receive confirmation-e-mails or download links to software-trails. You'll see spam appearing in the backup-hotmail soon, but your private e-mail stays clean.

on your computer

· Never delete files unless you are sure you can delete them safely. If a file bothers you, and you're not sure if you can delete it, just hide it (in file properties).

· If you have important files... Create back-ups! you'll think: "I’ll do it later". Do it now and Do it occasionally! You can thank me when your PC actually crashes and you have a good backup! And a pc is a strange and very complex piece of technology. It can always crash! At any second, at any day! Every pc! This is bigger than you and me. Someday it will happen to you too!

· If you don't know anything about computers, well.. Then don't go experimenting. It's a great way to learn about computers but some things are better left untouched. And always remember: if it is not broken, don't try to fix! Same counts with updates of software. Always ask yourself this question: If the program works perfectly and does everything I want, why should I update?

· If you really want to play it safe, just log on as a guest or create an account without administrator rights. You can always log in to your admin-account if you have to install something, But in every other occasion, your pc is much safer and you can't do much wrong!

Remember these tips!

Free Software/Links:

· A web browser safer than Internet Explorer: Firefox. You can install hundreds of handy plug-ins, extensions and visual themes for it to personalize it and make it as safe as you want on this page. With this browser you are safer because less people use it, and therefore malicious-software-writers don't write for it, they write mostly for Internet Explorer.



02 | Tip Two: Organize your computer

(this tip won't really speed up the system, but it will speed up the way you work and will make it more pleasant to work with your PC)

Just do it. It gives a calming effect and you'll never be frustrated again if you can't find a file immediately. This doesn't make your computer faster, but it does speed up things when you search for your files. It's also easier when you want to make back-ups.
- Create or actually use the folders "my documents", "my pictures", "my video's", "my music" etc. It's easier for multimedia player libraries and easier for you to find your files.
- Clean your desktop. Set a beautiful and especially calm wallpaper, organize your icons, delete the ones you never use. This increases the pc speed a very little because less icons have to be shown and loaded into the memory.
Do the same with your Start-menu and quick-start tray.
- are you going to use the quick start tray? The desktop icons? Or the start-menu to launch applications? If you organize one of the 3 perfectly and completely, the other 2 won't be necessary.

Free Software/Links:

· I find "Free Launch Bar XP" a very handy tool to organize your quick start tray and haven't used my start-menu nor desktop icons since! You can even create menu's in your quick-start-tray.

· Some good desktop wallpapers can be found on Musback or Socksoff or InterFaceLift



Part 2 - Actually speed up and clean your system. (no drastic actions required. Still, i recommend you to make a backup from the system-files. This can be done quick and easily and it can save you from a lot of trouble. System restore can be found here: start --> programs --> accesories. here you can create a restore-point.



03 | Tip Three: Scan for Spy and Ad ware occasionally.

In this day and age, a good spyware scanner is the most important and essential element of a fast and clean system! Considering 80% or more of the common annoyances is caused by spyware. I'll give you a few free anti-spyware packs.

Free Software/Links:

· Windows Defender (beta): A very good and free tool, distributed by Microsoft (so it's pretty trustworthy). It has a very powerful scanner and removes almost every ad/spyware available. It can also reset your internet explorer settings in case you experience strange things in internet explorer (if you have a weird start page from a foreign country and can't change start page anymore, constant pop-ups on every site there is, ...) Overall a very high rated tool, and very easy to use.

· Lavasoft Ad-aware Personal edition: A great alternative for Windows Defender. It finds a few things which windows defender can't find and vica versa. So it's a good additional free scanner to run next to windows defender if you want to be safe.

· And if you want to be extremely sure you catch any possible spyware, there's Hitman Pro: but be careful!! It's a bundled software which contains the following packages: Ad-Aware SE Personal(freeware), Plus and Pro (payware). Spy Sweeper (trial, loses functionality after 14 days) Spybot Search and Destroy (freeware) Spyware doctor (only detects but doesn't remove malware) Flash player security upgrade (freeware) JScript patch 1.1 (obsolete due to microsoft patch) CWShredder (freeware) Spyware Blaster (freeware) Spyware block List (freeware) Sysclean (freeware) Superdat VirusScan (you need to have a McAfee primesupport license) NOD32 (trial) WMF Vulnerability hotfix (freeware, obsolete due to microsoft patch) Ewido Micro (not displayed at the credits)
---> so it is actually a collection of a lot of software packages, and will take very long to scan, but it will find almost everything! But it will no longer work after 30 days because all the trials will be expired. + It installs a lot on your computer which can slow down your pc a lot. I'd say: "only use this program if you are desperate and windows defender + Ad-aware can't remove the spyware you've encountered." + some say it sometimes removes things which are actually not spyware and it changes settings on your computer without asking!!...



03 | Tip Three again: But what about a virus scan?

In my opinion, a Virus scanner acts more like a virus than the average virus. Often, you can't remove it from your system, it slows down your system a lot, gives constant annoying pop-ups and does so much background activity. See the connection with an actual dangerous virus? Only thing it doesn't do is damage your files. That's why I recommend online virus scans. They're proven to be very effective. Or you can try a free Virus scanner, they also work fine and use less computer resources.

Also, whenever you don't surf the net, you can disable the virusscanner's background services because 99,999% of all virusses come trough the net.

Free Software/Links:

· Windowd Live OneCare gives you complete free pc-scan for malware, it can clean your computer and improve prestations of your computer in general. You'll have to log in with a free hotmail account. It takes about an hour for a complete scan. Even if you think you have no virusses, a scan is still recommended.

· Trend Micro's Housecall is also a very powerful free online virus scanner. It's amazing how much it can find and it works pretty fast too. It's supposed to work for Firefox and Internet Explorer.

· Some other free virusscanners are: Bitdefender or Avast AV

· AV-Comparatives is a website which reviews all the Anti-virus Software available! Definatly a good resource to read about Virusscanners.



04 | Tip Four: Clean the crap.

Well, this is a very easy one. There's a small program called "Crapcleaner". The saying "what's in a name" justifies itself. This handy little piece of software cleans every bit of unnecessairy data on your system! You have to look at the settings before you do your first clean because by default it also cleans your internet history and cookies, but some people find it useful to have a history and to have their passwords and logins remembered. So do a quick check before you actually clean the first time. This handy tool also takes a look at your registry if you like. If you get all the errors out of your registry, you'll notice quite a pc-speed boost because no invalid files are trying to load anymore and all the remains of old software you have uninstalled are being removed as well.

Free Software/Links:

· CrapCleaner Mainpage or immediately download it from Filehippo.

· Just in case you want to be sure you have every bit deleted, there is also System Cleanup. I think CrapCleaner cleans just about everything, but some people say this tool deletes some extras too... It's a lot slower than Crapcleaner though.



Part 3 - Actually speed up and clean your system. (With rather drastic actions Backups are recommended!)



05 | Tip Five: If you have less software running at the same time, your pc will go faster.

Sounds pretty logical right? Often it feels great to close all open applications after a hard day of intensive work on your computer.
Do a little test... close all open applications like multi-media players, messenger-services etc.. (not your browser of course ;-), press ctrl-shift-escape and count the running processes. This number should be as low as possible. On my computer, it counts only 22.
This means that my computer has to work on 22 running programs/services at the same time. This is quite a lot. But I bet on your computer it runs up to 30 or even 40 right? Well this is caused by Auto-startups. These are programs that are booted with your computer when you start up the system. Some are needed, and yes, some are completely useless and just slow down your computer's start-up process and performance in general. What you are about to do is a bit advanced. But it's safe at the same time. Allow me to explain.
Go to: Start --> run --> type msconfig ---> a dialog appears. ---> go to the start-up tab (top-right).
Here you can see every piece of software that is booted with your computer. What you should know is that, when you do a clean windowsXP install, this list is completely empty. Because normally, WindowsXP can funtion perfectly without these programs running.
But, some of these programs are needed by your computer, so you can't just deselect everything in the list. For example: Your virus scanner is usually in this list... You don't want to shut this down right? Drivers for the extra keys on laptops (play dvd, launch internet explorer, enable remote control...) are in this list too. So be careful with what you deselect.
Here's the good news... If you notice you deselected something rather important (a function doesn't work anymore or your printer behaves odd) you can always run msconfig again and reselect/re-enable it!... problem solved. A good tip is: look next to your clock. Are there a lot of small icons you never use or don't even know what they're for? You can remove them all from start-up in the msconfig dialog and make your computer a lot faster! Often simple spy-and adware can easily be removed trough this dialog (because then it won't start up with your system anymore)
So to be short: you can shut everything down, but maybe you'll shut down something you or your computer needs to work optimal. So be careful you can always undo the procedure.
This method can also solve a lot of issues. example: You startup your computer and you get the error "could not load uselessprogram.exe" every time you boot. Just go to msconfig and deselect uselessprogram.exe or something that can relate to it.

A good tip is: If you can’t make up what the “program.exe” stands for, and you wish to know before disabling it, you can always type “program.exe” in Google to find the definition and see if it is useful or even dangerous!


Free Software/Links:

· msconfig can be found here: start ---> run ---> type msconfig

· Autoruns from SysInternals is a much more advanced kind of "msconfig". it also shows services, internet explorer start-ups, explorer-startups and so on. Only use this piece of free software if you are an advanced user and you know what you are doing. (immediately download here) Just unzip to any folder and it works.



06 | Tip Six: Uninstall software you never use.

A Lot of people are lazy. So am I. Maybe you are too? I'm not judging anybody. But these days, with 120GB hard-drives and more, people tend to be "nonchalant" because "you have enough space left". This is true and it's not really bad to leave a lot of software you never use installed. But just go trough your installed software list (control panel ---> software) and uninstall the programs you know what they are for and you never use. you can create a lot of free room plus you'll have a lot less files on your computer, making it easier to find and sort files for your hard drive.
Especially Games eat up a lot of hard drive space and create thousands of files which will slow down your computer.



07 | Tip Seven: This is the real deal. Defragment properly!

What is fragmentation? Here’s a rather easy and simple explanation:
Imagine 2 files (red and green one) on your hard drive: (the complete hard drive capacity is between the [[[ .... ]]] symbols


[[[ |------------||----------------------------------| ]]]

You delete file |------------| What's left is:


[[[ |------------| |----------------------------------| ]]]

And now you wish to create a new file |--------------------------------------|
Your hard drive will now automatically split the blue file to fill the gap created by the red file. The green file remains untouched.:

[[[ |------------| |----------------------------------| |-------------------| ]]]

The blue file is now fragmented and needs 2x more time to read by your hard drive. When you defragment, your hard drive joins all separated files into one big file again. Maybe you defragment your drive already with the windows defragment-tool and you think "this isn't worth it'. Well it's because the default windows defragment tool defragments very poorly but it’s still recommended to do every once and a while! There are a few véry good defragmenters on the market. But they cost a little money. You can always use a free 30 day trial. These defragmenters can defragment your boot-and system files too, they use smart placement to actually prevent fragmentation in the future, and they can defragment when your screensaver starts. Perhaps you think "defragging my drive takes hours and hours, i don't have the time nor patience to do this daily". Well, consider this: If you haven't cleaned your house in 10 years; it will take you a month to completely clean it thoroughly. But if you clean it the next week again, it will only take you 10 minutes. (the first defragmentation always takes the longest, after this, defragmentation only takes 5 minutes (it only has to defragment new fragmented files)

Free Software/Links:

· The defragmentation tool from windows: right click your hard-drive in "my computer" and select properties, then go to the tab "extra".

· You can try the trials from Raxco Perfectdisk or Executive Diskeeper. In my opinion, PerfectDisk is a better defragger than Diskeeper. It's even stronger. But the differences are very little. All I know is that they are both a hundred times more effective than the default windows defragger. I think both trials require an e-mail registration.
What I definitely recommend is (after a smart placement defragmentation with perfectdisk) an offline defragmentation with Perfectdisk. When you restart your computer, it will automatically defrag your boot/systemfiles resulting in a way better start-up time and overall pc-performance! You'll see.

· Free TuneXP can defragment your boot files too and tweak your windows XP in several ways. A very small but highly recommended tool! Definatly worth downloading (only 1 or 2 MB)





08 | Tip Eight: This is the Best tip of all: Divide your hard-drive into Partitions.

(Read entire tip before you go to work to understand the power of partitions and the logics behind it.)
This is my most useful tip. And you'll notice an extreme performance boost which will always remain. Your pc will barely slow down over the years if it's done properly. Sounds pretty cool doesn't it?
This action is very drastic and you must have a backup. You should be in a state where you can say "if my computer crashes now, it wouldn't be so bad." (right after or before a format for example) because you're about to divide your hard-drive. And if anything goes wrong (corrupted sector/file/power failure/pc freezes/...) you can lose everything. Here on my pc I’ve never encountered any problems, but every computer is different. You can't say i haven’t warned you enough.
What are partitions? Well, if you buy a new hard drive, it is divided into 1 partition: C:\ . This partition is the size of the entire hard drive (Lets say 200 GB) and probably you'll install windows XP on this partition. But if you use this partition several months/years it gets fragmented, has software installed all over the drive, takes much longer to search files, has remainings of uninstalled software all over the place, temporary internet/windows files everywhere, has windows system files all over the drive (makes windows work slower) and it will not function anymore if there is an error in windows and you have to format (you'll lose all data immediately if you can't get into the drive/partition anymore trough your or maybe even another pc)
What can you do about it? It's actually very simple; you can divide your hard drive into several partitions. The initial partition of 200 GB can be resized to 15 GB and the 185 Free Gigabyte can be used independently. Here's how I recommend you to divide the free space.
So you now have a hard drive which looks like this:

-[ [C:\ 15 GB ] [ EMPTY 185 GB ] ]-

Of course, you have your Windows XP installed on your C:\ partition. But now it's up to you. you'll have to decide what to do with the 185 GB of free space. You can create a partition for your Music/documents/movies, or for your Software/Games or for your Tempfiles or you can create all 3 or as many or as few as you like. Everybody has different Needs. Let's say you decide how to divide 180 GB yourself (we'll get back to that) but I recommend you create a 5 GB Partition for tempfiles. This is very necessary. You can create a partition (T:\ for example, can be any letter) where you store:

· c:\windows\temp
This location can be changed like this: Control Panel --> System --> tab "advanced" --> at the bottom "variables".

· Temporary internet files
This location can be changed like this: Control Panel --> Internet options --> settings for temporary files --> move folder.
you should also reduce the size of this folder to 150MB or so.

· Winrar/Winzip Temp folder
This location can be changed in the options of the software.

· P2P Temp/Part files (Like eMule, Shareaza, Bittorrents..)
This location can be changed in the options of the software.

· Adobe Photoshop, illustrator, inDesign Swapfiles
This location can be changed in the options of the software.

· Nero Tempfiles
This location can be changed in the options of the software.

· Software you'd like to try before installing it.
Just install the software to T:\SoftwareTry\program\ or something like that.

· Downloaded files you have to test before you store them into permanent folders.
Just download the files to T:\Downloads

Shortly; Every file that just temporary visits your computer, or every file of which you are not sure if you are going to keep it.
I recommend this list's locations should change to (just suggestions):
Every piece of software that creates tempfiles probably has an option somewhere to change this location.

· c:\windows\temp ---> T:\Temp\

· Temporary internet files ---> T:\Temporary internet files\

· Winrar/Winzip Temp folder ---> T:\Temp\

· P2P Temp/Part files (Like eMule, Shareaza, Bittorrents..) ---> T:\Downloads\PartFiles\

· Adobe Photoshop, illustrator, inDesign Swapfiles ---> T:\Temp

· Nero Tempfiles ---> T:\Temp

· Software you'd like to try before installing it. ---> T:\SoftwareTry

· Downloaded files you have to test. ---> T:\Downloads\

This way you keep your windows-partition (C:\) clean. It will not get full of temporary files which cause fragmentation and gotohell over your harddrive. This will give you quite a boost because all gotohell is concentrated in one partition and software like CrapCleaner cleans this partition automatic for you.
So now your Hard Drive looks like this (in theory)

-[ [C:\ 15 GB ] [ T:\ 5 GB ] [ EMPTY 180 GB ] ]-

So You have 15 GB to install Windows XP, Office, Photoshop, drivers and other software you really use daily and are un-missable (permanent). Maybe a game or 2 you play for years and are really devoted to.
Now it's up to you. Will you create an 180 GB-large new partition for Files and Music and Video's and (new) Games you play only a month or 2 and software you don't use often or regularly have to update?
Or will you create a partition for software and games AND another partition for your music and files and video's?
This is up to you. Anyway you choose, your PC will remain as fast because the windows XP partition (c:\) Remains untouched!
So in short your drive will look like this --->

· C:\ = Windows XP + Office + Software you often need and is essential (codecs, all time favorite games, multimedia players,...)

· T:\ = Temporary files (as discussed above)

· G:\ = Games and other software you don't really need that often

· F:\ = Files, video's, music, downloads....

-[ [C:\ 15 GB ] [T:\ 5 GB ] [ G:\ 30 GB ] [ F:\ 150 GB ] ]-



Your C:\ drive will remain clean and as fast as day one (or maybe even faster if you defragment often) And no mather how full your hard drive gets, your pc will remain healthy and fast!
Another advantage is; When your windows gets an error of some sort and you can't resolve the problem, You can just Format the C:\ Drive, reinstall windows XP and the other partitions remain untouched, you'll keep your Files stored on the T:\, G:\ and F:\ partitions.
Of course these values are all fictional considering every hard drive has a different size. You should make up the sizes for yourself. Think what you need more, Files or games or software...? you're completely free to divide your hard drive into the partitions you need. (if you need a partition "work"...Be my guest. The story above is fictional, I do it like that, this doesn't mean you have to.)

Free Software/Links:

· Start --> run ---> diskmgmt.msc (this is not really recommended because you always have to format, you'll always loose your data if you want to create partitions. Partition Magic can do all this with a very nice and helpful wizard)

· Partition Magic 8: This is not free, but I recommend this piece of software Highly! It just works perfectly. Never encountered a problem on over 5 pc's now. It works like a charm and is very easy to use. You can create, edit, resize, rename, delete partitions, you can change their file system (NTFS recommended, Fat32 is good for Linux)





09 | Tip Nine: Some small tweaks.

Here I’ll write down some small tips which can increase your performance. Most of them are just plain logically, and others are so hidden that you’d never find them without knowing they exist.
Here are the hints:

· Reduce the size of your start-menu and the amount of desktop-icons. A smaller start-menu and cleaner desktop saves a lot of time for your computer to load and for you to find the software/files you need. Therefore I suggest you create a new start-menu folder called “my favorite programs”. Only place the shortcuts to the programs in there and sort them alphabetically. Remove all the individual folders remaining (with the uninstall-icon, links to helpfiles etc..). This will not anly look better, but will also make your computer load all the menu’s faster.

· Turn of indexing of your hard-drive. Just go to your harddrive in “my computer” and rightclick it to see it’s properties. At the bottom you can deselect indexing. I noticed quite a boost. Indexing is only used when you use windows-search, but if it’s turned of, it will still work as good as before.

· If you have 256 MB RAM or more in your computer, this tweak will boost your Windows- and Game-Performance. What it does: It tells Windows not to use any Swap File (= virtual RAM-memory, created on your harddrive (so very slow) until there is really no more free RAM left.
- Start --> run --> type msconfig and press enter
- In the System.ini Tab you have to add "ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1" under the 386enh subfolder.
- Restart your Windows and enjoy better performance

· While you install CrapCleaner, you can create a small shortcut in the dropdown menu if you right-click the recycle bin. You can use the “start Crapcleaner” selection instead of the “empty recycle bin” and you’ll be sure that your entire pc will be wiped clean in a second or 2.

· To browse faster trough Windows XP on a rather slow computer you can reduce the graphic quality of the operating system (like shadows under menus, slow fading effects,…) just go to system properties (rightclick my computer and click on properties). Go to the tab Advanced and click on the first “settings”-button (for visuals and performance). The visual effects dialog appears. Here you can uncheck everything you don’t need. You can even make it look like windows 2000 or earlier.

· Your PC is faster if it doesn't have to do useless work at the same time. Therefore I advice you to just stick to the default windowsXP screensaver (the logo) or even no screensaver at all for several reasons;
1) It's fast and easy to load and uses barely any cpu-power (or none at all).
2) It doesn't slow down any projects running on background while you wait.
3) It saves you energy (less cpu-power = less heat = lower electricity bill)
I also suggest you set the timer to shut off your monitor at about 10 minutes or less. Again to save energy.

· If you have less than 512 mb of RAM-memory, I really suggest buying an extra amount of RAM. If you are still living with 256mb or even less, you will not believe the amazing increase of performance if you buy more! you can check the amount by rightclicking the "my computer"-icon on your desktop and show the properties.


10 | Tip Ten: Try upgrading your drivers.

Where there's hardware, there's a driver. When you buy a pc, everything just works (at least it should...), you think you never have to do anything about it. But that's where you are wrong. For example; video drivers are updated almost every month! If you update after a year or two, you'll experience better performance in several games, less crashes, less errors, improved graphics and so on. You should check your vendor's website for support and driver-downloads. Most of the time you can easily find updated drivers on their site. If you can't find updated drivers here, you can always search trough google or driverguide.
Upgrading drivers can solve many, many issues in your computer! Unfortunately, some manufacturers send bad quality drivers into the world. So for most hardware an old saying goes: if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
You can only make things worse if everything worked perfect before, right?
but if anything is wrong with your computer (locks up, freezes,...) A driver upgrade could solve a lot of problems for you.

Owners of laptops should pay extra attention! Go to the website of the vendor (like HP, Dell, Compaq, Asus, Sony, Fujitsu) of the Laptop, not the seperate hardware. (example; you have an ATI x600 in your HP laptop? Go to Hp's homepage in stead of ati's homepage.)

Here are some links:

· Driverguide.com has too much to mention! Almost any driver ever created can be found here. All you have to do is create a free login account and you can download everything you need.

· The nVidia and ATI websites (the drivers page). These 2 companies represent next to intel's integrated graphics-hardware the 2 largest graphics-adapter manufacturers. Check these pages to see if there are newer drivers available of the Forceware or catalyst drivers.
to see which graphics-adapter you have in your computer, right-click your desktop anywhere and select properties. You are now at the display-properties. Just go to the tab settings, and it should show you your monitor and graphics-card.



all this information can be obtained from here


the authors website address is also displayed on this page.

cheers !

TWEAK UR XP

credits to original authoe Tsukisaka

-To Increase System Performance

Right click my computer.
Click properties.
Click advanced.
Click settings (under performance).
Click Adjust for best performance.
Scroll to the bottom and check the last one “use visual styles on windows and buttons”.

-How to Disable XP's crap built in CD Burner

Click the start button.
Select Run.
Type services.msc and click ok.
Go to IMAPI CD-Burning Com Services open it and click on start up type, change to "Disabled".

-Fine Tune Your Systems Memory

These Settings will fine tune your systems memory
You need at least 256MB of ram to do this:
Go to Start > Run then type in REGEDIT -and then to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM \CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management

1.DisablePagingExecutive -Double click it and in the decimal put a 1 - this allows XP to keep data in memory now instead of paging sections of ram to harddrive yeilds faster performance.

2.LargeSystemCache- Double click it and change the decimal to 1 -this allows XP Kernal to Run in memory and improves system performance a lot.

3.IOPageLockLimit - Create a new dword and name it double click it and set the value in hex - 4000 if you have 128MB of ram or set it to 10000 if you have 256MB set it to 40000 if you have more than 512MB of ram -this tweak will speed up your disckcache.

Reboot

-Unable to delete from Avi files from HD

XP holds files in it's memory even after you have closed the application using them making it impossible to delete them from your harddrive. To fix this:
Start -> Run -> Regedit
Find the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.avi\shel lex\PropertyHandl er\ directory and delete the "DEFAULT" key.

-Tweak The Swap File

For Users with 256 MB RAM or more this tweak will boost their Windows- and Game-Performance.
What it does: It tells Windows not to use any Swap File until there is really no more free RAM left.
Open the System Configuration Utility by typing msconfig.exe in the RUNConservativeSwapfileUsage =1" under the 386enh section.
Restart your Windows and enjoy better Game performance
command. There in your System.ini you have to add "

-Disable Services

XP Pro runs a lot of services by default that are pointless if your not on a corporate network, the following services are ones that I safely disable thereby freeing up memory but check what each one does first to make sure your not using it for something:

Go to Run and type services.msc, right click on each service, properties and choose disable.

Alerter
Application Layer Gateway Service,
Application Management
Automatic Updates
Background Intelligent Transfer
Clipbook
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Distributed Transaction Coordinater
Error Reporting Service
Fast User Switching Compatibility
IMAPI CD-Burning
Indexing Service
IPSEC Services
Messenger
Net Logon
Net Meeting
Remote Desktop Sharing
Network DDE
Network DDE DSDM
Portable Media Serial Number
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager
Remote Registry
Secondary Logon
Smartcard
SSDP Discovery Service
Telnet Themes
Uninterruptible Power Supply
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Upload Manager
Webclient
Wireless Zero Configuration
WMI Performance Adaptor

-Speed Up The File System

NTFS is a great file system, but its feature-set comes at a slight cost in performance. You can negate this a little with the following tips:

* By default NTFS will automatically update timestamps whenever a directory is traversed. This isn't a necessary feature, and it slows down large volumes. Disable it by going to Run and type regedit:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM \CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem and set 'DisableNTFSLastAccessUpd ate' to 1.

* NTFS uses disparate master file control tables to store filesystem information about your drives. Over time these core MFT files grow and become fragmented, slowing down all accesses to the drive. By setting aside a little space, MFT's can grow without becoming fragmented.

In the same key where you disabled the last access feature creat a new DWORD value called 'NtfsMftZoneReservation' and set it to 2.

-Disable DLL Caching

Windows Explorer caches DLLs (Dynamic-Link Libraries) in memory for a period of time after the application using them has been closed. This can be an inefficient use of memory.

1. Find the key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWA RE\M'zoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Explorer].

2. Create a new DWORD sub-key named 'AlwaysUnloadDLL' and set the default value to equal '1' to disable Windows caching the DLL in memory.

3. Restart Windows for the change to take effect.

-Tweak The Prefetch

1. Run "Regedit"
2. Goto [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM \CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParame ters\EnablePrefetcher]

3. Set the value to either 0-Disable, 1-App launch prefetch, 2-Boot Prefetch, 3-Both ("3" is recommended).

4. Reboot.

It will decrease the boot time but double and increase the performance of your XP.


-Performance Increase Through My Computer

Easy enough tweak to usually find out about it on your own, but still, some of us still don't find it right away. So here it is:

Start > right-click on My Computer and select Properties.
Click on the "Advanced" tab.
See the "Performance" section? Click "Settings".
Disable the following:

Fade or slide menus into view
Fade or slide ToolTips into view
Fade out menu items after clicking
Show Shadows under menus
Slide open combo boxes
Slide taskbar buttons
Use a background image for each folder type
Use common tasks in folders
There, now Windows will still look nice and perform faster.

-Remove Windows Messenger

Go to Start/Run, and type: "rundll32 setupapi,InstallHinfSection BLC.Remove 128 %SystemRoot%INFmsmsgs.inf"

Do Not Highlight Newly Installed Programs

Tired of that annoying little window that pops up to tell you that new software is installed? If it gets in the way when you?re logging off, turn it off completely. To do this:

Click Start, right-click at the top of the Start menu where your name is displayed, and then click Properties.
In the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box, on the Start Menu tab, click Customize.
Click the Advanced tab, and then clear the Highlight newly installed programs check box.
Click OK, and then click OK again.

-Customize the Start menu

The Start menu gets more real estate in XP than in previous versions, and it's more customizable. To make the Start menu display only the applications you want, rather than the default determined by M'zoft:

Right-click in an empty section of the Start menu's left column.
Select Properties > Start Menu > Customize. Here you'll find a list of your most frequently used programs. (XP keeps track of what you use and what you don't, then updates this list dynamically).
Don't want your boss to know that Pinball, Solitaire, and Quake all make your list?

Go to the General tab, click Clear List, and set the counter to zero.

- Search Companion Error

When doing a file search, if you get the error A File That Is Required to Run Search Companion Cannot Be Found

Log on as an Administrator
Click Start
Select Run
Enter in the command - %systemroot%\inf
Right-click the Srchasst.inf file
Click Install

-Installing the Backup Program on the Home Version

By default, the NTBACKUP program is not installed on the home version.

You can find it on the CD in the \VALUEADD\MSFT\NTBACKUP directory

Since not all vendors include the actual source code for XP,
you can download a copy

-Changing Drive Letters

If you want to change the letters assigned to your fixed or removable drives:

Right Click on My Computer
Select Manage
Select Disk Management
For a Fixed Disk:

Select it
Right click
Select Change Drive Letter and Path
Click on the Edit button
Enter in the letter you want to use
For a Removable Disk:

In the lower, right hand panel, right click on the Disk or CD ROM #
Select Change Drive Letter and Path
Click on the Edit button
Enter in the letter you want to use


[COLOR=red]- Turn off the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer as the Default Image Viewer

You can also change the file associations for the specific file types you want.

Open the Windows Explorer
Go to Tools / Folder Options / File Types
Scroll down to the extension you want to change
Click on the Change button
Select the program you want to associate with that extension
Click on the OK button

If the Windows Picture and Fax Viewer is set as the default for many of your graphic file types,
you can remove it so other graphics programs can be used.

Run Regedit
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT / SystemFileAssociations / image / ShellEx / ContextMenuHandlers
Delete the key ShellImagePreview
Download reg file

-Allowing Network Access with Blank Passwords

Although you can log in locally without a password, by default, WindowsXP Pro does not allow network users to access the computer without a password. Typically you will receive an Unknown error 31 if this is the case.

To change this setting:

Run gpedit.msc
Go to Computer Configuration / Windows Settings / Security Settings / Local Policies / Security Options
Double click on Accounts: Limit local account use of blank passwords to console login only
Disable this option

-Changing the Default DOS Window Properties

If you want to change the default DOS windows properties like:

Size
Color
Font
Buffer Size
Window / Full Screen
Open up a DOS window
Right click on the Title Bar
Select Defaults
Make any of the changes you like
All subsequent DOS windows will assume these defaults

-Changing the Registered Owner

Start Regedit
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\M'zoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion
From there you can edit the name in the Registered Owner key

-Opening a Command Prompt to a Particular Directory from Explorer

If you want to open a command prompt to a directory that is selected in the Explorer:

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Directory \ shell
Create a new key called Command
Give it the value of the name you want to appear in the Explorer. Something like Open DOS Box
Under this create a new key called command
Give it a value of cmd.exe /k "cd %L"
Now when you are in the Explorer, right click on a folder, select Open DOS Box, and a command prompt will open to the selected directory.
Download reg file

-Adding Time Servers

With WindowsXP, you can double-click on the time in the System Tray and connect to Time Servers on the Internet to synchronize with.
To add to the list of available servers:

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\M'zoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\DateTime\Servers
Add new string keys named 2, 3, etc. with a value of the time server you want to use.

-Creating a Boot Floppy

To create a bootable floppy from within WindowsXP:

Insert a floppy into the A: drive
Open the Explorer
Right click on the A: Drive
Select Format
Check Create an MS-DOS startup disk
Click on the Start button
This will create a Millennium boot disk

-Changing the Login Screen Saver

If you want to change the screen saver that runs at the login prompt:

Start Regedit

Go to HK_USERS / .DEFAULT / Control Panel / Desktop
Double click on SCRNSAVE.EXE
Enter in the screen saver you want to use

-Running NetMeeting

To run NetMeeting:

Do a Start / Run
Enter conf
Answer the prompts along the way for name, e-mail etc.

-Set the Online Registration as Being Completed

You can set WindowsXP to assume the online registration has been completed.

Run Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ M'zoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion
Create a String Value called RegDone
Give it a value of 1
Download reg file

-Decreasing Boot Time

M'zoft has made available a program to analyze and decrease the time it takes to boot to WindowsXP
The program is called BootVis

Uncompress the file.
Run BOOTVIS.EXE
For a starting point, run Trace / Next Boot + Driver Delays
This will reboot your computer and provide a benchmark
After the reboot, BootVis will take a minute or two to show graphs of your system startup.
Note how much time it takes for your system to load (click on the red vertical line)
Then run Trace / Optimize System
Re-Run the Next Boot + Drive Delays
Note how much the time has decreased
Mine went from approximately 39 to 30 seconds.

-Re-Enabling System Restore

If you previously disabled system restore through the Group Policy Editor,
the option to start it again does not show in the System Properties.
You can re-enable it again by:

Run the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc)
Go to Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / System / System Restore
Set Turn off System Restore and Turn off Configuration to Disable
Right click on My Computer
Select Manage
Go to Services and Applications / Services
Scroll down to System Restore Service
Set it for Automatic
Click on the Start button to start the service
Close down this window
Go back to the Group Policy Editor and configure both to Not configured
Now when you right click on My Computer, there should be a tab for System Restore and you can configure how much space will be used.

-Hide/Unhide Logon Names

If you want to hide or unhide the names of users that are displayed on the initial logon screen:

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ M'zoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ Winlogon \ SpecialAccounts \ UserList
Add a DWORD with the name of the user account you want to hide
Make sure it has a value of 0
If there is an existing account, you can unhide it by giving it a value of 1

-Speed up start menu

Start -> Run -> regedit

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop and then right click on ""MenuShowDelay" and click on "Modify", the figure you have here is in milliseconds. The standard is 400, I have mine set to 50, 0 is instant.
Take your pick


to be continued ...

Added Few More

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Autoexec.nt or Config.nt Errors

If you are getting errors similar to:
The system file is not suitable for running MS-DOS and M'zoft Windows applications. Choose 'Close' to terminate the application.

Try copying the file from \windows\repair directory to the one that is in the \windows\system32 directory.

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Common Control Panel Applets


The follow are some common Control Panel Applets that are located in the \windows\system32 directory.
If you find yourself using any of these frequently, then you can simply make shortcuts to them on your desktop.

appwiz.cpl Add/Remove Programs
desk.cpl Display Properties
firewall.cpl Firewall Settings
inetcpl.cpl Internet Options
mmsys.cpl Sound and Audio
ncpa.cpl Network Connections
nusrmgr.cpl User Accounts
powercfg.cpl Power Options
sysdm.cpl System Properties
wscui.cpl Security Center
wuaucpl.cpl Automatic Updates Configuration

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Windows Explorer Opens Search Companion Rather than the Folder
If the Windows Explorer opens up the Search Companion rather than opening up the actual folder, the default setting for opening a folder is changed.

To correct this:

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT \ Directory \ shell
Edit the default value to be explorer or none
Download reg file

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Running SFC without a CD ROM


If you run sfc /scannow and get prompted to insert a CD,
there are a couple of changes you might need to make.

Slipstream your copy of WindowsXP with the latest service pack you have applied.
For detailed unstructions on how to do this see:
SlipStreaming a Service Pack into Windows XP

Once these files are on your hard drive, you can simply make a few registry changes to point to those locations.

Start Regedit

Go to the follow locations and change the path to wherever you copied the source files.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\M'zoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Setup\ServicePackSourcePath
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\M'zoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Setup\SourcePath
the last one might not be necessary
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\M'zoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\SourcePath

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Guest Only Network Access

If you try and connect to an XP computer and are shown a logins screen with only the computername/Guest,
You may need to change one of the Local Security Policies:

Got to Control Panel - Administrative Tools
Go to Local Policies - Security Options
Check teh Network access: Sharing and security model for local accounts
Set it to Classic - local users authenticate as themselves

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Repairing Damaged Winsock2


The symptoms when Winsock2 is damaged show when you try to release and renew the IP address using IPCONFIG.

And you get the following error message:
An error occurred while renewing interface 'Internet': An operation was attempted on something that is not a socket.

Also Internet Explorer may give the following error message:
The page cannot be displayed Additionally, you may have no IP address or no Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) address, and you may be receiving IP packets but not sending them.

There are two easy ways to determine if Winsock2 is damaged:

From the XP source files, go to the Support / Tools directory

Winsock Test Method 1
Run netdiag /test:winsock

The end should say Winsock test ..... passed

Winsock Test Method 2

Run Msinfo32
Click on the + by Components
Click on the by Network
Click on Protocol
There should be 10 sections if the Winsock2 key is ok
MSAFD Tcpip [TCP/IP]
MSAFD Tcpip [UDP/IP]
RSVP UDP Service Provider
RSVP TCP Service Provider
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...
MSAFD NetBIOS [\Device\NetBT_Tcpip...

If the names are anything different from those in this list, then likely Winsock2 is corrupted and needs to be repaired.
If you have any 3rd party software installed, the name MSAFD may be changed.
There should be no fewer than 10 sections.

To repair Winsock2

Run Regedit
Delete the following two registry keys:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Winsock
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\Winsock2

Download Reg file to delete these entries

Restart the computer
Go to Network Connections
Right click and select Properties
Click on the Install button
Select Protocol
Click on the Add button
Click on the Have Disk button
Browse to the \Windows\inf directory
Click on the Open button
Click on the OK button
Highlight Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
Click on the OK button
Reboot
Or Download Reg file to add the correct registries back in

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Not Displaying Previous Network Share Shortcuts


By default, when you go to Network Places, it will scan and show shortcuts to previous network shares.
To turn this off and remove any current shortcuts

Open up the Windows Explorer
Go to Tools / Folder Options / View
The top section should be Files and Folders
Uncheck Automatically search for network folders and printers
Then go into Network Neighborhood Select all the previous netowork connections Delete them
Next time you look at the Network Neighborhood, they should not repopulate

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Hiding a XP Computer from Network Neighborhood

If you want to share files from a XP computer,
yet want to remove it from showing up in the Network Neighborhood,

Run net config server /hidden:yes

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Easy Way to Share Multiple Folders


If you need to share multiple folders, running the program SHRPUBW.EXE will bring up a simple dialog box to let you:

Browse to the folder you want to share
Enter in a Share name
Ender in a Share description
Set permissions. Several choices are available
Restart the process from within the same program

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System32 Folder Opens When Logging On


If the System32 folder shows on the desktop, there may be an invalid entry in the Registry

Start Regedit
Go to both:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\M'zoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\M'zoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Run
Double check that the values do not have incorrect, incomplete, or blank entries

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Not Viewing Zip Files as Folders


If you want to turn of WindowsXP showing Zip files as folders,
just run:

regsvr32 /u zipfldr.dll

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Setting Capslock, Numlock, Scroll Lock

If you want to set the startup state for any or all of these keys,
you just need to edit the registry.

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Keyboard
Open InitialKeyboardIndicators
Change the value to one of the following numbers
0 - All Keys off
1 - Caps Lock on
2 - Num Lock on
4 - Scroll Lock on
For multiple keys, add their values:
3 - Caps Lock and Num Lock on
5 - Caps Lock and Scroll Lock on
6 - Num Lock and Scroll Lock on
7 - Caps Lock, Num Lo