TWEAKS AND TRICKS

darani vasan

It is possible to disable XP splash screen, which will slightly speed up the overall boot process. Be aware that removing the splash screen will also cause you not to see any boot-up messages that might come up (chkdsk, convert ... ), but if your system runs without any problems then it should not matter.

1. Edit boot.ini
2. Add " /noguiboot" right after "/fastdetect".

(or check the /noguiboot switch in msconfig on the boot.ini tab)

Upon restarting, the splash screen will be gone. It can be re-enabled by removing the new switch.

darani vasan

Don't you hate it when you are browsing a page it asks you "Would you like to debug this page?" Well here's a nifty and easy way to turn it off.

Right Click on Internet Explorer and Click Properties
----- or -----
Open Internet Explorer. Click Tools | Internet Options

Click The "Advanced" Tab

The 4th Item in "Browsing" should say "Disable Script Debugging"

Check it and you are all set! Enjoy a Debug-Free Browsing experience.

darani vasan

By default, Microsoft includes the /prefetch:1 switch to speed up it's Windows Media Player application start time. This switch can be used for other Windows applications and also many third party programs.

Example #1

You have AOL 8.0 installed on the computer. Complete the steps outlined bewlo to add the /prefetch:1 switch to AOL's Target path.

1. Right click on the AOL shortcut and select properties from the menu.

2. In the Target: Field add the /prefetch:1 switch to the very end of the path, like this: "C:\Program Files\America Online 8.0\aol.exe" /prefetch:1 and then click ok.

Now start AOL. It would load at least 50 times faster than ever before.

Example #2

1, Go to the Start button/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools

2. Right click on System Restore and select properties from the menu that appears. Add the /prefetch:1 to the Target Path entry so it looks like this %ystemRoot%\System32\restore\rstrui.exe /prefetch:1 and click ok.

Now System Restore will start immediately when executed.

Note: This switch will only work with some programs. Others will return a message saying the program in the target box is invalid. Just remove the switch.

darani vasan

1. Open up regedit
2. Goto HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.avi\shel lex\PropertyHandler
3. Delete the "Default" value which should be "{87D62D94-71B3-4b9a-9489-5FE6850DC73E}"

Voila! Please not that this will no longer provide you with the windows properties displaying the AVI file information such as width, height, bitrate etc. But its a small price to pay for saving you resources.

NOTE: Please use caution when using regedit. Improper usage may cause windows to behave imcorrectly. Backup your registry first.

darani vasan

Start Regedit.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control.
Click on the "Control" Folder.
Select "WaitToKillServiceTimeout"
Right click on it and select Modify.
Set it to a value lower than 2000, say 1000 as a test.

darani vasan

I don't know about every Windows installation, but my XP installed and defaulted to 60Hz refresh rate. This is the speed at which the stuff you see on your screen updates. The faster the better. 60Hz is pretty poor. Go on the web and find the driver for your monitor and install it. Then go in your display properties from the control panel. Goto SETTINGS -> ADVANCED -> MONITOR and check off the "hide modes that this monitor cannot display", then turn your refresh rate up to 85Hz or 100 or whatever you can. I run mine at 100Hz.

Caution: If no driver is available for your monitor don't go fooling with refresh rates unless you are sure your monitor can handle it. Doing so could damage your monitor. If there is no driver, consult the monitor manual or the manufacturer's website. They will usually say what Hz your monitor will work and at what resolutions.

darani vasan

Annoyed with Windows XP's built-in Zip support? Now there's a way to turn it off.

By default, Windows XP treats ZIP files like folders. If you're not familiar with ZIP files, this can be convenient. However, if you've already got a utility in place to manage your ZIP files (such as WinZip), this new feature can just get in the way. For example, Windows will search inside ZIP files when using Search - For Files or Folders, a process that not only causes searches to take longer, but one that may cause incomplete information to be displayed in the In Folder column of the search results.

Naturally, Microsoft hasn't provided any easy way to turn this feature off. Here's how to do it:

Select Run from the Start Menu.
Type regsvr32 /u %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll at the prompt, and click Ok.
The change will take effect immediately, but you may have to restart Windows for all traces of the built-in ZIP support to disappear.

If, at any time, you wish to re-enable Windows XP's built-in ZIP support, just follow these steps:

Select Run from the Start Menu.
Type regsvr32 %windir%\system32\zipfldr.dll at the prompt, and click Ok.
The change will take effect immediately, but you may have to restart Windows for all features of the built-in ZIP support to be available.

darani vasan

*Warning* - Changing Registry setting is tricky and could crash your system. Use the following tweak at your own risk, always back up first before modifying anything in the Registry.

Start , run, type "Regedit"

Follow this string :-
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> SYSTEM -> CurrentControlSet -> Control -> SessionManager -> MemoryManagement -> PrefetchParameters.

Then look at the Prefetch string and change the value from 3 to 5. it doesn't matter if you keep it Hexadecimal or Decimal.

Close registry and restart WindowsXP; it should load up between 5-15 seconds (or even more) faster.

*Tip - run bootvis and record the boot time before applying this tweak.

darani vasan

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 win2000 has a pretty efficient DNS cache, you can increase its overall performance by increasing its size.

You can do this with the registry entries below:

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

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

darani vasan

This tweak is for broadband cable connections on stand alone machines with winXP professional version - might work on Home version also. It will probably work with networked machines as well but I haven't tried it in that configuration. This is for windows XP only.

This tweak assumes that you have let winXP create a connection on install for your cable modem/NIC combination and that your connection has tcp/ip - QoS - file and print sharing - and client for microsoft networks , only, installed. It also assumes that winxp will detect your NIC and has in-box drivers for it. If it doesn't do not try this. In the "My Network Places" properties (right click on the desktop icon and choose properties), highlight the connection then at the menu bar choose "Advanced" then "Advanced Settings". Uncheck the two boxes in the lower half for the bindings for File and Printer sharing and Client for MS networks. Click OK

1. From the windows XP cd in the support directory from the support cab, extract the file netcap.exe and place it in a directory on your hard drive or even in the root of your C:\ drive.

2. Next, open up a command prompt window and change directories to where you put netcap.exe. then type "netcap/?". It will list some commands that are available for netcap and a netmon driver will be installed. At the bottom you will see your adapters. You should see two of them if using a 3Com card. One will be for LAN and the other will be for WAN something or other.

3. Next type "netcap/Remove". This will remove the netmon driver.

4. Open up control panel / system / dev man and look at your network adapters. You should now see two of them and one will have a yellow ! on it. Right click on the one without the yellow ! and choose uninstall. YES! you are uninstalling your network adapter, continue with the uninstall. Do not restart yet.

5. Check your connection properties to make sure that no connection exists. If you get a wizard just cancel out of it.

6. Now re-start the machine.

7. After re-start go to your connection properties again and you should have a new connection called "Local area connection 2". highlight the connection then at the menu bar choose "Advanced" then "Advanced Settings". Uncheck the two boxes in the lower half for the bindings for File and Printer sharing and Client for MS networks. Click OK.

8. Choose connection properties and uncheck the "QOS" box

9. Re-start the machine

10. After restart enjoy the increased responsiveness of IE, faster page loading, and a connection speed boost.

TWEAKS AND TRICKS

POST YOUR TOPICS HERE

Monday, August 6, 2007

Disable XP Boot Logo

Disable Debug Scripting in Internet Explorer

Increase your Applications startup time

Clicking AVI Files on explorer causing 100% CPU Usage?

the tweak to make windows XP shut down somewhat faster?

Making your display look better and update faster:

Turn off Windows XP's built-in support for ZIP files

Another Way To Tweak Boot Time

Another Way To Speed up Web Browsing

Increase your cable modem or DSL speed in XP

About Me

Blog Archive

My other blogs

ADD By Kontera