   Problems with XP? Here are some solutions *SERIOUS*
  Here are just a few things that may help not only speed up windows XP but may also stop some crashes you may have been getting.How to Speed Tweak Windows XP STEP #1Muder the Maintenance Apps  Start by choosing the System icon in the Control Panel. There are three things here to eliminate: System Restore, Automatic Updating, and Remote Assistance. Navigate to each tab, and check or uncheck the appropriate boxes and select the appropriate radi buttons to cleanse your system of these largely useless applications.STEP #2Toss out Windows Messaging  Ready to kill that stupid little buddy icon that nobody uses? Choose Start and Run, and type C:\WINDOWS\INF\SYSOC.INF. Substitute your Windows directory if necessary. This will open a text file that maliciously hides some programs from the Add/Remove Programs folder. Find the line that starts with "msmsgs=" and edit the worde "hide" out of it (do not delete the extra comma though). Save the file, open Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs, and click on the Windows Components button. Scroll down, and you'll find the Windows Messaging just waiting to be unchecked.STEP #3Purge Unnecessary Services  Open Control Panel, select Administrative Tools, and select Services. Here you'll see a list of things running in the background to enable certain functions of Windows XP. Some start automatically, and you don't need all of them. Turn them off by setting them to Manual: Right-click on the service, choose Properties, pull down the Startup type box, and select Manual. Some functions you will turn off include Automatic Updates, Error Reporting, Indexing, Internet Connection Firewall (unless you're using it), Messenger, NVIDIA Driver Helper, Portable Media Serial Number, System Restore, and Task Scheduler.STEP #4Reign in the Swap File  XP is conservative when it first sets up the paging file and then uses precious resources to release it. Take that control out of Windows' hands by making your swap file huge and static. Open the Control Panel and choose System, select the Advanced tab, click on the Performance settings button, and go to the Advanced tab. There, you can set your own swap file size. If you have a large drive and enough free space, make it 1000MB. Choose the Change button to make both the initial and Maximum sizes 1000MB. Otherwise, make it as large as possible. You'll have to re-boot when done.STEP #5Get rid of Stupid Startup Items  Finally, you can purge your system tray of silly files by hitting them where they live; in your Startup folder and "run" registry key. The easy way to do this is to use the System Configuration Utility. Launch it by hitting the Start button and then choosing run. Type MSCONFIG. Choose the Startup tab. Uncheck anything frivolous, like Creative Labs AudioHQ; quick launchers from RealPlayer, MusicMatch, WinAmp, Kazaa, Microsoft Office; and-unless you use their special functions-hardware utilities like MouseWare and Microsoft Sidewinder. The beauty of the System Configuration utility is that if you uncheck something and discover that part of your system doesn't work, all you have to do is go back and check it again.END  I hope this helps some of you having problems with XP.*EDIT*Forgot the kill underline code, mah bad.[edited by - Dot Hack Sign on August 2, 2003 3:42:39 AM]
  Maybe this should be sticky''d? *HINT HINT WINK WINK* ;  I think this deserves to be sticky''d, and I added this thread to my favorites. ;  Why would anyone want to turn off automatic updates? That''s one of the most useful features if you want to keep you system updated and less vunerable for hackers.Task scheduling is another very handy thing, if you want to do automatic virus scans, automated file system checks, defragging, backups... The size of the swapfile you want depends on what you use the computer for, and how much memory you have. But I agree it''s usually better to set it to a fixed size.Indexing services speeds up file searching quite a lot, if you do that often. But on the other hand it sucks some cpu and harddisk usage when the computer is idle, rarely when it''s used.System restore has saved me once...And those autostart items, yes they make the system take longer to reboot, but usually caches quite a lot of program code, so that the programs in question starts much faster when you need it. Good if you have a lot of memory and reboot seldom.Msn messenger, a good chat program, that could be replaced by something like trillian. But I heard that the new version 6 is very good, so I will probably try that out.And finally my point... Never follow any suggestions like that blindly. Most of the things mentioned here depends entirerly what you use the computer for. And I wouldn''t exactly say they suck up much system resources either, most things are idle priority.  ;  Oh right, this info rox ... thats great dude =) ;quote:Original post by fredizzimo  Why would anyone want to turn off automatic updates? That''s one of the most useful features if you want to keep you system updated and less vunerable for hackers.Every once in a while, you go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and update.quote:The size of the swapfile you want depends on what you use the computer for, and how much memory you have. But I agree it''s usually better to set it to a fixed size.The swapfile should be static at around 2.5 times your RAM size.quote:And finally my point... Never follow any suggestions like that blindly. Most of the things mentioned here depends entirerly what you use the computer for. And I wouldn''t exactly say they suck up much system resources either, most things are idle priority.    Disabling a bunch of services makes your system boot faster, and takes less resources..Good advice, Dot Hack Sign.;  Thanks for the props.Also, most of the things you are "removing" (auto update, system restore, task scehduling) are not really being completly disabled, they just won't run unless you tell them do. So if you like System Restore, that's cool I use it too, but set it to manual and then before you fuck with your system, make a restore node, because you can still use it to go back, it just doesn't set restore points automatically.And if you seriously think MSN is cool, you're nuts, especially since you mention being paranoid of security in the same post. MSN is a big security hole.   [edited by - Dot Hack Sign on August 2, 2003 8:45:34 AM];quote:Every once in a while, you go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and update.Yes, but some security fixes are quite serious, and better update immeadetly when a fix is available, than wait say a week, or even more, as it''s a thing you tend to forget, if you have to do it manually each time.quote:The swapfile should be static at around 2.5 times your RAM size.That''s what I said, static/fixed is the same thing here, at least with my English. But 2.5 times your ram size is a generalization, that is good in most cases, but not in all cases. And fixed to 1000MB is definitely not good in all cases. If you are using a lot of memory hungry applications and little physical ram, it''s much better to have a bigger page file than 2.5 times the ram. In a similar way, if you only use lightweight applications, and have much physical ram, there''s no point making response times longer by having a too big page file. Even no page file might work in some cases, and be much faster. It depends on the system and your usage.quote:Disabling a bunch of services makes your system boot faster, and takes less resources..I only reboot when I have to, in other words when I install anything that requires reboot, usually after a windows update. So, one minute longer boot-time doesn''t outweight the advantages for me. I''m not saying it isn''t a good idea to turn off services you don''t use, that''s definitely a good idea. But don''t follow any advices you find on the net blindly. Use your own head, and think instead. ;quote:Original post by Dot Hack Sign  And if you seriously think MSN is cool, you''re nuts, especially since you mention being paranoid of security in the same post. MSN is a big security hole.Besides, you can still chat with MSN buddies without actually running MSN. Superpig- saving pigs from untimely fates, and when he''s not doing that, runs The Binary Refinery.Enginuity1 | Enginuity2 | Enginuity3;quote:Original post by Dot Hack Sign   STEP #2Toss out Windows Messaging    Ready to kill that stupid little buddy icon that nobody uses? Choose Start and Run, and type C:\WINDOWS\INF\SYSOC.INF. Substitute your Windows directory if necessary. This will open a text file that maliciously hides some programs from the Add/Remove Programs folder. Find the line that starts with "msmsgs=" and edit the worde "hide" out of it (do not delete the extra comma though). Save the file, open Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs, and click on the Windows Components button. Scroll down, and you'll find the Windows Messaging just waiting to be unchecked.Thanks for the tips but the above doesnt work for me....I HATE Windows Messaging and use the latest version of msn,any idea what I could be doing wrong?quote:Original post by Dot Hack Sign  STEP #5Get rid of Stupid Startup Items   Finally, you can purge your system tray of silly files by hitting them where they live; in your Startup folder and "run" registry key. The easy way to do this is to use the System Configuration Utility. Launch it by hitting the Start button and then choosing run. Type MSCONFIG. Choose the Startup tab. Uncheck anything frivolous, like Creative Labs AudioHQ; quick launchers from RealPlayer, MusicMatch, WinAmp, Kazaa, Microsoft Office; and-unless you use their special functions-hardware utilities like MouseWare and Microsoft Sidewinder. The beauty of the System Configuration utility is that if you uncheck something and discover that part of your system doesn't work, all you have to do is go back and check it again.well I just noticed that a few icons were always missing from the system tray even though they are indeed *checked* in MSCONFIG. Like when I choose the preference to minimize yahoo -"Remove Yaho Messenger Taskbar Button" and minimize the application, it does NOT appear in the system tray and I HAVE to the use the quick launhc bar instead to activate the window!Please tell me what I'm doing wrong! PS.ALL the stuff that is checked in MSCONFIG->STart Up does NOT indeed appear in the system tray, seems the system tray si quite selective...he he....about 10-15 have been checked but only 6-7 max appear..........wonder whats going on [edited by - hehenoobhehe on August 2, 2003 12:55:09 PM]