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Even faster PC for free!
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Tutorial Information
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| Name: |
Even faster PC for free! |
| Submitter: |
NickTheGreek |
| Category: |
Windows Tutorials |
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| Submitted: |
7 Mar 2008 |
| Updated: |
7 Mar 2008 |
| Views: |
444 |
| Rating: |
This tutorial is unrated. |
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Description:
Part 2--Now We're Talking
courtesy of bfarber and allsigs.or |
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Tutorial Instructions
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This is part 2 to the "A faster PC for free" tutorial series and the following suggestions assume you are decently familiar with your Windows system. Some of the things suggested below require familiarity with registry editing, and what not. While the instructions are "step-by-step", we cannot assume any responsibility if anything goes wrong. With that said, let's show you how to speed up your PC...
1. Optimize your Swap File
Your PC uses three types of memory: Cache (the fastest), RAM (the most abundant), and Virtual Memory (the slowest). The more your system uses virtual memory, the slower it is to respond because of the differences in technology between RAM and Virtual Memory. The part of your HD used for Virtual Memory is called the Swap File or Page File.
Since most of us have enough memory to safely tune down the use of virtual memory, we should do so. With Windows XP, go to:
Start-->Control Panel-->System-->Performance-->Virtual Memory
then select "Let me specify my own virtual memory settings". Then, your best bet is to write down the current settings (in case you need to change this back at a later time), and then disable virtual memory altogether (either by clicking "Disable virtual memory" or entering a value of 0). Reboot your PC. Then when your PC boots back up, go ahead and right click on your drive icons in My Computer, and choose Properties-->click on the Tools tab and choose Check Now.
When you are all done "Checking the drives" you can go back into the Virtual Memory Management and re-enable....the proper amount depends upon your RAM but typically a good setting is 2.5 times your RAM (i.e. if you have 256 MB RAM, set virtual memory to 640 MB). Naturally you can scale it down if you don't see the need to set it so high, but if you get warnings about being low on virtual memory, you will have to go back in and increase the number.
2. Lock Windows into RAM
If you have over 512 MB RAM, you'd be best off locking Windows into memory. The reason is this: the files on your computer that are accessed most often are Windows files. However, during the course of your computer work, you do access other files and the Windows files that you need get pushed out into virtual memory to make room for something else. If you lock Windows into memory, you will most likely notice a slight performance increase due to the fact that your PC doesn't have to jump to RAM, then virtual memory, and then back again quite as much. Fair warning though....you should have AT LEAST 512 MB RAM to do this. If you have anything less, just pass this one up.
Click on Start-->Run-->type in regedit32 and hit enter
Navigate to HKEY_local_machine\system\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
and then set the following:
DisablePagingExecutive should be set to 1 and set
IOPageLockLimit to 8388608
3. You can slightly speed up your performance if you are using NTFS by using the following registry tweaks:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
and change:
To disable 8.3 filenames (old Windows format--be careful as some programs actually rely on 8.3 filenames to run properly):
NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation set to 1 (if not already there, create a dword value with this name and set to 1)
To disable the last access timestamp:
NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate set to 1 (create a dword value by this name if not already there)
4. Optimize Your Broadband Speed
I was astounded when I came across this tweak. I swear to you, after I applied this tweak, almost every download I perform is rated by IE at a faster speed than my limit! While this is impossible (and is due to IE's innaccuracy), downloads are lightning quick and I must share this tweak!
Once again in regedit (Start-->Run-->type in regedit32 and hit enter):
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
Set the following (create the DWORD values if they are not already there):
DefaultTTL----set to 80 in Hex (128 in decimal)
EnablePMTUBHDetect---set to 0
EnablePMTUDiscovery---set to 1
GlobalMaxTcpWindowSize---set to 7FFF in Hex (32767 in decimal)
TcpMaxDupAcks---set to 2
SackOpts---set to 1
Tcp1323Opts---set to 1
TcpWindowSize---set to 7FFF in Hex (32767 in decimal)
For more information on what these things do go to http://www.winguides.com/registry/display.php/645/. It's beyond the scope of our needs to explain what each thing here does, but in general it opens up your packet size so that you can send and receive more info at a time. Of course, this makes your connection faster.
5. Compress Old Files
Logical, right? Gather up old files and then use XP's built in compression utility to zip up files. Or of course you could use WinZip or WinRar, or any other zip utility you like. The point is that the smaller the file is, the less time Windows has to take to scan over the file to get to the next one. Obviously only scan files you are not still regularly needing.
6. Upgrade Your Hardware
If you have USB support, go ahead and upgrade to USB 2.0. Many devices can use USB 2.0 technology, but only if you have the card to support it (and USB 2.0 supports up to 54 MB transfer rate, compared to the measley 12 MB/second you get with USB 1.0).
Upgrading your memory can be a pain, but WELL worth it. The more the better, just be sure to check whether or not you will need to upgrade your memory in pairs (DDR SDRAM does for example).
Upgrading other hardware can improve system performance dramatically as well. For example, if you currently have an onboard video card that shares 8MB RAM, and you upgrade to a video card that hosts 64 MB dedicated RAM, your graphics will be blazing fast compared to what you are used to. What you should upgrade all depends upon your system and your needs.
7. Overclocking and Tweaking Settings
I do not recommend anyone here does these things. If you know what you are doing, then you have probably already done this and don't need a tutorial to suggest it to you. However, for the benefit of those curious, I've included this here.
Overclocking is a popular practice where-by you enter into your BIOS settings and set your clock speeds and bus speeds higher than they currently are set at. The positive thing about this is that 9 out of 10 times you can inch a little more performance out of your system at the hardware level by doing this (if done correctly). The bad news is if you make a mistake, you most likely fried your motherboard or chipset and will need to replace. It is a dangerous tweak to do, but overclocking is a sure-fire way to improve performance at it's basics.
Similarly, many video card drivers (Nvidia, for example) give you utilities that allow you to tweak video card settings. Check your video card manufacturer's website to see if they offer a free downloadable utility like this and tamper with the settings. While you may not notice many of the changes it will allow you to do, many of the changes you will notice.
All in all, tweaking is a risky (depending on the tweak) but beneficial process. Use each tweak with caution, and at your own risk (believe me, no one will compensate you for your loss if the cause is a tweak you applied gone awry). However, I assure you that set aside overclocking, I've tested nearly every tweak here and all are safe if done properly (how beneficial they are must be taken on a case-by-case basis). Test them, if they don't seem to benefit you any, go back and reapply the original settings. In the end though, I'm sure you'll find that your PC is ten times quicker than when you began! |
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