Turbocache in XP

First, install your video drivers. You've probably already done this, but if you want to make sure that you have something recent, do the following:
-Right-click your desktop and click Properties
-Go to the Settings tab
-Click the advanced button
-Go to the Adapter tab (note the Memory Size under Adapter Information)
-Click on Properties button
-Go to the Driver tab
-Check the Driver Date and Driver Version to see if it's at least November 2006 and/or 93.71
-Close the dialogs.
-If your version isn't up-to-date, then download and install the latest nVidia Driver.

Install Rivatuner
-Just download it from here: http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163
-Run the installer

Windows uses 20% of your bandwidth Here's how to Get it back

A nice little tweak for XP. Microsoft reserve 20% of your available bandwidth for their own purposes (suspect for updates and interrogating your machine etc..)

Here's how to get it back:

Click Start-->Run-->type "gpedit.msc" without the "

This opens the  group policy  editor. Then go to:


Local Computer Policy-->Computer Configuration-->Administrative Templates-->Network-->QOS Packet Scheduler-->Limit Reservable Bandwidth


Double click on Limit Reservable bandwidth. It will say it is not configured, but the truth is under the 'Explain' tab :

"By default, the Packet Scheduler limits the system to 20 percent of the bandwidth of a connection, but you can use this setting to override the default."

So the trick is to ENABLE reservable bandwidth, then set it to ZERO.

This will allow the system to reserve nothing, rather than the default 20%.

I have tested on XP Pro, and 2000

Speed Up Your Browsing Of Windows 2000 & Xp Machines!

Here's a great tip to speed up your browsing of Windows XP machines.. Its actually a fix to a bug installed as default in Windows 2000 that scans shared files for Scheduled Tasks. And it turns out that you can experience a delay as long as 30 seconds when you try to view shared files across a network because Windows 2000 is using the extra time to search the remote computer for any Scheduled Tasks. Note that though the fix is originally intended for only those affected, Windows 2000 users will experience that the actual browsing speed of both the Internet & Windows Explorers improve significantly after applying it since it doesn't search for Scheduled Tasks anymore. Here's how :

Open up the Registry and go to :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace

Under that branch, select the key :

{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}

and delete it.

This is key that instructs Windows to search for Scheduled Tasks. If you like you may want to export the exact branch so that you can restore the key if necessary.

This fix is so effective that it doesn't require a reboot and you can almost immediately determine yourself how much it speeds up your browsing processes.

How To Improove Windows Xp Performance (no Program)

Here are some tweaks that make a big difference on overall system performance under a Windows XP environment.

*Note* Please backup any registry keybefore editing it!   (Regeditmenu - File - Export).

1) The Kernel

Accessing the kernel from the hard disk is usually the default on any operating system. You can set it to automatically load in the system's RAM at the boot and get better performances.

First open the Regedit tool (Start Menu - Run - regedit.exe). 

By using the icons in the left panel, 

navigate to HKEY LOCAL MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management (by clicking the + sign near each and expanding it).
In the right panel you can see the values assigned. 

Double click the DisablePagingExecutive to edit that field and change it to 1. Be sure to make the change in decimal.
This will make all drivers and kernel to run from system's memory.
 

You can also edit LargeSystemCache value and change it to 1 in decimal. This will improve kernel access time.

Then you can edit IOPageLockLimit field. Change it according to these rules:

- 4000 if you have 128 RAM or less
- 10000 if you have 256 RAM installed
- 40000 for more

This will change the number of bytes for input-output operations and will increase system performance.

2) Boot

To improve boot times edit the following value:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\SessionManager\MemoryManagement\PrefetchParamete rs with Regedit like in 1).

Change this value from 3 to 5 in decimal. This will improove boot time with 5 to 20 seconds depending on your system's speed.

3) Shutdown

There are some tweaks that help your computer to shutdown faster.

a) automatically end any task running (Caution: this will disable any confirmations like "Do you want to save document X before closing?")

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop using Regedit and edit the AutoEndTask key. Set it to 1 in decimal.

b)cool.gif make the open applications close faster at shutdown

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop and set the WaitToKillAppTimeout and HungAppTimeout keys to 1000. Make these two changes in the HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop too.

c) make any service close faster

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Contro l and set the WaiToKillServiceTimeout to 1000.

disable Security Center Or Disabling the wscsvc service

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\wscsvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
;Disable Security Center

How to turn off the SP2 firewall

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\DomainProfile]
"EnableFirewall"=dword:00000000
; turn off firewall policy for domain profile
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsFirewall\StandardProfile]
"EnableFirewall"=dword:00000000
;disable firewall policy for standard profile

how to turn it off: Auto Updates by default

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\WindowsUpdate\Auto Update]
"AUOptions"=dword:00000001
;disable Auto Update
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center]
"UpdatesDisableNotify"=dword:00000001
;Stop nagging about AU being turned off

Disable the SP antivirus and firewall functions - and keep XP from nagging about it

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Security Center]
"AntiVirusDisableNotify"=dword:00000001
"FirewallDisableNotify"=dword:00000001
; don't monitor firewall and antivirus
"AntiVirusOverride"=dword:00000001
"FirewallOverride"=dword:00000001

Speeding up menus in XP

Go to Start --> Run --> Regedt32

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

Locate the key called "MenuShowDelay" and it is probably set to 400.

Change that value to 150.

Reboot your computer.

You should notice a slight increase in the speed of your menus

Changing Default Location For Installing Apps

As the size of hard drives increase, more people are using partitions to separate and store groups of files.

XP uses the C:\Program Files directory as the default base directory into which new programs are installed. However, you can change the default installation drive and/ or directory by using a Registry hack.

Go to :-

- Start > Run

- Type “regedit” (without “” NOOBS!)

- Go to this directory…
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

- Look for the value named ProgramFilesDir. by default,this value will be C:\Program Files. Edit the value to any valid drive or folder and XP will use that new location as the default installation directory for new programs.

Hidden feature on Windows Xp

1. Application Secrets.

Defrag
Secret - Hidden Command Line Switch
Instructions - Go to "Start", "Run" and Type defrag c: -b to defragment the Boot and Application Prefetch information. Similar to what BootVis invokes.

Paint
Secret - Image Trails
Instructions - Open an image and hold down Shift then drag the image around to create an image trail.

Secret - 10 X zoom
Instructions - Open an image and select the magnifying glass icon. Left-click exactly on the line below the 8 X.


2. OS Secrets.

Add/Remove
Secret - Hidden Uninstall Options
Instructions - Warning: Proceed at your own risk.
Browse to C:\Windows\inf\ and make a backup copy of sysoc.inf. Then open the original file C:\Windows\inf\sysoc.inf in notepad. Go to "Edit" and select "Replace". In "Find what" type, hide and in "Replace with:" type, then select "Replace All", save and close the file. Go to the control panel, "Add/Remove", select "Add/Remove Windows Components". You will now see many more Windows components to uninstall. Do not remove anything with no label or that you do not recognize or fully understand what it does. Doing so can break certain functionality in Windows.

Control Panel
Secret - Hidden Control Panel Extensions
Instructions - Download and install Tweak UI, launch, go to "Control Panel" and check any item not selected, then "Apply" and "OK". You will now see the hidden control panel extensions.

Device Manager
Secret - Hidden Devices
Instructions - Go to the control panel, "System" icon, "Hardware" tab and select "Device Manager". Select View and Show hidden devices.

Music
Secret - Music from the Installer
Instruction - Browse to C:\Windows\system32\oobe\images\title.wma and play

Shutdown
Secret - Display Hibernate Option on Shut Down dialog.
Instructions - Go to "Start", "Turn Off Computer" and press either Shift key to change "Stand By" button to "Hibernate".


3. Game Secrets

FreeCell
Secret - Instant Win
Instruction - Hold down Ctrl + Shift + F10 during game play. Then you will be asked if you want to Abort, Retry or Ignore. Choose Abort, then move any card to instantly win.

Secret - Hidden Game Modes
Instruction - In the "Game" menu choose "Select Game". Enter -1 or -2 to activate the hidden game modes.

Minesweeper
Secret - Reveal Mines
Instructions - Minimize or close all running applications. Launch Minesweeper, then type xyzzy. Next hold down either shift key for one second. Now when you move the mouse cursor over a Minesweeper square you will see a tiny pixel in the top left corner of your desktop screen. This pixel will change to black when your mouse moves over a mine. You may need to change you desktop background to a solid color other then white or black to see the pixel.

Pinball
Secret - Extra Balls
Instructions - Type lmax at the start of a new ball to get extra balls.

Secret - Gravity Well
Instructions - Type gmax at the start of a new game to activate Gravity Well.

Secret - Instant Promotion
Instructions - Type rmax at the start of a new game to go up in ranks.

Secret - Skill Shot
Instruction - Launch the ball partially up the chute past the third yellow light bar so it falls back down to get 75.000 points. There are six yellow light bars that are worth a varying amount of points :
First: 15.000
Second: 30.000
Third: 75.000
Fourth: 30.000
Fifth: 15.000
Sixth: 7.500

Secret - Test MOde
Instructions - Type hidden test at the start of a new ball to activate Test Mode. No notification will be given that this is activated but you can now left-click the mouse button an drag the ball around.

Secret - Unlimited Balls
Instructions - Type bmax at the start of a new ball. No notificatin will be given that this is activated but when a ball is lost a new ball will appear from the yellow wormhole indefinitely. Once this is activated you will be unable to activate other secrets without restarting the game.

Solitaire
Secret - Instant Win
Instruction - Press Alt + Shift + 2 during game play to instantly win.

Secret - Draw single cards in a Draw Three game
Instruction - Hold down Ctrl + Alt + Shift while drawing a new card. Instead of drawing three cards you will only draw one.

Speed Up Your Browsing Of Windows 2000 & Xp Machines!

Here's a great tip to speed up your browsing of Windows XP machines. Its actually a fix to a bug installed as default in Windows 2000 that scans shared files for Scheduled Tasks. And it turns out that you can experience a delay as long as 30 seconds when you try to view shared files across a network because Windows 2000 is using the extra time to search the remote computer for any Scheduled Tasks. Note that though the fix is originally intended for only those affected, Windows 2000 users will experience that the actual browsing speed of both the Internet & Windows Explorers improve significantly after applying it since it doesn't search for Scheduled Tasks anymore. Here's how :

Open up the Registry and go to :

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/Current Version/Explorer/RemoteComputer/NameSpace

Under that branch, select the key :

{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}

and delete it.

This is key that instructs Windows tosearch for Scheduled Tasks. If you like you may want to export the exact branch so that you can restore the key if necessary.

This fix is so effective that it doesn't require a reboot and you can almost immediately determine yourself how much it speeds up your browsing processes.