Make Your Windows Fast As Never Before

Disable CD Autorun
( WinXP PRO Only)
1) Click Start, Run and enter GPEDIT.MSC
2) Go to Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, System.
3) Locate the entry for Turn autoplay off and modify it as you desire.

Speed Up Browsing

When you connect to a web site your computer sends information back and forth. 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 Windows XP and Windows XP have a pretty efficient DNS cache, you can increase its overall performance by increasing its size. You can do this with the registry entries below:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\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. Merge it into the registry.

DISABLE INDEXING SERVICES

Indexing Services is a small little program that uses large amounts of RAM and can often make a computer endlessly loud and noisy. This system process indexes and updates lists of all the files that are on your computer. It does this so that when you do a search for something on your computer, it will search faster by scanning the index lists. If you don't search your computer often, or even if you do search often, this system service is completely unnecessary. To disable do the following:
1. Go to Start2. Click Settings3. Click Control Panel4. Double-click Add/Remove Programs5. Click the Add/Remove Window Components6. Uncheck the Indexing services7. Click Next

OPTIMISE DISPLAY SETTINGS

Windows XP can look sexy but displaying all the visual items can waste system resources. To optimize:
1.Go to Start2. Click Settings3. Click Control Panel4. Click System5. Click Advanced tab6. In the Performance tab click Settings7. Leave only the following ticked:- Show shadows under menus- Show shadows under mouse pointer- Show translucent selection rectangle- Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop- Use visual styles on windows and buttons

SPEEDUP FOLDER BROWSING

You may have noticed that everytime you open my computer to browse folders that there is a slight delay. This is because Windows XP automatically searches for network files and printers everytime you open Windows Explorer. To fix this and to increase browsing significantly:
1. Open My Computer2. Click on Tools menu3. Click on Folder Options4. Click on the View tab.5. Uncheck the Automatically search for network folders and printers check box6. Click Apply7. Click Ok8. Reboot your computer

REMOVE THE DESKTOP PICTURE

Your desktop background consumes a fair amount of memory and can slow the loading time of your system. Removing it will improve performance.
1. Right click on Desktop and select Properties2. Select the Desktop tab3. In the Background window select None4. Click Ok

DISABLE UNNECESSARY SERVICES

Because Windows XP has to be all things to all people it has many services running that take up system resources that you will never need. Below is a list of services that can be disabled on most machines:
AlerterClipbookComputer BrowserDistributed Link Tracking ClientFast User SwitchingHelp and Support - (If you use Windows Help and Support leave this enabled)Human Interface Access DevicesIndexing ServiceIPSEC ServicesMessengerNetmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing (disabled for extra security)Portable Media Serial NumberRemote Desktop Help Session Manager (disabled for extra security)Remote Procedure Call LocatorRemote Registry (disabled for extra security)Remote Registry ServiceSecondary LogonRouting & Remote Access (disabled for extra security)ServerSSDP Discovery Service - (Unplug n' Pray will disable this)TelnetTCP/IP NetBIOS HelperUpload ManagerUniversal Plug and Play Device HostWindows TimeWireless Zero Configuration (Do not disable if you use a wireless network)WorkstationTo disable these services:
Go to Start and then Run and type "services.msc"Doubleclick on the service you want to changeChange the startup type to 'Disable"
REMOVE ANNOYING DELETE CONFIRMATION MESSAGES
Although not strictly a performance tweak I love this fix as it makes my machine 'feel' faster. I hate the annoying 'are you sure?' messages that XP displays, especially if I have to use a laptop touchpad to close them. To remove these messages:
1. Right-click on the 'Recycle Bin' on the desktop and then click 'Properties'
2. Clear the 'Display Delete Confirmation Dialog' check box and click 'Ok'
If you do accidently delete a file don't worry as all is not lost. Just go to your Recycle Bin and 'Restore' the file.