Speedup Vista to the Max !

[lordvj]

After being a lurker for a long time , here's my first post . I hope you all like it.

Had posted it at another forum I was active on, so why not post it here :)

SECTION 1 - SPEED UP

DISABLE USER ACCOUNT CONTROL

First of all lets start by disabling the most annoying 'feature' of Vista , UAC.

Right Click on Command Promt and click on Run As Administrator

and paste this command and hit enter

C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /k %windir%\System32\reg.exe ADD HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System /v EnableLUA /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

SPEEDUP BOOT

UAC DISABLED? SPEEDUP BOOT

If you choose to disable UAC then you might have noticed [ or not ] bit of slowdown in your boot time , this is because the UAC driver is still loaded during startup ,which is unnecessary and can be disable by doing this

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\luafv] 
"Start"=dword:00000004

SPEEDUP BOOT ON A MULTICORE PROCESSOR

Do you have a multi - core processor ? If so , you have another reason to smile about . Vista normally uses only 1 core at boot time which makes the boot slightly slower , so here is how to make use of all the cores and speedup boot

Start - Run - Type in msconfig - Boot - Advanced Options - Tick on Number of Processors - Select the maximum number [ that should be the number of processor cores ] - Click Ok - ok

Wait! Dont close MSCONFIG Yet

youll need it for the next tweak

SPEEDUP BOOT BY DISABLING BOOT SCREEN NO GUI BOOT

This will disable the usual vista boot screen and speed up boot by a few seconds , also this enables a better boot screen

Caution ; Your Scheduled boot time defrags and disk checks will be cancelled or they will run with a black screen - you cannot see the progress

Start - Run - Type in msconfig - Boot

Check No GUI Boot

Check on Make All Boot Settings Permanent

REMOVE THE BLACK SCREEN BEFORE LOGON AND SAVE 2 SECONDS BOOT - TIME

Do you get a 2 -3 second blank screen before logon ?

Transient Multimon Manager (TMM) is a Microsoft Windows Vista operating system feature targeted at improving the user experience of connecting and disconnecting displays, particularly for the mobile user. This is the 2-3 second delay followed by a blank black screen as Vista searches for monitor changes when you startup Vista. For more information on TMM, see: Microsoft: Transient Multimon Manager (TMM)

TMM is enabled by default in Vista. Disabling TMM will get rid of that 2-3 second delay at startup.

Heres how ,

Open the Start Menu.

A) Click All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Task Schedular.

In the left pane, expand Task Scheduler, Task Scheduler Library, Microsoft, Windows, and click on MobilePC.

4. In the middle pane, right click on TMM.

Disable TMM

SPEEDUP STORAGE DEVICES

ENABLE ADVANCED HARD DISK PERFORMANCE

This setting increases hard disk performance further , however you need to have backup power supply for the hard drive to prevent data loss

Here are the steps to enable the tweak

-Right Click On My Computer

-Properties

-Advanced System Settings

-Hardware

-Device Manager

-Expand 'Disk Drives'

-Double Click your hard drive to enter into its properties

-Policies

-Check Mark the following settings

ENABLE WRITE CACHING ON THE DISK

ENABLE ADVANCED PERFORMANCE

This tweak also works for removable drives , but instead, you' ll find this option

OPTIMIZE FOR PERFORMANCE , which can be enabled

SPEEDUP NTFS FILE SYSTEM

> DISABLE LAST ACCESS TIME

By default, each file and folder on an NTFS volume has an attribute called Last Access Time, which records the last time the file or folder was opened, read, or changed. This means even when you read a file on an NTFS volume, a write action occurs on that volume too. Normally this isn't a problem, but if you have an application that tends to frequently access files for short periods of time, this feature of NTFS can really slow performance. Fortunately, you can use fsutil to disable writing to the Last Access Time attribute

WARNING : DO NOT use this tweak if you use superfetch

Type this in the Command Prompt

fsutil behavior set disablelastaccess 1

> DISABLE SHORT FILENAMES

By default, NTFS creates an 8.3 filename every time it creates a long filename, which adds a bit of time to the file creation process. To speed things up, you can disable short filenames using the fsutil command:

fsutil behavior set disable8dot3 1

> SPEEDUP NTFS FILE ACCESS BY ALLOCATING MORE RAM FOR NTFS

This is one of the undocumented tweaks whic actually work , that have spread on the internet

You need to have lots of ram [ more than 2 GB is recommended ] for this tweak to really speed things up , if not it will decrease performance drastically

fsutil behavior set memoryusage 2

NtfsMemoryUsage = 1 (Normal = 1, Increased = 2; Default = 1)

Change it back to 1 if you have problems

MAKE THE VISTA GUI MORE SNAPPIER/RESPONSIVE

> ADJUSTING VISUAL STYLE SETTINGS

Type this in your Search box in ur start menu and hit enter

SystemPropertiesPerformance

Experiment with different settings that suit your needs

This screenshot shows the best set of options for max speed and appearance

> DISABLING TASKBAR THUMBNAILS

This feature might take up some amount of RAM n CPU , if you dont find this feature that useful , you can squeeze some speed

Right Click on the Taskbar

Propeties

Taskbar Tab

Untick Show window previews [Thumbnails]

> DISABLE AERO TRANSPERANCY

If your GUI feels slow even now , consider disabling the Transpency effects and also disabling Aero

SPEEDUP SHUTDOWN AND AUTOMATICALLY CLOSE NON RESPONDING PROGRAMS

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop] 
"AutoEndTasks"="1" 
"HungAppTimeout"="1000" 
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="2000" 
"LowLevelHooksTimeout"="1000" 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control] 
"WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="2000"

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DISABLE PAGING OF KERNEL

This will force the kernel to your memory to speed things up

Windows will use more RAM to give better performance

So , Use this tweak if you have 1.5 GB ram or more

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management] 
"DisablePagingExecutive"=dword:00000001

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OPTIMIZE POWER PROFILES

Vista's power saving profiles probably do not allow your processor to use power saving features like SpeedStep etc. Vista sets a minimum 5% CPU usage, my guess is , it wont allow the processor to step down its frequency when idle. So here's how to fix this.

Go to Control Panel --> Hardware and Sound--> Power Options

Click Change Plan Settings and Change Advanced Power Settings

[+]Processor Power Management

[+]Minimum Processor State

Set the value for Plugged In to 0 %. Click ok to save the changes.

What I observed was my processor was running at full frequency , even on idle [ not gaming or encoding ] . After this change, it ran at about 60% of the frequency at idle. reducing power and temperatures, and increased it to full throttle in load conditions

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SPEEDUP FOLDER BROWSING

> DISABLE AUTOMATIC NETWORK PRINTER SEARCH

When browsing through shared folders and network computers Explorer can slow down when it is searching the local network for printers. This sounds like a great feature and may be useful for some but I would rather disable it to get maximum performance when browsing through folders.

1. Hit Alt to bring up the menubar if it is not already on the screen.

2. Click on Tools and select Folder Options.

3. On the View Tab, uncheck Automatically search for network printers.

If you dont find that option , you can use this registry tweak

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer]

Both have the same affect though

> REDUCING DETAIL IN MY COMPUTER WINDOW FOR SPEED

This tweak gives the maximum speed while browsing through folders , but might not give much info on the selected file

Go to My Computer

Organise

Layout

Experiment with the 4 options that suit your needs.

DISABLE UN- NEEDED SERVICES

This is one of the most significant tweaks of em all .

Vista has loads of services running in background eating your precious RAM doing nothing useful.

It difficult to suggest a perfect services configuration as our feature choices may be different

So here is a good guide that will help you choose what services you can disable safely

http://tweakhound.com/vista/tweakguide/page_7.htm 
http://www.blackviper.com/WinVista/servicecfg.htm

I recommend using ServiceTweaker, to enable/disable services easily

http://www.ajuaonline.com/downloads/

SECTION 2 - INTERNET & NETWORKING

Use these commands in the command prompt

DISABLE VISTA AUTO TUNING FEATURE

This feature is known to cause problems with downloading etc. I recommend you disable it.

netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled

ENABLE COMPOUND TCP TO IMPROVE NETWORK THROUGHPUT

netsh int tcp set global congestionprovider=ctcp

DISABLE ECN CAPABILITY

netsh int tcp set global ecncapability=disabled

REDUCE CPU LOAD

Apply these tweaks to reduce cpu load while networking.

ENABLE TCPIP CHIMNEY

netsh int tcp set global chimney=enabled

ENABLE RECIEVE SIDE SCALING

netsh interface tcp set global rss=enable

ENABLE NETDMA

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters] 
"EnableTCPA"=dword:00000001

For more information and documentation about these tweaks, check these links

http://www.kitz.co.uk/adsl/vistaTCPtweaks.htm 
http://www.speedguide.net/read_articles.php?id=2574

SPEEDUP NETWORKING WHILE RUNNING MULTIMEDIA APPLICATIONS

Windows Vista throttles your network bandwidth when you are playing any multimedia file such as an MP3 or a video. This was designed to ensure the CPU has enough free cycles available to play your media without skipping. The down side is that when you are playing a multimedia file you will notice that your network speed of file transfers will decrease on high speed network connections. By default when you are playing a multimedia file your network transfers are limited to 10 packets per millisecond.

In Windows Vista SP1 Microsoft introduces a registry key that allows you to customize this setting.

http://tweakvista.com/article39258.aspx

Apply this tweak only if you have a reasonably powerful processor.

DISABLE IP6 SUPPORT

Most of the internet today is based on IP4 , so you wont be needing IP6 support on vista , and hence can save some resources, but before applying this tweak please check your connection type

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip6\Parameters] 
"DisabledComponents"=dword:000000ff

This turns off IP6 support completely !

SECTION 3 - CUSTOMIZE

Master Control Panel - All Windows Options in ONE WINDOW

Create a shortcut with this filename

C:\Windows\explorer.exe shell:::{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

REMOVE UNNECESSARY VISTA FEATURES

Do this :

Control Panel - Programs & Features - Turn Windows Features On or Off

http://i39.tinypic.com/168g10i.png

QUICK ACCESS TO ADD REMOVE PROGRAMS AND DEVICE MANAGER

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell] 
@="none" 

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Control Panel] 

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Control Panel\command] 
@=hex(2):72,00,75,00,6e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,65,\ 
00,20,00,73,00,68,00,65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,\ 
2c,00,43,00,6f,00,6e,00,74,00,72,00,6f,00,6c,00,5f,00,52,00,75,00,6e,00,44,\ 
00,4c,00,4c,00,00,00 

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\DevMgr] 
@=hex(2):40,00,25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,\ 
00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,64,00,65,00,76,00,6d,00,67,00,\ 
72,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,2d,00,34,00,00,00 
"SuppressionPolicy"=dword:4000003c 

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\DevMgr\command] 
@=hex(2):25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,\ 
00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,6d,00,6d,00,63,00,2e,00,65,00,78,00,\ 
65,00,20,00,2f,00,73,00,20,00,25,00,77,00,69,00,6e,00,64,00,69,00,72,00,25,\ 
00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,64,00,65,00,\ 
76,00,6d,00,67,00,6d,00,74,00,2e,00,6d,00,73,00,63,00,00,00 

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Software] 

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}\shell\Software\command] 
@=hex(2):63,00,6f,00,6e,00,74,00,72,00,6f,00,6c,00,20,00,61,00,70,00,70,00,77,\ 
00,69,00,7a,00,2e,00,63,00,70,00,6c,00,00,00

SHOW HIDDEN DEVICES IN DEVICE MANAGER

This option enables you to see hidden / disconnected devices in device manager, useful when you cant find which driver is causing the problem

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment]

"DEVMGR_SHOW_NONPRESENT_DEVICES"="1"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DISABLE AUTOMATIC FOLDER TYPE DISCOVERY

Vista automatically sets the template to a folder and doesnt let you change it properly and even if you change it , vista changes it back , that ****ed me off , so I used this tweak

So here is a tweak to disable it

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 

; Reset and delete all saved folder customizations and settings. 
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\BagMRU] 
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags] 

; Turn off Vista auto folder type template discovery. 
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\Local Settings\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\Bags\AllFolders\Shell] 
"FolderType"="NotSpecified"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

QUICK ACCESS TO VISTA NETWORK CONNECTION STATUS

Accessing network connection options in vista isnt as easy in XP , youll have to dig through several screens etc

Heres a better and faster way to access it

type in the search box

ncpa.cpl

Viola!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SLOW MOTION AERO - Eye Candy at its best

If you are using Aero interface with all the animations , youll love this tweak

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM] 
"AnimationsShiftKey"=dword:00000001

Hold SHIFT while minimizing or maximizing windows to see the animation in slow motion

SECTION 4 SAVE HARD DISK SPACE

DISABLE HIBERNATION

If you dont use Hibernation for your computer , you better disable it as it takes up loads of space on hdd

powercfg.exe –H off

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DISC CLEANUP EXTRA CLEANING OPTIONS

You might have noticed that the normal Disk Cleanup utility doesnt have much options for cleanup , so here is a command to enable further cleaning options

%SystemRoot%\System32\Cmd.exe /c Cleanmgr /sageset:65535 & Cleanmgr /sagerun:65535

REMOVE PRE - SP1 BACKUP FILES

Installed Vista SP1 using that stand alone installer ? If you are happy with SP1 and are not uninstalling it , you can save some space by removing the backup files pre -sp1 installtion

vsp1cln.exe

Note - You cannot uninstall SP1 after running the above command!

Edited February 23, 2009 by lordvj

[Guest xiphi]

There is absolutely nothing "great" about this guide. Using this guide will cause more problems that it "solves". I put solves in quotes because there are no problems in the first place. The only magical speed up for Windows (not just Vista) is to have everything up-to-date, which includes Windows, third-party software and drivers. The other way is to update your hardware.

It's pretty simple. Fight against Vista and you will have problems. Leave Vista with its default settings, and you will have a great experience with the OS.

[fix-this!]

heres a nice, quick speed guide for you vista users...... "install windows 7 beta! " :)

[Prince Charming]

Wow, that was an amusing pile of fud tweaking.

[+jamesyfx Subscriber²]

Some of those tips sound like they could make a bit of difference.

But sometimes security and practicality is a fair trade for a few seconds difference in performance.

[leesmithg]

Depends what ones you use.

I have already done two of them before reading.

Not really that much.

Ultimate Windows Tweaker v1.1 does some great tweaks for nada.

http://www.winvistaclub.com/ is where you can get the app plus lots of more advice.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Following this guide is like putting your hand in front of a lion. You're just asking for something to go wrong. It's much wiser to not tamper with settings like that and just keep your OS up to date in terms of drivers, security updates, etc.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

The fact that your first point is dablign UAC, shows how little you actually understand Vista.

[+allan MVC]

The fact that your first point is dablign UAC, shows how little you actually understand Vista.

^ What he said.

And copying content from other sources (even BAD content) without attribution is not the best way to introduce yourselef to the forum ;)

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

^ What he said.

And copying content from other sources (even BAD content) without attribution is not the best way to introduce yourselef to the forum ;)

[bob_c_b]

Piling on to the +1 train.

[SMELTN]

Piling on to the +1 train.

adding another the train.

choo choo +1

[Dc'1]

Was a lot of this proved not to work? (Or to have a very small effect which don't outweigh the pro's?)

[Panacik]

Oh c'mon guys, he was obviously trying.

What is it with Neowin being impolite recently?

Thanks for the guide mate. Although it may not be benificial, we ALL respect your creative input, regardless of weather you sourced from another place or some of the information may not be 100% great. Its the input that counts though.

[Typhon]

changing the number of processors to 2 or 4 dose nothing because it is for developer purposes.

[Liana]

Doing everything in this guide might be good for someone who is never going to change what they do with their computer. Otherwise, in the future when you want to use any of those features you disabled, you'll wonder why they aren't working and/or how to fix them. In the end it can wind up being a lot more hassle than it's worth. You have to ask yourself if the small increase in speed is worth potential problems down the road.

[Eric Veteran]

Was a lot of this proved not to work? (Or to have a very small effect which don't outweigh the pro's?)

Disabling UAC doesn't speed anything up except for installing malware.

Switching the processor count doesn't do anything period.

Stopped reading there.

[ViperAFK]

changing the number of processors to 2 or 4 dose nothing because it is for developer purposes.

yeah this tweak was debunked a LONG time ago for xp.

[solardog]

This is a really good list of tweaking myths and no-nos. Ive never seen so many in one place before. Im actually gonna save this as a reference of things not to do as I do forget sometimes and actually implement some of these from time to time after a format. Plus its an aesthetically pleasing list in its structure. Thanks man!

[Fascisten]

Disabling UAC might not speed up anything but its a pain in the ass.

[Guest xiphi]

Disabling UAC might not speed up anything but its a pain in the ass.

How is clicking one extra button a pain in the ass?

[Fascisten]

How is clicking one extra button a pain in the ass?

It quickly becomes a lot of clicks. I've never use it, and i probably never will since i dont see the point in it.. Its made by idiots for idiots.. Im not saying you guys are idiots but its seriously just something to make Vista more idiot-safe, which i don't need.

If you know what youre doing with your computer, you might as well disable it.

[HawkMan]

It quickly becomes a lot of clicks. I've never use it, and i probably never will since i dont see the point in it.. Its made by idiots for idiots.. Im not saying you guys are idiots but its seriously just something to make Vista more idiot-safe, which i don't need.

If you know what youre doing with your computer, you might as well disable it.

You also obviusly don't know what UAC actualy does, outside of giving you a dialog box. but it's a lot more than that.

[ViperAFK]

It quickly becomes a lot of clicks. I've never use it, and i probably never will since i dont see the point in it.. Its made by idiots for idiots.. Im not saying you guys are idiots but its seriously just something to make Vista more idiot-safe, which i don't need.

If you know what youre doing with your computer, you might as well disable it.

So how do you know if it's a "pain in the ass" if you proclaim to have never even tried it?

And there is always silent mode which is a better alternative to turning it completely off.

[ToneKnee]