Optimize XP - A Windows XP Optimization Guide


Recommended Posts

Nice guide, I even got two new tweaks from there. I have a question about one, the SystemPages - what does it do, why should I set it the smallest size possible when benchmarks were bigger with the 0xffffffff value wich is quite a number in decimals and what was it all about Radeon owners?

  Quote
It's a good Guide, but you really don't need Cacheman with 2000/XP

Cacheman optimizes quite a few settings in Window 2000/XP:

1. Disk Cache

Windows NT4/2000/XP has a much better Disk Cache handling as Windows 95-ME. Windows NT4/2000/XP uses certain criteria to decide how to prioritize memory usage between the Disk Cache and applications. This dynamic allocation process is a continual juggling act. Four configuration presets are available.

- Minimize memory used

This setting minimizes the amount of memory used for the Disk Cache in order to maximize the amount of memory available for applications. This is the default setting for Windows NT Workstation and Windows 2000 Professional.

- Balance

This setting instructs Windows to give the Disk Cache and applications the same priority.

- Maximize throughput for file sharing

The Disk Cache gets a higher priority with this preset. It should be the best for file servers and workstations with very high I/O activity.

- Maximize throughput for network applications

This setting instructs Windows to give applications higher priority. It should be the best preset for application servers.

2. Icon Cache

Every executable file has an icon associated with it. Every time the shell displays a folder full of files it needs to obtain icons for each of those items. By saving icons that it has already retrieved into a cache, the shell is relieved of the need to constantly retrieve icons from executable files and icon libraries. This can make a vast difference to system performance, especially when accessing network drives.

After changing this setting you need to reboot at least 2 times until it becomes effective, but since it's not a critical setting Cacheman will not ask you on exit to reboot.

3. IO Page Lock Limit

If your system is very IO intensive you can increase the amount of memory that can be locked for IO operations when data is read from or written to the hard disks. When this value is 0, the system uses the default (512 Kbytes). Raising this value can give you a significant performance boost.

4. Disable NTFS last access update

By enabling this option, NT Filesystem will not record the last time a file was accessed. This can speed up disk operations if applications write many small files very frequently.

5. Hung App Timeout

Windows waits by default a long time to finally acknowledge that a particular program is "Not responding", and only after that allowing you to shut it down by clicking the End Task button.

6. Wait to Kill App Timeout

This value sets the timeout until Windows shuts down/restarts, while trying to exit all open programs.

7. Disable executive paging

Parts of system code and device drivers can be swapped out to paging file when the system needs more RAM. The system slows down when it needs that code or drivers since it must load them from the paging file. Windows stops while the required code is swapped in or out of RAM dependent on very long hard drive access times. If you have more than sufficient RAM, disabling Executive paging should improve performance.

8. Unload DLLs from memory

Windows automatically unloads DLLs when the usage count is zero, but only after the DLLs have not been used for a period of time. This inactive period might be unacceptably long at times and cause performance slow downs on low memory systems. Enable this option to disable Windows holding the DLLs in memory.

All of which help improve Windows XP performance. ;)

The problem with alot of the tweaks I see posted are comments like

"I don't know if this does anything"

"Seems to be faster now" ect.....

These same tweaks work their way into all-in-one tweaking programs and you wind up with situations like this: Dead Win XP after installation XP Smoker

  Mastertech said:
Cacheman optimizes quite a few settings in Window 2000/XP:

1. Disk Cache

Windows NT4/2000/XP has a much better Disk Cache handling as Windows 95-ME. Windows NT4/2000/XP uses certain criteria to decide how to prioritize memory usage between the Disk Cache and applications. This dynamic allocation process is a continual juggling act. Four configuration presets are available.

- Minimize memory used

This setting minimizes the amount of memory used for the Disk Cache in order to maximize the amount of memory available for applications. This is the default setting for Windows NT Workstation and Windows 2000 Professional.

- Balance

This setting instructs Windows to give the Disk Cache and applications the same priority.

- Maximize throughput for file sharing

The Disk Cache gets a higher priority with this preset. It should be the best for file servers and workstations with very high I/O activity.

- Maximize throughput for network applications

This setting instructs Windows to give applications higher priority. It should be the best preset for application servers.

2. Icon Cache

Every executable file has an icon associated with it. Every time the shell displays a folder full of files it needs to obtain icons for each of those items. By saving icons that it has already retrieved into a cache, the shell is relieved of the need to constantly retrieve icons from executable files and icon libraries. This can make a vast difference to system performance, especially when accessing network drives.

After changing this setting you need to reboot at least 2 times until it becomes effective, but since it's not a critical setting Cacheman will not ask you on exit to reboot.

3. IO Page Lock Limit

If your system is very IO intensive you can increase the amount of memory that can be locked for IO operations when data is read from or written to the hard disks. When this value is 0, the system uses the default (512 Kbytes). Raising this value can give you a significant performance boost.

4. Disable NTFS last access update

By enabling this option, NT Filesystem will not record the last time a file was accessed. This can speed up disk operations if applications write many small files very frequently.

5. Hung App Timeout

Windows waits by default a long time to finally acknowledge that a particular program is "Not responding", and only after that allowing you to shut it down by clicking the End Task button.

6. Wait to Kill App Timeout

This value sets the timeout until Windows shuts down/restarts, while trying to exit all open programs.

7. Disable executive paging

Parts of system code and device drivers can be swapped out to paging file when the system needs more RAM. The system slows down when it needs that code or drivers since it must load them from the paging file. Windows stops while the required code is swapped in or out of RAM dependent on very long hard drive access times. If you have more than sufficient RAM, disabling Executive paging should improve performance.

8. Unload DLLs from memory

Windows automatically unloads DLLs when the usage count is zero, but only after the DLLs have not been used for a period of time. This inactive period might be unacceptably long at times and cause performance slow downs on low memory systems. Enable this option to disable Windows holding the DLLs in memory.

All of which help improve Windows XP performance.  ;)

Eh, most of those things can be done in regedit if you really want them and IO Page Lock Limit does nothing. The only that might be useful is the Icon cache, but if you want that you could always go LargeSystemCache-1. now I used the program when I was under 98 and loved it, but I really believe you do not need it for XP no matter what they say.

  Quote
Eh, most of those things can be done in regedit if you really want them
LOL, just about any tweak utilities settings can be done manually. The whole point of including the utility is so you don't have to. Editing the registry manually is a bad practive since the registry has no native undo feature and changes are instantaneous. Not to mention it is alot easier and faster to use a utility. I like to keep things as simple as possible.
  Quote
and IO Page Lock Limit does nothing.

This is not true. But how much performance you will gain off of this value is based on what you use your system for and how much memory your system has.

  Quote
but I really believe you do not need it for XP no matter what they say.

Well I've installed this and configure it on over 1000 PCs with XP by now and it has improved performance. If you really feel so strongly against not using this program, you have every right not to. But the tweaks it includes will boost your system performance and I am not about to make it more complicated for people to use these tweaks by including them manually when a simple free utilitly can do it for you.

After some more research:

IO Page Lock Limit:

You will only notice performance differences with server or database applications (e.g. MS SQL Server). There are no negative effects for a large value, even if most applications will not profit from an increase, there is no reason for keeping the value low.

So at worst the value is harmless.

  Mastertech said:
After some more research:

IO Page Lock Limit:

You will only notice performance differences with server or database applications (e.g. MS SQL Server). There are no negative effects for a large value, even if most applications will not profit from an increase, there is no reason for keeping the value low.

So at worst the value is harmless.

Firstly, yes, this is an INVALID key now.

After I think after Win2000 Service Pack 2 (though I really think it was SP1), this key was invalidated by MS (many people ran tests and it showed that this key was no longer being called by the system). As WinXP usually follows Win2000, I would say it was invalidated for WinXP as well.

Also, performance increases are also seen in applications like video editing when this key did work.

  Quote
Firstly, yes, this is an INVALID key now.

After I think after Win2000 Service Pack 2 (though I really think it was SP1), this key was invalidated by MS (many people ran tests and it showed that this key was no longer being called by the system). As WinXP usually follows Win2000, I would say it was invalidated for WinXP as well.

Do you know of any sites that confirm this? Because online information regarding this setting is very limited and the opinions on its validity seem to be coming from other forums with no real proof. I'm not saying its not true I just like to be certain. For example Microsoft makes no reference to this setting one way or the other that I could find.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • You can now use Gemini in Google Forms to summarize responses by David Uzondu Over the last few months, Google has been aggressively pushing its Gemini AI into every corner of its Workspace apps, like generating entire documents from a prompt in Google Docs or creating fully editable charts in Sheets. Now, the company has set its sights on Google Forms. The latest update introduces a feature that uses Gemini to summarize text-based responses automatically. For any form with short-answer or paragraph questions, a new "Summarize responses" button will appear in the Responses tab once you collect more than three entries. Clicking it prompts Gemini to read the form's title, questions, and all the submitted text to spit out a summary of the key themes. Though Google bills this as a fresh expansion into Forms, we have actually had some Gemini intelligence in the app for a bit through the "Help me create a form" button. That feature, which drafts questions for you, was rolled out through the company's Workspace Labs program. For those unaware, Workspace Labs is basically Google's public testing ground, available in select countries, for new, and sometimes unproven, AI tools before a general release. Once a summary is generated, you can copy it to use elsewhere or hit "Retry" to see if Gemini comes up with a different take. If new responses roll in after you have generated a summary, you can click a "Refresh" button to update it with the latest data. For now, this feature is only available in English, and to use it, you'll need access to a paid Google Workspace plan, such as Business Standard, Business Plus, Enterprise Standard, or Enterprise Plus. It is also available to customers who pay for the Google AI Pro and Ultra plans or specific Gemini Education add-ons. The feature has started rolling out gradually, for Rapid Release domains, and a couple of weeks later, on June 26, for everyone else on a Scheduled Release plan.
    • Do you have a 365 account? I should have been more clear, I mean free accounts.
    • What?! "May 31 2024 knowledge cutoff"?
    • Amazon Alexa+ now has more than a million users by Aditya Tiwari Amazon's muscled-up voice assistant, Alexa+, has reached a new milestone. A company spokesperson told The Verge that Alexa+ has now crossed one million users. The e-commerce giant introduced Alexa+ earlier this year as its generative AI offering. Why? It's a new trend, and everyone is doing it. According to the company, Alexa Plus offers more natural and free-flowing conversations than its predecessor. You can speak half-formed thoughts using colloquial expressions, and the AI assistant should be able to understand you and provide an answer. Announcing its capabilities, Amazon previously said that you will be able to start a conversation on your Echo device and continue it on your phone, car, or computer. One million may not be a significant number when comparing it with the number of Alexa-enabled devices out there. Amazon revealed earlier this year that there are over 600 million Alexa devices globally. However, the number of Alexa+ users has increased from 'hundreds of thousands' in the previous month. The user base is not as big as that of other names like Gemini and ChatGPT because Amazon is still offering the generative AI assistant through an Early Access program, available to Prime and non-Prime members who own a compatible Echo device. We can find social media posts from different users who have been invited to try Alexa+. While there have been positive reviews from some, the road isn't buttery smooth for others. One user claimed that the early access Alexa+ has problems accessing some temperature sensors the previous version of Alexa would. "I also really dislike how it confidently will tell me something that is incorrect now instead of just saying it doesn't know like it used to tell me," the user added. The upgraded AI voice assistant will cost $19.99 per month, but is being offered for free to Prime subscribers. Alexa+ started rolling out in the US as part of its early access program. One reason why Amazon is giving Alexa+ a slow rollout is that the new devices and services chief, Panos Panay, wants to eliminate all the problems related to the generative AI assistant. Amazon's spokesperson told the publication that the early access program doesn't include features like brainstorming gift ideas, scheduling your next spa visit, ordering groceries hands-free, and jumping to your favorite scene on Fire TV. The program also doesn't offer the "new browser-based experience at Alexa.com," which would put Amazon's AI assistant in line with ChatGPT and Gemini. These missing features will be added in the coming weeks and months, as per the spokesperson, adding that almost 90% of the features are now a part of early access.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Enthusiast
      computerdave91111 went up a rank
      Enthusiast
    • Week One Done
      Falisha Manpower earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      elsa777 earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      elsa777 earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • First Post
      K Dorman earned a badge
      First Post
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      533
    2. 2
      ATLien_0
      273
    3. 3
      +FloatingFatMan
      201
    4. 4
      +Edouard
      200
    5. 5
      snowy owl
      138
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!