Lesson 2- Tips to optimize XP

Step 5 - Utilities

Autoruns - Download - Home Page
Utility to display and control startup applications. Disabling unnecessary startup applications improves boot up time and overall system performance.

Instructions - Unzip and launch Autoruns.exe, wait until it says "Ready" in the bottom left corner, then select the "Logon" tab. Next select "Options", check "Hide Microsoft Entries" and press the refresh button or press the "F5" key. The remaining items are third party applications. Uncheck all that are not needed, this will disable them from loading at Windows startup. AntiVirus and Firewall applications are necessary applications that should be running on startup. If you are unsure of what something is, highlight it, select "Entry" then "Google" to launch a search for more information regarding the highlighted application. You can permanently remove items by deleting them. Do not "Delete" anything unless you are 100% positive you do not need it. Disabled (Unchecked) items can be activated again by rerunning Autoruns, checking the item and restarting Windows.

Notes - You can control the startup applications for separate user accounts by selecting "User" and the account you want to edit. This is a much more powerful tool then the built-in System Configuration Utility (msconfig).

Chkdsk - Home Page
Built-in Windows file system repair utility.

Instructions - Go to "Start", "My Computer", right-click on the "C:" drive, left-click "Properties", select the "Tools" tab, click "Check Now...", check "Automatically Fix File System Errors", then click "Start", "Yes" and Reboot. Repeat this for any other hard drive partitions in your system. Only the drive partition with Windows installed will require a reboot.

Disk Defragmenter - Home Page - (Unnecessary if Diskeeper is installed)
Built-in Windows defragmenter, a lite version of Diskeeper. File system performance is maximized when files are contiguous on the disk. This means that all of the data in each file would be located consecutively on the Hard Drive. Instead of fragmented into separate parts all over the disk surface, causing the Hard Drive to work harder (slower) to read and write your files. While "Disk Defragmenter" is better then nothing it does not fully optimize your hard drive performance, runs 300-500% slower, cannot be scheduled without a third party application and includes no advanced features. Since the built-in "Disk Defragmenter" is very I/O intensive your system is not usable while it is running. There are no Free Defragmenters that do a better job, in which case you have to purchase a Commercial Defragmenter such as Diskeeper.

Instructions - Double-click "My Computer", right-click the local disk volume that you want to defragment, Example: Local Disk (C:), and then left-click "Properties". On the "Tools" tab, select "Defragment Now", then "Defragment". The following service needs to be enabled:

- DCOM Server Process Launcher - Automatic

Alternate - Go to "Start", "Run", type "Dfrg.msc". Select the volume that you want to defragment, then select "Defragment".

+ StartDefrag - Download - Home Page - (Unnecessary if Diskeeper is installed)
Automates the scheduling of the built-in Disk Defragmenter to run at a set time everyday or once a week.

Instructions - Install and run. Select the "Configuration" tab, under "Scheduled Day" either select a specific day during the week or "Everyday". Then under "Scheduled Hour" select a time when you will not be on the computer but the computer will be on. This is important since the built-in Disk Defragmenter will consume most of the system's resources while running and will not be usable until it is finished. Finally select "Save Changes" and "Exit".

Notes - Do not use this with Diskeeper, which includes a much more advanced and efficient real-time scheduling option. If you install Diskeeper delete the StartDefrag scheduled task and uninstall StartDefrag. To delete the scheduled task, go to "Start", "Programs", "Accessories", "System Tools", "Scheduled Tasks" and delete the task. If it is the only scheduled task listed it will be called "AT1".

+ PageDefrag - Download - Home Page - (Unnecessary if Diskeeper is installed)
Defragment the paging file and the Registry. "One of the limitations of the Windows 2000/XP defragmentation interface is that it is not possible to defragment files that are open for exclusive access. Thus, standard defragmentation programs can neither show you how fragmented your paging files or Registry hives are, nor defragment them. Paging and Registry file fragmentation can be one of the leading causes of performance degradation related to file fragmentation in a system."

Instructions - Download, Run, Look at the "Fragments" column if any of the items is in more then one fragment select "Defrag at next Reboot", than "Ok" and Reboot.

Notes - If you readjust the paging file size, rerun PageDefrag, otherwise this only needs to be run once. On badly fragmented hard drives with a lot of files, PageDefrag may take a long time to run, be patient and let it finish.

Diskeeper - USD $29.95 Home / $49.95 Pro / $99.95 Premier / - Comparison Chart (PDF)

Diskeeper is the full, automatic version of the limited built-in "disk defragmenter". Now over six generations newer, it includes enhanced features that Defragment your computer automatically, faster and more thoroughly. The High Speed Defragmentation Engine runs 300-500% faster than the built-in "disk defragmenter". Real-Time Defragmentation automatically handles fragmentation as it occurs with no drain on system resources. InvisiTasking technology allows Diskeeper to run invisibly, keeping your PC defragmented while you are using it - you will never even know Diskeeper is running. Power Management for laptops prolongs battery life by suspending background defragmentation while on battery power. Hard Drives are the slowest component in your PC, do not let Disk Fragmentation slow it down even more. - Purchase

"If you want increased disk performance and speed, install Diskeeper on all your systems."
- John Iasiuolo (Computer Outlook Radio Show) - Diskeeper Testimonials

This graph shows how fragmented your Harddrive can get after just two weeks of using only Internet Explorer and Microsoft Word.



IZArc - Download - Home Page
A 100% Free archive utility that supports many archive formats like: 7-ZIP, A, ACE, ARC, ARJ, B64, BH, BIN, BZ2, BZA, C2D, CAB, CDI, CPIO, DEB, ENC, GCA, GZ, GZA, HA, IMG, ISO, JAR, LHA, LIB, LZH, MDF, MBF, MIM, NRG, PAK, PDI, PK3, RAR, RPM, TAR, TAZ, TBZ, TGZ, TZ, UUE, WAR, XXE, YZ1, Z, ZIP, ZOO. With a modern easy-to-use interface, IZArc provides support for most compressed and encoded files, as well as access to many powerful features and tools. It allows you to drag and drop files from and to Windows Explorer, create and extract archives directly in Windows Explorer, create multiple archives spanning disks, creating self-extracting archives, repair damaged zip archives, converting from one archive type to another, view and write comments and many more.

TweakUI - Download + Control Panel - Home Page
This Windows XP PowerToy gives you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more.

Instructions - Download, install, add to the Control Panel and run. Under "Mouse" slide "Menu Speed" to "Fast", under "Explorer" check "Use Classic Search in Explorer" (Gets rid of the Dog).

XP-AntiSpy - Download - Home Page
Disables all the known 'Suspicious' Functions in Windows XP.

Instructions v3.96-4 - Install and run. Go to "Profiles", select "Neutral", then check most of the boxes and select "Apply". Leave the following unchecked:

[MediaPlayer Functions]
_ Do not acquire licenses automatically - This prevents Windows Media Player from downloading any necessary licenses.
_ No automatic updates - This prevents Windows Media Player from automatically updating.
_ Disable automatic codec downloads - This prevents Windows Media Player from downloading required codecs.
_ Don't get meta data from the internet - This prevents Windows Media Player from getting CD/DVD information.
[Miscellaneous Settings]
_ Don't synchronize with internet time - This prevents Windows from automatically keeping your clock accurate.
_ Clear pagefile at shutdown - This will cause Windows XP to take much longer to shutdown but increases security for the paranoid.
_ Deny starting regedit.exe - This prevents future use of the very useful regedit tool.
_ Deactivate Scripting Host - This will cause features to stop working in web browsers and e-mail.
_ Always show *.lnk suffixes - This adds .lnk to desktop shortcuts.
_ Always show *.url suffixes - This adds .url to web browser bookmarks.
_ Don't autostart CD's - This prevents CD's from running automatically when put in the CD/DVD drive.
[Network]
_ Disable integrated Firewall - This will disable the Windows XP firewall.
_ Hide Computer in Network - This prevents your Computer from showing up in Network Neighborhood.
_ Disable Network crawling - This prevents Windows from searching your network for network resources.
[Internet Explorer 6] (This will not show up if IE7 is installed)
_ Disable automatic updates - This prevents Windows Update from checking for and downloading updates.
_ Disable scheduled updates - This prevents Windows Update from installing updates.
_ Disable Javascript - This will cause some web pages to lose their menus or functionality completely.
_ Disable ActiveX Controls - This will cause some web pages to lose their menus or functionality completely.
_ Clean website cache on shutdown - This will cause Windows XP to take longer to shutdown but is a good idea for security.
[Services]
_ Disable auto-updates service - This prevents Windows Update from running Automatically.
_ Disable time server service - This prevents Windows from automatically keeping your clock accurate.
_ Disable task-scheduler service - The Windows Prefetcher, BootVis and Norton AV require this service to be running.
_ Disable firewall/connection sharing service - This will disable the Windows XP firewall.
_ Disable Security Center - This prevents necessary security warnings.
[Microsoft Messenger]
_ Uninstall completely - If you use or plan on using Microsoft's Instant Messenger leave this unchecked.
[Regsrv32 dll's]
_ licdll.dll - Only select this if Windows is already activated.
_ Disable ZIP Functionality - Only select if you have another .Zip program installed such as IZArc or WinZip.

- It is highly recommended to leave the profile on "Neutral" and adjust the values manually. The presets included such as the "Suggested" profile will disable important Windows features such as Windows Updates, the Security Center and Internet Explorer settings like Javascript and ActiveX. This will break common web page features such as menus and forms and prevent critical security patches from being applied. The color coding of check boxes can be further explained in the Help file under "Signs and Symbols".

Step 6 - Services
Windows XP has some extra services running by default that most people will never use. By disabling these services you will improve Windows boot time and security. Other performance related claims to disabling services are Myths.

Shoot The Messenger - Download - Home Page
Disables Windows Messaging service. This will prevent online spammers from abusing this and causing non browser related message Pop-ups during normal system operation. Installing SP2 will disable the messenger service for you.

Unplug n' Pray - Download - Home Page - Details
Disables Windows potentially dangerous and exploitable Universal Plug and Play networking capability. UPNP allows software applications to automatically open ports on a UPNP router without your permission.

Windows XP Services Guide - Home Page
Run XP-AntiSpy, Shoot The Messenger and Unplug n' Pray first since those utilities will disable some of these services for you. If you are not 100% sure about a service leave it on its default state. The goal is not to turn off as many services as possible but rather to disable only unneeded services.

Instruction - Go to Start, Run, type "services.msc" and press enter. Left-click on the status bar twice to filter all the started service to the top. Double left-click on the Service Name you wish to change. Change the "Startup Type" to either Automatic, Manual or Disabled then select "Apply" and "OK", repeat for all of the following:

Disabled - The following is a list of Services that you can disable on most systems:

Alerter
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Help and Support - (If you use Windows Help and Support leave this enabled)
Indexing Service
IPSEC Services
Messenger - (Shoot the Messenger and installing SP2 will disable this)
Portable Media Serial Number - (Leave enabled for use with security dongles)
Remote Registry Service
Secondary Logon
SSDP Discovery Service - (Unplug n' Pray will disable this)
Telnet
Upload Manager
Wireless Zero Configuration - (If you are on a wireless network leave this enabled)

Automatic - The following is a list of Services that should always be set to automatic:

Application Layer Gateway Service - (Required by the Windows XP Firewall)
Automatic Updates - (Required by Windows Updates)
Background Intelligent Transfer Service - (Required by Windows Updates)
COM+ Event System - (Required by BootVis and other applications)
Cryptographic Services - (Required to confirm the signature of Windows system files, protected root services and key services)
DCOM Server Process Launcher - (Required by the Disk Defragmenter)
DHCP Client - (Required for Cable/DSL connections and routers)
DNS Client - (Improves internet performance)
Event Log - (Required by Windows and cannot be stopped)
Logical Disk Manager - (Required to manage and update your harddrives)
Network Connections - (Required by network connections)
Plug and Play - (Required by your system hardware, Never Disable This!)
Print Spooler - (Required by printers)
Protected Storage - (Required to protected sensitive data and to prevent access by unauthorized services, processes, or users.)
Remote Procedure Call (RPC) - (Required by Windows, Never Disable This!)
Security Accounts Manager - (Required to store security information for local user accounts)
Security Center - (Notifies you of you Firewall and AntiVirus status)
Shell Hardware Detection - (Required by the AutoPlay feature)
System Event Notification - (Required by various applications)
System Restore Service - (Required by the System Restore feature)
Task Scheduler - (Required by the Windows Prefetcher, BootVis and Norton AV, Never Disable This!)
Themes - (Required by the new look of Windows XP)
Windows Audio - (Required for sound)
Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) - (Required by the Windows XP Firewall)
Windows Management Instrumentation - (Required by Windows, Never Disable This!)

Network Services - The following is a list of Services that are required on home networks and LANs:

Computer Browser - (Locates local computers and resources on a LAN)
DHCP Client - (Required for Cable/DSL connections and routers)
Network Connections - (Required by network connections)
Server - (Required for network shares and managing local user accounts)
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper - (Required for NetBIOS name resolution)
Wireless Zero Configuration - (Required if you are on a wireless network)
Workstation - (Required for access to LAN shares and servers)

Notes - Windows Updates can enable services that you have previously disabled. Check which services are running after a future Windows Update is completed. If applications stop working after this it is usually due to being to aggressive with disabling services. Enable the services you disabled one at a time until the application works. In the future leave this service on automatic. If you run into any problems set all services back to their Defaults and start over.


Step 7 - Internet
TCP/IP Optimizer - Download - Home Page - Speakeasy Speed Test
Application to optimize your Internet connection.

Instructions - Download and run. Under the "General Settings" tab select your Connection Speed (Kbps), which is your Maximum Download Speed. If you do not know what it is, contact your ISP and ask them. Make sure the value you get is in Kbps. (Exact capitalization is important, uppercase K, lowercase b ect...) Otherwise use the Speed Test and select the Closest City to get a rough idea of what it should be, then round this value (Download Speed) up to the closest size in TCP/IP Optimizer. Under "Network Adapter" choose the Network interface you use to connect to the Internet, select "Optimal settings", then "Apply changes" and "Yes" to Reboot.

Notes - Setting the Connection Speed higher then your Maximum ISP Download Speed will NOT improve performance and may actually hurt performance. Whatever your ISP claims is your Maximum Download Speed should always be used regardless of what the Speed Test shows. Maximum Download Speeds are theoretical and not always attainable for various reasons. It is normal for them to fluctuate. However, drastic differences in what your ISP claims you should get and what you are actually getting should be brought up with your ISP. It is your money after all and I would want to get what I paid for.

SP2 TCP/IP Slowdown Fix (Event ID 4226 Patcher) -
Windows XP SP2 limits the number of simultaneous incomplete outbound TCP connection attempts per second to 10 from an "unlimited" number (16777214) in SP1. With the new implementation, if a P2P or some other network program attempts to connect to 100 sites at once, it would only be able to connect to 10 per second, so it would take it 10 seconds to reach all 100. In addition, even though the setting was registry editable in SP1, it is now only possible to edit by changing it directly in the system file tcpip.sys. Keep in mind this is a cap only on simultaneous incomplete outbound connect attempts per second, not total connections. Servers and P2P programs can definitely be affected by this new limitation. The purpose of this is an attempt to limit the speed at which Viruses and Worms spread. However this does absolutely nothing to improve YOUR security. It merely attempts to slow the spread of a Viruses and Worms from your computer to others AFTER you have been infected. Remember it is a limit on OUTBOUND not Inbound connections. I recommend installing this patch for optimal network and Internet performance.

Instructions
- Download, unzip and run. Press "Y" and then Enter. A "Windows File Protection" window will come up, ignore this by selecting "Cancel" then "Yes" and Reboot. This warning is normal since you are editing a protected system file.

Notes - Various Windows updates resets the simultaneous incomplete outbound TCP connection attempt limit to 10.

Notes - AntiVirus programs may incorrectly detect the EvID4226Patch.exe file as a virus. This is a False positive. The file is perfectly safe but being incorrectly identified by your AntiVirus program as malicious. First make sure you are using the very latest version of your AntiVirus program and pattern file, if it does not go away contact the makers of your AntiVirus programs so they can resolve the error.


WEB BROWSERS
Despite all the online hype, the far majority of users are best served using Internet Explorer 7 for maximum webpage compatibility. Advanced users may want to try out Opera for maximum performance.

Internet Explorer 7 -
Contains browser and adds Tabs, Integrated Search and a much needed Anti-Phishing feature. Pop-up Blocking support was added in Windows XP SP2 and is used by Internet Explorer 7. Since the single most important feature of a browser is webpage compatibility, this is an excellent choice for most users.

Opera 9 -
Opera invented Tabs and was the first web browser to include an Integrated Search feature and Pop-up Blocking. Other unique features include an integrated BitTorrent Client and Voice control. Opera is the Fastest, most Secure and most Compliant (Acid2) Graphical Web Browser for Windows. An excellent choice for advanced users.

Notes - Opera is not compatible with all webpages.

Firefox Myths - Firefox Myths
Firefox is not being recommended here for many reasons. Some of those reasons are that it is slower than Internet Explorer, insecure and not completely compatible with 10-15% of all web sites. Get the facts.


Step 8 - Boot
Everything needs to be installed and updated before you proceed for optimal results. Many previous steps also improve boot times, such as the Prefetcher Fix, disabling Services except Task Scheduler, using Autoruns and Defragmenting.

BootVis - Download
BootVis is a boot performance trace visualization and optimization tool. This tool invokes the built-in Windows XP boot time optimization process when you run it, instead of waiting for it to be scheduled by Windows (roughly every three days and after the system has been idle 10 minutes). You will notice immediate improvement in boot performance for this reason. It is not necessary to run BootVis again unless something has been added or removed from the boot sequence (Drivers, Startup Applications ect...)

Instructions - Download and Run. In the menu go to "Trace", select "Next Boot and Driver Delays". A "Trace Repetitions" screen will appear, select "Ok" and Reboot. Upon reboot, BootVis will automatically start, analyze and log your system's boot process. When it's done, in the menu go to "Trace" and select "Optimize System" and Reboot. This time when your system comes up, wait until you see the "Optimizing System" box appear, continue to wait until the process is complete.

Notes - BootVis requires the following services be enabled and the system rebooted before using the "Optimize System" function:

- Task Scheduler - Automatic
- COM+ Event System - Automatic

If you are running a performance trace on a Pentium 4 system with Hyper-Threading enabled you need to have SP2 installed (821581). Unfortunately BootVis is not publicly supported by Microsoft anymore.

Errors - Since BootVis is not publicly supported anymore, the last public release version has various compatibility issues with certain IDE/SATA/RAID devices and drivers with no official documentation on how to resolve them. One of the most common errors is "Number of physical drives in the trace file is 0". In which case you will be unable to use BootVis and should uninstall it. To manually perform the same optimization follow these instructions:

Manual Instructions
- Reboot Windows XP two times, each time wait one full minute after the desktop appears to allow Windows time to fully write to the NTOSBOOT-B00DFAAD.PF file before proceeding, then go to "Start", "Run", Type Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks. This can take 10-15 minutes to run but no notification will be given when it is finished. You will notice increased Harddrive activity while it is running wait until this stops. When this is finished in the "Run" box Type defrag c: -b and wait until the command prompt window disappears. It is not necessary to do again unless something has been added or removed from the boot sequence (Drivers, Startup Applications ect...) and you do not feel like waiting 3 days for it to be automatically optimized by Windows.


Step 9 - Shutdown
User Profile Hive Cleanup Service - Download
A service to help with slow log off and unreconciled profile problems.

These optimizations will improve performance but may cause other problems.

Disable NTFS 8.3 Filenames - Home Page
The creation of 8.3 filenames and directories for all long filenames and directories on NTFS partitions may decrease directory enumeration performance.

[HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem] "NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation"

Instructions - Go to "Start", "Run", and Type: fsutil behavior set disable8dot3 1

- Some 16-bit applications may not be able to find files and directories with long filenames.


Disable NTFS Last Access Time - Home Page
Disabling the Last Access Time improves the speed of folder and file access.

[HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem] "NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate"

Instructions - Go to "Start", "Run", and Type: fsutil behavior set disablelastaccess 1

- This can affect programs such as backup and Remote Storage that rely on this feature.