More Ways To Speed Up Windows XP
Ensure XP Is Using DMA Mode
XP enables DMA for Hard-Drives and CD-Roms by default on most ATA or ATAPI (IDE) devices. However, sometimes computers switch to PIO mode which is slower for data transfer - a typical reason is because of a virus. To ensure that your machine is using DMA:
- 1. Open ‘Device Manager’
2. Double-click ‘IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers’
3. Right-click ‘Primary Channel’ and select ‘Properties’ and then ‘Advanced Settings’
4. In the ‘Current Transfer Mode’ drop-down box, select ‘DMA if Available’ if the current setting is ‘PIO Only’
Add Correct Network Card Settings
Some machines suffer from jerky graphics or high CPU usage even when a machine is idle. A possible solution for this, which, can also can help network performance is to:
- 1. RightClick ‘My Computer’
2. Select ‘Manage’
3. Click on ‘Device Manager’
4. DoubleClick your network adaptor under ‘Network Adapters’
5. In the new window, select the ‘Advanced’ tab6. Select ‘Connection Type’ and select the correct type for your card and then Reboot
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.
Disable Prefetch on Low Memory Systems
Prefetch is designed to speed up program launching by preloading programs into memory - not a good idea is memory is in short supply, as it can make programs hang. To disable prefetch:
- 1. Click ‘Start’ then ‘Run’
2. Type in ‘Regedit’ then click ‘Ok’
3. Navigate to ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session
Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters’
4. Right-click on “EnablePrefetcher” and set the value to ‘0′
5. Reboot.
I hope you find these changes useful. If you have any tips you want to share, or if you have any questions about the tips listed here then please leave a comment below.
Feb 07 Update: This guide has been updated and augmented in The Complete Guide To Optimising Windows XP
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Comment by dhon on 8 June 2008:
how can i download videos in a fastest way???????
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Comment by Everton on 11 May 2008:
@caf
CCleaner etc don’t clear out the crap every boot automatically. If you have more than one user, then add a line to the batch file for each user.
Comment by Caf on 11 May 2008:
About this part:
Speed Up Boot Times I
This tweak works by creating a batch file to clear the temp and history folders everytime you shutdown so that your PC doesn’t waste time checking these folders the next time it boots. It’s quite simple to implement:
1. Open Notepad and create a new file with the following entries:
* RD /S /q “C:\Documents and Settingsâ€UserName without quotesâ€\Local Settings\Historyâ€
* RD /S /q “C:\Documents and Settings\Default User\Local Settings\Historyâ€
* RD /S /q “D:\Temp†<–â€Deletes temp folder, type in the location of your temp folderâ€
Where is the temp folder you are referring to for example windows has one by its own, each user has it’s own and do you mean temp folder or temporary internet files, which temp folder do you mean, and there are programs out there to delete these things(CCleaner,Index.dat Analyzer
Comment by Micah on 5 November 2007:
XP must die
Comment by Matt on 3 November 2007:
good tips
add to bookmark
thanks