For all those who seek better performance

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J.Milord

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Hi!
I thought I could post here some useful tips how to make Pc faster for gaming. I have tryed all these my self and I haven't had any unexpected problems. Actually there have been fewer problems :mrgreen:

So lets begin with Windows. Some of these might only work with Xp.

1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. On the General tab, click Selective Startup.
3. Under Selective Startup, click to clear the following check boxes:
• Process SYSTEM.INI File
• Process WIN.INI File

While you're there, you might want to go to the startup tab and uncheck everything you don't need starting up with windows. Not only will it save system resources, but it'll speed up your boot times too

Those two files contain support for older 16-bit programs. Normally you don't need them so you can disable them.
And while being in the msconfig disable all useless programs. They can rob good deal of memory.


Registry healers can also speed things up abit. My favorite is regsupreme (it has time trial :sad:)
Remember messing with registry can be lethal for windows so if you don't know what you'r doing don't do it at all.
You can back up your registry before doing anything via regedit, just make sure you can boot to a command prompt or the XP recovery console to restore it

http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_remove_hotfix_backup.zip
Link contains a program by Doung Knox. You can aquire some free disk space with it.
More information: http://www.askdavetaylor.com/can_i_delete_the_contents_of_windows_ntuninstall.html

When you have done with Windows it's time for BIOS stripping.
Disable Video and bios catching for better stability and performance.
Depends on your card and BIOS. On some machines this can actually degrade performance
Disable old COM and printer ports for better performance (Reduces CPU's workload.)
More information: http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/01/04/bios_from_a_to_z/

Thats all! I hope your computer won't explode if you try these :cool:
We know who to blame if it does :smile: Been working on an optimisation sticky, but probably won't put it up till we move to the new board format. Nonetheless, should help those with slower machines get an extra few FPS - Archonsod
 
No problemo man, and if you are hungry for even more, I would recommend to strip following windows services:

1. Click Start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. Select the Services tab

These services are also security risks.

SSDP Discovery Service - Disable, even Windows admid it's being a security risk.
Messenger - Disable, it's not MSN Messenger -This service is now being exploited by spammers to send you popup messages
Remote Registry Service - Disable, This allows remote users access to your registry.
Telnet - Disable Big security risk. It can allow users access to your system remotely.
NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing - Disable, Net meeting users can view your desktop with this service.
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager - Not sure but you might need this if you have some sort of meetings on your compurer. Otherwise disable it.


You might like to disable these too.

Error Reporting Service - Disable, unless you really want to send error reports to Bill Gates.
Help and Support - If you think you are a pro disable it. Remember that you can re-activate it.


It should be safe to disable all services above and it is always possible to re-activate them. There are more services I have disabled but I'm not so sure if it's 100% safe to disable them, so I won't tell about them :roll:
 
You can set them to auto, and in theory the service will start if it's needed (doesn't always work).
You can also go back in a turn the services on manually if you find something isn't working.

If you click on the process, the information will tell you a bit about what it's used for (you can google it for more). The one thing to watch out for is service dependencies - things like the remote support service are a big security risk and completely useless for 90% of users, however it's essential to keep it running for windows to work  as a lot of necessary processes are dependent on it :roll:
 
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