XP32/64 SSD Windows Registry Tweaks

[Tony]

Registry tweaks

We need to open the Registry Editor.
1 Start
2 Run
3 Type regedit in the run box
4 The Registry editor will open
5 lets go


1st Prefetch...needs to be disabled.

Hkey_local_machine\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet \Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters...right click Enableprefetcher...hit modify and change 3 to 0 and hit OK



Now go back 1 folder to memory management. We can tweak a few items in here also.

ClearPageFileAtShutdown...change from 0 to 1

LargeSystemcache...change from 0 to 1

SecondlevelDataCache...change from 0 to (what ever the L2 cache is on the CPU you have) make sure to modify this in Decimal mode



Next navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\FileSystem.

Here were are going to edit 1 option and add 1 option.

1st Edit NtfsDisable8dot3nameCreation from 0 to 1

This next tweak is in beta test at this time...it does no harm to install it but we are still testing to see if it helps.

2nd Right click away from any REG_WORD values and choose New pick DWORD Value and change its name to NtfsMemoryUsage hit Enter
Now right click on this DWORD and Modfiy...change 0 to 2







Next navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOpt imizeFunction
You are looking for the Enable REG_SZ modify this from Y to N

[Tony]

Now we need to tweak a few items within the OS itself. Starting around System Properties.

Fast way to system properties

Right click My Computer....go to Properties...you are there

1st disk write cache...as per Vista i think this needs to be ENABLED

So System Properties, hit the Hardware tab, then hit Device Manager expand Disk Drives, find the SSD drive...right click and go to Properties. You then need to hit the Policies tab and make sure the box is checked for write caching.



Next we need to apply the DSKcache tweak.

Background info

http://www.thin-world.com/microsoft/324446.html

dskcache.exe, seems M$ have made this file hard to get now, upon searching i did find it.

from the article i noticed this:

* When a user types in a document, characters do not appear on the screen until this pause has ended.
* Keyboard input and mouse input are queued, but they are not processed until this pause has ended.
* Live performance monitoring (Perfmon) graphs have missing data points during this pause.
* All running programs appear to stop responding, or "hang," during this pause.
* When Spooler is under a load from a large number of users, a high CPU usage is displayed for it.

M$ data: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/Q811392

Grab DSKcache here

Once unpacked place dskcache.exe direct on C drive (root)..open command prompt and type.

c:\dskcache +p c:

you now have XP set to cache writes the same as Vista.

Moving on we need to tweak the Pagefile, System Restore and Hibernation.

I strongly suggest if you are not running XP on 4Gb system ram you consider moving to do so. It does help with day to day tasks especially if like me you are lazy and never shut apps down

Pagefile tweaks

XP on the whole will run fine with NO Pagefile with 2GB of system memory, HOWEVER some of the more modern games seem to swallow up memory so consider adding 2GB if you can. If however you use the system for Web browsing and office apps 2GB no page file will be ok.

To access where to set the page file or set no paging file from the System Properties window hit the Advanced Tab, then hit Settings in the Performance box this will bring you to Performance Options
Next hit the Change box in the Virtual Memory box which brings you to the Virtual memory window.

Here to set no paging file highlight the SSD drive then check the No Page file option and hit Set

close down all windows, XP will probably ask you to reboot...hit yes.

Next System Restore

Navigate back to System Properties...Hit the System Restore tab, check Turn Off System Restore and hit OK

Again XP may ask you to reboot...hit yes


Hibernation.

1. Right-click on the desktop and click Properties
2. Hit the Screen Saver tab
3. Then click the Power button under Monitor Power
4. Click the Hibernation tab, then uncheck the box next to Enable Hibernation
5. Press OK



Now we need to stop the Indexing Service

Hit Start...Control Panel...Administrative Tools...Services

Scroll down to Indexing Service...with it highlighted right click and go to Properties.
Half way down the Indexing Service Properties window you are looking for the Startup type...drop the arrow down and set Disabled and then hit OK close down Services.



Now we need to turn off Indexing on the SSD.

Navigate to My computer right click on the drive which is the SSD and hit Properties.
Now uncheck the Indexing Option and hit Apply

[Tony]

Unlike Vista...XP does not have Readyboost, BUT we can help by installing a RamDisk for the web browsers to cache too and if you have enough memory (4GB ideally) you could create a 1.65GB Ramdisk allowing 150MB for browser caching and 1500MB for Pagefile use.

What we need is a Ramdrive that creates an image of everything on the drive as you shut down and reloads this image at boot onto a freshly formatted ramdisk. Now there are a few products that will do this, for this guide I will use ramdisk from Cenatek:
https://www.cenatek.com/product_page...nload_list.php

Now for XP there are 2 versions you can use, I use Ramdisk XP but there is a free beta version that you can use also. I do suggest if you like the product you support the company that supplies it.

Download the RamDisk app and install it to your system. Once installed you can either set the Ramdisk to 150MB (if you have 2GB installed memory) or if you run 4GB 1650MB

Set what you see in the pic...Notice the drive is set to not format...you will see why in a moment. Now this pic is from the Vista guide...set 150MB if you have 2GB installed ram or if you wish 1650MB if you are running 4GB installed ram



Once you have set what you see in the above pic (noting the changes for XP I mentioned) go back to the Settings tab and hit Start RAMDisk

Wait while it loads the driver...then you need to mount the drive and format it. Start>control panel>admin tools>computer management>disk manager

Here you should now be greeted with a prompt that you have a new drive, mount the drive and quick format it NTFS or FAT32, give the name RamDrive.

Once the drive is formatted navigate to my computer you should now see the RamDrive...right click on it and go to properties. just like the SSD drive uncheck Indexing...not needed

close down properties and click to open the RamDrive. Create 2 folders if you use Internet Explore and Firefox...one called IE_cache and the other named FF_Cache.

Once you have done this close down my computer

Its now time to reboot the PC to make sure the RamDisk is working correctly, you can manually close the RamDisk APP now it has saved your settings and all other apps you may have open and proceed to reboot.

Now shutdown should take a little longer than normal, this is due to the image of data on the RamDisk being written to the SSD drive. On boot the machine should also take a few seconds longer than normal, this is due to the Ramdisk being formatted then the image that was written to the SSD is mounted on the RamDisk...so where you left off is where you restart

Navigate back to my computer, you should see the RamDisk looking like a standard hard drive..if its not there you need to go back to the Ramdisk App settings and check its configured correctly.

If all is good we need to tweak Internet Explorer and Firefox to use the drive for the cache files.

For IE go to Internet options...on the General tab look for "Temporary Internet files" and hit settings. Set the box size to 75MB then hit Move folder and point IE to the Cache folder you made on the RamDisk.

For Firefox3:

1. Open a new tab and type "about:config" in the address bar and hit Enter.
2. Right click anywhere on page and from context menu select "New" and "String".
3. For string name, type in "browser.cache.disk.parent_directory" (without the quotes).
4. For string value, type in the path to where you want to move your cache directory. IE D:\FF_cache if D is the RamDisk and you created a folder called FF_cache.
5. Restart Firefox.

Job done...quick and painless

If you want to run a PageFile off the RamDisk and have set its size to 1650MB as mentioned above follow the next steps.

Navigate to System properties...Advanced Tab...Performance Box hit Settings...Advanced Tab (performance Options) and look for the Virtual Memory box at the bottom...hit Change

Within the Virtual Memory window you will have the C drive (SSD) with no page file set and you should now see the RamDisk listed also. You need to highlight the RamDisk then check Custom size.

Set the following:

Initial size (MB) 1500
maximum size (MB) 1500

Then hit Set and OK...close down all windows and reboot.

This will allow 150MB to the browser cache folders you set earlier...75 for Firefox and 75 for Internet Explorer.

[Tony]

All these tweaks are CMD.EXE based...

To disable the 8.3 name creation on all NTFS partitions,

type fsutil.exe behavior set disable8dot3 1 at the command prompt, and then press ENTER

Disable timestamp for last access to a file to speed up Windows

Another frequently seen recommendation is to disable the setting that keeps track of the last time a file. was accessed. Removing the necessity for the system to keep reading and writing this information may speed up Windows Explorer.

Type fsutil behavior set disablelastaccess 1 at the command prompt then press ENTER

Note that some backup programs may need this information. If you wish to restore the timestamp type fsutil behavior set disablelastaccess 0


Next... Disable the NTFS Change Journall

Type fsutil usn deletejournal /d

Then Press ENTER

now Type exit and again hit ENTER...then reboot.

If you want to discuss any of these tweaks please use this thread:
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/fo...ad.php?t=43460