Optimize Your Copy of Windows

Optimization is the poor man's upgrade.

There are many things you can do to "tweak" your operating system, to (hopefully) make it run faster.  I'll do my best to outline ones that I think can help.  Now, the methods in here aren't going to make your computer run twice as fast--but they should help it run a bit more efficiently.  With some of them you may not notice the difference without a benchmarking program, but others might make a noticeable improvement.

• Increase the amount of RAM on your computer.  Windows NT, 2000, XP, and 2003 are notorious resource hogs; they want all the RAM you can give them and then some.  Adding RAM to one of these machines will almost always provide some increas in speed.  Adding RAM to a Windows 95, 98, or ME computer will increase its speed, up to 128MB.  Beyond that, the operating system doesn't take much advantage of the additional memory.  If you have a 98 or ME computer with more than 128MB of RAM, see the section below on forcing the system to make the most of its physical memory.



• Defragment your hard drive(s).  Hard drives fragment because, as you use your computer, and add and delete files and programs, these files (and the files for the programs) become scattered around different places on your hard drive.  When the computer needs to save a file, it goes to the first available space on the hard drive, and starts saving it.  If that space is smaller than the file it needs to save, it saves part of the file there and moves on to the next additional space--and so on.  So, a file could end up being chopped into many separate pieces.  This isn't a problem, except that when you want to access that file, the computer has to reassemble the file from all the bits and pieces.  One fragmented file isn't going to slow your computer to a crawl, but many fragmented files over time can make a big difference.
  
  If you're running Windows 95, 98, or ME, Disk Defragmenter (Under Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools) is a handy utility that will defragment your hard drive thoroughly. It will make all your files contiguous, and stack them all together so the free space on your drive is in one big chunk (which discourages new files from fragmenting your drive).
  
  If you're running Windows NT 4, there is no built-in defragmenter.  There is, however, a free utility you can download called Diskeeper Lite which will do the job.  See below for details.  Microsoft says that, if your drive is formatted as FAT, rather than NTFS, you can boot from a DOS disk, then run the defragmenter from the floppy.  That sounds workable in theory, but they obviously never tested it; I tried it once, and irreparably damaged my installation of NT.  MS-DOS doesn't recognize long file names, so when its defragmenter moves files around, it truncates all the file names to 8.3 format.
  
  If you're running Windows 2000, XP, or 2003, you have a Disk Defragmenter, but it doesn't look like the one in 95/98/ME.  There's a reason for this.  Windows 95, 98, and ME are based on MS-DOS, and use an expanded version of DOS's defragmenter.  Windows 2000, XP, and 2003 are based on NT, which does not have a built-in defragmenter.  Instead, companies like Executive Software built programs that can defragment NT systems, and (as I understand it), Microsoft bought the right to ship its new operating systems with a stripped-down version of that software.  Like DKLite, 2000/XP/2003 Defragmenter doesn't pull all the free space together, and it won't defrag a drive if there isn't enough free space on the drive.  Still, it's a lot better than nothing, and you may find my method of moving files between partitions helpful (see the Diskeeper Lite section below).



• Defragment your page file.  "What?  But I just defragemented my hard drive!"  Sad to say, because the page file (also called the swap file) is in use while Windows is running, its defragmenter (including Diskeeper Lite on NT machines) can't touch it.  Of course, there are programs such as the retail version of DKLite which can--but just now I don't want to get into software you have to pay for.
  
  Speaking of free software, if you're running Windows NT, 2000, or XP, you'll be glad to know there's a free utility called PageDefrag that can defragment both your page file and your Registry.  See below for details.
  
  Sadly, if you're running 95, 98, or ME, you'll have to do it the old-fashioned way.  If you have two partitions, move the page file to your other partition, reboot, and defrag the hard drive your page file used to be on.  Then move the page file back and reboot again.  If you set a static page file while you're at it (see the next section), that will prevent it becoming fragmented again in the future.



• Set a static page file.  This has the potential to noticeably improve the performance of any Windows machine--especially 95, 98, or ME, in my experience.  Twice the amount of RAM (but not less than, say, 20MB) is usually a good setting for a static page file.  If you do this, remember to adjust the page file if you ever change the amount of RAM on your computer.  Also keep in mind that you might need to increase the size of the page file, depending on the applications you're running--so watch to see if your computer locks up more often, and be on the lookout for "low on virtual memory" messages.



• Make sure there's enough free space on the hard drive.  Windows will slow down noticeably if the free space on your hard drive drops below a certain amount.  On Windows 95, 98, or ME, you'll need at least 100MB free on C:.  On Windows NT, 2000, XP, or 2003, your threshold will be either 100MB or however much RAM you have, whichever is greater--and the free space must be on the drive that holds the page file (which by default is the drive where Windows is installed).  The free space must be in addition to the space used by your page file.



• Reinstall Windows.  If this sounds involved and time-consuming, it is.  But, if your Windows installation is a couple of years old or older, replacing it with a fresh copy can do wonders for your computer's performance.  The reason is that, over time, as you install and remove programs and do other ordinary things, Windows accumulates a lot of junk in its Registry and file system, and very gradually slows down.
  
  Be aware that what I'm talking about here is not reinstalling Windows over the top.  That won't do you a bit of good.  What you have to do is actually format the hard drive and install Windows from scratch.  That means, of course, that you need to back up everything you want to keep--and whenever I do this I always find I've forgotten to back something up.  So this can be a dangerous thing to do, and shouldn't be undertaken lightly.  You'll also need the Windows CD, of course, plus drivers for any hardware on your system that Windows doesn't recognize (or which needs updated versions of the drivers), and you need to know what you're doing.  Don't try to do this unless you know how to install Windows, or have someone on hand who does.  You should also expect this to take an entire day to finish.



• On Windows 95, 98, and ME computers: 
  • Lengthen the time slice (also called the "quantum") in the operating system.  This applies mostly if your computer is low on RAM and you can't afford to add more.  It will help your computer to run faster if it's doing a lot of disk thrashing.  To set the minimum time slice:
  • Click Start, Run, and enter system.ini.
  • At the end of the [386enh] section, add a line saying MinTimeSlice=x, where x represents the length of the time slice in milliseconds.
  • Force the system to make the most of its physical memory.  This applies if your computer is running 98 or ME (not 95) and has over 128MB of RAM.  To force conservative use of the page file:
    • Click Start, Run, and enter system.ini.
    • At the end of the [386enh] section, add a line saying ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1. 
      The issue, apparently, is that Windows 98 and ME (but not 95) will tend to ignore higher amounts of RAM (over 128MB, I think) and use the swap file instead.  This tweak turns on the Windows 95 method of accessing RAM, making it use physical memory before virtual memory.
  • Turn on 32-bit disk access.  It may not be enabled by default; this tweak will turn it on.
    • Click Start, Run, and enter system.ini.
    • At the end of the [386enh] section, add a line saying 32BitDiskAccessOn=on.
  • Change the Typical role setting for your computer, if it has either a lot or a very little RAM.
    • Close or minimize everything, to take you to the Windows Desktop.
    • Right-click on My Computer, and click on Properties.
    • Click on the Performance tab, and click the File System button.
    • In the drop-down list for Typical role of this computer:
      • If your computer has a lot of RAM (say, 128MB or more), select Network server.
      • If your computer has very little RAM (say, under 32MB), select Mobile or docking system.
      • If your computer has an average amount of RAM (say, 32-96MB), leave it set at Desktop Computer.
    • Click OK, Close, and then Yes to restart the computer.
    See http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q140679 for more information.


• On NT, 2000, XP, and 2003 computers: 
  • Check your folders: make sure that important folders, like \Winnt (or \Windows) and folders for programs you use a lot, are not compressed.
  • Adjust your computers' Performance setting.
  
  In Windows NT, turn the performance boost for the foreground application all the way up.  To do so, right-click on My Computer, and click on Properties.  Click on the Performance tab, and move the slider all the way to the right.
  The Performance Boost doesn't actually speed up the operating system; instead, it gives a longer time slice (i.e., higher priority) to whatever is running in the foreground.  See http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q160/6/56.asp?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0&qry=Performance%20Boost&rnk=2&src=DHCS_MSPSS_gn_SRCH&SPR=NTW40 for information on how this differs in NT 4.0 from NT 3.51.
  In Windows 2000, you can change the Performance Options setting.  To do so, right-click on My Computer, and click on Properties.  Click on the Advanced tab, and click the Performance Options button.  Then ensure that it's set to optimize performance for Applications (i.e., programs in the foreground) rather than Background services.
    See http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q259/0/25.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0&qry=Performance%20Options&rnk=8&src=DHCS_MSPSS_gn_SRCH&SPR=WIN2000 for a description of Performance Options in Windows 2000.
  In Windows XP or 2003, you can change the Advanced Performance Options setting.  To do so, click Start, right-click on My Computer, and click on Properties.  Click on the Advanced tab, click the Settings button in the Performance section, and click on the Advanced tab.  Then ensure that it's set to optimize performance for Programs (i.e., applications in the foreground) rather than Background services. 
  You can also edit the Visual Effects Performance Options and turn off Windows' special effects, which eat up processing power.  To do so, follow the directions to the Advanced Performance Options (above), but in Performance Options, stay in the Visual Effects tab.  Now select Adjust for best performance.  Alternatively, you can select Custom, and select only those features you want on your system.
  • If you have two physical hard drives, consider moving the page file to the disk that Windows is not installed to.  See http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q123/7/47.asp?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0&qry=move% for details.  (Although this can also be done in Windows 9x and ME, it does not seem to help much.)  Be aware that doing this in NT, 2000, XP, or 2003 will disable Windows' ability to write a crash dump to your hard disk if Windows blue-screens; see http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q197/3/79.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0&qry=file% for a way around that.  You will not want to move the page file if your second drive has a slower access speed* than your primary drive.  You also may not see much improvement if the two hard drives are on the same controller.
    Note: There is little performance advantage to moving the page file to a different partition on the same physical hard drive, especially if the file size is dynamic.  One exception would be if you created a small, special partition just for the page file, which would prevent its becoming fragmented and thereby reduce performance degradation.

    *  To find your hard drives' access speed, open up your computer, and write down their make and model--which should be printed on the hard drives.  You will then need to go online to the manufacturers' website(s) and look up the seek time for those models (the lower the seek time, the faster the drive).

  • If you have three or more physical hard drives, consider using striped volumes (a.k.a. RAID 0).  For details, see http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q113/9/33.asp?LN=EN-.  Striped volumes (called "stripe sets" in NT) allow Windows to write to several disks simultaneously, and can speed up read/write access by as much as 20%.  One of the best uses of a striped volume is to put the page file on it, since the page file is accessed frequently by almost every program you run.  Putting the page file on a striped volume can really speed up your computer's multitasking and other disk-intensive operations.
    Some warnings:  There is no advantage to striping separate partitions on the same physical disk.  Be sure to prepare your computer (see http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q162/8/46.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0&qry=create%) before implementing striping.  Striped volumes require at least two disks in addition to the one where Windows is installed.  Striped volumes are also less stable than ordinary drives, since if any disk in the set fails, the entire set (and everything on it) is lost.
    RAID-5 volumes (a.k.a. Disk striping with parity) do not share this drawback; in fact they are even more stable than ordinary disk usage.  The parity requires a separate disk, however, so you need at least four physical drives to use RAID 5.  This method also doesn't offer as much of a performance boost as striped volumes, and may heavily impact your processor since the CPU performs intensive calculations to generate the parity (which is used to regenerate your data if one of the disks in the set fails).
  • Optimize your computer to be a workstation, if you're running Windows NT, 2000, or 2003Server--rather than NT Workstation, 2000 Professional, or any version of XP.
    Windows NT:
    • Click on Start, Settings, Control Panel.
    • Double-click on Network, and click on the Services tab.
    • In the white window, click on Server, and click on the Properties button.
    • Select Minimize Memory Used.
    • Click OK.  Click Yes to reboot the computer.
    Windows 2000 or 2003:
    • Right-click on My Network Places, and click on Properties.
    • Right-click on Local Area Connection, and click on Properties.
    • Click on File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks, and click the Properties button.
    • Select Minimize memory used.
    • Click OK to close that window, OK to close Network properties, then close the Network and Dial-up Connections window.
    
    
• Software that can help: 
  • RAMBooster is a handy utility.  As you use Windows, programs you open take up a certain amount of memory, but they're not always good about releasing it when you close them.  As a result, your available RAM tends to gradually decrease, and your computer can slow to a crawl--at least, if you've been running a lot of applications.  RAMBooster is a freely downloadable program that goes through your RAM, freeing up unused memory.  You can set it to free up RAM when your amount available reaches a certain level, or you can simply run the program whenever your computer starts running slowly, then close it to save resources (which is what I do).  This utility can be very helpful on Windows 95/98/ME machines; I haven't tried it on NT, 2000, XP, or 2003.
  • Norton Utilities can do some wonderful things, especially for older Pentium machines.  The utilities I've used come on the Norton SystemWorks CD.  The utility you really want here is Norton Speed Disk.  It not only thoroughly defragments the hard drive, 95/98/ME-style (even if you're running Windows 2000 or whatever), but it also moves the page file to the outer edge of the disk, which physically rotates faster than the inner edge.  So, at least in theory, your page file will be just a little faster to access.  Again, this seems to have the greatest effect on older machines; it can be very effective at helping keep those older units running just a little bit faster.
  • Diskeeper Lite (www.execsoft.com/dklite) is a program which will defragment files on Windows NT 4.  It's not nearly as thorough as the Disk Defragmenter in Windows 9x.  It doesn't move your files around much, so the free space isn't lumped together, and more importantly, because it doesn't put the free space together, if there isn't a large enough chunk of contiguous space for it to put a file, it won't defragment it: so there are times when it can't do much to defrag your drive.  In such situations, a solution I've found is to move files (especially large ones) to another drive, defragment, then move them back, one folder at a time (and compress them, unless you access them often), and defragment again.  Compressing the files after moving them back seems to make the defrag especially effective.  The more files you can move off the drive, the better.  Note: individual file compression is only possible if your hard drive is formatted as NTFS, not FAT.
  • PageDefrag is a wonderful little program that will defragment both the Registry and the page file on NT, 2000, and XP machines.  It's written by a man of especial genius named Mark Russinovich.  It's only 100kb, and fits on a floppy with most of the disk to spare--yet it defrags these files that Windows utilities can't touch, and you don't even have to install the program--just copy it to your hard drive and run it from there, or even run it off the floppy.  Unfortunately you'll have to reboot your system to perform the defrag, but that won't take very long.  When you run the program, it tells you how many fragments the page file and Registry file(s) are in, and you have three choices: Defrag on next boot, Defrag on every boot, or Don't defrag.  I highly recommend this program.  You can download it from here: PageDefrag.zip.  Note: the program needs a lot of contiguous free space to defrag the page file.  If it fails to defragment the page file, you'll need to open up an area large enough for PageDefrag to work.  There are several things you can do to accomplish this.  Sometimes simply defragmenting the hard drive will do it.  If not, you can try compressing folders (if the drive is formatted as NTFS), and/or you can move files/folders temporarily to another drive or partition, then defragment the drive.  Another option is to either move the page file to another drive/partition or (if you don't have another drive/partition to move it to) to just set it to zero, reboot, defragment the drive, set it back to the size you want, reboot again, then tell PageDefrag to defragment on next boot and reboot once more.  A big pain in the butt I know, but if you really want to get the most out of your NT/2000/XP machine without spending $40+ on software, this is the best way I know to do it.
  • Registry Compressor Pro cleans out unused entries in your Windows Registry.  As you install and remove programs, junk gets left in your Registry, which is part of why Windows runs more slowly over time.  KMCS wrote a program that removes these unneeded items and helps your machine run a bit faster.  This also is pay software, but you can use the trial version.  It only removes 10 entries per use, but you can run it over and over till you get all the entries cleaned up.  Registry Compressor v.2.5 runs on Windows 95 or 98; v.4.5 runs on Windows 98, ME, 2000, or XP (neither seems to work with NT).  You may have to look on ZDNet or something to find this software.