Virtual Memory Settings
Did you ever wonder what's with that big "win386.swp" file from your
root/windows directory? That file is used for virtual memory. This way you can
run more applications without getting worried about RAM. But that file is
always resizing, sometimes is 10mb, after 5 minutes is 50mb and in the next 5
minutes it may go to 20mb. These resizing operations slow down a lot your
system. A solution to this is to change the Virtual Memory Settings from
Control Panel > System > Performance > Virtual Memory
(go to Start, point to Settings, click on Control Panel,
double-click on the System icon, go to the Performance tab and
click on the Virtual Memory button). Select the "Let me specify my own
virtual memory settings" option. The best way is to set the virtual memory
twice your amount of RAM, so if you have 32Mb RAM you can user
64Mb, for 64Mb RAM I think is enough 80Mb, for 16Mb ram try 50MB. So after you
decide about the amount of virtual memory, write it in the minimum AND in
the maximum text label (minimum and maximum must be the same for best
performance). If you use a lot of applications or playing big games you
should use a bigger value. And also if you get the "Out of memory" error
is recommended to put a bigger value there.
Delete
Unwanted Files Every Time You Boot
Are you tired of deleting your cookies/temporary directory every day because
there's a lot of garbage? Put these lines in your autoexec.bat file to delete
those files at every boot:
Echo Y|If Exist C:\Windows\Tempor~1\*.* Del \Windows\Tempor~1\*.*
Echo Y|If Exist C:\Windows\Recent\*.* Del C:\Windows\Recent\*.*
Echo Y|If Exist C:\Windows\Temp\*.* Del C:\Windows\Temp\*.*
Echo Y|If Exist C:\Windows\Cookies\*.* Del C:\Windows\Cookies\*.*
Customize
the dir Command in DOS
If you are using a lot the msdos prompt, then I think you are using the dir
command too. And you have to use that big list of parameters so your dir result
will be accurate. Put these line in autoexec.bat: SET DIRCMD=/W /P /O:GNE,
and every time you will use the dir command you will have the page break
feature automatically, G will list the directories first, N places the files in
alphabetical order and E will list files of the same in order by the extension.
Speed Up
the Launch of Windows
So, your system is booting too slow. Open the msdos.sys file from the
root directory and look for a line like this: "Bootdelay=1" and change it
to "Bootdelay=0". If you do not want to see that Win logo
everytime you start the computer change the "Logo=1" line with "Logo=0"
Computer
Role
If your system has 16MB RAM or more, you can gain a bit more speed by changing
your computer's role from Desktop Computer to Network Server. With
the Desktop Computer Setting, VFAT allocates memory for the 32
most recently accessed folders and the 677 most recently accessed files,
consuming approximately 10K of memory. When you use the Network Server
setting, VFAT allocates memory to record the 64 most recently accessed
folders and the 2729 most recently accessed files, consuming approximately 40K
of memory. The additional 30K RAM is well worth it. To change the setting,
right-click on the My Computer Icon. Click Properties then
Performance and choose the File System tab.
Networking
Go to 'Control Panel' and click 'Network'. Make sure you have 'Client
for Microsoft Networks' to save trouble. If you don't have it this is why
your Internet Dial-up Password wouldn't save. Click on 'Dial-Up Adapter'
and select Advanced. Go to "IP Packet Size" and experiment with
Small, Medium, and Large packets to see which one works best
for you. Also there is a value in your registry called 'SLOWNET' and it
is usually set at '01' change this to '00' It won't dramatically
increase your transfers but it will reduce timeouts. The key is as follows:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Class\Net\0001
In dial-up networking make uncheck the 'Log on to Network' under
Server Types. You can also get rid of the "NetBEUI" and "IPX/SPX".
View as Web
Page
If you are not using an HTML document on the desktop as background is best to
deactivate this because it takes a lot of resources. So go to Control Panel
> Display > Web item and uncheck "View my Active Desktop as a
web page"
CD-ROM
Cache
Go to Control Panel > System > Performance > File
system > CD-ROM. Move the slider from Supplemental cache size
to Small and you will have now 1Mb more free memory