Windows XP start performance

lachs0r

New Member
Okay, there already are some threads dealing with this, but this one is a collection of things that worked perfect for me. My system needs ~10 Seconds from the boot loader to the completely loaded desktop.

There are some tricks that might be dangerous, especially if you're not behind NAT or some sort of firewall. I've marked these tricks with a !.

Remember, it's always a good idea to make a backup before changing your system.


Tip 1: Tidy up AutoRun and disable unneeded services
Use msconfig to disable any unneeded program at startup.
There are some lists out there, that describe what services you don't need and what they do. Just google it.

Tip 2: Prefetch setting
This one is often described as bullshit, but it can really help.
Start regedit, search for "EnablePrefetcher" (without the quotation marks) and set every found value to 2.
Then empty the X:\WINDOWS\Prefetch folder, where X is the drive you've installed Windows on (yes, deleting the folder contents is safe. Just google for what prefetching is, if you don't believe me).

Tip 3: Disable devices that you don't need using the device manager
Maybe also disable them in the BIOS setup (for example serial ports, LPT, game/MIDI-port, ...), too.

Tip 3.1: Remove drivers for non-present devices
Start cmd.exe, enter
Code:
set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
devmgmt.msc
In the appearing device manager, click View - Show hidden devices (actual text may differ, I've got the german version of XP). Now remove all Items with semi-transparent icons, ignoring the "system devices" and "USB controller" groups.

Tip 4: Defrag ;)
Consider using a third party tool, like the one from O&O.

! Tip 5: Only use service pack 1a, without any updates
But then, DON'T use Internet Explorer. Only use it to download an alternative browser, such as Firefox.

! Tip 6: Don't use security software
Well, only if you have a brain.

Tip 7: Uninstall software that emulates virtual drives (like DaemonTools), if you don't need it. It loads drivers at startup, that can slow it down quite a bit.

! Tip 8: Use an alternative login manager
WARNING! If you use this manager, you convert your system to a single-user system, where everything is ran with administrative privileges. Also, a new user account is created at first login. You may need tools like CopyHandler to make migrating your old files and settings easier.
Just google minlogon, you will find a way to download it, as I'm NOT going to post a direct link here, just to have some stupid noobs complaining that they broke their systems because of their inability to think before they click something.
Minlogon was created by Microsoft for use in embedded systems. It's a stripped down version of winlogon.exe, with minimal footprint. There's no login screen at all, no password, no LSASS.
Before proceeding, make sure the Windows File Protection won't get in your way. Use the Windows search function (search for hidden and system files, too) to search for winlogon.exe in your WINDOWS-Folder. Then delete every result EXCEPT for that in system32. Now rename that one to winlogon.exe.bak and copy minlogon.exe to the system32 folder.
Now start regedit and go to
Code:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Change the value of "Config" to 17 (hexadecimal).
Reboot twice and you're done.


I hope that is helping someone ;)
 
I know you do a lot of good work with XP, but what about Vista?
 
Sorry, but I don't use Vista. Tried it once, but the results were err..
However, my DVD-drive broke the DVD into million pieces after the 3rd reinstall, so I didn't have to :D

Vista is broken by design, and so is every other version of Windows. But XP is still the most dependable one.

Btw., I only use Windows for playing games that don't run well on Linux (UT3 for example), so I want it to be as fast as possible. On LANs I'm always the first one who's done with loading, even if I have the oldest hardware :D
 
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