| Performance
Tips :. Note:
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[]
Cleaning the TEMP Directory
[] Increasing Memory
[] Get a Faster Hard Drive
[] Defrag the Hard Drive
[] File System Settings
[] No New Floppy Detect
[] Increasing Disk Performance
[] DMA
[] CONFIG.SYS & AUTOEXEC.BAT Files
[] Removing Unnecessary Programs from Starting Automatically
|
| Cleaning
the TEMP Directory |
One
thing that is often overlooked, and can have a negative affect on your
computer's performance,
are all the files that are in the TEMP directory. I've had quite a few
people ready to get new computers until this was cleaned.
These are
easy to clean and slightly different in Win9x and Windows2000 or WindowsXP
Windows98
Open up
a DOS prompt
CD \windows\temp
(make sure you are in that directory before running the next line.
Run deltree
/y *.*
CD \windows
Run del
*.tmp (be very careful of the spelling)
Windows2000
/ WindowsXP
Go to C:\Documents
and Settings\User_Name\Local Settings\Temp (where User_Name is replaced
by the person who is logged in)
Delete
all the files Go
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|
| Increasing
Memory |
If
you have Windows95 with only 16-32 megs of memory, you will see a significant
increase in performance if you go to at least 64 megs.
Prices have gone down dramatically in the past few years. Your computer
won't be swapping to the hard drive nearly as much.
You also
need to be aware of the memory requirements of the applications you
are using. Office2000 requires a lot more memory than Office97 to get
similar performance.
Also, the
maximum useful memory for Windows95 is 64 megs. It doesn't do well with
memory over that and may actually reduce your performance. Windows98
has removed that bottleneck. .
For Windows2000
I recommend at least 256 megs of memory. I tried it with only 128 megs
and noticed quite a difference between Win98 and Windows2000. I currently
have 384 megs and am quite pleased with the performance.
|
| Get
a Faster Hard Drive |
There
are hard drives that spin at 7200 RPMs rather than the more common 5400
RPMs.
This means that you will get to your data reasonably faster. They are
not that much more expensive and well worth the money.
Go
to Top |
| Defrag
the Hard Drive |
| I
do this fairly frequently. Once a month or so. There are a few things
I do first to make sure I don't waste time defragging unnecessary files.
First is
to delete the Internet Explorer Temporary Files and History.
Second
is to delete TMP and BAK files.
Third is
delete any files and directories in the \TEMP and \WINDOWS\TEMP directories
Defragment
without the swapfile.
Windows98
has a built-in utility called Disk Cleanup. You can run it from either
the Start / Programs / Accessories / System Tools / Disk Cleanup or
directly run CLEANMGR.EXE
|
| File
System Settings |
| If
you have 64 megs or more of memory you increase the performance of your
system.
Go to Control
Panel / System Properties / Performance / File System.
Change
the typical role of this computer to Network Server.
If you
have Win95 SR1, and you do not see a performance increase, occasionally
the NameCache and PathCache values are written to the registry incorrectly
for the Network Server. To fix the problem:
Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\FS
Templates\Server
Make sure
the following values are being used:
PathCache=40
00 00 00
NameCache=a9
0a 00 00 Go
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|
| No
New Floppy Detect |
While
you are in that section, click on the Floppy Disk tab and uncheck Search
for new floppy disks...
This will speed up your boot time. |
| Increasing
Disk Performance |
| Go
to Start \ Settings \ Control Panel \ System \ Performance \ File System
\ Troubleshooting
Check the
box Disable synchronous buffer commits.
|
| DMA |
| In
the Device Manager, go to the settings your Hard Drives and CD ROMs. If
any of them will allow a DMA box to be checked, you can try it. I've seen
it decrease my CPU utilization |
| CONFIG.SYS
& AUTOEXEC.BAT Files |
| Make
sure you don't have any unnecessary device drivers or programs here. Windows95
has most you will need already built into the OS. Go
to Top |
| Removing
Unnecessary Programs from Starting Automatically |
Many
programs add portions of themselves starting automatically on every login.
This can be either in the Startup Folder or the Registry.
One easy
way to tell is by looking at how many icons are in your system tray.
If you have a large number, perhaps unnecessary resources are being
allocated them as well as increasing your boot time.
Typical
examples are Microsoft Office, Office FindFast, Real Player, ATI Video
setting etc.
You can
remove them in one of three main ways:
In the
Start / Programs / Startup Folder
In the
Registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \
CurrentVersion \ Run
If you
have Win98, WinME or Windows2000 you can use MSCONFIG to easily remove
programs. This is my preference since it allows you to toggle them back
on again in case you make a mistake
|
| Go
to Top |
