Windows 7 Setup and Tweaking Guide for Benchmarking

[Paul]

The new Windows Seven proved to be very fast especially the opening and closing sessions. Nevertheless, you can make major tweaks improving and accelerating Windows Seven with a program packed with features designed just for the new OS. With the release of Windows 7, have spread to several programs that allow you to Tweak a bit 'of everything from simple changes also feasible from the control panel to hidden settings that might change only the registry keys, tools to automatic optimization.

Once done with the following guide then you can run a good benchmarking tool to get the speed of your system. The performance of your system will be much improved. There are much more tweak options that you can try out.

Manually Tweak Windows 7 :

If it is the matter of benchmarking then there are various software and techniques that you can help. A better place for this is to configure your systems booting speed. There are various options provided for the same. The same principle applies for the Windows XP and Windows Vista. I had installed also some benchmarking tools for that and I will mention the performance for the same below. Here are some steps for getting better performance of Windows 7 from the time of Installation to Finalization.

First Step : When you are installing Windows 7 then create 2 partitions. The first one must be enough big to handle all the files of Windows and other applications, drivers including benchmarking software. So give enough space for that. The other one will be empty for your data and other files. You can try an usb drive as a secondary partition if you do not have much space.
Second Step : Run Windows setup, Install drivers and then install all the available updates.

Third Step : Now the time comes to tweak Windows 7 for better performance.
Fourth Step : Now go to Control Panel > and then click on Services. There are useless additional services that you must stop and never use so that your Windows must work better. I had listed the services that you need to stop just right click on the same and then disable :

• Desktop Window Manager Session Manager
• Multimedia Class Scheduler
• Print Spooler
• Security Center
• Superfetch
• Themes
• Windows Audio
• Windows Audio Endpoint Builder
• Windows Defender
• Windows Firewall
• Windows Update (Manual)

Fifth Step : Now the other way is stop the unnecessary services which are not needed in Windows 7. For that go in Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows Features. There are some program here which you not needed. Stop them like Microsoft .Net Framework. Then you can use Internet Explorer 8 as your default browser. The benchmarking tool that you use here is 3DMark. That tool will used to define to the benchmarking support for Windows.

Sixth Step : Run System Restore and Backup utility to keep your data backup. The restore will help you to get back your old settings in case you have any issue.

[Paul]

Some Manual Tweaks to Make Windows Faster :

How to Improve Faster Search in Windows 7 :

The search index in Windows Vista and Windows will find 7 files, emails, contacts, system control messages or appointments within a few seconds. However, data are only collected the user directory (e.g. C: \ Users ) are stored in. The search in other folders, such as on an external hard drive, is running noticeably slower. Here you must have Windows do not brisk index, but still "by hand" scour the hard drive itself. Learn how Windows Search service in no time at ALL their locations and thus complement the always quick search.

Open the Control Panel and tap into the search box the term indexing one. Then click on Indexing Options. Click below on Change and select all the locations that are to be found quickly in future.

If you have less than 1 GB of memory should be careful. The higher the index, the higher the memory load. In what amounts to the tests carried out on Windows 7, even with a larger index to below 100 MB, for Vista but this can be higher! You should therefore always on the consumption of SearchIndexer.exe, which is responsible for the search service: click with the right mouse button on the taskbar, select Start Task Manager and then processes. Look here on the consumption of the file.

Run Important Updates :

The August 14 Update is a patch from Microsoft: Today will fill the Redmond software company whopping 34 vulnerabilities in XP, Vista, Windows 7 and the server editions of Windows. Therefore, check the same, whether all updates installed? The only way you're protected. Click the Windows start button > All Programs > > Windows Update.

Virus Protection :

MSE 2.0 examines data packets that are sent over a wireless or LAN connection? Attacks on a network should be prevented. However, this protection works only on Windows Vista and Windows 7. Also check the new version of Security Essentials potentially malicious scripts that are run in Internet Explorer. Whether it is the protective function later for Firefox, Chrome, does not tell Microsoft.

Microsoft promises a better performance when the active protection and virus scan? A problem that plagues many antivirus packages. They often slow down PCs and laptops significantly. In practice, the promised performance boost could not be compared to MSE 1.0 are confirmed on average consumed 75 MB of RAM 2.0 MSE. As much as his predecessor. The hard disk of the processor at around 40-60% load. Here, too, has done nothing in comparison to its predecessor. Nevertheless: In my experience, MSE has established itself as by far the more upbeat and least disruptive virus scanner. There can only keep up the fewest competitors.

Hidden Features :

You have installed Windows 7 and already tested a few features can see, but still no real difference to Windows Vista? No problem, our colleagues at Tech Channel have collected a number of tips that you should test on your Windows 7 necessarily.

Presentation helper

You connected your laptop and want to give a presentation on a projector? No problem, the shortcut Windows + P gives you quick access to the dual-view options. For notebook owners also interesting Windows + X to open the Mobility Center (Mobility Center), which contains information and features specifically designed for notebook computers.

Windows or Windows + Home + Pos1 helpers are useful if you want to show something, but they are distracted by too many windows in the background. The keyboard shortcut to minimize all windows except the active one. A combination of pressing, all the windows restored. Just want to quickly look to the desktop, you can do this with Windows + spacebar.

The monitor-trick

Another tip for users of multiple monitors: The combination of Windows + Shift + arrow to the right or Windows + Shift + left arrow return the currently selected window to another monitor. Also very practical: you want to enlarge a portion of the desktop, a single keystroke on Windows Plus + button. This combination starts the zoom function. Windows + reduced the image.

You use the gadgets of Windows Vista? In Windows 7, there are no more sidebar, here are the small tools stored directly on the desktop. This match is also a new keyboard shortcut: Windows + G indicates the programs.

New Taskbar

The most striking new feature of Windows 7 is the new taskbar. Instead of the previous display the individual window along with the name, now big logos of the respective programs are displayed. Not everyone likes this, so we show you how to change the taskbar back to Vista level. By right-clicking the taskbar, then select the properties. Select then use the option Small Icons. In addition to change in the drop-down menu "buttons on the taskbar" option on the clubs, where the task bar full.

Quick Launch :

Do you miss the old Quick Launch? No problem, they can be upgraded relatively easily. Right-click on the taskbar and select under Toolbars, select New Toolbar. In the next menu, enter the path% \ AppData \ Roaming \ Microsoft \ Internet Explorer \ Quick Launch a user profile. Then click Select Folder. If you type the path manually, you will experience equal to one of the new Windows 7 features: As with Linux, tried Windows 7 will automatically as you type the path to display useful as a selection.

Microsoft also provides two new alternatives to Alt + Tab or Windows + Tab. First, it is the keyboard shortcut Windows + T. Thus the selection jumps to the taskbar, use the arrow keys, you can then click through the open programs. Do you open multiple instances of an application can about multiple Outlook messages, or different tabs in Internet Explorer, switch through the window if you click while holding down the CTRL key with the mouse on the icon.

XML Document :

Windows 7 provides even more features: In Windows Explorer, you may know, for example, pressing Alt + P be a preview of the currently selected file - but you must have Windows 7, the file format and can already open. The preview works particularly well with text documents. In addition, it should fit a new feature in Wordpad. It is known indeed that Wordpad has received the Ribbon feature of Office 2007. It is set, that the small word processor supports two new formats. Besides the Office Open XML format that is also open to Wordpad documents in the OpenDocument standard. The latter is preferred by IBM and the Open Source Group frequently.

Adjust visual effects according to the power of your computer :

If on XP or effects are quite small, about 7 on Windows Vista and there are many, all very nice to look at but at times heavy and hungry for memory. A nice Windows is never the fastest Windows. To adjust the visual effects and have better performance from your system can be accessed from the Control Panel under System Performance and click on the left of the window, adjusting visual effects. The ideal is to select just the "best performance" and, where appropriate, enable the various effects of choosing from the list individually.

Adjust the energy :

Energy management by default in Windows 7, is balanced so that there is some 'energy saving sacrificing performance somewhat. If you were interested in using the battery on the laptop and if you prefer to accelerate Windows, rather than consume less energy, you can change the setting from Control Panel on the Power Options.

Increase the speed of SATA / AHCI :

To start check if your disk is AHCI, make sure it is stated in the ENABLE Bios of your computer. Edit the registry so like this:

• Press the Windows key + R, type regedit and then Enter
• Locate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServicesMsahci
• Locate the Start parameter then change its value from 3-0
• Restart the computer

[Paul]

Tweaking Software

There are tons for software that you can use for tweaking Windows 7 if you find the manual way a little tougher.

Tweak – 7 - Is an application that lets you customize Microsoft Windows 7 through an interface. The program also offers a high-user support: each entry is well annotated and the most dangerous settings are accompanied by explicit warnings.

The initial menu offers a panoramic description of the main features and immediately clear the main objectives of the software. At the bottom are available information on the forms available to any license use and availability of software updates on the manufacturer's website . In the left column is instead a menu that allows access to the various possible optimizations.
By this tool you can do the following :

• Start-Up Manager: Allows you to manage programs that start automatically with Windows using the built in Seven for the analysis of start times of each process.
• Identification Process: using data from a database enriched by users, Tweak 7 is capable of giving a detailed description of each process run on the machine. This allows him to suggest you disable the least useful and most resource-hungry.
• Disabling services on the fly: are you tired to disable Windows services "on hand. Well, with this simple program you can do so by placing check marks on the functions of the operating system you are interested in maintaining or less.
• Update Driver Drivers play a key role in patterns of a system. That's why Tweak 7 monitors system status and alerts the user when there are driver updates.
• How green is your PC?: The program calculates the cost of using the PC dispensing advice to reduce costs and be greener.
• Configuring UAC: control panel there is nasty? Use Tweak 7 to adjust the settings for User Account Control.

EnhanceMySe7 – It is free software that lets you change many settings, including identify unknown software, disable startup programs to improve performance, clean and repair problems in the registry, defragment the hard drive, optimize your connection and customize the system.

Tweak Now Powerpack – It is a powerful tool used to change every aspect of the operating system and web browser. By default, Windows displays the form that includes the Secret tweaking applications, Control Panel, Desktop and other things. Inside it contains many useful modules, such as Disk Cleaner, Usage Analyzer, Registry Cleaner, Disk Cleanup, Startup Manager, System Information, Memory Optimizer Ram, Track Cleaner Utility to uninstall a program. The good of this software is the ability to turn back after any changes made so there is no risk of doing damage to your computer.

Tweak Star - is a good tool for tweaking Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. Analyze the current state of the system for optimization and suggests what should be done on the PC to make it go faster. The computer is divided into eight categories: Windows / System File System, Network / Internet, Appearance, Security, Privacy, Application Tuning, and CPU / Memory / Hardware.

Windows Ultimate and MZ Ultimate Tweaker Tweak - Two programs are already described in great detail about the settings on Windows Vista and changing the hidden options. Both software work for Windows 7 and have the necessary experience to work well, without problems and without giving opportunity to do damage to your PC.

Even if Windows 7 is much faster than Windows Vista, it can still be adjusted for better performance. So while as Tweak UI for Windows XP There are settings that you just wish you can easily change. Windows Ultimate Tweaker is a freeware utility Tweak UI for Windows 7 and Vista. It works with both 32 bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7 and can be used as a portable application because it requires no installation. The program includes more than 150 parameters and settings that you can mess around with. It has a graphical interface is very smooth and does not eat a lot of RAM.

• When you first run the program, it gives you a good overview of your system, including the edition of Windows, processor, memory, etc.
• The program has 7 different categories of settings, including customization, Accounts of users and the UAC, system performance, security settings, Network Tweaks, Internet Explorer settings and other additional adjustments.
• On this tab you can adjust the settings for Windows Explorer, Start menu and Taskbar. Would disable those annoying little check boxes in Explorer, or want to use small icons in Start menu in Windows 7
• One of this screen, you can activate the built-in Administrator account in Windows 7, which is disabled by default. You can also customize the home screen and put a custom background for the home screen. Finally, you can run fine settings of UAC for Windows 7 and Vista.

XdN Tweaker - is another tweaking utility for Windows 7 but also runs on Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008. In this tool there are hundreds of options and settings to change the system as well as some useful tips that also allow you to optimize Internet Explorer.

Giga Tweaker - is a tool to optimize all-inclusive, edit and fix Windows 7. There are a plethora of options, and video clips into categories such as: Safety, Permits, Records, Files, Visual Effects, Windows Explorer, memory management, system information and so on. It also allows you to create system restore points. It also offers a great feature that is not normally present in other tweaking tools, namely a history of all changes that were made through Giga Tweaker that possibly can be restored to original values.

The best recommended Tool from above :

EnhanceMySe7en is one of the first most tools I will recommend you to use. In my experience everything that makes these tools can also do it manually, without downloading anything. The fact remains that many things would be complicated and these programs Tweak greatly eases and allow, in some cases, to resolve minor errors or lead to increases in computer performance. In general, each setting item is checked on the Internet and specialized forums, if one of them does create strange blocks, then it will be discarded immediately.

[Paul]

Benchmarking Windows 7

Installation Time :

Looking at the installation time of the different operating systems, so is Windows 7 from the top. Although Windows XP is not far behind with 23 minutes, but still have many drivers are installed. Therefore, the real difference is even greater. In all other benchmarks was then worked with them fresh installations.

The Windows Vista installation was not without problems. It was necessary the computer must be manually restarted two times and when it should then come to the first input, responded neither keyboard nor mouse. After all unnecessary USB devices (e.g. card reader and USB hub was disconnected) and mouse or keyboard were newly infected, the command worked, but again.

Boot Time :

Boot time is measured a little complicated, because you do not know exactly when the operation is complete. We have therefore decided to measure up to the date on which they could work on the desktop (e.g. create folders, move files, rename files). There is no significant difference between a fresh Windows 7 and a fresh Windows XP installation was detected. Windows Vista, however, was almost 10 seconds faster, which is probably related to the placement of the partition on your hard drive.

Game Performance

The first game benchmark was of Street Fighter was fourth Capcom delivers the benchmark as an independent benchmarking tool, and therefore the program is well suited to perform repeatable measurements. We tested at a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels and the highest graphic settings. Windows 7 here could work out a negligible margin of 4 fps. Since the values are far beyond the 60 FPS mark, but in practice this makes no difference.

Far Cry 2 was next in the series. Again, we chose a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels and the highest settings. On the Map small ranch Our test system was already neatly into a sweat. The differences between the various operating systems are in average frame rates really marginal, and thus negligible, and was with the minimal body frame rates Windows XP 0.9 FPS faster. The latter also makes no real difference as 19.5 FPS is just as bad or playable as 20.4 FPS. For Windows 7, we have also calculated the difference between DirectX 9 and DirectX 10.

The move to DirectX 10 brings here a clear performance gain and it is Windows 7 and DirectX 10 then about 18% faster than Windows XP with DirectX 9 Even when the game feeling very important minimum frame rate DirectX 10 brings improved performance.

Data Storage Speed

The hard drives and USB speed we have used two programs: Pro HDTune served as a test program for the theoretical performance and testing FileCopy helped us in identifying the performance in practice. In HDTune Windows XP Pro can sell very close to the top, with Vista about 3 MB / s is slower. Even when copying from one partition to another could clearly sell Windows 7 to the top, but this time Windows Vista is by far the slowest.

The results of HDTune Pro are out of proportion to the measurements by FCTest and thus shows once again that synthetic benchmarks do not allow conclusions to be drawn compulsively to the actual expected rate. When you create the MP3 pattern on the USB drive Windows 7 was negligible faster, while Windows Vista when copying from USB stick to the hard drive wins. Windows XP is at least in the copy process very repulsed.

Browser

By far the fastest here is Opera. Only the browser cracks 366.3 ms with the 400-millisecond threshold. The squares are Chrome and Apple's Safari with 444.8 with 485.1. Mozilla Firefox takes 889.6 seconds with quite exactly twice as long as Chrome. Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 is far behind with underground 4501.5 ms on the last rank. During the Windows installation of Safari boasts the Apple Software, the fastest and most innovative Web browser to be at all.

Acid3 Test :

Chrome, Opera and Safari are on par. In Firefox, it goes pretty far up. However, the counter remains at 94 points are available. Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 cut here too far behind with shocking 20 points. Already, twelve stops of IE for the first time and shows even a Fail to. Wait a little bit of climbing, the number at least another eight points. The "Fail" will disappear from sticking, however. In compatibility mode comes out Internet Explorer 8 is not more than 13 points. On the next page, we deal with the memory hunger of the browser and give our conclusion for the best.

Benchmarking Results :

The performance difference between Windows 7 and Windows Vista will remain low, but now there is no more reason to buy Vista. Windows 7 is available in many areas and provides better performance than Windows XP. The 64-bit version is also the memory usage is no longer a border, and one is on this front today is limited only by the motherboard.

Nevertheless showed Windows 7 Good performance, continue to be a few small imperfections in the otherwise clean facade. These could, for example, that you get the choice of a classical theme, obviously, more OpenGL performance. How many such small problems there are, you can at the moment difficult to say by and large, however, we are pleased with the performance of Vista's successor.