Windows Vista has a mechanism for monitoring performance of the network that focuses on the flow multimedia file transfers to prevent interruptions when listening to music or that you look at videos. The concept is interesting but tends to decline sharply performance copying files, including Gigabit networks! SP1 Vista has a new setting that allows a better balance the load network.

Under Vista, when Windows Media Player is launched (or Media Center or any other player), the speed of copying files collapses dramatically. Because when multimedia application is active, Windows Vista manages to only a data packet out of ten (yes, 1 out of 10!) Be used for purposes not multimedia.

It is a good idea for the Wi-Fi or Ethernet networks which move multimedia data, in essence priority. But on-Gigabit Ethernet networks, the bandwidth available is such a mechanism is too restrictive and unfair particularly disadvantageous when copies of files.

Unlike the RTM version of Vista, Windows Vista SP1 has a new setting in registry database that allows you to change this behavior. This setting should only be changed if you are on a Gigabit network with a PC with a gigabit network interface.

  • Open the Start menu in Windows Vista and type regedit in the search box
  • Accept the elevated privileges of User Account Control
  • Open the key:
  • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows NT \ CurrentVersion \ Multimedia \ SystemProfile \
  • Locate the entry named [B]NetworkThrottlingIndex
  • By default, the value of this key is 10 ( "0x0A" in hexadecimal)


To improve performance copies of files:
  • Double-click this key to change

  • Click Decimal

  • Enter 70 in the "Data" of the value

  • Click OK


To disable the mechanism of priority flows multimedia:
  • Double-click this key to change

  • Click Hexadecimal

  • Enter FFFFFFFF in the "Data" of the value

  • Click OK


Restart Vista and the setting is taken into account.