Windows Xp Gaming Tweaks

[Tweaker]

go to control pannel user accounts...now create one called gaming...CONGRATSS!!! you've made a "gaming" profile...

now that your in that profile, take out the background and put a boring solid blue one that they have in there...right click on my computer, choose advanced>visual effects and then click on adjust for best performance.

take away all of the apps that shouldn't be running...
and here's some other slightly more advanced tips..


To increase system performance

• Right click my computer. Click properties.
• Click advanced.
• Click settings (under performance).
• Click Adjust for best performance.
• Scroll to the bottom and check the last one “use visual styles on windows and buttons”.

• How to disable XP's -crud- built in CD Burner

• Click the start button.
• Select Run.
• Type services.msc and click ok.
• Go to IMAPI CD-Burning Com Services open it and click on start up type, change to "Disabled".

These Settings will fine tune your systems memory

You need at least 256MB of ram to do this:

Go to start\run\regedit -and then to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management

1.DisablePagingExecutive -double click it and in the decimal put a 1 - this allows XP to keep data in memory now instead of paging sections of ram to harddrive yeilds faster performance.

2.LargeSystemCache- double click it and change the decimal to 1 -this allows XP Kernal to Run in memory and improves system performance a lot.

3.Create a new dword and name it IOPageLockLimit - double click it and set the value in hex - 4000 if you have 128MB of ram or set it to 10000 if you have 256MB set it to 40000 if you have more than 512MB of ram -this tweak will speed up your disckcache.

Reboot


Unable to delete from Avi files from HD

XP holds files in it's memory even after you have closed the application using them making it impossible to delete them from your harddrive. To fix this:

Start -> Run -> Regedit
Find the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.avi\shel lex\PropertyHandler\ directory and delete the "DEFAULT" key.

Tweak The Swap File

For Users with 256 MB RAM or more this tweak will boost their Windows- and Game-Performance.
What it does: It tells Windows not to use any Swap File until there is really no more free RAM left.

Open the System Configuration Utility by typing msconfig.exe in the RUN command. There in your System.ini you have to add "ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1" under the 386enh section.

Restart your Windows and enjoy better Game performance

Disable Services

XP Pro runs a lot of services by default that are pointless if your not on a corporate network, the following services are ones that I safely disable thereby freeing up memory but check what each one does first to make sure your not using it for something:

Go to Run and type services.msc, right click on each service, properties and choose disable.

• Alerter
• Application Layer Gateway Service,
• Application Management
• Automatic Updates
• Background Intelligent Transfer
• Clipbook
• Distributed Link Tracking Client
• Distributed Transaction Coordinater
• Error Reporting Service
• Fast User Switching Compatibility
• IMAPI CD-Burning
• Indexing Service
• IPSEC Services
• Messenger
• Net Logon
• Net Meeting
• Remote Desktop Sharing
• Network DDE
• Network DDE DSDM
• Portable Media Serial Number
• Remote Desktop Help Session Manager
• Remote Registry
• Secondary Logon
• Smartcard
• SSDP Discovery Service
• Telnet Themes
• Uninterruptible Power Supply
• Universal Plug and Play Device Host
• Upload Manager
• Webclient
• Wireless Zero Configuration
• WMI Performance Adaptor

Speed Up The File System

NTFS is a great file system, but its feature-set comes at a slight cost in performance. You can negate this a little with the following tips:

* By default NTFS will automatically update timestamps whenever a directory is traversed. This isn't a necessary feature, and it slows down large volumes. Disable it by going to Run and type regedit:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\FileSystem and set 'DisableNTFSLastAccessUpdate' to 1.

* NTFS uses disparate master file control tables to store filesystem information about your drives. Over time these core MFT files grow and become fragmented, slowing down all accesses to the drive. By setting aside a little space, MFT's can grow without becoming fragmented.

In the same key where you disabled the last access feature creat a new DWORD value called 'NtfsMftZoneReservation' and set it to 2.


Disable DLL Caching

Windows Explorer caches DLLs (Dynamic-Link Libraries) in memory for a period of time after the application using them has been closed. This can be an inefficient use of memory.

1. Find the key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Explorer].

2. Create a new DWORD sub-key named 'AlwaysUnloadDLL' and set the default value to equal '1' to disable Windows caching the DLL in memory.

3. Restart Windows for the change to take effect.


Tweak The Prefetch

1. Run "Regedit"
2. Goto [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters\EnablePrefetcher]

3. Set the value to either 0-Disable, 1-App launch prefetch, 2-Boot Prefetch, 3-Both ("3" is recommended).

4. Reboot.

It will decrease the boot time but double and increase the performance of your XP.


SpeedUp Your Connection By 20% (Cable Users Only)

1.Log on as "Administrator".
2. Run - gpedit.msc
3. Expand the "Local Computer Policy" branch.
4. Then expand the "Administrative Templates" branch.
5. Expand the "Network" branch.
6. Highlight the "QoS Packet Scheduler" in left pane.
7. In the right window pane double-click the "Limit Reservable Bandwidth" setting.
8. On the settings tab check the "Enabled" item.
9. Change "Bandwidth limit %" to read 0.
10. Then go to your Network connections Start=>Control Panel>Network & Internet connections>Network Connections and right-click on your connection. Then under the General or the Networking tab, (where it lists your protocols) make sure QoS packet scheduler is enabled.

It may take effect immediately on some systems. To be sure, just re-boot.

You can also try this cool program called Game Xp wch helped me to improve my 3d card performance when i had an onboard 32mb geforce 2 mx
Download Game Xp from:
Download

maybe I should put something in here about doing it at your own risk

dont worry...i have done the same settings & everything is working fine for me

[Expertz]

Or, you could give TuneXP a try

But nice collection of Tips none-the-less.

[Tweaker]

i use all these tweaks n they help me a lot....wen i play cs i hardly get ny chokes or losses.....ders no sudden freezes even tho my machine is not dat gr8.....my latency is always below 10 ms.....also 100fps is like breakfast 4 me

[Amil]

just sumthing i found...looks promising from user feedback

Game XP

[BlackNGold]

1.Disable Unnecessary Services

Because Windows XP has to be all things to all people it has many services running that take up system resources that you will never need. Below is a list of services that can be disabled on most machines:
Alerter
Clipbook
Computer Browser
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Fast User Switching
Help and Support
Human Interface Access Devices
Indexing Service
IPSEC Services
Messenger
Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing
Portable Media Serial Number
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager
Remote Procedure Call Locator
Remote Registry
Remote Registry Service
Secondary Logon
Routing & Remote Access
Server
SSDP Discovery Service
Telnet
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Upload Manager
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Windows Time
Wireless Zero Configuration
Workstation
To disable these services:

Go to Start and then Run and type "services.msc"
Doubleclick on the service you want to change
Change the startup type to 'Disable"

2. Remove useless .... files and disable useless startup programs

Download ccleaner and remove all junk files, also disable useless startup programs.

3. Detect and Repair Disk Errors

To run the Error Checking utility:
Important: Be sure to close all files before running the Error-Checking utility.
1.Click Start, and then click My Computer.
2.In the My Computer window, right-click the hard disk you want to search for bad sectors, and then click Properties.
3.In the Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab.
4.Click the Check Now button.
5. In the Check Disk dialog box, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box, and then click Start.
6.If bad sectors are found, choose to fix them.

4. Defragment Harddisk regularly
Use good software like Diskeeper, O&O Defrag, Perfect Disk to defrag ur HDD.

5. Turn Off System Restore

System Restore can be a useful if your computer is having problems, however storing all the restore points can literally take up Gigabytes of space on your hard drive. To turn off System Restore:

Open Control Panel
Click on Performance and Maintenance
Click on System
Click on the System Restore tab
Tick 'Turn off System Restore on All Drives'
Click 'Ok'

6. Speedup Folder Access - Disable Last Access Update

If you have a lot of folders and subdirectories on your computer, when you access a directory XP wastes a lot of time updating the time stamp showing the last access time for that directory and for ALL sub directories. To stop XP doing this you need to edit the registry. If you are uncomfortable doing this then please do not attempt.

Go to Start and then Run and type "regedit"
Click through the file system until you get to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Contr ol\FileSystem"
Right-click in a blank area of the window on the right and select 'DWORD Value'
Create a new DWORD Value called 'NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate'
Then Right click on the new value and select 'Modify'
Change the Value Data to '1'
Click 'OK'


7.Disable System Sounds

Surprisingly, the beeps that your computer makes for various system sounds can slow it down, particularly at startup and shut-down. To fix this turn off the system sounds:

Open Control Panel
Click Sounds and Audio Devices
Check Place volume icon in taskbar
Click Sounds Tab
Choose "No Sounds" for the Sound Scheme
Click "No"
Click "Apply"
Click "OK"

8. Make Your Menus Load Faster

This is one of my favourite tweaks as it makes a huge difference to how fast your machine will 'feel'. What this tweak does is remove the slight delay between clicking on a menu and XP displaying the menu.

Go to Start then Run
Type 'Regedit' then click 'Ok'
Find "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\"
Select "MenuShowDelay"
Right click and select "Modify'
Reduce the number to around "100"
This is the delay time before a menu is opened. You can set it to "0" but it can make windows really hard to use as menus will open if you just look at them - well move your mouse over them anyway. I tend to go for anywhere between 50-150 depending on my mood

9. Improve XP Shutdown Speed

This tweak reduces the time XP waits before automatically closing any running programs when you give it the command to shutdown.

Go to Start then select Run
Type 'Regedit' and click ok
Find 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\'
Select 'WaitToKillAppTimeout'
Right click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now select 'HungAppTimeout'
Right click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now find 'HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop'
Select 'WaitToKillAppTimeout'
Right click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
Now find 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Contr ol\'
Select 'WaitToKillServiceTimeout'
Right click and select 'Modify'
Change the value to '1000'
Click 'OK'
That's it. I hope you find these tips useful - you should now see a noticeable speed improvement if you make all of these changes correctly. Hopefully you'll be pleasantly surprised!