Speedup Windows XP workstation
Posted: March 6th, 2004, 12:50 am
Windows XP gives you the ability to twiddle with more performance issue that previous
Microsoft OSs.
<li> Open Performance panel in Control Panel
<li> XP Control Panel view
<li> Click Start
<li> Open Control Panel
<li> Select the Performance And Maintenance category
<li> Click System icon to open the System Properties dialog box
<li> Select the Advanced tab
<li> Click the Settings button in the Performance panel
<li> XP classical Control Panel view
<li> Click Start
<li> Open Control Panel
<li> Click System icon to open the System Properties dialog box
<li> Select the Advanced tab
<li> Click the Settings button in the Performance panel
There are two tabs, <font color=blue>Visual Effects</font> and <font color=green>Advanced</font>.
The Advanced tab covers Processor scheduling, Memory Usage, and Virtual memory. Windows NT and later supports
these options. Its old hat if you have supported servers.
<li>
Under Processor scheduling, select Programs if your XP is a workstation
and select Background services if you are using XP as a server.
<li>
Under Memory usage, select Programs unless you have 512 MB of RAM or more. If you have
lots of memory, and more and more workstations do, select System cache and XP will keep
the OS kernel in memory. A BIG plus for servers. Makes workstations zippier also.
<li>
Under Virtual memory, don't twiddle unless you have multiple hard drives. If you do, the
best performance is had by moving the paging file from C: to another hard drive (not another
drive letter, another physical drive). Eliminate the paging file on C: and set the
minimum and maximum to the same size on another drive. This gets the paging file allocated
completely at boot, avoiding delays as paging grows to maximum. How big should the page size
be? Depends on memory but it usually works to go with XP defaults and, if you have time and
ability to test, increase until performance doesn't change. Unless you have automated tools,
this is not something you can do and know whether you have good settings.
<P>
The <font color=brown>Visual Effects</font> tab covers XP's new visual effects and their impact on performance.
For XP working as a server, select <font color=green>Adjust for best performance</font>.
For normal workstations,
select <font color=green>Adjust for best appearance</font>. If you have lots of time on your hand, or want to find
out what features effect appearance and performance, select
<font color=green>Custom</font> and turn on/off features
and work with the options. Lots of them are glitz but some have a real impact on how
crisp or viewable the page is, in particular, smooth edges of screen fonts.
If you want to try specific settings, the following works:
<li> <font color=blue>Animated windows when”¦..</font> : <font color=green>Enabled</font>
<li> <font color=blue>Fade or slide menus into view</font> : <font color=green>Enabled</font>
<li> <font color=blue>Fade or slide ToolTips into view</font> : <font color=red>Disabled</font>
<li> <font color=blue>Fade out menu items after clicking</font> : <font color=red>Disabled</font>
<br>if enabled, can cause jumpy mouse when closing the start menu
<li> <font color=blue>Show shadows under menus</font> : <font color=red>Disabled</font>
<li> <font color=blue>Show shadows under mouse pointer</font> : <font color=green>Enabled </font>
<li> <font color=blue>Show translucent selection rectangle</font> : <font color=red>Disable</font>
<br> if enabled, causes problems with older graphics cards - enable if you have recent card
<li> <font color=blue>Show window contents while dragging</font> : <font color=green>Enabled</font>
<li> <font color=blue>Slide open combo boxes</font> : <font color=red>Disabled</font>
<li> <font color=blue>Slide taskbar buttons</font> : <font color=red>Disabled</font>
<li> <font color=blue>Smooth edges of screen fonts</font> : <font color=green>Enabled </font>
<li> <font color=blue>Smooth:scroll list boxes</font> : <font color=red>Disabled </font>
<li> <font color=blue>Use a background image for each folder type</font> : <font color=green>Enabled</font>
<li> <font color=blue>Use common tasks in folders</font> : <font color=green>Enabled</font>
<li> <font color=blue>Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop</font> : <font color=green>Enabled</font>
Microsoft OSs.
<li> Open Performance panel in Control Panel
<li> XP Control Panel view
<li> Click Start
<li> Open Control Panel
<li> Select the Performance And Maintenance category
<li> Click System icon to open the System Properties dialog box
<li> Select the Advanced tab
<li> Click the Settings button in the Performance panel
<li> XP classical Control Panel view
<li> Click Start
<li> Open Control Panel
<li> Click System icon to open the System Properties dialog box
<li> Select the Advanced tab
<li> Click the Settings button in the Performance panel
There are two tabs, <font color=blue>Visual Effects</font> and <font color=green>Advanced</font>.
The Advanced tab covers Processor scheduling, Memory Usage, and Virtual memory. Windows NT and later supports
these options. Its old hat if you have supported servers.
<li>
Under Processor scheduling, select Programs if your XP is a workstation
and select Background services if you are using XP as a server.
<li>
Under Memory usage, select Programs unless you have 512 MB of RAM or more. If you have
lots of memory, and more and more workstations do, select System cache and XP will keep
the OS kernel in memory. A BIG plus for servers. Makes workstations zippier also.
<li>
Under Virtual memory, don't twiddle unless you have multiple hard drives. If you do, the
best performance is had by moving the paging file from C: to another hard drive (not another
drive letter, another physical drive). Eliminate the paging file on C: and set the
minimum and maximum to the same size on another drive. This gets the paging file allocated
completely at boot, avoiding delays as paging grows to maximum. How big should the page size
be? Depends on memory but it usually works to go with XP defaults and, if you have time and
ability to test, increase until performance doesn't change. Unless you have automated tools,
this is not something you can do and know whether you have good settings.
<P>
The <font color=brown>Visual Effects</font> tab covers XP's new visual effects and their impact on performance.
For XP working as a server, select <font color=green>Adjust for best performance</font>.
For normal workstations,
select <font color=green>Adjust for best appearance</font>. If you have lots of time on your hand, or want to find
out what features effect appearance and performance, select
<font color=green>Custom</font> and turn on/off features
and work with the options. Lots of them are glitz but some have a real impact on how
crisp or viewable the page is, in particular, smooth edges of screen fonts.
If you want to try specific settings, the following works:
<li> <font color=blue>Animated windows when”¦..</font> : <font color=green>Enabled</font>
<li> <font color=blue>Fade or slide menus into view</font> : <font color=green>Enabled</font>
<li> <font color=blue>Fade or slide ToolTips into view</font> : <font color=red>Disabled</font>
<li> <font color=blue>Fade out menu items after clicking</font> : <font color=red>Disabled</font>
<br>if enabled, can cause jumpy mouse when closing the start menu
<li> <font color=blue>Show shadows under menus</font> : <font color=red>Disabled</font>
<li> <font color=blue>Show shadows under mouse pointer</font> : <font color=green>Enabled </font>
<li> <font color=blue>Show translucent selection rectangle</font> : <font color=red>Disable</font>
<br> if enabled, causes problems with older graphics cards - enable if you have recent card
<li> <font color=blue>Show window contents while dragging</font> : <font color=green>Enabled</font>
<li> <font color=blue>Slide open combo boxes</font> : <font color=red>Disabled</font>
<li> <font color=blue>Slide taskbar buttons</font> : <font color=red>Disabled</font>
<li> <font color=blue>Smooth edges of screen fonts</font> : <font color=green>Enabled </font>
<li> <font color=blue>Smooth:scroll list boxes</font> : <font color=red>Disabled </font>
<li> <font color=blue>Use a background image for each folder type</font> : <font color=green>Enabled</font>
<li> <font color=blue>Use common tasks in folders</font> : <font color=green>Enabled</font>
<li> <font color=blue>Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop</font> : <font color=green>Enabled</font>