WHAT IS THE BEST TWEAK YOU HAVE FOUND FOR WIN2K?

[pr-man 1]

Just curious

 

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Celeron II 566@875 on a Abit BH6 Rev 1.01, 128 Pc100, Matrox G450 32 DH,

SBlive Value, Supra Express 56i ISA, Win98FE

[clutch 1]

More memory...

 

 

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Regards,

 

clutch

[CUViper 0]

THE CAPS-LOCK KEY!!!

 

[nagual 0]

i really like

ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1

[Widow 0]

Here are some of the best tweaks that I have found for win2k...hope this helps...

Sorry but this is gonna be kinda long......

 

These are the only TCPIP Tweaks you need for Win2k, it is very good at

regulating it own network performance in most areas

 

Note these TCPIP reg tweaks are only for high speed connections do not use with 56k:

 

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters]

"TcpRecvSegmentSize"=dword:000005b0

"KeepAliveTime"=dword:0015f900

"BcastQueryTimeout"=dword:000002ee

"BcastNameQueryCount"=dword:00000001

"CacheTimeout"=dword:0000ea60

"Size/Small/Medium/Large"=dword:00000003

"LargeBufferSize"=dword:00001000

"SackOpts"=dword:00000001

"TcpWindowSize"=dword:0003ebc0

"Tcp1323Opts"=dword:00000003

"DefaultTTL"=dword:00000040

"EnablePMTUBHDetect"=dword:00000000

"EnablePMTUDiscovery"=dword:00000001

"GlobalMaxTcpWindowSize"=dword:0003ebc0

 

Also add this one manually to the registry...

Note: Your Individual Interface numbers may differ.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{2

 

8DCE469-81E3-4E4D-BE67-2453791F1939}]

"MTU"=dword:000005dc

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{2

 

96D28F3-BDAC-4382-9F7E-8088AF7CB75D}]

"MTU"=dword:000005dc

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{7

 

B97A161-9813-4D59-A068-0457917E5BAF}]

"MTU"=dword:000005dc

 

 

SOme Other tweaks I have gathered to help speed up the system Overall.

 

Turn Diskpref Off:

 

By default, Win2k is set to collect physical drive data.

As home users we don't need this.

 

To disable the disk performance counters:

Start

Programs

Command Prompt

diskperf -n

Also use the miscrosoft file exctrlst run it and shut down all

performance counters....I have included the file for you...

 

If you ever want to return to default:

diskperf -yd

Then after you turn that off use the file exctrlst.exe (you can get it

from the win2k resouce link)

Unzip the file and place it in your WINNT directory, use the run

command to activate it and then uncheck all the

performance counters so that they do not run. Just reboot and thats

it...

 

 

Make sure to shut down all unncessary services

here are a couple of links to help you out with that... http://www.3drage.com/guides/tweakwin2k/c.shtml

 

 

During Windows 2000 Setup, the following components are installed by

default:

Games

Accessories (Calculator, Clock, and so on)

Multimedia

Accessibility options

 

These items also do not appear in the Add/Remove Programs tool in

Control Panel after Setup is finished. This article describes how to cause

these items to be displayed during Setup or in the Add/Remove Programs

tool after Setup is finished.

 

 

MORE INFORMATION

NOTE: Microsoft does not support the editing or modifying of .inf files

included on the Windows 2000 CD-ROM or distribution server. This

information is provided only as a convenience and is not supported.

 

Displaying the Items After Setup Is Finished

In the %SystemRoot%\Inf folder on the system volume, use a text editor

(such as Notepad) to open the Sysoc.inf file.

 

 

Locate the "old base components" line.

 

 

For each component you want to appear in the Add/Remove Programs tool,

remove the comma and "Hide" comment. For example, change

Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,HIDE,7

to:

Games=ocgen.dll,OcEntry,games.inf,,7

 

Also remove the "HIDE" option from the "AccessUtil=" line. If you leave

this option hidden, then none of the other components in the "old base

components" section are available in Add/Remove Programs.

 

 

Save and then close the file.

 

 

Click on Start, Run, type in regedit & hit Enter. Go to

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\OS/2 Subsystem for NT] & Delete all subkeys.

Now go to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session

Manager\Environment] & Delete the Os2LibPath entry. Finally, go to

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session

Manager\SubSystems] & Delete the Optional, Os2 & Posix entries.

 

 

In Windows 9x, you had to download a copy of PS/2 rate to change the

sampling rate of your PS/2 mouse. However, in Windows 2000, they have

made the process much simpler by adding the property to the mouse's entry

in the device manager. To get to the feature, go into the device

manager, right click on the mouse entry, and enter its properties. Click on

the Advanced Settings tab and from there you can change two settings -

Sample Rate and Input Buffer Length. I would recommend setting the

Sample rate to 100 Hz (maximum setting - still inferior to PS/2 Rate but

better than nothing) and upping the buffer length to about 400 to avoid a

buffer overrun from the higher sampling speed.

 

This tweak really should have made it into the last revision of the

Win2k Hard Drive and Memory Tweak Guide, but I overlooked it in my notes

so I will share it with you now. By default, Windows 2000 logs the I/O

traffic of your hard drive. While this is a very useful setting for

servers, for workstations it doesn't do anything except use up system

resources. To disable it, go to the run menu and type diskperf -n to disable

the logging.

 

 

Reduce network delay.

When TCP/IP network activity is light, delays may be encountered with

the default request buffer size (4356 decimal).

The range of this parameter is 512 - 65536 bytes. Testing has shown

that, in most standard Ethernet environments, 14596 (decimal) is a better

choice, if the memory is available. Edit:

 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters

 

and Add Value name SizReqBuf as a type REG_DWORD.

 

Restart the computer.

 

 

Increase network performance.

If you increase the number of buffers that the redirector reservers for

network performance, it may increase your network throughput. Each

extra execution thread that you configure will take 1k of additional

nonpaged pool memory, but only if your applications actually use them. To

configure additional buffers and threads, edit:

 

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters

 

Modify or Add Value of type REG_DWORD for:

 

MaxCmds The range is 0 - 255 and the default is 15

 

MaxThreads Set it to the same value as MaxCmds

 

You may also want to increase the value of MaxCollectionCount. This

REG_DWORD is the buffer for character-mode named pipes writes. The default

is 16 and the range is 0 - 65535.

 

 

OS2 & POSIX Removal

This next tweak was seen in the Windows 2000 Tweak Guide, but we feel

that it may be relevant to today's article. Thomas McGuire of

3DSpotlight has sent me some further information on Windows 2000 security that

states Win2K file protection system will recreate system files after a

rename, thus rendering the below tweak of renaming the POSIX and OS2

files useless. The correct way to remove POSIX and OS2 support is via a

registry tweak. Look below for the instructions:

 

Click on Start, Run, type in regedit & hit Enter.

 

Go to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ OS/2 Subsystem for NT]

& Delete all subkeys.

 

Now go to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\ Control\

Session Manager\Environment] & Delete the Os2LibPath entry.

 

Finally, go to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\ Control\

Session Manager\SubSystems] & Delete the Optional, Os2 & Posix entries.

 

Enhancing Performance With Two Disks

OS | 03/22/2000 | CFP

As an example of how you can use the Registry to enhance performance on

a PC with two (or more) hard drives, this tip shows you how to move the

event logs from the boot drive to an alternate drive.

 

Normally, the Security, Application, and System event logs

(SECEVENT.EVT, APPEVENT.EVT, and SYSEVENT.EVT) live in the same folder with the

Registry hives, namely, C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\CONFIG. However, you can change

these locations by modifying the location specified by the File value

in the following Registry keys:

 

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog\Security

 

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog\Application

 

HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog\System

 

You have to reboot for the change to take effect. By moving the event

logs to a second physical hard drive, you lighten the load on the

overworked system disk and enjoy somewhat better performance. (Move the

pagefile to the second hard drive to gain even more speed.)

 

Turn off Indexing Service

OS | 03/24/2000 | CFP

Indexing Service creates indexes of the contents and properties of

documents on local and network drives. It's quite similar to "Find Fast"

that ships with Microsoft Office. Indexing Service runs continuously.

Turning this thing off might increase performance: My Computer -> Right

click on Drive icon -> Select Properties -> Remove the checkmark from

"Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching" ->

Click Apply. Make sure to select "Apply changes to <driveletter>:\,

subfolders and files." before clicking OK in the new window.

 

Spooler File Location

OS | 05/10/2000 | CFP

Move the location the printer spooler uses off the Windows NT system

drive.

Decrease the utilization of the Windows NT system drive.

 

Note: Make sure the drive you move the spooler to has sufficient disk

space to handle all printing requests of all clients on the network.

 

1. Click Start.

2. Click Control Panel.

3. Click Printers.

4. Click File.

5. Click Server Properties.

6. Click the Advanced Tab.

7. Type the name of the new directory in the spool folder dialog box.

8. Click ok

 

TURN OFF UNUSED SERVICES

OS | 05/10/2000 | CFP

You might be able to save a few MBs and a some CPU cycles

by setting all the services you don't really need to "manual".

Take a note of the default settings before altering anything,

and never disable a service - just set it to manual.

Check the event log for errors after reboot.

 

On my system these are set to manual:

 

Alerter

Application Management

ClipBook

DHCP Client

Distributed Link Tracking Client

Distributed Transaction Coordinator

Fax Service

Indexing Service

Internet Connection Sharing

IPSEC Policy Agent

Logical Disk Manager Administrative Service

Messenger

Net Logon

NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing

Network DDE

Network DDE DSDM

NT LM Security Support Provider

Performance Logs and Alerts

QoS RSVP

Remote Access Auto Connection Manager

Remote Access Connection Manager

Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator

Remote Registry Service

Smart Card

Smart Card Helper

Task Scheduler

TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service

Telnet

Uninterruptible Power Supply

Utility Manager

Windows Installer

Windows Management Instrumentation Driver Extensions

Windows Time

 

Disable IDE Port Scanning on empty ports and save bootup time.

Go to System Properties by right-clicking on My Computer or via the

Control Panel.

Select the Hardware tab.

Look at the Device Manager section and click on the Device Manager

button.

This brings up the Device Manager screen.

Open up the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers device branch. Then you will see

a list of all the IDE controllers and channels in your system.

Now, select any one of the IDE channels, right click and choose

Properties. Or just double click on the IDE channel.

Now, select the Advanced Settings tab to get the screen below. As you

can see below, the second port (Device 1) on the Primary IDE Channel

does not any IDE device attached to it. Thus, the Device Type is labeled

as Auto Detection. In contrast, the first port has a device attached.

That's why the Device Type is grayed out.

To disable IDE device scanning for the second port, click on Auto

Detection and you will see two choices on the list. Select None.

Click OK and reboot. Windows 2000 will now refrain from scanning that

IDE port at start up and should load a little faster.

 

Network Card Tweak

Get the IRQ of your network card then proceed as follows:

Once you've found the IRQ of your Network Card, you need to reserve

some RAM for its use, by adding an entry to the System.ini file. You can

edit the file in any text editor, however the easiest way is to use

Windows' built in "System Configuration Editor".

 

Navigate to Start > Run and type sysedit . Find the [386enh] Section in

the System.ini file and add Irq[n]=4096 under it, where [n] is the IRQ

number of your NIC and 4096 is the amount of RAM you want to reserve in

Kbytes. We recommend using 4096, however you can experiment with

different values if you want. Save changes in the file, exit and reboot for

changes to take effect.

 

Note: If you choose to try different values, keep in mind that

reserving too much RAM for your NIC will decrease the amount of RAM available

for applications, while reserving too little might not give the desired

effect.

 

Example System.ini File:

[386enh]

woafont=dosapp.FON

EGA80WOA.FON=EGA80WOA.FON

EGA40WOA.FON=EGA40WOA.FON

CGA80WOA.FON=CGA80WOA.FON

CGA40WOA.FON=CGA40WOA.FON

LocalLoadHigh=1

Irq5=4096

 

Note: Change the irq number to whatever irq your nic card is on.

 

Email Tweak

Go into Outlook Express or Outlook and go Tools -> Accounts...

Click the mail tab and you should see your different mail accounts. I

have 4 of them. Select an account and then hit the properties button.

Inside Mail Properties hit the "Servers" tab and you should see your

incoming and outgoing mail names. Write them down or remember them. My mail

names are "mail".

Now we have to find the IP of your mail server. Just go to a dos prompt

and type in tracert and put your mail server behind it. For example my

mail server was "mail" so I typed in tracert mail. For examples sake,

if you mail servers name was penguin you would type in tracert penguin

and so on.

The last hop will be the ip of your mail server.

Back in Outlook or Outlook express go to your mail properties, as you

did in step 1. Just replace the incoming mail and outgoing mail names

with the IP of the mail server. Voila! Faster email. Remember to do this

for all of your mail accounts.

 

Note: This also works for your newsgroup server, for me I just substitued news for mail and found

 

the last hop then the ip address for my newsgroup server......

[tristan777 0]

the best tweak i've found is NVMax. if you haven't heard of it, it's a tweaking for Nvidia cards. it requires u to use the reference drivers, but these are usually the best anyway. i would highly suggest downloading it if you have an NVidia based card. it supports 9x and 2k.

 

also stop by the forum sometime. there's lots of helpful ppl there.

 

[This message has been edited by tristan777 (edited 19 December 2000).]

[Igor 0]

Hey, Widow, do you do anyhing else besides tweaking Windowz 2000?

[Widow 0]

Yeah, as a matter of fact I do, I tweak everything I can find....hehe....

In any case here are some more win2k tweaks to add to the list....happy tweaking.....

Special Thanks for DosFreak for the SP1 burning info.....

 

Turning off Dr Watson log Generation:

(Dr Watson takes friggin forever to generate an error log, something for which most of us never care to see anyway)

Use the windows run command and type drwtsn32 then turn off all options and clear the log...

 

Ever wanted to make explorer always open your directories the same way?, Well now you can. Example I prefer to have my directories always listed in detail view.

Open explorer and go to a directory set the view for the way that you always want it to be then use the following sequence to set explorer to always open your directories that way:

Explorer menu sequence:

 

Tools | Folder Options | View | Like Current Folder

 

 

Increase IE5 Browsing Speed:

This tweak allows more simultaneous connections from your browser.

 

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings]

"MaxConnectionsPerServer"=dword:00000020

"MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server"=dword:00000020

 

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings]

"MaxConnectionsPerServer"=dword:00000020

"MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server"=dword:00000020

 

Spooler File Location

OS | 05/10/2000 | CFP

Move the location the printer spooler uses off the Windows NT system drive.

Decrease the utilization of the Windows NT system drive.

 

Note: Make sure the drive you move the spooler to has sufficient disk space to handle all printing requests of all clients on the network.

 

1. Click Start.

2. Click Control Panel.

3. Click Printers.

4. Click File.

5. Click Server Properties.

6. Click the Advanced Tab.

7. Type the name of the new directory in the spool folder dialog box.

8. Click ok

 

 

Anyone familiar with a more modern package of Linux will probably know about TAB autocompletion. When you are working at the command prompt and are feeling too lazy to type in the whole file or directory you want, just start with a few identifying letters, press TAB and the OS automatically completes the entry for you. This is of course very useful in Linux where at some time or other you must use the command prompt.

 

This tip may be of lesser importance for Win2K but I'm sure there are those of you out there that still make use of the command prompt. To enable TAB autocompletion run Regedit and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Command Processor then alter the CompletionChar REG_DWORD from 0 to 9. Voila, open a command prompt and see just how easy it is to change to "Program Files" now.

 

To easily bring up a command window from the current Windows Explorer location, you can add a Command Prompt Here entry to your context menu. First, open your Registry editor and go to HKEY_CL***ES_ROOT\Folder\shell. Select Edit, New, Key, and enter CmdPrompt in the dialog box. Double-click (Default), and enter the name you want to display when you right-click the directory (e.g., Command Prompt Here). Then, select Edit, New, Key and enter a key under CmdPrompt named command (in lowercase). Double-click (Default), and enter the path to your cmd.exe program, followed by "%I" (e.g., C:\winnt\system32\cmd.exe /k cd "%I").

 

 

You can control whether Explorer will restore windows which were open when NT was shutdown. This automatic restoring of windows drives me nuts. It was a problem in OS/2, Windows NT, and now Windows 2000. You don't like it, fix it with the following Windows NT / Windows 2000 registry hack :

Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER

Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Name: NoSaveSettings

Type: REG_BINARY

Value: 1

This entry will prevent you from permanently repositioning desktop shortcuts and from adjusting the size and/or position of the Taskbar.

 

 

AutoRestartShell controls whether the user shell, usually NT Explorer, will be restarted if it crashes. I have seen quite a few occasions where the shell crashes and this Windows NT / Windows 2000 registry hack allows you to just keep on trucking. When the shell crashes, the taskbar and desktop icons disappear. If you don't have AutoRestartShell set, you have to use keyboard shortcuts to logoff/logon if you know them, or simply power to PC off/on. Not necessary. Avoids losing work.

Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER

Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Name: AutoRestartShell

Type: REG_DWORD

Value: 0 user must log on/off to regenerate crashed user shell

Value: 1 user shell to automatically restart

 

Quick edit mode allows one to use the mouse to select text, cut, copy and paste in command shell. This mode is not enabled by default. To control the mode, apply the following Windows NT / Windows 2000 registry hack.

Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER

Key: Console

Name: QuickEdit

Type: REG_DWORD

Value: 1 enable quick edit

Value: 0 default - disable quick edit mode

 

By default, the Desktop, Taskbar, and Explorer run in a single process using multiple threads. To set NT so Taskbar and Desktop will run in one process with each instance of Explorer in a separate process, you can apply the following Windows NT / Windows 2000 Registry hack :

Hive: HKEY_CURRENT_USER

Key: Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Name: DesktopProcess

Type: REG_DWORD

Value: 1 separate process for Explorer

Value: 0 Explorer shares process with Desktop and Taskbar

 

Each new instance of Windows NT Explorer.exe will get its own thread.

 

Windows 2000's Explorer is particularly optimized for separate thread operation.

 

 

The system automatically creates hidden "administrative shares" for its logical drives C:, D:, and so forth which it names C$, D$ and so forth. It also creates the admin$ hidden share for to the \winnt folder. These shares are designed for remote access support by domain administrators. By default, if you delete these admin shares, they will be recreated when you reboot. To disable permanently so they will not be recreated on the next reboot, use the following Windows NT registry hack:

Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

Key: SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanManServer\Parameters

Name: AutoShareServer for servers

Name: AutoShareWks for workstations

Type: REG_DWORD

Value: 0

 

 

Make a Bootable Win2k SP1 CD:

1. Make a folder on your C: drive. Name it the same as that of your CDROM. Ex: W2PSEL_EN

2. Copy the Windows 2000 CD to the folder.

3. Download Service Pack 1 from here: <A HREF="http://download.microsoft.com/download/win2000platform/SP/SP1/NT5/EN-US/sp1network.exe"'>http://download.microsoft.com/download/win2000platform/SP/SP1/NT5/EN-US/sp1network.exe" TARGET=_blank>http://download.microsoft.com/download/win2000platform/SP/SP1/NT5/EN-US/sp1network.exe[/ URL]

 

3. When download is done copy sp1network.exe to your C: drive.

 

4.

 

Do a Start/run/C:\sp1network.exe -X:C:\SP1

Click OK at the screen where it displays "C:\SP1"

When it's done extracting click OK.

Do a Start/Run/C:\SP1\i386\update\update.exe -s:C:\W2PSEL_EN

When it's done it will say "Integrated install has completed successfully". Click OK.

If it does not say this then you have done something wrong.

 

 

5. Download CDRWIN from www.goldenhawk.com.</A> Install C...neededfiles.zip

 

7. Place the appropriate files from neededfiles.zip into the root directory of W2PSEL_EN.

 

Place CDROM_NT.5 into the root of the CD.

Place:

 

CDROM_IP.5 - If you are doing 2000 PRO then place this into the root.

CDROM_IS.5 - If you are doing 2000 SERVER then place this into the root.

CDROM_IA.5 - If you are doing 2000 ADVANCED SERVER then place this into the root.

 

8. The root of the directory should now contain only these files:

 

Autorun.inf

cdrom_iX.5

cdrom_nt.5

cdrom_sp.tst

read1st.txt

readme.doc

setup.exe

 

9. Open CDRWIN and choose the File Backup and Tools option

10. In the BACKUP/TOOL Operation Choose the Build an ISO9660 Image File

11. in FILE BACKUP List click the DIRECTORY button and choose the directory where you copied the

Windows 2000 CD. Click OK. Then click the ADD button. You should see the directory in the big box now.

12. Check the INCLUDE HIDDEN FILES,LONG FILENAMES(JOLIET),INCLUDE SYSTEM FILES,RECURSE SUBDIRECTORIES. Uncheck PRESERVE FULL FILE NAMES.

boxes.

13. For IMAGE FILENAME click the three dots at the right and choose a directory and a filename. Then

click Save. You should see the pathname and the filename of your .ISO in the box.

14. Check the DISABLE VERSION NUMBERS box.

15. Click the ADVANCED OPTIONS button.

16. For Volume Label use the name of the original Windows 2000 CD. Ex: W2PSEL_EN

For Volume Set Name use the bame of the original Windows 2000 CD

Publisher Name: MICROSOFT CORPORATION

PREPARER NAME: MICROSOFT CORPORATION, ONE MICROSOFT WAY, REDMOND WA 98052, (206) 882-8080

17. Choose the BOOTABLE DISC tab.

18. Check the MAKE BOOTABLE DISC box.

19. For MEDIA EMULATION CHOOSE Custom

20. For Image File name use the boot.bin from the neededfiles.zip.

21. For DEVELOPER NAME use MICROSOFT CORPORATION

22. For Load Sector Count use the number 4.

23. Click OK and then START.

24. When it's done open up any CDR burning program that supports .ISO's to burn your IMAGE to CD.

 

 

 

[This message has been edited by Widow (edited 20 December 2000).]

[thomas@nordichardware.com 0]

AAAH!!! Thanx for the Dr. Watson thing. I just HAATE when something happens, and it takes 25 seconds to get windows workin' again.

 

------------------

//Thomas

[gdug 0]

Don't you first have to disable ACPI to get the NIC irq memory tweak to work? W2K has 3 devices including the NIC on one irq on my box.

[LoW_beta 0]

Bump!

[pimpin_228 0]

Any way you think you can