Windows XP Performance Optimization 101 March 18, 2005

Introduction

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Windows XP = Xtra Performance

In building the perfect system for gaming, there are several factors that one must take into account: what type of CPU to use (AMD, Intel), what motherboard to get, how much memory is needed, and the list goes on. Gamers around the world build new systems packed with the latest and greatest hardware, install all of their previous software, and start gaming. There are some that take the other route however: upgrading their older systems with new video cards and more memory to meet the growing demands of new games. Whichever category you may fall into, there are a few factors you need to take into consideration before starting your gaming adventure.

One such example is your computer’s performance pre-game. In essence, how your computer is functioning before you click on the executable to start the game. For instance, do you have a lot of programs running in the background while your computer is idling? These programs are robbing your system of memory that could be allocated to your game instead, potentially giving you a few extra frames per second. But most people don’t know that these programs exist, assuming instead that their computer is running at full speed.

Also, what options did you pick when building your system? Did you upgrade to Windows XP from Windows 98 or Millenium or did you format and install a fresh copy of XP on your hard drive? Upgrading from older operating systems is not always the best option, especially when building a gaming system. A fresh copy of Windows XP is always the best solution PERIOD.

In this guide we plan on walking you through the full format and install method of setting up Windows XP Home or Pro on your system. Then we will discuss what options to pick and which ones not to pick, and we will give you all of the essential optimization tips once Windows XP has been loaded on your system. This step-by-step process can be used as a reference point when you want to install a fresh copy of Windows XP and want to make it gaming-ready. This guide will be linked to from now on in my optimization guides as a reference point for essential system optimization.





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Good, Better, Best

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First thing we need to discuss is what you have now. Do you have a store-bought bundled computer system or did you build it from scratch? Below are the options you have with each, and what we recommend for fastest performance post-operating system install. Keep in mind these are our recommendations, you may follow them as you wish.

Retail Store Bought Bundled PC

Systems bought off the retail store shelf are the worst to try and maximize performance with. They come loaded with an operating system, a plethora of software and games, and out of the box are only running at around 65-75% of their capabilities. Recommendations are tough with these computers only because Microsoft does not give you access to a Windows XP disc with most of them, which means if you reformat you are only going to load all of that stuff again. We highly recommend building your own systems, that way you get only what you need, minus the extra stuff which ends up being clutter. Skip right to the Windows XP optimizations page and use those resources to speed up your system to make it run close to its potential.

Aftermarket and Home Built Systems (No operating system)

These are the best machines in terms of system performance. Maybe you went to Falcon Northwest, Alienware, or your local shop and had them piece one together with the latest and greatest. Maybe you built it by yourself at home. Either way, these systems are the best for getting Windows running great pre-gaming. You have all options available in terms of installation of Windows and only what you actually need in terms of software will be loaded. For these systems, follow the whole guide, as these systems most accurately follow the blueprint for what a gamer would go out and buy.

*Note: This is a Windows XP optimization guide meant to be used as a resource for maximizing performance of your new system, or to increase the performance of your older system. Use of this article is entirely up to the end user, and FiringSquad bears no responsibility for any software application that may be missing after using any of the methods used in installation, optimization, or tweaking.

Operating System Used and Machine Used

Microsoft Windows XP Professional Version 2002(Non Service Pack)

AMD Athlon XP 2600+ (Thoroughbred core)

FIC AU11 Chameleon nForce2 Motherboard

512MB DDR333 SDRAM

20GB Western Digital Hard Drive

Microsoft Keyboard and Mouse





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Booting to Windows Setup, Formatting, etc.

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First let’s talk about boot sequences. I would imagine that most of you have your BIOS set to boot from the hard drive first as this yields the fastest bootup times. Therefore, you’ll first need to adjust your boot sequence in BIOS to load off the CDROM first, then to FLOPPY, then to Hard Drive or RAID. Once this is done, start your computer with the Windows XP CD (Home or Pro) in your optical drive and when you are prompted, press any button to boot off your Windows XP CD. You will then be prompted to “Press F6 if you need to install a 3rd Party SCSI or RAID driver.” Follow the directions to install your SCSI or RAID device and have the floppy available to load the drivers for it. After loading them, make sure you specify that there are no additional devices to load and continue with the setup process.

You will then get to the Windows XP Setup screen. From the Windows XP (Pro or Home) setup screen press Enter to continue to the Windows XP Licensing Agreement screen or if you are unsure about something you can press F3 to exit the setup process. Once you are finished reading the End-User Agreement, press F8 to continue. The next page in the process will allow you, if you have a corrupted or damaged operating system, to repair the problem. Since we are installing Windows XP from scratch, choose the option “To continue to install a fresh copy of Windows XP, press ESC.”

Now you are at the point where you will be essentially creating a fixed disk to store your operating system.
If you are formatting an older drive for use with Windows XP:
-Press “D” to delete the current partition
-The press “Enter” to let setup know that you understand that you are attempting to delete a system partition with an operating system on it.
-From here you will be prompted once more that all data will be lost. Press “L” to delete all data from this partition. Continue to next step for format information.

If your Hard Drive is empty or you just deleted your partition:
-Press “C” to create a partition in the unpartitioned space.
-Then set the size of your partition. The maximum and minimum allowable sizes are shown. Set the size to the maximum allowable, then press “Enter”.
-Back to the partition screen we see that a partition has been created as Drive “C:”. Press “Enter” to get to the format screen.

The format screen gives us the opportunity to choose which file system Windows XP will utilize. Our options are Fat32 (Windows 9x native, short for File Allocation Table 32 bit) or NTFS (Windows NT, 2000, and XP native). Since Windows XP is native to NTFS (New Technology File System), choose “Format the partition using the NTFS File System”. Once you press “Enter” WinXP setup will format your Hard Drive using NTFS. Once that finishes, the setup resumes by loading all of the setup files to a temp directory on your hard drive to begin the setup process.




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Windows Setup GUI

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Look what we have here… We’re almost halfway home to actually being able to use our operating system. We are at the beginning of the Windows Setup. This is the first of many screens we will go through on our way to fully customizing your Windows Operating System Setup. The Regional and Language Settings screen allows you to tailor keyboard layouts, currencies, and date formats. Since most of us live in North America, we will click on Next to continue and leave the settings as is.

The next page is the owner’s input page. This page allows you to input your name and group or company name and to let Windows store it for future reference. You can access this information in Windows by right clicking on “My Computer” and clicking properties. Another easy way to access this information is by holding the Windows Key down and pressing Pause/Break. Type your full name and company name and press continue.

Once you proceed you end up at the Product Key input page. This page is pretty self-explanatory. Type in the product key found with your Microsoft Windows XP Operating System CD and continue to the next screen.

Here we will be naming our computer system i.e. “MONSTERPC”, “BIGRIG2005”, or “IBM 5150PC”. We can also setup an administrator’s password to keep unwanted people out of our personal files. This is good if you have kids or pesky friends. Once you are finished, proceed to the Date and Time Zone Setting screen.

Since your date and time are set by the stored in your computer’s internal clock (CMOS battery) this page will only be used for setting your time Zone. So hopefully your BIOS displays correct time settings or this page will also show incorrect time. Set your time zone and continue.

Network Setup, Copying Files, Completing Install

Windows setup is at work now. You see the green progress meter appear and start to move. You are on the last leg of the install! Right now the setup process is loading your Network Configuration Files. Depending on your network setup, you may be asked to use typical TCP/IP settings or to specify customized settings. We are using typical settings so press next and continue.

The rest of the Windows install process is pretty much automated. Once it finishes with the network setup, you will see the progress bar change to “Copying Files”. This is where Windows Setup creates your Documents and Settings, Program Files, and Windows folders. Once this part is done, you will see the “Completing Installation” phase briefly followed by installing “Start Menu Items.” From here the final step is to create registry entries and then to save all the settings. Once your computer is finished with the install it removes all temporary files used and reboots.

As it is rebooting make sure to not press any keys as you don’t want to boot back into the setup again, just allow it to boot into Windows. The screen that will appear will have a popup that asks to change your resolution. Go ahead and click yes. Then it asks you if the display looks correct. Once more say yes. CONGRATULATIONS ladies and gents, you have just installed Windows XP on your system!




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Windows XP and essential steps.

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Now that we’ve installed Windows XP on our hard drives it is time to optimize it. Microsoft by default will set options that they think is best for you as an everyday user. But for those of us who want complete control and performance from our operating system, there are a few steps we need to take to make sure our system is running at its peak. In the following pages we will go through each of the essential steps needed to make our Windows gaming ready.

Absolute Necessities

Since the version of Windows installed on our test machine was Version 2002, the first task to tackle is to download all available updates from Microsoft. First install your network card drivers to allow access to the internet and then download up to and everything available after Service Pack 2. That should always be the first step. Service Pack 2 from Microsoft has many features that not only help Windows XP run more efficiently, but it also helps keep your computer safe. If you are worried about Security Center conflicting with your favorite choice of antivirus software or firewall software, read on and I will show you how to disable it to prevent problems.

Once you computer is fully updated the next step to take is to load all of your motherboard drivers, install the latest version of DirectX, followed by your, sound card/onboard sound drivers, video card drivers, etc. Once you have installed drivers for all your hardware, start loading all of your necessary software for functionality. This software includes things like DVD burning software, Java, Shockwave, Flash, and various others.

*Important Note: When installing any piece of software, make sure you read all the pages during the install. Whenever the option “Allow this program to start when Windows starts up” or “Allow this program to run in the Background/System Tray” make sure you tell it not to. These programs usually don’t need to run in the background and end up eating up your resources (RAM) when your computer is idling. Later in the article I will teach you to eliminate these programs from running in the background.





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System Properties: Signatures, Performance, Restore

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Now that we have Windows updated through Service Pack 2, it’s time to start tweaking. For each tweak and tip, I will explain the steps to take and the information will be followed by pictures to help you better understand everything outlined. The first step we will take is loading up the “System Properties” page. Press “Windows Key + Pause/Break” to enter the screen. System Properties holds many options that you can set to customize your Windows XPerience.

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System Properties – Automatic Updates, Remote Assistance

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Microsoft implemented Windows Update starting with the 98 version of the operating system. The basic principle was to allow the user to update their operating system as Microsoft found vulnerabilities and corrected them through patches and various downloads. Since the inception of Windows XP, Microsoft has put forth an enormous effort to keep the end user’s computer running stable with releases almost every other week. Since there is no more product support for Windows 98 (and since Windows Millenium Edition was the worst version to date), WinXP has been the main focus since it is used on ~75% of all computers in the United States. But herein lies the problem.

Many avid gamers and computer enthusiasts like to have complete control of their gaming and their systems. With Service Pack 2 installed, Windows gives you a few options to set to allow for automatic updates. One is for a set time (daily) that windows will use to download updates whenever there is a download available. The other is to allow it to download at any time and ask for your permission to install once received. The other option is to turn it off and visit the Update site manually.

Here’s the problem: You find yourself playing CounterStrike until the wee hours of the morning or you play online games on weekends throughout the day. If you have your Automatic Updates set to download at 3:00am daily, then it will start chewing up your bandwidth while you are online fraggin’ away. This can become a burden and, as I mentioned before, you can access the updates with one move and click of the mouse manually. That’s why Automatic Updates is best to set to manual, or off. Below are the pictures representing the method to shut off automatic updates.

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Little things that make computing better

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In determining the best mix of performance and ease of use we have come up with the perfect desktop setup. This will give you all the functionality you expect from your desktop while minimizing clutter. Since the desktop is your key to exploring and navigating through the world of Windows, why not have the most important things right where you would expect them. Having said this, the next three pages will be dedicated to grooming Windows to meet the demands of an everyday gamer, with visuals all along the way.

Icons on the desktop

To enable the common desktop icons like “My Computer”, “My Documents”, and “Internet Explorer” follow these steps. Right click on the desktop and then click properties. Click over to the Desktop Tab and once more on “Customize Desktop”.
From here we see the various options available to us. These are all the System Icons that can be placed on the desktop. Put a check mark in everything but “My Network Places”. Also make sure to uncheck “Run the desktop cleanup wizard every 60 days”. Click ok and then you are done with these settings. Your desktop should look more like what you are used too.

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Power Schemes and Hibernate

These two features allow our computer to put itself into a sleep mode. Unfortunately, they are rarely used by anyone and really present no significant advantage with their use. Since most gamers are not worried about saving power, especially with their 1000W power supplies and mammoth video cards, using this feature is of no use. First we need to disable the automatic shutoff feature of our hard disk drives and monitors. Navigate back into display properties and click on the “Screen Saver” tab. Use the pull down bars to change the settings for “Turn off Monitor”, “Turn off Hard Disk”, and “System Standby” to “Never”. Click “Apply” and then navigate over to the “Hibernate” tab. Uncheck the box that enables hibernation, click “Apply”, then click “Ok”. That’s it for display changes. The pictures below will help guide you through the steps we have just discussed.

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Recycle Bin has Properties

Realistically, the Recycle Bin holds your trash until you delete it right? As we deleted things in the past, Microsoft would ask us if we were sure as if they didn’t think we could make logical choices on our own. The dreaded “Are you sure you want to delete XXX from your computer” popup reigned supreme until now. Oh and one more thing about the Recycle Bin that you might not have known. The recycle bin is set to be able to utilize 10% of each of your hard disk drives by default. This is a bit steep for trash if you ask me. Let’s go ahead and get rid of the pesky delete confirmation message and lower the hard disk space used by it. On your desktop, right click on “Recycle Bin”, then click “Properties”. Move the slider down to 3% and uncheck the “Display delete Confirmation” box to change these settings.

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Everything you need, Nothing you don’t

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The Start Menu is something that has traveled with us through the years and even as Microsoft has introduced new and technologically advanced Operating Systems, the Start Menu has been the same… Until Windows XP. The normal Start Menu that we were used to that had a minimum set of navigable options has blossomed into an undeniably screen wasting all-in-one options center. Truth be told, more than half of the options available to us even on a clean install of Windows are unnecessary. The next couple of pages will help everyone build a static Start Menu that has exactly what you need, minus all the clutter and screen size that Windows automatically sets for you.

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Unnecessary Start Menu Links

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Since this screen has a long list of settings it will be easier to tell you what settings to check and uncheck rather than posting multiple pictures. You will see the options as you scroll down, and select them as I explain each. To make sure you are in the right spot, look at the picture below.

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Windows XP Security Center: Is it for you?

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With the introduction of Service Pack 2, Microsoft set out to implement extensive protection against security threats. By installing a built in Security Center, Windows XP can determine if you have the correct protection in terms of a firewall, an antivirus solution, and having your automatic updates set to “On”. There are a few problems with this practice. First off, if you don’t have any anti-virus software or your automatic updates are off you have to deal with the annoying popup in your system tray telling you about it. Yes, you can shut this off, and I will show you how to do this.

Navigate to your control panel now located on your start menu and then double click on Security Center. You will see the screen below once you disable automatic updates. If you don’t have an antivirus solution, you will continue to get the popup telling you about it until you navigate to the option under Virus Protection and click on Recommendations. Put a check in the box that says “I will monitor this solution myself”. The same can be done with the firewall if have your own to use. You can follow this procedure to disable Windows from monitoring your security software, but automatic updates, unless set to “On”, will always popup in the system tray. If this seems like a burden to you, than read on. Many people have chosen the option to disable security center completely, thus eliminating the problem once and for all.

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Services.msc

The option that many users pick is to disable security center completely. This will not hinder your antivirus or firewall from properly protecting you, so no need to worry. To stop security center from starting with Windows and working in the background, we need to navigate to the services menu. This can be achieved by going to the “Run” command on you Start Menu and typing “Services.msc” into the box. Press ok to enter the services menu. You screen should look similar to the one below.

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MSCONFIG and the System Tray

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The system tray is located next to your clock in the windows desktop. Here resides programs that are set to work in the background. These programs are set in the tray as an option when installing a piece of software, drivers for hardware, or even utilities like Valve Software’s Steam. Unfortunately, these programs, except for background utilities that have to do with your antivirus, firewall, and a couple others, don’t really need to be sitting here while your computer is idling. These programs and utilities are essentially using up your system memory, thus giving you less memory to allocate towards your game when you are ready to play.

What should be done first is to navigate to the system tray programs and right click on them. See if they have a properties option where you may be able to set them to not sit in the system tray. It may also give you the option to have it not startup when your system boots to Windows.

The Microsoft system configuration utility gives power users the ability to change the way their computer boots in terms of programs and services. Since your computer has all of the boot info stored here (win.ini, system.ini, and boot.ini), this is the place to go to change your settings. Follow your start menu to the “Run” command. Type in “msconfig” and click “Ok”. The screen below will pop up.

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Almost done, but not quite yet!

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Since we are talking about system optimization, we can’t leave out the built-in utilities that you should use to speed up your computer from time to time. These methods listed below, along with the aforementioned tips and tweaks, will keep your operating system in good shape for a while.

The first thing is to use Microsoft’s built in “Disk Cleanup Utility”. This program will scan your hard drive for most unnecessary objects and give you the option afterwards to remove them. This is a very good tool to use along with some sort of Spyware remover to keep your computer running clean and popup free. You can access this from the Start Menu by going to Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools, then to Disk Cleanup.

The next step in the maintenance of your computer is to run Disk Defragmenter.
Disk Defragmenter will take all of your files which may become spread out over your hard drives disk space and allocate them all into one organized bunch. This allows your system to access the files faster, thus making your operating system speed up a bit. You can access this from the Start Menu by going to Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools, then to Disk Defragmenter.

The final thing needing to be mentioned relates to all of the services we have disabled. Keep in mind that these programs (Automatic Updates, Firewall, Security Center, etc) can still be used independently without a problem. So make sure that once a week you check Windows Update for any new fixes, and make sure you have a firewall and antivirus solution available. This, along with a spyware remover utility and the new built in popup blocker, will ensure system stability and quickness.

Last thing to keep in mind is organization. When trying to maintain a fast and functional desktop, we need to make sure we take certain steps. Besides the steps listed above, try to maintain a clean desktop with only shortcuts and important links. If you have files stored on your desktop that are too big in size or too many in quantity your desktop will start to lose space and finding things will become more difficult. Try storing your shortcuts on your “QuickLaunch” tray because it is always in the same spot and it is single click access to your favorite programs. This way, all of the programs and features you need and use are all located by accessing the Windows taskbar and Start Menu, leaving your desktop clean and neat.





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Conclusion and Recommendations for the future.

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Windows XP is a great operating system that has all the tools and options that a power user needs to make the most of his time spent working or gaming. Microsoft has put forth an enormous effort through patches and updates to make sure that this operating system works for all types of users. Since it is a universally used product, the support for Windows XP will continue for many more years. This is why it is important to make sure that we take certain steps ourselves to get the most functionality and performance out of it.

This guide is meant to be used as a blueprint for installing Windows XP as your main operating system, and to show you the various performance enhancements available post-install. Following the guide is as simple as printing it out and following it step-by-step as it is laid out. Certain features or options that you may see as necessity may also be chosen in addition to the ones we have recommended. This all depends on what you are using your operating system for. Also make sure that you stay informed and if you have any questions about anything related to this article, you can discuss it in the forums.

When used properly, this guide will give you peak performance and make your rig gaming-ready. By using tools like MSCONFIG, the System Properties screen, and by changing the way your Start Menu is used, we have made Windows clutter free and perfectly functional. Also, with the use of Windows Update you can keep you system safe from viruses, and you will download critical patches to make your system safer. These steps along with using the built in tools like Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter will make sure your system stays this way for a long time.

Hopefully you, the readers, have enjoyed this article as much as we did making it. It brings us great honor to have posted an article which may help expert gamers as well as beginners make the most of their Windows XPerience. Until next time, be smart and game away!