19 tips on how to Speed up and Optimize Windows XP – part1

Windows XP is an old system, but it is still widely used in a lot of companies and house. If you have an old PC that still works why to eliminate it? You can vitalize your system following some simple instructions!

1. Convert your hard drive to NTFS.

   If your drive is using FAT16 or FAT32, you can gain performance by converting it to NTFS. To do so:

   • press WinKey + R
   • type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS
   • follow the instructions
   • Your drive will be converted to NTFS!
   • Is your system older? NTFS drives can only be accessed by Windows 2000/NT/XP/Vista/7, so if you have an older version there is no way.

2. Clean the registry.

   The Windows registry store configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows Operating systems. You can clean the registry speeding up Windows XP significantly. To do this:

   • Download Intel Software Partners registry cleaner
   • Install it
   • Follow the instruction to clean the registry

3. Disable the Indexing Service.

   The Indexing Service runs in the background, using a lot of resources to help speed up searching. You can disable it by:

   • open My Computer
   • right-click on the hard drive
   • go to Properties
   • uncheck “Allow indexing service to index this hard drive for faster searching“
   • click OK and wait

4. Disable unnecessary services.

   Windows XP offers a lot of services but there are a lot of them that you may never use. So way to keep them? Below I made a list of services that can be disabled on most machines:

   • Alerter (services.exe): the Alerter service notifies selected users and computers of administrative alerts
   • Clipbook (ClipSrv – clipsrv.exe): the ClipBook service enables ClipBook Viewer to create and share pages of data to be viewed by remote computers
   • Computer Browser (svchost.exe): the Computer Browser service maintains an up-to-date list of computers on your network and supplies the list to programs that request it. The Computer Browser service is used by Windows-based computers that need to view network domains and resources
   • Distributed Link Tracking Client (TrkWks – svchost.exe): the Distributed Link Tracking Client service maintains links between the NTFS file system files within your computer or across computers in your network domain
   • Indexing Service (Cisvc – cisvc.exe): Indexing Service indexes contents and properties of files on local and remote computers, and provides rapid access to files through a flexible querying language
   • IPSEC Services (PolicyAgent – lsass.exe): IPSEC Services provides end-to-end security between clients and servers on TCP/IP networks. It manages IP security (IPSec) policy, starts the Internet Key Exchange (IKE), and coordinates IPSec policy settings with the IP security driver
   • Messenger (Messenger – svchost.exe): the Messenger service transmits the “net send” command and Alerter service messages between clients and servers.
   • Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing: The NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing service allows authorized users to remotely access your Windows desktop from another computer over a corporate intranet by using Microsoft NetMeeting conferencing software
   • Portable Media Serial Number (WmdmPmSp – svchost.exe): The Portable Media Serial Number service retrieves the serial number of any portable music player connected to your computer. Without the serial number, you cannot associate the content with the specific device
   • Remote Desktop Help Session Manager (RpcSs – svchost.exe): The Remote Desktop Help Session Manager service manages and controls the Remote Assistance feature within the Help and Support Center application (Helpctr.exe)
   • Remote Procedure Call Locator: the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator service enables RPC clients using the RpcNs family of APIs to locate RPC servers, and manages the RPC name service database.
   • Remote Registry (RemoteRegistry – rsvp.exe): The Remote Registry service enables remote users to modify registry settings on the local computer, provided the remote users have the required administrative credentials
   • Secondary Logon (Seclogon – svchost.exe): The Secondary Logon service enables the starting of processes that run under alternate administrative credentials so that the user can create processes in the context of different security principals
   • Routing & Remote Access (RemoteAccess – svchost.exe): the Routing and Remote Access service provides multiprotocol LAN-to-LAN, LAN-to-WAN, VPN, and network address translation (NAT) routing services. In addition, Routing and Remote Access also provides dial-up and VPN remote access services
   • Server (Lanmanserver – svchost.exe): the Server service provides RPC support, file printing, and named pipe sharing over the network. It allows the sharing of local resources (such as disks and printers) so that other users on the network can access them. Do not disable if you share folders with other Windows systems in your household
   • SSDP Discovery Service: the Simple Service Discovery Protocol (SSDP) is a network protocol based on the Internet Protocol Suite for advertisement and discovery of network services and presence information
   • Telnet (TlntSvr – tlntsvr.exe): the Telnet service supports connections from various TCP/IP Telnet clients, including UNIX-based and Windows-based computers
   • TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper  (LmHosts – svchost.exe): the TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper service provides support for the NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NetBT) service and NetBIOS name resolution for clients on your network, enabling users to share files, print, and log on to the network
   • Upload Manager (Uploadmgr – svchost.exe): the Upload Manager service manages synchronous and asynchronous file transfers between clients and servers on the network. Driver data is anonymously uploaded from customer computers to Microsoft and then used to help users find the drivers required for their systems.
   • Universal Plug and Play Device Host (Upnphost – svchost.exe): Provides support to host Universal Plug and Play devices. Used in conjunction with SSDP Discovery Service, it detects and configures UPnP devices on your home network.
   • Windows Time (W32Time – svchost.exe): The Windows Time service maintains date and time synchronization on all computers running on a Windows-based network. It uses the Network Time Protocol (NTP) to synchronize computer clocks so that an accurate clock value, or time stamp, can be assigned to network validation and resource access requests
   • Wireless Zero Configuration:  The Wireless Configuration service enables automatic configuration for IEEE 802.11 wireless adapters for wireless communications. Do not disable if you use a wireless network.

5. Improve boot times.

   The pre-installed software (for example Trialware) often loads parts of itself at boot time. This software usually uses a huge chunks of RAM and has to be loaded from the hard disk thus extending the boot time. Even MS Office does this! To discover what is being press WinKey + R and type “ msconfig”. To improve Windows itself by preventing it from looking for files around during the boot you can:

   • press WinKey + R and type in “regedt32”, then press Enter.
   • find “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftDfrgBootOptimizeFunction”
   • select “Enable” from the list on the right and change the value to “Y”, then press Enter
   • finally press WinKey + R, type in “msconfig” and press Enter
   • click on the Startup tab and uncheck every item you don’t need. Be careful to do not disable important  entries for example the ones added by antivirus and antispyware programs.

6. Make windows load faster.

   To do this

   • press WinKey + R and type in “msconfig”  then press Enter.
   • BOOT.INI tab at the top
   • find the box labeled Timeout with 30. Change the 30 to a 3.
   • After you apply this step, your pc will want to do a restart for changes to take effect. After the restart, you’ll get a System Configuration Utility window; just check the radio box that begins “Don’t show this message.”

Here ends the first part of this tutorial. Go to the next article for other tips