Stop the 'last access update' stamp

Every time a directory on an NTFS drive is accessed by Windows XP, it updates that directory and every subdirectory with a time stamp to indicate the date of access. In folders with a lot of subdirectories, this can add considerable overhead to whatever your PC happens to be doing.

This process can be disabled through the registry:

Open REGEDIT and Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINES \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ FileSystem.
Create a new DWORD value called 'NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate' and set the value to '1'

-- 99 Performance Tips --

Modify Processor and memory voltage

[Caution! Incautious modification of CPU and memory voltage can easily damage your components.]

If you have reached the upper limit of your PC's stock overclocking potential, consider bumping up the voltage delivered to the processor and/or the memory. By increasing the amount of voltage available to these components, you can increase their overclocked stability. Unfortunately increasing the voltage also increases the heat produced, especially in the case of the processor.

While increasing the voltage slightly generally results in a better overclock, increasing the voltage too much will simply result in a locked-up PC due to overheating, or burnt out circuits. Definitely a case of diminishing returns, unless you invest in a better cooling solution (which is beyond the scope of this article).

Be sure to increase voltage only in single increments. Once you have increased CPU voltage, experiment with overclocking the CPU and FSB again to see if you can push the system farther. It is unlikely that you will see much benefit past one or two voltage increments, especially with a stock heatsink.

-- 99 Performance Tips --

Changing the CPU multiplier

Depending on your combination of processor and motherboard, you may also be able to change the actual internal frequency multiplier of the CPU itself, which multiplies the FSB speed to arrive at the actual speed of the CPU in GHz or MHz.

For example: an Athlon XP 3000+ 'Barton' processor has a multiplier of 13 and uses a FSB speed of 166Mhz. 166Mhz x 13 equals approximately 2.16Ghz. Change the multiplier to 13.5 and you get (166MHz x 13.5 =) 2.24 Ghz.

Although a small change to the multiplier has a larger proportional effect on your systems speed than increasing the front side bus a considerable amount, the actual performance advantage of increasing the CPU multiplier is not so simple. As the multiplier purely effects the processor's performance, the performance gained by increasing it is not felt system-wide, as is the case with overclocking the FSB. It merely enables the processor to do more work per second. In fact, it may well serve you better to decrease the CPU multiplier in order to overclock the FSB to a higher frequency than would otherwise be possible.

This is something to consider if you have high-quality memory that is rated for greater speeds than the FSB of your computer requires. Many memory producers make DDR memory that is capable of running at much higher frequencies than modern computers normally use, specifically for overclocking purposes.

The option for changing the multiplier is found in the BIOS in the same location as the FSB options, generally the 'frequency\voltage control' section.

Raise the multiplier only a step at first, in concert with overclocking the FSB. Find the maximum stable speed you can achieve, then benchmark. If you have high-spec memory, consider lowering the multiplier and increasing the FSB, then compare the new set of benchmarks to the previous ones.

-- 99 Performance Tips --

Overclocking the memory/front side bus

The Front Side Bus (FSB) is the data channel used to carry information between the processor and the main memory. Generally this runs at the speed of the memory itself, though some newer chipsets allow the memory to run faster than the actual speed of the FSB. Since almost all data dealt with by your computer is passed over this link, increasing the speed of the FSB by overclocking it is the single best way to increase the performance of your PC.

Overclocking the FSB stresses both the processor and the memory, since both are forced to work faster.

The rated speed of the processor (in MHz or GHz) is derived from the speed of the front side bus x the CPU multiplier, which multiplies the FSB speed to arrive at the internal speed of the processor (the amount of operations it can perform in a second).

For example, a recent AMD Athlon XP 2800+ processor uses a 166MHz FSB speed (which is actually 333MHz with DDR memory, but this is not taken into account when calculating the processor speed). The AthlonXP 2800+ has a multiplier of 13, so that works out to 12.5 X 166MHz which equals roughly 2.075GHz.

So you can see, as the FSB increases, so does the speed of the processor. FSB overclocking also increases memory bandwidth (the amount of data that can be carried at one time between the processor and the memory) and this has a huge impact on performance in some applications.

To overclock the FSB:

1. First benchmark your system with one of the 'whole system' benchmarks listed above, or one of the 3D gaming benchmarks listed in the 'video' section of this guide. It's good to know where your system stands before you go about overclocking. That way, you'll have an idea of what kind of advantage the tweak has brought you and your system.
2. Find the memory/FSB frequency setting (generally found within the 'frequency\voltage control' section of the BIOS) and begin increasing the speed in small increments (3-10Mhz).
3. Save and reboot after each change.
4. If your PC boots successfully, run the benchmark(s) again and compare the numbers.
5. Repeat the process until the system fails to boot into Windows successfully.
6. Retry once to be sure, then boot back into the BIOS and change to the previous highest setting. By running the benchmark each time, you are also testing to see how stable the overclocked system is; so if the benchmark crashes, chances are you've pushed your PC too far to run reliably.

-- 99 Performance Tips --

Disable built-in features on your motherboard | Windows XP Performance Tips

The majority of modern motherboards come with one or more system components built into the board itself ('integrated'). The most common example is an integrated sound card, but network cards, RAID cards and even video cards are also found on some newer boards.

If you are not using these integrated features, it's a good idea to disable them in your motherboard's BIOS, as they can suck up system resources and cause software confusion if you have installed alternate components without disabling the built in ones.

Most of these features will be found in the 'integrated peripherals' section of the BIOS. Disable what you are not using.

-- 99 Performance Tips --

Disable unneeded ports | Windows XP Performance Tips

What do you figure the chances of you ever using your computer's serial ports are? Exactly. The same with that parallel port. Disabling unneeded ports in your computer's BIOS can streamline the boot process and net you a little performance gain. Better still, no pain is involved.

If you need the ports in the future, simply reactivate them in the BIOS. Look in the 'integrated peripherals' section of the BIOS to find your ports and disable them.

-- 99 Performance Tips --

Update your BIOS | Windows XP Performance Tips

In order to ensure that you get the maximum performance and stability out of your system, it's a good idea to make sure that you are using the latest version of your motherboard's BIOS.

Motherboard manufacturers periodically release updated BIOS versions for their products, which are designed to be written over the older software. Traditionally, the process of BIOS 'flashing' involved using a bootable floppy to start the computer in DOS, then using the motherboard companies BIOS programming software in combination with the newest BIOS version that you had acquired to update the motherboard.

Most manufacturers now offer more user friendly BIOS updating methods, some working within Windows itself. Check the website of your motherboard manufacturer for updated BIOS versions and the software to install them, which will include instructions.

The current version number of your motherboard is available both on the POST screen and within the BIOS settings screen.

-- 99 Performance Tips --

Set the correct AGP mode | Windows XP Performance Tips

Ensure that your motherboard's BIOS is making correct use of the capabilities of your video card by checking which AGP mode is enabled.

Depending on whether your video card is an AGP 2x, 4X or 8X compatible card (most recent cards are either 4x or 8x), find the AGP mode options (usually within 'advanced chipset settings') and enable the one matching your card.

-- 99 Performance Tips --

Editing registry settings without restarting | Windows XP Performance Tips

Once you have made a change to the registry in Windows XP, you generally have to reboot the computer in order for your change to take effect. This is not actually necessary, as with a simple set of commands, you can cause the system to reload the registry by stopping and restarting the 'Explorer' process.

To do this:

1. Save and close all open files you might be working on. For example, if you are writing a document, you'll need to close this before reloading the registry.
2. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL to bring up the task manager.
3. In the 'processes' tab, highlight 'explorer.exe' and click 'end process.' All windows and desktop icons will disappear except for task manager.
4. Now go to the 'file' menu in task manager and select 'new task (run…).' Type 'explorer' into the text box. This will relaunch explorer and load your new registry settings without restarting.

-- 99 Performance Tips --

Change memory Latency time | Windows XP Performance Tips

If you do not intend to overclock your system much or at all, but would still like to squeeze out a little extra performance from your hardware, it's time to look at changing the latency settings of your memory. These affect the 'turnaround' time of your memory, how long it takes for the memory to prepare to send and receive data.

Understandably, lower latency times equal better memory performance, which in turn equals better system performance. Lowering latency times puts additional stress on your memory though, and may lead to system instability, especially if combined with overclocking.

Generally speaking, the higher the speed a memory module is rated for, the higher its latency will be. Hence, memory that is designed for overclocking will often have higher latency settings than 'normal' memory. There are four significant latency settings for modern DDR memory, listed here in order of significance:

1. CAS (Column Address strobe) Latency: The time between a data request and the data being made available. The most important value for SDRAM memory
2. RAS-to-CAS latency: Delay incurred by activating a new 'row' of memory addresses to read from. More important for DDR memory.
3. RAS precharge: How long a row of memory is held 'open' (powered) so that data can be read from it.
4. ACT to precharge delay: There are some things even us "experts" don't know - this is one of them ;-)

These values are often displayed as a set of four numbers illustrating the latency timing of the memory: for example, 2-2-2-5 (with the first number representing CAS latency.) These are either listed in the same order as presented above, with CAS latency leading, or with ACT to RAS precharge as the second number.

If these memory settings are available in your motherboard's BIOS, they should be in the 'advanced chipset options' section. Test your memory with lower latency values and benchmark if stable. For a slightly more in-depth look at the kind of memory you may need to have in your system to take advantage of CAS settings, please see PCstats article on Memory and CAS Latencies.

-- 99 Performance Tips --

Editing BIOS settings | Windows XP Performance Tips

Several tips in this guide involve making changes within your computer's BIOS (Basic Input/Output System). The BIOS is the set of instructions your motherboard has built into it which allow it to work with the rest of the hardware in your system.

Some BIOS settings can be changed, and the changes stored in a small area of memory built into the board (the CMOS) which is powered by a single coin-cell battery. The actual BIOS itself cannot be changed (though it can be completely written over by a newer BIOS version, see Tip 11).

To edit the BIOS settings, most systems require you to press the DEL key while the computer is going through its initial POST (Power On Self Test) the first screen that appears after turning your system on. Once you are in the BIOS screen, changes can be made to the available settings by highlighting the item, pressing ENTER then choosing from a list - usually with the +/- keys.

Note that these changes will not take effect until you have saved them (using the menu option) and restarted the computer. It is possible that your motherboard's BIOS may not contain some of the settings that we will edit below, as boards from various manufacturers differ widely.

Again to edit the BIOS settings:

1. Press DEL several times immediately after restarting your computer. Other manufacturers like IBM may require a different key (such as F2, or F6), but this should be listed on the POST screen.
2. Select the menu and item you wish to edit, press ENTER and choose the correct setting.
3. Save and exit the BIOS, which will restart your system and put your changes into effect.

-- 99 Performance Tips --

Tweak insurance part 4: Use hardware profiles to experiment with system settings. | Windows XP Performance Tips

If you'd like to experiment with disabling various services to increase performance, but are afraid of changing your original configuration too drastically, consider using 'hardware profiles'.

Hardware profiles allow separate configurations of WindowsXP to be chosen at boot up time. This feature is intended for laptop users who will be transporting their system between various hardware and network setups (docking stations, different networks, etc.) and allows devices attached to the system to be activated or deactivated depending on the profile chosen.

Hardware profiles also allow services to be selectively activated or deactivated, so it's an easy matter to create a new hardware profile, reboot into that profile and experiment with services to your heart's content without fear of messing up your starting configuration.

To set up Hardware Profiles on your computer :

1. Right click on 'my computer' and select 'properties' then choose the 'hardware' tab and hit the 'hardware profiles' button.
2. If you have not used profiles before, you should only have 'profile 1 (current)' listed in the window. This is the default profile, or your current settings.
3. Now click 'copy' to create a duplicate profile and name the new profile as you wish. Once you have created your profile, highlight it and hit 'properties.' Check the 'always include this profile as an option' box.
4. Now reboot the PC and you will be prompted to select a profile. Choose your new one.
5. You can now configure services within your new profile. These changes will take effect only when this profile is loaded.

-- 99 Performance Tips --

Tweak insurance part 3: Restoring BIOS defaults | Windows XP Performance Tips

It's quite possible that during the course of some of our overclocking tips presented later in the Beginners Guide, your motherboard could seize up and refuse to boot. Don't panic. It is easy to restore the default settings of any modern motherboard fortunately.

If this happens, what you need to do is power off your system, open the side of the case and locate the CMOS battery.

This small battery provides the necessary power to store the changes you have made to the BIOS defaults. If you remove the battery or switch the BIOS clearing jumper (generally found next to the battery, but this may vary, consult your manual) the CMOS memory that holds the changes will be cleared and the BIOS defaults restored, along with your ability to boot your system.

To clear the CMOS settings:

• Locate and switch the CMOS clearing jumper, then press the power button once (nothing should happen, but the BIOS will be restored) before resetting it in its original position and powering your system on. Or....
• Remove the battery with the aid of a flat head screwdriver. Leave it out for about 10 minutes to be safe, then replace it and restart the system. Or....
• Some motherboard makers allow you to load in the BIOS defaults when you boot up, without having to crack open the case and fiddle around with jumpers or batteries. This may not work for every single motherboard, or computer out there, but it is worth a shot.



• First power off the PC
• Then while holding the "Insert" key down, power the computer back up, and don't let go of that key
• If things go as planned, the computer should boot up, and give some little warning about "BIOS checksums loaded."
• From there, you can let go of the key, and go right into the BIOS and reset it completely, or set your own favorite performance settings.
• Of course if this doesn't work, then go back and follow our directions for how to reset the CMOS as described above.

-- 99 Performance Tips --

Saving your hard drive space from the system restore utility | Windows XP Performance Tips

By default, Windows XP's system restore utility uses a mammoth 12% of each hard drive in your system. That's a lot of wasted space. By reducing this number, you reduce the amount of restore points system restore can create, but this does not adversely affect the functionality of the program. System restore will delete older restore points to make room for newer ones.

To decrease the amount of space system restore uses:

1. Right click on 'my computer' and select 'properties' then the 'system restore' tab.
2. The window below contains each of the hard disks installed on your system. Highlight each one in turn and press the 'settings' key.
3. Move the slider to adjust the amount of drive space used. I would recommend no more than 2-4% of each drive.

-- 99 Performance Tips --

Tweak Insurance part 2: Creating a system restore point | Windows XP Performance Tips

One of Windows XP's brand new features is the System Restore utility, an update of the registry rollback tool first seen in Windows ME. The program has been considerably enhanced since these humble beginnings, and is a very useful safety tool. It uses 'restore points' which are snapshots of your registry and system condition at a specific time. The points are stored on disk and can be used to effectively move your PC back through time to a previous condition.

As you can imagine, this utility comes in quite handy for heavy-duty tweaking (though it wastes a LOT of disk space by default, more on this later), acting as a safety net.

To create a restore point:

1. Go to 'start/all programs/accessories/system tools/system restore.' 
2. Click 'create a restore point.'
3. Give your restore point a name and click 'ok.'

That's all. To restore your system to its previous condition, fire up system restore again and select 'restore my system to an earlier time.' You will be presented with a calendar view of all current restore points. Windows creates them automatically by default under certain conditions such as program installs. Choose the one you created, click 'next' and follow the instructions.

Now, as for the amount of drive space that System Restore eats up, we have a tweak for that next!

-- 99 Performance Tips --

Tweak insurance part 1: backing up and editing the registry | Windows XP Performance Tips

Several of the performance tweaks in this guide require you to edit the Windows registry, which can be extremely hazardous to the health of your operating system unless it is done carefully. Editing the registry opens up a world of possibilities for tweaking WindowsXP that would otherwise be unavailable, but it also offers you the ability to completely mess up your system in the time it takes to reboot...

For this reason, we strongly recommend that you back up your registry to a file before attempting any of the registry-related tips in this guide.

To back up the entire registry

1. Open REGEDIT and ensure that 'my computer' is highlighted, then go to file\export.
2. n this window, you need to enter a location to save the exported registry (as a single file) and choose the type of file to create. Also, check the 'all' button at the bottom of the screen to backup the entire registry.
3. There are several possible file types, but we will focus on one only, as the ".reg" file type is the easiest to use. A .reg backup will copy over all changes made to existing portions of the registry when it is restored, while leaving additions to the registry made since the backup untouched.
4. Select the .reg file type and click 'save.'

Restoring the registry from this .reg file is a simple matter of locating the file you created, right clicking it and selecting 'merge.'

All registry related tips in this guide use the REGEDIT program which can be accessed from the run command ('start\run') by typing 'regedit'.

-- 99 Performance Tips --

Use whole system performance benchmarks | Windows XP Performance Tips

Artificial benchmarking programs are a great way to see the relative performance increase that your tweaks and changes have achieved. Running a benchmark before and after a prospective change will give you a good idea of where you stand.

Several companies produce 'whole system benchmarks' designed to stress test every area of your PC's performance and give you a result which you can use as a benchmark for improving your system's speed.

Try PCMark 2004 by Futuremark, SiSoftware's Sandra 2004 and Veritest's Winbench 99. In addition to benchmarking, these applications can also provide valuable information about your PC and its configuration.

-- 99 Performance Tips --

99 Performance Tips for Windows XP

From faster boot times, to speeding up your current hardware, PCSTATS has 99 Tips to make your computer run quicker, better, and more efficiently

Welcome to "99 Performance Tips for Windows XP" massive Tech Tips and Tweaks Guide! This time around, our focus is on making your Windows computer perform better, and faster! Whether this means booting and shutting down quicker, achieving better 3D gaming performance, or just making your PC feel more 'snappy,' chances are there's a tip or two in here to help you speed your current PC up.

"99 Performance Tips" will also cover the basics of overclocking the processor, memory and video card, so as not to miss out on this important area of extra performance potential. Please pay special attention to our 'Tweak Insurance' tips at the beginning of this guide to help you prepare your system against any potential mishaps.

Now let's get into "99 Performance Tips" 99 Performance Tips for Windows... There are so many useful tips and tweaks listed here that at some point in the future you'll need to reference this guide and may not be able to remember the exact URL.

1. Preparing Your System
2. BIOS tweaks and Insight

-- 99 Performance Tips --