Koroush Ghazi XP Optimization

WWW.TWEAKGUIDES.
COM

[ Version 5.0 ]

THE TWEAKGUIDES TWEAKING COMPANION

2
Copyright 2010 Koroush Ghazi

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents........................................................................................................................................................... 2
Copyright & Credits ..................................................................................................................................................... 10
Introduction ................................................................................................................................................................... 11
Before Using this Book .............................................................................................................................................. 12
Basic Requirements ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Different Versions of Windows ......................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Where are the Pictures? .................................................................................................................................................................................... 12
Why is the Book So Long? ................................................................................................................................................................................ 13
Recommended Software ................................................................................................................................................................................... 13
Problems with the Book ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 13
Your Responsibilities .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 13
Basic PC Terminology ................................................................................................................................................ 14
Bits & Bytes .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 14
Data ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15
PC .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15
CPU ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Motherboard ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Memory ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 15
Storage Drives ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Graphics Card ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Display Device ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Sound Card .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 18
Speakers .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 18
Power Supply Unit .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 18
Cooling Devices .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 18
Case ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Peripheral ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 19
Operating System and Software ...................................................................................................................................................................... 19
System Specifications ................................................................................................................................................ 20
System Information Tools .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 20
Windows System Information Tool .................................................................................................................................................................. 20
Device Manager .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 20
DirectX Diagnostics ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 20
SIW ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 21
3DMark ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 21
Sandra................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 21
CPU-Z ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 22
GPU-Z ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 22
HD Tune ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 22
Providing System Specifications ............................................................................................................................................................................... 22
Backup & Recovery ..................................................................................................................................................... 24
Manual Backup ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 24
Automatic Backup ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 25
Windows Backup Utility ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 25
Third Party Drive Imaging Software ................................................................................................................................................................. 26
Online Backup ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 26
System Restore ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 27
Backing Up the Windows Registry ........................................................................................................................................................................... 27
ERUNT .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 27
Backing Up & Restoring Passwords ........................................................................................................................................................................ 28
Backing Up Login Password ............................................................................................................................................................................. 28
Restoring Login Password ................................................................................................................................................................................ 28
Resetting your Login Password ........................................................................................................................................................................ 28
Storing Passwords .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 29
Recovering Passwords ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 29
File Deletion and Recovery ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 29
Recovering Deleted Files .................................................................................................................................................................................. 30


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Permanently Deleting Files ............................................................................................................................................................................... 30
Low Level Format and Zero Fill ........................................................................................................................................................................ 31
System Recovery ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 31
Recovering from a Corrupted Registry............................................................................................................................................................ 31
Safe Mode ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 32
Recovery Console ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 33
System File Checker .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 34
BIOS Optimization ....................................................................................................................................................... 35
The BIOS ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 35
Post Screen .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 35
BIOS Settings ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 36
BIOS Updates ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 36
Firmware Updates ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 36
Interrupt Requests (IRQs) .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 37
Disable Unused Devices .................................................................................................................................................................................... 37
Move Conflicting Devices .................................................................................................................................................................................. 38
Disabling ACPI .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 38
Installing Windows ...................................................................................................................................................... 39
Prior to Installation ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 39
Slipstreaming Windows XP SP3 ...................................................................................................................................................................... 39
nLite ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 40
Preparing the Drive(s) ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 40
NTFS vs. FAT 32 File Systems ........................................................................................................................................................................ 40
Converting Existing FAT32 Disk to NTFS ...................................................................................................................................................... 41
Multiple Partitions ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 41
Dual Boot/Multiboot System .............................................................................................................................................................................. 41
RAID Configuration ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 42
Installing Windows ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 43
New Drive ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 43
Drive with Existing install of Windows ............................................................................................................................................................. 44
Windows XP Bootdisks ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 44
Windows Product Activation & Windows Genuine Advantage ....................................................................... 45
Windows Product Activation ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 45
Windows Genuine Advantage ................................................................................................................................................................................... 45
Driver Installation ........................................................................................................................................................ 46
Driver Installation ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 46
Step 1 - Service Packs ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 46
Step 2 - DirectX ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 47
Step 3 - Driver Signing & Windows Update ................................................................................................................................................... 47
Step 4 - Motherboard Drivers ........................................................................................................................................................................... 47
Step 5 - Graphics Drivers .................................................................................................................................................................................. 49
Step 6 - Sound Drivers ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 49
Step 7 - Peripheral Drivers ................................................................................................................................................................................ 49
Step 8 - Firewall, Windows Update & .NET ................................................................................................................................................... 50
General Driver Installation ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 51
The Latest Drivers............................................................................................................................................................................................... 51
Uninstalling Drivers ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 51
Installing Non-Executable Drivers .................................................................................................................................................................... 51
General Driver Tips............................................................................................................................................................................................. 52
PC Security .................................................................................................................................................................... 54
Security Threats ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 54
Viruses & Worms ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 54
Trojan Horses ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 55
Spyware ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 55
Adware .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 55
Rootkits ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 55
Phishing ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 55
Essential Security Software ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 56
Malicious Software Removal Tool .................................................................................................................................................................... 57
Microsoft Security Essentials ............................................................................................................................................................................ 57
A-Squared Free ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 59
Spybot Search & Destroy .................................................................................................................................................................................. 60
Rootkits ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 62


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Phishing Protection ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 62
Firewalls ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 62
Important Security Tips ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 63
Malware Avoidance Methods ............................................................................................................................................................................ 63
Balancing Security vs. Convenience ............................................................................................................................................................... 67
Memory Optimization .................................................................................................................................................. 68
Memory Hardware ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 68
CPU Cache .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 68
Physical RAM ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 68
Video RAM ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 69
Windows Memory Management ............................................................................................................................................................................... 70
Disk Cache ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 70
Icon Cache ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 70
General Memory Settings .................................................................................................................................................................................. 70
Windows Prefetcher ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 70
Virtual Memory .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 71
Upgrading Memory ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 73
Drive Optimization ....................................................................................................................................................... 74
Windows Disk Indexing .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 74
Drive Controllers .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 74
Master File Table ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 76
Windows Disk Defragmenter ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 76
Background Defragmentation ........................................................................................................................................................................... 77
Advanced Defragmentation ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 77
PageDefrag .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 77
Dirms & Buzzsaw ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 77
Frequency of Defragmentation ......................................................................................................................................................................... 78
Boot Analysis & Optimization .................................................................................................................................................................................... 78
Bootvis .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 78
Analyzing System Startup ................................................................................................................................................................................. 79
Optimizing System Startup ................................................................................................................................................................................ 79
The Control Panel ........................................................................................................................................................ 80
Accessibility Options ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 80
Add Hardware .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 80
Add or Remove Programs ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 80
Set Program Access and Defaults ................................................................................................................................................................... 81
Administrative Tools .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 81
Component Services .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 81
Computer Management ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 82
Data Sources (ODBC) ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 82
Event Viewer ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 82
Local Security Policy .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 82
Performance ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 82
Services ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 82
Automatic Updates ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 83
Data Sources (ODBC) ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 83
Date and Time .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 83
Date and Time ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 83
Time Zone ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 83
Internet Time ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 84
Display ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 84
Themes ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 84
Desktop ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 84
Screen Saver ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 84
Appearance .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 84
Settings ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 85
ClearType ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 86
Graphics Card Control Panel ............................................................................................................................................................................ 86
Folder Options .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 86
General ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 86
View ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 86
File Types ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 87
Offline Files .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 87
Fonts ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 87


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Game Controllers ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 87
Internet Options ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 88
Keyboard ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 88
Mouse ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 88
Pointers ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 88
Pointer Options .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 88
Wheel .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 88
Increasing USB Sample Rate ........................................................................................................................................................................... 88
Network Connections .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 89
QoS Packet Scheduler ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 89
Windows Firewall ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 89
Network Setup Wizard ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 89
Phone and Modem ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 89
Portable Media Devices ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 90
Power Options .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 90
Power Schemes .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 90
Advanced .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 90
Hibernate .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 90
UPS ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 90
Printers and Faxes ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 91
Regional and Language Options .............................................................................................................................................................................. 91
Regional Options ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 91
Languages ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 91
Advanced .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 92
Scanners and Cameras .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 92
Scheduled Tasks ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 92
Security Center ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 92
Sounds and Audio Devices ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 93
Volume .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 93
Sounds .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 93
Audio, Voice ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 94
Optimal Sound Configuration ............................................................................................................................................................................ 94
Speech ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 95
System ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 95
General ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 95
Computer Name .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 95
Hardware .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 95
Device Manager .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 96
Remove Unused Devices .................................................................................................................................................................................. 96
Advanced .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 97
System Restore ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 99
Automatic Updates ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 99
Remote ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 99
Taskbar and Start Menu ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 99
Taskbar ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 99
Start Menu .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 100
User Accounts ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 100
Fast Startup - Skipping Login Screen ............................................................................................................................................................ 101
User Accounts - Advanced ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 101
Users ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 101
Advanced ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 101
Windows Firewall ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 102
Wireless Network Setup Wizard ............................................................................................................................................................................. 103
Startup Programs....................................................................................................................................................... 104
Finding Startup Programs ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 104
Microsoft System Configuration Utility .......................................................................................................................................................... 104
Registry Editor ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 106
Autoruns ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 106
Windows Startup Inspector ............................................................................................................................................................................. 107
HijackFree .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 107
Identifying Startup Programs ................................................................................................................................................................................... 107
Removing Startup Programs ................................................................................................................................................................................... 108
Regular Maintenance ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 109
Services ........................................................................................................................................................................ 110


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Services Utility ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 110
Default Services ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 110
Customizing Services ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 111
Restarting a Service ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 114
Non-Microsoft Services .................................................................................................................................................................................... 114
Identifying Non-Microsoft Services ................................................................................................................................................................ 114
Change Service Status via Command Line ................................................................................................................................................. 115
Cleaning Windows ..................................................................................................................................................... 116
Disk Cleanup .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 116
Remove Unnecessary Windows Files ........................................................................................................................................................... 116
Add or Remove Windows Components ........................................................................................................................................................ 116
Remove Old System Restore Points ............................................................................................................................................................. 117
Advanced Disk Cleanup Usage ...................................................................................................................................................................... 117
Recycle Bin ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 117
Configuration Advice ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 117
Renaming or Deleting the Recycle Bin ......................................................................................................................................................... 118
CCleaner ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 118
Manual Drive Cleaning ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 120
Cleaning Up After Service Pack 3 .................................................................................................................................................................. 120
Deleting 'In Use' Files ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 121
Task Manager .............................................................................................................................................................. 122
Configuration Advice ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 122
Resource Usage Monitoring .................................................................................................................................................................................... 122
Processes ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 122
Commit Charge ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 123
CPU Usage ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 123
Memory Usage .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 123
Processor Affinity ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 124
Process Explorer ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 125
Windows Registry ...................................................................................................................................................... 126
Registry Editor ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 126
Editing Registry Entries .................................................................................................................................................................................... 126
Creating and Deleting Registry Entries ......................................................................................................................................................... 127
Backing up and Restoring Portions of the Registry .................................................................................................................................... 127
Maintaining the Registry ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 128
CCleaner ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 128
JV16 PowerTools .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 128
NTRegOpt .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 129
Miscellaneous Registry Tweaks .............................................................................................................................................................................. 130
Improve Menu Responsiveness and Shutdown Speeds ........................................................................................................................... 130
Increase NTFS System Performance ............................................................................................................................................................ 130
Change Foreground Application Priority ....................................................................................................................................................... 131
Prevent MSN Messenger From Running ...................................................................................................................................................... 131
Turn Off CD Autoplay ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 131
Turn Off Windows XP Built-in CD Burning ................................................................................................................................................... 131
Turn Off System Beeps .................................................................................................................................................................................... 132
Change Thumbnail Quality & Size ................................................................................................................................................................. 132
Disable Thumbnail Cache ............................................................................................................................................................................... 132
Turn Off 'Low Disk Space' Notification .......................................................................................................................................................... 132
Disable Balloon Tips ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 133
Disable Windows Key ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 133
Group Policy ............................................................................................................................................................... 134
Group Editor Tweaks ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 134
Disable Automatic System Restore Checkpoints ........................................................................................................................................ 134
Turn off built-in XP CD Burning ...................................................................................................................................................................... 134
Prevent Windows Media Digital Rights Management from Internet Access .......................................................................................... 134
Remove 'Shared Documents' Folder ............................................................................................................................................................. 134
Remove Shutdown/Logoff/Restart messages ............................................................................................................................................. 134
Turn off User Tracking (will Also disable personalized menus) ................................................................................................................ 134
Prevent Access to Windows Components ................................................................................................................................................... 135
Turn off CD/DVD Autoplay .............................................................................................................................................................................. 135
Disable Windows Messenger ......................................................................................................................................................................... 135
Customize Internet Explorer Title ................................................................................................................................................................... 135
Remove Recycle Bin Icon from Desktop ...................................................................................................................................................... 135


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Remove My Documents Icon from Desktop ................................................................................................................................................. 135
Remove My Computer Icon from Desktop ................................................................................................................................................... 135
TweakUI ........................................................................................................................................................................ 136
General ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 136
General>Focus .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 136
Explorer............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 136
Explorer>Shortcut ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 136
Explorer>Thumbnails ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 136
Explorer>Customizations................................................................................................................................................................................. 136
Taskbar and Start Menu .................................................................................................................................................................................. 136
My Computer>Autoplay>Types ...................................................................................................................................................................... 137
Control Panel ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 137
Windows Explorer ..................................................................................................................................................... 138
Set Explorer's Default Startup Folder ............................................................................................................................................................ 138
Speed Up Explorer ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 138
Remove 'Shared Documents' From My Computer ..................................................................................................................................... 139
Force All Columns in Explorer To Be Visible ............................................................................................................................................... 139
Rename Multiple Files ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 139
Edit Context Menus .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 139
Add 'Copy To' and 'Move To' Context Menu Items ..................................................................................................................................... 141
Folder Views Not Being Saved ....................................................................................................................................................................... 141
Repair Incorrectly Displayed Icons ................................................................................................................................................................ 142
Move the My Documents Folder .................................................................................................................................................................... 142
Make the My Documents Folder Private ....................................................................................................................................................... 142
Disable Windows File Protection .................................................................................................................................................................... 142
Change Default Location for Programs and Common Files ...................................................................................................................... 143
Internet Explorer ........................................................................................................................................................ 144
General ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 144
Security ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 146
Privacy ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 147
Content ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 148
Connections ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 148
Programs ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 148
Advanced ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 149
InPrivate Browsing ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 151
InPrivate Filtering .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 152
Accelerators ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 153
Advanced Settings .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 153
Customize Internet Explorer 8's Appearance .............................................................................................................................................. 153
Change or Disable Internet Explorer Click Sound ...................................................................................................................................... 154
Change Internet Explorer Default Download Directory .............................................................................................................................. 154
Start with InPrivate Browsing Mode Enabled ............................................................................................................................................... 154
Start with InPrivate Filtering Mode Enabled ................................................................................................................................................. 155
Customize Internet Explorer Title Bar ........................................................................................................................................................... 155
Built-In Flash Blocking ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 155
Speed Up / Fix Internet Explorer 8 ................................................................................................................................................................ 156
Increase Maximum Simultaneous Connections .......................................................................................................................................... 156
DNS Cache Issues ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 156
Advanced Customization ................................................................................................................................................................................. 157
Windows Update ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 158
Windows Update Usage .................................................................................................................................................................................. 158
Security Patch Links and Release Dates ..................................................................................................................................................... 158
Windows Update on Other Browsers ............................................................................................................................................................ 158
Repairing Windows Update ............................................................................................................................................................................. 159
Other Internet Browsers ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 159
Outlook Express ........................................................................................................................................................ 160
General ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 160
Read .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 160
Receipts .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 160
Send .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 160
Compose, Signatures, Spelling ...................................................................................................................................................................... 161


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Security ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 161
Connection ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 161
Maintenance ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 162
Tips & Tweaks ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 162
Backing Up Emails ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 162
Restoring Emails ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 162
Filtering spam .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 163
Remove Splash Screen ................................................................................................................................................................................... 163
Slowdown Issues .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 164
Other EMail Clients ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 164
Windows Media Player ............................................................................................................................................. 165
Player .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 165
Rip Music ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 165
Devices ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 166
Burn ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 166
Performance ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 167
Library ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 167
Plug-ins ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 168
Privacy ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 168
Security ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 169
File Types ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 169
DVD ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 169
Network ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 169
Graphic Equalizer ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 169
Skins .................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 170
Mini Player Mode .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 170
Audio & Video Codecs .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 170
Other Media Players ................................................................................................................................................................................................. 171
Visual & Convenience Tweaks ............................................................................................................................... 172
Tips & Tweaks ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 172
Remove text from desktop icons .................................................................................................................................................................... 172
Remove the box around desktop icon titles ................................................................................................................................................. 172
Create desktop icons for Shutdown or Restart ............................................................................................................................................ 172
Create Desktop icon to lock the computer ................................................................................................................................................... 173
Save desktop icon positions ........................................................................................................................................................................... 174
Change desktop icon size ............................................................................................................................................................................... 174
Set spacing between desktop icons .............................................................................................................................................................. 174
Remove 'Shortcut to...' from new shortcuts .................................................................................................................................................. 174
Create a custom popup menu on the taskbar .............................................................................................................................................. 175
Custom Windows Themes ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 175
WindowBlinds .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 175
Uxtheme.dll Patching ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 176
RocketDock ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 176
Glass2K .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 176
Keyboard & Program Shortcuts .............................................................................................................................................................................. 177
Common Keyboard Shortcuts ......................................................................................................................................................................... 177
Program & Control Panel Shortcuts .............................................................................................................................................................. 178
Directory Shortcut ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 178
Microsoft On-screen Keyboard ....................................................................................................................................................................... 178
MouseKeys ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 179
Overclocking ............................................................................................................................................................... 180
Benefits and Drawbacks ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 180
Benefits ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 180
Drawbacks .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 181
Methodology ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 182
CPU Overclocking ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 182
RAM Overclocking ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 182
Graphics Card Overclocking ........................................................................................................................................................................... 183
Voltage Adjustment........................................................................................................................................................................................... 183
Stability ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 184
Power Supply Unit ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 185
Cooling ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 186
Comparing Overclocks ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 188


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Researching Overclocking .............................................................................................................................................................................. 189
Benchmarking & Stress Testing ............................................................................................................................ 190
Benchmarking ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 190
3DMark ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 191
Unigine ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 191
Lightsmark .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 191
FurMark............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 191
Game Benchmarks ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 192
PCMark ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 192
Sandra................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 192
HDTach ............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 193
HD Tune ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 193
Opti Drive Control ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 193
Stress Testing ............................................................................................................................................................................................................ 193
Prime95............................................................................................................................................................................................................... 194
Super PI .............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 194
MemTest ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 194
Memtest86+ ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 195
RTHDRIBL ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 195
Windows Errors .......................................................................................................................................................... 196
Identifying Windows Errors ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 196
Sudden Reboots on Errors .............................................................................................................................................................................. 196
Event Viewer ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 196
Solutions to Windows Errors ................................................................................................................................................................................... 197
IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL..................................................................................................................................................................... 197
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL ................................................................................................................................................... 198
PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA ...................................................................................................................................................... 198
UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME .............................................................................................................................................................. 198
BLACK SCREEN ON BOOTUP ..................................................................................................................................................................... 198
Device Manager Error Codes ......................................................................................................................................................................... 198
Windows Firewall Issues ................................................................................................................................................................................. 199
Windows Startup Problems ............................................................................................................................................................................. 199
Windows Shutdown Problems ........................................................................................................................................................................ 199
Diagnosing Problems ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 199
Troubleshooting Checklist ............................................................................................................................................................................... 199
Hardware Handling Tips .................................................................................................................................................................................. 201
Regular Maintenance ................................................................................................................................................ 203
Step 1 - Maintain Security ............................................................................................................................................................................... 203
Step 2 - Check Startup Programs & Services .............................................................................................................................................. 203
Step 3 - Backup Important Files ..................................................................................................................................................................... 203
Step 4 - Clean Windows .................................................................................................................................................................................. 203
Step 5 - Run a Disk Check .............................................................................................................................................................................. 204
Step 6 - Defragment ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 204
Conclusion .................................................................................................................................................................. 205
Version History ........................................................................................................................................................................................................... 205


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COPYRIGHT & CREDITS

The contents of thi s book are Copyri ght Koroush Ghazi and protected under US, Australi an and
Internati onal Copyri ght laws. No unauthori zed reproducti on, al terati on or di stri buti on of the book, i n part
or i n whol e, in any language, i s permi tted. All Trademarks used in thi s publ icati on are the property of their
respecti ve owners.

HOSTING, DISTRIBUTION AND TRANSLATIONS OF THIS BOOK

Reproduci ng, al teri ng, hosti ng, or mass di stri buti ng thi s book i n any way i s not permi tted. The latest version
i s al ways avai labl e from TweakGui des.com.

Transl ati ons of thi s book are not permi tted, as I have absolutel y no way to determi ne the quali ty and
accuracy of any transl ati ons, parti cul arl y gi ven the somewhat compl ex and often del i cate procedures i n thi s
book. Professi onal translati ons of thi s 115,000 word book i nto the mul ti pl e l anguages requi red woul d cost a
great deal , and amateur translati ons are unacceptabl y shoddy.

If you wi sh to spread the word regarding the book, pl ease li nk to the TweakGui des Tweaking Compani on
downl oad page.

I've i nvested a huge amount of ti me and effort i nto creati ng thi s book, and I al so provide a free versi on of
thi s book which i s easil y accessi bl e so that the wi dest possi ble audience can benefi t from i ts contents. There
i s no reason for anyone to publ i cly reproduce or di stri bute thi s book when the l atest versi on i s al ways
avai labl e for free from my si te. Peopl e who host thi s book or porti ons of i t are usual l y doi ng so to generate
easy traffi c, income or credi t for themsel ves usi ng my hard work, whi ch is not acceptable. Appropriate
acti on wi ll be taken agai nst any such i ndi vi dual s who do not respect the concept of author ri ghts.

For those who do not understand the stri ctness of these condi ti ons, pl ease see the TweakGuides FAQ.

CREDITS

Thi s book i s a reference compi l ati on borne out of a great deal of testi ng, research, readi ng and personal
experi ence. I gi ve full credi t to any websi tes and authors l i nked i n this book, as wel l as al l the software
devel opers whose excell ent tool s I recommend i n this book, especi al l y those who provi de thei r software for
free. It i s amazi ng that they i nvest so much ti me and effort i nto devel opi ng and testi ng thei r software and
then provi de i t free to all PC users. I encourage you to support thei r work wi th donati ons and purchases
where rel evant, because givi ng is a two way street.

Thank you to my readers who, si nce TweakGuides began i n Apri l 2004, have provi ded a great deal of
support. From those who support the site by l i nki ng to i t on vari ous websi tes and forums, to those who take
the ti me to wri te to me wi th thoughtful and constructi ve contri buti ons, and i n parti cular to those who
donate to the si te or purchase the Del uxe Edi ti on of the TGTC - I trul y appreci ate i t. The only thi ng whi ch
moti vates me to keep wri ti ng gui des i s the fact that I know there are i ntell i gent peopl e out there who are
pati ent enough to take the ti me to read them, and to use the material i n the spi ri t i n whi ch it i s i ntended: to
l earn more about thei r PCs, and to thi nk for themsel ves and resol ve thei r own probl ems.

A special thanks goes to Larry Kuhn for prepari ng several pages of very detail ed and hi ghl y val uable
feedback which was i mmensel y hel pful i n earli er revisi ons of thi s gui de.


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INTRODUCTION

Wi ndows XP was first released i n October 2001, and has subsequentl y
recei ved several signifi cant updates i n the form of three Servi ce Packs i n
September 2002 (SP1), August 2004 (SP2) and Apri l 2008 (SP3). To date i t
i s one of Microsoft's most popul ar, and certai nl y the l ongest-runni ng
operati ng system, wi th the majori ty of Windows users stil l runni ng
Windows XP as of mi d-2010.

Whi le Wi ndows XP may not contai n all the latest conveni ences and
safeguards bui l t i nto newer operati ng systems l ike Wi ndows Vi sta and
Windows 7, i t also doesn't contai n what some peopl e may consi der
annoyances or unnecessary features i ntroduced i n these OSes ei ther. It i s
hi ghly customi zabl e and a good li ght-wei ght solution for systems wi th
l i mi ted resources such as basi c home PCs and notebooks. Al though
Wi ndows XP i s qui te mature now and wi ll no l onger recei ve any feature
updates, Mi crosoft wil l conti nue to support XP wi th securi ty updates
unti l April 2014, so i t i s far from bei ng dead.

The fi rst versi on of thi s book was call ed the Windows XP Tweaking Companion (XPTC) and came out i n
December 2004. Si nce then i t has proven to be extremel y popular, and has been conti nual ly refi ned through
a great deal of user feedback, experi mentati on and new di scoveri es. However just l ike Wi ndows XP i tself,
thi s book i s now qui te mature and wi ll no l onger recei ve major changes. For the most part we now know all
we need to know about tweaki ng Wi ndows XP, and thi s book contai ns the bulk of such i nformati on.

At over 200 pages i n l ength, thi s book wi ll no doubt frustrate peopl e who are looki ng for a handful of tweaks
or qui ck fi xes to 'make XP faster'. Cl early that i s not its sol e ai m; the mai n purpose i s to try to expl ai n how
thi ngs work i n si mple but suffi cient detai l so that readers can customize and opti mi ze thei r machi nes
appropriatel y whi l e l earning more about them. Computers have become i ntegral to al most every aspect of
our way of li fe, and i t i s no l onger possibl e to si mpl y i gnore them or pretend that i t's not i mportant to know
how they work. Now more than ever i t has become extremel y i mportant that you understand how your PC
and Wi ndows are worki ng. Thus the book i s l ong because I try to ensure that you are gi ven enough detail s
to understand the l ogi c behi nd my recommendati ons, rather than bei ng treated li ke a small chi l d who i s
si mpl y tol d to change settings wi thout a second thought.

I promi se you that i f you pati entl y work your way through thi s book over the course of a few days, that you
wi ll come out at the other end wi th not onl y a better performi ng, more stable and better customi zed PC, you
wi ll al so be much more comfortabl e wi th usi ng Windows on a dai l y basi s; the mystery wi ll di sappear. More
i mportantl y, you wi ll also be abl e to better diagnose, i ndeed prevent, any problems on your PC i n the future.

In cl osi ng, i f you fi nd the book useful , I ask that you consi der maki ng a donati on or purchasi ng the
enhanced Del uxe Edi ti on of thi s book at www.TweakGui des.com. Thi s support wi l l al l ow me to conti nue
rel easi ng a free versi on of thi s book, and to al so conti nue creati ng new works i n the future.

Cheers,

Koroush Ghazi
Owner/Author
In honor of 2,500 years of Persi an Cul ture
TweakGui des.com
Dedi cated to the nobl e i deal s of Cyrus the Great


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BEFORE USING THIS BOOK

Pl ease read the fol l owi ng informati on before attempti ng to make any changes usi ng thi s book.

BASIC REQUIREMENTS
There are several i mportant requi rements you must meet before using thi s book:

You shoul d have prepared backups of all your i mportant i nformati on pri or to undertaki ng any of the
changes detail ed i n this book. Fol l ow the i nstructi ons i n the Backup & Recovery chapter.
You wil l need Admi ni strator l evel access to Wi ndows XP to make the majority of the changes i n this
guide. See User Accounts under the Control Panel chapter for more detail s.
You shoul d have your ori gi nal Wi ndows XP i nstallati on CD readi ly avai labl e - do not undertake the
tweaks i n this book if you don't have an ori gi nal Wi ndows XP i nstall ati on CD.

Unl ess you meet at l east the fi rst two requi rements above, I do not recommend proceedi ng wi th the book as
you may be unabl e to successfull y undertake the tweaks i n thi s gui de, or may run i nto problems.

DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF WINDOWS
Thi s book i s designed equall y to sui t Wi ndows XP Professi onal and Wi ndows XP Home. There are no major
content or performance differences between XP Pro and XP Home. The main di fferences between XP Pro
and Home are covered i n thi s arti cl e. Furthermore, there are no content differences between the vari ous
versi ons of Wi ndows XP such as the OEM Edi ti on, Academi c Edi ti on, and Upgrade Edi tion. These are all
i denti cal i n terms of performance and content to the Full Version of Wi ndows XP. The onl y difference
between these edi ti ons i s that certai n purchasi ng condi ti ons are attached to them: the OEM (Origi nal
Equi pment Manufacturer) Edi ti on can onl y be provided wi th the purchase of a new computer; the Upgrade
Edi ti on requires that you own an earl i er versi on of Wi ndows to i nstal l i t; and the Academi c Edi ti on requi res
that you be a student or quali fi ed educator to purchase i t. However the tweaks and ti ps i n thi s book appl y to
all these versions equall y.

Thi s book does not apply to ol der versi ons of Wi ndows such as Wi ndows95/98/SE/ME - these are based on a
di fferent archi tecture to Windows XP, so many of the descri pti ons of Wi ndows functi onal i ty in thi s book are
not correct for other versions of Wi ndows. Wi ndows 2000/NT/2003/x64 are based on the same underlyi ng
archi tecture as XP, so most if not all of the general ti ps, descri pti ons and tool s should work for those
versi ons, however I cannot speci fy whi ch do not work. I have onl y tested the tweaks and setti ngs i n thi s
book on Windows XP 32-bi t, and cannot provide recommendati ons for other Wi ndows versi ons.
Importantl y, there are separate TweakGuides Tweaking Companions avai labl e for Wi ndows Vista and Wi ndows
7 from the mai n TweakGui des Tweaki ng Compani on page - these are also recommended for XP users who
want to l earn more about the features of these newer operati ng systems.

WHERE ARE THE PICTURES?
There is a di sti nct l ack of pi ctures i n thi s versi on of the book. The Del uxe Edi ti on of this book does contain
screenshots and i l lustrati ve i mages, as wel l as other useful features whi ch make usi ng this book much more
conveni ent, such as hi gh qual i ty text resol uti on for better pri nt quali ty, ful l bookmarks for qui cker chapter
and secti on access, and the abil i ty to copy text which i s handy for purposes such as correctl y assi gni ng
Wi ndows Regi stry values or enteri ng compl ex Command Prompt commands. If you want the book wi th
these features, and more i mportantl y want to show your support, pl ease consi der purchasi ng a Deluxe
Edi ti on from the l i nk above, the el ectroni c versi on of whi ch i s only a few dollars.


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WHY IS THE BOOK SO LONG?
Thi s book is intended pri maril y as an educati onal and reference source. It i s not i ntended for peopl e seeki ng
qui ck fi xes. I provi de expl anati ons for a wi de range of features and procedures for a relati vel y broad
audi ence so that anyone can gai n a good understanding of what they're doi ng, and make up thei r own mi nd,
rather than just taki ng my word for i t. I fi rml y bel ieve i n the ol d sayi ng: Give a man a fish and he will eat for a
day; Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. To fi nd i nformati on on any topi c i n the book at any ti me,
you can use the Tabl e of Contents or press CTRL+F to bri ng up the PDF search functi onal i ty. I wil l not be
rel easi ng a cut-down versi on of this book; there are no '10 best tweaks' or a handful of changes which
magi cal l y speed up or fi x Wi ndows XP. It i s a complex i nterrel ationshi p of hardware and software setti ngs
whi ch determi ne how fast and how stabl e your PC runs, and i t requi res understandi ng and thought to
correctl y optimi ze and customi ze a system.

RECOMMENDED SOFTWARE
Li sted throughout thi s book i s a range of software whi ch I recommend to enabl e you to carry out some of the
procedures in the book or to provi de addi ti onal functi onali ty i n Wi ndows. If you do not feel comfortable in
downl oadi ng or i nstal li ng thi s software for whatever reason, you shoul d i gnore those procedures whi ch rel y
upon i t, as none of them are cri ti cal to the functi oni ng of Wi ndows XP. Furthermore, at no point do you have
to purchase any software. I am not pai d or sponsored by any software or hardware company, so I generally
recommend the best free software availabl e to do the job. In a few cases the software may requi re purchase,
but usual ly the tri al versi on of i t retai ns enough functi onal i ty to compl ete the job for whi ch I have
recommended i t. Of course i f you do find any of the software useful I encourage you to purchase i t or donate
to the software's author. Not everythi ng on the Internet i s free, nor should i t be.

PROBLEMS WITH THE BOOK
Whi le I have made every effort to ensure that thi s book i s as cl ear and accurate as i t can be, I hope you can
appreciate the fact that I cannot possi bly test the i nformati on and recommendati ons i n thi s book on every
potenti al combi nati on of PC hardware and software avail abl e. If there i s anythi ng i n the book whi ch you
bel i eve is genui nel y i naccurate or mi sleadi ng, or if you just want to report a broken l i nk, pl ease Emai l Me
wi th speci fi c detail s and i f appropriate I wi ll recti fy i t i n the next versi on of the book. You can also emai l me
i f you wi sh to share any general feedback or thoughts you have about the book.

However I must stress that the book i s provi ded 'as i s', and I cannot provi de techni cal support of any ki nd. It
si mpl y i sn't vi abl e or appropri ate for me to do so, so under no ci rcumstances wi ll I provide personal ized
opti mi zati on, customizati on or purchasing advi ce/feedback, or any other form of techni cal support rel ated to
the i nformation i n thi s book. The whole reason for wri ti ng this book i s to give each and every reader a
thorough rundown on all the steps necessary to customi ze and opti mi ze their system. As such, there are
suffi ci ent resources and l inks i n this book to hel p anyone learn more about thei r system and sol ve most any
probl em when combi ned wi th addi ti onal research and thought.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES
The basi c theme throughout thi s book is that as l ong as you read and consi der the advi ce gi ven careful l y and
use common sense when appl yi ng any changes, you wi ll remai n probl em-free. I have made every reasonable
effort to ensure that the contents of thi s book are compl etel y accurate to the best of my knowl edge, and that
the si tes and uti li ti es li nked to i n the book are free from any malware or decepti ve practi ces at the ti me of
wri ti ng. In all respects the book is safe to use i f fol lowed correctl y, wi th careful consi derati on and taki ng
appropriate precautions. However for l egal reasons I cannot take any responsibi l i ty for any damage or l oss
i ncurred through the use of thi s book. It is a condition of use for this book that you agree to take full
responsibility for any of your actions resulting from reading this book. If you do not wish to take full
responsi bi li ty for usi ng thi s book and any resul ti ng impacts, then do not proceed any further - cl ose the book
i mmediatel y.


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BASIC PC TERMINOLOGY

Thi s chapter expl ai ns i n layman's terms commonl y used techni cal termi nol ogy. Al l of the major hardware
components found i n a modern PC are also covered. Whi l e advanced users may want to skip thi s chapter,
everyone shoul d read the Bi ts & Bytes secti on bel ow to cl ari fy a common poi nt of confusi on.

BITS & BYTES
You wi ll often see the terms Bi ts, Bytes, Kil obytes, Megabytes and Gi gabytes (or thei r abbrevi ations) bei ng
thrown around. Understandi ng these is very i mportant to l earni ng more about PC usage. To start wi th, a Bi t
(Bi nary Digi t) i s the l owest form of computer i nformati on, and can take the value 0 or 1 (i.e. Off or On). Al l
computer functi onali ty i s deri ved from the behavi or of bi ts. For the purposes of thi s book, the most common
uni ts of measurement are:

8 bi ts (b) = 1 Byte (B)
1,024 Bytes = 1 Kil obyte (KB)
1,024 Ki l obytes = 1 Megabyte (MB)
1,024 Megabytes = 1 Gi gabyte (GB)

Note that bi ts are shown as a smal l 'b', and Bytes are shown as a capi tal B - thi s is an i mportant di sti ncti on.
For exampl e 512kbps is 512 ki l obits per second, whi ch converts to 64KB/s (Ki l obytes per second).

For most users, knowi ng the above conversi on factors i s suffi ci ent for understandi ng the termi nol ogy used
i n thi s book and around the Internet, as wel l as for general PC usage. However stri ctl y speaki ng, the values
shown above are not correct, as explained i n thi s arti cl e. The discrepancy stems from the fact that the
commonl y used metri c prefi xes Kil o, Mega, Gi ga and so forth are based on the deci mal (base ten) system,
whi l e as noted, computers are based on the behavi or of bi ts, whi ch i s a bi nary (two di gi t) system. Therefore
whi l e 8 bi ts sti l l equals 1 Byte under ei ther system, the correct prefi xes to use i n other cases are:

1,024 Bytes = 1 Kibibyte (KiB) 1,000 Bytes = 1 Kil obyte (KB)
1,024 Ki bi bytes = 1 Mebibyte (Mi B) 1,000 Ki l obytes = 1 Megabyte (MB)
1,024 Mebi bytes = 1 Gibibyte (Gi B) 1,000 Megabytes = 1 Gi gabyte (GB)

What's the di fference? Wel l one Kil obyte (KB) actuall y equal s 1,000 bytes, since 'ki l o' i s a deci mal prefi x
meani ng 'thousand'. Yet one Ki l obyte as i nterpreted by a computer i s actuall y 1,024 bytes, so 'kil o' i s not the
appropriate prefi x to use, Ki bi byte (Ki B) i s the correct term referri ng to mul ti ples of 1,024 bytes. Thi s
di screpancy may seem minor at fi rst - onl y 24 bytes di fference between 1KB and 1KiB - but as the values
grow, i t becomes more si gni ficant, so i t i s i mportant to understand the di fference. Thi s is parti cularly true
because hardware and software manufacturers often use these prefi xes differentl y, causi ng PC users a great
deal of confusi on.

The best practi cal example of thi s di screpancy is dri ve capaci ty. A dri ve adverti sed as havi ng 150GB of
storage space i s a techni cal l y correct use of the term Gi gabyte, because i t holds 150,000,000,000 Bytes of
storage. However purchasers of the drive soon become confused when they see that Wi ndows typi call y
reports the dri ve as havi ng onl y 139GB of usabl e space. Thi s i s because 150,000,000,000 Bytes translates to
139GiB i n the bi nary system the computer uses, as opposed to 150GB i n the deci mal system, but Wi ndows
i ncorrectly shows GB i nstead of Gi B. Thi s resul ts i n many users feel i ng ri pped off because thei r usabl e dri ve
space does not match the adverti sed storage capacity. As dri ve capaci ti es grow, the di screpancy between
advertised and reported space becomes much larger, causi ng even greater concern among consumers.


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In any case, to avoid further confusi on, throughout thi s book I wil l conti nue to refer to val ues based on the
accepted (but techni call y inaccurate) common usage, i .e. the way i n whi ch hardware manufacturers report
them, and the way i n whi ch Wi ndows reports them, despi te the di screpancy. Eventuall y however
wi despread adopti on of the correct terms wil l be necessary to prevent growi ng consumer confusi on.

DATA
In the context of PCs and technol ogy, Data i s a general term referri ng to any amount or type of i nformation
whi ch is stored and used by a computer.

PC
A Personal Computer (PC), also referred to as a System, Machi ne, Ri g or Box, i s a coll ecti on of hardware
(el ectroni c components) whi ch functi on as a uni fi ed system through the use of software (programmed
i nstructi ons).

CPU
The Central Processi ng Unit (CPU), also referred to as the Processor, i s the si ngl e most i mportant component
of a PC. The CPU chi p i s typi cal ly a small thi n square chi p whi ch i s seated fi rml y on your Motherboard, and
usual l y covered by a large metal heatsi nk and fan to cool i t. The CPU control s and co-ordi nates the acti ons of
the enti re PC under i nstructi on from software. It has the rol e of determi ni ng whi ch hardware component
does what, assigni ng tasks and undertaki ng compl ex cal culati ons whi ch are then fed through the vari ous
rel evant components and back.

MOTHERBOARD
The Motherboard, also called a Mai nboard or Mobo, i s the l arge rectangul ar Pri nted Ci rcui t Board (PCB) i nto
whi ch all of the el ectroni c components are connected i n a PC. The motherboard is typi call y fi rml y attached
to the i nsi de of a PC Case. The motherboard provi des a network of pathways for the CPU to communi cate
wi th the various hardware components, and a range of ports for standard peri pheral s and other devi ces to
pl ug i nto the PC.

MEMORY
A PC uses several different types of Computer Memory to store data, whether temporaril y or permanently,
for the purposes of speeding up processi ng performance. Memory chi ps are fast because unl i ke other forms
of data storage, such as physi cal Hard Dri ves or Opti cal Dri ves, they have no movi ng parts. The mai n types
of PC memory are covered bel ow:

Random Access Memory (RAM), al so call ed System RAM or si mpl y just Memory, i s the most common form
of hardware used by a PC. RAM usually comes i n the form of a l ong thi n PCB sti ck (a DIMM) that plugs into
the motherboard and through i t provi des a place for the CPU and other components to temporaril y store
any data which the system needs to rapidl y access. RAM only holds data whi l e i t has a source of power; if a
PC i s rebooted or swi tched off, any data i n RAM i s i nstantl y l ost. For thi s reason, this type of memory i s
referred to as Volati le Memory.

Read Onl y Memory (ROM) i s a more permanent form of memory, and works si mi lar to RAM, however
unl ike RAM it can onl y be read from and not wri tten to under normal ci rcumstances. Furthermore i t wi l l not
cl ear when i t has no source of power; that i s, when the system i s rebooted or swi tched off i t does not l ose i ts
contents. For thi s reason, thi s type of memory i s referred to as Non-Vol atil e Memory. ROM is pri mari l y used
to hol d smaller amounts of i mportant data, such as the Basi c Input Output System (BIOS) - the program
whi ch tel ls the computer how to functi on when i t i s fi rst swi tched on - stored on the ROM chi p i n the
motherboard. Certai n ROMs can be wri tten to by use of a process call ed Fl ashing, such as when the BIOS is
flashed wi th a newer version of i ts programmi ng.


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The CPU and other hardware such as hard dri ves often have small memory chips of thei r own call ed Caches
to temporari ly hol d data. Thi s memory i s typi call y a smal ler RAM chi p and is used as another poi nt of
temporary storage to further speed up data transfers.

STORAGE DRIVES
As noted under Memory above, RAM i s only a temporary form of storage, and whi l e able to store data
permanentl y i n the absence of power, ROM has typi call y been too small to store l arge volumes of data, and
i s al so not desi gned for bei ng frequently wri tten to. Therefore modern computers empl oy one or more of
several forms of storage dri ves desi gned to permanentl y hol d data i n l arge quanti ti es and wi th varyi ng
degrees of portabi li ty. Storage dri ves pl ug i nto one of four mai n types of drive control l ers found on the
motherboard, l isted from slowest to fastest bel ow:

Fl oppy Di sk Control l er (FDC);
Integrated Dri ve El ectroni cs (IDE) / Paral l el ATA (PATA);
Serial ATA (SATA); or
Smal l Computer System Interface (SCSI), i ncludi ng Seri al Attached SCSI (SAS).

The control l er avail abl e for any parti cular dri ve to use depends on both the dri ve type and the motherboard
type. Some storage dri ves can also plug i nto the Universal Serial Bus (USB) port of a PC, however thi s i s a
mul ti-purpose port and not a dedi cated dri ve control ler, so i t i s not l i sted above.

The vari ous types of dri ve hardware are covered bel ow:

A Hard Disk Dri ve (HDD) i s a magnetic storage devi ce that acts li ke Memory, except i t i s semi -permanent,
sl ower and far larger i n capaci ty. The hard dri ve is a rectangul ar metal li c box i nside which i s a stack of
round pl atters and a read/wri te head. Whenever the PC requi res data, i t must fi rst be read from the hard
dri ve, usual ly i nto RAM, from where it i s then accessed by the CPU and other devi ces. Data wri tten to the
hard dri ve wi l l remai n on the dri ve regardl ess of whether the system i s rebooted or swi tched off. Because a
hard dri ve has movi ng physi cal components, such as the read/wri te head and a spi nni ng di sk, i t can never
be as fast as memory chi ps - whi ch have no movi ng parts - i n provi di ng data. As a resul t, a system may sl ow
down or stutter whi le wai ti ng for more data to be l oaded up from or wri tten to a hard dri ve. The amount of
data stored on the hard dri ve i tsel f usuall y has no signi fi cant i mpact on i ts performance, however if the data
on the dri ve becomes fragmented, thi s wi ll reduce performance.

A Sol id State Dri ve (SSD) is a memory-based storage devi ce whi ch combi nes the advantages of the speed of
computer memory wi th the more permanent nature and larger capaci ti es of hard di sk dri ves. By usi ng a
type of Non-Volati le memory call ed Fl ash Memory, whi ch i s si mil ar to ROM as covered under the Memory
secti on above, an SSD can store data even when the PC i s rebooted or swi tched off. Unl i ke a hard dri ve, an
SSD has no mechani cal movi ng parts, and as such i s much faster i n accessi ng i ts stored data. As SSDs
become cheaper, faster and more reli abl e, they are steadil y replaci ng hard di sk dri ves for consumer PC
usage.

An Opti cal Di sc Dri ve i s a di sc-based data storage devi ce that reads from and someti mes wri tes data onto
CD, DVD or Bl u-Ray discs vi a laser or other l ight-based methods, hence the use of the term 'opti cal '. These
portabl e discs permanently hol d thi s data unti l overwri tten or deleted. Opti cal dri ves usual ly come i n pl asti c
rectangular boxes wi th a loadi ng sl ot or extendabl e tray i n the front. Whi l e much sl ower than hard dri ves or
SSDs due to physi cal l i mi tati ons, the mai n advantage of opti cal dri ves i s the portabi li ty and relati vel y l ow
cost of their medi a, al ong wi th the fact that such medi a can al so be pl ayed on a variety of non-PC devi ces,
such as standal one DVD or Blu-Ray players. Note that the term disk usual ly refers to magneti c media, li ke a
fl oppy di sk, whi l e the term disc refers to opti cal medi a, such as a DVD di sc.


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A Fl oppy Disk Dri ve (FDD) is a magneti c storage devi ce whi ch reads and writes data on thi n plasti c 3.5"
Fl oppy Di sks. The fl oppy dri ve comes i n a rectangul ar plasti c box wi th a l oadi ng sl ot at the front and a
manual ejection button. Floppy dri ves are extremely sl ow compared to any other form of dri ve, and al so
hol d very l i ttl e data (around 1.44MB), and hence are a l egacy devi ce no l onger used on most modern PCs.
Some PC users retai n a fl oppy dri ve for Wi ndows recovery purposes, or to flash the BIOS, however thi s is no
l onger necessary as most modern PCs now full y support the use of opti cal di scs or USB dri ves for these
purposes i nstead. In fact the onl y major advantage of fl oppy dri ves - the relati ve portabi li ty of thei r 3.5" disk
medi a - has been compl etel y superseded by USB dri ves whi ch are much smaller, faster, sturdi er and more
rel iabl e, and can hol d several GB of data as opposed to just 1.44MB.

A USB Flash Dri ve i s extremel y si mi lar to an SSD, i n that i t al so uses Non-Volati l e Flash memory to store
data. However USB dri ves are typi cally much smaller i n capaci ty and physi cal size, and offer much sl ower
performance and rel iabi li ty than an SSD. Thei r main advantage i s that of l ow cost and portabi li ty due to
thei r very small size, whi ch i s why they are also known as thumb or key dri ves. They pl ug i nto a standard
external USB port on a PC, maki ng them much easi er to use for connecti ng to and transferring data between
di fferent PCs, si nce unl ike a standard dri ve they do not need to be connected to a motherboard dri ve
control l er found i nsi de a PC.

GRAPHICS CARD
The Graphi cs Card, also call ed the Vi deo Card, GPU, Graphi cs Adapter or VGA Adapter, is a mi niature
computer of i ts own dedicated solel y to processi ng compl ex graphi cs-related data. It i s a thi n rectangular
pl astic PCB wi th a Graphi cs Processi ng Uni t (GPU), also known as the Core, and Vi deo RAM (VRAM), al so
known as Video Memory. The GPU and VRAM are the graphi cs-speci fi c equi val ents of the CPU and System
RAM on a PC, and the graphi cs card i tself has Pi peli nes for transferri ng data internall y, simi lar to the data
pathways on a motherboard. The graphi cs card pl ugs i nto the motherboard through one of the fol l owi ng
i nterfaces, sorted from sl owest to fastest:

Peri pheral Component Interconnect (PCI);
Accel erated Graphi cs Port (AGP); or
Peri pheral Component Interconnect Express (PCI-E).

Graphi cs cards typi call y come wi th some form of cool i ng encl osure bui l t around them, to ensure that the
GPU and the VRAM remain cool enough to operate correctl y. The graphi cs card undertakes the majori ty of
3D graphi cs cal culati ons, and al so sends data di rectl y to a Di spl ay Devi ce. Some motherboards have buil t-in
graphi cs functi onali ty that works i n much the same way as a plug-i n graphi cs card, but i s referred to as
Onboard or Integrated Graphi cs. PCs wi th such graphi cs functionali ty typi call y process graphi cs-related
data far l ess qui ckl y than those wi th pl ug-i n graphi cs cards.

DISPLAY DEVICE
A Di splay Devi ce, more commonl y referred to as the Moni tor, is the devi ce through whi ch the PC's data
output i s di spl ayed graphi cal ly. Thi s graphi cal data typi cal ly comes di rectl y from the graphi cs card, and a
di splay device must be pl ugged i nto the graphi cs card to faci l i tate thi s. Some computers sti ll have a
tradi ti onal Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) moni tor as thei r pri mary di splay device, however most modern PC
moni tors now uti l ize Liqui d Crystal Di splay (LCD) technol ogy. Furthermore a modern PC can al so be
pl ugged i nto a tel evi si on set of any type, such as CRT, LCD, Pl asma, Rear or Front Projector, and other
si mil ar technol ogy sets if the user desi res, or even a combi nati on of mul ti pl e displ ays at once i f the graphi cs
card supports such functi onali ty.

Di splay devices have the abi li ty to di spl ay graphi cs at vari ous Di splay Resol uti ons, typi cally expressed in
number of Pixel s wi de by number of Pixel s hi gh (e.g. 1920 x 1200). A Pi xel i s the small est component of a
di gi tal i mage, thus the hi gher the resoluti on, the more pi xel s are displayed on the display devi ce and the


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cl earer the i mage. At each resol uti on a di spl ay devi ce can al so redraw the i mage a number of ti mes per
second, referred to as the Refresh Rate whi ch is expressed i n hertz (Hz). Refresh rate i s not to be confused
wi th Frame Rate, whi ch is expressed in Frames Per Second (FPS). Refresh rate i s a physi cal li mi tati on of a
di splay devi ce i n refreshi ng the i mage on the screen a certai n number of ti mes per second. Frame rate on the
other hand is the number of ti mes per second that the software and graphi cs devi ce can provi de a whole
new frame of i magery.

SOUND CARD
The Sound Card, also call ed the Audi o Card or Audio Devi ce, i s a thi n PCB that acts as a dedi cated CPU for
cal culati on of audi o data. It typi cal ly pl ugs i nto the motherboard, and usual l y has no form of cooli ng
encl osure around i t. Some motherboards have buil t-in audi o functi onal i ty that works i n much the same way
as a sound card, but i s referred to as Onboard or Integrated Sound. PCs wi th such audi o functi onali ty may
process audio-related data l ess qui ckly or wi th l ess addi ti onal functi onali ty than those usi ng pl ug-i n sound
cards.

SPEAKERS
A PC usually comes wi th some form of sound output devi ce, typi cal ly a bui l t-i n PC speaker to provi de
audi bl e warni ngs i n the form of beeps or tones. Users wi th a Sound Card or Integrated Sound can attach
more functi onal sound output devi ces, such as Speakers or Headphones, directl y i nto the sound card or
i ntegrated sound devi ce through the back of the PC. The addi ti on of speakers or headphones all ows the user
to experi ence hi gher quali ty sound and also a potentiall y hi gher number of di screte Audi o Channels whi ch
can i ncrease the reali sm of sound reproducti on.

POWER SUPPLY UNIT
The Power Suppl y Uni t (PSU) i s a square metal box whi ch i s connected to mai ns power from the back of the
PC, and i nsi de the PC i s cabl ed to several major components, as wel l as to the motherboard whi ch regul ates
thi s power to the remai ni ng components. Thus the PSU i s the primary source of power which all ows the PC
to functi on; if the PSU cannot provi de suffi ci ent stabl e power to the hardware components of a PC, i t can
cause errati c behavi or or even a fail ure to start up.

COOLING DEVICES
El ectroni c components can generate a great deal of heat, especi all y when under heavy l oad. The hardware
components i n a PC most suscepti ble to heat buildup, such as the CPU and GPU, come wi th cool ing
sol uti ons designed to di ssipate the heat i nto the surroundi ng ai r. The two most common types of PC Cool ing
sol uti ons used are:

A Heatsi nk i s a square or rectangul ar sol id metal object typi cal ly wi th a perfectl y flat surface on one side,
and mul ti pl e spi nes, fi ns or rods on the other si de(s). The rol e of a heatsi nk is to si t on top of the component
to be cool ed, and draw out the heat from the component through conducti on. Thi s heat then travels al ong
the heatsi nk unti l cool er air and a large surface area hel p i n accel erati ng the dissi pati on of the heat.

A Fan i s designed to draw i n col d ai r or expel hot ai r. Fans can ei ther be empl oyed on thei r own, such as case
fans whi ch simpl y suck i n or bl ow out ai r from a PC case; or they can be mounted on or near heatsi nks to
assi st i n more rapi dly removi ng the heat drawn out from hardware components. The larger the fan and/or
the faster i t rotates, the greater the vol ume of ai r i t can move, hence the greater the potenti al cooli ng, at the
cost of addi tional noi se.

Other forms of cool i ng, such as Watercool i ng, are much l ess common due to thei r addi ti onal cost, risk and
compl exi ty.


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CASE
The PC Case i s a hardened structure, usual l y made of thi n but strong metal and/or pl asti c, whi ch encl oses all
the PC components and onto whi ch the motherboard i s fi rml y attached. The case provi des the basic
framework requi red for holdi ng together and protecting al l the components of a modern PC. However a case
also i ncreases the potenti al for heat bui ldup around components, and can also trap dust whi ch can cause
hardware to overheat and malfuncti on if not cleaned out regularly.

PERIPHERAL
Peri pheral i s a general term referri ng to any devi ce attached or used external ly to a PC, such as a mouse,
keyboard or pri nter for exampl e. The term speci fi cal ly i ndi cates that the devi ce tends to l i e on the peri phery
- that i s, the outsi de - of the PC case. The onl y thi ng peri pherals have i n common wi th each other i s that they
provi de addi ti onal i nput and output capabi li ti es to a PC.

OPERATING SYSTEM AND SOFTWARE
The Operati ng System (OS), such as Windows XP, is a vi tal pi ece of software - a compil ati on of i nstructi ons
that tel l s all the hardware and software components i n a PC how to functi on to achi eve particular outcomes
i n a uni fi ed manner. An OS is a necessi ty on all modern PCs si nce wi thout an overarchi ng program to
provi de core functi onali ty, al l the computer components woul d not be abl e to functi on as a si ngl e machine.
The OS also provi des the mai n i nterface for users to i nteract wi th the PC hardware and software.

Software i s a more general term, referri ng to a col l ecti on of programmed i nstructi ons whi ch through
i nteracti on wi th hardware provi de vari ous functi onality on a PC. Whi le the OS i tself is part of the software
on a PC, and provi des a great deal of functi onali ty, addi ti onall y i nstall ed software provi des further
functi onali ty to perform more speci al ized tasks, such as word processi ng or gami ng.

Hopeful ly the i nformati on i n this chapter has hel ped you to better understand common techni cal
termi nol ogy used throughout thi s book. I encourage you to research further about any particular concept or
component whi ch may confuse or i ntri gue you, as i t i s i mportant to have a sol id groundi ng i n the basi c
concepts and terms before movi ng on to more advanced material. The better you understand the basi cs, the
more readil y you wi ll grasp the more compl ex topi cs covered i n this book.


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SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS

The fi rst step i n opti mizi ng your PC i s to fi nd out preci sel y what hardware components you have, and what
thei r vari ous capabil i ti es are. This i s known as your System Specifi cati ons, and to fi nd out the speci fi c details
of your hardware you requi re an appropri ate set of tool s. Informati on about your system specifi cati ons i s
vi tal both for usi ng thi s book, and for general PC usage and mai ntenance. For exampl e you must know the
model and chi pset type of your motherboard before you can upgrade your BIOS or i nstall the correct
motherboard dri vers; you must know the full capabil i ti es of your graphi cs card i f you want to know i f i t can
run certai n games or to update i ts dri vers; or you may have a compl ex probl em whi ch you wi sh to resolve
yourself or provi de detai ls of to a Techni cal Support person. Thi s chapter covers the tool s you need and the
methods you can use to obtai n al l the relevant system i nformati on.

< SYSTEM INFORMATION TOOLS
There are several good free system i nformati on uti li ti es to choose from, i ncluding some comprehensi ve ones
bui l t i nto Windows XP. A combi nati on of these programs wi ll tel l you everythi ng you need to know about
your system speci fi cati ons and capabi li ties:

WINDOWS SYSTEM INFORMATION TOOL
You can access the Wi ndows System Informati on Tool by going to Start>Programs>Accessori es>System
Tool s>System Informati on, or go to Start>Run, type msinfo32.exe and press Enter. Note that for thi s uti li ty to
work, you wi l l need to have the 'Help and Support' servi ce enabl ed - see the Servi ces chapter for more
detail s.

The System Informati on Tool presents a range of basi c i nformation about your system. Unfortunately much
of i t can be a l i ttl e diffi cult to comprehend or may not be qui te what you're looki ng for. Some of the more
useful pi eces of i nformati on i nclude the IRQ al l ocati ons under Hardware Resources>IRQs; the l isti ng of your
hardware components by type under the Components secti on; and a l i sti ng of all the system dri vers l oaded
up and thei r status under Software Envi ronment>System Dri vers. In general the System Informati on Tool i s
best used by medi um to advanced users who can comprehend the i nterface and the i nformati on much easi er
than a begi nni ng user. Its major advantage i s that i t is a free and bui l t-i n util i ty that anyone can easi ly access.

DEVICE MANAGER
You can access the Wi ndows Devi ce Manager under the Control Panel >System>Hardware tab, or by goi ng
to Start>Run, typi ng devmgmt.msc and then pressi ng Enter. As a bui l t-i n Windows uti li ty you can gai n a
great deal of useful i nformati on from thi s tool . Your major devi ces are di spl ayed under vari ous categories,
and you can even choose to update i ndi vi dual device dri vers or uni nstall a devi ce al together shoul d you
wi sh. The devi ce manager has several important roles and i s covered i n more detail under the Control Panel
chapter.

DIRECTX DIAGNOSTICS
You can access the Di rectX Di agnosti c Uti li ty (DXDiag) by goi ng to Start>Run, typi ng dxdiag and pressi ng
Enter. DXDiag i s another bui l t-i n Wi ndows Diagnosti c/System Informati on tool that is part of the Di rectX
API. When DXDi ag starts up you don't need to worry about WHQL (Wi ndows Hardware Qual i ty Labs)
certi fi cate checki ng as WHQL certi fi cati on i s not necessaril y a sol i d i ndi cati on of a driver's stabil i ty or
functi onali ty - see the Dri ver Instal lati on chapter for more detai ls.


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The mai n tab of DXDiag, call ed System, shows basi c i nformati on about your system such as CPU type and
speed, amount of physi cal RAM and the total pagefil e (Virtual Memory) usage among other thi ngs. Under
the Di splay, Sound and Input tabs you can fi nd more i nformation about the parti cular hardware you are
runni ng for each of these functi ons, and also conduct some basi c tests to ensure they are working to thei r full
extent under Di rectX. In parti cular you shoul d ensure that al l the Di rectX Features l i sted are Enabl ed and
that any Accel erati on opti ons are at maxi mum (sl ider to the far ri ght). If you are experi enci ng probl ems wi th
your hardware you can try the Di rectX troubl eshooting procedures under the 'More Hel p' tab.

The most useful functi on of DXDiag for our purposes i s i ts abi li ty to create a text fi l e wi th all your major
system i nformati on, i ncl udi ng your mai n hardware speci fi cati ons, dri ver fi l es, and envi ronmental setti ngs.
To generate thi s text fil e cli ck the 'Save Al l Information' button found at the bottom of the DXDi ag screen.
You wil l be prompted to save this report somewhere, and the defaul t of the Wi ndows Desktop i s just fi ne.
Thi s DXDiag.txt fi l e can now be attached to an emai l you can send to a Techni cal Support person, or i ts
contents can be posted on an onl i ne forum to al l ow others to hel p you wi th any probl ems you may be
experi enci ng. Don't worry - i t doesn't contai n any private i nformati on such as seri al numbers or passwords.

SIW
SIW is the System Informati on for Windows tool whi ch can be downl oaded from the SIW Websi te. Once
you've downl oaded the standal one versi on of the program, you can si mpl y run i t from the fi le - there's no
need to i nstall anythi ng. The i nterface is i ntui ti ve; click i tems i n the l eft pane to see more detail s about them.
For exampl e, to fi nd out more about your motherboard, cl i ck the Motherboard i tem under the Hardware
secti on, and the detai ls will be shown i n the right pane. Al ternati vel y, you can access each i tem by goi ng to
the Software or Hardware menus at the top of the screen. Note that SIW also has a range of other tool s buil t
i nto i t, but I don't recommendi ng changi ng anything usi ng them - the best use for thi s uti l i ty i s si mply for
vi ewi ng system i nformati on.

3DMARK
You can downl oad the 3DMark from the Futuremark Website and you can read more about i ts main
functi onali ty under the Benchmarki ng & Stress Testing chapter. 3DMark i s primaril y desi gned as a graphi cs
benchmarki ng util i ty, however i t has a ni ce system i nformati on secti on that gi ves you pl enty of i mportant
i nfo. Start 3DMark and on the mai n screen, cli ck the Detail s button under the System section. A browser
screen wil l open wi th a vast array of informati on about your system. Everythi ng from your CPU's cl ock
speed and L1 & L2 Cache sizes, to your dri ve capaciti es and i nterface type. Note that onl y 3DMark 06 or
ol der wi ll run on XP; the newer versi ons of 3DMark are for Wi ndows Vi sta and 7 onl y.

SANDRA
Sandra stands for System ANal yser, Diagnosti c and Reporti ng Assi stant. You can downl oad Sandra from the
SiSoftware Websi te - the Li te versi on i s free, and once i nstall ed, you wi ll see a wi de sel ecti on of i nformati on
and benchmarki ng modules to choose from. Note that duri ng i nstall ation of Sandra, you can disabl e the
Remote Network Servi ces, Pri ce Engines and Rank Engi nes as they are not cri ti cal, however the Rank
Engi nes opti on does all ow Sandra to di splay a compari son of your score wi th others who have run the
benchmark, whi ch can be useful. If you've enabl ed the Rank Engi ne, after i nstall ati on you can customize i t
so that your resul ts aren't made publ i c for exampl e.

Sandra Li te has many i nacti ve (grayed out) modul es, however the mai n ones we need have suffi cient
functi onali ty for our purposes. For exampl e, i f you want to know more about your system, doubl e-cli ck the
Hardware i con (or sel ect the Hardware tab) and then doubl e-cl ick on the Computer Overvi ew modul e. It
wi ll di spl ay a range of useful i nformati on about your system, such as the CPU speed and type, your
motherboard Chi pset, and your Memory Modul e brand and speed. If you then want to know more about
your motherboard i n parti cul ar for exampl e, open the Mai nboard modul e, and i t wi ll di splay more detai l ed
i nformati on.


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Sandra has several very useful benchmarki ng and stress testi ng features that are covered i n more detai l in
the Benchmarki ng & Stress Testi ng chapter. Note that Sandra install s a new Servi ce for itsel f call ed the
'SiSoftware Depl oyment Agent Servi ce' whi ch you shoul d l eave at i ts defaul t.

CPU-Z
A hi ghly recommended tool , you can downl oad CPU-Z from the CPU-Z Websi te. Run the program and i t
wi ll provi de you wi th al l the major i nformati on you requi re about your hardware. It has hi ghl y detailed
i nformati on about your processor under the CPU and Caches tabs, such as the CPU brand, socket type,
speeds and vol tage, and the vari ous cache sizes. It al so provi des key motherboard detai ls under the
Mai nboard tab, and your RAM's complete detai ls under the Memory and SPD tabs, al though note that for
i nformati on to appear under the SPD tab you must first sel ect the sl ot(s) on the motherboard that your RAM
sti ck(s) occupy. CPU-Z even provi des detail s about your graphics card under the Graphi cs tab, as wel l as
PCI-E l i nk speeds under the Graphi cs Interface secti on of the Mai nboard tab.

GPU-Z
Another hi ghl y recommended tool , you can downl oad GPU-Z from the GPU-Z Websi te. Note that GPU-Z i s
di sti nct from the CPU-Z uti l i ty covered above; i t relates to your GPU (Graphi cs Processi ng Uni t), whi ch i s
typi call y your graphi cs card. Run the GPU-Z.exe fi le, and much l i ke CPU-Z, it wi l l provi de you wi th all the
i nformati on you need to know about your graphi cs card. Under the mai n Graphi cs Card tab you wi ll see all
the speci fi cati ons for your graphi cs hardware, i ncl udi ng the amount and type of Vi deo RAM, the l evel of
Di rect X support, the BIOS versi on and the cl ock speeds. Under the Sensors tab you wil l find your current
cl ock speeds, temperatures, fan speed and so forth. Fi nal l y, note that the Vali dati on tab i s there onl y if you
want to submi t your specs to the GPU-Z Statisti cs Database, whi ch i s not essential.

HD TUNE
HD Tune i s a tool for quickl y gai ni ng an i nsi ght i nto your dri ve detail s and current capabil i ti es. The free
(non-Pro) versi on has suffici ent functi onali ty to provide i mportant dri ve detail s incl udi ng a l ist of supported
features, the dri ve standard, fi rmware versi on, serial number, as wel l as the current temperature of the drive
and the heal th of the dri ve. It even i ncl udes a benchmark, whi ch i s covered under the Benchmarki ng &
Stress Testi ng chapter.

There are many other system i nformation tool s whi ch are avai l able, some of whi ch are not free. However a
combi nati on of the tools in thi s secti on shoul d be more than enough to gi ve you all the detail s you need for
every aspect of the hardware that i s i n your PC. I strongl y encourage you to make sure that you are ful ly
aware of your hardware speci fi cati ons and capabil i ti es, as i ncorrect knowl edge can cause major probl ems
when you try to i nstal l drivers or make changes i n software or the BIOS for exampl e. Also make sure you are
fami li ar wi th the contents of the Basi c PC Termi nol ogy chapter i n thi s book.

< PROVIDING SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS
If you ever requi re techni cal assistance for a computer-rel ated probl em, you wil l i nevi tabl y have to provide
your system speci fi cati ons. Whether to a qual ifi ed techni cal support person, or for computer enthusiasts on
an onl i ne forum, you shoul d provide your speci fi cations i n an appropri ate format. Si mply copyi ng the enti re
contents of a DXDiag text fil e for exampl e might be qui ck and easy, but few peopl e have the patience to
wade through i t, so I recommend usi ng the format shown bel ow unl ess i nstructed otherwi se.

Al so bear i n mi nd that no-one can magi cal l y sol ve a probl em si mpl y by l ooki ng at your system
speci fi cati ons, no matter how detai l ed. There i s no real substi tute for becomi ng extremel y fami l iar wi th your
own system, for a range of reasons beyond si mpl y troubl eshooti ng probl ems.


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Use several of the system informati on tool s covered above to fil l in the appropri ate detai ls in the categories
shown bel ow. The more detai l you can provi de, the better - the bare mi ni mum i s the brand and model
number of your major components, but you should add i n detai l s li ke whether any of the components are
overcl ocked or physi cal l y modi fi ed i n any way. I have fi ll ed i n some sample i nformati on from my own
system i n i tali cs:

CPU: Intel Core i7 920 CPU @ 2.66GHz, stock speed, stock cooling
Motherboard: Asus P6T Deluxe X58
Graphics card: Leadtek Nvidia GeForce GTX 285 1GB, stock speed
Monitor: 24" Samsung 2443BW LCD
Sound Card: Onboard ADI AD2000B HD Audio Chipset
RAM: 6GB (3 x 2GB) G.Skill 1333MHz DDR3
Storage Drive(s): Western Digital 150GB VelociRaptor SATA2
Western Digital 74GB Raptor SATA
Optical Drive(s): Pioneer DVD-RW 216BK SATA
Power Supply: Seasonic 700W M12
Operating System: Windows XP SP3, including latest Windows Updates
Other Details: 195.55 Nvidia Forceware graphics driver
6.10.0002.6585 SoundMax HD Audio sound driver
System not overclocked, not physically modified

You can al so provi de detail s of your other hardware, such as the keyboard, mouse, speakers/headphones
and case, however these are usuall y not cri ti cal to solvi ng most PC probl ems, at l east not i n the fi rst i nstance.

I must stress agai n that i t is an extremely i mportant el ement of PC opti mi zati on and customizati on that you
have more than just a passi ng acquai ntance wi th your hardware components. Becomi ng fami li ar wi th
hardware speci fi cati ons and what they mean not only all ows you to di scover areas of potenti al opti mization
on your system and assist wi th troubleshooti ng probl ems, i t also gi ves you the abil i ty to make better
purchasi ng deci si ons when buyi ng a system or upgradi ng any hardware components i n the future.

You shoul d al so become fami l iar wi th the Wi ndows Errors and Benchmark & Stress Testi ng chapters of thi s
book, as they provi de i mportant detail s on how you can go about resol vi ng many common probl ems on
your own PC.


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BACKUP & RECOVERY

Computers can store a great deal of valuabl e i nformati on. Over ti me your PC may come to hol d a l ot of
i mportant, pri vate, i rreplaceabl e data such as digi tal photographs, home movi es, fi nanci al documents,
email s, bookmarks and l ogi n detail s. It i s of cri ti cal importance that you establish an appropri ate method for
regul arl y backi ng up this i nformati on, so that i f your PC i s stolen, damaged, or i ts data is corrupted or
acci dentall y overwri tten, that you do not l ose all thi s valuabl e data permanentl y. Hence backing up is a vi tal
and unavoi dabl e part of sensi bl e computi ng.

Thi s chapter not onl y covers vari ous backup strategi es and tool s, i t also detai ls a range of useful data
recovery methods you can use to regai n valuabl e i nformati on whi ch has been l ost through forgetting
passwords, acci dental del eti on of fi l es, data corrupti on or damage to your Wi ndows i nstall ation. You shoul d
have at l east one backup copy of all your i mportant and i rreplaceabl e data proceedi ng any further wi th thi s
book. If you al ready have a recent backup of all your important data, you can skip thi s chapter and return to
i t at a l ater poi nt.

< MANUAL BACKUP
The most basi c and reli able method of backi ng up your system i s to do thi ngs manuall y. There are methods
that can be used to create automated backups of your system whi ch are covered further bel ow, however I
personal ly use the manual method regularly to ensure I have a 'cl ean' backup copy of all my important fi les,
especiall y i f I am goi ng to do a rei nstall ati on of Wi ndows. Any automated backup util i ty you use may
i nevi tabl y backup the probl emati c or sub-opti mal setti ngs you were tryi ng to escape i n the fi rst place, so a
cl ean manual backup of your data i s strongl y recommended, especiall y i f you are experi enci ng probl ems.

How preci sely you do a manual backup i s up to you; bel ow are my ti ps for prepari ng data and manual l y
backi ng up your i mportant fi les regularl y:

Logical Directory Structure: Create a l ogi cal di rectory structure under your 'My Documents' fol der, wi th
appropriatel y-named sub-fol ders, e.g. Musi c, Vi deos, Pi ctures, Patches, Downl oaded Programs, Dri vers,
Personal Documents, Tax - as many as necessary. Note that you can rename the defaul t di rectori es such as
'My Pi ctures' or 'My Musi c' to Pi ctures or Musi c - ri ght cl i ck on each fol der and rename i t. Now sort all your
rel evant documents i nto these directories. You mi ght al so want to keep copi es of downl oaded programs, a
copy of al l the l atest patches and dri vers and so forth for qui ck usage duri ng Wi ndows reinstall ation, but
these are opti onal . Al ternati vely, if you have a separate data parti ti on or drive, store your fi l es there in
appropriatel y named folders. Havi ng a l ogi cal fi l e structure makes stori ng and fi ndi ng fi les easier, but
i mportantl y it also makes regular manual backups much easi er to perform.

Internet Bookmarks: In Internet Expl orer you can create a backup fi l e of your Favori tes by goi ng to Fi l e
menu>Import and Export>Export Favori tes. Fol l ow the prompts to export your Favorites to a sui table
l ocati on under the default name Bookmark.htm. Back thi s fil e up, and to i mport your Favori tes back i nto
Internet Expl orer at any ti me go back to the Import and Export functi on and choose 'Import Favori tes'. If you
use a browser l i ke Mozil la Fi refox, you can backup your bookmarks by going to the Bookmarks menu,
sel ecti ng 'Organize Bookmarks', then cl i cki ng the 'Import and Backup' button and choosi ng ei ther the
Backup or 'Export HTML' opti ons.

Program Directories: Don't attempt to backup an enti re program or game di rectory, as you cannot
restore/rei nstall a game or program i n thi s manner - these wi l l not run properl y i f they are copi ed back onto


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another i nstall ati on of XP due to the l ack of appropriate regi stry entri es and fi les spread throughout various
other di rectori es. You must use the ori ginal i nstall ation fil es/di scs to rei nstall a program or game correctl y.

Saved Games: If you want to backup any saved games or game confi gurati on fi les, these are typi cal l y hel d
under the game's mai n di rectory, i n a \Saves, \Savegames, or \[profilename] di rectory, or hel d under
\Documents and Settings\[username]\ i n the \My Documents, \My Games or \[gamename] di rectory. If you are
havi ng problems wi th a game, backi ng up i ts saved games shoul d sti ll be fine, but I don't recommend
backi ng up any of the game's configurati on fi les as i t may just pass the probl em onto your new i nstall .

Usernames/Passwords: You can store all your usernames and passwords securel y electronicall y - see the
Backi ng Up & Restori ng System Passwords secti on further below. If you have no i nterest i n el ectroni c
storage systems then compi l e a wri tten l ist/pri ntout of the major usernames and passwords on your system.
However you must then store thi s li st safel y i n a physi call y secure pl ace li ke a safe, and keep i n mi nd that
any ti me you wri te down or store your passwords in unencrypted format i n any l ocati on you are faci ng a
securi ty ri sk if i t fal ls i nto the wrong hands, parti cularl y i f you share your PC wi th other users.

Backup to Disk or Drive: Once you have determi ned the fi l es to backup, you shoul d regularl y backup your
i mportant files/programs to another medi um, such as another hard dri ve, a USB fl ash dri ve, or to DVDs. I
certai nl y don't recommend backi ng up your fil es to another parti ti on on your mai n system dri ve. I
recommend rewri teabl e DVDs or a USB flash dri ve i n parti cul ar simpl y because aside from ease of storage, i t
i s easi er to transfer data to any other PC vi a these medi ums. When sel ecti ng which fi l es to regularly back up,
gi ve top pri ori ty to fi l es that are genuinel y i rrepl aceabl e, such as digi tal photos and fi nanci al documents.
Anythi ng that has a hi gh senti mental or monetary value shoul d be backed up often, i deal l y to more than one
l ocati on. Data whi ch changes frequentl y should al so be backed up more often.

< AUTOMATIC BACKUP
If you want a more comprehensi ve method of backing up your data that will take up more space but is
automated, and hence may be more fool proof, then you can use an automated backup tool . Note that i f you
are havi ng any sort of general system probl ems or qui rky behavi or, I recommend agai nst using thi s method
to backup your data and setti ngs. Any automated tool may capture and transfer the same probl ems you
experi enced before onto your new i nstal l of Wi ndows XP, defeati ng the enti re purpose of doi ng a fresh
i nstal l of Windows. Onl y use these methods if you genui nely aren't experi enci ng any probl ems and have
general ly troubl e-free performance.

WINDOWS BACKUP UTILITY
You can access the Windows Backup Util i ty by goi ng to Start>Al l Programs>Accessori es>System
Tool s>Backup, or by goi ng to Start>Run and typi ng ntbackup and pressi ng Enter. Wi ndows XP Home users
wi ll not have access to the Backup uti li ty by defaul t, but i t can be manuall y i nstall ed from the Wi ndows XP
Home CD by foll owi ng the i nstructi ons i n this Mi crosoft Arti cl e. Basi cal ly i t i nvol ves i nserti ng the Wi ndows
XP CD i nto your dri ve, openi ng Windows Expl orer, goi ng to the \VALUEADD\MSFT\NTBACKUP\
di rectory on the Wi ndows CD and doubl e-cl i cki ng on the Ntbackup.msi fi l e to start i nstal lati on of i t.

The Backup Uti li ty has several methods of usage, whi ch are detail ed i n thi s Microsoft Arti cle, but essentially
i t i nvol ves the fol l owi ng steps:

1. Run the Backup Uti li ty and cl i ck the 'Advanced Mode' li nk to swi tch to a more customizable method of
backi ng up.
2. Go to the Backup tab, and put a ti ck i n the boxes next to the di rectori es that you want to back up.
3. Sel ect the 'System State' box i f you want to ensure all the addi tional system setti ngs relating to your
setup are backed up as well (i.e. your regi stry setti ngs etc.). Al ternati vely, if you don't want to save these


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as wel l (i .e. you want to restore your backups onto a cl ean i nstall of Wi ndows), then don't ti ck the
'System State' box.
4. Cl i ck the Browse button at the bottom, and sel ect the desti nation for the backup. Thi s is usuall y another
hard dri ve given the amount of data i nvol ved; the Backup uti li ty cannot backup to CDs/DVDs.
5. Cl i ck the 'Start Backup' button to commence backi ng up. The process may take qui te some ti me
dependi ng on how many di rectories you chose to back up, and the type of medi um to whi ch they are
bei ng transferred.
6. To restore thi s backup i n the future, run the Backup uti l i ty agai n, but thi s ti me under 'Advanced Mode'
cl i ck the 'Restore Wi zard' button and follow the prompts.

The Wi ndows Backup uti lity has many more opti ons and methods for backi ng up, so go through the options
for confi guring the util i ty under the Tool s>Opti ons menu i n Backup.

THIRD PARTY DRIVE IMAGING SOFTWARE
There are thi rd party programs avail abl e whi ch can provi de features si mil ar to the Wi ndows Backup uti li ty.
The two major software packages for i magi ng drives qui ckl y and easi ly are Norton Ghost and Acroni s
TrueImage. However neither i s free, so they wi l l not be covered here i n any detail - refer to the rel evant
Norton Ghost Manual or the Acroni s TrueImage User Gui de for more detai ls. The mai n benefit of these thi rd
party i magi ng uti li ti es i s that they provi de a wi der choi ce of opti ons, and take a full i mage snapshot of your
enti re Wi ndows i nstallati on whi ch can then be restored i n full whenever you wish.

ONLINE BACKUP
Onl i ne backup servi ces allow you to back up data to a secure l ocati on, typi cal ly a remote data center. Thi s
ensures that your data is encrypted and stored safely, but thi s not a free servi ce, so i t i s only recommended i f
you genui nely need that level of protecti on agai nst data l oss or theft. This form of backup i s not absol utel y
necessary for the average user, but i t provi des addi ti onal securi ty and peace of mi nd, particularly i n the
event of fi re or theft, whereby your PC and your onsi te backups may all be destroyed or stol en, l eavi ng you
wi th nothi ng to rel y on for restori ng your data. For the average user however there are several ways of using
free onl i ne servi ces to provi de added securi ty agai nst such data l oss:

ISP Storage: Many Internet Servi ce Provi ders (ISPs) provi de thei r customers with a basi c web space to whi ch
you can upl oad personal data. This i s a relati vely secure and typi cal l y free method of stori ng your data
offsi te - check your ISP's websi te or contact them di rectl y for further detail s. Even i f a small fee i s i nvol ved i n
obtai ni ng such a facil i ty, i t can be worthwhi l e gi ven the added protecti on i t provi des you as another l ocation
to store your backups.

Email Storage: Free emai l servi ces such as Gmai l provi de extremely l arge amounts of storage space - i n the
order of several Gi gabytes. Whi l e I do not recommend upl oadi ng/emai ling any sensiti ve data to these
l ocati ons, as they are not compl etel y secure, they do serve as good hol di ng spots for addi tional backups of
di gi tal photos and other i mportant i rrepl aceabl e fi les. In fact you can use free uti l i ties such as GSpace or
Gmai l Dri ve to make storage of data on a Gmai l account much easi er to manage, though bear i n mi nd that
Gmai l and other free email provi ders may take steps to prevent thi s practi ce i f i t becomes wi despread.

Photo Storage: There are a range of free photo al bum provi ders whi ch wil l all ow you to upload and keep a
l arge l i brary of di gi tal photos, whi ch is extremely useful as yet another pl ace to store photos whi ch are
otherwi se i rrepl aceabl e i n case your ori gi nals are ever l ost. The most popul ar free photo gall ery provi ders
are Fl i ckr, Photobucket and Pi casa. Make sure to read the i nstructi ons for the gal l ery and enable al l the
pri vacy features so that members of the publ i c cannot vi ew your gal l ery contents wi thout your permissi on.
Regardl ess of such features, a di rect li nk to a parti cul ar photo can often be publ i cl y di scovered, so I do not
recommend upl oadi ng sensi ti ve photos to such galleri es.


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Ul ti matel y, if you beli eve your data i s worth preservi ng agai nst all eventual i ties, or you need to store i t wi th
maxi mum securi ty, i t i s necessary that you consi der a professi onal remote data storage service to hol d your
backups. The free opti ons whi l e conveni ent do not provi de sufficient securi ty agai nst unauthori zed access.
Of course most Wi ndows users do not requi re thi s level of protecti on; regularly taki ng manual backups and
keepi ng a copy of them i n a fireproof safe for exampl e i s suffi cient protecti on.

< SYSTEM RESTORE
Once the i ni ti al backi ng up of your data and programs i s done, and i f you are not goi ng to reformat and
rei nstall Wi ndows XP, you need to create a new System Restore poi nt as an addi ti onal safeguard before
doi ng any tweaki ng. Usi ng System Restore means that even i f you make a large number of system changes
you can 'undo' these changes if you run i nto any probl ems. More detail s of the System Restore functional i ty
can be found i n thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e. It i s strongl y recommended that you create a new Restore Poi nt prior
to i mpl ementi ng any major tweak or system change by foll owi ng these steps:

1. Go to Start>Programs>Accessori es>System Tool s and l aunch System Restore, or open MSConfi g
(Start>Run>MSConfi g), and cli ck the 'Launch System Restore' button.
2. In the System Restore Wizard, cl i ck 'Create a Restore Poi nt' and foll ow the prompts to save your system
state i n a new restore poi nt.
3. At any ti me, i f you wi sh to return your computer to the state i t was i n when you created a parti cular
Restore Poi nt, foll ow step 1 above to get to the System Restore Wizard. Then click 'Restore my computer
to an earl i er ti me', and sel ect the date on whi ch you created the restore poi nt you wi sh to return to.

Note that i f System Restore i s enabled, Wi ndows automati cal l y makes restore poi nts under certai n
ci rcumstances, such as duri ng the i nstall ation of new dri vers, or pri or to the i nstal lati on of certai n
appl i cati ons. Thi s gi ves you addi ti onal protecti on agai nst potenti al l y catastrophi c system-i ntrusi ve changes
on your system. However a restore poi nt i s not a guarantee that you can just go back to the way thi ngs were
i f somethi ng goes wrong. In some cases tryi ng to undo a change by goi ng back to a recent restore poi nt
won't resol ve a probl em, so onl y use System Restore as an addi ti onal layer of protecti on - you shoul d al ways
make backups of your i mportant data often, regardless of whether you use System Restore or not. System
Restore does not backup personal fil es or folders, i t i s onl y a tool to capture the current state of i mportant
system fil es and setti ngs, so i t is not a general backup uti li ty.

If your system i s currently stabl e and probl em-free, and you have made a recent restore poi nt, you can clean
out al l older restore poi nts except for the l atest one by usi ng the Di sk Cl eanup util i ty, thus freei ng up a great
deal of dri ve space - see the Cl eani ng Wi ndows chapter. Fi nall y, note that System Restore wi ll not functi on if
you've disabled the 'System Restore' servi ce - see the Servi ces chapter for details.

< BACKING UP THE WINDOWS REGISTRY
The Wi ndows Regi stry i s a cri ti cal component of Wi ndows, and any probl ems you experi ence wi th i t can
make Wi ndows unbootable, or resul t i n a vari ety of errors or strange behavi or - see the Windows Registry
chapter. That i s why i t is i mportant to have a backup of the regi stry before undertaki ng any tweaki ng or
system-i ntrusi ve changes.

ERUNT
The most effici ent and fool proof way of backi ng up the enti re regi stry is not to use the Export functi on in
Regi stry Edi tor - that method i s only handy for saving i ndi vi dual branches of the Registry. Unfortunately
full Regi stry backups made by Registry Edi tor wil l not restore your enti re regi stry correctl y if i t becomes
corrupted. Instead, I strongl y recommend you use a free util i ty call ed Erunt (Emergency Recovery Util i ty for
NT). Downl oad thi s small program and i nstall i t, but note that duri ng the i nstal lati on of Erunt you should
answer 'No' when asked if you want Erunt to be placed i n the startup fol der, as thi s i s unnecessary.


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To make a backup of the Wi ndows Regi stry usi ng Erunt, launch the program. You wi ll be prompted to
backup your registry to a fol der, whi ch you should accept by cl i cki ng Ok until the backup has been made. If
you want to restore thi s backup at any poi nt, si mply go to the di rectory where the backup was made -
typi call y \Windows\ERDNT\[Date of backup]\ - and launch the ERDNT.exe fil e there to restore that backup.

< BACKING UP & RESTORING PASSWORDS
One of the bi ggest headaches when runni ng Wi ndows woul d be l osi ng your mai n l ogi n password,
parti cul arl y if you're the Admi nistrator on your machi ne. Wi th the NTFS fil e system i t i s qui te diffi cul t to
access the data on your system dri ve wi thout the correct l ogi n password. Clearl y the best thi ng to do i s
backup your password now before anythi ng happens, so that i f necessary you can restore it wi thout any
di ffi cul ties. If you don't use a password to l ogi n to Windows then you can ski p these i nstructions.

The recommended way to backup your l ogi n password is as foll ows:

BACKING UP LOGIN PASSWORD
1. Go to Control Panel>User Accounts and cl i ck on your User Account.
2. Cl i ck on 'Create a Password Reset Di sk' i n the l eft pane. The Forgotten Password Wizard wil l open up.
Cl i ck Next.
3. Insert a bl ank formatted 3.5" fl oppy di sk i nto your A:\ dri ve or attach a USB flash dri ve and cl i ck Next.
If you need to format the dri ve fi rst, i nsert the fl oppy di sk or USB dri ve, open Wi ndows Expl orer, ri ght-
cl i ck on the rel evant dri ve l etter and select Format.
4. Type your current User Password i n the box and cl ick Next. Once the backup has been created, cl i ck
Next and sel ect Fi nish. Store thi s di sk/stick somewhere safe, as anyone can use i t to access your account.

Note that some peopl e may use any old 3.5" fl oppy di sk they fi nd to backup thei r password and often these
di sks are qui te ol d. A fl oppy di sk has an error-free l ife of 10 years on average, so I urge you to buy a smal l
USB flash drive just for this purpose.

RESTORING LOGIN PASSWORD
If you ever need to restore your password from the backup created above, foll ow these steps:

1. Boot your PC as normal , and on the Windows Logi n screen sel ect your User Name.
2. Try enteri ng your password (or just press Enter), and if i t's i ncorrect you'll get a message sayi ng the
Username or Password i s incorrect. Cli ck OK and then sel ect 'Reset Password', inserti ng the password
reset di sk or USB flash drive you created earli er.
3. Fol l ow the Password Reset Wizard to set a new password and l og back i nto your system.

Note that the password reset di sk needs to be wri te-enabl ed so that Wi ndows can update i t wi th the new
password automati cal l y duri ng thi s procedure. When done, you shoul d once agai n put i t away i n a
physi call y secure place.

RESETTING YOUR LOGIN PASSWORD
There i s a method by whi ch you can get to your data i n case you've l ost your mai n Admi n l ogi n password.
The uti li ti es and methods are covered on thi s Offl i ne NT Password & Regi stry Edi tor si te. The si te provi des a
bootdi sk i mage whi ch when used to boot up your PC wi ll provide an opti on to unl ock user accounts that
woul d otherwi se be i naccessi bl e. It i s a method of last resort, si nce i t can actuall y corrupt data i f used
i ncorrectly, or i f your fil es have been EFS encrypted for exampl e. Read the i nstructi ons on the si te careful l y,
and use wi th cauti on.


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STORING PASSWORDS
If you want to hol d al l your vari ous usernames and passwords i n a rel ati vel y straightforward central
database protected by hi gh l evel encrypti on, whi ch also provi des the abi li ty to securel y export and store the
database for backup purposes, use the free KeePass Password Safe uti li ty. There i s both a Cl assi c Edi ti on and
a newer version avai labl e to downl oad. The di fferences i n features are spell ed out i n thi s table, but for the
most part all the functi onal i ty requi red, i n addi ti on to portabi li ty and smal ler footpri nt, can be found i n the
Cl assi c Edi ti on (ZIP Package) versi on of thi s software, whi ch i s the one I recommend and descri be bel ow.

To use KeePass, launch KeePass.exe and sel ect New under the Fi l e menu, then enter a Master Password
and/or sel ect a Key Fil e. These measures are used to secure the password l ist, and whi le the key fi le is not
essential, make sure to enter a master password whi ch has a hi gh bi t-rate by usi ng a combi nati on of l etters
both l owercase and uppercase, as wel l as numbers, and not just a common word or name. Thi s master
password is a cri ti cal component - if you forget i t, there is no way to unl ock your password li st. Once the
database is created, you can populate it. The database i s sorted by groups, whi ch are si mply categori es of
passwords. You can ri ght-cl i ck i n the left pane and add new groups, add sub-groups under the existing
groups, or remove any group or sub-group as you wi sh. Hi ghli ght the group whi ch you beli eve your
username/password combi nati on is best stored under, and i n the ri ght pane ri ght-cli ck and select 'Add
Entry' to create a new entry contai ni ng your username and password combi nati on for a parti cular Wi ndows
feature, other software, or a websi te. Do thi s as many ti mes as requi red to populate the database wi th al l the
username and password combi nati ons you wi sh to store.

You can backup thi s password database to any l ocati on you wi sh by usi ng the 'Export To' feature under the
Fi l e menu. I strongl y recommend exporti ng the database as a KeePass Database .KDB fil e. Thi s database can
then be stored or backed up wherever you wish, and i ts contents can only be successfull y vi ewed by usi ng
KeePass to open the fi l e and enteri ng the correct master password. Because the database is encrypted, it i s
vi rtual ly i mpossi bl e to access the database contents wi thout the right password/key fi l e.

RECOVERING PASSWORDS
If you haven't stored your passwords and you've managed to forget or l ose a username/password, there are
several util i ties you can use to recover vari ous passwords currentl y stored on your system. To recover
passwords i n Internet Expl orer, MSN or for your Outl ook Express accounts you can use the Protected
Storage PassVi ew Uti li ty. If you have forgotten a password whi ch i s now onl y vi si ble as a seri es of ****'s i n a
password dial og box or on a websi te, you can try usi ng Revelati on or Asterisk Key to show you the actual
password being used. Fi nall y, you can use RockXP to retri eve a seri es of passwords and keys on your
Wi ndows i nstal lati on that are usual ly hidden.

Detai led usage i nstructi ons for these uti l i ti es are not provi ded as they are rel ati vel y straightforward to use.
The presence of these tool s al so l ets you see that nothi ng i s compl etel y safe on your machi ne, so i t is
i mportant to al ways restrict physi cal access to your machi ne onl y to trusted i ndi vi dual s, and al ways fol low
the ti ps i n the PC Securi ty chapter.

< FILE DELETION AND RECOVERY
Acci dental del eti on of fi l es i s one of the most common ways i n whi ch fi l es are lost. By default Wi ndows XP
has mi ni mal protecti on agai nst acci dental del eti on; as noted earli er i n thi s chapter, System Restore does not
protect or backup personal fi les and folders. Asi de from l eavi ng the Recycl e Bin enabl ed and maki ng sure
that fi l es are moved there when del eted, there i sn't a great deal of protecti on agai nst uni ntended permanent
del eti on of fi les. Fortunately, when you del ete a fil e from your system the fi l e is removed from vi ew and you
regai n the space on your dri ve, however i t i s not actuall y permanentl y del eted from the dri ve. In fact,
nothi ng on your dri ve is permanentl y removed when you del ete i t. Whenever you del ete a fi le Wi ndows
si mpl y marks i t for del eti on by changi ng one character i n the fil e tabl e. The entire fil e i s sti ll si tti ng on your
dri ve, but is not vi si ble. Wi ndows then all ows other fil es to wri te over the space where i t resi des i f requi red,


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but the fil e i s not gone from your dri ve unti l i t i s compl etel y overwri tten at some poi nt. This means that you
can recover fil es that have been 'permanentl y' del eted, but you need to act qui ckl y and wil l requi re special
software to do so.

RECOVERING DELETED FILES
There are several tool s you can use to potenti all y recover your del eted fil es:

Recuva: To use Recuva, after i nstal li ng it you can si mpl y foll ow the wizard which appears. For more opti ons,
cl i ck the 'Switch to advanced mode' button i n the mai n Recuva wi ndow, or di sabl e and exi t the wi zard at
startup. Essenti all y once you specify the parti cular dri ve to scan, or all avai labl e dri ves i f you so wi sh, you
then speci fy the fil e type you're l ooki ng for - whether by usi ng the drop-down l ist, or entering a porti on of
the fil ename (or leave the box bl ank for al l fil es), and then cl i ck the Scan button. One of the benefi ts of
Recuva is that i t provi des a previ ew of the recovered fi les wherever possi bl e, maki ng i t easi er to determine
whi ch may be the sui tabl e one to restore. Another benefi t is that Recuva can fi nd and restore del eted email s.
If nothi ng is found after a basi c scan, you can opt for an i n-depth scan if prompted, or cl ick the Opti ons
button and under the Actions tab ti ck the 'Deep Scan' box and scan agai n, but bear i n mi nd thi s could take
qui te a whil e.

Restoration: To use Restorati on fi rst downl oad the fil e and run i t to extract the contents to an empty di rectory,
preferabl y on a USB fl ash dri ve or another dri ve. Then run the Restoration.exe fil e and ei ther enter a fil ename
i n the search box, or a file extensi on (e.g. JPG, DOC, TXT), or leave the box bl ank (to fi nd al l recoverable
del eted fi l es) and cli ck the 'Search Deleted Fi les' button. Restoration wi l l scan your dri ve for fi les whi ch can
be restored and li st them. Once done, you can highlight a fil e and cl i ck 'Restore by Copyi ng' to recover i t.

IsoBuster: If you want to recover del eted or damaged fi les on a CD or DVD disc, you wil l have to use a more
speciali zed uti l i ty such as IsoBuster. Whi l e i t can be downl oaded for free, IsoBuster requi res purchase for
full functi onal i ty. However you can use the free versi on to fi rst check to see i f there i s any recoverabl e data
on your particular disc. There i s no guarantee that any usabl e data can be recovered from a damaged or
del eted di sc - parti cul arl y if i t has been overwri tten.

Regardl ess of whi ch tool you use, the more acti vi ty there i s on the medi um where the del eted fi les resi de, the
l ess chance you can ful l y recover them, si nce porti ons of them may have been overwri tten by new data. Thi s
i s why the fil es recovered by any tool are often not compl ete since porti ons of them have al ready been
overwri tten, so there i s no guarantee you can recover a usabl e fi le thi s way. For thi s reason, i f you have
acci dentall y del eted an i mportant fi l e, try and mi nimi ze any further acti vi ty before runni ng a data recovery
uti li ty. If you can't run a recovery uti li ty straight away i t i s best to shut down Wi ndows immedi atel y to
prevent a background task from commenci ng as these wi ll potentiall y overwri te the areas where del eted fi l e
porti ons are si tti ng. Furthermore i t i s best to i nstal l on and run a recovery uti li ty from another dri ve, again to
prevent overwri ti ng data on the dri ve where the deleted fi l es reside.

PERMANENTLY DELETING FILES
As you may have noti ced, i t i s enti rel y possi ble to recover some or all of a fi l e after i t has been 'permanentl y'
del eted i n Windows. If you ever want to trul y permanentl y del ete a fil e so that others can't recover i t i n any
practi cal sense, you can use the Recuva, Restorati on or CCl eaner programs to do thi s - see the Cl eaning
Wi ndows chapter for CCleaner detai l s.

To securely permanentl y del ete a fi l e, fi rst del ete the fi l e as normal i n Wi ndows - i .e. hi ghl ight i t i n Windows
Expl orer, press Del ete, then empty the Recycl e Bi n.

Next, i f usi ng Recuva, l aunch i t and do a scan for that fi lename (or al l fi l es) as normal , and i t shoul d show up
i n the l i st of recoverabl e fi l es. Ri ght-cl ick on the fi l e and select 'Secure Overwri te Hi ghl ighted'. Thi s wi ll


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overwri te all areas of that fi l e wi th data such that i t can't be recovered. If you want to adjust how secure the
overwri ti ng is, cl i ck the Opti ons button and under the General tab, select the desi red l evel of overwri ti ng for
the 'Secure overwri ti ng' opti on; the more passes the more secure i t wi ll be.

If usi ng Restorati on, then launch i t and enter the name of the fi le (or l eave blank for all fi l es) and cl i ck 'Search
Del eted Fi les'. When Restorati on fi nds the fil e and l ists i t, highli ght the fi le and go to the Others fi le menu i n
Restorati on and sel ect 'Delete Compl etely'.

These methods wi ll permanentl y del ete a fi le so that i t i s effecti vel y unrecoverabl e by vi rtuall y any program
or method. However there al ways remai ns the possi bi li ty that the fi l e may sti ll be recoverabl e by l aw
enforcement agenci es usi ng speciali zed methods, al though i t is hi ghly unl i kely that anyone coul d recover
the bul k of thi s data regardl ess of the methods used.

LOW LEVEL FORMAT AND ZERO FILL
Peopl e might suggest that you Low Level Format your dri ve to permanentl y remove data or fi x a dri ve
probl em. This is not recommended unl ess you are experi enci ng severe hard drive probl ems, and even then i t
i s not possi ble on most modern hard dri ves due to the compl exi ty i nvol ved. Modern hard dri ves are l ow-
l evel formatted at the factory to create tracks and sectors and do not need to have i t done agai n. The correct
course of action i s to Zero Fi l l your drive, whi ch peopl e often confuse for a l ow-l evel format. Thi s method
overwri tes the enti re hard dri ve wi th bl ank data, ensuri ng that everythi ng i s del eted permanentl y for most
i ntents and purposes, but it i s not as i ntensi ve or potenti all y di sk-damagi ng as a l ow-l evel format. A zero fill
i s your best bet i n getti ng back to a 'good as new' hard dri ve.

A qui ck and easy way to zero fil l a hard dri ve and error check i t at the same ti me i s to use the bui l t-in
formatti ng functi onali ty of Windows i tsel f to do a full format. If however you insi st on l ow level formatting
a hard dri ve and/or usi ng a custom di agnosti c program to error check i t and ensure that i t is wi ped
absolutel y cl ean, then check your hard dri ve make and model and consul t your manufacturer's websi te for
an appropriate util i ty such as: Seagate Di skWizard & SeaTool s for both Seagate and Maxtor dri ves, Western
Di gi tal Data Li feGuard, or Hi tachi Drive Fi tness. If you are usi ng an SSD, you wil l need to use a custom
uti li ty to erase the dri ve, whi ch shoul d be avail abl e from your SSD manufacturer's websi te.

< SYSTEM RECOVERY
Thi s secti on covers methods of recovering data and/or control of Wi ndows after a major system error. Al so
refer to the Wi ndows Errors chapter for more details of troubl eshooti ng Wi ndows errors whi ch coul d be the
source of such probl ems.

RECOVERING FROM A CORRUPTED REGISTRY
After any changes you make to Windows XP, i f your system i s crashi ng and you are havi ng major problems
booti ng i nto Wi ndows, i t is typi cal ly because the Windows Regi stry contai ns i ncorrect or corrupted setti ngs.
If you can't boot i nto Wi ndows to use System Restore or Erunt to restore your system or regi stry, foll ow one
of the steps bel ow:

Duri ng bootup, keep pressi ng the F8 key and you'l l soon see a range of options, i ncludi ng 'Load last
good configurati on'. Sel ect i t and your computer shoul d boot i nto Wi ndows hopeful l y devoi d of the
recent changes you made whi ch have caused probl ems.
If you have a recent Restore Poi nt, but can't boot to the Wi ndows desktop for some reason, keep pressi ng
F8 duri ng bootup, but thi s ti me choose the opti on to 'Boot i nto Safe Mode' (See further bel ow). In Safe
Mode you can access System Restore by goi ng to Start>Run, typing MSconfig and pressi ng Enter, then
cl i cki ng the 'Launch System Restore' button.


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Al ternati vel y you can press F8 repeatedl y at bootup once agai n, and this ti me select to boot i nto 'Safe
Mode wi th Command Prompt', and at the command prompt whi ch opens type
\ Wi ndows\ Syst em32\ Rest or e\ r st r ui . exe then press Enter to open System Restore.

For more detail s on how to recover from a corrupted regi stry, see thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e.

SAFE MODE
Safe Mode i s an i mportant Wi ndows mode whi ch only l oads up the bare essentials requi red for Wi ndows XP
to functi on. Thi rd party dri vers, graphi cal enhancements, startup programs, unnecessary processes etc. are
all ski pped and onl y the mi ni mum requi red to di splay and use Wi ndows and access your drives i s provided.
Safe Mode is provi ded preci sel y for troubl eshooti ng purposes and not for general usage. The i dea is that by
reduci ng the number of software vari abl es i nvol ved it i s easi er to identi fy the cause of a probl em. You can
read the full detail s of Safe Mode opti ons i n thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e. To access Safe Mode do the fol l owi ng:

1. Make sure there are no discs i n your opti cal dri ve(s) and reboot your PC.
2. As your PC starts booti ng up keep pressi ng the F8 key and you wi l l soon reach the Wi ndows Advanced
Opti ons menu where you can see a range of opti ons, each descri bed i n detai l i n the arti cl e l i nked above.
3. Sel ect the safe mode opti on you prefer - for most purposes I recommend the defaul t 'Safe Mode' opti on
whi ch l oads the l east number of devi ce dri vers.
4. You wil l reach the Wi ndows Desktop whi ch wil l be shown at low resol uti on, l ow col or bi t-depth and
wi th no graphi cal enhancements. The words 'Safe Mode' wil l appear around the edges of the screen to
i nform you that you are runni ng a cut-down versi on of Wi ndows XP. Note: if you cannot enter Safe
Mode, this i s the si gn of a more seri ous probl em, and you wi ll need to see the Recovery Consol e secti on
further bel ow.

The mai n use for Safe Mode i s to determi ne whether your devi ce dri vers or i nstall ed software are the source
of a probl em you are currentl y experi enci ng. Because Safe Mode does not l oad any of your i nstal l ed thi rd
party devi ce dri vers - i nstead usi ng the defaul t versi ons bui l t i nto Windows XP - and because Safe Mode
does not l oad up any unnecessary startup programs or servi ces, thi s gi ves you the opportuni ty to determi ne
whether your i nstall ed appl i cati ons or one (or more) of your startup programs is causi ng probl ems.

If you coul dn't boot i nto Wi ndows XP normall y, but you can i n Safe Mode for example, that i s a cl ear si gn
that one of your recentl y i nstal l ed dri ver(s) or appl icati on(s) is the l i kel y cause of the probl em. You can
choose to remove recent software or dri vers compl etel y by goi ng to Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs
and uni nstal li ng them from there. Al ternati vely you can experi ment by usi ng MSConfi g or Autoruns (See
the Startup Programs chapter) to temporari l y di sable suspected startup i tems, dri vers and/or servi ces (by
unti cki ng them) and try to reboot normal l y i nto Wi ndows to see if thi s resol ves your problem.

If you made a change to a system setti ng or the Wi ndows Regi stry that woul d normal ly prevent you from
booti ng i nto Wi ndows, you can undo the setti ng i n Safe Mode, or revert to an earl i er Restore Poi nt, or restore
a Regi stry backup here.

If however you fi nd that you cannot boot i nto Safe Mode, or are havi ng si milar problems in Safe Mode as
you are i n normal Wi ndows - for exampl e your graphi cs are garbl ed or show gli tches - then the problem i s
most l i kel y hardware-based such as overcl ocki ng, excess heat, permanent damage to a component/faulty
component(s), rel ated to an i ncorrect BIOS setti ng or i ncompati bi l i ty, or hard dri ve corrupti on which
requi res use of the Recovery Consol e to fi x.

Fi nal ly, a major use for Safe Mode i s the removal of mali ci ous software such as vi ruses or spyware, or for
any other type of fi le whi ch Wi ndows says is 'i n use' duri ng normal Wi ndows. Many of these wi l l l oad i nto
memory areas that cannot be unl oaded duri ng normal Wi ndows XP operati on. However i n Safe Mode there
are no such protected memory areas, and no addi ti onal startup programs, dri vers or servi ces are l oaded wi th


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Wi ndows, so thi s i s the best way of removi ng such troubl esome software. Enter Safe Mode and ei ther
manuall y enter Wi ndows Expl orer and del ete the troubl esome file(s); edi t your startup i tems or Servi ces to
remove unusual or harmful entri es (See the Startup Programs and Servi ces chapters); or run several mal ware
scanners i n Safe Mode to find and remove any mal i cious software (See the PC Securi ty chapter).

RECOVERY CONSOLE
The Recovery Consol e is an i mportant repai r and recovery tool bui l t i nto Wi ndows XP that al l ows you to do
such thi ngs as check for faul ts on your dri ve and repai r the Master Boot Records. You can read the full
descri pti on of the Recovery Consol e, as wel l as i ts avail abl e commands and options i n thi s Mi crosoft Arti cle.
The mai n use for the Recovery Console i s when other methods of data recovery or troubleshooti ng have
fai l ed, and you si mpl y cannot boot i nto Wi ndows, even i n Safe Mode.

The qui ckest way to access the Recovery Consol e i s to do the foll owi ng:

1. Insert your Wi ndows XP CD i nto your mai n opti cal dri ve.
2. Reboot and go i nto your BIOS. Set the 'Fi rst Boot Devi ce' (or si mi lar) opti on i n the BIOS to your opti cal
dri ve and reboot.
3. As your PC starts booti ng up, keep pressi ng the F8 key unti l you see the message 'Booti ng from
CDROM'. If thi s doesn't work, you shoul d use a Wi ndows XP Bootdi sk i nstead (See the Instal li ng
Wi ndows chapter).
4. The bl ue Wi ndows Setup screen wil l eventuall y appear.
5. If you are runni ng a SATA or RAID dri ve confi gurati on, make sure to press F6 repeatedl y when
prompted duri ng the l oadi ng of Wi ndows Startup, and have your SATA/RAID dri ver disk handy; if
these dri vers are not l oaded up the recovery console wi ll not be abl e to i dentify your SATA/RAID hard
dri ve(s) properl y and/or wi l l mistakenl y i dentify them as corrupt vol umes when they are not.
6. Once i n Wi ndows Setup, press R to access the Recovery Consol e.
7. If prompted, press a number that corresponds wi th your Wi ndows i nstallati on - the defaul t i s 1. Enter
your Admi n password if requi red, or leave blank i f you haven't set an Admi n password for Wi ndows
XP, and press Enter. Note, i f you cannot access your hard dri ve usi ng the Recovery Console due to an
i ncorrect Admi n password, try the util i ty covered under the Resetti ng your Logi n Password secti on
further above.
8. Once the Recovery Console opens, there are a range of commands you can use. Just type Hel p and press
Enter, and a li st of commands wil l be shown. To see the opti ons for each command i n more detai l, type
the command fol l owed by a bl ank space and then / ?. A ful l l ist of command l i ne commands can be
found i n thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e.

The most common methods of attempti ng to repair a Wi ndows install ation i n the Recovery Consol e are:

Use the Chkdsk / R command to do a dri ve check and fi x any errors i f possi bl e. If chkdsk says the dri ve
i s unreadabl e or there are too many errors, make sure that i f you have a SATA/RAID setup, you l oaded
the appropriate SATA/RAID dri vers from a disk or dri ve duri ng Windows Setup l oadup. If you're usi ng
the correct dri vers and stil l see thi s error, i t i s li kel y your dri ve is actuall y corrupted or i t may even be
physi call y faul ty.
Use the Li st svc command to li st all current servi ces and dri vers and thei r startup status. Use the
Di dsabl e or Enabl e commands to enabl e or di sabl e parti cular servi ces whi ch you thi nk are related to
the probl em. For example, Enabl e RPCSS Ser vi ce_Boot _St ar t tel l s wi ndows to set the RPCSS servi ce
to start at Windows Bootup, i n case you had acci dentall y di sabled thi s vi tal servi ce i n Wi ndows.
Use the Fi xboot command to repai r the boot sector of the dri ve.
Use the Fi xmbr command to repai r the Master Boot Record of the dri ve.

If you fi nd the dri ve sti ll doesn't boot up i nto Windows after al l these steps, you may just have to return to
the Recovery Consol e, and use the CD and Copy commands to go to vari ous l ocations on the dri ve and ei ther


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copy across data to the faul ty dri ve to repl ace a mi ssi ng or corrupted fi l e for exampl e, or from the faul ty
dri ve to another dri ve to back up data before a reformat.

Al though the Recovery Consol e is a very useful tool , i t stil l may not resol ve some hard dri ve errors or
probl ems. In such cases you can try using a Repai r Install of Wi ndows whi ch if successful shoul d fi x your
Wi ndows wi thout any data l oss. Chances are that i f the Recovery Consol e or a Repair Instal l don't work,
ei ther you have faul ty hardware whi ch i s corrupti ng the data as i t's bei ng wri tten (e.g. overclocked or faulty
CPU or RAM), or your drive has si mply experi enced too much corrupti on and/or has too many bad sectors
to recover your Wi ndows; you wi ll si mpl y have to try reformatti ng your dri ve and rei nstal li ng Wi ndows.

SYSTEM FILE CHECKER
The System Fi l e Checker is another bui lt-i n functi on of Wi ndows XP that al l ows the system to go through
and check al l the major protected Wi ndows XP system fi les agai nst the ori gi nal versi ons stored on a val id
Mi crosoft Windows XP CD. Thi s is extremel y handy i f you suspect corrupted/tampered system fi les that are
l eadi ng to unusual Windows behavi or. Full usage i nstructi ons for the System Fi l e Checker can found i n thi s
Mi crosoft Arti cl e. To access the System Fi l e Checker fol l ow thi s procedure:

1. Go to Start>Run and type SFC / scannow then press Enter to start an i mmedi ate scan of your system
fi les.
2. The System Fi l e Checker wi ll go through al l your important system fi l es and make sure they have not
been al tered in any way. Where major system fi l es are corrupted or shown to be di fferent from ori gi nal,
they wi ll be repl aced wi th the ori gi nal s from your \Windows\System32\Dllcache\ di rectory and/or your
Wi ndows XP CD.
3. If prompted, reboot your PC as requi red.

Note that i nstead of / scannow you can use the swi tches / scanonce (to scan after the next reboot) or
/ scanboot (to scan on every reboot). If you use / scanboot and then want to stop a scan after every reboot,
use the / r ever t swi tch.

The methods covered above are the most common and practi cal ways of both backi ng up your i mportant
i nformati on, as well as recoveri ng from data damage or l oss. Get in the habi t of backi ng up regularl y if you
don't al ready as that is the onl y guarantee you have of retai ni ng your valuable informati on.


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BIOS OPTIMIZATION

Before del vi ng any further i nto Wi ndows opti mi zation or customi zati on, i t i s very i mportant to fi rst ensure
that your hardware and connected devices are correctl y confi gured for opti mal operati on. Regardl ess of any
changes you make i n Wi ndows or your software, i f your hardware i s not configured properly i ts capabi li ti es
wi ll not be correctl y uti li zed, i ndeed serious probl ems such as random crashes or data corruption may occur.
Whether you've bui l t a PC or purchased a pre-buil t machi ne, you shoul d make certai n that all of the setti ngs
i n the BIOS are correct, that the hardware i s properly cool ed, and that al l of your devi ces are confi gured to
functi on optimall y i n Wi ndows. Thi s chapter covers all of these topi cs i n detail .

Note that thi s chapter does not provi de informati on on how to sel ect and purchase a PC from new, however
i f you are i nterested i n that type of i nformati on, see my Hardware Confusi on arti cl e for general gui dance.

< THE BIOS
The BIOS (Basi c Input/Output System) i s a program hel d on a small ROM chi p on your motherboard. It
provi des the i nstructi ons for what your PC should do as soon as i t turns on. Your BIOS i s independent of
your Operating System, whi ch means i t i s not di rectly affected by the operati ng system you use, or whi ch
dri ver versi on you've i nstall ed, or what your setti ngs are i n Wi ndows for exampl e. The BIOS supersedes all
of that, and your dri vers and operating system wi l l only l oad after the BIOS has l oaded up. The BIOS
control s a range of hardware-rel ated features and i s the mi ddl e-man between your CPU and other devi ces.

If there i s an i ncorrect setti ng i n your BIOS - that is, a setti ng whi ch is not opti mal or correct for your
hardware confi gurati on - then you wi ll have problems regardl ess of whi ch setti ng you change i n Wi ndows,
or whi ch driver versi ons you i nstal l . Importantl y, the BIOS is best configured correctl y before i nstal ling
Wi ndows, as thi s reduces the number of unnecessary servi ces and dri vers whi ch Wi ndows may i nstal l, and
hel ps reduce the potenti al for devi ce confl icts.

Note that some of the l atest motherboards may have a different type of BIOS-l i ke i nterface cal led UEFI
(Unified Extensi bl e Firmware Interface). UEFI i s a new form of software i nterface between your hardware
and the Operati ng System. Whil e UEFI bri ngs wi th i t a range of changes as covered i n thi s Intel Arti cl e, i n
practi ce you wi ll stil l need to confi gure all your hardware setti ngs i n much the same way as a BIOS, so the
i nformati on in thi s chapter sti ll appl ies in much the same way.

POST SCREEN
As your BIOS starts to l oad, the first thi ng i t does is the Power-On Self Test (POST), a di agnosti c program
whi ch qui ckly checks your components and makes sure everything i s present and worki ng OK. The POST
sequence is usuall y extremel y fast; you wi ll onl y reall y noti ce i t if it stops when encounteri ng an error. POST
error messages can be a bit obscure, but usuall y gi ve you a l ead as to where to l ook i n your BIOS setti ngs. A
qui ck general gui de to what the startup error beeps may mean i s thi s POST Error Codes, but a more accurate
descri pti on speci fi c to your hardware is usual ly found i n your motherboard's manual.

If you have no i ni ti al POST errors you wi ll then see your PC's startup screen, whi ch shows such i nformati on
as your BIOS type (e.g. Ameri can Megatrends), the key to press to access your BIOS setti ngs (e.g. DEL, F1 or
ESC), the type of processor and i ts speed, RAM amount and RAM test resul ts, dri ve i nformati on, and so
forth. Note that i f any of thi s i nformation i s i ncorrect, i t may be that your hardware i s extremel y new and
hence not recogni zed correctl y by the current BIOS versi on; you've overcl ocked your PC too far; or you have
bad hardware or i ncorrect BIOS setti ngs.


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BIOS SETTINGS
To access the detail ed settings i n your BIOS, you typicall y need to press a parti cular key (e.g. the Del ete key)
repeatedl y as your system i s booti ng up - check your motherboard manual. If your BIOS al so has a password
then you'll need to enter i t fi rst to access your BIOS setti ngs; i f you've forgotten the password, then try thi s
BIOS Password Si te. Once i n your BIOS screen you wi ll see a mul ti tude of setti ngs. The l ayout of the BIOS,
and the names of the vari ous setti ngs vary greatl y dependi ng on the parti cul ar motherboard brand and
model you own, so I cannot possi bly cover them al l here. The best reference source i s thi s Defi ni ti ve BIOS
Opti mi zati on Gui de - scrol l down that page to fi nd the 'Free Access' li nk to the gui de. It covers all the
common BIOS setti ngs, and combi ned wi th your motherboard's manual and Googl e, you can understand
what all of your BIOS setti ngs do and thus undertake the very i mportant task of opti mizi ng your BIOS
before doi ng any Wi ndows tweaki ng.

I cannot stress the i mportance of maki ng sure al l the major setti ngs i n your BIOS are correct for your
parti cul ar hardware setup and i mportantl y that you've di sabl ed all unnecessary devi ces and opti ons. It may
take some time and some research, but i t ensures maxi mum performance and stabil i ty. No amount of
Wi ndows customi zati on can overcome a badl y set up BIOS.

BIOS UPDATES
The BIOS is wri tten on a rewri teabl e ROM chi p, whi ch means that i t can be updated (or 'flashed') wi th new
i nformati on. Motherboard manufacturers rel ease new BIOS versions that can improve performance, stabil ity
and compatibi l i ty, add new features or modi fy exi sti ng features, and fi x known bugs. These new BIOS
versi ons are avai labl e for downl oad on the manufacturer's websi te. I can't li st all the manufacturer websites
here, as there are far too many, however i f you have a l ook through your motherboard manual you should
see a li nk to the appropri ate websi te. Downl oad the l atest BIOS for your exact motherboard brand and
model number and foll ow the i nstructi ons on the si te to Fl ash (reprogram) the BIOS chi p on your
motherboard wi th thi s new BIOS versi on. A word of warni ng: flashi ng the BIOS i s not to be taken li ghtly. If
somethi ng does go wrong then your PC may not boot up and you may have to take your motherboard to a
deal er to have the BIOS chi p repl aced or reprogrammed. Whi le thi s i s rare, when updati ng your BIOS make
sure you fol l ow the i nstructi ons provi ded to the l etter.

Note that most modern motherboards all ow flashi ng the BIOS from a CD, DVD or USB fl ash dri ve, so
i nstal li ng a floppy di sk drive on your PC i s no l onger necessary. If usi ng a fl oppy di sk, do a full format of i t
fi rst and make absol utel y certai n i t is error-free before usi ng i t for the purposes of a BIOS fl ash.

FIRMWARE UPDATES
Your motherboard i s not the onl y devi ce whi ch has a BIOS. Many components, i ndeed most major el ectroni c
equi pment l ike TVs, DVD pl ayers and mobi l e phones have thei r own i nbui l t BIOS chi ps. The software on
these chi ps is typi call y referred to as Fi rmware, and all fi rmware can be updated usi ng the correct
equi pment and software. Thi s fi rmware can usual ly be upgraded i n much the same way as flashi ng your
BIOS - check your hardware manufacturer's websi te for recent versi ons of the BIOS/fi rmware you requi re,
and any speci fic i nstructi ons or software necessary. The most common fi rmware updates are for opti cal
dri ves. If you want to fi nd out more about these updates, check your hardware manufacturer's websi te, and
see this Fi rmware Database i n parti cular for opti cal dri ves. A fi rmware upgrade can hel p resol ve probl ems
l i ke diffi cul ties readi ng from a parti cular disc type, 'di sc not detected' errors, and other i ssues. Just li ke BIOS
flashi ng i t i nvol ves an el ement of ri sk, so pl ease read any i nstructi ons carefull y before proceedi ng.

The motherboard BIOS i s a cri ti cal component of the PC whi ch i s often overl ooked, so I urge you to take the
ti me to become more fami l iar wi th your own BIOS, and to configure i t correctl y. Of course i f you are not
sure what a setti ng i n the BIOS does, do not change i t from i ts defaul t. If necessary check your hardware
manufacturer's websi te for more detai ls, or do a thorough search on Googl e. It mi ght be tedi ous at fi rst, but


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i t's typi call y a once-onl y job - once you've done i t, you don't need to go back and customize the BIOS setti ngs
agai n, you can reap the benefi ts of an opti mal BIOS from that poi nt onward.

< INTERRUPT REQUESTS (IRQS)
An i mportant aspect of the way the BIOS manages your hardware i s through Interrupt Requests (IRQs) -
these are the way i n whi ch all of your major system devi ces get the CPU's attenti on for
i nstructi ons/interacti on as often as necessary. There are usuall y 16 - 24 mai n hardware IRQs i n a modern PC.
To vi ew your current IRQ all ocati on go to Control Panel >System>Hardware>Devi ce Manager and under the
Vi ew menu sel ect 'Vi ew Resources by Type', then expand the 'Interrupt Request' i tem. You wi ll see al l the
devi ces currentl y acti ve on your PC arranged by IRQ number, starti ng at 0 [System Ti mer]. Each IRQ has a
pri ori ty assi gned to i t as to whi ch gets the CPU's attenti on first when several are competi ng at once. Whil e
Wi ndows XP i s desi gned to al l ow several devi ces to share an IRQ, you may have problems or reduced
performance i f two or more major devi ces (such as the sound card and graphi cs card) share the same IRQ.
To mi ni mize IRQ shari ng, try the ti ps bel ow.

DISABLE UNUSED DEVICES
Under Wi ndows XP, as thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e expl ai ns, ACPI (Advanced Confi gurati on and Power Interface)
compl i ant systems - whi ch i s all modern PCs - wil l have thei r IRQs automati cal ly al l ocated by Windows
upon i nstall ati on. Even if you can manual l y assign them i n the BIOS, Wi ndows XP typi cally reassi gns them
back to the defaul t IRQs i t has chosen. Thi s defaul t assi gnment of the IRQs is done when Wi ndows XP i s first
i nstal l ed, and ei ght IRQs (IRQs 0, 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 13 and 14) are automati call y reserved for cri ti cal system devi ces
on al l PCs and cannot be al tered.

The best way to ensure that you are l ess li kel y to end up wi th shared IRQs (and potenti al probl ems) i s to
di sabl e any unused devi ces i n the BIOS before i nstall i ng Wi ndows XP. Some exampl es of common devices
that can be disabled are:

Serial Port1 (COM1)
Serial Port2 (COM2)
Parall el Port (LPT1)
Unused IDE Channels
Unused SATA Channel s
RAID opti ons
Onboard Audi o
Onboard Video
Game Port
Mi di Port

Di sabl i ng unused devi ces not onl y frees up unreserved IRQs and reduces the chances of shari ng, i t can also
speed up bootup ti me noti ceabl y because Wi ndows won't wai t to detect them or l oad up dri vers for these
devi ces. Cl earl y i f you al ready have, or pl an to have, a pi ece of hardware connected to any of these Ports, or
need to use a parti cul ar devi ce, then you shoul d not di sabl e them. For exampl e i f you have one or more IDE-
based dri ves whi ch connect to an IDE channel, then you cannot di sabl e that IDE channel and expect the
dri ves to work. You can al ways re-enabl e these devi ces i n the BIOS at any ti me, so thi s i s by no means a
permanent disabli ng of parti cular devi ces. However for opti mal resul ts you shoul d onl y di sabl e devi ces in
the BIOS that you are certain wi ll not be uti li zed duri ng your normal Wi ndows usage.


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MOVE CONFLICTING DEVICES
If you are using an exi sti ng i nstall ati on of Wi ndows XP you can attempt to reduce IRQ shari ng by physi call y
movi ng a devi ce. Note however that on certai n motherboards parti cul ar IRQs are shared by defaul t and
cannot be changed. For exampl e on many systems the USB Host Control l er (for USB peri pherals) i s often on
an IRQ shared by another fi xed system devi ce, such as your Serial ATA Control l er - thi s is unavoi dabl e and
usual l y does not resul t i n any probl ems. In such cases where you feel there may be a confli ct or reduced
performance, your onl y course of acti on i s to physi cal l y move one of the i tems to another l ocati on on your
system if possi bl e. For exampl e, if your sound card is shari ng an IRQ wi th your graphi cs card, physi cally
shi ft the sound card from one PCI or PCI-E sl ot to another free one; i f the USB Host Control l er i s sharing
wi th another devi ce, avoid usi ng the parti cul ar USB hub that control l er rel ates to. If nei ther of the shared
devi ces can be physi call y moved then you wil l have to accept the si tuati on. Remember that Wi ndows can
share IRQs wi thout major probl ems i n most cases, so you shouldn't automati call y assume that a shared IRQ
i s the source of any problems.

DISABLING ACPI
If the above methods do not work, there i s one final method of real l ocati ng IRQs short of rei nstal ling
Wi ndows. Since ACPI i s one of the reasons why Wi ndows XP automati cal ly al l ocates IRQs, if you disable
ACPI you can manuall y al l ocate and rearrange IRQs and hence remove any IRQ shari ng. I strongl y
recommend that you do not di sabl e ACPI, as the si de effects can be much worse than any potenti al probl ems
IRQ shari ng coul d cause. ACPI i s there for a reason - di sabli ng i t can effecti vely destabil i ze your system and
cause your components not to functi on correctl y. The i nstructions provi ded bel ow are for the sake of
compl eteness, and for the trul y desperate or the very curi ous:

1. Backup all your i mportant data before attempti ng thi s procedure as i t is hi ghly risky.
2. Go i nto your Control Panel >System>Hardware>Devi ce Manager and under the Computer component,
doubl e-cli ck on the 'ACPI Uni processor PC' (or si milar ACPI) device.
3. Cl i ck the 'Update Dri ver' button, then sel ect 'Install from a l ist or speci fi ed l ocati on'.
4. Sel ect 'Don't search. I wil l choose the hardware to i nstall '
5. Unti ck the 'Show compatibl e hardware' box, and i n the li st bel ow cl i ck on the 'Standard PC' opti on and
sel ect Next.
6. The non-ACPI dri vers wil l be i nstal led and you wil l need to reboot your machi ne, perhaps several ti mes,
to redetect al l your hardware components. Make sure to di sable any ACPI opti ons i n your BIOS.
7. You can now use any BIOS opti ons avai labl e to manual l y assi gn IRQs to parti cular devi ces. Note that i t
depends on your parti cul ar BIOS as to how much fl exi bi li ty you have i n assi gni ng IRQs to all the devi ces
on your system; disabl i ng ACPI doesn't suddenl y add any new BIOS opti ons.

Di sabl i ng ACPI may cause a l ot of probl ems, and you may not be abl e to return to usi ng ACPI unl ess you
reformat and rei nstall Wi ndows XP compl etel y.

If after al l of the above procedures you sti l l have major di ffi cul ties whi ch you feel are attributabl e to IRQ
shari ng, you wi ll have to si mpl y reformat/rei nstal l Windows XP - maki ng sure to fi rst correctl y confi gure
your BIOS and disabl e all unused devi ces of course.


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INSTALLING WINDOWS

If you are going to do a ful l reformat and rei nstal l of Wi ndows XP on your drive, fol low the procedures i n
thi s chapter to fi nd out more about your opti ons, ensure the correct setup of your dri ve and achi eve an
opti mal i nstall ati on of Windows.

< PRIOR TO INSTALLATION
Here are some i mportant thi ngs you shoul d remember to do before formatti ng your system dri ve and
i nstal li ng Windows:

1. Scan for vi ruses and other mali ci ous software - See the PC Securi ty chapter.
2. Backup your i mportant data and passwords - See the Backup & Recovery chapter.
3. Downl oad any SATA/RAID dri vers requi red duri ng i nstal lati on - See the Dri ver Instal lati on chapter.
4. Create some Wi ndows XP Bootdi sks if necessary - See further bel ow.
5. Read this Mi crosoft Arti cl e on parti ti oni ng and formatti ng hard dri ves.

Here's a checkl ist of thi ngs you shoul d have handy for a smooth i nstall ation of Wi ndows XP:

Your ori gi nal Wi ndows XP CD.
Your Wi ndows XP Product ID Number.
An earli er Full Versi on CD of Wi ndows if you are usi ng a Wi ndows XP Upgrade Edi ti on CD.
Your Wi ndows XP Bootdisks i f necessary.
A disk or USB fl ash dri ve contai ni ng a copy of the latest dri vers and Servi ce Pack 3 (SP3) - we want to
mi ni mize Internet usage immedi atel y after i nstal lation, so i t's best to have al l the rel evant core software
ready to i nstall on a separate di sk or dri ve. See the Dri ver Installati on chapter for a li st of al l the major
dri vers and software needed.
Any dri vers whi ch have to be i nstall ed duri ng the Wi ndows i nstal lation process - e.g. some
motherboards requi re a floppy di sk or dri ve wi th SATA and/or RAID dri vers to be used duri ng the XP
i nstal lati on process i n order to detect your dri ve(s) or RAID array correctly. Check your motherboard
package for such di sks, or downl oad the dri vers from your motherboard manufacturer's websi te and
copy them onto a fl oppy or USB drive. Note that i f you're havi ng probl ems wi th your nForce
SATA/RAID dri vers during i nstall ati on, you can fi x thi s usi ng nLi te (see bel ow) al ong wi th these
i nstructi ons.
Your motherboard manual , a pri ntout of rel evant porti ons of thi s book, and any other associ ated arti cl es
or gui des below whi ch you may need. Agai n si nce i t's not recommended that you connect to the Internet
i mmediatel y after i nstall i ng XP for securi ty reasons, ideal l y you shoul d have offl i ne copi es.
Al l your backups as wel l as any appli cati ons and games on disk or flash dri ve. Also make sure to have
software serial numbers or regi strati on detail s handy.
Pen and paper for recordi ng passwords, registrati on numbers or other i mportant i nformati on.

Once you've gathered as much of this material as possi ble around you, famil iarize yoursel f wi th al l the
i nformati on bel ow before begi nni ng the actual formatti ng and i nstal lati on process.

SLIPSTREAMING WINDOWS XP SP3
If you own an ol der Windows XP CD that does not contai n the l atest Servi ce Pack 3 (See the Driver
Install ati on chapter) al ready bui l t i nto i t, you can create a new Wi ndows XP Instal lati on CD that neatl y
i ncorporates all the fi les from SP3 usi ng a process called 'Sl i pstreami ng'. When a sl i pstreamed XP CD is used
for i nstallati on i t automaticall y i nstal ls SP3 al ong wi th the rest of Wi ndows XP, and hence you won't need to


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run SP3 separatel y after i nstal lati on, nor do you need to worry about any outdated dri vers/fi l es being
i nstal l ed on your system fi rst, or any SP3 i nstal lati on or cl eanup probl ems. It's a detailed process, but
relati vel y strai ghtforward i f you use nLi te (see bel ow). However usi ng a sli pstreamed CD for i nstal ling
Wi ndows XP SP3 i s not vital , and won't make any performance di fference, so if you don't feel comfortable
doi ng i t you can ski p thi s step. Note that you shouldn't sli pstream XP SP3 from wi thi n a newer versi on of
Wi ndows as thi s may result i n i nstallati on probl ems due to a bug.

NLITE
nLi te i s a free util i ty for customizi ng Windows XP pri or to install ation. It al l ows you to sel ect the
component(s) you wish to remove from Wi ndows, as wel l as thi ngs you would l ike to add, such as SP3 or
SATA/RAID dri vers. Once you have i ntegrated the rel evant components and removed the components you
don't need, nLi te generates an .ISO fil e whi ch you can burn onto CD and use as your Wi ndows i nstall ation
di sk.

I recommend i nstall i ng Wi ndows XP as normal , then manuall y i nstal li ng or uni nstal ling the rel evant
components normall y. Thi s i s the only way to guarantee that thi ngs work as i ntended - i n parti cular I
recommend agai nst removi ng core Wi ndows components l i ke Internet Expl orer or Wi ndows Media Pl ayer,
as you may need them i n the future. Don't fall i nto the trap of thi nki ng that i t's cool to stri p out vi rtually
every component of Wi ndows and repl ace i t wi th a thi rd-party al ternati ve - often ti mes the Wi ndows
versi on of an appl i cati on is not onl y requi red, i t i s actual l y the best method of vi ewi ng parti cular content. As
such, whi l e nLi te i s a very handy uti l i ty and wel l worth downl oadi ng and i nvestigati ng, I strongl y
recommend that you use it onl y to add vari ous components to your Wi ndows XP i nstal lati on disk, rather
than for removi ng components. In any case nLi te won't be covered i n detai l here as the user i nterface is qui te
i ntui ti ve, and i f you need addi ti onal help check the nLi te Forums.

< PREPARING THE DRIVE(S)
Before commenci ng the formatti ng of your dri ve to prepare i t for Wi ndows XP i nstal lati on, read through the
detail s bel ow on the vari ous opti ons avail abl e to you when formatti ng a dri ve. Take the ti me to research this
aspect of Wi ndows i nstal lati on carefull y.

NTFS VS. FAT 32 FILE SYSTEMS
Duri ng the formatti ng of a dri ve, you wi l l be asked whether you want to use the NTFS (NT Fi le System) or
FAT32 (Fil e Al l ocati on Tabl e) Fi l e System for the drive. Thi s is an i mportant choi ce and the answer general l y
depends on your requi rements:

Use FAT32 if
Your dri ve i s small er than 32GB.
You want to i nstal l more than one operati ng system on your computer, aside from newer versi ons of
Wi ndows.
You want maxi mum compati bil i ty.

Use NTFS if
Your dri ve i s l arger than 32GB and you are runni ng onl y one operating system on your computer.
You want enhanced fil e securi ty.
You need better di sk compressi on.

For more detail s of the di fferences read thi s FAT & NTFS Fil e Systems Arti cl e. Essenti al l y NTFS i s a newer,
more stabl e and much more secure fi l e system that has several benefi ts FAT32 doesn't. For exampl e, if you
format your hard dri ve i n NTFS and password protect i t, i t i s more diffi cul t to access the i nformati on on the
dri ve wi thout the correct password (but sti ll possi bl e - see the Backup & Recovery chapter). As for the speed


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di fference, for l arger dri ves i t i s negl igibl e. For more techni cal detai ls on NTFS, see thi s NTFS Arti cl e. In
short there is no real reason to format your dri ve i n the ol der FAT32, unl ess you have a very small dri ve
such as a USB flash dri ve, and/or want to i nstal l more than one Operati ng System on i t - particularly an ol der
versi on of Windows. For most everyone NTFS i s the recommended fil e system to use on the system dri ve.

CONVERTING EXISTING FAT32 DISK TO NTFS
If you already have a FAT32 dri ve and don't want to reformat just to use NTFS, you can sti ll convert the
dri ve to NTFS usi ng the Wi ndows Convert tool - however note that thi s may resul t i n a sub-opti mal cluster
size, especially for dri ves formatted i n FAT32 under ol der versi ons of Wi ndows. To set an opti mal cl uster
size you wi ll have to read thi s Converti ng Fat32 to NTFS Gui de.

The foll owi ng i s the si mpl e (but not opti mal ) method of converti ng an exi sti ng Wi ndows XP FAT32
i nstal lati on to NTFS:

1. Go to Start>Run and type cmd then press Enter.
2. In the Command Prompt whi ch opens, type Conver t C: / FS: NTFS and press Enter. Substi tute the
correct dri ve l etter i n pl ace of C: above if i t i s different.
3. Enter the name of your dri ve when prompted. If you don't know the name of the dri ve, type Vol
[ dr i vel et t er ] (e.g. Vol C: ) to fi nd i t out.
4. Repl y Y to each of the prompts. Reboot i f prompted.

Thi s wi ll take some ti me to compl ete, so l eave your system al one unti l the process i s fi ni shed.

MULTIPLE PARTITIONS
Before formatti ng a dri ve you must fi rst Parti ti on i t. Parti ti ons are fenced-off porti ons of a dri ve, and there
must be at l east one on a dri ve before it can be used. You can i nstead create mul ti ple parti tions, effecti vel y
di vi di ng a singl e dri ve i nto several small er l ogi cal dri ves of varyi ng size, each wi th thei r own dri ve l etter.
There are vari ous advantages and di sadvantages to parti ti oni ng a dri ve, but it i s i mportant to understand
that you shoul d never create mul ti pl e parti ti ons under the false impressi on that thi s i mproves performance.
On a hard dri ve, the fi rst (Pri mary) parti ti on is al ways the fastest, and subsequent parti ti ons are not as fast.
On an SSD, parti ti oni ng makes no di fference to performance as al l parti ti ons can be sought out wi th equal
speed.

Parti ti oni ng is not a true substi tute for havi ng two or more dri ves, i t i s most useful as an organizati onal tool.
For exampl e one of the major reasons you may wish to create mul ti pl e parti ti ons i s to al l ow you to dual boot
wi th Wi ndows XP and Wi ndows Vista or Wi ndows 7, as di scussed further bel ow. Thi s all ows you to run a
new OS al ong wi th XP on the same dri ve for exampl e, but compl etel y separated from each other.

Keep i n mi nd that usi ng mul ti ple parti tions on the same dri ve for backup purposes is not a good substi tute
for havi ng backups of your i mportant data on another dri ve. Dri ves can and do become physi call y corrupted
and this affects data on all parti ti ons of a dri ve, so backi ng up from one parti tion to another on the same
dri ve i s not appropri ate as your mai n backup strategy.

It i s i deal to format and parti ti on a dri ve pri or to starti ng Wi ndows i nstall ati on, and you can do thi s ei ther
usi ng a thi rd party tool or you can use the bui l t-i n formatti ng and parti ti oni ng functi onal i ty of XP as detailed
i n thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e.

DUAL BOOT/MULTIBOOT SYSTEM
If you want to set up your system so that each ti me you bootup you get the choi ce of two or more Operati ng
Systems to use read this Mi crosoft Arti cle, thi s Mul ti boot Confi gurati on arti cl e, and this Dual Booti ng Guide
for i nstructi ons as rel evant. You wi ll need to have at l east two or more parti ti ons on your current drive


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and/or have two or more dri ves to be abl e to mul ti boot. If dual booti ng wi th a newer versi on of Wi ndows,
you shoul d boot up i nto Wi ndows XP first, i nsert the newer Windows i nstal l DVD and run i ts setup from
there. Thi s ensures that Vi sta or 7 wi ll correctl y detect your exi sti ng Wi ndows XP i nstal lati on and confi gure
the boot menu properl y to gi ve you the choi ce of booti ng i nto ei ther OS. Importantl y, i f you run SATA or
RAID dri ves, for Wi ndows to correctl y i denti fy all of your dri ves pri or to i nstallati on and correctl y configure
the dual boot, you must have appropri ate SATA/RAID dri vers on a disk or separate drive and i nsert i t
duri ng the dri ve identi fi cati on stage of Wi ndows Setup.

Note that there are no performance benefi ts i n dual or mul ti booti ng - i t i s normall y done i f you use software
or a parti cular feature that onl y works under another operati ng system for exampl e. Once agai n, unl ess you
speci fi call y requi re thi s functi onali ty I do not recommend a mul ti boot system as i t can make thi ngs more
compl ex, especi al ly i f one dri ve has errors and prevents you from booti ng i nto the other OS for exampl e.
Dual booti ng Wi ndows XP wi th Wi ndows 7 i n parti cul ar i s somewhat redundant, as Wi ndows 7 contai ns
Wi ndows XP mode which provi des a ful ly functi onal and l i censed vi rtual versi on of Wi ndows XP
Professi onal to use.

RAID CONFIGURATION
RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Di sks) is a common method of confi guri ng mul ti ple dri ves to
perform better and/or provi de protecti on agai nst data l oss. The vari ous RAID l evels are best demonstrated
i n thi s RAID Arti cl e - cl ick the numbers at the top ri ght of the arti cl e to see the vari ous RAID levels
demonstrated graphi cal ly, i ncludi ng the common RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, RAID 10 and RAID 0+1
confi gurati ons.

To set up a RAID array you need two or more dri ves, preferabl y of the same size and speed, and a
motherboard wi th RAID support. You wi l l then need to i nstal l the dri ves as normal and confi gure the
appropriate RAID opti ons i n your motherboard's BIOS - see your motherboard manual for i nstructi ons. If
your motherboard supports RAID, and most motherboards do, then there i s no addi tional hardware
requi red, i t i s all dri ven by Wi ndows and the motherboard. Once confi gured correctl y, the RAID
confi gurati on of mul ti pl e dri ves wi ll be seen as a si ngle dri ve by Windows, and treated as such.

To determi ne whi ch RAID confi gurati on best sui ts your needs if any, you wi l l need to read the arti cles
l i nked above and consi der your most common PC tasks. For the average user the most commonl y used
RAID array i s a pai r of si mil ar dri ves i n RAID 0 formati on, whi ch provi des the best al l -round performance at
mi ni mal cost. RAID 0 usual l y beats a si ngl e dri ve confi gurati on i n terms of speed, parti cularly for large fi le
movements, due to there bei ng two i ndependent dri ves seeki ng data i n pl ace of one. However RAID 0 al so
provi des absol utely no faul t tol erance at all , and i n fact doubl es the chance for data l oss. If one of the drives
suffers a serious error or i s damaged, you l ose all the data on both dri ves since the data i s spl i t evenly
(stri ped) across both dri ves. Therefore if you require proper protecti on agai nst data l oss, combi ned wi th
good performance, you shoul d consi der a RAID 5 or RAID 10 confi gurati on whi ch i s more costl y, but far
safer.

Whi le setti ng up stri ped RAID arrays - that i s, RAID arrays which spli t data evenl y across two or more
dri ves (such as RAID 0 or RAID 5), you wil l need to determi ne a Stri pe Size - the small est uni t of data
all ocati on - to be used i n your RAID BIOS. In general , i f you are uncertai n of the size to choose, use the Auto
setti ng (if avai labl e) or a 64kb stri pe. If you use the drives pri mari ly for gami ng I suggest a small er stri pe size
such as 16kb, as thi s can assi st i n reducing stutteri ng i n games.

In any case once you have connected your dri ves and set up your RAID array usi ng the opti ons i n the
motherboard's BIOS, you wi ll need to have a disk or separate dri ve handy wi th the correct RAID dri vers
pri or to starti ng the Wi ndows XP i nstal lati on procedure. Then duri ng Wi ndows Setup, press the F6 key
repeatedl y when prompted at the bottom of the screen, and enter your dri ver fl oppy or USB dri ve when
prompted agai n and l oad up the RAID dri vers, along wi th any other dri vers (such as SATA dri vers) as


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necessary. If you miss thi s step, the RAID dri ves will not be correctl y detected by Wi ndows as one large
dri ve, and you wi ll not be abl e to i nstall Wi ndows on them properl y or you wil l break the RAID array and
l ose the benefi ts of RAID.

Once XP i s install ed on your RAID drives, from that poi nt onwards there are no speci al consi derati ons as
such; the dri ves are treated as one l arge normal dri ve for all i ntents and purposes i n Wi ndows.

< INSTALLING WINDOWS
At thi s poi nt you are ready to begi n the actual format and i nstal lati on process, whi ch differs dependi ng on
whether you're usi ng a brand new/freshl y formatted dri ve as opposed to a dri ve wi th an exi sti ng i nstall ati on
of Wi ndows. See the rel evant secti on below:

NEW DRIVE
If you have a new or blank formatted dri ve, the enti re procedure for i nstall ing Wi ndows XP i s rel ati vel y
straightforward. Fol l ow these steps:

1. If i t i s not already i n your system, connect the dri ve to your system by fol l owi ng the i nstructi ons that
came wi th the dri ve. Typicall y thi s i nvol ves turni ng off your PC, pl uggi ng i nto the back of the dri ve
both a power connector and ei ther a wide IDE ri bbon cabl e, or a thi n SATA cabl e.
2. Start your system, go i nto your BIOS and make sure the dri ve i s bei ng detected, whether on one of the
IDE Channels, or as a SATA devi ce - whi chever i s rel evant to the parti cular type of dri ve and channel
i t's connected to. If the drive i s not detected at all in the BIOS, you cannot install Wi ndows XP on i t.
Look around the BIOS and make sure you've enabl ed the channel on whi ch the dri ve is connected. You
may have to re-check your dri ve cabl i ng (i .e. SATA/IDE cabl e and power cable), and also whether any
small swi tches on the back of the dri ve are set correctl y (e.g. the mai n dri ve i s typi cal l y set as the Master
on the Pri mary Channel ). In some cases (mai nly for SATA or SCSI dri ves and/or RAID confi gurati ons)
you wil l have to i nsert a dri ver di sk to l oad up appropri ate SATA/RAID dri vers duri ng Wi ndows
i nstal lati on, so have those handy if need be and proceed wi th the next step.
3. Insert your Wi ndows XP CD i nto your opti cal dri ve, and reboot your system.
4. Upon rebooti ng your system, si nce the dri ve does not have an operati ng system i nstal l ed, the computer
wi ll ski p l oadi ng from i t and i nstead wi ll attempt to boot from the next boot devi ce - whi ch shoul d be
the Wi ndows XP disk i n the opti cal drive - and shoul d l ead to the bl ue Windows Setup screen. If that
doesn't occur, check your BIOS setti ngs to ensure that fi rstl y the rel evant opti cal dri ve i s bei ng detected
as present on your system and that any opti on for 'Fi rst Boot Devi ce' or 'Second Boot Devi ce' (or si mi lar)
i s set to your opti cal dri ve.
5. From thi s poi nt onward, you should fol l ow this step-by-step: Windows XP Pro Install ati on Gui de or
Wi ndows XP Home Installati on Gui de as rel evant. These gui des cover the procedure i n far more detail -
i ncludi ng screenshots for every step of the way - than I can do here due to space consi derati ons. You
should ideal ly have a pri ntout of them handy for use duri ng the i nstall ation.


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DRIVE WITH EXISTING INSTALL OF WINDOWS
If you have a dri ve wi th a current i nstal lati on of any versi on of Wi ndows on i t, foll ow the steps bel ow to
begi n a reformat and subsequent i nstallati on of Wi ndows XP. Note you shouldn't just i nstal l Wi ndows XP
over an exi sti ng i nstall ation of Wi ndows - start afresh wi th a full reformat of your drive and a fresh
i nstal lati on of Windows XP otherwi se you wil l get sub-opti mal resul ts and experience probl ems:

1. Insert your Wi ndows XP CD i nto your opti cal dri ve.
2. Reboot and go straight i nto your BIOS setti ngs. Set the 'First Boot Devi ce' (or simi lar) opti on i n the BIOS
to your opti cal dri ve. Reboot your system.
3. As your PC starts booti ng up keep pressi ng the F8 key repeatedl y unti l you see a message sayi ng
'Booti ng from CDROM' (or si mil ar).
4. The bl ue Wi ndows Setup screen wil l eventuall y appear.
5. From thi s poi nt onward, you should fol l ow this step-by-step: Windows XP Pro Install ati on Gui de or
Wi ndows XP Home Instal lati on Gui de as rel evant.
6. Make sure that you choose to format the dri ve and do a cl ean i nstall ati on of Wi ndows XP. Agai n, do not
i nstal l Wi ndows XP over an ol der version of Wi ndows as an 'upgrade' i nstal lati on (not to be confused
wi th the Wi ndows XP Upgrade Edi ti on whi ch is fi ne) - start wi th a new i nstall ation of Wi ndows XP.

WINDOWS XP BOOTDISKS
If you can't get to the Wi ndows Setup screen usi ng the i nstructi ons above, you can downl oad a Wi ndows XP
Bootdi sk i mage from the Mi crosoft si te for your parti cular versi on of Wi ndows XP as covered i n this
Mi crosoft Arti cl e. If you stil l have problems booti ng into Wi ndows setup, or you just want an ol der version
of a bootdi sk, go to this Bootdi sk Si te to downl oad free copi es of vari ous bootdi sks.


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WINDOWS PRODUCT ACTIVATION &
WINDOWS GENUINE ADVANTAGE

< WINDOWS PRODUCT ACTIVATION
One of the first thi ngs you wil l noti ce after i nstall ing Wi ndows XP is the Wi ndows Product Acti vati on
(WPA) noti ce. Even if you ski p Acti vation at Wi ndows startup and go to the Wi ndows Desktop, a popup
bal l oon i n the System Tray area tel ls you that you have 30 days left to acti vate Wi ndows XP, and when you
cl i ck on i t, provi des vari ous opti ons for acti vati on. Wi ndows Product Acti vati on i s a protecti on system
Mi crosoft uses to ensure that Wi ndows pi racy i s reduced. If you're i nterested in how Acti vati on works and
what parameters i t checks on your system read this detail ed Windows Product Acti vati on Gui de, and you
can also downl oad thi s Techni cal Details of Acti vati on document.

Ideall y if you've just i nstal led Wi ndows XP I recommend that you don't change any of your hardware - aside
from attachi ng some peri pheral s. For performance and stabi li ty reasons major hardware changes (e.g. those
i nvol vi ng your CPU, motherboard or graphi cs card) are best made pri or to XP i nstall ati on. If you are aware
that your hardware setup may undergo some further changes shortl y, i t i s recommended that you don't
acti vate Wi ndows XP right away. You have 30 days wi thi n whi ch to bed down your fi nal hardware
confi gurati on. Acti vati ng before your hardware setup is fi nali zed coul d see you havi ng to re-acti vate
repeatedl y, i ncl udi ng having to cal l Mi crosoft to compl ete Acti vation.

If you are certai n that the major hardware components of your system are not goi ng to change soon and/or
that you are not goi ng to rei nstall Wi ndows XP agai n shortly, then go ahead and acti vate XP. Otherwise
i gnore the constant naggi ng Acti vati on gi ves you and wai t unti l your system confi gurati on i s fi nal ized
before goi ng through wi th Acti vati on. Mi crosoft vi ews mul ti pl e acti vati ons i n a very short peri od of ti me as
suspi ci ous - preci se details of thi s are in the l i nks above. Somethi ng you can do after you have acti vated
Wi ndows XP i s to backup your wpa.dbl fi le, found in the \WINDOWS\system32 di rectory. Thi s fil e is the
Wi ndows Product Acti vati on system fi l e, and shoul d your i nstal lati on of Windows XP become corrupted
and you need to attempt a recovery (See the Backup & Recovery chapter), you can use thi s backup fil e to
hel p i n restori ng your system.

< WINDOWS GENUINE ADVANTAGE
Mi crosoft has i mpl emented an addi ti onal anti -pi racy feature called Wi ndows Genui ne Advantage (WGA).
Any ti me Windows attempts to connect to Wi ndows Update or downl oad certai n Mi crosoft updates, i t may
be asked to vali date i tsel f to make sure it i s a l egi ti mate copy. If val i dati on fail s, the user cannot downl oad
updates from Wi ndows Update, and can only downl oad cri ti cal securi ty updates through the Mi crosoft
Downl oad Center or through the Automati c Update servi ce - see the Control Panel chapter.

If you are havi ng problems wi th WGA on a l egi ti mate i nstal lati on of Windows, vi si t the Wi ndows Genui ne
Advantage Di agnosti c Si te to run through a set of di agnosti c procedures whi ch can hel p fix the i ssue. In
parti cul ar, if you use Fi refox as your mai n browser, Mi crosoft has rel eased a Firefox pl ugi n to al l ow WGA to
work on this popul ar browser.

Pl ease note I wi ll not provi de any i nformati on on how to vi ew or change your Wi ndows Product Key, or
how to bypass Wi ndows Product Activati on or Windows Genuine Advantage. If you experi ence problems
wi th these parti cular features on a l egi timate i nstal lati on of Wi ndows XP, the onl y correct course of acti on is
to contact Microsoft Techni cal Support for your parti cular country.


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DRIVER INSTALLATION

Devi ce dri vers are the software whi ch gi ve i nstructi ons to your system on how to deal wi th parti cular
hardware. Graphi cs dri vers for example tel l your graphi cs card what to do in vari ous si tuati ons, such as
duri ng 3D appl i cations and games, as wel l as translati ng i nformati on to and from your CPU. While
Wi ndows XP comes wi th bui l t-i n dri ver support for vi rtual ly any type of common computer hardware, and
hence most of your hardware wi ll operate i n Wi ndows even wi thout i nstal li ng addi ti onal dri vers, the bui l t-
i n dri vers are nei ther optimal , nor do they guarantee stabil i ty or full compati bi l i ty under certai n si tuati ons,
especiall y for newer hardware. Thus, you need to downl oad and i nstall the l atest devi ce dri vers for your
hardware to make sure your enti re system performs opti mall y and wi th stabi lity.

The i nstructions bel ow cover both the i ni tial i nstall ati on order of dri vers on a fresh i nstall of Wi ndows, as
wel l as bei ng a li st of whi ch dri vers and core software to i nstal l on an exi sti ng install ation of Wi ndows XP.
The chapter al so contai ns some general ti ps to cl ari fy whi ch types of dri vers shoul d be i nstal led and why.

< DRIVER INSTALLATION
The first thi ng you shoul d do wi th a fresh i nstallati on of Wi ndows XP i s to i nstal l the core system software
and dri vers that are vi tal in hel pi ng to run XP opti mall y. Instal li ng these prior to anythi ng el se, and i n the
correct order, i s key to reduci ng the chance of any probl ems and al so ensuri ng peak performance.

Note that duri ng i nstal lation of these dri vers, if you are prompted to reboot at any ti me, you must do so to
all ow proper dri ver i nstall ati on. The reason for this i s that some dri ver files are currentl y l oaded i nto
memory areas that are used by the system and protected from bei ng overwri tten by a di fferent versi on. Thus
they cannot be replaced wi thout Wi ndows fi rst marki ng them for repl acement, rebooti ng to remove them
from memory, and subsequentl y repl aci ng them wi th the newer versi on upon successful l oadup of
Wi ndows. Therefore whenever Wi ndows asks you to reboot after i nstal li ng any dri ver or appl i cati on, you
should do so as soon as possi bl e.

If starti ng with a fresh i nstall ation of Wi ndows, I recommend you downl oad the fol l owi ng updates and
dri vers i n advance of reformatti ng and rei nstall i ng Wi ndows XP as for security reasons you shoul d try to
mi ni mize your Internet usage at thi s poi nt. If you have a permanent connecti on to the Internet and i t i s
al ready enabled straight after i nstall i ng XP, fi rst foll ow the procedure i n Step 8 further bel ow to turn on the
bui l t-i n Windows XP Fi rewall before fol l owi ng the rest of these steps. If you are usi ng nLi te (See the
Install i ng Windows chapter), make sure to read this chapter and downl oad the l atest versi ons of al l the
rel evant dri vers bel ow, however if you've i nstall ed XP usi ng an nLi te i nstal l di sk wi th i ntegrated dri vers,
you don't need to fol l ow these steps again.

The i ni tial core software install ation process i s provided bel ow i n order of fi rst to l ast, starting i mmedi atel y
after you've install ed Wi ndows XP. If you're usi ng an exi sti ng i nstal lati on of XP, you shoul d sti ll fol l ow these
steps, i nstal ling/updati ng the relevant dri vers whi ch you may have mi ssed previ ousl y.

STEP 1 - SERVICE PACKS
Install the full versi on of Wi ndows XP Servi ce Pack 3 (SP3). A Servi ce Pack is a compil ation of i mportant
securi ty, stabi l i ty and performance updates for Wi ndows, and SP3 is the l atest and fi nal Servi ce Pack for
Wi ndows XP, contai ni ng every major Wi ndows update rel eased up to Apri l 2008. You can read about the
updates and types of changes i t contai ns here. SP3 al so contai ns all the fi xes contai ned in SP1 and SP2,
though note that you can install SP3 on an XP system whi ch al ready has SP1 or SP2. However SP3 can't be


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i nstal l ed di rectl y on an origi nal pre-SP1 copy of Wi ndows XP - you need to ei ther i nstall SP1 fi rst; use an
ori gi nal Wi ndows XP SP1 or SP2 CD to i nstal l XP; or use a Sli pstreamed XP + SP3 i nstal l CD.

You can downl oad and i nstal l SP3 via Wi ndows Update, or downl oad and use the full standal one SP3
package from here: Wi ndows XP SP3. The full standal one versi on i s recommended as i t is the l east
probl emati c method of appl yi ng the Servi ce Pack. Obvi ousl y if you used a Windows XP CD whi ch al ready
has SP3 i ncorporated i nto i t to i nstall Wi ndows, such as a Sl i pstreamed XP + SP3 CD you've created with
nLi te as covered i n the Windows Installati on chapter, then you don't need to undertake thi s step as al l the
rel evant SP3 fi l es were automati cal ly i nstall ed al ong wi th Windows XP.

STEP 2 - DIRECTX
Install the l atest versi on of Di rectX from here: Mi crosoft Di rectX. Di rectX i s already buil t i nto Windows XP,
but you wi ll need to i nstal l the latest versi on of i t to ensure maxi mum performance, securi ty and
compati bi li ty wi th the l atest programs and games. In fact many recent games come wi th the l atest bui ld of
Di rectX on thei r i nstal lati on di sc, so check to see if that is the case and save yourself the extra downl oad.

Note that DirectX 10 and Di rectX 11 are versi ons of Di rectX desi gned solely for Wi ndows Vista and
Wi ndows 7 and are not compati bl e wi th Wi ndows XP, so any program or game whi ch requires Di rectX 10 or
11 can onl y be run under Wi ndows Vi sta or Wi ndows 7. Fortunatel y most games and 3D appl i cations do not
requi re DX 10 or DX 11 and can run i n DX9 mode on Wi ndows XP.

STEP 3 - DRIVER SIGNING & WINDOWS UPDATE
Dri ver Si gni ng i s meant to ensure that the dri vers bei ng i nstall ed are verifi ed as bei ng authenti c and are
certi fi ed to work wi th Wi ndows XP. However i n practi ce, al most all unsi gned dri vers are perfectl y fi ne to
use, as l ong as you have downl oaded them di rectly from your hardware manufacturer's websi te, or from
another trusted source. Prior to i nstall i ng any other dri vers go to Start>Control Panel>System>Hardware and
cl i ck on the 'Dri ver Si gni ng' button. In the Dri ver Si gni ng Opti ons screen make sure 'Warn - Prompt me each
ti me to choose an acti on' i s selected so that unsi gned dri vers are not automati cal l y bl ocked, and you wil l be
asked to choose whether to i nstall them. Then ti ck the 'Make this acti on the system defaul t' box and cli ck OK.

If you cl i ck the 'Wi ndows Update' button under Start>Control Panel >System>Hardware you wil l see several
opti ons whi ch determi ne Wi ndows behavi or whenever you connect a new devi ce, or a new devi ce i s i ni tiall y
detected. To start wi th I recommend sel ecti ng 'Never search Wi ndows Update for dri vers' and cl i ck OK. This
i s because to start wi th, you don't want any potenti al ly out-of-date dri vers on Windows Update i nstal li ng on
your system unti l you've had the chance to manual ly i nstal l the latest dri vers for each major devi ce as per
the steps bel ow. Once you've foll owed al l the steps up to Step 8, you can then come back and set thi s option
to 'Ask me to search Wi ndows Update every ti me I connect a new devi ce' if desi red, or leave i t to never
search if thi s behavi or bothers you. The dri vers on Wi ndows Update are general l y ol der than the l atest
versi ons avail able from the manufacturers, so manual updati ng of dri vers is necessary, and then onl y if
newer dri vers are found on Wi ndows Update should you i nstall them.

STEP 4 - MOTHERBOARD DRIVERS
Install your motherboard dri vers. The motherboard i s the hardware foundati on of your enti re system, so
usi ng the l atest dri vers for i t i s i mportant i n achi evi ng opti mal, troubl e-free performance for your entire
system, as wel l as provi ding addi ti onal motherboard-specifi c functi onali ty such as onboard audi o, onboard
network adapter, RAID, and so forth.

Fi ndi ng all the correct motherboard dri vers i s not necessaril y a strai ghtforward task. To start wi th, i t's
i mportant to understand that the motherboard chi pset type i s not the same as the motherboard brand or
model number. The chi pset type i s based on the company that manufactures the actual chi pset archi tecture
used i n the motherboard. The motherboard's brand is based on the company that buys thi s chipset, packages


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i t wi th certain features and sell s i t under i ts own brand name wi th a specifi c model number. For exampl e, an
ASUS P6T Deluxe motherboard is manufactured by a company call ed ASUS, i t uses an Intel X58 Express
chi pset and i t has the specifi c model name P6T Del uxe. Al l of these detail s are i mportant when determi ni ng
the correct dri ver to use. A combi nati on of the uti l i ti es covered in the System Speci fi cati ons chapter, al ong
wi th your motherboard manual and Googl e wi ll gi ve you all of these detail s about your motherboard.

Your motherboard usually comes wi th a dri ver di sc whi ch contains the rel evant dri vers, however these are
usual l y wel l out of date. The fi rst pl ace you shoul d l ook for the l atest versi on of these dri vers i s on your
motherboard manufacturer's websi te - there are too many to l ist here, so check your motherboard manual
for a li nk. Once at the si te, under the Support or Downl oads section you wi ll usuall y fi nd several different
types of updates for your parti cular motherboard model . These are broken down by category bel ow:

BIOS - These are not dri vers, they are BIOS updates for whi ch you shoul d refer to the BIOS Opti mization
chapter for more detai ls.
Chipset - These are the core dri vers whi ch control your motherboard's key functionali ty. All systems require
these for optimal performance and functi onal i ty.
IDE, SATA, RAID - These dri vers are requi red for correct operati on of your motherboard's dri ve controll ers.
You may al so requi re these dri vers for correct detecti on of your dri ves duri ng the i nstal lati on of Wi ndows -
see the Installi ng Wi ndows chapter.
Video - If you are usi ng your motherboard's onboard or i ntegrated graphi cs capabil i ti es, then these dri vers
are necessary. If you are usi ng a separate graphi cs card, these are not necessary. Refer to Step 5 bel ow.
Audio - If you are usi ng your motherboard's onboard or i ntegrated audi o capabili ti es, then these dri vers are
necessary. If you are usi ng a separate sound card, these are not necessary. Refer to Step 6 bel ow.
USB - If you are usi ng the USB ports on your motherboard, you may requi re separate USB drivers for correct
functi onali ty, al though typi cal ly thi s feature i s al ready i ncorporated i nto the Chi pset dri ver.
LAN - If you are usi ng your motherboard's onboard network/Ethernet control l er, whether for an Internet
connecti on or a connecti on to a network of computers, then these dri vers are necessary.

There may be addi ti onal dri vers for other speci fi c functi onali ty on your motherboard, but the ones above are
the most i mportant, parti cularly the Chipset and IDE/SATA/RAID dri vers.

If you're not usi ng a particular functi on on your motherboard, I strongl y recommend di sabl i ng i t i n your
BIOS as detail ed i n the BIOS Opti mizati on chapter. Thi s wil l prevent Wi ndows from automati call y detecti ng
them and i nstall i ng dri vers for them, and i n turn reduces resource usage and speeds up Wi ndows startup.

If there are no appropriate dri vers on your motherboard manufacturer's si te, or they appear to be fai rly ol d,
you can downl oad the latest dri vers di rectl y from one of the major chi pset manufacturers:

For Intel motherboards, downl oad and i nstal l the latest Intel Chi pset Software.
If you al so have a RAID or AHCI setup install the Intel Rapi d Storage Technol ogy Dri ver.
For Nvidia motherboards, downl oad and i nstall the latest nForce Dri vers.
For VIA motherboards, downl oad and i nstal l the latest VIA Hyperi on Dri vers.
For SiS motherboards, downl oad and install the l atest SiS Chi pset Software.

Note that some of these dri vers may contai n a mi x of dri ver components, i ncl udi ng chi pset, SATA/RAID and
LAN dri vers all i n one package. Read the dri ver notes on the si te for more detail s.

Fi nal ly, remember that motherboard chi pset drivers are not the same as a motherboard BIOS. The
motherboard dri vers are Wi ndows drivers that control the way the motherboard communicates through i ts
vari ous components under Wi ndows, the same as graphi cs dri vers or sound card dri vers for exampl e. The
BIOS on the other hand i s not dependent on Wi ndows at all and operates at the machi ne l evel to control the


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motherboard's behavi or the second your PC starts booti ng up. See the BIOS Opti mi zati on chapter for more
detail s.

STEP 5 - GRAPHICS DRIVERS
Install your graphi cs card vi deo dri vers. Just as wi th motherboards, graphi cs chi psets are devel oped by one
company and then sol d to different manufacturers who then package them together wi th certai n features
and capabi li ti es and market them under thei r own brand name. The i mportant thi ng to know is the
manufacturer of the chi pset on whi ch your graphi cs card i s based - for most graphi cs cards thi s wi ll be ei ther
Nvi di a or ATI. For exampl e, an EVGA GeForce GTX 285 graphics card uses an Nvidia GeForce 200 seri es
chi pset, packaged and sold by the company EVGA under i ts own brand. The chi pset i s the determi nant of
whi ch dri ver to use, not the company sell i ng the card. Determi ne your chi pset and model name usi ng the
uti li ti es i n the System Specifi cati ons chapter, then downl oad and i nstal l the rel evant package:

For Nvidia graphi cs cards, downl oad and i nstall the latest Forceware Graphi cs Dri vers.
For detail s on how to i nstall and set these up correctl y read the Nvidi a Forceware Tweak Guide.
For ATI graphi cs cards, downl oad and install the l atest ATI Catal yst Dri vers.
For detail s on how to i nstall and set these up correctl y read the ATI Catalyst Tweak Gui de.
For Intel graphi cs cards, downl oad and i nstal l the latest Intel Graphi cs Dri vers.
For SiS graphi cs cards, downl oad and install the l atest SiS Graphics Dri vers.
For S3 graphics cards, downl oad and i nstal l the latest S3 Graphics Dri vers.
For Matrox graphi cs cards, downl oad and i nstall the latest Matrox Graphi cs Drivers.
For motherboards wi th onboard graphi cs, check your motherboard manufacturer's websi te fi rst (See
Step 4), then check one of the si tes above for Integrated or Onboard Graphics dri vers.

Note that unli ke motherboards, you do not need to downl oad your graphi cs dri vers from your hardware
manufacturer's websi te. Install i ng the latest 'reference' chi pset dri vers shown above is the best method as
they are typi call y much newer.

STEP 6 - SOUND DRIVERS
Install your Sound card audi o dri vers. These vary dependi ng on the brand of the sound card you are
runni ng. Only the major brands are covered bel ow:

For Creative sound cards, downl oad and i nstall the latest Creati ve Audi o Dri vers.
For ASUS sound cards, downl oad and install the l atest ASUS Audio Dri vers.
For Auzentech sound cards, downl oad and i nstal l the latest Auzentech Dri vers.
For Turtle Beach sound cards, downl oad and i nstall the latest Turtl e Beach Audio Dri vers.
For Hercules sound cards, downl oad and i nstall the latest Hercul es Audi o Dri vers.
For AOpen sound cards, downl oad and i nstal l the latest AOpen Audi o Dri vers.
For motherboards wi th onboard audi o, check your motherboard manufacturer's websi te fi rst (See Step
4), then check your onboard audi o chi pset manufacturer's websi te such as Real tek.

STEP 7 - PERIPHERAL DRIVERS
Before i nstalli ng any peri pheral dri vers, connect these devi ces (e.g. Mouse, Pri nter, Digi tal Camera) to your
system and test thei r functi onali ty. If they appear to work and al l the major functi ons whi ch you woul d use
are i ntact, then do not i nstal l a new dri ver for them. For example, i f you connect an opti cal mouse and i t
appears to have suffi ci ent functi onal i ty, do not then i nstall the drivers that come on the di sc wi th the mouse
or downl oad and i nstal l new dri vers from the manufacturer's websi te. The reason for this is that such dri vers
typi call y need to l oad i nto the background at Wi ndows startup and usual ly add to overall resource usage,
i ncrease boot ti mes, and qui te often don't add anythi ng of real value to the devi ce's functi on. XP al ready
supports the important basi c functi onali ty of most major peri pherals wi thout the need for additi onal dri vers.


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However obvi ousl y should your devi ce not functi on correctl y, or a feature that you need to use appears
di sabl ed, you wi ll then need to i nstal l the l atest dri ver for that device. In that case I recommend you go to the
devi ce manufacturer's websi te and downl oad the l atest avai labl e dri vers rather than usi ng the ol der dri vers
that come on the di sk wi th the devi ce. There are far too many devi ce manufacturers to l ist here, but the
websi te address i s usually promi nently l i sted on the devi ce's box and/or i n the manual . Where possibl e
foll ow the devi ce i nstal lation i nstructi ons i n the devi ce's manual (or on i ts websi te) for the best method of
i nstal lati on. Typi cal ly thi s invol ves connecti ng the devi ces to your machi ne one by one, and when Wi ndows
detects them and prompts for dri vers, insert the appropri ate dri ver disk or point Wi ndows to the di rectory
where you have downl oaded the latest dri ver fil es for the devi ce and conti nue from there.

If you have an ol der devi ce whi ch is not compati bl e wi th Pl ug and Play, or a newer devi ce whi ch i sn't bei ng
detected correctl y, and there is no appropri ate driver to use, see the Add Hardware secti on under the
Control Panel chapter for more detai ls of how to manual l y i nstall such a devi ce.

STEP 8 - FIREWALL, WINDOWS UPDATE & .NET
You wi ll need a connecti on to the Internet for thi s step. That means your network devi ce must be i nstalled
and set up correctl y - refer to your modem/router/network adapter's documentati on as each has unique
setup procedures and requi rements. You must al so have your ISP (Internet Servi ce Provi der) detai ls handy
(e.g. username, password, confi gurati on i nformati on, etc.). Once you have i nstal l ed the devi ce, and pri or to
connecti ng to the i nternet, you must enabl e a Fi rewall. A fi rewall prevents mali ci ous access to your machi ne
vi a the Internet, and your network device may al ready have a buil t-i n fi rewall . However to start wi th, enable
the Wi ndows XP Fi rewall if you're not sure.

To enabl e the defaul t Wi ndows XP Fi rewall , whi ch is recommended for most purposes, go to the Wi ndows
Control Panel, open the Wi ndows Fi rewall component and on the mai n screen of the Fi rewal l setti ngs, make
sure i t is set to On. Now you can safel y connect to the Internet, but do not vi si t any other websi te, nor check
your email , or downl oad any programs. Go di rectly to the Wi ndows Update websi te, ei ther by cl i cki ng the
Wi ndows Update i con i n your Start menu, or by goi ng to Internet Expl orer>Tool s>Wi ndows Update, or by
cl i cki ng thi s Wi ndows Update l i nk. Once on the Wi ndows Update si te, cl i ck the 'Custom' li nk and wai t for
the scan to fi ni sh. Note that Wi ndows Update wi ll onl y work on Internet Expl orer by defaul t - i t wi l l not
have ful l functi onali ty on other browsers - see the Internet Expl orer chapter for more detai ls.

You wi ll noti ce that after selecti ng a Custom scan that al l the 'High Priori ty Updates' i tems have
automati cal ly been added to your 'Revi ew and i nstal l updates' l ist. It i s i mportant that you i nstal l all of these
cri ti cal updates for securi ty, stabi l i ty and compati bi lity purposes. Under the 'Opti onal Software' secti on, you
should al so add any fi xes or updates you see whi ch are rel evant to the programs or features you use or wish
to use. Note in parti cul ar that certai n programs and dri vers have a user i nterface whi ch has been devel oped
usi ng Mi crosoft's .NET Framework. Thi s means that for these drivers to function correctl y, you wi ll need to
i nstal l .NET on your machi ne. You can downl oad and i nstall the l atest .NET Framework through Wi ndows
Update, or downl oad i t separatel y here: .NET Framework Versi on 4.0. ATI graphi cs card users i n particul ar
wi ll fi nd that the ATI Catal yst graphi cs dri vers requi re .NET for the Catal yst Control Center to work.

Fi nal ly, add in al l 'Opti onal Hardware' updates shown, as these are i mportant updates of dri vers for the
hardware on your system. They are all safe to use and should onl y be avail able for i nstall ati on i f they are
newer than the dri vers you are currentl y usi ng for your devi ce(s). You can (and shoul d) i nstall newer
versi ons of hardware dri vers over these versi ons i f and when they become availabl e i n the future.

Once you've added all the rel evant updates, cli ck the 'Install Updates' button. It may take qui te some ti me
for the vari ous updates to downl oad and i nstal l dependi ng on your i nternet connecti on. Reboot as often as
prompted. Don't i nstal l any other appl i cati ons or games, and don't browse any other websi tes yet - go
straight to the PC Securi ty chapter.


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< GENERAL DRIVER INSTALLATION
THE LATEST DRIVERS
The dri vers install ed on your system need to be kept up to date, so regularly check all the si tes li nked to
above and make sure you have the latest versi ons. To check the current dri ver versi on on a parti cular
component, go to Control Panel >System>Hardware>Devi ce Manager and expand the vari ous categori es. For
each devi ce, ri ght-cli ck on it and sel ect Properti es, then under the Dri ver tab l ook at the Driver Provi der and
Dri ver Version detail s. Al ternati vel y, check the System Specifi cati ons chapter for automated system tool s
whi ch can give you thi s i nformati on.

I usuall y announce major dri ver rel eases as soon as they are availabl e on the front page of TweakGui des.com
UNINSTALLING DRIVERS

so check there regularly for downl oad l inks and detail s of the changes i n the l atest dri vers.

Before i nstalli ng any new dri vers, al ways make sure to go to 'Add or Remove Programs' under the Control
Panel and uni nstal l any previ ous dri vers for the rel evant devi ce, then reboot Wi ndows. Furthermore, you
can use the Dri ver Sweeper util i ty to attempt to remove any remai ni ng traces of parti cular dri vers. Launch
the uti l i ty, ti ck the dri ver(s) you wi sh to remove, cl i ck the Analyze button fi rst to see what wi ll be removed.
Then i f you wi sh to conti nue, cli ck the Cl ean button and reboot your PC to make sure al l dri ver fil es and
related registry entri es are removed. If you real ly want to remove all possi bl e traces of previous dri vers, use
the Autoruns uti l i ty to i denti fy and remove i ndi vidual dri ver fi les whi ch may be resi dent on your dri ve after
uni nstall ati on - see the Startup Programs chapter for more detai ls.

Thi s 'cl ean i nstall ' method ensures that your system i s free of any 'dri ver resi due' - leftover components of
previ ous dri ver versi ons whi ch may cause confl i cts wi th newer drivers.

INSTALLING NON-EXECUTABLE DRIVERS
Devi ce dri vers i n .EXE format si mpl y need to be executed to automati call y i nstal l the dri vers. However
dri vers whi ch come as a col l ecti on of fi les i n archived format (i.e. .ZIP, .ACE, .TAR, .RAR, .7Z) must have
thei r contents extracted (usi ng WinZi p, Wi nRAR or the free 7-Zi p), and then foll ow the steps bel ow to i nstall
them on your system:

1. Go to Control Panel>System>Hardware>Devi ce Manager, and doubl e cli ck on the devi ce to update.
2. Go to the Driver tab and cli ck the 'Update Dri ver' button.
3. Sel ect 'Instal l from a li st or speci fi c l ocation' then cli ck Next.
4. Sel ect 'Don't search, I wil l choose the driver to i nstall '
5. Cl i ck the 'Have Di sk' button.
6. Cl i ck on the Browse button and go to the di rectory where you placed the latest dri vers.
7. Hi ghl i ght the rel evant dri ver fi l e (usual ly an .INF fi le) and cli ck Next to i nstal l .
8. Reboot your system if prompted and upon reboot the devi ce shoul d be usi ng the l atest dri vers. You can
check thi s by checki ng the dri ver tab i n devi ce manager agai n (Steps 1 & 2 above).

You can use the above procedure to manual l y update (or downgrade) any of your devi ce dri vers whenever
you downl oad an archi ved dri ver package for any devi ce.


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GENERAL DRIVER TIPS
The foll owi ng is some general i nformation and advi ce regardi ng all devi ce dri vers:

Source of Drivers - Onl y downl oad and use dri vers di rectly from your hardware manufacturer's websi te,
Wi ndows Update, or from a reputabl e and wel l establ i shed thi rd-party source whi ch you know and trust.
Thi s does not guarantee thei r stabi li ty, but i t does help ensure that they do not contai n mal ware. Whil e many
peopl e thi nk nothi ng of downl oadi ng dri vers from file shari ng si tes for example, you are essenti all y putti ng
your trust i n peopl e you don't know, and who may even be i nfected wi th mal ware wi thout knowi ng i t. Then
of course there are peopl e who are del iberatel y mal ici ous and will use any opportuni ty to spread mal ware
through dri vers. The hardware manufacturer's si te shoul d al ways be your fi rst choi ce for obtai ni ng dri vers.

User Feedback - Be wary of general user feedback on dri vers on pl aces li ke publ i c forums and i n bl og
comments. In recent years more and more users have turned to bl ami ng dri vers (or Wi ndows i tself) for
vari ous problems on thei r system, when the probl ems are often actuall y the resul t of factors resul ti ng from
general user i gnorance or lack of system mai ntenance, such as overcl ocking, overheating, confli cti ng
software, or excessi ve dri ver residue. Thi s is parti cularl y true for graphi cs and audi o dri vers, wi th any audi o
or graphi cs-rel ated problem automati cal l y bei ng attributed to the dri vers by the average user, when i ndeed
many other factors can cause these i ssues. User feedback i s useful , but should not be the sol e or even the
pri mary basis for determi ning whi ch driver to i nstall .

Beta Drivers - Beta dri vers are pre-fi nal dri vers whi ch carry the risk of causi ng addi ti onal system probl ems
because they have not necessaril y undergone thorough testi ng, thus the hardware manufacturer provi des no
support to users of beta dri vers. Generall y speaki ng though, beta dri vers downl oaded di rectl y from your
hardware manufacturer shoul d be relativel y stabl e and safe to use, but best i nstall ed onl y if you are having
probl ems wi th your current dri ver and/or onl y if the rel ease notes and the consensus of user feedback cl earl y
i ndi cate that they provi de some signifi cant benefi t.

Alpha Drivers - Al pha drivers are even l ess poli shed than beta dri vers and thei r use can l ead to seri ous
probl ems such as major i nstabi li ty and even data l oss. They are onl y recommended for advanced users who
wi sh to experi ment, or for users who have absol utel y no other avai labl e opti on for obtaini ng a working
dri ver for thei r hardware. Make certai n you prepare a ful l backup before i nstal ling an al pha dri ver.

Leaked Drivers - Leaked drivers may be al pha, beta or fi nal versi ons, but they have been unoffi ciall y rel eased
to the publ i c, often agai nst the wi shes of the hardware manufacturer. They may be modi fied and/or not
di gi tall y signed, whi ch onl y i ncreases the risk that they contai n mal ware and/or may not provi de stable
functi onali ty for your device and resul t i n data l oss. As wi th al pha dri vers, I do not recommend usi ng l eaked
dri vers unl ess you have absol utely no other opti on, and onl y after maki ng proper backups beforehand.
Asi de from putti ng your data at ri sk of bei ng l ost, you are also putti ng your securi ty at ri sk.

Modified ('modded') Drivers - Current modi fi ed dri vers do not provi de any genuine benefi t over the standard
dri vers from your hardware manufacturer. Don't be fool ed by promi ses of l arge performance gai ns or magi c
fi xes - these are al most always unfounded or exaggerated clai ms desi gned to enti ce peopl e i nto usi ng the
dri ver. The onl y ti me I woul d recommend a modified dri ver i s if they have been .INF modi fi ed to al l ow
them to be i nstall ed and used on hardware they were not ori ginall y i ntended for. Thi s i s a si mpl e text fi le
modi fi cati on done pri maril y to provi de dri vers for hardware whi ch may otherwi se not have frequent driver
support, such as laptop graphi cs chi psets. Obvi ously .INF modi fi cati on can resul t i n unexpected behavior
because the dri ver i s bei ng used on hardware i t was not desi gned for, but i t may be the onl y opti on available
to peopl e wi th certai n hardware. In al l other cases I recommend agai nst usi ng modi fi ed drivers for safety
and stabil i ty reasons. If a manufacturer has disabl ed a parti cular feature i n a dri ver, i t is for a good reason.


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Dri vers are a cri ti cal component of the way your hardware i nteracts wi th Wi ndows, and have a signifi cant
i mpact on performance and stabil i ty, so i t i s best to make sure they are kept up to date, and that you do not
experi ment unnecessaril y wi th them. Regularl y refer to the front page of TweakGui des.com for the l atest
news on offi ci al dri ver updates.


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PC SECURITY

Over the past few years PC securi ty has become a major i ssue of concern due to the i ncrease i n the number
of ways i n whi ch the securi ty of the average home PC user can be compromi sed. I strongly advise you not to
take the topi c of PC securi ty l ightl y or ignore i t. It i s extremel y i mportant that you become acquai nted wi th
the types of threats to the i ntegri ty and pri vacy of your PC, and ways to counter them. In parti cul ar
Wi ndows XP's securi ty features are not as comprehensi ve as those found i n newer versi ons of Wi ndows, so
securi ty shoul d be an even greater concern for XP users.

It i s i ncorrect to suggest that onl y the very carel ess or novi ce user wi ll succumb to a securi ty-related probl em
or Mal ware (mali ci ous software) i nfestati on. Even if you consi der yourself an advanced user, you need to
bear i n mi nd that mal ware threats these days are becomi ng i ncreasingl y compl ex and dangerous. In the past
a mal ware i nfestation woul d usuall y resul t i n l i ttl e to no real harm; you'd have to delete a few fil es or at
worst rei nstall Wi ndows or restore a backup. Now however, mal ware devel opment and di stributi on is often
coordi nated by organized cri me groups for fi nanci al gai n, so even a si ngl e i nci dence of malware i nfestation
can potenti all y resul t i n the l oss of money, software serial numbers, emai l account detail s, and other
sensi ti ve personal i nformati on. Havi ng a carefree atti tude towards PC securi ty i s a thi ng of the past.

However I do not advocate boggi ng your system down wi th securi ty software that runs i n the background,
sl owi ng thi ngs down, triggeri ng software confl i cts and crashes. Instead, thi s chapter expl ai ns the vari ous
types of threats to PC securi ty and provi des a range of i mportant ti ps for mai ntai ni ng a secure PC, because
educati on and awareness are the best defense agai nst mal ware. We exami ne the buil t-i n Windows tools and
some recommended thi rd party software whi ch deal wi th these threats in a non-i ntrusi ve manner wi th
vi rtual ly no performance impact.

< SECURITY THREATS
There are a wi de range of securi ty threats whi ch Wi ndows users face, parti cul arl y from vari ous types of
mali ci ous software. Mal ware can enter your system and cause probl ems ranging from the very mi nor to the
very seri ous. Mal ware can remai n hi dden for l ong peri ods and have subtl e effects, or i ts i mpact can be
i mmediate and blatant. However i t i s i mportant to understand that malware does not damage your
computer hardware di rectly nor does i t actuall y physi cal ly 'i nfect' the hardware. Mal ware i s software-based,
and i ts threat i s to the i ntegri ty of your data, your pri vacy and your fi nances.

There are different types of mal ware and securi ty threats, and the major categori es of these are covered
bel ow:

VIRUSES & WORMS
Vi ruses are small programs that l oad onto your computer wi thout your permi ssi on and wi thout your
knowl edge of thei r real functi on. They are call ed vi ruses because just l ike a human vi rus they are desi gned
to sel f-repl i cate, attachi ng themsel ves to normal programs and fil es and spreadi ng to other computers
through exchange of these i nfected fi l es, where they repeat the same process once on the new computer.
Vi ruses range from the mi schi evous to the trul y harmful, destroyi ng val uabl e i nformation through data
corrupti on and causi ng a range of strange system behavi ors.

Worms are si mil ar to viruses, however they general l y do not attach to other fil es, they can spread
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TROJAN HORSES
A Trojan, short for Trojan Horse, i s a mal i ci ous program that is often i nstal led on your system under the
guise of bei ng another, often useful, program. Trojans di ffer from vi ruses i n that they are used to provi de an
outsi de attacker wi th access to your system. Thi s may be for the purposes of steal i ng val uabl e i nformation,
i nstal li ng other forms of mal ware, or using your system as part of an i ll egal network such as a botnet.

SPYWARE
Spyware i s simi lar to a Trojan, i n that it i s software that i s usual ly i nstal l ed on your system purporti ng to
have di fferent functi onali ty, or as a component of a useful program. Spyware does not al l ow an outside
attacker to take control of your system, but i t does transmi t i nformati on about you and your system, such as
your passwords, keystrokes or Internet usage behavior to the distri butor of the spyware.

ADWARE
Adware i s simi lar to spyware, but is not necessari l y mal i ci ous, as i t i s mai nl y used to target onl ine
advertisi ng or create popup ads or redi rect/force your browser to vi ew pages wi th adverti si ng. However
agai n i t is usual l y i nstal led wi thout your ful l knowledge or permi ssi on. Despi te i t's relati vely l ess mali ci ous
nature, thi s software is usual l y undesi rabl e, breaches your pri vacy and uses system resources and
bandwi dth for no genui nely useful purpose.

ROOTKITS
A Rootki t i s a form of mal ware del iberatel y designed to mask the fact that your machi ne has been
compromi sed and i s now open to unauthori zed usage by an outside attacker. The rootki t wi ll prevent traces
of i tself or any associated mali ci ous activi ty from being detected by usual detecti on methods such as running
an anti-vi rus program or exami ni ng the Wi ndows Task Manager for unusual processes. At the same ti me, a
remote attacker can take advantage of the rootki t to access your machi ne for malici ous purposes.

PHISHING
Whi le not a form of mali cious software, Phi shi ng i s fast becomi ng a common and signifi cant securi ty threat.
Typi cal ly i t invol ves fool ing unsuspecti ng users i nto reveali ng i mportant personal i nformation such as credi t
card numbers or passwords. For exampl e a phi shi ng attempt may i nvol ve getti ng you to cl ick a l ogi n l i nk i n
a fake email from your bank, whi ch then takes you to a fraudul ent i mi tati on of the user's bank l ogi n page,
whereupon you enter your l ogi n detail s, gi vi ng the perpetrator al l the detail s they need to then l ogi n to your
real bank account and rob i t. Phi shi ng i s not mal ware as such, since i t does not usual l y i nvol ve software
i nfecti on, i t uses social engi neeri ng techni ques i nstead to tri ck and defraud i ts targets.

The categories above are i n no way conclusi ve or all -encompassi ng. There are many variants and
combi nati ons of the above securi ty threat categories, and more are emergi ng every day. Over the past few
years these types of threats have become ever-more sophi sti cated, i ntrusi ve and mali ci ous. Even relati vel y
tech-savvy users face the risk of pi cki ng up a seri ous pi ece of malware or even acci dentall y fal li ng prey to
phi shi ng. It may not happen often, but i t onl y takes one seri ous securi ty breach to resul t i n fi nancial l oss or
data l oss and the subsequent major hassl es of havi ng to obtai n new credi t cards, provi ng your case to a bank
or fi nancial insti tuti on, changi ng all your passwords, contacti ng software manufacturers for new seri al
numbers, and so forth. The peopl e behi nd the creati on of these securi ty threats are making large sums of
money from doi ng this, so they have the resources and the i ncentive to constantl y adapt to exi sti ng mal ware
defenses and i nnovate new and ever-more-i ntrusi ve forms of mal ware and onli ne scams.

Protecti ng yoursel f agai nst these securi ty threats i s not as si mple as i nstal li ng lots of mal ware scanners and
turni ng them all on. Asi de from drai ni ng performance, causi ng software confl i cts and other system i ssues,
mal ware scanners often lag behi nd i n the detecti on of new securi ty vul nerabi l i ties and expl oi ts. The best


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defense against mal ware i s a combi nati on of correctl y confi guring Wi ndows features, using appropriate
thi rd party securi ty software, and most i mportantl y, bei ng educated and vi gilant, and understandi ng your
own system. Thi s i s one of the reasons I urge users to l earn about how Wi ndows and thei r PC works,
because peopl e who gai n an i ntui ti ve understandi ng of the fundamental s stand a much greater chance of
avoi di ng a securi ty breach.

The rest of thi s chapter contai ns the tool s and methods you can use to counter a wi de range of securi ty
threats.

< ESSENTIAL SECURITY SOFTWARE
Whi le Wi ndows XP has a range of buil t-i n securi ty features, these are compl etely i nsuffi ci ent on thei r own to
protect you agai nst mal ware. They provi de a layer of defense agai nst the most common securi ty threats, but
much more needs to be done to provi de genui nely good securi ty i n XP. It is important to have addi ti onal
l ayers of different types of protecti on so that even i f several defenses are defeated, other layers exist to
prevent or detect the mal ware before i t does any serious harm. That's where the use of sel ected thi rd party
anti -mal ware scanners i s absol utely cri tical to ensuri ng that your system i s cl ean of mal ware and remai ns so.

In thi s secti on I provi de detail ed confi gurati on advi ce for the recommended mal ware scanners whi ch I
personal ly use on my system. Thi s wil l hel p gi ve you a bal ance between securi ty and conveni ence, wi th
mi ni mal performance i mpact. You may noti ce that I recommend di sabli ng certai n real -ti me protecti on
and/or background functionali ty - thi s may seem ri sky at fi rst glance, however there are two very i mportant
reasons for thi s:

Background functi onali ty typi call y i nvol ves constantl y scanning your data i n an attempt to detect
patterns whi ch may i ndi cate the presence of mal ware. This not onl y uses system resources such as CPU
and memory, of greater signi ficance is the fact that i t can i nduce stutteri ng and reduce performance i n a
range of scenari os, parti cularly duri ng gami ng or when runni ng data-i ntensi ve appl i cati ons.
Havi ng background scanni ng/real -ti me protecti on functi onal i ty acti ve on mal ware scanners can cause
software confl i cts whi ch can resul t i n the i ncorrect install ation of software, as well as general system
i nstabil i ty and crashes whi l e runni ng software. Thi s i s a known issue whi ch many software devel opers
speci fi call y warn agai nst i n the documentati on for their programs.

I strongly beli eve that there i s no reason to sl ow down a system wi th i ntrusi ve mal ware scanni ng features
when the best protecti on comes from a combi nati on of a range of bui l t-i n Wi ndows securi ty features, user
vi gil ance, and regular manual scans of your system. See the advice throughout thi s chapter, and the ti ps at
the end of this chapter for more detai ls.

If you disagree wi th my securi ty phi losophy, particularly i f you are a user who feel s that the trade-off
between securi ty and performance shoul d favor securi ty i n your own ci rcumstances then ignore my advice
and use the defaul t setti ngs for each of these software packages. Just keep i n mi nd that i nstall i ng and
enabli ng any mal ware scanni ng package on your system does not automati cal ly mean that you are protected
agai nst mal ware. There i s no si mpl e automated fi x to the probl em of mal ware, otherwi se i t woul d have been
defeated by now; i nstead mal ware i s a bi gger probl em than ever. Thi s is because preventi on i s al ways better
than any potenti al cure, and that comes from user educati on and awareness, not a rel iance on a range of
automated tool s. Unfortunatel y user educati on requires user effort, whereas the rel ati ve i gnorance of total
rel iance on automated tool s requi res mini mal user effort, so obvi ousl y most users opt for the easy way out. I
encourage you not to be such a user if you genui nel y value your securi ty.

Bel ow i s the essential free securi ty software I recommend that you i nstal l and use:


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MALICIOUS SOFTWARE REMOVAL TOOL
To start wi th, regul arl y downl oad and use the Mali ci ous Software Removal Tool. Thi s i s a free Mi crosoft tool
provi ded monthl y through Wi ndows Update, so as l ong as you keep up to date wi th Wi ndows Update, i t
wi ll automaticall y i nstall and run i tself when a new versi on is avail abl e. You can al so downl oad i t from the
l i nk above and run i t manual l y at any ti me, if you suspect an i nfecti on for exampl e. Once i t i s downl oaded
and i nstal l ed you can choose to do a Quick Scan or a Ful l Scan of your system for the most common vi ruses -
a Qui ck Scan i s suffi ci ent if you al so use another vi rus scanner. Note that the Mal i ci ous Software Removal
Tool does not i nstall i tsel f permanentl y on your system and does not stay resi dent on your system, i t si mply
runs a si ngl e scan each ti me i t i s downloaded from Windows Update, or i f you manuall y downl oad i t and
use i t.

The tool i s desi gned to detect the most common malware threats, but as the tool i tself recommends, you wi ll
need dedi cated anti-mal ware scanni ng software which can perform regular full scans of your system for a
wi de range of vi ruses, worms and other types of malware.

MICROSOFT SECURITY ESSENTIALS
I personal ly use and recommend Mi crosoft Securi ty Essenti al s (MSE) as a dedi cated all-purpose anti -
mal ware scanner. It i s a free and l ightwei ght mal ware scanner whi ch contai ns a powerful engi ne desi gned to
scan for vi ruses, worms, trojans, adware and spyware, as well are other types of securi ty threats. After you
i nstal l MSE, it i s recommended that you all ow i t to downl oad the latest defi niti ons. There are four mai n tabs
under the mai n MSE wi ndow, and each i s covered below:

Home: Di spl ays your current securi ty status:

Green - Everythi ng is fi ne, and MSE i s usi ng i ts recommended settings.
Yel l ow - There may be a probl em, usuall y due to outdated defini ti on fil e, so you should go to the
Update tab and al l ow MSE to update over the Internet.
Red - A potenti al threat has been detected, or you have disabled one or more of the real -time protecti on
components.

Seei ng a red status i ndi cator si mpl y because you have di sabl ed one of the real -time protecti on components
can be mi sl eadi ng, si nce thi s does not mean you are at any si gni fi cant ri sk as l ong as you follow the rest of
the advi ce i n thi s chapter. However l ook cl osely, because i f the red status i ndi cator is accompani ed by detail s
of a potenti al threat bei ng found, and the red button on the home page says 'Clean computer', then mal ware
has been detected. Cli ck the 'Cl ean computer' button to have MSE undertake the defaul t action for that risk
type. Remember that the defaul t acti on for severe and hi gh risk l evel s i s deleti on of the suspected i nfected
fi le, so check fi rst before clicki ng 'Cl ean computer' - see Defaul t Acti ons bel ow.

Al so avail able here are the manual scanni ng opti ons. You can sel ect from a Qui ck scan, a Full scan, or a
Custom scan. The Qui ck scan i s the fastest, goi ng through your i mportant system fi les, fol ders and the
Wi ndows Regi stry to l ook for traces of mal ware. A Ful l scan goes through all your fil es and fol ders l ooking
for mal ware, and hence takes l onger and provi des greater securi ty. A Custom Scan all ows you to sel ect the
speci fi c dri ve(s) and/or folder(s) you wi sh to scan. I recommend runni ng a Custom scan on any fil e you
downl oad or consi der suspi ci ous at any ti me. I also recommend runni ng a Ful l scan at l east once a week to
ensure your system remai ns free from mal ware.

Update: Shows the current versi on and date for defi ni ti on fi l es. These fil es are what al l ow MSE to more
accurately detect new malware, so you must keep MSE up to date by regul arl y cl i cki ng the Update button
here, or by checki ng Wi ndows Update for updates to MSE. I strongl y recommend updati ng the defi ni ti ons
pri or to l aunchi ng a manual scan.


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History: Shows any malware detected by MSE, as wel l as any programs or fi l e types you have manuall y
excl uded from scanni ng in MSE. Note that i f the 'Al low al l users to vi ew the ful l Hi story resul ts' i s not ti cked
i n the Advanced secti on of the Setti ngs tab, each user wi ll not be abl e to see results from other users, whi ch
can protect pri vacy.

Settings: MSE comes wi th a good defaul t confi guration, so begi nner users i n parti cular do not need to al ter
anythi ng here. However I provi de my recommendations for parti cular opti ons bel ow:

Schedul ed Scan - The defaul t is a Qui ck scan 2:00am every Sunday, but I recommend changi ng this to a
Full scan i nstead for greater securi ty. Al so make sure the 'Start the scheduled scan onl y when my
computer i s on but not i n use' and the 'Check for the l atest vi rus and spyware defi ni ti ons before runni ng
a schedul ed scan' boxes are both ti cked.
Defaul t Actions - The defaul t acti ons l i sted are descri bed i n detai l i n thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e. The
'Recommended Acti on' opti on i s fi ne for each of these. However if the 'Appl y recommended acti ons' box
i s ti cked, MSE wi ll automati cal ly appl y i ts recommended acti ons to your software - I strongly
recommend agai nst ti cki ng thi s box to avoi d seei ng your software removed wi thout your consent. For
exampl e, shoul d a false posi ti ve occur and i t i s rated as a Severe risk, MSE wil l automati cal ly del ete the
parti cul ar fi l e(s). Al ternativel y, you can l eave this box ti cked, but for the Severe and Hi gh al ert l evels,
you can change the defaul t acti on to Quaranti ne to ensure there i s no automati c fi le/program del eti on.
Real-ti me Protecti on - The opti ons here all ow you to determi ne whi ch types of acti vi ti es and areas MSE
constantl y moni tors i n the background to prevent mal ware from install i ng or executi ng on your system.
The performance i mpact of havi ng full real -ti me protecti on i n MSE is mi nimal , and hence for novi ce
users al l these opti ons are best l eft enabl ed. However for i ntermedi ate and advanced users I recommend
l eavi ng real-ti me protecti on enabl ed, but unti cki ng the 'Scan programs that run on my computer' box,
l eavi ng the 'Scan downl oaded fi l es and attachments' box ti cked. Thi s should mi ni mize the potenti al for
performance i ssues and confl icts, because MSE wi ll onl y scan a fil e or attachment whi ch is downl oaded,
and wil l not constantl y scan i n the background during normal system usage. Note however that thi s
setti ng wil l cause the MSE status to go red, whi ch is no cause for alarm.
Excl uded Fi les and Folders, Excl uded Fi l e Types - These two secti ons al l ow you to speci fy parti cular
fi les, fol ders or fi l e types whi ch you don't want MSE to i ncl ude as part of i ts scans. It i s not
recommended that you excl ude anythi ng from MSE's scans, as thi s may all ow mal ware to sli p past.
However if you know for certai n that a parti cul ar fi le, folder or fil e type i s going to be pi cked up as a
fal se posi ti ve (i .e. fal sel y detected as malware when i t i s not), then you can i ncl ude i t here.
Advanced - There several opti ons here to further customi ze MSE's behavi or. 'Scan archi ve fi les' if ti cked
all ows MSE to scan i nsi de archi ved fi l es such as .ZIP, .CAB and .RAR archi ves - I recommend ti cki ng
thi s as mal ware can easil y hi de i nside such fi l es. 'Scan removabl e dri ves', i f ti cked, scans any removabl e
dri ves such as USB fl ash dri ves when they are attached to the system - an extra form of protecti on,
however ti cki ng thi s may cause addi tional delays when you attach such drives, so unti ck i t if this
bothers you, but l eave i t ti cked i f you often connect removabl e dri ves from dubi ous sources. 'Create a
system restore poi nt' i f ti cked does precisel y what i t says: creates a new restore poi nt for System Restore
(if enabl ed) before taki ng any acti on agai nst detected mal ware - I strongly recommend ti cki ng this
because i t allows you to easi l y undo any system changes MSE makes whi ch are undesi rable. 'All ow all
users to vi ew the ful l History resul ts' - I recommend ti cki ng thi s, as i t saves you havi ng to cli ck the 'Vi ew
Detai ls' button i n the Hi story secti on of MSE to see full detai l s. You can untick thi s box i f there are
mul ti ple users and you wish to protect each user's pri vacy, si nce infected fil enames shown here may be
somethi ng a user doesn't wi sh to have reveal ed.
Mi crosoft SpyNet - MSE uses anonymous i nformation col l ected from your machi ne as part of the Basi c
Membershi p status for Microsoft SpyNet. If you have concerns, see the Pri vacy Statement for more
detail s. It i s preci sel y because of thi s i nformati on from such a large user base that MSE can provi de such
powerful mal ware detection functi onal i ty wi thout resorti ng to more i ntrusive measures that other
scanners do. An exampl e of the type of i nformati on col l ected can be found i n thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e. If
you wish to provi de more advanced informati on, incl udi ng some potenti ally personall y i dentifiable


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i nformati on, sel ect the 'Advanced Membershi p'. Mi crosoft has proven i n the past that it takes the
protecti on of user i nformati on very seri ously, so the risk to users i s not great, but ul ti mately if pri vacy is
a concern, the Basi c Membershi p opti on i s fi ne. If you sti ll have pri vacy concerns, then you may wi sh to
use another anti -mal ware package al together.

Cl i ck the 'Save changes' button when fi ni shed here.

Note that MSE al so i nstall s a new servi ce cal l ed 'Mi crosoft Anti malware Servi ce' (MsMpEng.exe) whi ch i s set
to Automati c, and needs to remai n that way for MSE to work properl y. MSE al so i nstal ls a new startup
program 'Mi crosoft Securi ty Essential s Interface' (msseces.exe) whi ch tri ggers the launch of MSE at startup.
You can di sabl e thi s i tem however i t wi l l disabl e al l real -ti me protecti on features unti l you manuall y l aunch
MSE i n a sessi on, so i t is best l eft to l oad at startup. Once runni ng, MSE also pl aces an i con i n your System
Tray area whi ch you can cli ck to qui ckl y open MSE at any ti me.

Mi crosoft Securi ty Essential s is a powerful anti -mal ware package whi ch detects a range of mal ware, not just
vi ruses, and provi des a good balance between securi ty and conveni ence. It is extremel y tempti ng to al low
MSE to repl ace all the other anti -mal ware packages on your system. However thi s i s not recommended for a
si ngl e reason: shoul d MSE not detect a pi ece of mal ware, or provi de what mi ght be a suspected false
posi ti ve, the onl y way you can be certai n is to run a scan usi ng one or more other anti -mal ware package(s).
For thi s reason, I recommend i nstal li ng at l east one dedi cated trojan scanner, as wel l as a dedicated spyware
scanner on your system, though the background functi onal i ty of nei ther shoul d be enabl ed. See further
bel ow for detail s.

In any case MSE i s not the onl y decent all -round anti -mal ware package. There is no consensus of opini on
among securi ty experts as to whi ch parti cular package is the absol ute best, but there are several other
reputabl e scanners whi ch you can use instead, though some of them are onl y free for a tri al peri od, or may
take qui te a bi t of work i n rei ni ng i n their i ntrusi veness:

AVG
Avast
Kaspersky
NOD32
Trend Mi cro AV

A-SQUARED FREE
Trojans differ from vi ruses i n many ways, and are i ncreasi ngly becomi ng more of a threat than vi ruses.
Some trojans are not detected by all -purpose vi rus scanners, so you need a dedicated trojan scanner as well,
i f only to provi de a second opi ni on. Whil e Mi crosoft Securi ty Essenti als provi des reasonabl e defense agai nst
trojans, I strongl y advise install i ng a dedi cated trojan scanner. I personal ly use and recommend A-Squared
Free - i t i s one of the best free trojan scanners whi l e al so bei ng the l east i ntrusi ve. The foll owi ng is
i nformati on on how to set up the recommended A-Squared Free trojan scanner.

After i nstallati on of A-Squared Free, as long as you're runni ng i t under an Admi ni strator account you can set
the new 'A-Squared Free Servi ce' i t i nstal ls to Disabl ed as i t is not needed. If you then have any probl ems,
you can set i t to Manual i f necessary.

On the mai n Securi ty Status screen, cl i ck the 'Update Now' button to al l ow the program to downl oad al l the
l atest updates i t requi res - I recommend doi ng thi s each ti me before you do a manual scan. Fortunately the
more i ntrusi ve aspects of A-Squared, such as 'Background Guard' background scanni ng, are not avai labl e in
the free edi tion, so we do not need to confi gure/di sabl e them. To set the depth of scanni ng used, cli ck the
'Scan PC' opti on on the l eft of the mai n screen, and for normal usage sel ect ei ther Smart Scan or Deep Scan - I
recommend Deep Scan whi ch is l onger but much more thorough. For more control over the scanni ng, select


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Custom Scan and cli ck the Scan button - you wi ll be taken to a screen whi ch all ows you to confi gure
i ndi vi dual scanni ng opti ons. I recommend all opti ons be ti cked, wi th the excepti on of 'use extensi on fil ter' -
unl ess you wi sh to manual l y excl ude or i ncl ude certai n fi le types. Once you've set your chosen scanni ng
method, whenever you want to run a scan usi ng A-Squared, you need onl y cl ick the 'Scan Now' button on
the program's mai n screen.

Note that from ti me to ti me A-Squared may fi nd software whi ch i t cl assifies as Riskware, but i s not actuall y
mal ware. Such software is not necessari l y mali ci ous, i t just carries greater risk i n usage if your system i s
compromi sed by mali ci ous software. I recommend i nvesti gati ng cases of Riskware by scanni ng wi th other
mal ware scanners fi rst, then doi ng some research on Googl e. To disabl e detecti on of Ri skware, go to the
Scan PC screen, sel ect 'Custom Scan' and you can unti ck the 'Al ert Ri skware that i s often used by Mal ware'
opti on.

A-Squared i s best used as fol l ows:

To run a ful l scan of your system at l east once a week.
To run a quick Custom Scan of a parti cul ar fol der whenever you downl oad a fil e or save an email
attachment.
To run a ful l system scan i f another mal ware scanner shows possi bl e i nfecti on - thi s hel ps provi de a
valuable second opi ni on.

In most respects A-Squared i s i deal because i t doesn't use any system resources or need to run i n the
background, so you can launch i t whenever i t i s requi red and conduct scans when necessary.

SPYBOT SEARCH & DESTROY
A spyware/adware scanner wil l fi nd and remove thi s common type of mal ware from your system. Once
agai n, Mi crosoft Securi ty Essentials detects such malware to a reasonable extent. However for even greater
securi ty you can i nstal l and use at l east one addi ti onal thi rd party spyware/adware scanner. There are two
mai n al ternati ves: Ad-Aware and Spybot Search & Destroy. Both are powerful, and both are nomi nal l y free.
However Spybot i s compl etel y free and does not contai n any prompts to upgrade to a pai d versi on.
Furthermore whi l e both requi re some modi fi cati on to reduce thei r i ntrusi veness, Spybot i s much easi er to
confi gure to remove i ts i ntrusi ve aspects, so on balance I recommend Spybot. The fol l owi ng are my
recommended setti ngs for Spybot:

The most i mportant configurati on options for Spybot actual ly occur duri ng the i nstall ati on process. During
i nstal lati on of Spybot, you wi ll be gi ven the opti on to sel ect the components i t install s. I strongl y recommend
unti cki ng everythi ng that is availabl e. If you wi sh to customize Spybot's appearance, the 'Ski ns to change
appearance' opti on can also be ti cked, and if you requi re mul tipl e languages, the 'Addi tional l anguages'
opti on should al so be ti cked. Otherwise everythi ng el se i s unnecessary to the core functi onali ty of Spybot,
and wi ll onl y i ncrease i ts resource usage i f selected.

Furthermore, a few steps l ater i n the install ation procedure you wi ll be asked to sel ect common tasks for
Spybot. Under the 'permanent protecti on' secti on I strongl y recommend unti cking the 'Use Internet Expl orer
protecti on (SDHel per)' opti on, whi ch is a form of addi ti onal protecti on Spybot i ntegrates i nto Internet
Expl orer and hence a l evel of undesi rabl e i ntrusi veness and a background process whi ch i s unnecessary.
Si milarly, the 'Use system setti ngs protecti on (Tea Ti mer)' opti on i s a real -time protecti on functi onal ity
whi ch al ways runs i n the background if enabl ed, and as di scussed earl i er, i s not desi rable.

As l ong as you fol l ow al l of the steps above, Spybot wi ll not i nstall any addi ti onal servi ces or startup i tems.

Once Spybot commences, you wi ll be gi ven a message regardi ng adverti sement robots - thi s i s si mpl y a
warni ng that i f you use Spybot to remove certai n adverti si ng features from speci fi c programs, the programs


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may not functi on correctl y. You wi ll then be prompted to backup your regi stry. You can do thi s if you wi sh,
but i t i s not necessary and best done later as covered i n the Backup & Recovery and Windows Regi stry
chapters. Cl i ck the green next arrow to ski p thi s step, and cl i ck the 'Start usi ng thi s program' button.

To start wi th, cl i ck the Update button, sel ect an update server cl osest to you, then I recommend maki ng sure
that you desel ect any updates rel ati ng to di sabl ed functi onali ty, l i ke the TeaTi mer. Cli ck Downl oad and
Spybot wi ll update i ts defini ti ons, then Exi t the update box when done. Make sure to update Spybot before
every manual scan.

To run a ful l manual scan, cl i ck the 'Search & Destroy' button i n the l eft pane, and i n the ri ght pane select the
'Check for probl ems' button - i f necessary cli ck the 'Hi de permanentl y' button to remove the ti ps box and
all ow you to see the l ist of potenti al probl ems found. If probl em(s) are found and li sted, you can hi ghli ght a
parti cul ar i tem and sel ect the 'Fi x sel ected probl em' button - red entri es are rel ati vel y i mportant spyware
i ssues that shoul d be fi xed, whil e green probl ems are l ess harmful , al though they can be fi xed i f desi red.
Check the addi ti onal i nformati on and/or search Googl e if you aren't certai n. If anythi ng i s removed and l ater
you wi sh to undo the change, you can cli ck the Recovery i tem i n the l eft pane.

To access the advanced and more detailed setti ngs i n Spybot, under the Mode menu sel ect 'Advanced mode',
however there are too many setti ngs to cover here, and for most users there i s no need to al ter them unless
you have speci fi c requi rements. Furthermore, I do not recommend the Immuni ze functi on, whi ch attempts
to bl ock certai n si tes usi ng your Hosts fi l e. Thi s functi on has caused confl i cts and fal se posi tives i n the past,
and i s unnecessary.

Spybot i s best used as foll ows:

To run a ful l scan of your system at l east once a week.
To run a ful l system scan i f another mal ware scanner shows possi bl e i nfecti on - thi s hel ps provi de a
valuable second opi ni on.
Conversel y, make sure to run another mal ware scanner i f Spybot detects a probl em, because spyware
and adware detecti on can often exaggerate or mi sreport the l evel of potenti al threat.

Importantl y there are a wi de range of spyware, adware and other mal ware scanners whi ch purport to
remove malici ous software, but i ronicall y contai n mal ware themsel ves, or are bad knock-offs of good
scanners. Consul t the l ists bel ow i f you plan on install i ng any mal ware scanners other than the ones
recommended i n thi s book:

Spyware Warri or Suspect Li st
2-Spyware Corrupt List

Al so conduct a thorough Googl e search to read user feedback and as many revi ews as you can fi nd on your
chosen anti -mal ware package, as there are far too many new packages comi ng onto the market whi ch are not
just usel ess and i ntrusi ve, but del i beratel y mal i ci ous or desi gned to hol d your system hostage wi th dubious
reports of mal ware i nfecti on and then constantl y prompt you to purchase the pai d versi on to remove such
non-existent infecti ons. In other words a great deal of all eged anti -mal ware software i s now bei ng created
wi th exactly the same ai ms as mal ware itsel f: for fi nanci al gai n through mali ci ous or fraudulent means.


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ROOTKITS
A Rootki t i s si mi lar to a virus or trojan horse, but i s speci fi cal ly designed to mask i ts presence on your PC to
make i t easi er for an i ntruder to secretl y access your machi ne and conduct mali ci ous acti vi ty. The probl em
wi th a rootki t i s that i t i s speci fi cal ly desi gned not to be detected, and acti vel y works to remove tel l tal e si gns
of i tsel f so that most scanners cannot see i t. There are however speci fi c tool s bei ng desi gned to fi nd and
remove rootki ts, wi th varyi ng success. I don't recommend any si ngl e rootki t scanner, but the best free ones
are:

Rootki t Reveal er
Sophos Anti -Rootki t

Furthermore, si nce one of the most common rootki ts whi ch was wi del y circul ated i n the past i s actuall y
found on l egiti mate Sony musi c CDs, you shoul d also downl oad and use the free Ari es Rootki t Remover.
Run the program, cl i ck 'Perform Scan' and you wil l see whether you have thi s rootki t i nstalled. Note that to
prevent the i nstall ation of such rootki ts on your PC, whether from ol der Sony musi c CDs or other sources,
make sure to di sabl e the Autopl ay functi onal i ty for your opti cal dri ves - see the TweakUI chapter.

There i s no need for specifi c usage advice, as these scanners are relati vely strai ghtforward to use - run them,
start the scan and i f anythi ng suspi cious i s found you wi ll be i nformed. However they do requi re some
advanced skill s i n i denti fying whether an actual rootki t has been found, as opposed to a normal system fil e.
If you are not cl ear on whether the i denti fied potential threat is genui nel y a rootki t, you wi ll need to do a fair
bi t of addi ti onal research on Googl e to confi rm whether somethi ng i s a genui ne rootki t or not.

PHISHING PROTECTION
Phi shi ng i s a form of decepti on whi ch does not necessaril y rely on any mal ici ous software. Si mpl y by
tri cki ng unsuspecti ng users i nto enteri ng personal i nformati on i nto fake websi tes and falsifi ed l ogi n screens,
the ori gi nators of thi s form of onli ne fraud obtai n exactl y the i nformati on they need to steal your money
wi thout having to go through any of the software defenses i n Windows. Phishing i s the age-ol d method of
conni ng peopl e taken to a new level through the use of technol ogy. The mai n method for combati ng
phi shi ng i s user vi gi lance. Fortunatel y there i s some assi stance, as the most popul ar Internet browsers -
Internet Expl orer, Fi refox, Chrome and Opera - al l have some form of phi shi ng protecti on bui l t i nto them,
detecti ng reported phi shi ng si tes and warni ng users of the potential dangers of vi si ti ng such si tes.

In Internet Expl orer the Phi shi ng Fi l ter i s enabl ed by defaul t and wi ll warn you if i t suspects that a si te you
are about to vi si t i s fraudul ent. I do not recommend di sabl i ng i t - see the Internet Expl orer chapter for more
detail s. The Phi shi ng Protecti on feature i n Fi refox i s covered i n more detail i n the Fi refox Tweak Guide, and
once agai n i t i s strongly recommended that you do not di sable thi s functi onal i ty. Chrome's anti -Phishing
features are detail ed i n Chrome Hel p, and protect agai nst phi shi ng and mal ware, thus shoul d be kept
enabl ed. More detai l s of Opera's Fraud Protecti on features are in thi s Opera FAQ and i t too i s best kept
enabl ed.

Even the most advanced user can fal l prey to phi shi ng, ei ther due to l azi ness or si mply because some
fraudul ent sites and techni ques are becomi ng so reali sti c that they can fool al most anyone. For vari ous
practi ces designed to prevent fall i ng vi cti m to phi shing and mal ware see the Important Securi ty Ti ps secti on
at the end of thi s chapter.

FIREWALLS
The bui l t-i n Windows Fi rewall is compl etel y suffi cient, when combi ned wi th the i nformation i n the rest of
thi s book, i n protecti ng agai nst system intrusi on - see the Control Panel chapter for Wi ndows Fi rewal l setup
detail s. It prevents external i ntruders from accessi ng your system, as l ong as you do not open l ots of Ports
and/or have l ots of Excepti ons. It also all ows what i t feels is necessary outgoing traffi c, and asks you to


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choose whether to bl ock parti cul ar connecti on attempts i ni tiated by games or programs. Thi s is one of the
reasons why I recommend the buil t-i n Windows Fi rewall , si nce i t i s the l east troubl esome to use, parti cularly
for onl i ne gamers and the average home user.

However you do have other opti ons if you want greater securi ty. There are several commerci al Fi rewall
packages you can turn to. For free alternati ves, ZoneAlarm and Comodo provi de two popular software
fi rewal l s for those who want to use a third party package. Note that your network devi ce, such as a router or
modem, may come wi th a hardware fi rewall whi ch you can confi gure - see your manufacturer's si te or your
product's packagi ng for documentati on. A combi nati on of a software fi rewall l i ke Wi ndows Fi rewal l , and
the hardware fi rewall capabi l i ties of most routers and modems, i s total ly suffi ci ent to prevent the majori ty of
unauthorized i ntrusi ons i nto your system, wi thout cri ppl i ng normal functi onali ty on your system. Fi nal l y,
note that your Network Devi ce also requi res a username and password to access i ts settings. I strongly
recommend changi ng the defaul t username/password combi nation for thi s devi ce, whi ch i s usuall y just
admin for both, as the defaul t i s a securi ty risk. Log i nto the devi ce's setti ngs and change the password to
anythi ng else - see you devi ce's manual for detai ls.

< IMPORTANT SECURITY TIPS
Al l of Windows XP's bui l t-i n securi ty features, and all the mal ware scanners and phi shi ng protecti on i n the
worl d are no substi tute for l earni ng how to prevent mal ware i nfestati on, and how to detect and avoi d
phi shi ng and other forms of onli ne fraud. Preventi on i s i ndeed much better than the cure, especiall y i n the
case of mal ware, because once your system i s i nfected, and once your credi t card detai ls, logi n passwords,
software serial numbers, personal documents and so forth have been compromi sed, then i t i s usual ly too
l ate. Often times the i nfecti on may quietl y spread to your backups as well , renderi ng them usel ess, so a
si mpl e reformat and rei nstall of Wi ndows may not ri d you of the mal ware. Furthermore certai n mal ware
and expl oi ts are so new that no mal ware scanner or known method can detect or bl ock them, at l east for a
peri od of ti me, so you must l earn other ways of preventi ng thei r entry i nto your system, and detecti ng thei r
possi ble presence.

Thi s i s why i t i s so i mportant that you read and understand the i nformati on i n thi s chapter, and throughout
thi s book. In parti cul ar, the ti ps I provide bel ow are l engthy, but can be just as valuable as any anti -mal ware
feature or software. Thi s advi ce has stood me i n good stead for many years, steeri ng me cl ear of mal ware
i nfecti on and the l oss of personal data or money, whi le at the same ti me all owi ng me to enjoy all the features
of my PC and ful l use of the Internet wi thout reduci ng my system performance i n any way.

MALWARE AVOIDANCE METHODS
Bel ow are a range of general rul es for hel pi ng you avoi d becomi ng vi cti m to mal ware and onl i ne fraud. Of
course I could wri te a thousand rul es, and none of them coul d cover every si ngl e type of circumstance. But
the rul es below do provide a strong basis for wardi ng off the bul k of malware, and set you on the ri ght
course for comi ng to i ntui ti vel y understand how malware works:

Address Book/Contacts: Don't keep any contacts i n your emai l address book/contacts l ist. If you are i nfected
wi th mal ware, thi s is one of the fi rst methods i t wi ll use to di stribute i tsel f to all of your contacts, and since
the email comes from someone they know, they are more li kel y to cl i ck a li nk or open an i nfected
attachment. Instead save at l east one email you recei ve from peopl e you wish to contact regularl y i n a
separate mai l fol der. Then whenever you want to email someone, open thi s fol der and repl y to thei r last
email , cl eari ng the existi ng contents and subject l i ne before enteri ng your text.

Stay Up to Date: Regularly keep your system up-to-date i n terms of Wi ndows patches and securi ty updates,
defi ni ti on fi les for mal ware scanners, and the l atest versi ons of your i nstall ed programs. These updates often
contai n fi xes for known securi ty expl oi ts and vul nerabi li ti es, and are a si mpl e but effecti ve way to prevent


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i nfecti on. Don't wai t unti l you suspect i nfecti on before updati ng your system, as by then i t may be too l ate,
si nce some mal ware deli beratel y bl ocks the use of certai n updati ng features.

Attachments and Downloads: A common methods for spreading mal ware i s through i nfected email
attachments and fil e downl oads. Different fil e types can hol d or tri gger mal ware on your system depending
on your settings. Any email attachment or download l i nk shoul d be vi ewed as a potenti al source of
mal ware, even i f i t i s from a known source, because even if the sender/host is not deli beratel y mal i ci ous,
they coul d be i nfected themsel ves and hence acci dental ly spreadi ng i nfected fi l es. Only save attachments
from trusted peopl e, and al ways scan any saved attachments wi th mal ware scanners.

Patches & Security Updates: If you recei ve an emai l with an update or securi ty patch for a software package or
Wi ndows attached, do not use i t. Furthermore any l i nks to such updates or patches are l i kel y also
fraudul ent. No reputable software company publicl y distri butes updates or patches vi a email , they are
al ways hosted on the company's si te. If unsure, use a bookmark or manual l y type the l egi timate company's
web address into your browser and check for any updates or patches that way.

Unknown Sender: If you recei ve an emai l or message from someone you don't know, thi s is i nstant cause for
suspi ci on. The vast majori ty of message from unknown i ndi vi dual s are spam, mali ci ous and/or fraudul ent.

Too Good to be True: If you recei ve a message or see an onl i ne offer whi ch seems too good to be true, then
al most wi thout excepti on, i t i s l ikely to be a scam or a form of mal ware. It may not be mali ci ous, i t mi ght
si mpl y be a hoax or a chain l etter, but in vi rtuall y every case, i t i s worth del eti ng.

Spelling and Grammar Oddities: A dead giveaway that somethi ng i s potenti al ly mali ci ous or spam/scam is the
presence of bad spel li ng/grammar. Thi s is not necessaril y due to the author bei ng foreign; the use of
mi sspel li ngs of common words, or symbol s and other characters i n place of standard letters, i s a tacti c
designed to circumvent keywords i n spam fil ters.

Replying or Unsubscribing: There is a l arge onl i ne market for email l i sts used by spammers and mal ware
di stri butors. These peopl e pl ace a parti cularly hi gh value on email addresses where the reci pi ent i s known to
sti ll check thei r email , as opposed to a fal se or l ong-dead email account. One way they veri fy an email
address is with a phony 'Cl i ck here to unsubscri be' or si mil ar li nk. Worse sti ll , some of these l i nks take you
to a phi shi ng si te or downl oad mal ware when cli cked. For si mi lar reasons never repl y to any such emai ls -
spammers know ful l-wel l that they cause annoyance, so abusi ng them i s poi ntl ess; repl yi ng simpl y lets them
know your account i s acti ve.

IP Addresses: Any li nk starti ng wi th a seri es of numbers i nstead of a domai n name shoul d be vi ewed wi th
extreme suspi ci on. For exampl e http://74.125.45.100/ tel l s you absol utely nothing about the si te (actuall y i t's
Googl e). In most cases the IP address is used i nstead of a domain name precisel y to hi de the true nature of
the si te.

Backups: The need for regular backups has been covered i n detai l i n the Backup & Recovery chapter.
However mal ware also provi des another i mportant aspect to consi der - you shoul d always do a ful l
mal ware scan of your system before creati ng any backups, and never backup if you suspect you are i nfected,
otherwi se you may wi nd up i nfecti ng your backups and renderi ng them usel ess.

File Sharing: One of the bi ggest sources of mal ware i nfestati on in recent ti mes i s fi l e sharing, such as via
torrents, usenet, FTP, IRC or web-based fi l e shari ng servi ces. Many shared fil es are fakes contai ning
mal ware, but equall y, genui ne fil es can al so contai n mal ware, especi al l y i n any 'key generators' or associated
uti li ti es or li nks al l egedly designed to unl ock the shared fi les. Legali ty asi de, fi l e shari ng i s very ri sky and
one of the easi est ways of bei ng i nfected wi th mal ware. Mal ware di stri butors are i ncreasi ngl y i nnovati ng i n
thi s area due to the surgi ng populari ty of fi le shari ng.


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Address Check: If a parti cular emai l or websi te appears suspi ci ous, check the address cl osely. Often ti mes the
address of an apparently wel l-known si te can be easil y spotted as fal se i f you pay attenti on. For example the
addresses http://www.amazon.shop.com and http://webstore.us/amazon.com/ have nothi ng to do wi th the
reputabl e onli ne store http://www.amazon.com. Si mil arl y, the address http://www.facebook.com.users.org
has no relati onshi p wi th the social networki ng si te http://www.facebook.com A domai n name i s al ways read
from ri ght to l eft before the fi rst si ngle sl ash (/) mark. The fi rst component of an address when read from
ri ght to left is the Top Level Domai n (TLD) found in the mai n site name, such as .com, .net, .co.uk and so
forth. The real si te name always appears just after the fi rst i nci dence of a TLD when read from ri ght to l eft.
So i n the exampl e http://www.amazon.shop.com, the amazon portion of the address is just a sub-l ocati on of
the websi te Shop.com. Scammers and even adverti sers are very i nventi ve, and create al l sorts of variati ons
on l egi ti mate si te names, someti mes wi th onl y a l etter or two out of place, so in real i ty the onl y true way to
be compl etely sure you are goi ng to a correct si te is to open a new tab or wi ndow i n your browser and
manuall y enter a known and trusted si te address. You can also use your bookmarks, but always check the
address of the si te whi ch opens.

Browser Security Check: For any secure transacti on, the l i nk whi ch appears i n your address bar must contain
https:// at the start, not just http://
Link Check: Even i f a li nk on a web page or email appears compl etel y l egi ti mate and correct, spoofi ng li nks i s
extremel y easy. For exampl e thi s l i nk:
- note the addi ti on of the 's' i n the fi rst l i nk, whi ch i ndi cates i t i s a secure
web l i nk. Do not enter any fi nancial i nformati on on a si te whi ch doesn't start wi th https://. However the l evel
of securi ty provi ded by a secure https:// l i nk can vary, so by i tself thi s i s not a guarantee that your
transacti on i s compl etel y secure. Your browser wil l usuall y gi ve you some i ndicati on or warni ng about the
l evel of security, and thi s shoul d be combi ned wi th research on the si te i n questi on.

http://www.google.com/ actuall y goes to my websi te
www.tweakgui des.com, not Googl e. The onl y way to safel y tell where a l i nk actuall y goes to, whether it i s
provi ded i n an emai l or on a websi te, i s to ri ght-cl i ck on the l i nk and sel ect 'Copy shortcut' (or si mil ar), and
then paste i t somewhere harml ess (i .e. not i n your browser address bar). For exampl e you can paste i t i nto a
pl ai n text document, or the search box of a web search engi ne li ke Googl e. Then look cl osely at the l i nk to (a)
see i f i t matches the ori ginal di splayed text for the l i nk - if i t doesn't thi s i nstantl y proves that the l i nk was
attempti ng to be decepti ve and hence is untrustworthy; and (b) to see the actual si te i t l i nks to, whi ch you
can research further as covered bel ow. Wi th the ri se of servi ces such as Twi tter, i t has become fashi onabl e for
peopl e to use short l i nk servi ces to generate URLs which are short but compl etel y non-descri pti ve and hence
potenti al ly unsafe. For exampl e thi s link http://bi t.l y/dxdpT shoul d poi nt to www.tweakgui des.com, but
there i s no possi bl e way to determi ne that usi ng any of the methods above. The onl y way to check such l inks
i s to use a servi ce such as ExpandMyURL whi ch al l ows you to paste i n a short link and see where i t goes.

Domain Check: If you bel i eve a parti cular websi te may be untrustworthy, you can check to see who owns i t
and where they are l ocated. A Googl e search on the si te name is a start, but for more detai ls, enter the
domai n name i n a WHOIS l ookup box at a domai n registrar, such as the one provi ded here. In most cases
thi s wi ll provi de suffi ci ent detai l s regardi ng the owner of the domai n to hel p determine whether i t i s
reputabl e or possi bly malici ous. Any site where the owner and/or admi nistrator detail s are del i berately
protected tends to greatly reduce i ts trustworthi ness.

Financial Statement Check: If mal ware perpetrators gain access to your fi nances, they can someti mes be very
cauti ous not to tri gger any preset alarm poi nts. Instead of wi thdrawi ng large sums of money whi ch can
arouse suspi ci on on both your part and the bank's, they can i nstead wi thdraw small er i rregular sums, or
purchase normal goods and servi ces onl i ne i n an unpredi ctable and thus seemi ngl y normal manner. The
onl y way to detect thi s is i f you regularly check your fi nancial statements cl osel y, maki ng sure you can
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Browser Tools: If an untrusted websi te prompts you to i nstal l a parti cul ar pl ugi n, program or tool bar to vi ew
or downl oad thei r content, chances are thi s i s malici ous or at the very least undesi rabl e. Cancel al l such
attempts. The most common software you require for ful l Internet mul ti medi a functi onal ity are the Flash,
Shockwave and Sil verli ght pl ayers, as wel l as Java. You can i nstall these safely by downl oadi ng the l atest
versi ons di rectl y from their respecti ve websi tes: ShockWave Player, Fl ash Pl ayer, Si l verLight and Java. Onl y
i f a compl etel y trusted and reputabl e websi te, such as Mi crosoft.com for exampl e, asks you to i nstal l a
browser pl ugi n or downl oad manager should you consi der accepti ng, and if i n any doubt, cancel and
research further.

Intimate System Knowledge: One of the many benefi ts of becomi ng cl osel y acquai nted wi th your PC and the
worki ngs of Wi ndows is that i t al l ows you to spot odd behavi or and unusual fi les and processes whi ch most
other users di smiss as normal. When properl y confi gured and mai ntai ned, contrary to popul ar beli ef,
Wi ndows does not behave i n an unpredi ctabl e manner, and your programs and games wi l l not randomly
crash. Therefore when strange thi ngs do begi n to happen, such as unexpected program crashes or changes,
your browser redi recti ng in odd ways, the system slowi ng down at ti mes, or other unusual acti vi ty, you can
spot i t al most strai ght away and i nvesti gate. Usi ng a range of tool s, such as those covered throughout this
book, you can then determi ne whi ch processes and fil es are not normal for your system, and hence detect
mal ware which may otherwi se elude less knowl edgeabl e users. Unfortunatel y there i s no si mpl e way to gai n
such knowl edge, i t takes ti me and pati ence, but there are many rewards for bei ng fami l iar wi th the
fundamental s of Wi ndows and PCs.

Block Internet Access: If you strongly suspect a malware i nfecti on on your system, disable your Internet
connecti on as soon as possi bl e - if necessary update your malware scanner defi ni ti on fi les fi rst and run
Wi ndows Update before doi ng thi s. The qui ckest and most fool proof way to disabl e your Internet
connecti on i s to turn off your router/modem and/or unpl ug your cabl e or DSL l i ne. The main reasons to do
thi s i s (a) to prevent the mal ware from spreadi ng; (b) to prevent i t from sendi ng out any of your personal
i nformati on; and (c) to prevent any hacker from accessi ng your system usi ng any newl y opened expl oi ts or
vul nerabil i ti es. You can then use the scan and research methods bel ow to track down the mal ware and
remove i t, and once you're confident your system i s mal ware-free, reconnect to the Internet.

Scan for Malware: Thi s is a somewhat obvi ous but necessary step. If you suspect a downl oaded fi le or
attachment of contai ni ng mal ware, or you beli eve your system i s al ready i nfected wi th mal ware, then you
must run a ful l manual scan usi ng the scanners recommended earl i er i n thi s chapter. Thi s i s one of the
reasons why I recommend several separate scanners, as running each one, one after the other, greatl y
i ncreases your chances of successful ly findi ng a vari ety of di fferent mal ware types. Importantl y, if you find
your mal ware scanners are not launching or behaving oddl y, or can't remove detected malware, then thi s i s
a sure sign that mal ware i s resi dent on your system and bl ocki ng attempts to remove i t. Reboot your system
i nto Safe Mode and run your scans from there - see the Backup & Recovery chapter for detai l s.

Common Sense: The si mpl e appl i cati on of common sense can provi de an excell ent method for detecti ng the
vali di ty of many forms of fraud or malware. For exampl e if you recei ve an offer from a foreign ki ng to place
$18m i nto your bank account, but he needs your detail s fi rst, then common sense woul d tell you i t i s
ri di cul ous and hi ghly ri sky. Si mi larl y, a beauti ful woman you don't know contacts you out of the bl ue to
become fri ends wi th you. Or a cl ose friend sends you an odd emai l wi th an uncharacteri sti c request and/or a
suspi ci ous attachment. Al l of these threats can be easi ly countered wi th the appli cati on of common sense, as
none of them remotel y pass even a si mpl e sani ty check. Yet every year, thousands of peopl e fall vi cti m to
these scams. Don't al l ow your curi osi ty or base desi res to overwhelm your common sense. At the same time,
you cannot live i n a constant state of compl ete paranoi a - there are reputable si tes and i ndivi duals whom
you know you can trust, and cases where a qui ck rudi mentary check is suffi ci ent. Sti ll , the adage If there is
doubt, there is no doubt ri ngs true: i f you have even the sl ightest bi t of suspi cion, act on i t by conducti ng
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Research, Research, Research: Thi s is the Gol den Rul e. You are not the onl y person i n the worl d usi ng the
Internet or recei vi ng emai ls, thus i t i s highl y l i kel y that you are not the fi rst person to encounter a parti cul ar
form of malware, fraud or related probl em. Thi s means that somewhere someone is quite l ikely to have
posted about your probl em, or si milar symptoms, and furthermore, detail ed sources of knowl edge may
al ready exi st to hel p you determi ne the best course of acti on in an al most l i mi tl ess range of scenarios.
Everythi ng from researching whether a parti cul ar websi te i s potenti all y mal icious, to the true nature and
purpose of strange fi l es on your system, to worki ng out i f a parti cular browser pl ugi n i s safe and actual ly
necessary for certai n functi onal i ty - the i nformati on i s al ready there, you si mpl y need to make use of i t.
Al most wi thout fai l I have al ways found suffi ci ent i nformati on to determi ne vi rtual ly anythi ng I need to
know si mpl y by usi ng Googl e. Remember that knowledge i s power.

BALANCING SECURITY VS. CONVENIENCE
In the past the balanci ng act between adequate securi ty and conveni ence tended more towards conveni ence,
si nce securi ty threats were not as promi nent, and even i f you caught a vi rus, it was often just a harml ess
prank or at worst i t rui ned a few of your fi les. Unfortunatel y i n the past few years there has been a
si gni fi cant ri se i n genui nely mali ci ous software; namel y software designed sol el y to do harm to your system
and/or compromi se your personal i nformati on. Thi s coi nci des wi th the ri se i n the number of peopl e who are
usi ng the Internet to pay bil l s, do thei r banki ng and go onl i ne shoppi ng.

The stakes are much hi gher now, so no matter how advanced a user you bel i eve yoursel f to be, i t is
i ncredi bl y i mportant to pay attenti on to the securi ty of your PC, and i t wil l conti nue to become even more
i mportant i n years to come as the malware creators and onli ne fraudsters fi nd i ncreasi ngly more compl ex
and i ntrusi ve ways of getting i nto your system. They make mi ll i ons of dol lars from undertaki ng thi s sort of
acti vi ty, so they have every i ncenti ve to i nnovate. Thi s i s why you need to do more than just i nstal l and
enabl e a few anti -mal ware packages on your system to keep i t secure.

The balanci ng act between securi ty and conveni ence has now swung more towards securi ty than purel y
conveni ence, so you must make some effort to keep your system secure, even if thi s can be a bi t of a pain at
ti mes; i t's si mpl y unavoi dabl e now. In thi s chapter I've provi ded what I bel i eve i s a good bal ance, especi al l y
for more performance-minded users. Rather than just suggest the use of background mal ware scanners
whi ch can hurt performance, I have recommended several key free thi rd party tool s used i n mi ni mal ist but
effecti ve manner to create an excel lent layer of defense wi th no real performance i mpact. Of course the most
i mportant theme throughout thi s enti re chapter has been the need for user educati on and research, whi ch as
I've repeatedly stated, is the onl y genui ne defense agai nst mal ware and onl i ne fraud.


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MEMORY OPTIMIZATION

Thi s chapter looks at the confi gurati on and opti mi zati on of memory-rel ated functi onali ty on your system. It
i s very i mportant to understand the basics of how your computer uses the vari ous forms of memory on your
system, i ncludi ng the way the Wi ndows Memory Management system works. Memory-related hardware
and software setti ngs have a si gni fi cant i nfluence on your system's responsi veness and stabi li ty, not to
menti on your data i ntegri ty. A system wi th poorl y confi gured memory-rel ated setti ngs ri sks sl owi ng down,
stutteri ng, becomi ng unstabl e, experienci ng errors and sudden reboots, and ul ti matel y causes data
corrupti on.

< MEMORY HARDWARE
The foll owi ng are the common forms of memory hardware used on most modern PCs:

CPU CACHE
The CPU Caches are small fast memory chi ps that cache (buffer) informati on for faster usage by the CPU,
si nce the CPU is the central component of your system. They assi st i n temporari l y stori ng the i nformati on in
anti ci pati on of readi ng/wri ti ng by the CPU, preventi ng any bottl enecks or sl owdowns. There are usually
several l evel s of CPU caches, Level 1 (L1), Level 2 (L2), Level 3 (L3) and so forth. The cache chi ps themselves
vary i n storage capaci ty dependi ng on your CPU, but essentiall y they are physi cal chi ps that you shoul d not
have to worry about. Wi ndows and your associ ated hardware are designed to automati cal ly detect the si ze
of these caches and use them opti mall y as l ong as you have them enabl ed i n your BIOS. That i s, if opti ons
relati ng to the use of CPU L1/L2/L3 Cache(s) are present i n your BIOS, never disabl e them unless
troubl eshooting. Asi de from BIOS setti ngs, there i s a SecondLevel Dat aCache Registry setti ng for
attempti ng to manuall y adjusti ng your CPU's L2 Cache setting. However al teri ng this setti ng is not
necessary, as the defaul t val ue of 0 al ready al l ows Windows XP to automati cal ly i denti fy and use the correct
L2 Cache size. Thi s setti ng i s only for very ol d CPUs, such as pre-Pentium II model s, whi ch use di rect-
mapped L2 caches.

In general si nce the user has no control over the CPU's caches asi de from ensuring that they are enabl ed in
the BIOS, this i s one area of the memory subset you shoul d not worry about unl ess you are troubl eshooti ng a
memory-rel ated probl em. For exampl e, a CPU wi th a faul ty cache may exhibi t strange behavi or such as
constantl y returni ng data errors and CRC errors. In these cases you can try temporaril y disabl i ng the caches
i n the BIOS to see if thi s reduces or resol ves errors. Al so see the Benchmarki ng & Stress Testi ng chapter to
fi nd out how to run a CPU-speci fi c stress test to i sol ate whether the CPU i s i ndeed the source of such
probl ems.

PHYSICAL RAM
Thi s i s probabl y the most wel l-known and most i mportant form of memory. RAM (Random Access
Memory) is a temporary data storage area covered under the Memory secti on of the Basi c PC Termi nol ogy
chapter. The pri mary advantage of RAM over other forms of storage such as your hard dri ve is that i t i s
much, much faster to access, so opti mal RAM usage means smoother performance for your system. There
are three main factors affecti ng RAM performance: RAM size, RAM speed and RAM ti mi ngs, each covered
bel ow.

RAM Size: Thi s i s the actual storage capaci ty of the RAM i n Megabytes (MB) or Gi gabytes (GB). The mai n
i mpact of havi ng more RAM i s that - when combi ned wi th appropri ate Windows Memory Management
setti ngs - your system wil l perform more smoothl y. Thi s i s because data has to be l oaded l ess often from


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your dri ve, as more of i t is stored i n RAM, maki ng i t easi er to access rapi dl y by your CPU and the rest of
your system when requi red. RAM size i s i mportant in Wi ndows because of the way i t can uti l ize physi cal
memory to speed up your system. If you are i nto heavy mul ti -taski ng or play games, I strongl y recommend
more than 2GB of RAM to all ow reasonabl y smooth performance wi thout stutteri ng or frequent l oading
pauses. There are no RAM size tweaks; if you have a low l evel of RAM then i t i s strongl y recommended that
you consi der buyi ng and i nstal li ng more RAM i n your system - see the Upgradi ng Memory secti on at the
end of thi s chapter. Bear i n mi nd however that Wi ndows XP 32-bit cannot practi call y use more than 4GB of
RAM; onl y the 64-bi t versi on can do that, so any more than 4GB of RAM i s effecti vel y wasted i n Wi ndows
XP 32-bi t.

RAM Speed: Thi s i s the frequency at whi ch RAM operates (i n MHz), much like the speed at whi ch a CPU
operates. The hi gher the RAM's speed, the faster i t can undertake the operati ons i t needs to perform. Each
sti ck of RAM has a speed rati ng, whi ch is the speed up to whi ch a sti ck of RAM i s certified to safely operate.
However the actual speed a RAM modul e is currentl y runni ng at on a parti cul ar system vari es dependi ng on
how fast i t is set to operate i n the BIOS. It i s possi bl e to adjust your BIOS such that the RAM can operate at a
hi gher or l ower speed i n practi ce. The bottom l i ne i s, the faster the RAM's actual speed i n MHz, the faster i t
reads and wri tes i nformation and the better your performance. Remember though that the more the RAM's
actual speed surpasses i ts advertised speed rati ng, the greater the chance for i nstabil i ty, so i deal ly you
should keep the RAM at or bel ow i ts rated speed for maxi mum stabi l i ty and data i ntegri ty.

RAM Timings: These are composed of several variables, set i n your BIOS, whi ch determi ne not the frequency
of the RAM modul e (i .e. the RAM speed), but the Latency of the RAM - that i s, the amount of ti me i t waits
between updati ng vari ous si gnals. For exampl e the RAS (Row Access Strobe) and CAS (Col umn Access
Strobe) latency setti ngs measure i n cl ock cycl es the del ay i n sending signal s whi ch specify fi rstl y the row i n
whi ch a particular memory cel l is l ocated, and then the col umn. The l ower the RAM ti mi ngs, the l ess ti me
the RAM rests between these operati ons, and hence the faster i t performs, but the greater the chance for
errors and instabi li ty. Just l i ke speed rati ngs, RAM modul es come wi th recommended ti mi ngs already
encoded i n thei r Serial Presence Detect (SPD) on a speci al chi p. These SPD setti ngs are used by defaul t by
your system unl ess manuall y changed i n the BIOS, and when used wi th the recommended speed rati ng (see
above) ensure maxi mum stabi li ty.

To vi ew all the detai ls of your RAM, i ncl udi ng current and maxi mum rated speeds and ti mi ngs, use a uti lity
l i ke CPU-Z and check under i ts Memory and SPD tabs - see the System Specifi cati ons chapter for detail s.
Al so see the Overcl ocki ng chapter for more detail s on adjusti ng RAM speed and/or ti mi ngs and the i mpacts
thi s has. If you want to test your RAM for stabi li ty, see the Benchmarki ng and Stress Testi ng chapter for
more detai ls.

VIDEO RAM
Vi deo RAM (VRAM) i s the physi cal memory bui l t i nto a graphi cs card, and the size of thi s i s usual l y quoted
i n MB or GB as part of the graphi cs card's specifi cati ons (e.g. GeForce GTX 285 1GB). This RAM acts as a
temporary storage l ocati on to hol d graphi cs data for faster access by your graphi cs card, much the same as
system RAM does for general data. For thi s reason the VRAM i s also cal l ed the Frame Buffer, i n that i t holds
(buffers) i ndivi dual graphi cs 'frames' ready to send to your moni tor one by one. Just l ike physi cal RAM,
VRAM has a speed i n MHz, and l atency i n cl ock cycl es, wi th the hi gher the speed and the l ower the l atency
the better the graphi cs performance. Unl i ke physi cal RAM, al teri ng the l atency of your VRAM i s tri cky and
not recommended, though sti l l possi bl e. The speed i n MHz can be easil y al tered up or down usi ng an
overcl ocki ng uti li ty, wi th the faster the speed the higher the performance, but once agai n the greater the
chance of graphi cal gl i tches and freezes. See the Overcl ocki ng chapter for more detai ls.

If you're i nterested i n a plai n Engl ish step-by-step overvi ew of how the hardware memory features above
are uti li zed for a task li ke gami ng, check the Graphi cs Process secti on of my Gamer's Graphi cs & Displ ay
Setti ngs Guide for detai ls. If you want to see the actual amount of Vi deo RAM bei ng used at any ti me, for


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exampl e during gami ng or when usi ng 3D appl i cati ons, you can use the free Video Memory Watcher util i ty
to dynami call y moni tor the amount of VRAM i n use. Run i t in the background duri ng a bri ef gami ng
sessi on, then exi t and l ook at the graph it generates to see how much VRAM has been used.

< WINDOWS MEMORY MANAGEMENT
An i mportant part of your memory subset is the Wi ndows Memory Management setti ngs. These are
software settings whi ch i ncl ude the System Cache and related Wi ndows Registry entri es. This i s an area wi th
the most tweaki ng potential, and all the major memory management setti ngs are covered below:

DISK CACHE
The Wi ndows Disk Cache size can be set through the System component of the Control Panel or i n the
Wi ndows Regi stry. Thi s setti ng control s how much RAM is set asi de to assi st i n buffering i nformation
wri tten to and read from your dri ve(s) to achi eve faster i nformation transfer. The opti mal setti ng for most
systems is the defaul t 'Programs' opti on under Memory Usage i n Control Panel >System. Sel ecti ng the
'System Cache' opti on may resul t i n dri ve errors for some peopl e, and i s reall y onl y desi gned for server
appl i cati ons - that i s, machi nes whi ch are constantl y wri ti ng/reading from the dri ve - and hence i t i s strongly
recommended that i t not be used for home PC users.

ICON CACHE
Wi ndows keeps a copy of all your most commonl y used i cons i n its i con cache, speedi ng up the display of
these i cons (on the Wi ndows Desktop or i n Expl orer for example), rather than fetchi ng them di rectly from
each executabl e or fil e every ti me you vi ew them. You can assi gn the number of i cons to hol d i n the cache by
edi ti ng the Wi ndows Regi stry entry bel ow:

[ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHI NE\ SOFTWARE\ Mi cr osof t \ Wi ndows\ Cur r ent Ver si on\ Expl or er ]

Max Cached I cons=2000

Edi t thi s STRING value to set the maxi mum number of i cons which can be cached. A value of 2000 shoul d be
opti mal for most systems.

GENERAL MEMORY SETTINGS
There are several registry setti ngs that are presented as control ling various memory usage behavi ors i n
Wi ndows. Unfortunatel y, over ti me these have proven to be usel ess. Specifi cal l y these are the
Di sabl ePagi ngExecut i ve, I OPageLockLi mi t and Al waysUnl oadDLL entri es. If you have al ready
appl i ed these tweaks, don't worry as they are total l y harml ess, but they are unnecessary and compl etely
non-functi onal.

WINDOWS PREFETCHER
The Wi ndows Prefetcher creates prefetch fi les for the most commonl y used programs, and attempts to use
these to more effi ci entl y seek and l oad up data. You can confi gure it through the foll owi ng regi stry entry:

[ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHI NE\ SYSTEM\ Cur r ent Cont r ol Set \ Cont r ol \ Sessi on Manager \ Memor y
Management \ Pr ef et chPar amet er s]

Enabl ePr ef et cher =3


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The al l owable val ues for Enabl ePr ef et cher are:

0 - Disabl e Prefetcher
1 - Appli cati on launch prefetchi ng
2 - Boot prefetchi ng
3 - Both appl icati on and boot prefetchi ng

The defaul t is 3, whi ch shoul d be fi ne for most systems. Note that i f the Task Scheduler servi ce is Di sabled
(See the Services chapter), much of the Prefetcher functi onali ty becomes disabled, so if you wi sh to use ful l
prefetcher functi onali ty, do not di sable the Task Schedul er servi ce.

VIRTUAL MEMORY
Vi rtual Memory refers to a memory management techni que used i n Wi ndows. This Virtual Memory i n
Wi ndows XP Gui de gi ves you a good i ni tial i nsight i nto how Vi rtual Memory works i n Windows XP.
Duri ng normal operation, system RAM i s the best place to store i nformati on for fast access by your CPU and
other components, si nce it has no movi ng parts and i nformati on i n i t can be accessed at many ti mes the
speed of any dri ve. So i deal l y Wi ndows l i kes to keep a porti on of al l of your most commonl y used programs
i n RAM, as wel l as most of your currently used appl i cati on(s). There are al so other memory requi rements for
the hardware and software on your system whi ch all require some porti on of memory resources. When
RAM starts to run l ow, or i f Wi ndows determi nes that a parti cular appl i cati on i s no l onger a hi gh enough
pri ori ty, i t breaks up some of the porti ons of memory (call ed 'pages') and temporari l y swaps them out from
your RAM to your dri ve. The 'swap fi l e' where the memory pages are hel d on your dri ve is call ed pagefile.sys,
and resi des in the base directory on your dri ve. Note you wil l onl y see thi s pagefile.sys fil e if you have
unti cked the 'Hi de Protected Operati ng System Fi les' opti on under Fol der Opti ons - see Fol der Opti ons
under the Control Panel chapter.

To access your Vi rtual Memory setti ngs, go to the Control Panel >System>Advanced>Performance>Settings>
Advanced>Virtual Memory secti on and cl i ck the Change button.

Clearing the Pagefile: Before setti ng a new pagefil e size or l ocati on, you need to first clear your exi sti ng
pagefi le. To do thi s sel ect each rel evant dri ve, choose the 'No pagi ng fi l e' opti on and cl i ck the Set button,
then you need to reboot your system. Thi s step does two thi ngs: fi rst i t clears the pagefil e, fi xi ng any
potenti al pagefil e corruption whi ch can occur after a bad shutdown; and secondl y i t ensures that any new
pagefi le you create wi ll start off as a si ngl e unfragmented conti guous bl ock on your dri ve for optimal
performance, whi ch wil l remai n unfragmented i n the future. Note that i f you have any probl ems booti ng
back up i nto Wi ndows due to a l ack of a pagefi le duri ng this step, enter Wi ndows i n Safe Mode and continue
the setup procedures for Vi rtual Memory from there - see the Backup & Recovery chapter.

Location of the Pagefile: Once you've cl eared the pagefi l e, you can now set i ts physi cal l ocati on. Hi ghl i ght the
l ogi cal dri ve where you want the pagefil e to be pl aced under the Dri ve wi ndow. Whi ch dri ve(s) or
parti ti on(s) the pagefil e shoul d be l ocated on is based l oosel y on the fol l owi ng scenari os:

1 Dri ve wi th 1 Parti ti on - The pagefi le can onl y be located on the fi rst pri mary parti ti on of your dri ve,
whi ch provi des opti mal performance. Do not create a new parti ti on for the Pagefi l e.
1 Dri ve wi th 2 or more Parti ti ons - Make sure the Pagefil e i s pl aced on the first pri mary partiti on as thi s
i s the fastest parti ti on on hard dri ves; on SSDs i t makes no di fference whi ch parti ti on is chosen. Pl aci ng
the Pagefi l e on another parti ti on of the same dri ve does not provi de any performance benefits.
2 Dri ves or more (si mi lar speeds) - If all your dri ves are si mil ar i n terms of thei r rated speed, you should
put the mai n porti on of the Pagefil e on the dri ve that doesn't contai n your Wi ndows i nstal lati on and
appl i cati ons/games, e.g. put i t on a general data dri ve. If you've al ready separated your Wi ndows
i nstal lati on from your appl i cati ons/games, then place the Pagefi le on the dri ve whi ch doesn't contai n


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your appl i cati ons/games, even i f thi s is the Windows dri ve. Alternati vely you can experi ment wi th
spl i tti ng the Pagefil e evenl y by creati ng mul ti pl e smal l er Pagefil es, one on each dri ve.
2 Dri ves or more (di fferent speeds) - If one dri ve is notabl y faster than the others, you shoul d put the
mai n Pagefi le on that drive, regardl ess of whether i t i s the system dri ve or not. Thi s i s parti cul arly
i mportant if you have l ow system RAM, si nce the Pagefil e wi ll be accessed more often, and thus needs to
be on the fastest dri ve. Note that for the purposes of creati ng a memory dump, you may need to retai n a
small Pagefi le on your system dri ve regardl ess of where the mai n Pagefil e i s l ocated.
RAID Confi gurati on - For stri ped RAID confi gurati ons such as RAID 0 or RAID 5, Wi ndows sees these
as a si ngl e large dri ve, hence you cannot actuall y choose whi ch dri ve to pl ace the Pagefil e on; i t wi ll be
spl i t evenl y across the dri ves, whi ch is opti mal . If you have a separate faster dri ve outsi de the RAID
confi gurati on, you may choose to shi ft the Pagefi le there.

Pagefile Size: After sel ecti ng the l ocati on of the pagefil e, you can then determi ne i ts si ze i n MB. In the Vi rtual
Memory setti ngs screen sel ect the 'Custom size' option. Al though there are many di fferi ng opi ni ons as to
how bi g the pagefi le shoul d be, i t i s i mportant not to 'di sabl e' your pagefil e regardl ess of how much RAM
you have. Windows and certai n programs need a pagefil e i n order to operate correctl y. Setting the Pagefile
to zero resul ts i n l ess effi cient use of System RAM, and i t al so restricts the amount of memory resources your
system can all ocate shoul d a program requi re more memory than you have i n the form of avai labl e RAM. It
also prevents memory dumps bei ng created for debuggi ng purposes after a crash. As such, do not set a zero
Pagefil e.

The correct size of the Pagefil e i s often debated, and there are many confl i cti ng accounts of the opti mal size.
By defaul t, Wi ndows XP wi l l make your pagefil e 1.5 ti mes your physi cal RAM. So if you have 1GB of RAM,
the pagefi le wi ll be set at 1.5GB by defaul t. However we can i mprove thi s al l ocati on by anal yzi ng how much
vi rtual memory your system actual ly needs. In the past I provi ded what I personall y tested and found to be
compl etel y safe recommendati ons for the Pagefil e size. However to remove all doubt and provi de a concrete
recommendati on for thi s important system fi le, I now rel y on the advi ce of the person best posi ti oned on thi s
topi c wi th both practi cal and theoreti cal experience on the matter: Mi crosoft techni cal guru Mark
Russi novi ch, as covered i n thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e.

Essentiall y, the correct method to determi ne the opti mal Pagefi l e size for your parti cular system is to
exami ne the Peak Commit Charge value for the combi nati on of programs you frequentl y run at the same
ti me. The Commi t Charge i s the amount of Vi rtual Memory reserved for a parti cular process. Compare thi s
value to the current Commi t Charge Limi t on your system, whi ch i s the sum of your system RAM + Pagefi l e.
If the sum of Commi t Charge for all your processes attempts to exceed the Commi t Li mi t, then there wil l be
memory al l ocati on probl ems, potenti al ly l eadi ng to crashes and even system fail ure. So the ai m i s to ensure
that the peak val ue achi eved for Commi t Charge never exceeds the Commi t Li mi t, whi ch i n turn tel l s us
how bi g the Pagefil e must be.

The way to determi ne your Peak Commi t Charge and al so see the Commi t Li mit i s as fol l ows:

1. Use your system normal ly for a l engthy peri od, i ncl udi ng l oadi ng up any and al l programs you would
normall y use i n a sessi on, as wel l as any addi ti onal data. For exampl e, l oad up your most strenuous
games one by one and pl ay them for a whi l e. Or l oad up your largest appl i cati ons and l oad any custom
data you may be worki ng on wi thi n those appli cati ons. The aim i s to see the maxi mum amount of
memory resources you might potenti ally use i n any sessi on i n the future. Don't artifi ciall y l oad up a
dozen appli cati ons at once i f that's not what you woul d normal ly do.
2. Wi thout restarti ng your system, after a peri od of ti me bri ng up the Task Manager and go to the
Performance tab, then check the Peak fi gure under the 'Commi t Charge (K)' section - thi s i s
approxi mately the maxi mum amount of memory in KB requi red so far by your system. Al so exami ne
the Li mi t fi gure under Commi t Charge, as this i s the maxi mum amount of memory resources (RAM +
Pagefil e) which Wi ndows can possi bly all ocate to al l programs.


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Usi ng thi s data, you should then set the pagefil e mi nimum size accordi ng to thi s formula:

Pagefile Minimum Size = Peak Commi t Charge - Total System RAM

If the value for thi s is negati ve (i .e. you have more RAM than the Peak Commi t Charge), thi s does not mean
you shoul d set a 0 Pagefile mi ni mum si ze. As a safe val ue for the Pagefil e Mi ni mum Si ze I recommend at
l east 1GB or the resul t of the formula above, whi chever i s higher.

The pagefil e maxi mum size i s then cal culated as:

Pagefile Maximum Size = Up to 2 x Pagefil e Mi ni mum Size

Gi ven your Commi t Li mi t has al ready been set such that i t meets your most strenuous requi rements as per
the Pagefil e mi ni mum, you shoul d already have plenty of headroom even i f you set your Pagefil e Maxi mum
Size to equal that of the Pagefil e Mi ni mum Si ze. However I recommend bei ng safe and setti ng the maximum
up to twi ce the mi ni mum to provi de even greater headroom, especi al ly i n case of unforeseen usage patterns,
and to future-proof agai nst upcomi ng appl i cations and games whi ch may use more memory. Note that there
i s a 4GB l i mi t for maxi mum Pagefi l e si ze if runni ng a 32-bi t version of Wi ndows XP.

If you've spread the Pagefile over mul ti pl e dri ves, ensure that the sum of the Pagefil e sizes equal s the val ues
above, or that the mai n Pagefil e foll ows the above rul es, and the other Pagefil es are al l very small .

Once you've adjusted your Virtual Memory si ze setti ngs cl i ck the Set button and reboot i f requi red.

The method for determi ni ng the Pagefi l e si ze i n thi s secti on may seem tedi ous or confusi ng at fi rst, i n whi ch
case I strongly advise that you use the 'System managed si ze' option unti l you have the ti me to get a better
understandi ng of i t by readi ng the associ ated arti cl es. As noted, the recommendati on is fai rly broad but it
comes from one of the most reputabl e Mi crosoft experts avai lable, so any other recommendati ons you fi nd
are unli kel y to be as accurate. However keep i n mind that the recommendation hi nges solel y on proper
anal ysi s of your Peak Commi t Charge at a poi nt i n ti me. If over ti me you i nstall and l aunch new programs
and games whi ch use much greater amounts of memory and/or you mul ti task wi th more programs than you
ori gi nal l y envi si oned, or l oad up data for your programs whi ch are very large, then obvi ousl y there i s
greater li kel ihood that your Peak Commi t Charge wi l l ri se, and you must therefore revisi t your Pagefi l e si ze
and go through the steps above agai n wi th more recent data.

< UPGRADING MEMORY
There i s no real substi tute for havi ng a decent amount of physi cal RAM i nstal l ed on your system. Al l the
memory management features i n Wi ndows ul ti matel y can't compensate for havi ng too l i ttle RAM for the
programs you choose to run. In Wi ndows XP, even though the mi ni mum RAM requirement i s onl y 64MB,
and the recommended i s 128MB, these are i nsuffi cient amounts of memory for modern appl i cations and
games. If you are runni ng recent software I strongly recommend a mi ni mum of 1GB of RAM, preferably 2GB
i f you want reduced stutteri ng and greater responsi veness. However bear i n mi nd that for Wi ndows XP 32-
bi t, the maximum useful amount of RAM is 4GB, so if you wi sh to use more memory you wi ll need to swi tch
to Wi ndows XP 64-bi t, or preferabl y the 64-bi t version of Wi ndows 7.


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DRIVE OPTIMIZATION

Wi ndows Memory Management i s i ntimatel y rel ated to the way your dri ve(s) are used i n Wi ndows. Your
dri ve is one of the relati vely sl ower components of your system - even the fastest Hard Di sk Dri ve (HDD) or
Soli d State Dri ve (SDD) cannot access, read or wri te data as qui ckl y as RAM. So when one of your
components such as the CPU or graphi cs card needs i nformati on, to prevent pauses, stutteri ng or
sl owdowns, Wi ndows attempts to hol d as much of the i nformati on as possi bl e i n RAM for fast access.
However regardl ess of how much RAM you have, or how efficient Wi ndows i s wi th memory management,
at the end of the day RAM i s onl y a temporary form of storage whi ch i s cl eared each ti me your PC shuts
down. Therefore i t i s the physi cal dri ve(s) where all your i nformation i s permanentl y hel d, and your system
must regularly access the dri ve for data.

Thi s chapter covers the pri mary means by whi ch you can i mprove and mai ntai n the performance of your
dri ve(s) i n Wi ndows. Many aspects of dri ve performance are al ready covered i n other chapters - you should
have al ready:

Formatted and parti ti oned the dri ve correctl y - See the Install i ng Windows chapter;
Made sure to have the correct BIOS setti ngs - See the BIOS Opti mizati on chapter;
Install ed the latest motherboard dri vers - See the Dri ver Instal lati on chapter; and
Have correct rel evant Wi ndows setti ngs - See the Control Panel and Memory Opti mi zati on chapters.

Fol l ow the rest of the i nstructi ons i n this chapter to make sure your dri ve(s) remai n fast and responsi ve.

< WINDOWS DISK INDEXING
Thi s is a performance ti p that I strongl y recommend you i mplement. The Wi ndows Di sk Indexer constantl y
i ndexes al l fil es on your machi ne to al l ow for faster searchi ng usi ng the Windows Search functi on for
exampl e. Si nce most peopl e don't search thei r machi ne very often i n XP, havi ng Disk Indexi ng enabl ed
provi des a performance hi t for no good reason, and al so i ncreases fragmentati on. Foll ow these steps to turn
off the Wi ndows Disk Indexer to i mprove general dri ve performance and responsi veness:

1. Go to Wi ndows Expl orer, ri ght-cl i ck on your hard drive name and sel ect Properti es.
2. Unti ck the 'All ow Indexi ng Servi ce to i ndex thi s di sk for fast fil e searchi ng'.
3. Sel ect 'Apply changes to [Drive letter]\, subfolders and fi l es' i n the subsequent prompt.
4. Your system wi ll now go through and remove all i ndexi ng on existi ng fi l es, and not i ndex any new or
moved fil es in the future - thi s wi ll speed up dri ve read/wri tes and general responsi veness. Ignore any
'errors' whi ch are shown, thi s occurs simpl y because some fil es are i n use or protected and can't have
thei r properties changed to remove i ndexi ng - thi s is normal.

Make sure you al so disable the 'Indexi ng Servi ce' servi ce as i t is no l onger necessary when di sk i ndexi ng is
removed from your dri ve (See the Services chapter).

< DRIVE CONTROLLERS
To opti mi ze the performance of your dri ve(s), fi rst make sure you have i nstall ed the correct motherboard
dri ves for your parti cul ar motherboard, as the drive control l ers on your motherboard requi re these for
opti mal operati on, as wel l as special functi ons li ke RAID - see the Dri ver Installati on chapter.

Next, open Devi ce Manager, found under Control Panel>System>Hardware, and go to the Di sk Dri ves
secti on i n Devi ce Manager and expand i t. Ri ght-cli ck on each hard dri ve avail able, select Properti es, and


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under the Pol i ci es tab make sure 'Optimi ze for Performance' i s sel ected. If avail abl e, al so ti ck the 'Enabl e
Wri te Cachi ng on the disk' opti on. The ai m i s to al l ow the hard dri ve to use a Cache a small area of
memory set asi de specifi call y for the hard dri ve to speed up readi ng and wri ti ng to the dri ve. Note that
these opti ons may not be avai labl e to be changed here for certain SCSI, Serial ATA (SATA) and/or RAID
confi gured hard dri ves or other types of dri ves. If presented wi th a 'SCSI Properti es' tab, make sure that both
'Di sabl e tagged queui ng' and 'Disabl e synchronous transfers' are unti cked for maxi mum performance.

To opti mi ze all system dri ves, i n Device Manager go to the 'IDE ATA/ATAPI Control l ers' secti on and
expand i t. Right-cl ick on each sub-control l er li sted and sel ect Properti es and see the rel evant secti on bel ow:

Parallel ATA Controller: Thi s control l er affects al l PATA dri ves whi ch use the IDE i nterface - typi call y thi s i s
ol der IDE hard dri ves and opti cal drives. Go to the 'Pri mary Channel' and 'Secondary Channel' tabs and
check the transfer speeds as relevant - the maxi mum possi bl e speeds are Ultra DMA Mode 4 for optical
dri ves, and Ul tra DMA Mode 6 for IDE dri ves. If you unti ck the 'Let BIOS sel ect transfer mode' box you may
be abl e to al ter the speed here, but i f i t i s bel ow the maxi mum then i t may be due to one or more of the
foll owi ng factors:

Your motherboard does not support Ultra DMA 6 or Ul tra DMA 5 modes for hard dri ves - these are al so
call ed ATA 133 and ATA 100 respecti vel y. Check your motherboard manual and make sure you have
i nstal l ed the correct IDE drivers for thi s motherboard.
Your BIOS is not confi gured correctly to enabl e the highest speed - see the BIOS Opti mi zati on chapter.
You are sharing a hard drive and an opti cal dri ve on the same channel - move them to separate channel s.
Your hard dri ve(s) or optical dri ve(s) don't physi cal ly support the hi ghest transfer mode avail able on
your motherboard. Thi s shoul d onl y be the case i f they are qui te old.
No dri ve shoul d be runni ng i n PIO or Mul ti-word DMA mode as these provi de poor performance.
Check your BIOS and any swi tches on the back of the dri ve(s).

Serial ATA Controller: This control l er affects all SATA dri ves connected to your motherboard. Right-cli ck on
thi s controll er, sel ect Properti es, then go to the 'Pri mary Channel ' and 'Secondary Channel ' tabs. If a dri ve i s
connected to these channels, the 'Transfer Mode' shoul d show the correct maximum speed for the dri ve -
1.5GB/s for SATA I, or 3.0GB/s for SATA II. Al ternati vel y cli ck the 'Speed Test' button to do an actual quick
benchmark of the dri ve's speed and see the speed rati ng. The 'Let BIOS sel ect transfer mode' box shoul d be
ti cked unl ess you are troubl eshooti ng, or you see 'PIO Mode' for your dri ve, whi ch i s sub-opti mal ; i n that
case unti ck the box and manual l y attempt to swi tch to a better mode. The other boxes shoul d all be ti cked for
maxi mum performance.

AHCI Mode: If you run a SATA dri ve, you can try enabli ng Advanced Host Control l er Interface (AHCI)
Mode on your SATA control l er i n your BIOS. Thi s mode has a range of benefi ts, especiall y on SATA II dri ves
wi th NCQ support - thi s i ncl udes qui eter operati on and better mul ti -taski ng capabi li ti es. However i t wi l l not
necessaril y resul t i n a speed boost dependi ng on how you use your system. Furthermore i t requi res
appropriate dri vers from your motherboard manufacturer (e.g. the Intel Rapid Storage Technol ogy drivers
for Intel motherboards) to functi on properl y. Most importantl y, if you do not enabl e thi s mode i n your BIOS
pri or to i nstall i ng Wi ndows, you may not be abl e to boot back i nto your system i f you swi tch to AHCI on an
exi sti ng i nstal l of Windows. It i s recommended that i f you wish to swi tch on AHCI mode, you make the
appropriate changes i n your BIOS and then rei nstal l Wi ndows XP.

If your dri ve i s not set to the hi ghest mode possi ble for i ts type, or some of the opti ons are unavail abl e here
then you have not set up your BIOS correctl y or you have not i nstall ed the correct SATA motherboard
dri vers. To confi rm your dri ve's actual speed, and whether there reall y i s a probl em, you can benchmark
your dri ve usi ng a uti li ty HD Tune - see the Benchmarki ng & Stress Testi ng chapter.


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Most recent dri ves come wi th a technol ogy call ed SMART - i f avai labl e and enabl ed i n the BIOS. This
technol ogy prevents dri ve errors and provi des diagnosti c i nformati on. To further diagnose any probl ems for
non-RAID confi gurati on hard dri ves using SMART, use a uti li ty li ke PassMark Di sk Checkup.

< MASTER FILE TABLE
The Master Fi l e Tabl e i s a system area of Wi ndows whi ch contains an entry for every fil e and di rectory on
your dri ve with i nformati on on i ts size, attri butes, permi ssi ons, timestamps and so forth. In a way, i t is like a
tabl e of contents for your dri ve, and as such serves a very i mportant functi on. By defaul t Windows reserves
around 12.5% of your total dri ve space to all ow the MFT to grow wi thout becomi ng fragmented. Thi s space
cannot be reduced, but over ti me i t may need to be i ncreased - especiall y after creati ng l ots of new fil es or
i nstal li ng numerous appl icati ons and games. Fortunatel y Wi ndows wi ll automati cal ly manage the MFT,
i ncreasi ng i ts size as necessary.

However if your dri ve has a relati vel y large number of fil es, over ti me the MFT may become fragmented as
i t grows beyond the i ni tial space all ocated to i t by Windows, and thi s can affect performance. You can use a
thi rd party disk defragmentati on uti li ty to defragment the MFT and thus keep i t opti mal - see further bel ow
for detail s of these.

If for some reason you want to manual l y i ncrease the amount of space Wi ndows reserves for the MFT in
advance you can do so vi a the Regi stry Edi tor by going to:

[ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHI NE\ Syst em\ Cur r ent Cont r ol Set \ Cont r ol \ Fi l eSyst em]

Nt f sMf t ZoneReser vat i on=1

The DWORD above i s set to 1 by defaul t, whi ch means i t i s automati call y managed. However you can gi ve i t
a val ue of 1 - 4, wi th higher val ues reservi ng larger porti ons of the dri ve for the MFT. The speci fic
percentages for each val ue are purposel y not documented by Mi crosoft, as they may change i n the future.

< WINDOWS DISK DEFRAGMENTER
As data i s wri tten to or del eted from your dri ve, porti ons of i ndivi dual fil es wi ll become fragmented and
physi call y spread out al l over the dri ve. Thi s happens because as Wi ndows starts wri ti ng the data for a fil e
onto the dri ve, when i t reaches an occupi ed porti on of the dri ve i t jumps to the next avai labl e empty spot
and conti nues wri ti ng from there. So a si ngl e large fi l e may actual l y be i n many separate chunks i n vari ous
l ocati ons on your dri ve. The more the fi l es on your system are fragmented, and i n parti cular the smal ler the
fragments, the more ti me your dri ve takes to fi nd al l these fragments and access all the i nformati on i t needs
at any ti me. It's l ike tryi ng to read a book wi th the pages out of order. This can cl earl y reduce dri ve
performance and i ncrease the potenti al for stutteri ng and l oadi ng pauses on hard dri ves.

Wi ndows Disk Defragmenter (Defrag) is a bui l t-i n uti l i ty that performs a very important functi on: i t puts all
these fil e fragments back together wi th each other i n the same l ocati on on the di sk and al so attempts to pack
them cl oser to the start of the dri ve to speed up readi ng and wri ti ng to these fil es. Thi s reduces l oadi ng ti mes
and greatl y reduces annoyi ng l oadi ng pauses and stutteri ng. To access the Wi ndows Defrag util i ty, go to
Start>Run, type Dfrg.msc and press Enter, or l ook for the Di sk Defragmenter i n your
Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tool s menu. Make sure there are no open appli cati ons or games
runni ng i n the background and then i n the Defrag wi ndow si mpl y cl i ck the Defragment button to begi n
defragmentati on. Do not do anythi ng else whi l e thi s process i s being compl eted. It may take qui te a whi l e to
compl ete so be pati ent. The l onger i t takes, the more good i t is doing your dri ve. If tweaki ng a new i nstal l of
Wi ndows, make sure to run Defrag after i nstall i ng the system dri vers and core software as this wil l move al l
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Note that for any defragmentati on program to work, you must have around 15% free dri ve space to gi ve the
program room to temporari l y rel ocate fil es as i t defragments.

BACKGROUND DEFRAGMENTATION
By defaul t, Wi ndows al so defragments your hard dri ve i n the background whenever your system i s i dle. It
does thi s to mai ntai n optimal layout of your i mportant fi l es, such as your boot fi l es. That i s why you may see
hard dri ve acti vi ty even when there are no programs or games runni ng i n Windows. Thi s i s fi ne, si nce i t
does not i nterfere wi th your programs or games - i t onl y occurs when the system i s trul y idle. If you want to
di sabl e background defragmentati on, unti ck the 'Opti mize hard disk when i dle' setti ng i n TweakUI - see the
TweakUI chapter. The other source of background dri ve usage is the Di sk Indexer, whi ch you shoul d di sabl e
as covered further above.

Note that if you are runni ng an Sol id State Dri ve (SSD), you shoul d not defragment the dri ve si nce SSD
random read ti mes are extremel y fast, counteracti ng any performance decreases due to fragmentati on, not to
menti on that the act of defragmenti ng an SSD can reduce the l ifespan of the dri ve.

< ADVANCED DEFRAGMENTATION
If you want to do a more thorough defragmentati on of your hard dri ve and get better resul ts you wi ll have
to l ook beyond the buil t-i n Di sk Defragmenter i n Windows XP - even Mi crosoft admi t this in thi s Mi crosoft
Arti cl e. There are several appl i cati ons whi ch can defragment a di sk i n more effi ci ent ways, and also
defragment fil es whi ch the Wi ndows Defragmenter cannot move, such as system fi l es (the green bl ocks i n
Defrag). Note that the Wi ndows pagefi le wi ll not become fragmented i f confi gured correctly as detail ed i n
thi s book, so pagefi le fragmentati on is not an issue - see the Memory Opti mizati on chapter.

PAGEDEFRAG
To defragment your system fi l es for free, you can use the PageDefrag uti l i ty. It i s fai rly simpl e to use, and
upon launching i t you can see at a glance how many fragments your major systems fi les are i n - to be
opti mal they should al l be i n 1 fragment each. To run a defragment usi ng PageDefrag, launch the program
and cli ck the 'Defragment at next boot' opti on, then reboot. Thi s wi ll defragment your major system files,
whi ch can onl y be done at boot ti me, whi ch i s somethi ng the regul ar Wi ndows defragmenter cannot do.
However even the author of PageDefrag suggests you use i t i n combi nati on wi th other defragmentati on
software such as a commerci al package, or hi s own Conti g util i ty.

DIRMS & BUZZSAW
If you are an advanced user, you can try the Di rms and Buzzsaw defragmentation uti li ti es. These uti li ti es are
free but require re-regi strati on every 30 days. They also requi re a bi t more work i n fi guri ng out and usi ng, so
they are not covered here in detai l , and are not recommended for the average user.

For ease of use and maxi mum safety, I recommend a thi rd party defragmentati on package si nce these
usual l y come wi th detail ed i nstructions, are full y automated and fai rly fool proof. Defragmenti ng i nvol ves
l ots of fi l e movements, someti mes sensi ti ve system fi les, so i t i s i mportant that the software you use to
defragment be rock-soli d. There are several advanced defragmentati on uti li ti es you can use in XP whi ch are
not al l free, but the free tri al versi ons have full functi onali ty wi th suffi ci ent ti me for you to judge thei r
useful ness before consi dering whether to purchase them or not:

MyDefrag
Ausl ogi cs Di sk Defrag
Di skeeper
PerfectDi sk
O&O Defrag


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A thi rd party defragmentati on uti l i ty is not essenti al though, as the normal Wi ndows Disk Defragmenter
uti li ty i s suffici ent for most tasks, especi al l y when combi ned wi th the free PageDefrag uti li ty. I do however
recommend at l east triali ng a free thi rd party uti li ty l i ke MyDefrag for a few weeks to see i f i t makes a real
di fference on your system - i t may have a noti ceable i mpact parti cul arl y i n reduci ng stutteri ng i n games.
Regardl ess of whether you use the bui l t-i n defragmenter or a thi rd party util i ty, make sure to defragment
regul arl y as i t i s essenti al to opti mal dri ve performance.

FREQUENCY OF DEFRAGMENTATION
Whether usi ng the Wi ndows Defragmenter, or a commerci al package, I strongl y recommend al so doi ng a
manual defrag i mmedi ately after any of the foll owi ng events:

Install ati on of any appli cation or game.
Patchi ng any appl i cati on, game or Wi ndows.
Install ati on of any dri vers.
Addi ng or del eti ng very l arge fi le(s).

Thi s i s parti cularly necessary for gamers, si nce games are already qui te prone to stutteri ng and l onger
l oadi ng ti mes due to thei r data-i ntensi ve nature, so by defragmenti ng your dri ve after a game i nstal lati on or
patch, you hel p reduce stutteri ng i n the game.

Neglecti ng to defragment your hard drive after a major dri ve operati on such as those li sted above may see
your appl i cati ons or games take l onger to l oad, exhi bi t frequent stutteri ng and pausi ng, and generall y
reduce your hard dri ve's performance. There i s no need to defragment dail y or hourly, and i ndeed you
shouldn't just defragment on a set ti me schedul e. Manual l y defragmenti ng regul arl y al so reduces the ti me i t
takes to defragment your dri ve, so that each ti me you do i t, i t shoul d onl y take a few mi nutes at the most,
even for a large dri ve, si nce onl y small porti ons of fi les need to be rearranged.

< BOOT ANALYSIS & OPTIMIZATION
By defaul t Wi ndows al ready detects and opti mi zes your Wi ndows bootup ti me by pl aci ng the rel evant fil es
i n opti mal posi ti ons on the di sk. Thi s i s done frequentl y, however you can speed up the process by doi ng i t
manuall y after you i nstall major system dri vers. Furthermore by analyzi ng your boot procedure you can
troubl eshoot any probl ems whi ch may be sl owi ng down your Windows startup. Thi s is best done usi ng a
tool cal l ed Bootvi s.

BOOTVIS
Bootvi s i s the Boot Vi suali zer tool from Mi crosoft, whi ch shows i nformati on about the speci fi c programs,
dri vers and servi ces that are l oaded up duri ng your Wi ndows startup procedure, and how long each one of
them takes. Thi s i nformation can be very useful i n i denti fyi ng preci sel y what is taki ng the most amount of
ti me at bootup, and if necessary uni nstall i ng or al teri ng hardware and software whi ch i s causi ng any l ong
delays. To access Bootvi s downl oad i t from thi s Bootvi s Downl oad Si te and i nstal l i t. Before you use Bootvis
however you should note that al though i t i s a Mi crosoft-produced uti li ty, i t was removed from the Mi crosoft
Bootvi s Page a whi l e ago for an unspecifi ed reason. The li kel y reason i s that i t can cause probl ems on certai n
systems, al though i t i s uncl ear whi ch parti cular types of systems. The bottom l i ne i s that you should backup
your data before usi ng Bootvi s, just i n case.

Note that for Bootvi s to operate correctl y, the Task Scheduler servi ce needs to be set to Automati c - see the
Servi ces chapter. This is very i mportant, otherwi se Bootvi s wil l not compl ete i ts Boot Trace or Opti mi zati on
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ANALYZING SYSTEM STARTUP
To analyze your system wi th Bootvi s, run the program and go to the Trace menu, then sel ect 'Next Boot +
Dri ver Delays'. Let Bootvis reboot the system, and on rebooti ng wai t pati ently for Bootvi s to pop back up
when i t's fi nished analyzing. It wi l l displ ay several graphs that show the vari ous startup components l aid
out sequentiall y i n ti me shares. Make sure to use the scrol l bars to l ook at the vari ous graphs i n thei r
enti rety. If you want to i denti fy whi ch program fi l es are associ ated wi th parti cular appli cations or dri vers,
consul t the Startup Programs and Services chapters for more detail s.

OPTIMIZING SYSTEM STARTUP
To opti mi ze your bootup procedure usi ng Bootvi s, fi rst go to your \Windows\Prefetch fol der and del ete the
enti re contents. Then start Bootvi s, go to the Trace menu and select 'Opti mi ze System'. Once agai n l et Bootvis
reboot and wai t for i t to restart after the reboot. It wi ll say 'Opti mizi ng System' for a whi le. Once thi s is done
you can reboot your system and observe whether your bootup times are now faster.

Thi s i s not absol utely necessary though because by defaul t Windows wi ll automati call y opti mi ze your
startup after several days, so i f you don't feel confi dent usi ng Bootvi s for thi s purpose or don't have the time,
i t i s not an i mportant step. Usi ng Bootvi s to analyze your system startup i s the most useful feature and can
be extremel y handy i n helpi ng you identi fy potential sl owdowns i n the startup process, so if only for that
purpose, Bootvi s is worth havi ng on your system.


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THE CONTROL PANEL

Thi s chapter covers al l the general options avail abl e under the defaul t Wi ndows Control Panel i n XP, which
i s an i mportant central l ocati on for accessi ng many Wi ndows setti ngs. I cannot go i nto each secti on of the
Control Panel i n great detai l due to space considerati ons however all the important setti ngs whi ch are
rel evant to the average home PC user are covered here and where necessary you wil l be referred to other
rel evant chapters of thi s book for more i nformati on. Take the ti me to go through thi s chapter carefull y as
al though i t i s l ong, i t is very i mportant for general Windows performance and functi onali ty.

Note that you may have addi ti onal i tems showi ng i n your Control Panel, as some thi rd-party programs wi ll
automati cal ly i nsert shortcuts i nto the Control Panel , however onl y the defaul t Wi ndows XP i tems are
covered bel ow. If you wish to remove a thi rd party shortcut from the Control Panel , i n most cases you can
ri ght-cl i ck on i t and sel ect Del ete to remove the i con (not the program i tself). For some Control Panel i cons
you wil l have to fi nd the rel evant fi l e under the \Windows\System32 di rectory - all Control Panel i cons have
the extensi on .CPL - so for exampl e to remove the 'Nvi dia Control Panel ' i con rename or delete the nvcpl.cpl
fi le i n the di rectory above, then cl ose and reopen the Control Panel, and i t should be removed. Al ternati vely,
you can go to the Control Panel secti on of the TweakUI util i ty and remove unnecessary components - see the
TweakUI chapter for details.

< ACCESSIBILITY OPTIONS
There are a range of features here that can be used to accommodate different keyboard usage styl es, make
Wi ndows easi er to see on screen, or provi de audi bl e noti fi cati on of events for exampl e. Qui te obvi ously
whi ch setti ngs you choose wi ll depend on your i ndi vi dual requi rements. If you want to fi nd out more about
these opti ons go to the Windows Accessi bil i ty Page. For the majori ty of users who do not need to use any
accessi bil i ty functi ons, make sure that every option under each of the tabs i s unti cked for maxi mum
performance and mi ni mal i nterference wi th the functi onali ty of games and appl i cati ons. For exampl e, i f the
'Sti cky Keys' opti on i s l eft enabl ed, i t i s known to cause uni ntended i nterrupti ons i n some games - when the
SHIFT key i s pressed mul tipl e ti mes i n a row thi s wil l acti vate i t.

< ADD HARDWARE
Thi s uti li ty all ows you to go through a set of procedures for addi ng a new pi ece of hardware to your system.
In most cases though, si nce Wi ndows XP i s a pl ug-and-play operati ng system, and as l ong as you have 'Pl ug
and Play' enabl ed i n your BIOS (See the BIOS Opti mi zati on chapter) and the 'Pl ug and Play' servi ce set to
Automati c (See the Servi ces chapter), al l you need to do to add any new hardware i s to connect i t to your
system and XP wil l detect i t, and ei ther automati cal ly i nstall basi c dri vers for i t, or if i t can't determi ne the
type of hardware, request that you i nsert a dri ver di sk - see the Dri ver Install ation chapter. I strongl y
recommend that before addi ng any new pi ece of hardware, you spend some ti me and read through the
i nstal lati on instructi ons whi ch come wi th the hardware, as some have unique requi rements for opti mal
i nstal lati on whi ch may be di fferent to what you might expect, and i n some cases the defaul t Wi ndows XP
dri ver wi ll not functi on as wel l as the l atest specifi c dri vers for the devi ce.

< ADD OR REMOVE PROGRAMS
The mai n use for thi s uti li ty i s not so much for the addi ti on of new software - that typi call y onl y requi res
that you i nsert the i nstall ati on disc i nto your dri ve and fol l ow the procedures from there, or the executi on of
the software's setup executabl e fi l e. Rather thi s tool is most useful for l ooki ng at the exi sti ng software and
dri vers currentl y i nstal l ed on your system and qui ckly bei ng abl e to remove ones that are no longer needed.
It i s al ways a good i dea to go through thi s li st peri odi cal ly and remove software that hasn't been used for a


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l ong ti me. You can sort thi s l i st i n vari ous ways by goi ng to the top ri ght corner and for 'Sort by', sel ecti ng
ei ther Name, Size, Frequency of Use or Date Last Used.

On the l eft si de of the screen, you wi ll see the major functi ons avail able under thi s util i ty. We've covered the
addi ti on and removal of software so far. You can also 'Add/Remove Wi ndows Components', whi ch is
covered i n the Cl eani ng Wi ndows chapter. The final opti on i s the abi li ty to 'Set Program Access and
Defaul ts', and that i s covered bel ow.

SET PROGRAM ACCESS AND DEFAULTS
Cl i ck the 'Set Program Access and Defaul ts' button, and on the next screen you can choose from two presets
(Mi crosoft Wi ndows or Non-Mi crosoft), or as I recommend, cli ck on the thi rd Custom opti on. Next, cl i ck the
doubl e down arrows to the ri ght of Custom. Here you can set the defaul t Web Browser, email program,
medi a player, i nstant messagi ng program and Java virtual machi ne.

For exampl e, i f you want to make Mozil la Fi refox the defaul t Internet browser i nstead of Internet Expl orer,
as l ong as you al ready have i t i nstal l ed on your system the opti on to select i t as the defaul t shoul d appear
here. Sel ect i t, and make sure a ti ck appears i n 'Enabl e access to thi s program' next to i t. You can di sable
access to Internet Expl orer by removi ng the ti ck i n the 'Enabl e access to thi s program' box next to i t as wel l.
Thi s won't uni nstall Internet Expl orer, i t si mpl y removes access to i t, whi ch i s not recommended. I
recommend you sel ect 'Use my current Web browser' i nstead whi ch should be fi ne for most purposes, and
ensure a ti ck appears next to all browsers bel ow i t so that you can sti l l access them all i f necessary.

Al though Microsoft has incorporated thi s feature as a resul t of charges relating to monopol i sti c behavior,
bear i n mi nd that qui te often you must use a Mi crosoft product for opti mal troubl e-free usage. For exampl e,
onl y Internet Expl orer can access the Wi ndows Update si te properl y by defaul t, and only Windows Media
Player can provi de opti mal pl ayback of .WMV fi l es. Other methods to access these si tes and fi l es do exist,
and they are covered i n the Internet Expl orer and Wi ndows Media Player chapters of thi s book, but they are
not necessarily as secure or as opti mal , so don't di sabl e access to these defaul t appl i cati ons for that reason.
Instead configure them correctl y as detail ed l ater i n thi s book. In all cases I recommend sel ecti ng 'Use my
current...' and al l owi ng access to all the components beneath. There i s one excepti on - i f you want to di sabl e
access to Windows Messenger as part of removi ng i t from Windows, unti ck the 'Enabl e access to this
program' box next to i t, as it has no other use.

< ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS
There are seven mai n admini strati ve tool s under thi s category. Some of them may not be avail able if you run
Windows XP Home. In parti cular i f you are runni ng Windows XP Professi onal , you wi ll al so have access to
the Group Edi tor, but that i s covered separatel y i n the Group Policy chapter. If you have i nstal l ed the .NET
Framework on your machine, you may also have access to the .NET Confi g and .NET Wizard tool s. I cannot
go i nto detail about al l the functi ons of these admi nistrati ve tool s because they are capable of a great many
thi ngs, however I provi de bri ef detail s of the pri mary Admi ni strati ve Tool s and poi nt out thei r most useful
aspects for the average home PC user bel ow.

COMPONENT SERVICES
Thi s tool al l ows system admi ni strators the abil i ty to depl oy and admi ni ster component servi ces appl i cations
or automate admi ni strati ve tasks. For our purposes, the onl y practi cal usage i s the Event Vi ewer and the
Servi ces components, both of whi ch al so have separate tool s to al low di rect access to them - see each of these
further bel ow.


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COMPUTER MANAGEMENT
The pri mary use for the Computer Management tool i s the Di sk Management sub-component, whi ch you
can access by expandi ng the Storage i tem i n the l eft pane and then cl i cki ng on the Di sk Management i tem
that appears underneath i t. You wi ll then see your hard dri ve(s) l i sted i n the top ri ght pane, wi th all your
avai labl e dri ves (i ncludi ng opti cal dri ves) li sted i n the bottom ri ght pane.

If you want to change any of the dri ve letters on your system - for example if you want to swap your DVD-
ROM dri ve from D: to E: or change i t to a new l etter l ike Z: you can do so here by ri ght-cl i cking on the dri ve
l etter i n the bottom ri ght pane and selecti ng 'Change Dri ve Letter and Paths', then hi ghl ighti ng the drive
l etter whi ch appears, and sel ecti ng the Change button, and assigni ng a new dri ve l etter.

If you want to convert a hard disk from a Basi c to a Dynami c vol ume, you can do so here by ri ght-cl i cki ng
on the Di sk 0 (or Di sk 1, etc) box i n the bottom ri ght pane, and sel ecti ng 'Convert to Dynami c Di sk'. Dynami c
di sks can emulate a RAID array - that i s they can span mul ti pl e dri ves as though they are one l arge dri ve.
The features of Dynami c Di sks are discussed i n thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e. Note that dynamic di sks are a storage
type not supported on Wi ndows XP Home Edi ti on or earl ier versi ons of Windows. However unl ess you
have a speci fi c need for thi s functi on, i t i s not recommended that you convert your di sk from basi c to
dynami c, because even though you can covert back to a basi c di sk you wi ll l ose all your data.

DATA SOURCES (ODBC)
Thi s tool lets you add and confi gure drivers for managi ng access to data on vari ous database management
systems. Unless you use databases extensi vel y on your machi ne, you can ignore thi s tool . There are no
general functi ons for thi s tool that can be di scussed here. Note that thi s i s the same tool as the Data Sources
(ODBC) i tem i n the mai n secti on of the Control Panel.

EVENT VIEWER
The Event Viewer tool shows a li st of events under the Appli cati on, Securi ty and System categori es. These
events are recorded by Wi ndows over ti me, and refl ect i nformation al erts, warni ngs and errors that have
occurred to date. You can vi ew the (li mi ted) detail s of an event by doubl e-cli cking on i t. Event Vi ewer can be
used to troubl eshoot an event i f you haven't had the chance to see an error message - for exampl e because
your system rebooted before you could read i t. More detail s on using thi s tool are provi ded i n the Wi ndows
Errors chapter.

LOCAL SECURITY POLICY
Thi s tool al lows you to establi sh and al ter securi ty-rel ated setti ngs. This i s best left at defaul t and I
recommend that you do not change any of these setti ngs unl ess directed to by a Network Admi ni strator or a
Techni cal Support expert. Al l the i mportant securi ty setti ngs relevant to home users can al so be adjusted
el sewhere as detail ed i n thi s book.

PERFORMANCE
Thi s tool all ows users to exami ne the vari ous performance variabl es on their system, such as CPU usage or
page fi le usage i n graphi cal and numeri cal form. You can add components to the di splay by cl i cki ng the
l arge '+' button above the graph. A more user-fri endly i nterface can be added to the Performance Moni tor by
downl oadi ng the Mi crosoft Performance Moni tor Wizard.

SERVICES
Thi s tool i s extremel y useful i n configuri ng servi ce usage under Windows XP. Changes to setti ngs made
under this tool can affect performance, stabil i ty and XP functionali ty qui te noti ceably, so see the Services
chapter dedi cated to explaini ng these features i n more detai l and showi ng you how to opti mize them.


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That covers the i ni ti al l ook at all the admi ni strati ve tool s i n Wi ndows XP. As menti oned, certai n tool s are
covered i n more detail later i n thi s book due to the need to use them often. General l y though, asi de from the
Servi ces util i ty and Event Vi ewer, and possi bly Computer Management, you should not need to access the
admi ni strati ve tool s very often and great cauti on shoul d be used when changing any setti ngs wi th them.

< AUTOMATIC UPDATES
The Automati c Updates functi on i n Wi ndows al l ows your machi ne to peri odi cal l y check for updates on the
Wi ndows Update websi te and dependi ng on the opti ons you set here, downl oad and i nstal l them as
necessary. When set to Automati c here, Wi ndows wi ll check for updates as often as you speci fy, and if an
i mportant update for your system is found i t wi ll downl oad and i nstal l i t for you at the same ti me. If you
speci fy 'Downl oad updates for me, but l et me choose when to install them', Wi ndows will downl oad the
updates but onl y i nstal l them when you choose. Nei ther of these two opti ons i s recommended, as updates
may be downl oaded and/or i nstall ed at i nconveni ent ti mes and wi thout your expl i ci t consent. Al though no
Mi crosoft updates are truly harmful , I sti ll recommend you keep ti ght control over the downl oadi ng and
i nstal lati on of Wi ndows Updates.

Instead, i f you feel as though you wi ll forget to check the Wi ndows Update site regul arl y, and want to be
tol d whenever i mportant updates are avail able, sel ect the 'Noti fy me but don't automati call y downl oad or
i nstal l them' opti on. That way you wil l be tol d when an i mportant update is avai labl e, but you can stil l
choose if/when to downl oad and i nstall it at your conveni ence.

My personal preference - the one I bel i eve i s most opti mal for performance and pri vacy - i s the fi nal opti on:
'Turn off Automati c Updates'. Thi s means the Windows Update servi ce wil l not constantl y run i n the
background, taki ng up resources, and at the same ti me you can si mpl y check the Wi ndows Update websi te
manuall y every few days to see i f you shoul d download any i mportant updates. Not onl y does thi s gi ve you
full control over updates, you wil l also be abl e to access updates much sooner thi s way, as they are often
avai labl e via Automati c Update much later than on Wi ndows Update or the Mi crosoft Downl oad si te.

Note that the 'Automati c Updates' servi ce must be set to Automati c to al l ow you to access the Wi ndows
Update website, even if you set Automati c Updates to Off here, so don't di sabl e i t.

< DATA SOURCES (ODBC)
Thi s tool i s discussed under the Admi nistrati ve Tool s entry above, and has exactl y the same functi on.

< DATE AND TIME
DATE AND TIME
Set the current date and time under this tab.

TIME ZONE
Sel ect the ti me zone that appl i es to you, and also ti ck the 'Automati cal l y adjust cl ock for dayl ight savi ngs'
opti on. Thi s means that whenever dayl ight savi ngs changes i n your area, the clock wi ll be automati call y set
forward or back as appropri ate - handy if you rarel y remember when dayli ght savi ngs actually occurs.


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INTERNET TIME
In general i t i s best to l eave the 'Automati call y synchroni ze wi th an i nternet ti me server' option ti cked so that
the system time i s al ways accurate. If you wish you can unti ck the box and peri odi cal l y update manually
whenever you are connected to the Internet by cl i cking the 'Update Now' button i nstead - see the Servi ces
chapter for detail s on how to di sable the Wi ndows Ti me servi ce as wel l i f you deci de to di sabl e thi s
functi onali ty here.

< DISPLAY
THEMES
You can switch between the Wi ndows Cl assi c theme, whi ch makes XP l ook l i ke previous versi ons of
Wi ndows, or sel ect the Windows XP theme. You can al so save any changes you make to Windows XP's look
by creati ng a custom theme and savi ng i t. Sel ecti ng the Cl assi c theme wi ll provi de some memory savings
due i ts less graphi call y i ntense nature, and can i mprove performance on very l ow-end machines. However i f
you prefer the Wi ndows XP theme I recommend you use i t regardl ess. You spend a great deal of time
l ooki ng at the XP i nterface, so on bal ance a few MB of memory sacri fi ced to make the i nterface easier on the
eyes i s not that bad - ugl i er does not real ly equal faster on the majori ty of systems. See the Vi sual &
Conveni ence Tweaks chapter for detai ls of how to further customi ze the i nterface and add more themes.

DESKTOP
Sel ect a Wallpaper you woul d li ke to di splay i n the background of the Wi ndows Desktop. If the defaul t ones
l i sted i n the previ ew pane are not to your l iki ng, you can choose one from an exi sti ng pi cture anywhere on
your dri ve(s) or from an inserted disc by cl i cki ng the Browse button. Note that i f you need to mi ni mize
memory usage and speed up bootup ti me, you can ei ther not use a wal l paper at all , or preferabl y sel ect a
wall paper that is the same size as your desktop and less i ntri cate - that i s, a pi cture wi th a small er fil e size.

Cl i ck the 'Customize Desktop' button. Here you can also sel ect whether to display or remove the My
Documents, My Computer or My Network Pl aces icons on your Desktop. Removi ng these i cons (unti cki ng
them) here wi l l not disabl e thei r functi onali ty, i t wil l si mpl y remove thei r icons from the Windows Desktop.
Note that i f for some reason you wish to remove the Recycl e Bi n from the Desktop see the Group Poli cy
chapter or the Wi ndows Registry chapter for the rel evant tweak. You may also wi sh to change the
appearance of any of the mai n system i cons that appear on the Desktop. You can choose to al ter their
appearance by hi ghl ighti ng them i n the scroll li st below, sel ecti ng 'Change Icon' and assi gni ng a new i con i n
thei r place.

SCREEN SAVER
You can select a parti cular screen saver here, to be di splayed after a set peri od of idl eness. Modern LCD
moni tors don't actuall y requi re screen savers to protect them from 'burn-i n' (permanent image i mpri nti ng),
so a screen saver i s not an absol ute necessi ty. However you may want to enabl e the screensaver to prevent
stati c i mages becomi ng temporaril y i mpri nted on some LCD screens, and of course Pl asma screens are more
suscepti bl e to permanent burn-i n and shoul d defi ni tely be protected by usi ng a full y ani mated screensaver,
or the Bl ank screensaver. Note that the setti ngs under the Power button are covered under Power Opti ons
further bel ow.

APPEARANCE
I personall y prefer the Wi ndows XP Styl e for Wi ndows and buttons. Thi s uses a smal l amount of extra
memory over the Wi ndows Cl assi c Style, but l ooks much ni cer in my opi ni on and has no si gnifi cant i mpact
on performance. If you are on an ol d system then you may noti ce an i mprovement i n responsi veness by
swi tchi ng to the Wi ndows Cl assi c Style. You can adjust the i ndi vidual el ements of the desktop theme by


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cl i cki ng on the Advanced button, sel ecti ng the el ement you want to change from the drop-down l ist, and
adjusti ng i ts properti es accordi ngl y.

Under the Appearance tab, cl i ck the Effects button, and I recommend unti cking the 'transi ti on effects', 'show
shadows under menus' and 'show wi ndow contents when draggi ng' opti ons here for maximum
responsi veness on the desktop. However once agai n i f you parti cularly li ke these effects you can l eave them
enabl ed wi thout any major i mpact on most modern systems. LCD users i n parti cular shoul d enabl e the
Cl earType opti on here under the 'smooth edges of screen fonts' setti ng - see Cl earType further bel ow for
detail s.

SETTINGS
You may fi nd two moni tors l i sted under the Di spl ay li st. Thi s is normal for some graphi cs cards, even when
onl y one physi cal di splay is currently attached. Sel ect the Screen Resoluti on you want for the Desktop, and
the Col or Quali ty to go wi th i t. Note that some recent programs and games may experi ence probl ems i f the
Desktop i s anythi ng l ess than 32-bi t Col or qual i ty, so 32-bi t (i f avai labl e) is strongl y recommended for
maxi mum compati bi li ty - the performance degradati on i s i nsi gnifi cant on your Desktop, and there i s no
reason to select any l ower bi t depth unl ess you have an extremel y ol d or l ow-end machi ne, such as a
portabl e device.

If you cli ck the Advanced button under the Setti ngs tab, you wi ll be taken to the control panel for your
graphi cs card. Whi l e many secti ons of thi s screen differ based on your parti cular graphi cs card, al l graphi cs
cards share the fol l owi ng common el ements, whi ch are descri bed bel ow:

General: The DPI (Dots Per Inch) setti ng determi nes the rel ati ve size of everything on your screen. If you run
at extremel y hi gh or extremel y l ow resol uti ons for exampl e, you can change the DPI to scal e the el ements of
your screen to a more suitabl e si ze without havi ng to change your resol uti on. The defaul t of 96 DPI i s
recommended for most peopl e. I al so recommend sel ecti ng the 'Appl y the new display setti ngs wi thout
restarti ng' opti on, so that you do not need to restart your machi ne each ti me you change a displ ay setti ng.

Adapter: Here you wil l fi nd the detail s of your current graphi cs adapter (i .e. your graphi cs card). If the detai l s
are i ncorrect, thi s coul d indi cate a poorl y i nstal l ed or i ncorrect graphi cs and/or motherboard dri ver, or
modi fi ed/overcl ocked hardware. Check your detail s agai nst those provi ded by the tool s i n the System
Specifi cati ons chapter.

Monitor: Here you can set the Refresh rate used by your moni tor for the current screen resol uti on. I strongly
recommend that you fi rst ti ck 'Hi de modes that thi s moni tor cannot di spl ay', then sel ect the hi ghest refresh
rate li sted. The refresh rate determi nes how many ti mes per second the i mage onscreen is redrawn. The
hi gher the setti ng, the more ti mes the screen i s 'refreshed', and the l ess strai n there i s on your eyes. It is
strongl y recommended that you use a uti li ty call ed Refresh Force to force the hi ghest possi ble refresh rates at
each resol ution on your system. Thi s uti l i ty is easy to use, and is supported by al l graphi cs cards. Note that
many LCD displ ays general l y refresh at 60Hz maxi mum, whi ch i s fi ne si nce LCD-based displ ays work on a
di fferent pri nci pl e and don't need a high refresh rate - see thi s page of the Gamer's Graphi cs & Displ ay
Setti ngs Gui de for an explanati on of what Refresh Rate i s and how it works.

Under the Troubl eshoot tab, move the sl i der under 'Hardware accel erati on' to the far ri ght, and ti ck 'Enabl e
wri te combi ni ng'. Thi s ensures maxi mum performance, and you shoul d onl y change these i f troubl eshooti ng
a speci fi c graphi cs-related probl em.

Under the Col or Management tab, sel ect the col or profi le that matches your moni tor model and cl i ck the 'Set
As Defaul t' button. If there i s no profile l isted for your moni tor, cl i ck the Add button and sel ect one which
matches your moni tor model , or i f none seem appropri ate, i nsert the dri ver disc whi ch usual l y accompani es
your moni tor, browse to the dri ve and fi nd the correct .ICM fi l e, then cl i ck Add. Al ternativel y go to your


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moni tor manufacturer's websi te and downl oad the latest dri ver for the moni tor, then i nstal l i t and recheck
the l i st here when you cl ick the Add button. The col or profil e ensures your moni tor di splays col ors as they
are i ntended to appear, whi ch can be parti cularl y i mportant i f you are doi ng things l i ke web design.

CLEARTYPE
For users of LCD panels and other fi xed-pi xel di splay devi ces that may requi re some enhancement to make
text appear sharper and clearer on screen, parti cul arl y when usi ng non-nati ve resoluti ons, Mi crosoft has an
opti on cal l ed Cl earType you can enable by goi ng to your Di splay properti es (See above), sel ecti ng the
Appearance tab, cl i cki ng the Effects button, and changi ng the 'Use the foll owi ng method to smooth edges of
screen fonts' to Cl earType. However, to ful l y customi ze Cl earType you need to use this Microsoft Onli ne
Cl earType Tuner, or downl oad and use the Cl earType PowerToy Uti li ty. In either case, Cl earType greatly
i mproves font di spl ay qual i ty by reducing jaggedness, so i t i s recommended that you use it i f you run an
LCD or other fi xed-pi xel digi tal di splay.

GRAPHICS CARD CONTROL PANEL
For ful l details on how best to confi gure the remai ni ng graphi c card-speci fi c el ements of Di spl ay Properties,
for ATI graphi cs cards you shoul d refer to the ATI Catalyst Tweak Gui de, and for Nvi di a cards you shoul d
refer to the Nvi dia Forceware Tweak Gui de. Also check the Gamer's Graphi cs & Di splay Setti ngs Gui de for
cl ear explanati ons of how major graphics-rel ated setti ngs and features work.

When you're done al teri ng the setti ngs i n Di spl ay Properti es cl i ck the Apply button. Then go back to the
Themes tab, cl i ck the 'Save As' button and sel ect a new name and locati on to save your customi zed theme.

< FOLDER OPTIONS
GENERAL
Under the General tab, select 'Use Wi ndows cl assi c fol ders' to get ri d of the l umped-together 'common task'
i cons. The choi ce is yours of course, but thi s book assumes you are usi ng the classi c fol ders vi ew when
gi vi ng di rections on accessi ng features. If desi red you can use classi c fol ders only whi l e foll owi ng thi s book,
and then swi tch back to the defaul t XP fol der vi ew once you're fi ni shed.

Sel ect 'Open each folder in the same wi ndow' to reduce open wi ndows and hence prevent unnecessary
memory usage.

Sel ect 'Double-cli ck to open an i tem (si ngl e-cli ck to sel ect)' as thi s is the defaul t method most Wi ndows users
are famil iar wi th, and the one whi ch i s assumed when provi di ng descri pti ons i n thi s book, and most other
pl aces on the Internet. Agai n, you can al ways swi tch to the other method once you have compl eted using
thi s book.

VIEW
I recommend you tick the fol l owi ng options:

Di splay fi l e size i nformati on i n fol der ti ps
Di splay si mpl e fol der vi ew i n Expl orer's fol der li st
Di splay the contents of system fol ders
Show hidden fil es and fol ders
Show and manage the pai r as a si ngl e fi le
Remember each folder's view setti ngs
Show encrypted or compressed NTFS fi les i n col or
Use si mpl e fi le Shari ng


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It i s recommended that the foll owi ng are unticked for best performance and functi onali ty:

Automati cally search for network fol ders and pri nters (don't unti ck i f you are on a Network)
Hi de extensi ons for known fi le types
Hi de protected operati ng system fi l es
Launch fol der wi ndows i n a separate process
Show popup descri pti on for fol der and desktop i tems

Any remai ning opti ons can be ti cked or unti cked accordi ng to your tastes and needs.

FILE TYPES
You can view and change whi ch tool s wi ll open parti cular fil e extensi ons by defaul t. For exampl e, scrol l
down to the TXT extensi on (text documents) and hi ghli ght i t. In the detail s bel ow you can see that the
defaul t tool for openi ng .TXT fi l es i s Notepad, and i f you cli ck on the Change button you can choose another
appl i cati on as the defaul t. Someti mes certai n i nstall ed appli cati ons wi ll qui etly change these defaul t
programs to sui t thei r own needs wi thout aski ng you, so check back here i f you fi nd your fil es openi ng wi th
somethi ng other than the appl i cation you want to use, and make changes as appropri ate.

OFFLINE FILES
I recommend you unti ck 'Enabl e Offli ne Fi l es'. You'll sti ll be abl e to vi ew saved/cached web pages offl i ne. If
the opti on i s unavai labl e, i t i s because you have Fast User Swi tchi ng enabled (See User Accounts further
bel ow), i n whi ch case you can i gnore thi s secti on.

< FONTS
Thi s i tem di spl ays the contents of your \Windows\Fonts fol der, whi ch contains all your currentl y i nstal l ed
system fonts. Fonts are the vari ous types of text styl es used by a vari ety of programs such as word
processors, pai nt programs and the Windows Wordpad for exampl e. You can i nstal l a new font si mply by
copyi ng i ts .FON or .TTF fil es i nto thi s fol der, or by goi ng to the Fi l e menu and sel ecti ng 'Install New Font...'
and poi nti ng to the di rectory where the new font fil es resi de. Note that TrueType i s a font technol ogy that
ensures good scali ng so that what i s di spl ayed on your screen comes out exactl y the same on your pri nter for
exampl e - other types of fonts may l ook sli ghtly di fferent i n different appli cati ons and/or when pri nted
and/or when usi ng di fferent font sizes. To fi nd out more about fonts, go to the Mi crosoft Typography
Websi te. For addi ti onal fonts you can downl oad and i nstal l for free see Si mpl y The Best Fonts.

< GAME CONTROLLERS
Thi s tool al l ows you to add or remove gami ng control l ers on your system. Thi s typi cal l y i ncl udes gamepads,
joysti cks and game si mulati on hardware. Note that al though often used in PC games, the mouse and
keyboard are not cl assed as 'game control l ers' here - they have their own separate setup tool s i n the Control
Panel (see Keyboard and Mouse bel ow).

Note that most joysti ck-based devi ces requi re somethi ng call ed Cali brati on - a process under the devi ce's
Properti es whi ch tell s Windows when the sti ck i s at absolute dead center, when i t is at far right, far l eft, etc.
If thi s i s not done then often you wi ll fi nd the devi ce may be unresponsi ve i n certai n di recti ons, or i t wi ll
constantl y be read by Wi ndows as movi ng i n one di recti on when i t is actual ly dead center, and so on.

The majori ty of game control l ers have thei r own software for i nstall i ng and setti ng up the devi ce, however
fi rstl y I recommend cl i cking the Add button i n the Game Control l ers secti on and usi ng the cl osest devi ce
descri pti on whi ch matches your devi ce. If then duri ng gameplay you fi nd your devi ce i s not functi oni ng at


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all , or mi ssi ng certai n functi onali ty, you shoul d then i nstal l and use the devi ce-speci fi c software. Thi s wi ll
mi ni mize the background resource usage that speci al ized devi ce dri vers often bri ng wi th them.

Fi nal ly, i f you play certain games only usi ng the keyboard and mouse combi nati on, and you fi nd your
character is di splayi ng strange movement behavi or (e.g. constantly movi ng i n one di recti on wi th or wi thout
user i nput), then physi cal ly disconnect all game control l ers from your system (excludi ng keyboard and
mouse) and reboot, then rel aunch the game.

< INTERNET OPTIONS
Thi s setti ng in the Control Panel si mpl y bri ngs up the Internet Expl orer 'Internet Properti es' box. There i s no
di fference between accessing i t here and accessi ng from wi thi n Internet Expl orer, so see the Internet Expl orer
chapter for ful l detai ls of how to confi gure these opti ons. Note i f you are usi ng another browser as the
system defaul t browser then cl i cki ng thi s i tem wi ll sti l l bri ng up the Internet Expl orer 'Internet Properties'
box - thi s is normal and cannot be changed.

< KEYBOARD
Under the Speed tab, I recommend you set the 'Repeat Del ay' sl i der to the far ri ght and al so set the 'Repeat
Rate' sli der to the far ri ght. Thi s wi ll i ncrease the responsi veness of the keyboard i n Wi ndows XP. You can
also adjust the 'Cursor Bli nk Rate' to your taste, and then cl i ck OK to appl y. You can test these setti ngs i n the
box provi ded to see if they sui t you. Note you can further customize the cursor's bl i nk rate and wi dth under
the Di splay tab of the Accessi bi li ty Opti ons i tem i n Control Panel.

< MOUSE
I onl y cover the basi c mouse setti ngs here, and most of the setti ngs i n thi s section can be adjusted to taste. If
you have i nstal l ed a special mouse driver, you may see different setti ngs under thi s screen, however the
setti ngs bel ow shoul d sti ll be avail abl e on most systems wi th a mouse.

POINTERS
I recommend you unti ck 'Enabl e Poi nter Shadow' at the bottom.

POINTER OPTIONS
Ti cki ng the 'Enhance pointer preci si on' opti on enhances the accel erati on/decel erati on of your mouse to
provi de for larger movements when you move the mouse fast, and fi ner movements when you move the
mouse more sl owly, all owi ng a balance between speed and preci si on. I recommend unti cking the 'Di splay
poi nter trai ls' opti on to reduce mouse l aggi ness unl ess you have di ffi culty keepi ng track of mouse
movements.

WHEEL
If your mouse has a mousewheel (also call ed a scroll wheel ), you can i ncrease the wheel 's responsi veness by
i ncreasi ng the number of li nes i t wi ll scrol l on each turn of the wheel . Even an increase from the defaul t of 3
to 4 for exampl e wil l make a subtl e, but noti ceable di fference if you previously found the wheel relati vel y
unresponsi ve.

INCREASING USB SAMPLE RATE
If you have a USB mouse and want to i ncrease the rate at whi ch i t takes sampl es of i ts current posi ti on -
thereby i ncreasi ng accuracy and responsi veness - check thi s USB MouseRate Swi tcher. A warni ng however
that there i s an el ement of ri sk i nvol ved i n usi ng thi s uti li ty as i t affects all USB devi ces, read the i nstructi ons
cl osel y before i mpl ementi ng, and onl y use thi s tweak i f you are an advanced user.


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< NETWORK CONNECTIONS
Because of the sheer variety of network connecti on hardware, and the potenti al for doi ng more harm than
good, al teri ng your Network Connections setti ngs is not a si mple procedure and I wil l not be coveri ng it i n
detail i n this book. If you have a Dialup connecti on - that i s 56K or l ower connecti on speed - then read thi s
Di al up Modem Tweak Gui de for more detail s. If you have DSL or Cabl e, use the i nformati on from thi s
DSL/Cabl e Tweak Gui de for gui dance. If you are on a Network of computers, consul t your Network
Admi nistrator before attempti ng to al ter any of the Network Connecti on setti ngs, and be very careful about
whi ch other setti ngs you i mpl ement from thi s book, especiall y those under the Servi ces chapter, as the
advi ce is not designed for Networked users.

In general , I recommend that you do not al ter your network-rel ated setti ngs regardl ess of the type of
connecti on you use, as more often than not, your connecti on wil l end up bei ng sl ower rather than faster, and
i n many cases you may l ose Internet functi onali ty. Most network connecti ons requi re specifi c procedures to
set up opti mall y, and these are usuall y documented i n the devi ce's i nstructi ons whi ch i s the best pl ace to
l ook for ti ps and advi ce.

QOS PACKET SCHEDULER
The fol l owi ng i s recommended for home di al up and Cabl e/DSL users (but not for Network or Shared users).
Ri ght-cli ck on the devi ce you use to connect to the Internet, and sel ect Properties. Go to the General tab, and
under the 'Thi s connecti on uses the fol l owi ng i tems' l ist, make sure the 'Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)' opti on i s
avai labl e and ti cked. Now sel ect every other i tem l i sted, i ncludi ng the 'QoS Packet Schedul er' and cl i ck the
Uni nstall button to remove them. None of these are requi red for regular Internet usage by a si ngl e non-
networked machi ne, and removi ng them wi ll reduce unnecessary resource usage. Shoul d they be needed
agai n you can al ways simpl y rei nstall them from here at any ti me. Note i f you di sable the QoS Packet
Schedul er you should also di sabl e the 'QoS RSVP' servi ce - see the Servi ces chapter. Nei ther are requi red for
the average home Internet user.

WINDOWS FIREWALL
Under the Advanced tab cl i ck the Setti ngs button and turn the Windows Fi rewall On as advi sed previ ousl y,
unl ess you have thi rd party fi rewall software al ready i nstall ed, i n whi ch case acti vate that i nstead, and
di sabl e the Wi ndows Fi rewall . To fi nd out more about Fi rewall al ternati ves see the PC Securi ty chapter.

< NETWORK SETUP WIZARD
Thi s wizard wi ll take you through the steps requi red to connect a network device, i ncludi ng any devi ce that
connects your machi ne to the Internet. You can foll ow the steps i n the wi zard to connect your device,
however I general l y recommend you foll ow the i nstructi ons that come wi th your devi ce i nstead, al ong with
i nstructi ons from your parti cular Internet Servi ce Provi der (ISP).

< PHONE AND MODEM
As menti oned under Network Connecti ons above, because of the vari ety of devi ces that can be used to
connect to the Internet, or to other el ectroni c devi ces, I cannot provi de specifi c setti ng recommendati ons here
for each device. Check the l i nks under Network Connecti ons above for more detai ls.

As wi th i nstall i ng any other type of peri pheral devi ce under Windows XP, typi cal ly the best i nstall ation
procedure i s to si mpl y connect the devi ce to your system, and wai t for Wi ndows XP to i denti fy the device
and i nstal l the defaul t drivers. However i n the case of modems I recommend i nstal li ng the latest availabl e
dri vers or at the very l east the dri vers whi ch come on the devi ce's dri ver di sc. If you have any doubts about
what setti ngs to use once the devi ce i s i nstal l ed, I strongl y recommend l eavi ng them at thei r defaults.
Changi ng these setti ngs can see your modem or device not function correctl y, and hence you may not be


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abl e to connect to the Internet. Note that devi ces li sted under Phone and Modem may i nclude devi ces
l oosel y i dentifi ed as 'modems' such as any connected mobi l e phones.

< PORTABLE MEDIA DEVICES
If you have a portabl e medi a devi ce connected to your system, such as an MP3 pl ayer, you can manage the
devi ce here. It i s recommended that you refer to your devi ce's i nstructi ons as to how best to confi gure i t for
connecti on and usage wi th Wi ndows, as typi call y speci fi c software i s requi red for correct functi onali ty.

< POWER OPTIONS
POWER SCHEMES
You can set the peri ods of ti me after whi ch your moni tor, your hard dri ve and/or your enti re PC go i nto a
power-savi ng standby state to conserve energy. You can sel ect an appropri ate preset scheme such as
'Portable/Laptop' or 'Al ways On', or you can customi ze the setti ngs yourself.

Unl ess you have a power-li mi ted devi ce, such as a laptop runni ng on batteri es, I recommend selecti ng
'Al ways On' to start wi th. Next, for the 'Turn Off Moni tor' opti on, I recommend sel ecti ng a peri od whi ch is
not too short, so that the moni tor i sn't constantl y swi tchi ng off - e.g. sel ect 20 mi nutes. Combi ned wi th a
shorter peri od for a screensaver to ki ck i n (See further above), such as 5 or 10 mi nutes, the two setti ngs
ensure that your moni tor saves power wi thout becomi ng a nuisance. I recommend agai nst enabl i ng the
'Turn Off Hard Di sks' option on a desktop PC - set i t to Never. Even i f you're not at your system, there may
be schedul ed dri ve-related tasks whi ch are necessary such as background defragmentati on, and so swi tchi ng
the dri ve off wi ll onl y hurt performance for mi ni mal power savi ngs. Si mi larl y, I don't recommend usi ng the
System Standby opti on for desktop PCs, as putti ng your enti re system i nto standby mode once again
prevents background tasks from executi ng.

ADVANCED
I recommend unti cki ng the 'Al ways show i con i n the taskbar' opti on to remove the unnecessary power i con
i n the system tray. If you don't use system standby, or i f physi cal securi ty i s not a concern then I al so
recommend unti cki ng 'Prompt for password when computer resumes from standby'. In the Power Buttons
secti on, sel ect the acti on you want for 'When I press the power button on my computer' - I recommend
sel ecti ng Shut Down from the l ist for the most obvi ous and troubl e-free resul t.

HIBERNATE
I recommend not usi ng Hibernati on for desktop PCs and hence I suggest you unti ck the 'Enabl e Hi bernation'
opti on here. Hi bernati on uses a great deal of di sk space to store the state of your machine at the ti me of
hi bernati on - equi val ent to your physical RAM size i n di sk space - and for opti mal stabil ity I recommend
that you start each computer sessi on wi th a cl ean bootup. Thi s wil l reduce the possi bi li ty of memory-rel ated
probl ems and crashes.

UPS
If you have a power supply that i s specifi call y classified as an Uninterrupti bl e Power Supply (UPS), you can
confi gure i t here. Most peopl e do not have UPS power suppli es, and i f you're not sure whether you have one
then i t's al most certai n that you don't, hence you can i gnore this secti on. See the Servi ces chapter for more
detail s about how to di sable the UPS Servi ce if you don't have a UPS power suppl y.


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< PRINTERS AND FAXES
Thi s secti on all ows you to vi ew al l connected pri nters and faxes, and add or remove such devi ces. It i s
recommended that you refer to the parti cular device's i nstructions for optimal setup i nformati on under
Wi ndows XP as each can differ.

Importantl y, note that i f you have di sabl ed the 'Pri nt Spool er' servi ce then any pri nter on your system wi ll
not functi on - thi s also i ncl udes 'pri nter-li ke' uti li ties such as PDF makers. Make sure the 'Pri nt Spool er'
servi ce i s set to Automati c i f you want to use a pri nter. Furthermore i f you have di sabl ed the port to whi ch
the pri nter i s connected in the BIOS or i n Devi ce Manager (e.g. LPT1 or a speci fi c USB Host Controll er),
perhaps to free up an IRQ, then once agai n your pri nter wil l not functi on - you wi ll have to re-enable i t.
Fi nal ly, i f you are connected to a network pri nter and you have fol l owed my servi ce confi guration
recommendati ons under the Servi ces Uti li ty chapter - whi ch as noted are not i ntended for networked
computers - then your network pri nter may not be detected by Wi ndows. Go through thi s book agai n and
make sure all network-related functi ons are enabled so you can access your network pri nter.

< REGIONAL AND LANGUAGE OPTIONS
REGIONAL OPTIONS
Sel ect the l anguage format that sui ts your parti cular regi on of the worl d. You can al so set your country at the
bottom, and i t i s recommended that you do so to al low al l your software to be abl e to customi ze opti ons and
text di splays to sui t you, not just i n Wi ndows XP i tself, but al so i n all the games and appl i cations you use. If
you wish to customize any speci fi c settings, such as date/ti me di spl ay formats, currency formats etc. cl i ck the
Customi ze button and do so accordi ngl y. If you've sel ected the appropriate country though, the defaults
shown here shoul d al ready be correct.

LANGUAGES
Cl i ck the Detail s button and sel ect your defaul t i nput l anguage.

If you onl y ever use one parti cul ar text servi ce on your machi ne for each language, such as Keyboard (the
defaul t, and a necessary servi ce), then remove any other text servi ces di spl ayed under each l anguage (such
as Speech Recogni ti on) as they take up addi ti onal memory. Do thi s by hi ghli ghting the di spl ayed text service
i n the Instal led Servi ces box, and cli ck on Remove.

Al ternati vel y, i f you want to Add a text servi ce, or confi gure these advanced text servi ces for vari ous
functi onali ty, see thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e for more detail s. Remember, the use of advanced text servi ces takes
up memory and can reduce system performance, so onl y enabl e these functi ons if you real ly use them often,
and not just as a novel ty.

In the Preferences secti on bel ow i t, if you have more than one text servi ce i nstal led you can cli ck the
'Language Bar' button (otherwi se i t is unavai labl e). I recommend selecti ng 'Cl ose the language bar' to
remove i t from your desktop unl ess you specifi cal l y need i t there. If you do use more than one l anguage
often, I stil l recommend cl osi ng the Language Bar, and i nstead assi gn keyboard shortcuts for swi tching
between these l anguages, by cl i cki ng on the 'Key Setti ngs' button here. Thi s is a much more effi ci ent and
qui cker method of swi tching languages.

Under the Advanced tab, unl ess you use any advanced text servi ces such as speech or handwri ti ng
recogni ti on, ti ck the 'Turn off advanced text servi ces' opti on. If you do wi sh to use advanced text servi ces,
and al so want them to be avai labl e to al l your programs and appl i cati ons, then ti ck the 'Extend support of
advanced text servi ces to all programs'. Cl i ck Apply and OK to go back to the Regi onal and Language
Opti ons box.


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Back under the Languages tab of the mai n Regi onal and Language Opti ons box, unl ess you use a ri ght-to-l eft
l anguage (such as Arabi c or Thai ), or an East Asian language, then make sure both boxes under the
Suppl emental language support area are unti cked, and cli ck Apply. This removes unnecessary language files
from your drive.

ADVANCED
Sel ect the language you want for non-unicode programs. Si nce Uni code basi cal ly all ows most modern
programs to automati cal ly adapt thei r menus and di al ogs to your system's defaul t language, thi s setti ng
onl y appli es to ol der non-uni code programs. These ol der (non-uni code) programs wil l use the Code page
conversi on tabl es l isted to convert from other l anguages to your preferred l anguage. Whil e you can choose
to remove or add (unti ck or ti ck) vari ous conversi on tabl es i n thi s secti on, I recommend against doi ng so as
thi s can affect the correct l anguage display of any older programs you use. Some of the conversi on tabl es are
greyed out as these are i nstall ed by defaul t for Wi ndows XP and cannot be removed.

If you want to make the setti ngs you have modi fi ed i n the Regi onal and Language Opti ons box the defaul t
for every user account created on thi s system as wel l as the current account, ti ck the 'Appl y all setti ngs to the
current user account and to the defaul t user profil e' box.

< SCANNERS AND CAMERAS
Thi s secti on wi ll all ow you to manage any di gi tal i mage devi ces such as scanners or di gi tal cameras
connected to your machine. Refer to your devi ce's manual for speci fi c setup recommendati ons. Typi call y
you wil l si mpl y need to attach your device, turn i t on and Wi ndows XP shoul d detect i t and i nstall basi c (but
adequatel y functi onal) dri vers. I recommend that onl y i f you are havi ng probl ems accessi ng the devi ce, or if
any of i ts i mportant functi onal i ty i s missi ng, that you i nstal l device-speci fi c dri vers or software. Otherwi se
the defaul t Wi ndows XP dri vers are the most effi cient and mi ni mi ze background resource usage.

< SCHEDULED TASKS
The Scheduled Tasks util ity al l ows you to set up parti cul ar tasks that your machi ne wi ll then run at a
predetermi ned ti me and i n a predetermined sequence. To create a new task, cl ick the 'Add Scheduled Task'
i tem, and the Schedul ed Task Wizard wil l commence, all owi ng you to detai l the task to be run. You can also
vi ew and edit exi sti ng scheduled tasks i n thi s panel . I recommend you go to the Advanced menu and select
the 'View Hidden Tasks' opti on to ensure all schedul ed tasks are shown. I general l y do not recommend
havi ng many scheduled tasks; regular system maintenance for exampl e is best carried out manuall y, at
i ntervals determi ned by frequency and type of use and not set periods of ti me - see the Regular Mai ntenance
chapter. Note that the 'Task Schedul er' servi ce must be set to Automati c for scheduled tasks to functi on.

< SECURITY CENTER
The Wi ndows Securi ty Center unifi es access to, and moni tori ng of, major securi ty-rel ated Wi ndows setti ngs
on your system. Pri marily these are the Wi ndows Fi rewal l for protecti ng agai nst externall y-i ni ti ated
i ntrusi ons i nto your system; Automati c Updates which ensures noti fi cati on and/or i nstall ation of i mportant
Wi ndows XP updates as they are rel eased by Mi crosoft; and Virus Protecti on whi ch works i n conjunction
wi th your virus scanner to make sure your system i s free of i nfected fil es whi ch can compromi se your
system's securi ty, stabil i ty and pri vacy.

Each of these areas and appropri ate recommendati ons i s covered i n the rel evant secti on of thi s book: the
Wi ndows Fi rewall i s covered i n the Windows Fi rewall secti on below; Automati c Updates i s detail ed i n the
Automati c Updates secti on above; and Vi rus Protection i s covered under the PC Securi ty chapter above. The
Securi ty Center is si mpl y a means of gaini ng access to al l of these and changi ng some of their setti ngs in a
central l ocation. As such, it's not actually a dramati c i mprovement i n securi ty - si mpl y one that makes users
more aware of the types of thi ngs they have to moni tor and change to mai ntai n system securi ty.


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The one setti ng whi ch I do fi nd very annoyi ng and I recommend you change is the Vi rus Protecti on setti ng.
In the 'Vi rus Protecti on' box i n the Securi ty Center cl i ck the Recommendati ons button. In the
Recommendati on box which opens, I suggest you tick the box at the bottom. Thi s wil l prevent Wi ndows
from constantl y remi ndi ng you that your vi rus scanner's reference fi l e is out of date, or that your vi rus
scanner i s not found, or that i t is not currentl y acti ve. For starters many popul ar anti vi rus programs are not
supported by thi s feature. Secondly, i t shoul d be part of your regular mai ntenance procedure to manuall y
update your vi rus scanner and run manual scans often. Fi nall y, as I recommend throughout thi s book,
havi ng any mal ware scanner runni ng i n the background can and wi ll reduce your system performance for
margi nal gains i n securi ty. For al l i ntents and purposes as l ong as you foll ow the other recommendati ons i n
thi s book your system shoul d be qui te secure and cl ear of mal i ci ous software. If however you are genui nel y
forgetful and your vi rus scanner appears to be supported by thi s feature, you may wish to keep the
moni tori ng functi on of Virus Protecti on enabled.

Note the Wi ndows Securi ty Center won't functi on ful ly i f the 'Securi ty Center' servi ce has been Di sabled -
see the Services chapter. I recommend that the 'Securi ty Center' servi ce be set to Automati c to begi n wi th,
adjust your setti ngs as recommended above, then di sabl e the 'Securi ty Center' servi ce again as i t i s not
necessary to conti nual ly access the Securi ty Center to mai ntai n securi ty on your system. That i s, di sabl ing
the 'Securi ty Center' service wi l l not di sabl e the Windows Fi rewall , Automatic Updates or Vi rus scanner
functi onali ty at al l. Al so see the PC Securi ty chapter of thi s book for more ti ps on how to secure your PC.

< SOUNDS AND AUDIO DEVICES
VOLUME
Adjust the vol ume to sui t your taste, and make sure the Mute opti on i s unti cked. I recommend ti cki ng the
'Place volume i con i n the taskbar' opti on as adjusti ng the vol ume i s somethi ng you may do often in
Wi ndows, so thi s provi des qui ck access vi a a speaker i con i n the System Tray. I wi ll cover the setti ngs under
the Advanced button a bi t later bel ow, as part of my i nstructi ons for opti mal sound output.

Under the Speaker setti ngs secti on, you can i ndependentl y adjust each speaker's vol ume level by cl i cki ng the
Speaker vol ume button. In general thi s vol ume can be adjusted under the Vol ume tab as descri bed above, so
you onl y need use thi s secti on of the Sound opti ons to check and make sure al l speakers are outputti ng at the
same vol ume, or adjust the i ndi vi dual speakers to have different vol ume l evel s each i f that is what you want.

Cl i ck the Advanced button here, and under the Speakers tab sel ect the type of speaker setup you are using,
such as Headphones or Desktop Stereo Speakers. Choose the setti ng cl osest to your parti cular setup. Under
the Performance tab, move the 'Hardware accel eration' sl i der to the far ri ght. Thi s ensures full use of your
sound hardware's features. Onl y reduce the sli der by one or two notches if you are troubl eshooti ng sound
probl ems i n a game for exampl e. Move the 'Sample rate conversi on qual i ty' sl ider to the far ri ght. This
ensures opti mal sound qual i ty, and there i s no discernabl e performance di fference between the vari ous
setti ngs on thi s sli der.

SOUNDS
You can assign different sounds to parti cular system events i n thi s secti on. Cl i ck on the rel evant Program
events (e.g. 'Start Windows') and ei ther scroll through the l ist of defaul t system sounds in the Sounds l i st
bel ow and sel ect one, or cli ck the Browse button to fi nd a sound fi l e el sewhere on your system whi ch you
can use. Press the Play button to hear a previ ew of the sound.

I strongl y recommend that you di sabl e as many system sounds as you can, as they take up system memory
by bei ng l oaded i nto RAM at startup. In parti cular I recommend di sabli ng sounds for 'Start Wi ndows' and
'Exi t Wi ndows' to both reduce memory usage and speed up booti ng up and shutti ng down Wi ndows. Also


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note that various programs add sub-entri es to thi s secti on and i nclude thei r own speci fi c sounds, even if you
uni nstall them l ater on. Go through the enti re l ist careful l y and di sabl e al l unnecessary sounds.

You can qui ckl y di sabl e all system sounds by sel ecti ng the 'No Sounds' i tem under the Sound scheme area -
thi s doesn't turn off sound on your system, i t si mpl y removes sounds effects from all the vari ous system
events thereby reduci ng memory usage by these sounds. If you want to keep sounds for certai n i mportant
events, such as Defaul t Beep or System Noti fi cati on, I recommend you apply the same sound to several
si mil ar events. For example, on my system I use the Exclamation.wav sound for all warni ng and al ert events
(i .e. Asteri sk, Cri ti cal Stop, Defaul t Beep, Excl amati on, New Mail Noti fi cati on and System Noti ficati on). That
way i f Windows runs i nto a probl em or provi des a warni ng/notifi cati on I can sti ll hear an audi ble i ndi cator
of i t, but by usi ng the same sound for each event, my memory usage i s reduced.

Once done, save these new setti ngs by cl i cki ng 'Save As...' and enteri ng a new name.

AUDIO, VOICE
Make sure the defaul t device i n each of these categories i s your primary sound hardware then ti ck 'Use onl y
defaul t devi ces' to mi ni mize probl ems and confl i cts wi th any other sound devi ces whi ch may also be present
on your system.

OPTIMAL SOUND CONFIGURATION
My suggested method for confi guri ng your Sound setti ngs for optimal sound output i s provided bel ow:

1. Cl i ck the fi rst Advanced button under the Vol ume tab of the Sounds and Audi o Devi ces box.
Al ternati vel y, si mply doubl e-cl i ck on the Vol ume i con i n the system tray.
2. In the Vol ume Control di al og box that appears, go to the Opti ons menu and make sure the 'Advanced
Control s' option i s ti cked.
3. Sel ect the Properti es i tem under the Opti ons menu, and i n the box that appears sel ect your mai n sound
output devi ce i n the Mi xer Devi ce l i st. Sel ect Pl ayback i n the next secti on. Place a ti ck agai nst every i tem
i n the li st shown, and cli ck OK. Back i n the Volume Control wi ndow, you wil l noti ce i t has expanded to
show Vol ume, Balance and Mute opti ons for every audi o output method on your system.
4. Go to the master Pl ay Control (far left) and adjust the master Balance setti ng. Unl ess you speci fi call y
need an offset balance, the neutral (absolute mi ddl e) posi ti on i s recommended.
5. Make sure the 'Mute Al l' opti on i s unti cked
6. Set the master Vol ume l evel to around the center posi ti on on the sl i der, then play a hi gh quali ty music
or audi o fil e on your system (e.g. an MP3 fil e, not CD Audi o as that uses i ndependent sound) and adjust
your speaker hardware's physi cal volume control s unti l the sound l evel i s correct.
7. Cl i ck the Advanced button, and i f availabl e to you (dependi ng on your sound hardware) adjust the Bass
and Trebl e setti ngs to taste. If you don't have Di gi tal Output capabl e sound hardware, make sure the
'Di gi tal Output Onl y' box is unti cked, otherwi se you wi ll not hear any sound. Cl i ck Cl ose when done.
8. Now go to the Wave output method in the Vol ume Control box and make sure the Mute opti on is
unti cked. Agai n, whil e pl ayi ng some musi c on your system adjust the Wave vol ume and your speaker
hardware volume control together until the combi nati on sui ts your taste and has the l east amount of
di storti on and/or background noi se. The Wave output method i s the output method used by most
games, appli cati ons and audi o playback software so i t's i mportant to set i t up correctl y and at a tol erabl e
l evel.
9. Go through and adjust all the other sound output methods' Volume and Balance setti ngs to taste. To
further reduce background noi se and hi ssi ng, I recommend muti ng (ti ck the Mute opti on) for every
sound output method you do not regularl y use. Input devi ces, such as Li ne-In, TAD-In and Mi crophone
i n parti cul ar can contri bute to background hi ssi ng, so mute them unl ess needed.
10. Once done, go to the Options menu and sel ect Properti es, then unti ck all the sound output methods
except those that you wil l be adjusti ng the properti es of qui te often. Thi s wil l not di sabl e these methods,


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onl y remove them from displ ayi ng i n the Vol ume Control box, maki ng i t more manageabl e the next
ti me you open i t. At a mi ni mum I recommend you l eave the Play Control and Wave i tems ti cked, as
these are the ones used most often on al l machi nes.

If you have a compl ex speaker setup or thi rd party audi o software you may wi sh to use that to adjust
equalizer setti ngs for exampl e. In which case after you've foll owed the advice above go into that software
and conduct more setti ng tweaks as necessary.

Importantl y, i f your sound hardware has any Envi ronmental Audi o or Special Effects setti ngs i n your sound
card-specifi c software (such as the EAX Control Panel for Creati ve sound cards), open these setti ngs and
di sabl e al l effects. These addi ti onal effects typi cal ly cause problems i n games and can distort musi c and
other audi o pl ayed back on your machi ne.

< SPEECH
Thi s uti li ty all ows you to confi gure the speech recogniti on and text-to-speech capabi li ti es of Windows XP. To
use speech recogni ti on, you wil l requi re an i nput devi ce (i .e. mi crophone) connected to your system. To use
text-to-speech functi onal i ty, you don't requi re anything other than audi o pl ayback hardware such as a sound
card and speakers/headphones. You can sel ect the voi ce style used to convert text to speech, and adjust i ts
speed here. Note that this functi onali ty must be supported by the program or game you are usi ng i f you
want i t to work. Al so note that i n most games or appl icati ons where you can enabl e a synthesized voi ce, you
should be able to adjust the characteristics for this voice i n thi s secti on of the Windows Control Panel si nce i t
i s l ikely usi ng the defaul t Windows voice engi ne. If you want to downl oad addi ti onal synthesized voi ces to
use see thi s Text-to-Speech Voice si te.

< SYSTEM
Thi s i s an i mportant secti on of Wi ndows XP, and each of the tabs under System Properti es i s covered bel ow:

GENERAL
If any of the detail s displayed are i ncorrect then i t i s a si gn of a bad i nstall , new/unsupported hardware, IRQ
confli cts, poorl y i nstal l ed/i ncorrect dri vers or overcl ocki ng probl ems. In general if your system i s
functi oni ng correctl y then the i nformati on i n thi s secti on shoul d be correct. You may noti ce your CPU's
speed rati ng is shown sli ghtl y hi gher or lower than i ts actual rati ng - thi s is normal. Importantly, you shoul d
make sure that after your Wi ndows versi on, i t says 'Servi ce Pack 3' - if i t doesn't, make sure to foll ow the
i nstructi ons under the Dri ver Instal lati on chapter to i nstall the latest Servi ce Pack, as i t is an essenti al update,
especiall y as Mi crosoft has now dropped al l support for pre-SP3 versi ons of Windows XP.

COMPUTER NAME
Leave the Computer Descri pti on fiel d bl ank, or use a generi c descri pti on. To change your computer name,
cl i ck the Change button. In both cases I strongly recommend agai nst pl aci ng anythi ng uniquel y i dentifiable -
such as your real name or address - in these fi el ds. Unl ess you are part of a network of computers (the
Internet doesn't count as a network i n thi s i nstance), there is no need to al ter your Network ID, nor the
Workgroup you bel ong to. If you are part of a network, consul t your System Admi nistrator before
attempti ng to change any of the setti ngs above as i t may resul t i n probl ems and confusi on, or compl etely
droppi ng out from the Network.

HARDWARE
The 'Dri ver Si gni ng' and 'Wi ndows Update' opti ons are covered i n more detai l i n the Dri ver Instal lati on
chapter.


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DEVICE MANAGER
Cl i ck the Devi ce Manager button, go to the Vi ew menu and sel ect 'Vi ew Devi ces by Type' and al so ti ck the
'Show Hi dden Devi ces' opti on. You wi ll see all the devi ces connected to your system at the moment, most of
whi ch are physi cal devi ces, some of whi ch are virtual devi ces. Devi ces wi th a yel l ow questi on mark or
excl amati on mark next to them wi l l need further troubl eshooti ng to correctl y identi fy and install . Typi cal ly
thi s i nvol ves ensuri ng the devi ce is correctl y attached to your system, then doubl e-cl icki ng on the devi ce i n
Devi ce Manager, sel ecti ng Update Driver under the Dri ver tab, and fol l owing the prompts to i nstall or
rei nstall the correct dri ver for the devi ce. You may al so need to i nstall any software that came wi th the
devi ce to correctl y use i t. See the Dri ver Instal lati on chapter for more detai ls of dri vers, and the Wi ndows
Errors chapter for more detail s of Devi ce Manager error codes.

You should di sabl e devi ces that you don't regularl y use to speed up wi ndows and free up resources. Ideall y
thi s shoul d be done fi rst in the BIOS - See the BIOS Opti mi zati on chapter. However, to disabl e a devi ce i n
Devi ce Manager, doubl e-cl i ck on the devi ce and sel ect 'Do not use thi s devi ce' under the Devi ce usage area
at the bottom of the box. A red cross wi ll appear next to the devi ce, i ndi cating i t has been di sabl ed. Make
sure to only di sabl e devi ces you knowingl y do not use. If i n doubt l eave them enabl ed, or re-enabl e them i f
you experi ence any unusual behavior.

Go to the Vi ew menu and choose 'Vi ew Resources by type', then expand the 'Interrupt Request (IRQ)' i tem.
Make sure each major device i n your system (graphi cs card, sound card etc.) is on a separate IRQ from other
major system devi ces. See the BIOS Optimi zati on chapter for more detail s of IRQ shari ng.

REMOVE UNUSED DEVICES
For each device that has ever been connected to your system, Devi ce Manager wil l retai n a range of entri es in
the Wi ndows Registry relati ng to the devi ce type, and the dri vers and setti ngs it used. That way if the devi ce
i s ever reconnected i t can be qui ckl y recognized again and ready for use. However there are ti mes when you
have permanentl y discontinued the use of a devi ce and you want to cl ean out the Devi ce Manager of these
unused devi ce(s). To vi ew unused devi ces i n Devi ce Manager, do the foll owi ng:

1. Open a Command Prompt by goi ng to Start>Run and type cmd then press Enter.
2. Once the MS DOS prompt i s open, type the foll owi ng l i nes exactly as shown, pressi ng Enter after each:

Set devmgr _show_nonpr esent _devi ces=1

devmgmt . msc

3. You can now type exit and press Enter i n the command prompt window to cl ose i t.
4. In the Devi ce Manager wi ndow that opens go to the Vi ew menu and sel ect 'Show Hi dden Devi ces'. Now
expand the categories and start l ooki ng through al l the devi ces. Devi ces i n gray are usual ly ol d/unused
and safe to remove by right cl i cki ng on each one and sel ecti ng Uni nstall .
5. In parti cul ar, you mi ght find several entri es under the Moni tors secti on from previ ous graphi cs dri ver
i nstal lati ons. You can typicall y del ete all the greyed out entri es but at l east one un-greyed entry shoul d
remai n. You may also fi nd ol d entri es for previ ous graphi cs cards under the Di splay Adapters secti on
that agai n can be removed. Remember that even with onl y one moni tor connected there may be two
entri es for some graphi cs cards, one of whi ch is the Secondary - thi s i s normal .
6. You should not remove any Mi crosoft devi ces such as those under the Sound secti on, or devi ces that
you are uncl ear about, or know that you wi ll be reconnecti ng to your system regularly.
7. Once done, you can cl ose Devi ce Manager the usual way and the next ti me you open i t up i t wi l l not
shown unused devi ces unti l you agai n use thi s method to do so.

Use thi s method wi th great cauti on. In parti cular I recommend you create a new System Restore poi nt
beforehand. At the same ti me however i f you do accidentall y uni nstall a hardware devi ce whi ch is currentl y


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connected to your system, i n many cases you can si mpl y di sconnect and reconnect the devi ce, or reboot
Wi ndows, and i t wi l l be redetected by Wi ndows and the appropri ate dri vers install ed again - so thi s method
doesn't permanentl y remove any devi ce nor prevent it from future usage.

Back under the Hardware tab of System Properti es, cl i ck the 'Hardware Profi l es' button and for opti mal
bootup speed have onl y one hardware profil e and choose 'Select the fi rst profil e li sted if I don't sel ect a
profil e i n' and set the ti me to 0 seconds.

ADVANCED
The Advanced tab of System Properti es has three major areas of setti ngs - Performance Setti ngs, User
Profi l es Setti ngs and Startup and Recovery Setti ngs - these are covered separatel y bel ow:

Performance Setti ngs:

Visual Effects: For fastest performance, I recommend unti cki ng everythi ng except 'Use vi sual styl es on
wi ndows and buttons' and 'Use drop shadows for i con l abel s on the desktop'. That wil l reduce usage of
system resources for graphi cal effects, whi le stil l retai ni ng the majori ty of Wi ndows XP's trademark
appearance. Obvi ousl y you can ti ck other effects i f you speci fi cal ly want to keep them.

Advanced: In the Processor scheduli ng secti on sel ect the Programs opti on for opti mal performance on the
majori ty of systems. The 'Background Servi ces' option wi l l onl y i mprove performance on systems where
mul ti ple programs are often run together.

Under the Memory usage secti on, once agai n sel ect the Programs opti on. The 'System Cache' opti on i s
designed for servers, where more memory i s used to speed up di sk access at the expense of avai labl e
memory for programs. Importantl y, data corruption may occur under certai n condi ti ons i f the 'System
Cache' opti on i s enabl ed, so i t is strongly recommended that you do not select i t.

For opti mal setti ngs under 'Vi rtual Memory', see the Memory Opti mi zati on chapter for ful l configuration
detail s.

Data Execution Prevention (DEP): This i s a technol ogy i ntroduced wi th Wi ndows XP SP2, and uses software
and (where supported) hardware detecti on of programs that try to access and run code from desi gnated
'non-executabl e' memory areas. Ful l detai ls of i t are in thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e. In practi ce DEP protects against
mal ware that has become resi dent on the system and whi ch then tri es runni ng mal i ci ous code from such
memory areas. When DEP detects an attempt to l aunch an executabl e from a non-executabl e memory area i t
wi ll shut the program down and provi de a noti fi cati on that i t has done so. Hence if you are experi enci ng
crashes or probl ems i n games for exampl e, unl ess you see Windows gi ve you a speci fic DEP-rel ated
warni ng, i t is hi ghly unl ikel y that DEP i s the cause of the probl em.

By defaul t when 'Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and servi ces only' is selected, DEP
protecti on i s onl y enabled for programs that choose to work wi th DEP, al ong wi th Wi ndows system files.
Thi s i s the mi ni mum form of DEP protecti on. You can choose to extend thi s protecti on to al l programs by
sel ecti ng 'Turn on DEP for all programs and servi ces except those I select' - and then choose whi ch programs
to manuall y excl ude from DEP by using the Add and Remove buttons. I recommend l eavi ng DEP at i ts
defaul t setti ng ('Turn on DEP for essenti al Wi ndows programs and servi ces onl y') as i t is not probl emati c
and hel ps reduce any potenti al damage from mal ware acti vi ty on your computer. However if you want to
change your DEP setti ngs i n more depth, i ncl udi ng the total di sabl i ng of DEP, you can do so by edi ti ng your
Boot.ini fi le (To access and edi t Boot.i ni see further bel ow). The entry to change i n Boot.ini is the /NoExecute=
opti on. By defaul t i t i s set to /NoExecute=OptIn however you can change the OptIn value to one of the ones
bel ow to change DEP's i mpl ementati on:


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OptOut - Appl i es DEP to all processes and you must then set whi ch programs are excluded manuall y. This i s
the same as the 'Turn on DEP for all programs and servi ces except those I sel ect' opti on above.

AlwaysOn - Provi des full DEP coverage for your enti re system. If you are concerned about potenti al mal ware
acti vi ty on your system and want maxi mum protecti on you can use thi s setting, al though ol der software
may have probl ems wi th i t.

AlwaysOff - Thi s opti on turns off DEP compl etel y. It i s not recommended unl ess you are havi ng a l ot of
probl ems wi th program crashes directly related to DEP even after thoroughly cl eani ng your system by
foll owi ng the advi ce under the PC Securi ty chapter of thi s book.

Once agai n, it i s recommended that you l eave DEP at i ts defaul t setti ng unl ess you are speci fical ly havi ng
DEP-related errors and probl ems, whi ch i s usual ly quite rare.

User Profi les Setti ngs:

Back under the Advanced tab of the mai n System Properti es box, cli ck the Setti ngs button under User
Profi l es, and exami ne the profil es stored on your computer. There wi l l al ways be at l east two profi les - the
Admi nistrator, and the defaul t User profil e here. If you are absol utely certai n any other profil es are no
l onger i n use, you can sel ect them and press Del ete to remove them from the system, whi ch wi ll free up di sk
space.

Startup and Recovery Settings:

Under the Startup and Recovery secti on, cli ck the Setti ngs button. For a system wi th a singl e operating
system, select '"Mi crosoft Wi ndows XP [Home/Professional]" /FASTDETECT...' i n the l i st presented. For a
mul ti boot system wi th two or more operati ng systems, select the one that you want to boot up by default
each ti me you start your machi ne. If you onl y have one operating system, or you don't want to sel ect a
di fferent operati ng system each ti me you boot up, unti ck the 'Ti me to di spl ay li st of Operati ng Systems'
opti on. Note that i f you have an XP/Vi sta/7 dual boot, you can sti ll unti ck this opti on, because the other OS'
boot fi les which control dual booti ng are not affected by these settings. You wi ll have to adjust your bootup
opti ons di rectl y i n Wi ndows Vi sta or Wi ndows 7 - see the Boot Confi guration chapter of the rel evant
TweakGui des Tweaki ng Compani on for detai l s.

Ti ck the 'Ti me to di splay recovery opti ons when needed' opti on and sel ect at least 10 seconds i f not more.
Thi s i s the amount of ti me you'll get to choose the type of bootup from the recovery menu after a bad system
crash.

Cl i ck the Edit button to edi t your Boot.ini fi le. Change the timeout= value i n the second l i ne to =0. You can
also change the /NoExecute= setti ng here as covered under the DEP i nformati on above. When done, save and
exi t the text edi tor and the changes wi ll be made to your Boot.ini fil e i n your base di rectory. Note agai n that
under an XP/Vista/7 dual boot, the Boot.ini fil e i s not used and hence edi ti ng i t is i rrel evant.

Under the 'System fai lure' secti on unti ck all three opti ons for opti mal performance, and the 'Wri te
Debuggi ng Informati on' opti on shoul d be set to None. That way if you run i nto probl ems you'l l see the error
di splayed - usuall y a Wi ndows Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) message - and your system won't automati call y
reboot, gi vi ng you ti me to read and record the error detail s at your l ei sure. At the same ti me you won't get
l ots of l ogfil es and dumpfi l es of the event cl utteri ng up your dri ve. Re-enabl e these opti ons i f
troubl eshooting a vague probl em, or i f rel evant Techni cal Support personnel ask you to provi de these files.
See the Wi ndows Errors chapter for more troubl eshooti ng ti ps.


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Envi ronment Variabl es:

Under the Envi ronment Variabl es screen I suggest you l eave all the li sted variabl es at thei r defaul t setti ngs,
as most are needed by Windows and vari ous programs to operate correctl y. These shoul d onl y be changed i f
i nstructed by a parti cular program or by Techni cal Support, and even then you should record the ori ginal
setti ngs i n case somethi ng goes wrong.

Error Reporting:

Cl i ck the Error Reporti ng button and sel ect 'Di sabl e Error Reporti ng' and ti ck 'But notify me when cri ti cal
errors occur'. Thi s wil l prevent your system conti nual l y i nforming Mi crosoft of errors occurri ng on your
system, but at the same time wi ll sti ll show you i mportant system messages and errors for noti fi cati on and
troubl eshooting purposes.

SYSTEM RESTORE
Onl y ti ck the 'Turn off System Restore' box i f you feel extremely confi dent about your Wi ndows expertise.
System Restore can take up a great deal of di sk space, however I strongly recommend that you l eave i t
enabl ed si nce i t can al so save you a great deal of heartache if thi ngs go wrong. See the Backup & Recovery
chapter for more detai ls of how to use System Restore to backup your system state. Also see the Cl eani ng
Wi ndows chapter for detail s of how to del ete older restore poi nts to reduce the amount of di sk space used
up by System Restore. If you choose not use System Restore, see the Servi ces chapter for detail s on how to
di sabl e the 'System Restore' servi ce to save on system resources.

AUTOMATIC UPDATES
See the Automati c Updates secti on earlier i n thi s chapter for more i nformati on on thi s functi onali ty.

REMOTE
I strongl y recommend that you disabl e (unti ck) the avail abl e opti ons i n thi s secti on for securi ty and
performance reasons. Only re-enabl e these opti ons i f specifi cal ly asked to do so by a trusted Technical
Support person who requi res remote access to your machi ne. All owi ng remote access can, under certain
ci rcumstances, l et someone else access your machi ne and al l i ts vari ous fil es and setti ngs as though they
were si tti ng in front of your PC, so cl early i t can compromi se your securi ty if left enabl ed.

< TASKBAR AND START MENU
TASKBAR
The Taskbar is the l ong bar whi ch si ts at the bottom of your screen and contains your Start button, buttons
for any open programs, and the System Tray. Most setti ngs i n thi s secti on can be set to sui t your taste.

The 'Lock the taskbar' opti on prevents acci dentall y movi ng or resizi ng the taskbar when ti cked. When
unti cked, you can resi ze the Taskbar by draggi ng the top edge of i t upwards, or you can move the enti re
Taskbar to si t at the l eft, right or top of the screen by draggi ng the bar i tsel f - i f you wish to do thi s, unl ock
the Taskbar, reconfigure i t as desi red, then l ock i t again to prevent uni ntended changes.

I recommend you i ni tiall y unti ck 'Hi de Inacti ve Icons' so that you can see al l the programs whi ch are l oadi ng
i n the background i n your System Tray area. I then recommend disabli ng as many of these as possi bl e - see
the Startup Programs chapter for more i nformati on on how to i denti fy and di sable unnecessary
startup/background programs, as this is a cri ti cal step. If you want to eventual ly enabl e 'Hi de Inacti ve Icons',
perhaps to hide an annoying but necessary i con i n the system tray (such as the 'Safel y Remove Hardware'
i con), ti ck the opti on and cl i ck the Customi ze button to sel ect preci sel y whi ch appl i cations to al ways hi de i n


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the system tray, whi ch to al ways show, and whi ch shoul d be hi dden when i nacti ve. Agai n, I recommend no
appl i cati ons be hi dden when i nacti ve, or hi dden at all , unl ess you are absol utel y certai n they are essential
and thus can be l eft runni ng i n the background at al l ti mes. Many appl i cati on or game i ncompati bi li ti es and
crashes occur due to background programs, so hidi ng them wi ll onl y make i t harder to troubl eshoot
probl ems i n the future.

START MENU
I recommend you sel ect the 'Start Menu' opti on here to use the Wi ndows XP defaul t menu system. It has
many advantages over the Wi ndows Classi c menu system. Cli ck on the Customi ze button next to i t and
under the General tab, choose setti ngs to taste. If you want to remove the Frequentl y Used Programs li sti ng
normall y avai labl e on the Start Menu under the pi nned i tems, set the 'Number of Programs on Start Menu'
opti on to 0 and cli ck the 'Clear Li st' button.

Under the Advanced tab, I recommend you ti ck 'Open submenus when I pause on them wi th my mouse' to
speed up menu access, and unti ck 'Hi ghl i ght newl y i nstal l ed programs' as i t is generall y unnecessary.

Under the 'Start Menu Items' secti on, I recommend you tick the foll owi ng:

Enabl e Drag and Droppi ng
Run command
System Admini strati ve Tool s - Di splay on the All Programs menu

These features shoul d be enabl ed when usi ng thi s book, and I recommend keeping them enabl ed afterwards
also. The other setti ngs i n thi s secti on can be ti cked or unti cked accordi ng to what you wi sh to have
di splayed on your Start Menu.

When fi nished, cli ck the Appl y button and your changes wi ll i mmediatel y be made to the Start Menu.

< USER ACCOUNTS
Wi ndows XP al l ows mul tipl e users to have varyi ng l evel s of access to the same machi ne. By creati ng a
separate User Account, each user can store thei r own setti ngs, keep thei r own documents pri vate, and have
l i mi ted access to the system-wi de setti ngs on the same computer.

My recommendati on i s that unl ess you have several peopl e using the computer and each need separate
accounts, you shoul d only use one Admi ni strator-l evel user account for fastest performance. That way you
don't need to worry about l oggi ng i nto and out of two or more separate accounts (the Admi ni strator and a
l ower l evel User account) just to make system changes and i nstall /uni nstall system software. Some recent
software, as wel l as many games, requi re admi nistrator-l evel access to use properl y.

Techni cal ly thi s i s a security ri sk, as using an Admi ni strator l evel account by defaul t al l ows greater access to
your system i f you are i nfected by mal ware. However if you fol l ow the i nstructi ons i n the PC Security
chapter, as wel l as the rest of thi s book, the ri sks shoul d be mi ni mal when compared wi th the performance
and convenience benefi ts. At the end of the day however, if security i s your primary concern, you should
create a separate account for day-to-day usage wi th more li mi ted access so that if your regular account i s
compromi sed by a mali cious program, i t cannot be used to make changes to system files and setti ngs.
Remember though that you have to be logged i n as the Admi ni strator to make the majori ty of changes i n thi s
book, as wel l as bei ng able to use certai n programs and games properl y.


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FAST STARTUP - SKIPPING LOGIN SCREEN
If you have onl y one user on your machi ne, to have the fastest startup i n Wi ndows XP you can bypass the
Logi n screen al together by doi ng the fol lowi ng:

1. Cl i ck 'Change the way users l og on or off' and ti ck 'Use the Wel come screen', and unti ck 'Fast User
Swi tchi ng'.
2. Go back to the mai n User Accounts screen and cl i ck the Guest account, and then cl i ck the 'Turn Off the
Guest Account' button.
3. Del ete any unused accounts other than your pri mary one on the mai n User Accounts screen by cl i cki ng
each one and sel ecti ng 'Delete the Account'.
4. Cl i ck on your mai n account, and if your account has a password select 'Remove my Password'.

Cl i ck 'Apply Opti ons' to fini sh. Thi s method obvi ousl y reduces the securi ty of your PC, so onl y use i t if your
machi ne i s i n a physi call y secure envi ronment and cannot by accessed by others wi thout your permi ssi on.

< USER ACCOUNTS - ADVANCED
Asi de from the User Accounts tool i n the Control Panel , you can access a further set of user account features
by goi ng to Start>Run> and typi ng Control Userpasswords2 then pressi ng Enter. The fol l owing are detai l s of
the setti ngs in thi s advanced tool :

USERS
If you have onl y one User account and you l eft your password fi eld blank during Wi ndows i nstal lati on you
shouldn't be prompted for a username and password each time you bootup XP. Thi s i s the method I
recommend for the fastest (though less secure) way to bootup. However, if you have several user accounts
wi th associated passwords, but want one of those accounts to automati cal ly l og on to XP at bootup wi thout
bei ng prompted for a password, go to the Users tab and unti ck 'Users must enter a username and password
to use thi s computer', and cl i ck Appl y. In the new di al og box that appears, enter the username and password
for thi s 'autologon' user. Now each ti me you bootup Wi ndows this user wil l automati cal l y l ogi n to Windows
- but thi s i s not as fast as not havi ng a password i n the first place. It all depends on your particular securi ty
needs.

In general you shoul d remove al l user accounts from the l i st of 'Users for thi s computer' except for the
Admi nistrator and the i ndi vi dual accounts for known users of your PC. Accounts such as ASPNET (the
.NET Framework account) can safel y be removed by hi ghl ighti ng them and cl i cki ng the Remove button. The
l ess accounts you have on your machi ne, the safer and more opti mal your machi ne wi ll be. Furthermore, as
soon as you have two or more user accounts (asi de from the Admi ni strator), your system will prompt you to
sel ect an account on the wel come screen when booti ng up Windows, so if you fi nd this has suddenl y
happened to you, you wil l need to remove any addi tional accounts recentl y created i f they are not needed.

You can al so change the access l evel of i ndi vi dual accounts here by highli ghti ng them and selecti ng the
Properti es button. Go to the 'Group Membershi p' tab and you can sel ect the l evel of access they have. Asi de
from the Admi ni strator and your own user account, you shoul d ensure al l other accounts have 'Standard
User' or 'Restri cted User' l evel access, not Admi nistrator l evel access.

ADVANCED
Under the Advanced tab cl i ck the Advanced button under the 'Advanced user management' secti on. Sel ect
the Users folder i n the l eft pane, ri ght-cl i ck on the 'Hel p Assi stant' account i f i t exi sts, sel ect properti es and
make sure the 'User cannot change password', 'Password never expi res' and 'Account is disabled' boxes are
ti cked for securi ty purposes. You shoul d do the same for the Support and Guest accounts. The onl y ti me you
should enable these accounts i s if someone you trust such as Mi crosoft Techni cal Support, asks you to do so.


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Under the 'Secure l ogon' secti on, i f you want to i ncrease your securi ty you can ti ck the 'Requi re users to
press CTRL+ALT+Del ete' opti on. Thi s wi ll mean that users have to press the CTRL, ALT and DEL keys
together to bri ng up a l ogon prompt whi ch then al l ows them to enter thei r username and password for
l oggi ng i nto Wi ndows. Thi s adds an extra layer of securi ty however i t can also be an i nconveni ence so I
don't recommend i t unl ess you actual ly need the extra securi ty.

< WINDOWS FIREWALL
The Wi ndows Fi rewal l i s an i mportant securi ty feature of Wi ndows. A fi rewall i s a barrier between your
machi ne and anythi ng that attempts to connect to your system from outsi de, usual l y via the Internet. Unless
you are usi ng a separate software or hardware-based fi rewall , i t i s strongly recommended that you enabl e
the Wi ndows Fi rewal l .

In the General tab under the Wi ndow Firewal l setti ngs, I recommend you sel ect On, and untick 'Don't al l ow
excepti ons' for maxi mum compati bi li ty. Excepti ons are temporary instances of connecti ons to your machine
that you have consci ousl y authori zed, such as connecti ons for onl i ne games or messagi ng programs. To
compl etel y disal l ow excepti ons woul d mean that many of your online games and programs wil l not functi on
correctl y.

Whenever you l aunch an appl i cati on or game whi ch requi res external access to your machi ne through the
Fi rewall , you wi l l be prompted by the Wi ndows Fi rewall whether you want to 'Keep Bl ocking' the attempt,
to Unbl ock i t, or to 'Ask Me Later'. The si mpl e rul e i s that you shoul d only all ow excepti ons for (i .e. onl y
Unbl ock) appl i cati ons or games whi ch you use often, and whi ch you know should defi ni tel y requi re Internet
communi cation wi th your machi ne, and whi ch you trust. If a program that should have no need for Internet
connecti vi ty suddenl y rai ses the fi rewall 's alert wi thout provi di ng a sound reason, I recommend you 'Keep
Bl ocki ng' i t - at l east unti l you can fi nd out more about i t through some research.

Under the Excepti ons tab of the Wi ndows Fi rewall setti ngs you can see al l the appl i cati ons and games whi ch
you are currentl y al l owi ng to have Internet access to your machi ne. Remove any whi ch you are no l onger
usi ng, or which you do not know or do not trust. You can do this by unti cki ng them and/or hi ghl i ghti ng
them and sel ecti ng Delete. For more detail s on excepti ons, see thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e.

Some specifi c appl i cati ons or games might requi re that you open a parti cul ar Port. A 'port' i n thi s context i s
l i ke a smal l doorway i nto your machi ne, so openi ng a port al so lessens your machi ne's securi ty. However
some programs must have access through a specific port to be abl e to communi cate wi th your machi ne. If
the appl i cati on or game whi ch requires the open port i s on your Excepti ons l ist then hi ghli ght i t, otherwise
sel ect 'Add Program' and add i t to the l i st, then hi ghl i ght i t. Then sel ect the 'Add Port' button and enter the
port number and protocol exactl y as speci fi ed by the appl i cati on or game's manual , hel p documentati on or
techni cal support personnel . Remember that certain trusted programs si mpl y cannot functi on wi thout
appropriate access through the correct port, so thi s must be done from ti me to ti me. Techni cal ly speaki ng
though, the more ports you have open, the l ess secure your machi ne i s - so remove all open ports for
programs you have not used i n a whil e.

Fi nal ly, the Advanced tab of the Wi ndows Fi rewall setti ngs contains a range of opti ons that you can al ter to
all ow or di sal l ow greater access to your machi ne. I strongl y recommend you l eave these at the defaul t
setti ngs, and onl y al ter them i f requi red by an often-used and trusted appl i cati on or game. Almost all games
and appl i cations shoul d functi on correctl y wi thout the need to al ter any of the Advanced setti ngs. If you
want to know more about them refer to the articl es li nked above.

See the PC Securi ty chapter for more detai ls of both preventi ng and detecti ng i nfecti on by mal i ci ous
software, and other securi ty ti ps whi ch can hel p you secure your PC. See the Wi ndows Errors chapter for
potenti al soluti ons to Wi ndows Fi rewall probl ems.


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< WIRELESS NETWORK SETUP WIZARD
Thi s feature launches a Wizard that takes you through the steps of connecti ng a securi ty-enabl ed wi reless
devi ce, such as a Bl uetooth devi ce. In many cases a wi rel ess devi ce shoul dn't requi re additi onal dri vers,
however i f necessary you may have to i nstal l them from your devi ce's driver di sc or the manufacturer's
websi te. It won't be covered i n detai l here.


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STARTUP PROGRAMS

Wi ndows l oads up a range of programs i nto memory duri ng i ts startup procedure, i ncluding dri vers and
programs needed to provi de the mai n functi onali ty i n XP, just pri or to showi ng the Wi ndows Desktop or the
l ogon screen. However many of the startup programs can be removed as they are not necessary for the
general functionali ty you requi re on your system. Importantl y, removi ng unnecessary startup programs wi ll
hel p reduce Wi ndows startup ti me, and al so reduce background resource usage, whi ch i n turn can i mprove
overall responsi veness, reduce stutteri ng, and even prevent program confli cts and errors.

The process of i denti fyi ng and removi ng unnecessary startup i tems i s an i mportant one whi ch requi res some
pati ence and troubl eshooting usi ng the tool s and methods covered i n this chapter.

< FINDING STARTUP PROGRAMS
The fi rst step i n the process i s to fi nd the names of all the programs and fi l es which are runni ng at startup on
your system. To do thi s you wil l need to use one or more of the several tool s covered bel ow:

MICROSOFT SYSTEM CONFIGURATION UTILITY
Wi ndows XP comes wi th a bui l t-i n util i ty whi ch all ows for addi tional tweaki ng and troubl eshooti ng of your
system. Thi s tool is usuall y hi dden, i n that no i con i s provi ded for i t by defaul t. To access i t, go to Start>Run
and type MSConfig then press Enter. The mai n use for the Mi crosoft System Confi gurati on Util ity
(MSConfig) is to provi de a bri ef snapshot of key system variabl es, and perform some di agnosis and
troubl eshooting of your Wi ndows startup, as detai l ed i n thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e. Each secti on of the uti li ty is
covered bel ow.

General: Thi s secti on shows the current status of system startup procedures. The defaul t is Normal , which
l oads up al l your devi ce dri vers, servi ces and startup i tems. If you di sabl e any startup i tems or al ter system
variabl es using MSConfi g, the Sel ecti ve Startup opti on becomes hi ghli ghted, showi ng which processes and
i tems have been changed. You shoul d onl y use Sel ecti ve Startup mode for temporary troubl eshooti ng
purposes.

If at any point you want to qui ckl y troubl eshoot your system, and only want the essenti al servi ces and
dri vers to l oad up wi th Wi ndows, sel ect the Diagnosti c Startup i tem. This can hel p you determi ne i f a
probl em i s hardware or software based. Thi s i s si mi lar to starti ng up usi ng Safe Mode - see the Backup &
Recovery chapter for more detail s.

There i s an opti on here to start System Restore by cl i cki ng the 'Launch System Restore' button - see the
Backup & Recovery chapter for detai ls of System Restore functi onali ty.

The 'Expand Fi l e' button provi des a uti li ty for extracti ng archi ved fi les from .CAB fi l es such as those on the
Wi ndows XP CD. By sel ecti ng the l ocati on of the archi ve, and the speci fi c fil e requi red, you can extract and
restore i ndi vidual fi l es from the Wi ndows XP CD i n case the i nstal l ed ones are corrupted or del eted. Thi s is
much more handy than havi ng to reinstall Wi ndows compl etely. There are other methods of repairing a
Wi ndows i nstal lati on such as usi ng the System Fil e Checker - again, see the Backup & Recovery chapter.

System.ini & Win.ini: These secti ons al low you to see and change the entri es stored i n the System.ini and
Win.ini fil es, whi ch typi call y resi de in your \Windows di rectory. However unl ike previous versi ons of
Wi ndows, Wi ndows XP does not use these fi les at startup. The contents of these fi les are usual ly only
requi red by very ol d 16-bi t appl i cati ons. As such, you should l eave all the entri es under these tabs at thei r


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defaul t setti ngs, unl ess speci fi cal ly i nstructed to change them for a parti cular appli cati on. There are no
performance gai ns to be had by edi ti ng them.

Boot.ini: This secti on al l ows you to see and change the entri es stored i n the Boot.ini fi le, whi ch si ts i n the base
di rectory of the dri ve on whi ch you have i nstall ed Wi ndows XP (e.g. C:\). Thi s fil e determi nes what XP
should do at startup ti me, such as whi ch opti ons to di splay pri or to l oadi ng up Wi ndows. In general you
should not change this fi le otherwi se you may have probl ems booti ng i nto Windows. Detail s of what the
most i mportant boot.i ni opti ons do are covered under the Devi ce Manager secti on of the Control Panel
chapter. Note that if you're usi ng an XP/Vista/7 dual boot arrangement, the Boot.i ni fil e i s not used.

I recommend that you make sure al l opti ons under the 'Boot Opti ons' area at the bottom of thi s secti on as
wel l as those found under the 'Advanced Opti ons' button are unti cked for the fastest ful l -functi onal i ty
startup. These opti ons are onl y provided to di sabl e certai n features at Wi ndows startup pri maril y for
troubl eshooting purposes:

/SAFEBOOT - Ti cki ng this opti on wi ll force Wi ndows to boot i nto Safe Mode the next ti me you restart - see
Safe Mode under the Backup & Recovery chapter.

/NOGUIBOOT - This option prevents the Wi ndows XP startup screen (the scrol li ng bar) from appearing
pri or to the Wi ndows Desktop l oadi ng up. Thi s won't make any real speed di fference, but i f you fi nd that
screen annoying thi s i s how to remove it.

/BOOTLOG - Generates a l og of the bootup fil es i n your system dri ve's base di rectory, handy if you are
troubl eshooting an error whi ch occurs duri ng Wi ndows bootup.

/BASEVIDEO - This opti on wi ll force Wi ndows to l oad up i n standard VGA mode - that i s, no graphi cs
dri vers wil l be l oaded up. Thi s can be useful for troubl eshooti ng purposes if you feel your graphi cs dri vers
are the source of a parti cular problem.

/SOS - Ti cking thi s opti on wi l l remove the Wi ndows Startup screen, al l owing you to see what goes on
behi nd the scenes as Wi ndows starts up, such as whi ch dri vers are bei ng l oaded up.

One setti ng you can safely edi t i n Boot.ini i s the timeout= li ne - whi ch i s the same as the Ti meout setti ng
shown on the ri ght side of thi s box. It shoul d be set to 0 seconds for fastest bootup, however i t can't be set
bel ow 3 seconds i n MSConfi g, so you must manuall y go to the Boot.ini fi l e, open i t wi th a text edi tor such as
Wi ndows Notepad, and edi t the timeout= l i ne to timeout=0, then save and exi t the fi l e.

Services: Thi s secti on shows all the services currentl y i nstal l ed on your system, and thei r present status - that
i s whether they are runni ng or stopped. If you want to temporaril y determi ne whether a service i s necessary
or not for troubl eshooti ng purposes, you can untick a servi ce here and i t wi ll not l oad up the next ti me
Wi ndows i s booted. However thi s is not the recommended method for permanentl y di sabl i ng servi ces. The
most useful feature here i s the abi l i ty to ti ck the 'Hi de Al l Mi crosoft Servi ces' box, and hence qui ckl y see all
the thi rd party servi ces whi ch are currentl y i nstal l ed (and acti ve) on your system by software other than
Wi ndows i tsel f. Many of these servi ces can be di sabled to reduce memory usage and speed up bootup time.
See the Servi ces chapter for ful l detai ls on how to correctl y confi gure your Wi ndows Servi ces.

Startup: Thi s secti on shows all the additi onal programs whi ch l oad i nto system memory upon booti ng up
your system (asi de from Servi ces). Many of these startup i tems are unnecessary and you wil l gai n
performance and most i mportantl y stabi l i ty from removi ng them from your Wi ndows startup. The hard part
i s determi ni ng whi ch startup i tems are absolutel y necessary, and whi ch aren't. Unfortunately there are no set
rul es for doi ng thi s; each indi vi dual startup i tem has to be assessed on each system to see whether i t i s truly
necessary i n provi di ng certai n functi onali ty for a speci fi c program, or whether i t i s a usel ess entry whi ch can


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be safely removed wi thout any negati ve i mpact. Follow the i nstructi ons further bel ow to correctl y i dentify
and remove unnecessary startup i tems on your system.

Tools: As of SP3, a new Tool s tab has been added which si mply provi des qui ck links to handy XP util i ti es.

REGISTRY EDITOR
The Regi stry Edi tor i s detai led under the Wi ndows Regi stry chapter, however here we l ook at i ts
functi onali ty related to startup programs. To launch the Regi stry Edi tor go to Start>Run and type regedit then
press Enter. Bel ow i s a bri ef run-down of where startup i tems are hel d i n the registry and how to remove
them. The Windows Registry hol ds a record of the speci fi c programs to l aunch at startup, contai ned i n four
separate areas:

[ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Sof t war e\ Mi cr osof t \ Wi ndows\ Cur r ent Ver si on\ Run]
[ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Sof t war e\ Mi cr osof t \ Wi ndows\ Cur r ent Ver si on\ RunOnce]
[ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHI NE\ SOFTWARE\ Mi cr osof t \ Wi ndows\ Cur r ent Ver si on\ Run]
[ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHI NE\ SOFTWARE\ Mi cr osof t \ Wi ndows\ Cur r ent Ver si on\ RunOnce]

If you fi nd any i tems li sted under any of these keys, i t means they are set to run at Wi ndows startup, wi th
those under the Run keys bei ng permanent i tems, and those under RunOnce bei ng temporary i tems whi ch
onl y run for the next bootup. You cannot temporari ly di sable a startup i tem here, however to permanently
del ete any of these i tems, ri ght-cl i ck on i t and sel ect Del ete. Note that there i s no undo functi onali ty i n the
Regi stry Edi tor, so you shoul d consi der doi ng a backup of the registry i n part or i n full , as detail ed under the
Backup & Recovery chapter, before deleti ng any i tems you're not compl etel y certai n about.

AUTORUNS
Autoruns i s an advanced and highl y useful free startup fil e i denti fi cati on and removal uti li ty wi th unique
features not avai labl e i n the uti li ti es covered above. It also serves a range of other purposes covered
throughout thi s book, so it i s a hi ghl y recommended program. Downl oad i t, extract i ts contents to an empty
fol der and run the Autoruns.exe fil e. Under the 'Everythi ng' tab you wi ll see a l arge number of i tems whi ch
are l oaded up wi th Wi ndows - far more than most other uti l iti es wi ll ever show; thi s is what makes
Autoruns so valuable for a range of purposes. Most of the entri es shown are requi red for vari ous programs
to run, and the vast majori ty are Mi crosoft i tems whi ch Wi ndows XP absolutel y needs to functi on correctly.

Correctl y identi fyi ng and removi ng the trul y unnecessary i tems usi ng Autoruns i s more compl ex preci sel y
because i t shows so much detail . To narrow down the l i st to remove core Wi ndows i tems, go to the Opti ons
menu and ti ck the 'Hi de Wi ndows Entri es' i tem, and also make sure there i s a ti ck agai nst the 'Verify Code
Si gnatures' i tem. Then cl ick the Refresh i con on the taskbar or press F5 to update the l i st under the
Everythi ng tab. The l i st of i tems shown wi l l be reduced, wi th only i tems pri maril y rel ati ng to thi rd party
programs showi ng, maki ng i t easi er to spot unnecessary i tems.

One of the key benefi ts of Autoruns is that i t all ows you to temporari l y disabl e any i tem, as wel l as choosi ng
to permanentl y remove i t. Thi s means that si mi lar to MSConfi g, you can temporaril y di sable speci fi c i tems to
see what i mpact thi s has on the functi onali ty for that parti cular program, as wel l as on Windows i n general.
Remember however that Autoruns i s listi ng not onl y startup programs, but also vari ous components rel ated
to a range of programs, i ncl udi ng context menu entri es and Servi ces. Cli ck on each suspi ci ous i tem and l ook
i n the Detai ls Pane at the bottom of the program for more i nformati on, then ri ght-cli ck on i t and select
Properti es and l ook under the Detai ls tab for yet more detail s. If stil l uncl ear, ri ght-cli ck on the i tem and
sel ect 'Search Onl i ne' to i ni ti ate a Google search on the i tem's name i n your defaul t browser. A combi nati on
of the di splayed i nformati on pl us any addi ti onal i nformati on on the Internet shoul d all ow you to accurately
i dentify what functi onal i ty the component rel ates to.


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You can then disable any suspected unnecessary i tem temporaril y by unti cki ng i ts entry, and Autoruns wil l
prevent that i tem from l oadi ng up the next ti me Wi ndows starts up. Reboot and test to see the i mpacts of
di sabli ng such i tems.

WINDOWS STARTUP INSPECTOR
Wi ndows Startup Inspector i s a basi c startup i denti fi cati on util i ty you can use to make the task easi er,
parti cul arl y if you fi nd using Autoruns too compl ex. Downl oad and i nstall the program, then launch i t. You
wi ll see all your startup i tems l isted on the mai n screen. Now make sure you have an acti ve Internet
connecti on, and cl i ck the Consul t button i n the top menu. The program wil l connect to i ts Onl i ne Database
and try to provi de i nformati on for each of your startup i tems - cl i ck on each startup i tem to see the details.
Whi le detail s may not be avail able for every startup item, there is a handy 'Fi nd More on Googl e' li nk at the
bottom of the i nformati on panel, which when cli cked automaticall y i ni tiates a Googl e search usi ng the
startup i tem's exact name - very useful.

If you want to di sabl e a startup i tem usi ng Windows Startup Inspector, si mpl y cl i ck the green ti ck mark next
to the startup i tem's name, and when the ti ck mark has been removed cli ck the Appl y button at the top of the
screen. Cl ose Startup Inspector and reboot for the i tem to be removed from your startup.

HIJACKFREE
Hi jackFree i s an advanced free util i ty whi ch provi des detai l s of al l runni ng processes, startup programs,
servi ces, even the open Ports and Acti veX control s currentl y i n use by your system, all i n a singl e i nterface. It
i s i ntended for advanced users who have some knowl edge of what they're l ooking for. You can choose to do
an automated onl i ne anal ysi s of your data by cl i cki ng the 'Onl i ne Analysis' button at the top ri ght of
Hi jackFree, however note that the results can be confusi ng as i t often l i sts both the good and bad potenti al
uses for parti cul ar servi ces/processes/fil es, but i t can make i t l ook li ke you're actuall y i nfected wi th a
parti cul ar pi ece of mal ware when you're not. If you've fol l owed the i nstructi ons i n the PC Securi ty chapter
you can generall y i gnore these mal ware warni ngs - unl ess an i tem i s l isted as solel y bei ng bad.

< IDENTIFYING STARTUP PROGRAMS
Once you have noted the names of al l the startup programs and fil es usi ng one or more of the uti li ti es above,
and you have a reasonabl e suspi ci on as to whi ch are unnecessary, the next step is to make sure you correctly
i dentify thei r functi onali ty and determine whether they are trul y necessary. Some features requi re that a
program or certai n component(s) l oad into memory at Wi ndows startup otherwi se they may not functi on
correctl y or at al l . Other times a startup component i s not necessary for a program to function properl y, or
provi des optional functi onali ty for particular features you may not use. Some startup i tems may even be part
of mal ware or other undesi rabl e software and hence must be removed.

Fol l ow the steps bel ow to try to correctly i denti fy al l of your startup programs:

1. Some fi lenames wil l tell you qui te cl early what the startup program relates to. If i n doubt, al so check the
di rectory path of the fil e and see if there are any other i ndi cati ons as to whi ch program i t relates to. It's
i mportant to know the actual program the fi l e i s for, fi rstl y so you can tell what functi onali ty may be
affected for testi ng purposes, and secondl y for the purpose covered i n the next step bel ow.
2. Launch the program whi ch the fil e relates to and l ook through i ts opti ons for setti ngs li ke 'Load wi th
Windows', 'Load at startup', 'Enabl e System Tray', 'Enabl e Shel l Integrati on', and so on. In many cases
you wi ll be given the opti on to di sable any such setti ngs, and you may also see text or a warni ng whi ch
expl ai ns whether doi ng so wi ll affect the program's functi onali ty i n any major way. Typical l y di sabl i ng
a program component from l oadi ng at startup means i t won't be runni ng i n the background after
Windows l oads; you wi ll have to manual l y open i t yoursel f. For some programs thi s i s not an i ssue, and
i n fact i s desirabl e; for others i t can prevent them from worki ng automati call y in the background or even
from bei ng abl e to be l aunched. For our purposes, we want to mi nimi ze the number of programs and


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components runni ng i n the background at al l ti mes, but not damage the functi onali ty for necessary
programs.
3. If the fi l ename stil l i sn't cl ear, and you can't determi ne from i ts di rectory path whi ch program i t rel ates
to (e.g. i t resides i n the \Windows\System32 di rectory) then you wil l have to do some onli ne research to
fi nd out more detai l s. Start by searchi ng one of the fol lowi ng onl i ne resources using the exact fi l ename:

Googl e
SysInfo Defi ni ti ve Startup Li st
ProcessLi brary
Securi ty Task Manager Li st

Some of the more obscure Wi ndows system fil es may not be li sted i n the sources above, or typi cal ly
have ambi guous or even false i nformation regardi ng potenti al malware, so readi ng through a large
number of Googl e search resul ts is the best method for fi ndi ng the truth.
4. Run the malware scanners recommended i n the PC Securi ty chapter to ensure that none of the startup
fi les relate to mali ci ous software. If any such fi l es are flagged as mal ware by your scanner, you can
usual l y cli ck on thei r names or a provi ded li nk to fi nd out more detai ls from the scanner's own database.
5. Use MSConfig or Autoruns to temporari l y di sabl e the startup i tem(s) i n questi on - that is, unti ck i t i n
Autoruns or MSConfi g - then reboot Wi ndows and test to see over a peri od of several days whether any
of your regular program or Windows functi onal i ty is i mpaired. If stil l in doubt, l eave the i tem
temporaril y di sabl ed for an even l onger peri od, and you shoul d be abl e to categori call y determi ne after
a few weeks whether i t is trul y necessary.

< REMOVING STARTUP PROGRAMS
Once you've fol l owed all the steps above, and you're confi dent that you've found a truly unnecessary startup
i tem, the fi nal step i nvol ves permanent removal . You can do thi s i n several ways (i n order of preference):

Go to the program i n questi on and make sure there are no opti ons to disable i t from runni ng at
Wi ndows startup. As noted further above, i f any opti ons such as 'Load wi th Wi ndows', 'Load at startup'
or si mil ar exist, di sabl e them otherwi se i f you just manuall y delete the i tem i t may be recreated each
ti me you boot i nto Wi ndows or start that program.
Go to Autoruns, ri ght-cl i ck on the rel evant entry and sel ect Del ete.
Go to the Regi stry Edi tor, fi nd the i tem under the relevant key, highl ight i t and sel ect Del ete. Remember
that Regi stry Edi tor does not have any undo capabil i ties, so i t i s best used as a last resort.

Once the i tem i s removed from your startup, you should reboot Wi ndows and see i f i t i s i ndeed gone. If at
any poi nt any of your programs start to behave strangely or do not function at all , then uni nstall and
rei nstall that parti cul ar program and i ts rel evant startup i tems wil l be recreated. In general i t's wise not to
permanentl y remove any Mi crosoft startup programs unl ess you're certai n you wi ll never use such
functi onali ty. Havi ng removed unnecessary startup programs make sure to run through the Servi ces chapter
and di sabl e unnecessary servi ces as well.

Note that some startup i tems require speci al addi ti onal steps to compl etel y remove from your startup. For
exampl e the CTFMON startup i tem, whi ch rel ates to an unnecessary 'al ternati ve user i nput text i nput
processor' functi on for the Mi crosoft Offi ce sui te, requi res fol l owi ng the procedures detail ed i n this
Mi crosoft Arti cl e to completel y remove. Si mpl y removi ng i ts startup i tem from the regi stry wi ll not remove
i t as i t i s recreated every time you run an MS Offi ce appl i cation.


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< REGULAR MAINTENANCE
Removi ng startup i tems is far more i mportant than most peopl e bel i eve. It i s not a case of si mpl y boosting
your startup ti me, though i t can hel p to do that. It i s actual ly a cri ti cal step i n ensuri ng overall system
responsi veness, preventi ng stutteri ng and sl owdowns, and al so preventi ng potenti al crashes and confl icts
whi ch can otherwi se be very di ffi cul t to resol ve and are often i ncorrectl y bl amed on Wi ndows, dri vers or the
program which i s crashi ng.

It i s perfectl y normal for al most al l systems to have at l east a few startup i tems whi ch need to be kept
enabl ed and serve a useful purpose. However any system whi ch has a l ong l ist of startup i tems is at risk of
experi enci ng performance and stabil i ty issues. Remember that the software you use on your system may not
have been tested i n combi nati on wi th al l the vari ous other background programs you are currentl y usi ng, so
the resul ts can be unexpected. Certai nly peopl e using system-i ntensi ve appli cati ons and games wil l be the
fi rst to tri gger any potenti al confl i cts or performance issues i n such scenarios, so i f you bel ong i n this
category, then make absolutel y sure you foll ow the procedures in thi s chapter and remove all unnecessary
startup i tems and thus mi ni mize what runs at startup and i n the background.

Importantl y, i n the future as you i nstall new programs you shoul d conti nue to regul arly exami ne and
i dentify new startup i tems whi ch are bei ng added and remove those whi ch are not needed. I generall y
recommend that after each i nstal lati on of any new program you open MSConfig and qui ckl y l ook under the
Startup and Servi ces tabs to see whether new i tem(s) have been added, and take the time to determi ne
whether these are reall y needed or not. Though tedious, thi s i s an essenti al part of regul ar mai ntenance on a
PC.


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SERVICES

Servi ces are programs that run i n the background and support speci fi c functionali ty i n Windows. They can
be i ni tiated by Wi ndows i tself, or they can be i nstal led and i ni ti ated by thi rd party programs. They may start
automati cal ly at bootup (Automati c), they may be triggered to start by the l aunchi ng of certai n programs or
functi onali ty (Manual), or they can be blocked from runni ng al together (Di sabled). There is scope to i mprove
system resource usage and startup ti me i n Wi ndows XP by di sabl ing unnecessary servi ces. However as with
startup programs i n the previ ous chapter, i t i s wi se to l earn more about what a parti cul ar servi ce does before
consi deri ng al teri ng i ts defaul t status.

In thi s chapter we l ook at customizi ng servi ces, and I provi de safe recommendati ons for Wi ndows XP
servi ce confi gurati on for the average home PC user.

< SERVICES UTILITY
The Servi ces Uti li ty gi ves you the abil i ty to edi t your Servi ce confi gurati on. To access the Servi ces Util ity,
you can ei ther go to Control Panel>Admi ni strati ve Tool s>Servi ces, or you can go to Start>Run and type
Services.msc then press Enter. Thi s opens the Servi ces Uti li ty whi ch l ists al l install ed services, tell s you
whether they are currently runni ng or not under the Status column, and whether they're set for Automatic,
Manual or Di sabl ed startup under the 'Startup Type' column. A bri ef descripti on of each servi ce is also
provi ded.

You can see the detail s of each servi ce by l eft-cli cking on i t and the defaul t Extended vi ew wi ll show the
descri pti on to the l eft of the servi ce. To see more detai ls and confi gure a servi ce, ei ther doubl e-cli ck on the
servi ce, or ri ght-cl i ck on i t and sel ect Properti es. Here you can where the actual program fi l e resides for the
servi ce, and you can also manuall y Start, Stop or Pause/Resume a servi ce as appli cable. Importantl y, you can
change i ts startup type here - the startup type of a servi ce is defi ned as fol l ows:

Automatic: Thi s servi ce is automati call y started duri ng the Wi ndows boot process.

Manual: This servi ce must be started manuall y by the user, or typi cal l y, as requested by a program when
needed. It does not resi de in memory nor l oad at startup otherwise.

Disabled: This servi ce is bl ocked from runni ng and does not l oad i nto memory at any poi nt, even i f a
program requi res i t. It can onl y be started by manuall y setti ng i t one of the above startup types then cl i cki ng
the Start button, or rebooting.

DEFAULT SERVICES
Before we move on to servi ce customi zati on, i t is i mportant to backup your defaul t servi ce confi gurati on in
case you have any probl ems and need to return any of your services to thei r defaul t state. Servi ces may be
confi gured differentl y on vari ous machines based on the parti cular features and programs you are usi ng, as
wel l as your speci fi c hardware configurati on, so the best thi ng to do i s save your current service
confi gurati on. To do this, open the Servi ces uti li ty, then ri ght-cl ick on the 'Servi ces (Local)' i tem i n the left
pane and sel ect 'Export Li st'. In the box whi ch opens, enter a name for the l i st and save i t as the defaul t 'Text
(tab deli mi ted) (*.txt)' option. Thi s fi le wi ll then save wi th all the detail s of your servi ces as they currentl y
stand, and can then be vi ewed wi th correct formatti ng i n a program l ike Mi crosoft Excel.

For conveni ence sake, I have al so li sted my defaul t Windows XP Professi onal SP3 servi ce confi gurati on i n
the tabl e further bel ow under the column l abel ed 'Startup Type (Defaul t)'; but agai n, remember that thi s wi ll


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vary from system to system, and also doesn't i ncl ude non-Mi crosoft servi ces, so as a precauti on take the
steps above before al teri ng your own servi ces.

CUSTOMIZING SERVICES
It i s i mportant to note that by setti ng a servi ce to Disabl ed you may cause a parti cular function or feature(s)
of Wi ndows or your programs to stop worki ng wi thout warni ng. If you change several servi ces at once i n
parti cul ar, i t can someti mes be extremel y di ffi cul t to track back your probl ems to a parti cular servi ce - not all
servi ces are obvi ous i n what they affect. Take a considered and sl ow approach to customizi ng your servi ces.

The mai n ai m of customizing servi ces i s to:

Hel p speed up Wi ndows startup ti me especi al ly on systems wi th slower hard drives.
Reduce unnecessary RAM usage by removi ng unwanted servi ces.
Speed up shutdown ti me since Wi ndows has to cl ose some runni ng servi ces before shutdown.

Keep i n mi nd that al tering the servi ce confi guration wi l l not necessaril y increase performance, such as
i ncreasi ng your framerate i n games - though i t may reduce stutteri ng and l oadi ng ti mes due to reduced
RAM usage - and if done incorrectl y, i t can i mpai r your functi onal i ty. It i s not somethi ng to be taken l i ghtly;
i t does have benefi ts, but they won't necessaril y be dramati c.

Wi th all of the above i n mind, on the next few pages are a li st of the servi ces i n Wi ndows XP, the defaul ts for
XP Professi onal SP3 and my recommendati ons for any services that can be changed on an average
standal one home PC not connected to a network of other PCs, but retai ni ng full Internet functi onali ty. This
confi gurati on shoul d be safe on most any PC, however i f your system i s unique i n some way, or i s on a
network of PCs, make sure to read the descri pti ons for any servi ce i n the Services uti li ty before al teri ng i t.

Important: There are some unnecessary servi ces whi ch are al ready set to Manual, and hence don't need to be
al tered. Many servi ces don't need to be set to Di sabl ed as that has no benefit whatsoever - a servi ce set to
Manual is not taki ng up any resources nor wi ll i t load up unl ess i t is needed, yet provides a safeguard
because if i t is truly needed i t can be easi ly restarted by Wi ndows or a program. Onl y di sable a servi ce i f i t
keeps restarting and/or you are 100% certai n that i t i s not needed on your system. Some servi ces can be very
tri cky i n the i mpact they have, so I urge you not to consi der the di sabl i ng of servi ces as some sort of major
performance tweak and go crazy turni ng everythi ng off.

If you want to research servi ces i n more detai l refer to the Bl ackViper Servi ce Confi gurati on Gui de and The
El der Geek Servi ces Guide.

On the next two pages I provi de my recommended Wi ndows XP servi ce confi gurati on.


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Service Name
Startup Type
(Default)
Recommended
Change
Notes

Appl i cati on Layer Gateway Servi ce Manual
Appl i cati on Management Manual
Automati c Updates Automati c
Background Intel l i gent Transfer Servi ce Manual
Cl i pBook Di sabl ed
COM+ Event Servi ce Manual
COM+ System Appl i cati on Manual
Cryptographi c Servi ces Automati c
DCOM Servi ce Process Launcher Automati c
DHCP Cl i ent Automati c
Di stri buted Li nk Tracki ng Cl i ent Automati c
Di stri buted Transacti on Coordi nator Manual
DNS Cl i ent Automati c
Error Reporti ng Servi ce Automati c
Event Log Automati c
Extensi bl e Authenti cati on Protocol Servi ce Manual Added i n SP3
Fast User Swi tchi ng Compati bi l i ty Manual Di sabl ed If not usi ng mul ti pl e
accounts on one PC
Heal th Key and Certi fi cate Management Servi ce Manual Added i n SP3
Hel p and Support Automati c
HID Input Servi ce Automati c Manual Set back to Automati c
i f peri pheral s don't
functi on properl y
HTTP SSL Manual
IMAPI CD-Burni ng COM Servi ce Manual Di sabl ed Not requi red i f usi ng
thi rd party burni ng
software
Indexi ng Servi ce Manual Di sabl ed If you've al so di sabl ed
di sk i ndexi ng
IPSEC Servi ces Automati c
Logi cal Di sk Manager Automati c
Logi cal Di sk Manager Admi ni strati ve Servi ce Manual
Messenger Di sabl ed
MS Software Shadow Copy Provi der Manual
Net Logon Manual
NetMeeti ng Remote Desktop Shari ng Manual Di sabl ed Network rel ated
Network Access Protecti on Agent Manual Added i n SP3
Network Connecti ons Manual
Network DDE Di sabl ed
Network DDE DSDM Di sabl ed
Network Locati on Awareness (NLA) Manual Di sabl ed Network rel ated
Network Provi si oni ng Servi ce Manual Di sabl ed Network rel ated
Performance Logs and Al erts Manual
Pl ug and Pl ay Automati c
Portabl e Medi a Pl ayer Serial Number Servi ce Manual Di sabl ed Set back to Manual i f
any DRM-protected
medi a doesn't pl ay
Pri nt Spool er Automati c Di sabl ed If not usi ng a pri nter
or pri nter-l i ke devi ce
Protected Storage Automati c
QoS RSVP Manual Di sabl ed Provi des no benefi t
Remote Access Auto Connecti on Manager Manual
Remote Access Connecti on Manager Manual
Remote Desktop Hel p Sessi on Manager Manual Di sabl ed If not usi ng remote
assi stance
Remote Procedure Cal l (RPC) Automati c
Remote Regi stry Automati c Di sabl ed Securi ty ri sk
Removabl e Storage Manual
Routi ng and Remote Access Di sabl ed


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Service Name
Startup Type
(Default)
Recommended
Change
Notes

Continued...

Secondary Logon Automati c Di sabl ed If mai n user i s
Admi ni strator
Securi ty Accounts Manager Automati c
Securi ty Center Automati c Di sabl ed If you fol l ow advi ce
i n PC Securi ty chapter
Shel l Hardware Detecti on Automati c
Smart Card Manual Di sabl ed If not usi ng a Smart
Card
SSDP Di scovery Servi ce Manual Di sabl ed Network rel ated
System Event Noti fi cati on Automati c
System Restore Servi ce Automati c Di sabl ed If not usi ng System
Restore
Task Schedul er Automati c
TCP/IP NetBIOS Hel per Automati c Di sabl ed Network rel ated
Tel ephony Manual
Tel net Manual Di sabl ed Securi ty ri sk
Termi nal Servi ces Manual
Themes Automati c
Uni nterrupti bl e Power Suppl y Manual Di sabl ed If not usi ng a UPS
Uni versal Pl ug and Pl ay Devi ce Host Manual
Vol ume Shadow Copy Manual
WebCl i ent Automati c Manual
Wi ndows Audi o Automati c
Wi ndows Fi rewal l /Internet Connecti on Shari ng
(ICS)
Automati c
Wi ndows Image Acqui si ti on (WI A) Manual
Wi ndows Instal l er Manual
Wi ndows Management Instrumentati on Automati c
Wi ndows Management Instrumentati on Dri ver
Extensi ons
Manual
Wi ndows Ti me Automati c
Wired AutoConfi g Manual Added i n SP3
Wirel ess Zero Confi gurati on Automati c Di sabl ed If not usi ng wi rel ess
network devi ces
WMI Performance Adapter Manual


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RESTARTING A SERVICE
If for some reason you fi nd that a Di sabl ed or Manual servi ce is actuall y requi red for certai n functi onal i ty
you want to use, but is not starti ng up, then you can si mpl y go to the General tab for that servi ce, change the
Startup Type back to Automati c or Manual , and then cl i ck the Start button. If the Start button i s greyed out
or the servi ce fai ls to restart, i t i s because i t is dependent on another servi ce whi ch is currentl y disabl ed or
stopped. Go to the Dependenci es tab for the servi ce and under the fi rst box you wi ll see the other servi ces i t
rel ies on - go to those services and set them to Manual or Automatic as requi red and start them. The bottom
box di spl ays the servi ces whi ch depend on this servi ce to function, so keep that i n mi nd when disabl ing a
servi ce, as other dependent servi ces wil l al so stop worki ng.

NON-MICROSOFT SERVICES
You may notice that your servi ces li st has several additi onal servi ces that are not on the l i st provi ded on the
previ ous pages. This i s because parti cular programs and dri vers, such as graphi cs dri vers, anti vi rus
programs and system uti liti es, even games, can i nstall thei r own unique servi ces. These servi ces power some
of thei r speciali zed functionali ty, but as wi th many of the Mi crosoft servi ces some of these can be set to
Manual or even Di sabl ed to reduce background resource usage and prevent confli cts wi thout affecti ng the
program's functi onali ty.

The best way to qui ckly fi nd all non-Mi crosoft servi ces i s to run MSConfig (See the Startup Programs
chapter), go to the Servi ces tab and ti ck the 'Hi de Al l Mi crosoft Servi ces' box at the bottom. The onl y services
whi ch wi ll then be shown are those that have been i nstall ed by thi rd party software. To determi ne whi ch of
these are truly unnecessary, you wi ll have to work out whi ch software package has i nstal l ed the servi ce - in
most cases i t i s fai rl y obvious. However some servi ces are ei ther not cl ear, or may even be part of mal ware
and hence di ffi cul t to identi fy.

IDENTIFYING NON-MICROSOFT SERVICES
To correctl y identi fy whi ch program a servi ce relates to, and i n parti cular which fil e is launchi ng i t, fol l ow
these steps:

1. In MSConfig, under the Servi ces tab havi ng ti cked the 'Hi de Al l Mi crosoft Servi ces' box, wri te down the
exact name of each non-Microsoft servi ce (e.g. PnkBstrA).
2. Go to Control Panel>Admini strati ve Tool s>Servi ces and fi nd the same servi ce name i n the l isting.
3. Doubl e-cli ck on the name of each non-Mi crosoft servi ce and under the General tab for that servi ce, l ook
at the 'Path to executabl e' i tem and note both the fi l ename and i ts directory path. For exampl e the
servi ce 'PnkBstrA' servi ce has the path C:\Windows\system32\PnkBstrA.exe. Wri te down the actual
fi lename (i .e. PnkBstrA.exe).
4. Search Google or one of the databases shown under the Startup Programs chapter for thi s parti cular
fi lename. This shoul d gi ve you an i ndi cati on of what its functi onal i ty is rel ated to. If necessary you can
temporaril y set the servi ce (one at a ti me) to Manual or even Di sabled to see what functi onali ty i t
i mpacts on.

As wi th Mi crosoft Servi ces, you shoul d be abl e to Di sabl e a range of these third-party servi ces as they are not
necessary. In some cases, Manual i s the correct choi ce, and i n other cases Automati c must be chosen
otherwi se the rel evant program wil l not l aunch or wi ll have probl emati c functi onali ty. I cannot provi de
guidance i n thi s respect as i t depends on the program and the functi onali ty you wi sh to use. If i n doubt,
l eave a non-Mi crosoft servi ce on i ts defaul t setti ng.


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CHANGE SERVICE STATUS VIA COMMAND LINE
If you wi sh to change the status of a servi ce wi thout openi ng the Servi ces Util i ty, you can do so by usi ng an
MS-DOS Command Prompt - go to Start>Run and type cmd then press Enter. To change a servi ce status here
you wil l fi rst need to know the name of the servi ce, ei ther i ts short name or ful l name. For exampl e the full
name for the Appl i cati on Layer Gateway Servi ce i s 'Appl i cati on Layer Gateway Servi ce', whi l e i ts short
name is si mpl y ALG. You can fi nd these detai ls i n the Servi ces uti li ty by doubl e-cl icki ng on a servi ce, or
under the fol lowi ng key i n the Wi ndows Regi stry:

[ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHI NE\ SYSTEM\ Cur r ent Cont r ol Set \ Ser vi ces]

To start or stop a servi ce via command line, go to the Command Prompt and use the form:

Net [ St ar t / St op] " ser vi cename"

Note, if usi ng the short name for a servi ce, quotes are not necessary, but if usi ng the servi ce's ful l name,
quotes must be used around the name. For exampl e to start the Appl i cati on Layer Gateway Servi ce, you can
use ei ther command bel ow to achi eve the same result:

Net st ar t al g
Net st ar t " appl i cat i on l ayer gat eway ser vi ce"

You wi ll recei ve a confi rmati on that the servi ce has been started or stopped i f successful. Thi s method is
mai nl y useful i f you want to compi l e a batch fi l e to start or stop parti cular servi ces, or if you can't access the
Servi ces uti li ty for some reason.

Servi ce edi ti ng i s an area of ongoi ng debate. Some peopl e suggest that al teri ng servi ces from thei r defaul t i s
compl etel y poi ntl ess and unnecessary and shoul d not be done due to the potenti al probl ems i t can cause;
others wi l l argue that many servi ces shoul d be di sabled to 'i ncrease performance'. I tend to be i n the mi ddl e -
there i s certainl y a case for di sabl i ng genui nel y unnecessary servi ces i n Wi ndows XP for functi ons you wi ll
never use, but thi s must be done wi th a bi t of thought and research: only di sabl e servi ces if you are
absolutel y certai n of thei r functi onali ty and that you don't need them, and i f i n doubt, l eave the servi ces set
at thei r defaul ts. Thi s i s parti cularl y true of most Manual servi ces whi ch do not need to be set to Di sabl ed as
thi s has no impact on resource usage.

Edi ti ng services wi sel y i s one more way of reduci ng resource usage and i mprovi ng startup ti mes, but i t is
not a major performance-boosti ng exerci se. I've tried to provi de the best of both worl ds i n thi s chapter by
gi vi ng you a thorough li st of 'safe' changes you can make, and also showi ng what the defaul t setti ngs are in
case thi ngs go wrong. However if you are not confident i n what you are doing, or don't have the ti me or
pati ence to do the research and sort out your own servi ce needs properl y, then l eave your servi ces on thei r
defaul t Wi ndows confi gurati on for the moment. Thi s wi ll prevent a l ot of problems i n the l ong run.


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CLEANING WINDOWS

As you use your system i n day-to-day acti vi ti es, a range of unnecessary temporary, backup and l og fi les can
bui l d up on your dri ve. Many of these fi l es are automati cal ly deleted whenever you cl ose an appli cati on, or
whenever you shut down Wi ndows. Unfortunatel y some of them aren't, and over ti me they can buil d up,
taki ng up di sk space and cl utteri ng your di rectori es. Thi s chapter looks at the tool s and methods requi red to
safely clean out unnecessary fi l es from Wi ndows.

< DISK CLEANUP
The Di sk Cl eanup util i ty provi des the abi li ty to automati cal ly find and remove unnecessary Windows fi les,
ol d System Restore poi nts, and unwanted Wi ndows components. To access the Di sk Cl eanup uti l i ty go to
Start>Run and type Cleanmgr.exe then press Enter, or l ook for i t under your
Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tool s menu.

The Di sk Cl eanup uti li ty has several functi ons, whi ch are covered bel ow:

REMOVE UNNECESSARY WINDOWS FILES
To remove unnecessary Wi ndows fi l es at any ti me, open the Di sk Cl eanup uti l i ty and under the mai n Disk
Cl eanup tab you can safely ti ck the fol lowi ng:

Recycl e Bi n
Setup Log Fi les
Temporary Fil es
Catal og fi les for the Content Indexer

Al so ti ck the 'Temporary Internet Fi l es' opti on i f you want to cl ean out your Internet Expl orer cache. If you
are short on di sk space you can al so ti ck the 'Compress Fil es' option, however I strongl y recommend against
thi s as di sk compressi on can be ti me consumi ng and wi l l reduce your overall performance i n Wi ndows XP,
i ncreasi ng the frequency of fragmentati on. Cl i ck OK when done, and OK agai n. Thi s wi ll remove a l ot of
unnecessary fi l es on your system and may take a whil e.

ADD OR REMOVE WINDOWS COMPONENTS
To add or remove Wi ndows XP components under the 'More Opti ons' tab cl i ck the 'Cl ean Up' button under
the 'Wi ndows Components' secti on. In the 'Wi ndows Components' box that opens, i tems with ti cks next to
them are currentl y i nstal led. You can i nstal l addi tional i tems by ti cki ng them, and unti ck any exi sting
components that you want to remove. Note that some i tems, such as Wi ndows Messenger or Internet
Expl orer, cannot be ful l y uni nstall ed thi s way - unti cki ng them onl y removes the shortcut to the program
whi ch is not much use.

When you highl ight certain components, you may see a Detail s button appear on the bottom ri ght. Cl i ck i t to
see whi ch parti cular sub-components you can sel ect to i nstall /keep/uni nstal l . For exampl e, if you hi ghli ght
the 'Accessori es and Uti li ti es' component, cl i ck Detail s and you wi l l see two types of sub-components -
Games and Accessori es. Highl ight the Accessori es sub-component and cli ck Detail s agai n, and you'll see the
full l ist of Windows accessori es i nstall ed on your system. Unti ck the ones that you know you do not need or
use, and ti ck those whi ch you want to install or keep. If i n doubt, do not i nstall or uni nstal l any i tems. Items
that are already ticked are currentl y i nstal l ed, and l eavi ng the ti ck mark agai nst them won't see them
i nstal l ed again - i t just means you wish to keep them.


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Once you're fi nished, cl i ck OK unti l you are back at the mai n Di sk Cl eanup uti l i ty screen and cl i ck Next.
Any changes wi l l see the rel evant components i nstall ed/uni nstall ed as speci fied. Note that you may be
prompted to insert your origi nal Wi ndows XP CD i f you have chosen to i nstal l new Wi ndows component(s).

To access a more detai l ed li st of the components you can i nstall or uni nstall on your Wi ndows, do the
foll owi ng:

1. Go to your \Windows\Inf di rectory and open the Sysoc.inf fi l e wi th Wi ndows Notepad.
2. Do a search for all occurrences of the word ,hide, and repl ace them wi th ,, (i.e. just del ete the word hide).
Make sure there are no spaces around or i n between the commas.
3. Save the fi l e and cl ose i t.

Now when you reopen the Wi ndows Components secti on under Opti ons i n Di sk Cl eanup, you wil l see
many more i tems li sted. Note that some of them - such as those shown wi th grey box i cons - are i mportant
system fil es whi ch may resul t i n probl ems if removed. Be very careful here as to what you add or remove. If
you reall y want to stri p out a l arge number of Windows components, I recommend usi ng nLi te i nstead, that
way these components wi ll never be i nstal l ed i n the first pl ace - see the Instal l i ng Wi ndows chapter.

REMOVE OLD SYSTEM RESTORE POINTS
If you have System Restore enabled, and want to remove all System Restore poi nts other than the most
recent one, thereby freei ng up a great deal of di sk space, under the 'More Options' tab cl i ck the 'Cl ean Up'
button under the 'System Restore' secti on. Cli ck Yes on the subsequent prompt, then cli ck the OK button.

ADVANCED DISK CLEANUP USAGE
You can access more di sk cl eanup opti ons by goi ng to Start>Run, typi ng cleanmgr /sageset:1 and pressi ng
Enter. In the di al og box whi ch opens, tick the i tems you wi sh to cl ean - I suggest ti cki ng al l boxes except the
'Compress old fi les' opti on - and then cl i ck OK. Now to execute thi s extended cl eanup at any ti me, go to
Start>Run and thi s ti me type cleanmgr /sagerun:1 then press Enter, and cl eani ng wi ll commence i mmediately.
Note that thi s method wi ll cl ean all your dri ves - you cannot choose a specific dri ve to appl y i t to, so keep
thi s i n mi nd before usi ng thi s method i n case you don't want any other dri ves affected by Di sk Cl eanup i n
thi s way.

< RECYCLE BIN
The Recycl e Bi n provides a storage area for del eted fi les and acts as an addi ti onal layer of protecti on against
permanentl y del eti ng fil es on your system. Thi s secti on covers the opti mal confi gurati on of thi s essenti al
Wi ndows tool .

CONFIGURATION ADVICE
If you don't want del eted fi les to automati call y move to the Recycle Bi n and i nstead want them permanentl y
del eted every ti me, ri ght-cl i ck on the Recycl e Bi n icon on your Desktop, sel ect Properti es and under the
Gl obal tab ti ck the 'Do not move fi l es to the Recycl e Bi n. Remove fi les i mmedi atel y when del eted' opti on. I
don't recommend that you do thi s, since the Recycl e Bi n is useful i nsurance to have against acci dental l y
del eti ng i mportant fil es.

I recommend you unti ck the 'Di splay del ete confirmati on dial og' opti on under the Gl obal tab of the Recycl e
Bi n Properti es. Thi s wil l stop Wi ndows from aski ng you each and every ti me you want to del ete a file
whether you real l y want to do i t - i nstead the fi l e wil l go i mmedi atel y i nto the Recycl e Bi n when del eted.


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If you have enabl ed the Recycl e Bi n, but at any ti me want to del ete a fi le and not have i t moved to the
Recycl e Bi n first, highli ght the fil e(s) and press SHIFT + DELETE. You wil l be asked to confi rm thi s acti on,
but thi s wi ll del ete all hi ghl i ghted fi l es i mmediatel y wi thout placing them i n the Recycl e Bi n.

You can specify the maxi mum amount of di sk space the Recycl e Bin can take up at any ti me by adjusti ng the
sl ider under the Gl obal tab of the Recycle Bi n Properti es. I recommend al l owi ng enough di sk space so that
should you del ete several large fil es on your system you can stil l recover them i f necessary. Typi cal ly around
4GB i s suffi cient for most peopl e. Work out what percentage of your dri ve that woul d be, and appl y i t here
(e.g. 4GB of an 80GB dri ve i s around 5%). To see the exact amount of maxi mum space al l ocated, cli ck the tab
that has your dri ve's name.

For more detail s of how to recover fi l es whi ch you have permanentl y del eted from the Recycl e Bi n, see the
Backup & Recovery chapter.

RENAMING OR DELETING THE RECYCLE BIN
You can rename the Recycl e Bi n or even del ete i t from your Desktop by usi ng thi s tweak. Open the Regi stry
Edi tor and go to:

[ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ CLSI D\ {645FF040- 5081- 101B- 9F08- 00AA002F954E}\ Shel l Fol der ]

Cal l For At t r i but es=0x00000000( 0)

At t r i but es=50 01 00 20

Fi rst doubl e-cl i ck on the Cal l For At t r i but es DWORD and change i ts val ue to 0. Then doubl e-cli ck on the
At t r i but es DWORD and change i ts value to 50 01 00 20 to add a Rename opti on to the Recycl e Bi n
i con's context menu - when you ri ght-cli ck on Recycle Bi n, the Rename opti on now appears. To add a Delete
opti on as well , change the value to 70 01 00 20. You wi ll have to reboot your machi ne for thi s tweak to be
i mpl emented. Note, i t is strongl y recommend that you do not del ete the Recycl e Bi n. At the very least, create
a System Restore poi nt before del eti ng the Recycl e Bin.

< CCLEANER
CCl eaner is a free util i ty whi ch can automati cal ly fi nd and remove a wi de variety of potentiall y usel ess fil es
from your system. CCl eaner automates a task that you can perform manual l y to some extent (see further
bel ow), but whi ch takes much more effort to do by hand: i t fi nds and removes a range of fil es wi th common
extensi ons or l ocati ons whi ch can i ndi cate that they are unnecessary. If used wi th cauti on i t i s usual ly qui te
safe i n removi ng onl y unnecessary fi l es.

Run the program and cl i ck the Opti ons button, and adjust the foll owi ng setti ngs:

1. Under the Setti ngs secti on, al l avail able boxes can be unti cked if desi red, as none are vi tal to runni ng
CCl eaner correctl y. Sel ecting the 'Normal fi le del eti on' opti on i s recommended, as secure del eti on can
make i t vi rtuall y i mpossi bl e to recover acci dentall y del eted fil es.
2. Under the Cooki es secti on, i n the l eft pane are a l i st of cooki es CCleaner wil l automati cal l y del ete i f the
Cooki es option(s) are ti cked under the mai n Cl eaner porti on of the program. If you have ti cked any of
the Cooki es boxes i n the Cleaner porti on, sel ect any cooki es you woul d li ke to keep from the l ist.
3. Under the Incl ude and Excl ude secti ons you can manuall y add parti cul ar fi les or folders whi ch you
woul d specifi call y l ike CCl eaner to scan for del eti on or excl ude from del eti on. Thi s i s only
recommended if you know categori call y that the contents of these fi l es or folders are safe to del ete.
4. Under the Advanced section I recommend ti cki ng the 'Show prompt to backup regi stry i ssues' box as a
safety mechani sm i f you use the regi stry cleani ng functi onal i ty; and the 'Only del ete fil es i n Wi ndows


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Temp fol ders ol der than 24 hours' to prevent del etion of temporary fil es which are requi red for the
current sessi on.

To start the cleani ng process, fi rst make sure you cl ose al l open appl i cations to prevent confl i cts i f CCl eaner
tri es to del ete acti vel y used fi l es. Then l aunch CCl eaner and under the Wi ndows tab of the Cl eaner functi on,
take the ti me to go through and sel ect or unsel ect parti cular options. As a general bal ance between safety
and removi ng al l unnecessary fi les, I recommend the foll owi ng confi gurati on for each category:

Internet Expl orer - If you don't use Internet Expl orer as your mai n browser, all opti ons here can be
ti cked. If you do use Internet Expl orer, I don't recommend ti cki ng any options here as it can reduce
performance and functi onali ty i n IE. Proper configurati on of IE i s covered under the Internet Expl orer
chapter wil l ensure the necessary fil es are kept or removed by IE i tsel f duri ng normal operati on.
Wi ndows Expl orer - All opti ons can be ti cked, however I recommend unti cki ng the 'Thumbnail Cache'
opti on as i t means any fol ders i n whi ch you use Icon vi ews wi ll need to regenerate thei r thumbnai ls,
sl owi ng down browsi ng of those folders.
System - Al l opti ons can be ti cked, but bear i n mi nd that ti cki ng i tems li ke 'Wi ndows Log Files', 'Memory
Dumps' and 'Wi ndows Error Reporti ng' can make troubl eshooti ng much more di ffi cul t, so onl y sel ect
these i f you are havi ng no probl ems on your system. I al so don't recommend ti cki ng the 'Empty Recycle
Bi n' opti on here for the reason covered at the end of thi s chapter.
Advanced - I recommend agai nst ti cki ng any of the opti ons here, as most of the opti ons here wi ll result
i n del etion of fil es whi ch are sel f-mai ntai ned by Wi ndows. For example, 'Ol d Prefetch data' i s
unnecessary, as Wi ndows automati cal ly purges the Prefetch fol der peri odi cal l y to mai ntai n a l i st of the
most commonl y used programs based on i ts analysis. Vari ous caches are al so necessary to speed up
normal Wi ndows functi onali ty, so regularl y del eti ng them simpl y works agai nst thi s. For securi ty
purposes you can ti ck the 'Wi pe Free Space' opti on, but I recommend agai nst thi s, as i t prevents you
from recovering any acci dental ly del eted fil es and al so makes cl eaning very l engthy.

Under the Appl i cations tab I recommend unti cki ng all availabl e opti ons. Thi s i s because i n the vast majori ty
of cases removi ng appli cati on-specifi c fi les i n this manner can remove desirabl e functi onali ty from such
appl i cati ons and i ntroduce unexpected behavi or - del eti on of appl i cati on-speci fi c fil es can resul t i n the l oss
certai n custom preferences for exampl e. Al so be aware that CCl eaner may add and automati call y ti ck new
opti ons here when you i nstal l new appl icati ons, so check under this tab regul arly.

Once you have ti cked al l the rel evant opti ons, cli ck the Anal yze button and after a whil e CCl eaner wi ll come
up wi th a l ist of fil es i t wants to delete. However the resul ts are shown i n summary form, whi ch can make it
di ffi cul t to determi ne what wi ll be del eted. Right-cl i ck i n the anal ysis wi ndow and sel ect 'Vi ew detail ed
resul ts' to see preci sel y whi ch fil es are goi ng to be del eted, and scrol l through the l i st to make sure no
desi rable fi les are here. If i n doubt, go back and unti ck any opti ons, then cl i ck the Anal yze button agai n.

When you are sati sfi ed that the fi l es to be del eted are trul y unnecessary, cli ck the 'Run Cl eaner' button and
the fil es wil l all be permanentl y del eted. There are two more useful functi ons of CCl eaner:

Registry: The Regi stry functi on i n CCl eaner attempts to fi nd redundant Regi stry entri es, and is rel ati vel y safe
to use i f configured correctl y. Thi s functionali ty is covered under the Wi ndows Regi stry chapter.

Uninstall: The Uni nstall functi on found under the Tool s secti on of CCl eaner can be used to remove faul ty
entri es from the Add or Remove Programs l ist.

CCl eaner i s a useful tool in removi ng a range of unnecessary fil es. However many fi l es wil l si mpl y recreate
themsel ves the next ti me you start Wi ndows or use a program, so i n many ways all you are doi ng by
del eti ng them wi th CCl eaner is actuall y sl owi ng down normal Wi ndows and appl i cati on functi onali ty. The
recommendati ons i n this secti on try to limi t CCl eaner to del eti on of genui nely unnecessary fi l es.


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< MANUAL DRIVE CLEANING
Bel ow i s a basi c method for manuall y fi ndi ng and removi ng the more obvious redundant fi les i n your
system. If you don't trust an automated cl eaner, or just want to be certai n of what i t i s you are del eti ng, or i f
you si mpl y want to do the most thorough job, read the foll owi ng. However thi s method i s not recommended
for begi nners as i t requi res a reasonable l evel of knowl edge and personal judgment i n determi ni ng which
fi les to del ete and whi ch to keep.

Before manuall y cl eani ng out any fil es, fi rst cl ose al l open appl i cati ons and games as some of these may have
created temporary fi l es that cannot be del eted because they are i n use, or would be poi ntless to del ete. Then
restart your system just to be certai n, as Wi ndows wi ll remove many unnecessary temporary fi les upon
shutdown. Now make sure that the opti on to move fi l es to the Recycl e Bi n is enabl ed. Thi s wi ll provi de
protecti on agai nst acci dentall y del eti ng a necessary fil e. Then fol l ow these steps:

1. Open Wi ndows Expl orer and navi gate to the fol lowi ng directori es on the dri ve where you have
i nstal l ed Wi ndows. Del ete any fil es or subdi rectori es beneath them, but not the di rectori es themsel ves:

\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Local Settings\Temp
\Windows\Temp

2. Go to \Windows and del ete any $NTUninstall di rectori es. These are di rectori es whi ch al l ow you to
uni nstall Mi crosoft updates typi call y i nstall ed through Windows Updates. Unl ess you've i nstal l ed a
beta Mi crosoft product, i t is hi ghl y unlikel y you wi l l ever need to uni nstall a Mi crosoft patch. Note that
you shoul d not del ete the $hf_mig$ di rectory.
3. Fi nd fil es wi th extensi ons that i dentify them as redundant. Go to Start>Search and sel ect 'All fi l es and
fol ders' to bring up the Search box. Enter the fol l owi ng text, and i n each case you can usuall y del ete all
i nci dences of these fi l es wi thout a probl em:

*.BAK
*.TMP
~*.*
*.OLD
*.LOG

4. Del ete any fil es you are sure are not needed anymore, such as ol der versi ons of downl oaded dri ver
packages and setup fil es from downl oaded programs.
5. Note, if any fil es cannot be del eted because they are i n use by Wi ndows, reboot your system and go i nto
Safe Mode (See the Backup & Recovery chapter) and from there you shoul d be abl e to del ete any fi l e.
Al ternati vel y you can use the method further bel ow. Usuall y however if a fi l e i s i n use it i s a good
i ndi cati on the fil e i s needed and best not del eted unless you are certai n i t's unnecessary.

Once you have del eted these fi l es, keep them i n your Recycle Bin and don't empty i t for a few days unti l
you've had a chance to see i f any of your appli cati ons or games are not functi oning properl y wi thout these
fi les. If i n doubt, I recommend onl y usi ng an automated cl eani ng util i ty such as CCl eaner.

CLEANING UP AFTER SERVICE PACK 3
Duri ng the i nstall ation of Windows XP Servi ce Pack 3 (SP3), i t wil l create a range of backup fil es whi ch al l ow
you to uni nstal l SP3 i f necessary. However for al l intents and purposes, once you've i nstall ed SP3 there
should never be any need to uni nstall i t agai n. To del ete these unnecessary fi les, you shoul d go to your
\Windows directory and del ete the $NTServicePackUninstall$ di rectory and al l i ts contents. Once thi s
di rectory i s del eted, you wi l l no l onger be abl e to uninstall SP3, but agai n, this shoul d never be requi red as


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Servi ce Pack 3 i s a necessary update. General l y speaki ng, i f you are havi ng i ssues wi th SP3 on your system,
i t i s wiser to rei nstal l XP and then i nstall SP3, or use an i nstall ati on i mage of XP whi ch i ncorporates SP3.

DELETING 'IN USE' FILES
If duri ng manual fil e cl eani ng you fi nd that you cannot del ete an unnecessary fi l e because Windows claims
that i t is 'i n use' by another person or program, or simpl y deni es you access to the fil e or folder, then reboot
your system and try agai n. If that doesn't work, then i t i s usuall y ei ther a dri ver or some other system-l evel
fi le whi ch i s l oadi ng up duri ng bootup, or a fil e requi red for an acti ve program. Go through and cl ose all
acti ve programs, parti cul arl y ones whi ch l oad at startup and try agai n. If necessary, temporaril y di sable the
suspected startup program(s) usi ng MSConfi g, reboot and try again. Al ternati vel y use Autoruns and see i f
the fi le is shown there, and unti ck i t to prevent i t being l oaded up at startup, then reboot and try agai n. See
the Startup Programs chapter for more detai ls of how to use these programs.

Ul ti matel y however some fi l es wi ll refuse to be del eted no matter what you try, i n whi ch case you should try
the free Unl ocker uti l i ty. To use the program, ri ght-cl i ck on the rel evant fil e or fol der and sel ect Unl ocker,
then cl i ck the 'Unl ock Al l ' button to unl ock the fi l e. Al ternati vel y choose from the l i st of actions at the bottom
l eft of the box shown, and reboot i f necessary for the acti on to compl ete.

Be warned however that i n general Wi ndows l ocks fi l es or prevents del eti on for a reason, so onl y use
Unl ocker if you're absol utel y certai n that that fi le i n questi on i s genui nel y no l onger requi red.

After del eti ng all fi l es you consi der unnecessary via any of the methods above, i mportantl y you shoul d not
empty your Recycl e Bi n. Reboot your system and use i t normal ly for a few days just to be sure the fil es you
have del eted are genui nely no l onger needed. In general the use of CCl eaner - i f enabl ed wi th sensibl e
opti ons - is the safest method for conducti ng regular cl eani ng of your system, however manual cl eani ng is
also necessary at ti mes, parti cul arl y after uni nstal l i ng a program whi ch does not correctl y remove all
porti ons of i tself from your system. Agai n, cl eani ng Wi ndows i s not a performance boosting method, it is
pri mari ly for reduci ng clutter and freeing up disk space, and even then i t i s not to be done wi thout some
thought as to what precisely i t i s you are removi ng.


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TASK MANAGER

The Windows Task Manager i s a uti li ty that al l ows you to vi ew i mportant real -ti me i nformati on about
whi ch appli cati ons and processes are runni ng on your system. You can al so see how much memory, CPU
resources and network bandwidth i s bei ng consumed at present by these vari ous processes. As an
i nformati on and troubl eshooti ng tool i t i s i nval uabl e. To access the Task Manager at any ti me, press the
CTRL, ALT and DELETE keys together, or go to Start>Run and type Taskmgr then press Enter.

One of the Task Manager's most common uses i s to all ow you to attempt recovery from system l ockups and
crashes. Whenever a program stops respondi ng you can attempt to l aunch the Task Manager and under the
Appl i cati ons or Processes tab you can sel ect the offendi ng task or process and sel ect 'End Task' or 'End
Process', usuall y regai ni ng control of your PC wi thout the need to reboot. If the Task Manager does not
appear after pressi ng CTRL+ALT+DEL several ti mes then your system has 'hard l ocked', meani ng a reboot i s
requi red to regai n use of your computer. In any case, Task Manager's useful functi onal i ty is covered i n thi s
chapter.

< CONFIGURATION ADVICE
To customize the Task Manager so that i t di spl ays the specifi c system i nformation you want to see, go to the
Vi ew menu and under i t cl i ck the 'Select Col umns' opti on. You wi l l be presented wi th a di al og box that
all ows you to sel ect a range of i tems that can be di splayed as separate columns under the Processes tab of the
Task Manager. I recommend that at the very least the 'CPU Usage' and 'Memory Usage' i tems be ti cked.
These wi ll show you for each process the proporti on of the CPU's resources the process i s currentl y using,
and how much system memory (RAM + Vi rtual Memory) i t is usi ng. I recommend al so ti cki ng the 'Peak
Memory Usage' i tem as wel l, as thi s will show you just how large a parti cul ar process has been at some poi nt
- we di scuss one use for thi s i nformation i n the Memory Opti mizati on chapter when ascertai ni ng Vi rtual
Memory requi rements.

Next, go to the Opti ons menu and make sure the 'Show 16-bit tasks' setting i s ti cked, then under the
Processes tab make sure the 'Show processes from al l users' opti on i s al so ti cked. Thi s ensures that al l
runni ng programs and processes wi ll be shown. Note that at any ti me i f you cannot see any menu i tems or
tabs i n the Task Manager wi ndow, si mpl y doubl e-cli ck anywhere on the borders of Task Manager and i t wi ll
revert to i ts normal vi ew. Al so note that you don't usuall y requi re the 'User Name' col umn, however if you
are on a PC wi th mul ti ple users you can enabl e this functi onali ty by maki ng sure the 'Fast User Swi tching
Compati bi li ty' servi ce i s set to Automati c - see the Servi ces chapter.

< RESOURCE USAGE MONITORING
One use for Task Manager whi ch can be of great benefi t to system performance and even securi ty i s that of
moni tori ng your startup state. That i s, the programs and processes whi ch are runni ng i n the background
after a fresh bootup, and the amount of memory bei ng used. After a fresh bootup i mmediatel y open Task
Manager, and cli ck on the Processes tab, then exami ne the fol l owi ng areas of Task Manager:

PROCESSES
Check the li st of runni ng processes - there shoul d be as few as possi bl e. Note that certain processes can
appear mul tipl e ti mes - thi s i s fi ne for svchost.exe for exampl e, si nce i t i s the Servi ce Host process and as such
runs groups of several Wi ndows servi ces. However some processes may be i ni ti ated by a vi rus or
compl etel y unnecessary program, so see the Servi ces and Startup Programs chapters for detai l s of preci sely
how to i dentify the programs behi nd these processes and how to di sabl e or remove the unnecessary ones.


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COMMIT CHARGE
Look at the total Commi t Charge at the bottom of the Task Manager wi ndow. Thi s shows the amount of
memory (System RAM + Vi rtual Memory) that has been used out of the maxi mum avai labl e. Al though thi s
may grow dramati cal l y after you have run several programs - and thi s i s qui te normal - the mai n poi nt to
consi der i s that the fi rst fi gure i n the Commi t Charge secti on should be qui te l ow at Wi ndows startup. Once
agai n, see the Services and Startup Programs chapters for detail s on how to reduce such resource usage.
Mi ni mi zi ng memory usage at startup i s not about 'freei ng up' as much RAM as possi ble. Rather, the ai m i s
pri mari ly to speed up startup ti mes and reduce the l i kel i hood of program confl i cts. The l ess i nformati on is in
memory pri or to l aunchi ng a program or game, the l ess chance there i s for memory confli cts, and the l ess
pagefi le usage you wil l experi ence. Games manufacturers speci fi call y recommend that background
programs and processes be mi ni mi zed preci sel y to prevent game confli cts and stutteri ng for exampl e.

CPU USAGE
Pay attenti on to the CPU usage for your system when i t i s i dle - that i s, when you have no open games or
appl i cati ons. It shoul d be at or cl ose to 0%, and the 'System Idl e Process' process shoul d have around 99%
CPU usage, indi cati ng that the CPU has as mi ni mal a l oad as possi bl e. A CPU that i dles correctl y stays
cool er and uses l ess power. More i mportantl y though, i f your system is usi ng CPU resources even when
supposedl y idl e, thi s i ndicates that you have a background program(s) or process(es) whi ch may be
unnecessari ly drawi ng resources and hence there i s scope for you to i mprove performance by di sabli ng i t.

You can al so open the Task Manager duri ng the runni ng of an i ntensi ve game or appl i cati on and check the
CPU % bei ng used by i ts process - for a si ngl e-core CPU i t should be consi stently at, or cl ose to, 100% CPU
usage. If for some reason i t i s qui te l ow, agai n check to see i f any other processes are drawi ng CPU resources,
and once agai n refer to the Startup Programs and Servi ces chapters of thi s book to remove/di sable
unnecessary background programs. Note that on systems wi th dual or mul ti -core CPUs, the CPU usage
fi gure shown here may be l ower, si nce each core may share a proporti on of the total l oad, hence overall CPU
usage for a parti cular process may only be around 50% or less for exampl e. For more detai l s see further
bel ow.

I do not recommend manual l y changi ng the process pri ori ty. For exampl e you can ri ght-click on a process
and select Set Priori ty>Hi gh. Such tweaks are more l ikel y to i ncrease system i nstabi li ty, and shoul d have no
i mpact on an opti mi zed machi ne si nce by defaul t your current program shoul d have maxi mum potential
usage of the CPU (whi ch i sn't al ways 100% by the way - i t depends on the program), thus the hi ghest
pri ori ty.

MEMORY USAGE
Exami ni ng the memory usage for each process can provi de valuabl e i nformati on. If you have sel ected the
'Peak Memory Usage' i tem to add to the l i st of columns under the Processes tab (as recommended above),
you can combi ne that i nformati on wi th current Memory Usage to l earn some i nteresti ng facts about the
performance of the processes over ti me. For exampl e, you can open the Task Manager whi l e runni ng a
parti cul arl y intensi ve appli cati on or game and check to see how much memory i ts process i s currentl y using,
and how much i t has used at i ts peak so far. Compare these figures to the number on the ri ght of the Commit
Charge fi gure at the bottom of the Task Manager wi ndow which i s the total amount of memory (RAM +
Vi rtual Memory) available to the system. If the game or appl i cati on i s usi ng cl ose to the total amount of
memory avail able on your system, you may have to i ncrease the maxi mum size of your pagefil e (See the
Memory Optimi zati on chapter) otherwise you may experi ence crashes, i ncreased stutteri ng, or errors.

Note that whenever a program i s mi nimi zed, i.e. shrunk down to the Taskbar, i t wil l use less memory and
resources than normal. Therefore check the resource usage of a program when i t i s taki ng up the ful l screen
or runni ng i n a large wi ndow to get an indi cati on of how i ntensi ve i t i s duri ng normal usage.


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< PROCESSOR AFFINITY
Most desktop PCs now contai n a CPU wi th two or more cores - that i s, a si ngl e CPU whi ch i s actuall y made
up of two (or more) separate CPU chi ps. Furthermore some Intel CPUs have a technol ogy call ed
HyperThreadi ng whi ch i n effect emulates two physi cal cores on each si ngl e core of a CPU. For a program to
trul y take advantage of two or more cores on a CPU, i t needs to be mul ti -threaded. That means several
program 'threads' wi ll run in parall el , with each thread assi gned to a parti cular core to handl e. Al ternati vel y,
mul ti ple separate programs can be run together much more smoothl y on a mul ti -core system, as each
program can be run on a separate core. However some ol der programs and games are not mul ti -threaded,
and hence show no real benefi ts when run i ndi vi duall y on a mul ti-core system. In fact some programs made
pri or to around 2005 exhi bi t probl ems, such as stutteri ng or i ncorrect speeds when run on a mul ti -core CPU.

If your programs show probl ems launchi ng or running on a mul ti-core system then you have two opti ons.
For AMD mul ti -core CPU users, i nstal l the AMD Dual Core Optimi zer whi ch resol ves these i ssues. For both
AMD and non-AMD users, you can i nstall the Mi crosoft Dual Core Hotfi x. These steps wi ll ensure that any
probl ems i n ol der games or appli cations due specifi call y to mul ti -core CPUs are removed or mi ni mized.

However i f you feel you are stil l havi ng mul ti-core CPU related problems, or want to troubl eshoot a
potenti al hardware issue wi th any speci fi c core of your CPU, you can manuall y force the mai n process for a
program to temporaril y run on only one specifi ed CPU core. Do thi s as fol l ows:

1. Launch the program i n questi on, and as soon as i t appears to be l oadi ng, or immedi atel y after i t has
l oaded up, open the Task Manager.
2. Under the Processes tab, find the game/program's mai n process; if necessary go to the Appli cati ons tab,
ri ght-cl i ck on the program and sel ect 'Go to Process'.
3. Ri ght-cli ck on the rel evant process and sel ect 'Set Affi ni ty'.
4. In the box whi ch appears, unti ck 'CPU 1' (and any other avai labl e CPUs), so that onl y 'CPU 0' is ti cked. If
you're troubleshooti ng probl ems you suspect on one parti cul ar core, you can do the opposi te - di sabl e all
cores except CPU 1 (or CPU 2 or CPU 3 etc.). The ai m i s to restri ct the program to run on only one core.

The program i s now forced to run on onl y one CPU core, whi ch shoul d resol ve any problems i f they were
genui nel y related to the mul ti-core setup. If thi s works, or i f you have probl ems attempti ng to change
affi ni ty thi s way, or you fi nd i t i nconveni ent, there i s a way of permanentl y forci ng the affi ni ty change on a
program each ti me i t l oads. Before undertaki ng i t, be aware that it modi fies the executabl e fi l e to whi ch it i s
appl i ed, so backup that fi le fi rst before usi ng this method:

1. Downl oad the fil e imagecfg.exe from thi s page and put i t i nto your \Windows\System32 di rectory. The fi le
i s safe to use, as i t was ori ginall y a Windows NT system fil e.
2. Identi fy the probl emati c program's mai n executable. To do thi s go to the program's l aunch i con, right-
cl i ck on i t, select Properti es and hi ghl ight and copy the text i n the Target box.
3. Make a backup copy of thi s executabl e first and put i t somewhere safe.
4. Go to Start>Run and type cmd and press Enter. This wi l l open up a new command prompt.
5. In the command prompt wi ndow type: imagecfg -a 0x1 foll owed by the text you copi ed from step 1 above
(ri ght-cli ck i n the command prompt box and sel ect Paste) then press Enter. Make sure to put quote
marks around the path i f it's not al ready there. E.g.:

i magecf g - a 0x1 " c: / pr ogr amf i l es/ RegCl eaner / RegCl eanr . exe"

6. Wi ndows will now onl y allow that program to see and use the specifi ed CPU core each and every ti me i t
i s l aunched by usi ng that parti cular executabl e.


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Al ternati vel y i f you're havi ng probl ems wi th i magecfg, you can use thi s smal l SetAffi ni ty program i nstead.
Downl oad and extract the contents to an empty fol der, and run the setaffinity.exe fil e. This wi ll bri ng up the
i nterface where you can sel ect to run a parti cul ar process or executabl e wi th onl y one CPU core, ei ther
temporaril y or permanently.

For all other intents and purposes a mul ti -core CPU-based system wi l l behave the same way as a si ngl e core
system. You should onl y use the steps above i f you run i nto a probl ems wi th a parti cular program which
you genui nely bel i eve i s associated sol el y wi th mul ti -core CPU usage - usuall y the program wi ll be an older
one; recent programs are designed to take i nto account the exi stence of mul ti-core CPUs, so even if they
don't take full advantage of your CPU they won't cause probl ems because of i t.

< PROCESS EXPLORER
If you want an advanced form of Task Manager which provi des even more detail s about processes and has
mul ti ple options for performance analysi s and troubl eshooti ng, you can downl oad Process Expl orer. When
l aunched, Process Expl orer l ooks si mil ar to Task Manager, however asi de from the same sort of functi onality
as Task Manager covered above, you can also see much more i nformati on about a process by doubl e-cli cking
on i t. In the box whi ch opens, there are vari ous tabs whi ch provi de val uable i nformati on speci fi c to the
process. For exampl e under the Performance Graph tab you can see resource usage graphs for the process;
under the Performance tab i s a range of data whi ch i s neatl y summari zed to gi ve a good overvi ew of
resource usage, and under the Image tab you can detai l s about the fi l e i tsel f, i ncludi ng the abil i ty to verify if
a fil e i s a Mi crosoft system fil e. Process Expl orer i s a valuable tool to add to your system and i s safe to use.

As you can see, the Task Manager has mul ti ple functi ons as detail ed above. Fami l iari zi ng yoursel f wi th its
vari ous uses wi ll hel p gi ve you a good i dea of what i s happeni ng on your system at any ti me. For example,
regul arl y checki ng acti ve processes and memory usage wi ll gi ve you earl y warni ng of thi ngs such as
mal ware i nfecti ons, si nce they often cannot be hi dden from the Task Manager's Processes l i st or memory
usage stati stics. If you see a sudden i ncrease i n memory usage at startup, or a new and unknown process
appears, or CPU usage i ncreases at i dle, you can be sure i t is the resul t of a new program or servi ce runni ng
i n the background. Most often thi s i s the resul t of recentl y i nstal led l egi ti mate software adding a program or
servi ce to your startup, and you shoul d use the procedures i n thi s book to determi ne whether i t i s necessary
or not. If left unmoni tored, your background resource usage can and wil l bl ow out, sl owi ng down your boot
ti me and causi ng stutteri ng and potential program confli cts, so stay vi gilant.


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WINDOWS REGISTRY

The Wi ndows Regi stry i s a central database for a range of system and program-related setti ngs. Whenever
you change your Wi ndows setti ngs, add or remove components or i nstal l new programs and/or change their
setti ngs, or even move or resize open wi ndows, the regi stry wil l be updated wi th key pi eces of i nformati on
marki ng these changes. Thi s chapter covers the opti mizati on and edi ti ng of the Wi ndows Regi stry.

< REGISTRY EDITOR
To access the Wi ndows Regi stry Edi tor, go to Start>Run, type regedit then press Enter. You can also access
the Regi stry Edi tor by typi ng regedt32 instead of Regedi t, but Regedt32 is a just a small program that runs
Regedi t anyway, so there i s no di fference between ei ther method. For our purposes, the mai n reason for
edi ti ng the regi stry is to al ter setti ngs that cannot otherwi se be changed usi ng the normal Wi ndows
i nterface. Learni ng to use the Registry Edi tor i s i mportant because it i s a powerful tool , and unl i ke any thi rd-
party util i ty designed to edi t the regi stry, usi ng Registry Edi tor provi des the most di rect access to the enti re
Wi ndows Regi stry and ensures that you are aware of precisely what has been changed each ti me, and where
i t ori gi nal ly resi des shoul d you need to change i t back. I recommend you take the ti me to l earn more about
usi ng this i mportant tool .

To use the Regi stry Edi tor correctl y, open i t and you wi ll see what l ooks like a di rectory l i sti ng under
Computer, wi th fi ve fol ders starti ng with 'HKEY_', e.g. [ HKEY_CURRENT_USER] . Under these Root Keys
are a seri es of sub-folders call ed Keys. Wi thi n each key there i s at l east one Val ue cal l ed ( Def aul t ) , vi si bl e
i n the ri ght pane of the Regi stry Edi tor wi ndow when you cli ck on the key name. Typi cal ly there are several
other values underneath the Defaul t entry. These val ues can be of several types, i ncludi ng STRING,
DWORD and BINARY values.

The most common form of regi stry edi ti ng i nvol ves changi ng the contents of values, or adding new values
under certain keys. Note that i n thi s book the root key and subfol der name(s) are provided i n square
brackets [ ], and the name of the val ue to be edi ted i s shown underneath. The data to be entered i nto the
value i s gi ven after the '=' (equals) si gn. An exampl e is provi ded bel ow.

EDITING REGISTRY ENTRIES
To edi t an existi ng registry entry fol l ow the exampl e bel ow to see the correct procedure:

[ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Cont r ol Panel \ Deskt op]

Cur sor Bl i nkRat e=600

The text above i ndi cates that to make this regi stry change, you shoul d open Regi stry Edi tor and then:

1. Doubl e-cli ck on the HKEY_CURRENT_USER root key (or cl i ck the '+' si gn next to it) i n the l eft pane of the
registry edi tor wi ndow. Thi s wi ll show every key si tting directl y under i t.
2. Next, you must double-cl i ck on the Cont r ol Panel key.
3. Hi ghl i ght the Deskt op key by left cli cki ng on i t once, and i n the ri ght pane of the Registry Edi tor
wi ndow, l ook for a value call ed Cur sor Bl i nkRat e.
4. Doubl e-cli ck on thi s i tem and i n the box that opens, cl i ck i n the Val ue box, del ete the current number
there, and enter 600 i nstead.
5. As soon as you cli ck OK the change has automati cal ly been saved to the regi stry.
6. You can now cl ose Regi stry Edi tor i f you wi sh.


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Note that the i mpact of changes made to the registry can ei ther come i nto effect straight away, or may
requi re a reboot - i t depends on the change. If i n doubt reboot and test for new or al tered functi onali ty.

CREATING AND DELETING REGISTRY ENTRIES
At vari ous ti mes you may need to create a new key or val ue if i t does not exi st by defaul t i n your regi stry. To
create a new entry from scratch correctly, foll ow thi s procedure:

1. Go to the parti cul ar subfolder under which you need to create a new key.
2. Ri ght-cli ck on the rel evant sub-key and select New>Key to create a new subfol der beneath i t;
al ternati vely, sel ect New> and the correct value type to create a new value (entry in the ri ght pane).
3. Enter the name for the new key or value and press Enter.
4. To confi rm that the new key or val ue i s i n the correct l ocati on, left-cli ck on i t and l ook at the bottom of
Regi stry to see if the full path matches that whi ch you desi re.

Note that Regi stry Edi tor does not gi ve any confi rmati on or si gn that you've entered a val id key or val ue, so
there i s no way to know i f what you have created i s correct, asi de from checking the i nstructi ons you were
foll owi ng and then testi ng to see i f i t has the i ntended i mpact. Remember, you may need to reboot or l ogoff
and l ogon agai n to i mpl ement the registry change.

To del ete a key or val ue, si mpl y go to the parti cular key or value you wish to remove, ri ght-cl i ck on i t and
sel ect Delete. Take al l possi bl e care to make sure that what you're del eti ng i s the correct key or value, and
that you trust the source whi ch has i nstructed you to do so, otherwi se you may be doi ng irreparabl e damage
to the registry.

A more detail ed gui de to edi ti ng the Wi ndows Regi stry is i n thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e. Just remember that the
Windows Regi stry i s very i mportant, and edi ti ng i t i s not to be taken l i ghtly, so i f i n doubt, don't edi t the
registry unl ess you absolutel y have to.

BACKING UP AND RESTORING PORTIONS OF THE REGISTRY
The regi stry is an i mportant component of Wi ndows and i t i s cruci al for you to understand that the Regi stry
Edi tor does not have an 'undo' functi on. Hence the best course of acti on pri or to usi ng the Regi stry Edi tor to
al ter any part of the regi stry is to back up your i mportant data and setti ngs, as wel l as your enti re registry
(See the Backup & Recovery chapter for detai l s). A more practi cal precauti on i s to make a backup of the
parti cul ar regi stry key(s) you are about to edi t, especi al ly if you don't feel confi dent about maki ng the
change, or aren't sure how the change wi l l i mpact on your system. That way i f anythi ng goes wrong you
don't have to go through a l engthy process to restore the enti re regi stry - you can just restore the i ndi vi dual
key(s) that you have changed qui ckl y and easil y. The steps to backi ng up a speci fi c registry key are as
foll ows:

1. In the l eft pane of the Regi stry Edi tor wi ndow, ri ght-cl i ck on the name of the key that hol ds the setti ngs
you wi sh to edi t.
2. Sel ect the Export opti on, and choose a sui tably descri pti ve name and appropri ate l ocati on for the fi l e.
Make sure that the 'Sel ected Branch' opti on i s ti cked at the very bottom of the box, so that onl y the
parti cul ar key and all i ts sub-components are saved, not the enti re registry. Cl i ck the Save button and
the fil e wi ll be saved wi th a .REG extensi on.
3. Once the rel evant secti on of the registry has been saved, you can go ahead and edi t the registry entri es
underneath the key you've just saved.

If you experience any undesi rabl e behavi or after your regi stry changes - and remember that some regi stry
changes requi re a reboot before their effects can be seen - then you can restore the backup of your registry


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keys by goi ng to the pl ace where you saved them, and doubl e-cl i cki ng on the rel evant .REG fil e. Thi s wi ll
overwri te the exi sti ng sections of the regi stry wi th the backed up versi ons, effecti vel y undoi ng your changes
qui ckly and easi l y.

If you don't feel comfortabl e wi th the above method, or i f you want to backup the enti re regi stry, see the
Backup & Recovery chapter for more detai ls on how to make proper full registry backups, as wel l as forms
of protecti on agai nst uni ntended Regi stry changes.

< MAINTAINING THE REGISTRY
The Wi ndows Regi stry has thousands of entri es, and just l i ke any l arge database, over ti me some of these
entri es can become obsol ete due to changes i n hardware and software, and some entri es can even become
corrupted due to bad shutdowns, overcl ocki ng or faul ty software or hardware for example. For the most
part the Wi ndows Regi stry is self-mai ntai ni ng, so on balance I recommend that you do not attempt to run
any util i ties whi ch try to opti mi ze the regi stry by cl eani ng i t. There are more ri sks i nvol ved and more
l i kel i hood of uni ntended consequences than any margi nal benefi ts.

However for the sake of compl eteness, and al so for more advanced users who feel ready to accept the ri sks,
and want to use a regi stry cleaner to assist i n removi ng debri s l eft over from bad driver or program
uni nstall s for exampl e, then thi s secti on bri efl y covers thi s topi c.

CCLEANER
The free CCl eaner uti li ty, whose pri me functi onal i ty i s covered i n detai l under the Cl eani ng Wi ndows
chapter, al so has a useful regi stry cl eani ng abil i ty. Thi s is the recommended method of cl eani ng your
registry, and i s covered below:

1. Open CCl eaner and cli ck the Opti ons button on the left si de.
2. Cl i ck the Advanced button and make sure there is a ti ck agai nst the 'Show prompt to backup registry
i ssues' box.
3. Cl i ck the Regi stry button on the l eft side.
4. I recommend ti cki ng everythi ng under the Regi stry Integri ty secti on except 'Unused Fil e Extensi ons',
'Start Menu Orderi ng' and 'MUI Cache'.
5. Cl i ck the 'Scan for Issues' button and wai t for the scan to compl ete - nothi ng wi ll be al tered.
6. Exami ne the l i st carefull y, focusi ng on any entri es rel ated to programs or drivers whi ch are no l onger
i nstal l ed on your system - leave a ti ck next to these entri es.
7. Unti ck any others unl ess you are absol utel y sure they are safe to remove.
8. Cl i ck the 'Fi x sel ected i ssues' button to commence removal of the ti cked regi stry entri es.
9. When prompted, cli ck Yes to backup regi stry changes and save the backup to an appropriate locati on.
10. Cl i ck the 'Fi x Al l Sel ected Issues' button then cl i ck OK to remove all ti cked i tems from the Registry.

Over a peri od of several days, if Wi ndows features or any of your programs start acti ng strangel y, you can
undo the changes caused by registry cleani ng by doubl e-cl icki ng the backed-up .REG fil e you saved i n Step 9
above and rebooti ng.

JV16 POWERTOOLS
JV16 PowerTool s i s a package of vari ous tool s relati ng to system cl eani ng and modi fi cation. The regi stry
cl eani ng functi onali ty is the mai n reason why thi s software i s bei ng covered here, and note that the l atest
versi on of JV16 PowerTool s supersedes the RegSupreme and RegCl eaner software previ ousl y rel eased by
the same company.

To access the regi stry-related functi onali ty we require, downl oad the software from the JV16 PowerTools
Si te and i nstal l i t, but note that i t i s onl y free for a l imi ted tri al peri od. However thi s shoul d be suffi ci ent to


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undertake the bulk of the registry cl eani ng we requi re. Once JV16 PowerTool s i s i nstalled, cl i ck on the
Regi stry Cl eani ng module on the mai n page. The defaul t options are fi ne for most users, however I
recommend that you can make the fol lowi ng adjustments:

Under Engi ne Setti ngs move the sl i der down a notch (i .e. to si t one notch from the bottom). Thi s wil l
i ncrease the effecti veness of the regi stry cl eani ng wi thout i ntroducing too much more ri sk. Also unti ck
the 'List MRU and other history data', as these i tems shoul dn't be regularl y cl eaned out.
Under Advanced Opti ons, ti ck the 'Don't show i tems that woul d automati cal ly be recreated' and 'Don't
show the scan report after fi nishi ng'; both opti ons are redundant features.

Once confi gured, cl i ck the ti ny di sk i con i n the bottom l eft corner of the box to save your setti ngs, then click
the Start button to begi n scanni ng. When compl eted you wi ll see a ful l l i st of al l the 'i nvali d' entri es the
registry cl eaner has found, though note that nothi ng has been del eted or al tered yet. Someti mes thousands of
supposedl y invali d entries may be found (especiall y when usi ng the defaul t opti ons), but don't be distressed:
thi s doesn't mean your regi stry was a total mess. Most of these are just MRU (Most Recentl y Used) entri es
for exampl e, and are harml ess and perfectl y normal , and wi ll si mpl y recreate themselves over ti me if
removed.

Now go to the Select menu and choose Al l to ti ck al l the entri es. Advanced users can scroll through the li st to
see i f there's anythi ng you want to i ndi vi duall y exclude or delete. Otherwi se once everything i s sel ected,
cl i ck the Fi x button, and make sure to create a backup before proceedi ng. JV16 PowerTool s wil l then attempt
to fi x, or delete i f necessary, the i nvalid entri es. This may take a whi l e so be pati ent. Again, i f you have
doubts, don't use thi s form of registry cl eani ng as there i s an element of ri sk i nvol ved when al teri ng the
registry thi s way.

JV16 PowerTool s has a range of other potenti al ly useful regi stry-related functi onal i ty, particularly via the
Regi stry Manager component. Thi s component all ows you to view vari ous types of regi stry entri es sorted
under different categori es i n a user-friendl y manner. You can then delete entri es related to unwanted
functi onali ty or l eft over from an i ncompl ete uni nstal l of software for exampl e. There's also a Registry
Compactor component whi ch performs the same sort of task as NTRegOpt (See bel ow).

There are a range of other system cl eani ng and mai ntenance modul es, however i n general I recommend
agai nst usi ng these. I onl y recommend usi ng JV16 PowerTool s pri maril y for i ts regi stry cl eaning
functi onali ty as covered above - the other functi onal i ty is best done manually and wi th the full benefit of
understandi ng through research and usi ng the other tool s and techniques covered i n thi s book as
appropriate. It i s qui te easy to make an absol ute mess of your system and subsequentl y have no idea what
caused the probl em - or how you can fi x i t - if you become reli ant on an 'all -i n-one' tweaki ng uti li ty li ke JV16
PowerTool s. Each task requi res di fferent tool s, and every aspect of Wi ndows tweaki ng requi res knowl edge
to perform correctl y, for whi ch there i s no automated replacement.

NTREGOPT
After cl eani ng the regi stry, and before we enter i nto any regi stry edi ti ng, there i s a uti li ty cal l ed NTRegOpt
you can use to opti mi ze the size and layout of the Windows Regi stry. If you have i nstall ed Erunt as covered
earl i er i n the book then you wi ll have al ready i nstall ed NTRegOpt. If not, or you're not sure, downl oad i t
from the l i nk above and i nstall i t. Then run the NTRegOpt.exe fil e to start the program and cli ck OK to begi n
the opti mi zati on procedure. It may take some time, so be pati ent. You wi ll have to reboot for the
opti mi zati on procedure to compl ete. This process compacts your regi stry, whi ch can hel p i mprove Wi ndows
startup ti mes and memory usage. NTRegOpt i s best used i nfrequentl y, perhaps once every month or two, to
ensure opti mal regi stry size i s mai ntai ned. Note however the program does not physi cal ly defragment your
registry; onl y one of the defragmentati on uti li ti es under the Dri ve Opti mi zati on chapter can do that.


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< MISCELLANEOUS REGISTRY TWEAKS
Once you've learned how to edi t the regi stry, you can use a range of tweaks to customize your system using
the Registry Edi tor. This secti on onl y covers the tweaks whi ch don't fal l under any speci fi c category; most
registry tweaks are actual ly covered under the chapter rel evant to the area of Wi ndows they relate to. For
exampl e, regi stry tweaks rel evant to Internet Expl orer are covered i n the Internet Expl orer chapter.
Remember that some registry changes requi re a reboot before they come i nto effect. Importantl y, don't forget
to backup your registry properl y before changi ng anythi ng i n i t.

Bel ow are a range of mi scel laneous performance and conveni ence tweaks - i mplement the ones you want to
use. My recommended values are provided for the performance-rel ated tweaks:

IMPROVE MENU RESPONSIVENESS AND SHUTDOWN SPEEDS
The fol l owi ng tweaks i mprove the responsi veness of Wi ndows. The values shown for each are the
recommended val ues for your system.

[ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Cont r ol Panel \ Deskt op]

HungAppTi meout =4000

Thi s STRING control s the delay before a hung appl i cati on i s al l owed to termi nate (each 1000 = 1 sec).

Wai t ToKi l l AppTi meout =4000

Thi s STRING control s the delay before wi ndows fi nal l y starts to shutdown (each 1000 = 1 sec)

MenuShowDel ay=20

Thi s STRING control s the delay before a menu or sub-menu pops open (each 1000 = 1 sec)

Aut oEndTasks=1

If enabl ed this STRING automati cal ly closes all running appli cati ons when Wi ndows shuts down.

INCREASE NTFS SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
These tweaks i mprove the performance of Wi ndows systems that use the NTFS Fi l e System. See the
Install i ng Windows chapter for more detail s of NTFS. If the followi ng entri es don't exi st, create them and
assi gn the recommended values shown:

[ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHI NE\ SYSTEM\ Cur r ent Cont r ol Set \ Cont r ol \ Fi l eSyst em]

NTFSDi sabl eLast AccessUpdat e=1

Thi s DWORD di sabl es the constant updati ng of dates a fi l e/fol der was last accessed i f set to 1, i mproving
di sk performance.

NTFSDi sabl e8Dot 3NameCr eat i on=1

Thi s DWORD di sabl es support for ol d MSDOS 8-character fi lenames i f set to 1, whi ch can i mprove
performance.


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CHANGE FOREGROUND APPLICATION PRIORITY
For users who usual l y run one major appl i cation or game at a time on thei r machi ne, you can set Wi ndows
XP to gi ve even hi gher priori ty i n al l ocati ng resources to such 'foreground appl i cati ons'. Fol l ow the tweak
bel ow to i mplement the change:

[ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHI NE\ SYSTEM\ Cur r ent Cont r ol Set \ Cont r ol \ Pr i or i t yCont r ol ]

Wi n32Pr i or i t yCont r ol =38

Create a new DWORD cal led Wi n32Pr i or i t yCont r ol and all ocate a val ue of 38 to i t i n Deci mal vi ew.

PREVENT MSN MESSENGER FROM RUNNING
If you don't use the Wi ndows MSN Messenger uti lity and want to prevent i t from runni ng - e.g. when i t is
l aunched automati cal ly by certai n appl icati ons - then i mpl ement these changes to your Regi stry:

[ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHI NE\ SOFTWARE\ Pol i ci es\ Mi cr osof t \ Messenger \ Cl i ent ]

Pr event Run=1

Thi s DWORD wi ll prevent MSN Messenger from runni ng i f set to 1.

Pr event Aut oRun=1

Thi s DWORD wi ll prevent MSN Messenger from poppi ng up automati cal ly i f set to 1.

TURN OFF CD AUTOPLAY
By defaul t Wi ndows XP wi l l automatical l y detect the presence of any disc i nserted i nto an opti cal dri ve on
your system. As soon as such di scs are detected, any appl i cati ons, audi o or video fil es on these discs wil l
automati cal ly be l aunched. Thi s Autopl ay functi onal i ty can be annoyi ng to some, and can al so l ead to
unwanted and potenti all y i nsecure software bei ng automati call y i nstall ed. To disabl e Autoplay
functi onali ty, make the fol lowi ng change:

[ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHI NE\ SYSTEM\ Cur r ent Cont r ol Set \ Ser vi ces\ CDRom]

Aut or un=0

Setti ng thi s DWORD to 0 di sabl es Autopl ay, setti ng i t to 1 enabl es Autoplay. Note that i nstead of usi ng this
tweak, you can temporarily di sabl e Autopl ay behavior at any ti me si mpl y by hol di ng down the SHIFT key
whi l e i nserti ng a disc.

TURN OFF WINDOWS XP BUILT-IN CD BURNING
Wi ndows XP has a basi c form of disc burni ng whi ch al though adequate is not good enough to repl ace the
functi ons of a dedi cated burni ng package l ike the recommended Nero Burni ng ROM. If you are usi ng a
thi rd-party burni ng package you can disable the bui lt-i n XP burning functi onali ty by doi ng the fol l owi ng:

[ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Sof t war e\ Mi cr osof t \ Wi ndows\ Cur r ent Ver si on\ Pol i ci es\ Expl or er ]

NoCDBur ni ng=1

Thi s DWORD di sabl es the buil t-i n Windows burning functi onali ty if set to 1, but sti ll al l ows other burni ng
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TURN OFF SYSTEM BEEPS
By defaul t Wi ndows XP makes beepi ng noi ses under certai n si tuations, regardl ess of your Wi ndows sound
setti ngs. To alter thi s behavi or, go to the foll owi ng Regi stry entry:

[ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Cont r ol Panel \ Sound]

Beep=Yes

Set thi s STRING to No to di sabl e any system beeps that occur duri ng Wi ndows usage. Note that to di sabl e
other Wi ndows event-based sounds you wil l sti ll need to go i nto Control Panel>Sounds and Audi o Devi ces -
see Sounds & Audi o Devi ces under the Control Panel chapter.

CHANGE THUMBNAIL QUALITY & SIZE
Whenever you vi ew a fol der wi th pi ctures i n i t, by defaul t Windows wi l l show the contents i n Thumbnails
vi ew. To change the si ze and qual i ty of these thumbnail s use thi s tweak:

[ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Sof t war e\ Mi cr osof t \ Wi ndows\ Cur r ent Ver si on\ Expl or er ]

Thumbnai l Qual i t y=50

To al ter the quali ty of thumbnail ed pictures di spl ayed i n Wi ndows XP fol ders, enter a DWORD val ue in
Deci mal vi ew between 50 and 100. The l arger the value, the better the thumbnail i mage but the sl ower the
thumbnai led i mages wi ll load up.

Thumbnai l Si ze=32

To al ter the size of thumbnai led pi ctures di spl ayed i n Wi ndows XP fol ders, enter a DWORD value in
Deci mal vi ew between 32 and 256. The l arger the val ue, the larger the thumbnail but the sl ower the
thumbnai led i mages wi ll load up.

DISABLE THUMBNAIL CACHE
When di spl ayi ng fol der contents i n Thumbnail s view, Wi ndows creates caches of thumbnai led i mages,
usual l y saved i n fil es call ed Thumbs.db i n each fol der that has been vi ewed i n Thumbnail s view at any point.
Thumbnail cachi ng hel ps speed up repeated vi ewing of these fol ders i n Thumbnail s vi ew, but you can
di sabl e thumbnai l cachi ng by doi ng the foll owi ng:

[ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Sof t war e\ Mi cr osof t \ Wi ndows\ Cur r ent Ver si on\ Expl or er \ Advanced]

Di sabl eThumbnai l Cache=0

Set thi s DWORD to 1 to disable thumbnail cachi ng, or set i t to 0 to enabl e thumbnai l cachi ng. If you di sable
thumbnai l cachi ng and/or don't use thumbnai l vi ew i n any fol der, you shoul d also go to Windows Search
and fi nd and del ete every instance of the fil e Thumbs.db on your system as they are no l onger necessary.

TURN OFF 'LOW DISK SPACE' NOTIFICATION
Once the free space on your dri ve fal l s bel ow a certai n percentage Wi ndows XP wi ll gi ve you a 'Low Disk
Space' notifi cati on. To disabl e thi s warning, i mpl ement thi s tweak:

[ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ SOFTWARE\ Mi cr osof t \ Wi ndows\ Cur r ent Ver si on\ Pol i ci es\ Expl or er ]

NoLowDi skSpaceChecks=1


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Set thi s DWORD to 1 to turn off the noti fi cati on al together.

DISABLE BALLOON TIPS
Ball oon Ti ps are the smal l yel l ow pop-ups that appear throughout Wi ndows i nformi ng you of vari ous facts
or functi ons. To di sabl e these, i mpl ement thi s tweak:

[ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Sof t war e\ Mi cr osof t \ Wi ndows\ Cur r ent Ver si on\ Expl or er \ Advanced]

Enabl eBal l oonTi ps=0

Setti ng this DWORD to a value of 0 turns off the ball oon ti ps.

DISABLE WINDOWS KEY
If you want to di sable the Wi ndows Keys on your keyboard, perhaps because they are i nterferi ng i n a game
you are playing, use this tweak:

[ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHI NE\ SYSTEM\ Cur r ent Cont r ol Set \ Cont r ol \ Keyboar d Layout ]

Scancode Map=

Under the Keyboar d Layout key (not Keyboard Layouts) create a new BINARY val ue call ed Scancode
Map and then doubl e-cli ck on i t and cl i ck once i n the top ri ght hand si de of the value data box and manually
type i n the fol l owi ng values i n the exact order as shown (note all the 0's are zeros, and no spaces are
necessary):

00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 00 00 5B E0 00 00 5C E0 00 00 00 00

You wi ll need to reboot for thi s change to come i nto effect. If you want to reverse thi s tweak, del ete the
above key and reboot. Si nce the Wi ndows keys are useful for many keyboard shortcuts, I general l y don't
recommend impl ementi ng thi s tweak.

That's just a small number of what I believe are the more useful miscell aneous regi stry tweaks. If you're in
the mood for more regi stry tweaki ng, a large range of Wi ndows Regi stry tweaks can be found on thi s
Regi stry Tweaks for XP page. Note that some of them may not work correctly on Wi ndows XP SP3, and of
course make sure you backup the regi stry appropri ately before usi ng any of them. Note that I don't
recommend impl ementi ng a l arge number of registry tweaks at once, as this makes troubleshooti ng any
resul ti ng probl ems extremel y diffi cult. Sel ect one or two that you feel are the most necessary for
performance and conveni ence sake, i mpl ement them and reboot. If your system remai ns stable and troubl e-
free, i mplement a few new ones at a ti me, and repeat the process. Also make a new System Restore poi nt
before each major change to the Wi ndows Registry just i n case.


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GROUP POLICY

The Group Pol i cy edi tor is an Admi ni strati ve Tool designed primaril y for network admi ni strators to alter
the way i n whi ch Wi ndows XP behaves for groups of users on thei r network - see Admi ni strati ve Tools
under the Control Panel chapter. It i s onl y avail abl e i n Windows XP Professi onal , but fortunately for
Wi ndows XP Home users the majori ty of the tweaks covered i n thi s chapter can be performed usi ng other
uti li ti es, such as TweakUI. To access the Group Pol icy setti ngs, go to Start>Run, type gpedit.msc and press
Enter. Thi s wi l l open the Group Poli cy edi tor, whi ch shows two mai n branches: 'Computer Confi guration'
and 'User Confi gurati on'. Changes made under the 'User Confi gurati on' secti ons affect onl y the current user,
whi l e changes made under the 'Computer Configurati on' secti on appl y to the enti re machine and affect all
users who l og onto that machi ne.

< GROUP EDITOR TWEAKS
Bel ow are a range of tweaks that you can apply through the Group Pol i cy edi tor. To change a setti ng, go to
the sub-folder shown and doubl e-cli ck on the setti ng i n the right pane and then choose Enabled, Di sabl ed or
'Not Configured' as requi red then cl i ck Appl y. My recommended setti ngs for each are provided i n brackets,
however you should fi rst cli ck once on the setti ng you wi sh to change and i n the Extended view you can see
a brief descripti on of the setti ng to the left of i t. If i n doubt, do not change a setti ng - leave i t at i ts defaul t.

DISABLE AUTOMATIC SYSTEM RESTORE CHECKPOINTS
Folder: Computer Confi gurati on\Admi ni strati ve Templ ates\Wi ndows Components\Windows Instal l er
Setting: Turn off Creati on of System Restore Checkpoints (Leave at defaul t)

TURN OFF BUILT-IN XP CD BURNING
Folder: User Confi gurati on\Admi nistrati ve Templates\Wi ndows Components\Wi ndows Expl orer
Setting: Remove CD Burni ng Features (Enabl ed)

Note: Sti ll allows thi rd party burni ng software such as Nero Burning ROM to work wi thout probl ems.

PREVENT WINDOWS MEDIA DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT FROM INTERNET ACCESS
Folder: Computer Configurati on\Admi ni strati ve Templ ates\Wi ndows Components\Wi ndows Media
Di gi tal Ri ghts Management
Setting: Prevent Wi ndows Media DRM Internet Access

REMOVE 'SHARED DOCUMENTS' FOLDER
Folder: User Confi gurati on\Admi nistrati ve Templates\Wi ndows Components\Wi ndows Expl orer
Setting: Remove Shared Documents from My Computer (Enabled)

REMOVE SHUTDOWN/LOGOFF/RESTART MESSAGES
Folder: Computer Confi gurati on\Admi ni strati ve Templ ates\System
Setting: Remove boot /Shutdown /Logon / Logoff messages (Leave at defaul t)

TURN OFF USER TRACKING (WILL ALSO DISABLE PERSONALIZED MENUS)
Folder: User Confi gurati on\Admi nistrati ve Templates\Start Menu and Taskbar
Setting: Turn off user tracking (Enabl ed)


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PREVENT ACCESS TO WINDOWS COMPONENTS
Folder: User Confi gurati on\Admi nistrati ve Templates\System
Setting: Don't run speci fi ed Wi ndows appl i cati ons

Note: You can al so prevent users from accessi ng the Regi stry Edi tor and Command Prompt i n thi s fol der.

TURN OFF CD/DVD AUTOPLAY
Folder: Computer Confi gurati on\Admi ni strati ve Templ ates\System
Setting: Turn off Autoplay (Enabl ed)

DISABLE WINDOWS MESSENGER
Folder: Computer Confi gurati on\Admi ni strati ve Templ ates\Wi ndows Components\Wi ndows Messenger
Setting: (Set both to Enabl ed)

CUSTOMIZE INTERNET EXPLORER TITLE
Folder: User Confi gurati on\Wi ndows setti ngs\Internet Expl orer Mai ntenance\Browser User Interface
Setting: Browser Ti tl e (Personali ze as desi red)

REMOVE RECYCLE BIN ICON FROM DESKTOP
Folder: User confi gurati on\Admi nistrati ve Templates\Desktop
Setting: Remove Recycl e Bin i con from Desktop (Leave at defaul t)

REMOVE MY DOCUMENTS ICON FROM DESKTOP
Setting: Remove My Documents i con from Desktop (Enabl ed)

REMOVE MY COMPUTER ICON FROM DESKTOP
Setting: Remove My Computer i con from Desktop (Leave at defaul t)

Note: Use this tweak wi th cauti on as enabl i ng i t can cause a great many problems.

There are a range of other Group Poli cy tweaks you can undertake, so have a l ook through the other areas of
the Group Pol i cy edi tor and see i f there i s anythi ng you would l ike to change. However be very careful to
remember preci sel y what you have changed, because when troubl eshooti ng probl ems people tend to forget
the changes they i mplemented i n Group Pol i cy and spend a great deal of ti me checki ng elsewhere, especiall y
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TWEAKUI

TweakUI i s a free Mi crosoft uti li ty that provi des a conveni ent tweaki ng User Interface (UI) for safely
customizi ng many of Windows XP's hidden setti ngs. It i s easy to use and i ncludes hel pful i nstructi ons on
what the various setti ngs do. If you don't feel confi dent i n usi ng the Regi stry Edi tor or Group Pol icy edi tor
to make certai n changes for example, TweakUI all ows you to change many of the same setti ngs i n a
relati vel y fool proof way. To access TweakUI, fi rst downl oad i t from the Mi crosoft PowerToys si te, then
i nstal l i t and l aunch i t. To navi gate to the vari ous areas of TweakUI, cl ick once on the name of the secti on
(e.g. General ), and i n the ri ght pane ti ck or unti ck the appropri ate setti ngs and then make sure to cli ck the
Appl y button for every secti on or sub-secti on you change. The effects of most changes wi ll be visi ble
i mmediatel y.

TweakUI covers a large number of setti ngs, and as such I can't cover them al l here. Bel ow are a sel ecti on of
the more si gni fi cant setti ngs whi ch I recommend that peopl e change i n order to i mprove general
performance and functi onali ty. Descri pti ons for each can be seen i n TweakUI whenever you hi ghl ight the
rel evant setti ng. These changes shoul d be safe for almost every system, but obvi ousl y you can undo them by
reversi ng the changes i n TweakUI shoul d they not sui t you.

GENERAL
Ti ck 'Opti mi ze hard di sk when i dl e'

GENERAL>FOCUS
Ti ck 'Prevent appl i cati ons from steal i ng focus'

EXPLORER
Ti ck 'Detect acci dental doubl e-cli cks'
Unti ck 'Mai ntai n network hi story'
Unti ck 'Show Li nks on Favori tes menu'
Ti ck 'Use i ntui ti ve fi lename sorti ng'

EXPLORER>SHORTCUT
Sel ect None to remove the shortcut arrows from shortcuts

EXPLORER>THUMBNAILS
Move the sl i der to the far l eft for Image Qual i ty

EXPLORER>CUSTOMIZATIONS
To conserve memory use a relati vel y l ow setti ng l ike 400 fol ders

TASKBAR AND START MENU
Unti ck 'Enable ball oon ti ps'
Unti ck 'Warn when l ow on di sk space'


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MY COMPUTER>AUTOPLAY>TYPES
To di sabl e the Autoplay functi onal i ty of your opti cal dri ve(s), unti ck 'Enabl e Autoplay for CD and DVD
Dri ves'. Some mali ci ous software such as Rootki ts can be prevented from i nstal li ng by turni ng off Autoplay.

CONTROL PANEL
Unti ck all the Control Panel components you never use, or whi ch are i nstal l ed by thi rd party programs and
are unnecessary. Note that thi s onl y removes thei r i cons from the Control Panel , not the programs
themsel ves, and doesn't affect that program's functi onali ty i n any way. However I recommend you do this
tweak after you have read about and adjusted all the setti ngs i n the Control Panel - see the Control Panel
chapter.

You shoul d customize the remai ni ng setti ngs as you see fi t, then cl ick OK when done.

Al though TweakUI i s very safe to use, don't change setti ngs that you are unclear about. If anythi ng goes
wrong, i t may be di ffi cul t for you to figure out which change i n TweakUI is causi ng the probl em, or has
removed the functi onali ty you want. Take i t sl ow and change a few thi ngs at a ti me. Al so have a l ook at the
other XP PowerToy uti li ti es on the PowerToys si te, as you may fi nd some of them useful .


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WINDOWS EXPLORER

Wi ndows Expl orer i s the pri mary means for mani pulati ng fil es and fol ders in Wi ndows XP. This i nterface
appears i n the Wi ndows Expl orer appl icati on i tself, as wel l as i n many appl i cati ons whi ch prompt you to
open or save fi les, and of course i n most standard Desktop wi ndows. Wi ndows Expl orer can be accessed in
several ways, i ncl udi ng by goi ng to Start>Al l Programs>Accessori es, or by goi ng to Start>Run, typing
explorer and pressi ng Enter, or by pressi ng WINDOWS+E at any ti me to name just a few methods.
Importantl y, there are many setti ngs you can al ter in Fol der Options that have a di rect i mpact on what you
can see when i n Wi ndows Expl orer. These are covered under Fol der Opti ons i n the Control Panel chapter, so
make sure you use the recommended setti ngs there for maximum performance and functi onal i ty. For
exampl e, by maki ng sure that fil e extensi ons and system fi l es aren't hi dden in Fol der Opti ons, you will be
abl e to see these fil es i n Expl orer and perform some of the tweaks i n thi s book, as well as maki ng general
troubl eshooting easier.

Thi s chapter contai ns a range of tweaks and ti ps for Wi ndows Expl orer:

SET EXPLORER'S DEFAULT STARTUP FOLDER
If you usually open Expl orer from a shortcut, thi s tweak all ows you to set whi ch di rectory i t wi ll start i n by
defaul t when l aunched from that shortcut:

1. Ri ght-cli ck on the shortcut i con you use to l aunch Expl orer and sel ect Properties. If no such shortcut
exi sts, you can fi rst create one by ri ght-cl i cki ng on a bl ank spot on your desktop or i n a directory and
then sel ecti ng New>Shortcut.
2. In the Target box repl ace any existi ng text wi th the fol l owi ng:

%Syst emRoot %\ Expl or er . exe / e, pat h

3. In pl ace of pat h above you shoul d enter the actual path to the di rectory you want open by defaul t. The
path doesn't requi re quote marks around i t. For exampl e:

%Syst emRoot %\ Expl or er . exe / e, C: \ Wi ndows

4. Cl i ck OK, and now usi ng thi s shortcut wi ll open a Wi ndows Expl orer wi ndow i n the di rectory specified.

Note that there are several other swi tches and opti ons you can use i n the Properti es box to further customize
Expl orer's defaul t vi ew as detail ed i n thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e.

SPEED UP EXPLORER
The fol l owi ng tweak can improve the response ti me of Wi ndows Expl orer (and al so Internet Expl orer). Go to
the foll owi ng key i n the Wi ndows Regi stry:

[ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHI NE\ Sof t war e\ Mi cr osof t \ Wi ndows\ Cur r ent Ver si on\ Expl or er \ Remot eCom
put er \ NameSpace]

To prevent Wi ndows Expl orer from searchi ng for remote schedul ed tasks, under the Namespace key i n the
l eft pane fi nd the {D6277990- 4C6A- 11CF- 8D87- 00AA0060F5BF} key if i t exi sts, right-cl i ck on i t and
sel ect Del ete to remove i t. To al so prevent Expl orer from searching for remote shared pri nters, del ete the
{2227A280- 3AEA- 1069- A2DE- 08002B30309D} key as wel l. Thi s wil l speed up the ti me i t takes for
Expl orer to open and navigate. If you are connected to a network of computers do not undertake thi s tweak.


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REMOVE 'SHARED DOCUMENTS' FROM MY COMPUTER
If you want to remove the 'Shared Documents' fol ders under My Computer use thi s tweak:

[ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHI NE\ SOFTWARE\ Mi cr osof t \ Wi ndows\ Cur r ent Ver si on\ Expl or er \ MyComput e
r \ NameSpace\ Del egat eFol der s]

{59031a47- 3f 72- 44a7- 89c5- 5595f e6b30ee}

Del ete the key above by right-cl icki ng on i t i n the left pane and sel ecti ng Delete. Thi s wil l remove all the
superfluous 'Shared Documents' fol ders permanently.

FORCE ALL COLUMNS IN EXPLORER TO BE VISIBLE
Someti mes when you open Wi ndows Expl orer or Expl orer-based interfaces (and there are many, such as the
Regi stry Edi tor) there may be col umns that are much too wi de or narrow to show everythi ng they contain.
To qui ckly force Wi ndows to resize these columns appropri ately press the CTRL key and the + (pl us) key
together. This wi ll i nstantly resize all col umns so that even the l argest val ue i n each column i s vi si bl e. Thi s
may requi re you to expand the surroundi ng wi ndow or use the bottom scrol l bar to see them all , but at l east
there won't be any hidden or overl y wide/thi n columns. See the Visual and Conveni ence chapter for other
handy keyboard shortcuts.

RENAME MULTIPLE FILES
If you have a l arge number of fil es you want to rename, you can do i t rapi dl y by doi ng the foll owi ng:

1. Hi ghl i ght the group of fil es you want to rename i n Wi ndows Expl orer. You can do thi s two ways:
Hol d down the SHIFT key and cli ck on the fi rst fi l e in the group, then whil e sti ll holdi ng down shift,
cl i ck on the l ast fil e i n the group and everythi ng i n between wil l al so be hi ghl ighted; or
Hol d down the CTRL key and cl i ck on any i ndi vi dual fi l es you want to sel ect unti l al l the fil es you
want to sel ect are hi ghl ighted.
You can al so combi ne the two methods, i .e. SHIFT sel ect a range of fil es, then use CTRL to remove or
add i ndi vi dual fi l es to the hi ghli ghted ones.
2. Without cl i cki ng anywhere el se, ri ght-cl ick on the fi rst fil e you want to rename, and sel ect Rename.
3. Enter a name for the fil e and press Enter.

Now all the remai ni ng hi ghl i ghted fi les wi ll be renamed wi th the same name you gave the fi rst fi l e, however
they wi ll al so have a number i n brackets after them. For exampl e, if I rename the fi rst in a seri es of fi les
Screen.jpg using thi s method, the remai ni ng hi ghli ghted fi l es wi ll be renamed Screen (1).jpg, Screen (2).jpg, etc.

EDIT CONTEXT MENUS
When you ri ght-cl i ck your mouse button on any l ocation you wil l see a range of context menu entri es. As the
name i mpli es, the entri es are dependent on the context i n whi ch the ri ght-cl i ck was used, whether i t was on
a fi l e, fol der, an empty l ocati on on the Desktop, and so forth. Unfortunately some of the entri es i n the context
menu have been unnecessaril y i nserted by programs you have i nstall ed, and you may wi sh to remove these.

The first step i n getti ng rid of any unwanted entries i nvol ves openi ng the programs to whi ch the entri es
relate and l ooki ng through the program's opti ons to see if you can unsel ect any 'shell i ntegration' or 'context
menu' setti ngs they have. If that doesn't work or i s not possi bl e, you can use several other methods to fi nd
and remove these entri es. Before making any changes to your context menus, make sure to use System
Restore to create a new restore poi nt, as some of these changes cannot be easil y undone.


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Autoruns

The free Autoruns startup i denti fi cation uti li ty can be used in a rel ati vely strai ghtforward manner to
temporaril y di sabl e or permanentl y remove context menu entri es. For our purposes l ook under the Expl orer
tab of Autoruns - the majori ty of the entri es wil l be context menu entri es of one type or another. The
Descri pti on, Publi sher and Image Path col umns shoul d provide suffi ci ent informati on to i denti fy whi ch
Autorun entri es relate to whi ch parti cular context menu i tems. Unti ck any you wish to temporaril y di sabl e,
then cl ose Autoruns, reboot and check to see i f the undesi rabl e context menu entries are gone. To
permanentl y remove an i tem, right-cli ck on i t and select Del ete. For full detail s of how to use Autoruns, see
the Startup Programs chapter.

ShellMenuView

The free Shel lMenuVi ew uti l i ty is an automated tool whi ch di splays all stati c context menu i tems. Downl oad
and run the shmnview.exe fi l e to launch the uti l i ty - no i nstal lati on i s required. The i nterface i s confusi ng at
fi rst, but keep i n mi nd that most standard Wi ndows entri es are not bei ng di splayed as l ong as the 'Hi de
standard menu i tems' opti on i s ti cked under the Opti ons menu, so the bul k of these entri es relate to thi rd
party programs.

Each entry under the 'Menu Name' column i s preci sel y that, the name of a menu entry i n one of the context
menus on your system. To determi ne whi ch entries appl y to whi ch parti cular appli cati ons, expand the
col umns and l ook under the 'Fil e Type' col umn - the associated appl i cati ons for each menu entry are shown.
Hi ghl i ght the entri es you bel i eve you wi sh to remove, ri ght-cl i ck and sel ect 'Di sabl e sel ected i tems', and
check to see if thi s removes the rel evant entri es from your context menu. If not, you can easily undo thi s by
hi ghli ghti ng the same entries, ri ght-cl i cki ng and selecti ng 'Enabl e sel ected i tems'.

ShellExView

Some context menu entri es are not stati c, they enabl e addi ti onal functi onal i ty whi ch makes them a shell
extensi on. You can use the free Shel l ExVi ew util i ty, whi ch is si mil ar to Shel lMenuVi ew, to vi ew and adjust
these. Download and run the shexview.exe fi le to launch the uti li ty - no i nstal lation i s requi red. The i nterface
i s once agai n sli ghtl y confusi ng at fi rst, however non-Wi ndows shel l extensi ons are highlighted i n pi nk by
defaul t, as l ong as the 'Mark non-Mi crosoft extensi ons' opti on i s ti cked under the Opti ons menu. Ri ght-click
on any extensi on you wi sh to disabl e and sel ect 'Di sabl e sel ected i tems'. Test to see if thi s di sabl es the i tem,
however you wi ll li kel y have to reboot to see the i mpact of the changes.

Windows Registry

The uti l i ti es above are recommended for most users as they are automated and provi de safeguards to more
easi ly undo changes. However if you wi sh to manual l y (and hence permanentl y) remove context menu
entri es vi a the Wi ndows Regi stry, l ook under the fol lowi ng l ocati ons usi ng the Regi stry Edi tor:

[ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ *\ shel l ex\ Cont ext MenuHandl er s]
[ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ Di r ect or y\ shel l ex\ Cont ext MenuHandl er s]
[ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ Dr i ve\ shel l ]
[ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ Dr i ve\ shel l ex\ Cont ext MenuHandl er s]
[ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ Fol der \ shel l ]
[ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ Fol der \ shel l ex\ Cont ext MenuHandl er s]

The subfol ders above are l ocati ons which hol d most context menu entri es i n Wi ndows. Under each, asi de
from standard Wi ndows items such as Shar i ng or Of f l i ne Fi l es, you may fi nd keys or val ues whi ch
relate to parti cul ar thi rd party programs. Right-cli cking on the relevant program key and sel ecti ng Delete
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the effects i mmedi atel y by checki ng to see if the rel evant entry was removed from the context menu. In some
cases - mai nly wi th shell extensi ons - you may need to reboot to see the effects. There i s no undo functi on i n
Regi stry Edi tor, so make sure to back up the rel evant branch before edi ti ng i t. See the Wi ndows Regi stry
chapter for ful l detai l s of regi stry edi ti ng i nstructi ons.

Note that if any of the programs whose context menu entri es you've edi ted or removed start displayi ng
strange behavi or, or you acci dentall y del eted the wrong entry, restore the regi stry entri es you backed up
previ ousl y, or just rei nstall that parti cul ar program. As l ong as you only del ete cl earl y marked program
entri es and none of the defaul t Wi ndows entri es, al l the normal context menu i tems wil l stil l remai n.

ADD 'COPY TO' AND 'MOVE TO' CONTEXT MENU ITEMS
If you want to add two useful commands to your context menus - namel y 'Copy To' and 'Move To', foll ow
the steps bel ow:

[ HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ Al l Fi l eSyst emObj ect s\ shel l ex\ Cont ext MenuHandl er s]

Copy To= {C2FBB630- 2971- 11d1- A18C- 00C04FD75D13}
Move To= {C2FBB631- 2971- 11d1- A18C- 00C04FD75D13}

Create two new keys under the Cont ext MenuHandl er s fol der - that i s, ri ght-cli ck on
Cont ext MenuHandl er s and sel ect New>Key twi ce and name them Copy To and Move To respecti vely.
Then l eft-cl i ck once on each fol der, go to the ri ght pane i n Regi stry Edi tor and doubl e-cl i ck on the
( Def aul t ) entry and assi gn the appropri ate val ues shown above, i ncl udi ng the parentheses around the
numbers. This wil l create two new entri es that all ow you to select ei ther 'Copy To Fol der...' or 'Move To
Fol der...' i n the context menu for a parti cular fi le or fol der and then speci fy the l ocati on to copy or move
them to. Obvi ousl y if you wi sh to add just one of the above entri es to the context menu then onl y create the
rel evant key.

FOLDER VIEWS NOT BEING SAVED
Someti mes when you change the way a fol der's contents l ook, or i ts posi ti on on your Desktop, or the si ze of
the wi ndow it opens i n, after a reboot the changes don't seem to have been saved. The fi rst thi ng to do i s go
to Control Panel>Fol der Opti ons and under the View tab make sure that 'Remember each folder's vi ew
setti ngs' i s ti cked. However even wi th thi s setti ng ti cked you may i nevi tably end up wi th unsaved setti ngs.
Thi s can be due to corrupted registry entri es brought on by a bad shutdown for exampl e. The easi est way to
fi x this problem i s to open the Registry Edi tor and go to the fol l owing keys:

[ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Sof t war e\ Mi cr osof t \ Wi ndows\ Shel l NoRoam\ BagMRU]
[ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Sof t war e\ Mi cr osof t \ Wi ndows\ Shel l NoRoam\ Bags]

Ri ght-cli ck on each key (i .e. BagMRU and Bags) and sel ect Del ete to get ri d of both of them. Reboot your PC
and open up each fol der or wi ndow you want to customi ze. They wi ll be back at thei r defaul t appearance,
and you wi ll need to adjust agai n them to sui t your tastes. However thi s ti me after you reboot your PC the
vi ew setti ngs shoul d be exactl y as you set them pri or to the reboot. By del eting the regi stry entri es above
Wi ndows i s forced to recreate them and i n doi ng so get ri d of corrupted entries. If you fi nd you have to do
thi s often, then see the ti ps throughout thi s book for stabi li zi ng your system. Thi s i s a cl ear si gn that your
system i s not compl etel y stabl e, and contrary to popul ar bel i ef, i t is not normal behavi or for Wi ndows XP to
constantl y forget fol der views. Also see the Expl orer Customi zati ons secti on of the TweakUI chapter for
detail s of how to set the maxi mum number of fol ders for whi ch Wi ndows retai ns the saved customi zation
setti ngs - i f thi s i s set too l ow i t may be the reason why your fol der vi ews are constantl y bei ng l ost.


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REPAIR INCORRECTLY DISPLAYED ICONS
By defaul t Wi ndows stores a range of commonl y used i cons, such as Desktop and fol der i cons, i n a cache to
speed up their di spl ay. If you are experienci ng problems wi th your i cons di splayi ng i ncorrectl y, go to your
\Documents and Settings\[Username]\Local Settings\Application Data di rectory and del ete the IconCache.db fil e.
Reboot Wi ndows and thi s fil e wi ll be recreated, resol vi ng any icon i ncorrectl y di splayed. Al so see the
Memory Optimi zati on chapter for details of how to set the maxi mum size of the Icon Cache.

MOVE THE MY DOCUMENTS FOLDER
By defaul t the 'My Documents' fol der i s i n a speci fi ed l ocati on, and movi ng i t manual ly wil l not work. To
correctl y move the My Documents fol der to another locati on, you must do the fol l owi ng:

1. Cl i ck on Start, go to My Documents and ri ght-cl ick on i t, then select Properti es. Al ternati vely in
Wi ndows Expl orer fi nd the My Documents fol der under your \Documents and Settings\[Username]\
di rectory, ri ght-cl i ck on i t and sel ect Properti es.
2. Cl i ck the Move button and sel ect a new l ocati on, then cli ck OK.
3. Choose whether you wish to move your exi sti ng documents across to thi s l ocation.

Al ternati vel y you can just type the new path i n the Target box. When you're done, Wi ndows wil l now
recognize the new l ocati on as the home of My Documents. This can be useful i f you wi sh to move your
personal documents to a separate data dri ve for exampl e. Note that you can also change the name of My
Documents to somethi ng el se if you wish, such as simpl y 'Documents'.

MAKE THE MY DOCUMENTS FOLDER PRIVATE
If you want to password protect your My Documents fol der, or i n fact any fol der whi ch is unique to your
user account (such as My Photos, Favori tes, Desktop, Start Menu), and you're usi ng the NTFS fi l e system,
you can do the foll owi ng: Ri ght-cli ck on the fol der in Expl orer, sel ect the Sharing tab and ti ck the 'Make this
fol der pri vate' box. Now the fol der and al l i ts subdi rectories wi l l be password protected wi th your user
password. If you're l ogged i n as the Admi ni strator, or you have not set a user password (for qui cker l ogon to
Wi ndows), thi s tweak won't do anythi ng - i f you try i t, you'l l be prompted to set a password for your user
account, and unl ess you're worri ed about others accessi ng your pri vate fol ders, I do not recommend setti ng
a password. Al so see the PC Securi ty chapter for more detai ls on how to protect fi les and fol ders usi ng
Wi ndows Encrypti on.

DISABLE WINDOWS FILE PROTECTION
By defaul t Wi ndows XP protects a range of i mportant system fil es from acci dental del eti on. Thi s tweak
all ows you to remove that protecti on, but I strongl y recommend agai nst usi ng it unl ess you are an advanced
user:

[ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHI NE\ SOFTWARE\ Mi cr osof t \ Wi ndows NT\ Cur r ent Ver si on\ Wi nl ogon]

SFCDi sabl e=0

Setti ng this DWORD to 1 wil l al l ow you to vi ew, al ter and del ete protected system fi les. Thi s i s not
recommended as these system fil es are protected for a reason: to specifi cal l y prevent harmful changes or
del eti ons to core system files that can destabil ize your system. Note you need to unti ck the 'Hi de protected
operati ng system fi les' option under Control Panel>Fol der Opti ons>Vi ew to be abl e to see protected fil es in
Wi ndows Expl orer. Use thi s tweak onl y i f troubl eshooti ng a problem, such as mal ware i nfecti on, and only as
a l ast resort.


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CHANGE DEFAULT LOCATION FOR PROGRAMS AND COMMON FILES
To change the defaul t l ocati on for the Program Fil es and/or Common Fi l es folders, open Regi stry Edi tor and
go to the fol l owi ng key:

[ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHI NE\ SOFTWARE\ Mi cr osof t \ Wi ndows\ Cur r ent Ver si on]

Pr ogr amFi l esDi r =C: \ Pr ogr amFi l es

Change thi s STRING entry to another path i f you want to change where Wi ndows poi nts to by defaul t when
i nstal li ng new programs.

CommonFi l esDi r =C: \ Pr ogr amFi l es\ Common Fi l es

Change thi s STRING entry to another path i f you want to change where Wi ndows poi nts to by defaul t when
i nstal li ng common fil es for programs.

Reboot Wi ndows to bri ng the changes into effect. Keep i n mi nd that usi ng thi s tweak may resul t i n probl ems
wi th exi sti ng i nstal l ed programs and fi le associati ons, as wel l as runni ng Windows Update. You may have to
manuall y move some of the existi ng program folders to the new l ocati on for them to work correctl y.


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INTERNET EXPLORER

Internet Expl orer (IE) i s the most popular Internet browser i n the worl d today. Most Windows users are
extremel y comfortabl e and famil iar with Internet Expl orer, and also know that i t i s the one browser upon
whi ch pretty much all Internet content wi ll di splay as i ntended. Even i f you use an al ternate browser as your
mai n browser, you may need to use Internet Expl orer from ti me to ti me because certai n websi tes wi ll not
di splay or functi on properl y on other browsers. The best exampl e of this is Mi crosoft's own Wi ndows
Update websi te whi ch is onl y full y functi onal and secure when vi ewed with Internet Expl orer. Whi le I
recommend that you begin tri al i ng al ternati ves to Internet Expl orer, i t i s a fast, effi ci ent browser, and you
should not feel you have to use another browser i f you are happy wi th i t.

Internet Expl orer 6 i s the versi on bui l t into Wi ndows XP, even wi th SP3 i nstall ed. However Internet Expl orer
8 is now the latest offi cial versi on of IE and the one I strongly recommend that all IE users to upgrade to for
securi ty, performance, stabi l i ty and compati bi li ty reasons. Accordi ngl y, the advi ce i n this chapter relates
sol el y to IE8. You can downl oad Internet Expl orer 8 for free from here.

To confi gure Internet Expl orer, open the browser, go to the Tool s menu and select 'Internet Opti ons' - note
thi s is the same as i f you go to the Wi ndows Control Panel and choose 'Internet Opti ons'. Bel ow are the
descri pti ons and my recommendati ons for the i mportant setti ngs under each tab of Internet Opti ons i n IE:

GENERAL
Home Page: Here you can set the page that opens by defaul t whenever you start Internet Expl orer. If you
don't want any homepage to start when IE is opened, cl i ck the 'Use blank' button; i f you want to set the
websi te you are currentl y vi ewi ng as your homepage, cl i ck the 'Use current' button; cl i cking 'Use defaul t'
wi ll restore IE's defaul t homepage which i s a Mi crosoft si te such as MSN (dependi ng on your l ocati on). If
you are usi ng tabbed browsi ng (see further bel ow), then you can enter mul ti pl e websi te addresses i n the box,
one on each l ine. Then whenever you open IE, all of these pages will open at the same ti me, as separate tabs.

Note, i f the home page wi ll not change regardl ess of what you do here see the Programs secti on further
bel ow as wel l as the PC Securi ty chapter - thi s may be caused by mal ware such as a browser hi jacker.

Browsing History: As you browse the Internet, certai n fi les and settings are stored on your drive (cached) by
IE to make your browsi ng faster i n the future. Cli ck the Setti ngs button and you can sel ect how IE uses thi s
cache to speed up your browsi ng. Under the 'Check for newer versi ons of stored pages' you can tel l IE how
often to check to see if a web page has been updated; any parts of a si te which don't appear to be updated
wi ll be l oaded from your cache rather than si te, and thi s can i ncrease page load ti mes especi al ly for si tes
whi ch have a l ot of i tems to l oad up. I recommend sel ecti ng 'Automati cally' as thi s al lows IE to detect
updated content and rel oad from the si te only when i t beli eves i t is necessary. However thi s does not
guarantee that you wil l always see the very l atest content on the si tes you visi t, so if you want to see the
absolute l atest versi on of every page you vi si t sel ect 'Every ti me I vi si t a webpage', though note thi s may
i ncrease page l oadi ng ti mes. If you only want to vi ew the l atest versi on of certai n pages at any ti me, press
CTRL + F5 when on that page and this forces IE to rel oad the enti re page from the si te rather than from i ts
own cache. Importantl y, do not sel ect the Never opti on here as that wi ll mean IE wi ll not update web pages
you commonl y vi ew; i t wi l l al ways rely on the cached versi on whi ch al ways resul ts i n out-of-date web
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If for pri vacy purposes you wi sh at any poi nt to del ete any components of your browsi ng hi story from the
cache, cli ck the Del ete button back under the General tab - see further bel ow for detail s. If you just wi sh to
browse pri vatel y from ti me to ti me, see the InPri vate Browsi ng feature covered i n the section of the same
name further bel ow.

Disk space to use: You speci fy the maximum amount of space IE uses for i ts Temporary Internet Fi l es cache i n
Megabytes i n the box provi ded. If the cache i s too small , i t wi ll general l y resul t in l onger page l oadi ng ti mes;
i f the cache is too l arge then dependi ng on your Internet connecti on speed and your dri ve speed, you may
sti ll get l onger page l oadi ng ti mes as IE has to search i ts cache to find the components of a web page to l oad,
when i t may actuall y be faster just to rel oad them from the ori gi nal si te. Therefore I recommend 150MB of
di sk space for the cache as a bal ance of si ze and speed. If you have a faster dri ve and view more compl ex
si tes wi th l ots of l arge i mages or scri pts you may wi sh to i ncrease this cache to 300MB or even larger i f
desi red.

Current Location: Internet Expl orer l ists the current l ocati on of i ts cache - thi s i s where al l of IE's stored
content i s held on your drive. You can vi ew the fil es al ready there by cl i cki ng the 'Vi ew fil es' button, and you
can vi ew any downl oaded programs necessary for certai n si tes to run by cl i cki ng the 'Vi ew objects' button. If
you wi sh to move the cache, for exampl e to a faster dri ve, cl ick the 'Move folder' button. To del ete cache
contents, i t i s recommended that you fol l ow the i nstructi ons further bel ow rather than manual l y del eting
any fil es here.

History: Internet Expl orer can keep a record of the addresses of al l the websi tes you have vi ewed for a certain
number of days. Here you can sel ect how many days worth of recentl y vi ewed websi tes IE keeps. If you
don't want a hi story of vi si ted si tes to be kept at al l enter 0 i n the box. Al ternati vely, see the InPri vate
Browsi ng secti on i f you just want to browse peri odi call y wi thout keepi ng a record of your hi story.

Delete Browsing History: By cl i cki ng the Del ete button under Browsi ng Hi story, you wi ll open a new box
whi ch contains a range of opti ons. These opti ons l i st the i ndi vi dual components of your browsi ng hi story,
gi vi ng you greater control over the speci fic el ements you can del ete. If you don't wi sh to l eave any trace of
your browsi ng hi story for each and every sessi on, you can use the InPri vate Browsi ng feature of IE, whi ch i s
covered l ater i n thi s chapter. In general i t i s compl etel y safe to ti ck all of these boxes and cl i ck the Del ete
button to remove all traces of browsi ng, however doing so too often wi l l al so decrease the effici ency of your
browsi ng. For thi s reason, there i s an opti on enti tl ed 'Preserve Favori tes websi te data' whi ch i f ti cked
(recommended) wil l keep your preferences and cached fil es for any si tes you have i n your Favori tes. This
i ncreases conveni ence and speed when accessi ng your favori te si tes, wi thout retai ni ng date for non-favorite
si tes. However i f you want to remove al l stored content then unti ck thi s box as wel l . In any case once you've
sel ected which components you want to remove, cl i ck the Del ete button at the bottom and they'll be
removed i mmedi atel y.

Search: The Instant Search box at the top ri ght of Internet Expl orer all ows you to qui ckl y i ni tiate a web search
usi ng the search engi ne of your choice, the resul ts of whi ch are di spl ayed on the mai n IE screen. By defaul t i t
i s set to use Bi ng, however if you wi sh to set i t to another engi ne such as Googl e, cli ck the Setti ngs button
and select a new engi ne, then cl i ck the 'Set as Default' button. If you want to use a search engi ne not l i sted
here, cli ck the 'Fi nd more provi ders' l i nk at the bottom of the box. If you don't want si tes or programs to
suggest changes to your defaul t search provi der, then ti ck the rel evant box at the bottom as wel l. If you just
want to use a parti cular provi der for parti cul ar searches, then in the mai n IE wi ndow click on the small
arrow to the ri ght of the Search box, select a provi der from the l i st, enter your search query and press Enter -
that search provi der wi ll be used only for that search, it wi l l not change your defaul t provider.

Tabs: Tabbed browsi ng means that new web pages l aunched from l i nks or popups can be opened as tabbed
pages wi thi n the current browser wi ndow, rather than openi ng a new browser wi ndow. Thi s hel ps reduce
resource usage and i t is also much easi er to manage mul ti pl e open pages thi s way. To confi gure tabbed


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browser, cl ick the Setti ngs button. In the box whi ch opens you can select whether to enabl e or disabl e tabbed
browsi ng al together, and set the behavi or of i t if enabl ed. Briefl y, I recommend ti cki ng the fol l owi ng
setti ngs:

Enable Tabbed Browsing - As menti oned above, tabbed browsi ng reduces resource usage by onl y keeping
one IE wi ndow open; each new tab takes up far l ess memory than addi ti onal entirel y new IE wi ndows.
Enable Quick Tabs - Qui ck Tabs places a small box at the far l eft of your tabs when you have mul ti pl e
open tabs. Cl icki ng i t opens a page whi ch contai ns previ ews of the content of every open tab.
Enable Tab Groups - Tab Groups al l ows IE to group together tabs whi ch are related. Tabs ori ginati ng from
the same source page are grouped next to each other and use the same col or.
When a pop-up is encountered - Always open popups in a new tab - Thi s prevents popup wi ndows from
attempti ng to hi de by forcing them to open i n a new tab i nstead of a new wi ndow.
Open links from other programs in - A new tab in the current window - When a program l aunches a web page,
thi s opti on forces i t to open a tab i n any exi sti ng IE wi ndow rather than open a new IE wi ndow, again
conservi ng resources.

You can sel ect the other opti ons as you wi sh, but the mai n aim of tabbed browsi ng i s to make vi ewi ng
mul ti ple web pages more manageabl e and prevent havi ng l ots of separate open IE wi ndows whi ch can use
resources and space for no good reason. Some ti ps you can use to make tabbed browsi ng easier i n IE i ncl ude:

Cl i cki ng on any hyperl i nk wi th the mi ddl e mouse button opens that li nk i n a new tab.
Cl i cki ng on any tab wi th the mi ddl e mouse button cl oses that tab.
Hol di ng down SHIFT and l eft-cl i cki ng on any li nk forces i t to open i n a new IE wi ndow.
Hol di ng down CTRL and left-cli cki ng on any li nk forces i t to open i n a new tab.
Use CTRL+TAB to qui ckly swi tch from tab to tab.
You can reopen a recentl y cl osed tab by pressi ng CTRL+SHIFT+T.
Left-cl i ck and hol d on any tab and you can then drag and drop i t to rearrange tab order.
Ri ght-cli ck on any tab to bri ng up a tab-speci fi c context menu.
If you want to save a set of tabs as a si ngl e bookmark folder, cl i ck the Add to Favori tes i con (the star
wi th a pl us sign), sel ect 'Add to Favori tes' and select 'Add Current Tabs to Favori tes'.
To open the contents of an enti re Favori tes fol der in a seri es of tabs, ri ght-cl ick on the folder under
Favori tes and select 'Open in Tab Group'.
To manage Tab Groups, right-cl ick on a tab wi thi n the group and you can close the enti re group for
exampl e by sel ecti ng 'Cl ose Thi s Group'.

Appearance: These opti ons all ow you to change the appearance of web pages, customizi ng col ors, fonts and
even forci ng parti cul ar styl e sheets. In general you shouldn't al ter these options unless you have speci fic
needs.

SECURITY
Security level for this zone: You can set the l evel of securi ty Internet Expl orer uses on the sl ider here, from
Medium to Medium-Hi gh, to High. I recommend the defaul t Medi um-hi gh l evel of securi ty as i t desi gned to
all ow most normal Internet functi onali ty wi thout bei ng overl y restri cti ve nor too rel axed. However if you
constantl y browse unsafe or untrusted websi tes, you may wi sh i nstead to set the Hi gh securi ty l evel , though
thi s wi ll i mpact on Internet functi onal ity. If you want to be even more sel ective, cl i ck the 'Custom l evel'
button and manuall y sel ect each securi ty functi on; cl early though thi s i s for more advanced users - the preset
l evels are fi ne for most users.

Note that the Wi ndows XP versi on of Internet Explorer di ffers from the Wi ndows Vista and Wi ndows 7
versi ons of IE, as i t does not i ncl ude the added securi ty of Protected Mode.


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PRIVACY
Settings: The sl ider here control s the l evel of pri vacy in IE, whi ch for the most part pertai ns to Cooki es - small
fi les stored on your machi ne desi gned to hol d your preferences for parti cul ar websi tes. Cooki es are not
usual l y mal i ci ous or dangerous, as they cannot read or del ete data on your computer, and can be very
useful . Some cooki es may attempt to track your onl ine behavi or for adverti si ng purposes for exampl e, and
for thi s reason, the 'Medi um Hi gh' l evel i s recommended as it provi des the best security/functi onal ity
compromi se and shoul d not prevent l egi ti mate cooki es from bei ng placed on your machi ne whil e sti ll
protecti ng your pri vacy. However to be even more sel ecti ve, you can cli ck the Advanced button and ti ck
'Overri de automati c cooki e handli ng'. Thi rd-party Cooki es can usuall y be Bl ocked wi thout any major i ssues,
as these are mai nl y from advertisers. Fi rst-party Cooki es on the other hand are often useful (e.g. for hol di ng
your l ogi n detai ls for forums, or recordi ng vi sual setti ngs for particular si tes), and bl ocki ng them can i mpair
a si te's functionali ty. If you do decide to bl ock al l fi rst party cooki es, and/or if you sel ect a hi gher Pri vacy
setti ng on the sl i der, cli ck the Si tes button and here you can manuall y al low or bl ock speci fi c website's
cooki es. I recommend addi ng your trusted favori te si tes to thi s l i st and al lowi ng them to prevent any
probl ems wi th functi onali ty. For exampl e, if you set a High or Very High privacy setti ng thi s wi ll bl ock
al most al l cooki es, maki ng some si tes non-functi onal , but you can sti l l all ow speci fic si tes' cooki es by maki ng
sure they're in the l i st of all owed si tes. For broader blocki ng of thi rd party content see the InPri vate Fil tering
secti on further bel ow.

Pop-up Blocker: A 'popup' i s a new wi ndow whi ch opens when you vi si t particular si tes and/or cl i ck on
parti cul ar li nks or areas of a si te. They are most commonl y used for advertisi ng, and hence the opti on here to
bl ock them. I recommend ti cki ng the 'Turn on Pop-up Bl ocker' box, but you shoul d al so cli ck the Setti ngs
button and manuall y add the names of websi tes you trust whi ch have l egi ti mate popups that woul d
otherwi se be bl ocked. For exampl e you may wi sh to add your Internet banki ng si te to the l i st, or
Mi crosoft.com. By defaul t when a popup i s bl ocked by IE, a small yell ow warni ng bar wil l appear at the top
of the page to i nform you of thi s, and you may also hear a sound. If you want to di sabl e ei ther or both of
these vi sual warni ngs, unti ck the rel evant boxes here. Bear i n mi nd that thi s may mean you wil l not be
aware that a legi ti mate si te i s tryi ng to open a necessary popup box, and thus you may run i nto probl ems on
some si tes - agai n make sure to add trusted si tes manual l y to the list i f you want them to functi on properl y.

InPrivate: InPri vate Browsing i s a new feature of IE8 whi ch al l ows you to surf the web wi thout l eavi ng any
trace of your acti vi ti es on the PC. Thi s i s covered i n more detai l i n the InPri vate Browsi ng secti on further
bel ow. The opti ons here rel ate to the way i n whi ch the InPri vate Browsi ng and InPri vate Fi l teri ng features
operate when enabl ed. By defaul t IE keeps a record of the si tes you visi t for the purposes of determi ni ng
what data to automati cal ly bl ock from thi rd party provi ders. If you ti ck the 'Do not col l ect data for use by
InPri vate Fil teri ng' box, IE wi ll not record any such data. This wi ll i mpact on how effecti ve InPri vate
Fi l teri ng i s at automati cal ly bl ocki ng thi rd party content, but start off by ti cking thi s box and i f you fi nd
probl ems on parti cul ar sites, make manual adjustments i n the InPri vate Fil teri ng setti ngs box - see the
InPri vate Fil teri ng secti on further bel ow.

When usi ng InPri vate Browsi ng, ti cki ng the 'Di sabl e tool bars and extensi ons when InPri vate Browsi ng starts'
box wi l l di sabl e all such tool bars and extensi ons to prevent them from savi ng any pri vate data duri ng an
InPri vate sessi on. This is recommended for maximum pri vacy, but i f you absol utel y requi re thei r
functi onali ty duri ng InPri vate Browsing, then untick thi s box but make sure to research your i nstall ed
tool bars and extensi ons to ensure they do not breach your pri vacy, as otherwi se i t wil l defeat much of the
purpose of InPri vate Browsi ng i n the fi rst pl ace. Note that i n general I strongl y recommend agai nst i nstal ling
many (if any) tool bars and extensi ons wherever possi ble, for both securi ty, stabil i ty and performance
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CONTENT
Content Advisor: If enabled, the Content Advisor all ows you to attempt to fi l ter out and control access to
websi tes that contai n offensi ve or i nappropri ate materi al . Go through each category of content and use the
sl ider bel ow the box to set the restri cti ons on that category. Once done, cli ck OK and you wi l l be prompted
to set a Password, as well as a Hi nt i n case you forget that password. IE wil l now attempt to restri ct content
based on content advi ce from ICRA (Internet Content Rati ng Associati on), so thi s i s not a fool -proof method.

Certificates: Certi ficates are a form of el ectroni c authenti cati on method to veri fy that a parti cular websi te or
i ndi vi dual i s what/who i t/they cl ai m to be. Certi fi cates are descri bed i n more detail i n thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e,
and are beyond the scope of thi s book i n detail i ng thei r functi ons. I don't recommend al teri ng any of the
setti ngs i n this secti on unl ess you are acti ng under advi ce from a trusted tech support person. If a parti cul ar
si te displays a certi fi cate error or warni ng, I recommend pursui ng this further wi th the si te owner or
researchi ng vi a Googl e before conducti ng any financial transacti ons wi th the si te, as advised i n thi s
Mi crosoft Arti cl e.

AutoComplete: AutoComplete can save any websi te address you have typed into the address bar (or have
al ready stored i n your History), any text you've entered i nto onl i ne forms, and any usernames and/or
passwords you've entered on a web page. The ai m is that next ti me you start to type a URL, or vi si t a si te,
AutoCompl ete wil l automati call y compl ete or restore your typed text, speedi ng up l oggi ng i n or fi ll i ng out
detail s, or typi ng URLs i nto the address bar. Cli ck the Setti ngs button to confi gure which parti cular aspects
of a web page AutoCompl ete wi ll functi on for, but i n general for securi ty purposes I don't recommend
enabli ng any of these opti ons unless you have strong protecti on on your User Account and the PC i s
physi call y i sol ated from anyone el se.

Note that ti cki ng the 'Use Wi ndows Search for better resul ts' box wi l l mean that an i tem call ed 'Internet
Expl orer History' wi ll be added to the Indexi ng Opti ons used by Wi ndows Search. Thi s i tem cannot be
removed from wi thi n the Indexi ng Opti ons; to remove i t, unti ck the box here and cli ck OK.

Feeds and Web Slices: If a websi te you're vi ewi ng has RSS or Web Sl ice capabi li ty, you wil l see the orange RSS
or green Web Sli ce icon. You can then cl i ck the rel evant i con to vi ew the feed or to preview rel evant sl i ce
i nformati on. Cl i cki ng the Setti ngs button here al l ows you to confi gure how often such feeds and sl i ces are
updated, how they're read, and how IE warns you about capable websi tes. If you don't use these features,
unti ck all the boxes on the Setti ngs page.

CONNECTIONS
You shoul d set up and customi ze the detai ls of your Internet connecti on as provided to you by your Internet
Servi ce Provider (ISP), and make sure the setti ngs here match your connecti on type and detai ls.

PROGRAMS
Default web browser: If you have i nstall ed any other browsers, you can choose to set or reset IE as your defaul t
browser by cl i cki ng the 'Make defaul t' button. Unless you are worri ed about another browser taki ng over
thi s defaul t associati on, you needn't ti ck the 'Tel l me if Internet Expl orer is not the defaul t web browser' box
for opti mal startup speed. If you wish to make another web browser your defaul t, see 'Set Program Access
and Defaul ts' under the Add or Remove Programs secti on of the Control Panel chapter for detai l s.

Manage Add-ons: Cl i cki ng thi s button allows you to confi gure Add-ons i n IE. Any smal l program i nstall ed for
use wi thi n Internet Expl orer i s an add-on, and general l y you wil l be aware that a si te is i nstall i ng an IE add-
on through prompts. However you can vi ew all the mai n add-ons here by selecti ng the relevant category
and maki ng sure that the Show drop down box under the Tool bars and Extensions category says 'All add-
ons'. For exampl e Adobe Fl ash Player is a common add-on whi ch all ows fl ash-based content to pl ay on web
pages, such as YouTube videos. When you fi rst vi si t a web page wi th a fl ash ani mati on, IE wi ll prompt you


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wi th a yel l ow warni ng bar that 'Thi s websi te wants to i nstall the fol l owi ng add-on:' and menti ons the name
of the add-on, i n thi s case 'Adobe Flash Player from Adobe Systems Incorporated'. If you wi sh to conti nue
then cl i ck the warni ng bar and foll ow the prompts.

For the most part some add-ons are l egiti mate, such as all owi ng you to vi ew PDF fil es from wi thi n Internet
Expl orer, or runni ng free browser games. You can also downl oad a Range of Add-Ons whi ch provi de useful
addi ti onal functi onali ty for Internet Expl orer, such as spel l checki ng. Many of these add-ons are free and
operate si milar to Extensi ons for Fi refox, maki ng Internet Expl orer more functi onal and customi zabl e.

The probl em i s that some si tes try to i nstall add-ons whi ch contain potenti al l y harmful or i ntrusi ve scri pts
designed to al ter Internet Expl orer's setti ngs to sui t thei r purposes. Furthermore some si tes and programs
wi ll i nsi st on i nstall i ng usel ess tool bars i n IE whi ch take up space, col l ect data on your browsi ng behavior,
and add to resource usage unnecessary. For thi s reason i t's extremel y i mportant that you don't just
automati cal ly accept the i nstall ation of any add-on; onl y i nstall add-ons from trusted websites and onl y i f
absolutel y necessary. In general the l ess add-ons the better, both for securi ty and performance purposes.
Even l egi ti mate add-ons can potenti al ly sl ow down the l aunch and browsi ng speeds of Internet Expl orer.
Regularly check the l ist of add-ons i n thi s secti on and di sabl e those you don't trust; do a Googl e search i f the
name does not seem famil iar.

The Search Provi ders category i n the Manage Add-ons box i s covered under the General secti on further
above; the Accel erators category is covered under the Accelerators secti on later on i n thi s chapter, as is
InPri vate Fil teri ng.

HTML Editing: Here you can set the program IE uses for edi ti ng the HTML code of web pages when you
sel ect the 'Edit wi th [program name]' option under the Page menu.

Internet Programs: Cl i cki ng the 'Set Programs' button here si mpl y opens the Defaul t Programs component of
Control Panel, covered i n ful l detail under the Defaul t Programs secti on of the Control Panel chapter.

ADVANCED
Thi s secti on contai ns i mportant setti ngs for Internet Expl orer's functi onali ty, securi ty and general behavior.
There are too many setti ngs to be abl e to descri be each one of them i n ful l here, however I want to di scuss a
few i mportant opti ons i n more detai l before goi ng i nto the recommended settings:

Phishing Filter/SmartScreen Filter: As di scussed under the PC Securi ty chapter, Phishi ng is a form of decepti on
designed to il l egal l y secure your personal detai ls, such as l ogon, password and credi t card numbers. It is
usual l y done for fi nancial gai n, and is becomi ng an i ncreasi ngly si gni fi cant threat. Internet Expl orer 7
i ntroduced the buil t-i n Phishi ng Fil ter whi ch warns you i f a particular si te seems to be decepti ve or a known
phi shi ng perpetrator. Internet Expl orer 8 has changed the name of thi s opti on to the SmartScreen Fi l ter.
More than just a name change, the way i n whi ch the fi l ter works has al so changed. The fi l ter now works
much more effi ci ently, has new features to detect and bl ock potential mal ware downl oads, and i n general it
i s strongl y recommended that you l eave the 'Enabl e SmartScreen Fi l ter' box ti cked under the Advanced tab.
If you visi t a potenti all y unsafe si te, the prompts you wi ll recei ve are qui te i ntui ti ve. If you sti ll wi sh to
conti nue vi si ti ng the reported si te, cli ck the 'More Informati on' l i nk at the bottom of the warni ng, or cl ick
'Di sregard and downl oad unsafe fi l e' to conti nue downl oadi ng an al l egedl y unsafe fil e downl oad. Obvi ously
i n both cases thi s is not recommended unl ess you are certai n the report i s fal se - remember that even trusted
websi tes can uni ntenti onall y host mal ware wi thout thei r owner's knowl edge.

To manual ly check a particular si te using the SmartScreen Fi l ter, go to the Safety menu i n IE, hi ghl i ght the
'SmartScreen Fi l ter' menu and cl i ck 'Check thi s Websi te'. To report a websi te as bei ng unsafe, go to the same
menu and this ti me sel ect 'Report Unsafe Websi te' - however bear in mi nd thi s doesn't automati call y add the


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si te to the l i st of unsafe websi tes, i t only reports i t for further exami nati on by Mi crosoft. Finall y, you can
di sabl e SmartScreen Fil ter by selecti ng the 'Turn Off SmartScreen Fi l ter' opti on, but thi s i s not recommended.

Zoom: Di fferent web pages have different si zed text and pi ctures. Internet Expl orer al l ows you to zoom
i n/out of any page at any time si mpl y by sel ecti ng the zoom l evel usi ng the Zoom box at the bottom ri ght of
the screen - cl i ck on i t and sel ect the desi red zoom level . However a qui cker method i s to hol d down the
CTRL button and scroll up or down on your mousewheel . Al ternati vely you can use CTRL + (plus key) or
CTRL - (mi nus key) to zoom i n and out respecti vely, and to reset the page to i ts defaul t size, use CTRL 0
(zero). Under the Advanced opti ons you can al ter how thi s behavi or works, parti cularly for new tabs and
wi ndows. For exampl e i f you ti ck the 'Reset zoom l evel for new wi ndows and tabs', regardl ess of how
zoomed i n or out you are on your current tab, openi ng a new tab wi ll mean the page wil l open at the defaul t
zoom l evel ; i f unti cked, the new tab wil l open at the same zoom l evel as your current page. Experi ment wi th
these setti ngs as well as the zoom feature to determi ne what sui ts your tastes.

Compatibility View: Internet Expl orer 8 i ntroduces Compati bi li ty Vi ew whi ch hel ps correctl y render web
pages that use code designed for ol der browsers. You can swi tch to Compati bi l i ty Vi ew at any ti me by
sel ecti ng the opti on under the Page menu, or by cl icki ng the small 'broken page' i con to the ri ght of the
Address Bar. Thi s essentiall y changes IE8 i nto IE7 for the purposes of renderi ng the page. You should only
use this opti on i f you beli eve a web page i s bei ng shown i ncorrectly, typi call y when el ements on the page are
out of al ignment, obscured by other el ements, gli tchy or mi ssi ng objects/text i s visi ble, and so forth. Most
si tes wi ll render correctly i n IE8, so thi s is not a common probl em. To manuall y force any page to
permanentl y show i tself in Compati bi li ty Vi ew, select the 'Compati bi li ty Vi ew Setti ngs' opti on under the
Page menu and add i t to the l i st. You can also ti ck the 'Incl ude updated websites l i sts from Mi crosoft' to use
a pre-compi led li st hel d by Mi crosoft whi ch determi nes which si tes requi re Compati bi li ty Vi ew to
automati cal ly be enabl ed - more detai l s can be found i n thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e. Of rel evance to thi s secti on,
under the Advanced tab i n the mai n IE Internet Opti ons, there i s an opti on enti tl ed 'Automati call y recover
from page layout errors wi th Compati bi li ty Vi ew' - if ti cked, as the opti on i mpl i es, page l ayout renderi ng
errors wi ll resul t i n the page bei ng shown i n Compati bi l i ty Vi ew. You can l eave thi s opti on ti cked, however
i f you noti ce a si te you regul arl y visi t tri ggeri ng thi s opti on, i t i s better to add i t to the l i st under
Compati bi li ty Vi ew Setti ngs for faster renderi ng.

The rest of my recommendati ons for the more i mportant Advanced setti ngs i n IE are provi ded bel ow.

I recommend that the foll owi ng opti ons be ti cked for maxi mum performance, stabi li ty and conveni ence:

Di sabl e scri pt debuggi ng (Internet Expl orer)
Di sabl e scri pt debuggi ng (Other)
Enabl e automati c crash recovery
Enabl e thi rd-party browser extensi ons
Enabl e vi sual styl es on buttons and control s i n webpages
Show fri endly HTTP error messages
Use Passi ve FTP
Use smooth scrol li ng
Use HTTP 1.1
Use HTTP 1.1 through proxy connecti ons
Al ways use Cl earType for HTML
Enabl e automati c i mage resi zi ng
Show pi ctures
Check for publ i sher's certifi cate revocati on
Check for server certifi cate revocati on
Check for si gnatures on downl oaded programs
Do not save encrypted pages to di sk


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Enabl e DOM storage
Enabl e Integrated Wi ndows Authenti cati on
Enabl e nati ve XMLHTTP support
Enabl e SmartScreen Fil ter
Use SSL 3.0
Use TLS 1.0
Warn about certi ficate address mi smatch
Warn if POST submi ttal i s redi rected to a zone that does not permi t posts

I recommend the foll owi ng be unti cked, agai n for maxi mum performance, stabil ity and conveni ence:

Di splay a noti ficati on about every scri pt error
Enabl e Suggested Si tes
Al l ow acti ve content to run i n fil es on My Computer
Al l ow software to run or i nstall even if the signature is i nvali d

Setti ngs for whi ch I have no specifi c recommendati on, but whi ch are noteworthy:

Display Accelerator Button on selection: Accel erators are covered i n more detai l i n the secti on of the same name
further bel ow. If ti cked, thi s opti on bri ngs up the bl ue Accelerators button whenever you highl ight a
sel ecti on on a page for exampl e. Thi s may be annoying for some peopl e, especi al l y i f they keep acci dental ly
cl i cki ng the button. Unti cki ng this opti on removes the button.

Do not submit unknown addresses to your auto-search provider: If sel ected, thi s opti on prevents the search
functi onali ty of the Address Bar. Gi ven IE al ready provi des an Instant Search box at the top ri ght of the
screen, thi s functi onal i ty appears superfluous. If you wish to retai n i t, select 'Just di spl ay the resul ts i n the
mai n wi ndow', then whenever you enter some plai n text i n the Address Bar i t wi ll i ni ti ate a search usi ng the
defaul t search engi ne used for the Instant Search box.

Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed: As discussed under the General section above, the
use of the browser cache speeds up browsi ng i n IE. However i f for pri vacy and/or securi ty purposes you
want the cache cl eared every ti me you cl ose IE, ti ck thi s opti on. Thi s may resul t i n sl ower browsi ng each
ti me you start a new sessi on of IE. A better al ternati ve mi ght be to browse wi th InPri vate Browsing
automati cal ly enabled - see further bel ow for detai l s.

The remai ni ng setti ngs not covered above can be set to sui t your taste, or si mply l eft at thei r defaul t.

INPRIVATE BROWSING
InPri vate Browsi ng i s a feature of Internet Expl orer 8 desi gned to all ow you to surf the Internet wi thout
l eavi ng any trace on the PC you are usi ng. To access thi s feature, sel ect the 'InPrivate Browsi ng' opti on under
the Safety menu, or press CTRL+SHIFT+P - a new browser wi ndow wi ll open, cl earl y marked as 'InPri vate'.
Any browsi ng done usi ng thi s InPri vate sessi on wi ll not store data on your drive. Thi s i s i deal for people
who browse the Internet usi ng publi cly shared machi nes, but i t is also useful i f you si mpl y want to ensure
that there is no potenti all y embarrassi ng Internet-related materi al stored on your PC via normal browsi ng.

Whi le usi ng an InPri vate sessi on, IE wi ll generate and store several temporary pi eces of i nformati on, mainl y
to ensure that websi te functi onal i ty i s mai ntai ned. Cooki es and cached internet fil es wi ll be stored
temporaril y for example, but as soon as you close the InPri vate browser wi ndow, these are all automati cal ly
removed. Importantl y however, there are a range of caveats to keep i n mi nd when usi ng InPri vate Browsing:


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If you add any Favori tes, RSS Feeds or Web Sl i ces whi l e usi ng InPri vate, or you i nstal l any software, or
add a new home page, then such changes will be saved and kept permanentl y even after you cl ose i t.
If you don't cl ose the InPrivate wi ndow before termi nati ng your sessi on, then others may be abl e to vi ew
your browsi ng history and temporary files on the same PC.
InPri vate functi onali ty does not extend to protecti ng your anonymi ty when surfi ng - your IP address for
exampl e wil l sti ll be visi bl e and stored on vari ous si tes as you browse the Internet.
An InPri vate sessi on does not offer any greater securi ty than usi ng the standard IE mode. Do not
mi stake InPrivate as a form of protection agai nst mal ware or phishi ng for exampl e.

Note also that i f you have i nstall ed any thi rd party tool bars or extensi ons i n IE, then unl ess you ti ck the
'Di sabl e tool bars and extensi ons when InPri vate Browsi ng starts' box as covered under the Pri vacy section
further above, these tool bars and extensions may be savi ng and transmi tti ng private data regardl ess. For that
reason, I recommend ti cking thi s box, but more i mportantl y, resi sti ng the urge to i nstall additi onal software
for IE as much as possi bl e unl ess absol utel y necessary.

Whi le InPri vate Browsi ng i s a useful feature, especi al ly for those usi ng shared machi nes, i t is not a substi tute
for correctly confi guri ng al l of IE's opti ons (see the rest of thi s chapter), and also exerci si ng common sense as
to general browsi ng. InPrivate does not guarantee that others wil l not fi nd out about your browsi ng habits
through other techni ques, so mi ni mi ze the extent to whi ch you undertake potenti all y embarrassi ng or secure
browsi ng on shared PCs for exampl e.

You can confi gure Internet Expl orer to always open i n InPri vate Browsi ng mode by defaul t - see the
Advanced Setti ngs section l ater i n this chapter.

INPRIVATE FILTERING
InPri vate Fi l teri ng i s an addi ti onal Internet Expl orer 8 feature whi ch goes hand-i n-hand wi th InPri vate
Browsi ng. As noted above, InPri vate Browsi ng i s desi gned to remove traces of your acti vi ty from the PC, but
i t does not protect your pri vacy when onl i ne. InPrivate Fi l teri ng attempts to do just that, to a reasonable
extent, by preventi ng your pri vate data from bei ng broadcast unnecessaril y to thi rd party si tes whi ch are
di splayi ng content on the page you are vi ewi ng. For exampl e, when you vi si t a trusted si te, i t may have
content such as an i nteracti ve map or adverti si ng whi ch i s drawn from another provi der. You may wi sh to
bl ock data regardi ng your current acti ons on the trusted si te from bei ng transmi tted to these thi rd party
provi ders.

To turn on InPri vate Fil tering, go to the Safety menu in IE and sel ect the 'InPri vate Fi l teri ng' opti on to enabl e
i t; thi s must be done each ti me you start IE, al though there i s a advanced tweak to overcome thi s covered
l ater i n thi s chapter. Once enabl ed, you can then refine the way i n whi ch i t works by sel ecti ng the 'InPri vate
Fi l teri ng Settings' opti on under the Safety menu. Al ternati vel y, you can access these opti ons by cl i cki ng the
small l ock i con i n the Status Bar at the bottom of the screen.

You have three mai n opti ons for InPri vate Fi l teri ng: Automati call y Bl ock; Choose Content to Bl ock or Al l ow;
or Off. When 'Automati call y Bl ock' i s chosen, i f the same thi rd party content appears frequentl y across a
range of si tes i t wi ll be tracked and eventuall y bl ocked by IE to protect your pri vacy. However you can
manuall y choose to bl ock or al l ow content yoursel f if you're not sati sfi ed wi th the automated resul ts. At the
bottom of the Setti ngs box there i s a small box whi ch all ows you to change how many websi tes need to be
vi si ted wi th the same thi rd party content before i t appears on the l ist of Content Provi ders i n the Setti ngs
screen at the bottom of the screen. The defaul t i s 10, but you can lower i t to 3 or rai se i t to 30; the l ower the
number the more thi rd content wi l l be bl ocked and hence also appear for you to choose to bl ock or all ow i n
the l ist.

Al ternati vel y, cl i ck the 'Advanced Setti ngs' li nk at the bottom of the Setti ngs box and you wil l be taken to the
Manage Add-Ons box which then al l ows you to i mport pre-made fi l ters for InPri vate Fil teri ng. One exampl e


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i s thi s l ist whi ch a user has compi l ed, mi mi cki ng the fi l ter li st from Adbl ock pl us, a popular ad-bl ocki ng
extensi on for Fi refox. Save the l i st and use the Import feature i n the InPri vate Fil teri ng category of Manage
Add-Ons to appl y i t to IE.

Remember however that InPri vate Fi l teri ng i s not speci fi cal ly designed to bl ock adverti si ng as such, i t i s a
general tool to l i mi t the amount of data you send to thi rd party provi ders. Enabl i ng InPri vate Fi l teri ng can
resul t i n some si tes not di splayi ng correctl y, or mi ssi ng i mportantl y functi onali ty. However more
i mportantl y, constantl y usi ng InPri vate Fi l teri ng and thus bl ocki ng adverti sing can and wi ll affect the
vi abil i ty of many si tes on the Internet whi ch rel y on thi rd party adverti si ng i ncome to remai n free to vi ew. If
you bl ock the ads on si tes you enjoy, consi der donating to them directl y i f you wi sh to see them remai n open
and free.

ACCELERATORS
Accel erators are browser-based tools whi ch provi de addi ti onal functi onali ty for a si te. You can access an
Accel erator by hi ghli ghti ng a porti on of a si te and cli cki ng the bl ue Accel erators button whi ch appears. To
access a li st of Accel erators currentl y i nstal led on your IE, ri ght-cl i ck the bl ue button and sel ect 'All
Accel erators', or go to the Tool s menu i n IE, select 'Manage Add-Ons' and then sel ect the Accel erators
category. There are a range of addi ti onal free Accel erators you can downl oad, you can vi ew the full l ist by
ri ght-cl i cki ng on the Accel erators button and sel ecti ng 'All Accel erators'>'Find More Accel erators', or by
cl i cki ng the 'Fi nd More Accel erators' l i nk i n the 'Manage Add-Ons' screen. Whi l e they provi de useful
functi onali ty, I recommend exerci si ng constrai nt i n how many you add to IE and keep acti ve at any ti me to
reduce resource usage.

If you fi nd the Accel erators functi onal i ty unnecessary, then disabl e all the avai labl e Accel erators i n the
'Manage Add-Ons' box, and al so di sabl e the bl ue Accel erators button - see the Advanced setti ngs section
further above.

< ADVANCED SETTINGS
The foll owi ng are some more advanced customizati ons to make IE easi er to use:

CUSTOMIZE INTERNET EXPLORER 8'S APPEARANCE
Internet Expl orer 8 does al l ow customizati on of i ts interface, al though i n practi ce there i sn't a great deal of
scope for changi ng the way IE8 l ooks. To streaml i ne IE8's appearance, try the fol l owi ng changes:

1. Ri ght-cli ck on an empty area of the mai n IE tool bar (e.g. i n the blank area to the ri ght of any open tabs)
to access the customizati on opti ons.
2. Unti ck any components you do not wi sh to vi ew. For exampl e the Favori tes Bar, Menu Bar and the
Compati bi li ty Vi ew button are pri me candidates for removal, as they are not frequently used by most
peopl e and thei r functi onali ty is dupli cated i n a range of other pl aces.
3. Sel ect the 'Lock All Tool bars' opti on to turn i t off, and you can now move the Command Bar - the icon
bar on the ri ght si de of the screen hol di ng your main IE opti ons. Grab the dotted l i ne to the l eft of the
Command Bar and you can move i t up sl i ghtl y to si t on a new l i ne above your Favori tes button and tabs
for example; thi s mi ght make access to i t qui cker for some peopl e. Regardl ess of whether you do move
the Command Bar, make sure the 'Lock Al l Tool bars' opti on i s ti cked at thi s point to prevent acci dental
movement of any tool bars.
4. Sel ect the Customi ze opti on and ti ck or unti ck the 'Use Large Icons' opti on to toggl e the size of the i cons
to sui t your taste, and al so ti ck or unti ck the 'Show Stop and Refresh Buttons Before Address Bar' opti on
i f you wi sh to move the l ocati on of the Stop and Refresh buttons accordi ngl y.
5. Sel ect the Customi ze opti on and then sel ect whether you wi sh to di splay any text next to i cons or not -
sel ecti ng 'Show Onl y Icons' wi ll reduce the space they take up and is recommended.
6. Sel ect the Customi ze opti on and then sel ect 'Add or Remove Commands'.


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7. Hi ghl i ght the commands you wish to add or remove to/from the Command Bar and use the Add and
Remove arrows to make the appropriate changes i n the box on the ri ght. For exampl e you may wish to
remove the Read Mai l and Hel p buttons, and i nstead add a 'Del ete Browsing History' button to the
Command Bar. Once done, cl i ck Cl ose to see the changes.

Unfortunately there i sn't much more that can be done to trul y customi ze IE8's appearance wi thout resorti ng
to more advanced methods covered further bel ow. Fortunately, for the most part IE8's i nterface i s reasonably
streamli ned.

CHANGE OR DISABLE INTERNET EXPLORER CLICK SOUND
Every ti me you navigate anywhere usi ng Internet Expl orer, or for that matter i n Wi ndows Expl orer, you wi ll
hear a 'cli ck' sound. To disabl e thi s cli cking sound, or to change i t to another sound fol l ow these steps:

1. Go to Control Panel>Sounds and Audi o Devi ces>Sounds.
2. Under the Program Events l ist, scroll down to 'Start Navi gati on' under the 'Wi ndows Expl orer' secti on.
3. Left-cl i ck on 'Start Navigati on' to hi ghlight i t.
4. To di sabl e the sound compl etel y go to the sounds list bel ow and sel ect [None] at the very top of the l i st,
then cl i ck Appl y.
5. To change the sound, pi ck another more sui tabl e sound from the li st, or cli ck the Browse button to fi nd
another sound fil e on your dri ve to use. Remember that the larger the sound fi le, the more memory is
used - see Sounds & Audio Devi ces under the Control Panel chapter. Cl ick Appl y when done.

Note that changi ng or disabl i ng this sound wi ll affect both Internet Expl orer and Wi ndows Expl orer equal ly.
Further note that the default cl i ck sound i s call ed Windows XP Start.wav.

CHANGE INTERNET EXPLORER DEFAULT DOWNLOAD DIRECTORY
By defaul t Internet Expl orer uses the same di rectory path to save fi les whenever you download a fi l e from
the Internet. You can change thi s default path at any ti me by opening the Registry Edi tor and goi ng to:

[ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Sof t war e\ Mi cr osof t \ I nt er net Expl or er ]

Downl oad Di r ect or y=C: \ Document s and Set t i ngs\ User \ Downl oads

Thi s STRING speci fies the defaul t di rectory where IE wi ll save downl oaded fil es. Enter the path to wherever
you want the new defaul t to be.

START WITH INPRIVATE BROWSING MODE ENABLED
By defaul t the InPri vate Browsi ng mode i n IE8 requi res that you start up IE normall y, then sel ect the
'InPri vate Browsi ng' opti on under the Safety menu (or press CTRL+SHIFT+P) to open a new browser
wi ndow whi ch speci fi call y uses InPri vate. To avoid all thi s, you can create a shortcut whi ch opens IE already
i n InPri vate Browsi ng mode, ready to go at the start of every sessi on. To do thi s, foll ow these instructi ons:

1. Ri ght-cli ck on the i con you normall y use to launch Internet Expl orer 8.
2. Sel ect 'Send to>Desktop' if you wi sh to create a dupli cate of i t.
3. Ri ght-cli ck on the i con to be modi fi ed and sel ect Properti es.
4. In the Target box, go to the very end of the exi sti ng text, i nsert one bl ank space and then add the -private
swi tch, and cli ck Appl y then OK to cl ose the box.

Now whenever IE i s launched from thi s modified i con, i t wil l automati cal ly open already i n InPri vate
Browsi ng mode every ti me.


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START WITH INPRIVATE FILTERING MODE ENABLED
By defaul t InPri vate Fi l tering needs to be enabl ed each and every ti me you start a new sessi on of IE i f you
wi sh to use i t. If you want InPri vate Fi l teri ng to be on by defaul t all the ti me, then open the Registry Edi tor
and go to:

[ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Sof t war e\ Mi cr osof t \ I nt er net Expl or er \ Saf et y\ Pr i vacI E]

St ar t Mode=1

Thi s DWORD needs to be created. When set =1 i t forces IE8 to automati call y begi n wi th InPri vate Fil tering
mode enabl ed wi th each sessi on. Del ete i t if you wi sh to undo thi s opti on.

CUSTOMIZE INTERNET EXPLORER TITLE BAR
If you want to customi ze what i s di splayed at the top of each Internet Expl orer wi ndow - typi cal l y the name
of the si te followed by Windows Internet Explorer - go to:

[ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Sof t war e\ Mi cr osof t \ I nt er net Expl or er \ Mai n]

Wi ndow Ti t l e=

Create a new STRING call ed Wi ndow Ti t l e (there is one space between the two words), and assign
whatever text you wish to use. The next ti me you launch a new Internet Expl orer wi ndow thi s text wi ll be
di splayed at the top of IE.

BUILT-IN FLASH BLOCKING
If you want to bl ock Flash-based content on any web page, you can use the new functi onality i n the 'Manage
Add-Ons' screen i n IE8 whi ch al l ows greater control of Acti veX content, as descri bed i n thi s Mi crosoft
Arti cl e. Fol l ow these steps to customize how Flash content i s all owed/bl ocked on a per-si te basi s:

1. Go to the Tool s menu i n IE, select 'Manage Add-Ons'.
2. Hi ghl i ght the 'Tool bars and Extensi ons' category and make sure the 'Al l add-ons' opti on i s sel ected
under the Show drop-down box.
3. Left-cl i ck on the Flash-related entry (e.g. Shockwave Fl ash Object), and at the bottom of the screen sel ect
the 'More Informati on' li nk, or si mpl y doubl e-cli ck on the entry.
4. In the box whi ch opens, at the very bottom you wi l l see a secti on where you can manually enter the
names of si tes whi ch are al l owed to use Fl ash-based content. By defaul t i t says * (asterisk) whi ch means
all si tes. Remove the *, or cl i ck the 'Remove All Si tes' button and cl i ck Cl ose to di sal l ow al l Flash-based
content on al l si tes. Al ternati vel y, remove the * and then manual l y enter onl y the names of speci fi c si tes
for whi ch you wish to all ow Flash functi onal i ty.
5. With Fl ash functi onal i ty di sabl ed for si tes, you wi ll see a yell ow i nformati on bar when a si te requi res
flash for ful l functi onal i ty. You can ei ther i gnore thi s bar, or if you wi sh to add the si te to your all ow l ist,
cl i ck on the bar and select the 'Run Add-On' opti on and fol l ow the prompts.

As noted earli er, be aware that bl ocki ng flash-based content not onl y affects the functi onali ty on certai n si tes,
but i t may al so affect thei r vi abil i ty if you bl ock al l thei r advertisi ng as wel l.


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SPEED UP / FIX INTERNET EXPLORER 8
Many users have reported that thi s tweak has i mproved IE8's speed and/or stabi l i ty, and i n general i t shoul d
be qui te harml ess ei ther way, so i t i s incl uded here for the sake of compl eteness. If you bel i eve IE8 i s runni ng
sl owly on your machi ne, or you are experi enci ng probl ems wi th the browser, open a Command Prompt and
type the foll owi ng then press Enter:

r egsvr 32 act xpr xy. dl l

Reboot your system and open IE8 to see i f there i s any difference.

If you are havi ng probl ems wi th Internet Expl orer, you can browse through thi s Mi crosoft Fi xi t Si te. In
parti cul ar, to attempt to automati cal l y di agnose and repai r an Internet Expl orer i ssue, you can run through
thi s Mi crosoft Interacti ve Support Wizard.

Furthermore, you can fi rst attempt to reset al l of Internet Expl orer 8's setti ngs to thei r defaul ts by opening
Internet Opti ons - vi a the Wi ndows Control Panel if you can't access i t from withi n Internet Expl orer i tself -
then under the Advanced tab, cl i ck the Reset button and fol l ow the prompts.

INCREASE MAXIMUM SIMULTANEOUS CONNECTIONS
By defaul t Internet Expl orer 7 onl y all owed two i tems to be downl oaded at a ti me from a server, but Internet
Expl orer 8 has raised thi s li mi t to 6. This can stil l be sl ow for si tes whi ch have mul ti ple i tems that need to be
downl oaded before the page can be di splayed. You can i ncrease the value beyond 6 by goi ng to the
foll owi ng l ocati on i n the Regi stry:

[ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHI NE\ SOFTWARE\ Mi cr osof t \ I nt er net
Expl or er \ MAI N\ Feat ur eCont r ol \ FEATURE_MAXCONNECTI ONSPERSERVER]

i expl or e. exe=10

The value above doesn't exi st, so create i t as a new DWORD and i n Deci mal vi ew assi gn the maxi mum
number of connecti ons you wi sh to have (e.g. 10 as shown above). You must al so change the value at the key
bel ow:

[ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHI NE\ SOFTWARE\ Mi cr osof t \ I nt er net
Expl or er \ MAI N\ Feat ur eCont r ol \ FEATURE_MAXCONNECTI ONSPER1_0SERVER]

i expl or e. exe=10

The value above doesn't exi st, so create i t as a new DWORD and i n Deci mal vi ew assi gn the maxi mum
number of connecti ons you wish to have (e.g. 10 as shown above).

Restart Wi ndows or l ogoff and l ogon to i mpl ement thi s change. You can experiment wi th higher val ues if
you wish, but note that i ncreasi ng the maxi mum number of si mul taneous connecti ons to a very hi gh value
may techni cal l y be a breach of Internet Standards, or resul t i n your connecti on bei ng refused, so i f you
experi ence any probl ems reset these values to 6 or si mpl y del ete these val ues al together.

DNS CACHE ISSUES
Whenever your browser tri es to l oad up a page on the Internet, i t has to access a Domai n Name System
(DNS) server to resol ve or transl ate the text address you use (e.g. www.googl e.com) i nto the actual IP
address for the websi te (e.g.: 74.125.67.100). Si nce your browser needs to check DNS addresses each ti me i t
l oads any web pages, the browser speeds up this process by l ocall y stori ng the DNS addresses you use for a
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than l ooki ng i t up agai n on a DNS Server. Unfortunatel y i f a site i s down temporaril y, or has recently
moved, then your DNS cache may store the si te as bei ng i naccessibl e for a whi le even i f i t comes back onl ine
shortl y afterwards, and therefore every ti me you try to connect to it for a whi l e you wil l get an error.

To resol ve any DNS probl ems wi th web pages not l oadi ng up at al l or l oadi ng up wi th outdated
i nformati on, open an Admi ni strator Command Prompt and type i pconf i g / f l ushdns and press Enter.
Thi s wil l cl ear your DNS cache. Furthermore, to make sure that your browser never stores a negati ve DNS
cache entry - i .e. one whi ch says a si te i s i naccessi bl e - then go to the foll owi ng l ocati on i n the Regi stry:

[ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHI NE\ SYSTEM\ Cur r ent Cont r ol Set \ Ser vi ces\ Dnscache\ Par amet er s]

MaxNegat i veCacheTt l =0

If the value above doesn't exi st, create i t as a new DWORD and assign i t a value data of 0 so that no negati ve
DNS entri es can be kept in the DNS cache. You can also set the l ength of ti me i n Ti me To Li ve (TTL) for a
posi ti ve (or worki ng) DNS cache entry to remai n acti ve before bei ng updated. To do thi s, add the foll owi ng
DWORD i n the same l ocati on:

MaxCacheTt l =10800

Assi gn i t a val ue whi ch measures (i n seconds) the total Ti me To Li ve for the positi ve cache entry. Make sure
to enter the amount of seconds i n Deci mal vi ew. Do not set thi s val ue too l ow as your DNS cache wi ll
effecti vel y become usel ess and browsi ng wi ll take l onger. A value of between 3 and 6 hours (10800 - 21600
seconds) shoul d be fi ne.

ADVANCED CUSTOMIZATION
Whi le Internet Expl orer i s a good browser i n many respects, i t i s very li mi ted i n the extent to whi ch i t can be
trul y customized usi ng relati vely si mple methods. Thi s i s one of the reasons why, i f you are i nterested in
undertaki ng more advanced customi zati on of browser functi onal i ty and appearance, you may wi sh to
expl ore the opti on of usi ng one of the other free web browsers covered at the end of thi s chapter.

However if you sti ll wish to try advanced customizati on of IE, you can use the free IE7Pro add-on whi ch
despi te i ts name also works wi th IE8. Downl oad and i nstal l IE7Pro, but duri ng i nstall ati on make sure the
'Enable Userscri pts Plugin' opti on i s ti cked, and then sel ect the 'Do not i nstal l ProgSense' opti on. Once
i nstal l ed, to access the new features whi ch IE7Pro enabl es, go to the Tool s menu i n IE and sel ect 'IE7Pro
Preferences'. In the wi ndow whi ch opens you wil l see a range of opti ons whi ch you can use to al ter the
appearance and behavi or of Internet Expl orer.

For exampl e, usi ng the 'User Scri pts' component i n the IE7Pro preferences box, you can l oad up a range of
user-made scri pts, such as those freel y avai labl e at UserScri pts.org, to achi eve a range of customizati ons -
though be aware that some user scripts can be del i berately mali ci ous or annoyi ng, so research a scri pt
careful l y before enabl i ng i t.

The vari ous other functi onali ty of IE7Pro won't be covered here, but cl early this add-on provi des users with
a great many opti ons for further customi zati on of Internet Expl orer i f used wisel y. Note that i f at any time
you wi sh to di sabl e the addi ti onal toolbar IE7Pro i nstall s, ri ght-cli ck on the tool bar area and unti ck the new
'Grab Pro' i tem. Thi s wil l also remove the 'IE7Pro Preferences' i tem i n the Tool s menu. You can re-enabl e
these agai n by right-cli cking on the toolbar area and reti cki ng the 'Grab Pro' i tem.


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< WINDOWS UPDATE
Wi ndows Update i s an essential websi te whi ch you shoul d access regularl y to download and i nstall
i mportant updates for Wi ndows. To access Wi ndows Update at any ti me, open Internet Expl orer, go to the
Tool s menu and sel ect Windows Update. Al ternati vel y, i f you want to create a shortcut or bookmark to i t,
the address i s Wi ndows Update. If you are havi ng probl ems accessi ng the si te through the common methods
above, you can try accessing i t usi ng a secure server through thi s l i nk: Wi ndows Update Secure. Note that
the secure l i nk differs by havi ng https:// i nstead of http:// i n the address. Note also that Wi ndows Genui ne
Advantage does not al l ow pi rated copies of Wi ndows to ful l y access updates on Wi ndows Update - see the
Wi ndows Product Acti vation & Wi ndows Genui ne Advantage chapter for detail s.

WINDOWS UPDATE USAGE
Whenever you access Wi ndows Update I strongl y recommend that you cli ck on the Custom button i nstead
of the Express method. Thi s is because Custom all ows you to see what updates are avail abl e, and you can
sel ect whi ch you want to i nstal l. Once you've cl icked on Custom you wi ll see Wi ndows Update scanning
your machi ne and after a whi l e i t provi des a l ist of updates. If the scanni ng doesn't seem to stop, or you have
probl ems getti ng Wi ndows Update to work, see further bel ow.

Now cl i ck on the 'Revi ew and Instal l Updates' opti on and make sure all the Hi gh Pri ori ty securi ty-related
updates are sel ected - these shoul d be install ed on any Wi ndows XP i nstall ati on. However you should then
check the 'Opti onal Software' and 'Opti onal Hardware' li nks on the l eft and go through the l ist of opti onal
updates. These updates i ncl ude i mportant appli cati on updates, newer versi ons of dri vers for the hardware
on your system, etc. and I recommend that you first fol l ow the procedures i n the rest of thi s book to update
your dri vers, and then i f these dri ver updates sti ll appear you shoul d i nstall them as well . They won't cause
any harm to your system and you can al ways manuall y i nstal l newer versi ons over them.

If you feel adventurous and want to see any pre-rel ease software i n Wi ndows Update, cl i ck on the 'Change
Setti ngs' l i nk under Opti ons i n the l eft pane and place a ti ck agai nst the 'Show beta products and related
updates' box at the bottom of the screen and cl i ck the 'Appl y Changes Now' button. Do a rescan wi th
Wi ndows Update and a new 'Beta Software' category wi ll be visi bl e i n the l eft pane.

SECURITY PATCH LINKS AND RELEASE DATES
Mi crosoft usual l y rel eases new dri vers and software updates as necessary, but they have a set rel ease
schedul e for securi ty patches - typi cally they are released together on the fi rst Tuesday of every month. To
fi nd out when the next update i s due, check the Mi crosoft Securi ty Bul l eti n Si te. You can fi nd the di rect
downl oad l i nks to major securi ty updates at any ti me on the Wi ndows Securi ty & Updates Downl oad Si te -
cl i ck the 'Rel eased' col umn header once to sort by date.

Important: Accordi ng to the Mi crosoft Product Li fecycl e mai nstream support for Wi ndows XP ended i n
Apri l 2009. Thi s means that feature updates for exampl e wil l no l onger be rel eased for XP. However
Mi crosoft wi ll conti nue to provi de Extended Support unti l April 2014, whi ch means that important securi ty
updates wil l conti nue to be released as requi red until that date, as l ong as you are runni ng Servi ce Pack 3.

WINDOWS UPDATE ON OTHER BROWSERS
Browsers other than Internet Expl orer cannot access Wi ndows Update correctly by defaul t. If you use Fi refox
or Opera for exampl e, you can use an updati ng service l i ke Wi ndizUpdate. Thi s si te shoul d be safe enough
to downl oad updates from, however I strongl y recommend usi ng Internet Expl orer and the proper
Windows Update si te to ensure maxi mum securi ty and mi ni mum del ay i n obtai ni ng cri tical updates for
Wi ndows. Also see the Windows Product Acti vati on & Wi ndows Genui ne Advantage chapter of this book
for an offi ci al Mi crosoft Firefox plugi n to val idate the browser for use wi th downl oads that requi re WGA
veri fi cati on.


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REPAIRING WINDOWS UPDATE
Wi ndows Update can exhibi t strange behavi or such as endlessl y scanni ng your machi ne but never provi ding
any l ist of updates, or gives strange error codes. The foll owi ng are some thi ngs you can try to repai r
Wi ndows Update:

1. Try the secure Wi ndows Update address i nstead: Windows Update Secure.
2. If Wi ndows Update seems to scan forever, or no updates appear, see thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e.
3. If you are experi enci ng speci fi c Wi ndows Update errors such as error code 0x800A138F, see this
Wi ndows Update Fai ls page. There i s no si ngl e fi x for al l error codes and each one has several methods
you can try to resol ve the i ssue.

As al ways, remember to run Wi ndows Update at least once a week and i nstall al l i mportant updates to
mai ntai n the securi ty of your PC. Al ternati vel y keep an eye on the front page of TweakGui des.com as I
provi de detail s of the latest patches and mi scell aneous Wi ndows updates of i mportance, and when to check
Wi ndows Update for Mi crosoft patch rel ease days. If you're paranoi d or forgetful and want to ensure you
al ways have the l atest patches and updates, enabl e Automati c Updates as covered under the Control Panel
chapter.

< OTHER INTERNET BROWSERS
You may be wonderi ng i f there are other reputabl e browsers you can try i f you are not happy wi th Internet
Expl orer. Fortunatel y there are at l east three other major free browsers whi ch are a viabl e and secure
al ternati ve to IE: Mozil la Firefox, Googl e Chrome and Opera.

My personal preference i s for Fi refox. It i s an excell ent browser whi ch i s free and wel l -supported and runs
wi thout any probl ems alongsi de Internet Expl orer, gi vi ng you the opportuni ty to try i t out to see i f you
prefer i t. The mai n advantage of Fi refox over Internet Expl orer and many other browsers is that Firefox i s
much more customizabl e through a range of Extensions and Themes. If you want to fi nd out more about
Fi refox I recommend you read my Fi refox Tweak Gui de whi ch covers al l aspects of Fi refox from the basi c to
the advanced.

You have nothi ng to l ose by tryi ng other browsers out. Al l of the major browsers, i ncludi ng Internet
Expl orer, have the essential features requi red for fast, secure browsi ng. It all depends on whi ch browser best
meets your needs, as there i s no outri ght best browser.


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OUTLOOK EXPRESS

Outl ook Express - not to be confused wi th the ful l versi on whi ch comes wi th the Mi crosoft Offi ce Sui te and
i s cal l ed Outlook - i s a useful emai l and newsgroup program whi ch i s bui l t i nto Windows XP. It shoul d meet
all your basi c email needs, but i t al so has some features people rarel y get around to confi guri ng or usi ng.
Thi s chapter covers advi ce for how to confi gure Outl ook Express, as wel l as some ti ps and tweaks. If you
prefer a more recent and more advanced emai l cli ent, you can use Mi crosoft's free Wi ndows Li ve Mai l cli ent
i nstead - see the end of this chapter for detai ls.

The fi rst thi ng to do is opti mi ze Outl ook Express' basi c setti ngs for effi ci ent, troubl e-free operati on. Open
Outl ook Express, go to the Tool s menu and select Opti ons. Bel ow are my recommendati ons for the more
i mportant setti ngs under each tab of Opti ons:

GENERAL
Ti ck 'When starti ng go di rectl y to my Inbox fol der'
Unti ck 'Automati cal ly Log on to Wi ndows Messenger' if the opti on exi sts

Note if you have removed Wi ndows Messenger from your system, you may al so have to apply the Outl ook
Express sl owdown fi x (See further below) otherwise Outl ook Express may take l onger to load each ti me i t
starts.

READ
Unti ck 'Automati cal ly downl oad message when viewi ng i n the previ ew pane'

Thi s i s recommended for securi ty reasons, so that unsol i ci ted/spam email i s not automati call y downl oaded
i n the preview pane when i t is hi ghli ghted.

RECEIPTS
Read recei pts tel l the sender of a message whether a message has been opened by the reci pi ent. I personall y
don't l ike sendi ng or receivi ng read recei pts. They can be qui te annoyi ng, and whether you want to use them
i s up to you, but for the 'Returni ng Read Recei pts' secti on I recommend sel ecting 'Noti fy me for each read
recei pt request'. That way you know when someone has sent an email to you wi th a recei pt request, and you
can choose whether to accept the request when you open the emai l.

Secure recei pts are si mil ar, but mi ght be more useful i f you're sendi ng a very i mportant message and you
want to make sure that the reci pient has opened the message, and that the message arri ved at the other end
unal tered. Otherwi se the same setti ngs appl y.

SEND
Ti ck 'Send messages i mmedi atel y'
Unti ck 'Automati cal ly put peopl e I reply to i n my Address Book'

Maki ng sure that you don't add everyone to your Address Book i s one way of preventi ng any vi ruses on
your system from emai li ng everyone in your Address Book wi th the vi rus. I recommend i nstead ei ther


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wri ti ng down email addresses or keepi ng at l east one exi sti ng email from vari ous peopl e so you can reply to
them that way.

COMPOSE, SIGNATURES, SPELLING
There are no speci fi c recommendati ons for these tabs. Confi gure them to sui t your taste. If you want to know
what any of these features do, ri ght cli ck on them and cli ck 'What's thi s' or sel ect them and press F1 for
Wi ndows Help.

SECURITY
The securi ty features i n Outl ook Express are reasonabl e but somewhat dated i n protecti ng agai nst most
vi ruses and mali ci ous code sent i n email s. You need to know how they work and configure them correctl y.

There is an opti on to select ei ther the 'Internet Zone' or 'Restri cted Si tes Zone' for your defaul t email
behavi or. When i n Internet Zone mode, HTML-based emai l s wi th acti ve content wi ll display thei r content
just l ike a web page i n Internet Expl orer. In fact the securi ty settings you choose under the Securi ty tab in
Internet Expl orer Opti ons also apply to Internet Zone email content. When i n Restri cted Si tes Zone mode,
Outl ook Express wi ll di sabl e acti ve content from HTML-based emai l s, which i s much more secure, but
reduces email functi onali ty. I recommend runni ng in Restri cted Si tes Zone mode, as most HTML-based
email s nowadays are spam or mal i ci ous i n i ntent.

Ti ck 'Warn me when other appli cati ons try to send email as me' so that no other program on your system
can automaticall y send out an email under your name wi thout you knowi ng about i t.

Ti ck 'Do not all ow attachments to be saved or opened that could potenti all y be a vi rus'. Thi s i mportant
feature wi ll protect you agai nst email attachments, the vast bul k of whi ch are dangerous, unsol i ci ted
mal ware. See the PC Securi ty chapter for ti ps on how to prevent i nfecti on through emai ls. If you recei ve an
attachment from an address you know, i t may sti ll be mal ware whi ch was auto-mai l ed from that user's
account, so doubl e-check wi th the sender i f you're genui nel y unsure of whether to save or open the
attachment. If you beli eve i t's a legi ti mate attachment, then save the attachment and scan i t wi th several
mal ware scanners. If you're not al l owed to save the attachment, fi rst cl ose the emai l, open Opti ons and
unti ck this setti ng, go back and open up the emai l and save the attachment, then make sure to reti ck thi s
opti on afterwards. Once agai n, make sure to thoroughl y scan al l suspi ci ous attachments, and remember that
executable attachments i n parti cul ar (e.g. those wi th .EXE, .BAT, or .COM extensi ons) are al most al ways
bound to be mal ware unless you are 100% certai n of the source of the email .

As noted, certai n fi le types (e.g.: .EXE fi les) are automati call y bl ocked wi th thi s setti ng enabl ed. To confi gure
whi ch other types of fi l es are affected when thi s setti ng is ti cked, go to Control Panel>Fol der Opti ons>File
Types, hi ghl ight a fi l e extensi on and cli ck the Advanced button. Select 'Confirm open after downl oad' to add
the fi l e type to the unsafe fi le li st whi ch Outl ook Express uses to bl ock attachments when thi s setti ng is
enabl ed. Some fi l e types are permanently on the unsafe l i st and cannot be taken off.

Ti ck 'Bl ock images and other external content i n HTML emai l' - once agai n for securi ty reasons. In practice
very few peopl e send legi ti mate HTML-based emai ls wi th i mages.

You shoul dn't have to change the remaini ng setti ngs i n thi s secti on.

CONNECTION
Uses the same setti ngs as Internet Expl orer, so see the Internet Explorer chapter.


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MAINTENANCE
I recommend the foll owi ng setti ngs to reduce wasted di sk space:

Ti ck 'Empty message from the Del eted Items folder on exi t' - thi s means any messages you have i n your
Del eted Items folder wi ll be permanently del eted each ti me you qui t Outl ook Express.
Ti ck 'Purge del eted i tems when l eaving IMAP folders' - onl y affects email accounts whi ch use IMAP
protocol , which i s not necessaril y common.
Cl i ck the 'Cl ean Up Now' button and sel ect Compact to reduce existi ng wasted space i mmediatel y.

If you are wonderi ng where your emai ls are physi cal ly bei ng saved, then the fol lowi ng opti on wi l l show you
email store directory:

'Store Fol der' Thi s i s the l ocati on of your email s and Outl ook Express folder setti ngs. Typi cal l y i t i s the
\Documents and Settings\[username]\Local Settings\Application Data\Identities\{ID String}\Microsoft\Outlook
Express di rectory.

Once you've changed al l the setti ngs you wi sh to change i n Outl ook Express, click the Appl y button and exi t
the setti ngs screen. You wi l l need to close and relaunch Outl ook Express for some of the setti ngs to come
i nto effect.

< TIPS & TWEAKS
BACKING UP EMAILS
If you want to manual l y back up the email s you've saved i n Outlook Express, foll ow these procedures:

1. Open Outl ook Express, go to Tool s>Options and open the Mai ntenance tab.
2. Cl i ck the 'Store Folder' button and hi ghli ght the di rectory path shown wi th your mouse (ri ght-cl i ck on
the text and choose Sel ect Al l).
3. Ri ght-cli ck agai n on the highl i ghted text and sel ect Copy.
4. Go to Start>Run and right-cl i ck i n the box. Sel ect Paste, then cl i ck OK. Thi s opens an Expl orer wi ndow
i n the fol der where Outl ook Express holds your emails and email fol ders as .dbx fil es.
5. The fol der names shoul d be self-expl anatory. Select indi vi dual .dbx fil es where you stored email s and
copy them to another location for backup purposes.

These database fi les can be restored not onl y i n Outl ook Express, but al so i n newer versi ons of Wi ndows
Mai l .

RESTORING EMAILS
To restore these emai ls back i nto Outl ook Express at any poi nt, say after a reformat of Windows, fol l ow
these procedures:

1. Open Outl ook Express, go to Fi l e>Import>Messages.
2. Sel ect 'Mi crosoft Outl ook Express 6' from the l i st (or whi chever versi on of OE you saved the messages
under).
3. Sel ect 'Import mail from an OE6 store di rectory' and cli ck OK.
4. Browse to the di rectory where you backed up your Outl ook Express messages as .dbx fil es. Cl i ck OK,
then cl i ck Next.
5. Cl i ck All Folders, sel ect Next, then sel ect Fi nish. Your messages shoul d be restored as you saved them.

You can also use these Import and Export functi ons i n Outl ook Express to save and restore your Address
Book, Emai l account and Newsgroup account data. These aren't detail ed here, but the procedure i s si mil ar to


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that outl i ned above. The procedures to restore Outl ook Express email s i n Wi ndows Vi sta and Wi ndows 7 are
covered i n the relevant versi ons of the TweakGui des Tweaki ng Compani on.

FILTERING SPAM
Spam i s unsol i ci ted email wi th usel ess and often offensi ve content. Outl ook Express has some bui l t-in
features whi ch can be used to sort mai l automati call y and prevent spam. Note that these features won't work
for IMAP and HTTP (i .e. Web-based) email accounts such as Hotmail . Use these tool s for your POP3
accounts such as the ones your ISP provi des. To access and configure these tool s:

1. Open Outl ook Express and go to Tool s>Message Rules and sel ect Mai l .
2. Cl i ck the New button to create a new rul e. The New Mai l Rule window wil l open.
3. Sel ect a conditi on for your rul e. For exampl e, we wi ll choose 'Where the message i s more than si ze'. We
can set the si ze parameter for thi s rul e i n Step 5.
4. Sel ect the action for the rule. For example, 'Move i t to the specifi ed fol der'.
5. Set any parameters requi red for the rule by cli cki ng on the bl ue underli ne text i n the Rul e Descri pti on
box. For exampl e, we wi ll cl i ck on the Size text and choose 100KB as our size l i mi t for the rul e set up i n
step 3. We wil l cl i ck on the Fol der text and choose Deleted Items.
6. Gi ve the rul e an appropriate name, such as 'Large emai l fil ter' and cli ck OK.
7. In the Mail Rul es wi ndow, put a ti ck next to thi s new rul e and cli ck the Appl y Now button. If you want
to add more parameters or change the rul e, cli ck the Modify button, and go back through steps 3 - 6
above until you're happy.
8. Create as many rules as you l ike, and arrange them in order of priori ty/appli cati on to new messages by
usi ng the Move Up and Move Down buttons.

Now when you check for new email s, the above rule wi l l automati call y check each emai l's size and i f i t i s
over 100KB, wi ll redirect it to your Deleted Items fol der automaticall y. You can have a qui ck l ook i n there
after checki ng your mai l and see if i t's anythi ng you want to keep, otherwi se just empty the del eted i tems
and you've cl eared some hefty spam strai ght away. Create more rul es once you i dentify patterns i n your
email . For exampl e if you are getti ng a l ot of spam email s wi th the word vi agra i n them, set up a new rule
whi ch automati call y del etes from the mail server any email s wi th 'vi agra' (and other vari ati ons of the word)
i n the message body - i .e. choose the 'Del ete i t from server' action for the rul e - thi s way you won't even
downl oad them before they get sorted by the fi l ter; they'l l be automati cal ly del eted from the server, saving
ti me and bandwi dth.

Of course you can do a lot more wi th Message Rul es, such as bl ock certai n i ndi vi dual s, bl ock any email
accounts from parti cular domai ns (such as Yahoo or AOL), etc. Experi ment with the tool as i t i s more useful
than most peopl e woul d bel i eve. To begi n wi th I strongl y recommend setti ng the acti on for any rul e to
redi rect fl agged mai l to a separate fol der you set up and see i f any l egi ti mate mai l i s getti ng caught up by the
rul e. Also, you can create mul ti ple l ayers of rules to fi nel y sift through the mail and get ri d of the genui ne
rubbi sh. That way i f the email gets through one rule, i t i s subjected to the next one and so forth, and if i t
makes i t through several rul e checks i t shoul d be fi ne to vi ew.

If you can't be bothered confi guri ng fi l ters and you want an automated method of junk mai l fil teri ng, I
strongl y recommend that you i nstal l and use Wi ndows Li ve Mail - see the end of thi s chapter for detai ls.

REMOVE SPLASH SCREEN
The fol l owi ng i s a si mple tweak whi ch ski ps the blue Outl ook Express splash screen when Outl ook Express
i s l oadi ng up. To perform thi s tweak, open Registry Edi tor and go to:

[ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ I dent i t i es\ {number s}\ Sof t war e\ Mi cr osof t \ Out l ook Expr ess\ 5. 0]

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Create thi s new DWORD value and set to =1. Del ete the entry i f you want to regai n the splash screen.

SLOWDOWN ISSUES
If you have di sabl ed MSN Messenger then you may experi ence sl owdowns when launchi ng Outl ook
Express. To resol ve thi s probl em, i mpl ement the followi ng change to your Regi stry:

[ HKEY_LOCAL_MACHI NE\ SOFTWARE\ Cl asses\ CLSI D\ {FB7199AB- 79BF- 11d2- 8D94-
0000F875C541}]

Fi nd thi s key i n the l eft pane and under i t l eft-cl i ck once on the I ni Pr ocSer ver 32 key. In the ri ght pane of
the Regi stry Edi tor double-cli ck on the ( Def aul t ) entry at the top and compl etel y delete the data i t
contai ns. Now do the same for the Local Ser ver 32 key as wel l . This prevents the sl owdown whi ch some
users experi ence wi th Outlook Express when MSN Messenger has been di sabled.

< OTHER EMAIL CLIENTS
Outl ook Express shoul d be adequate for basi c email needs. However i f you want a more recent, more secure
and much more advanced emai l cl i ent whi ch contains useful features absent in Outl ook Express, you can
downl oad Microsoft's free Wi ndows Li ve Mail. It does requi re some customi zation to become easi er to use,
parti cul arl y for those used to the i nterface i n Outl ook Express, however detail ed confi gurati on advi ce for
Wi ndows Li ve Mail is covered i n the Windows 7 versi on of the TweakGui des Tweaki ng Compani on.

If you want to try other free emai l cli ents, see thi s Wi ki pedia Arti cl e whi ch li sts and compares a range of
email cli ents, provi di ng feature detail s and rel evant downl oad li nks. Or you can si mpl y use an onli ne web
cl i ent, such as Yahoo, Hotmail or GMail. These si tes not onl y provide free emai l accounts and
comprehensive web-based i nterfaces, they also provi de pl enty of storage space. However obvi ousl y they
cannot be accessed i n offl ine mode, and i n general I don't recommend relyi ng sol el y on an onl i ne provi der,
because if your emai l account i s hi jacked for example, you l ose access to both your account and any stored
email s.

Fi nal ly, I strongl y suggest that you exami ne the ti ps provi ded i n the PC Securi ty chapter of thi s book for
ways you can protect yourself from Email -related securi ty ri sks whi l e al so preventi ng the spread of spam
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WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER

Wi ndows Media Player i s Window's bui l t-i n util i ty for pl ayi ng musi c and movi es. It has many useful
features and i s actuall y a very effi cient, feature-packed media pl ayer, but i s often dismi ssed as bei ng
'bl oated' or 'spyware'. In actuali ty i t i s small er and more effi ci ent than some popul ar media pl ayers, and i f
confi gured correctl y should provi de good pri vacy. Thi s chapter contai ns configurati on advice and detail s on
WMP's features. If you don't l i ke Wi ndows Medi a Player, some al ternati ve free pl ayers are covered at the
end of thi s chapter, as well as a di scussi on of media-rel ated i ssues incl udi ng Codecs.

Thi s chapter assumes that you are using the l atest versi on of WMP for Wi ndows XP whi ch i s Wi ndows
Media Player 11. Thi s i s not the versi on that origi nall y comes wi th Wi ndows XP, nor does i t install as part of
SP3, so you should downl oad i t from here. All Windows XP users are encouraged for both securi ty and
functi onali ty reasons to upgrade to thi s versi on. Note, i f you're not goi ng to use WMP 11's onli ne musi c store
functi onali ty and/or to control any portabl e media devi ces connected to your PC vi a WMP, you can di sabl e
the 'Wi ndows Medi a Player Network Shari ng Servi ce' - see the Servi ces chapter for detai ls of how to do thi s.

To access Windows Media Player, go to Start Menu>Al l Programs>Accessori es. To access Wi ndows Medi a
Player's menus, i n Full View mode ri ght-cl i ck on an empty spot on the bl ack command bar, or just press the
ALT key. To confi gure Wi ndows Media Pl ayer as covered bel ow, first sel ect Tool s>Opti ons then see the
detail s for each tab as foll ows:

PLAYER
Automatic Updates: WMP wi ll automaticall y check for updated versi ons of i tsel f at set i ntervals. Si nce i t is not
updated very often, the 'Once a month' opti on should be fi ne. If you ti ck 'Downl oad codecs automati cal ly',
whenever you attempt to pl ay a media fi le for whi ch you don't have the correct codec (and you are onl i ne),
Wi ndows Medi a Player wil l automaticall y try to fi nd and downl oad the requi red codec and install i t so you
can play the fi le. Thi s i s recommended, and al so see the Audi o and Video Codecs secti on bel ow for more
i nformati on.

Player settings: You can set these to sui t your taste.

Start the mini player for file names that contain this text: Thi s opti on all ows you to tel l WMP to automati cally
l aunch i nto Mi ni Pl ayer mode (see further bel ow) for fi l es containi ng the specifi ed text i n thei r fil ename.

RIP MUSIC
Rip music to this location: Rippi ng musi c is the process of copyi ng i t from an audio CD to a medi a fi l e on your
computer. Cl ick the Change button and sel ect the di rectory where any ri pped musi c or medi a is to be pl aced;
by defaul t i t wi ll be pl aced under the \My Music di rectory. Click the 'Fi le Name' button to specify the
parti cul ar attri butes of the CD/track which wi l l be used to compose the ri pped musi c track's fi lename. Check
the previ ew at the bottom of the box to see how thi s wi ll l ook.

Rip Settings: I strongl y recommend you unti ck the 'Copy protect musi c' opti on as otherwi se each track you
ri p wil l become DRM protected and thi s cannot be changed. On the sl i der below, choose the audi o qual i ty
you prefer for ri pped musi c - 160Kbps or above is recommended for good quali ty audi o, 128Kbps i s the
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To use WMP to convert any audi o tracks you want from a non-protected Audi o CD to .WMA or .MP3 format
do the fol l owi ng:

1. Insert the Audi o CD i n your opti cal drive.
2. Cl ose and restart Wi ndows Medi a Player to make sure i t detects the CD.
3. Maxi mize WMP so you can see the track li sti ng.
4. Cl i ck the Ri p button at the top of the screen.
5. Put a ti ck agai nst the track(s) you wi sh to ri p
6. Cl i ck the arrow under the Ri p button and you can sel ect the speci fic Format you wish to use - .MP3 i s
recommended as a good balance between qual i ty, si ze and compati bi li ty wi th a wi de range of media
pl ayers, Windows Medi a Audi o (.WMA) i s good but l ess compati bl e, and .WAV provi des the best
quali ty but i s usual l y too large because i t doesn't compress the audi o i nformati on.

There are better thi rd party ri ppi ng tool s avai labl e, however Wi ndows Medi a Player i s free, qui ck and easy
to use, and the audi o tracks i t produces wi ll not contai n any copy protecti on as l ong as you use the opti ons
further above, so i t is wel l worth usi ng.

DEVICES
The devi ces l isted under thi s tab are capabl e of media pl ayback, whether vi deo or audi o or both. Sel ect each
pl ayback devi ce and cl i ck the Properties button. Adjust setti ngs as appropriate, and i f i n doubt l eave at thei r
defaul ts whi ch are fi ne for most purposes. Note that for your Di spl ay properties, you can al ter the aspect
rati o for vi deo/DVD pl ayback if i t appears to be too wi de or too narrow; the ci rcl e shown shoul d be perfectl y
round on your screen.

I recommend that you untick the 'When del eti ng playli sts from devices, also remove thei r contents' opti on to
prevent undesi red fi l e del eti on on your devi ce.

Cl i ck the Advanced button to al ter the setti ngs for audi o and vi deo fil e conversi ons when bei ng transferred
to/from mul timedi a devi ces and set to sui t your tastes.

BURN
Wi ndows Medi a Player allows you to also burn music or medi a fi les to di sc. Musi c can be burnt as an audi o
CD, but other medi a can onl y be burnt to CD or DVD as data fil es. Note that for general burning purposes a
full -featured burni ng program l i ke Nero Burni ng ROM is recommended, which comes i n a cut-down free
tri al form as wel l as a non-free ful l versi on. Deep Burner i s a useful free burning program whi ch provi des a
good al ternati ve to Nero.

Burn Speed: Sel ect the burni ng speed, keepi ng i n mind that i f you are conti nuall y havi ng errors wi th burnt
di sks, you shoul d reduce the speed to Medium or even Low to ensure accurate burni ng. If you want the di sc
automati cal ly ejected after the burn is compl ete, ti ck the box.

Apply volume leveling across tracks on the CD: If burni ng an audi o CD, you can tick thi s opti on to have WMP
attempt to set a common vol ume level for al l audi o tracks. Thi s can hel p prevent some tracks from being
overl y l oud or soft relati ve to others on the same di sc.

Use media information to arrange files in folders on the disk: If you are burni ng a data di sk and thi s opti on i s
ti cked, WMP wi l l sort your media i nto separate fol ders usi ng \Music\Artist\Album, \TV, \Video and
\Picture fol ders. If unti cked, WMP wi ll burn all tracks to the base directory of the di sk wi thout sorti ng.

Conversion: If you sel ect the 'Convert to' opti on here, you wi ll be abl e to use a sl i der whi ch determi nes how
the vari ous musi c fil es wil l be resampl ed for burni ng to audi o CD. I strongl y recommended agai nst all owi ng


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conversi on, as most musi c fi les wi ll l ose quali ty if converted, especiall y i f i t's to 128Kbps or below, and more
i mportantl y WMP automati call y converts al l fi l es to .WMA format duri ng conversi on whi ch i s not
necessaril y desi rabl e.

To burn a di sc, open WMP i n full vi ew, cl i ck the Burn button at the top of the screen, and an i nterface for
arrangi ng fi l es for burni ng appears. Cli ck the small arrow under the Burn button to sel ect whether to burn
an audi o CD or a data CD/DVD. You can then drag and drop fil es i nto the ri ght-hand pane to add them to
the l ist of medi a to be burnt to di sc, and when fi ni shed cli cked the 'Start Burn' button at the bottom.

PERFORMANCE
Connection Speed: I recommend the fi rst opti on, however if WMP consi stently has probl ems detecti ng your
connecti on speed, then set it manuall y here.

Network Buffering: The 'Use defaul t bufferi ng' opti on i s usuall y fi ne to use, but i f you fi nd streami ng vi deos
are constantly disjoi nted, then experi ment wi th i ncreasi ng the buffer size.

Video Acceleration: Under thi s secti on cli ck the Advanced button. These opti ons affect all DVD and vi deo
pl ayback, and can be used to hel p resol ve issues wi th parti cular vi deos or DVDs. If your vi deo goes out of
sync - sometimes due to lack of suffi cient bandwi dth - ti ck the 'Drop frames to keep AV In sync' for exampl e.
Ti ck the 'Use vi deo smoothi ng' opti on i f playi ng back vi deo wi th l ow framerate, as WMP wi ll try to
i nterpol ate frames (fi ll i n the bl anks) to provi de the appearance of smoother vi deo playback.

In parti cular, when pl ayi ng ful l screen vi deo, if the 'Di spl ay ful l screen control s' opti on is ti cked, a set of
control s wil l be shown at the bottom of the screen. If you want these removed, unti ck this box for true
full screen vi deo pl ayback. You can then control pl ayback at any ti me usi ng your mouse and the fol l owing
keyboard/mouse commands:

Play or Pause - Left-cl i ck.
Change Volume - Use the mouse wheel to i ncrease or decrease volume.
Mute Volume - Press the mi ddle mouse button.
Fast Forward/Rewi nd - Press and hol d the front and back thumb buttons (if any) for Fast
Forward/Rewi nd.
Ski p Forward/Back - Cli ck the front or back thumb buttons to Ski p Forward/Ski p Back.
Command Menu - Ri ght-cli ck.
Return to Full Mode - Press ESC.

If you have a standal one graphi cs card, ti ck the 'Turn on Di rectX Vi deo Accelerati on for WMV Fi l es' opti on
to al l ow your graphi cs hardware to provi de better video pl ayback performance for .WMV videos. Fi nall y,
for vi deos whi ch don't fil l the enti re screen due to thei r aspect rati o bei ng different to your moni tor shape,
you can set the col or used to di spl ay the surroundi ng area. For exampl e for pl ayback on a Plasma TV to
prevent burn-i n or uneven phosphor aging, you can set a whi te background by cl i cki ng the Change button.

Note, if you get bl ack and whi te vi deo pl ayback for col or vi deos, unti ck the 'use hi gh qual i ty mode' option
here.

LIBRARY
Sharing: If you wish to share the media on your current PC wi th other machi nes or devi ces on the same
network, cli ck the 'Configure Shari ng' button. For instructi ons on how to confi gure this, cl i ck the 'Learn
about shari ng Onl i ne'. It won't be covered here as i t's not a feature for the average home PC user.


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Update Library: By defaul t when Wi ndows Media Player is fi rst run i t checks your personal fol ders to find
any medi a fil es i t can use, and adds them to your Li brary - a li sti ng of al l the media fil es on your PC.
Wi ndows Medi a Player wil l keep moni tori ng your personal fol ders to add or delete l i sti ngs from the l i brary
as you add or del ete your medi a fi l es. You can access the Li brary l isti ngs by category at any time by goi ng to
WMP and cl icki ng the Li brary tab. Here you can vi ew the medi a fi les i n vari ous ways, sorted by categories
such as Al bum, Genre, even Rati ng. You can al so create specifi c Playl ists from the li sti ngs.

Whi le thi s i s handy, the Li brary functi on i s not absolutel y necessary, i t i s si mply an organi sati onal tool . If
you don't wish to use the Li brary feature, or want to al ter i t, cli ck the 'Moni tor Fol ders' button, then on the
next screen cl i ck the 'Advanced Opti ons' button. You can now add further fol ders to monitor i f you wish,
but you cannot remove the defaul t fol ders WMP moni tors; you can onl y choose to Ignore certai n folders. If
you want to prevent WMP from addi ng any more fil es to the Li brary, enter the maxi mum values of 9999 for
the 'Ski p fi l es small er than' boxes at the ri ght si de, so that any file small er than 10MB i s not automati call y
added to the Li brary. When done cl i ck OK and WMP wil l scan for any changes i t needs to make to the
Li brary. Fi nal l y, back under the mai n Li brary tab I strongl y recommend unti cki ng the 'Del ete fil es from
computer when del eted from l i brary' box to prevent acci dental del eti on of fi l es. Thi s al l ows you to edi t or
del ete i tems in your Li brary li sti ng wi thout deleti ng the correspondi ng media fil es on your dri ve.

Automatic Media Information: If you want WMP to retri eve i nformati on about the parti cular medi a you are
pl ayi ng from the Internet - such as the name of the Al bum or Arti st for a track - then ti ck the 'Retrieve
addi ti onal i nformati on from the Internet box'; you can then choose to have i t fil l i n the gaps or overwri te all
exi sti ng i nformati on for the media. Thi s i nformati on can be useful i n maki ng searches much easi er. You can
also manually force Windows Media Pl ayer to fi ll i n mi ssi ng i nformati on for parti cular fil es by cl i cki ng the
Li brary button i n WMP, then ri ght-cli cki ng on a parti cular track whi ch i sn't ful ly i dentifi ed and sel ect the
'Fi nd Al bum Info' opti on - a new box wi l l open whi ch l oads up the possi bl e matches for this track and you
can sel ect the appropriate one, or enter the media i nformati on manual l y.

The remai ni ng opti ons here determi ne how WMP behaves when a track i s ri pped - see the Ri p Musi c secti on
further above.

PLUG-INS
Pl ug-i ns are vari ous modul es whi ch add functi onali ty to Wi ndows Media Player such as Visuali zati ons or
Di gi tal Signal Processi ng (DSP) effects. These can be added, removed or confi gured here. To fi nd more
pl ugi ns to add, cli ck the 'Look for pl ug-i ns on the web' l i nk, and for more visuali zati ons, cl ick the 'l ook for
vi sualizati ons on the web' li nk - you wil l be taken to rel evant Mi crosoft si tes where you can downl oad useful
pl ugi ns or visuali zati ons whi ch should be safe to use wi th WMP. You can remove any added pl ugin by
hi ghli ghti ng i t and sel ecting the Remove button, and you can confi gure any setti ngs they may have by
sel ecti ng the Properti es button. Bear i n mi nd that the more pl ugi ns you use i n WMP, the more resources the
pl ayer may take up, and also the greater the chance for potential probl ems, so onl y i nstal l pl ugi ns you feel
are genui nely necessary.

PRIVACY
Thi s i s an i mportant area of Wi ndows Media Player whi ch causes users a l ot of concern. There i s a common
fear that by usi ng Wi ndows Medi a Player, Mi crosoft i s spyi ng on your media usage behavi ors. Thi s i s not
true, however i f you want to ensure that none of the medi a on your dri ve i s al tered, or any i nformati on
about i t reported back to Mi crosoft, foll ow the recommended setti ngs i n this secti on. To begi n wi th untick
every opti on on thi s page. None of them are necessary for normal media pl ayback. If you use DRM-
protected medi a, you may want to ti ck the 'Downl oad usage rights automati call y when I pl ay or sync a file'
and 'Automati call y check if protected fi les need to be refreshed' opti ons to prevent probl ems, but best to do
so only if you run i nto a probl em playi ng back such fil es.


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If you don't want your media fil es al tered i n any way wi thout your permi ssion, I suggest that you make all
of your media fil es (e.g. .MP3, .MPG, .WMV and .AVI fi les) wri te protected. To do thi s, i n Wi ndows Expl orer
go to the folders where your medi a fi les are stored and hi ghl i ght all of them, ri ght-cli ck on them, select
Properti es and pl ace a ti ck i n the 'Read Onl y' box. By wri te-protecti ng all your media, Wi ndows Medi a
Player can't al ter them or add any addi tional i denti fying i nformati on wi thout your permi ssi on.

Fi nal ly, see the Wi ndows Media Di gi tal Rights Management (DRM) opti on under the Group Pol i cy chapter
of thi s book and enabl e i t i f you want to prevent Wi ndows DRM checki ng features from accessi ng the
Internet when you use Windows Media Player. In the end though, at no poi nt does Mi crosoft truly 'spy' on
you, there are no real pri vacy risks to using Wi ndows Media Player.

SECURITY
Your Internet Expl orer securi ty setti ngs wi l l be used when Wi ndows Media Pl ayer is browsi ng any web
content, so see the Internet Expl orer chapter for detail s. For the remai ni ng boxes here, I recommend you set
them to sui t your taste. You can start off by havi ng them al l unti cked for maxi mum securi ty, then if you
encounter a legi ti mate websi te wi th mul ti media content that doesn't functi on correctl y, you can ti ck these
opti ons to al low i t to do so. None of these opti ons shoul d be necessary to vi ew most onl i ne medi a.

FILE TYPES
Here you can sel ect the media fil e types for whi ch Wi ndows Medi a Player is the defaul t player. Change to
sui t your tastes, and note that i f another pl ayer keeps becoming the defaul t for a particular media type
agai nst your wi shes, you wi ll have to ei ther open that pl ayer and check i ts setti ngs to ensure i t is not
forcefull y changi ng these opti ons each time i t i s opened, or go to Control Panel >Fol der Opti ons and under
the Fi le Types tab change the defaul t program associati on for the rel evant fil e type.

DVD
If you have a DVD dri ve on your system and use Wi ndows Medi a Pl ayer to pl ay DVD movi es, you can
adjust the setti ngs i n this secti on to sui t your parti cular tastes and needs.

NETWORK
Confi gure this secti on accordi ng to your needs - the defaul ts should be fi ne.

GRAPHIC EQUALIZER
Wi ndows Medi a Pl ayer comes wi th a fai rl y decent graphi c equal izer whi ch can noti ceably enhance audi o
quali ty i f set up correctl y. To al ter i t, go to Ful l Vi ew mode and under the Vi ew menu select
Enhancements>Graphi c Equali zer. Whi l e you can use a range of presets, I recommend sel ecti ng the
i ndi vi dual sl ider movement opti on - the top opti on on the far l eft - and then customizi ng the setti ngs to sui t
your tastes. For reference, my personal setti ngs from l eft to ri ght for each sl ider are: 3 6 4 0 0 2 2 5 6 9. Your
setti ngs wi ll vary both based on your playback devi ce, as wel l as your any adjustments you may have made
to the Tone setti ngs for your pl ayback devi ce - see the Sounds and Audio Devi ces secti on of the Control
Panel chapter.

Other opti ons found under the Enhancements secti on i nclude enabl i ng SRS WOW effects; Vi deo Setti ngs to
al ter the Bri ghtness, Contrast, Hue and Saturati on of vi deo; Crossfadi ng whi ch provi des the abi li ty to sl owl y
fade out one song whi le the next song i s overl apped and sl owly faded i n at the same ti me; and Auto Volume
Level i ng which attempts to normalize the vol ume l evel across vari ous songs so that they do not vary greatl y
i n overall volume.

You can cl ose the Enhancements box at any ti me by cl i cki ng the smal l red 'x' at the far ri ght of the
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SKINS
You can customi ze the way Wi ndows Media Player l ooks through the use of ski ns. These ski ns can change
the appearance and visi ble functi onali ty of Wi ndows Medi a Player. There are some ski ns whi ch al ready
come wi th the pl ayer, and you can vi ew them by openi ng Wi ndows Media Pl ayer, and under the Vi ew
menu sel ect 'Ski n Chooser'. In the Ski n Chooser box you can cl i ck on a ski n to see a previ ew of i t i n the ri ght
pane. If you want to try a ski n out, cli ck the 'Appl y Ski n' button. If you want to get new ski ns onl i ne cl i ck the
'More Ski ns' button, or go to a si te such as The Ski ns Factory to downl oad more free ski ns. Some ski ns wi ll
i nstal l automati call y when you downl oad them, but i f you downl oad a ski n fil e i n .WMZ format you can
manuall y i nstal l i t so that i t appears in the Ski n Chooser by putti ng the .WMZ fil e i nto your \Program
Files\Windows Media Player\Skins di rectory. Note that usi ng more compl ex ski ns can take up sl i ghtly more
memory and possi ble extra CPU power when you run Wi ndows Media Player, so i f you want to ensure the
fastest performance and l east resource usage si mpl y use the defaul t WMP appearance - that is, under the
Vi ew Menu sel ect 'Full Mode'.

My preferred l ook for WMP i s to swi tch to Full Mode and then si mpl y use the resizi ng button at the bottom
ri ght of the pl ayer to shri nk i t down to the Compact Mode. In 'Mi ni Pl ayer' mode WMP uses even l ess
resources - see bel ow.

MINI PLAYER MODE
One of the neat features of Wi ndows Medi a Player whi ch sets i t apart from many other medi a pl ayers i s the
abi li ty to shrink i t down into a 'Mi ni Pl ayer' i nterface whi ch si ts in the Wi ndows Taskbar. To acti vate thi s,
ri ght-cl i ck on an empty area of your Wi ndows Taskbar and under the Tool bars menu sel ect the 'Wi ndows
Media Player' opti on so a ti ck appears next to i t. Now open Wi ndows Media Player and cli ck the Mi ni mize
button on the top ri ght of the pl ayer wi ndow. The pl ayer wi ll mi nimi ze and si t in your Taskbar wi th a handy
i nterface that al l ows access to al l the major functi ons of the pl ayer, and whenever you want to maxi mi ze it
agai n cli ck the Maxi mi ze button on the bottom ri ght of the mi ni pl ayer. Not onl y i s thi s a neat feature, but
whi l e si tti ng in the Taskbar the pl ayer also uses l ess resources. You can al so access WMP's seek functi onal i ty
by hoveri ng your mouse over the mi ni pl ayer, and usi ng the sl i der bar whi ch appears.

< AUDIO & VIDEO CODECS
A Codec (Compressor Decompressor) i s a program whi ch all ows audi o or video to be compressed and
decompressed to or from i ts ori gi nal format. Compressed fi l es use speci al algori thms to achi eve their size
reducti ons, and i t i s the codec whi ch can encode/decode these al gori thms. Note that a Codec i s not the same
as a fil e format - a fi le format i s si mpl y a contai ner type, whi le a Codec relates to the actual encodi ng of the
medi a hel d i n the contai ner. For the most part you don't need to worry about thi s, because i f you can play or
record audi o/vi deo i n a parti cul ar format, you have a Codec for that format al ready i nstall ed on your
system.

To vi ew and adjust the codecs al ready install ed on your system, do the fol l owing:

1. Go to Control Panel>Sounds and Audi o Devi ces>Hardware
2. Doubl e-cli ck Audi o Codecs or Video Codecs to see the relevant codec li sts.
3. Cl i ck on the Properti es tab and you wi l l see al l the currently i nstal l ed codecs on your system. To see
more detai ls about each one, doubl e-click on i t.
4. To di sabl e an audi o codec for troubleshooti ng purposes, doubl e-cl i ck on i t and sel ect 'Do not use this
audi o codec' and cl i ck Appl y; to remove i t from your system, hi ghl i ght the codec and cli ck the Remove
button i n the mai n l ist.
5. Vi deo codecs cannot be temporaril y di sabl ed, but they can be removed by hi ghli ghti ng them and
cl i cki ng the Remove button i n the mai n list.


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If you want to uni nstall a non-standard codec, the best way to remove them i s to go to Control Panel>Add or
Remove Programs and l ook for the codec name i n the li st shown. More details of common codecs can be
found i n thi s Codecs for Wi ndows Media Player arti cl e. I don't recommend compl etel y removi ng a codec as
several programs may be dependent on i t. In parti cular do not remove any unfami li ar or defaul t Mi crosoft
codecs. If you do, you can re-downl oad the defaul t codecs for Wi ndows Medi a Player as a package from
Mi crosoft Codecs.

If you want to determi ne what codec(s) a parti cul ar fi l e uses, i nstal l the free GSpot uti l i ty. Use GSpot to l oad
the fi l e and the rel evant Codec i nformati on wi ll be di splayed on the mai n page. If you then want to then
manuall y fi nd the requi red Codec, the most common thi rd party codec required to pl ay back vi deo found on
the web i s Di vX, however you can al so downl oad FFDShow whi ch i s a fi l ter that decodes most common
vi deo and audi o formats, incl udi ng Di vX, Xvi D, AC3, FLAC and OGG. If you si mpl y want FLAC and OGG
support, i nstal l the Xi ph Di rectshow Fi l ters. For FLAC onl y, i nstall the FLAC codec.

There are al so certai n types of media whi ch won't normall y play back on Windows Media Player or other
common medi a pl ayers due to propri etary issues. The Qui ckTi me .MOV and the RealPlayer .RM formats are
two types of fil es whi ch requi re special codecs and are usual ly vi ewabl e usi ng thei r respecti ve pl ayers:
Qui ckTi me Pl ayer and RealPlayer. If you don't want to i nstal l these pl ayers and i nstead want to vi ew these
audi o/vi deo fi l es on Wi ndows Media Pl ayer, or other pl ayers, you shoul d i nstall the Real Al ternati ve and
Qui ckTi me Al ternati ve codecs. For more obscure codecs usual ly a Googl e search shoul d fi nd you a pl ace to
downl oad i t, but very ol d or propri etary codecs may be diffi cul t to fi nd or may even cost money to obtai n.

I strongly advi se agai nst install i ng any general Codec Packs. These packs are tempti ng as they typi cally
advertise themsel ves as contai ni ng all the Codecs you'll ever need i n one si mple package. However they are
known to cause confli cts whi ch resul t i n a range of probl ems, from reduced performance, gl i tches and
crashes i n games and mul ti media playback, to the compl ete l oss of audi o i n certai n appli cati ons. Even
Mi crosoft warns agai nst the i nstall ati on of Codec Packs, so this i s not a warni ng to be taken l i ghtly,
especiall y as the thorough removal of Codecs can be extremel y diffi cul t, and i n some cases, a full rei nstall of
Wi ndows may be requi red to undo the damage caused by a Codec Pack.

< OTHER MEDIA PLAYERS
If you don't wi sh to use Wi ndows Medi a Player to vi ew mul ti media content, there are a range of al ternati ves
i ncludi ng the foll owi ng popul ar free pl ayers:

VLC
Wi nAmp
Di vX Player
Qui ckTi me Player
i Tunes

I can't go i nto detai l about each of these pl ayers in thi s chapter, however they are each good pl ayers,
dependi ng on your personal preference and specifi c needs. One speci fi c media pl ayer worth noti ng further
however i s Media Player Cl assi c. There i s a free generi c media pl ayer whi ch can pl ay back most formats,
i ncludi ng propri etary formats, and i s also both easy to use and util izes very li ttl e system resources.
Downl oad and launch the mplayerc package - i t requi res no i nstall ati on because i t i s i n a si ngl e .EXE fi le
whi ch contains the pl ayer. It al so requi res no reconfi gurati on as such, i t i s ready to be used i mmediately
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VISUAL & CONVENIENCE TWEAKS

Thi s chapter covers a range of ti ps and tweaks desi gned to all ow you to further customize the appearance of
Wi ndows XP, as well as i mprovi ng functi onal i ty. None of the tweaks i n thi s chapter is necessary for
ensuri ng that you have a fast, stabl e system, however many of them wi l l save you ti me or make usi ng
Wi ndows XP more enjoyabl e, so they are sti ll worth consi deri ng. Pl ease note that some of these tweaks can
also be performed by a range of tweaki ng and customi zati on uti li ties covered el sewhere i n this book, such as
i n the TweakUI chapter, so you don't have to use the Regi stry Edi tor for example if you don't want to.

< TIPS & TWEAKS
REMOVE TEXT FROM DESKTOP ICONS
To remove the text beneath any i con on your Desktop, fol l ow these steps:

1. Ri ght-cli ck on the i con whose ti tl e you want to remove and sel ect Rename
2. Instead of enteri ng any characters i n the text box, hol d down the ALT key and type 255 (ALT + 2 + 5 + 5).
Note that you need to use the NUMPAD numeri c keys for thi s to work, that i s the numbers to the ri ght
of your arrow keys, not the ones at the top of the keyboard.
3. When you release the ALT key the ti tl e wi ll be bl ank, and you can press Enter to accept this. Bl ank ti tles
are usual ly deni ed under Wi ndows, but not when done thi s way as i t i nserts a special bl ank character.
4. For every i con whose ti tl e you wish to remove, do the same as above. However si nce no two i cons can
have the same name, for each subsequent i con you'll have to add an addi ti onal ALT 255 to the end of the
stri ng you enter. E.g. to bl ank a second i con name you'll need to hol d down ALT and type 255, rel ease,
then hol d ALT and type 255 agai n, then rel ease and press Enter. For a thi rd, you'l l have to type ALT 255,
ALT 255, ALT 255, Enter and so on.

If you want to regai n the icon names you wil l have to manual l y edit each i con's name to whatever you want.

REMOVE THE BOX AROUND DESKTOP ICON TITLES
If you have appl i ed the 'Remove text from desktop i cons' tweak above and you sti ll see a fai nt box where the
text was, you can also remove that box by doi ng the fol l owi ng:

1. Go to Control Panel>System>Advanced and cli ck the Setti ngs button under Performance.
2. Ti ck 'Use drop shadows for i con label s on the desktop' under the Visual Effects tab and cl i ck OK.
3. Check your desktop. The boxes shoul d be gone, regardl ess of whether you removed the text or not. If
they're sti ll there, ri ght cl i ck on the desktop, l ook under 'Arrange Icons By' and make sure there's no tick
agai nst 'Lock Web Items on Desktop'.

CREATE DESKTOP ICONS FOR SHUTDOWN OR RESTART
Instead of using the 'Turn Off Computer' or Restart opti ons on the Start Menu, you can create desktop i cons
whi ch automati call y shutdown or restart your PC wi th just a doubl e-cli ck. Thi s tweak makes use of the
Shutdown.exe command to create a new shortcut as fol l ows:


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Shutdown Icon:

1. Ri ght cl ick on an empty area on your desktop.
2. Sel ect New>Shortcut.
3. In the fi rst box of the Create Shortcut Wizard, type the foll owi ng and cli ck Next:

shut down / s / t 00

4. Call the shortcut somethi ng descri pti ve l i ke Shutdown and cli ck Fini sh.
5. To add the fini shi ng touch, ri ght cli ck on thi s new i con, sel ect Properti es, cl i ck the Change Icon button
and sel ect an appropriate icon.

Reboot Icon:

To create a Reboot i con, fol l ow the same steps as above, but substi tute the fol l owi ng steps i n pl ace of the
correspondi ng ones above:

3. In the fi rst box of the Create Shortcut Wizard, type the foll owi ng and cli ck Next:

shut down / r / t 00

4. Call the shortcut somethi ng descri pti ve l i ke Restart and cli ck Fi ni sh.

Note that doubl e-cl icki ng on these i cons wil l commence shutdown or restart of the PC strai ght away wi thout
any warni ng. If you want a countdown before a shutdown or restart, substi tute a ti me i n seconds i n place of
the '00' entri es i n the shortcut properti es above (e.g. shut down / s / t 10 gi ves 10 seconds warni ng before
shutti ng down). Al so note that once the shutdown or restart process begi ns i t can't be aborted. If you want
more command li ne swi tches whi ch can be used with the shutdown command, open a command prompt
and type shut down and press Enter. For exampl e you can use the / h swi tch i nstead of / r or / s above to
create a Hi bernate icon i nstead.

CREATE DESKTOP ICON TO LOCK THE COMPUTER
Just as you can create Shutdown and Restart i cons, you can also create an i con whi ch l ocks your computer
i mmediatel y and requi res that a user l ogi n agai n before gai ni ng access. To do thi s, fol l ow these steps:

1. Ri ght cl ick on an empty area on your Desktop.
2. Sel ect New>Shortcut.
3. In the fi rst box of the Create Shortcut Wizard, type the foll owi ng:

Rundl l 32. exe User 32. dl l , LockWor kSt at i on

4. Call the shortcut somethi ng li ke Lock PC and cl i ck Fini sh.
5. To add the fi ni shi ng touch, ri ght cl i ck on the new i con, sel ect Properti es, cli ck the Change Icon button
and sel ect an appropriate icon.

Now whenever you cl i ck thi s i con your PC wi l l i nstantl y be l ocked, and can onl y be accessed by the user
enteri ng a correct password i n the Login box. Note you can al so lock the computer at any time by pressing
WINDOWS + L. Al so note that i f you have an account wi th no password, l ocki ng the desktop i s poi ntl ess as
anyone can l ogi n by just l eavi ng the password fi el d bl ank and cl i cki ng OK to l og back i n.


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SAVE DESKTOP ICON POSITIONS
Thi s tweak all ows you to save the current posi ti ons of your desktop i cons so that i f the i cons are rearranged
or moved you can qui ckly restore them back to thei r saved posi ti ons at any ti me. To gi ve you thi s added
functi onali ty do the fol l owi ng:

1. Downl oad the fi l e Layout.zi p (mi rror: here) and extract the contents to an empty di rectory.
2. Copy the Layout.dll fi l e to your \Windows\System32 di rectory.
3. Doubl e-cli ck on the Layout.reg fil e to automati cal ly make the appropri ate changes to your registry.
4. Go to your Desktop and arrange al l your i cons as you would li ke them to be saved.
5. Once done, ri ght-cli ck on the Recycl e Bi n and sel ect the new 'Save Desktop Icon Layout' opti on. The
posi ti ons of al l the i cons are now saved.
6. You can move the i cons around freel y and whenever you want them restored to thei r ori gi nal saved
posi ti ons, ri ght-cl i ck on Recycl e Bi n again and sel ect 'Restore Desktop Icon Layout'.

Thi s tweak is parti cul arl y handy i f you're i nstall i ng new graphi cs card dri vers for exampl e and your
Desktop i cons get messed up, or you change resol utions and they get scrambl ed around.

CHANGE DESKTOP ICON SIZE
You can al ter the size of Desktop i cons by usi ng thi s tweak as fol l ows:

[ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Cont r ol Panel \ Deskt op\ Wi ndowMet r i cs]

Shel l I con Si ze=32

The value of thi s STRING entry determines the si ze in pi xels both for the hei ght and wi dth of desktop i cons.
The smal l er the val ue, the smal l er the desktop i con. The defaul t value i s 32, whi ch is a 32 x 32 pi xel i con.
Create the entry i f i t doesn't exi st and assi gn the desi red val ue, then reboot Wi ndows to i mplement i t.

SET SPACING BETWEEN DESKTOP ICONS
To adjust the spaces between your desktop i cons, you can manuall y move them. However i f you've chosen
automati c spaci ng (Ri ght-cl i ck on the Desktop and sel ect Arrange Icons by>Auto Arrange) then you can
adjust the automati c verti cal and horizontal spaces placed between each i con by doi ng the fol lowi ng:

1. Ri ght-cli ck on the Desktop and choose Properti es to bri ng up the Di splay Properti es box.
2. Sel ect the Appearance tab, then the Advanced button.
3. Under Items select 'Icon Spaci ng (Hori zontal )' and 'Icon Spaci ng (Verti cal)' and edi t their val ues to
determi ne how many pi xel s are placed between the i cons. The defaul ts are 43 pi xels between i cons.
Smal l er val ues squeeze them cl oser together, hi gher values spread them further apart.
4. If your Desktop i cons are ali gned to the Desktop grid, you may have to ri ght-cl i ck on your Desktop, go
to Arrange Icons By>Al ign to Gri d and unti ck i t, then go back and reti ck i t for the i cons to reposi ti on to
the new spacings.

REMOVE 'SHORTCUT TO...' FROM NEW SHORTCUTS
Whenever you create a new shortcut, the words 'Shortcut to...' appear i n front of the shortcut's name. To
remove thi s defaul t prefi x for new shortcuts, open Regi stry Edi tor and change the fol l owi ng:

[ HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Sof t war e\ Mi cr osof t \ Wi ndows\ Cur r ent Ver si on\ Expl or er ]

Li nk=00 00 00 00


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Create thi s BINARY val ue i f i t doesn't exi st and set i t equal to 00 00 00 00 to remove the 'Shortcut to...' prefi x
i n front of new shortcuts. Reboot Wi ndows to i mplement the change.

CREATE A CUSTOM POPUP MENU ON THE TASKBAR
To put your favori te shortcuts all under one easy-to-access pop-up menu on the taskbar, do the fol l owi ng:

1. Open Wi ndows Expl orer and create a new folder wherever you prefer.
2. Put shortcuts to all your favori te programs, pi ctures, documents, songs etc. i n thi s fol der.
3. Ri ght-cli ck on an empty area of your Taskbar, and choose Tool bars>New Toolbar.
4. In the New Tool bar dial og box, browse to where you created your new fol der wi th al l the shortcuts,
hi ghli ght the fol der and cl ick OK.

You wi ll now have a new item on your Taskbar wi th the name of the fol der you created earlier. Cl i ck on the
doubl e arrows just above its name and you'l l get a popup menu of al l the programs you can now qui ckl y
access. If you want to remove thi s fol der from the Taskbar, ri ght cl i ck on an empty area of the Taskbar and
sel ect Tool bars, and unti ck the fol der's name from the l ist.

< CUSTOM WINDOWS THEMES
Wi ndows XP all ows you to customi ze Window's Graphi cal User Interface (GUI) or 'ski n'. By defaul t XP
comes wi th two mai n Visual Styl es - 'Windows Cl assi c Styl e' and 'Windows XP Styl e'. You can choose ei ther
of these by goi ng to Control Panel>Displ ay Properties>Appearance and sel ecting one under the 'Wi ndows
and Buttons' secti on. Note that you must have Themes enabl ed to do thi s; you can enabl e Themes by goi ng
to Control Panel >System>Advanced, cli ck the Setti ngs button under Performance and on the Visual Effects
tab make sure there's a ti ck next to 'Use vi sual styl es on wi ndows and buttons'.

Asi de from the bui l t-i n themes you can al so download newer offi cial ones like the Zune or Royal Noir
themes. Royal Noi r i n parti cular has many si mil ari ti es wi th the Vista theme. These themes provi de an
attracti ve al ternati ve to the regular Wi ndows themes, and will work wi thout requi ri ng any thi rd party
uti li ti es or system customizati on.

Unfortunately Mi crosoft has not made it easy to modi fy or i nstal l any unoffi ci al styl es beyond those whi ch i t
provi des. Onl y themes digi tal l y signed by Mi crosoft - such as those l i nked to above - can be i nstall ed
wi thout a probl em. To i nstall custom themes, you wil l need special ized tool s and some detailed i nformati on.
Full detai l s can be found in thi s comprehensi ve Wi ndows Customi zati on Guide, but the mai n methods are
covered bel ow.

WINDOWBLINDS
To i nstall a custom theme qui ckly and easi ly, you can use an automated util i ty call ed Wi ndowBl i nds. The
basi c versi on of this program is free and i mpl ements most aspects of a theme. Once you have i nstal l ed
Wi ndowBl i nds you can downl oad a wi de range of free custom themes from Wi nCustomize or Devi antArt
for exampl e. Note however that Wi ndowBl i nds needs to run i n the background i n Wi ndows for the theme to
work, and can therefore i ncrease resource usage. For thi s reason, I general l y recommend the method bel ow
whi ch is tri cki er but l ess resource-i ntensi ve.


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UXTHEME.DLL PATCHING
If you want to use a manual method whi ch does not i nvol ve a program runni ng i n the background li ke
Wi ndowBl i nds, you wil l have to di rectly patch the uxtheme.dll system fi l e to allow custom themes. This fi le is
hel d under your \Windows\System32 di rectory, and i s a protected fi le, so i t cannot be al tered, deleted or
repl aced wi thout usi ng a speci al util i ty. As of Wi ndows XP SP3, many of the older methods to patch thi s fi le
may not work properly. Use the foll owing method:

1. To start wi th, you wi ll need a theme fil e whi ch is i n MSStyl es format. Thi s means the downl oaded theme
package has to have at l east one .MSSTYLES fi l e for Wi ndows to see i t and use i t. Typi cal l y you shoul d
extract the contents of your custom theme package to si t under the \WINDOWS\Resources\Themes\
di rectory.
2. Make sure to create a new System Restore poi nt. Also create a backup copy of your ori gi nal uxtheme.dll
fi le found i n your \WINDOWS\system32 directory, preferabl y to another dri ve or di sk. Thi s i s an
i mportant step - see Step 5 bel ow for more detai ls.
3. Use the free SP3 UXTheme Patcher to automati call y patch your uxtheme.dll fi l e, or downl oad a
repl acement uxtheme.dll file whi ch has al ready been modi fi ed to al l ow you to run custom themes. You
can downl oad a rel evant one from here or here - check to make sure i t matches the bui ld versi on of
Wi ndows XP you are usi ng. Al so make sure to scan the fi l e for malware just i n case.
4. If you downloaded a modi fi ed uxtheme.dll fi l e, downl oad the Replacer util ity and run i t. Drag your
ori gi nal uxtheme.dll fil e i nto the Repl acer wi ndow and press Enter, then drag the modi fi ed uxtheme.dll fil e
i nto the Replacer wi ndow and press Enter, then press Y to confi rm, and reboot as requi red.
5. If somethi ng goes wrong and you fi nd you cannot reboot your system to get back i nto Windows, go to
the Wi ndows Recovery Consol e and copy your backed up uxtheme.dll to the \Windows\System32
di rectory and reboot. If thi s doesn't work, see the Backup & Recovery chapter for other recovery
methods.
6. Go to Control Panel>Display and select the Appearance tab. Under the 'Wi ndows and Buttons' scroll
box, sel ect the new theme and cl i ck Appl y - i t should i mmedi ately come i nto effect.

Once agai n, because thi s procedure i nvolves modi fyi ng a core system fi l e, i t can cause probl ems i f thi ngs go
wrong. However for the most part i t shoul d be safe i f you fol l ow these i nstructi ons and in parti cul ar you
make sure to create appropri ate backups as explai ned i n step 2. Impl ementi ng a custom theme usi ng thi s
method i s the l east resource-i ntensi ve way of havi ng a custom theme, and best of all i t's compl etel y free.

ROCKETDOCK
RocketDock is a free appl icati on launcher whi ch combi nes a range of i mpressi ve graphi cal effects wi th the
conveni ence of bei ng abl e to access and launch your most commonl y-used programs i n one promi nent
l ocati on. It can greatl y i mprove the vi sual appearance of Wi ndows XP and has mi ni mal performance i mpact.

GLASS2K
If you al so want to make any of your themes appear transparent and glassli ke, you can downl oad and use
the free Gl ass2K program. It al l ows you to add any l evel of transparency to any wi ndow as well as the
Taskbar. Gi ve i t a try as i t is si mpl e to use, however note that i t needs to run i n the background to work.

As a fi nal note, if you have l ow amounts of system RAM I recommend you steer clear of i nstal li ng overl y
compl ex themes and GUI enhancements as they may make your system l ess responsi ve and increase l oading
ti mes and stutteri ng i n appl i cati ons and games. For most systems however, a custom theme, parti cularly i f
i mpl emented vi a the Uxtheme method, should provide no di scernabl e drop i n performance.


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< KEYBOARD & PROGRAM SHORTCUTS
Most peopl e know that you can use the keyboard to speed up access to common commands and functi ons in
Wi ndows XP. Some peopl e use these keyboard shortcuts a great deal, others rely mai nl y on thei r mouse for
everythi ng. On the fol l owi ng pages are some of the most useful Wi ndows XP keyboard shortcuts, and even
some shortcuts you can type i n the Start>Run box to gai n qui ck access to useful util i ti es and Control Panel
i tems i n Wi ndows. I recommend you get used to usi ng some of these regul arl y as they qui ckl y become
second nature.

COMMON KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS

Keyboard Combination Function

CTRL + A Sel ect all
CTRL + C Copy sel ected item(s)
CTRL + X Cut sel ected i tem(s)
CTRL + V Paste copi ed/cut i tem(s)
CTRL + Z Undo l ast acti on
CTRL + Y Redo l ast acti on
SHIFT + DEL Del etes i tem, bypasses Recycle Bi n
CTRL + ESC Open Start Menu
ALT + TAB Swi tches between active programs
CTRL + ALT + DEL Opens Task Manager
ALT + F4 Cl oses program or opens 'Shut down computer'
SHIFT + LEFT CLICK Sel ect mul ti pl e i tems at once wi thi n a range
CTRL + LEFT CLICK Sel ect mul ti pl e i tems at once indi vi duall y
TAB Steps forward through screen el ements
SHIFT + TAB Steps backward through screen el ements
F1 Open Hel p functi on
F2 Rename/Enter text for i tem
F3 Search key
F5 Update/Refresh acti ve wi ndow
F11 Toggl e Ful l screen mode
SHIFT + F10 Open Context Menu for i tem
ALT + SPACEBAR Open Windows Properties menu
SHIFT + CD/DVD INSERT Hol d Shi ft whil e i nserti ng a di sc to prevent Autopl ay
WINDOWS Show Start Menu
WINDOWS + D Mi ni mi ze/Restore all Windows
WINDOWS + E Open Windows Expl orer
WINDOWS + F Open Windows Search
WINDOWS + L Lock Workstation
WINDOWS + R Open Start>Run box
WINDOWS + U Open Accessi bi l i ty Uti li ty
WINDOWS + BREAK Open System Properti es
WINDOWS + F1 Open Hel p & Support


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PROGRAM & CONTROL PANEL SHORTCUTS
The foll owi ng are fi le names for common Wi ndows util i ties and Control Panel i tems whi ch you can i nsert
i nto shortcuts or i n the Wi ndows Run box (Start>Run).

Servi ces.msc Servi ces Uti li ty
Gpedi t.msc Group Pol i cy Edi tor
Comexp.msc Component Servi ces
Eventvwr.msc Event Vi ewer
Secpol.msc Local Securi ty Pol icy
Perfmon.msc Performance Moni tor
Compmgmt.msc Computer Management
Cmd Command Prompt
Cal c Cal cul ator
Cl eanmgr.exe Di sk Cl eanup Uti l ity
Dfrg.msc Di sk Defragmenter
Notepad Notepad
Pbrush Pai nt
Wmpl ayer Windows Medi a Pl ayer
Wordpad Wordpad
Wupdmgr Wi ndows Update
Control Control Panel
Sysdm.cpl System Properti es
Devmgmt.msc Devi ce Manager
Desk.cpl Di spl ay Properti es
Main.cpl Mouse Properti es
Ti medate.cpl Cl ock Properties
Inetcpl.cpl Internet Properti es
Mmsys.cpl Sounds & Audi o Devi ces

DIRECTORY SHORTCUT
If you want to get to a parti cular di rectory fol der, go to Start>Run and type the name and path of the fol der
i n the Run box, then press Enter. Wi ndows Expl orer wi ll open up i n that directory i nstantl y. If you don't
speci fy the ful l path, Wi ndows Expl orer wi ll open up at the fi rst i nci dence of that di rectory. You can al so
assi gn thi s path to a shortcut and use i t to open Wi ndows Expl orer there by defaul t whenever the shortcut is
used - see the Wi ndows Expl orer chapter for detai ls.

MICROSOFT ON-SCREEN KEYBOARD
If you are havi ng probl ems usi ng your keyboard you can bri ng up the Mi crosoft Onscreen Keyboard util i ty
by goi ng to Start>Run, typi ng osk then press Enter. The vi rtual keyboard wi ll be di splayed, al lowi ng you to
use your mouse to cl i ck on vi rtual keys as though you were usi ng a keyboard. To make thi ngs easier,
posi ti on the Onscreen Keyboard somewhere conveni ent and then select 'Al ways on Top' under i ts Setti ngs
menu so you don't constantl y have to swi tch back and forward between tasks to use i t.

Note i f you can't cli ck the left mouse button to sel ect keys, under the Setti ngs menu sel ect 'Typi ng Mode' and
then sel ect the 'Hover to Sel ect' opti on. Now you can just pl ace your mouse cursor over a key on the
Onscreen Keyboard and i t wi l l regi ster as an entry. Set the l ength of ti me needed to hover over a key before
i t regi sters as an entry (values i n seconds between 0.00 and 1.00 second).


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MOUSEKEYS
If i nstead of your keyboard you are havi ng probl ems usi ng your mouse, you can enable the Wi ndows
MouseKeys functi onal i ty by goi ng to Control Panel >Accessi bil i ty Opti ons>Mouse and ti cki ng the 'Use
MouseKeys' box. Al ternativel y you can press CTRL + Left SHIFT + NUMLOCK to acti vate thi s functi onali ty.
MouseKeys al l ows you to use the Numpad keys - the numeri cal keys on the far ri ght of your keyboard - to
move the mouse cursor around on screen.


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OVERCLOCKING

When peopl e want addi tional performance from thei r machi nes, they may undertake a procedure cal led
Overcl ocki ng. Thi s is the process of i ncreasi ng the cl ock speed of a component in your PC above i ts normal
speci fi cati ons, hence the term 'over cl ocki ng'. The cl ock referred to i s a special ized osci llator pul si ng wi th a
frequency that determi nes the rate at whi ch a data processor can perform i nstructi ons. The theory of
overcl ocki ng i s si mpl e: i ncrease thi s cl ock speed and you wil l i ncrease the rate at whi ch i nstructi ons are
performed, l eadi ng to a faster PC. Overcl ocki ng is possi bl e on a range of hardware components i ncluding
CPUs, Graphi cs cards, Motherboards and RAM.

Another method of overcl ocki ng whi ch doesn't i nvol ve i ncreasing the cl ock rate i s by al teri ng ti mi ngs.
Memory-based components such as system RAM and Vi deo RAM have l atency ti mi ngs - rest peri ods
between operati ons measured i n cl ock cycl es. By decreasi ng the l atency ti me, a memory component can be
made to wai t l ess between compl eti ng speci fi c operati ons and hence functi on faster.

So why are these methods possi bl e? Why aren't the hardware components you buy not al ready performi ng
to thei r peak potenti al ? The reason for thi s i s that hardware components are expected to work i n di verse
envi ronmental condi ti ons and be put to vastl y di fferent tasks. Hardware manufacturers ensure safe
headroom i s provi ded so that i n adverse condi ti ons the component can stil l operate safel y and wi th stabi lity.
Overcl ocki ng takes up thi s slack by pushi ng the component beyond manufacturers' specifi cations.

Of course when you push a component beyond i ts recommended speci fi cations the component requires
i deal condi tions to continue operati ng wi th stabili ty. That usuall y means more cooli ng on/around the
component, si nce any cooling devi ce i t al ready uses i s onl y reall y desi gned to deal wi th stock operati on. The
component al so requi res stabl e vol tage from the Power Supply ei ther di rectly or through the motherboard.
Often to achieve a stabl e overcl ock the component may al so requi re addi ti onal vol tage, whi ch i n turn can
add to heat and hence rai se the cooli ng requirements even further. Furthermore, the addi tional heat being
di ssi pated from one component may cause other nearby components to overheat. As you can see
overcl ocki ng i s not as si mpl e as i t fi rst appears, and there are often compl ex i nteracti ons i nvol ved both at the
hardware and software l evel whi ch must be taken i nto account to achi eve proper stabi li ty. Thi s chapter
exami nes the general theory and operati on of overclocki ng, and is a starti ng poi nt for peopl e i nterested i n
thi s topi c.

< BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS
Before goi ng i nto any more detail about overcl ocki ng i t i s important to discuss the advantages and
di sadvantages of overcl ocki ng objecti vel y, so you don't undertake i t wi thout knowi ng what you're getti ng
yourself i nto:

BENEFITS
Increased performance - thi s i s of course the pri mary reason why peopl e overcl ock. The degree to whi ch
performance i mproves depends on the component(s) bei ng overcl ocked, how far they are overcl ocked,
and whether they are the hardware most rel i ed upon by parti cular games and appl i cati ons. The
performance di fference can be anywhere from negli gi bl e to qui te si gnifi cant.
Braggi ng ri ghts or 'cool ness factor' attached to overcl ocki ng - some peopl e gai n a great deal of
satisfacti on and prestige in havi ng the fastest machi ne, or the highest overcl ocked component, or the
hi ghest benchmark score. Or they may si mpl y feel they are extracti ng the most out of thei r hardware by
overcl ocki ng i t. Some peopl e al so enjoy the ti nkeri ng and hobbyist aspect of overcl ocki ng and hardware
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DRAWBACKS
There wi ll be costs i n provi di ng i mproved cool i ng - in al most al l cases you wi ll have to purchase more
effecti ve and/or addi ti onal cool i ng for your system in the form of more effi cient heatsi nks and/or more
fans, a case wi th more space or better ai rfl ow, or speci al ized equi pment l ike a water cooli ng setup. Of
course if you start out by pl anni ng your system purchase carefull y, you can mi ni mize the addi ti onal
costs to some extent by begi nni ng wi th the ri ght components.
The overcl ocked component, and therefore your enti re system, may become unstable and crash
randomly - wi thout a doubt the number one cause of problems i n games and appli cati ons is
overcl ocki ng. Peopl e often refuse to acknowl edge that thei r overcl ocki ng i s the cause of the probl em,
and mi stakenl y blame Windows, thei r dri vers or the game or appl i cati on i nstead. Di fferent programs
react differentl y to overcl ocki ng. Some can tol erate much hi gher l evel s of overcl ocki ng on parti cul ar
components, some cannot tol erate any overcl ocki ng at all ; i t al l depends on how stressful the game or
program i s, and how stable or unstable the overcl ock actuall y i s i n your parti cular setup.
Potenti al data corrupti on i f certai n components are pushed beyond thei r li mi ts - pushi ng components
l i ke the CPU or RAM beyond thei r limi ts on your system can resul t i n i nstabi li ty l eadi ng to data
corrupti on, up to and i ncl udi ng the l oss of all your data. Often thi s data corruption can occur subtl y over
ti me wi thout any i ndi cati on or warni ng.
Excessi ve heat can damage or permanentl y kil l a component - si nce computer hardware i s based on
sensi ti ve el ectroni c equi pment, i f a hardware component i s not kept adequatel y cool (and even i n some
cases i f i t is) it can be permanentl y damaged or destroyed through overcl ocki ng. It happens qui te often,
especiall y wi th graphi cs cards, so i t i s not as rare as might be thought.
Overcl ocki ng automati cal ly voi ds the warranty on the component - most hardware manufacturers make
i t cl ear that overcl ocki ng beyond recommended cl ock speeds or ti mi ngs wi ll i nstantly voi d your
warranty. Thi s also goes for any physical modifi cations to the hardware such as changi ng its cooli ng.
Unl ess expl i ci tl y stated otherwi se, a warranty i s onl y designed to cover unmodi fied hardware operati ng
wi thi n speci ficati ons.
Overcl ocki ng reduces the l i fe span of the component - si nce the component i s worki ng beyond
speci fi cati on and worki ng hotter and faster than i t was designed to handl e, most components wi ll have
reduced l ife spans. Thi s can reduce the useful l ife of a component someti mes negli gi bl y or someti mes
noti ceably, dependi ng on the extremi ty of the overcl ock, the quality of the components, and how wel l
the components are kept cool and powered. A mil d overcl ock typi cal ly has l i ttle or no practical i mpact
on the l i fe expectancy of a component; an extreme overcl ock can drasti cal l y reduce the error-free l ife of a
component.

So far the disadvantages appear to far outwei gh the advantages of overcl ocki ng. Thi s i s not stri ctl y true, i t all
depends on how far you overcl ock a component and how much performance you can gai n in return, as wel l
as the qual i ty of the hardware i tsel f. It's i mportant to poi nt out that i t overcl ocki ng is not a si mpl e or even
benefi ci al procedure at al l ti mes. Despi te everyone urgi ng you to overcl ock your system you shoul d weigh
up the opti ons rati onal l y and ei ther choose to avoid overcl ocking due to the addi ti onal expense and the
potenti al ly modest performance gai ns and/or the strong l ikeli hood of i nstabili ty/damage; or al ternati vel y
research the topi c thoroughl y and i nvest the ti me and money required to achi eve a good bal ance of
performance and stabil i ty.

The bottom l i ne i s i f you don't have much ti me or pati ence, or you can't afford to repl ace a vi tal system
component shoul d i t get damaged, do not overcl ock. If your CPU or graphi cs card di es for exampl e and you
can't replace i t, your entire computer becomes unusabl e, so i t i s not somethi ng to be taken l i ghtly si mply
because peopl e fli ppantl y encourage you to do i t.


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< METHODOLOGY
The preci se detai ls of how to overcl ock vary depending on your parti cular hardware confi gurati on and BIOS
opti ons. The informati on bel ow i s only indi cati ve and desi gned to gi ve you a broad i dea of the types of steps
i nvol ved i n overcl ocki ng; for more detail ed i nformation see the gui des l i nked to at the end of thi s chapter.
Importantl y, before commenci ng any type of overcl ocki ng you must make sure you are total l y fami li ar wi th
the exact brand, model and defaul t speci fi cati ons of your major hardware components. If necessary refer to
any packaging or manuals whi ch came wi th your system, and more i mportantl y see the System
Specifi cati ons chapter for l i nks to tool s whi ch can hel p you identi fy your components and thei r precise
capabil i ti es i n detai l .

Al so make sure that before changi ng any BIOS setti ngs for the purposes of overcl ocki ng that you record
your existi ng BIOS setti ngs. Thi s is because i n some cases when overcl ocki ng beyond the poi nt of stabil ity,
you wil l have to reset your BIOS (or i t may reset automati cal ly) back to i ts factory defaul t setti ngs, l osi ng any
customized setti ngs you've put i n. So make sure you document what the major BIOS setti ngs are which
you've al tered through any general BIOS customi zation.

CPU OVERCLOCKING
Overcl ocki ng a CPU on most systems invol ves enteri ng the BIOS and i ncreasi ng the speed of the Front Side
Bus (FSB) or Qui ckPath Interconnect (QPI) for Intel CPUs, or HyperTransport (HTT) for AMD CPUs. The
FSB/QPI/HTT i s the mai n pathway (Bus or Interconnect) between your major system components, and as i ts
speed i ncreases, i nformati on i s transferred back and forth more rapi dl y between al l your major components
worki ng off thi s bus speed. There are vari ous setti ngs i n the BIOS whi ch al ter the speed of these buses or
i nterconnects, however dependi ng on the setti ng used, you may al so be increasi ng the speed of other
components, such as your system RAM. Check the relevant setti ngs i n your motherboard manual .

Your CPU also has a Mul ti pl ier, whi ch as the name suggests sets the overall CPU speed i n MHz as a
mul ti ple of the mai n Bus/Interconnect speed. For exampl e on a system wi th an effecti ve Bus of 200MHz and
a CPU that has a mul ti pl ier of 20 gi ves you a CPU speed of 20x200 = 4000MHz = 4GHz. Note that some CPUs
have thei r mul ti pli er l ocked at the hardware l evel , whi ch means you can't actual l y change i t.

RAM OVERCLOCKING
Increasi ng the speed of your RAM i s dependent on a number of factors. Overclocki ng refers to the process of
i ncreasi ng the cl ock speed of a component; i n the case of system RAM thi s i nvol ves raisi ng the mai n system
Bus/Interconnect frequency and/or si mpl y rai si ng the RAM's Frequency di rectly to al ter the RAM's speed i n
MHz - dependi ng on your avail able BIOS opti ons. However you can al so al ter the Ti mi ngs (Latency) of a
memory chi p such that i t refreshes faster between operati ons, meani ng l ess wai ti ng ti me between each
operati on and hence faster performance.

Whether i ncreasi ng RAM speed or l oweri ng l atency i s the better opti on i s not clear. There i s no set answer -
i t al l depends on your parti cular hardware and the appli cati ons you most commonl y run as to the preci se
combi nati on of RAM speed and RAM latency which wi ll perform best and wi th greatest stabil i ty, so you wi ll
have to experi ment. Generall y speaki ng, appl i cati ons or games whi ch have large amounts of non-graphi cs
i nformati on to transfer to the CPU and back wil l benefi t more from greater RAM speed, whi ch provi des
more bandwi dth. On the other hand appl i cati ons and parti cularl y games whi ch pri mari ly requi re very
compl ex cal culati ons wi th repeated access to i nformati on i n memory wi l l benefi t more from l ower RAM
l atency. Obviously some appl i cations and games requi re both, so agai n, there is no cl ear-cut answer.

RAM overcl ocki ng also depends a great deal on how many sti cks of RAM you have, their qual i ty, and how
si mil ar they are. Because your RAM DIMMs (Dual Inl i ne Memory Modul es, also referred to as 'sti cks') have
to work together i n your system, i f you have two or more sti cks of RAM i n your system, you must try and
ensure that firstl y they are all equall y matched i n terms of rated speed and timi ngs, and secondl y that they


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should i deal ly be from the same brand and model of RAM. RAM chi ps can vary i n quali ty and performance,
so havi ng mixed brands or types of RAM can l ead to a vari ety of probl ems - even when runni ng at defaul t
speeds.

GRAPHICS CARD OVERCLOCKING
The foll owi ng i s a modi fied summary from the overcl ocki ng secti on of the ATI Catalyst Tweak Gui de and
Nvi di a Forceware Tweak Gui de. It appl i es to al l graphi cs cards regardl ess of brand, however i f you are an
ATI or Nvi dia graphics card user please read through the rel evant gui de above for ful l detail s.

The modern graphi cs card i s a l ot li ke a smal l computer by i tself. It has a Graphi cs Processi ng Uni t (GPU)
whi ch is the graphi cs equival ent of the CPU, i t si ts on a motherboard-li ke Pri nted Ci rcui t Board (PCB), and
has i ts own Vi deo RAM (VRAM). And just l i ke a computer system, the components on a vi deo card can be
overcl ocked to i ncrease performance. Overcl ocki ng a graphi cs card i nvol ves i ncreasi ng the frequency of the
GPU (also call ed the Engi ne or Core) and/or the Vi deo RAM (al so call ed VRAM or Graphi cs Memory). You
can overcl ock one or both of these components, wi th varyi ng resul ts based on a number of factors, but
general ly resul ti ng i n an increase i n performance the hi gher you overcl ock each component. To overcl ock
your vi deo card, i deall y you'll need a tool whi ch al l ows you to change the cl ock speeds of the Core and the
VRAM - you can use Ri vaTuner or ATI Tray Tool s for these purposes.

Overcl ocki ng your vi deo card is si mi lar to CPU overcl ocki ng and RAM overcl ocki ng combi ned - simpl y
i ncrease the cl ock speed of the Core/Engi ne, and/or the cl ock speed of the Graphi cs Memory, both of whi ch
are measured i n MHz. The Core generates graphi cs data, and dependi ng on your CPU and the rest of your
system specifi cati ons, i ncreasi ng the core speed can resul t in a small or l arge overall performance
i mprovement. The Vi deo Memory transfers i nformati on to/from the Core, and i ncreasi ng i ts speed can once
agai n i mprove performance ei ther sli ghtl y or si gni ficantl y, i n conjuncti on wi th your Core speed and the
speed of the rest of your system.

Al l other things bei ng equal , the hi gher the resol uti on bei ng used for a 3D appl i cati on or game and the
hi gher the graphi cs setti ngs, and the more recent the game, the greater the potenti al for graphi cs card
overcl ocki ng to yi el d bi gger i mprovements i n performance. This i s because newer and more graphi call y
i ntensi ve games runni ng at hi gher resol uti ons rel y heavil y on the GPU for thei r performance.

Remember however that i f you have an ol d or l ow-end graphi cs card then overcl ocki ng i s unl i kel y to
i mprove performance dramati cal ly. The reason for thi s i s that l ower end graphi cs cards simpl y do not have
hardware support for the advanced functi onal i ty demanded by recent games, such as the l atest Pi xel
Shaders and Vertex Shaders. If your card does not have hardware support for a requi red advanced functi on,
such as a Di rectX 11 feature for exampl e, then overcl ocki ng cannot surmount this handi cap.

VOLTAGE ADJUSTMENT
As components are pushed outsi de specifi cati ons wi th overcl ocki ng, they wi ll do more work. Often they can
accommodate thi s extra work wi thi n thei r current vol tage, however someti mes to gai n stabi l i ty and/or to
push a component further, you wil l have to i ncrease the vol tage to these components. The three main
components that can benefi t from vol tage tweaki ng are the CPU, the graphi cs card and RAM. The two main
vol tage adjustments you wi ll fi nd i n al most any BIOS are CPU Vol tage and RAM Vol tage, and these are
expl ai ned below.

CPU Voltage: Thi s is the amount of vol tage appli ed to the CPU. The base vol tage wil l vary dependi ng on the
CPU archi tecture, however make sure to note what your CPU's defaul t vol tage i s before raisi ng i t. The onl y
reason to al ter the CPU voltage from i ts defaul t i s that when overclocki ng your CPU you may noti ce that you
cannot overclock i t beyond a certai n point, or that you experi ence a l ot of i nstabi l i ty at hi gher cl ock speeds.
Rai si ng the CPU vol tage by a small i ncrement i n your BIOS may all ow the CPU to regai n stabi li ty and/or


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all ow you to push the CPU further. The theory behi nd rai si ng the CPU vol tage i s more compl ex than just
suppl yi ng more jui ce to the CPU, and you can read about i t i n thi s Wiki pedia Arti cl e. The most i mportant
thi ng to understand i s that uppi ng the vol tage beyond a certai n poi nt can resul t i n permanent damage to
your CPU, and stri ctl y speaki ng any increase i n the vol tage can further shorten the l i fe span of a CPU.
However for the most part a smal l bump i n vol tage can hel p stabi lize an overcl ocked CPU that i s acting
sl ightl y unstabl e. Just remember that more vol tage always equal s more heat, whi ch requi res greater cooling
to mai ntai n safe temperatures.

RAM Voltage: Someti mes call ed DRAM Vol tage, thi s i s the amount of vol tage for the RAM DIMMs. Just l ike
CPU vol tage, i ncreasi ng RAM vol tage can i mprove stabi li ty at hi gher cl ock speeds. This i s parti cularly true if
you're experienci ng random reboots or sudden crashes to desktop, as these are al most al ways RAM rel ated
i n some way. Once agai n, i ncreasi ng the vol tage to your RAM can resul t i n permanent damage so do not
overvol t by a substanti al amount wi thout first consul ti ng wi th your motherboard manual to determi ne the
maxi mum safe vol tage l evel . Impl ement any i ncrease in RAM vol tage i n very small i ncrements, and provi de
addi ti onal cool i ng to prevent heat bui l di ng i n the area surroundi ng the RAM.

You can vi ew your exi sting system vol tages i n the BIOS, however i f you want a uti l i ty to moni tor system
vol tages from wi thi n Windows, use the free CPU-Z or HWMoni tor util i ti es. See the System Specifi cati ons
and BIOS & Hardware Management chapters for other util i ties whi ch may be useful .

There may be addi ti onal vol tage setti ngs i n your BIOS, and unl ess you have ful l knowl edge of what they do,
and what a safe adjustment i s, do not al ter them as you can permanentl y damage your components thi s way.

< STABILITY
Overcl ocki ng i s poi ntl ess i f i t l eads to i nstabi li ty or other probl ems. The Gol den Rul e for troubleshooti ng any
probl em on an overcl ocked system i s:

Al ways start by assumi ng your overcl ock is the pri mary source of any probl em

Begi n the i nvesti gati on of any problem or strange behavi or on your PC by suspecti ng your overcl ock as the
source of that probl em. Reset your enti re system to i ts defaul t speeds and see i f the probl em persi sts or i s as
severe. If the probl em goes away, or doesn't happen as often, you can be certai n your overcl ocki ng i s
contri buti ng in some way to i t, or is the sol e cause of i t. You will have to l ower or remove your overcl ock
and/or i ncrease your cool ing. Detail s on how to correctl y test your system for stabil i ty are covered i n the
Benchmarki ng & Stress Testi ng chapter, but bear i n mi nd that even i f your system can run every artifi cial
test and benchmark there i s for hours on end wi thout a probl em, the real test i s havi ng compl ete stabil ity
day-i n, day-out, even when runni ng stressful games and programs duri ng hot summer days for exampl e. If
your system starts behaving strangely, or you are havi ng crashes and problems, don't persist i n mai ntai ning
your overcl ock.

El ectroni c hardware components are highl y accurate devi ces, and forci ng them to run outside thei r normal
operati ng speeds can i ncrease the potenti al for smal l errors to creep i nto thei r operati on. Manufacturers often
push a particular component cl ose to i ts l i mi ts by defaul t from the factory, so even a small amount of
overcl ocki ng can be enough to cause probl ems. If you're goi ng to overcl ock, don't do i t at the cost of system
stabi li ty. At the fi rst si gn of strange behavi or, don't be qui ck to bl ame everythi ng el se - suspect your
overcl ock fi rst and foremost. Make sure you have opti mi zed and mai ntai ned your enti re system as covered
i n thi s book. Then, and onl y then, if the probl em persi sts to the same degree, and even after further onli ne
research, you sti l l fi nd no sol uti on, you can consi der the actual program or game to be buggy i n some way.
Unfortunately many people start this process the other way around.


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POWER SUPPLY UNIT
Your Power Suppl y Uni t (PSU) i s an essenti al part of your system, and one that i s often i gnored. It i s cri ti cal
to system stabi l i ty, and i f after readi ng the i nformation bel ow you feel that there may be cause for doubting
the qual i ty or capabil i ty of your exi sti ng PSU to service your PC properl y, you may wish to purchase a new
and more adequate uni t before i nvesti ng too much ti me i nto opti mi zi ng your Wi ndows i nstal lati on. This i s
because no amount of customi zati on or opti mi zati on can overcome the probl ems caused by a poor quali ty
PSU, and i t al so jeopardizes your other components, potenti al ly damagi ng them over ti me. A more effi cient
PSU can al so save you money by usi ng l ess electri ci ty.

For basi c detail s regardi ng PSUs see thi s PSU FAQ whi ch tal ks about the common output speci fi cati ons for
PSUs and what they mean. In parti cular you should consi der three key factors when determi ni ng the quali ty
and adequacy of a PSU for your system: Wattage, PSU effi ci ency, and total amps deli vered on the +12V rail .
These fi gures shoul d be readil y avail able from the PSU's specifi cations.

Wattage: To work out a rough esti mate of the PSU Wattage which i s suffi ci ent for a particular system, use
thi s Interacti ve PSU Cal culator. It i s fai rl y strai ghtforward to use, however note that there are some traps
you can easi ly fal l i nto whi ch wi ll resul t i n overesti mati ng your power usage. For exampl e under the 'System
Type' box, you shoul d al ways sel ect 'Singl e Socket' unl ess you actuall y have mul ti ple CPU sockets on your
motherboard. A Core i 7 CPU for exampl e has four cores, but i t i s stil l a si ngl e socket CPU; vi rtuall y no
desktop system has more than one CPU socket on the motherboard, so pay careful attenti on to the
descri pti ons whi l e goi ng through the cal cul ator.

Efficiency: This doesn't represent how much of a PSU's power i s usabl e - all good PSUs should provi de up to
thei r maxi mum rated wattage wi th stabi l i ty i f requi red. Furthermore, contrary to popul ar bel i ef, whether a
hi gh or l ow wattage PSU, the PSU only provi des the amount of power the system needs, so buyi ng a l arger
PSU than you requi re won't resul t i n extra power usage al l by i tsel f. PSU effi ciency i s the proporti on of the
power the PSU draws from your power socket that is relayed to your system. For example a PSU wi th 80%
effi ci ency provi di ng 400W of power to your system wi l l actual ly draw 500W from the power socket on your
wall whi l e doi ng so. In practi ce effi ci ency wil l di ffer at different l evel s of l oad on different PSUs, and i t's an
i mportant fi gure to l ook out for. Ideal ly you want 80% effi ci ency or hi gher at your expected load l evel on the
PSU - the hi gher the effici ency, the more money you save i n el ectri ci ty bil l s.

Amperage: The Amperage on the +12V rail, a key factor i n system stabi l i ty. For exampl e if you l ook at the
speci fi cati ons of some graphi cs cards, they wil l say that they requi re a current of a certai n number of amps
on the +12V rail (e.g. 40A on +12V for an Nvi dia GeForce GTX 285). You shoul d refer to the speci fi cati ons of
the PSU to see i f the +12V rail (s) provi de that much amperage i n total. Note that some PSUs may have
mul ti ple 12V rail s - this i s techni cal ly a safety requi rement to prevent potenti al overl oad on a si ngle 12V rai l,
but i s not a necessi ty, and some even consi der i t undesi rabl e. In practi ce as l ong as the amps and total
wattage suppl i ed al ong the 12V rail (s) are sol id and suffi ci ent for the job requi red, i t shoul dn't make a huge
di fference whether you have si ngl e or mul ti ple 12V rai l s.

The probl em i s that beyond tryi ng to take note of the key factors above, an accurate revi ew i s requi red to tel l
you whether a PSU i s genui nel y good quali ty or not. As thi s arti cl e poi nts out, specialized measurement
i nstruments are necessary to determi ne thi s, not just measuri ng vol tages wi th a mul ti meter. Hence most PSU
revi ews are i naccurate and effecti vel y usel ess. Accurate PSU revi ews can be found at si tes l i ke
Sil entPCReview and JonnyGuru, so start there if you want to know more about a parti cular PSU.

As a fi nal note, i f you li ve i n an area where the mains power suppl y i s not stabl e or you can suffer peri odi c
outages, I strongl y recommend i nvesting i n a good quali ty Uni nterrupti bl e Power Supply. Thi s wil l i ncrease
the l ife of your components, and i s i mportant i n preventi ng potenti al data l oss resul ti ng from a power
outage.


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COOLING
One of the most common reasons for a range of probl ems i n Wi ndows has nothi ng to do wi th Wi ndows or
software; i t i s actual l y the hardware-related phenomenon of overheati ng. Overheati ng hardware can cause
all sorts of strange errors, crashes and probl ems, and i s often misdiagnosed as bei ng a software or dri ver
probl em. Most computer hardware generates heat due to the power i t consumes, and this heat needs to be
di ssi pated somewhere. A typi cal computer case i s desi gned such that i t traps heat, and hence as heat builds
up i n a PC case, i t wil l cause components to malfuncti on and even become permanentl y damaged over ti me.
Overheati ng can occur i n both stock systems and overcl ocked systems; i t al l depends on a range of factors
we l ook at bel ow. Before spendi ng ti me opti mi zi ng your Wi ndows or consi deri ng overcl ocki ng, you must
make sure your system i s properl y cooled.

Measuring Temperatures: The fi rst step in determi ni ng whether a component i s runni ng too hot i s to measure
i ts temperature. On modern PCs the CPU, graphics card and motherboard al l have buil t-i n di odes that
measure the temperature for these components. The CPU temperature moni tor is a reasonably accurate
measure of the temperature at or near the core of the CPU; the graphi cs card temperature moni tor provi des
an i ndi cati on of the temperature near the GPU core; whi l e the motherboard temperature moni tor i s a good
measure of the general temperature wi thi n the PC case, otherwi se known as the ambi ent temperature. Some
other hardware components such as power suppl y uni ts and hard dri ves may also come with temperature
measurement devi ces you can access.

To actuall y see the temperature readi ngs from your components, you can check the key readi ngs i n your
BIOS setti ngs screens, typicall y under a Hardware Moni tor section or si mil ar. Thi s gi ves you the CPU and
motherboard temperatures, perhaps al so the PSU temperatures as wel l. Cl earl y you need a more conveni ent
method of checki ng temperatures under Wi ndows, especiall y when runni ng system i ntensi ve appl i cati ons
or games. Most motherboards already come wi th such software, so check your motherboard manual and
dri ver CD, or the motherboard manufacturer's websi te for an appropri ate moni tori ng uti li ty. However for
the most accurate and consi stent temperature readi ngs I recommend one of the fol l owi ng free uti l i ties whi ch
work on al most any system:

Real Temp - Pri maril y for measuri ng CPU temperatures, parti cularly across the i ndi vi dual cores of a mul ti -
core CPU. Also provi des a basi c GPU temperature readi ng.
Core Temp - Si milar to Real Temp, is desi gned to measure CPU temperatures.
GPU-Z - Covered under the System Specifi cati ons chapter, GPU-Z has a range of GPU temperature
moni tori ng capabil i ti es found under i ts Sensors tab. It also has basi c CPU and motherboard temperature
moni tori ng.
HWMoni tor - Can moni tor a range of system temperatures as wel l as system vol tages and fan speeds.
HD Tune - Covered under the System Specifi cations chapter, the free versi on of HD Tune provi des a
temperature readout towards the top of the HD Tune wi ndow, showi ng the current temperature of the
sel ected dri ve.
SpeedFan - A more general temperature moni tori ng uti li ty whi ch can provide CPU, motherboard and hard
dri ve temperature readouts, as well as al l owi ng manual fan speed adjustment.

Once you have the appropri ate uti li ti es, moni tor your component temperatures at both i dl e and when your
system is under heavy l oad. If parti cul ar components reach what appear to be very hi gh temperatures when
under l oad, then those components may mal functi on whi l e undertaki ng strenuous acti vi ti es on your PC for
a sustai ned peri od of time, such as pl ayi ng games. However even when i dl e, your PC may begi n to
malfuncti on if heat steadily buil ds up in your PC case and is not cleared fast enough.

Safe Temperatures: Most peopl e wil l want to know what the 'safe' temperature is for a parti cular component
i n thei r system. Unfortunatel y there i s no easy answer - safe temperatures di ffer based on different hardware
archi tectures, as some are desi gned to run hotter than others. However you can ascertai n a reasonabl y
normal temperature range for your component by searchi ng Googl e usi ng the specifi c brand and model of


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the component al ong wi th the word 'temperature' to see if any user feedback or revi ews of your hardware
states what temperature ranges are normal . As a very general rule of thumb, at the ti me of wri ti ng, both the
current generati on of CPUs and GPUs shoul d not exceed 90-100C under 100% load; and for hard dri ves, no
more than 50-60C i s normal when under maxi mum sustai ned l oad.

The best way to tel l i f your component i s overheati ng is to watch for potenti al symptoms:

CPUs - An overheati ng CPU wi ll usual l y throttl e down i ts speed when under i ncreasi ngly heavi er l oads,
resul ti ng i n noti ceably reduced performance. Use a uti l i ty li ke CPU-Z (See the System Specifi cati ons chapter)
to moni tor your CPU frequenci es and run a CPU-i ntensi ve program such as Prime95 (See the Benchmarking
& Stress Testi ng chapter). If under 90 - 100% l oad you fi nd that the CPU i s not reachi ng i ts ful l adverti sed
frequency then there i s a strong l ikeli hood i t i s overheati ng, especiall y if temperature moni tori ng al so reveals
a very high temperature under full l oad.

GPUs - An overheati ng GPU wil l result i n graphi cal corrupti on and/or crashes, whether on the Wi ndows
Desktop or wi thi n graphi call y i ntensi ve appl i cati ons l i ke 3D games. Usi ng GPU-Z, under the Sensors tab tick
the 'Conti nue refreshi ng thi s screen whi l e GPU-Z is i n the background', then l aunch a modern game or
stressful 3D appl i cation - see the Benchmarki ng & Stress Testi ng chapter for some free ones you can obtain.
Watch for any noti ceable anomal i es i n the graphi cs, such as fl i ckeri ng textures, dots, or strange col ors, and
then after a few mi nutes qui t the game and cli ck the 'GPU temperature' l i ne of GPU-Z, sel ect 'Show Hi ghest
Readi ng' to see what the hi ghest temperature was. A moderatel y hi gh temperature combi ned wi th si gns of
graphi cal anomali es or corrupti on is al most al ways a cl ear si gn of an overheati ng graphi cs card.

HDDs - An overheati ng hard dri ve i s l ess common, and al so harder to spot, however any strange noises
from the dri ve, any signs of data corrupti on, or any probl ems or l ong delays in accessi ng the dri ve tend to
i ndi cate a probl em whi ch may be caused by overheati ng. Note that SSDs are not the same as HDDs and are
unl ikely to suffer from heat-related i ssues because they have no movi ng parts.

If you beli eve you're experienci ng any heat-rel ated issues i n your system, see the ti ps bel ow.

Cooling Tips: If you are experi enci ng probl ems wi th heat i n your system, or more i mportantl y i f you want to
prevent any heat-rel ated probl ems from occurri ng in your system, the fol l owi ng basi c cooli ng ti ps should be
observed. This appl i es equall y to overclocked and non-overcl ocked systems:

Remove any obstructi ons from around your case. For exampl e don't obscure any of your case gril l s/ai r
hol es, such as havi ng them pressed agai nst a wall , bl ocked by dust etc. Insuffi ci ent fl ow of ai r i nto and
out of the case i s the number one cause of heat bui l dup and heat-rel ated probl ems. No matter how much
cool i ng you have i nside a case, i f ai r can't easi l y get i nto and out of the case then your system wi ll
overheat.
If you have few or no major case fans drawi ng i n cool ai r and expell i ng hot ai r, remove the sides of your
case so that the fans on the CPU, graphi cs card and Power Supply can get a fresh suppl y of cool er air,
and can expel hot air outside the case.
If you do have several case fans, arrange them so that some are to the front and low i n the case, sucki ng
ai r i nto the case (as the air near the fl oor i s cool er) and some are to the rear and/or the top of the case,
bl owi ng hot ai r out of the case (where the hot ai r expel l ed wi ll rise away from the case). In thi s si tuation
make sure to keep the si des of your case cl osed so that the fans have more pressure to suck/bl ow air
through the case's contents l ike a wi nd tunnel .
Don't posi ti on a sucki ng and a bl owi ng fan too cl ose together as they wi ll 'short ci rcui t' each other - that
i s they wil l pass ai r through the shortest l i ne between the two, bypassi ng your components and hence
not cool i ng them as effi ci entl y. Agai n, fans sucki ng ai r i nto your case shoul d be l ow and on the furthest
si de of the case from the blowi ng fans that expel heat from the case.


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If one component i s sheddi ng a l ot of heat, pay extra attenti on to perhaps provi di ng greater cool i ng to
the components i mmediatel y around i t. Often the excess heat from one component can cause another
nearby component to overheat.
Ti dy the i nternal components of your case. Thi s means al l ri bbon cabl es, power cabl es, etc. shoul d be
cl i pped or twi sty-tied to be as neatl y arranged as possi bl e, pri mari l y to avoi d bl ocki ng the flow of free
ai r around components, especiall y near the CPU and graphics card which are the two hottest
components i n most cases. Secured cabl i ng and snug pl ug connecti ons also means you can be sure
nothi ng becomes accidentall y unplugged or short-ci rcui ted over ti me and hence cause mysteri ous
hardware-based errors that wi ll confuse you i n the future.
If usi ng addi ti onal i nternal cool i ng li ke larger heatsi nks or fans, make sure they are not too heavy for the
surface they are mounted on. For exampl e, usi ng extremel y l arge heatsi nks on a graphi cs card can resul t
i n the card actuall y bendi ng under the wei ght and hence becomi ng permanently damaged. Even a large
heatsi nk mounted on a motherboard can cause i t to warp or crack, once agai n damagi ng the
motherboard PCB beyond repai r. If you feel you requi re such hefty cool i ng you should consider i nstead
buyi ng a larger case that has better airflow properti es.
Make sure your dri ve(s) are not smothered by cabli ng or crammed i nto a stuffy area of the case wi th no
nearby cool i ng or fresh ai r. Hi gher speed hard dri ves i n parti cular (i .e. 10,000 RPM or faster) can heat up
qui te a bi t. Hard dri ves are often overlooked i n cooli ng, and yet they are a vi tal system component, and
as such you shoul d make sure they aren't confi ned to an extremel y hot secti on of your case.
Make sure that any heatsinks or heatpipes on the motherboard i tself are not covered or bl ocked by other
components or cables, or covered i n dust. There is a reason why these heatsinks are there: because the
chi ps on a motherboard often require cool i ng otherwi se they can mal functi on due to excessi ve heat just
l i ke any other major component. Don't assume a heatsi nk or heatpi pe without a fan i mpl i es the
component requi res mi nimal cool i ng, as someti mes manufacturers ski mp on putti ng a fan on these
components, whi ch si mpl y means the heatsi nks have to do more work, so keep them well exposed to
cool ai r. You may even consi der posi ti oni ng a fan near them i f you wi sh to aid i n system stabili ty.

Whi le non-overcl ocked components can overheat, overcl ocked components heat up much faster and are a
very common cause of system i nstabi lity and a range of probl ems. If experi encing probl ems on your system
make absolutel y certai n that as part of your i ni tial troubl eshooti ng you return all your components to thei r
defaul t setti ngs to see if thi s removes or reduces the severi ty of the probl em. It should be noted that a
common cause for component overheating i s the i ncorrect appl i cation of thermal compound by the user. Too
much or too li ttl e thermal compound can cause a component to overheat dramati call y, so always foll ow the
appl i cati on instructi ons to the l etter and don't i mprovi se unl ess you are highl y experi enced. You may also
wi sh to consider purchasing better qual i ty thermal compound for use on your components.

The most si mpl e of al l of these ti ps which anyone can undertake is to provi de greater access to fresh cool air
for the case's contents and regularly clean the case to remove dust buil dup. Dust i n parti cul ar can reduce
ai rfl ow si gnifi cantly, so keep your case and your components dust-free usi ng a barely damp cl oth, q-ti p or
compressed ai r. Furthermore the next time you go to upgrade your PC, consider buyi ng a larger case wi th
pl enty of venti l ati on as the si ngl e best i nvestment i n cool i ng and hence general system stabi li ty.

COMPARING OVERCLOCKS
One of the most common statements heard when peopl e compare overcl ocks or are tol d that thei r overcl ock
i s unstabl e i s: "But someone else who has the exact same system can overcl ock i t much hi gher than me and
thei r games don't crash - i t must be a game bug!". A comment l i ke that demonstrates a compl ete l ack of
understandi ng of some fundamental princi pl es of overcl ocki ng:

No two components are exactl y the same. Even i f the two components bei ng compared are an i denti cal
brand, model and speed, they may have very di fferent tol erances to overcl ocking dependi ng on whi ch
factory they were produced i n and whi ch revisi on they are; that i s, how earl y/l ate i nto the producti on
run they were produced - for CPUs this i s cal l ed Steppi ng.


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No two peopl e have the exact same condi ti ons for thei r overclocki ng. Your computer room may be
hotter or cooler, your case may provi de better or worse cooli ng, your combi nati on of components may
i nclude a di fferent PSU or di fferent brand or speed of RAM, your system may be cl ogged wi th more
dust, etc.
Your Wi ndows setti ngs and software envi ronment wi ll not be i denti cal to anyone el se's. You may have
sub-opti mal software setti ngs, background programs that are the source of confli cts, or mal ware causi ng
probl ems, or you may even have data corrupti on.
No two games are i denti cal i n the way they use resources and stress components on your machi ne, and
hence if all of your other games work absol utely fi ne at a certai n level of overclock, i t may wel l be that
the l atest game you are pl ayi ng has a compl etel y di fferent tol erance to your overcl ock and wi ll crash
most of the time.

RESEARCHING OVERCLOCKING
Havi ng stressed the i mportance of researchi ng overcl ocki ng before you di ve i nto i t, I recommend that you
start by referri ng to the followi ng gui des as rel evant for more detail s. Thi s is obvi ousl y not a defi ni ti ve li st of
pl aces to research, nor have I personally tested out all the procedures i n these gui des - they are si mply a
good starti ng poi nt, and provi de an i ndi cati on of the types of practi cal procedures i nvol ved in overcl ocki ng
parti cul ar hardware:

General Overcl ocki ng Guide 1
General Overcl ocki ng Guide 2
Core2Duo Overcl ocki ng Gui de
Core i7 Overcl ocki ng Gui de
Core i5 Overcl ocki ng Gui de
AMD CPU Overcl ocki ng Gui de
GeForce GTX 275 Overcl ocki ng Gui de
AMD HD 5750 Overcl ocki ng Guide

Thi s chapter has been just a taste of the i nformati on avail able on overcl ocki ng. Don't rush i nto overcl ocking,
do i t sl owly and methodicall y, and take the ti me to search Googl e and vari ous tech forums for peoples'
experi ences wi th overcl ocki ng hardware si milar to your own. More often than not you wil l fi nd someone
who has a si mi lar setup and who has overcl ocked i t wi th reasonabl e success, so l ook out for such
i nformati on as i t can save you some ti me i n your own experi mentati on. However be aware that peopl e often
have di fferent defi ni ti ons of 'stabl e' when i t comes to overcl ocki ng, or may even outright l ie when asked if
thei r system is stabl e. Al so as noted further above, no two systems are i denti cal so don't just automati cal ly
assume you can reach the same resul ts as someone el se usi ng si mi lar hardware. Take the time to research,
read and thi nk about overcl ocki ng and make sure you have the right tool s and knowl edge to undertake i t
properl y, and if i n doubt, don't overclock. It is not a necessary procedure and i n my opi nion, carri es more
ri sks than benefi ts, especiall y i f you value genui ne stabi li ty and data i ntegri ty.


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BENCHMARKING & STRESS TESTING

If you change setti ngs i n Wi ndows XP or your BIOS, or if you've appli ed a new tweak, or perhaps i f you've
overcl ocked a system component, i t is often di ffi cul t to tel l whether your overall performance or system
stabi li ty has improved or decreased, and by how much. The best way to gauge performance changes and
system stabi li ty i s to Benchmark your system and Stress Test i t. There are a range of uti l i ti es that are
reasonably vali d, objecti ve benchmarki ng tool s, and we wi ll l ook at them i n this chapter. We wi ll al so l ook at
some reputabl e stress testing tool s.

It i s i mportant to understand that some benchmarki ng tool s double as stress testi ng programs si nce they put
your system through a seri es of relati vel y ri gorous tests to produce thei r performance fi gures. These tests
should assi st i n highli ghti ng any l atent instabi li ty i n your system, so the si mpl e act of benchmarki ng can also
resul t i n stress testi ng your system. Stress testi ng pl ays a cri ti cal part i n troubl eshooti ng and di agnosi ng the
source of system probl ems.

< BENCHMARKING
To set the actual benchmark - or base l evel of performance - you shoul d i deall y run the benchmarki ng
program(s) pri or to the majori ty of performance tweaks or changes you make, and note the i ni tial resul ts
they provi de. That way once you've undertaken some tweaki ng you can run the benchmarks agai n to
confi rm that the tweaks are havi ng the desired effect, i.e. improvi ng performance. However, many
benchmarki ng tool s al ready provi de some i nformati on on the comparati ve level of performance of your
system; that is, whether or not your system i s above or bel ow an average l evel of performance gi ven the type
of hardware you are usi ng. You can also compare resul ts onli ne wi th other users wi th si mil ar systems for
exampl e.

The mai n point i s that for benchmarki ng to be successful you need a reference poi nt; somethi ng to compare
wi th down the track to determi ne whether your performance is goi ng up or down wi th the changes you
have made.

Some i mportant notes to keep i n mi nd about benchmarki ng:

Benchmarki ng programs usual l y focus on testi ng the performance of parti cular components of your
machi ne. You need to use the ri ght benchmarki ng program to correctl y measure the performance of the
rel evant area of your PC's performance. Usi ng a graphi cs-based benchmark to test out CPU performance
di fferences for exampl e may not yiel d useful resul ts.
Al l benchmarki ng (and stress testi ng) programs can resul t i n sudden crashes and reboots, and on rare
occasi ons data corrupti on, i f used on unstabl e systems, so as a precauti on al ways make sure any
valuable data has been recentl y backed up before doing comprehensi ve benchmarki ng.
For opti mal resul ts make sure that you do not have any other programs or games runni ng i n the
background when benchmarki ng, si nce these can l ower your resul ts and i ntroduce si gnifi cant
variabil i ty. They can also cause a benchmark to crash prematurel y, misl eadi ng you i nto bel i evi ng your
system i s overl y unstabl e.
On the other hand, for the purposes of usi ng a benchmark as a stress test you may want to run other
stress testi ng and/or benchmarki ng programs i n conjunction wi th the benchmark, or other
appl i cati ons/games i n the background, to reall y put the pressure on your machi ne. Of course thi s can
sti ll resul t i n prematurel y crashi ng a system, but i t woul d be an extreme test of system stabil ity.


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Bel ow are the more popul ar benchmarki ng programs avai labl e for free, and how to use them correctly -
i ncludi ng detail s on the component(s) they pri mari l y focus on testing:

3DMARK
3DMark i s a popul ar and reasonably accurate Di rect3D graphi cs benchmarki ng uti li ty that has been around
for several years. 3DMark 06 pri mari ly uti li zes your graphi cs card and to a l esser extent the CPU, wi th the
memory subset a player as well . 3DMark resul ts will gi ve you a good i ndi cation of advanced 3D gami ng
performance on your machi ne, and broadly speaki ng the hi gher your resul ts, the faster the performance of
recent and upcomi ng games on your system. In very general terms i f one system scores higher i n the same
versi on of 3DMark than another, then i t should be better for gami ng. Note that onl y 3DMark 06 or ol der will
run on Wi ndows XP; the newer versi ons of 3DMark are for Wi ndows Vi sta and Wi ndows 7.

To use 3DMark start the program and cl i ck the 'Run 3DMark' button. You wi ll see a seri es of tests runni ng.
These use vari ous graphi cal techni ques, some of whi ch may not be supported by your graphi cs card, and
some of which are onl y avail able i n the purchased versi on of the benchmark. At the end of the run the
benchmark wi ll present a fi nal score. You can then use thi s score to compare wi th other peopl e who have
run the benchmark and thi s wil l tell you whether your system i s rel ati vel y faster or sl ower, and i f compared
wi th others who have vi rtuall y the same system speci fi cati ons, i t wi l l tell you whether you have room to
i mprove on your parti cular system. Note however that some systems wi th the same speci fi cati ons may be
heavil y overcl ocked just to get a hi gh 3DMark score and are not parti cularl y stabl e for day-to-day use.

One method of compari ng resul ts wi th others is to simpl y fi nd an appropriate forum and post your resul ts
for comparison and discussi on. A more reliabl e method i s to use 3DMark's Onl i ne Resul t Browser (ORB) to
compare resul ts wi th others who have posted thei r 3DMarks. Using the ORB means you have a better chance
of fi ndi ng a preci se match for your system specs since the ORB has many thousands of users. To enter the
ORB at any ti me, cl ick the 'Opti ons' button under the Resul ts secti on of the mai n 3DMark screen and then
cl i ck the 'Onl i ne Resul tBrowser' button. Keep i n mi nd that the scores from newer or ol der versi ons of
3DMark are non-comparabl e to the version you are usi ng.

UNIGINE
Uni gi ne has rel eased several free benchmarks whi ch can be used to measure graphi cs performance i n both
Di rectX 9 and OpenGL. Heaven i s a free Di rectX 11 benchmark whi ch al so supports Di rectX and OpenGL
graphi cs functi onali ty on Wi ndows XP. To run the benchmark, launch Heaven and adjust the setti ngs as
desi red, then cl i ck the Run button. The Heaven demo wi ll begi n, but to commence an actual benchmark run
you wil l need to press the F9 key. Once compl eted you wil l see a resul t i n both FPS and numeri cal Score -
compare thi s wi th others who have run Heaven wi th the same setti ngs as you to gauge your relati ve
performance. There are al so Tropi cs and a Sanctuary benchmarks avai labl e from the l i nk above, whi ch both
support Di rectX 9 and OpenGL.

LIGHTSMARK
Many graphical benchmarki ng uti li ti es are based on Di rect3D, because thi s is the most common API used for
devel opi ng games for Windows. However Li ghtsmark i s an advanced OpenGL-based util i ty whi ch i s free
and easy to use. Si mpl y l aunch the program, select your screen resoluti on and then cl i ck the 'Start
Benchmark' button to begi n an automated benchmark sequence. At the end of the run you wi ll be gi ven an
average framerate for the run whi ch you can compare to other machi nes running Li ghtsmark at the same
resoluti on.

FURMARK
FurMark i s an i ntensi ve OpenGL-based benchmark, whi ch al so doubl es as a stress tester. As wi th most
benchmarks, i nstal li ng and runni ng the program resul ts i n a run through a seri es of tests, wi th resul ts


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provi ded at the end. You can upl oad and compare these resul ts onl i ne wi th other FurMark users. If you
experi ence any graphi cal gli tches or probl ems whil e runni ng FurMark, thi s is a si gn that your graphi cs card
i s not bei ng cool ed suffi ci entl y and/or is overcl ocked too far.

GAME BENCHMARKS
The graphi cal benchmarks above are all very useful , however they are al l enti rel y syntheti c. The most
real i sti c form of graphi cal benchmarki ng and stress testi ng is through the use of the benchmarki ng features
recent games. Modern PC games are the most system i ntensi ve benchmarks you can use, because they stress
al most all areas of your system - the CPU, the graphi cs card, your memory and your drive(s), as wel l as
general Wi ndows stabi li ty.

If you can't find an automated or bui l t-in benchmarking feature for a game, si mpl y sel ect the most strenuous
game you have - that i s, the one wi th the most graphi cal detail , best artifi cial intel l igence and physi cs, and
preferabl y the most recent - and use the FRAPS uti li ty to measure performance over a set period of ti me. You
can assign a key whi ch starts and stops the benchmarki ng process i n FRAPS, or you can tel l FRAPS to stop
benchmarki ng automati call y after a period of ti me. You can specify the benchmarki ng stats to save, such as
mi ni mum, maxi mum and average frames per second. These resul ts can then be compared wi th others to
gi ve you a general idea of your overal l performance.

To use any strenuous game as a stress tester, play i t conti nuousl y for a sustai ned peri od of time at very high
setti ngs, such as two or three hours. If the game crashes at any poi nt then thi s is usuall y a very good
i ndi cati on that your system i s not compl etel y stabl e. Contrary to popul ar beli ef, i t i s not normal for games to
crash regularl y, and you shoul d not fall i nto the trap of bl ami ng everythi ng but your own system and i ts
confi gurati on for any probl ems. The vast majori ty of game-related probl ems are due to i ndivi dual systems,
not the game.

PCMARK
PCMark i s a general benchmarki ng uti l i ty from the makers of 3DMark that has been around for several
years, and al though not as reputabl e or as wi del y used as 3DMark, provi des a reasonably good benchmark
of your computer's general performance, not just i n 3D gami ng. It runs a seri es of tests based on such thi ngs
as fi l e encoding, di sk reads/wri tes and basi c graphi cs di splay. To use PCMark run the program and cli ck the
'Run PCMark' button on the mai n screen. After several tests i t arri ves at a score you can compare wi th others
onl i ne, or agai n on the ORB. Note that PCMark resul ts are recorded separatel y from 3DMark resul ts and are
not comparabl e. Note further that onl y PCMark 05 can be used on XP; newer versi ons are for Wi ndows Vi sta
and Wi ndows 7 only.

SANDRA
Sandra i s discussed under the System Speci fi cati ons chapter, however i n thi s chapter we l ook at the modules
designed to test certai n components of your system, such as the CPU, RAM, or dri ves. The free version of
Sandra is l i mi ted i n the parti cular modul es you can access and hence the tests you can run, however there
are suffi ci ent benchmarks for our purposes i n the free versi on.

To see the modul es of Sandra whi ch have benchmarki ng functionali ty, cli ck the Benchmarks tab and you
wi ll see modul es such as Processor Arithmeti c, Physi cal Disks and Cache and Memory. To run a benchmark,
open the appropri ate modul e and press F5 or cli ck the blue arrows (Refresh) i con at the bottom of the
modul e. Thi s wi ll begi n a benchmarki ng run, after which you wi ll eventuall y see the resul ts displ ayed at the
top of the modul e. You might want to record the score(s) somewhere. You can put the benchmarki ng resul ts
i n context by l ooki ng at the resul ts for other reference systems also provi ded. You can al so change the
reference data to reflect a vari ety of hardware to compare agai nst, by cl icki ng the relevant drop down boxes.


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Sandra also has a rol e as a stress testing tool . To use i t as a stress tester of speci fi c components on your
system, use the rel evant modul es under the Benchmarki ng tab. However i nstead of si mply runni ng them
once, if you want to stress test the rel evant component si mpl y refresh the benchmark repeatedl y (by pressing
F5) whenever i t compl etes each run. Al ternati vel y, i f you want to automate the process, Sandra has a Burn-i n
Computer modul e under the Tool s tab whi ch wi ll undertake more thorough stress testi ng of your machine.
Start the wizard, ti ck the components you want to conti nual ly stress test, set the number of times for them to
l oop, or the peri od over whi ch you want to perform these test, make sure the 'Moni tor your computer's
heal th' and 'Termi nate on overheat/fai lure' boxes are ticked to be safe, and then commence the stress testi ng.

HDTACH
HDTach i s a free dri ve benchmarki ng uti li ty that all ows you to test your hard dri ve's speed. Launch the
program, make sure all background programs and appl i cations are cl osed, sel ect 'Qui ck Test' then cli ck the
'Run Test' button and wai t for the testi ng cycl e to compl ete. You wi ll be presented wi th a graph showi ng the
dri ve speed over the course of the dri ve. In the ri ght hand pane you can see the vari ous speed statisti cs and
CPU usage informati on for the tested dri ve. If you want to compare your resul ts to users onl i ne, cli ck the
'Long Bench' opti on and then 'Run Test', and this time when the benchmarking run is compl eted you can
cl i ck on the 'Upl oad Results' button to lodge your resul ts to the database.

HD TUNE
HD Tune i s a dri ve i nformati on and benchmarki ng utili ty whi ch has been covered i n vari ous chapters of this
book, i ncluding the System Speci fi cations chapter. You can run a dri ve benchmark i n HD Tune by cl i cki ng
the Start button on the mai n Benchmark tab. The test wi l l run, provi di ng a real -ti me mappi ng of dri ve
performance, and the fi nal resul ts wi ll be displayed for use i n online compari sons.

OPTI DRIVE CONTROL
Opti Dri ve Control i s a uti l i ty whi ch i s free for a trial peri od and provi des the means to benchmark your
opti cal dri ve wi th a range of tests whi ch you can select and then cl i ck the Start button to run. You can share
your resul ts wi th others for comparative purposes.

< STRESS TESTING
Stress testi ng has one pri mary purpose on a PC: to exaggerate and bri ng out any i nstabil i ti es or sub-optimal
setti ngs as qui ckly as possibl e. The reason for thi s i s that i nstabil i ty usual ly mani fests i tsel f at vari ous ti mes
on your system and i n vari ous ways and thus i ts causes may not be cl ear. A stress tester accel erates the
process by placi ng extreme stress on certai n components of your system to qui ckl y and accuratel y determine
whether they are the l ikely cause of system i nstabi li ty. For exampl e, runni ng a program whi ch al most solel y
stress-tests your CPU can gi ve you a good i ndi cati on of whether i t is your CPU which is causi ng crashes,
freezes, or Windows errors; or whether another component may be to bl ame.

However speci al ized a stress tester may be, i t wil l sti ll not provi de you wi th rock-soli d evi dence that a
speci fi c component i s to bl ame. In the case of the CPU tester for exampl e, i t must be recogni zed that i f the
program i ndicates CPU i nstabi li ty, the causes can stil l vary. A CPU can appear to be unstable due to one or
more of the fol l owi ng reasons:

A lack of suffi ci ent CPU cool i ng
A lack of vol tage to the CPU
A physi cal faul t wi th the CPU chi p
An i ncorrect CPU-related Wi ndows or BIOS setti ng
A faul t wi th the motherboard
A faul t wi th your Power Suppl y Uni t


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The best the stress tester can do i s poi nt you i n a certai n di recti on - i t usual ly can't provi de a preci se solution
for your probl em. However often thi s is enough for you to rul e out many other causes and hence save you a
l ot of ti me and troubl e, and even prevent you from wasti ng money on repai ri ng or repl aci ng another
component whi ch i s not the cause. Thi s i s typi call y the case when you are experienci ng game-related
probl ems, si nce i t may not be cl ear whi ch of the many components i nvol ved i n runni ng a game are the
actual cul pri t. Often the graphi cs card, the dri vers, or the game software i tself is bl amed when the cause may
be anythi ng from your power suppl y, to the RAM in your system, to general setti ngs i n Wi ndows to dust
bui l dup i n your case.

Bel ow are the more popul ar stress testi ng programs avail abl e for free, and how to use them correctly,
i ncludi ng detail s on the component(s) they pri mari l y focus on stress testi ng:

PRIME95
Pri me95 i s a small mathemati cs program whi ch wi ll effecti vely stress test onl y your CPU and memory. Once
you've downl oaded the appl i cation, run Prime95.exe and cl i ck the 'Just Stress Testi ng' button. Next, you
should automati cal ly be prompted to sel ect a test, but i f not, under the Opti ons menu sel ect 'Torture Test' to
start stress testi ng. Sel ect the test type based on the parti cular components you want to focus on testi ng:

Smal l FFTs - Sel ect i f you want to pri maril y test your CPU.
In-pl ace Large FFTs - Sel ect i f you want to test your CPU for stabil ity under hi gh heat and vol tage usage.
Bl end - Select i f you want a more general 'real word' test whi ch tests both the CPU and pl enty of RAM.

Once you cl ick OK the testi ng wi ll begi n and Pri me95 wil l open mul ti pl e threads to ensure al l your CPU
cores are bei ng full y uti lized. If at any poi nt you want to stop the test, go to the Test menu and sel ect Stop. If
the program aborts wi th an error at any ti me, thi s i ndi cates system i nstabil i ty. In general if your PC can run
the test for over one or two conti nuous hours i t shows that the CPU and memory subset are qui te stabl e.
However Prime95 i s stil l just a synthetic test whi ch onl y stresses your CPU and RAM, and regardl ess of how
l ong you can run i t wi thout errors, i t i s not i ndicati ve of a compl etel y stabl e system. Onl y real -world
appl i cati ons and games runni ng wi thout probl ems i ndi cate thi s.

SUPER PI
Super PI i s a smal l util i ty si mil ar to Pri me95, i n that i t stress tests your CPU and memory subset by
cal culati ng the mathemati cal number PI to a certai n number of pl aces. Downl oad i t and run the
super_pi_mod.exe fi l e. Cl i ck the Cal culate menu i tem at the top, and sel ect the number of pl aces to cal culate PI
to, ranki ng from 16 thousand (16k) to 32 mil li on (32M) pl aces - the larger the number of places, the l onger i t
wi ll take.

For a speed test of your CPU, select the 1M opti on and once the cal culati on i s done, note the ti me i n seconds
taken. You can then compare thi s fi gure to other peopl e to see how fast your CPU i s i n raw cal culati on
power rel ati ve to thei rs. If you want to stress test your CPU, run the ful l 32M cal culati on whi ch wi l l take
l onger, and hence i s a better stress test of your CPU. Once agai n you can al so compare the ti me taken to
compl ete thi s wi th other users.

MEMTEST
MemTest i s a Wi ndows-based memory test whi ch wi l l hel p in stress testing your Windows memory
confi gurati on and RAM to detect any potenti al probl ems. Memory-related errors are one of the pri mary
causes of system i nstabi li ty and data corrupti on, so a system memory tester is a necessi ty. To use MemTest
si mpl y launch the program, and I recommend manual l y enteri ng the amount of RAM you wi sh to test - e.g.
enter 512 to test 512MB of RAM, 1024 for 1GB of RAM or 2048 to test 2GB of RAM. You may need to run
mul ti ple i nstances of MemTest to use up all your system RAM. Cl i ck the 'Start Testi ng' button to begi n RAM
testi ng and all ow the test to run until i t has reached 100%. Ideall y you shoul d run the test for at l east an hour


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or more. If runni ng the test tri ggers any errors, Wi ndows-related warni ngs or prompts, then you have
potenti al ly faul ty RAM and/or mi sconfigured BIOS or Wi ndows memory settings, whi ch can lead to many
types of system probl ems.

MEMTEST86+
Memtest86+ tests your memory before Wi ndows l oads i nto memory. Thi s i s a much more accurate way to
test your physi cal RAM and memory subset free of any memory spaces taken up by the operati ng system.
The versi on of Memtest86+ you downl oad i s based on whi ch devi ce you use at bootup, whether CD, Fl oppy
or USB fl ash dri ve. Once booted on thi s devi ce, your system wi ll l aunch Memtest86+ and test your RAM.
Any errors i ndi cate BIOS or physical RAM probl ems.

RTHDRIBL
RTHDri bl (Real Ti me Hi gh Dynami c Range Image-Based Li ghti ng) i s an ol der Di rectX 9 tech demo and not
speci fi call y desi gned as a benchmark or stress tester. It does not have a series of tests to run, so si mply start
up the program and observe your framerates i n the top l eft corner. You can turn off the text shown on the
screen at any ti me by pressi ng F1 and F3. You can also cycle through a range of object shown (Press O), the
materials used on thei r surfaces (Press M), and the backgrounds used (Press L). You can change the di splay
resoluti on or i ncrease the size of the program's window, ei ther of whi ch wil l i ncrease the l oad on your
graphi cs card.

To use i t as a stress tester, go to the Fil e menu and sel ect 'Confi g Di splay'. In the Di rect3D Setti ngs wi ndow
whi ch opens, sel ect the 'Ful lscreen' opti on, then sel ect the hi ghest avai lable resol uti on. You don't need to
al ter any of the other opti ons on thi s screen unless you know what you're doing. Cl i ck Ok and the changes
wi ll be i mpl emented. Now start the Auto Demo mode by pressi ng F5, or sel ect Enter Planet Demo' under the
Demo menu, and l et the program run for a whi l e. Any graphi cs i nstabi li ti es wi l l soon become apparent
through crashes, arti facts or gli tches. You can put further stress on the graphi cs card by changi ng the
Mul ti sampl e setti ng under the Opti ons menu to progressi vel y higher val ues.

Remember, you can al so use any of the benchmarks li sted earli er in thi s chapter as stress testers si mply by
runni ng them at thei r highest setti ngs repeatedly for an extended peri od of ti me.


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WINDOWS ERRORS

The i nformati on throughout thi s book i s al ready aimed at hel ping you configure your system for optimal
error-free performance. As such the whol e book must be read to all ow you to correctl y troubl eshoot any
probl ems you may have. However thi s chapter contai ns some speci fi c detai l s on common Wi ndows errors,
and what they may mean. It i s by no means a comprehensi ve l isti ng of procedures to fol l ow in
troubl eshooting probl ems, and agai n, i t must be used i n conjuncti on wi th the i nformati on in the rest of thi s
book.

< IDENTIFYING WINDOWS ERRORS
It i s i mport to understand that most Windows and program errors are not easy to di agnose, and often what
the error message i ndi cates as the source of a probl em i s not the actual source of the probl em. For exampl e, a
DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error i s supposed to occur due to faul ty dri vers. However most
commonl y i t actual ly occurs due to excess heat and/or overcl ocki ng on the graphi cs card, whi ch then
generates driver errors due to system i nstabi li ty, which Wi ndows then reports as a dri ver error si nce i t i s the
dri ver software whi ch appears to be faili ng to perform i ts task. As you can see, i f heat i s the source of your
probl ems for exampl e, uni nstal li ng and rei nstall i ng new graphi cs dri vers wil l do nothi ng to resol ve this
i ssue. So you need to make sure you fol l ow the steps under the Di agnosi ng Probl ems area further bel ow to
correctl y diagnose a probl em.

SUDDEN REBOOTS ON ERRORS
If you fi nd that your system suddenl y reboots when you experi ence an error, and hence you can't see the full
detail s of an error, then you wil l need to di sabl e the automati c reboot on error functi on i n Wi ndows. To do
thi s, foll ow these steps:

1. Go to Control Panel>System>Advanced>Startup & Recovery Settings.
2. Under the 'System Fail ure' secti on unti ck the 'Automati cal ly Restart' opti on, as wel l as the 'Send an
Admi nistrative Al ert'.
3. When next you recei ve an error, your system wi l l freeze at the error screen and show the error message.
Wri te down the error type and number exactl y as shown for future reference.
4. Manual ly reboot your system usi ng the restart button on your PC, or by pressi ng CTRL+ALT+DELETE,
or by holdi ng down the Shutdown button on your PC for 5 seconds.

If your system sti l l suddenl y reboots, then thi s i s a sign of memory-rel ated i ssues - see the Memory
Opti mi zati on and Overclocki ng chapters, as thi s is related to your RAM setti ngs or hardware, vi rtual
memory or CPU Caches, especiall y when overcl ocked. Important system i nformati on held i n memory i s
suddenl y corrupted and must be dumped, and the system ei ther aborts the program responsi ble for the
corrupti on - causi ng an instant Crash To Desktop (CTD) wi th no error - or reboots your enti re system
i nstantly to reset memory and cl ear the error.

EVENT VIEWER
Another pl ace to vi ew error codes and error li sti ngs is i n the Event Vi ewer, accessi bl e under Control
Panel >Admi ni strati ve Tools, or by goi ng to Start>Run, typi ng Eventvwr.msc and pressi ng Enter. There are
three categori es of event logs to vi ew: Appl i cati on, Securi ty and System. Cli ck on each of these i n the l eft
pane, and a list of events and errors (shown as red X's) wil l display i n the ri ght pane. The first thi ng to do i s
not pani c if you see Red X's; this i s normal on all systems. What is i mportant is the detail s of the error - for
exampl e, under System there are commonl y l ots of DCOM errors if you've di sabl ed any servi ces. This is


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because an appl i cati on wi ll cal l for a servi ce to start; if the servi ce has been manuall y disabl ed, the
appl i cati on reports an error and conti nues l oadi ng. Thi s i s not a genui ne error or somethi ng to worry about,
unl ess of course i t i s the appl i cation with whi ch you are havi ng a probl em i n the fi rst place - i n whi ch case
re-enabl e the rel evant service.

To correctl y di agnose an Event Vi ewer error, read the error l og text and enter i ts detai ls i nto thi s Mi crosoft
Events & Errors Message Center form, and i t shoul d provi de you wi th more detai ls and l i nks to hel p resol ve
your probl em. Al ternati vely you can try thi s Event ID Si te for further research.

< SOLUTIONS TO WINDOWS ERRORS
I cannot cover all the error numbers and error types i n thi s secti on, therefore i t is necessary that you take the
i ni tiati ve and research the parti cul ar error code usi ng one of the foll owi ng trustworthy sources:

Mi crosoft Knowl edgebase
Mi crosoft TechNet
Wi ndows XP Soluti on Center
Mi crosoft Events & Errors Message Center
Troubl eshooti ng Wi ndows Stop Errors
Troubl eshooti ng Mi scell aneous Wi ndows Errors

Use the search functi onal i ty i n the si tes above and enter your exact error code as shown on screen. To make
thi ngs easi er, bel ow are some common Wi ndows error codes, an excerpt from the rel evant Mi crosoft
document descri bi ng the error and a potenti al fi x for the error. Remember, none of these errors has a si ngle
defi ni te cause or speci fi c fix, someti mes a range of unrelated i ssues can cause Windows to generate a certain
error. The descri pti on and sol uti on provi ded i s the most generi c and most common one for each error:

IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
A Stop 0xA message mi ght occur after i nstall i ng a faul ty devi ce dri ver, system servi ce, or fi rmware. If a Stop
message l ists a dri ver by name, disabl e, remove, or roll back the dri ver to correct the probl em. If di sabl i ng or
removi ng dri vers resol ves the i ssues, contact the manufacturer about a possi bl e update. Usi ng updated software i s
especi al l y i mportant for mul ti medi a appli cati ons, anti vi rus scanners, and CD masteri ng tool s.

A Stop 0xA message mi ght also be due to fail i ng or defecti ve hardware. If a Stop message poi nts to a category of
devices (vi deo or di sk adapters, for exampl e), try removi ng or repl aci ng the hardware to determi ne i f i t i s causi ng
the probl em.

If you encounter a Stop 0xA message whi l e upgradi ng to Windows XP Professi onal, the probl em mi ght be due to an
i ncompati bl e dri ver, system servi ce, vi rus scanner, or backup. To avoi d probl ems whi l e upgradi ng, si mpl i fy your
hardware confi gurati on and remove al l thi rd-party devi ce dri vers and system servi ces (i ncl udi ng vi rus scanners)
pri or to runni ng setup. After you have successful l y i nstall ed Wi ndows XP Professi onal, contact the hardware
manufacturer to obtain compati bl e updates.

Suggested Solution: Instal l the l atest drivers for your components, or i f al ready usi ng the l atest dri vers, do a
full dri ver uni nstal l i n Safe Mode and go back one versi on. If thi s doesn't work, run through a range of
benchmarks and stress tests to determine whether a hardware component i s faul ty.


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DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL
Stop 0xD1 messages can occur after i nstall i ng faul ty dri vers or system servi ces. If a dri ver i s l i sted by name, di sabl e,
remove, or rol l back that dri ver to confi rm that thi s resolves the error. If so, contact the manufacturer about a
possi bl e update. Usi ng updated software i s especi all y i mportant for backup programs, mul ti medi a appl i cati ons,
anti vi rus scanners, DVD pl ayback, and CD masteri ng tools.

Suggested Solution: Instal l the l atest drivers for your components, or i f al ready usi ng the l atest dri vers, do a
full dri ver uni nstal l i n Safe Mode and go back one versi on. In parti cul ar if thi s occurs i n relati on to your
graphi cs dri ver, make absol utely certai n your system is not overcl ocked and i s being cool ed properl y.

PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA
If you added new hardware recentl y, remove and repl ace the hardware to determi ne i f i t i s causi ng or contri buti ng
to the probl em. Run di agnosti cs software suppl i ed by the hardware manufacturer to determi ne i f the component
has fai led.

Stop 0x50 messages can also occur after i nstall i ng faul ty dri vers or system servi ces. If the fi l e name i s l i sted, you
need to di sable, remove, or rol l back that dri ver. If not, di sabl e the recentl y i nstalled service or appl i cation to
determi ne i f thi s resol ves the error. If thi s does not resolve the probl em, contact the hardware manufacturer for
updates. Usi ng updated drivers and software i s especi all y i mportant for network i nterface cards, video adapters,
backup programs, mul ti medi a appl i cati ons, anti vi rus scanners, and CD masteri ng tool s. If an updated dri ver i s not
avai l abl e, attempt to use a dri ver from a si mi l ar devi ce i n the same fami l y. For exampl e, if pri nti ng to a Model 1100C
pri nter causes Stop 0x50 errors, usi ng a printer dri ver meant for a Model 1100A or Model 1000 mi ght temporari l y
resol ve the probl em.

Suggested Solution: Asi de from tryi ng dri ver updates, test your CPU and RAM i n parti cul ar, though i t may
even be an issue wi th your motherboard.

UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME
Thi s behavi or can occur i f ei ther of the fol l owi ng condi ti ons i s true:
Your computer uses an Ul tra Di rect Memory Access (UDMA) hard disk control l er, and the fol l owi ng
condi tions are true:
You use a standard 40-wi re connector cabl e to connect the UDMA drive to the control l er i nstead
of the requi red 80-wi re, 40-pin cabl e.
The basic i nput/output system (BIOS) setti ngs are confi gured to force the faster UDMA modes.
The fi l e system i s damaged and cannot be mounted.

Suggested Solution: See the Backup & Recovery chapter for use of the CHKDSK / R and possi bl y al so the
FI XBOOT commands i n the Wi ndows Recovery Consol e to repai r thi s issue. If these fail , do a ful l reformat
and rei nstall , and i f that fail s, your dri ve may be physi cal ly faul ty.

BLACK SCREEN ON BOOTUP
The master boot record (MBR), parti tion tables, boot sector, or NTLDR fi l e i s corrupted.

Solution: See the Backup & Recovery chapter for use of the FI XMBR command i n the Wi ndows Recovery
Consol e to repai r thi s i ssue.

DEVICE MANAGER ERROR CODES
For an expl anati on of the vari ous error codes you mi ght see for certai n devi ces i n Devi ce Manager, read this
Mi crosoft Arti cl e.


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WINDOWS FIREWALL ISSUES
If you're having probl ems wi th the Wi ndows XP Fi rewall , see thi s Mi crosoft Arti cl e.

WINDOWS STARTUP PROBLEMS
For a range of soluti ons to general Wi ndows XP startup issues, see the foll owi ng:

Mi crosoft Arti cl e 1

WINDOWS SHUTDOWN PROBLEMS
For sol uti ons to general Windows XP shutdown issues, see the followi ng:

Shutdown & Restart Troubl eshooti ng Arti cl e
User Profi le Hi ve Cl eanup Servi ce

That i s just a bri ef li st of the more common errors and possi bl e sol uti ons. As al ways your speci fic probl ems
may be much more di ffi cult to resol ve, therefore I urge you to see the reference sources li sted further above
i n thi s section to research and fi nd the sol uti on to your probl em, as wel l as tryi ng the methods covered
bel ow to di agnose your probl em.

< DIAGNOSING PROBLEMS
I've noti ced that whenever a probl em occurs on a PC, new users tend to thi nk everythi ng that's goi ng wrong
i s due to faulty hardware, and that they've just damaged thei r machi ne or screwed up thousands of dollars
worth of equipment by edi ti ng thei r regi stry or changi ng a setti ng i n a game. More experi enced users go to
the opposi te extreme: they are al ways convi nced that every faul t they see on thei r PC l i es with the software,
despi te their overcl ocki ng for exampl e, or the fact that they've physi call y modifi ed thei r graphi cs card or
flashed i t wi th a modi fi ed BIOS. The truth l ies somewhere i n between, and requi res that you have some
pati ence and try some common steps to di agnose your parti cular probl em.

TROUBLESHOOTING CHECKLIST
I suggest you foll ow these general steps, preferably i n the order shown:

Remove any overclocking: I cannot stress thi s poi nt enough - many of the problems whi ch I see reported on
Internet forums and i n email s to me are based at l east i n some part on some form of overclocki ng. Crashes,
memory errors, freezi ng, sudden reboots, garbl ed graphi cs or unusual col ors or dots on the screen - these are
all the cl assi c si gns of a system whi ch i s operati ng outsi de i ts speci fi cati ons and bei ng over-stressed by a
parti cul ar game or appl i cati on. Before bl ami ng any software of bei ng at faul t, you must first change all your
hardware back to thei r defaul t speeds, i ncl udi ng such thi ngs as RAM ti mi ngs. Even i f every si ngl e other
game or program on your system runs fi ne at a parti cular l evel of overcl ock, but one game or program
doesn't, that does not mean the program i s at faul t; you shoul d sti l l make sure your overcl ock i s not the issue
by runni ng at stock speeds for a whi l e. If the probl em i s reduced or compl etely eradi cated by runni ng at
stock speed then the issue i s wi thout a doubt rel ated to your overcl ock. Note that if you have heavi ly
overcl ocked and/or modifi ed your components i n the past you may have al ready caused them permanent
damage, so keep thi s i n mind as you try to fi nd the source of the probl em. For exampl e, if you have heavi l y
overcl ocked your graphi cs card for some ti me i t i s qui te l i kel y that you have permanently damaged the
Vi deo RAM and thi s i s the cause of any vi deo artifacts you may see i n games, even at stock speeds.


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Check for Heat Issues: A major cause of many system probl ems i s heat buil dup. Even if none of your
components are overcl ocked, under certai n condi ti ons components such as your CPU and graphi cs card i n
parti cul ar wil l generate a l arge amount of heat. This can bui ld up i n your case, but even wi th good case
cool i ng the heat may buildup l ocall y near the parti cular component and cause i t to malfuncti on. The most
obvi ous si gns of thi s are random errors, graphi cal gl i tches i n games, and crashes to desktop. Check the
Cool i ng ti ps in the Overcl ocki ng chapter, and as a temporary soluti on open up your case and cl ean the dust
out, then l eave the si des of your case open and i f possi ble also pl ace a desk fan poi nti ng i nto the case, or
some other method of addi ti onal cool ing for the i nternal components. If thi s hel ps reduce the frequency of
errors or probl ems, then heat is a major cause.

Optimize your System: In order to rul e out a software-based probl em you must make sure your general
system setti ngs are correctl y configured. Cl earl y that i s what thi s book is desi gned to do, so fol l ow i t i n full
and also make sure to check for appl i cati on or game-specifi c tweak gui des to make sure the software's
setti ngs are confi gured correctl y. Sub-opti mal Wi ndows and/or software settings and/or out-of-date drivers
are a major cause of probl ems on many systems, and even if they are not the pri mary cause they can
certai nl y exacerbate any exi sti ng issues.

Optimize your BIOS: Al ong wi th any software optimi zati on you must make sure your BIOS setti ngs are
correct otherwi se no amount of software opti mization or reduction i n overcl ocki ng wi ll help. Thi s i s another
i mportant area that i s almost al ways overl ooked because i t i s not easy to do. See the BIOS Opti mi zation
chapter for detai ls.

Read the Manual & ReadMe Files: There are ti mes when parti cul ar programs have a known i ssue wi th a
parti cul ar hardware component or hardware/software combi nation. Usual ly these issues are addressed in
patches for the program, or by new dri ver rel eases for the rel evant hardware. However you need to be
aware of these probl ems, and the best way to do that i s to read the Readme.txt or any si mil ar hel p fil es whi ch
come wi th the program. These are usuall y l ocated somewhere i n the program's di rectori es and a l i nk is
typi call y found for them under the program's i nstal l fol der. You may even find menti on of known i ssues i n
the program's manual or on thei r websi te, so make absol utel y certai n you read these.

The Problem Occurs During Bootup or in the BIOS: If the probl em you are experi enci ng occurs duri ng your PC's
i ni tial bootup and/or i n the BIOS screen then thi s cl earl y i ndi cates that i t i s compl etel y unrel ated to your
Wi ndows setti ngs, dri vers or programs, si nce none of these have even l oaded whi l e the BIOS i s l oadi ng.
Probl ems whi ch occur duri ng i ni ti al bootup or when you are in the BIOS are al ways and unequi vocall y
ei ther hardware-related faul ts (i ncl udi ng heat and/or overcl ocki ng) and/or a BIOS setti ng whi ch is i ncorrect.

Benchmark and Stress Test: It i s i mperati ve that i f you don't know whi ch component(s) are causi ng a problem,
that you use several benchmarki ng and stress testi ng tool s (covered i n the Benchmarki ng & Stress Testi ng
chapter) to narrow down the cause. For exampl e if your system i s freezi ng duri ng the playi ng of games, i t
coul d be the graphi cs card, CPU, RAM or even the sound card whi ch are at faul t. Usi ng several
benchmarki ng or stress testi ng programs that are speci al ized i n stressi ng parti cul ar components more than
others wil l tel l you whi ch component i s the l ikely candi date for further i nvestigati on. There i s no easy way
for anyone to know what the cause i s on your system unl ess you speci fi cal ly test for i t yoursel f.

Check your Cabling and Components: If you feel comfortabl e i n doi ng so, turn off your system at the power
swi tch (but don't unpl ug i t) and open up your case. Check the Hardware Handl i ng Ti ps secti on bel ow first,
then:
Check to ensure that your component fans are not covered wi th dust or debris.
Check to ensure all the cabl es to and from your components are fi rml y pl ugged i n and not damaged
al ong thei r l ength.
Check your motherboard manual to make sure al l the swi tches on the motherboard are set correctl y, and
that all pl ugs are goi ng i nto the ri ght source.


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Check for signs of extreme heat such as scorch marks or a burnt smell : these i ndi cate heat damage to
parti cul ar components.
Check to make sure metall i c surfaces are not i n contact wi th each other as this can short-ci rcui t
components.

HARDWARE HANDLING TIPS
If you have to physi call y handle the hardware components i n your system at any ti me, such as removi ng or
i nstal li ng a component, checki ng component connecti ons, or cl eani ng components, you shoul d make sure to
foll ow these ti ps to prevent any permanent damage to the components through mi shandli ng:

Before opening your case and/or handling any of your components, al ways shut down your PC and turn
off the power di rectl y at the wall socket - the el ectri ci ty i n your PC can kil l or i njure you, especi al ly the
dangerous vol tages contained i n your Power Supply. Even when swi tched off at the wal l, the PSU can
retai n a l ethal charge for qui te some ti me, so on no account shoul d you ever open your PSU or i nsert any
metal objects i nto i ts casi ng.
Once you've turned off your system at the wal l, press and hol d the PC power button for several seconds
to di scharge any resi dual charge i n the motherboard's capaci tors.
Whi le handling computer components, make sure you regularl y di scharge any stati c el ectri city i n your
body by touchi ng any 'earthed' object - that i s any object that can harmlessl y di ssi pate stati c el ectri ci ty.
Typi cal ly i f you l eave your Power Suppl y Uni t plugged i nto the wall socket (but swi tched off) then
peri odi cal l y touchi ng the si de of the metal PSU case wi ll harml essl y discharge any stati c el ectri ci ty. You
can also purchase an anti-stati c wrist strap if you handle components regularly. If you are goi ng to
handle components try to mi ni mize how much arti fici al fabri cs and material s you are weari ng as these
can hel p to bui ld up a signi ficant el ectrostati c charge i n your body. An el ectrostati c di scharge from your
body can damage or ki ll an el ectroni c component, so do not take thi s l ightl y as i t can actual ly happen.
Do not use a vacuum cl eaner to cl ean the i nsi de of your computer and i ts components, preci sel y because
vacuum cl eaner nozzl es can discharge stati c el ectrici ty and zap your components. Use a cl ean barely
damp li nt-free cl oth or barel y damp q-ti ps to wi pe dust from most surfaces, maki ng sure you don't
scrape the Pri nted Ci rcuit Board (PCB). Don't use any detergents and most certai nly don't spray
anythi ng onto the components. Ideall y i f i t i s avai labl e to you, use a can of compressed air (or an ai r
compressor) to bl ow dust from hard-to-reach or sensi ti ve surfaces as thi s is much safer and far more
effecti ve.
If bl owi ng dust from a fan, especiall y if usi ng a high pressure source l i ke compressed air, i nsert and hol d
somethi ng l i ke a pen i n the fan's spokes to prevent i t from suddenly spi nni ng rapi dl y as thi s can damage
the fan's beari ngs
Do not force any plugs, cabl es or components i nto sockets that do not appear to be accepti ng them. Even
i f the two ends appear to be matched, the pi n arrangements may be sl i ghtl y different or out of al i gnment
and hence forci ng a fi t may actuall y bend or break some of the pi ns and make the connecti on usel ess or
permanentl y damaged. Computer hardware i nterfaces are desi gned to fi t together wi th firm but not
excessi ve force. Thi s i ncludes components l i ke the CPU chi p whi ch fi ts i nto the appropri ate socket on the
motherboard - al ign al l the pi ns perfectl y and press evenl y but not too hard and they wi l l mate safely.
Force the fi t and you may just end up maki ng your CPU unusable.
Most devi ces i n your PC requi re a source of power, however the vol tage they requi re i s very speci fi c. If
you connect the wrong plug to the component (whi ch is hard to do), or forget to attach a necessary
power connector (whi ch i s qui te common), then the component wi l l appear to be dead or may
malfuncti on. You wi ll have to check your component documentati on and especi al ly the motherboard
manual to ensure that al l components are pl ugged i n correctl y and fi rml y to recei ve suffi ci ent power.
Most hardware components are sensi tive to physi cal i mpact and strong vi brati ons. Avoid si tuati ons
whi ch resul t in the bumpi ng or bangi ng of these components, or for exampl e mounti ng heavy fans onto
them i nsecurel y whi ch can pass vi brati ons to these components or warp them under the wei ght.
Do not handl e l iqui ds around el ectroni c components. Any spil lage can resul t i n di sastrous short-
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Do not pl ace excessi ve wei ghts on PCBs as this can crack or warp them such that they wil l be
permanentl y damaged. Don't even rest a l arge object temporaril y on the motherboard or a component
for exampl e, put them on another surface until you need to use them.

Fi nal ly, make sure you i nvest i n a good quali ty Surge Protector for your PC and al l your other sensi ti ve
el ectroni c devi ces. Asi de from typi cal l y l etti ng you pl ug i n mul ti pl e devi ces i nto one outl et, surge protectors
serve an i mportant functi on: they prevent spi kes i n vol tage - whi ch can occur for a range of reasons - from
harmi ng your components. Vol tage surges needn't be sudden or catastrophic; even mi nor i ncreases in
vol tage can reduce your component's l ifespan over a peri od of ti me. Note that most surge protectors wi ll not
protect your equi pment from the surge generated by a direct li ghtni ng strike on or near your house, so
duri ng heavy thunderstorms i t i s recommended that you turn off your PC and any other expensi ve
el ectroni c equi pment and di sconnect thei r power pl ugs from the wall socket to provi de foolproof protection
agai nst any surge. This al so i ncludes any phone li nes used for DSL for example.

El ectroni c components these days are qui te hardy, and can wi thstand some abuse, but gi ven how valuabl e
they are I suggest that you don't take any risks when handli ng them and i n thei r general usage, so the ti ps
above are best observed i f you want to mai ntai n your PC and your el ectroni c components i n good condi tion.

In the end, if you real ly can't fi nd a sol uti on to your probl em, try contacti ng Microsoft Techni cal Support, or
the tech support for the parti cular game, appli cati on or hardware you are having i ssues wi th. Thei r contact
detail s are l isted on the product box, i n the manual or on thei r websi te. Make sure to provi de them wi th your
correct system speci fi cations - as covered i n the System Speci fi cati ons chapter of thi s book - as wel l as full
detail s of the error. You can al so post your specifi cati ons and error code(s) along wi th the thi ngs you have
al ready tri ed on an Internet forum. Usuall y however, the person best sui ted to sol vi ng a probl em is you - al l
you need is some pati ence and some knowl edge, and wi th the use of Googl e i n the l ong run you wi ll save
yourself a great deal of ti me, and i ndeed come to be abl e to prevent a great many probl ems, if you make the
effort to become profi ci ent i n i dentifyi ng and di agnosi ng PC problems yoursel f i nstead of relyi ng on others.


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REGULAR MAINTENANCE

Keepi ng Wi ndows and your PC i n opti mal working order requi res regul ar system maintenance. Any
operati ng system wi l l degrade over ti me i f not properl y mai ntai ned, parti cularly as you i nstall and uni nstall
a range of programs and dri vers. You must arri ve at some regular method of undertaki ng such mai ntenance
usi ng the tool s and methods i n thi s book. It also cannot be done on a ri gid schedule; i t depends on your
usage patterns, how often you i nstal l patches and updates, i nstall new software and move fi les around, etc.

Bel ow i s a l ist of the actual thi ngs I regularly do to mai ntai n my PC, the rough order they are done i n, and
the frequency wi th whi ch I do them. You may consider some steps or thei r frequency as overki ll , but I've
found that by doi ng these procedures at l east once a week I not onl y keep Windows as fresh as the day i t
was i nstal l ed, I also weed out any undetected malware or unnecessary programs, keep my dri ve space
opti mal and qui ckly get wi nd of any potenti al probl ems before they rui n my data or destabi lize the system.

Thi s i s onl y an exampl e, and you wil l need to customi ze i t to suit your parti cular ci rcumstances, but i t i s a
good starti ng poi nt for the average PC user:

STEP 1 - MAINTAIN SECURITY
Action: Run Windows Update, then update mal ware scanners and run a ful l manual scan of al l dri ves.
Frequency: Once a week at least, and al so scan i ndi vi dual downl oaded fi les before use wi th MSE.

See the PC Securi ty chapter for detai ls.

STEP 2 - CHECK STARTUP PROGRAMS & SERVICES
Action: Use MSConfi g to qui ckly check under the Startup and Servi ces tabs for any newly install ed startup
programs or non-Mi crosoft servi ces. Identi fy any new or unfami liar entri es and di sabl e unnecessary ones as
requi red, fi rst by checki ng the program's own opti ons, then usi ng Regi stry Edi tor or Autoruns as necessary.
Frequency: After every new program or game i nstal l.

See the Startup Programs and Servi ces chapters for detai ls.

STEP 3 - BACKUP IMPORTANT FILES
Action: Create a System Restore poi nt. Backup the Regi stry usi ng Erunt. Do a full manual backup of
i mportant files and fol ders to rewri teabl e DVDs. Al so backup extremel y important fi l es agai n to ISP
webspace vi a FTP as an added precauti on.
Frequency: Once a week at least. If working on somethi ng extremel y i mportant, backup every coupl e of days
both to ensure i t's not l ost, and also to have several versi ons i n case current versi on i s corrupted or
acci dentall y del eted.

See the Backup & Recovery chapter for detai ls.

STEP 4 - CLEAN WINDOWS
Action: Run the Di sk Cl eanup uti li ty, then CCl eaner. Do a manual cl ean out of remai ni ng unnecessary fi les.
Frequency: Once a week at least, and al so after major updates or program uni nstal l s.

See the Cl eani ng Wi ndows chapter for detai ls.


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STEP 5 - RUN A DISK CHECK
Action: Use the Di sk Check uti li ty to do a ful l di sk scan/repai r of the dri ve - ri ght cl i ck on your dri ve l etter i n
Wi ndows Expl orer, sel ect Properti es>Tool s>Check Now, ti ck 'Automati call y fi x fi le system errors', then cl i ck
Start and reboot to i mpl ement.
Frequency: Once every month at l east.

See the Dri ve Opti mi zati on chapter for detai ls.

STEP 6 - DEFRAGMENT
Action: Use the Wi ndows Di sk Defragmenter to run a ful l defragmentati on of the dri ve.
Frequency: Once a week at l east. Al so after every major program or game install /uni nstal l , or any manual
game or Wi ndows patchi ng, such as after Wi ndows Update or driver i nstall ation.

See the Dri ve Opti mi zati on chapter for detai ls.

Some of the steps above may seem somewhat tedi ous to run through on a frequent basi s, but i n practi ce i t i s
preci sel y what has ensured that my system al ways remai ns probl em-free. Proper mai ntenance i s i mportant
i n ensuri ng that your data remai ns secure, your system remai ns as responsi ve as when you fi rst i nstal led
Wi ndows XP, and you don't keep running i nto 'mysteri ous' crashes and probl ems. Of course proper system
knowl edge and preventi on are al so two key aspects of system mai ntenance.

A cri ti cal part of proper mai ntenance is preventi on, and thi s i nvol ves maki ng sure that you do not constantly
i nstal l a range of unnecessary programs on your system. Codec packs, vari ous dubi ous tweaki ng util i ties,
pi racy tool s and pi rated software, constant upgrades/downgrades of l eaked drivers, etc. are one of the major
reasons why many systems are so unstabl e and i nsecure, beyond Windows XP's capabi li ti es of managi ng the
mess of program confli cts and detri tus that such systems have accumulated. Treat your PC as a compl ex and
fi nel y-tuned el ectroni c machi ne, not a dumpi ng ground for everythi ng you fi nd on the Internet, and you will
fi nd that i t remai ns stabl e and performs well for a very l ong ti me.


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CONCLUSION

That bri ngs The TweakGuides Tweaking Companion for Windows XP to a cl ose. I hope you've found the
i nformati on in thi s book useful .

Cheers,
Koroush

< VERSION HISTORY
The tabl e below shows any major revisions made to thi s book si nce fi rst rel eased.

Version Release Date Pages Revised
1.00 22 December 2004 Nil First Release.

1.01 23 December 2004 pp.55, 98 - RegCleaner links fixed.
pp.101 - Reference to /Windows/Prefetch fixed.

1.02 10 January 2005 All pages - Formatting altered (e.g. inserted section name on side of each page).
All pages - Numerous typographical /grammatical errors fixed.
pp.13 - XPTC problem reporting link changed.
pp.40 - Internet connection advice clarified in Driver Installation Order.
pp.42 - Added XGI graphics card driver download link.
pp.49 - Added 2GB+ RAM example for Virtual Memory.
pp.54 - Prefetcher tweak clarified.
pp.56, 99 - Correct RegCleaner version clarified.
pp.86 - Mention how to re-enable User Names column in Task Manager.
pp.104 - Recycle Bin rename/delete tweak fixed.
pp.121 - Windows Update repair tweak fixed.
pp.145 - AMD CPU Thermal Limiting mentioned.

1.03 15 February 2005 All pages - Numerous typographical/grammatical errors fixed.
pp.41, 62, 140 - Added Nvidia Forceware Tweak Guide link.

1.04 10 March 2005 pp.34 - Corrected IRQ Priority tweak.
pp.41 - Changed ATI Catalyst download link.
pp.50 - Clarified Position of Pagefile using Diskeeper tweak.
pp.53 - Clarified/corrected LargeSystemCache and IOPageLockLimit tweaks.
pp.54 - Clarified the Windows Prefetcher advice.
pp.102 - Instructions for Prefetch files in /Windows/Prefetch folder clarified.
pp.121 - Changed the Firefox Tweak Guide link.

1.05 10 April 2005 All pages - Several typographical/grammatical errors fixed.
pp.23 - Ad-Aware TweakSE plugin linked.
pp.29,87 - Erunt & NTRegOpt links fixed.
pp.56,100-101,157 - All WinOptimizer advice and links replaced by CCleaner.
pp.145 - Throttlewatch link fixed.
pp.148 - PSU Guide link fixed.
pp.160 - Electrostatic Discharge Article link fixed.

1.06 18 April 2005 pp.38 - Provided alternate links for XP Home and Pro Installation Guides.
pp.82-83 - Provide alternate links for XP Services Guide.

1.07 22 April 2005 pp.41 - Fixed Intel software download links.

2.0 18 August 2005 Guide renamed from The Windows XP Tweaking Companion to The TweakGuides Tweaking Companion as
requested by Microsoft.
Guide edited throughout to fix some grammatical/spelling errors and fix dead links.
Otherwise contents remain the same as the previous version(s).


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3.0 4 January 2006 Major revision and rewriting of the guide - too many changes to list individually:
- Revision/clarification/addition of a wide range of advice.
- Shifting/merging/renaming of a large number of chapters and creation of new ones.
- Fixing/removing a range of dead links, and provision of many new links.
- Format and grammatical corrections and adjustments.
All previous TweakGuides Tweaking Companion/Windows XP Tweaking Companion users should update to this
latest version as soon as possible.

3.1 8 June 2006 All pages - Several typographical/grammatical errors fixed.
All pages - Fixed all dead or inaccurate hyperlinks.
pp.19,164,167 - Updated Sandra instructions for new version.
pp.29 - Repair install instructions link added.
pp.43 - Removed reference to .NET 1.1
pp.89,93 - ProcessLibrary site link added.
pp.90 - Added Autoruns instructions.
pp.92 - HID Service removed from Disabled list.
pp.97 - $hf_mig$ details added
pp.100 - Imagecfg instructions fixed.
pp.119 - Updated Internet Explorer section for IE7 Beta.
pp.130 - Switched order of Registry compacting & cleaning.
pp.108 - Low Disk Space instructions fixed.
pp.116 - Context Menu Editor link added, CMenu details fixed.
pp.136 - Updated Windows Media Player section for WMP11 Beta.
pp.139 - Quicktime and Real Alternative Codecs added.
pp.144 - Shortcut To instructions fixed.
pp.167 - Added SuperPI instructions.

3.2 22 August 2006 All pages - Several typographical/grammatical errors fixed.
All pages - Updated the TweakGuides Logo.
pp.25 - Corrected KeyPass reference to KeePass.
pp.47 - A-Squared instructions updated.
pp.55-56 - Prefetch instructions further clarified.
pp.62 - I-FAAST & NTFSDisableLastAccessUpdate Registry key conflict.
pp.69 - Added link to Gamer's Graphics & Display Settings Guide.
pp.95 - Added Advanced Disk Cleanup options.
pp.100 - Added AMD Dual Core Optimizer Utility link.
pp.106 - Updated NTFSDisableLastAccessUpdate details.
pp.145 - Corrected Windows Blinds references to WindowBlinds.

3.3 20 November 2006 All pages - Several typographical/grammatical errors fixed.
pp.19 - Sandra Service names updated.
pp.40 - Intel Matrix Storage Manager link added.
pp.43 - .NET reference updated to 3.0.
pp.46 - AVG Free instructions updated.
pp.47 - A-Squared Free instructions updated.
pp.47 - Microsoft Antispyware renamed to Windows Defender.
pp.49 - Sophos Anti-Rootkit link & instructions added.
pp.61-63 - Diskeeper advice updated.
pp.73 - USB Mouserate tweak clarified.
pp.91 - HijackFree link & instructions added.
pp.120-123 - Internet Explorer chapter revised to suit both IE6 & IE7 final.
pp.137-141 - Windows Media Player chapter revised to suit both WMP10 & WMP11 final.
pp.146 - Zune & Royale Noir theme links added.
pp.172 - User Profile Hive Cleanup Service link added.

3.4 1 March 2007 Cover - TGTC Logo changed.
All pages - Fixed any dead or inaccurate hyperlinks.
pp.102 - Added SetAffinity utility.
pp.149-157 - Overclocking chapter heavily edited.


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3.5 1 July 2007 All pages - Fixed any dead or inaccurate hyperlinks.
All pages - Minor layout changes.
pp.47 - Updated A-Squared Free advice.
pp.47-48 - Ad-Aware 2007 instructions added.
pp.49 - HijackThis advice updated.
pp.157 - Added new link for AMD overclocking.
pp.136 - Added Windows Live Mail link.

3.6 22 September 2007 All pages - Fixed any dead or inaccurate hyperlinks.
pp.97-98 - Updated CCleaner advice.
pp.102 - Updated SetAffinity link and advice.
pp.103 - Updated RegSupreme advice.
pp.138 - Added fix for black & white video playback.

4.0 1 May 2008 This is a major revision of the guide. It has been thoroughly revised throughout, not just for SP3. There are a
large number of changes, but only the more significant ones are listed below:

All pages - Fixed any typographical/grammatical errors.
pp.19 - Updated advice for Sandra 2008.
pp.20 - Added GPU-Z utility.
pp.36-37 - Updated slipstreaming & nLite advice for SP3.
pp.39 - Updated multi boot advice for XP/Vista dual boot.
pp.39 - Expanded RAID advice.
pp.43-44 - Updated Service Pack details and installation advice for SP3.
pp.43-49 - Expanded/clarified Driver Installation chapter.
pp.51-52 - Updated advice for AVG 8.0.
pp.54-55 - Added Phishing section.
pp.56-59 - Updated general security tips.
pp.62 - Added Video Memory Watcher utility.
pp.63-65 - Updated Virtual Memory advice.
pp.66-67 - Added Drive Controllers section.
pp.67-68 - Added Master File Table section.
pp.69-70 - Updated advice for Diskeeper 2008.
pp.96-100 - Expanded/revised Startup Programs chapter.
pp.98 - Updated MSConfig details for new Tools tab added by SP3.
pp.101-106 - Expanded/revised Services chapter.
pp.103-104 - Added full table of XP Services, including noting four new SP3 services.
pp.111 - Added Cleanup Up After Service Pack 3 section.
pp.111 - Added Delete 'In Use' Files section.
pp.114 - Added Windows Dual Core Hotfix.
pp.115 - Added Process Explorer section.
pp.124 - Added Disable Automatic System Restore Checkpoints tip.
pp.139-142 - Expanded/revised Internet Explorer chapter solely for IE 7.
pp.148-153 - Expanded/revised Windows Media Player chapter solely for WMP 11.
pp.158-159 - Revised custom themes advice for SP3.
pp160-161 - Consolidated and improved formatting for Keyboard & Programs shortcuts tables.
pp.163-171 - Expanded/revised Overclocking chapter.
pp.173 - Added Unigine graphics benchmark.
pp.174 - Updated advice for Sandra 2008.
pp.177 - Added Memtest86+ utility.
pp.178-184 - Expanded/revised Wi ndows Errors chapter.

4.1 1 July 2008 All pages - Fixed any dead or inaccurate hyperlinks.
pp.47 - Updated Driver Sweeper instructions.
pp.50-51 - Updated AVG Free Edition 8.0 advice.
pp.53 - Updated Ad-aware 2008 advice.

4.2 2 October 2008 All pages - Fixed any dead or inaccurate hyperlinks.
pp.19,174,176 - Update advice for Sandra 2009.
pp.46 - Added ASUS Audio Drivers link.
pp.142 - Added Google Chrome link.
pp.154 - Added VLC link.


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4.3 6 April 2009 All pages - Fixed any dead or inaccurate hyperlinks.
pp.45 - Added AHCI reference.
pp.46 - Added Auzentech audio driver link.
pp.52-32 - Updated Ad-Aware advice.
pp.67 - Added AHCI Mode details.
pp.118-119 - Added JV16 PowerTools section, replacing RegSupreme & RegCleaner.
pp.133-147 - Revised Internet Explorer chapter for IE8.
pp.168-176 - Revised Overclocking chapter with updated information.
pp.178 - Added FurMark benchmark, removed outdated Codecreatures, Aquamark and GLExcess.

5.0 23 June 2010 This is a relatively major revision in terms of a combination of numerous minor changes as well as updating
the layout of the book. This is also the last major revision for the Windows XP version of this book.

All pages - Updated layout.
All pages - Various minor edits and updates throughout to improve readability and accuracy.
pp.14-19 - Revised Basic PC Terminology chapter with updated/additional information.
pp.21-22 - Sandra usage information updated.
pp.22 - Added HD Tune utility.
pp.26-27 - Online backup instructions expanded.
pp.29 - KeePass usage information updated.
pp.30 - Added Recuva utility.
pp.30-31 - Expanded Permanently Deleting Files section.
pp.35 - Added UEFI details.
pp.47-49 - Revised Motherboard and Graphics Drivers information.
pp.52 - General Driver Tips section revised/expanded.
pp.54-67 - Revised PC Security chapter Microsoft Security Essentials replaces AVG; Spybot replaces Ad-aware.
pp.70 - Removed Cacheman utility; the available versions of this utility are not recommended.
pp.71-73 - Revised Virtual Memory configuration advice.
pp.77 - Diskeeper configuration details removed.
pp.118-119 - CCleaner usage information updated.
pp.128 - CCleaner registry cleaning instructions added.
pp.139-141 - Revised Edit Context Menus section; added Autoruns, ShellMenuView, ShellExView instructions.
pp.156 - Corrected Increase Maximum Simultaneous Connections tip.
pp.157 - Added IE7Pro utility instructions.
pp.160-164 - Added various recommendations for Windows Live Mail.
pp.170-171 - Revised Audio & Video Codecs section.
pp.176 - Added RocketDock utility.
pp.180-189 - Revised Overclocking chapter with updated/additional information.
pp.191-194 - Added Heaven, Lightsmark, HD Tune & Opti Drive Control utilities; updated Prime95
instructions.
pp.203-204 - Revised and reordered Regular Maintenance chapter instructions.

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