|
Cleaning the
TEMP
Directory |
One thing
that is
often
overlooked,
and can have
a negative
affect on
your
computer's
performance,
are all the
files that
are in the
TEMP
directory.
I've had
quite a few
people ready
to get new
computers
until this
was cleaned.
These are
easy to
clean and
slightly
different in
Win9x and
Windows2000
or WindowsXP
Windows98
Open up a
DOS prompt
CD
\windows\temp
(make sure
you are in
that
directory
before
running the
next line.
Run deltree
/y *.*
CD \windows
Run del *.tmp
(be very
careful of
the
spelling)
Windows2000
/ WindowsXP
Go to
C:\Documents
and
Settings\User_Name\Local
Settings\Temp
(where
User_Name is
replaced by
the person
who is
logged in)
Delete all
the files
|
|
Increasing
Memory |
If you have
Windows95
with only
16-32 megs
of memory,
you will see
a
significant
increase in
performance
if you go to
at least 64
megs.
Prices have
gone down
dramatically
in the past
few years.
Your
computer
won't be
swapping to
the hard
drive nearly
as much.
You also
need to be
aware of the
memory
requirements
of the
applications
you are
using.
Office2000
requires a
lot more
memory than
Office97 to
get similar
performance.
Also, the
maximum
useful
memory for
Windows95 is
64 megs. It
doesn't do
well with
memory over
that and may
actually
reduce your
performance.
Windows98
has removed
that
bottleneck.
.
For
Windows2000
I recommend
at least 256
megs of
memory. I
tried it
with only
128 megs and
noticed
quite a
difference
between
Win98 and
Windows2000.
I currently
have 384
megs and am
quite
pleased with
the
performance. |
|
Get a Faster
Hard Drive |
There are
hard drives
that spin at
7200 RPMs
rather than
the more
common 5400
RPMs.
This means
that you
will get to
your data
reasonably
faster. They
are not that
much more
expensive
and well
worth the
money.
|
|
Defrag the
Hard Drive |
|
I do this
fairly
frequently.
Once a month
or so. There
are a few
things I do
first to
make sure I
don't waste
time
defragging
unnecessary
files.
First is to
delete the
Internet
Explorer
Temporary
Files and
History.
Second is to
delete TMP
and BAK
files.
Third is
delete any
files and
directories
in the \TEMP
and
\WINDOWS\TEMP
directories
Defragment
without the
swapfile.
Windows98
has a
built-in
utility
called Disk
Cleanup. You
can run it
from either
the Start /
Programs /
Accessories
/ System
Tools / Disk
Cleanup or
directly run
CLEANMGR.EXE |
|
File System
Settings |
|
If you have
64 megs or
more of
memory you
increase the
performance
of your
system.
Go to
Control
Panel /
System
Properties /
Performance
/ File
System.
Change the
typical role
of this
computer to
Network
Server.
If you have
Win95 SR1,
and you do
not see a
performance
increase,
occasionally
the
NameCache
and
PathCache
values are
written to
the registry
incorrectly
for the
Network
Server. To
fix the
problem:
Start
Regedit
Go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\FS
Templates\Server
Make sure
the
following
values are
being used:
PathCache=40
00 00 00
NameCache=a9
0a 00 00
|
|
No
New Floppy
Detect |
While you
are in that
section,
click on the
Floppy Disk
tab and
uncheck
Search for
new floppy
disks...
This will
speed up
your boot
time. |
|
Increasing
Disk
Performance |
|
Go to Start
\ Settings \
Control
Panel \
System \
Performance
\ File
System \
Troubleshooting
Check the
box Disable
synchronous
buffer
commits. |
|
DMA |
|
In the
Device
Manager, go
to the
settings
your Hard
Drives and
CD ROMs. If
any of them
will allow a
DMA box to
be checked,
you can try
it. I've
seen it
decrease my
CPU
utilization |
|
CONFIG.SYS &
AUTOEXEC.BAT
Files |
|
Make sure
you don't
have any
unnecessary
device
drivers or
programs
here.
Windows95
has most you
will need
already
built into
the
OS. |
|
Removing
Unnecessary
Programs
from
Starting
Automatically |
Many
programs add
portions of
themselves
starting
automatically
on every
login.
This can be
either in
the Startup
Folder or
the
Registry.
One easy way
to tell is
by looking
at how many
icons are in
your system
tray. If you
have a large
number,
perhaps
unnecessary
resources
are being
allocated
them as well
as
increasing
your boot
time.
Typical
examples are
Microsoft
Office,
Office
FindFast,
Real Player,
ATI Video
setting etc.
You can
remove them
in one of
three main
ways:
In the Start
/ Programs /
Startup
Folder
In the
Registry
under
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\ SOFTWARE \
Microsoft \
Windows \
CurrentVersion
\ Run
If you have
Win98, WinME
or
Windows2000
you can use
MSCONFIG to
easily
remove
programs.
This is my
preference
since it
allows you
to toggle
them back on
again in
case you
make a
mistake |
