August 25, 2008 at 02:12Windows tuning and optimization myths
- Transfer
Some myths surrounding Windows optimization haunt us in articles, on websites, on tweaker programs. However, they have nothing to do with reality, so following these tips can only do harm. Here are examples of such myths.
Turning off QoS to free up 20% of network bandwidth
This tip is used by people who are confident that Microsoft always allocates 20% of the network channel for Windows Update. According to the instructions, you need to turn off QoS and free up bandwidth. Unfortunately, this advice not only does not help, but can add problems to applications that use QoS, such as streaming media and VoIP.
Here is Microsoft’s official answer: “Many articles and newsgroup posts claim that Windows XP always reserves 20% of the available network bandwidth for QoS. This is not true ... One hundred percent of the network channel is available for all programs if one of them does not require priority in the channel. "
Allow Vista to use multiple cores to speed up boot
This false advice has appeared recently, and almost everyone believed in it. According to him, in the msconfig utility, it is necessary to modify the value in the “Number of processors” drop-down list on the “Download” tab. In fact, this value is used only for troubleshooting and debugging, to identify a problem with a specific processor, or so that a programmer can test his code on a multi-core system. Windows by default uses all processors without this installation.
Clean up your Prefetch folder for faster downloads
The Prefetch application preload feature in Windows XP caches portions of the applications you frequently use and tries to optimize the download process to speed up application startup, so when many sites began to recommend periodic cleanups to speed up loading, this seemed like good advice ... but, unfortunately, incorrect .
The preload function is actually used as an index to tell Windows which parts of the application need to be loaded into memory and in what order to speed up the launch of the application, but Windows does not use this information before starting the application. There is also a limit of 128 files that can be saved in the Prefetch folder at any time, and Windows automatically cleans this folder itself, deleting information about unused applications. In addition, the right defragmentation utility uses Prefetch information to optimize files on disk, further speeding up access to them.
Registry cleaning improves performance
The Windows registry is a large database with almost all the settings for each application on your system. It’s logical that cleaning it will speed up the work, right? Unfortunately, this is just a marketing hype designed to sell registry cleaning utilities, and in reality it’s not at all ... Registry cleaners delete only a very small number of unused keys, which will not help performance, given the hundreds of thousands of other keys in the registry.
This is not to say that these utilities are completely useless, of course. I would still recommend cleaning the registry when you try to fix a problem related to the removal of problematic applications that leave entries in the registry, but you must use a proven application and check for deleted keys.
Clearing memory using “Processing tasks in your free time”.
At this point, you should already slowly begin to understand ... If something sounds too good to be true, it is most likely a hoax. Another tip is that you can create an “undocumented shortcut to the Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll command, ProcessIdleTasks, which will clear the memory by processing all tasks that take up memory in the background.
What is the problem? These tasks are not really waiting in the background. This command actually tells the computer that you are away and it can process the tasks until the computer frees up time. But you have not departed. The real purpose of this function is to work out all the tasks before running the performance tests so that they correctly calculate the time, and the Microsoft documentation says the following: “When called from the command line, ProcessIdleTasks works asynchronously in the background. Completing background tasks can take 10 to 15 minutes. The task manager reports running processes, and the disk may be active at this time. ”
Clean, defragment and speed up RAM using Super Mega RAM Optimizer
Look at any website with programs, and you will find thousands of programs that promise to “optimize memory to speed up your computer”. Do not believe it! Almost all of these programs do the same thing: they call the EmptyWorkingSet () function, which forces applications to send data from memory to the page file, or they allocate themselves and free up a huge amount of memory, so Windows has to throw other applications into the swap.
The result is a seemingly free memory, but in fact you just swapped your cosmically fast RAM for a slow disk. As soon as you have to return to the application with which you are working, you will want to throw out the computer and trample its mortal carcass.
Disabling the Shadow Copy and
System Restore service improves performance. There seems to be no sites with Windows Vista tips that don’t recommend disabling System Restore to speed things up because it uses up to 15% of your default drive. This seems like good advice. But this is bad advice.
In reality, System Restore only works when you install an application or update, or at the appointed time of the day, and automatic recovery points are created only when you are not at the computer. This is crucial, because it allows you to restore the previous state of the machine, getting rid of problems.
Instead of disabling System Restore to free up space, use the Disk Cleanup Wizard to delete all recovery points except the last.
Enabling SuperFetch on Windows XP.
Someone decided to spread the myth that you can enable SuperFetch in Windows XP by adding the same EnableSuperFetch key that is used in Vista to the registry. This tip is completely fake.
Disabling services to speed up the computer
The most common myth is the advice to remove all unused services. I understand that this can cause controversy, so I’ll clarify: disabling non-critical services that are not part of Windows can sometimes lead to increased performance if you determine that these services are causing problems. You can identify and disable these services in the Services tab of the msconfig.exe utility.
The problem with disabling services is that your devices may stop working after that, and the problem is difficult to determine if it does not come up right away.
Do not turn off the Microsoft built-in services in Windows, except in certain situations:
SuperFetch - this caching service preloads applications into memory and really helps. However, it causes the hard drive to work intensively, which is annoying and interfering, especially on laptops.
Windows Search - if you use another local search engine, you do not need this service and disabling it can really improve performance.
Windows Defender - if you use another anti-malware product, you also do not need this service.
crosspost incollection of tips neonka.ru
Turning off QoS to free up 20% of network bandwidth
This tip is used by people who are confident that Microsoft always allocates 20% of the network channel for Windows Update. According to the instructions, you need to turn off QoS and free up bandwidth. Unfortunately, this advice not only does not help, but can add problems to applications that use QoS, such as streaming media and VoIP.
Here is Microsoft’s official answer: “Many articles and newsgroup posts claim that Windows XP always reserves 20% of the available network bandwidth for QoS. This is not true ... One hundred percent of the network channel is available for all programs if one of them does not require priority in the channel. "
Allow Vista to use multiple cores to speed up boot
This false advice has appeared recently, and almost everyone believed in it. According to him, in the msconfig utility, it is necessary to modify the value in the “Number of processors” drop-down list on the “Download” tab. In fact, this value is used only for troubleshooting and debugging, to identify a problem with a specific processor, or so that a programmer can test his code on a multi-core system. Windows by default uses all processors without this installation.
Clean up your Prefetch folder for faster downloads
The Prefetch application preload feature in Windows XP caches portions of the applications you frequently use and tries to optimize the download process to speed up application startup, so when many sites began to recommend periodic cleanups to speed up loading, this seemed like good advice ... but, unfortunately, incorrect .
The preload function is actually used as an index to tell Windows which parts of the application need to be loaded into memory and in what order to speed up the launch of the application, but Windows does not use this information before starting the application. There is also a limit of 128 files that can be saved in the Prefetch folder at any time, and Windows automatically cleans this folder itself, deleting information about unused applications. In addition, the right defragmentation utility uses Prefetch information to optimize files on disk, further speeding up access to them.
Registry cleaning improves performance
The Windows registry is a large database with almost all the settings for each application on your system. It’s logical that cleaning it will speed up the work, right? Unfortunately, this is just a marketing hype designed to sell registry cleaning utilities, and in reality it’s not at all ... Registry cleaners delete only a very small number of unused keys, which will not help performance, given the hundreds of thousands of other keys in the registry.
This is not to say that these utilities are completely useless, of course. I would still recommend cleaning the registry when you try to fix a problem related to the removal of problematic applications that leave entries in the registry, but you must use a proven application and check for deleted keys.
Clearing memory using “Processing tasks in your free time”.
At this point, you should already slowly begin to understand ... If something sounds too good to be true, it is most likely a hoax. Another tip is that you can create an “undocumented shortcut to the Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll command, ProcessIdleTasks, which will clear the memory by processing all tasks that take up memory in the background.
What is the problem? These tasks are not really waiting in the background. This command actually tells the computer that you are away and it can process the tasks until the computer frees up time. But you have not departed. The real purpose of this function is to work out all the tasks before running the performance tests so that they correctly calculate the time, and the Microsoft documentation says the following: “When called from the command line, ProcessIdleTasks works asynchronously in the background. Completing background tasks can take 10 to 15 minutes. The task manager reports running processes, and the disk may be active at this time. ”
Clean, defragment and speed up RAM using Super Mega RAM Optimizer
Look at any website with programs, and you will find thousands of programs that promise to “optimize memory to speed up your computer”. Do not believe it! Almost all of these programs do the same thing: they call the EmptyWorkingSet () function, which forces applications to send data from memory to the page file, or they allocate themselves and free up a huge amount of memory, so Windows has to throw other applications into the swap.
The result is a seemingly free memory, but in fact you just swapped your cosmically fast RAM for a slow disk. As soon as you have to return to the application with which you are working, you will want to throw out the computer and trample its mortal carcass.
Disabling the Shadow Copy and
System Restore service improves performance. There seems to be no sites with Windows Vista tips that don’t recommend disabling System Restore to speed things up because it uses up to 15% of your default drive. This seems like good advice. But this is bad advice.
In reality, System Restore only works when you install an application or update, or at the appointed time of the day, and automatic recovery points are created only when you are not at the computer. This is crucial, because it allows you to restore the previous state of the machine, getting rid of problems.
Instead of disabling System Restore to free up space, use the Disk Cleanup Wizard to delete all recovery points except the last.
Enabling SuperFetch on Windows XP.
Someone decided to spread the myth that you can enable SuperFetch in Windows XP by adding the same EnableSuperFetch key that is used in Vista to the registry. This tip is completely fake.
Disabling services to speed up the computer
The most common myth is the advice to remove all unused services. I understand that this can cause controversy, so I’ll clarify: disabling non-critical services that are not part of Windows can sometimes lead to increased performance if you determine that these services are causing problems. You can identify and disable these services in the Services tab of the msconfig.exe utility.
The problem with disabling services is that your devices may stop working after that, and the problem is difficult to determine if it does not come up right away.
Do not turn off the Microsoft built-in services in Windows, except in certain situations:
SuperFetch - this caching service preloads applications into memory and really helps. However, it causes the hard drive to work intensively, which is annoying and interfering, especially on laptops.
Windows Search - if you use another local search engine, you do not need this service and disabling it can really improve performance.
Windows Defender - if you use another anti-malware product, you also do not need this service.
crosspost incollection of tips neonka.ru