win xp tweaks for gamers

[draboo]

i found this link rather interesting (for those with win xp os.)

http://www.tweakxp.com/tweakxp/display.asp?id=114

[ArcticFox]

Thanks for the link. Once my XP box is back up from it's virus attack and partially-working Lite-on, I'll have to try some of those!

[tony_j15]

thanks draboo, I'll try these out!

[djlar]

this also is a awsome site for tweaking xp its for battlefield 1942 but it has tweaks in a step by step guide to help you...even know its for battlefield it works for tweaking xp for games

[djlar]

http://www.tweaktown.com/document.ph...Id=420&dPage=2 sorry forgot to piost the link

[sKiT]

good find, was a good read also(the BF stuff) I myself found about three tweaks I'm interested in and am gonna play with it when I get home....especially skipping the intro movies/splashscreens and loading a smaller default map on startup should come in very handy.

[win2kuser]

Heres a few things you can do...

Set up a new profile in Windows XP: Start/Control Panel/User accounts. Call this account something like 'Games'

Start your system in this user profile. Right click on My Computer and select Properties. Choose the Advanced tab. Click the Performance button and select the Custom tab under the pop-up Visual Effects dialogue box. Untick everything (shadows, transition effects etc). Click apply.

Under the Advanced tab of this dialogue box check the 'Programs' box for both Processor scheduling and Memory usage.

Click Change button for Paging file usage. Select custom and increase the size to at least three times your RAM (eg. if you have 128mb ram, make your paging file at least 384mb). If you have 512mb or more, set this to 200mb for both initial and maximum (just to stop WinXP complaining).
You could also move the Paging file to another drive (if it gets used less), this will improve performance.

Click Set then ok.

NOTE: The WinXP Paging file can become fragmented, to resolve this, set your Paging file to 0(zero), reboot, do a complete defrag, set the Paging file back to the normal setting (above) and reboot. As long as the initial and maximum setting are the same, the Paging file size will not be changed 'on the fly' as normal which should stop the fragmentation.

Under the System Restore tab tick Turn off System Restore. Click Apply. Click Okay.

Now, go to Start/Run and type msconfig. Hit return. This will bring up a box of options. Under the Services tab, untick all options from the list in the link a couple of posts up. Click Apply.

Under the Startup tab untick everything that isn't essential to your system running properly. Untick all antivirus software, firewalls, drawing tablets, RealDownlaod, Find Fast, Microsoft Office, etc. Click Apply. Click Okay to exit this box.

Right click on the CI icon in programs or on the desktop. Choose the compatibility tab.

Tick 'Run this program in compatibility mode' and choose Windows 98/Me from the drop down. Click apply, ok.

Go to your device manager and make sure that your primary and secondary ATAPI controllers are set to 'use Ultra DMA if available'.

You now have a user profile just for playing games, which will use your system resources to improve the look and performace of your games rather than the look and performace of Windows XP.

HTH

[311Sam]

heres a better guide for disabling services:

http://home.earthlink.net/~leon36/data/services.txt

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm


It freed up over 30mb of ram!

[ArcticFox]

OMG Win2kUser your trick seems sweet. I am so trying that when I get off vacation!

[win2kuser]

It's quite suprising the difference it does make...

I was tired of having decreased performance with XP especially with GTA3, I still got fed up with XP though, went back to Win2K - but thats another story...