Windows XP stores a couple of values in its registry which are responsible for determining how long to wait before shutting down (killing) open applications and services once the shutdown command has been given.

By editing these two settings and changing them to lower values, you can considerably decrease the amount of time that Windows XP needs to successfully shut itself down. The first part of this tweak deals with setting the amount of time Windows will take to kill open applications on shutdown. (more…)

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Windows XP contains several tweakable memory settings in the registry, one of which is the DisablePagingExecutive registry key. This controls whether the operating system will transfer its essential driver and kernel files to the ‘virtual memory’ (the page file on the hard disk). It defaults to allowing this.

Obviously, transferring portions of the system to hard drive memory can considerably slow things down, and it appears that Windows XP does this periodically, whether or not the system is actually low on physical memory (RAM).

If you have 256MB of system memory or more, try this registry tweak to force Windows to keep its operating data in main memory: (more…)

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As written above, Windows XP uses a DNS cache to store recently visited Internet addresses. This cache is referred to before a request is sent out over the Internet when the user requests a web page address. If the IP address corresponding to the web address is in the cache, that address gets used, saving time. If it is not, your computer needs to find out the correct IP address by asking a DNS server over the Internet.

Items are kept in the cache for a finite amount of time and are constantly bumped to make room for more recent addresses. By increasing the size of the DNS cache, you can increase the speed of your web browsing, especially if you regularly check the same web pages. (more…)

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That’s right! There is a hack available that will permit you to access, download and install the official release of Windows Vista Service Pack 1 straight from Microsoft. The first service pack for Vista was initially released in pre-beta stage in mid July 2007, concomitantly with the original preview of Windows XP Service Pack 3. Microsoft subsequently dropped another pre-beta version of Vista SP1 in August and revealed that the first fully-fledged beta for the service pack would be delivered by the end of September. And the fact of the matter is that in the last week of the past month, the beta of Windows Vista SP1 Build 6001.16659 was open to in excess of 12,000 testers.

A public beta of Windows Vista SP1 is expected sometime near the moment Microsoft will make available the first Release Candidate for the service pack, but the company has offered no timetable in this sense. The final version of Vista SP1 is currently planned for launch in the first quarter of 2008, following the release of Windows Server 2008, at the end of February. (more…)

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To save on Random Access Memory (RAM), Windows uses your Page File as a sort of cache. This can slow down your PC’s overall performance. To remedy this situation, Windows XP has an option that allows users to clear the Page File when you shut down Windows. While this tweak tends to lengthen the shutdown time, it does have its performance benefits.

To set the computer to clear the page file without directly editing the registry is:

1. Click on the Start button
2. Go to the Control Panel
3. Administrative Tools
4. Local Security Policy
5. Local Policies (more…)

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