I know there are HUNDREDS and probably thousands of ‘Tweak XP Guides’ all over the net, each with their own weaknesses and strengths. Well I’ve gone through a majority of them and picked out the essential tweaks that really kick-start your OS in-shape for gaming.

MSCONFIG (Clean Boot)

Run MSCONFIG to eliminate all background and start-up processes.

1. Start > Run > then type ‘msconfig‘ and hit ‘Ok‘.
2. Then on the ‘General‘ tab, select ‘Selective Startup‘ and clear all of the boxes except for ‘Load System Services’.
3. Then click on the ‘Services‘ tab and check ‘Hide all Microsoft Services‘ box at the bottom then click ‘Disable All‘ (You may want to do a run-through on this list to make sure you’re not turning off something you may need, ex. Bluetooth Support)
4. Then click ‘Apply‘ and ‘Exit without Restart‘ (You’ll restart at the end of this guide anyways)




Turning off XP’s Visual Effects for speed increase

After installing Windows XP, it turns on all of it’s flashy effects and graphics on by default. With these simple steps, you can revert your XP’s interface to the old Windows 2000 interface which uses a significant amount less memory.

1. Right-Click on ‘My Computer‘ and select ‘Properties‘
2. Go the ‘Advanced‘ tab then select ‘Settings‘ under the ‘Performance‘ section.
3. Then, under the ‘Visual Effects‘ tab, select ‘Adjust for best performance‘ and click ‘Apply‘.


Your OS should run a heck of a lot smoother.



DEFRAG!!!

I can’t stress enough how important defragging is for gaming systems. With huge files being added and removed frequently, you’ll fragment your files A LOT! Fragmented systems causes games to load slower, so clean up that mess quick!
You can always use Windows Defrag but I’d suggest getting a program such as ‘Diskeeper‘ to maintain your hard drives.
You can get Diskeeper here. It has a 30 day trial and the Home Edition cost $29.95.
You can also go to The Free Country to find free defrag programs. I have no experience with these but if you know of a great free defrag program, let me know and I’ll add it here.


Please bookmark this page so you can keep it for future use. I’ll add anything that readers submit or suggest, so check back frequently.

Posted on Wednesday, September 12th, 2007 at 10:30 pm under Games, Windows.