The -=Official=- Graphics Workstation Tweeking thread

[CyberDyneSystems]

It's been years since I;ve had to really get under the hood of an XP based system to get it exactly where I wanted it to be. (my last system is about five years old and had these tweeks and more done to it many years ago over time, and has served me without flaw for all that time :) )
But with the arrival of the latest SkyNet III, I've been at it again for a bit of time, and thought that some of the tweeks I have been revisiting may be of service to others.

So this thread will serve for this purpose, as well as for others to add there own secrets.

I'm starting out with OS tweeks, but will add application specific info as time allows (there's already a lot of great PSCS tweek info on the forum)

This is a WinXP system, so I would encourage anyone with MAC or Linux specific tweeks to get another thread started, but please post your WinXP stuff here :)


Some Excellent off site info for MAC tweeking (and buying)
MAC Users, click here for TIPS and Tweeks (http://macperformanceguide.com/index.html)

[CyberDyneSystems]

Fine Tune Your XP based Worksation


Section I: Crush XP’s thirst for losing your DATA!

1. Keep all your DATA on a Separate Drive or Partition!
This is mandatory. Don’t even think about filling a gargantuan drive with one single “C:” partition. If you already have a system installed that way, before putting any Data or installing any more apps on that machine, bust that cavernous drive into at least two logical partitions!
There are many good reasons to keep your DATA isolated from the OS, but the best is back up. System restore utilities, both built into Windows, and third party apps like Drive Image XML work best on OS drives that are smaller and nimble enough to be dealt with easily. Likewise your DATA back ups should be a separate back up system all together, and should not include bunches of MS OS crap in the middle of you photos. I'm not going to get into a step by step on this one as there are a number of Apps, and no way to do this with WinXP alone without re-installing. Partition Magic and other aftermarket apps will however achieve this task even after the OS is installed, there are even free ones available.

Bottom line, the end goal is get a second (or more) Drive letter like "D:" that contains your Data and leaved the OS and apps on C:

2. Turn off “System Restore” on all DATA Drives!
System Restore can in fact wipe out DATA if it is turned on for a DATA drive. I have run restore successfully to repair a batched software install only to find that entire sections of DATA drives contain only empty folders! System restore is limited in how much info it can save, and when it runs out of room for a restore task it just tries it’s best to put DATA where it remembers it being, even if it hasn’t actually saved the data. (For example you move your entire photo collection from one folder to a new one, then happen to run System restore for some other reason, after the restore you will find that the new folder is missing, and that the old folder contains only empty directories exactly as they were prior top the move, but empty!)
Therefore System Restore simply should only be turned on for your system drives! If you have apps on partitions other than the Windows partition, it may be helpful there too, but it can still cause problems as well.

To Turn off System Restore on DATA drives:
Right click my computer, select “Properties”
The System Restore TAB is in the upper right hand, click it.
Now you can turn off System restore on all drives, or better yet, click on the DATA drives individually, click “settings”, then put a check mark in the box labeled “Turn off System Restore for this drive”

3. Move My Documents Folder, Internet Cache, and Outlook mailbox off the C:
Consider all this DATA, and get it away from the C: Drive. Once you’ve made your D: DATA Drive move your stuff there, and tell Windows to do the same.

First, move My Documents:
Right Click and select “Properties” from the droop down menu.
It will display My Docs current location on C:
Click “Move” and send your Docs safely to your D: Drive.
Move IE temp Cache:
Create a folder on your new D:ATA drive called “temp” or something similar. Fire up IE and click “Tools” and select “Internet Options for the drop down menu.
Under the second heading “temporary Internet Files” select “Settings”
The current folder will be displayed on the C: Drive as always, select “Move Folder” and browse to your “temp” folder. (In typical MS fashion this simple task will require a log off.)
Move Outlook folders:
I think of E-mail as important DATA and likewise want it backed up. I suggest storing this info right in your my “Documents Folder” in a subdirectory. Mine is called “E-mail”






SECTION II Break WinXP to your will.
Get the most performance out of XP by finetuning and turning off useless clutter.

1. Shoot The Messenger: Turn Off Windows Messenger For Good
Have you tried to disable messenger, but it still shows in the system tray icon every now and then? If so, this next tweak is for you. To completely turn off Windows Messenger:

1. Go to "Start", the "Run"
2. Type in "RunDll32 advpack.dll,LaunchINFSection %windir%\INF\msmsgs.inf,BLC.Remove" and press enter
3. Restart and you'll never see Windows Messenger again!

Or:
"Control Panel", "Add/Remove Programs", "Add-Remove Windows Components", Uncheck "Windows Messenger", press "Next"

2. Turn off Indexing to Speed up Response Time

If you don't extensively use the search feature in XP, this next tweak is for you. By extensively, I mean everyone should use this tweek as no one uses the search tool enough for indexing to be anything other than a huge system hog that keeps your drives thrashing a lot.. Windows XP has this "feature" called "Indexing". It's supposed to speed up searches by keeping all the files on your computer tied to memory. By tying up these files to memory, it can really slow things down. Disabling this service will remove these files from memory, while in turn giving your applications and files faster response times. You will still be able to search with the Indexing turned off, it just takes a little longer.

1. Open up "My Computer"
2. Right-click on your hard drive"C:" and choose "Properties"
3. Uncheck the box at the bottom that reads "Allow Indexing Service to..."
4. Click OK then the files will be removed from memory. This removal may take a few minutes to complete, but it's worth it.
5. Repeat for all your Hard Drive letter ( D: - ??)

You will also need to disable the indexing service here too:

1. Go to "Start", then "Run"
2. Type "services.msc" and press enter
3. Scroll-down to "Indexing Service" and double-click it
4. If the service status is "Running", then stop it by pressing the "Stop" button
5. To make sure this service doesn't run again, under "Startup Type:", choose "Disabled"

3. Remove "Messenger Service" Advertisements from non-Service Pack XP PCs

The "Messenger Service" is not the same as "Windows Messenger". So if you removed "Windows Messenger", you might still be getting "Messenger Service" pop-up advertisements, even if you're offline and have all browser windows closed:
user posted image

To remove these nasty ads:

1. Go to "Start", then "Run"
2. Type "services.msc" and press enter
3. Scroll-down to "Messenger" and double-click it
4. If the service status is "Running", then stop it by pressing the "Stop" button
5. To make sure this service doesn't run again, under "Startup Type:", choose "Disabled"
6. Press "OK" and say goodbye to those nasty Messenger ads!

Note: If you already have Windows XP Service Pack 1 or later, this service is already disabled.

4. Dump all the fluffy WinXP stuff
The first time I installed XP it was on a system that had been running Won2K for some time, and run it faster than any PC I had ever used. It was saddening to watch a PC go from banging open menus and popping open windows in a split second to the XP style of gradually opening things.. giving the impression you were running it on a 485 with 4 MB RAM. Worse, all this stuff really takes a toll on the system. So let’s dump it all.

A: Display Properties:
Right Click on the desktop, select “properties”
Click “appearance” tab, in first drop down menu dump that “XP Style” and select “Windows Classic Style” and hit “apply”
Now click “effects” and uncheck the features you don’t need (scroll effect for example)

B: Start Menu or maze?
Ditch the miasma of the new XP style Start menu by right clicking “Start” select “Properties” and put a check next “Classic Start Menu”
While you’re there, click “customize” to chose some of the elements are displayed on the start menu.

C: Folder View:
Open a folder, any folder, select “tools” from the toop menu, and select “Folder Options for the drop down menu.
Chose “Use Windows Classic Folders”
Chose “Open each folder in the same window (just my preference)
Then “apply”. Now select the “view” tab. Click on “apply to all folders”


5. Turn off Hibernation

The Hibernation feature of XP takes up a lot of unnecessary hard drive space. The space it takes up depends on your RAM. If you have 256 MB RAM, Hibernation takes up 254 MB, if you have 4GB of RAM .. hybernation takes up 4GB of hard drive space! and so on. Hibernation not only sucks up HD space, but in doing so it is also using resources, CPU cycles and the IDE/SATA bus to make these saves. Obviously the more RAM you have, the more time and resource intensive these Hard Drive saves are.. and so on.

"Standby" and "Hibernation" are not they same thing. You will keep the "Standby" feature when you disable Hibernation.

To turn off Hibernation:

1. Right-click on the desktop and click "Properties"
2. Hit the "Screen Saver" tab
3. Then click the "Power" button under "Monitor Power"
4. Click the "Hibernation" tab, then uncheck the box next to "Enable Hibernation"
5. Press "OK" and you have just saved a load of hard drive space!


6: "Speed boot times by disabling automatic search for network resources"

Method 1: Disable the automatic search for network printers and folders by changing folder options
To disable the automatic search for network printers and folders, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Control Panel, click Appearance and Themes, and click Folder Options to open the Folder Options dialog box. If your using windows classic, it's Control Panel, then Folder Options.
2. Click the View tab.
3. In the Advanced Settings list, click to clear the Automatically Search for Network Folders and Printers check box.
4. Click OK.

Collapse this tableExpand this table
Note This functionality is disabled if more than 32 computers with shared resources are detected on your network, if you are joined to a domain, if you are using a dial-up or a VPN connection, or if an administrator has disabled the functionality by using Group Policy.



Method 2: Disable the automatic search for network printers and folders by changing the registry key
To change the registry key to disable automatic search for network printers and folders , follow these steps:

1. Click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
2. Locate the following registry subkey:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Explorer\Advanced
3. Right-click System, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type NoNetCrawling, and then press ENTER.
5. Double-click NoNetCrawling.
6. In the Value data box, type 1, and then click OK.
7. Close Registry Editor.



7: Getting all your 4GB of RAM to work in XP 32 bit: or "The /PAE Switch and Your Boot.ini file"

Windows 32 cannot see more than 4GB of RAM by default.
More on this here;
-=FAQ=- Why don't I see all my RAM? The 4GB limit. (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?p=4757963#post4757963)

Assuming your hardware will support it, and you are running the right version of an MS 32 bit OS, adding this line to your "boot.ini" file may give you full access to your 4GB of RAM.
To do this you need to do the following;

Go to your Boot drives ( C: usually ) root directory.
Make sure you can see "hidden and system files"
Right click on the semi transparent "boot.ini" file and select "open with"
Chose "notepad"
The text should read "similar" to this; ( might not be exact )



multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn


In notepad, add "PAE" to the end of the line with a single space in between (no quotes)
Like so;

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition" /fastdetect /NoExecute=OptIn /PAE


Save the file,
Close "notepad"
Reboot.



Next time;
… now that you’ve taken the time to get your OS fine tuned, and your apps installed, we’ll look at how to protect and back up your OS installation and program partition for disaster recovery. We’ll use Drive Imaging tools that are free, and bootable emergency CD-R disks to restore everything to like new. (well, better than like new actually, to the way that you tweeked it!)

[CyberDyneSystems]

Backing UP Part One. The OS and Apps C: Drive

Once you've got a workstation all tweeked to the way you want it, you may find that it took quite an investment in time and effort on your part.
The common advice is that one should do a "clean install" of the OS when things get too bloated or out of hand, but why do all that work all over again if you can avoid it?

The trick is to take a snap shot of the perfect work environment after you have made all your customized tweeks, and save that as your emergency recovery set up.

Before doing this make sure you have all your apps and utilities set up, Email accounts, Browser bookmarks etc. set up the way you like them. Since most of us keep our applications on the OS C: drive as well, this also means your preferences and color management for RAW converters and PSCS etc..

We will be using two third party applications, both currently "Freeware" (run out an grab them while you can!!)
Runtime Software's DRIVE IMAGE XML (http://www.runtime.org/dixml.htm) an easy to use program for imaging and backing up entire partitions and logical drives using Microsoft's Volume Shadow Services (VSS)
and ;
Bart's Preinstalled Environment (http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/) (or Bart PE, a bootable CD-R with a working minimal windows GUI environment based on your own WinXP installation)

What you will need:

BartPE Requires Windows XP with SP1 or newer. (you will need 32bit XP for the BartPE CD-R, currently XP64 and vista are not supported)


You will need your WinXP Installation disk and security numbers.


A Hard drive with multiple partitions, or two physical hard drives.


At least 500MB of space on your C: drive, and a lot more space on another drive (enough to fit entire copies of C: onto a new directory on your second drive)


A working CD-R drive (preferably DVD-R) and some CD-R/DVD-R disks.



1. Create Fail Safe Image: (this is an optional step, it will give you a safety net and a chance to try Drive Image XML before before making the final back up.)Install Runtime's Drive Image XML and use it to make a Copy of your C: Drive.
Copy the partition to another drive, use compression, and use the option to break it into smaller files.
NOTE: This first image file is NOT the "clean" one we will be using to make a back up, this first one is a safety net in case something goes wrong with the next step.

2. Clean House for the final "clean" Image:Before making your "clean" Image of drive C: do the following to make sure you are not imaging Gigabytes of useless crap;
Move the Windows Swap file to another drive.
Temporarily turn off "System Restore" on the C: Drive (system restore can take up a lot of room, on my PC it was taking up 10GB of space, after turning off the System retore, my Entire C: drive fit onto a single DVD as it was only about 2.8GB)
Dump your temporary internet files/Browser cache if it lives on C:
Remove any toher temp files that are just taking up room.

3. Create your "Clean" Drive Image:Once your C: drive is clean of junk, make a second copy of C: using the same parameters listed above (compression and break into smaller files)
If everything in your house cleaning went fine with no issues you can delete that first fail safe Drive Image..
With your C: Drive Image back up broken up into files that will fit on CD-R disk,. you can (and should) archive the whole thing to CD-R or DVD-R as well.

4. Creating a "Preinstalled Environment Boot disk using Bart's PE"

Download (http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/download/) the latest PE Builder version (self-installing package) and install it.



Start PE Builder (pebuilder.exe). When you start PE Builder for the first time it will ask if you agree with the license agreement.



Now PE Builder will ask to search for windows installation files. If you don't have your windows XP setup/installation files on your system you must insert the original Microsoft Windows XP installation/setup CD at this point.
The files you have at c:\windows are not installation files. They are your already installed files!
Click "yes" to start searching. PE Builder will now search all fixed- and CD-Rom drives for Windows installation files. This will take some time. When more than one valid location is found, a dialog will appear where you can select which location you want to use.



At the main PE Builder dialog, select the "Make ISO" option to save an Burnable ISO file to the hard drive, or the "Burn to CD/DVD" option. When you are using an erasable medium, make sure that the "AutoErase RW" option is enabled. The "burn using" option should be set to "StarBurn". Select your CD writer device from the Device list.



Click the plugins button to select some plugins. You should be able to select the "Drive Image XML" option already as you have it installed. You can also find other handy tools, like Irfanview and Starburn (a CD-R burner) but you must have these installed for the plugins to work.



Hit the "build" button. PE Builder will now ask you to create a BartPE directory, answer with "yes".



The license for your Microsoft Windows XP product is shown. Read it and agree to it to continue.



PE Builder will now start building BartPE. This will take a few minutes.
You will see a lot of files getting copied and/or decompressed, the ISO image build or/and the data recorded to your CD/DVD writer.


If the data verify was correct and there where no errors reported you are done!
You can now use your favorite CD-R software to burn the ISO file (found in the "PE-Builder" directory) or you can boot the CD/DVD made with Starburn!



5. Test your Boot CD!
Make sure you can run Drive Image XML plug in from the "Reinstalled Environment

Now if you ever hose your C: drive, or just feel like doing a "clean install" without have to start all over from scratch with re-installing drivers, apps and settings, you can use your PE Disk to boot and run Drive Image XML, point it towards your "clean" image file of the C: drive, and have it all back up and running in a matter minutes (instead of hours and even days)

[CyberDyneSystems]

ReInstalling WindowsXP


If you need to reinstall WindowsXP and want to keep all your current installed applications and settings:

Start WindowsXP

Go to the location of your source files

Run WINNT32 /unattend

Master List of Commands

Run Commands
-----------------------------------------------------------
compmgmt.msc - Computer management
devmgmt.msc - Device manager
diskmgmt.msc - Disk management
dfrg.msc - Disk defrag
eventvwr.msc - Event viewer
fsmgmt.msc - Shared folders
gpedit.msc - Group policies
lusrmgr.msc - Local users and groups
perfmon.msc - Performance monitor
rsop.msc - Resultant set of policies
secpol.msc - Local security settings
services.msc - Various Services
msconfig - System Configuration Utility
regedit - Registry Editor
msinfo32 _ System Information
sysedit _ System Edit
win.ini _ windows loading information(also system.ini)
winver _ Shows current version of windows
mailto: _ Opens default email client
command _ Opens command prompt

Run Commands to access the control panel
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Add/Remove Programs control appwiz.cpl
Date/Time Properties control timedate.cpl
Display Properties control desk.cpl
FindFast control findfast.cpl
Fonts Folder control fonts
Internet Properties control inetcpl.cpl
Keyboard Properties control main.cpl keyboard
Mouse Properties control main.cpl
Multimedia Properties control mmsys.cpl
Network Properties control netcpl.cpl
Password Properties control password.cpl
Printers Folder control printers
Sound Properties control mmsys.cpl sounds
System Properties control sysdm.cpl


Command Prompt
--------------------------------------------------------------
ANSI.SYS Defines functions that change display graphics, control cursor movement, and reassign keys.
APPEND Causes MS-DOS to look in other directories when editing a file or running a command.
ARP Displays, adds, and removes arp information from network devices.
ASSIGN Assign a drive letter to an alternate letter.
ASSOC View the file associations.
AT Schedule a time to execute commands or programs.
ATMADM Lists connections and addresses seen by Windows ATM call manager.
ATTRIB Display and change file attributes.
BATCH Recovery console command that executes a series of commands in a file.
BOOTCFG Recovery console command that allows a user to view, modify, and rebuild the boot.ini
BREAK Enable / disable CTRL + C feature.
CACLS View and modify file ACL's.
CALL Calls a batch file from another batch file.
CD Changes directories.
CHCP Supplement the International keyboard and character set information.
CHDIR Changes directories.
CHKDSK Check the hard disk drive running FAT for errors.
CHKNTFS Check the hard disk drive running NTFS for errors.
CHOICE Specify a listing of multiple options within a batch file.
CLS Clears the screen.
CMD Opens the command interpreter.
COLOR Easily change the foreground and background color of the MS-DOS window.
COMP Compares files.
COMPACT Compresses and uncompress files.
CONTROL Open control panel icons from the MS-DOS prompt.
CONVERT Convert FAT to NTFS.
COPY Copy one or more files to an alternate location.
CTTY Change the computers input/output devices.
DATE View or change the systems date.
DEBUG Debug utility to create assembly programs to modify hardware settings.
DEFRAG Re-arrange the hard disk drive to help with loading programs.
DEL Deletes one or more files.
DELETE Recovery console command that deletes a file.
DELTREE Deletes one or more files and/or directories.
DIR List the contents of one or more directory.
DISABLE Recovery console command that disables Windows system services or drivers.
DISKCOMP Compare a disk with another disk.
DISKCOPY Copy the contents of one disk and place them on another disk.
DOSKEY Command to view and execute commands that have been run in the past.
DOSSHELL A GUI to help with early MS-DOS users.
DRIVPARM Enables overwrite of original device drivers.
ECHO Displays messages and enables and disables echo.
EDIT View and edit files.
EDLIN View and edit files.
EMM386 Load extended Memory Manager.
ENABLE Recovery console command to enable a disable service or driver.
ENDLOCAL Stops the localization of the environment changes enabled by the setlocal command.
ERASE Erase files from computer.
EXIT Exit from the command interpreter.
EXPAND Expand a Microsoft Windows file back to it's original format.
EXTRACT Extract files from the Microsoft Windows cabinets.
FASTHELP Displays a listing of MS-DOS commands and information about them.
FC Compare files.
FDISK Utility used to create partitions on the hard disk drive.
FIND Search for text within a file.
FINDSTR Searches for a string of text within a file.
FIXBOOT Writes a new boot sector.
FIXMBR Writes a new boot record to a disk drive.
FOR Boolean used in batch files.
FORMAT Command to erase and prepare a disk drive.
FTP Command to connect and operate on a FTP server.
FTYPE Displays or modifies file types used in file extension associations.
GOTO Moves a batch file to a specific label or location.
GRAFTABL Show extended characters in graphics mode.
HELP Display a listing of commands and brief explanation.
IF Allows for batch files to perform conditional processing.
IFSHLP.SYS 32-bit file manager.
IPCONFIG Network command to view network adapter settings and assigned values.
KEYB Change layout of keyboard.
LABEL Change the label of a disk drive.
LH Load a device driver in to high memory.
LISTSVC Recovery console command that displays the services and drivers.
LOADFIX Load a program above the first 64k.
LOADHIGH Load a device driver in to high memory.
LOCK Lock the hard disk drive.
LOGON Recovery console command to list installations and enable administrator login.
MAP Displays the device name of a drive.
MD Command to create a new directory.
MEM Display memory on system.
MKDIR Command to create a new directory.
MODE Modify the port or display settings.
MORE Display one page at a time.
MOVE Move one or more files from one directory to another directory.
MSAV Early Microsoft Virus scanner.
MSD Diagnostics utility.
MSCDEX Utility used to load and provide access to the CD-ROM.
NBTSTAT Displays protocol statistics and current TCP/IP connections using NBT
NET Update, fix, or view the network or network settings
NETSH Configure dynamic and static network information from MS-DOS.
NETSTAT Display the TCP/IP network protocol statistics and information.
NLSFUNC Load country specific information.
NSLOOKUP Look up an IP address of a domain or host on a network.
PATH View and modify the computers path location.
PATHPING View and locate locations of network latency.
PAUSE Command used in batch files to stop the processing of a command.
PING Test / send information to another network computer or network device.
POPD Changes to the directory or network path stored by the pushd command.
POWER Conserve power with computer portables.
PRINT Prints data to a printer port.
PROMPT View and change the MS-DOS prompt.
PUSHD Stores a directory or network path in memory so it can be returned to at any time.
QBASIC Open the QBasic.
RD Removes an empty directory.
REN Renames a file or directory.
RENAME Renames a file or directory.
RMDIR Removes an empty directory.
ROUTE View and configure windows network route tables.
RUNAS Enables a user to execute a program on another computer.
SCANDISK Run the scandisk utility.
SCANREG Scan registry and recover registry from errors.
SET Change one variable or string to another.
SETLOCAL Enables local environments to be changed without affecting anything else.
SETVER Change MS-DOS version to trick older MS-DOS programs.
SHARE Installs support for file sharing and locking capabilities.
SHIFT Changes the position of replaceable parameters in a batch program.
SHUTDOWN Shutdown the computer from the MS-DOS prompt.
SMARTDRV Create a disk cache in conventional memory or extended memory.
SORT Sorts the input and displays the output to the screen.
START Start a separate window in Windows from the MS-DOS prompt.
SUBST Substitute a folder on your computer for another drive letter.
SWITCHES Remove add functions from MS-DOS.
SYS Transfer system files to disk drive.
TELNET Telnet to another computer / device from the prompt.
TIME View or modify the system time.
TITLE Change the title of their MS-DOS window.
TRACERT Visually view a network packets route across a network.
TREE View a visual tree of the hard disk drive.
TYPE Display the contents of a file.
UNDELETE Undelete a file that has been deleted.
UNFORMAT Unformat a hard disk drive.
UNLOCK Unlock a disk drive.
VER Display the version information.
VERIFY Enables or disables the feature to determine if files have been written properly.
VOL Displays the volume information about the designated drive.
XCOPY Copy multiple files, directories, and/or drives from one location to another.
TRUENAME When placed before a file, will display the whole directory in which it exists
TASKKILL It allows you to kill those unneeded or locked up applications



Windows XP Shortcuts
--------------------------------------------------------------
ALT+- (ALT+hyphen) Displays the Multiple Document Interface (MDI) child window's System menu
ALT+ENTER View properties for the selected item
ALT+ESC Cycle through items in the order they were opened
ALT+F4 Close the active item, or quit the active program
ALT+SPACEBAR Display the System menu for the active window
ALT+TAB Switch between open items
ALT+Underlined letter Display the corresponding menu
BACKSPACE View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer
CTRL+A Select all
CTRL+B Bold
CTRL+C Copy
CTRL+I Italics
CTRL+O Open an item
CTRL+U Underline
CTRL+V Paste
CTRL+X Cut
CTRL+Z Undo
CTRL+F4 Close the active document
CTRL while dragging Copy selected item
CTRL+SHIFT while dragging Create shortcut to selected iteM
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word
CTRL+LEFT ARROW Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word
CTRL+DOWN ARROW Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph
CTRL+UP ARROW Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph
SHIFT+DELETE Delete selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin
ESC Cancel the current task
F1 Displays Help
F2 Rename selected item
F3 Search for a file or folder
F4 Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer
F5 Refresh the active window
F6 Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop
F10 Activate the menu bar in the active program
SHIFT+F10 Display the shortcut menu for the selected item
CTRL+ESC Display the Start menu
SHIFT+CTRL+ESC Launches Task Manager
SHIFT when you insert a CD Prevent the CD from automatically playing
WIN Display or hide the Start menu
WIN+BREAK Display the System Properties dialog box
WIN+D Minimizes all Windows and shows the Desktop
WIN+E Open Windows Explorer
WIN+F Search for a file or folder
WIN+F+CTRL Search for computers
WIN+L Locks the desktop
WIN+M Minimize or restore all windows
WIN+R Open the Run dialog box
WIN+TAB Switch between open items



Windows Explorer Shortcuts
-------------------------------------------------------------
ALT+SPACEBAR - Display the current window’s system menu
SHIFT+F10 - Display the item's context menu
CTRL+ESC - Display the Start menu
ALT+TAB - Switch to the window you last used
ALT+F4 - Close the current window or quit
CTRL+A - Select all items
CTRL+X - Cut selected item(s)
CTRL+C - Copy selected item(s)
CTRL+V - Paste item(s)
CTRL+Z - Undo last action
CTRL+(+) - Automatically resize the columns in the right hand pane
TAB - Move forward through options
ALT+RIGHT ARROW - Move forward to a previous view
ALT+LEFT ARROW - Move backward to a previous view
SHIFT+DELETE - Delete an item immediately
BACKSPACE - View the folder one level up
ALT+ENTER - View an item’s properties
F10 - Activate the menu bar in programs
F6 - Switch between left and right panes
F5 - Refresh window contents
F3 - Display Find application
F2 - Rename selected item



Internet Explorer Shortcuts
--------------------------------------------------------------
CTRL+A - Select all items on the current page
CTRL+D - Add the current page to your Favorites
CTRL+E - Open the Search bar
CTRL+F - Find on this page
CTRL+H - Open the History bar
CTRL+I - Open the Favorites bar
CTRL+N - Open a new window
CTRL+O - Go to a new location
CTRL+P - Print the current page or active frame
CTRL+S - Save the current page
CTRL+W - Close current browser window
CTRL+ENTER - Adds the http://www. (url) .com
SHIFT+CLICK - Open link in new window
BACKSPACE - Go to the previous page
ALT+HOME - Go to your Home page
HOME - Move to the beginning of a document
TAB - Move forward through items on a page
END - Move to the end of a document
ESC - Stop downloading a page
F11 - Toggle full-screen view
F5 - Refresh the current page
F4 - Display list of typed addresses
F6 - Change Address bar and page focus
ALT+RIGHT ARROW - Go to the next page
SHIFT+CTRL+TAB - Move back between frames
SHIFT+F10 - Display a shortcut menu for a link
SHIFT+TAB - Move back through the items on a page
CTRL+TAB - Move forward between frames
CTRL+C - Copy selected items to the clipboard
CTRL+V - Insert contents of the clipboard
ENTER - Activate a selected link
HOME - Move to the beginning of a document
END - Move to the end of a document
F1 - Display Internet Explorer Help

[CannedHeat]

Good stuff, cyber.

A few months back you mentioned you would be upgrading systems. I assume by this post you have.

A question: what app did you use to make an image of the old system harddrive? I am working on an old P4 2.4 and desperately need to upgrade. However, I am not looking forward to the horrors of setting up applications on a new system. But I am also affraid of imaging the harddrive because I have heard horror stories about norton ghost's bugs. And unfortunately, the best ghosting package (Aloha Bob) is no longer available because it was assimilated by the borg (microsoft).

Did you ghost your old harddrive, and if so, with what app? Thanks /Dan

[CyberDyneSystems]

Dan
In this case I did a clean install, the new system is running XP64 bit, so no chance of a full system migration.
In windows98, despite much talk to the contrary, a complete system transplant for an existing OS Installation was not only possible, it was a total piece of cake, this included all applications and OS settings.

I've never used Ghost with WinXP to attempt the same thing, and XP's own hardware related activation junk I suspect would prevent the same methodology that was applicable in Win98..

If it's a complete new system, I fear that a new install is probably best.
this is not to say that it can;t be done, but I'm not sure it's the best route, and honestly I'm not sure how it would be done. (though I have my theories)

A Harddrive on the other hand is should be an easy task, (assuming the rest of the hardware remains the same)

[canoflan]

I just performed a few simply things like changing to Windows Classic at work and it has made a big difference immediately. I am looking forward to doing the same at home.

Thanks so much for this thread.;)

[primoz]

One more suggestion, which has more to do with speed of transfers from cards to computer then with computer itself.
In Device manager, change properties of card drives and other removable disks from Optimize for quick removal, to Optimize for performance.
In Device manager expand Disk drives, then right click on specific removable disk and choose Properties. Then change above mentioned option under Policies.
It won't make your card 3 times faster, but if I cut down time for transferring photos from card to computer just for 10sec, it's fine for me :)

[gjl711]

Once you run out of RAM it writes a chunk to your paging file. This is the performance hit you see.

The best way to gauge whether more RAM will improve performance is install a free memory manager, or create a paging monitor console -instructions here (http://www.theeldergeek.com/paging_file_performance_monitoring.htm)-. Then perform you normal workflow and look at the window again, if you see paging usage, more RAM will help. If your paging usage line is flat, more memory just lightens your wallet. I have been running my monitor for several minutes, brought up a bunch of apps, Firefix, CS2, Vallen Jpeger, Word, Explorer, did some stuff and I didn’t page one time. I have 2 gig.

BTW, here’s another trick that will improve performance in you have any free RAM available. You can increase performance by having the core system kept in memory and not paged. Just do the following
1. Start Regedit
2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management\DisablePagingExecutive
3. Set the value to be 1
4. Reboot the computer and no more kernel paging.

[In2Photos]

CDS, thanks again for some great info here. I have almost completed my new install with only a final few touches to make before creating my Ghost copy of the C Drive. One question though; You mentioned moving email and a lot of other things to the Data drive, which I have done, but is there a way to Move the Documents and Settings Folder to the Data Drive and Windows still be able to point to it for things like Favorites? Or is this just something that should be regularly backed up?

[CyberDyneSystems]

Hmm,. it can be done,. but it won't be easy. (I haven't even tried it yet myself)

Obviously we can move "My documents" and all the subfolders easily enough (Section 1-3)
To move the "Documents and Settings" we would need to edit the registry itself, and that could be time consuming because there may be many keys that need editing. If we don't get them all we could "break" it.

I have done similar with installations to move the default "program files" to another drive, and I had to edit maybe half doze or a dozen registry keys for it to work right.

An alternative would be to store a copy of the "settings" folder on the data drive. The copy would not be too large as the Data would no longer be stored within it since it is all stored in your already moved "My Docs" folder, but all the settings remain in C:/Documents and settings

You could use any back up program, or even a tiny batch file to keep this back up current.

[tim]

Check out TweakUI to move folders like my documents - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

It's under my computer/special folders.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Check out TweakUI to move folders like my documents - http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

It's under my computer/special folders.

Yep, TweaUI is a good one.. also check out X-Teq's "X-Set up" it's like TweakUI on Steroids! :lol:

[ImagineTNT]

Wow, just got to reading this and at least HALF the things you listed I hadn't done! And I consider myself enough of a computer nerd :-) One other thing I'd add in addition to separating your OS from data (great idea) is that I also put my applications on a separate drive (D:) as well.

GREAT INFO. Thanks for posting this!

[CyberDyneSystems]

Imagine, yes it can be benificial to seperate apps as well.I used to do that in Win98 OS installs all the time, but with XP I found it less usefull for two reasons.

1. The advantage in Win98 was that your OS partition could be small enough to fit on one CD for a perfect back up solution. (DVD was not available yet) No chance of that with XP, in fact you may even have trouble fitting it on a DVD.
2. Getting XP to agree to use a separate drive as the default install location is a bit trickier.. I could only pull this off with extensive registry hacking.

That said, it's still a handy thing to do in some cases.

[Nortelbert]

This was stolen wholeheartedly from the Adobe forums... here is the direct link if you're interested (http://www.adobeforums.com/cgi-bin/webx?14@@.3bc3587a/9). It worked for me, it only took 8 seconds from launching the program to displaying all thumbnails instead of almost a minute (the library has 20K pix). One thing I added was to defrag the thumbnails cache too. I'll let you guys figure out how to do that.

Chris Diewald - 5:18am Mar 8, 07 PST (#10 of 12)

On fragmentation of the library: Two things can be done in Windows (I don't
know about the Mac), but outside LR and when it is not running:

(a) take the hot air out of the database - compressing; and
(b) defragment just the database file (not the whole drive).

I found this advice on a forum during beta testing, but don't find the reference
right now to give credit to whom it is due.

What you need is:

(1) the sqlite3.exe command-line utility (it accesses the LR database which is
built on sqlite). You can download it here:

http://www.sqlite.org/sqlite-3_3_13.zip.

(2) A small command-line utility that defragments individual files, called
contig.exe. Read about it and download it here:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sysinternals/FileAndDisk/Contig.mspx

Put these two executable files in the same folder where you store your LR
database file, "Lightroom Library.aglib".

Now, make a *backup* of your database first !!!! If anything goes wrong during
the compress/defrag, nothing will be lost.

Next, create two small batch files in Notepad, so that you won't have to type
the commands every time you want to do this database maintenance. The commands
in the batch files assume that these batch files themselves and the two utility
progs are *all* stored in the same folder as the database!

Create a new text file in Notepad and enter this single line
(with quotes; if your database has another name, please use that name):
__________________________________________________ __

sqlite3.exe "lightroom library.aglib"
__________________________________________________ ___

Save this text file in the same folder as the database AS "sqlite.bat" .

Create another text file with the following twolines:
_______________________________________________
contig -v "Lightroom Library.aglib"
PAUSE
_______________________________________________

Save this text file also in the same folder as the database AS "defrag.bat".

Now we are ready to run the batch files, one after the other. But please, exit
Lightroom now if it is running!

The first batch file requires an intervention from you. Double click on
sqlite.bat. The sqlite utility will start to run, and you will see the following
text:

SQLite version 3.3.12
Enter ".help" for instructions
sqlite>

At that sqlite> prompt, type:

vacuum;

including the semicolon!

Sit back and relax - the utility will now churn away at your database and
squeeze all the emptyness out of it. It may take quite a while.

When it's finished, it will display the sqlite> prompt again, and your disk
drive will come to a rest...Type Ctrl-Z to finish sqlite which closes the
command window.

Now run the defrag.bat file: double click on it.

Contig will tell you how many fragments there are in your library and that it is
looking for sufficient free space on your disk to write it in one piece. If it
finds such space, it will do the defrag job and and give a final account.

That's it. See whether it makes any difference to the speed of LR.

Cheers,

Chris

[Cougar548]

CyberDyne or anyone that may know, does most of this tweaking work with Vista? I'm getting ready to rebuild my computer and I want to start it tip top shape. Any help would be great. Thanks!

[CyberDyneSystems]

Sorry, ive not tried any fo this in Vista. I suspect some of it will apply, and in Vista the GUI takes up even more resources, so you'd gain a bit by turning off all that ""aero" stuff.
Maybe some day one of the many Vista Evangelists on the forum that like to tell us how great it is would care to share some of there knowledge here with the rest of us.

[tommykjensen]

Jake a question. I just got a new work laptop and going through the tweaks listed here. Good stuff btw. (unfortunately my laptop have 4 GB ram but XP only sees 3 GB even whith physical address extension enabled :( I did try xp 64 bit but then I miss a lot of software and drivers that was preinstalled and I can't find them online and now I don't have more time to experiment I need to get it ready for work so I have to stick with 32 bit )

Do you still have system restore enabled on your c drive? I am thinking that I don't want it enabled at all because in the time I have used XP I have never had a need for using it.

And besides when I create an image and boot cd when I am done with application installing I can just restore that in case of big problems.

[tommykjensen]

Another question. Maybe I am doing something wrong but I created a boot cd with Bart's PE. But when I have booted my laptop with it the harddisk is not visible ?

[CyberDyneSystems]

I leave system restore enabled on the OS drives,. I have used it quite successfully on a few machines, so it can be helpful. Anything that will save me from a full OS installation is a good idea.


As for Bart PE,. it's not an easy to use system as compared to the old "Drive Image" from Powerquest or Norton's "Ghost".. but it is free.

If it can't see your hard drive, I'd go to the Bart PE website itself and root around there for a possible fix. It's likely a driver issue or something.

If Drive Image were still as seamless and functional as it was back in the day, I'd be using that for sure, but ever since WinXP, and it's being taken over, it's been dodgy at best IMHO.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Jake a question. I just got a new work laptop and going through the tweaks listed here. Good stuff btw. (unfortunately my laptop have 4 GB ram but XP only sees 3 GB even whith physical address extension enabled ...

You are running into the hardware limitations of the notebooks mobo in this case.. no way around it I'm afraid.

[tommykjensen]

I leave system restore enabled on the OS drives,. I have used it quite successfully on a few machines, so it can be helpful. Anything that will save me from a full OS installation is a good idea.


As for Bart PE,. it's not an easy to use system as compared to the old "Drive Image" from Powerquest or Norton's "Ghost".. but it is free.

If it can't see your hard drive, I'd go to the Bart PE website itself and root around there for a possible fix. It's likely a driver issue or something.

If Drive Image were still as seamless and functional as it was back in the day, I'd be using that for sure, but ever since WinXP, and it's being taken over, it's been dodgy at best IMHO.

I have Ghost and will probably use that to create backups instead. I have just found it can convert a backup to a VMWare disk. I am actually testing this right now. That feature means it is possible to test applications on a copy of my laptop under VMWare with no risk at all and if I don't want to use the new application I just delete the VMWare disk.

[Kent Clark]

How big should the OS partition be?

[CyberDyneSystems]

How big should the OS partition be?

No one right answer, XP is pretty big, Vista is a massive pile of bloatware,.

For XP I'd say 10-20GB minimum, depending on the number and type of apps you want to use.
Vista, should be more. Maybe 30-50GB?

I used to do 800MB C: partitions (that's megabytes) for Win 98, and put all apps on the "D:" partition, but that's harder to manage with XP, and no ideas re: vista.

[apostasia]

for all those wanting their XP running fast and clean, here's an excerpt from a document I wrote for work. We do experiments that require realtime stuff, so a decent running windows is a must. The chapter below will assure the max pefromance you can get from XP. (Previous chapters only explained what pc to get and how to install Windows, I suppose most people know how to do that, so here's the intersting part).
Everything was just copied as-is and imagse put on flickr, so there might be parts referring to our system, but I think it might be usable.
When followed step-by-step, you end up with task manager showing about 10 processes (really, mine does), yet everything that really matters still works.
Don't read this if you like gems like GoogleToolBar, automatic-whatever-launchers, etc.

================================================== ================
The goal of this chapter is to configure the pc's for maximum performance. This comes down to disabling all resources and software that are unneeded.
All steps are for both stimul and control pcs.

5.1.user accounts

After installation, you'll be logged in automatically with the username entered during installation. This won't work for running the software though, so we'll use a single user account, the administrator:
go to "Start->Control Panel->User Accounts", choose "change the way users log on or off"
unmark the 2 checkboxes ("Use the welcome screen" and "Use fast user switching")
click "Apply Options" and close the dialog
click "Start->Log Off"
log in again using 'Administrator' as username, and password set during installation
deleting the original user will be done later, first we'll ease configuration by creating a usable management console

5.2.creating a management console

click "Start->Run"
enter 'mmc' to run the Management Console program
press "Ctrl+M" and click "Add"
your screen should be showing something like this now:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3070/2510754265_cb218f7d73.jpg?v=0
add the following AddIns: Local Users and Groups, Services, Event Viewer, Device Manager, Disk Management, Shared Folders. (always click "Finish" if asked for the target machine, it should always be "Local") Click "Close". Click "Ok".
Save the console in a suitable place, like the Desktop ("File->Save")

5.3.delete the original user

in your freshly created mmc, choose "Local Users and Groups", click on the "Users" folder, point your mouse to the original user's name, right click, select "Delete", click "Yes".
Also right-click on "Guest", choose "Properties", and check the "Account is disabled" box.

5.4.install necessary drivers

still in the mmc, click on "Device Manager" and check if the network card is recognized by Windows. This is the case if the card under "Network Adapters" does not have a yellow exclamation mark next to it. If this would be the case, you must install the network card right now: install the driver using the vendor cd, or by transferring driver files from another pc using a usb stick, floppy or cd, whatever suitable. You can't continue setup as long as you don't have network on both pc's..

If there are other devices that are not recognized automatically, you can install the drivers now also, or you can wait until the network is setup, which makes it easier to get the latest versions.

5.5.setup partitions

Before installing the software, you still have to format the data partition, which was created during windows installation in chapter 4, but still needs formatting.
Open the mmc and go to "Disk Management"

Find the data partition; the drive letter is not necessarily D, it might as well be E while your cd-rom has letter D. This can be changed easily though:
first remove the drive letter from the data partition (right-click, select "Change Drive Letter and Paths", then click "Remove")
change the letter for the cd-rom drive (right-click, select "Change Drive Letter and Paths", then click "Change", and select "E" as the new letter)
set the new drive letter for the data partition (right-click, select "Change Drive Letter and Paths", then click "Add", and select "D" as the new letter).

When you're happy with the drive letter, right-click the partition and select "Format".
Always perform a full format with the NTFS file system. It's also a good idea to enter a volume label (like 'DATA')

Partitioning can take quite some time, so be patient. When it finishes, create the d:/installs directory, it will be used to put in all drivers and installers downloaded; in case you ever have to reinstall windows (which shouldn't happen, unless after a few years maybe, or in case of serious hardware failure), you don't have to download everything again.

5.8.update windows

go to "Start->Windows Update" to go to the update site
install the update software if asked
choose a custom install, and install the critical updates only. Internet Explorer 7 is absolutely not ecessary, moreover, you shouldn't use Internet Explorer at all. Get FireFox or Opera instead, install it right now. Also install any other software that might be needed
reboot the pc when asked and login again

5.9.complete driver installation

Open the mmc, click on "Device Manager" and see if there are any more devices not having a driver (indicated by yellow exclamation mark). Install all necessary drivers by downloading the latest version, or with a cd supplied.
If you have a separate video card (eg not integrated in the motherboard), go to the manufacturer's site and install the latest drivers. This is necessary since Windows Update might have installed it's own drivers, but the manufacturer's drivers are always a better choice (especially for nVidia or ATI cards). Always reboot the pc when asked to do so.

5.10.setup monitor resolution

stimul pc: choose the same resolution and refresh rate that will be used for doing experiments. This won't look as nice, but it's the safest way
labview pc: choose the maximum resolution and refresh rate that can be handled by your hardware. If you have a dual monitor setup and an nVidia graphics card, you must choose the "widescreen" mode. All other modes are way slower, this will affect the pc's performance

5.11.setup explorer options

Per default, windows will sent out messages over the network periodically to search for shared folders and printers. This might be a nice feature, but we're not going to use it at all, and it's best to keep network traffic minimal to allow optimal performance of TNS.

Open any explorer window (or press "Windows Key + E"), select "Tools->Folder Options->View", and deselect the first option ("Automatically search for network folders and printing)".

While in the same windows, there are some other interesting settings you might want to adjust:
select "Display the full path in the address bar"
deselect "Display the full path in the title bar"
select "Show hidden files and folders"
deselect "Hide extensions for known file types"
select "Restore previous folder windows at logon"
deselect "Use simple file sharing"

5.12.setup Windows' look and features for maximum performance

right-click on the desktop, choose "Properties"
in the "Themes" tab, select the "Windows Classic" theme
in the "Screen Saver" tab, select "None" for screensaver
still in the "Screen Saver" tab, click "Power" and select "Never" for all three options
close the dialog
press "Windows Key + Break" (or right-click "My Computer" and select "Properties")
click on the "Advanced" tab
"Performance->Settings": select "Adjust for best performance", click "Apply" and "Ok"
"Startup and Recovery->Settings:" uncheck "Send an administrative alert" and clock "Ok"
"Error Reporting": select "Disable error reporting" and click "Ok"
go to the "System Restore" tab and check "Turn off System Restore on all drives"
go to the "Automatic Updates" tab and select "Turn off Automatic Updates"
go to the "Remote" tab and uncheck the box next to "Allow Remote Assistance�"
click "OK" to leave the System Properties dialog
go to "Start->Settings->Control Panel->Sounds and Audio Devices" and choose "No Sounds" as the sound scheme, unless you really like all the clicks and bells.
in an explorer window, select "Tools->Folder Options", and select "Use Windows Classic Folders"

5.13. remove unused windows software

It's possible to remove windows applications that are never used: go to "Start->Settings->Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs" and select "Add/Remove Windows Components" on the right.
In the "Windows Component Wizard" that is displayed now, you can remove unused programs by unselecting the checkbox; click "Details�" to show the components for each items.
For Example, removing the Games:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2251/2510754303_1fa63fb658_o_d.jpg

Click "Next" and "Finish" afterwards to complete uninstallation.

5.14.disabling services

By now you should have a normal working pc. However, there's still cpu time being wasted by automatically started services and programs that are absolutely not needed, so we'll disable them:
open the mmc, click "Services". As you can see, there are quite a lot of services, but only a handful of them is really necessary. (to modify a service, double click on it) Don't worry if some of the services below are not in the list, this is normal
set the following services to "Disabled":
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3044/2510754319_10c7a657e3_o.jpg
The NVIDIA display driver service is not pictured here, but you can safely disable it as well, it is not needed for correct functionality of the video card
set the following services to "Manual":
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2276/2511585178_e85f57cc60_o.jpg

this should leave you with the following "Automatic" services:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2032/2510754349_7c608e8bee_o.jpg

If you have more automatic services listed then this, see what they are, and put them to manual if you're unsure about what they do, else disable them
close the mmc, and enter 'regedit' in "Start->Run"
navigate to "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Run", and delete everything except "(Default)":
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3168/2511585204_17cf347d3f_o.jpg

navigate to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Run", and delete everything except "(Default)"
close Registry Editor
go to "Start->Programs->Startup" and delete all entries, if any
reboot your pc so the settings take effect

NOTE: If you install a lot of new software, you'll want to redo the procedure, even simplest software nowadays likes to slow down your pc with automatic updaters, fancy toolbars and the likes. Now you know how to get rid of it, so do it.
TODO: disable indexing!
================================================== ================

[AdamJL]

This is a great thread, with some good tips (some I use, some I'm going to try!)

We just need a Vista thread now.

Cheers fellas.

[mrbojangles13]

hey there just wondering if this stuff will work on my vista 64 bit?

[philmar]

Here is a bit of Vista Tweaking hints for CS4:

http://www.ncarandang.com/tutorials/2008/make-photoshop-cs4-run-faster-in-windows-vista/