Windows XP Optimization

[nephalim]

Actually, some programs insist on having a swap file, no matter how much RAM you have. Setting it to "system managed" has almost the same effect speed-wise as disabling the swap file, while maintining compatibility,

Actually, that's bootvis.

TweakUI? Also check out Xteq X-Setup.

I guess your mileage will vary with no swap file. I've had not a single problem. Wouldn't you be better off with a static swap file instead of a system managed one, however?

My bad on the bootvis. I guess with this one too your mileage may vary, but I can't see it hurting and it did wonders on my machine.

I don't think that thing I mentioned but wasn't sure what it was was a 3rd party program. I'm nearly certain it's included with XP, hidden away somewhere, I think I might have found it from an online article or somewhere in the MS help files...

Actually, system restore rarely works for me...I don't really see a good reason to why having it on.

Wrong! I used a computer with 512 mb ram and a swap file of about 150 mb. When using video compression, it froze and complained about virtual memory! It's best to enable this.

System restore is personal preference. All I am saying is if you leave it on yet disable drive monitoring, it will only sap resources when a restore point is made, which HAS saved my system on SEVERAL occasions, and also you can change the amount of HD space it uses. Your mileage may vary.

I already said about swap files. I haven't had a problem. If you find a problem occurs, turn it back on, either system managed or static, but never dynamic. Another point about swap files is they need to be defragmented! This will NOT be done by XP's defrag program. There are nice 3rd party disc defragmenters that will defrag your swap and system files. Definetely a wise move. Sorry I forgot to mention that. Also, by cleaning out useless boot junk and all the useless MS "services" you will be saving lots of RAM that will assist in having no swap with 512mb.

 

[Doomulation]

Some stuff still needs the swap file
By using a good program like Norton Speed Disk, you can defrag your hard disk as well as the swapfile, very efficient