How to keep WinXP really fast & stable

[Cunjo]

Because A) their marketing tactics are unconscionable, displaying false positives and using scare tactics to make people think if they don't download/buy/run their software now they will be arrested on false charges and become a prison ***-slave for the next 10 years.
and B) it's not good enough to be worth the money.

Also, I need a registry cleaner to fix my grandparents' comp for them, which has been bogged down by 6 years of running windows without a good cleaning.

[EricB]

Originally Posted by Cunjo

Because A) their marketing tactics are unconscionable, displaying false positives and using scare tactics to make people think if they don't download/buy/run their software now they will be arrested on false charges and become a prison ***-slave for the next 10 years.
and B) it's not good enough to be worth the money.

Also, I need a registry cleaner to fix my grandparents' comp for them, which has been bogged down by 6 years of running windows without a good cleaning.

lol.

they are talking about perverts with porn on their computer

[Cunjo]

I don't care who they're talking about, they're directing it at everyone. I haven't looked at their site in some years, but the last time I was there, I got assaulted by ads basically implying that unless I bought their crap, I'd probably get hacked and have evidence planted on my computer that could land me in jail for life. If that's not unwarranted scare tactics, I don't know what is.

Personally, I've used nothing but free and open source software for my computer security for over 3 years now, and I've never had a problem. The only problems I've had in that time have been driver instability or conflict issues, and bugs inherent to Windows. I just don't see any reason for someone to be bullied into buying expensive software when free software can do the job just as well.

[NathanLedet]

Great write up!

Question: I did a fresh install about 3 months ago on a 320gb hard drive. I read basically the same thing, saying that I should partition 30 gigs for my OS, which I did. I have two other massive partitions with a lot of my other work on it...

What about Program Files? I tend to install a ton of programs...all of which I use. My Program Files are currently taking up half of my 30g OS partition. Should I start installing my programs to a different drive? or is there a way to re partition the C drive and make it bigger? Thanks!

[EricB]

you can with acronis or partition magic. back everything up first.

you don't want a seperate partition for programs because most won't work if you reinstall windows

[Cunjo]

Actually some programs even recommend installation on a separate physical drive for paging purposes.

It can't hurt to keep applications on a separate partition, but anything that is dependent on the Windows registry will be broken and will need to be re-installed if Windows is re-installed. You can eliminate some need for re-installation however by backing up the Application Data folder to an area on the applications partition.

[EricB]

Originally Posted by Cunjo

Actually some programs even recommend installation on a separate physical drive for paging purposes.

It can't hurt to keep applications on a separate partition, but anything that is dependent on the Windows registry will be broken and will need to be re-installed if Windows is re-installed. You can eliminate some need for re-installation however by backing up the Application Data folder to an area on the applications partition.

I didn't include that because I want to keep the guide simple and that was beyond the scope for a lot of people. you can make registry changes to put the app data folders on another partiton, but it just easier to just back up both application data folders and reinstall the programs when you reinstall and copy the app data folders back

[macdawg]

TweakGuides.com - The TweakGuides Tweaking Companion

this guide is good to check, the most relevant pages IMHO is 56-60, 68-69, 77, 79-82, 88-93, 107-110 if you want to do registry tweaks, 113-114 also good.

I've went through those pages on about 10 computers over the last couple years, good for making xp systems very responsive.

[aetherh4cker]

Has anyone tried both the slipstream of SP2 and the post-SP2 updates on a disc?

Does it know not to install the post-SP2 updates before SP2?

I like the whole idea of a 'super' install disc... but unfortunately I have since lost mine... still have my key though...

[EricB]

slipstream sp2 1st.

Download Autostreamer 1.0.33 - Basically, all it really needs is a source (that being an original Windows CD or a local share) and a Service Pack file - Softpedia

then do this

Originally Posted by EricB

if you need the post sp2 updates integrated into your xp disc (which will make it faster and save you from heading to windows updates). head and get ryanvm update pack.

RyanVM's Windows XP Post-SP2 Update Pack


the actual pack

|MG| RyanVM's Windows XP Post-SP2 Update Pack 2.1.11

you will need the integrator to slipstream it
Official RVM Integrator website - Download


put
both files on the desktop. Fire up
RyanVM Integrator. Set the source to
the Original Retail directory that you
created with nLite. For the destination
directory, we created a new directory
on the desktop named XP_all_updates.
Under Choose an Update Pack CAB,
select the Post-SP2 update that is on
the desktop. Click integrate; it will take
about 10 minutes to add the files to
your build.
When the integration is done,
restart nLite to make a bootable iso.