Recently I had to install Windows XP Service Pack 2 on relatively old computer configuration. Wonderful challenge. Тhe computer is for office use with the basic functionality available with good performance, but the hardware does not allow that…

This tutorial is meant for increasing the performance of Windows XP, either its a fresh installation or an older one. After following this tutorial, you’ll notice a major improvement in your system performance.

So without wasting time, lets start:

This Registry script can be used in Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10 without any problem. I assure you it’ll not harm your system in any way and its completely safe to apply.

Copy following code and paste in Notepad. Save the file with the name “Tweaks.reg” (including quotes) and then run the file. It’ll ask for confirmation, accept it:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
;Martin Micevski | m@micevski.xyz

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTAllFilesystemObjectsshellexContextMenuHandlersCopy To] @=”{C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}”

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTAllFilesystemObjectsshellexContextMenuHandlersMove To] @=”{C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}”

[HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop] “AutoEndTasks”=”1”
“HungAppTimeout”=”1000”
“MenuShowDelay”=”8”
“WaitToKillAppTimeout”=”2000”
“LowLevelHooksTimeout”=”1000”

[HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelMouse] “MouseHoverTime”=”8”

[HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer] “NoLowDiskSpaceChecks”=dword:00000001
“LinkResolveIgnoreLinkInfo”=dword:00000001
“NoResolveSearch”=dword:00000001
“NoResolveTrack”=dword:00000001
“NoInternetOpenWith”=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControl] “WaitToKillServiceTimeout”=”2000”

Restart your system to take effect and get ready to experience super fast Windows.

Tweaks Description

If you are worried what this registry script is going to do in your system, here is a description of all the tweaks included in the file:

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTAllFilesystemObjectsshellexContextMenuHandlersCopy To] @=”{C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}”

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTAllFilesystemObjectsshellexContextMenuHandlersMove To] @=”{C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13}”

This adds “Copy To” and “Move To” options in files and folders context menu, so that you can easily copy and move them to other locations.

AutoEndTasks – Forces Windows to automatically end user services when the user logs off or shuts down the computer. It’ll prevent the “Closing apps and shutting down, This app is preventing shutdown” screen from appearing. Check this topic for detailed info.
HungAppTimeout – Reduces system waiting time before killing user processes when the user clicks on “End Task” button in Task Manager.
MenuShowDelay – Decreases menus show delay time, it’ll make the menus show faster upon clicking.
WaitToKillAppTimeout – Reduces system waiting time before killing user processes when the user logs off or shuts down the computer.
LowLevelHooksTimeout – Reduces system waiting time before killing not responding services.
MouseHoverTime – Reduces popup delay time to show popup description faster when you move mouse cursor over an item.
NoLowDiskSpaceChecks – Disables the low disk space check so that you don’t get the annoying low disk space notification in system tray.
LinkResolveIgnoreLinkInfo – Prevents Windows from wasting time in searching for a program which no longer exists in your system when you try to open its shortcut.
NoResolveSearch – Prevents Windows from searching for the disk drive to resolve a shortcut.
NoResolveTrack – Prevents Windows from using NTFS file system’s tracking feature to resolve a shortcut.
NoInternetOpenWith – Disables “Search on Internet” prompt in “Open with” window so that you can directly see available programs list.
WaitToKillServiceTimeout – Reduces system waiting time before stopping services when the services are notified about shut down process.

Now right-click on Desktop and select Properties. In Desktop Properties window, go to Appearance tab and click on Effects button. Now in the new opened window uncheck the following options:

  • Use the following transition effect for menus & tooltips.
  • Show shadows under menus.

Right-click on My Computer icon on Desktop and select Properties (or press key + <Pause/Break> key), now go to Advanced tab in new window and click on Settings button in Performance section.

Now disable all unnecessary options in Visual Effects tab, you can remain following options enabled according to your requirements:

  • Show window contents while dragging.
  • Smooth edges of screen fonts.
  • Use common tasks in folders (If you use the left side pane in My computer)
  • Use drop shadows on icon labels on the desktop. (to make the desktop icons label transparent.)
  • Use visual styles on windows and buttons. (If you use XP themes.)

Open Windows Explorer and click on Tools -> Folder Options. Now go to View tab:

Uncheck following options:

  • Automatically search for network folders & printers.
  • Display file size information in folder tips.
  • Display simple folder view in Explorer’s Folders list.
  • Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color.
  • Show pop-up description for folder and desktop icons.
  • Use simple file sharing.

Other options don’t affect the system performance. You can enable/disable them according to your requirements.

Right-click on My Computer icon on Desktop and select Manage (You can also open it by typing services.msc in RUN and press Enter). Now go to Services & Applications -> Services. Here you can set a few unnecessary services to Manual, which will not start with windows and will decrease the boot time and will increase system performance.

NOTE: Always set the service to MANUAL, never disable it. So that whenever windows needs to start a service it can easily start and use it. If you set any service to DISABLED, then windows will not be able to start it and will give ERROR.

So here is the list of services that can be safely set to MANUAL (Many of them may be disabled automatically on some systems):

  • Alerter
  • Computer Browser
  • Distributed Link Tracking Client (If your computer is not connected to any network)
  • Fast User Switching Capability (It’ll remove Switch Users feature)
  • Indexing service
  • Internet Connection Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing
  • Messenger
  • Remote Registry (You can set it to DISABLED for Security purposes)
  • Secondary Logon
  • Server
  • System Restore (If you don’t use System Restore feature)
  • TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper Service (If you are not in a workgroup network)
  • Uninterruptible Power Supply
  • Upload Manager
  • Wireless Zero Configuration

NOTE: You can see the details of each service so that you can determine whether it should be disabled or not.

Type msconfig in RUN and press Enter. Now go to Startup tab and deselect the unnecessary entries, which you don’t want to start automatically with Windows, e.g. you can disable VGA driver utility, Sound Card utility, etc to speed up the startup time and to increase system performance.

Open Sound & Audio Devices in Control Panel (or type mmsys.cpl in RUN), go to Sounds tab and select No Sounds in Sound Scheme section. Or you can remain some of your favorite sounds but set Exit Windows, Start Windows, Windows Logoff, Windows Logon to (None).