Tweaking Windows

My previous update was in march. I don't have much time to do this any more so I'll just link to Toyomatt's list. It's more thorough than this one will be... but this one has most of the major stuff in it anyways . Get Toyo's list here

I made this list for those of you that want to tweak your systems but don't know where to start. Most of these links I'm providing will provide a slight boost in your system's efficiency/speed. Others will get rid of unnecessary crap or remove annoyances.

Enjoy:

----------------Tweaks/Tweaking Apps----------------
BlackViper
For those of you running Windows XP or windows 2000, this site is simply amazing. The tweaks provided here are there to disable windows services which, in turn will result in massive improvements in the usage of system resources. Just make certain to back up your registry prior to making changes. For those of you that don't know exactly what you are doing, they provided registry patches to automatically do the tweaks. Those of you who know what you are doing may want to do the service changes manually so you can do hybrids of the "Safe", "Gaming", and "Supertweak" mode for best results.

MusicXP.net
Not to be confused with TweakXP, this site is similar to black viper in that it shows you how to configure your rig to run with optimal performance. The difference here is that where Blackviper shows how to modify the system services, this shows you how to modify windows settings in order to get the maximum potential out of your WinXP machine.

Axcel216's Max Speed Windows Tips & Tricks
yep, yet another site with hints on how to get into the guts of windows and get it running smoothly. The site claims over 1000 tips and tricks, and they have by far, one of the largest collections of windows PowerToys I have ever seen. They've got tips on every windows os, various programs and they even have very in depth guides on how to go about editing critical windows files like system.ini. Excellent site, awesome stuff though a bit sloppy in terms of layout

X-Setup
This program just makes it easier to modify things that would otherwise require you to go into your registry. Everything is available in the main screen and they provide good information on all the little tweaks they have. Good program to have, and it works under all versions of windows.

Microsoft Power Toys [recommended by LoudMusic]
These are tiny little programs for minor behaviour modifications to Windows as well as some things that Microsoft just never included. I've only ever used TweakUI and it is very similar to X-Setup. This is directed more or less towards Windowsxp but apparently it runs on other windows OS'es as well. If you have an older OS though, I'd reccomend X-Setup.


------------Annoying Crap Removal Utilities (Also helps with performance)------------
AATools
The primary reason I use it is for portscanning my network pcs in order to check on my firewall and to scrub my registry clean. It's got TONS of other features as well but those 2 are the ones I use most. Other things that are useful as hell are the included TraceRoute and the Network Monitor feature. This is the only program in this list that's not free - so far, I've only had nags with my free one so get it anyways.

ToniArts EasyCleaner2.0
Yet another registry cleaner, this one is completely free. Works as well as AATools but not as much stuff is packed with it. If aatools asks for serial number, this will do the job for you.

Spybot S&D
Most of you already know of this program, but for those of you that don't know of it or don't use it, this program is amazing for detecting and cleaning your computer of spyware. I prefer this to Lavasoft's Adaware.

Lavasoft Ad-Aware
Almost everyone has heard of this one, but for those of you that have been living under a rock or for those of you that don't have it, get this as well as spybot. Spybot is awesome but it doesn't find every form of spyware from what I've seen. But Ad-Aware doesn't grab many of the ones spybot does. Get both and you won't have to worry about anything slipping through your grips.

SpyWareBlaster
Just when you thought that adaware and spybot running side by side was enough, yet another app makes itself available. This one however is strictly for preventative work. It operates much in the same way as an antivirus by warning you when malicious spyware stuff is used. Good stuff - just run a full system scan with both spybot and with ad-aware before you grab this one.

Free Antivirus Programs
AVG Free Edition (strongly suggested by Burnout).
For those of you without antivirus programs, you now have NO EXCUSE for the cost - this link has freeware av programs that are also constantly updated 👍
AVG Uses less system resources and provides almost daily updates. Very good virus program.


------------------Very useful, spyware free stuff------------------------

Mozilla
Though not a tweak, this browser is the best one I've used in ages and it's very clean. Another great benefit to Mozilla is that the Thunderbird E-mail client isn't the target of so many viruses like Outlook is. Oh, and did I mention a built-in popup blocker and Open Source?

RealPlayer Alternative and Quicktime Alternative
for those of you that absolutely hate running realplayer because of it's extreme overuse of system resources, the amount of spyware included, the number of popups or a combination of the 3, this site will give you an alternate player that is clean, lightweight and is capable of playing all Real Media (and quicktime is available). The program is excellent for anyone that doesn't want to use realplayer. It's also a good idea to uninstall realplayer completely and use this alternative to keep your pc crap-free.

Google Toolbar (Slick6)
Well, not much to say here - the greatest search engine ever gets fully integrated into IE and provides excellent popup blockage. Even if you don't use google, the toolbar is still perfect for getting rid of those damn annoying popups

StrokeIt [Credit to Shannon]
This little program allows you to add mouse gestures to any program you have installed on your machine. Example: Hold the right mouse button and move left to go back in your browser.

InfoTag Magic[Credit to Shannon]
Well, it's not a neccessity, but a fairly nifty program for people who like their mp3s. Basically, it displays ID3 info for MP3, WMA and Ogg Vorbis files when you hover over them.

-----------------General Interest-----------------

Microsoft Software Forum Network. [Credit to Shannon]
I highly suggest you read the guides - you're guaranteed to learn a thing or two. 👍
I also suggest you take a look at their two offsite sites.

• Creating an Unattented Windows XP/2003 CD
• Windows Server 2003 to Workstation Guide

I'll post more as I find them, but these are the ones I use most frequently. Don't forget to keep your anti-virus up to date and to have a good firewall running. I strongly suggest Mcafee paired up with ZoneAlarm. Norton takes up waaay too many system resources and Blackice is a bit complex for most people.

----------------List History--------------------
Added Mozilla
Added ToniArt's EasyCleaner
Free Antivirus programs
Shannon's Additions
added Real Alternative and Quicktime Alternative
Microsoft PowerToys & fixed the link to x-setup (i didn't realise I pointed it to the wrong site)
updated shannon's additions
google toolbar
Rearranged the list, made it a bit easier to sort through it
March 24 - 3 additions today - Axcel216's Max Speed Tips, spyware blaster, and ad-aware

For those of you without antivirus programs, you now have NO EXCUSE for the cost - this link has freeware av programs that are also constantly updated 👍
http://www.nonags.com/nonags/antivirus.html

Nice list, worthy of stickying.

I remember when I first discovered Blkviper, my XP machines uses like half the ram it used to. I'm pretty picky when it comes to keeping my OS running nice and efficient.

Now that AA tools looks usefull though, i'll give that a try later.

Ahh, a better antivirus program that avast!, AVG Free Edition. Uses less system resources and provides almost daily updates. Very good virus program.

Consider it stuck...

Originally posted by GilesGuthrie
Consider it stuck...

Click to expand...

Thanks to me reporting it

This is a great thread here. I like some of those setups. My laptop is running faster now.

Thanks again.

I'll add a few additions:

StrokeIt
This little program allows you to add mouse gestures to any program you have installed on your machine. Example: Hold the right mouse button and move left to go back in your browser.

InfoTag Magic
Well, it's not a neccessity, but a fairly nifty program for people who like their mp3s. Basically, it displays ID3 info for MP3, WMA and Ogg Vorbis files when you hover over them.

Both of the above are freeware. 👍

Originally posted by Burnout
Ahh, a better antivirus program that avast!, AVG Free Edition. Uses less system resources and provides almost daily updates. Very good virus program.

Click to expand...

I downloaded that and picked up 2 viruses I didn't know I had them. Thanks for preventing something bad.

Earlier when I made my post I was still scanning, all in all, I had 5 viruses. All gone now though

Big fan of AVG - I was previously running McAffee, which I'd picked up as part of a package somehwere - that thing was a pain in the backside, and not particularly effective.

Good thread - I'd been wondering about these tools. Thanks!

Originally posted by vat_man
Big fan of AVG - I was previously running McAffee, which I'd picked up as part of a package somehwere - that thing was a pain in the backside, and not particularly effective.

Good thread - I'd been wondering about these tools. Thanks!

Click to expand...

Me too - Previously Mcafee, AVG whoops it, and it's free.

Well tried the AVG and my McAfee blew up saying there were viruses on my computer. I think AVG is virus-ware.

I'd also reccomend Res-Hacker. On my older PC, I've changed pretty much everything that points to Windows, so no more 'Start', and the blue tabs at the top of the page are a different color. It's really powerful, as it allows you to edit your .res files, but make sure you back up your hard drive often, as it's easy to mess up and crash. You can read more about it in the Summer 2003 issue of 2600.

Added Realplayer Alternative and Quicktime Alternative

Microsoft provides PowerToys for XP, some of which are also available for the older Microsoft OSes.

Good finds, emad! I'll have to look into that Realplayer alternative. Real is a pain in the ASS.

Get both of them, seriously.

The older versions of Powertoys is called tweakui, it's one of my essential installs for any MS os. 👍

Mine too - I've used it since it was originally included with Windows 98 (pre SE!) ... at least I think that's when it came out. It was on the CD in a folder called /tools/powertoy/

Great links you guys!

I just ran into this site - MSFN. I highly suggest you read the guides - you're guarenteed to learn a thing or two. 👍

I also suggest you take a look at their two offsite sites.

• Creating an Unattented Windows XP/2003 CD
• Windows Server 2003 to Workstation Guide

Nice find Shannon. 👍

good stuff

nice to see the response this thread is getting. The list is already MUCH larger than what we started with.

keep'em coming

McAfee Stinger

Is a little free utility that scans for the latest Viruses/Worms. It's usefull if you need to check a suspect machine.

Download this and install it. It has a pop-up blocker and a google search. http://toolbar.google.com/

The altavista toolbar one up's the google one. Babelfish translator at the press of a button.

www.altavista.com

Burnout told me about this AWESOME shell replacement for Windows XP. It's called LiteStep and it is quite amazing, it released a bunch of the crap Windows was running and now it looks so much cleaner. I'm happy with it.

www.litestep.com

A shell replacement is basically a replacement over all of the Menus and Visual stuff that you see on the desktop. With the LiteStep you can change them all around with no direct idea in mind, I even have a shell that imitates the Mac's of today. It's basically just like putting a new skin over the Windows look, except it doesn't take all the required memory to run it, versus Microsoft's shell. If you get it, make sure you are willing to learn a little bit of coding here and there, just so you can better suit your shell to your needs. Basically it's gonna help you make better links to files and directories.