Optimize XP

[dereckbc]

Two questions.

1. What is one of the better websites to optimize XP?

2. Can a login on XP be created to run minimum config for gaming? If so how?

 

[sturm]

blackviper.com was a good one but is "still under construction" for months now. do a google of blackviper and youll get some mirros for it.
Pretty much they all are going to tell you the same thing. Disable this service, uncheck this, uncheck that. Do a google on optimize xp and youll get a bunch of hits.

Yes you can run multiple profiles on xp. I used to do this myself. Normal for network and internet stuff and a gaming profile which loaded only the necessary services.
Worked great but dont use on new computer. Fast enough and more memory negates the need to do it. I do still disable uneeded services though.

 

[dizom]

I don't really know a good site to learn this, but I've done this on my own. Now when you say "login" I'm thinking you mean a specific user. If that's the case, then NO you cannot have a certain user login and have certain things turned on and off. What you can do is setup a second "Hardware Profile". . . . go to "System" under the control panel, and click on the "Hardware" tab and look at the bottom for "Hardware Profiles", and click on that button. Now create a copy of the origional profile just give it a name like "Gaming" or something like that. Now this is just the name. To actually give this profile some different startup properties you can go into Services under the Advanced section in the control panel. Now this is where you will need to find a good site to tell you what each one of these does. Some you will have to experiment with, and this will take a LOT of time because every system has its own different set of services. Anyways, if you double click on a service you will get a window with lots of options for the service, in this window click on the "Logon" tab. Now look at the bottom and you will see the origional hardware and the new one you just created, plus if its enabled or disabled. For you gaming profile you will want to disable anything not needed, and when you feel like you've gone through them all reboot and try it out. Make sure your network is still working if you plan on using the network when playing games. Also, check for errors and other things not loading. This will get you started, but there are also a hundred other ways to tweak. If you don't know much about this stuff, get ready to learn a LOT.

If you aren't willing to learn, then don't try this. This is not something you want to learn just enough about to get along, because you can have problems. Some sevices rely on other services to run, and you won't know this until you reboot and get an error saying "not all services were able to start". Usually you see this under the "dependencies" tab when looking at the window for a specific service, but this isn't always complete. I you don't want to embark on this adventure, all I can suggest is that you close anything running by your clock, and temporarily pause your virus and adware scanners (but don't stop your firewall software). This should give you a nice boost. Happy hunting!