Speed Up Microsoft Windows

There are a lot of software that claim to speed up Microsoft Windows, some stand up to that claim, but wisdom says (If you don't know how to drive, don't buy a car!) <--My wisdom! So, let's see how we can speed up Windows!

First of all, you need a clean install. Don't do upgrade at all. Also, this is very important and I have personally tested it: Slipstreaming Windows Service Packs is better than updating windows. I can't really explain why, but I have tested two machines with the same hardware specs and found out the slipstreamed one outperformed the other updated one. Is it a lot of work! Well NO! Thanks to nLite.

Stop Un-necessary Services, some of them you will not find on your PC, don't panic! It just mean "My PC is better than yours ... My PC is better than yours!" - Just kidding.
Click Start->Run->Type (services.msc) without the parentheses
Find the below services and stop them (Double Click on them, change startup type to Disabled)

1. .NET Runtime Optimization Service v2.0.50727_X86 (or similar version)
2. Alerter
3. Automatic Updates (Run it manually when needed)
4. ClipBook
5. Computer Browser
6. Error Reporting Service (Yeah, just close the program if error happens)
7. Fast User Switching Compatibility (If you have only one user using the PC)
8. Help and Support (For dummies)
9. Indexing Service (Slowing my PC as hell!)
10. Messenger (Should be disabled since SP1-security reasons)
11. Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service
12. Network DDE
13. Network DDE DSDM
14. Remote Registry (Hackers love this one when it's running)
15. Routing and Remote Access
16. Secondary Logon (If you have only one user using the PC, plus for security reasons)
17. Server
18. SSDP Discovery Service
19. System Event Notification
20. Task Scheduler
21. TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
22. Telnet
23. Visual Studio 2008 Remote Debugger
24. Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)

It's always good practice to see your CPU utalization. So keep TaskManager running on the try and allow it to start automatically when you log on to windows. Download this

Modify the registry values:
Either download and run this TweakRegistry or Do it manually!

Run Notepad, copy and save all what's between the lines as tweaks.REG - Make sure you change the (save as type) to all. Double click the file when you copied the below lines and click ok.
--------------------
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]
"ClearPageFileAtShutdown"=dword:00000001
"DisablePagingExecutive"=dword:00000001
"LargeSystemCache"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AlwaysUnloadDLL]
@="1"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\OptimalLayout]
"EnableAutoLayout"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"Disable Script Debugger"="yes"
"Show_FullURL"="yes"
"Start Page"="about:blank"
"Page_Transitions"=dword:00000000
"FullScreen"="no"
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]
"NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation"=dword:00000001
"NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"AutoEndTasks"="1"
"HungAppTimeout"="500"
"MenuShowDelay"="0"
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="500"
[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop]
"AutoEndTasks"="1"
"HungAppTimeout"="500"
"MenuShowDelay"="0"
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="500"
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings]
"MaxConnectionsPerServer"=dword:00000080
"MaxConnectionsPer1_0Server"=dword:00000080
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile]
"IsShortcut"=-
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoResolveTrack"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters]
"EnablePrefetcher"=dword:00000003
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace\{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace\{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\stisvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoSaveSettings"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"NoNetCrawling"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoRemoteRecursiveEvents"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]
"NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate"=dword:00000001
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\10.0\Outlook\InstantMessaging]
"ForceDisableIM"=dword:00000001
--------------------

Cut down on the visual effects people! This is a PC not a freaking XBOX! Right Click on (My Computer) and choose (Properties), Select (Advanced) Tab and Click (Settings) under Performance, Select (Adjust for best performance) then select (Custom). Enable only:

1. Smooth Edges of screen fonts
2. use drop shadows for icons and labels on the desktop
3. use visual styles on windows and buttons

Click OK.

Use a free tool CCleaner and add the following folders to it's custom cleaning after clicking (Options)->(Include):

1. C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Acrobat\8.0\Updater\
2. C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\History\
4. C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Temp\
5. C:\Documents and Settings\\Cookies\
6. C:\WINDOWS\Temp\
7. C:\WINDOWS\Internet Logs\
8. C:\WINDOWS\assembly\temp\
9. C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data\ApplicationHistory\
10. C:\WINDOWS\WinSxS\InstallTemp\
11. C:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Installations\
12. C:\WINDOWS\pchealth\helpctr\Logs\
13. C:\WINDOWS\pchealth\helpctr\Temp\
14. C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download\
15. C:\Program Files\Common Files\WindowsLiveInstaller\Logs\
16. C:\Program Files\Common Files\WindowsLiveInstaller\Temp\

Stop Windows Live Messenger Ads

There are a lot of patches and such to stop and remove ads from Windows Live Messenger. I even tried some (without naming), at the cost of stability of the program (Video/Audio chat stopped working), also these patches don't actually stop pulling the ads from Microsoft Ad Server! They just remove the banner ad at the bottom of Windows Live Messenger!
So, what's the easiest most effective way to stop Windows Live Messenger from pulling the Ads from Microsoft servers while you know what's going on? Well, the old plain loopback trick!

• Click Start->Run
• Type: cmd and hit OK
• Type and Hit enter after each line:
  • echo 127.0.0.1 rad.msn.com >> c:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
  • echo 127.0.0.1 rad.live.com >> c:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\hosts

That's it! No more ads from Micro$oft!