PCSTATS     
[X]   Directory of
Guides & Reviews

Beginners Guides
Motherboards by Brand
Weekly Newsletter
Archived Newsletters

+70 MORE Beginner GUIDES....
Beginners Guides: 101 Tech Tips and Tweaks for Windows XP
Beginners Guides: 101 Tech Tips and Tweaks for Windows XP - PCSTATS
PCSTATS has a massive Tech Tip guide for Windows XP covering 101 useful and sometimes spicy Tweaks and Tech Tips that will make your clunkly PC run better!
Filed under: Beginners Guides Published:  Author: 
External Mfg. Website: PCSTATS May 01 2011   M. Dowler  
Home > Reviews > Beginners Guides > PCSTATS

Registry Tweaks for Performance: Tips 86 to 88

86. Clear the Page File (virtual memory) when shutting down XP

As mentioned above, the page file is an area of your hard disk that Windows uses as extra memory space to store files and data that are currently being used. Of course, since Hard drives are magnetic storage devices, and not dynamic like RAM, the data stored in the page file stays there until it is cleared or over-written.

This data may possibly contain unencrypted passwords or other sensitive information since many third party programs do not bother to encrypt data that is being passed to the memory, even though it may end up on the page file. A simple registry change can force Windows XP to clear the page file each time it shuts down. Note that enabling this will increase the time it takes your system to shutdown.

Open REGEDIT

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management

Modify the ClearPageFileAtShutdown value to '1'

For customization

87. Get Rid of XP's annoying balloon tips

At some points, it seems like Windows XP is feeling lonely or something… every 5 minutes, some desktop-obscuring balloon tip will pop out of nowhere to inform you that you are not using the icons on your desktop, or that you have installed a new program, or that it's sunny outside… Seems like the operating system just needs someone to talk to. If, like me, you get fed up with this, here's a quick registry addition that will stop the madness:

Open REGEDIT.

Goto: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced

Add the DWORD value 'EnableBalloonTips' and give it a value of '0'

This will stop all balloon tips from popping up.

88. Adding additional Icons to 'my computer'

The 'my computer' window is one of the most commonly accessed areas in a typical Windows XP installation. Here's a way to add several more commonly used icons to the 'my computer' window to increase its usefulness.

Open REGEDIT

Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\

Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace

Add a new key for each icon you wish to add to the 'my computer' window. The key should be named as below:

{D20EA4E1-3957-11D2-A40B-0C5020524153} : Administrative Tools

{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D} : Printers and Faxes

{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF} : Scheduled Tasks

{7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E} : Network Connections

{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} : Recycle Bin

{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D} : My Network Places

< Previous Page © 2023 PCSTATS.com
Please respect the time and effort that went into creating each PCSTATS Beginners Guide, do not illegally copy. Thank you.
Next Page >

 

Contents of Article: PCSTATS
 Pg 1.  Beginners Guides: 101 Tech Tips and Tweaks for Windows XP
 Pg 2.  PCSTATS Performance Tech Tips
 Pg 3.  Performance Tips 3 to 5
 Pg 4.  Performance Tips 6 to 7
 Pg 5.  Performance Tips 8 to 12
 Pg 6.  Useful tips for XP (13 to 16)
 Pg 7.  Useful Tips for XP: tips 17 to 18
 Pg 8.  Useful Tips for XP: tip 19
 Pg 9.  Useful Tips for XP: tips 20 to 22
 Pg 10.  Useful Tips for XP: tips 23 to 26
 Pg 11.  Useful Tips for XP: tips 27 to 30
 Pg 12.  Security, privacy and recovery tips (31 to 33)
 Pg 13.  Security, privacy and recovery: tips 34 to 36
 Pg 14.  Security, privacy and recovery: tips 37 to 39
 Pg 15.  Security, privacy and recovery: tips 40 to 42
 Pg 16.  Security, privacy and recovery: tips 43 to 45
 Pg 17.  Customizing WinsdowsXP: tips 46 to 49
 Pg 18.  Customizing WinsdowsXP: tips 50 to 52
 Pg 19.  Customizing WinsdowsXP: tips 53 to 54
 Pg 20.  Customizing WinsdowsXP: tips 55 to 56
 Pg 21.  Customizing WinsdowsXP: tips 57 to 59
 Pg 22.  Essential Advice for Beginners: Tips 60 to 61
 Pg 23.  Essential Advice for Beginners: Tips 62 to 64
 Pg 24.  Essential Advice for Beginners: Tips 65 to 68
 Pg 25.  Essential Advice for Beginners: Tips 69 to 71
 Pg 26.  Essential Advice for Beginners: Tips 72 to 76
 Pg 27.  Essential Advice for Beginners: Tips 77
 Pg 28.  Essential Advice for Beginners: Tips 78 to 80
 Pg 29.  Next Section: Registry tweaks (81)
 Pg 30.  Registry Tweaks: Tip 82
 Pg 31.  Registry Tweaks For performance (83 to 85)
 Pg 32.  — Registry Tweaks for Performance: Tips 86 to 88
 Pg 33.  Registry Tweaks for Performance: Tips 89 to 92
 Pg 34.  Miscellaneous registry tweaks (93 to 95)
 Pg 35.  Miscellaneous Registry Tweaks: Tips 96 to 99
 Pg 36.  Miscellaneous Registry Tweaks: Tips 100 to 101

 
Hardware Sections 


 
PCSTATS Network Features Information About Us Contact
FrostyTech
PCSTATS Newsletter
Tech Glossary
Technology WebSite Listings
News Archives
(Review RSS Feed)
Site Map
PCstats Wallpaper
About Us
Privacy Policy
Advertise on PCSTATS

How's Our Driving?
© Copyright 1999-2023 www.pcstats.com All rights reserved. Privacy policy and Terms of Use.