Help with tweaking

mickey megabyte said:

why run background processes that you are never going to need?

Ah, the classic argument. As testing and benchmarking have shown, disabling unneeded services doesn't yield much, if any results because those services are not actually in use and using resources.

Let me give you an example, one that was hotly debated on the [H]ardforums a while ago. On a desktop PC, someone like QuackViper would recommend disabling the wireless zero-config service. Unneeded, right? Right, because no wireless adapter was present in the system. The problem is, setting that service to disabled or manual, isn't going to suddenly give me more memory. It wasn't in use to begin with.

If disabling services makes you feel warm and fuzzy, by all means do it. That's commonly referred to as a placebo effect, because it yields no measurable results. What it can do, however, is render your system with stability issues.

That's why, if you read on just about any enthusiast forum, the best advice for tweaking Vista and Windows 7 is.....leave it alone.

erm, some services are set to automatic - that means that they automatically run...

...even if not needed.

i don't need those to run.

microsoft sets a default install to suit a hypothetical platonic default user. i don't count myself into that category, so i like to get myself into a warm and fuzzy state of operation by tweaking my os to how it suits me.

i do what i do - you do what you do.

mickey megabyte said:

microsoft sets a default install to suit a hypothetical platonic default user. i don't count myself into that category,

In the XP days, you were right. However, this line of thinking doesn't apply anymore, thanks to our self-tuning OSes.

mickey megabyte said:

i do what i do - you do what you do.

Absolutely, but you are forgetting one thing. When you participate on an forum such as this, where people are asking for help and advice, it is important to give them correct answers, along with solid suggestions for them. Whatever you choose to do with your own system is completely up to you, and none of mine, or anyone else's concern. We aren't debating what we should do on our own systems...we're trying to give good advice and correct, factual information.

DeaconFrost said:

mickey megabyte said:

why run background processes that you are never going to need?

Ah, the classic argument. As testing and benchmarking have shown, disabling unneeded services doesn't yield much, if any results because those services are not actually in use and using resources.

Let me give you an example, one that was hotly debated on the [H]ardforums a while ago. On a desktop PC, someone like QuackViper would recommend disabling the wireless zero-config service. Unneeded, right? Right, because no wireless adapter was present in the system. The problem is, setting that service to disabled or manual, isn't going to suddenly give me more memory. It wasn't in use to begin with.

If disabling services makes you feel warm and fuzzy, by all means do it. That's commonly referred to as a placebo effect, because it yields no measurable results. What it can do, however, is render your system with stability issues.

That's why, if you read on just about any enthusiast forum, the best advice for tweaking Vista and Windows 7 is.....leave it alone.

You sir deserve reputation and recognition for that post, and for your many other excellent comments :)

H2SO4 said:

You sir deserve reputation and recognition for that post, and for your many other excellent comments :)

Agreed. Great posting there.

Wow... I wasn't expecting this kind of debating... but thanks guys, it's all helpful

Here's my issue with overclocking: I don't really think there's much I can do overclocking-wise with my laptop. I mean it's running at 1.5GHz (667MHz FSB)... how much higher can one push that? My one PC (a desktop) that I use at work has basically the same specs except it's running 4GHz (1066MHz FSB) and honestly the difference in performance is minute. Plus there are risks to overclocking that I cannot afford. This is why I reckon that the answer might ly within the registry...

So far the underlying message I've gotten here and elsewhere is that W7 needs little tweaking. Fair enough, I say. Perhaps my system is already running at it's limit. If however I come across anything I'll be sure to post it.

Also a big thanks to those that posted links