Help with tweaking

[DeaconFrost]

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.

 

[mickey megabyte]

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.

 

[whs]

The arguments are starting to become "religious". I think nobody can win this. We are all free to do with our systems what we like. If we are very smart, we may squeeze a couple of percent better performance out of our systems. It may be fun to do and yield a certain intellectual satisfaction because we learn something in the process - the hard way. I myself prefer to spend a few more Dollars on a more powerful PC and leave the operating system alone. After 35years in operating system development, I know that it is not that simple to outsmart a group of developers that do these things for a living.

 

[DeaconFrost]

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.

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.

 

[harpua]

I also like to add some usability tweaks (aside from performance tweaks) to my system, such as adding useful items to various right click context menus. I made a few posts recently about some of those that probably can be found by searching for "computer right click context menu." For example, the screen shot below is of my tweaked "Computer" right click context menu. Info on adding (or subsequently removing) some or all of these tweaks can be found here.

 

[H2SO4]

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

 

[tw33k]

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

+1..many years ago I was a Black Viper fan. After every re-install I'd scour his website and turn off "uneccessary" services. Since Vista however, I've seen the reality and Mr Frost summed it up perfectly..."the placebo effect". Now in Windows 7, there is no gain what-so-ever in turning anything off. It's fine as it is.

 

[Razer511]

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

Agreed. Great posting there.

 

[bigseb]

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

 

[harpua]

Well one thing in the overclocking area that I do is to overclock my graphics a slight bit, just for 3D performance while gaming only. The overclock settings are not applied or triggered for normal computer use. I have nvidia discrete graphics on my laptop and find Riva Tuner to be useful to quickly and easily apply some 3D performance overclocking that only kicks in when needed.

 

[bigseb]

Well one thing in the overclocking area that I do is to overclock my graphics a slight bit, just for 3D performance while gaming only. The overclock settings are not applied or triggered for normal computer use. I have nvidia discrete graphics on my laptop and find Riva Tuner to be useful to quickly and easily apply some 3D performance overclocking that only kicks in when needed.

I've played around with that... nothing mind-blowing but not bad. Don't really bother with it anymore though.