Ideas for customizing the OS with SSD please ?

[Cov]

Ideas for customizing Windows 7

Hi, I am trying to put a list together of all personal adjustments after a fresh installation of Windows 7.

I'm aware that many people would not agree with some or even all of these settings.

Update: ok, I understand this list to be VERY controversial.
I can only suggest to learn exactly what each step does, before changing anything.
It's a great way to get to know your operating system better, of course only if that applies to you.
Again: please only modify your OS, if you really understand the advantages / disadvantages of each point.

Windows 7 - Supercharged​

• How to disable UAC

Start › user accounts › change user account control settings › adjust slider

• How to disable Page File

Start › system › Advanced system settings › Performance › Settings › Advance › Virtual memory › Change › No paging file › Set › OK

• How to disable Hibernation

Start › cmd › type: powercfg -h off › enter

• How to disable System Restore

Start › System › System protection › Configure

• How to turn off Search Indexing

Start › services › windows search › disable

Start › computer › right click c drive › properties › untick: Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties

Start › Indexing options › modify › show all locations › double click users in summary of selected locations › uncheck users directory › double click start menu in the summary of selected locations › uncheck start menu directory › ok

• How to turn off Remote Differential Compression

Start › Control panel › programs › turn windows features on or off › uncheck Remote Differential Compression › ok

This makes file transfers (copy, move) faster by turnig off “Remote Differential Compression” (RDC). Copying a 1.91 GB folder from the main HDD to a folder on an external USB drive resulting in ...

With RDC turned on: 3:23 - three minutes and 23 seconds (with a stopwatch).
With RDC turned off: 2:25 – two minutes and 25 seconds.

• How to turn off unneeded Windows features

Start › programs & features › turn Windows features on or off › uncheck

• How to hide the Recycle Bin

Right click desktop › Personalize › change desktop icons › untick recycle bin

• How to disable Defragmentation & Superfetch

Start › Computer Management or Services › Disk Defragmentation › disable
Start › Computer Management or Services › Superfetch › disable

• How to change windows Title text

Start › regedit › HKEY_CURRENT_USER › Software › Microsoft › Internet Explorer › Main

Look for “Window Title” Registry Key at the right pane.
If it’s not there, create a String Value type of registry key and name it as “Window Title”.
Double click the “Window Title” registry key and enter the customized text that will appear in the IE window title.

or

Start › gpedit › User Configuration › Windows Setting › Internet Explorer Maintenance › browser user interface › browser title

• How to change border padding for windows

Right click the desktop › Personalize › Windows Color › Advanced Appearance Settings › select Border Padding › change size 4 (default) to a lower value.

• Disable unneeded start-up programs from loading

Start › msconfig or system configuration › services tab

• How to access the Disk Management Console Tool

Start › diskmgmt.msc

• How to display system information

Start › system information

• Turn off automatic update

Start › Windows update › change settings › never check for updates

• How to clean the HDD / SSD

Start › cleanmgr

• How to access Resource Monitor

Start › Resource Monitor

or

Right click taskbar › start Task Manager › Performane tab › Recource Monitor

• Change color & size of the mouse pointer

Start › change how your mouse works › tick radio button › ok

• Activate a window by hovering over it with the mouse

Start › change how your mouse works › tick boxe: Activate a window by hovering over it › ok

• Disable Aero Snap

Start › change how your mouse works › tick box: Prevent windows from being automatically arranged when moved to the edge of the screen › ok

• Windows keeps a protocol about every event

Start › event viewer

or

Control panel › administrative tools › event viewer

Stop service = start › service › Windows Event Log › disabled

• Block an application from accessing the internet

Control panel › Windows Firewall › advanced settings › outbound rules › create a rule for that program

• Shut down quicker

Start › regedit › HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE › System › Current Control Set › Control › change on the right pane WaitToKillServiceTimeout from default 12000 ms / 12 sec to 3000 ms / 3 sec

• Speed up Windows 7 Taskbar thumbnail preview

Start › regedit › HKEY_CURRENT_USER › Control Panel › Mouse › change on the right pane MouseHoverTime from default 400 to 0

• Switch off menu delay

Start › regedit › HKEY_CURRENT_USER › Control Panel › Desktop › change on the right pane MenuShowDelay from default 400 ms / 0.4 sec to 0 › ok

• Create an Admin folder

Right click on desktop› new › folder › rename folder to ›
Admin.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

• Invert colors in Paint 6.1

CTRL + SHIFT + I

• How to find Windows Version, Build and Revision No

Start › regedit › HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE › Software › Microsoft › Windows NT › Current Version › on the right pane, you’ll find the key

CurrentBuildNumber
CurrentVersion
EditionID
ProductID

• How to switch Ipv6 off _ for the time being

Start › Control Panel › Network and Internet › Network and Sharing Center › change adaper settings › right click and select Properties › untick Ipv6

Check via start › cmd › ipconfig › it should only show IPv4

• How to disable Security Alerts when launching applications

Start ›Control Panel › Network and Internet › Internet Options › Security tab › Custom Level › scroll down to Miscellaneous / Launching applications and unsafe files › enable › ok

• Fix the Settings Alert

There is no way to disable the warning “Your security settings level puts your computer at risk” via the IE user interface, although it is possible to disable it using Group Policy (gpedit.msc).

Start › gpedit.msc › Locael Computer Policy › Computer Configuration › Administrate Templates › Windows Components › Internet Explorer › Set “Turn off the security settings check feature” to enabled › ok

 

[blah380]

Nice, but half of these things have nothing to do with SSD performance.

 

[Cov]

Hi blah ... (380 degrees ?)

I wanted a complete list with and without SSD relevant settings.

 

[ccatlett1984]

In that case, why not split the list into two parts, those having to do with SSD's and then below it the other settings that dont have anything to do with SSD optimization?

 

[blah380]

Hi blah ... (380 degrees ?)

I wanted a complete list with and without SSD relevant settings.

Sorry, the title of the thread threw me off.

Hello! The 380 is arbitrary, don't mind it.

Um, perhaps add customize folder view options.
Start -> control panel -> appearance and personalization -> folder options -> view -> check: show hidden files, folders, and drives. uncheck: hide extensions for known file types. uncheck: hide protected operating system files.

 

[Cov]

1. Temporary Internet Folder: Under Internet Explorer go to the “Tools”, then to which will bring up Internet Options, then go to Browser History and hit “Settings”, Go to Current Location and hit “Move Folder” then proceed to move the folder to your alternate location, IE secondary Drive or a None SSD or OS drive.

2. Move the “Temp and Tmp” files: Go to \My Computer\\Properties\\Advanced\\Environment Variables\, then highlight the "temp or tmp" depending on which one you’re working on, pick the variable, click edit, and Change the path to another hard drive if they are located on the Solid State with the “Variable Value Field”.

3. PIO Mode: Make sure the SSD is not running in PIO mode. To verify that go into the Device Manager, open IDE ATA / ATAPI controllers and double-click all Primary and Secondary IDE Channels. Verify that there are no signs of PIO Mode under the Current Transfer Mode entry in Advanced Settings. It should list Ultra DMA Mode 5 by default on there.

I just checked and it even says Ultra DMA Mode 6

 

[blah380]

1. Temporary Internet Folder: Under Internet Explorer go to the “Tools”, then to which will bring up Internet Options, then go to Browser History and hit “Settings”, Go to Current Location and hit “Move Folder” then proceed to move the folder to your alternate location, IE secondary Drive or a None SSD or OS drive.

2. Move the “Temp and Tmp” files: Go to \My Computer\\Properties\\Advanced\\Environment Variables\, then highlight the "temp or tmp" depending on which one you’re working on, pick the variable, click edit, and Change the path to another hard drive if they are located on the Solid State with the “Variable Value Field”.

3. PIO Mode: Make sure the SSD is not running in PIO mode. To verify that go into the Device Manager, open IDE ATA / ATAPI controllers and double-click all Primary and Secondary IDE Channels. Verify that there are no signs of PIO Mode under the Current Transfer Mode entry in Advanced Settings. It should list Ultra DMA Mode 5 by default on there.

I just checked and it even says Ultra DMA Mode 6

It's your thread, just edit it into your original post, lol.

 

[Ndi]

Sorry if I sound ... direct, but I really wish you'd spend less time compiling tips from retarded sites and more reading documentation.


• How to modify UAC
This has no bearing on performance, SSD or not.

• How to disable Page File
Disabling page file has several implications, none of which you have considered. Inability to boot in case of emergency is one. Additionally, you convinced the OS to crash all your applications instead of slowing them, down upon reaching the limit. This is equivalent to uninstalling the seatbelt to lighten the car. SSDs are recognized as such and minimal swapping occurs on them. Also, by nature, swapping is last-resort.

The best I can do on this topic is advice to move the swapfile on another drive, magnetic, to save SSDs, but really, you end up swapping in any significant amount then your cash is misspent on a SSD. You should be purchasing more RAM.

But if your aim is performance then you should be swapping on a SSD, since it's WAY faster.

• How to disable System Restore
Seatbelts. If you must, lower the storage limit. An unrecoverable system is not very fast.

• How to turn off Search Indexing
That's just vile, OK? Sorry. First, on a SSD indexing takes neigh nothing. Secondly, the ability to instant-search speeds up productivity tenfold at the expense of 2 points in some synthetic benchmark. A full index on a serveral-terabyte storage class saves you minutes in waiting time. You will never recover those minutes by disabling indexing. You also lose the advantages of libraries.

Let's not forget that a PC spends 99%+ of its resources waiting for you to do something. The time it takes for it to search a file (keeping you busy) does not equate the the time when you surf the web and the indexing service creeps on your almost-idle drives.

It's like time on the twe sides of the bathroom door. One is critical, the other is not.

• How to turn off Remote Differential Compression
RDC is designed to help with network transfers. You assumed that nobody has networks or does transfers through them. Also, I can't find any other evidence to such gains.

· How to remove the recycle bin
Right click desktop › Personalize › change desktop icons › untick recycle bin

This does nothing to remove the recycle bin. This hides the icon from the desktop. Total impact zero. Additionally, you can't empty the bin and, as a result, have less free space. This equates in reusing the free cells on a SSD more often than if you would have more free space.

In the long run, this damages the SSDs. You can just lower the limit or don't delete to Recycle Bin.

· How to disable defragmentation & Superfetch
Superfetch is good, even on SSDs. RTFM. Also, correctly installed/recognized SSDs are not defragmented.

Additionally, the data that background taks optimize is minimal. Windows does not perform a defrag on idle, just an optimisation of boot files. Impact on SSD life is minimal.

· How to change title text of Internet Explorer
That helps.

· How to change border padding for windows
Ditto. Plus, now it's ugly.

• Windows uses 20% of your bandwidth, here's how to get it back
Don't you think someone would complain if someone (else) would eat 20% of something? Open a damned book. Really, that's just ... people do this all the time and complain afterwards.

QOS is a setting of how much Windows will reserve from a FULLY LOADED LINK when an application that requests Quality of Service needs it. To put things into perspective, applications that do stuff like streaming need a constant stream of data more than they need bandwidth. Your legal downloads of things that are not what I think they are need bandwidth. If you watch TV online or chat via skype, then they need a few K, but they need it before the movie ends.

Such applications can reserve PRIORITY over a certain percent of the link, so if they need it, they get it from the torrent file. That means that when Skype sends a packet, it is moved to the front of the queue, delaying your Torrent packet by 1/100 second. This you don't notice. You would the other way around.

Just like setting CMD.exe to real-time priority doesn't make the CPU go at 100%, setting skype to have 10% reserved will not limit the link, it will simply allow it to take up to 10% from other applications should they fight over bandwidth.

Stop copy-pasting stuff you don't understand, that's why your IPTV works like it's been assembled in Amish Country. And that's why after "tuning" a system to high performance the forums are full of people blaming the drivers, the net, the moon and anyhting other than the registry it modified.

• How to access the Disk Management Console Tool
Start › diskmgmt.msc

Here's a thought: Right-click on "My Computer" or "Computer", depending on OS, and choose "manage". That will give you access to Disk Management as well as just about everything else you need. It works with the start menu "Computer" as well as any shortcuts!

• Turn off automatic update
Yeah. Who needs patches? Also, it takes up a bundle.

· How to clean the HDD / SSD
Start › cleanmgr (or use CCleaner)

Right-click on C:, properties, clean up.

· How to access Resource Monitor
Start › Resource Monitor

Nice. Also, Start > everything else.
Oh, one more thing. That feature with start and type whatever you need? It's based on indexing. See how turning stuff off kinda brakes other stuff?

-------------------------------------

Look, it's not personal, but the point is that the only reason these things are out there is because people copy and paste it without opening a book, looking them up or at least trying to filter them. The more you copy them, the more people will think that since it's everywhere, it must be true.

And because nobody takes the time to disassemble them, more people think they are fine since nobody had a problem with them.

Save for disabling defrag on the SSDs, there's little of the above that helps, some are downright the oposite of what someone should do to their PCs.

I know it seems like you are helping, I know you want to do good, but you are not.

Save yourself the trouble and stop modifying the OS on a whim and you'll understand why some people didn't have to reinstall Windows since 2003 while others think it's like unrefrigerated meat and needs throwing away after 3 months.

If you want to help performance, save for some RAM or a new CPU. You'll never out-bench or outperform a superior system via tweaks.

 

[BugMeister]

- probably true - even if a bit harsh..
- tweaking shouldn't be done if you're not 100% sure of the outcome..

- any advice on usage of SSD's should contain info on moving folders off the SSD and onto storage HDD's
- keeping the SSD clean and reserved for those progs and apps that you really want going at **"Ludicrous Speed" is most important..

- I'd put the OS,and all that it entails (- including the swapfile) on the SSD, for faster booting
- from then on, then it's really horses for courses - whatever suits your own requirements..

- I have MSOffice2000(a total of 7 programs) with the MSOffice2007Standard upgrade(4 programs) and the Corel GraphicsX4/Painter11(5 programs) suite on the SSD, for fast access..
- now that's already a sizeable chunk of SSD space, but it suits my particular needs regarding speed of access, etc
- however, any saves from these progs are sent to the storage HDD, to avoid build-up..

- particular games that seem to prefer a fast environment are also installed to the SSD (X3:Terran Conflict is a good example of this, in my case..)
- some games simply thrive in the SSD environment - Farcry 2 is amazingly fast in 64-bit via the solid disk..
- other, slower-paced games don't really benefit from the speed - unless you're simply impatient by nature..
- a slow-paced game like Medieval II and its expansion are probably better installed on the HDD due to size of the database (17 gig!!)
- Football Manager is another good example of a game to install on the storage HDD, as it too has a very large database..

- any folders that have a tendency to grow like topsy can also be moved off the SSD
- the My Pictures, My Music and My Video folders can be easily moved to the storage HDD,
- Windows Media Player automatically remembers the storage location and responds accordingly..

**(- thanks to Mel Brooks' SpaceBalls for that reference..!!)

 

[Cov]

Hi, in fact I leave the 80GB SSD for the OS, Word and 1 PC game only.

All the storage of videos, music, pictures, documents or any other software is on my WD10EADS.

Sometimes, when I intend to use the internet only, I disconnect the WD10EADS, resulting in the most economical and quitest PC system I ever had in my life.
I just wished the damn Zotac board would allow the CPU to be undervolted.

Also do I notice that the NB gets rather hot. Anything I could do about it ?

By the way, you know the Windows Experience Index has changed:

.. for CPU from 6.6 (E8400) to 7.3 (Q9550)

.. for RAM from 6.8 (4 GB) to 7.3 (8 GB)

.. for primary HDD from 5.3 (HDD) to 7.7 (SSD)


Don't know how reliable these numbers are, but still interesting.

 

[BugMeister]

- does NB mean notebook..??
- if so, I'd raise it up off the desk surface, to allow better airflow..

 

[Antman]

NB=NorthBridge

 

[Ndi]

- any advice on usage of SSD's should contain info on moving folders off the SSD and onto storage HDD's

That depends on what you move. E.g., one could move the temp folder off, as it's the most scratched, but, if an application actually scratches the scratch disk, it becomes slow waiting for the disk and you have gained startup time only and sometimes not that, either.

Frankly, I'd go about this way:

* Can you afford another SSD (s)? Say, a 2-5 grand PC with several SSDs (like my home PC)? Then great, my advice to you is use it like it's a normal, fast hdd. At some point it will grow tired and you'll buy another in a couple of years. In that time, speedy thing goes in, speedy thing comes out.

* Is your SSD expensive to you? Made an effort (desperate) to speed up a notebook or a low(er) and PC? Then you want to save it. Move off the disk with the critical stuff: Move Temp on HDD via junction, move off registry via reparse point or whatever trick you do I can't be responsible for, try to free up the disk as much as possible so it wears down (more) evenly and slowly, etc. You'll have a not-so-fast, but quite decent PC. Turning logging off will help, too. You probably don't read them anyway. Limit the Windows event log. Stuff like that.

One is unlikely to strike a balance because in my tests the best scratcher of the drive was the OS logging and scratching the registry and whatnot. So you either go all out trying to save the disk or you just leave it be. Anyways, one is likely to save the SSD from a 3 year death to a 3.5 year. Not worth the effort and the risk.

Reinstalls don't help SSDs.

now that's already a sizeable chunk of SSD space, but it suits my particular needs regarding speed of access, etc

They _are_ small and expensive aren't they? Make sure you don't fill it up. To each his own, but I usually have a -roughly- 30GB partition for the OS and I try to keep it under 20G used. This provides enough space to let the system handle stuff around. Remember, just because it doesn't feel fragmentation doesn't mean it's OK to leave it like that.

More fragments means that more entries in the MFT/FAT/WFS/whatever are needed to keep a list of all fragments. As a result, MFT grows, space goes gown, wear and tear increases.

When they said don't defrag, they didn't mean "never". Every now and then, a defragmentation is good for the filesystem. Don't do it too often, but do it. Let's say, 2 weeks? A month if you don't really use the PC over a few hours a day.

- some games simply thrive in the SSD environment - Farcry 2 is amazingly fast in 64-bit via the solid disk..

Apps that get real boosts from SSDs are usually applications that were starved of RAM. With games, this usually means that either you are low on free RAM or (more likely) that you have a low-RAM graphics card. New games require 768Mb for nice quality, some don't really run well without 1G.

Some games run better on weaker cards than mine because they have more G-RAM (mine is split in half because of crossfire). I've seen people score better than me with much cheaper cards because of the extra RAM since they could fit the textures and I couldn't. You might get a big hit out an upgrade in that sense.

- other, slower-paced games don't really benefit from the speed - unless you're simply impatient by nature..

I've found that games that use on-the-fly load (HL2, Portal) give me the best results since I'm actually watching the screen. I've also found that copying games on SSDs every few days so they play nice wastes the write cycles. I play games off the HDD array.

.. for CPU from 6.6 (E8400) to 7.3 (Q9550)
.. for RAM from 6.8 (4 GB) to 7.3 (8 GB)
.. for primary HDD from 5.3 (HDD) to 7.7 (SSD)
Don't know how reliable these numbers are, but still interesting.

6.6 was too low for q9550. I got 7.3 with 9650 when stock, 7.6 now (4.0 GHz). You can't get higher because you need 8 cores for 7.9.

I have 7.6 for RAM, and I have one of the fastest RAM in the world, with a 7-7-7-20 DDR3 at 1780 (1800) (Well, they were when I bought them. I think a Redline that beats them now. Anyway). But it will not rate you higher unless you get 8 GB (I have 4 1-Gb DIMMs).

Primary HDDs are limited to 5.9 for actual HDD because of seek time. I understand one needs SSD or somesuch for over 5.9. I now have 7.1. Also, free space is a factor in HDD rating, I score under you because I have ~10 GB free (30 GB partition), even though I have 2 SSDz in stripe (RAID0).

But none of it matters because with 6.2 on video (512 MB, remember?), so I'm on a 6.2 system, because of crossfire. Oh well

 

[Cov]

Hi, what is Ndi suppose to stand for ?
You talk a lot, don't you ?

... 6.6 was too low for q9550. I got 7.3 with 9650 when stock ...

Read again, it says 6.6 (E8400)

 

[BugMeister]

..well, I get 7.6 for processor and 7.7 for RAM in WEI

- the three other entries are all 6.9 (- including the SSD/HDD set-up)
- and those performance results are with no overclocking, anywhere..
- I could probably tweak them right up to the max 7.9..

- but I won't - 'cos I don't need to..

- personally, I'd rather fine-tune the system than thrash the hardware..

 

[Ndi]

- I could probably tweak them right up to the max 7.9.

You can't unless you upgrade or cheat. CPU rating isn't about how much you can compute, just as RAM isn't about speed. The score is aggregate and requires certain conditions to qualify. Gaming is also affected by RAM, e.g.

AFAIK, you need 8 cores to qualify for 7.9, as you need 8 G of RAM to qualify for 7.9. I don't know if the documentation I read was official or not, but it makes sense, since I score almost identical to quite different hardware, inferior performance-wise.

Also, the detailed rating report seems to suggest as much.

Read again, it says 6.6 (E8400)

My bad.

 

[MikeBravo]

Tweaks in general

I wish it were a rule that no one could ever post a tweak without also posting exactly how to undo that tweak. The only exception would be for checking or unchecking radio boxes. Posters submitting a tweak should also state the possible unintended consequences of that tweak. Microsoft may not be gods gift to computing but they usually have a good reason for their defaults.

 

[FZ21Z]

I'm aware that many people would not agree with all of these settings, but I have found it to be useful for my system with an SSD as a boot device.

Perhaps people should lean how to read a little slower.

 

[whs]

Most of the useful settings that pertain to optimizing performance on the SSD are done automatically by Windows7. The Win7 installer can detect that it is not a spinning disk and configure the system accordingly.
Beyond that, there are probably further settings that can tweak another few percent of performance. For those though, one should study the details in depth and see whether it is worth it.
Here is a pretty good article summarizing what is being done by Win7: Engineering Windows 7 : Support and Q&A for Solid-State Drives

 

[mdloops]

Save for disabling defrag on the SSDs, there's little of the above that helps, some are downright the oposite of what someone should do to their PCs.

I know it seems like you are helping, I know you want to do good, but you are not.

Save yourself the trouble and stop modifying the OS on a whim and you'll understand why some people didn't have to reinstall Windows since 2003 while others think it's like unrefrigerated meat and needs throwing away after 3 months.
.

I could not agree more. Almost all of these tips are going to have negatie impacts on the stability, performance, and security of a system. Furthermore, this should be a lesson to everybody who followed anything suggested by the original poster: if somebody tells you to challenge the integrity of your operating system without actual proof from trusted sources (i.e. Microsoft, IBM, etc.) they are almost always the last ones you should be listening to. I have an intel 160gb SSD and besides install the drive in my laptop and make sure that defrag was not scheduled to run on it there is nothing I will change. Microsoft built windows 7, and for the most part Vista, to be compatable with SSDs. Disable compression protocols used for network transfers? Are you serious?