Use hidden Windows tweaks to speed up your Internet and network connections

As always, you need to be careful when it comes to tweaks like these. On my Windows 7 system, most of these were already on/recommended/normal. Infact the only thing you'd probably consider is the Direct Cache Access option as it has no negatives. But the article in no way describes how one could check if this function would be supported by your hardware.

 

I have messed with these settings on many occasions. Depending on what you are doing, some of them can make a small improvement, and sometimes they can make things worse. From my testing, there is not one magical group of settings that works for everything I do.

It is interesting to me that in Windows XP, browsing drives or network shares was almost instant, or at the least very fast. Windows 7 has been very much different for me, in that it is always much slower in both respects except for the OS drive.

I had to do some tests recently and went back to XP. The speed was quite intoxicating, to the point that I was ready to migrate back to XP as much of what I do is file browsing in some form or another.

I like Windows 7 though, more than XP, more and more. I can't say exactly why, I just do. So before I committed myself to regressing to XP, I dug a little deeper and found a few different tricks to tweak Windows 7 even more than it already was. The result was nothing short of shocking - Windows 7 now, finally, after a year of using it, performs on par with XP in terms of file browsing and network browsing. I think I modified one or two of the settings listed in that article, and a few others.

Sul.

 

Thanks for posting, that's a great article.

 

Thanks ronjor for great article share

 

Interesting, do you have details of the tweaks you used?

 

I've always taken these Tweaks with a grain of salt...

 

Could you share your particular tweaks,it'd be most interesting?

 

Same info here http://www.speedguide.net/articles/windows-7-vista-2008-tweaks-2574 and a little more.

A GUI optimizer is offered at the bottom of the page that does these changes as well as a batch file which has worked well for me in Vista.

Another GUI tool listed here http://stevejobs.blogs.keznews.com/vista-network-helper/ I have not used this one so use caution.

 

These "tweaks" should probably be seen in the light of new born Vista. Or in other words they have been mentioned and blogged about since 2006. May be a good idea to take those pre-usable Vista tricks with a grain of salt today, I would hope even more 7. Very easy to restore default so no harm done. Test away and only one way to find out... Vista was not "carefully designed" to optimize network performance in 2006 as he says but much has happened since then, 7 for example.

 

Sure. I will try to do that this weekend.

Sul.

 

I currently have these services running

Code:

Base Filtering Engine
Com+ Event System
Crypto Services
DCOM Server Process Launcher
Desktop Window Manager Session Manager
DHCP
Distributed Link Tracking Client
DNS
Function Discovery Resource Publication
Group Policy Client
Human Interface Device Access
Multimedia Class Scheduler
Network Connection
Network List Service
Network Location Awareness
Network Storage Interface Service
Plug and Pray
Power
Print Spooler
Program Compatability Assistance
Protected Storage
Remote Proc Call (RPC)
RPC Endpoint Mapper
Security Accounts Manager
Shell Hardware Detection
Software Protection
System Event Notifier
TCP/IP NetBios Helper
Themes
User Profile Service
Windows Audio
Windows Audio Endpoint Builder
Windows Management Instrumentation
Workstation

Some of those services are on automatic, some on manual. Some other services set to manual but not running. Disabling Superfetch for SSD drive, and disabled Search to stop the indexing.

Here are the main ones that really sped things up:

in system.ini
add the value Irq14=4096, as shown below, in the [386enh] section

[386enh]
Irq14=4096

* this may or may not do anything, but when I instituted it with the following, my hdd and share activity is much faster

also, try this for network speedup:
netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabled
netsh interface tcp set global rss=disabled
*reset this using
*netsh interface tcp set global autotuninglevel=normal

Disable Remote Differetial Compression from windows features. (add/remove programs/windows components)

*stop using the LastAccess stamp from cmd
fsutil behavior set disablelastaccess 1
*from registry
[HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\]
NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate DWORD 0=not disabled 1=disabled

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Multimedia\SystemProfile]
NetworkThrottlingIndex DWORD 10 default -- hex 0xffffffff turns it off
*this is how many packets per millisecond non-multimedia traffick gets restricted to
*WHEN multimedia applications are running
* see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/948066

The only other thing that I read to do, but was already enabled, is on each disk drive property (policies tab) the "Enable write caching on the device" should be checked.

Sul.

 

Especially when no benchmarks are provided.

Cheers, Nick.

 

This is a very interesting thread: thanks for all the useful links. I have changed quite a number of things and my Vista feels snappier, but it is often difficult to assess speed on an already fast computer. Sully is quite right when he describes as "intoxicating" the feeling of a fast computer, it is for most people, savvy and not, probably the most important attribute in terms of performance.

 

@Sully

Thanks for the info.

 

Article here: http://windowssecrets.com/2010/10/14/01-Simple-change-in-settings-pumps-up-Win7-networks

 

I would be curious if anyone else finds drive/network performance differences with what I mentioned.

Sul.

 

Is Irq14 the Irq of your NIC? Also have you tried other values such as 8192 or larger?

http://www.speedguide.net/articles/systemini-irq-tweak-168

 

Not to debate/argue with anyone here but it seems like 2 of the tweaks mentioned by Sully have been "debunked" as myths (well, actually most tweaks have been 'debunked' by various skeptics anyway). I'm just letting you guys know..maybe someone here knows better than me.

Source: XP Myths

Sysedit.exe is a 16-bit app. (I know coz I've disabled 16-bit thru Group Policy) But even if you go ahead with the tweak, there's no harm in adding it in as stated there

Source: Debunking Myths about Remote Differential Compression and System Performance

I believe the increase in speed you see might be due to the disabling of auto-tuning tweak instead...see here:

When you copy large files to or from earlier operating systems, the copy operation may be slower than expected on some Windows Vista-based computers

==================================================================================================================================

In addition to what Sully has shared, I hope no one here mind if I put these:

When it comes to services tweaking, TheElderGeek Services Guide for XP (still relavant for Win7) is more helpful to start out with in comparison to BlackViper (which is more suitable for hardcore tweakers). BlackViper has this list but it's rarely linked to:

http://wiki.blackviper.com/wiki/Category:Windows_7_Services

Here's my own list of services settings changed from the default in Win7 (while still retaining most functionality; doesn't 'break' apps/system by much for the average home user)

Sully's services list seems to be quite heavily tweaked

As for SuperFetch, it's pretty much a controversial topic. I personally have set it to only cache System Boot Files on 1 of my lappies while left it to default on the other.

I also use these reg tweaks:

Code:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"MenuShowDelay"="0"
"AutoEndTasks"="1"
"HungAppTimeout"="1000"
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="2000"
"LowLevelHooksTimeout"="1000"

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop]
"AutoEndTasks"="1"
"HungAppTimeout"="1000"
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="2000"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control]
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="2000"
"WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="2000"

Index service, NTFS last access disabled too.

I also disabled a few unnecessary Visual Effects options. You can let the following options remain enabled according to your requirements:

Code:

Enable Aero peek
Enable desktop composition (If you want to use Windows Aero theme)
Enable transparent glass (If you want to use transparency in Windows)
Show thumbnails instead of icons (If you want to show thumbnails in Explorer)
Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop (If you want to show shadows under desktop icon labels)
Use visual styles on windows and buttons (If you want to use Windows Aero or Basic theme.)

Disabling Windows Sidebar and Gadgets really helps out a lot if you're low on RAM..

A few more:
Launch folder Windows in a separate process (doesn't improve performance as stated here but may be useful in improving stability if you're getting Explorer crashes often - take note that setting this uses up a bit more memory)

Disable Windows Startup Sound - I just get annoyed by this...not so much for 'performance' whatsoever.

Ultimate Windows Tweaker a very nice tool that puts up a GUI to a collection of reg tweaks and others.

Apart from TCPOptimizer, there's also SG Vista TCP/IP Patch.

Source: http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php

I believe some of the changes listed above may have been 'debunked' elsewhere....so you have to do research on that on your own. I don't see negative side effect on my system when I used them. Usually, I tweak with caution...but different setups/PCs behave differently and we all have different requirements. What works for me might not work for you.

 

I too had researched and seen that the system.ini was supposed to be a myth. All I can say is that I despised the fact that my hdd speeds or share speeds in win7 were roughly 30% slower than in XP, proved time and time again on all the computers I put win7 on that also had XP on prior. I tried many settings, but none of them really got me aroused

Those settings I posted have, on 2 machines now that I know and use daily, have made win7 speeds in hdd and shares become within a fraction of what XP was. Some may say placebo, and that is fine, but I demand file browsing be instant, if possible. I will reformat and reinstall or do just about anything to achieve that, as it is the slowest aspect of what I normally do. These tweaks have given win7 a new lease to life on my systems. As I said, I was about ready to go back to XP because of just how much faster it was.

I have not cross examined all different tweaks to see which one(s) really do the job, only that what I put in place works and for now I am super happy to have the speed I should have had the whole time.

Sul.

 

I like some tweaking sites but remember that most of their info is simply copy and paste from Microsoft own pages - which can be annoying and confusing to read. BlackViper has not invented that much other than a format for ease of use. Some people and some sites try to come off as having found NEW and HIDDEN whatever. Not really the case. Important to be aware of if not used to modifying defaults. Downloading reg-file for SuperFast Windows is of course a hopeless or good example. Was it XP or 7 btw? Well it seems to work, actually it feels a bit more snappier now. I am glad. F#¤%# printer does not work and event log is full of errors! I will from now on warn against Blackviper and any other tweaking stuff! and blah blah. A confused user who should not have modified to begin with. Copy and paste is typically not a good idea. This is the reason tweaking programs exist - without giving any praise they can help user get safely through tweaking while not thinking phase

BlackViper rarely linked to safeguy? I would estimate it is the most linked to regarding services, for years even. I know some hate it because they are of the "cool, I just import a reg-file a dude attached to a forum post" type that WILL screw up if there is just a little risk but I have not noticed his site going off the radar. If going downhill it might have to do with more people using 7 and so seeing less NEED to change anything? Beast run just fine without any user intervention.

He fails a bit with comments to certain services. They are probably correct but X person who read them will think ok so I do not use this program or Windows feature hence I can safely ignore his "but if you use..." What he inform about is what he knows. There can be more things to worry about but when he make personal comments it appear as if he has investigated, emptied Google index and all tech forums for even the most unlikely problem. He has not. Many people have messed up because being sent off to his site but I can't see he is that much to blame. When he say "I have not found any use for.." it does not mean "You (including your programs, current and coming) will not find any use for.." This goes for similar setups as well.

 

Regarding Vista (which is the big beast regarding tweaking) take a look at ItsVista http://itsvista.com/ I know site would not be there without ads but still, if that type of info-bombing is of no interest or overkill I am not sure tweaking should be on to-do list. Baby steps required at least. Rollback works somewhat as clearance to go crazy but not in the long run. I think playing in a Virtual Box/VM something is better. Might be difficult to test everything in this environment, like network stuff, but if you cannot comfortably tweak Vista or 7/XP in a VM (there is not dif what so ever or it broke!) you cannot deal with the real either. Tweaking should be effective and relevant to specific setup/computer not just change of settings so with some quality demands it is not that easy to do. Which is why it is fun

 

I didn't say otherwise either. Maybe I wasn't clear but what I meant was I usually observe many linking to BlackViper homepage or the specific configuration examples/recommendation pages like this instead of the wiki service listing pages where there's slightly more description on what the services are, the dependencies, etc. There's a tendency for newbies to be misled to apply the 'recommended' settings without bothering to do a bit more research on their own. That's the 'danger' I see...people applying settings blindly and then find trouble later on when things don't work.

 

Ok, I misread your hint then. A newbie have nothing to do at his site though - but how do you learn so lesson is not forgotten? Who has not made mistakes due to stupid tweaking? No patience and know-now = trouble. Have not read much of his other stuff, including forum, so don't know if he is a hothead but it seems unfair that "BlackViper" sometimes get criticized. Pretty much generic info in a useful format.

 

Black Viper was really the first that I remember to give the details on services in XP. His site was always referenced because it was all there, and "generically" he was correct with what you could "safely" shut off.

What he doesn't do is tell you what will happen when you do certain things, probably because it is hard to know all of the possible combinations and results of such combinations.

I generally tell people to use pserv if they are going to mess with services and don't understand what they are doing. Pserv lets you export the defaults or your chosen config as an .xml file, which is of great use to import it again. It allows you to test and restore without having to resort to .reg files. All of that can be done with .reg too, just not as easy.

Sul.