Tweak my "newer" system

[skywalker]

I am working on maximizing the performance on my "newer" system.

I am real happy with it.

It's a P-3 448 MHz with WinXP Professional and 384 MB Ram. (It has 3 slots for the RAM
but I don't know what the maximum amount of Ram that my motherboard can have)

I can get 128MB for $25.

I have eliminated any non-necessary programs from starting up.
What should I set my virtual memory to?

Any other suggestions appreciated.

Thanks.

[MichaelW]

To determine how much memory the motherboard can support, and exactly what the memory needs to be, your best bet would be to get a manual for the motherboard (or at least the technical specs). If it's a system from one of the big OEMs then you may be able to get the necessary information from the OEM's web site. Otherwise, you could open the case and look for a manufacturer and model number somewhere on the motherboard. If you can identify the manufacturer and model number, and the manufacturer is not some no-name and still around, then you may be able to get the necessary information from manufacturer's web site.

Your processor and memory are well above the minimum system requirements:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/sysreqs.mspx

My main system is a 500 MHz P3 with 512MB and a JB model WD hard drive running Windows 2000, and for what I do it has plenty of performance without any "tweaking". I let Windows manage the virtual memory. Although I have tried various settings in the past (with earlier versions of Windows), I have never been able to detect any noticeable increase in performance.

Assuming PC133 memory, $25 for 128 MB seems a little low.

[zooba]

Many times I have tried adjusting the virtual memory in WinXP (Home) and it won't let me. I've got 1GB of RAM and I don't really need 3GB of my hard drive committed to a page file, but every time I change it Windows changes it back.  :snooty:

[skywalker]

To determine how much memory the motherboard can support, and exactly what the memory needs to be, your best bet would be to get a manual for the motherboard (or at least the technical specs). If it's a system from one of the big OEMs then you may be able to get the necessary information from the OEM's web site. Otherwise, you could open the case and look for a manufacturer and model number somewhere on the motherboard. If you can identify the manufacturer and model number, and the manufacturer is not some no-name and still around, then you may be able to get the necessary information from manufacturer's web site.

Your processor and memory are well above the minimum system requirements:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/evaluation/sysreqs.mspx

My main system is a 500 MHz P3 with 512MB and a JB model WD hard drive running Windows 2000, and for what I do it has plenty of performance without any "tweaking". I let Windows manage the virtual memory. Although I have tried various settings in the past (with earlier versions of Windows), I have never been able to detect any noticeable increase in performance.

Assuming PC133 memory, $25 for 128 MB seems a little low.

I bought the PC100 for that price. I called around to several places and they had slightly higher prices.

The backup utility is saying I need a floppy drive to back up all system files along with other backup medium.
Can I put everything on a CD?

My floppy isn't working, I think the FDC isn't working. (I replaced the cable and drive with ones known to work to see what was wrong.)

[Mark Jones]

XP requires the floppy.

[skywalker]

XP requires the floppy.

Is there an external floppy drive I could add on ?

[MichaelW]

I think a reversed connector, or a drive selection problem (drive or cable connected to wrong connector, or the cable twist state does not match the drive jumper) or a BIOS configuration problem are considerably more likely than a failed FDC.

[Tedd]

Minimalism :bdg
Turn off all of the visual effects, and 'pretty' things (window skin, menu animations, cursor shadow, etc) and anything else that is 'unnecessary.'
The setting for virtual memory depends on your activities. In most cases, I set the minimum to 256MB. You can test this for a while and increase it if you need to - depending on what programs you run most of the time.
I would guess your motherboard should be able to handle upto 256MB per slot so that's 768MB :wink

[sluggy]

Heh, that machine has about the same spec as my firewall :)

I would actually ditch WinXP and put Win2003 on it instead. XP tends to suffer from the same malaise that affects W9x - after maybe a week you HAVE to reboot, this is especially true if you have a lower amount of memory. Conversely, if you have a large amount of memory (like 4GB  :bg :8) ) then it will go a couple of weeks without rebooting. Win2003 though is a lot more solid, and chugs away nicely, and has about the same memory requirements. Incidentally, the recommended minimum for XP is 512MB.

One optimisation tip: regularly clean out the prefetch folder (%windows%\Prefetch). WinXp tries to be intelligent, and uses this area for a cache for files it *thinks* you are going to use or need - the problem with this is that XP is not too bright, and it ends up being a performance hit.

[Petroizki]

I have understood that the virtual memory should be set to constant, so it doesn't get fragmented. I have 512MB of RAM, and i have set the Virtual Memory to 1280MB (init and minimum). I actually have the Virtual Memory on my second hard-drive, not the one with the Windows itself, i think this speed up my computer a bit.

[skywalker]

Heh, that machine has about the same spec as my firewall :)

I would actually ditch WinXP and put Win2003 on it instead. XP tends to suffer from the same malaise that affects W9x - after maybe a week you HAVE to reboot, this is especially true if you have a lower amount of memory. Conversely, if you have a large amount of memory (like 4GB  :bg :8) ) then it will go a couple of weeks without rebooting. Win2003 though is a lot more solid, and chugs away nicely, and has about the same memory requirements. Incidentally, the recommended minimum for XP is 512MB.

One optimisation tip: regularly clean out the prefetch folder (%windows%\Prefetch). WinXp tries to be intelligent, and uses this area for a cache for files it *thinks* you are going to use or need - the problem with this is that XP is not too bright, and it ends up being a performance hit.

Thanks. Where is that folder.

[Mark Jones]

Heh, that machine has about the same spec as my firewall :)

Ouch! :bg

I would actually ditch WinXP and put Win2003 on it instead. XP tends to suffer from the same malaise that affects W9x - after maybe a week you HAVE to reboot, this is especially true if you have a lower amount of memory. Conversely, if you have a large amount of memory (like 4GB  :bg :8) ) then it will go a couple of weeks without rebooting.

I've been running XP Pro with 1GB ram almost since it came out. I very rarely ever see BSOD's or need to reboot and this box runs 24/7. I also spend a fair amount of time maintaining the system and preventing issues, like recently running the Sony XCP RootKit uninstaller and uninstalling Norton Utilities. Now according to RootkitRevealer there are no benign places for trojans to hide. Daily backups, weekly Spybot/Microsoft Antispyware scans, and monthly virus scans have eliminated issues all but once for that damn WMF exploit (which hid itself in the Norton Protected Recycle Bin (rootkit), go figure.)

[skywalker]

I think a reversed connector, or a drive selection problem (drive or cable connected to wrong connector, or the cable twist state does not match the drive jumper) or a BIOS configuration problem are considerably more likely than a failed FDC.

Thanks a lot. The BIOS had the floppy set to disabled, now it's working great.

I am getting a Network Cable is Unplugged icon. When I bought it, the guy said it had a network card and I think he said it was DSL ready or something like that. It has a 3 Com Integrated Fast Ethernet Controller 3C905B-TX Compatible. (whatever that is)

[MichaelW]

A 3C905B-TX is a PCI bus 10/100 (Mbps) Ethernet card. Until they were discontinued this was my NIC of choice, and there is one in the system I'm using right now.