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Vista Tips and Tweaks


Martin L

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  • 4 weeks later...

I didnt see these..

Without doubt in my mind, probably the best tweak for windows, by far:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Executive]

"AdditionalCriticalWorkerThreads"=dword:00000010

"AdditionalDelayedWorkerThreads"=dword:00000010

thats 16 for both in decimal.no more no less, it is also the maximum afaik.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters]

"EnableSuperfetch"=dword:00000000

"EnablePrefetcher"=dword:00000000

NO THANK YOU!

+ "DisablePagingExecutive"=dword:00000001

"LargeSystemCache"=dword:00000001

Of course.

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  • 2 months later...

How to enable Windows Aero in Vista Home Basic:

1. Type "regedit" (without quotes) in the Start Search box.

2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM. Set the value of registry keys Composition to 1 and CompositionPolicy to 2.

3. Restart the DWM service. There are two methods: one is to type "net stop uxsms" and then "net start uxsms" (both without quotes) on an elevated Command Prompt (right click Command Prompt and select Run As Administrator) and the other is to type "services" (without quotes) in the Start Search Box, select Services, right click on Desktop Window Manager, and select Restart.

4. Enjoy!

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I didnt see these..

Without doubt in my mind, probably the best tweak for windows, by far:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Executive]

"AdditionalCriticalWorkerThreads"=dword:00000010

"AdditionalDelayedWorkerThreads"=dword:00000010

thats 16 for both in decimal.no more no less, it is also the maximum afaik.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters]

"EnableSuperfetch"=dword:00000000

"EnablePrefetcher"=dword:00000000

NO THANK YOU!

+ "DisablePagingExecutive"=dword:00000001

"LargeSystemCache"=dword:00000001

Of course.

Since I set up several new PC's with Vista every month, I'm always looking for tweaks to make Vista run better without all the fluff, glitz and glitter.

I already have several that I use including some of the above.....but I'm curious about the "NO THANK YOU!".

What are you saying there? Would you please explain that in a bit more detail, for the nubies.

Thanks in advance,

Andromeda43 :hello:

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  • 2 weeks later...

Unsigned drivers got you down? Are you like me and hate that bootpro program more than having to press a button? Well I have the cure, tested on Windows Vista home Premium x64 with SP1. I'm still laughing that someone bothered to write that little program to click some options on every boot.

Here you go, this is exactly the same as "Warn but don't Block", or whatever it's called, on xp. All day i could not install ATITool, even after using f8. I applied this tweak and presto. Not sure if i rebooted or not, probably stopping and restarting explorer should be sufficient.

Go to C:\Windosw\Inf directory. Find the file Sceregvl.inf. Might want to make a backup copy elsewhere before moving on. Under the section [Register Registry Values] you will copy and paste the following:

MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Driver Signing\Policy,3, "Devices: Unsigned driver installation behavior",3,0| DriverSigning0="Silently succeed ",1|"Warn but allow installation",2|"Do not allow installation"

then save the file and close it

open the "run" dialog box, and type the following regsvr32 "scecli.dll" (no quotes) . POW THAT IS ALL

from now on you will simply be asked if you want to install the driver.

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Recommendation: When you should consider disabling Superfetch:

- systems with low RAM and no ReadyBoost available

- laptops (lots of disk I/O generates so much heat, and the disk are very noisy & slow)

- virtual machines (lots of physical disk I/O to the .vhd file, chance of double-caching)

- temporarily on systems I am going to be rebooting a lot (e.g. hotfixes on a clean installation, installation of kernel drivers requiring reboots, etc.)

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  • 2 months later...
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Executive]

"AdditionalCriticalWorkerThreads"=dword:00000010

"AdditionalDelayedWorkerThreads"=dword:00000010

thats 16 for both in decimal.no more no less, it is also the maximum afaik.

Normally I disagree with you on tweaks, but this one is a good one if you have a system that's heavily loaded. 10 hex is the max (giving you 16 additional threads on top of the 10 already devoted to these tasks), although that will cause some excess thread memory usage as these will sit fallow for long periods of time. You would be best to try starting at 6, and working your way upwards until performance meets your needs. Unless you've got the kernel VA to spare, of course, in which case 10 is a perfectly fine number.
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I notice there are a couple I use that aren't listed in this entire thread.

These can only be done with Vista Business and Ultimate, since they rely on using the Group Policy Object Editor.

Account disabled after wake from sleep/hibernate when no password is used

By default, Vista requires a password on resume/wake from hibernation. If you have a user account that does not have a password (not recommended) or need to use Vista in Factory or Audit mode for an extended period of time (like me) then you should disable this requirement. It is found here:

Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Power Management\Sleep Settings\

Require a Password when the computer wakes (disable)

Network share/access/transfer speed is very slow when accessing XP or 2003 servers/clients/shares

This is caused by the Link Layer Topology Mapper. Vista puts a priority of mapping out the network over traversing it initially. If you are on a small network, this should not apply. If you are on a large network or a medium - large network with frequent changes, such as not always the same computers on it at all times, then this can severely degrade your experience. It is designed for use with a similarly configured Server 2008 to accept and respond to Vista. If you do not have a responder server, Vista will constantly try to figure it out on its own or keep sending discovers to get a response. Disabling this will return Vista's networking to how it was on XP or earlier.

Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\Network\Link Layer Topology Discovery\

Turn On Mapper I/O (LLTDIO) Driver (disable)

Turn on Responder (RSPNDR) Driver (disable)

Disabling these may also effect the Vista Network Map, not that I found that feature anything worth using anyways.

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  • 3 months later...

Add Two New Commands To The Context Of Vista.....

"Copy To"

"Move To"

Click Start>Type Regedit>Accept UAC Warning!

You May Backup Your Registry Just In Case Something Goes Wrong.

To Backup Your Registry, Click On File And Then Export To Any Location.

Now Down To The Tweak!(You Might Find Commands "Copy To" And "Move To" Already In The "ContextMenuHandlers", Ignore Thos And Continue With The Instructions Below)

1: In The Left Pane Of The Registry Window, Expand "HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT"

2: Scroll Down Till You Find "ALLFilesystemObjects" And Then Expand It; Then Expand "shellex" To Reveal "ContextMenuHandlers"

3: Right Click "ContextMenuHandlers" And Select "New Key"; You Will Thus Get A Key Named "#1"; Now Carefully Rename This Key As Follows

{C2FBB630-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13} (Including The Brackets And The 0 Are Zeros)

4: Now For The "Move To" Command

5: Right Click "ContextMenuHandlers" And Select "New Key"; You Will Thus Get A Key Named "#1"; Now Carefully Rename This Key As Follows

{C2FBB631-2971-11D1-A18C-00C04FD75D13} (Including The Brackets And The 0 Are Zeros)

6: You May Now Exit The Registry; File>Exit (Restart NOT Required)

7: Right Click Any File In Explorer To Test The New Commands!

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  • 1 month later...
Some people don't like the default size and BPP for the icons used in Vista. This is easy to change via a registry entry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]
"Shell Icon BPP"="50"
"Shell Icon Size"="32"

These are REG_SZ values, the defaults are shown - change to the values you want.

The Shell Icon Size already exists at that location and the default is 32 - the value is in pixels.

The Shell Icon BPP does not already exist and needs to be added. The valid values range 50% to 100% - the default is 50.

There are also a few more items at that location which can be adjusted concerning icons. As you change the size of the icons of course the spacing between the icons changes also, if you need to adjust the spacing, alter the 'IconSpacing' and 'IconVerticalspacing' REG_SZ values to your liking.

Is this tweak suppose to take place of having to right click on desktop, view, and changing form the default medium size to classic size icons?

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Some people don't like the default size and BPP for the icons used in Vista. This is easy to change via a registry entry:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\WindowMetrics]
"Shell Icon BPP"="50"
"Shell Icon Size"="32"

These are REG_SZ values, the defaults are shown - change to the values you want.

The Shell Icon Size already exists at that location and the default is 32 - the value is in pixels.

The Shell Icon BPP does not already exist and needs to be added. The valid values range 50% to 100% - the default is 50.

There are also a few more items at that location which can be adjusted concerning icons. As you change the size of the icons of course the spacing between the icons changes also, if you need to adjust the spacing, alter the 'IconSpacing' and 'IconVerticalspacing' REG_SZ values to your liking.

Is this tweak suppose to automatically change the dsktop icon size from the default "medium" to "classic" wthout having to right click on the desktop and clickin view them choosing icon size there? If it doesn't, is there a regtweak that will work upon unattended installs? Thanks in advance.

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