Hi,

I am sure that most of you here will be familiar with this registry tweak:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"AlwaysUnloadDLL"=dword:00000001

My question is, does it actually speed things up. I have no doubt it does delete all your unwanted DLLs from memory - but are they there for a reason anyway. I have heard some people say this tweak actually slow things down because if those particular DLLs are needed again they have to be re-loaded.

What do you all think?

Thanks

HougTimo

Generally not a good idea.

You hit the nail right on the head with "if those particular DLLs are needed again they have to be re-loaded." If the particular DLLs are not needed, then Windows will automatically remove them from memory as needed.

Unused memory is wasted memory.

I had a gut feeling it might be like that, again, thanks for the clarification

this is an ancient windows setting and isn't even used by windows anymore.

xp is already smart about unloading dlls

xp is already smart about unloading dlls

I'd use the word SMART with the product XP very lightly, sometimes it can be very slow at unloading unneeded DLL's

But why should it jump to the gun to start unloading dlls from memory? If you've got memory to spare, you might as well use it.

If you wish to disable this entry you can just switch the value of "Default" to 0, right?

@arfett No, if it's on 0, it will keep dlls in memory. Unless you want that. Btw if you want to keep it in memory, just leave it as-is.

That's what I meant. I've had it on 1 for over a year throughout my installs and just needed to know if setting it to 0 will disable the function of the key.

the setting does NOTHING no matter what you set it to. it's bloody ancient.

@"person who's not ophiel " It is ancient, not always works. True. But you don't notice anything if you have 256mb Ram +

Edited July 1, 200620 yr by T D

Guys, no need to wonder whether it is efficient or not!.

Important This registry key is no longer supported in Microsoft Windows 2000 or later.

source : http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;en-us;196480

and,

Unloading the DLL

The Shell automatically unloads a DLL when its usage count is zero, but only after the DLL has not been used for a period of time. This inactive period might be unacceptably long at times, especially when a Shell extension DLL is being debugged. For operating systems prior to Windows 2000, you can shorten the inactive period by adding the following information to the registry.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

Software

Microsoft

Windows

CurrentVersion

Explorer

AlwaysUnloadDll

from : http://windowssdk.msdn.microsoft.com/en-us...y/ms649579.aspx

And in fact I'd like these guys outside to calm down. France won. OK, now is time to sleep.

Edited July 1, 200620 yr by Camarade_Tux