The Registry has to be the least understood aspect of a Windows OS. Even seasoned professionals handle the registry with care. But, when used properly, the Windows OS can be customised to any extent necessary. The Registry is, thus, essential for experts and hackers.
Note: Before hacking the Registry, we have to backup the Registry. To export, open Regedit (Start>Run>regedit) and find the key. Click on the key, and choose File>Export. In the dialog, select the location, save as .reg file, and select “Selected Branch” option.
There are some acronyms that will be used in the following hacks :
- HCU refers to H-KEY CURRENT USER
- HLM refers to H-KEY LOCAL MACHINE
At any point, you can restore by double-clicking .reg file.
So here are some registry hacks for Windows XP:
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Load Applications Faster
The Windows Prefetcher aims to load apps by pre-fetching the app and storing it in cache. You can speed up the apps by changing the value.
Navigate to : HLM SYSTEM CurrentControlSet Control SessionManager Memory Management PrefetchParameters
Change the value-upto 9, to get improvement. A reboot is required.
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Unload Unused DLLs
After an app is closed, XP leaves the DLL files in memory. This leads to wastage of resources. Make DLLs unload themselves.
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Navigate to : HLM SOFTWARE Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Explorer AlwaysUnloadDLL.
Create or modify the DWORD value AlwaysUnloadDLL to 1.
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Disable User Tracking
User Tracking in Windows is resource hungry, and has no use for normal home users. It keeps track of documents and apps opened etc. Disable this for better performance.
Navigate to : HCU Software Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Policies Explorer
Set NoInstrumentation to 1. This will disable user tracking.
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Disable Desktop Cleanup Wizard
The Cleanup Wizard runs every 60 days to clean up your Desktop. If you don’t want this irritation,
navigate to : HCU Software Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Explorer Desktop CleanupWiz
Modify the value of NoRun to 0.
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Wow… Sumesh
Glad to see you back.. with a fresh look and fresh content..
Good Job
Linu
Sumesh I noticed, on Top Right, Menu, Links of Feed, Links and Poll don’t match with the style of Home Contact.
By checking your source code, I found you have not apllied tha css class for
I think you have to put this class=”page_item” to make Feed, Links and Poll look like Home and Contact Links
Linu
I wanted to improve quality, and hopefully I have done that!
I copied nav links from old theme, so there was mismatch. Fixed it.
That is good. Thank for share.
why don’t then Microsoft directly give “customized” registries if they can improve performance?
There might be a risk involved…
some Registry Hacks may improve the system performance, but it may effect some other function…
so as Ashwini said, when playing with registry hacks there is always a risk involved
DQ Khanh, thanks for dropping by.
Ashwini, Microsoft doesn’t give customised registry because all of us want different hacks, and it is not possible for them to do it all. Besides, the registry they provide is pretty much one-size-fits-them-all.
As for the risk, all hacks are risky, but Registry is open to use because MS knows it isn’t that dangerous.
I have also given a note that you should backup the registry, in case anything goes wrong. Play it safe!
Linu, hacks DO NOT affect others, that’s why MS opened up the registry for hacks.
Microsoft does offer a utility that allows for some customizing. It’s called Tweak. It’s not as customized as an alternative registry but it does have a lot of otherwise undocumented features. Undocumented as far as the public is concerned. Search google for “windows tweak” and you’ll find the first link is to the MIcrosoft Tweak page.
I have a question about the registry that I’ve sofar been unable to find. I’m a programmer and I use the registry to store application settings. My latest program polls data from mutliple databases using an adodb connection. Potentionally the application could have dozens of entries. Each entry creates a new key for each connection. Each connection contains about 20 string values. That means that potentionally this application could be utilizing 12 keys * 20 entries = 240 entries. Is the registry built like a database or more like a static file? If I was storing information into a database I wouldn’t be concerned by at what point am I endangering the registry either by it’s limits or performance? Does the registry self expand? Does it become heavily fragmented?
I’m mainly concerned about the comparison between the registry and a database. A database being able to alter data quite frequently and the registry?
Edward L. Ries, MCSE, A+
@Edward: Thanks for the info on Tweak. However, I like to handle it directly, as any interface would limit the extent of customisation.
I am not a programmer, and have been dabbling with the registry for only 4 months. However, I’ll try my best to explain. Registry is more like a static file, in that it can get heavily cluttered. Not fragmented, but cluttered. And when that happens, overall performance drops considerably. Also, it is not the limits that cause the trouble, but the efficiency. And you’re not endangering the registry, but the whole OS.
Example: Remember, every time you do a fresh XP install, its quick, and as time goes by, it gets slower. The reason is that the programs you install add values to registry, and each of the values has to be brought to RAM at startup. The general sluggishness is also because of this reason.
Tweaking registry is definitely not for the faint hearted. It may render the systems unrecoverable if you are not careful. As a thumb of rule, do your backup first!