New & Improved Unofficial Official Tweak Guide

wow, thanks for the download links, Wixard, i'll have to start a new section just for you ^_^

UPDATE: added 2 how-to reformat (w/ Windows) guides.
 
I personally disagree on pricegrabber vs pricewatch, I find the layout of pricewatch a lot easier to use, but that's me.

Otherwise, great listing!
 
Great guide, thanks for taking the time out to do it. Keep up the excellent work!
 
Originally posted by Carnival Forces

T02- http://tweak3d.net/articles/xp-install/
"How to Install WindowsXP" well, the title says it all. They have a couple tricks up their sleeves to optimize your system as it is installed (always a good thing) and walk you through holding your hand every step of the way.
Level of Difficulty: Easy
Click to expand...
I can't believe they recommend Fat32!!

Use NTFS people...
less likely to lose data, doesn't fragment as much, has security (VERY important), and built-in support for encryption...only use fat32 if you do some major crossplatforming with Linux/win98 and need them to read your drive natively.
 
If you are out for speed and maintain you defrags, Fat32 is still faster than NTFS in our testing. As mentioned though, there are certainly more things in an partition other than a couple of ms here and there.
 
Originally posted by FrgMstr
If you are out for speed and maintain you defrags, Fat32 is still faster than NTFS in our testing.
Click to expand...
true, but I guess I feel that it's worth giving up a tiny bit of speed for some security...so your stupid kid brother/ex-gf/arch-rival doesn't get onto your computer and have all your files within a few seconds.

I guess for hardcore benchmarkers, Fat32 might be justified...just don't get any on me:)
 
tweak3d is one of my havens. For those who don't like working in text files, check out Cacheman (if it isn't mentioned before), i use it to check memory usage and tweak, tweak, tweak. Great guide.
 
new tweak added in the General section, thanks to the front page of [H]ard|OCP for revealing how to change your Product/Registration/Ownership info of Windows :D
 
Changing Windows XP Pro to 'server' for purposes of enabling software RAID 5 and RAID 1.

Windows 2k server, 2k3 server, and NT4 support software RAID of various levels. XP Pro supports RAID 0 and JBOD (who the hell uses JBOD?), and can manage other RAIDs using disk management, but it is not allowed to MAKE RAID 5 or RAID 1 arrays by default. Several files must be hex edited to look like a 'server' version of a MS operating system, then it works fine. Apparently. Will edit this once I finish the hack. Should the article be cut/pasted from the meedio thread?

http://www.meedio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=48309

Update:
Worked fine. My only hitch was that the first time I rebooted, I could not access my edited files beacause they were not in c:\windows.

I had stored my edited files in c:\drivers\raidpatch and when I booted to recovery console, Administrator was denied access to that directory.

After booting back into windows normally, and moving raidpatch to c:\windows\raidpatch, I was able to copy the files on next reboot.

I am formatting my new RAID5 and it will be online shortly to store all my porn. Er. Er. ... shutup.
 
my girl said it wasnt all the registry bugs from all the spyware that I took out that was making her comp slower..she said it was all my mp3's and movies..well i formatted this crap and reduced the paging file by 200meg lol...
 
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

; VISUAL TWEAKS

; Use Classic Start Menu
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoSimpleStartMenu"=dword:00000001

; Remove "Shortcut To" text on shortcuts
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"link"=hex:00,00,00,00

; Remove Shortcut Arrows on shortcuts
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile]
"IsShortcut"=-

; Remove Recent Documents from the start menu
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoRecentDocsMenu"=dword:00000001

; Disable Ballon Tips
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"EnableBalloonTips"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"StartButtonBalloonTip"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"ShowInfoTip"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\tips]
"Show"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"FolderContentsInfoTip"=dword:00000000

; TURN OFF ANNOYING WINDOWS STUFF

;Disable Desktop Cleanup Wizard
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\CleanupWiz]
"NoRun"=dword:00000001

; Disable Error Reporting
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\PCHealth\ErrorReporting]
"DoReport"=dword:00000000

; Disable Fast User Switching
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\]
"AllowMultipleTSSessions"=dword:00000000

; Disable Low Disk Space Warning
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoLowDiskSpaceChecks"=dword:00000001

; Disable Windows Messenger Service. This IS NOT MSN Messenger.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Messenger]
"Start"=dword:0000004

; Auto Retsart Explorer After Crash
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon]
"AutoRestartShell"=dword:00000001

; PERFORMANCE TWEAKS

; Set CPU Priority
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\PriorityControl]
"Win32PrioritySeparation"=dword:00000026

; These allow you to end tasks faster, shut down faster and speed up the menu display.
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"ForegroundLockTimeout"=dword:00000000
"HungAppTimeout"="4000"
"MenuShowDelay"="200"
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="5000"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control]
"WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="5000"

; Disable Paging of Kernel
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]
"DisablePagingExecutive"=dword:00000001

; Set IO Lock Limit 00010000 w/256mb, w/512mb=00020000, 00040000 gamers w/+512mb
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]
"IoPageLockLimit"=dword:00020000

; Run 16-bit applications in their own process
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\WOW]
"DefaultSeparateVDM"="Yes"

; Launch Folder windows in seperate process
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
"SeparateProcess"=dword:00000001

; Explorer Fast Update
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Update]
"UpdateMode"=hex:00

; Unload dll's that are no longer being used
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"AlwaysUnloadDLL"=dword:00000001

; Disable User Tracking
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
"NoInstrumentation"=dword:00000001

; Disable 8.3 Name Creation
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]
"NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation"=dword:00000001

; Disable Last Access Time Stamp
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]
"NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate"=dword:00000001

; Allow Defrag of Boot Files
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction]
"Enable"="Y"

; Allow Windows Media Player To Rip MP3's media player 10 already does it
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer\Settings\MP3Encoding]
"HighRate"=dword:0004e200
"LowRate"=dword:0001f400
"MediumHighRate"=dword:00036b00
"MediumRate"=dword:0002ee00

; Prevent messenger from being run
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Messenger\Client]
"PreventAutoRun"=dword:00000001
"PreventRun"=dword:00000001

; Make IE Behave
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Infodelivery\Restrictions]
"NoUpdateCheck"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main]
"IEWatsonDisable"=dword:00000001

; Make WMP Behave
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MediaPlayer]
"EnableAutoUpgrade"="no"
 
Registry Protection: To add a note to the use of Spybot S&D, starting with v 1.3 they included a program called "teatimer" (http://www.safer-networking.org/en/faq/33.html) Install it when you install spybot, use it, you will be amazed at what all tried to write and delete from your reg. :D.. it has safed my ass many of times. Also alows you to keep unless things out of your registry and if a uninstallation is removing registry files, or just deleting the software.
 
thanks to everyone who's replied, i'll update the main thread...eventually :p

sorry for late replies etc. i should be managing this thread better, but i've had a lot on my plate recently..thanks for all the contributions/feedback, though! :)
 
Ya GOTTA include www.tweakguides.com in this thread. Fantastic source for game/driver/XP tweaks. His XPTC document is one of the best XP tweak guides I've ever read. Check it out!
 
Thanks for this compilation - I'll def. be using it next week when I put a fresh install of XP on my machine
 
Great guide, was wondering if you know of a guide for tweaking Windows XP to optimize for the latest games, Thanks
 
Whoops, just found....

Ya GOTTA include www.tweakguides.com in this thread. Fantastic source for game/driver/XP tweaks. His XPTC document is one of the best XP tweak guides I've ever read. Check it out.

....in this thread. Thanks alot. Tom
 
Well the other day one of the users here on the forums asked for advice on starting his own business building computers etc.. I did the same thing my Freshman year of High School (I'm now a senionr in College in Technology Management) so below is where I’ll post some composed thoughts on it. I hope it’s helpful, it’s not going to be a complete work, so I may add things and I hope other people with experience on the forums will also do so.
 
Alright, as a preface I will say that some of the things in here are strictly my opinion. I base a lot of my consulting practices off of training from business professionals and personal experience in what has worked for me in the past. Oh and I’m a fairly anecdotal guy, so excuse the many references to friends and past co-workers. Lastly, I haven’t proofread this, because it’s just being posted in the forums. So any grammar Nazis or English majors ease off a little bit. Feel free to make comments, post questions, or additional advice. This isn’t meant to be an end-all guide, it’s just a quick start guide of sorts.
----------------------------
First off, my approach to IT consulting is this:
You are not there to fix the technology, you are there to help the user.

Knowledge & Experience:
Since I not too sure where to being I’ll just start with what I think is most important: Understand your technical limits. I have seen way too many incompetent tech support personnel in my time working. If you don’t know how to do something, learn before trying it with a client, and make sure you get good information. I did a lot of reading and took classes to gain the level of knowledge and expertise I have now. A few times a day I read different news and technology sites like:
HardOCP (obviously)
Anandtech
Toms Hardware
ExtremeTech
Slashdot
The Inquirer
SharkyExtreme
& Gizmodo to name a few.

Website:
For starters a website is good, but it doesn’t have to be something overboard. I kept a site up which just showed basic information about services, pricing, and a contact e-mail address (a free Mail.com account which was a simple name @techie.com.
I never gave out my street address or phone number, unless I felt comfortable with that client.

Your Toolkit:
As far as being prepared I would say invest in a good toolbox and tools. I bring two tool boxes with me to any job. One has things like:
-Zip ties
-Assorted cabled (IDE, COM, USB, FireWire 6 and 4 pin, etc)
-Modules for wall-plates (Ethernet ports, RG6 (coax, cable TV ports, etc).

The second tool kit has:
-Your standard screwdrivers of all seizes and heads
-Torx multi tool
-Alan-wrench multi tool
-An impact/punch down tool
-Crimpers for Ethernet, phone lines, and coax
-A power line tracer (good for setting up LAN parties)
-8-Port Switch & a 4-port Wireless Router
-Canned/Compressed Air
-A flash light
-Common screws and mounts for motherboards, drives, etc..
-Batteries (AA, AAA, C)
-512MB USB2.0 flash drive
-And an O’Reilly Hardware book to keep specifications handy, you never know when you might need to reassign IRQs.

Other things I bring with me: CD-R & DVD-Rs, a drywall saw, thermal paste, Goo Be Gone, an utility knife (exacto), USB-to-P/S2 converter, Ethernet couplers for extending cables, soldering equipment, wire couplers, different types AV cables, a box of Cat5e (which I leave in the trunk of my car), a CD cleaner,… you get the idea.

Also I heavily recommend getting an external drive kit, something that allows you to connect any IDE device and connect that to a computer through FireWire and/or USB2.0. Along with that get a 2.5” HDD to IDE converter, for when you need to connect notebook hard drives.

Lastly, get an external HD (or bring a laptop) with CD ISOs of popular software and installers for good tools. I keep ISOs for Windows 98 and up, Office 2000 and up, Norton System Works 2003, Norton Ghost, FireFox, OpenOffice, PartitionMagic 8.0, WinRAR, Hijackthis, Spybot S&D, AVG Free Version, Service Packs for Windows, IE, & Office, full installers for the latest versions of DirectX and WMP, and DOS bootable CDs and floppies, etc..

Appearance:
This may seem like a no-brainer, but when you show up to a person’s house look presentable. I’m not saying you need to be wearing a suit or anything; I did most of my calls in a polo shirt and jeans. I am saying that how you look showing up can impact how the client views your work.

Language:
First thing, no swearing in front of the client. Yes, in your head you may be saying “This god damn piece of shit!”, but outside you should probably keep it to just “damn it”. Even if the client swears around you, that doesn’t make it alright, mainly because it can get you into a bad habit.

Secondly, match your language with the client’s language.
One of the clients I had was a systems administrator for a school district, a very smart and technically savvy guy. However he didn’t have time to keep up with the most current technology for gaming or which brands were really the best. So my job with him, was to research the consumer level parts the met his needs explicitly. I could use as much technical terms and jargon with him as needed.
On the other hand, lets take your typical Home-Maker user. Now this is not a disparaging remark, but I did have a lot of stay at home wives/mothers who would have computer problems. They knew how to use e-mail, use Word, and do online shopping and that was about it. So when talking with them, I would simplify problems and explanations as much as possible.
Most average users don’t want to hear things like “The heatsink fan is clogged, which is causing your Dell to overheat, which is causing system instability”, they prefer “Heat is bad for you computer like it is for your car, right now your computer’s engine so to speak is overheating, but it’s an easy fix”.
The best method to judge how simplified to make something, is to listen to how they describe their problems and just to ask them “How technical do you want me to be?”; every once and a while you get someone who wants to hear the straight version, even if they don’t understand it all.

Billing:
This is tricky, I usually charge 45.00 per hour (by the half hour), but I also had a lot of clients with money so it was never a big deal for them. Occasionally if I worked for less affluent customers, I would lower the rates or charge them a flat fee for a service. Take for example, reinstall an OS.
The clients with money, would often pay me to stay on-site (meaning in their home), during the whole process. So if it took two hours to backup the drive, 90.00. Another hour to completely format the drive (avoid Quick Format as it doesn’t repair sectors), 135.00. Another hour for Windows to install, 180.00. Installing drivers, applications, tuning the system and customizing settings, another hour, 225.00. Copying all files back to machine, another two hours 315.00.
How did I make up this money with clients who couldn’t afford that kind of rate? Take the machine home. I would tell them I’ll do the who deal for say 50.00 but that I would need to take the machine home. This allows me to go to other calls that day while the machine reformats etc..
Another thing, I set higher prices for late hours. After 9:00pm 90.00 for the first hour period, after that 55.00 an hour. I considered a few times charging more after say 11:00pm or 12:00am but I never put it into place. While these calls make you more money, it sucks to drive 45 minutes because the printer is out of ink, or the power strip was switched off by accident.
*Phone Support:
Anything that will take over 15-20 minutes, I would generally charge for. This may seem mean but remember, once they realize they can call you for free, and keep you on the line with more questions, they will do so. Depending on the length and detail of the call I would vary what to charge them. Also, this is KEY I never charge for fixing something I installed properly and is malfunctioning.

Software:
If you want to stay out of trouble, require users to purchase legitimate copies of any and all software. Otherwise I would say that if you install software that may not be fully legal you 1) clearly explain that to the user 2) tell them to purchase a real copy 3) have the user click the EULA agreement for the installation 4) lastly, include in your service agreement that any software installed is at the explicit request of the user. More times that you can imagine have I had users give me a Windows XP install disk with the FCKGW key written on top.
Oh and don’t show clients how to copy DVDs or where to find serial numbers etc… it just leaves you open for more trouble.

Service Agreement:
So here’s the outline for my agreement: Basically, it details my responsibilities to the user, the user’s to me, and the guarantee and warranty arrangement on everything. I will go over the basic parts of my agreement, but not using the exact language or level I detail I have…because it would be to damn long.

-I detail that I am performing proper service and providing advice that is accurate to the best of my knowledge at that date based on available information from that nearest hour or so. (This is important because in the event that you advice someone to buy a laptop. The next week a new model comes out and the one they purchased dropped in price by 400 dollars and the user wants you to pay the difference (or is just plain pissed). This part of the agreement tells them, that you were giving the best advice possible at that given point in time. Also this part explains that I am knowledgeable and performing technically accurate service in regards to their systems and needs. I cannot begin to explain my hatred for technicians that will bad mouth service, and make false claims. (More stories) I had a user bad mouthing me to another client because, another technician told her I over-charged her for her home network. He could have wired her home computers using a cross-over cable and would have saved her 90.00 on the router and 5.00 on the patch cords. So I had to explain to both clients why this man was wrong. Why I had not over charged her at all, and my the network I put in place was the best solution.)

-I guarantee all my work to function, as I have originally installed/configured it, for 90-days or for the life of the products Warranty which ever comes first (excluding software).
(This part just assures that user that I stand by my work, and will fix anything that goes wrong with it, provided it was not altered. Again this leads back to people screwing around with their computers, or changing the network etc.)

-The last portion is a basic statement which is to the effective of: “I __(users name hand printed)__, understand and agree to all the above statements and that I have voiced any concerns or questions I have about any of the above statements. I understand that __(my name printed)__ is not responsible for –insert list of power surges, spikes, spills, accidental damage, user error, etc- The end result is that the user takes responsibility for the software on the machine, because I have already explained the proper licensing etc..

The Service Agreement was something I started after some fights with clients in order to protect myself. For example, I had one girl, who called me to say her computer was “dead”. I get there and sure enough, the power supply is shot. I’m looking at taking an out of pocket loss because the PSU was an open box item that didn’t have a warranty (which was a personal mistake), that is until I noticed a few things…
The computer was no longer plugged into the surge protector it was plugged into the wall, and the system had a new stick of RAM. Now I have always had the policy that I guarantee my work and those who I recommend or send out, but no one else’s. I will tell clients that getting work done from other people may void any coverage I provide them (meaning they will have to pay for service).
Well sure enough, her boyfriend had put in new RAM that was on sale at work, and being promoted from the Computer section to Repair at this big retailer…let’s call them BuyBest gave him the confidence to install the parts. Well this guy did install the RAM correctly, but when he made two big mistakes. 1) He unplugged the PSU to install the RAM. This is BAD, turn the PUS switch off but leave it plugged into the wall, it grounds the system. 2) When he plugged it back in, he did so directly into the wall, instead of the surge protector. The area had a power spike the night before, and the old wiring in her room blew out the PSU. She had to pay for the replacement and the labor because her boyfriend was an idiot.

Simple Secrets:
I always worked to anticipate problems before they happened and set up systems that save the user from themselves. So things like:
-Loading any system with basic Spyware protection and immunization.
-Making sure there was an Administrator account on the machine in addition to the users accounts.
-OS Image backups, these things save lives. After you do a build make a self installing image of the completed OS with drivers and software. In the event of a crash you can have people up in running in minutes rather than hours.
-Drive partitions, for basic users I use this setup:
10GB (non gamer) for the OS, the remaining is for documents and backups. In addition, I set the My Documents folder, and you can even set the location of the desktop files, to the second partition (or an alternate hard drive). This way, if the OS crashes, you can have the user install the image backup overtop of the OS partition and viola, they have Windows back, all their essential applications, and most importantly, they haven’t lost any files. For the college students I build for this is a true life safer.
-XP PowerToys for Tweak UI: I put this software on the machine usually for the single benefit of IE double-click protection. Some users will double click links while web surfing. As you know, doing this while shopping online can screw up your order or payment.
-Find distribution centers for online ordering. When I’m home on break from school, there is a NewEgg.com distribution center a couple of hours away. As a result, if I order FedEx ground saver or Overnight it generally gets to me in the same amount of time. Knowing something like this can really help keep costs down on online ordering for parts.
-Run package deals, in the Spring or over spring breaks offer a “Spring Cleaning package” I know that’s really corny, but a lot of clients will eat it up. I offer things like, Spyware cleaning, Virus scanning, system cleaning (fans, etc..), and upgrade estimates. I’ll offer that for say 50.00 or some one rate deal. Simple packages like that are a great way to do a lot of clients very easily and quickly.
 
i have been thinking about starting a part-time business while i'm in school, fixing computers. i've been helping people for years, and i always get highly recommended to their friends, so i thought it would be a good idea. lots of helpful info here. some obvious, some not so obvious, but all helpful. thanks very much.

dualdrop[H]enia
 
A couple of years ago I posted a "So You Want To Be Alienware?" post based on my experiences in the systems integration market - wish it was still around. This is a good thread.
 
CrisisVT,

Added your list for “Starting Your Own Business” to the sticky guide at the top of page. Folks may find the list useful or add to it.

gl :)
 
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