Computer tweaks and that for a faster computer PART 1 | Gen-Tech | Forums

Hi, I would like to tell everyone how to make your computer faster than before, so your system would run faster. Here are three topics I would like to discuss:

• Defragmenting hard drives would imcrease performance
• Hacking certain parts of the registry would make your system shut down faster
• Cleaning out cached and temporary files would improve performance, espcially for browsers like IE8 or Firefox

Let's start with defragmenting hard drives. We all know many different kinds of programs which could defrag our system right? The question is, would it make your system faster. The answer is, not practically true. You see, older systems may need defragging, but the new systems are fast enough to make defraging completely useless. For those running Windows XP or lower, defragmenting may help, but don't expect it make your system 2x faster than before.

The secound question asks if hacking certain parts of the registry would make your system shut down faster. Heck, I think a few of you guys already know about this. The answer is yes, do it. Who doesn't want a faster shut down?

It's very easy to hack your system to do so. Simply follow these steps:

1. Under HKEY_USERS.DEFAULTControl PanelDesktop, change the values for WaitToKillAppTImeout and HungAppTimeout to 1000 or 2000 (these numbers indicate the amount of millisecounds)
2. Under HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop, change the values for WaitToKillAppTimeout and HungAppTimeout to 1000 or 2000.
3. Under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetControl, change the value for WaitTimeKillAppTimeout to 1000 or 2000.

Remember to do it for all 3 of the settings… or else.

The last question is would cleaning out cached and temporary files improve performance, espcially for browsers. The answer is a NO. This surprised me too when I first read it. I thought clearing it out would be good for the computer. The fact is, unless your'e running out of freespace, don't do so. It wouldn't increase system performance anyways. One exception would be when an AV program is running, the less data there is, the faster it would scan since it likes to deal with less data that more. Though, sometimes, it is best to clear out usless data off your system once in a while, perhaps once per month? A great program to do so is by using Ccleaner or WinUtilities Pro.

That's all of them for now, come back next week for PART 2, because I'm too hungry to write the next article… see ya.

Disclaimer: Information was from MaximumPC [PC FIX-IT GUIDE] SPECIAL ISSUE – WINTER 2009 – Pages 36-37