Introduction –
It seems that many threads on the forum are posted regarding how to set up a new laptop and get it running smoothly and the way one likes it. Since it’s raining like a bugger out and there’s not much to do
, I decided to write this guide to get people on their way. This guide will be a combination of links to other guides, my input, and, in the future, feedback and discussion from the community. This guide is written in my best effort to be a help and valuable information source to the community, and I hope that the community will be an active participant in it so that it may become the community’s guide. Please enjoy and happy tweaking. 
-Mr. K6
Acknowledgements, Disclaimers, and Intentions –
1. All other guides linked to and/or listed in this guide are the property and work of their respected owners. They alone deserve all credit for the work and research that went into them and if any owner does not wish to have his or her guide linked to or associated in anyway with this guide, please e-mail/PM me and I will remove it immediately. I believe that the community should partake in all the resources available at NotebookForums and across the web, and that we should also support them, so go donate if you can.
2. I, in no way, take any responsibility for any mishaps, accidents, misfortunes, or consequences that you may encounter while using this guide, or any of the guides listed within it, to tweak your laptop.
3. This guide was written using my Dell i9300. However, many of the tweaks found in it can also be applied to other laptops, and those having questions regarding their laptops may post their questions. Should an answer be given or stumbled upon, I will most gladly fill out this guide to incorporate other laptops.
4. I’ve written this guide to be available to the community. Although I edit and will keep the guide up to date, I urge others with knowledge and ability in the computing world to help with the guide and give supportive answers to any questions asked. As I stated in the introduction, I hope that this will become the community’s guide and that it will become a valuable resource.
5. Finally, this guide is one for crafting a tweaked laptop that is geared toward performance. To some, this may seem barebones and I invite you to fill out your machine as you please. Should you find a tip, trick, program, etc. that you think is a valuable asset to the guide, please PM me or post and I will be happy to review it and incorporate it into the guide.
And now, on with the guide
-THE LAPTOP TWEAKING GUIDE-
Update: I have added a color-coding system to links to help with quick searches and identification. The system is as follows:
Benchmarks - Dark Orange
Security Programs - Dark Green
System Tools, Updates and Drivers - Sienna
Tweak Programs and Guides - Royal Blue
Next to these programs/drivers/sites/guides will also be links:
Site: A link to the site or, if next to a program, a site with information about the program
Link: A link to the exact mentioned article/guide
Download: A link to the Downloads page for that program
Direct: A direct link to the download for that program
First Impressions -
1. So the Box(es) Arrived
First off, check and make sure you received everything you ordered by reviewing the packing slip and taking an inventory. Feel free to open your laptop, admire what a wonderful machine it is, do a happy dance, or even sit down for a drink: today is a good day to be you. One thing I have noticed with Dells is that Dell has ceased to ship baseline software with all its models. If you did not receive your software, i.e. operating system, drivers, installed applications, etc., make a quick phone call to your notebook manufacturer and request that they be sent to you (Dell does this for free).
2. First Boot-up and Benchmarking
Push that beautiful button and fire her up! You’ll be asked to set up an XP account, etc. etc. it doesn’t matter what you do because you’ll be reformatting soon. A few things to note are how long it takes to boot up, the amount of icons and other junk that have been installed, and, opening the task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Delete), how many processes are running and the amount of memory being used. For the truly hardcore, you may also wish to benchmark your system before any tweaking so that you may see how much improvement there has been afterwards. Good programs to use are:
3DMark05 Site Download – Essential for testing graphics improvement. New graphics drivers and overclocking will show their improvements here.
PCMark05 Site Download – A great benchmark for overall system performance.
Aquamark3 Site – Another great all around system benchmark.
SANDRA Lite Site Download - SANDRA is a great program for finding out tons of information about your system. It also has some great modules for benchmarking. The CPU ones won’t change much as we can’t overclock (unless you’re going for a pin-mod), but it’s nice to compare anyway. Also check out the memory bandwidth benchmark too, again, it won’t change much, but it’s nice to know anyway.
HD Tach 3 Site/Download - HDTach is a great program for testing hard drive performance and getting actual data rather than a “score.” Also, it has results included, allowing you to compare with other drives.
Be aware that anything you install now will be completely removed once you reformat. Therefore, I recommend taking the time to benchmark only if you’re really interested in seeing the performance improvement.
The Reformat –
Many times OEM manufacturers include tons of extra software and features on their computers and this has the tendency to slow a computer down worse that spyware/malware. Reformatting is a term used to describe the process of completely wiping clean the hard drive (so that there is no data on it) and installing a fresh copy of an operating system. The benefit of this is it provides an incredibly clean and organized operating system and computer and is essential to optimization. The process is wipe clean the hard drive, set up a partition on it (organize it so that it can run an operating system), install the OS (operating system), and from there set it up for every day operation. I highly recommend reformatting as it is simple and the best way to get a clean system ripe for optimization. Should you choose to not reformat, you can still tweak your laptop, but it won't be as optimized. Try uninstalling all programs deemed unnecessary and do other cleaning-house methods mentioned later in this guide. However, for the sake of simplicity and the tweaking manner, please do reformat
.
1. Before Reformatting
I’m taking it that most users will be using Windows XP, so this guide is written in accordance to a Windows XP (from now on just called "XP") reformat and re-install. Before turning off your laptop you need to decide what program you want to use to reformat your drive. The XP CD will do it for you. However, in order to have a completely clean drive you must choose the long reformat option, not the quick one, which many times can take 30min or longer. I recommend using 3rd party software like Maxblast3 (from Maxtor) or any other reformatting software, which many times can be quicker. Burn an image to a CD so that you can boot off it. Still, the XP CD does a fine job, it just takes a little longer. Also make sure that you have your laptop’s network card driver (for the LAN port, not the wireless) so that you can install it and have internet access right after you install Windows XP. Place the Windows XP CD or your reformatting software CD into your CD drive and reboot.
2. BIOS Set-up and Optimization
As soon as your laptop reboots and enters the BIOS start-up screen with your manufacturer’s name on it, press your BIOS entry key (usually F2 or Delete) several times to enter into the BIOS. First, go to boot sequence and make sure that your CD-Drive is placed ahead of your HDD (hard drive) so that you will boot to the CD first. While in the BIOS it is a good idea to take the time to tweak your BIOS. You may wish to set the correct time and date so you do not have to do so later in windows. You may also want to adjust certain settings to taste, such as LCD brightness and expansion. Also make sure that you disable devices that you won’t use (I disabled my 56k modem) so that they don’t drain battery power. For a great guide on all BIOS settings, visit Adrian's Rojak Pot Site, but be aware that most of these settings won’t be accessible in your BIOS. After you have set-up things the way you like them, save and exit.
3. Reformatting and Creating a Partition
I’m taking it that most users will be using the XP CD to reformat. That said, if you want to set up more than one partition (to dual boot, etc.) you will need 3rd party software. However, if you’re advanced enough to create your own partitions and dual boot, you don’t need my help anyway. First off, when the XP CD boots, the blue screen will pop-up, load the first XP set-up files, and then will proceed along. Agree to the EULA. Delete any restore partitions that your manufacturer included so that you have a whole bunch of unpartitioned space. Note that you may wish to leave the small diagnostic partition if it was included as it takes up very little space and can be helpful in diagnosing any problems that may arise the in the future. Select the unpartitioned space and have windows create a partition there. It will automatically set it up to be the entire space (which should be your entire driver) with an NTFS file system and 4k clusters (optimal for Windows XP performance). Make sure that you select the normal/long reformat, NOT the quick one, as it ensures a clean hard drive. The quick option does not erase data and wipe clean the hard drive, it only formats it. This options should ONLY be used if you bought another, bare hard drive, not the one installed by your manufacturer.
NOTE: your final partition size will be smaller than your marketed hard drive size. This is becauseHDD's are rated as 1GB= 1,000,000,000 bytes when they are marketed, however they operate as 1GB = 1,073,741,824 bytes (binary). Hence my 60GB has a max. capacity of ~55.8GB
4. Installing Windows
After setting up the partition, the Windows CD will install base Windows XP files and then will reboot the laptop. Then a much more advanced GUI will pop up and will finish the installation, asking you set-up questions along the way. Set these to your tastes/preferences. However, I don't recommend putting in anything identifiable in your laptop’s name or description (for security reasons). Once it has finished it will reboot again and finally you will see the Windows XP start-up. Upon seeing the desktop, you will notice how very bare it is with only the recycle bin and the "Bliss" background. However, open up task manager and take a gander at the number of processes running and at the amount of memory in use. THAT is a clean system
Windows XP Set-Up –
1. Windows Update
First off, establish an internet connection and head directly over to Microsoft Site and Windows Update (now called Microsoft Update). It’ll probably ask you to install a newer version of Windows Installer. After this, you’ll follow this process for awhile: install software, reboot, go back to Microsoft Update, search for more high priority updates, install, reboot, repeat. Usually the order is security updates>SP2 (Service Pack 2, only if your copy of XP didn’t come with it)>more updates>updates to those updates. Also note that you may wish to install Framework 1.1 (from Custom), its update, and the update’s security update (
) as it provides many usefully functions to XP, including use of ATi’s control center. However, be aware that it also slightly increases boot-up times, so download it only if you feel you need it or want it's functions. I do not recommend installing Windows Media Player 10 though, as it adds two more background processes without any more functionality (at least in my use of it). Now that XP is updated and you have a baseline firewall installed with SP2, you can continue installing with drivers.
2. Drivers
You probably installed a network card driver to get online, but other than that your system is bare of drivers. Get drivers from your laptop manufacturer’s website, or, if they don’t have them (
) go to the equipment’s manufacturer’s website (Intel, nVidia, ATi, Sigma Tel, etc. etc.). I create a folder called C:/Downloads/Drivers and save all downloaded drivers to there. You should install drivers in this order: chipset, video, audio, all other drivers. I recommend getting a third party video driver. LaptopVideo2Go Site has great support for nVidia drivers. If you're using LaptopVideo2Go, remember to download the driver, extract the files, and then download the modified .inf file (save as a text file) to those extracted files (overwrite the original .inf) so that the driver can recognize your mobile video chipset. As far as ATi cards go, I’ll look around for a good site for mobile Catalyst Drivers. Also be aware that XP has built in wireless, so only download a driver for your wireless card and not the programs that go with it. I also recommend downloading a driver for your touchpad. While this goes against the “bare bones” manner of this guide, the touchpad driver adds so many more functions that it’s worth it. For instance, after installing the driver for my touch pad, I went from a pointing device with two buttons to one with three buttons, and the the ability to scroll, use browser forward and back buttons, and open programs depending on where I click on the touch pad. The driver also added many more sensitivity, speed, and gesture settings. Finally, make sure that you delete all unpacked files (such as C:/Nvidia) after drivers have been installed and you have rebooted because you won’t need them again.
3. Security
You already should have SP2 firewall up and running. In my experience it has been a good firewall, but further research has showed that it has no outgoing control and therefore better protection may be warranted. I’m still doing research in this area, but other great firewalls are ZoneAlarm Site Direct and Sygate Personal Firewall Site Download. Also note that commercial firewalls such as McAfee are good too, but you have to pay for them and they also tend to be resource hogs. For free anti-virus protection I recommend Grisoft AVG Free-Edition Site Direct, it’s top-notch.
4. Make Your Laptop Yours
Install whatever you use every day to make this laptop yours. Just don’t go overboard and make it worse than it came. You may also wish to install extra drivers/programs to enhance the function of your laptop and peripherals, such as an audio settings program for your sound card, a video driver tweaking program (see Tweak Software list), a mouse configuration program, etc. etc.
Now your laptop should be set up the way you like it, so now it’s time to TWEAK *twitches*
Tweaking Your Laptop –
1. Operating System Tweaking
Since I first started building and tweaking systems, I’ve used Koroush Ghazi’s (who also goes by Persian Immortal) XP Tweaking Guides. They are the best I’ve found and provide a wealth of information, and I consider them the Bible for Windows XP Tweaking. That said, there are two versions. First is WinXP Tweaking: From Reformat to Relax Link, which basically covers performance tweaks, and its counterpart, WinXP Tweaking: From Relax to Righteous Link, which covers IE and Outlook tweaking, as well as personalization of Windows XP. The other is a downloadable guide The TweakGuides Tweaking Companion Link, which is HUGE, but contains all the above information and more, plus very detailed descriptions. Some of the information in the first two guides is a little outdated and has somewhat been incorporated into XP with SP2. They’re still all good reads with valuable information. I personally just use the tweaks from the Reformat to Relax Guide, but as I said, I run a very barebones system.
A few things I wish to add are the following. Many options in the guides are set for max performance, but you can set them to taste. A few additions I add are unticking “Hide extensions for known file types” in Folder Options, and for XP Visual Effects under System>Performance, I leave all disabled except for the bottom three and “Smooth edges of screen fonts” to maintain XP's looks. Also, in my experience, it’s best to set a larger page file with the lesser amount of RAM that you have. However, anything above 2GB is really excessive and can lead to corruption. Make the page file one set size: having it be adjustable allows it to fragment easier. I personally have 2GB of RAM, so I use 1GB of page file. NEVER turn off the page file, it is essential to XP’s operation. Therefore, adjust the page file’s size based on your usage of your laptop. If you game a lot, use a set size of 1-2GB, depending on how much RAM you have installed. If you don’t game at all, you can get away with 512-768MB, even if you only have 512MB of RAM. Games, video editing, photo-editing, data crunching, etc. etc. are all RAM hogs, so consider what programs you use as you do this. Another thing to consider is System Restore. I leave System Restore on, but set down to the minimum of 200MB of disk space. This is enough for a couple of restore points, and it’s always nice to have a back up incase you need it or the ability to create a restore point just before trying something new. However, feel free to increase if you want more restore points. Finally, BlackViper.com Site is back up, so do check it out for Windows service know-how and tweaking. If you have any questions about a guide or guides, feel free to ask me and I’ll give any information I have on it.
2. Software Tweaking
This section is more of a list of guides, programs, and tips and will be updated frequently.
TweakGuides - For games, other applications, and drivers, I recommend Tweak Guides Site, again, Koroush has some of the best guides on the net, so check them out.
IE and Outlook - See WinXP Tweaking: From Relax to Righteous Link
Firefox – Firefox, I believe, is the best browser out there. After using tabbed browsing I loathe going back to IE. Here’s just a quick way to set up Firefox. Go to Tools > Options to open up options. Under General enter in your favorite homepage. Also untick “Firefox should check to see if it is the default browser when starting” to speed up start-up. To make Firefox your default browser (good choice), hit check now and the click “yes.” After that go to Privacy. Set most options to taste, but do not allow Firefox to save entered information or passwords in case your browser ever gets hijacked. Also allow cookies for the originating website only. Set the rest of the options to taste. Also, here’s a quick how-to to limit Firefox’s memory usage that my friend found.
Finally, here is a list of programs that are great for any kind of tweaking:
Tweak Software
- Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition Site Download – A great program for scanning your computer to find any installed adware, spyware, malware, tracking cookies, and much more. Remember to keep your definitions updated.
- Centrino Hardware Control Site/Download - A program that controls many aspects of Centrino notebooks, including Pentium M's (undervolting and underclocking, too), hard drives, ATi graphics chipsets, and temperature monitoring. It offers a simplified GUI and is a great program.
- Microsoft Bootvis Download - Bootvis is a program that was put out by Microsoft to speed up booting times by rearranging files on the hard drive. Follow the directions for it on Page 9 of guide WinXP Tweaking: From Reformat to Relax here.
- Rivatuner Site/Download - Rivatuner is a fantastic program for an graphics card. It tons of options and controls, and is essential to those who want complete control of their graphics cards.
- RMClock Site Direct - An advanced program used for undervolting and underclocking Pentium M processors. Offers an advanced GUI and many specific options.
- Sequoia View Site/Download - Sequoia View is an excellent program for managing disk space. It maps out file sizes using proportional squares according to the size of the folder you selected. You can even have it map out your entire hard drive and see what's taking up the most space.
More coming soon...
3. Hardware Tweaking
This is where is gets technical :hammer:. As with any section in this guide, this one is also optional, and be aware that it also poses the most difficult tweaking procedures. However, I believe all of these are well worth the effort.
Undervolting – First off, I recommend that anyone using a laptop with a Pentium M processor should undervolt the processor. Not only do you get a little more battery life, but your laptop, its components, and your lap will all be cooler. Follow the Simple Undervolting Tutorial Link, which was written for RMClock Site Direct. I’ve also written an update for v.1.6. of RMClock, found here. I now use Centrino Hardware Control Site/Download, to undervolt, as it is a simpler program that offers options for many laptop sub-systems and it also shows temps and speeds in a two simple tray icons.
Applying AS5 – I also recommend applying Arctic Silver 5 or any other high quality TIM (thermal interface material) to the CPU and GPU, following A Photo Guide for Pin Modding 9300/XPS and Applying AS5 to GPU Link. Although it is written for Dell i9300/XPS2 users, the techniques are the same. Visit your laptop’s manufacturer’s website for an online manual for you laptop and how to disassemble and reassemble it. Pin-modding is also good if you have a 400FSB P-M (Dothan core) and a 533FSB board (the Intel 915 chipset), but only do this if you are comfortable with it.
Video Card Overclocking – Finally, overclocking your video card will give you great results in any 3D environment. There are many guides on NotebookForums for video card overclocking, here are a few:
6800Go Ultra Link
6800Go Link
6800Go with Rivatuner Link
Even with other cards, the process is the same. Make sure that you have a good driver and an overclocking program (see Tweak Software list). When overclocking, remember to go slowly, test your settings after each increase, and know when to back off. If you are overclocking an ATi card and have a Pentium M processor, I highly recommend using Centrino Hardware Control (See Tweak Software list). That way, you can undervolt your P-M and overclock your ATi card using the same program.
Cleaning Up and Maintaining the Tweakage –
Faster Bootup - After you have everything installed and set up the way you like it, it's time to make your laptop boot as fast as possible. Run Microsoft Bootvis (see Tweak Software list) and, if you haven't already, enter your BIOS, go to "Boot Sequence," and place your hard drive first while turning off all other devices (should you ever want to boot off a CD or any peripheral, just re-order the boot sequence). Finally, make sure that what you have booting up is all you need booting up. As discussed on Page 7 of the WinXP Tweaking: From Reformat to Relax guide Link, go to msconfig and services.msc to make sure you only have starting up what needs to be. For a bare-bones minimal boot-up, I can get away with only having these services running: COM+ Event System, Crypto, DCOM, DHCP, Distributed Link, DNS Client, Event Log, IPSEC, Logical Disk Manager, Plug and Play, Protected Storage, RPC, Security Accounts, Shell Hardware Detect, Themes, Windows Audio, Windows Management Instrumentation. However, for functionality, ease of use, and security I also have Network Connections, Network Location Awareness, Printer Spooler, Server, System Restore, and Wireless Zero, Workstation, the two AVG services, and the Sygate Firewall service running. Make sure you visit Black Viper's Guide (which is back up again ) to see what you can disable. Remember that if you accidentally disable the wrong thing and can't get into windows, boot into safe-mode (F8 or F12 usually, see your boot-up screen) to re-enable it.
Now you're set. From here you should remember to keep XP, your firewall and your anti-virus up-to-date. Also, defrag once every week or two weeks to keep your system optimized. Also remember to run an ad/spyware scanner such as Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition (See Tweak Software list) every now and then too. See the Tweak Software list for other programs you might be interested in using.
And that’s it. You now have a much cleaner and better performing machine. Feel free to install any of the benchmarks I listed in the beginning of the program and take pride in your scores: you now have one tweaked mofo of a laptop
It seems that many threads on the forum are posted regarding how to set up a new laptop and get it running smoothly and the way one likes it. Since it’s raining like a bugger out and there’s not much to do
, I decided to write this guide to get people on their way. This guide will be a combination of links to other guides, my input, and, in the future, feedback and discussion from the community. This guide is written in my best effort to be a help and valuable information source to the community, and I hope that the community will be an active participant in it so that it may become the community’s guide. Please enjoy and happy tweaking. -Mr. K6Acknowledgements, Disclaimers, and Intentions –
1. All other guides linked to and/or listed in this guide are the property and work of their respected owners. They alone deserve all credit for the work and research that went into them and if any owner does not wish to have his or her guide linked to or associated in anyway with this guide, please e-mail/PM me and I will remove it immediately. I believe that the community should partake in all the resources available at NotebookForums and across the web, and that we should also support them, so go donate if you can
.2. I, in no way, take any responsibility for any mishaps, accidents, misfortunes, or consequences that you may encounter while using this guide, or any of the guides listed within it, to tweak your laptop.
3. This guide was written using my Dell i9300. However, many of the tweaks found in it can also be applied to other laptops, and those having questions regarding their laptops may post their questions. Should an answer be given or stumbled upon, I will most gladly fill out this guide to incorporate other laptops.
4. I’ve written this guide to be available to the community. Although I edit and will keep the guide up to date, I urge others with knowledge and ability in the computing world to help with the guide and give supportive answers to any questions asked. As I stated in the introduction, I hope that this will become the community’s guide and that it will become a valuable resource.
5. Finally, this guide is one for crafting a tweaked laptop that is geared toward performance. To some, this may seem barebones and I invite you to fill out your machine as you please. Should you find a tip, trick, program, etc. that you think is a valuable asset to the guide, please PM me or post and I will be happy to review it and incorporate it into the guide.
And now, on with the guide
-THE LAPTOP TWEAKING GUIDE-
Update: I have added a color-coding system to links to help with quick searches and identification. The system is as follows:
Benchmarks - Dark Orange
Security Programs - Dark Green
System Tools, Updates and Drivers - Sienna
Tweak Programs and Guides - Royal Blue
Next to these programs/drivers/sites/guides will also be links:
Site: A link to the site or, if next to a program, a site with information about the program
Link: A link to the exact mentioned article/guide
Download: A link to the Downloads page for that program
Direct: A direct link to the download for that program
First Impressions -
1. So the Box(es) Arrived
First off, check and make sure you received everything you ordered by reviewing the packing slip and taking an inventory. Feel free to open your laptop, admire what a wonderful machine it is, do a happy dance, or even sit down for a drink: today is a good day to be you
. One thing I have noticed with Dells is that Dell has ceased to ship baseline software with all its models. If you did not receive your software, i.e. operating system, drivers, installed applications, etc., make a quick phone call to your notebook manufacturer and request that they be sent to you (Dell does this for free).2. First Boot-up and Benchmarking
Push that beautiful button and fire her up! You’ll be asked to set up an XP account, etc. etc. it doesn’t matter what you do because you’ll be reformatting soon. A few things to note are how long it takes to boot up, the amount of icons and other junk that have been installed, and, opening the task manager (Ctrl+Alt+Delete), how many processes are running and the amount of memory being used. For the truly hardcore, you may also wish to benchmark your system before any tweaking so that you may see how much improvement there has been afterwards. Good programs to use are:
3DMark05 Site Download – Essential for testing graphics improvement. New graphics drivers and overclocking will show their improvements here.
PCMark05 Site Download – A great benchmark for overall system performance.
Aquamark3 Site – Another great all around system benchmark.
SANDRA Lite Site Download - SANDRA is a great program for finding out tons of information about your system. It also has some great modules for benchmarking. The CPU ones won’t change much as we can’t overclock (unless you’re going for a pin-mod), but it’s nice to compare anyway. Also check out the memory bandwidth benchmark too, again, it won’t change much, but it’s nice to know anyway.
HD Tach 3 Site/Download - HDTach is a great program for testing hard drive performance and getting actual data rather than a “score.” Also, it has results included, allowing you to compare with other drives.
Be aware that anything you install now will be completely removed once you reformat. Therefore, I recommend taking the time to benchmark only if you’re really interested in seeing the performance improvement.
The Reformat –
Many times OEM manufacturers include tons of extra software and features on their computers and this has the tendency to slow a computer down worse that spyware/malware. Reformatting is a term used to describe the process of completely wiping clean the hard drive (so that there is no data on it) and installing a fresh copy of an operating system. The benefit of this is it provides an incredibly clean and organized operating system and computer and is essential to optimization. The process is wipe clean the hard drive, set up a partition on it (organize it so that it can run an operating system), install the OS (operating system), and from there set it up for every day operation. I highly recommend reformatting as it is simple and the best way to get a clean system ripe for optimization. Should you choose to not reformat, you can still tweak your laptop, but it won't be as optimized. Try uninstalling all programs deemed unnecessary and do other cleaning-house methods mentioned later in this guide. However, for the sake of simplicity and the tweaking manner, please do reformat
.1. Before Reformatting
I’m taking it that most users will be using Windows XP, so this guide is written in accordance to a Windows XP (from now on just called "XP") reformat and re-install. Before turning off your laptop you need to decide what program you want to use to reformat your drive. The XP CD will do it for you. However, in order to have a completely clean drive you must choose the long reformat option, not the quick one, which many times can take 30min or longer. I recommend using 3rd party software like Maxblast3 (from Maxtor) or any other reformatting software, which many times can be quicker. Burn an image to a CD so that you can boot off it. Still, the XP CD does a fine job, it just takes a little longer. Also make sure that you have your laptop’s network card driver (for the LAN port, not the wireless) so that you can install it and have internet access right after you install Windows XP. Place the Windows XP CD or your reformatting software CD into your CD drive and reboot.
2. BIOS Set-up and Optimization
As soon as your laptop reboots and enters the BIOS start-up screen with your manufacturer’s name on it, press your BIOS entry key (usually F2 or Delete) several times to enter into the BIOS. First, go to boot sequence and make sure that your CD-Drive is placed ahead of your HDD (hard drive) so that you will boot to the CD first. While in the BIOS it is a good idea to take the time to tweak your BIOS. You may wish to set the correct time and date so you do not have to do so later in windows. You may also want to adjust certain settings to taste, such as LCD brightness and expansion. Also make sure that you disable devices that you won’t use (I disabled my 56k modem) so that they don’t drain battery power. For a great guide on all BIOS settings, visit Adrian's Rojak Pot Site, but be aware that most of these settings won’t be accessible in your BIOS. After you have set-up things the way you like them, save and exit.
3. Reformatting and Creating a Partition
I’m taking it that most users will be using the XP CD to reformat. That said, if you want to set up more than one partition (to dual boot, etc.) you will need 3rd party software. However, if you’re advanced enough to create your own partitions and dual boot, you don’t need my help anyway
. First off, when the XP CD boots, the blue screen will pop-up, load the first XP set-up files, and then will proceed along. Agree to the EULA. Delete any restore partitions that your manufacturer included so that you have a whole bunch of unpartitioned space. Note that you may wish to leave the small diagnostic partition if it was included as it takes up very little space and can be helpful in diagnosing any problems that may arise the in the future. Select the unpartitioned space and have windows create a partition there. It will automatically set it up to be the entire space (which should be your entire driver) with an NTFS file system and 4k clusters (optimal for Windows XP performance). Make sure that you select the normal/long reformat, NOT the quick one, as it ensures a clean hard drive. The quick option does not erase data and wipe clean the hard drive, it only formats it. This options should ONLY be used if you bought another, bare hard drive, not the one installed by your manufacturer. NOTE: your final partition size will be smaller than your marketed hard drive size. This is becauseHDD's are rated as 1GB= 1,000,000,000 bytes when they are marketed, however they operate as 1GB = 1,073,741,824 bytes (binary). Hence my 60GB has a max. capacity of ~55.8GB
4. Installing Windows
After setting up the partition, the Windows CD will install base Windows XP files and then will reboot the laptop. Then a much more advanced GUI will pop up and will finish the installation, asking you set-up questions along the way. Set these to your tastes/preferences. However, I don't recommend putting in anything identifiable in your laptop’s name or description (for security reasons). Once it has finished it will reboot again and finally you will see the Windows XP start-up. Upon seeing the desktop, you will notice how very bare it is with only the recycle bin and the "Bliss" background. However, open up task manager and take a gander at the number of processes running and at the amount of memory in use. THAT is a clean system
Windows XP Set-Up –
1. Windows Update
First off, establish an internet connection and head directly over to Microsoft Site and Windows Update (now called Microsoft Update). It’ll probably ask you to install a newer version of Windows Installer. After this, you’ll follow this process for awhile: install software, reboot, go back to Microsoft Update, search for more high priority updates, install, reboot, repeat. Usually the order is security updates>SP2 (Service Pack 2, only if your copy of XP didn’t come with it)>more updates>updates to those updates
. Also note that you may wish to install Framework 1.1 (from Custom), its update, and the update’s security update ( ) as it provides many usefully functions to XP, including use of ATi’s control center. However, be aware that it also slightly increases boot-up times, so download it only if you feel you need it or want it's functions. I do not recommend installing Windows Media Player 10 though, as it adds two more background processes without any more functionality (at least in my use of it). Now that XP is updated and you have a baseline firewall installed with SP2, you can continue installing with drivers.2. Drivers
You probably installed a network card driver to get online, but other than that your system is bare of drivers. Get drivers from your laptop manufacturer’s website, or, if they don’t have them (
) go to the equipment’s manufacturer’s website (Intel, nVidia, ATi, Sigma Tel, etc. etc.). I create a folder called C:/Downloads/Drivers and save all downloaded drivers to there. You should install drivers in this order: chipset, video, audio, all other drivers. I recommend getting a third party video driver. LaptopVideo2Go Site has great support for nVidia drivers. If you're using LaptopVideo2Go, remember to download the driver, extract the files, and then download the modified .inf file (save as a text file) to those extracted files (overwrite the original .inf) so that the driver can recognize your mobile video chipset. As far as ATi cards go, I’ll look around for a good site for mobile Catalyst Drivers. Also be aware that XP has built in wireless, so only download a driver for your wireless card and not the programs that go with it. I also recommend downloading a driver for your touchpad. While this goes against the “bare bones” manner of this guide, the touchpad driver adds so many more functions that it’s worth it. For instance, after installing the driver for my touch pad, I went from a pointing device with two buttons to one with three buttons, and the the ability to scroll, use browser forward and back buttons, and open programs depending on where I click on the touch pad. The driver also added many more sensitivity, speed, and gesture settings. Finally, make sure that you delete all unpacked files (such as C:/Nvidia) after drivers have been installed and you have rebooted because you won’t need them again.3. Security
You already should have SP2 firewall up and running. In my experience it has been a good firewall, but further research has showed that it has no outgoing control and therefore better protection may be warranted. I’m still doing research in this area, but other great firewalls are ZoneAlarm Site Direct and Sygate Personal Firewall Site Download. Also note that commercial firewalls such as McAfee are good too, but you have to pay for them and they also tend to be resource hogs. For free anti-virus protection I recommend Grisoft AVG Free-Edition Site Direct, it’s top-notch.
4. Make Your Laptop Yours
Install whatever you use every day to make this laptop yours. Just don’t go overboard and make it worse than it came
. You may also wish to install extra drivers/programs to enhance the function of your laptop and peripherals, such as an audio settings program for your sound card, a video driver tweaking program (see Tweak Software list), a mouse configuration program, etc. etc.Now your laptop should be set up the way you like it, so now it’s time to TWEAK *twitches*
Tweaking Your Laptop –
1. Operating System Tweaking
Since I first started building and tweaking systems, I’ve used Koroush Ghazi’s (who also goes by Persian Immortal) XP Tweaking Guides. They are the best I’ve found and provide a wealth of information, and I consider them the Bible for Windows XP Tweaking. That said, there are two versions. First is WinXP Tweaking: From Reformat to Relax Link, which basically covers performance tweaks, and its counterpart, WinXP Tweaking: From Relax to Righteous Link, which covers IE and Outlook tweaking, as well as personalization of Windows XP. The other is a downloadable guide The TweakGuides Tweaking Companion Link, which is HUGE, but contains all the above information and more, plus very detailed descriptions. Some of the information in the first two guides is a little outdated and has somewhat been incorporated into XP with SP2. They’re still all good reads with valuable information. I personally just use the tweaks from the Reformat to Relax Guide, but as I said, I run a very barebones system.
A few things I wish to add are the following. Many options in the guides are set for max performance, but you can set them to taste. A few additions I add are unticking “Hide extensions for known file types” in Folder Options, and for XP Visual Effects under System>Performance, I leave all disabled except for the bottom three and “Smooth edges of screen fonts” to maintain XP's looks. Also, in my experience, it’s best to set a larger page file with the lesser amount of RAM that you have. However, anything above 2GB is really excessive and can lead to corruption. Make the page file one set size: having it be adjustable allows it to fragment easier. I personally have 2GB of RAM, so I use 1GB of page file. NEVER turn off the page file, it is essential to XP’s operation. Therefore, adjust the page file’s size based on your usage of your laptop. If you game a lot, use a set size of 1-2GB, depending on how much RAM you have installed. If you don’t game at all, you can get away with 512-768MB, even if you only have 512MB of RAM. Games, video editing, photo-editing, data crunching, etc. etc. are all RAM hogs, so consider what programs you use as you do this. Another thing to consider is System Restore. I leave System Restore on, but set down to the minimum of 200MB of disk space. This is enough for a couple of restore points, and it’s always nice to have a back up incase you need it or the ability to create a restore point just before trying something new. However, feel free to increase if you want more restore points. Finally, BlackViper.com Site is back up, so do check it out for Windows service know-how and tweaking. If you have any questions about a guide or guides, feel free to ask me and I’ll give any information I have on it.
2. Software Tweaking
This section is more of a list of guides, programs, and tips and will be updated frequently.
TweakGuides - For games, other applications, and drivers, I recommend Tweak Guides Site, again, Koroush has some of the best guides on the net, so check them out.
IE and Outlook - See WinXP Tweaking: From Relax to Righteous Link
Firefox – Firefox, I believe, is the best browser out there. After using tabbed browsing I loathe going back to IE. Here’s just a quick way to set up Firefox. Go to Tools > Options to open up options. Under General enter in your favorite homepage. Also untick “Firefox should check to see if it is the default browser when starting” to speed up start-up. To make Firefox your default browser (good choice
), hit check now and the click “yes.” After that go to Privacy. Set most options to taste, but do not allow Firefox to save entered information or passwords in case your browser ever gets hijacked. Also allow cookies for the originating website only. Set the rest of the options to taste. Also, here’s a quick how-to to limit Firefox’s memory usage that my friend found.Finally, here is a list of programs that are great for any kind of tweaking:
Tweak Software
- Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition Site Download – A great program for scanning your computer to find any installed adware, spyware, malware, tracking cookies, and much more. Remember to keep your definitions updated.
- Centrino Hardware Control Site/Download - A program that controls many aspects of Centrino notebooks, including Pentium M's (undervolting and underclocking, too), hard drives, ATi graphics chipsets, and temperature monitoring. It offers a simplified GUI and is a great program.
- Microsoft Bootvis Download - Bootvis is a program that was put out by Microsoft to speed up booting times by rearranging files on the hard drive. Follow the directions for it on Page 9 of guide WinXP Tweaking: From Reformat to Relax here.
- Rivatuner Site/Download - Rivatuner is a fantastic program for an graphics card. It tons of options and controls, and is essential to those who want complete control of their graphics cards.
- RMClock Site Direct - An advanced program used for undervolting and underclocking Pentium M processors. Offers an advanced GUI and many specific options.
- Sequoia View Site/Download - Sequoia View is an excellent program for managing disk space. It maps out file sizes using proportional squares according to the size of the folder you selected. You can even have it map out your entire hard drive and see what's taking up the most space.
More coming soon...
3. Hardware Tweaking
This is where is gets technical :hammer:. As with any section in this guide, this one is also optional, and be aware that it also poses the most difficult tweaking procedures. However, I believe all of these are well worth the effort.
Undervolting – First off, I recommend that anyone using a laptop with a Pentium M processor should undervolt the processor. Not only do you get a little more battery life, but your laptop, its components, and your lap will all be cooler. Follow the Simple Undervolting Tutorial Link, which was written for RMClock Site Direct. I’ve also written an update for v.1.6. of RMClock, found here. I now use Centrino Hardware Control Site/Download, to undervolt, as it is a simpler program that offers options for many laptop sub-systems and it also shows temps and speeds in a two simple tray icons.
Applying AS5 – I also recommend applying Arctic Silver 5 or any other high quality TIM (thermal interface material) to the CPU and GPU, following A Photo Guide for Pin Modding 9300/XPS and Applying AS5 to GPU Link. Although it is written for Dell i9300/XPS2 users, the techniques are the same. Visit your laptop’s manufacturer’s website for an online manual for you laptop and how to disassemble and reassemble it. Pin-modding is also good if you have a 400FSB P-M (Dothan core) and a 533FSB board (the Intel 915 chipset), but only do this if you are comfortable with it.
Video Card Overclocking – Finally, overclocking your video card will give you great results in any 3D environment. There are many guides on NotebookForums for video card overclocking, here are a few:
6800Go Ultra Link
6800Go Link
6800Go with Rivatuner Link
Even with other cards, the process is the same. Make sure that you have a good driver and an overclocking program (see Tweak Software list). When overclocking, remember to go slowly, test your settings after each increase, and know when to back off. If you are overclocking an ATi card and have a Pentium M processor, I highly recommend using Centrino Hardware Control (See Tweak Software list). That way, you can undervolt your P-M and overclock your ATi card using the same program.
Cleaning Up and Maintaining the Tweakage –
Faster Bootup - After you have everything installed and set up the way you like it, it's time to make your laptop boot as fast as possible
. Run Microsoft Bootvis (see Tweak Software list) and, if you haven't already, enter your BIOS, go to "Boot Sequence," and place your hard drive first while turning off all other devices (should you ever want to boot off a CD or any peripheral, just re-order the boot sequence). Finally, make sure that what you have booting up is all you need booting up. As discussed on Page 7 of the WinXP Tweaking: From Reformat to Relax guide Link, go to msconfig and services.msc to make sure you only have starting up what needs to be. For a bare-bones minimal boot-up, I can get away with only having these services running: COM+ Event System, Crypto, DCOM, DHCP, Distributed Link, DNS Client, Event Log, IPSEC, Logical Disk Manager, Plug and Play, Protected Storage, RPC, Security Accounts, Shell Hardware Detect, Themes, Windows Audio, Windows Management Instrumentation. However, for functionality, ease of use, and security I also have Network Connections, Network Location Awareness, Printer Spooler, Server, System Restore, and Wireless Zero, Workstation, the two AVG services, and the Sygate Firewall service running. Make sure you visit Black Viper's Guide (which is back up again ) to see what you can disable. Remember that if you accidentally disable the wrong thing and can't get into windows, boot into safe-mode (F8 or F12 usually, see your boot-up screen) to re-enable it.Now you're set. From here you should remember to keep XP, your firewall and your anti-virus up-to-date. Also, defrag once every week or two weeks to keep your system optimized. Also remember to run an ad/spyware scanner such as Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition (See Tweak Software list) every now and then too. See the Tweak Software list for other programs you might be interested in using.
And that’s it. You now have a much cleaner and better performing machine. Feel free to install any of the benchmarks I listed in the beginning of the program and take pride in your scores: you now have one tweaked mofo of a laptop
])...ergo: try creating a small swap partition before the other, larger, ones.
