If you have NTFS partition you might be knowing that you can set permission to files or folders to be accessible Only By you without any 3rd party software, but problem is if you had previously changed permission level & you reinstall your Windows, you might not be having any access over that file or folder, but you can regain access to that file or folder by following steps below
a] click on run in start menu & type CMD
Now in Command prompt type
CD\
b]Now type
CACLS * /E /T /C /P Administrators:F System:F
This Will reset security permission of almost all folders(Except Some Windows Folders) so that it is accessible by all users having administrator rights .
You can even follow same procedure on other drives
To change drive for example to change to D drive type D: in command prompt and then follow steps given above.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
My Virus Prevention Trick Part2
This is My Trick for Increasing Windows Xp security
1\Use limited account, here is how u do it
a)click on run in start menu and type nusrmgr.cpl
b)Now click on create a new account.
c)type user name you want, and click on next button
d)Now by default computer administrator will be selected, click on Limited and click on create account
e)Now again click on run in start menu and type cmd
f)Now type Net user administrator Type_password_here
in place of Type_password_here type any desired password you want but do remember it as it is very usefull.
2\Make Sure your C drive or drive on which you installed Windows OS is NTFS else follow steps below to convert ur Windows drive to NTFS(Default is C drive)
a)click on run in start menu and type
CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS /V
The above command will convert your C drive to NTFS without any data loss.
Its recommended that you convert all your drives to ntfs for security but if you have older operating system that win 2000(Windows 98 ,Me) you better Not convert other drives to NTFS
3\Now logoff and login to that new account you created which should be available on welcome screen.
4\This is limited account so you wont be having any right access over C drive, good part is even if any virus executes even it wont be having any access to C drive so it cant cause any harm.
5\If you need to install any software, just right click on its setup/installation file and click on run as administrator and in place of password type password you previously set(step 1.d)
Now that that application will run without any problem.
These are the steps to follow to increase you system security to the max to prevent Virus Attack But Its always recommended that you install a good Antivirus for Full Security.
I recommend Avira Antivirus
Click here to Download Free Version Of Avira Antivirus
1\Use limited account, here is how u do it
a)click on run in start menu and type nusrmgr.cpl
b)Now click on create a new account.
c)type user name you want, and click on next button
d)Now by default computer administrator will be selected, click on Limited and click on create account
e)Now again click on run in start menu and type cmd
f)Now type Net user administrator Type_password_here
in place of Type_password_here type any desired password you want but do remember it as it is very usefull.
2\Make Sure your C drive or drive on which you installed Windows OS is NTFS else follow steps below to convert ur Windows drive to NTFS(Default is C drive)
a)click on run in start menu and type
CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS /V
The above command will convert your C drive to NTFS without any data loss.
Its recommended that you convert all your drives to ntfs for security but if you have older operating system that win 2000(Windows 98 ,Me) you better Not convert other drives to NTFS
3\Now logoff and login to that new account you created which should be available on welcome screen.
4\This is limited account so you wont be having any right access over C drive, good part is even if any virus executes even it wont be having any access to C drive so it cant cause any harm.
5\If you need to install any software, just right click on its setup/installation file and click on run as administrator and in place of password type password you previously set(step 1.d)
Now that that application will run without any problem.
These are the steps to follow to increase you system security to the max to prevent Virus Attack But Its always recommended that you install a good Antivirus for Full Security.
I recommend Avira Antivirus
Click here to Download Free Version Of Avira Antivirus
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Nine tweaks that will improve Nokia N95 battery life
- The Tweaks Below are Originally Posted By gersbo
- For More Such Tweaks Visit http://www.gersbo.dk/
- Update Phone Firmware - new firmware might include improvements to battery management
- Bluetooth - keep it off unless needed. Put bluetooth management on «active standby» screen for easy access («Tools» | «Settings» | «General» | «Personalisation» | «Standby mode» | «Active standby apps..»).
- Brightness timeout …not more than 10 seconds («Tools» | «Settings» | «General» | «Personalisation» | «Display» | «Light time-out»).
- Screen brightness - turn it down a notch or two («Tools» | «Settings» | «General» | «Personalisation» | «Display» | «Light sensor»).
- Lower the standby timeout - mine's set to 1 minute («Tools» | «Settings» | «General» | «Personalisation» | «Display» | «Power saver time-out»).
- Camera - do not walk around with "live" viewfinder1.
- WLAN scanning - turn it off…scan manually, or turn scanning on when needed («Tools» | «Settings» | «Connection» | «Wireless LAN» | «Scan for networks»).
- 3G - turn it off - especially in areas with poor coverage, where the N95 otherwise will spend stupefying amounts of power searching for networks («Tools» | «Settings» | «Phone» | «Network» | Set «Network mode» to «GSM»).
- WLAN transmit power (TX power level) - turn it down to, say, 4 mW. («Tools» | «Settings» | «Connection» | «Wireless LAN» | «Options» | «Advanced settings» - say YES to the prompt - scroll down to TX power level choose options/change/ and select 4 mW.).
N95 tweaks & tips
Link not working...?
Here's some tips and trick on the net:
*If you dont long-press the menu key - another way to see if you have apps running in the background is to view the menu in icon mode. Usually there's a small "C" on the upper right of each icon, or on the folder where it's located, indicating that an app is currently running there. This is very useful coz it enables you to gain more memory.
* Ever had a time when you forgot to lock your keys after closing the slider? The n95 lets you input a specific time when you want the keys locked. Just to menu/tools/setting/general/security/phone and sim/.... then choose user-defined in the 'phone autolock period', then just put in how many minutes you want.
*Unlike the 6280 and E65, the N95 does not hang up the call when you close the slide. So after the dialing the number you're calling - you can close the slide and have a more compact phone to hold.
*Increase your RAM by deleting the "Welcome" application in your phone. Delete also other apps that you're not using - like the 'Search" app.
*(from hofo) Want to "hide" some pictures so that it doesn't show up in your Gallery? You can move the photos to another folder in your phone. Like the "my videos" folder. These photos can still be seen and viewed by a 3rd party photo viewer or a file manager - but at least, now when you open the gallery - they wont show up.
*If you have a lot of videos (mp4, 3gp, etc) on your phone, it's always better to arrange them in subfolders. Dont keep more than 130 clips in one folder, if over that, just make another subfolder then put another 130 clips there, and so on and on. If having more than 130 clips - it slows down the phone to unbearable speeds when previewing them in the gallery.
*Once every few weeks, especially if you add and delete photos in your gallery, you should delete the "_pAlbtn" subfolder in your "Images" folder. (Use a file xplorer to view and delete this, or use your PC). This would refresh the entire gallery - and would ensure that your thumbnails are updated. If you delete this folder and dont view the images - it will temporarily give you more space in your memory card.
*Set your call LOG to 10 days or less - this will help in speeding up your phone.
*When connected to a TV or Widescreen monitor, and you're viewing smartmovie movies, try this out. Instead of sliding the slider to make it horizontal, a better way is to set smartmovie to 'portrait' mode. It shows up as landscape on the TV - and there's definitely less pixelation on the picture. (than when sliding the slider to horizontal and 'forcing' the phone to compensate.)
*(from friedblogs) Make your Ringtone horrendously loud by turning ON the 3D Ringtone.
*Unless you have a good reason not to, just change your network to "GSM" only... to conserve battery.
*Also turn the WLAN search to off when you're not using it. This conserves battery as well.
*(from friedblogs) Using GPS, click on options/view/satellite info, then after you got a good satellite status say 3 to 5 you can then click back and it will make your connection faster.
*Oh... just in case you dont know it yet, you can hold down the pound key (#) when in the standby menu, to activate the 'silent mode' in your phone.
*Don’t use the red ("hangup") key to exit an application. In many apps, this just keeps it in the background, eating up memory and slowing down your phone.
*You can change the shortcuts on the home screen to the apps you use most frequently by going to Settings/General/Personalisation/Standby Mode/Shortcuts.
*Ever have a problem when installing themes.... and the dreaded "expired certificate" error message pops up? This is mainly due to the fact the licensed signed certificate that nokia gave for the thememaker has a 1 year validity period - if you're just installing this old theme, and its more than a year old, you'll get that message. Simple solution is to go to the calendar of your 95, set the date back one year, or maybe 8 months - then install the theme you wanted. Restart the phone, then set the correct time again, and you're done.
*Do you want to have a zoom browser without using the default 95's browser? One of the things that some are complaining about the default browser is that the pages (and the default zoom) show up as very big pages. You have to adjust the zoom levels or go to the page overview to find out where you exactly you are in the page being viewed. Opera Mini 4 Beta solves this in a simple and ingenious way.
* If installing an "unsigned" app, and there's lots of them out there (many are free!)... and the phone refuses to install it. You can turn off the certification check. Just go to 'Tools/App manager/Options/Settings' and set 'Software installation' to "All".... and 'Online certif check' to "Off".
* One handy way to get around the menu icons (in the menu screen) quickly is to quick select them. The N95 displays 12 application icons on a menu screen at any moment, just like other S60 phones. The numeric keypad also has 12 buttons. You can select menu icons by pressing the keypad button that corresponds to the location of the application item on the screen. For example, pressing "1" activates the topmost left application, pressing "2" activates the top center icon, and so on.
* Normally, as in other s60 phones, you can delete an application thru the App Manager menu. But there's a much quicker way of doing this. In the menu screen of whatever app you want to delete... just highlight that icon, then press "C".
* (from webukonline) Don't keep switching back to the Standby screen using the Hangup button. This was OK on old versions of S60, but in almost every instance it closes the current application on the N95 - in other words, it acts as 'Exit'. If you want to keep the current program running in the background, press Menu/Apps instead, twice if you want to get to Standby screen.
* The N95 if you notice... is that not fast when it comes to shot-to-shot speed. This is mainly because the default setting for 'Show captured image' is 'On'. Loading and decoding a megabyte plus of JPG does take a while - do yourself a favour - if you can live without display of what you've just snapped, turn this setting 'Off' and you'll be able to snap photos only three seconds apart, much quicker than the default!
* Never mind the pretty but very slow 'multimedia menu' - you can go straight to music player by pressing and holding the multimedia key.
* In the Calendar menu, '#' moves you immediately to the current day, while '*' toggles between the different views. And if you need to start a new 'meeting' entry at any point, just start entering text.
* Camcorder tips: (from webukonlne) The VGA video capture is one of the unique selling points of the N95, so make sure you make the most of it.
- Make sure you use a top-spec, high performance microSD card. At 28MB/min you're going to need it. A SanDisk Ultra II is ideal. Don't buy a cheap copy off eBay, get one from a genuine vendor.
- Don't use digital zoom - you're simply throwing away quality. If you need to get closer to your subject then get closer!
- Don't try and film too close to the N95, as there's no auto-focus in video mode. Stick to subjects more than a metre away.
- As with still photos, film only in good light; you'll be very disappointed by anything shot in dim conditions.
- Don't pan around a scene too fast. Despite the spec of shooting at 30fps, the N95's video will appear slightly jerky.
* In ver.11 - there's a bug in the N95 firmwares that you need to be aware of. If you change ANY of the scene modes (ie: macro, portrait, etc) the "sharpness" setting gets set to "high". (from the default of "normal"). To use the N95's camera in a scene mode, remember to always go down to the bottom of the camera control icons and reset the 'Sharpness' to normal, otherwise your pictures are going to end up lookin too sharp.
* Dial down the megapixels a little. Ask yourself this, do you really need a 5 megapixel camera every time? Each image will take up well over 1 meg on your memory card. If you need to print on a bond-paper sized paper - 3 megapixels will do just fine. Why waste precious space if you don't have to, right? So just adjust the resolution in the Camera Settings.
* If you're going to use GPS and you're in a car - do yourself a favor, and buy a 12v car charger beforehand. It would certainly be worth the convenience of not worrying all the time if your phone is going to conk out on you... especially if you're lost and is depending on the GPS to navigate yourself out
For More Visit:
http://www.filesaveas.co.uk/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1183054340
Here's some tips and trick on the net:
*If you dont long-press the menu key - another way to see if you have apps running in the background is to view the menu in icon mode. Usually there's a small "C" on the upper right of each icon, or on the folder where it's located, indicating that an app is currently running there. This is very useful coz it enables you to gain more memory.
* Ever had a time when you forgot to lock your keys after closing the slider? The n95 lets you input a specific time when you want the keys locked. Just to menu/tools/setting/general/security/phone and sim/.... then choose user-defined in the 'phone autolock period', then just put in how many minutes you want.
*Unlike the 6280 and E65, the N95 does not hang up the call when you close the slide. So after the dialing the number you're calling - you can close the slide and have a more compact phone to hold.
*Increase your RAM by deleting the "Welcome" application in your phone. Delete also other apps that you're not using - like the 'Search" app.
*(from hofo) Want to "hide" some pictures so that it doesn't show up in your Gallery? You can move the photos to another folder in your phone. Like the "my videos" folder. These photos can still be seen and viewed by a 3rd party photo viewer or a file manager - but at least, now when you open the gallery - they wont show up.
*If you have a lot of videos (mp4, 3gp, etc) on your phone, it's always better to arrange them in subfolders. Dont keep more than 130 clips in one folder, if over that, just make another subfolder then put another 130 clips there, and so on and on. If having more than 130 clips - it slows down the phone to unbearable speeds when previewing them in the gallery.
*Once every few weeks, especially if you add and delete photos in your gallery, you should delete the "_pAlbtn" subfolder in your "Images" folder. (Use a file xplorer to view and delete this, or use your PC). This would refresh the entire gallery - and would ensure that your thumbnails are updated. If you delete this folder and dont view the images - it will temporarily give you more space in your memory card.
*Set your call LOG to 10 days or less - this will help in speeding up your phone.
*When connected to a TV or Widescreen monitor, and you're viewing smartmovie movies, try this out. Instead of sliding the slider to make it horizontal, a better way is to set smartmovie to 'portrait' mode. It shows up as landscape on the TV - and there's definitely less pixelation on the picture. (than when sliding the slider to horizontal and 'forcing' the phone to compensate.)
*(from friedblogs) Make your Ringtone horrendously loud by turning ON the 3D Ringtone.
*Unless you have a good reason not to, just change your network to "GSM" only... to conserve battery.
*Also turn the WLAN search to off when you're not using it. This conserves battery as well.
*(from friedblogs) Using GPS, click on options/view/satellite info, then after you got a good satellite status say 3 to 5 you can then click back and it will make your connection faster.
*Oh... just in case you dont know it yet, you can hold down the pound key (#) when in the standby menu, to activate the 'silent mode' in your phone.
*Don’t use the red ("hangup") key to exit an application. In many apps, this just keeps it in the background, eating up memory and slowing down your phone.
*You can change the shortcuts on the home screen to the apps you use most frequently by going to Settings/General/Personalisation/Standby Mode/Shortcuts.
*Ever have a problem when installing themes.... and the dreaded "expired certificate" error message pops up? This is mainly due to the fact the licensed signed certificate that nokia gave for the thememaker has a 1 year validity period - if you're just installing this old theme, and its more than a year old, you'll get that message. Simple solution is to go to the calendar of your 95, set the date back one year, or maybe 8 months - then install the theme you wanted. Restart the phone, then set the correct time again, and you're done.
*Do you want to have a zoom browser without using the default 95's browser? One of the things that some are complaining about the default browser is that the pages (and the default zoom) show up as very big pages. You have to adjust the zoom levels or go to the page overview to find out where you exactly you are in the page being viewed. Opera Mini 4 Beta solves this in a simple and ingenious way.
* If installing an "unsigned" app, and there's lots of them out there (many are free!)... and the phone refuses to install it. You can turn off the certification check. Just go to 'Tools/App manager/Options/Settings' and set 'Software installation' to "All".... and 'Online certif check' to "Off".
* One handy way to get around the menu icons (in the menu screen) quickly is to quick select them. The N95 displays 12 application icons on a menu screen at any moment, just like other S60 phones. The numeric keypad also has 12 buttons. You can select menu icons by pressing the keypad button that corresponds to the location of the application item on the screen. For example, pressing "1" activates the topmost left application, pressing "2" activates the top center icon, and so on.
* Normally, as in other s60 phones, you can delete an application thru the App Manager menu. But there's a much quicker way of doing this. In the menu screen of whatever app you want to delete... just highlight that icon, then press "C".
* (from webukonline) Don't keep switching back to the Standby screen using the Hangup button. This was OK on old versions of S60, but in almost every instance it closes the current application on the N95 - in other words, it acts as 'Exit'. If you want to keep the current program running in the background, press Menu/Apps instead, twice if you want to get to Standby screen.
* The N95 if you notice... is that not fast when it comes to shot-to-shot speed. This is mainly because the default setting for 'Show captured image' is 'On'. Loading and decoding a megabyte plus of JPG does take a while - do yourself a favour - if you can live without display of what you've just snapped, turn this setting 'Off' and you'll be able to snap photos only three seconds apart, much quicker than the default!
* Never mind the pretty but very slow 'multimedia menu' - you can go straight to music player by pressing and holding the multimedia key.
* In the Calendar menu, '#' moves you immediately to the current day, while '*' toggles between the different views. And if you need to start a new 'meeting' entry at any point, just start entering text.
* Camcorder tips: (from webukonlne) The VGA video capture is one of the unique selling points of the N95, so make sure you make the most of it.
- Make sure you use a top-spec, high performance microSD card. At 28MB/min you're going to need it. A SanDisk Ultra II is ideal. Don't buy a cheap copy off eBay, get one from a genuine vendor.
- Don't use digital zoom - you're simply throwing away quality. If you need to get closer to your subject then get closer!
- Don't try and film too close to the N95, as there's no auto-focus in video mode. Stick to subjects more than a metre away.
- As with still photos, film only in good light; you'll be very disappointed by anything shot in dim conditions.
- Don't pan around a scene too fast. Despite the spec of shooting at 30fps, the N95's video will appear slightly jerky.
* In ver.11 - there's a bug in the N95 firmwares that you need to be aware of. If you change ANY of the scene modes (ie: macro, portrait, etc) the "sharpness" setting gets set to "high". (from the default of "normal"). To use the N95's camera in a scene mode, remember to always go down to the bottom of the camera control icons and reset the 'Sharpness' to normal, otherwise your pictures are going to end up lookin too sharp.
* Dial down the megapixels a little. Ask yourself this, do you really need a 5 megapixel camera every time? Each image will take up well over 1 meg on your memory card. If you need to print on a bond-paper sized paper - 3 megapixels will do just fine. Why waste precious space if you don't have to, right? So just adjust the resolution in the Camera Settings.
* If you're going to use GPS and you're in a car - do yourself a favor, and buy a 12v car charger beforehand. It would certainly be worth the convenience of not worrying all the time if your phone is going to conk out on you... especially if you're lost and is depending on the GPS to navigate yourself out
For More Visit:
http://www.filesaveas.co.uk/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1183054340
Avoid Your Nokia Nseries Hangs
1st: Do not press the red(End) key to exit a certain application, gallery, contacts, logs etc. Because if u press tat, it will just run in background...so it will eats up your device RAM.
2nd: U can install a application called "Handy Taskman" to find out the hidden programs running in background tat eats up the RAM. Exit it to maintan the RAM. Just hold the menu key to exit it.
3rd: Do not scroll down too quickly while searching for some files in "gallery > all files".
4th: Maintain the RAM at 9MB for Symbian series60 9.1 3rd edition . While 6MB for the N70/N90/N72 & all the series60 2nd edition.
For More Such Tweaks
Visit
http://forums.techarena.in/tips-tweaks/880448.htm
2nd: U can install a application called "Handy Taskman" to find out the hidden programs running in background tat eats up the RAM. Exit it to maintan the RAM. Just hold the menu key to exit it.
3rd: Do not scroll down too quickly while searching for some files in "gallery > all files".
4th: Maintain the RAM at 9MB for Symbian series60 9.1 3rd edition . While 6MB for the N70/N90/N72 & all the series60 2nd edition.
For More Such Tweaks
Visit
http://forums.techarena.in/tips-tweaks/880448.htm
Monday, November 3, 2008
BOOSTING Your XP Performance
These Settings will fine tune your systems memory
You need at least 256MB of ram to do this:
Go to start click on run and type regedit -and then Browse to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
1.) DisablePagingExecutive -double click on it and in the decimal put a 1 - this allows XP to keep data in memory now instead of paging sections of ram to harddrive yeilds faster performance.
2.LargeSystemCache- double click it and change the decimal to 1 -this allows XP Kernal to Run in memory and improves system performance a lot.
3.Create a new dword in same location where you found DisablePagingExecution and LargeSystemCache Dwork's and name it IOPageLockLimit - double click it and set the value in hex - 4000 if you have 128MB of ram or set it to 10000 if you have 256MB set it to 40000 if you have more than 512MB of ram -this tweak will speed up your disckcache.
Reboot
Tweak The Swap File
For Users with 256 MB RAM or more this tweak will boost their Windows- and Game-Performance.
What it does: It tells Windows not to use any Swap File until there is really no more free RAM left.
Open the System Configuration Utility by typing msconfig.exe in the RUN command on Startmenu. There in your System.ini you have to add ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 under the 386enh section by clicking on new button at right.
Restart your Windows and enjoy better Game performance
Disable Services
XP Pro runs a lot of services by default that are pointless if your not on a corporate network, the following services are ones that I safely disable thereby freeing up memory but check what each one does first to make sure your not using it for something:
Go to Run and type services.msc, right click on each service, properties and choose disable.
Speed Up The File System
NTFS is a great file system, but its feature-set comes at a slight cost in performance. You can negate this a little with the following tips:
* By default NTFS will automatically update timestamps whenever a directory is traversed. This isn't a necessary feature, and it slows down large volumes. Disable it by going to Run and type regedit:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem and set 'DisableNTFSLastAccessUpdate' to 1.
* NTFS uses disparate master file control tables to store filesystem information about your drives. Over time these core MFT files grow and become fragmented, slowing down all accesses to the drive. By setting aside a little space, MFT's can grow without becoming fragmented.
In the same key where you disabled the last access feature create a new DWORD value called 'NtfsMftZoneReservation' and set it to 2.
You need at least 256MB of ram to do this:
Go to start click on run and type regedit -and then Browse to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
1.) DisablePagingExecutive -double click on it and in the decimal put a 1 - this allows XP to keep data in memory now instead of paging sections of ram to harddrive yeilds faster performance.
2.LargeSystemCache- double click it and change the decimal to 1 -this allows XP Kernal to Run in memory and improves system performance a lot.
3.Create a new dword in same location where you found DisablePagingExecution and LargeSystemCache Dwork's and name it IOPageLockLimit - double click it and set the value in hex - 4000 if you have 128MB of ram or set it to 10000 if you have 256MB set it to 40000 if you have more than 512MB of ram -this tweak will speed up your disckcache.
Reboot
Tweak The Swap File
For Users with 256 MB RAM or more this tweak will boost their Windows- and Game-Performance.
What it does: It tells Windows not to use any Swap File until there is really no more free RAM left.
Open the System Configuration Utility by typing msconfig.exe in the RUN command on Startmenu. There in your System.ini you have to add ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 under the 386enh section by clicking on new button at right.
Restart your Windows and enjoy better Game performance
Disable Services
XP Pro runs a lot of services by default that are pointless if your not on a corporate network, the following services are ones that I safely disable thereby freeing up memory but check what each one does first to make sure your not using it for something:
Go to Run and type services.msc, right click on each service, properties and choose disable.
- Alerter
Application Management
Automatic Updates
Background Intelligent Transfer
Clipbook
Distributed Link Tracking Client
Distributed Transaction Coordinater
Error Reporting Service
Fast User Switching Compatibility
IMAPI CD-Burning
Indexing Service
IPSEC Services
Messenger
Net Logon
Net Meeting
Remote Desktop Sharing
Network DDE
Network DDE DSDM
Portable Media Serial Number
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager
Remote Registry
Secondary Logon
Smartcard
SSDP Discovery Service
Telnet
Themes
Uninterruptible Power Supply
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Upload Manager
Webclient
Wireless Zero Configuration
WMI Performance Adaptor
Speed Up The File System
NTFS is a great file system, but its feature-set comes at a slight cost in performance. You can negate this a little with the following tips:
* By default NTFS will automatically update timestamps whenever a directory is traversed. This isn't a necessary feature, and it slows down large volumes. Disable it by going to Run and type regedit:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem and set 'DisableNTFSLastAccessUpdate' to 1.
* NTFS uses disparate master file control tables to store filesystem information about your drives. Over time these core MFT files grow and become fragmented, slowing down all accesses to the drive. By setting aside a little space, MFT's can grow without becoming fragmented.
In the same key where you disabled the last access feature create a new DWORD value called 'NtfsMftZoneReservation' and set it to 2.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Recommended Security Settings
Click on run in start menu and type services.msc
Search for services listed below and double click on it. you will find text startup type:
Next to it will be a popdown menu, usually it will be set to Automatic/Manual, just click on that and set to disabled and click stop button.
1. Messenger – For Win Xp Home/Pro = Disable
Have you ever been surfing the net and all of the sudden you get a pop-up with a “Messenger Service” listing in the title bar? If so, disable this service.
2. NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing – Home/Pro = Disable
This creates the ability for someone to remotely access your computer through NetMeeting. This is not good! If you don’t use NetMeeting or not that often, disable this service.
3. Protected Storage – Home/Pro = Disable
This service will store your passwords as well as enable the auto-complete function within Internet Explorer (auto-complete is where you type – for e.g. – google and then hit Ctrl + Enter to allow IE to fill in the WWW and .Com for you).
4. Remote Desktop Help Session Manager – Home/Pro = Disable
This service provides support for Remote Assistance sessions. Again, if this service is not something you use or use rarely, disable until required.
5. Remote Registry Service – Pro = Disable
If you don’t require the assistance of someone to remotely have access to editing your registry settings, then disable this service. Your systems registry isn’t something you want to surrender easily to a remote computer.
6. Routing and Remote Access – Home/Pro = Disable
This service enables remote computers dial-in routing to your computer. That surely doesn’t sound like something I would want set to “automatic”.
7. Security Accounts Manager – Home/Pro = Disable
This service works just as Protected Storage collecting secure user information. For XP Pro users, you will not be able to run the Group Policy Editor with this service disabled (the Group Policy Editor is unavailable for XP Home users).
As with anything that may be questionable, create a system restore .As a precautionary measure, you may as well, take note of the default state of the service before you adjust it. It wouldn’t take up too much storage place for a simple Note Pad file holding the defaults for 7 services.
Search for services listed below and double click on it. you will find text startup type:
Next to it will be a popdown menu, usually it will be set to Automatic/Manual, just click on that and set to disabled and click stop button.
1. Messenger – For Win Xp Home/Pro = Disable
Have you ever been surfing the net and all of the sudden you get a pop-up with a “Messenger Service” listing in the title bar? If so, disable this service.
2. NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing – Home/Pro = Disable
This creates the ability for someone to remotely access your computer through NetMeeting. This is not good! If you don’t use NetMeeting or not that often, disable this service.
3. Protected Storage – Home/Pro = Disable
This service will store your passwords as well as enable the auto-complete function within Internet Explorer (auto-complete is where you type – for e.g. – google and then hit Ctrl + Enter to allow IE to fill in the WWW and .Com for you).
4. Remote Desktop Help Session Manager – Home/Pro = Disable
This service provides support for Remote Assistance sessions. Again, if this service is not something you use or use rarely, disable until required.
5. Remote Registry Service – Pro = Disable
If you don’t require the assistance of someone to remotely have access to editing your registry settings, then disable this service. Your systems registry isn’t something you want to surrender easily to a remote computer.
6. Routing and Remote Access – Home/Pro = Disable
This service enables remote computers dial-in routing to your computer. That surely doesn’t sound like something I would want set to “automatic”.
7. Security Accounts Manager – Home/Pro = Disable
This service works just as Protected Storage collecting secure user information. For XP Pro users, you will not be able to run the Group Policy Editor with this service disabled (the Group Policy Editor is unavailable for XP Home users).
As with anything that may be questionable, create a system restore .As a precautionary measure, you may as well, take note of the default state of the service before you adjust it. It wouldn’t take up too much storage place for a simple Note Pad file holding the defaults for 7 services.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Windows Vista / 2008 Tweaks - tweaking TCP/IP parameters for broadband internet connections
To enter some of the commands below, you will need to run "elevated" command prompt. To do so, click the Start icon and type: cmd , then press CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER together. Alternatively, you can navigate to Start > All Programs > Accessories > right-click Command Prompt and choose "Run as Administrator.
TCP Auto-Tuning
To turn off the default RWIN auto tuning behavior, (in elevated command prompt) type:
If you're experiencing problems with your NAT router or SPI firewall, try the "restricted", "highlyrestricted", or even "disabled" state.
Notes:
- Reportedly, many home NAT routers with a SPI firewall may have problems with enabled tcp auto-tuning in it's "normal" state, resulting in slow speeds, packet loss, and general reduced network performance.
- auto-tuning also causes problems with older routers that do not support TCP Windows scaling.
- netsh set commands take effect immediately after executing, there is no need to reboot.
Compound TCP (CTCP) is a newer method, available in Vista and Server 2008 (there is also a hotfix available for XP/2003). CTCP increases the TCP send window more aggressively for broadband connections (with large RWIN and BDP). CTCP attempts to maximize Throughput by monitoring delay variations and packet loss. It also ensures that its behavior does not impact other TCP connections negatively.
By default, Vista has ctcp turned off, and Server 2008 turned on. Turning this option on can significantly increase throughput.
To enable CTCP, in elevated command prompt type:
Recommended setting: ctcp
It is better to use this newer generation CTCP congestion control algorithm for most broadband connections, we highly recommend it being turned on.
To check whether your router supports ECN, you can use the Microsoft Internet Connectivity Evaluation Tool. The results will be displayed under "Traffic Congestion Test".
To enable ECN, in elevated command prompt type:
The default state is: disabled
Our recommendation: disabled
More information on ECN: Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) for TCP/IP
To set RSS:
Default state is: enabled
Recommended: enabled
To set TCP Chimney Offload:
Default state: enabled
Recommended: enabled
In regedit (Start icon > Run > type: regedit while logged in as administrator), you can navigate and edit the following keys.
MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) - the maximum packet size.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{...}\
MTU=1500 (DWORD, entry does not exist by default)
The {....} part of the above path is the unique identifier of your network adapter. You can recognize the correct adapter by looking at it's IP address, if obtaining IP automatically labeled by: DhcpIPAddress=192.168.x.x text value, for example.
We recommend leaving this at default, unless you want to lower it. Vista uses the largest possible packet size for the underlying network by default.
Note: In some test environments, the correct MTU entry may be offset by 8. The 8 offset seems to coincide with the size of the PPPoE overhead. Check the result with the TCP Analyzer.
Tcp1323Opts=1 (DWORD, entry created automatically by Windows when you run the "netsh int tcp set global autotuninglvl=..." command, set to 0 by default).
Setting this seems to have no effect, since auto-tuning uses the TCP 1323 scale factor and changes it on the fly, disregarding this setting. Additional testing may be required to determine it's effect if auto-tuning is turned off. Setting it to 1 is best for broadband connections.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
EnableTCPA=1 (DWORD, 1 to enable, 0 to disable NetDMA. Value not present by default in Vista)
Recommended setting is 1, a new DWORD value may need to be created if not already present in the registry.
This setting configures the maximum number of outstanding ACKs in Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{NIC-id}
There will be multiple NIC interfaces listed there, for example: {1660430C-B14A-4AC2-8F83-B653E83E8297}. Find the correct one with your IP address listed. Under this {NIC-id} key, create a new DWORD value:
TcpAckFrequency=1 (DWORD value, 1=disable, 2=default, 2-n=send ACKs if outstanding ACKs before timed interval. Setting not present by default).
For gaming performance, recommended is 1 (disable). For pure throughput and data streaming, you can experiment with values over 2. If you try larger values, just make sure TcpAckFrequency*MTU is less than RWIN, since the sender may stop sending data if RWIN fills witout acknowledgement.
Also, find the following key (if present):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSMQ\Parameters
Add a new DWORD value:
TCPNoDelay=1 (DWORD value, 0 to enable Nagle's algorithm, 1 to disable, not present by default)
To configure the ACK interval timeout (only has effect if nagling is enabled), find the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{NIC-id}
TcpDelAckTicks=0 (DWORD value, default=2, 0=disable nagling, 1-6=100-600 ms). Note you can also set this to 1 to reduce the nagle effect from the default of 200ms without disabling it.
Notes:
Reportedly, the above gaming tweak (disabling nagle's algorithm) can reduce WoW (World of Warcraft) Latency by almost half!
XP/2003 needs hotfix or SP2 for it to work (MS KB 815230)
Vista needs hotfix or SP1 for it to work (MS KB 935458)
Microsoft KB951037
RFC 2581
Wikipedia: Nagle's algorithm
Technet: TCPNoDelay
MS KB 311833
MS KB 328890
MS KB 321098
MS KB 321169
Check the TCP/IP state
To check the current status of the Vista TCP/IP tweakable parameters, in elevated command prompt type the following command:netsh int tcp show globalThe settings, as well as their default and recommended state are explained below. The two most important tweakable parameters are "Auto-Tuning Level" and "Congestion Control Provider".
TCP Auto-Tuning
To turn off the default RWIN auto tuning behavior, (in elevated command prompt) type:
netsh int tcp set global autotuninglevel=disabledThe default auto-tuning level is "normal", and the possible settings for the above command are:
disabled: uses a fixed value for the tcp receive window. Limits it to 64KB (limited at 65535).Our recommendation: normal (unless you're experiencing problems).
higlyrestricted: allows the receive window to grow beyond its default value, very conservatively
restricted: somewhat restricted growth of the tcp receive window beyond its default value
normal: default value, allows the receive window to grow to accommodate most conditions
experimental: allows the receive window to grow to accommodate extreme scenarios (not recommended, it can degrade performance in common scenarios, only intended for research purposes. It enables RWIN values of over 16 MB)
If you're experiencing problems with your NAT router or SPI firewall, try the "restricted", "highlyrestricted", or even "disabled" state.
Notes:
- Reportedly, many home NAT routers with a SPI firewall may have problems with enabled tcp auto-tuning in it's "normal" state, resulting in slow speeds, packet loss, and general reduced network performance.
- auto-tuning also causes problems with older routers that do not support TCP Windows scaling.
- netsh set commands take effect immediately after executing, there is no need to reboot.
Compound TCP - Improve throughput
The traditional slow-start and congestion avoidance algorithms in TCP help avoid network congestion by gradually increasing the TCP window at the beginning of transfers until the TCP Receive Window boundary is reached, or packet loss occurs. For broadband internet connections that combine high TCP Window with higher latency (high BDP), these algorithms do not increase the TCP windows fast enough to fully utilize the bandwidth of the connection.Compound TCP (CTCP) is a newer method, available in Vista and Server 2008 (there is also a hotfix available for XP/2003). CTCP increases the TCP send window more aggressively for broadband connections (with large RWIN and BDP). CTCP attempts to maximize Throughput by monitoring delay variations and packet loss. It also ensures that its behavior does not impact other TCP connections negatively.
By default, Vista has ctcp turned off, and Server 2008 turned on. Turning this option on can significantly increase throughput.
To enable CTCP, in elevated command prompt type:
netsh int tcp set global congestionprovider=ctcpTo disable CTCP:
netsh int tcp set global congestionprovider=nonePossible options are: ctcp, none, default (restores the system default value).
Recommended setting: ctcp
It is better to use this newer generation CTCP congestion control algorithm for most broadband connections, we highly recommend it being turned on.
ECN Capability
ECN (Explicit Congestion Notification) is a mechanism that provides routers with an alternate method of communicating network congestion. It is aimed to decrease retransmissions. In essence, ECN assumes that the cause of any packet loss is router congestion. It allows routers experiencing congestion to mark packets and allow clients to automatically lower their transfer rate to prevent further packet loss. ECN is disabled by default in Vista, as it is possible that it may cause problems with some older routers that do not support this feature.To check whether your router supports ECN, you can use the Microsoft Internet Connectivity Evaluation Tool. The results will be displayed under "Traffic Congestion Test".
To enable ECN, in elevated command prompt type:
netsh int tcp set global ecncapability=enabledPossible settings are: enabled, disabled, default (restores the state to the system default).
The default state is: disabled
Our recommendation: disabled
More information on ECN: Explicit Congestion Notification (ECN) for TCP/IP
RSS - Receive-side Scaling
The receive-side scaling setting enables parallelized processing of received packets on multiple processors, while avoiding packet reordering. It avoids packet reordering y separating packets into "flows", and using a single processor for processing all the packets for a given flow. Packets are separated into flows by computing a hash value based on specific fields in each packet, and the resulting hash values are used to select a processor for processing the flow. This approach ensures that all packets belonging to a given TCP connection will be queued to the same processor, in the same order that they were received by the network adapter.To set RSS:
netsh int tcp set global rss=enabledPossible rss settings are: disabled, enabled, default (restores rss state to the system default).
Default state is: enabled
Recommended: enabled
TCP Chimney Offload
TCP chimney offload enables Windows to offload all TCP processing for a connection to a network adapter. Offloads are initiated on a per-connection basis. Compared to task offload, TCP chimney offload further reduces networking-related CPU overhead, enabling better overall system performance by freeing up CPU time for other tasks.To set TCP Chimney Offload:
netsh int tcp set global chimney=enabledThe possible states are: disabled, enabled, default (restores chimney offload state to the system default)
Default state: enabled
Recommended: enabled
Manually tuning Registry Parameters
Many of the registry keys tuning TCP/IP parameters from previous Windows versions no longer work in Vista and Server 2008. Below is a list of the few we've confirmed to still work. Note that for changes to these settings to take effect the computer needs to be rebooted. As always, a registry backup is recommended if making any changes, and some proficiency in using regedit is required.In regedit (Start icon > Run > type: regedit while logged in as administrator), you can navigate and edit the following keys.
MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) - the maximum packet size.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{...}\
MTU=1500 (DWORD, entry does not exist by default)
The {....} part of the above path is the unique identifier of your network adapter. You can recognize the correct adapter by looking at it's IP address, if obtaining IP automatically labeled by: DhcpIPAddress=192.168.x.x text value, for example.
We recommend leaving this at default, unless you want to lower it. Vista uses the largest possible packet size for the underlying network by default.
Note: In some test environments, the correct MTU entry may be offset by 8. The 8 offset seems to coincide with the size of the PPPoE overhead. Check the result with the TCP Analyzer.
TCP 1323 Options
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Tcp1323Opts=1 (DWORD, entry created automatically by Windows when you run the "netsh int tcp set global autotuninglvl=..." command, set to 0 by default).
Setting this seems to have no effect, since auto-tuning uses the TCP 1323 scale factor and changes it on the fly, disregarding this setting. Additional testing may be required to determine it's effect if auto-tuning is turned off. Setting it to 1 is best for broadband connections.
NetDMA
NetDMA enables support for advanced direct memory access. In essence, it provides the ability to more efficiently move network data by minimizing CPU usage. NetDMA frees the CPU from handling memory data transfers between network card data buffers and application buffers by using a DMA engine.HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
EnableTCPA=1 (DWORD, 1 to enable, 0 to disable NetDMA. Value not present by default in Vista)
Recommended setting is 1, a new DWORD value may need to be created if not already present in the registry.
Gaming Tweak - Disable Nagle's algorithm
The tweak below allows for tweaking or disabling Nagle's alogrithm. Disabling "nagling" allows for very small packets to be transferred immediately without delay. Note that disabling Nagle's algorithm is only recommended for some games, and it may have negative impact on file transfers/throughput. The dafault state (Nagling enabled) improves performance by allowing several small packets to be combined together into a single, larger packet for more efficient transmission. While this improves overall performance and reduces TCP/IP overhead, it may briefly delay transmission of smaller packets. Keep in mind that disabling Nagle's algorithm may have some negative effect on file transfers, and can only help reduce delay in some games. To implement this tweak, in the registry editor (Start>Run>regedit) find:This setting configures the maximum number of outstanding ACKs in Windows XP/2003/Vista/2008:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{NIC-id}
There will be multiple NIC interfaces listed there, for example: {1660430C-B14A-4AC2-8F83-B653E83E8297}. Find the correct one with your IP address listed. Under this {NIC-id} key, create a new DWORD value:
TcpAckFrequency=1 (DWORD value, 1=disable, 2=default, 2-n=send ACKs if outstanding ACKs before timed interval. Setting not present by default).
For gaming performance, recommended is 1 (disable). For pure throughput and data streaming, you can experiment with values over 2. If you try larger values, just make sure TcpAckFrequency*MTU is less than RWIN, since the sender may stop sending data if RWIN fills witout acknowledgement.
Also, find the following key (if present):
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\MSMQ\Parameters
Add a new DWORD value:
TCPNoDelay=1 (DWORD value, 0 to enable Nagle's algorithm, 1 to disable, not present by default)
To configure the ACK interval timeout (only has effect if nagling is enabled), find the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\{NIC-id}
TcpDelAckTicks=0 (DWORD value, default=2, 0=disable nagling, 1-6=100-600 ms). Note you can also set this to 1 to reduce the nagle effect from the default of 200ms without disabling it.
Notes:
Reportedly, the above gaming tweak (disabling nagle's algorithm) can reduce WoW (World of Warcraft) Latency by almost half!
XP/2003 needs hotfix or SP2 for it to work (MS KB 815230)
Vista needs hotfix or SP1 for it to work (MS KB 935458)
References
Windows Server 2008 Network Shell (Netsh) Technical ReferenceMicrosoft KB951037
RFC 2581
Wikipedia: Nagle's algorithm
Technet: TCPNoDelay
MS KB 311833
MS KB 328890
MS KB 321098
MS KB 321169
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