How to Optimize Vista

[Phopojijo]

Okay since I am so annoyed with all the ranting going on about "how bad Vista performs" and "how full of shit it is". Take note of the following easy fixes to regain your performance:

1) Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter -- uncheck "run on a scheduel". The hard-drive performance monitor on the defrag schedules at very very inappropriate times. Disabling this prevents your computer from getting hiccups sporadically, often during peak activity... such as installing a program or playing a game. It also fixes the cause of several installs failing without logical reason... defrag messes with the cab files trying to defragment them.

2) On every GPU-intensive program, right click the exe -> properties -> compatibility tab -> disable desktop composition -> Okay This disables Aero for the duration that the program is running, dedicating the GPU solely for your application. This setting DOES get remembered unlike, for instance, affinity.

3) Manually set your programs' processor affinity and priority to allow the most intensive programs to either have their own processor, or the highest processor priority versus the lesser important processes. This setting is not remembered, but there's bound to be a manager available online.

C'mon guys, I am piss-tired of having people whine and bitch about the first two problems which is a simple 2-minute fix. Seriously. Don't whine... if your computer isn't running its fullest potential... just ask to see if there's a simple tweak. There probably is. And it keeps my blood pressure down too ;)

[jahrain]

Doesn't this belong in the tech forums?

Lol, this only improves performance on my machine about 10% when compared to XP, 100% would be equivalent to XP. I'm even running the windows classic UI. Kicking it old school, you might say. I have just about every visual enhancement feature disabled. I even bought a special 4 gb high speed ExpressCard flash memory stick dedicated for vista's Readyboost. Programs still lag like hell switching between them. Photoshop's UI lags all the time when doing specific things like moving around layers. 3d Applications such as Maya and 3ds Max lag HEAVILY when just doing simple things like selecting vertecies, faces, manipulating UVs, and dragging objects. Also, many programs have become allot more unstable for me. Maya never crashed as much as it used to on XP. All these problems I only face in vista. Don't even get me started on how bad the video drivers for my gfx card are on vista. Sure, don't blame vista like any other m$ zealot, blame the third party software developers and hardware drivers for vista's failings.

Not everyone has enthusiast system specs that can handle Vista's ridiculous waist of CPU cycles and ram. Microsoft should have chosen to copy OSX's efficiency while they were at it, they even took the time to perfectly copy OSX's user document filing system, right down to the exact same directory names. They could have at least taken the time to ensure the os runs more efficiently, something OSX does with each new version.

[bleach]

thank you. +REP. That was really helpful, I'm gonna try it when i get Vista.

[soccerbummer1104]

jaharin, i have a friend withteh same card and 1 gig of ram, and he runs it fine. It sounds like you havnt updated your graphics drivers in a while, because the old ones did that.
nvidia.com is your gfx cards best friend.

[jahrain]

jaharin, i have a friend withteh same card and 1 gig of ram, and he runs it fine. It sounds like you havnt updated your graphics drivers in a while, because the old ones did that.
nvidia.com is your gfx cards best friend.I check it daily and always get the latest ones, hoping and praying that the next one will once again work like it does on XP. Does your friend use 3ds max and maya on a regular basis? The main problem I have with the drivers is that there is no powermizer controls, I cannot set my GPU warning temperatures, or even see what tempurature the GPU is running at. I have to use some other overclocking utility to monitor it and its really frustrating, because if I don't keep track of my GPU temps and adjust the power levels and down the clock speeds to compensate or else vista is going to fry it as my gpu runs much hotter on vista than it does on XP.

[Con]

Hell, I just disabled Aero period.

[Kornman00]

I installed Vista on my MacBook Pro (the 5400rpm HDD preset) and used the drivers provided by Apple for BootCamp'in with XP. I have no problems what-so-ever related to graphics or performance, but I also run under Windows Classic (still use the 'advance' visuals, ie Clear Type fonts or w/e its called).

At any given time while my computer is on, I have running 3-4 instances of VS05 or 03, 3-4 instances of IDA, Trillian Pro, iTunes, EditPlus 2, oh and Calc :o. And a couple of windows explorer windows but I don't think those really matter.

But I get no problems with my performance with Vista. Not only that, but all my music, source code and .idbs are stored on a external 120gb HDD running at 5400rpm through a USB 2.0 hub (FAT32) then about 80% of my applications are stored on that same HDD but in a NTFS partition; all of them are compressed except for any large game related files.

I have NO problems at all with Vista, even though its running tons of heavy duty applications on two different 5400pm HDDs. And I haven't used ReadyBoost in about 3 months.

Did I mention that this was a laptop? Or that Apple makes it? The only problem I have currently with MS is their H2V management (the people behind it anyway).

Maybe some people are just blinded by the headlights of the bandwagons they jump on?


EDIT: It should also be noted I use Home Premium.

[MrUncool]

I don't understand why people are having so much trouble with Vista. On my old AMD 64 3000+ system I ran it with Aero with the same performance as XP, on my new C2D system I still have no problems, aside from a few driver/xfire issues.

Vista's use of RAM is actually a better thing once you think about, why have 2GB ram if you're only going to use 300MB of it? The unused RAM isn't going to make anything faster, Windows Prefetcher does a good job of learning how you use your computer and maximizing its potential.

[Pope]

jahrain I really don't understand where your problem is? I literally have the EXACT(I dunno the differences between 7600 Go or 7600 GS) same specs as you and I run vista like hotcakes. I keep all the features on and it runs smooth like a baby's bottom. H2V runs like a charm and I only get the occasional hiccup. No crash problems, no serious lag issues, no graphic problems(yes I'm using NVIDIA Drivers) and this is on a laptop. So I don't really know what kind of bind you got into, but I recommend you check some drivers because I think that's where your issue might be.

[Chronos]

I installed Vista on my MacBook Pro (the 5400rpm HDD preset) and used the drivers provided by Apple for BootCamp'in with XP.
Got one of them as well.. Running Vista ultimate with no problems whatsoever, I did disable some of the services though! Nice machines :)

But Jahrain, I doubt you can notice any sort of speed changes with readyboost.. As it's a service that also requires more memory from the ram, I'm guessing you already knew that.. well maybe?

[Lightning]

Doesn't this belong in the tech forums?

Lol, this only improves performance on my machine about 10% when compared to XP, 100% would be equivalent to XP. I'm even running the windows classic UI. Kicking it old school, you might say. I have just about every visual enhancement feature disabled. I even bought a special 4 gb high speed ExpressCard flash memory stick dedicated for vista's Readyboost. Programs still lag like hell switching between them. Photoshop's UI lags all the time when doing specific things like moving around layers. 3d Applications such as Maya and 3ds Max lag HEAVILY when just doing simple things like selecting vertecies, faces, manipulating UVs, and dragging objects. Also, many programs have become allot more unstable for me. Maya never crashed as much as it used to on XP. All these problems I only face in vista. Don't even get me started on how bad the video drivers for my gfx card are on vista. Sure, don't blame vista like any other m$ zealot, blame the third party software developers and hardware drivers for vista's failings.

Not everyone has enthusiast system specs that can handle Vista's ridiculous waist of CPU cycles and ram. Microsoft should have chosen to copy OSX's efficiency while they were at it, they even took the time to perfectly copy OSX's user document filing system, right down to the exact same directory names. They could have at least taken the time to ensure the os runs more efficiently, something OSX does with each new version.

Sounds like your computer just sucks, Jahrain, because I have only 1gb of ram, and I experience NONE of these things.

[jahrain]

My computer has no problem *just* running vista. The problems I experiance when using software that I use almost everyday, such as maya and 3ds max. I just keep getting all these random UI lags, and hiccups constantly when trying to do work. Not to mension 3d applications just crash more randomly, usually when switching between them in vista.

My problem with my drivers for my video card is the absence of the mobility controls so my PC runs my GPU as if it was a desktop and it gets hot very quickly which is why I have to constantly manually downclock it, as the clocking settings don't save after you restart the computer, to nearly half the speed to get it to run games without it soaring past 90C. (Yes I'm using the latest damn drivers so don't tell me again to update my drivers). And don't tell me its my GPU or thermal system, I just had my GPU replaced replaced a few weeks ago due to these problems. It didn't help so I had my thermal system replaced as well even though its quite obvious that it runs fine as my CPU stays nice and cool all the time. In XP the drivers for the same video card was specialized to automatically slowdown the clockspeed and memory bus as it gets hot so my GPU was always running a descently cool temperature, even while playing games.

And enough with the "oh I have the same specs and I don't have that problem". You probably do have that problem but just don't know it because those same vista drivers won't let you see what your current GPU temperatures are. My computer does not suck as everything just runs like its supposed to in XP.

[Lightning]

Hmmm, strange.

Even with those programs running, I still get no slowdowns that weren't present in XP.

Try going into the control panel and choosing a different profile for your power savings.

[jahrain]

Is there any particular reason why with all running applications combined never seem to use more than about 50% of my ram, even when doing a memory intensive process such as rendering but the task manager clearly shows that 90 to 95 % of my ram is being used, and 100% of my physical ram is being used? Its as if some hidden process is using up the other 50% of my physical ram.

[Cortexian]

Only thing I disagree with is the scheduled defrags. I set mine to once a week on Saturday morning at 2:00am, and I haven't had any problems.

[WolfenRage]

I think it best though to only defrag after you do a installation, or put a large file on your hard drive ect. Alot of these tips are good and I use them as well. They are mentioned in a ebook I read, which I recommend. TGTC for Windows Vista (http://www.tweakguides.com/TGTC.html). If you do take the advice in this book make sure you read up before you start removing everything though.

I have all my games disable visual theme and desktop composition though
Once I exit them it goes back to aero which is cool.

I even heard of people starting their games, alt tabbing to the desktop.
Cntrl+Alt+Delete and ending the explorer.exe. After done playing Cntrl+Alt+Delete, run new task: explorer.
I haven't tried it yet though, to know if it helps.

[Kornman00]

I even heard of people starting their games, alt tabbing to the desktop.
Cntrl+Alt+Delete and ending the explorer.exe. After done playing Cntrl+Alt+Delete, run new task: explorer.
I haven't tried it yet though, to know if it helps.
:lmao:

win

[Phopojijo]

Is there any particular reason why with all running applications combined never seem to use more than about 50% of my ram, even when doing a memory intensive process such as rendering but the task manager clearly shows that 90 to 95 % of my ram is being used, and 100% of my physical ram is being used? Its as if some hidden process is using up the other 50% of my physical ram.Because Windows always used all available RAM regardless of how much was used by programs in general.

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/756806.html

It prefetches what it assumes you'll eventually be using so you don't need to access it from the hard drive. Why not? When it needs the RAM it will kick the extraneous off, if it doesn't need the RAM it'll potentially speed up later if it just so happened to prefetch something that ended up being used. As an example, if you use Firefox daily... it might dump firefox into your RAM if it has extra space -- assuming at SOME point you'll turn firefox on and it won't need to even look at the harddrive.


Only thing I disagree with is the scheduled defrags. I set mine to once a week on Saturday morning at 2:00am, and I haven't had any problems.

http://gbxforums.gearboxsoftware.com/showthread.php?t=64059

He'd disagree, as would my first 2 times attempting to install Maya and a few Battlefield2 games in Beta2. It doesn't always hurt, but when it does, its a frick'n cyclone.

[leorimolo]

I am yet to know why MP lags more than SP on my laptop :?

[Phopojijo]

I am yet to know why MP lags more than SP on my laptop :?If your performance gets too high you will have issues with the gamespeed code. For many Xbox games, gamespeed is tied in to the framerate. Inconsistent framerate could therefore cause inconsistent gamespeed.

It might not be *laggy*, it might just be a hiccupy gamespeed. Try turning on Vsync.

See -- everyone else be like this guy... instead of complaining saying everything's broken -- try and fix the issue.

Talked to HiredGun for a couple of emails, and they acknowledged the issue and are looking into my suggestion to revive the 30FPS mode that Halo PC and Halo 1/2 Xbox had. This is what people refer to when they say "Locked framerate" in console programming, to my knowledge.

[p0lar_bear]

Fixed framerates are pretty much needed for Halo, simply because there's no code to interpolate from frame to frame on higher framerates. Your camera is moving at 60 FPS, yet objects animate at 30 FPS. It really disorients me.

[jahrain]

Because Windows always used all available RAM regardless of how much was used by programs in general.

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies-archive.cfm/756806.html

It prefetches what it assumes you'll eventually be using so you don't need to access it from the hard drive. Why not? When it needs the RAM it will kick the extraneous off, if it doesn't need the RAM it'll potentially speed up later if it just so happened to prefetch something that ended up being used. As an example, if you use Firefox daily... it might dump firefox into your RAM if it has extra space -- assuming at SOME point you'll turn firefox on and it won't need to even look at the harddrive.
Then this is probably what the cause of my problems are. Is there anyway to disable this so it works like XP? I don't want my operating system making 'assumptions' about which programs I will choose to use and eating up all my ram just to save it for what it thinks I might want to use. I use different applications constantly and never really have any main pattern in usages. One day I will be using nothing but photoshop, the next I will be playing a game, the next I will be using some 3d applications, etc. No wonder it gives me so much trouble because I'm not the typical average user it 'assumes' I am.


It might not be *laggy*, it might just be a hiccupy gamespeed. Try turning on Vsync.
How do I turn on this vsync? There is no option in the game to do it that I know of. If you tell me, I will be very happy. Btw, if your going to say turn it on in the driver settings then... grrr... *Goes back to original problem about crap drivers that don't allow this and that to be done in vista*.

[Timo]

From what was in the link Phopo posted, open up regedit.exe and go to this directory:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentC­ontrolSet\Contr ol\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters\Enab­leSuperfetch

A value of 1 prefetches boot processes, 2 prefetches applications, 3 is for both and 0 to disable it.

[Phopojijo]

Then this is probably what the cause of my problems are. Is there anyway to disable this so it works like XP? I don't want my operating system making 'assumptions' about which programs I will choose to use and eating up all my ram just to save it for what it thinks I might want to use. I use different applications constantly and never really have any main pattern in usages. One day I will be using nothing but photoshop, the next I will be playing a game, the next I will be using some 3d applications, etc. No wonder it gives me so much trouble because I'm not the typical average user it 'assumes' I am.It did it in XP too, it just does it more tenaciously since the advent of "Readyboost" technology... basically also allowing you to prefetch to USBkeys and such. Useful for solid state hybrid drives so they don't use a lot of space.

But to answer your question -- C:\windows\prefetch\ delete its contents with extreme prejudice.

Then, after you're done that: Regedit!

HKey_Local_Machine\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters

Change the value of EnablePrefetcher and EnableSuperfetch to 0 (from 3).

This all being said -- this is also what XP did... just XP had a much smaller code to do this... so you may find loading programs more laggy than XP. But you got the option -- quicker loads or more top end performance... your choice. Even though I don't find that the used memory is all that much of a strain since Windows releases memory a LOT better than it used to (back in the 16/32 days of Win95-ME)

How do I turn on this vsync? There is no option in the game to do it that I know of. If you tell me, I will be very happy. Btw, if your going to say turn it on in the driver settings then... grrr... *Goes back to original problem about crap drivers that don't allow this and that to be done in vista*.Yea the drivers are the only way to do it... again, emailed Hired Gun a couple of times asking for 30FPS mode.

[jahrain]

It did it in XP too, it just does it more tenaciously since the advent of "Readyboost" technology... basically also allowing you to prefetch to USBkeys and such. Useful for solid state hybrid drives so they don't use a lot of space.

But to answer your question -- C:\windows\prefetch\ delete its contents with extreme prejudice.

Then, after you're done that: Regedit!

HKey_Local_Machine\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters

Change the value of EnablePrefetcher and EnableSuperfetch to 0 (from 3).

This all being said -- this is also what XP did... just XP had a much smaller code to do this... so you may find loading programs more laggy than XP. But you got the option -- quicker loads or more top end performance... your choice. Even though I don't find that the used memory is all that much of a strain since Windows releases memory a LOT better than it used to (back in the 16/32 days of Win95-ME)

So I can't just set it to "work like XP" mode? Damn...

[Phopojijo]

So I can't just set it to "work like XP" mode? Damn...Well if you want to be cynical -- XP never actually worked a single way. It changed a couple times with each service pack release.

[jahrain]

With SP2 then as that was the version of XP I used. I wish july would hurry up and come so I can get that h2v XP compatibility kit so I can go back to XP. I don't like vista, and it clearly does not like me.

[Zemious]

I don't understand why people are having so much trouble with Vista. Halo PC/CE doesn't work right for me at all.
Its the text issue, I can't type in it. I thought there was some sort of error with it so I installed that CMT text console plugin and it completly fucked Halo CE up. When loading into Halo, I don't even get into the menu screen although I can hear my mouse "hover over links" noise when I hover over them.
I've uninstalled Halo PC/CE atleast 3 times, I had it installed on an x86 part.
I then installed it in a regular program files which wasn't x86.

Recently, I installed Diablo 2.
It doesn't work either, it hangs inside screens. Before I could even start the game up, I had to download the 1.11b patch.

[Phopojijo]

With SP2 then as that was the version of XP I used. I wish july would hurry up and come so I can get that h2v XP compatibility kit so I can go back to XP. I don't like vista, and it clearly does not like me.Service Pack 2 had prefetch but not superprefetch (well, it had it, but it was disabled). If that doesn't work you may want to just have windows just prefetch system services, not EVERY program. Its a registry value of 1

So:

Prefetch: 1
SuperPrefetch: 0

Instead of...

Prefetch: 3
SuperPrefetch: 3

like it is now...

[Veegie]

jahrain sucks at computers

[Nick]

NO USER ERROR DOESN'T EXIST, IT IS ALL M$$$$$$$$$$'$ FAULT DUM FUK VG!!!!!

HURRRRRRRRRRRR.

[Veegie]

http://www.h2vista.net/innergoat/stuff/dr/emot/eek5huge2.png

[jahrain]

Service Pack 2 had prefetch but not superprefetch (well, it had it, but it was disabled). If that doesn't work you may want to just have windows just prefetch system services, not EVERY program. Its a registry value of 1

So:

Prefetch: 1
SuperPrefetch: 0

Instead of...

Prefetch: 3
SuperPrefetch: 3

like it is now...
Thanks, I just did this. So far I noticed 3ds max has at least stopped lagging like hell when selecting/moving vertecies. Maybe my other applications problems will cease.


NO USER ERROR DOESN'T EXIST, IT IS ALL M$$$$$$$$$$'$ FAULT DUM FUK VG!!!!!

HURRRRRRRRRRRR.
Um, excuse me? WTF are you doing? M$ MAKES PEFRECT FLAWLESS SOFTWARE! EVERY DAMN PROBLEM IS USER ERR0R!!!!!!!

[Phopojijo]

Make sure to also delete the contents of c:\windows\prefetch. It'll run slow at first but it will pick up once Windows refills the prefetch folder with programs your new settings wish.

But yea... Prefetch *really* shouldn't slow down your computer -- since it releases the used RAM instantly. If it *honestly* is making that much of a difference... you might want to check to make sure your RAM isn't honest-to-goodness just *broken*.

That, or it was not using your USBKey to prefetch... which may be a different source of latency if your USBKey is defective.


Um, excuse me? WTF are you doing? M$ MAKES PEFRECT FLAWLESS SOFTWARE! EVERY DAMN PROBLEM IS USER ERR0R!!!!!!!Microsoft doesn't make perfect software, no, but many (and I mean *many*) people complain about Vista (and other Microsoft software) for things which is mostly their fault.

As an example an old friend of mine kept whining and bitching that his Windows 98SE machine kept crashing, freezing, and bluescreening all the time. He blamed Microsoft. I went to his house? He had less than a megabyte of harddrive space left. That was what caused all his bluescreens -- programs ate swapspace, Windows couldn't allocate it, so it BSOD'd.

Serious.

You should have at least 15% of your harddrive space free to be running at top stability for dos-based Windows (95/98/ME). Sure most of that comes from the requirements by drive defragmenter -- however, you will also begin to see bluescreens get more and more frequent as that space gets filled.

So yes, most of the problems I've fixed... human error. Windows these days is less about being slower and unstable (though yes both are marginally true, since stability is never 100%... even for POSIX-native clients... (fancy way of saying BSD/Linux boxes) and since Windows is bound to get marginally slower with each iteration since Microsoft needs to bloat the frig out of it else people will be bitching when prior programs don't work.)... most of the Microsoft-issues are security... not speed.