3/19/2017 PerformanceTuningofWindowsXPonSSDbasedNetbooks

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WindowsToGo
PerformanceTuningofWindowsXPon
SSDbasedNetbooks Windows7/8/10
installationandtuning
Anumberofregistryandfilesystemtweakscanbeappliedto
WindowsXPrunningonSSDbasedcomputersinorderto
makeitrunfasterandconsumelessmemory. WindowsXPinstallation

andtuning
ThisarticleexplainsindetailhowtooptimizeWindowsXPfor
InstallWindowsXPWithout
runningfromSSD.Howtospeeduptheslowcomputers,
DVDDrive
boostWindowsXPperformance,andmakeyourcomputerrun
faster. InstallWindowsXPWithF6
DriversFromUSBOnly

Contents SolveBSODIssuesDuring
Installation

1.Intendedaudienceofthisarticle InstallWindowsXPWithF6
DriversWithoutFloppy
2.Goal:LesswritesonSSD.Motivation
SpeedUpSSDBased
3.Optimizationguide
Netbooks,AddFSIntegrity
WithEWFTool

PerformanceTuningof
1.Intendedaudienceofthisarticle WindowsXPonSSD

ThisarticleisforpeoplewhouseSSDbasednetbookswith
ChangeIDEtoAHCIwithout
WindowsXP.UserschooseSSDbasednetbooksbecauseare reinstallingWindowsXP
lightweight(~1kg),energyefficient,cheapandrobustto
shockandvibration.
Fixbooterrors
OurtoolFlashBoothasmadeeasytoinstallofWindowsXP
fromUSB.
FixRegistryproblems
IfyouuseWindowsXPonnetbook,firstofallyoushould
installandenableEWF.Thisarticlegoesfurtherandexplains SolveWindowslogon
postEWFinstallationstepsrequiredtospeedupSSDbased problems
netbookwithWindowsXP.
RecommendationsfromthisarticleareindepenentfromEWF. Backup,restoreand
YoumayapplythembeforeinstallingEWF,afterinstalling transfer
EWF,orapplythemwithoutinstallingEWFatall.
Miscellaneous

2.Goal:LesswritesonSSD.Motivation
WeintendtominimizewritesonSSDbackeddiskC:.But
why?

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3/19/2017 PerformanceTuningofWindowsXPonSSDbasedNetbooks

Duetoaneffectknownaswriteamplification,whensmall
512bytesectoriswrittentoSSD,entireeraseblock
(typically32xlarger)getserasedandrewritten.Thisisa
causeofslowlinessofWindowsXPwithdefaultsettings.
Also,SSDshavelowlimitoneraseandrewritecyclecount
perblock,typically10000,whichismuchlowerthanHDDs.
ThisiswhySSDlifetimeisreducedonWindowsXPwith
defaultsettings.
So,ourprimarygoalistominimizenumberofwritesonSSD.

3.Optimizationguide
1.InstallWindowsXPonFAT32filesystem,notNTFS.
FAT32hasmuchsimplermetadataformatcomparedto
NTFS,soWindowsmakeslessdiskwriterequests.

2.Disableswapfile
SwappingreducesSSDlifetimegreatly.Alsoitdoesnot
makesenseifEWFisinstalledfordiskC:swapped
outdataisstillkeptinRAMbyEWFfilterdriver.
MyComputer>Properties>Advanced>
Performance>Settings>Advanced>Virtual
Memory>Change.

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3/19/2017 PerformanceTuningofWindowsXPonSSDbasedNetbooks

C:>Nopagingfile>Set(repeatforalldiskswith
swapfiles).ThenclickOK.

IfyouabsolutelymusthaveswapfileenabledonSSD
basednetbook,installSDcardtoSDslot,makeit
appearasfixeddiskandrelocateswapfilethere
(disableitforallotherdisks).LifetimeofthisSDcardis
expectedtobeunder2yearsofnormaluseandunder1
yearofintensiveuse.

3.IncreasetheDiskCacheSize
WhenyoureadafilefromtheHDDorSSD,Windowswill
storeacopyofthisfileintheRAM.Whenthisfilewillbe
askedagain,WindowswillreaditfromRAM.Thisway
diskaccesstimewillbegreatlyreduced.
Cachealsoworksforwriting.Thenewdataisnot
instantlysavedtodisk,it'sholdinRAMforsometime.
Thebenefitofthisappoarchisanadditional
performanceonfilesrepeatedlyrewritteninplace.
WewillincreasethesizeoftheRAMbaseddiskcache
toimprovediskperformance.
Runregedit(Start,Run...,typeregedit).
Gotothefollowingkey:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\
SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session
Manager\MemoryManagement
CreateoredittheDWORDvaluebyassigning
LargeSystemCachevalue1(0isthedefault).
Exitregeditandrebootthenetbook.

4.DisableSystemRestore
Theoretically,SystemRestorefeatureistomakesure
thatsoftwareinstallations,drivers,andotherupdates
canberolledback.
Inpractice,itneverworksthatwayandjustwasting
diskspaceandI/O.
MyComputer>Properties>SystemRestore
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3/19/2017 PerformanceTuningofWindowsXPonSSDbasedNetbooks

Select"TurnoffSystemRestore"checkboxandclick
Apply.Confirmturnoffindialog.

5.DisableUpdatingofFileLastAccessTime
Eachtimeyoureadanyfile,Windowsupdatesits
attributes(lastaccesstimeinparticular).Suchupdates
generatealotofuselessdiskI/O.Todisablethis
feature:
Runcommandline(Start,Run...,typecmd).
Typefsutilbehaviorsetdisablelastaccess1and
pressEnter.

6.DisableWindowsPrefetch
WindowsPrefetchisindendedtospeeduploadingof
applications.ItrememberswhichDLLsanddatafiles
eachapplicationtendtoreadeachtimeonstartupand
makesthemsequentalondiskinitsWindowsPrefetcher
Cache.
SoonHDDstheyloadfaster.OnSSDwithfastrandom
seektimethere'snospeeddifferencebetweenreading
filesfromWindowsPrefetcherCacheandfromactual
location.OnSSDbasednetbooks,WindowsPrefetcher
CacheisjustwasteofdiskspaceandSSDlifetime.
TodisableWindowsPrefetch:
Runregedit(Start,Run...,typeregedit).
Gotothefollowingkey:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\
SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session
Manager\MemoryManagement\
PrefetchParameters

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3/19/2017 PerformanceTuningofWindowsXPonSSDbasedNetbooks

CreateoredittheDWORDvaluebyassigning
EnablePrefetchervalue0(1isthedefault).
Exitregeditandrebootthenetbook.
DeleteC:\Windows\Prefetchfolder.

7.Disablediskdefragmentationandbackgroundmovingof
frequentlyaccessedfilestothestartofdisk
BecauserandomreadtimeonSSDisthesameaslinear
readtime,defragmentationisunnecessaryforSSD.
BecausereadspeedatthestartofSSDdoesnotdiffer
fromreadspeedatthenendofSSD,movingfrequently
usedfilestothestartofdiskinunnecessaryforSSD.
BothshouldbedisabledtoavoidunnecessaryI/Oand
toextendSSDlifetime.
Todothis:
Runregedit(Start,Run...,typeregedit).
Gotothefollowingkey:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\
BootOptimizeFunction
CreateoredittheSTRINGvaluebyassigning
Enablevalue"N"("Y"isthedefault).
Gotothefollowingkey:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\
SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\OptimalLayout
CreateoredittheDWORDvaluebyassigning
EnableAutoLayoutvalue0(1isthedefault).
Exitregeditandrebootthenetbook.

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