Tweaking Windows XP

Tweaking Windows XP

Maria Wardian
MCP, MCDST

Just getting started? This article shows the optimal way to tweak and customize the Windows XP operating system along with Internet Explorer. By following the steps below, you’ll find your system to be cleaner with more convenient settings for its everyday use.

We will configure the Start Menu options, taskbar, mouse pointers, desktop items, display properties, and screen resolution. In addition, we will also customize the start up and recovery options. We will tweak the Virtual Memory settings along with your Disk Cleanup configuration. Finally, we will customize various settings in Internet Explorer.

So let’s get started with the Start Menu properties.

Start Menu properties- Use non-Classic start menu. If you were to use the classic start menu, you would loose certain options as they are only available in the non-Classic start menu.

Uncheck Internet and E-mail boxes. Set number of programs to 0 and click on Clear List. This will allow you to maintain your own personal list. Instead of Windows XP deciding what should be on your Start menu list, you will decide what should go there by using the Pin to Start menu option for your favorite programs.

Uncheck Highlight newly installed programs. Check Control Panel, Display as a menu. Uncheck List my most recently opened documents and click on Clear List to clear previous entries.

Taskbar should look like this:

Mouse- Start, Control Panel, Mouse.
Pointers tab- Set scheme to Windows Standard (extra large)(system scheme). Change working in background & busy pointers if you like.

Pointer Options tab- Customize as shown in the screen shot below.
Display Properties- Control Panel, Display or right-click on desktop and go to properties.
Themes Tab- Windows XP
Desktop Tab- Set Background. Click Customize Desktop, check boxes as shown below.
Uncheck the box Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 days.
Screen Saver Tab- Set My Pictures Slideshow as default (see Preview). Configure as shown below.
Settings Tab- Set as shown below.
Show Network Icon on Taskbar- Right click on My Network Places icon (on the Desktop) and go to Properties. Right-click on Local Area Connection icon and select Properties. Check the box Show icon in Taskbar. You can also rename your Local Area Connection icon to something more meaningful, such as 3COM, or INTEL.

On the Advanced Tab- Enable Internet Connection Firewall (Check box). This will help you protect your computer from the outside world.
Display Time for OS menu- Control Panel, System Properties, Advanced Tab- Click on Settings under Startup and Recovery. Configure as shown below.
Set pagefile to same initial and maximum size- (improves system performance)
Go to Control Panel, System Properties, click on Settings under Performance, click on the Advanced tab, click on Change under Virtual Memory. Add about 200-500 MB to the recommended pagefile size and set that number to be the same for the initial and maximum size. One advantage to setting the pagefile to be the same for initial and maximum size is that the pagefile will not expand, which is very taxing on your system. Another advantage is your pagefile won’t get fragmented.
Disk Cleanup- First, go to My Computer and write down the available and used disk space on all the hard drives (C, D, etc.). Then go to My Computer, click on Properties of Drive C. Click on Disk Cleanup button. Check all the boxes except the Downloaded Program Files box. Repeat these steps for all the drives.

WebClient/Publisher Temporary Files and Compress old files should also be checked.

More Options tab- Clean up System Restore to delete all but the most recent system restore point. You will do this only if you want to get rid of old System Restores that are not needed or if you need to free up more disk space. Notice the available and used disk space on the drives and compare to the previous disk space.

Internet Explorer Options

General Tab- Set the options as shown below.
- Customize homepage by entering the address that you would like to be your default homepage, e.g. http://www.techgalaxy.net.
- To clean Temporary Internet Files, click on Delete Cookies and Delete Files (check the Delete all offline content box).
- If you want to clear the history of the Web sites you have visited, under History, click Clear History.

Content Tab- Under Personal information click on AutoComplete and set the settings as shown below. Leave only the Web Addresses box checked. Click on Clear Forms and Clear Passwords to clear out old entries.

Advanced Tab- Uncheck Enable Personalized Favorites Menu. Check the box Do not save encrypted pages to disk. Also check Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed.

Command Prompt Customization

Create a custom command prompt icon in the Quick Launch toolbar-
- Right-click on the Desktop, select New, then Shortcut.
- Type in cmd in the New Shortcut box, click Next, name the shortcut something like Command Prompt, click Finish.
- Drag the newly created icon to the Quick Launch toolbar. Once you have done this, you may delete the icon on your desktop since it's no longer needed.
- Open the Command Prompt from the Quick Launch toolbar.
- To customize its properties, click on the C:\ icon in the upper left hand corner of the window and select Properties.
- First, click on the Font tab and set the font to the largest size 10x18, as shown below.
- The rest of the tabs should look like the following:
- In the following screen shot, the screen background is set to dark blue and the screen text is set to white. Customize the colors to your own preference.
- Make sure you select the QuickEdit Mode in the Options tab. This allows you to copy and paste information from the Command Prompt window. Adjust the Buffer Size if you prefer.

Hopefully these customized settings will make your Windows XP run cleaner, faster, and be more secure. Use these configuration options as a startup point and then configure them the way you feel they would work best in your own work or home environment.