Windows - tweaking

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There are several program designed specifically for tweaking Windows, but if you are feeling confident a lot of these tweaks you can make without these programs

Tricks

Extending the memory on 32bit Windows

This information comes from here.

The basic 32 bit Windows installations limit the user applications to 2 GB of memory. However, on some windows platform (including Windows XP Professional) there is a possibility to extend the user address space to 3 GB by adding the /3GB to the boot options in the boot.ini file.

The way to insert the /3GB switch is to basically edit the file C:\boot.ini in Notepad by adding one more boot line option which contains the /3GB flag. For example, if the original boot.ini is:

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect

You should add one more line with /3GB, i.e.

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /3GB

Be very careful, because a bad boot.ini means Windows will fail to boot.

Also make sure that there is enough virtual memory in your system. This is typically configured in: Control Panel >> System >> Advanced >> Performance >> Settings >> Advanced >> Virtual Memory >> Change and make sure maximum is at 4092

Links

• MSDN - How to edit Boot.ini in Windows XP