Windows XP Customization

Configuration

Windows XP requires extensive reconfiguration and optimization to operate in a library environment. Post-installation guidelines are available on a number of sites, some of the more appropriate are listed below. Automatic Update Notification. (disable) To disable the automatic Windows update notifications open the System Control Panel applet, select the Automatic Updates tab and check the 'Turn off automatic updating; I want to update my computer manually' option. Balloon Tips. (disable) Open the Registry Editor and expand the tree to display the key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced. Create a new DWORD value named EnableBalloonTips and set it to 0x00000000. CD Autorun. (disable) Open the Registry Editor and expand the tree to display the key: HKLM \ system \ currentcontrolset \ services \ cdrom. Change the value of Autorun to 0. ClearType. ClearType is an XP technology that smooths the appearance of screen characters to enhance their readibility. It can be enabled via the: Display Properties > Appearance > Effects > Use the following method to smooth the edges of screen fonts: Cleartype, checkbox. Use Microsoft's ClearType tuning page to adjust the strength for a more custom appearance. Desktop Cleanup Wizard. (disable) Right click the Desktop, select Properties, Desktop, click Customize Desktop and uncheck the Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard every 60 days option. Desktop Environment. TweakUI is a free utility that is part of the Microsoft PowerToys suite. It can be used to customize several features of the patron environment.

Error Reporting. (disable) To disable the automatic Windows error reporting prompts, open the System Control Panel applet, select the Advanced tab, click the Error Reporting button and check Disable error reporting. Low Disk Space Notification. (disable) To turn off the low disk space notification open the Registry Editor and expand the tree to display the key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer. Add a Dword Value called NoLowDiskSpaceChecks and set the Data Value to 1 to turn it off. Mapped Drive Reconnect Warning. (disable) Open the Registry Editor and expand the tree to display the key: KEY_CURRENT_USER \ Network. Create a new DWORD called RestoreDiskChecked and set its value to 0. You'll need to reboot for this to take effect. To re-enable the warning, set the value to 1. Messenger Service. (disable) The Windows Messenger Service is enabled by default and should be disabled to eliminate messenger spam. Services are controlled via the Computer Management console which can be accessed via the Control Panel. Double-click Administrative Tools > Computer Management, then select Services in the Services and Applications tree. Select Messenger and change the Startup Type by double-clicking the service and selecting the Manual option from the Startup Type dropdown menu. The Shoot the Messenger utility offers another method for testing and disabling the Messenger Service. Networking. The XP LAN Configuration page has a series of screen captures that document a functioning LAN connection on a Windows XP Professional notebook. New Programs Installed Message. (disable) Right click the Taskbar and select properties, select the Start Menu tab, click Customize. Click the Advanced tab, and then clear the Highlight newly installed programs check box.

Power Management. Right click the desktop, select Properties, Screen Saver, power management. Set Monitor Power Scheme parameters as follows for a library environment: Monitor Off: 10 minutes Hard Drive Off: 20 minutes Standby: 30 minutes Hibernate: never Disable Hibernation Screen Saver: none Remote Assistance (disable) To disable the Remote Assistance feature open the System applet in the Control Panel, select the Remote tab and uncheck 'Allow Remote Assistance invitations to be sent from this computer'. Search. The default search configuration includes an animated dog that adds a step to the Windows search process, asking what you want to search for before you can enter search terms. To change the default behavior: 1. Choose Start > Search to open an Explorer window with the Search Companion bar; 2. To remove the dog choose Change Preferences in the options at the left side of the window, and choose Without an animated screen character ; 3. To get rid of the extra step choose Change Preferences, then Change files and folders search behavior, and then select the Advanced option. Search for Network Printers and Folders. (disable) Windows XP scans shared resources on the network by default. During the scan XP identifies newly-shared resources, e.g. a shared printer that has just gone online. To disable the automatic search for shared resources: 1. Open the Folder Options Control Panel applet; 2. Click the View tab; 3. In the Advanced Settings list, uncheck the Automatically search for network folders and printers check box.

Shared Documents folder display. (removal) Run the Registry Editor and navigate to the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ My Computer \ NameSpace \ DelegateFolders Delete the sub-key {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c55595fe6b30ee} to remove the 'Other Files Stored on This Computer' group and the Shared Documents folders from the My Computer window. System Sounds. (disable) Navigate to Start > Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices > Sounds. Select No Sounds in the drop down list under Sound scheme:. The scheme doesn't have to be saved, it's the default Windows scheme and is always available. Click Apply. User Accounts. On XP Pro, rename the Administrator account and disable the Guest account. Open the Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Local Users and Groups > Users folder. Right click Administrator and select Rename, right click Guest then select Properties and check 'Account is disabled' on the General tab. On XP Home, by default, everyone has Administrator privileges and the User name is "Owner." The name and password should be changed. Start > Control Panel > User Accounts > Choose "Owner" > Select "Change my name." To change the password select Start > Control Panel > User Accounts > Choose the account name and select "Create a password." To disable the Guest account on XP Home, open the User Accounts Control Panel applet, select Guest Account and click 'Turn Off the Guest Account.' Note that this will only affect the guest's ability to log on locally, access to shared resources on the system via the Guest account is not disabled. Windows Messenger. (remove) The nomsngr.bat file can be executed to remove Windows Messenger.

Optimization

Autologin. XP can be configured to start without entering a user name or password. Select Run... from the start menu and type 'control userpasswords2', to open the user accounts application. On the Users tab, clear the box for Users Must Enter A User Name And Password To Use This Computer, and click on OK. An Automatically Log On dialog box will appear; enter the user name and password for the account you want to use. Display Properties. (configure) Right click the desktop, select Properties > Settings and reduce the Color quality to Medium (16-bit). Select the Desktop tab and set the Background to none. DMA Transfer Mode. Slave drives on ATAPI channels are often set to PIO mode even when the device is capable of more efficient DMA mode data transfer. This can increase CPU utilization and reduce the performance of CD burners, DVD movie playback and other drive functions. To resolve this shortcoming open the System Control Panel applet, select the Hardware tab and click the Device Manager button. Expand the entry for IDE/ATAPI controllers. Select the primary channel, click Properties and choose the Advanced Settings tab. If necessary, change the transfer mode to "DMA if available" for each device. Repeat the process for the secondary channel. Drivers. Download and install updated drivers from hardware manufacturer's sites. Hard Drive. (defragment) The disk degragmenter is accessed via the Computer Management console. Open the Control Panel, doubleclick Administrative Tools > Computer Management, then select Disk Defragmenter in the Storage area. Click Analyze and Defragment if necessary. Indexing Service. (disable) The Indexing Service creates indexes of the contents and properties of documents on local and shared network drives. It is controlled via the Computer Management console. Open the Administrative Tools Control Panel

Applet and select Computer Management. Expand the Services and Applications list, right click Indexing Service, select All Tasks > Tune Performance, and select Never Used to disable. Indexing should also be disabled on individual drives via the 'Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast drive serching' checkbox on the General tab of the drive properties window. Recycle Bin. (configure) The Recycle bin defaults to 10% of all available drive space. Right click the bin, select properties and reduce the amount of drive space allocated. Registry and Page File. (defragment) Sysinternals PageDefrag can defragment Registry hives and the Windows paging file. Services. (disable) XP starts a number of background services automatically, many are unessential and can be disabled or set to start manually to improve performance and security. They include: Automatic Update; Distributed Link Tracking Client; Error Reporting Service; IPSEC Services; Portable Media Serial Number; Remote Registry Service; Windows Audio; and Wireless Zero Configuration. The services are controlled via the Computer Management console which can be accessed via the Control Panel. Double-click Administrative Tools > Computer Management, then select Services in the Services and Applications tree. The Startup Type can be changed by double-clicking the service and selecting the Manual option from the Startup Type dropdown menu. The Windows XP Services Tweak Guide and Black Viper sites have extensive lists of services and their configuration options.

Startup Applications. (remove) Inspect the Startup folder in the All Programs list and remove unnecessary applications. Additional startup items are listed in the System Configuration Utility. Type "msconfig" at the Start Menu > Run prompt then select the Startup tab. Disable unnecessary applications, e.g. Microsoft Office's TSR, Quicken Agent, and launchers employed by multimedia programs like RealPlayer and WinAmp. System Restore. (configure) System Restore is enabled for all drives by default. Select the System Restore tab in the System Control Panel applet and exclude drives without restorable, i.e. system or application, content. The amount of disk space allocated for system checkpoints can also be specified. Windows Components. (remove) Open the Add or Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel and select Add/Remove Windows Components. Remove unused components, e.g. games and MSN.