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Major update as of 9/2-09. Guide should now be easier to follow, some things removed that after further testing is not as good as first thought and some things have changed.
I will continue to keep this guide updated and feel free to discuss further tweaks, questions etc. in this thread.
This guide cover these areas:
How to boot up faster
How to shut down faster
How to maximize your battery lifeAll “tweaks” apply to Windows XP, some could work in Vista but focus here lies on XP.
First I should tell you where I am so far, and this guide will show how to get there:
1. Cold boot time: 24s just after reinstall of the NC10 with only a few registry tweaks + McAfee Removal.
Cold boot time with all my apps installed including MS Office etc: around 34s
2. Boot time from hibernation: 12s
3. Shut down time: approx. 5s (this is w/o hibernation)
4. Shut down using hibernation: 15s
5. Battery life internet use: approx. 7 hours 15 minutes (brightness 3-bars, Wifi on, browsing in Firefox continuously),
Battery life, video playback: approx. 5 hours 40 minutes (720p video playback using VLC), 3-bar brightness, volume just below 50%, Wifi off.Battery life tested with Battery Eater Pro: 7 hours 36 minutes “Reader test” (file input: Battery Eater Pro’s version history.txt)
Settings: Screen Auto-dimming: Off, Turn of monitor: Never, Turn of harddisk: Never, Sleep and Hibernate: Never of course. Brightness: 3 bars, Wifi on.Many of the things go hand in hand so I will make a different step-by-step guide below depending on where/how to make the changes.
I will make this post sticky and keep it updated, both with my own suggestions but please write in the thread with your own tips and I will include them in the guide accordingly.Partitioning the harddrive?
From a performance point of view? No, not recommended. You can keep the 6GB hidden partition, but then it’s best to have everyting on one large partition C:
Partitioning has its advantages though. My opinion is however not to do it.McAfee Antivirus Removal
First of all and this is the most important thing, remove McAfee Antivirus by using a tool that really removes everything, you may think you have removed everything but “Add/Remove Programs” doesn’t do it. McAfee hides in the background taking up important system resources and generally slows your NC10 down.
The McAfee Consumer Products Removal tool (MCPR.exe) can be found here!
(if the link stops working then just google for MCPR.exe)BIOS
To get into the bios, shut down your machine.
After turning on the power, press the F2-key continuously (tap, tap, tap…) until you get into the BIOS.
There you should change two things:
1. Change the boot priority and make it bootsearch for the HD first.
2. Shut off the LAN (well, do not do this if you usually connect through a cable), but if you only use the Wifi – go ahead and do this.Device manager
Like the other things these are just suggestions, you cannot really shut off the BT if you use it of course…
Go to Control Panel, then System and go to the Device ManagerOne setting I have found works to have the NC10 draw less power is to disable the following:
Bluetooth
USB Host Controller 27C9Startup
Run msconfig (Start – Run – msconfig and)
Go to the Startup-tab and only let the following programs run:
SynTPEnh
DMLoaderThese you can allow to run, but they are not essential:
BatteryManager (if you want the screen to dim, all other settings can be changed within Windows)
PreMKBD (if you want the Fn-shortcuts at Fn+F7 + Fn+F8 to work, but these are not necessary)Only these are more or less necessary but you may want to keep some stuff there. In my case I also have the
“TwoFingerScroll”, “RocketLauncher”, and “BattStatLauncher” (all are 3rd party apps)
If you really, really want – then keep your antivirus startup also but I would seriously recommend to remove that also. You can have an antivirus installed but I really don’t see then need for having it running in the background all of the time. Depending on what antivirus you use please also note that the antivirus can have a service running and I would recommend shutting that down also and only run it once in a while when you need to check your downloads or programs for potential threats.Page-file or no page-file?
Well here the are some different opinions. I would recommend not using it if you have 2GB of RAM.
To disable it and set it to 0, right click on My Computer and go to the
Advanced Tab, there you will find it under “Performance”. Click “Setting” then choose – Advanced
– Virtual Memory – Change – No paging file. Then click “Set” and “Ok”.But if you do want to use it:
If you have 2GB RAM then you should set your page-file to 3057-3057MB (i.e fixed size) so that the page file does not resize all of the time.
If you have 1GB RAM then you should set the page-file to 1524-1524MB.
A general rule is to set the page file 1.5 times the amount of RAM and always set the page file to a fixed size.You will find this setting if you right click on “My computer”, “Properties”, “Advanced”, “Performance – Settings”, “Advanced”, “Virtual Memory”. Change…
Custom size, set this to 3057 initial size and same for max: 3057.
Press “Set” then Ok.Services
Like I said before, shut down the antivirus service and set it to “Manual” so you can start it when you need to. Letting an antivirus be running on your computer all of the time is not something I would recommend if you want better performance and max. battery life.Now to what services to let run, these settings are quite kind, you can disable more of them, but check what they are used for first, these changes will however not change anything that you really need.
Use msconfig to change these, (you know the drill: Start – Run – msconfig and) 🙂
Goto the services tab and disable all, then sort them in alphabetical order and set the following:DCOM Server Process Launcher
DHCP Client
DNS Client
Event Log
Network Connections
Network Location Awareness (NLA)
Plug and Play
Print Spooler
Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
Security Accounts Manager
Task Scheduler
Themes
Windows Audio
Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)
Windows Management Instrumentation
Wireless Zero ConfigurationRemote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator
Windows InstallerIf you use Windows update then you should also enable:
Automatic Updates
Background Intelligent Transfer Service*phuh!* (please note that I do not allow the Bluetooth Service run, enable this if you use it).
(if you encounter problems with connecting to a network or other computers, then try enabling Workstation and Server services)
Registry
Open up the registry editor: (Start – Run – regeditGo to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControl
Change value for WaitToKillServiceTimeout from 20000 to: 1000
(this value has to do with how fast XP shuts down)Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop
Change value for WaitToKillAppTimeout from 20000 to: 1000Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerMemory Management
Change value for ClearPageFileAtShutdown to: 0Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop
Change value for MenuShowDelay from 400 to: 100
(Decimal-Value)
(this value changes how fast your start-button and menus respond, 100 is very fast, please fool around with this value to fit your liking, try like 200 instead)Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop
Change value for AutoEndTasks from 0 to: 1Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USERControl PanelDesktop
Change value for HungAppTimeout from 5000 to: 1000Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer
Change value for NoSaveSettings to: 1
(if the key isn’t there – then create it, type: DWORD)To disable balloon tips:
Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced
Create a new DWORD-value called “EnableBalloonTips” (without the quotes) and give it the value 0.To disable Windows tool tips:
Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced
and change the value for ShowInfoTip from 1 to: 0Temp-files
Check them from time to time and delete them.
Start – Run – %tmp%
Clear that folder from files.My computer settings
Right click on My computer, choose “Properties”. Go to “Advanced”-tab.
Click on “Settings” under “System and Recovery”.
Uncheck “Time to display list of operating systems”Under “System failure”, uncheck:
“Write an event to the system log”
“Send an administrative alert”In the Advanced tab, click “Error reporting” and disable it, but keep “But notify me when critical error occur”
In the Properties for My Computer you will also find the “System Restore”-tab. Check “Turn off System Restore”
Open My Computer-“folder” or any other folder and select Tool – Folder Options – View. There you can uncheck
“Automatically search for network folders and printers” and Apply (this will make opening “My Computer” somewhat faster), also here you can do some other settings, for instance, I prefer to uncheck “Hide extensions for known file types”.Hibernation
I have changed my mind here, nowadays I use it all the time.If you want to use Hibernate then you can also create a Hibernate-button right along the Stand-by button in the Shutdown menu by using regedit:
Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsSystemShutdown
(if you do not find the System and Shutdown-folder here, do not worry, this can be normal.
Then you just create these “folders”, i.e under “Windows” create a new key (subfolder) and under this “System” you create another key (subfolder) named “Shutdown” so that the tree looks like
Windows
System
ShutdownCreate a DWORD named ShowHibernateButton in “Shutdown” and set its value to: 1
Now check your shut-down menu 🙂You can also put a short-cut on your desktop or anywhere else and point it to this:
%windir%system32rundll32.exe PowrProf.dll, SetSuspendState
This short-cut will put your NC10 in hibernation, right click the short-cut and make a short-cut key for it like Ctrl+Alt+HRight click on the green battery in tray and choose “Adjust Power Properties”. For one thing, here you can either disable or enable Hibernation and if you use it, here you can also change what keys and buttons enables it. You may want to enable Hibernate when you press Fn+Esc (instead of the default Standby) and you may want to make the actual powerbutton on your NC10 to make it hibernate instead of “Asking you what to do…”.
My recommended settings:
When I close the lid of my portable computer: Hibernate
When I press the power button on my computer: Ask what to do
When I press the sleep button on my computer: Stand bySilent Mode?
Press Fn+F8 and here you can change the setting to “Silent Mode”, this means that the fan doesn’t come on until the CPU reaches around 50 degrees Celsius. After setting this you can still go in to the Samsung Battery Manager and set the Customized scheme. This means that setting it to “Silent Mode” with Fn+F8 is not the same as setting the power scheme to “Max Battery Life” in the Samsung Battery Manager. Pressing Fn+F8 and changing to Silent Mode somehow changes the setting for when the fan starts.Recommended programs to run to keep your “Sam” fast and clean
Well, first of all – defrag of course. I would suggest downloading the Auslogics Disk Defrag utility (it’s free), you can find it using Google. I found it to be better than the built-in one that comes with Windows.There are also a handful of quite good programs that makes some of the changes in registry and keeps you PC clean from temp-files etc. A good app. is “CCleaner” (also free), “Google and you shall find!” :). You can also try out Uniblue Registry Booster and Speed Up My PC (these cost money though), but many of the things these do when it comes to changes in registry keys are the same as I have mentioned. Running CCleaner to clean up your registry from time to time is however a very good idea!
A very good program is also Microsoft’s BootVis, an app that helps you optimize boot-time and time from hibernation. Another one is NTREGopt which helps you compress the Windows Registry. You can find booth using Google.
When it comes to their cleaning of the registry you can be safe, they do not remove anything that should be there. Alert! But when it comes to files, keep an eye on the program – it can find it a good idea to remove all your saved bookmarks in Firefox or IE 😉 so be careful and check first what files it wants to remove and tell it not to if it wants to remove something like this.
If you want to remove Recycle Bin from Desktop
Run regedit and go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerHideDesktopIconsNewStartPanelChange value for {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} from 0 to: 1
Then go to your desktop and press F5 to update the screen and the Recycle Bin will be gone.
Desktop pic with battery info, 3-bar brightness, still less than 7W drain when “idle”:
My new desktop:
( note the NC10 picture at the above left “My Computer”-icon 😉 )
I was just thinking of starting the same kind of thread, heh. I disagree with not keeping the Antivirus running all the time, but depends on your surfing habits I guess.
I just turned off my virtual Ram as I just put 2MB chip in.. will try it this way for a bit and see how it does…
Spybot is free and about the best thing going for finding nasty stuff hiding on your computer.
you might want to do a write-up on how to enable the hibernation feature and setting the power off button to hibernate instead of shutdown… that will make power-up much faster for sureDon’t take my suggestions for absolute truths, I can however from a performance and powermanagent point tell you why you should only let your antivirus run in a certain way. Same thing about hibernation (note about this now added), but of course you should keep both antivirus and hibernation if this is a feature you want. I have kept features on my system that is not the best for performance but I want them so I keep them.
Thanks for the info, I’m sure you put a lot of time into that, as I only got my NC10 24hours ago, I’m sure I will be making use of much of the above.
Thanks againAs requested by soutthpaw, more info about Hibernate now posted 🙂
Also boot time with hibernate updated in one of the first paragraphs.Freddy,
I’ve done much of what you suggest here, and it’s improved my boot time somewhat (though I’m nowhere near your 30 seconds), but I have a question. If later I want to re-enable Bluetooth, how do it do it? I just looked in the Device Manger and the entry I disable is no longer even there. Under Bluetooth Devices, all that’s there is “Bluetooth Bus Enumerator”, and there’s no option to enable it.
@gmich: To enable Bluetooth again, enable the associated USB, then search for hardware changes, then the BT will appear again. If you follow all of the above you should get the same boot time as me.
The only other thing that I think can play a part is what harddrive your NC10 has, I have the Hitachi myself (you can find info about make + model of the harddrive in Device Manager).I never thought I’d say this, but I’m beginning to like Hibernate, this would never happened unless I made this post and looked into Hibernation a little more closely. Perhaps I’m going to change my mind 🙂
15s boot time is quite cool :), I can stand the longer shut-down, doesn’t matter if you can just close the lid and after a while the ‘puter is off…and the extra fragmentation is something I will take a closer look at, perhaps it’s not as bad as ppl say…with regards to Hibernation and potential fragmentation all I have to say is that the Internet as whole would go a lot faster if people stopped doing pings, traceroutes & speedtests ;o)
To be honest there are some things I don’t really agree with. No updates at all and they are unnecessary because you have sp3? That’s kinda BS. The biggest hole in the system turned out way after sp3 was released. If you think updates will slow down your lappy, check what those updates for. There are some critical ones which you should install.
You can turn off the USB, Webcam and so on and turn your lappy into a calculator. You can turn off the screen as well, so can you the hdd. Sure you save power but i highly doubt switching off the things you buy your netbook for is the best thing you can do…
Thanks Freddy, I’ll be using a number of your suggestions, especially giving McAfee the boot. I’m very impressed with the effort you have put into that post. Thanks again
Chris B
Being a wee bit negative aren’t you?
“Don’t take my suggestions for absolute truths, I can however from a performance and powermanagent point tell you why you should only let your antivirus run in a certain way. Same thing about hibernation (note about this now added), but of course you should keep both antivirus and hibernation if this is a feature you want. I have kept features on my system that is not the best for performance but I want them so I keep them.”
In other words, if webcam etc. is something you want and use – just keep it 🙂
These are suggestions of all the different things you can do to speed up your computer, I have never said that you must, I can hardly enforce you 😉[quote1229174765=Szabs]
To be honest there are some things I don’t really agree with. No updates at all and they are unnecessary because you have sp3? That’s kinda BS. The biggest hole in the system turned out way after sp3 was released. If you think updates will slow down your lappy, check what those updates for. There are some critical ones which you should install.You can turn off the USB, Webcam and so on and turn your lappy into a calculator. You can turn off the screen as well, so can you the hdd. Sure you save power but i highly doubt switching off the things you buy your netbook for is the best thing you can do…
[/quote1229174765]Further to removing McAfee AV, their website http://service.mcafee.com/FAQDocument.aspx?id=TS100507&lc=1033 instructs to use Add/Remove Progs for their applications before using the removal tool MCPR.exe
Chris B
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