XP optimization techniques for best
PowerSDR Console performance
{please} BACKUP YOUR COMPUTER before installing these critical mods

  1. Webpage about identifying the programs that startup automatically on your system
    http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.phpio.com/article.aspx?id=10307

  2. go to Settings --> Control Panel --> System --> Advanced and turn OFF visual effects and selected PERFORMANCE as the goal
  3. give the console priority (see utilities, #15 below)

  4. try using a FIXED paging file size and not allowing the O/S to manage the paging space size


  5. turn OFF system sounds

  6. turn OFF all O/S upgrades and checking for upgrades
    ( don't forget to do it manually)

  7. turn OFF "DataSafe" mirroring, virus checker, firewall, and auto update (you are not on the internet in this profile and do not need any of those protections)

  8. did you turn OFF all Email and Browsing?

  9. Have you gone into your BIOS and selected "Maximum performance" or whatever it offers. The speed of RAM access may often be enhanced using BIOS selections.

  10. did you make sure that NONE of your CDROM drives are checking periodically for their auto-start of media files?

  11. have you used the System utility like msconfig to make sure you are not starting un-necessary programs or utilities (firewall, virus checker, palm pilot synch, MSN Mail notification, Acrobat AcroRead, Windows Defender, SpyBot, and so on?) none of them are needed when you are operating your SDR-1000.

  12. KD5NWA suggested this very important technique: You could have a separate login user profile that starts normal services when you are on the internet, and a dedicated user profile when you are using your SDR-1000. As far as I can tell User Profiles seems to be an *advanced* System Administrator skill. Cecil has started on a How-To and preliminary link is here:
    XP-optimization-User-Profiles.html

  13. you can go into Settings --> Control Panel --> Add Remove Programs and remove everything you aren't using with the PowerSDR console. Go into NETWORK settings and REMOVE NetBios protocols, file and print sharing, MSN Messenger, and anything that is extraneous.

  14. turn OFF system restore, because you aren't making any changes to the O/S while you are on the air.

  15. Do you possibly have any of this running in the background? what does it show if you use CTRL+ALT+DEL and choose PROCESSES, what do you see that you don't recognize?

  16. if you are using DUAL-CORE technology, by all means experiment with the AFFINITY for a CPU and the PRIORITY for your PowerSDR process. Here are pointers to utilities that are useful in maintaining the highest performance on a dual-core system:

  17. Here is a guy (PhD Biologist) who figured out how to strip XP down to bare bones and make it fit into about 150MB. His solution might be too severe for the average user, but it is worth a shot http://www.litepc.com/ They claim that it will significantly reduce the size of XP and consequently speed it up. YMMV

  18. From Bob N4HY
    set your "indexing service" to the lowest desired value
    click here for details about this special method

  19. Port scanning and examining every running application can be very helpful and illuminating. Check out these utilities and see if they meet your needs:

    http://www.firewallleaktester.com/software.htm

  20. There is some great dual-core optimization info here in a forum hosted by NewEgg. The info seems to pertain mostly to game performance, but certainly many of the drivers and utilities apply equally to our optimization objectives:


  21. Linux CPU Affinity explanation, system calls, programming examples, utilities.

  22. XP Optimization by using a utility called "nLite


  23. http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/OptimizeXP.html

  24. Online tests of your computer system for vulnerabilities and to make sure it is properly LOCKED DOWN.

    https://www.grc.com/x/ne.dll?bh0bkyd2


  25. Wow, here is a guy with over 400 XP optimization techniques:

    http://windowsxp.mvps.org/Tips_Page.htm

  26. Here is a great article about how to build an XP Recovery CDROM image for those instances where you might need to repair the MBR or the boot record
    from Information Week:
    Creating A Windows XP Recovery Console CD Image

  27. DirectX Diagnostic tool built-in to WindowsXP. Presents 8 tabs full of great info.
    C:\WINDOWS\system32\dxdiag.exe

  28. Speed up your menus and XP feels MUCH FASTER! use regedit

    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
    "MenuShowDelay"="400" (set this to zero)

    [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]
    "NoSaveSettings"=dword:00000000

  29. Have you ever heard of "PCI Latency" issues? well they sure do exist and for those running PCIx and PCIe slots, you NEED to learn about these utilities

    http://www.geocities.com/phileosophos/tech/pcilatency.html
    http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/ps.shtm

    http://www.reric.net/linux/pci_latency.html
    http://www.overclockers.com/articles529/

    http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/PCI_Latency_Tool/1105467085/1
    http://fileforum.betanews.com/download/PCI_Latency_Tool/1105467085/1

  30. List of internal commands for experts
    http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/160458

Note: These modification are recommended only for experienced computer users. Modifications require careful changes to various XP Operating System parameters. If you don't feel comfortable or responsible to apply these changes, please find a qualified support person to help you.