Thinkpads Forum

Hi,

I just need to elaborate on what XP config that really made me fall in love with my T60.

- Wipe the T60 clean.
- Fresh Windows XP SP2 Professional, installed in compatibility mode.
- Partition the disk up in two, 30GB for the OS and the rest for a "dump" disk.
--> Store all documents on the "dump" disk. I name it D:\docs\
- Follow this guide to install the drivers. S-ATA support is essential for a smooth OS experience.
- Let Windows XP install what updates it needs to.
- Install System Update, search for updates, install all the Windows XP updates it finds.
- After installing the ATI graphics driver from lenovo(remember WITHOUT CCC!), right click on desktop -> properties -> settings -> Make sure that the "Color quality" is set to "32bit"
- Install NHC and NHC ACPI
-->NHC Voltage
---->Multiplier 6 @ 0,95V
---->Use only Mulitplier #1 and Voltage #1
-->Disable NHC Battery graphics
-->NHC Graphics
---->Enable ATI Powerplay Control in NHC
---->Change all ATI powerplay settings to "battery optimized"
- Start->Run-> services.msc -> Disable "Themes"
- Start->Run-> regedit -> HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\ ->Change "MenuShowDelay" to 150
- Control panel -> User Accounts -> Change the way users log on and off -> Disable "Use the welcome screen"
- Start->Run-> regedit -> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon -> Create a new DWORD value named "DisableCAD",set value to "0"
- Start -> Control Panel -> Sounds -> Sounds -> Sound scheme -> No Sounds
- Device Manager -> View -> Show hidden devices -> Non-Plug and Play Drivers -> Beep -> Right click -> Disable
- Customize the start menu:
-->Change the path of "My documents" to D:\docs
-->use small icons
-->zero shortcuts to the programs you use most often
-->remove laste used document list
-->pin all your favorite programs to the start menu
---->navigate to the \program files\folder of your program, rightclick on the .exe file and "pin it to the start menu".
---->i prefer the file names on the start menu to be lowercase


MOD EDIT: Picture warning added.

Hmmm, interesting.

My other setup I use only one partition. Get hold of Disktrix ultimatedefrag, the fastest programs/windows goes to the outer track, the slower files like some window files /I386 /drivers etc all go to the inner track.

Supposed to make the disk access faster.

Ideasmiths, that is possible my man
My philosophy for partitioning the disk has always been to separate the OS and the Documents. I think this result in less need to defrag.

propellen wrote:Ideasmiths, that is possible my man
My philosophy for partitioning the disk has always been to separate the OS and the Documents. I think this result in less need to defrag.

I used to do that too. But now I actually save more time defragmenting because most of my commonly used files are on the outer tracks.

For other reader, lets say you imagine a 40GB HDD has 40 tracks, if you partition into C: and D: Drive, then physically C will be allocated to the first 20 outermost track and D will be the next 20 inner most tracks. Mechanically, the outer most tracks is FASTER and the track is LONGER (circle circumference) hence the speed of reading is faster.

With documents in D: drive then the harddisk got to move the arm inwards and slower read "may occur" and if you change any information, because the inner tracks are shorter (shorter circumference), there is bound to be more deframentation.

So one idea is to have only ONE partition and keep the most used and most recently accessed files including on the outertrack. The inner track retains the most unused files, with the INNERMOST track holding the lease useful files.

I put those windows UNINSTALL files, CAB, BAK, zip, and all in the inner track. The outermost track contains 10% of the most used /WINDOWS files (for fastest bootup), follow up most used program and mydocuments and so on.

When changes occurs, the defragmentation is fast because mostly only the outer tracks are reorganise, the inner tracks don't move at all as it hasn't changed.

I've tried Diskeeper, OO Defrag, PerfectDisk before I stumble onto UltimateDefrag. Next I'll try to get my hand on a SSD 32GB Sata drive and eliminate all these issue B-)

don't forget to configure MS ClearType. Ugh.

Bagels4All wrote:don't forget to configure MS ClearType. Ugh.

Hope you mean turning it off. Ugh is right!

The outer edge of a hard drive does have faster seek times since the head has to move less distance and less frequently to access data, but I would have to think the transfer rates would be unaffected since the platter is traveling under the head at the same speed no matter the placement. Also, with modern hard drives with multiple platters and all the fancy capabilities they carry these days, you really can't guarantee something is on the "outside" edge of the drive. If a program is telling you it is optimizing your stuff by putting it on the outside edge, it's likely just putting it together towards the front of the partition so it can be quickly accessed and sequentially read.

I partition my disk by giving all but maybe 20GB to Debian Linux with a /boot and / partition and the rest on LVM with /home and swap encrypted. The only reason XP gets to stay is to have an environment similar to everybody at the office for troubleshooting stuff.

Bagels4All,
I personally do not prefer ClearType on 14inch SXGA+ resolution.

I didn't use to like it on a 14" XGA, but i love it now on a 15.4" wsxga+ with MS' power tool "ClearType Tuning"

acasto wrote:The outer edge of a hard drive does have faster seek times since the head has to move less distance and less frequently to access data

Huh? Why is that? It's true that there's more data on outer tracks, but that's only useful if the head can stay on the same cylinder, meaning the file in question isn't fragmented.

acasto wrote:but I would have to think the transfer rates would be unaffected since the platter is traveling under the head at the same speed no matter the placement.

OK. The outer track has more data, and the disk spins at the same speed, so that means data transfer is faster on the outer tracks.

Also, with modern hard drives with multiple platters and all the fancy capabilities they carry these days, you really can't guarantee something is on the "outside" edge of the drive. If a program is telling you it is optimizing your stuff by putting it on the outside edge, it's likely just putting it together towards the front of the partition so it can be quickly accessed and sequentially read.

It's possible, but not likely. The drive electronics, AFAIK, doesn't know anything about partitions. It can remap bad blocks, and translate geometry, but there's no need for it to know where partitions begin and end. It's just not useful for a block device and can interfere with performance enhancements the OS might want to provide.

I partition my disk by giving all but maybe 20GB to Debian Linux with a /boot and / partition and the rest on LVM with /home and swap encrypted. The only reason XP gets to stay is to have an environment similar to everybody at the office for troubleshooting stuff.

There's no need for encryption if you use a hard disk password, which ThinkPads have used since their processors were 486's. The password doesn't affect performance but encryption does.