How do you speed up a T20?

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mikey pizano · #1 Post by **mikey pizano** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 3:22 pm

Besides the obvious adding more RAM, how can I speed up my T20? Here are some specs.

4200RPM 80GB hard drive (Would be 5400 but this was really cheap)
Windows XP Professional
750MHZ P3.

MODS: Sorry if this is in wrong section.

pianowizard · #2 Post by **pianowizard** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 3:35 pm

Follow this list.

mikey pizano · #3 Post by **mikey pizano** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 4:00 pm

Thank you, I will try this.

EDIT: I am already doing most of them. Thanks

pianowizard · #4 Post by **pianowizard** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 4:54 pm

mikey pizano wrote:EDIT: I am already doing most of them. Thanks

Okay, then the next thing is to max out the RAM to 512MB, and then getting a 7200rpm hard drive. Have you defragged the drive recently?

mikey pizano · #5 Post by **mikey pizano** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:09 pm

Fresh Install of XP Pro actually. I will not be getting a faster HDD for some time now. RAM I plan on maxing out soon if I get more money.

mattbiernat · #6 Post by **mattbiernat** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:21 pm

http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/OptimizeXP.html
i use the website above to optimize my XP.

NTFS Disable NTFS 8.3 Filenames - Home Page
The creation of 8.3 filenames and directories for all long filenames and directories on NTFS partitions may decrease directory enumeration performance.

[HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem] "NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation"

Instructions - Go to "Start", "Run", and Type: fsutil behavior set disable8dot3 1

Warning - Some 16-bit applications may not be able to find files and directories with long filenames.

NTFS Disable NTFS Last Access Time - Home Page
Disabling the Last Access Time improves the speed of folder and file access.

[HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem] "NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate"

Instructions - Go to "Start", "Run", and Type: fsutil behavior set disablelastaccess 1

Warning - This can affect programs such as backup and Remote Storage that rely on this feature.

these two hacks made a huge difference for me. the access time for a folder doubled. of course it's up to you whether you wanna use it or not. bare in mind that messing with your registry can have adverse effects. today i destroyed my T23 windows registry and I had to use F11 recovery.

mikey pizano · #7 Post by **mikey pizano** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 5:31 pm

Thanks for the link, I will not be editing my registry. I don't feel like messing that up like you did!

Anyone know how to speed up Office 2007?

nikki605 · #8 Post by **nikki605** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:29 pm

When I bought my T21 new in 2001, it came loaded with Win 98, had a 20GB, 4200 RPM HDD, 128MB of memory and an 800MHz CPU. It ran OK.

When I upgraded to Win XP Pro, the hardware couldn't keep up. It was bad, slow.

The first thing I did was to max out the memory at 512MB. Big improvement. Later, I installed a 60GB, 5400 RPM HDD. Another big improvement. Finally, with some expert help from the folks on this forum, I replaced the 800MHz CPU with a 1GHz (and heatsink/fan). A 25% improvement.

Most recently, I replaced the HDD again with an 80GB, 7200 RPM ATA-6 model. I only noticed a slight improvement in performance with this upgrade, but hey, I did get more disk space.

pianowizard · #9 Post by **pianowizard** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:19 pm

nikki605, your maxed out T21 can even run Vista!

nikki605 · #10 Post by **nikki605** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:38 pm

Think so? I haven't even thought about that. My desktop is running Win Xp so I've looked at keeping the OS the same to insure compatibility.

Right now, however, Ray has been helping me with a memory problem on this thread:

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=56102

pianowizard · #11 Post by **pianowizard** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 8:59 pm

nikki605 wrote:Think so?

I was just saying that you've made your T21 pretty powerful. Of course you should stick with XP. It's the best version of Windows so there's no reason to change.

nikki605 · #12 Post by **nikki605** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 9:12 pm

I agree. XP has been running well so I've seen no reason to change. It was bad enough upgrading (scratch loading XP) from Win 98 to XP. It took me days to get all of my applications reloaded and programs set up.

mikey pizano · #13 Post by **mikey pizano** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 9:39 pm

Nikki, that is half the fun!

I only install what I need on the T20 since I generally use my Acer 99% of the time.

nikki605 · #14 Post by **nikki605** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 9:49 pm

That one time was enough "fun" for me

mikey pizano · #15 Post by **mikey pizano** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 9:52 pm

You would hate to be me. I end up restoring my Acer a lot. i haven't gotten 90 days before I end up installing Linux or reinstalling XP.

nikki605 · #16 Post by **nikki605** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 10:31 pm

OMG!

I'd have to find another way.

mikey pizano · #17 Post by **mikey pizano** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:24 pm

Keeps the crappy OS running better haha! Lucky I don't have many programs I need.

#18 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:26 am

I can't quite agree with that.
My XP Pro install is from May 2005, and has never been reinstalled.
Fine-tuning is all it needs, to keep that install well-oiled.

mikey pizano · #19 Post by **mikey pizano** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 11:29 am

RealBlackStuff wrote:I can't quite agree with that.
My XP Pro install is from May 2005, and has never been reinstalled.
Fine-tuning is all it needs, to keep that install well-oiled.

Hey, it was meant to be more of a joke really. Its usually that I get annoyed at something and install Linux then find out that it still hates me, go back to XP.

catscam · #20 Post by **catscam** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 2:39 am

I hate to do a fresh install & get buy with cleaning & tweaking, but nothing works as well as a format & clean install especially if you’re on a slow computer. After months of tweaking my little bros computer & only getting slight improvements, I did a clean install & wow what a difference. It’s a pain to get everything back to were things were but well worth it in the long run.

mikey pizano · #21 Post by **mikey pizano** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 8:58 am

It helps to keep all your programs on a USB hard drive!

mattbiernat · #22 Post by **mattbiernat** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 10:52 am

catscam wrote:I hate to do a fresh install & get buy with cleaning & tweaking, but nothing works as well as a format & clean install especially if you’re on a slow computer.

i disagree... my ex's computer was infested with spyware. I used Spybot to get rid off most of it. I did some registry tweaks, I followed the JDs list and everything was working quite good. I didn't even fix the registry cause she didn't have a back up. but I turned off all the unnecessary services and start up programs. you just have to work with your xp and everything will work flawlessly.

mikey pizano · #23 Post by **mikey pizano** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 1:29 pm

Sometimes it is needed though. I had it so bad once on an old computer that they would keep coming back. It was ToolBar 888!

How do you speed up a T20?

How do you speed up a T20?

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