My friend's computer used to beat me into the game every single time. Once I did the following registry tweaks, I beat him along with almost everyone else into the game every time.
First off, I am not liable if you screw up your computer. You can potentionally mess up your computer pretty badly when you mess with the registry. For you people that aren't very computer savvy, don't worry. It's not that hard, as long as you follow the instructions you'll be fine. However, if you really have never done anything in the registry before, it might be of benefit to you to go to File > Export so you can save your current configuration.
Anyways... First, go to Start > Run and then type regedit. Press enter or 'ok' and the Windows Registry Editor will load. You will see a bunch of expandable/collapsable folders on the left. You can navigate the registry with these, but I recommend you just hit CTRL + F to bring up a search window and copy/paste the string you want to alter..for simplicity.
Dramatically improve menu speeds and application and system shutdown/restart speeds
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
HungAppTimeout=4000 Delay before a hung application is allowed to terminate (each 1000 = 1 sec)
WaitToKillAppTimeout=4000 Delay before windows finally starts to shutdown (each 1000 = 1 sec)
MenuShowDelay=20 Delay before a menu pops open. (each 1000 = 1 sec)
AutoEndTasks=1 Automatically closes running applications when Windows shuts down.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contr
ol\Session Manager\Memory Management]
DisablePagingExecutive=1 Will load your core WinXP files into system RAM and keep them there. Use this tweak if you have 512MB RAM or more.
You can use smaller numbers on "HungAppTimeout" and "WaitToKillAppTimeout" and "MenuShowDelay" if you wish. Sometimes the default is at 4000, but usually the defaults is 20,000.
I believe the biggest improvement comes from "DisablePagingExecutive", as RAM is much faster than a mechanical HDD.
I got these tweaks from a computer board, so I don't take credit for them..I'm just spreading the info.
First off, I am not liable if you screw up your computer. You can potentionally mess up your computer pretty badly when you mess with the registry. For you people that aren't very computer savvy, don't worry. It's not that hard, as long as you follow the instructions you'll be fine. However, if you really have never done anything in the registry before, it might be of benefit to you to go to File > Export so you can save your current configuration.
Anyways... First, go to Start > Run and then type regedit. Press enter or 'ok' and the Windows Registry Editor will load. You will see a bunch of expandable/collapsable folders on the left. You can navigate the registry with these, but I recommend you just hit CTRL + F to bring up a search window and copy/paste the string you want to alter..for simplicity.
Dramatically improve menu speeds and application and system shutdown/restart speeds
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
HungAppTimeout=4000 Delay before a hung application is allowed to terminate (each 1000 = 1 sec)
WaitToKillAppTimeout=4000 Delay before windows finally starts to shutdown (each 1000 = 1 sec)
MenuShowDelay=20 Delay before a menu pops open. (each 1000 = 1 sec)
AutoEndTasks=1 Automatically closes running applications when Windows shuts down.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contr
ol\Session Manager\Memory Management]
DisablePagingExecutive=1 Will load your core WinXP files into system RAM and keep them there. Use this tweak if you have 512MB RAM or more.
You can use smaller numbers on "HungAppTimeout" and "WaitToKillAppTimeout" and "MenuShowDelay" if you wish. Sometimes the default is at 4000, but usually the defaults is 20,000.
I believe the biggest improvement comes from "DisablePagingExecutive", as RAM is much faster than a mechanical HDD.
I got these tweaks from a computer board, so I don't take credit for them..I'm just spreading the info.