File SystemWinME also gives us the option of choosing which type of file system role we would like to use,WinME defaults at Desktop Computer. I find using the option ’Network Server’ to be much more faster then Desktop Computer. This is because setting the typical role to Network Server tricks Windows into thinking the PC is actually a "network server", thus allowing Windows much more memory to process data etc with. Well, that’s my simple theory anyway. Setting a machine to be a "network server" instead of a "desktop system" just tells the machine to use more ram to cache files... which is going to lead to an increase of speed on file access, but it’s going to cause extra thrashing during games on systems with lower ram (less than 128Mb)... To change the typical role of your hard drive click Start, Settings, Control Panel, System, then click the Performance tab then File System and pull down the menu and select Network Server, click OK and reboot later. Make sure the Read-ahead optimization bar is pulled all the way to the right (full) for best performance. Below is the screen you are looking for...
I HIGHLY recommend disabling System Restore. I’ve heard System Restore can backup hundreds of megs of data a day. To disable System Restore, click Start --> Settings --> Control Panel --> System --> click Performance tab --> click File System --> then Troubleshooting. In this window click Disable System Restore. Then OK... System Restore can be handy but its more of a pain (and system performance drainer) if anything.
Disabling Various ThingsThere are a number of settings and options which can be disabled to increase the performance of WinME... First of all, lets disable those annoying system sounds. To do so click Start, Settings, Control Panel, Sounds and Multimedia, and under Scheme click No Sounds then click OK. Something you may wish to do is remove that ugly yellow speaker icon on the taskbar, all this icon does is provide quicker access to sound volume options, to disable this untick Show volume control on taskbar.
One thing I HATE about Windows is the Scheduled Tasks program. While in Control Panel, double click Scheduled Tasks and delete all the default tasks and then click Advanced and click Stop Using Task Scheduled. Of course you may dig Scheduled Tasks... that’s your choice. I find it more of a nuisance then anything else...
Remove all unnecessary programs from the Startup folder...
There are a few other options I could recommend you to disable, but as many of them are mostly personal options that you may or may not use, I cannot really recommend any of these types of settings... Feel free to have a look around the Control Panel for more personalised settings (eg Mouse and Keyboard settings etc).
I also recommend you disable Automatic Updates. Automatic Updates is a new inclusion that uses the Internet to access the latest updates for your system any time of the day. Since we don’t want this pesky service interrupting us in a game of Half Life I’d suggest we remove it. To disable Automatic Updates, click Start --> Settings --> Control Panel --> Automatic Updates. Now it’s just a matter of clicking "turn off automatic updating and will not bother you anymore!
Check For UpdatesIf you have the spare time, I suggest you spend at least 10 minutes (OR MORE) a week searching the WindowsUpdate website for product updates for WinME. Each week Microsoft release new security patches which are most important to upgrade to so you can keep your computer safe. I’d also suggest you view DriversHQ (http://www.drivershq.com) or WinFiles (http://www.winfiles.com) for the latest drivers and updates for your system devices and programs...
Defrag and ScandiskAnother good task to perform weekly is, Disk Defragment and Scandisk. I’m sure we all know what both programs do, so I won’t bore you with info about them. Just run both programs as much as you can, trust me, Windows will thank you for it...
TweakUIAs I mentioned in the Introduction, WinME is built on just about exact same kernel as Win98, which means TweakUI (Microsoft tweaking program included with Win98) can be used with WinME also. If you don’t feel safe editing the system registry, TweakUI is perfect for you... First, click
HERE to download TweakUI. Since WinME has a built in zip option you will not need PKZIP or WinZIP to extract the files. Once the file has downloaded, unzip the files to a temp directory and look for the file called TWEAKUI.INF, right click on it and select Install. Now enter Control Panel and double click the new Tweak UI icon. Now that TweakUI is running we can wonder through the various menus changing whatever options meet your desire... For a start, if you have a slowish computer I would recommend you disable ALL Windows effects, and under boot options untick Display splash screen while loading (this will decrease boot times). All the other options are on a personal level and are up to you wish you wish to change them...
ConclusionHow’s your freshly installed WinME performing now? Hopefully much better then before using this WinME System Tweaking Guide... I hope you enjoyed this guide and found it easy to understand and use, as this what we pride ourselves here at TweakTown for... Remember this guide is packed full of NON-hardcore tweaks and is mainly for the newbie tweaker...
