TweakHound's Super XP Tweaking Guide - SP2 version 2.0 Final

A guide to Tweak & Optimize XP.

October, 2005

   This was the first comprehensive, step-by-step XP tweaking guide on the net. It's over 3 years old and continues to evolve. I started working with XP during its RC1 stage. After a time I began looking for ways to tweak it. I haven't "invented" any of these tweaks. They were scattered all over the web, a couple at one site, a few more at another. Some were good and as I discovered over time, some were bad. What I have done here is to investigate/test them, try and organize them in a coherent manner, and present them in a step-by-step guide. This was also the first guide to debunk several myths regarding popular tweaks.

Changes in this version:

   There are so many changes spread out over several months that to be honest, I have not kept track of them. Every page of this guide has been updated since the last final version.

   If there something you would like to see added, don't like, don't agree with let me know. This guide wouldn't be here without the input I've received from others. If you get a tweak from another site please provide that info so that I can give credit where credit is due. See the contact page for info on how to contact me.

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Tweaking Levels

Most guides just provide the tweaks and leave you on your own to figure out which to use. For every step in this guide I provide my recommendation on who should use that particular tweak. I do this by assigning a "level #" to the tweak. Again, these are just recommendations. I've tried to provide a good explanation as to what every tweak does so that you can decide for yourself what you do/don't want to do. The levels provided in this guide are as follows:

*All Levels - Safe for everyone. The safest settings but not tweaked much.

Level 1 - It keeps XP pretty, but faster and a little more secure. Full functionality is maintained.

Level 2 - Faster still and a tad more secure. Not quite Level 3. Still pretty. Keeps the useful features around.

Level 3 - Very close to the settings I use. Tweaked hard. All the pretty and annoying stuff is gone. It’s much faster and much more secure. Aimed at those who want to run Windows their way.

Level 4 - For Gamers only. Level 3 with a few more tweaks aimed at gamers.

Tweaking is best done on a new installation of XP. See, The Right Way To Install Windows XP.

For tweaking your security settings see, Securing Windows XP.

Those interested can see My Thoughts On Tweaking Windows XP And This Guide.

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You can get a printable version of this guide for $5 (U.S.) See here for more info.