Windows XP Performance Tuning

Where to Start...

Windows XP Performance
Microsoft Windows XP offers excellent overall performance-which includes dramatically faster boot and resume times, along with highly responsive applications. This white paper addresses some of the key performance improvements in Windows XP, and highlights some of the issues you should keep in mind when evaluating a system configuration. Source: Microsoft.com

Description of the Windows XP Logman.exe, Relog.exe, and Typeperf.exe Tools
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article: 303133 - This article provides a description of the Windows XP Logman.exe, Relog.exe, and Typeperf.exe command-line tools you can use in conjunction with, or separate from, System Monitor and the Performance Logs and Alerts snap-in.

Description of Performance Options in Windows
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article: 259025 - This article describes the performance options in Windows. To view or modify these options in Windows 2000, click

Performance Benchmarking on Windows XP
This article discusses some of the built-in performance tuning features of Windows XP.

HOW TO: Set Performance Options
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article: 308417 - Windows allocates resources according to its settings and manages devices accordingly. You can use the System tool in Control Panel to change performance options that control how programs use memory, including paging file size, or environment variables that tell your computer where to find some types of information. This article explains how to set the performance options for your computer.

How to Articles...

How to Configure Paging Files for Optimization and Recovery in Windows XP
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article: 314482 - The paging file (Pagefile.sys) is a hidden file on your computer's hard disk that Windows XP uses as if it were random access memory (RAM). The paging file and physical memory comprise virtual memory. By default, Windows stores the paging file on the boot partition (the partition that contains the operating system and its support files). The default, or recommended, paging file size is equal to 1.5 times the total amount of RAM. This article discusses how you can configure the paging file for system optimization and recovery.

How to Enable Heap Counters for Sysmon
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article: 290639 - The heap performance-monitoring counter is a new feature in Microsoft Windows XP. Performance Logs and Alerts (Perfmon.exe) can display about 20 heap-related counters. These counters are not enabled by default; you must enable them.

HOW TO: Manage System Monitor Counters with Windows XP
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article: 305610 - This step-by-step article describes how to manage System Monitor counters.

HOW TO: Move the Paging File in Windows XP
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article: 307886 - This article describes how to change the location of the paging file in Windows XP.

HOW TO: Move the Windows XP Spool Folder
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article: 308666 - This article describes how to change the location of the Windows XP spool folder.

How to Overcome 4,095-MB Paging File Size Limit in Windows
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article: 237740 - When you are setting the paging file size in Windows, the documentation states that the largest paging file you can select is 4,095 megabytes (MB). This is the limit set per volume; you can actually create paging files this large on one or more drives if you need a larger paging file. If extra drives or volumes are not available, you can create multiple paging files on a single drive by placing them in separate folders.

HOW TO: View and Manage Event Logs in Event Viewer
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article: 308427 - This article describes how to use Event Viewer to view and manage event logs in Microsoft Windows XP.

Using Performance Monitor To Identify A Pool Leak
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article: 130926 - A memory leak occurs when a memory pool allocates some of its memory to a process and the process does not return the memory. When this happens repeatedly, the memory pool is depleted

Windows Print Spooler Performance Enhancements
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article: 240683 - Windows includes several print spooler optimizations designed to significantly reduce startup time. This article lists these print spooler enhancements

You Cannot Stop a Counter Log in Performance Monitor
Microsoft Knowledge Base Article: 308276 - When you create a new counter log by using Performance Monitor, and then you attempt to stop the counter log, you may receive the following error message