toughbook performance tuneup

I am looking for ways to tweek the performance of my CF-28. XP has a few tools for improving or checking on how the hardware and software is working so I put togather this list of things to check. Is there anything else I should check to keep my Toughbook working smoothly?

Thanks in advance.
Pete


1. Run tcp optimizer(free program http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php )

2. Run registry cleaner http://www.regcure.com http://www.registryguy.com/

3 Open the task manager > Processes and check how much of the processor time is used by your security software. Check for a different security software that has less intensive processor use.

4 ctrl+Alt+Delete Taskmanager>Applications tab: What programs are running on your computer?
then processes tab: How much processor time are they using?

5 Check the Page File Size at Right-click on “My Computer” and go down to “Properties”

Click the “Advanced” tab

Click “Settings” under the “Performance” section

Click the “Advanced” button

Click “Change” under “Virtual Memory”
set the page file size to 1.5 times the ram size.

A larger pagefile size MAY make the computer run faster with less errors. (See this http://www.petri.co.il/pagefile_optimization.htm )

6. Go to Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Event Viewer and look for errors

7. Use administrative tools to check performance, services, computer management for device manager etc. fix errors found.

8. Look in the add/remove software for any programs you can remove

9. Run the disk cleanup to delete temp files etc.

10. Run a disk error check (Microsoft instructions http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=315265 )

11. Update programs to latest version and security software to latest definitions

12. Run Microsoft update and repeat till no more updates are found

13. Run spy checker and antivirus scans

14. Open My computer> explore and right click on the C driver: how much free space is left? Less than 10 percent means it is time to delete software or get a bigger drive.

15. Defragment the hard drive from Programs>accessories>system tools>disk defragment

 

Found one more

Control Panel> Display > settings> advanced> graphic driver tab: set brightness and contrast

 

Pete,

Good start,

To free-up extra space on the hard drive.

Recycle Bin, right click Properties, and Set the Maximum size of Recycle Bin to 2%

Control Panel, go into System, under the system restore tab, move the slider to reduce the size of system restore, I have mine set at only 1500mb.

To speed up performance

While you are in the System Properties, Open the Advanced tab, Performance settings, and select, Adjust for best performance, next check
Show shadows under mouse pointer
Smooth edges of screen fonts
Use visual styles on widows and buttons
And Apply.

For start-up programs go into Run ,type in msconfig, in the System Configuration Utility, click the Startup tab, and carefully uncheck useless programs from starting , Like Adobe Update etc.

One more tweak,

Right click on your desktop
Go into Properties
Go to the Appearance tab
Open Effects
Second box down, Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts:
Select ClearType
Hit ok
That is the correct setting for lcd monitors.



Alex

 

Nice Post

I like to use Auslogics Disk Defrag it seems to work very well.

That is my 2cents

-James

 

Thanks Alex and James
I add those ideas to my list.

Pete

 

Thanks alex i never knew about that cleartype setting

-James

 

Great ideas.... all of them...

 

Any advice on the Services? I'm told you can really speed up XP by disabling quite a few of the services it runs, but I just have no experience with that. Any advice on which ones are "safe" to disable, or set to manual?

 

This turned into a nice checksheet for a Laptop tuneup so I cleaned it up a bit and here it is.
thanks everyone for you contributions.

pete



Windows Laptop PC Tune Up Checksheet


NETWORK CONNECTION
1. Run TCP Optimizer(free program http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php )
Your connection to the internet has seveal configuration settings that affect you connection speed. You can study these and set them manually at www.speedguide.net or just download the TCP Optimize and accept the Optimum setting.

REGISTRY CLEANER
2. Run a registry cleaner http://www.regcure.com http://www.registryguy.com/
The Registry is a database file that grows every time you make changes on your computer. You need to reduce its size and delete obsolete entries to make your computer run fast, load fast and reduce errors that could freeze programs or crash Widows Operating System.

APPLICATIONS RUNNING IN RAM
3 Ctrl+Alt+Delete >Taskmanager>Applications tab: What programs are running on your computer? Do you need them all running?

then Processes Tab: How much processor time are they using?
When you are not doing anything with your computer the processes tab will show 90%+ of the time the System Idle process is running. This is normal. If anything else is hogging the processor determine what it is and if you want it on your computer.

4. Look in the Programs> Control Panel> Add/Remove Software for any programs you can remove ( I found I had two different WiFi interface programs on my computer. I checked Device Manager to see which one was being used and deleted the other)

TO SPEED UP PERFORMANCE
5. While you are in the Programs>Control Panel>System Properties, Open the Advanced tab, Performance Settings, and select,
A. Adjust for best performance,
B. Check the box Show shadows under mouse pointer
C. Check the box Smooth edges of screen fonts
D. Check the box Use visual styles on widows and buttons
And Apply.

6 Check the Page File Size at: Right-click on “My Computer” and go down to Properties>Click the “Advanced” tab> Click “Settings” in the “Performance” section >Click the “Advanced” button>Click “Change” under “Virtual Memory”
Set the page file size to 1.5 times the ram size.
A SMALL pagefile size MAY make the computer run SLOWER OR HAVE ERRORS. (See this http://www.petri.co.il/pagefile_optimization.htm )

STARTUP MENU
7. START menu > Run ,type in msconfig, in the System Configuration Utility, click the Startup tab, and uncheck programs you do not need running all the time, Like Adobe Update etc.

Note!! Verify that each one of the programs in the startup menu is a legitimate program for you computer. I found a program “fpapli.exe” that I did not recognize. I searched for this on yahoo and found it is suspected malware. I unchecked it in startup and searched my hard drive for other copies and found 4 of them. I deleted all of these.


ERROR CHECKING
8. Go to Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Event Viewer and look for errors

9. Use Administrative Tools to check Performance, Services, Computer Management for Device Manager etc. fix errors found.

HARD DRIVE
10. Run a Disk Error Check ( see Microsoft instructions http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=315265 )

11. Run the Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup to delete temp files etc.

12. Run Microsoft Update at Microsoft.com and repeat till no more updates are found

13. Update your Application Programs to latest version and Security Software to latest definitions

13. Run spy checker and antivirus scans

14. Open My computer> Explore and right click on the C drive >Properties: How much free space is left? Less than 10 percent means it is time to delete software or get a bigger drive.

To free-up extra space on the Hard Drive.
Recycle Bin: right click Properties, and Set the Maximum size of Recycle Bin to 2%

System Restore: Control Panel, go into System, under the System Restore tab, move the slider to reduce the size of System Restore.
The system restore is the location where windows saves your current software configuration periodically. If your system crashes and you restart the comuter with a request to return to a previously working configuration this is where the data comes from. I have never used the function is 20 years of working computers so I have mine set at only 1500mb. If you do a lot of installing of Beta software that may crash you might want to use a higher allocation. If you have plenty of hard drive space leave it at the 10 to 12% area.

15. after making the changes and updates above run your Registry cleaner again.

16. check the Startup menu again to be sure no live update programes got added during you update application efforts.

17. Defragment the hard drive from Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Disk Defragment.

"I like to use Auslogics Disk Defrag it seems to work very well.

That is my 2cents

-James Zippy-Man"

LCD
Tip: if the LCD is to dark with the graphic driver set at maximum then the power supply to the CCFL lamp is bad. If the color of the display is reddish then the CCFL needs replacing (CCFL=Cold Cathode Flourescent Lamp)

18. Control Panel> Display > Settings> Advanced> Graphic Driver tab: set Brightness and Contrast

19. Right click on your Desktop> Properties> Appearance tab> Effects
Second box down, “Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts”:
Select ClearType
Hit ok
That is the correct setting for LCD monitors.

 

Batteries are important and should be on the tune up list:

BATTERY
TIP: The Lithium Ion battery for the laptop will have the longest life before replacement is necessary if it is charged to full and run down to 3 or 5% during use. This means disconnecting the charger while using the battery.
Batteries kept on the charger continously have a shorter life befor replacing.

Battery Refresh
20 once a month use the battery refresh function in the Bios to reset the battery monitor in your toughbook to match the actual performance of your battery. On startup when the screen displays “press F2 to enter settings” do press F2. When the Bios Setup Utility appears find the Refresh Battery line which may be on the Main Menu or Exit Menu depending on your version of the Bios. Highlight this item and press Enter to execute the command. You cannot make any other changes to the bios when you to a refresh as they will be ignored.
This process will take about 6 hours to run down the battery and recharge it. Do this overnight as you cannot interrupt the process or it will abort. When done the battery icon on your system tray will display the correct run time in hours and minutes for the battery.

Note: The run time will not appear if you are plugged into the charger.

 

My CF-48 uses the same battery refresh procedure as the CF-28 instructions above but my CF-47 Reference Manual shows this alternate method.

CF-47 Reference manual
Accurately Displaying Battery Capacity
Using this function properly to accurately display remaining battery capacity requires that the battery pack be fully charged (charged to 100%), then fully discharged, and then fully charged again.
Use the procedure presented below to fully charge the battery pack, then discharge it, then charge it again. This procedure should be performed once after you purchase the computer. As you use the battery pack over a long period of time, the remaining capacity display may become inaccurate due to aging of the battery pack and other factors. The procedure described below should be repeated.
1. Attach the battery pack, then connect the AC adapter.
Remove all peripherals (except for the battery pack and AC adapter).

2 Once the battery indicator turns green, use the Battery Capacity refresh
utility to fully discharge the battery pack.

1 Choose [Start]-[Shut Down]-[Restart in MS-DOS mode], and then click [OK].
2 Type the following after the MS-DOS prompt (C:\WINDOWS>).
c:\windows\command\battref /g Enter
3 At the confirmation message, press Y .
The battery indicator blinks orange, the battery pack will be discharged fully and the computer will power off automatically.

CAUTION
When the above operation is performed, do not turn the computer off.
Doing so will make it impossible to measure the battery capacity.

NOTE
When the Battery Capacity refresh utility starts, it will take approximately 2.5 hours until the computer powers off automatically.

3(Charging commences automatically)

 

Try Googling for "unnecessary windows services".

The following is my "standard" list of services that I routinely disable on all of my machines. You may wish to review the description of each of these (from the aforementioned google search) to ensure that disabling any of these is consistent with how you use your own computer.

Alerter
ClipBook
Computer Browser
Error Reporting Service
Fast User Switching Compatibility
Help and Support
IMAPI CD-Burning COM Service
Indexing Service
Messenger
MS Software Shadow Copy Provider
Net Logon
NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing
Network DDE
Network DDE DSDM
Remote Desktop Help Session Manager
Remote Registry
Routing and Remote Access
Secondary Logon
Security Center
SSDP Discovery Service
System Restore Service
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
Telnet
UPS
Universal Plug and Play Device Host
Volume Shadow Copy
WMI Performance Adapter