Windows 7 tweaks

Speeding Up Windows' Menus

Want to make Windows' menus display more quickly? You can do this by enabling this Registry
tweak that removes the slight delay that is normally present between clicking a menu and
Windows displaying that menu.
To perform this tweak, follow these steps:
1. Open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop key.
3. Right-click the MenuShowDelay item and select Modify.
4. In the Edit String dialog box, change the current value (typically 400) to something a bit
lower - something around 100 typically works well.
5. Click OK.
(See video below for demonstration.) You can now close the Registry Editor and see how fast
your menus open.
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Caution: If you set the MenuShowDelay value too low, menus will open if you merely move
your mouse over them. You need a value somewhere above 0; otherwise, it will make Windows
difficult to use.

Disabling Low Disk Checking

Windows constantly checks to see whether there's enough free space on your hard drive. If there
isn't, it displays a low disk space warning. The problem is, all this disk space checking uses a
number of system resources, and you probably know if your disk space is low, anyway.
You can speed up your PC by turning off this low disk space checking. Here's how to do it:
1. Open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to the
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies key.
3. If the Explorer key exists, select it. If not, right-click in the rightmost pane and select
New, Key. Name this new key Explorer, and then select it.
4. Right-click in the rightmost pane and select New, DWORD (32-bit) Value.
5. Name the new DWORD NoLowDiskSpaceChecks.
6. Right-click the new NoLowDiskSpaceChecks item and select Modify.
7. In the Edit DWORD dialog box, change the value to 1.
8. Click OK.
Note: A DWORD is a special type of data value used for some Registry entries.

Moving the Windows Kernel into Memory

Anything that runs in system memory runs faster than if it runs from your hard disk. To that end,
you can speed up Windows itself by moving the Windows kernel into RAM, by executing this
Registry tweak:
1. Open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\

3. CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management key.

4. Right-click the DisablePagingExecutive item and select Modify.
5. In the Edit DWORD dialog box, change the value to 1.
6. Click OK.
You must reboot your system for this tweak to take effect.
Caution: If you experience system problems after performing this tweak, re-edit the value of
DisablePagingExecutive back to 0.
Every version of Windows has shipped with a core set of system services that must run so that
the system can perform basic operations. However, your organization may not necessarily need
to have all the services running, and disabling unnecessary services can enhance performance
and security. I put together a list of 13 services you can disable on your Windows 7 systems that
will probably not negatively affect your business operations at all.
I say "probably" for a reason. Before you take drastic action, such as disabling a service on every
PC in your organization, make sure that the service you're disabling is not actually in use. This
article makes a couple of broad assumptions: that your company doesn't need to share Windows
Media files and doesn't use Windows 7's HomeGroup features.
This is not a definitive list of services that can be disabled; these are just some obvious ones.
Read carefully and make sure you test changes before deploying them across your organization.

1: IP Helper
Windows description: Provides tunnel connectivity using IPv6 transition
technologies (6to4, ISATAP, Port Proxy, and Teredo) and IP-HTTPS. If this service is
stopped, the computer will not have the enhanced connectivity benefits that these
technologies offer. Why this can be disabled: Many organizations haven't even
started testing IPv6, much less fully deployed it. As indicated in the service
description, the IP Helper service is leveraged in IPv4-to-IPv6 transitions.

2: Offline Files
Windows description: The Offline Files service performs maintenance activities on
the Offline Files cache, responds to user logon and logoff events, implements the
internals of the public API, and dispatches interesting events to those interested in
Offline Files activities and changes in cache state. Why this can be disabled: If
your organization doesn't use the Offline Files feature found in both Windows client
and server products, this service can be safely disabled. Obviously, if you are
synchronizing files across the network, you shouldn't disable this service.

3: Network Access Protection Agent

Windows description: The Network Access Protection (NAP) agent service collects
and manages health information for client computers on a network. Information
collected by the NAP agent is used to make sure that the client computer has the
required software and settings. If a client computer is not compliant with health
policy, it can be provided with restricted network access until its configuration is
updated. Depending on the configuration of health policy, client computers might
be automatically updated so that users quickly regain full network access without
having to manually update their computer. Why this can be disabled: If you're

not doing network-based remediation or if you're doing remediation with a thirdparty tool that doesn't leverage the NAP client, this service can be disabled.

4: Parental Controls
Windows description: This service is a stub for Windows Parental Control
functionality that existed in Vista. It is provided for backward compatibility only.
Why this can be disabled: Corporate networks rarely used Vista's Parental
Control functionality. Further, this is a legacy service from Windows Vista.

5: Smart Card
Windows description: Manages access to smart cards read by this computer. If
this service is stopped, this computer will be unable to read smart cards. If this
service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start. Why
this can be disabled: If your organization does not use smart cards for
authentication purposes, you can safely disable this service.

6: Smart Card Removal Policy

Windows description: Allows the system to be configured to lock the user
desktop upon smart card removal. Why this can be disabled: If your organization
does not use smart cards for authentication purposes, you can safely disable this
service.

7: Windows Media Center Receiver Service

Windows description: Windows Media Center Service for TV and FM broadcast
reception. Why this can be disabled: In most corporate environments, TV and FM
broadcast reception on desktop computers is not considered a "business critical"
item that needs support, and it's often not allowed anyway. You can disable this
service to save some resources.

8: Windows Media Center Scheduler Service

Windows description: Starts and stops recording of TV programs within Windows
Media Center. Why this can be disabled: Likewise, there's no need to record TV
programs in a corporate environment.

9: Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service

Windows description: Shares Windows Media Player libraries to other networked
players and media devices using Universal Plug and Play. Why this can be
disabled: On a corporate network, Windows Media Player doesn't have nearly the
place it might have on a home network. Disabling this service will have no impact
on business activities.

10: Fax
Windows description: Enables you to send and receive faxes, utilizing fax
resources available on this computer or on the network. Why this can be
disabled: If your organization is not using a network-based faxing service, disabling
this service will have no business impact.

11: HomeGroup Listener

Windows description: Makes local computer changes associated with
configuration and maintenance of the homegroup-joined computer. If this service is
stopped or disabled, your computer will not work properly in a homegroup and your
homegroup might not work properly. It is recommended that you keep this service
running. Why this can be disabled: It's highly unlikely that a business
organization except a very small one is using HomeGroups as a way to share
resources on a network. It's almost always safe to disable this service in a business
setting.

12: HomeGroup Provider

Windows description: Performs networking tasks associated with configuration
and maintenance of homegroups. If this service is stopped or disabled, your
computer will be unable to detect other homegroups and your homegroup might not
work properly. It is recommended that you keep this service running. Why this can
be disabled: As noted above: Only very small organizations are likely to use
HomeGroups to share resources on a network, so it's almost always safe to disable
this service in a business setting.

13: Tablet PC Input Service

Windows description: Enables Tablet PC pen and ink functionality. Why this can
be disabled: The vast majority of PCs that are deployed to users do not have
hardware that can leverage tablet-like capability. This service simply uses system
resources with no possible benefit.

Other services?
Are there other Windows 7 services your organization has disabled without negatively affecting
business operations?

beginners Guide to Configure Windows 7 Services

We have posted service guides for Windows XP and Windows Vista in past and now its turn of
Windows 7. In this tutorial we'll learn about the services which are not essential and can be
safely set to MANUAL to speed up your system:
STEP 1. Right-click on Computer icon on desktop and select Manage, it'll open a new window.
Now go to Services & Applications -> Services. You can also open the same from
Administrative Tools -> Computer Management. Or you can directly open "Services" list by
providing services.msc command in RUN or Start Menu search box.

STEP 2. Now you can set the unnecessary services to DISABLED or MANUAL. Just doubleclick on any service and select the desired option in Startup type list box.
NOTE 1: Always set the service to MANUAL, never disable it, so that whenever Windows
needs to start a service, it can easily start and use it. If you set any service to DISABLED,
Windows will not be able to start it and will give some error messages.
NOTE 2: You can set Remote Registry service to DISABLED for Security purposes.
Here is a list of services that can be safely set to MANUAL:

Computer Browser (If your computer is not connected to any network)

Desktop Window Manager Session Manager (If you don't use Aero glass
theme)
Diagnostic Policy Service
Distributed Link Tracking Client (If your computer is not connected to any
network)
IP Helper (If you don't use IPv6 connection)
Offline Files
Portable Device Enumerator Service
Print Spooler (If you don't have a Printer)
Protected Storage
Remote Registry
Secondary Logon
Security Center

Server (If your computer is not connected to any network)

Tablet PC Input Service
TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper (If you are not in a workgroup network)
Themes ( If you use Windows Classic theme)
Windows Error Reporting Service
Windows Media Center Service Launcher
Windows Search (If you don't use Windows Search feature frequently)

PS: You can see the details of each service to determine whether you should disable it or not.
Further read:

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