pultneytooner
28-May-06, 13:46
Optimize Your Windows 2000 / XP Registry for Broadband
We all want more speed when it comes to our broadband connection, that’s what optimizing your Windows 2000 and XP registries are all about. Windows 2000 and XP may be better equipped to deal with networks than their predecessors, but they are still configured for optimum performance over a local area network rather than a broadband connection. For this reason you may want to consider configuring your registry for better performance over your broadband connection.
Data Flow Over Broadband
A few terms you should know when configuring your registry are maximum segment size (MSS) and maximum transmission unit (MTU). MSS is how much data is actually sent at a time over a network and MTU refers to the largest amount of data that can be transferred. The MSS amount is slightly smaller than the MTU to account for data assignment and other information. These are the values in your registry which need to be adjusted to optimize your broadband connection. For best performance results, your MTU should be set to 1500 bytes with your MSS generally being around 40 bytes below that value. If you have a Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet broadband connection (which is used by some Digital Service Providers), then your MTU should be 1492, with your MSS around 1452 bytes.
The “Key” to Tweaking Your Registry
Step 1: First things first, you need to get to your registry. This is easily done by going to your Start menu and then your Run command prompt.
Step 2: Next type “regedit” into the console and presto! You have your registry editor.
Step 3: You’ll notice a list of file names starting with “HKEY” directly under your My Computer icon; these are referred to as “keys.” Buried among these “keys” are parameters that you will be tweaking to optimize your broadband connection, among those are your MSS and MTU values.
You can find specific parameters and values for your Windows 2000 or XP registry at the following links: http://www.speedguide.com and http://www.winguides.com
An Alternative for Manually Optimizing your Broadband
There are sites out there that have patches you can download that automatically optimize your broadband connection for you. The link above will take you to a page with a file for a tested registry tweak for Window 95, 98 or Me. In the event your registry gets messed up, a patch that can restore your default settings is also available there. To find other possible patch sites, search for “Windows registry patches” in your favorite search engine.
Word to the Wise
Altering your registry configuration is not really an activity for those who aren’t comfortable with customizing their Windows OS. For those of you who aren’t comfortable changing the inner workings of your computer, but still want to optimize your broadband speed, patches are a viable solution. Adjusting your registry can be tricky and possibly mess up your system – so whether you’re making the adjustments yourself or downloading a patch, always export a backup file of the original settings before implementing any changes.
As usual, don't enter the registry unless you are 100% sure you know what you are doing!
We all want more speed when it comes to our broadband connection, that’s what optimizing your Windows 2000 and XP registries are all about. Windows 2000 and XP may be better equipped to deal with networks than their predecessors, but they are still configured for optimum performance over a local area network rather than a broadband connection. For this reason you may want to consider configuring your registry for better performance over your broadband connection.
Data Flow Over Broadband
A few terms you should know when configuring your registry are maximum segment size (MSS) and maximum transmission unit (MTU). MSS is how much data is actually sent at a time over a network and MTU refers to the largest amount of data that can be transferred. The MSS amount is slightly smaller than the MTU to account for data assignment and other information. These are the values in your registry which need to be adjusted to optimize your broadband connection. For best performance results, your MTU should be set to 1500 bytes with your MSS generally being around 40 bytes below that value. If you have a Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet broadband connection (which is used by some Digital Service Providers), then your MTU should be 1492, with your MSS around 1452 bytes.
The “Key” to Tweaking Your Registry
Step 1: First things first, you need to get to your registry. This is easily done by going to your Start menu and then your Run command prompt.
Step 2: Next type “regedit” into the console and presto! You have your registry editor.
Step 3: You’ll notice a list of file names starting with “HKEY” directly under your My Computer icon; these are referred to as “keys.” Buried among these “keys” are parameters that you will be tweaking to optimize your broadband connection, among those are your MSS and MTU values.
You can find specific parameters and values for your Windows 2000 or XP registry at the following links: http://www.speedguide.com and http://www.winguides.com
An Alternative for Manually Optimizing your Broadband
There are sites out there that have patches you can download that automatically optimize your broadband connection for you. The link above will take you to a page with a file for a tested registry tweak for Window 95, 98 or Me. In the event your registry gets messed up, a patch that can restore your default settings is also available there. To find other possible patch sites, search for “Windows registry patches” in your favorite search engine.
Word to the Wise
Altering your registry configuration is not really an activity for those who aren’t comfortable with customizing their Windows OS. For those of you who aren’t comfortable changing the inner workings of your computer, but still want to optimize your broadband speed, patches are a viable solution. Adjusting your registry can be tricky and possibly mess up your system – so whether you’re making the adjustments yourself or downloading a patch, always export a backup file of the original settings before implementing any changes.
As usual, don't enter the registry unless you are 100% sure you know what you are doing!