Nice registry edit to SPEEEED up your HD

[gradius]

I first of all must say, I am in no way responsible if you try this tip, and you screw up your computer. If you don't know what you are doing, then don't do it!

Ok. Well, poking around the internet, trying to find some nice windows tweaks to speed up my slow 1GB HD, I stumbled upon this.
It's a registry edit that changes your Contiguous File Allocation Size in Win9x or NT. This setting optimizes the contiguous file allocation size for the file system. This is especially useful for disk intensive applications.

Open your registry and find the key below.
Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\FileSystem]


Create a new DWORD value named 'ContigFileAllocSize', set the value to equal '200' (in hex).

Close the registry and restart the computer for the change to take affect.

I was VERY amazed to see Windows98 boot up almost 75% faster, and now my hard disk having less disk activity upon loading programs. I'd like to see if others have similar results.

[Helly Hansen]

Thanks Dude!
I knew about this and forgot!! If you really want to get some speed set the value to at least 1000 depending on the amount of memory you have! I have mine at 1500 and have 32MB of RAM on this particular system. Everthing seems to run smoother.

[raihanan]

Are you sure it works in NT? I looked it up and all the sites that mention it say Windows 95/98. Nothing about NT. Also, if it does work for NT, does it work for NTFS partitions too, or just FAT?

Thanks!

-- Jeff

[steveakaflash]

What exactly does this do to "speed" up the disk?? I have 128 ram, and set it to 1500, and didnt notice a difference???

Steve

[Bonehead]

I have to agree with our friend Steve here. Didn't notice any difference also. So you could say it doesn't make any difference when you have a fast hd (like mine is a Quantum 6.4 EX). Looks like slow and old hd obviously DO bennefit from this setting if you read the first posts, hehe).

[aratike]

I'm curious as to how this tweak speeds things up. What exactly is being tweaked? It works great!

I have a Quantum Bigfoot 4Gig HD (read: sloooow) and it sped things up significantly when set at 1500.

Anybody got an explanation?

[CMonster]

Gracias gradius!! http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

It worked very well on daughters JTS Champ. I set it at various and it worked best at 1MB..400hex..higher and there was extra disk activity.

[socalgal]

ok I am mathematically challenged here... what value do I set the DWORD value as 0x00000000(0) or just "1500" ?? gee i feel dumb

[mac]

me tooooooo I set mine to 1500 and didnt notice any difference.I assume that this setting changes the amount that the disk reads each time with out stopping.

[Bleeding Edge]

After making your way down in the registry, right click on FileSystem. Select Dword Value. Right click on New Value and select Modify. Choose decimal as Base. Type in 512. 1500. 1000. Whatever.

Depending on your applications, this setting may affect them adversely.

[socalgal]

Thanks Edge, I just figured it out. DUH

just tried 1500, no diff, seems a bit slower... running 80mgs RAM... gonna tweak w/different value...

the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System is organized into control sets that contain a complete set of parameters for device drivers and services that can be loaded with Win98. All data that controls startup is described in the CurrentControlSet subtree; the Control key contains info used to control system startup including the puter's network name and the subsystems to start. File System contents are the type and settings of the file system.

So then, I am assuming (uhoh) that ContigFileAllocSize controls the contiguous file allocation size...is that the same thing as FAT?? that's where I get lost.

well 512 and 400 no good either, perhaps 3000..

I can't seem to find a difference at any value.. and I have an older WD 2.1G

[This message has been edited by socalgal (edited 05-10-99).]

[Helly Hansen]

OK, People with the higher performance drives and a pretty large amount of memory should try settings such as 2500 or even 3000 and above just for a test. Just don't use too much memory! If there is no difference then just remove this from your registry because it would obviously be needess. I have used this with two systems Packard Bell Pentium 100 & 75MHz Hard Drives: Quantum Fireball 1280 (1.2GB) & Maxtor 7850A (850MB) and seen about a 40-50% difference in file access performance, maybe I'm smokin too much crack or there is a limit on file access timing for you high performance people. Does anyone know of any other Windows tweaks? I heard that setting the systems typical role to "Network Server" under Control Panel/System/File System can increase performane and may even enhance this tweak!

Gradius Did NOT Guarantee This! He Simply Wanted To See If Others Get Simular Results!

Thanks For Sharing!
Brandon Sandifer
Sandifer Peripherals
www.gowiththebest.com

[spdsk8r]

What setting should I use with a Western Digital 5.1GB UDMA Hard Drive and 160MB RAM?

[Helly Hansen]

Hey Guys!

SPDSK8R- Just Play around and experiment with it, You seem to have plenty of RAM, Crank it up and see what I happens. After cranking it up I normally check the System Resourses under Control Panel/System to properly calaberate the settings to work well with the systems (make sure to much RAM is not being used) People who have high performance setups seemed to complain that there was no difference but check it out anyway!

Good Luck!
Brandon Sandifer
www.gowiththebest.com/newsite.shtm

[This message has been edited by Helly Hansen (edited 05-12-99).]

[Mosschop]

Tried this hack and it does make a big difference on boot-up time ( although I haven't noticed any particular speed increase elsewhere) - however, my disc is now noticably niosier in operation (I can hear it above the noise of my incredibly loud CPU fan) - any idea why?