Windows Vista - Tweak Performance

• Activate ACHI to enable Native Command Queuing

  Native Command Queuing (NCQ) can improve hard disk performance, as it optimizes the order to execute read and write commands.

• Change the Vista file copy to perform like in earlier versions

  Configure the file copying method to use cached I/O requests instead of non-cached.

• Configure the Master File Table for the NTFS partitions

  The Master File Table is the index for all files and directories placed on a ntfs partition and critical for ntfs performance.

• Configure the page file for best performance

  Finding the the optimal size and location for the Windows swap file.

• Description of soft and hard page faults

  Description of how Windows optimizes the virtual memory to minimize the need for hard pagefaults.

• Description of the hard disk cache

  The hard disk performance is very dependent on the configuration of the disk cache.

• Disable creation of DOS compatible 8.3 filename

  Speed up the creation of new files by not creating a 8.3 filename for backward compatibility.

• Disable the automatic updating of file access time

  Lower the disk activity by disabling the updating of when a file was last accessed.

• Disable the page file to avoid using the slow HDD

  Disabling the page file to prevent Windows from unloading memory to the hard disk.

• Optimize processor power management

  Use power management to throttle the processor when idle, and get a cool CPU temperature.

• Use process affinity to lock application to a single core

  Applications optimized to run on single CPU systems, will perform worse on multi CPU systems.