Registry_Secrets

Ways to improve the performance of your general Windows NT system, your network, your file systems, and your printers. Mark Russinovich contributed to this chapter, selecting some of his favorite performance-oriented registry modifications to help you squeeze every drop of power from your Windows NT machines.

Chapter Contents
• GENERAL SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
• MEMORY PERFORMANCE
• NETWORKING PERFORMANCE
o General Networking
o Redirector
o Lanmanager Workstation
o Lanmanager Server
o Services for Macintosh
o Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
o NetBEUI
o NetLogon
o TCP/IP
o NWLink
• FILE SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
• PRINTING PERFORMANCE
• REGISTRY EDITOR PERFORMANCE
Abstract
In this chapter, you will find specific ways to improve the performance of your general Windows NT system, your network, your file systems, and your printers. Mark Russinovich contributed to this chapter, selecting some of his favorite performance-oriented registry modifications to help you squeeze every drop of power from your Windows NT machines.
________________________________________


GENERAL SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

The tuning parameters in this section tune the general performance of NT, rather than a specific aspect of NT such as file systems or memory. By our definition, these keys tune NT itself, not specific device drivers or user-level applications.

VI-1 Managing the number of threads can help you optimize performance. When NT boots, it creates a pool of worker threads that NT’s kernel, Executive Subsystems, and device drivers use. When one of these components places a work item, such as the Cache Manager’s lazy cache flusher or the Memory Manager’s idle memory zero-filler, in a queue, a thread is assigned to process it. If too many threads are in the pool, they needlessly consume system resources. However, if not enough threads are in the pool, work items are not serviced in a timely manner. Adjust the following two registry keys to change the number of threads.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Executive
Value Name: AdditionalCriticalWorkerThreads
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value:

VI-2 Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Executive
Value Name: AdditionalDelayedWorkerThreads
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value:

The number you specify in the value increases the number of threads created for the specified work queue. NT has two thread queues. Threads in the Critical Work Queue execute in the low real-time priority range, so they have precedence over most system activity. Threads in the Delayed Work Queue have a slightly lower priority that results in higher latency — the threads that service it compete with other processing for CPU time. The number of threads created for each queue is based on two criteria: whether the system is a server or workstation and how much physical memory the system has. You can’t tell directly whether more threads in a particular situation give you better performance, but you can experiment with benchmark workloads to see if they provide a benefit.

VI-3 To make your foreground windows more responsive than your background windows, in Windows 3.51 you could boost priorities. In NT 4.0 Workstation, instead of boosting priorities, you set quantums to boost foreground windows (Server treats foreground and background windows alike). Change this registry entry to set the boost value.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Control
Value Name: PriorityControl
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 0

You can also set the boost value with a slider in the Performance tab of the System Control Panel applet. Valid values are shown below.
0 No quantum boost for foreground windows
1 Foreground windows have quantums twice as long as other windows
2 Foreground windows have quantums three times as long as other windows

VI-4 Here’s a tricky registry entry.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Executive
Value Name: PriorityQuantumMatrix
Data Type:
Value:

Although you can’t use this value to enhance performance, its name implies that you can. This value actually encodes expiration data about NT Beta and Release Candidates.


MEMORY PERFORMANCE

When you think of memory performance, fast SRAMs and multilevel caching come to mind. Although these hardware components play a critical role in the latency and throughput of a computer’s memory subsystem, tweaking the Registry obviously cannot upgrade your machine’s hardware. So in this section, improving memory performance means improving the way NT uses physical and virtual memory. You know you’re experiencing memory problems that you can fix with registry entries, rather than additional hardware, when you get “not enough memory to complete task…” messages in the system Event Log or on the display monitor.

VI-5 The file system cache grows and shrinks as the applications’ memory demands change. However, at system startup, the cache’s minimum, maximum, and “ideal” sizes are calibrated based on the Registry value you set below.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\
Memory Management
Value Name: LargeSystemCache
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 0

This value controls the size of the system’s file system cache. A value of 0 indicates a small cache, which is the default setting for Workstation, while 1 indicates a large cache, which is the default setting for Server. Servers usually perform some file sharing and therefore require a larger cache.

VI-6 NT categorizes memory as either paged or nonpaged. Paged memory holds data that can temporarily be moved from physical memory to the system’s paging file if space is needed for different data in physical memory. Nonpaged memory stores data that must be present in physical memory at all times. NT allocates a portion of physical memory for nonpaged memory when the system starts up, and this allocation can’t grow. If drivers or NT exhaust this storage, the system may become unstable or operations may start to fail. Modifying these two registry entries lets you override the defaults set for the paged and nonpaged pools.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\
Memory Management
Value Name: NonPagedPoolSize
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value:

This value is the number of bytes of physical memory you want to allocate for nonpaged memory. To monitor your memory, use Performance Monitor to watch the percentage of committed memory that’s used. If more than 80 percent of memory is used consistently, you should increase this value. Likewise, if the system’s nonpaged memory usage is low, reducing the amount allocated for it increases system performance.
VI-7 Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\
Memory Management
Value Name: PagedPoolSize
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value:

This value is the number of bytes in the paged memory pool. It overrides the system’s default calculation, which is roughly equal to the physical memory on Workstation and a minimum of 50 MB on Server. Paged pool is different from virtual memory size — the paged pool is space reserved in the system’s virtual memory map for NT and device drivers to allocate pageable data.

You can monitor the amount of paged pool the system uses with the Performance Monitor, which also shows the maximum allocation possible. If the amount of memory used is consistently more than 80 percent, you should use this setting to override the default.


NETWORKING PERFORMANCE

The registry gives you lots of control over Windows NT’s various networking components. Because your system may not run every networking service, you should identify which components are active so that you can target them when evaluating networking performance with tools like Performance Monitor.

General Networking
VI-8 This value controls the order in which your network redirectors are used. If you have more than one network redirector, such as Lanmanager Workstation or Client Services for NetWare, loaded on your system, you should consider changing this entry.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Control\NetworkProvider
Value Name: Order
Data Type: REG_SZ
Value:

In this value, you set the order in which the WNet API uses your network providers. When the WNet API is called, it processes requests by sending them to each network provider in the order listed. If it gets back a response that the provider doesn’t process that type of request, the API calls the next provider listed. Thus, if most of your system’s activity relates to accessing NetWare shares, you should move the NetWare provider name to the start of the list. This small modification can improve performance significantly.

Redirector
The Windows NT Redirector manages remote volume connections. When you access a volume across the network, Redirector takes the file system request and invokes the appropriate protocol to send the request to a file system server component on the other machine.

VI-9 The entry below switches the behavior of Redirector between write-through and write-behind. By default, Redirector delays sending the server write requests to a volume, which lets other operations proceed or complete. When you change this value, Redirector sends write operations immediately and waits for a response before proceeding with other operations.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Rdr\Parameters
Value Name: UseWriteBehind
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 0

To disable write-behind, change this value to 1; the default is 0. You may need to use this highly synchronous mode in specialized environments or when tracking down networking problems with a network monitoring tool; otherwise, you should use the write-behind value because write-through degrades performance.

VI-10 The value in the registry entry below is a hybrid between write-through and write-behind modes.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Rdr\Parameters
Value Name: UseAsyncWriteBehind
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1

The default value of 1 enables asynchronous write-behind, which means that Redirector immediately sends write requests to the server but doesn’t wait for a response before processing other requests. Changing the value to 0 disables asynchronous write-behind; you should disable it only when the network requires special coherency guarantees or when you’re debugging.

Lanmanager Workstation
Lanmanager Workstation is Microsoft’s implementation of a Redirector. It speaks SMB (Server Message Block).
V-11 Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\ Parameters
Value Name: MaxCmds
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 15

This value specifies the number of threads that the Workstation service creates during initialization to handle requests; the default value is 15. If Workstation has more requests than it has threads to service those requests, it holds up some requests until a thread finishes servicing a request. Therefore, if multiple users or applications are simultaneously accessing remote shares, increasing this value can improve network throughput.
VI-12 Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\ Parameters
Value Name: SessTimeout
Data Type: RED_DWORD
Value: 45

This value sets the number of seconds after a request is queued before Lanmanager indicates that the request has failed (if it hasn’t been processed). The default value is 45. Applications that access network shares may report not having enough memory to process a request — too many outstanding operations are on the volume and some requests are timing out. Raising this value lets more operations be serviced asynchronously and may cause the messages to go away.
VI-13 Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\ Parameters
Value Name: CacheFileTimeout
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 10

This value specifies the time after which Lanmanager Workstation purges its locally cached data after closing a file. Many applications open files, perform an operation, close them, and repeat this sequence to perform more operations. If you have a system with a dedicated application, you can adjust this value to improve performance. Increase the time if applications close and reopen the same files at intervals longer than 10 seconds, and reduce the time if applications access few files and do not open and close them regularly.

VI-14 Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\ Parameters
Value Name: DormantFileLimit
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 45

This value sets the number of files that Lanmanger leaves open in the file system cache after an application closes it. By default, Lanmanager Server allows only a certain number of open files from any one Lanmanager Redirector connection. Having a file open on the connection can improve performance if the application opens it again. However, keeping files open can also overload the server’s limit, and in those cases you should reduce this value.

VI-15 Normally, Lanmanager Workstation reads and stores data in the local file cache before an application requests it. These read-aheads can cause network degradation when applications rarely read files sequentially on shared volumes or when the network’s throughput is low. To better manage the read-ahead function, change this registry entry.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\ Parameters
Value Name: ReadAheadThroughput
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: -1

This value sets the minimum network throughput, in kilobytes per second, before Lanmanager Workstation enables the read-ahead function. The default value is -1.

Lanmanager Server
Lanmanger Server is Microsoft’s implementation of an SMB (Server Message Block) file server. It is a focal point of performance tuning for any file-sharing server.

VI-16 If you frequently get “server paged” or “server nonpaged” errors in Performance Monitor, you are seeing Lanmanager Server running out of memory that it’s allocated for itself. You may want to raise these values to give Lanmanager Server more memory; however, giving these memory resources to Lanmanager keeps other system drivers and applications from using them. To give Lanmanager more paged and nonpaged memory, change the registry entries below.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\ Parameters
Value Name: MaxNonPagedMemoryUsage
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 0

VI-17 Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\ Parameters
Value Name: MaxPagedMemoryUsage
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 0

These values set the number of megabytes allocated by Lanmanager Server for nonpaged and paged memory. The default, which is determined internally, is 0.

VI-18 By default, Lanmanager Server’s worker threads run at one priority level higher than typical application threads. If network throughput is low because the Server’s threads are competing with other threads for processor time, you may want to change this registry entry to increase the priority boost.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\ Parameters
Value Name: ThreadPriority
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1

Valid values are 0, 1, or 2, which determine how many levels above normal priority Lanmanager’s worker threads run; and 15, which makes Lanmanager Server’s threads run at real-time priority. Increasing the priority may reduce the responsiveness of other applications and services on the machine, especially if you set it to real-time priority.

VI-19 When the server maintains extra pre-initialized end-points, establishing new connections takes less processing. This value sets the number of end-points the server maintains.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\ Parameters
Value Name: MinFreeConnections
Data Type: RED_DWORD
Value: 2

Valid values range from 2 to 5; the default is determined internally. You can reduce the value to minimize idle memory overhead when the memory resources on the system are in high demand.

VI-20 If memory resources are scarce or if you want to limit the total number of users that can simultaneously log on to the server, change this registry entry.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\ Parameters
Value Name: Users
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value:

The value is the number of users who can long on to the server simultaneously.

VI-21 Every time a connection is made to Lanmanager Server, resources are allocated to service it. Sometimes idle connections tie up resources for a long time. To free resources sooner, change this registry entry.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\ Parameters
Value Name: AutoDisconnect
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 15

This value specifies the number of minutes a connection can be idle before it is automatically disconnected and the resources associated with it are freed. The default value is 15. Reducing this value can keep resource usage to a minimum, but it’s possible to incur additional overhead if clients reconnect after their connections are dropped.

VI-22 The registry entry below tells Lanmanager Server to allocate work items for processing raw SMBs (Server Message Blocks).
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\ Parameters
Value Name: EnableRaw
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1

Setting this value to 1 (the default) enables support for raw SMBs, and performance improves. Setting this value to 0 disables support.

VI-23 Opportunistic locking is a performance-enhancing protocol Windows NT file systems use to detect remote machines’ modifications to shared files and directories. Enabling op-locks can cause you to lose cached data if the system fails.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\ Parameters
Value Name: EnableOpLocks
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1

The default value is 1, which enables op-locking. Change the value to 0 to disable this feature.
Services for Macintosh
Services for Macintosh (SFM) lets Macintosh-based computers transparently access Windows NT network shares. You can tune the performance of these connections with registry entries. You should consider adjusting these values if you have a LAN that depends on the responsiveness of Windows NT share access from Macs.





VI-24 The following entries’ values control the amount of paged and nonpaged memory that SFM uses as it processes operations. Under heavy workloads, SFM memory requirements rise, and if it can allocate all the memory it requires in one request, its performance improves. However, raising these values can cause other applications, including Windows NT itself, to be unable to allocate memory when they need to.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MacFile\Parameters
Value Name: PagedMemLimit
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 20,000

VI-25 Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\MacFile\Parameters
Value Name: NonPagedMemLimit
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 4,000

The value in the first key above sets the paged memory limit; the default is 20,000 K. The second key sets the limit of nonpaged memory; the default is 4,000 K.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
VI-26 Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) dynamically assigns IP addresses from a pool of allowable addresses to other machines on a LAN. This registry entry determines whether the DHCP server logs all IP address assignments to a database file. You can then use this database to track down problems in network configuration or behavior. However, logging each DHCP invocation can significantly reduce system performance. If your DHCP seems to be highly stable, you might consider turning off this flag to improve performance.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\DhcpServer\Parameters
Value Name: DatabaseLoggingFlag
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1

The default value of 1 enables DHCP logging; change the value to 0 to disable this feature.

NetBEUI
NetBEUI is a transport that has been migrated forward from LanManager and Windows for Workgroups 3.11. The NetBEUI transport is named NBF in Windows NT.

VI-27 This value controls the time NBF waits before resending Logical Link Control (LLC) messages if they are not acknowledged. You should change this registry entry to raise this value if NBF is running over a slow network.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\NBF\Parameters
Value Name: DefaultT1Timeout
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value:

The value specifies, in 100-nanosecond increments, the timeout period for unacknowledged LLC messages. The default is 600 milliseconds.

VI-28 This entry controls the number of LLC frames NBF sends before it stops sending and waits for acknowledgment. On a very reliable system, you can increase this number and improve performance. If your network is less reliable, raising the value is not wise because the performance benefit of raising the value is offset by retry operations.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\NBF\Parameters
Value Name: LLCMaxWindowSize
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1

The value sets the number of frames NBF sends before waiting for acknowledgment. The default value is 1.

VI-29 This entry determines the number of times NBF retries a request when it gets a T1 timeout. If your NBF is running on a slow network, you might want to increase this value.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\NBF\Parameters
Value Name: LLCRetries
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 8

A value of 1 or more sets the number of times NBF retries a request; a value of 0 sets no limit on the number of NBF’s retries. The default value is 8.

NetLogon
The NetLogon service manages the process of logging on to a domain. It interacts with the NT Local Security Authority (LSA) to validate account and password information. It also keeps all account information synchronized between the Primary Domain Controller (PDC) and the Backup Domain Controllers (BDCs).

VI-30 NetLogon collects account information for a specified period of time and sends it in one batch to each BDC that isn’t already up-to-date. By default, NetLogon determines the interval based on the server’s load, but you can tune the time period NetLogon collects account data to suit your environment or to minimize network traffic.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Netlogon\Parameters
Value Name: Pulse
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 300

The value is the number of seconds in the collection period. The default value is 300 seconds, or 5 minutes. Valid values range from 60 to 172,800 (48 hours).

VI-31 When a BDC receives a pulse from the PDC, it waits a specified time before returning a message. Changing this entry changes the wait period.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Netlogon\Parameters
Value Name: Randomize
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1

The value is the number of seconds that a BDC waits before requesting updated information from a PDC after receiving a pulse. The default value is 1; valid values range from 0 to 120. Typically, you should keep this value small, less than the PulseTimeout1 value under the same key.

VI-32 The following entry specifies how many outstanding pulses the PDC has at any time. By adjusting this value you can control the load on a PDC — the higher the value, the higher the potential load when security or account information is updated. Decreasing the value increases the time required to propagate the information to all the BDCs. You can estimate the time it takes to replicate account or security database information with the formula ((Randomize/2) * NumberOfBdcsInDomain) / PulseConcurrency
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Netlogon\Parameters
Value Name: PulseConcurrency
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 20

The value is the number of outstanding pulse events the PDC allows. The default value is 20; valid values range from 0 to 500.

TCP/IP
VI-33 TCP/IP allows a certain number of bytes to be sent before the system waits for an acknowledgment. You can increase this number, also known as the Window Size, if your network is reliable and has high bandwidth. Ideally, it should be a multiple of the TCP Maximum Segment Size (MSS).
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters
Value Name: TcpWindowSize
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 8760

The value is the size, in bytes, of the TCP/IP window. The default is 8760 in Ethernet networks; valid values range from 0 to 0xFFFF.

NWLink
NWLink is an implementation of the IPX/SPX protocols popular in NetWare networks. The NWNBLink module provides support for the Novell implementation of the NetBIOS protocol.

VI-34 By default, the NWNBLink protocol allocates two frames to receive messages. When the frames are filled, it sends an acknowledgment to the sender. This entry is typically used as a clocking mechanism where the sender is on a fast part of the LAN but the receiver is on a slow link. You can set the value to 0 to prevent NWNBLink from sending any acknowledgments, which can improve performance. Note that you can direct NWNBLink to ignore the AckWindow if round-trip times are below a threshold indicated in the AckWindowThreshold value under the same key.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\NWNBLink\Parameters
Value Name: AckWindow
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 2

VI-35 Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\NWNBLink\Parameters
Value Name: AckWindowThreshold
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 2

The value determines the number of frames in the AckWindow that are filled with received messages before NWNBLink sends an acknowledgment. If the value is 0, not acknowledgments are sent. The default value is 2.

VI-36 While NWNBLink sessions are initialized, the maximum number of messages that the receiver can process at one time is transmitted to the sender. Increasing this value may increase performance on high-bandwidth networks.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\NWNBLink\Parameters
Value Name: RcvWindowMax
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 4

The value sets the number of frames allocated for receiving message. The default value is 4. Valid values range from 0 to 49152.

VI-37 This entry determines how many messages can be received simultaneously; the value is sent to remote connections. Increasing this value could increase performance of IPX messaging on high-bandwidth networks.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\NwLnkIpx\Parameters
Value Name: WindowSize
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 4

The value is the number of frames allocated for receiving SPX messages. The default value is 4; valid values range from 1 to 10.

VI-38 This value specifies how many messages can be received simultaneously; it is sent to remote connections. Increasing this value could increase performance of SPX messaging on high-bandwidth networks.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Services\NwLnkSPX\Parameters
Value Name: WindowSize
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 4

The value is the number of frames allocated for receiving SPX messages. The default value is 4. Valid values range from 1 to 11.


FILE SYSTEM PERFORMANCE

VI-39 This entry is the only performance-altering value related to file systems that you can control in the registry. By default, NTFS creates an MS-DOS-style “short file name” for every file created with a long file name; otherwise, these files won’t be recognized by Windows 3.1 and MS-DOS programs running on NT. NTFS must therefore track two names for these files, which can cause performance to degrade, particularly the performance of directory-related operations such as file look-ups.
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
Value Name: NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 0

The value determines whether short names are generated for long file names. A value of 0 means that NTFS generates short names; a value of 1 means that NTFS doesn’t generate the short names. If you don’t run any Windows 3.1 or MS-DOS programs on your system, you don’t need short file name compatibility; disable this value.


PRINTING PERFORMANCE

VI-40 The print spooler thread is responsible for feeding data to printers. By default, it runs in the NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS, along with most of the other threads in a system. However, you can reduce this value, which may enhance the responsiveness of other more important applications such as the file system server (LanmanServer).
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print
Value Name: SpoolerPriority
Data Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 0x20

The value sets the class the print spooler thread runs in. The following three values are recognized; other values are ignored.
0x40 IDLE_PRIORITY_CLASS
0x20 NORMAL_PRIORITY_CLASS
0x80 HIGH_PRIORITY_CLASS



REGISTRY EDITOR PERFORMANCE

VI-41 Normally, when RegEdit processes a .reg file, it bring up a dialog box informing you that it added items to the registry. Using this feature is usually a good option, unless you want to add certain items automatically with a login script and you don’t want users to have to click OK to close the window every time they log on. Luckily, Microsoft has provided an undocumented parameter for RegEdit that bypasses this option: the /y parameter. Use it like this:

Regedit /y
Note that this change only affects Regedit.exe, not Regedt32.exe or Regedt.exe.