Check Memory usage:

First move your cursor to the My Computer shortcut. then right click on it and click on properties. You should get a window that shows how much RAM your camputer had to begin with. Move the cursor to the tab called preformance and click on it. From there you should be able to see how much memory you have left (percentage wise).

Get more Bandwidth:

step 1: restart computer nd go into BIOS
setp 2: disable anything to do with usb (ULNESS YOU USE USB)
setp 3: restart your computer.

reason: usb allocates 12% of your bandwith for usb devices. dependong on your system configuration this can improve frame reates in games greatly,
example: my old k6-3 computer gained 25FPS in UNREAL TOURNAMENT by disabling usb.
this tweak does not work as great on moderm computer running DDR or the more costly rambus, yes it still is good for 4-10% more bandwith.

slightly older computers, , p2s p1's k6's etc will benefit most from this, lets face it these older systems need all the help they can get.

on an older system where ram bandwith is an issue, they help alot but when new computer that get 2-3GB's of bandwith, it doesnt help as much so YOUR RESULTS WILL VARY.

this is my little tweak, thank you

Overclocking:

Now, if you want to overclock your cpu, you should look into getting a pentium 4, .1.5 GHz. Over clocking is the somewhat unknown and uncommon practice of running your CPU (or other parts) past the speed that it is rated at. This means, even if you purchased a cheaper lower end CPU, you can still try to run it at a higher rate with great savings. The motherboard you choose to support your CPU is the key. Assuming current market price for a 1.9GHz CPU will cost you USD$400, and USD $155 for 1.5GHz CPU. You will be saving up to at least USD$245 with their motherboard. And check out some powerfull Vantec Coolers, its real heavy duty stuff. And a fan, (no im not trying to advertise!) go with Vantec, you get quality coolers and fans. Well if you havent guessed it, the more fans the better! In your motherboard manual, find the jumper settings for the particular bus speed and multiplier you want to use. Locate those jumpers on your motherboard and change them to fit the jumper settings in the manual. If it says "closed" for a jumper, then you need to have the little "shunt" placed over the two pins for that jumper which "closes" the connection. If it says "open" you may need to pull off the shunt. If your motherboard has a "SoftMenu," then you can change your bus speed in the computer's BIOS. Usually you will have to press F1 or Del to enter your BIOS while your computer is starting up. Try to locate the CPU speed settings and rotate through the available bus speeds until you find the one you are wanting to try. Now run along kids!! Go for it!!

Faster Boot:

When you boot your WinXP home box, does your system hang for a looooooong time after the desktop appears?? You try and click on items and nothing happens? Then all of a sudden, all those things that you clicked on during the hang start to load and pop up?
I had this problem with my computer, and I have seen it in others. It took me awhile to find a solution, so I want to share it with as many as possible.....

1. Click START/RUN
2. Type msconfig
3. Click OK
4. Click the SERVICES tab
5. Scroll down to find a service called WORKSTATION
6. Uncheck this service
7. Click APPLY
8. When prompted, Restart

With any luck, you will just have cut your boot time in half, just like I did for my computer and for others'.
When the System configuration utility appears, if this worked for you, click the box that says "Do Not Show This Message Again". If this causes something bad to happen, immediatly repeat the steps above except put a check IN the box on step #6.

I cannot say if this will work in XP Pro because I have not tested it. If anyone tries I would love to know if it worked.

Windows Tile Trick:

This one is to get you started,

Run "regedit" from Start->Run under Windows. Search the registry for HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\Window Title

If the Window Title string does not exist, create a new string with that name! Edit the key value to read "Internet Explorer Provided by CHE on the loose! *Spit* YEAH!!@@##"

That is now the title which will be displayed at the top of your Internet Explorer window. It may be kinda boring on your own machine, but it's a fun trick to play on your friend or your boss

Can you change the window title for Outlook Express? Windows of other programs? Try and see

Warning: Messing with your registry can hose your operating system yadda yadda yadda...make sure you back up the registry first and know what you are doing.

Warning #2: Screwing around with your boss' computer can be hazardous to your career

Java Taking too long?

In IE select tools- Internet options-advanced; under Microsoft VM'; check for Java logging enabled and JIT compiler for virtual machine enabled. Make sure these have a check makr and boom there u go....

Enable DMA on CD-RW's:

problems leading to coasters
1) you have little ram
2) many background apps running
3) YOUR DMA IS NOT ENABLED FOR YOUR BURNER!!!!!!!!!!! <---most important

To enable your DMA for your burner/hard drive/anything that is IDE!! simply goto system info in control panel, then goto your hardware device manager. Now look for IDE ATA/Atapi controllers in your list of devices. double click and your should see primary controller and secondary and master controller.

Primary being your first IDE channel, and secondary your second channel, double click primary or secondary if the device u want to enable dma is in there, then goto advanced settings tab, and select dma if available for them all, you usually dunt want PIO mode ever

WinXP Slow?

Usually win xp is lagging on your comp cuz u have those nice little graphics stuff that is on by default, simply just change your desktop scheme back to classic style, that'll take off that nice look, but boost performance =)

CD 2 CD = Coaster?

When you are experiencing problems cd to cd copying, without first buffering an image to the hdd, its because.
1) you have little ram
2) dma is not enabled for either of your cd-rom/writer/dvd drive
3) your read speed is not at least twice as fast as your burn speed

and lastly the biggest problem: both your cd rom/writer/drive is connected to the same IDE channel, causing loss of data because the ide channel cannot handle all the data.

Solutiong: simply switch one drive over to a different IDE channel

Raise your AGP Aperature Size:

There are many reasons and many ways to solve it. If you have little system ram it could be a problem. even if your vid card is 16mb, by getting for system ram, you can boost overall system performance and video.
you say, "i have 256mb ram, but everything loads so slow in gammes"
thats because you have no set your agp arpeture size in you bios to at least have of your total memory of your system. In this case you would set it to 128mb. Basically agp aperture size decides how much your system memory your video card is allowed to hog and use to cache textures, game data and other stuff.

Unlock the T-Bird/Duron:

To overclock an AMD processor all you need to do is grab a sharp number 2 pencil. While examing the CPU under good light you'll see a set of small gold contacts labeled "L1" you should see a row of 8 contact that resemble dots. Get a sharp number 2 pencil and connect each pair of dots in the same axis as the "L1", when you are done you should have four pairs of connected dots. Be careful not to smear lead so that it touches the other contacts. You can also use overclockers tape (trace tape) to do this if you do not like the idea of useing lead. Both work great, but becareful you have enough cooling. AMD proccessors already run a little hotter than the Pentium. when you are all done put everything back togeather (heatsink, fan, ect.....) and boot your computer. In your BIOS you should be able to change your clock-speed multiplier. If your machine refuses to let you change your the multiplyer you probably didn't connect the contacts correctly.

Prioritize Processes:

This is so simple it’s not funny, but it leads into the next tweak... anyway, if you press Control+Alt+Delete, then click on the ’Processes’ tab, you should get a dialog like the one above. You can see a list of all the processes running at the time. Now, if you are running a program that you want to dedicate more processing time to - eg, 3D Studio Max, as in my example, you can just right-click on the process, move your cursor down to ’Set Priority >’, then select how high you want that program prioritized. While I’m checking my email, I might want a Normal priority for Max, but if I leave my Computer, I can increass it to ’RealTime’ to get the most rendering done. Easy!