Temporary Administrative Permissions

Many programs require administrative rights to be able to install. Here is an easy way to temporarily assign yourself Administrative permissions while you remain logged in as a normal user:

1. Hold down the Shift key (might not be necessary on Win2k3) and right-click on the program, or the setup file.
2. Click "Run as"
3. Type in a username and password that have Administrative permissions.

Note: This will also work for applications in the Start menu.
Optimize the Pagefile

If you have more than one hard drive, it is a good idea to put your pagefile on the non-windows drives. Also, it is not a bad idea to set the pagefile to a constant size (1 to 2 times the available RAM), so it wont get fragmented.

Right-click on My Computer -> select Properties -> the Advanced tab -> Performance, Settings button -> Advanced tab, Virtual memory, Change button -> choose the drives and size available for pagefile(s).

I usually use a non-windows drive, and same Initial/Maximum size to avoid fragmentation of the pagefile. Another method to avoid fragmentation is to clear the pagefile on shutdown, by changing the following Registry setting:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\
"ClearPageFileAtShutdown=1" (1 clears the pagefile at shutdown, 0 is the Windows default).

Related Resources:
MSKB 314834 (Windows XP)
MSKB 182086 (Windows 2000)

Fix Windows Explorer Slowdowns

Sometimes Windows Explorer can slow down to a crawl, here are a couple of tips to reclaim your resources:

1. Possible WIA and USB device issues, here is the solution: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;819017

2. Media files causing slowdowns, such as large number, and/or corrupt AVI files. Any Explorer operaion can lead to very high CPU usage and a seeming lockup of your computer. To resolve the issue:
Start > Run > type: Regedit
Navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{87D62D94-71B3-4b9a-9489-5FE6850DC73E}
And delete this key:
InProcServer32
Then unload the dynamic library with the following:
Start > Run > type: regsvr32 /u shmedia.dll

If you're running XP, you might also want to check this: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;822430

3. Reduce Shell Overhead: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;819101

4. Apply the LAN browsing tweak if you're on a network (and not using Netware):
Start > Run > type: Regedit
Navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace
Delete this key:
{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}

Improve NTFS Performance

You can improve NTFS performance by stopping it from generating timestamps every time directories are accessed, and if you're feeling a bit more adventurous, by preventing NTFS from generating MS-DOS compatible filenames for all files with long filenames. Here are the two registry keys that you can modify:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
"NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate"=dword:00000001
"NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation"=dword:00000001

Note: Applying the second line above (disabling truncated filename creation) might cause problems with some 16-bit applications. To resolve this, simply set the number back to "0"

Unload DLLs of Closed Applications

Windows does not always unload DLLS (Dynamic Link Libraries) used by programs from memory, even after the applications are closed. This default behavior causes more memory to be reserved for unused DLLs over time. This tweak sets Windows to automatically unload DLLs for closed applications from RAM, which speeds up GUI operation by freeing unused memory and returning it to the system.

To fix this and unload unnecessary DLLs, navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AlwaysUnloadDLL
and set the "Default" string to "1"

If the "AlwaysUnloadDLL" subkey does not exist, create it. To reverse the change, simply delete "AllwaysUnloadDLL". Alternatively, you can use the following registry files to apply/undo this tweak:
sg_unload_dll.reg
undo_sg_unload_dll.reg

Note: This tweak also works with Windows 9x. It is possible that unloading DLLs might cause some issues with some old 16-bit applications.