29. Disable 8.3 Name Creation in NTFS

Files that use the 8.3 naming convention can degrade NTFS drive performance.
Unless you have a good reason for keeping the 8.3 naming convention intact (such as
if you’re using 16-bit programs), a performance gain can be achieved by disabling it.
Set the Registry DWORD key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\ FileSystem\NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation to 1. Exit the Registry and reboot.

28. Alter Prefetch Parameters

Pre-fetching (the reading of system boot files into a cache for faster loading) is a
commonly overlooked component that can have a significant impact on system boot
time.
To see which files are gathered using each setting, clear the prefetch cache
located at C:\Windows\Prefetch and then enable one of the settings listed in this hack.

Clear the cache and repeat for each setting. Set the Registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\
Memory Management\PrefetchParameters\EnablePrefetcher to 0 to disable
prefetching, 1 to prefetch application launch files, 2 to prefetch boot files, or 3 to prefetch as many files as possible.

27. Place Windows Kernel into RAM

It’s a given that anything that runs in RAM will be faster than an item that has to
access the hard drive and virtual memory. Rather than have the kernel that is the
foundation of XP using the slower Paging Executive functions, use this hack to create
and set the DisablePagingExecutive DWORD to a value of 1. Perform this hack
only if the system has 256MB or more of installed RAM! Edit the Registry key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\
Memory Management\DisablePagingExecutive to 1 to disable paging and have the
kernel run in RAM (set the value to 0 to undo this hack).
Exit the Registry and reboot.

26. Add Specific Folders to Open Dialog (XP Home only)

When you use certain Windows applications (such as Notepad) to open a file, on the
left side of the Open dialog box are a group of icons and folders (such as My
Documents, My Recent Documents, Desktop, My Computer, and My Network) to
which you can navigate to open files. A registry hack will let you put just the folders of your choosing on the left side of the Open dialog box. Note that when you do this, it will affect XP applications such as Notepad and Paint that use the Open and Save common dialog boxes. However, it won’t affect Microsoft Office applications and other applications that don’t use the common dialog boxes. Run the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion
\Policies\comdlg32.
This is the key that determines how common dialog boxes are handled.

You’re going to create a subkey that will create a customized location for the folders,and then give that subkey a series of values, each of which will define a folder location.To start, create a new subkey underneath EY_CURRENT_USER
\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Policies\comdlg32 called Placesbar,
and create a String value for it named Place0. Give Place0 a value of the topmost
folder that you want to appear on the Open dialog box, for example, C:\Projects. Next, create another String value for Placesbar called Place1. Give it a value of the second folder that you want to appear on the Open dialog box. You can put up to five icons on the Open dialog box, so create new String values up to Place4 and give them values as outlined in the previous steps. When you’re done, exit the Registry. You won’t have to reboot for the changes to take effect. If you do not want any folders to appear in common Open dialog boxes, you can do that as well.

In HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ Policies\
comdlg32, create a new DWORD value called NoPlacesBar and give it a value of 1.
Exit the Registry.
If you want the folders back, either delete NoPlacesBar or give it a value of 0.

25. Turn Off System Beeps

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Sound, and find the Beep and
ExtendedSounds String values.
Set each value to No. Exit the Registry and reboot.
The beeps will no longer sound. Hey, your XP is no longer noisy!!

24. Hide All Icons in the Notification Area

The system tray, also called the notification area, is the small area on the far right side of the taskbar, in which utilities and programs that run in the background, such as antivirus software, show their icons. I don’t find it a particularly intelligent use of screen real estate, so I prefer not to see the icons there.

To hide them, run the Registry Editor and go to the following key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Policies/Ex
plorer. Among other things, this key controls the display of objects throughout XP.
Create a new DWORD called NoTrayItemsDisplay. Assign it a value of 1. (A value
of 0 will keep the icons displayed.) Exit the Registry and reboot.

While you’re at the HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Windows/
CurrentVersion/Policies/Explorer key, you can also delete the My Recent Documents
icon on the Start menu. Create a new DWORD called NoRecentDocsMenu. Assign it
a value of 1. (A value of 0 will keep the icon displayed.) Exit the Registry and reboot.