Posts Tagged ‘Startup’

Server 2008 hangs at “Applying Computer Settings”

Posted: April 3, 2012 in Active Directory, Server, Server 2008, System Information, Tweaking
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The problems described in the symptoms section occur because of a lock on the Service Control Manager (SCM) database.  As a result of the lock, none of the services can access the SCM database to initialize their service start requests. To verify that a Windows computer is affected by the problem discussed in this article, run the following command from the command Prompt:

sc querylock

The output below would indicate that the SCM database is locked:

QueryServiceLockstatus – Success
IsLocked : True
LockOwner : .\NT Service Control Manager
LockDuration : 1090 (seconds since acquired)

There is no additional information in the Event Logs beyond those from the Service Control Manager indicating that Service startup requests have timed out. The underlying root cause is a deadlock between the Service Control Manager and HTTP.SYS.

Resolution

You can modify the behavior of HTTP.SYS to depend on another service being started first.  To do this, perform the following steps:

  1. Open Registry Editor
  2. Navigate to HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\HTTP and create the following Multi-string value: DependOnService
  3. Double click the new DependOnService entry
  4. Type CRYPTSVC in the Value Data field and click OK.
  5. Reboot the server

NOTE: Please ensure that you make a backup of the registry / affected keys before making any changes to your system.

 

Thumbnail Cache [Win Xp Tweak]

Posted: October 13, 2009 in Registry, System Information, System Modifications, System Tricks, Tweaking, Windows XP
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Thumbnail Cache

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[HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced]

“DisableThumbnailCache”=dword:00000001

Windows XP has a neat feature for graphic and video files that creates a “thumbnail” of the image or first frame of the video and makes it into an oversized icon for the file. There are two ways that Explorer can do this, it can create them fresh each time you access the folder or it can load them from a thumbnail cache. The thumbnail caches on systems with a large number of image and video files can become staggeringly large. To disable the Thumbnail Cache, browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Advanced and find the DWORD “DisableThumbnailCache”. You may need to create this key. A setting of 1 is recommended for systems where the number of graphic and video files is large, and a setting of 0 is recommended for systems not concerned about hard drive space, as loading the files from the cache is significantly quicker than creating them from scratch each time a folder is accessed.

Powertweak Application [Win XP]

Posted: October 13, 2009 in Registry, System Information, Tweaking, Windows XP
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Powertweak application

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xxx.powertweak.com

Powertweak is an application, which acts much like a driver for our chipsets. It optimizes the communication between the chipset and the CPU, and unlocks several “hidden” features of the chipset that can increase the speed of the system. Specifically, it tweaks the internal registers of the chipset and processor that the BIOS does not for better communication performance between subsystems. Supported CPUs and chipsets can see a significant increase in I/O bandwidth, increasing the speed of the entire system. Currently the application supports most popular CPUs and chipsets, although you will need to check the website for your specific processor/chipset combo – the programmer is working on integrating even more chipsets and CPUs into the software.

Bootvis Application [Win XP Tweak]

Posted: October 13, 2009 in System Basics, System Information, Tweaking, Windows XP
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Bootvis Application

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The program was designed by Microsoft to enable Windows XP to cold boot in 30 seconds, return from hibernation in 20 seconds, and return from standby in 10 seconds. Bootvis has two extremely useful features. First, it can be used to optimize the boot process on your computer automatically. Second, it can be used to analyze the boot process for specific subsystems that are having difficulty loading. The first process specifically targets the prefetching subsystem, as well as the layout of boot files on the disk. When both of these systems are optimized, it can result in a significant reduction in the time it takes for the computer to boot.

Before attempting to use Bootvis to analyze or optimize the boot performance of your system, make sure that the task scheduler service has been enabled – the program requires the service to run properly. Also, close all open programs as well – using the software requires a reboot.

To use the software to optimize your system startup, first start with a full analysis of a fresh boot. Start Bootvis, go to the Tools menu, and select next boot. Set the Trace Repetition Settings to 2 repetitions, Start at 1, and Reboot automatically. Then set the trace into motion. The system will fully reboot twice, and then reopen bootvis and open the second trace file (should have _2 in the name). Analyze the graphs and make any changes that you think are necessary (this is a great tool for determining which startup programs you want to kill using msconfig). Once you have made your optimizations go to the Trace menu, and select the Optimize System item. This will cause the system to reboot and will then make some changes to the file structure on the hard drive (this includes a defragmentation of boot files and a shifting of their location to the fastest portion of the hard disk, as well as some other optimizations). After this is done, once again run a Trace analysis as above, except change the starting number to 3. Once the system has rebooted both times, compare the charts from the second trace to the charts for the fourth trace to show you the time improvement of the system’s boot up.

The standard defragmenter included with Windows XP will not undo the boot optimizations performed by this application.

Optimize Boot Files [Win XP Tweak]

Posted: October 13, 2009 in Registry, System Basics, System Information, Tweaking, Windows XP
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Optimize Boot Files

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[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Dfrg \ BootOptimizeFunction]

Under this key is a text value named Enable. A value of Y for this setting enables the boot files defragmenter. This setting defragments the boot files and may move the boot files to the beginning (fastest) part of the partition, but that last statement is unverified. Reboot after applying this tweak.

Master File Table Zone Reservation [Win XP Tweak]

Posted: October 13, 2009 in Registry, System Basics, System Information, System Modifications, Tweaking, Windows XP
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Master File Table Zone Reservation

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[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ FileSystem]

Under this key there is a setting called NtfsMftZoneReservation, the default setting of which is 1. The range of this value is from 1 to 4. The default setting reserves one-eighth of the volume for the MFT. A setting of 2 reserves one-quarter of the volume for the MFT. A setting of 3 for NtfsMftZoneReservation reserves three-eighths of the volume for the MFT and setting it to 4 reserves half of the volume for the MFT. Most users will never exceed one-quarter of the volume. I recommend a setting of 2 for most users. This allows for a “moderate number of files” commensurate with the number of small files included in most computer games and applications. Reboot after applying this tweak.