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Class Project: Streamlining WinXP

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dreamtfk

Member
Joined
Feb 1, 2002
Location
Orlando FL
For my XP Pro class I am to modify my Virtual PC running Windows XP w/sp2 to be as least resource consuming as possible (doesn't even need internet or games). We ran a benchmark using Sisoft Sandra and the bench we ran was the memory bandwidth (this is our reference bench we will run again at the end of the project).

So my question what are the most effective means to increase memory bandwidth in WinXP without adding or removing any hardware? The actual numbers we are concentrating in the the results are the Initial buffered and Float buffered efficienciency %.
 
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Overclocking both CPU and memory is the best way to effect Sisoft bandwidth numbers, (services will have basically no impact). Being in a virtual machine however that might be tricky. Do you have control of both the host & virtual machine configs?

If you do I'd see if Clockgen is an option on this box. If it is that would for sure blow away anything your classmates could come up with unless you happen to have another savvy overclocker around.
 
Well, I know explorer.exe can be slimmed down a lot via the appareacnce options (as in, making WinBlows look like crap 98 appearance?).

Anyway yeah, if you can OC it, OC IT! But beware of instability=slower speeds
 
Go to msconfig. Delete everything in startup. Go to your services. Disable everything. If you have no peripherals or no network you can probably disable everything. Google anything questionable. Don't want to disable a service thats needed.

Edit: Oh yeah. OC it :p
 
El<(')>Maxi said:
Overclocking both CPU and memory is the best way to effect Sisoft bandwidth numbers, (services will have basically no impact). Being in a virtual machine however that might be tricky. Do you have control of both the host & virtual machine configs?

If you do I'd see if Clockgen is an option on this box. If it is that would for sure blow away anything your classmates could come up with unless you happen to have another savvy overclocker around.

Yes I do have control of both but the host pc is administrator controlled so I can't do much with it. I thought about OC'ing it but since it's a virtual pc I dismissed that idea quick, what is this Clockgen you speak of? I haven't OC'd in years (got tired of frying my components).
 
OCing would still give you better scores. The virtual pc still uses the computer's cpu and memory, so OCing would give better scores. Clockgen is a program that lets you change your fsb and gpu clocks through windows.
http://www.cpuid.com/clockgen.php
 
kayson said:
OCing would still give you better scores. The virtual pc still uses the computer's cpu and memory, so OCing would give better scores. Clockgen is a program that lets you change your fsb and gpu clocks through windows.
http://www.cpuid.com/clockgen.php

Yeh but like I said I don't have administrator rights on the host pc only the department and interns do, so I can't install anything. Unless it doesn't need to be installed and just be run from a .exe file...
 
dreamtfk said:
Yeh but like I said I don't have administrator rights on the host pc only the department and interns do, so I can't install anything. Unless it doesn't need to be installed and just be run from a .exe file...
Clockgen website said:
Install and remove

ClockGen does not need to be installed. Just unzip all files in the same directory and run ClockGen.exe. Your ClockGen settings will be saved in a file named clockgen.ini stored in your temporary account path (typically : C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Local Settings\Temp). If you want to remove this file from your system, run clockgen with the following parameter : ClockGen.exe -u.
 
Right, nothing to install. The reason I asked about having access to the host OS is that alot of Virtual stuff is done via server remotely meaning you might not have the ability to copy Clockgen onto the server to run it. Plus if your user account cannot run an .exe on the server (hell maybe you can't even log on) your out of luck without the proper rights.

What kind of PC is the virtual machine on anyway, hopefully not a Dell ;)
A resonable overclock (10-15%) will accomplish your goal and will be harmless to the machine if your careful.
 
El<(')>Maxi said:
Right, nothing to install. The reason I asked about having access to the host OS is that alot of Virtual stuff is done via server remotely meaning you might not have the ability to copy Clockgen onto the server to run it. Plus if your user account cannot run an .exe on the server (hell maybe you can't even log on) your out of luck without the proper rights.

What kind of PC is the virtual machine on anyway, hopefully not a Dell ;)
A resonable overclock (10-15%) will accomplish your goal and will be harmless to the machine if your careful.

Unfortunately it is a dell but I am able to run .exe files and I can copy files back and forth between host and virtual pc. I am guessing that the cpu is probably locked eh?

edit: I have downloaded TinyXP. From what I can tell this is a very streamlined installation of WindowsXP. How would I put this onto a virtual XP machine?
 
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