Optimizing Vista on ASUS Notebooks: A Quick Guide

[E.B.E.]

Optimizing Vista on ASUS Notebooks: A Quick Guide

Last updated: 18 May 2008

I have recently bought an ASUS A8He for a friend of mine (see the review). It came with Vista Business preinstalled and I didn't want to waste the OS price that was included in the notebook price. So, I decided to keep the Vista instead of installing a Windows XP for which I would have to pay.

The performance out of the box was absolutely horrible. More than half of the task bar was taken by the system tray icons. Installing Vista updates took more than an hour, and at that point I wished the notebook was mine so that I could throw it out the window and feel generally better about myself. So I started tinkering with Vista. At the end of the tinkering process, I got it to boot up and shut down much faster than my V6J XP, and run smoothly overall.

I will not give detailed information about how to perform the steps, see here for that: Flamenco's "Top Vista Tweaks". The language of that guide is a bit overenthusiastic but many of the tips are useful. See below for my selection of which of his steps to apply, and which not. You may also have your personal preferences of course. Some steps that are not explicitly stated as being his (like turning off System Restore, defragmenting the HDD etc.) are also in his guide, so I give him and his collaborators credit for that.

Step A. Run msconfig and disable all the preinstalled ASUS bloatware that you don't need. I was left when I finished only with autostarting: Power4Gear, Synaptics touchpad driver, Wireless utility, and ATK utility, HControl, and ATKOSD (+ some Windows services that I did not tinker with).

Step B. Reboot once so that the msconfig settings are enforced. Stop system restore. Then remove Norton AV (or Internet Security or whatever it's called on your system). Remove all the ASUS bloatware you don't need. I was left (besides the autostarting stuff listed above) with the Bluetooth stack, ASUS Lifeframe for the webcam, and of course Nero and the drivers (Audio, modem, GPU, LAN). I did not remove the Office trial installation, but if you don't plan to pay for it go ahead and remove it.

Here is an explicit list of what software you should probably remove:

• ASUS PowerForPhone (what does it even do? it's a mystery to me...)
• ASUS DataSecurity Manager (unless you absolutely need to use TPM; this software is known to cause stuttering and other issues)
• ASUS Wireless Console. If your machine has dedicated WLAN and BlueTooth toggle buttons, removing this program will NOT affect wireless functionality; its functions, namely toggling Bluetooth and wireless on and off, can be more efficiently performed with the dedicated buttons. However, the program is necessary on machines where there are no separate buttons to toggle WLAN and BlueTooth, such as the ASUS W7S. On those machines, pressing the single wireless toggle button (usually Fn+F2)will cycle through WLAN and BlueTooth, but only if the Wireless Console is running.
• ASUS Splendid (maybe you want to try it out, it's basically different profiles for your GPU)
• ASUS MultiFrame
• ASUS LiveUpdate (known to be very buggy, known not to update anything in most cases, and in isolated cases to kill computers by bad BIOS updates)
• ASUS Net4Switch (or IP Switch whatever)
• ASUS InstantFun
• Norton Internet Security / Norton AntiVirus (resource hog, slows down the system, only trial installation); be sure to install a good antivirus afterwards, see Step C for suggestions. If the uninstaller does not remove the LiveUpdate component of the antivirus, remove it manually.
• Microsoft Office Trial (unless you wish to keep it and pay for a serial number)

Step C. Download and install a good lightweight antivirus. AVG is a good free option, NOD32 is an excellent paid option. Do the updates. Also update the Windows Defender.

Step D. Connect to a network and install Vista updates. Turn off automatic update installation, but tell the system to notify you when updates are available.

Step E. Disable unneeded services. Use your own judgment to decide what to remove. A good starting point is my WinXP guide / Services Setup, since many of the services didn't change. Do not stop Task Scheduler though, it has become essential in Vista.

Step F. Reboot again to let above settings be enforced.

Step G. The numbered items below are taken from Flamenco's "Top Vista Tweaks". See his guide on how to do these.

1. Disable TMM
3. Cut Shut Down Time In Half!!
I used a value of 7000 instead of the 5000 Flamenco recommends since the computer is a budget notebook with lower-performing components, and will probably need more time to shutdown all the applications.
7. Turn Off Unused Windows Features (Tx and Rep LIVEFRMNYC)
Definitely recommended!
16. Get CCleaner!!! It Works with 32/64Bit (Click here!)
Very useful program. Definitely recommended. Use it after you're done removing applications!
19. Improve your Battery Life with Vista Battery Saver!!!!!!!(TY and Rep ScuderiaConchiglia)
I will say a few more things on this. I find absolutely mind-boggling the fact that ASUS hasn't included a way to set the Power4Gear Xtreme profiles as a function of whether you are plugged in or on battery! This software remedies that. I recommend you use the P4G Battery Saving profile on battery, and at the same time disable Aero and Vista gadgets. Leave them enabled for the Plugged-in state, and use the Power4Gear HighPerformance profile. Be sure to turn down the Min CPU State in Power4Gear for this profile though, it's pointless to always run the CPU at a high speed.

Step H. Things from Flamenco's "Top Vista Tweaks" that I did not do, and the reasons:

5. Disable Vista Search Indexing
I find it very nice that Vista offers this feature. Once indexing is complete, any file on the HDD should be a click-type-Enter away. It will decrease peformance during the first few days as the index is being built, though. Even more, I went and enabled indexing on the Data partition as well (by default it was disabled). Of course, it's up to you whether you want to leave indexing on or not.
11. Increase Performance by Adjusting Vista Visual Effects and Performance Properties!!!!
This is taken care of the Vista Battery Saver.
12. Remove that Annoying Security Center Notification!!
If you are not very computer-savvy, a bit of extra protection doesn't hurt. If you can take care of the updates for the firewall and antivirus, feel free to disable the notification.
13. Turn Off User Account Control (UAC)(Ty and Rep Sequoia225)
If you are not very computer-savvy, a bit of extra protection doesn't hurt. As long as you don't configure and install software each day and you don't work directly with files in the system folders, the notifications are not that annoying.
If you're sure that you know what you're doing with the software and on the system partition, feel free to disable UAC.

Step I. Do a defrag on the system partition.

Step J. Resize the system partition to be smaller than the indecent 60% of the HDD which is the default! I resized such that it was 55 GB or less than 40% of the HDD.

Step K. Resize the extended and the Data partitions within the extended, to include the space left after the shrinking of the system partition. You will need a separate partition manager for this as Windows can't do it. I suggest using the BootItNextGeneration software. See my WinXP guide / Useful Applications for how to get a hold of that software.

Step L. Disable automatic hibernation when the lid of the notebook is closed! This is one of the most stupid default settings I've seen. Screen lids can be closed for many reasons: privacy, going to lunch, needing to grab something from behind it like the phone -- and very few of these reasons involve hibernation!

Step M. Re-enable system restore on the system partition, and create a restore point with the optimized Vista you have just obtained. It is very useful to limit the disk space taken by System Restore (by default it is not limited, so it can just continuously grow and you won't know where your OS partition space is going). Here are the instructions on how to do that, posted by emedici on the Losing Disk Space thread:

a) Logon as Administrator or Go to Start>>All Programs>>Accesories>> and right click on Command Prompt and choose "Run as Administrator" when the User Account Control windows appear click on continue.
b) When you're at the Command Prompt window type: vssadmin resize shadowstorage /For=C: /On=C: /MaxSize=8GB (what I recommend). In the MaxSize option the least you can set is 300MB, if you leave it blank it will set no limit for the storages (as you have now). Don't for get to use the initials MB for Mega Bytes or GB for Giga Bytes at the end of the amount you want to set (e.g. 2GB or 500MB).

I recommend changing the 8GB to something that suits you best. Say that after doing the Vista install you have X GB left on the OS partition, I think a reasonable value for the system restore space would be X/3 (a third of this space) but, to be on the safe side, no more than 8GB and no less than 3GB.

(Fore more information about Windows Vista Shadow Copy, which is the component that manages the disk requirements of System Restore, see Where's All My Disk Space Going (Vista)? by orev.)

Step N. Optionally: use Acronis True Image to do a backup of your optimized OS installation. See my WinXP guide / OS Backup for how to do that; the procedure is the same for Vista and XP.

Step O. Optionally, if the computer is new: test the hardware: ports, ODD, HDD (use the manufacturer's utility, e.g., SeaTools for Seagate and Hitachi Drive Fitness tools for Hitachi harddrives), RAM (using RAM tester), webcam, to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Step P. Do a final reboot and hibernation, test some applications, and wonder at the uncanny speedup that you have obtained.

Hoping this helps,

E.B.E.

[E.B.E.]

Another useful tip for the Adobe Reader installation. If you're opening PDF files often, like I do, you will notice the very long startup time of the Reader. This is because it is loading all the plugins by default, even those that aren't remotely needed.

To make it start near-instantly, do the following. Navigate with WinExplorer or something similar to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\plug_ins where the drive letter and version might vary depending on your setup. Select and Cut all the plugins except for:

AcroForm (folder and file)
EScript
EWH32
HLS
IA32
Search
Search5

(this is for a 32 bit installation of course)

Navigate one step up to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\, create a new folder and name it "uninstalled_plugins" or whatever name you like, and paste the plugin files here.

If you ever need one of the removed plugins in the future, all you need to do is move the file back to the plug_ins directory.

[coriolis]

Added to sticky, thanks!

[E.B.E.]

Thanks. Hope it saves some people from wondering why their $1000 (or $2000, for that matter) notebook runs like cr_p.

[jetnis]

How do you know which programs to delete? Can you list out all the programs that I should delete?

[E.B.E.]

First of all, not delete, but first stop from msconfig, reboot the computer, and then uninstall.

When I say "Everything but X, Y, Z" I mean "Everything but X, Y, Z" Here are the details, i.e., what to remove.

Power4Phone
DataSecurity Manager (unless you absolutely need to use TPM; known to cause stuttering and other issues)
Wireless Console (this will NOT affect wireless functionality)
Splendid
Mult
LiveUpdate (known to be very buggy)
Net4Switch (or IP Switch whatever)
Instant Fun

Edit: I have edited the list into the main guide.

[Avid Gamer]

Originally Posted by E.B.E.

Another useful tip for the Adobe Reader installation. If you're opening PDF files often, like I do, you will notice the very long startup time of the Reader. This is because it is loading all the plugins by default, even those that aren't remotely needed.

To make it start near-instantly, do the following. Navigate with WinExplorer or something similar to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\plug_ins where the drive letter and version might vary depending on your setup. Select and Cut all the plugins except for:

AcroForm (folder and file)
EScript
EWH32
HLS
IA32
Search
Search5

(this is for a 32 bit installation of course)

Navigate one step up to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Acrobat 7.0\Reader\, create a new folder and name it "uninstalled_plugins" or whatever name you like, and paste the plugin files here.

If you ever need one of the removed plugins in the future, all you need to do is move the file back to the plug_ins directory.

Nice post about how to speed up Acrobat Reader when it is started. An alternative option is to use a freeware program like FoxIt Reader which loads quicker than the streamlined Acrobat Reader.
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/

[E.B.E.]

Yes, the main disadvantage of that is that it doesn't know how to open files inside a browser. I use that alot with Firefox tabs.

[ClearSkies]

Originally Posted by Avid Gamer

Nice post about how to speed up Acrobat Reader when it is started. An alternative option is to use a freeware program like FoxIt Reader which loads quicker than the streamlined Acrobat Reader.
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/

I also use Foxit, but I find that the ClearType font reproduction used by Reader for pdf documents generated by both Acrobat and other sources to be more accurate and easier to read.

This streamline guide for Reader is truly outstanding, E.B.E. Kudos to you, and I wholeheartedly agree with adding both of these to the forum sticky .

[E.B.E.]

1 Nov 2007: Added a procedure to limit the disk space taken by System Restore.