Using Registry Keys to Improve System Performance

The system registry in Windows operating system holds the complete information about the hardware, software, and internet settings. All the actions performed on the system, such as installation, uninstallations, upgrades, etc are stored as a string of information with values in registry. Making changes to these values can help boost the performance of the system as well as speed up navigation of any application in the system.

When you make correct edits in the windows registry, you can expect desired results. A wrong step can be rectified by system restore, and is not something to be scared of. You may, however, lose information from the system if it has not been saved or backed up.

Registry keys and strings used for various tasks

Before you make any changes in the system registry, ensure to back up your registry using many tools that are available online. Should there be a glitch in the system registry, you will be able to use the backup file and restore the previous state of the registry.

1. Speed up Taskbar

1. Open the dialog box using the Ctrl+Windows key command and type ‘regedit’ to open the registry.

2. Open the following tree HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Explorer > Advanced.

3. On the right plane, right click and change the value of the DWORD to ‘ExtendedUIHoverTime.’

4. Now double click on this value and under ‘base’ change the decimal value to 400 milliseconds.

5. Close the window and restart the system.

2. Prevent reboots during Windows updates

1. Open regedit, the registry editor and go to the following panel on the left side pane. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Policies > Microsoft > Windows.

2. Right click on the right pane and select NEW key and rename it to ‘Windows update’ folder.

3. Click on the windows update folder and on the right pane, right click and change the value of DWORD to ‘NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers’ in the same format, without spaces.

4. Now click on the NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers and change its value to 1.

5. Exit the registry editor and log off to take the changes. The system will not reboot during any of the windows updates.

3. Shutdown Windows 8 faster

Make the following changes in the registry keys to shut down windows in lesser than 30 seconds.

1. Open Regedit, and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop in the left pane.

2. Click on WaitToKillAppTimeout, and type REG_WORD and change its value to 2000.

Now all the system processes will be terminated within 20 seconds and the system will be shut down in 20 seconds after you click on the shut down command.

These are basic tweaks that you can modify without needing extensive technical knowledge and make changes to boost the performance of your system and its applications.