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Speed Tweaks: Windows 95 / 98
"He's off and flyin' as he guns the car around the track,
He's jammin' down the pedal like he's never comin' back,
Adventure's waitin' just ahead."
Speed Racer, TV theme song
Windows 98 Registry Settings
Now that we are familiarized with the Registry Editor and have a backup (you do have a backup, don't you?) we are ready to start tweaking our computer. Let's start with the MTU.
Go to the Start menu and select Run. Type regedit. Open the keys (the folders) as if you were using Windows Explorer. Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE --> System --> Current Controller Set --> Services --> Class --> NetTrans.
There should be a number of keys starting with 000. Click on them looking for a key containing the value name DriverDesc and the value data is TCP/IP. Click here for a picture
You will be adding a new value to this key.
1. Make sure you have the correct key selected (in the picture it is 0000, your system may vary).
2. Using the Edit pull-down, select Edit -> New String Value
3. New Value #1 will appear in the key.
4. It should be highlighted for you to name it. Otherwise, select Edit -> Rename. Make the name of this value "MaxMTU."
5. Double-click MaxMTU and type 1500 in the value data box
Note: speedguide.net notes that if your are a DSL user and your ISP uses PPPoE (Point-to-Point protocol over Ethernet), you should set your MaxMTU value to 1492 or less. Other sources say use 1500 if your connection is above 128K. We have not tested this with PPoE so don't have a recommendation.
Setting the Receive Window
The next steps may require you to experiment with your settings to get the best values.
Many of the following suggested values were defined by the authors of speedguide.net. They were tested by us and found to be effective for most systems. Alternate values are suggested where appropriate.
Start by opening the following keys: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE --> System --> CurrentControlSet --> Services --> VxD --> MSTCP
As in the previous step, you will provide the value names and values for the MSTCP key. Please take special care to use the correct variable type when defining a new value pair. These are the values you will be defining:
DefaultRcvWindow="64240" Type: String Value
Try the setting in this order: 64240, 46720, 32120, 17520, 11680. This string value should be a multiple of MSS and has a maximum of 1Gigabit in Windows 98.
PMTUDiscovery="1" Type: String Value
This value is a Boolean or true/false option. True (1) lets your system establish connections at an optimal speed with other systems. False (0) will send fixed sized packets as defined in MaxMTU. You want to set this to "1" so your computer will go as fast as possible.
PMTUBlackHoleDetect="0" Type: String Value
True (1) tells the computer to locate "black hole routers." This can slow down your connection. Leave it off by setting this value to False (0).
TCP1323Opts="3" Type: DWORD Decimal Variable
This value refers to windowscaling and timestamp options. It's used when sending data to a computer with a buffer greater than 64k. A setting of 3 enables both, a value of 1 turns off timestamping, and a value of 0 turns off both settings. Set it at "3" and make sure you click on Decimal value and NOT Hexidecimal. Click here for a picture
SACKOpts="1" Type: String Value
This value is another boolean and controls how your computer resends the same information if packets are lost. True (1) turns Selective Acknowledgements (SACK) on. False (0) turns off SACK. Turn SACK on by setting this to "1".
The next key we need to adjust is: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE --> System --> CurrentControlSet --> Services --> VxD --> MSTCP --> Parameters
This key requires one more value:
MaxDupAcks="3" Type: DWORD Decimal Variable
This value controls how quickly your computer sends new data if packets are lost. It can be set as "2" or more. Set it at "3" and make sure you click on Decimal value and NOT Hexidecimal.
That's it! Go back and check your work for spelling and proper types. Then reboot and test your speed using any of the available speed tools.
