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| Fine tuning your PC for better gameplay [Updated 08/03/06] |
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This guide is focused on computers running Windows XP, they may or may not apply to other Operating Systems (Win 98, 2k,Me, Linux, OSX, etc;). Partitioning drives and editing the registry are complex tasks and can do damage to your system if not done correctly. That said, feel free to either PM me or post in this thread with any questions you may have no matter how silly you may think they are.
1- Know the Basics. General FYI and tips.
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- Update your video card drivers.
Nvidia Drivers
ATI Drivers
- Update your video card itself. That old 64mb MX doesn't cut it anymore so save up and invest in a newer one that's atleast 128mb.
- Update your computers other drivers. Sound cards, routers, etc. all need to be kept up to date as well.
- Disable your onboard graphics card in the Device manager if you dont use it.
- Get rid of spyware with programs like Webroot Spysweeper
- Know the difference between server lag and client or mouse lag. Server lag is often caused by a heavy load or poor game programming and improper network maintenance. Client lag is often when you have poor frame rates due to low memory bandwidth or don't have enough resources available to run the game.
- Learn to use dxdiag. Click start, click Run, type dxdiag. Click Yes. Click Save all Information. Save the file to read yourself or to post when asking for help.
- Defrag religiously. I prefer to use PerfectDisk others prefer
Diskeeper.
- Remember to defrag not just your Disks but your MFT, Page file, and your registry as well.
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2- Get rid of service pack 2 if you have it.
This is the most debated part of the guide. All I can say is this is a guide not a court order. You are free to choose to skip this if you arent familiar with computer security or feel 'safer' having it.
How to avoid Service Pack 2 - safely
Code that exploits SP2 firewall
Flaws in SP2 security features
| QUOTE | 1. Click Start, click Run, type c:windows$NtServicePackUninstall$spuninstspuninst.exe in the Open box, and then click OK.
2. When the Windows XP Service Pack 2 Removal Wizard starts, click Next.
3. Follow the instructions on the screen to remove Windows XP SP2. |
3- Turn off un-needed background services. Unless you have a gig of ram or more you need all the memory you can get. Programs that start with windows (services) use alot of ram so its a good idea to turn them off while playing. To do this:
| QUOTE | 1. Click start, click Run, type msconfig in the Open box,and then click OK.
2. The System configuration utility will open. Select the Services tab at the top. Check the Hide all Microsoft Services box. None of these programs that are now showing are vital for Windows, so don't feel worried about disabling some or all of them. Either select Disable all or manualy uncheck the services you want to disable.
3. Now select the Startup tab. Again, none of these programs are vital for Windows so either select Disable all or manually uncheck the ones you want to disable.
4. Click ok and it will then tell you that you have to reboot to put the changes in effect.
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Its up to you to decide / remember to turn them back on after playing. Just repeat the steps above checking the boxes instead of unchecking them.
**If this isn't for you there is GameOS 2004 which does pretty much the same thing only with a couple clicks of the mouse.
4- Virtual Memory. Also known as pagefile.sys. In simple terms concider it a file you 'trick' windows into thinking is RAM whenever you load up a program that exceeds the use of your physical memory.
Making this file static (a fixed size) so that Windows doesn't have to resize it all the time is a good idea. If you can, place the paging file on its own partition or place it on a separate physical hard drive from where windows is located. To edit the Paging file:
| QUOTE | 1. Right-click My Computer on the desktop and select Properties. Select the Advanced tab. In the Performance section click on Settings.
2. Switch to the Advanced tab, in the Virtual Memory section click on Change.
3. Now you should see a list of all your partitions. ( C: D: E: etc;)
A) Depending on how big your drive is and how much free space you have there are several options. Easiest would be to change the paging file by selecting Custom Size and in both boxes enter 1024. This will make a static paging file of 1 gig on the selected drive which is optimal for most systems. Click Set, OK, then reboot.
B)Another option would be to get a Partition manager and re-partition the Drive. Since everyones set up is different Its impossible to go into this here, so ill just give a example of how to set up partitions on a storage drive of 60 GB for best performance.
C: -NTFS- Windows Operating system. Set to 6 GB.
D: -FAT32- Paging File. Set to 2 GB.
E: -NTFS- Program files and everything else. Set to 50+ GB.
For more information read This article
/3GB Switch
-IF you are running Windows Server 2003 and have more than 1GB of physical RAM you should add the /3GB switch to your boot.ini file.
This allocates more memory to running programs and less to the operating system.
How to set the /3GB switch
/PAE Switch
-If you have more than 4GB of physical memory and use an Intel based PC under 32bit windows 2k, XP, or Server 2k3 you will need to add the /PAE switch to your boot.ini in order for windows to recognize it.
How to set the /PAE switch
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5- Adjust for best performance. Its not that pretty anyway. Wallpapers, and graphical UI's (user interface also known as a shell) are costing you to loose even more needed resources.
To adjust for best performance, follow these steps:
| QUOTE | 1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. On the Advanced tab, click Settings under Performance.
3. On the Visual Effects tab, click Adjust for best performance, and then click OK.
4. Click OK to close the System Properties dialog box.
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6- Use all your bandwidth. Windows by default reserves 20% of your bandwidth for QoS (Quality Of Service).
(Xp Professional only)
You can take it back by doing the following.
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1. Click Start, click Run, type gpedit.msc.This will open the Group Policy window.
2. Expand the Administrative Templates section, expand the Network subsection, then click on the QOS Packet Scheduler.
3. To the right you should now see the QOS settings. Double click on the one that reads Limit Reservable Bandwidth. Select the Enabled option and in the box type the number 0. Click OK and your done.
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7- Disable Indexing Service. The Indexing Service in Windows XP indexes your files presumably to shorten the time needed to search your hard drive if you are looking for a specific file using the Search feature. However, the constant indexing of files actually slows down system performance. Indexing searching performance benefits would only be noticeable on a file server not a home PC. To disable indexing on NTFS partitions:
| QUOTE | 1. Double click on My Computer.
2. Right click on the hard drive, select Properties.
3. Uncheck the box next to Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching. Select Apply changes to subfolders and files. If any files cannot be updated select Ignore All.
4. Wait.
5. Wait some more.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 untill its completed.
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8- Disable or Reduce the disk space used by System Restore. The default amount it uses is dependant on your PC and is usually pretty big. Most people are familiar with this utility so theres no need for me to go into its description.
If you are prone to crashes and plan to use it see A) below.
If you realize it really doesn't do anything but restore the spyware you just got rid of and isn't worth the resources it consumes then see B) below.
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A) To lower the amount of diskspace used by System Restore:
1. Right click on My Computer, select Properties.
2. Select the System Restore Tab. Highlight all of the drives listed and click Settings.
3. Under Drive Space Usage adjust the slider to the desired amount, 5% would be fine.
B) To Disable System Restore:
1. Right click on My Computer, select Properties.
2. Select the System Restore Tab.
3. Check the box next to Turn off System Restore On All Drives.
4. Click OK the Reboot.
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9- Ram Optimizers = Fraudware. If you have one of these installed do yourself a favor and remove it. I know it promises to give you better performance by optimizing your Ram but Ram Optimizers take memory and less available memory equals less performance. Save your money and upgrade your Physical Ram for better performance.
10- Disable Prefetch. The prefetch folder is used to help 'speed up' the loading of programs. XP will load programs it thinks you need which inturn lowers performance.
**You will notice a huge gain in system and gaming performance by disabling this.
To disable it:
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1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit
2. Navigate to
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE ~ SYSTEM ~ CurrentControlSet ~ Control ~ Session Manager ~ Memory Management ~ PrefetchParameters]
3. In the right side pane, look for the key named EnablePrefetcher. Right click it and select Modify. Set the value to 0 -Disable.
4. Click OK and reboot.
5. Test your game.
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Well I was planning on adding #11 through #20 today (hardware based tweaks such as benchmarking and overclocking) but I realized after going through the rough draft that they may be a little too complex to go into here and would probably end up being rather lengthy.
So instead ill give you:
11- The Alternative to the above for the not so daring. Most of the above tweaks are well known and can be found in a user friendly GUI (graphical user interface) based program. There are a ton out there but the one that I've found that ranks high on ease of use yet still includes most of the popular tweaks for Windows is TweakXP- pro. So if you wish to give it a try you can find out more at their home page:
TweakXP Pro*It's not freeware but it does allow you to try it free for 30 days.
12- Benchmarking and Overclocking In car terms Overclocking would be the same as adding Nitrous Oxide to your car. It is risky and can do damage if not done correctly but the increase in speed is unquestionable. Where Benchmarking would be the same as hooking your car up to a Dynamometer (Dyno Testing) to measure the performance gain.
Read as much as you can find on this subject before attempting it, also use an old computer or find one cheap to practice on.
Please visit the following to find out more on Benchmarking and Overclocking:
13- Prioritize. This will give your game the resources it needs to run more smoothly.
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To create a shortcut that automatically loads the game at High Priority:
1. Edit the following text file to reflect the path to the game you wish.
Text File
2. Right click on your Desktop and select 'Create new shortcut.
3. Copy and paste the entire edited code from the text file into the "type the location of the item" field.
4. Name the shortcut then hit Finish.
5. Use this shortcut to launch your game.
OR if you wish to do it manually each time you start a game:
1. Start the game, alt + tab after it loads.
2. Hit ctrl + alt + del and switch to the Processes tab.
3. Find the process for the game.
~ cityofheroes.exe = City of Heroes
~ l2.exe = Lineage II
~ gw.exe = Guildwars
~ wow.exe = World of Warcraft
4. Right click the process and set the priority to high (anything higher will make things worse)
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14- Adjust for best -ingame- performance.
All games have video and sound settings which are fairly common, try lowering them to an acceptable amount. Don't go too low since there is no point in playing an ugly game.
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- Here are the settings to look for and lower or disable/enable.
~ Game Resolution [Varies] -This setting depends on your monitor. The higher the resolution the lower the FPS (Frames-per-second). In most cases you should set the game resoultion one lower than what your desktop is set at.
(example: desktop=1024x768 - game=800x600)
~ Multisampling [Varies] -This relates to your resolution and the game client. It varies from 16, 24, and 32 bit. This setting renders the pixels. A low setting will reduce memory bandwidth and increase performance at a visual cost.
~ Texture Compression [enable] -Reduces the amount of bandwidth and memory used to load the client and server world textures. If the game supports this setting you can set Terrain Detail to high without a performance loss.
~ Terrain Texture/Detail [lower] -This is where the amount of memory your video card has comes into play. Most Video memory is occupied by large terrain textures. The higher the detail the higher the amount of textures.
~ Terrain Distance [lower] -Again the farther you allow the game client to view the more textures and objects it has to load into memory.
~ Npc Distance [lower] -Lower unless it is an open PvP game like Lineage or WoW, setting this to high will allow you to see them before they see you.
~ Shadows/Reflections [Turn off] Real time shadows cast from objects and npc's are a luxury. If you would rather have performance than a tag along disable these.
~ Anti-Aliasing [Turn off] -To clarify this setting reducing stair-step patterns ingame by blurring the edges. The effect is not worth the performance loss.
~ Anisotropic Filtering [Turn off or Lowest setting]
-This setting effects the level of detail on distant objects and the landscape.
~ Ingame Music [Your preference] -Most games engines use your windows media player codec to render the ingame audio during cutscenes, zonechanges, etc; Lowering it wont change anything, so either on or off.
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15- Video Card Drivers Updated Drivers aren't always the 'best' Drivers.
Everyone knows what video card drivers are and how to update them which is why I skipped that part in the original draft of this guide. However the newest are not always the best. For example the Latest 91.33 drivers from nVidia have a bug that makes your video play back in black and white, and also your monitor flashes when you open the control panel or right click on a video file.
Remember they're drivers, you can always uninstall or re-install them if you have problems. If you have an nvidia card try both the 81.98 and the 84.56 V3 and see which one gives better you performance on your computer.
*Remember to uninstall your old drivers first*
Part 2: Securing your computer from attacks
***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***
Guides:
Fine tuning your PC for better gameplay
Securing your computer from attacks
City of Heroes on Linux
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| 08/23/05 11:47 |
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Transmission
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*edited original post to include this post
***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***
Guides:
Fine tuning your PC for better gameplay
Securing your computer from attacks
City of Heroes on Linux
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| 08/25/05 10:10 |
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Thundarpants
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| Re: More Common Solutions to Various Problems |
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I tried to come up with something snappy to say about all of this cool info, but I'm a bit too awestruck right now........
I guess THANK YOU! Will have to suffice until my brain stops reeling.
World of Warcraft
Don't hate Raza because she's beautiful......
Because she's not......
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| 08/25/05 15:59 |
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Electro
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| Re: More Common Solutions to Various Problems |
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All of this info is fantastic. I recommend pinning this thread to whomever is in charge of pinning threads. :)
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| 08/25/05 17:33 |
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thejeni
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| Re: More Common Solutions to Various Problems |
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| QUOTE | | All of this info is fantastic. I recommend pinning this thread to whomever is in charge of pinning threads. :) |
oh it has been pinned for a bit now
Siggy created by DeathFetish.
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| 08/25/05 18:44 |
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Transmission
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| Re: More Common Solutions to Various Problems |
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Thanks you guys.
After some minor tweaks and some encouargement from other members The above was submitted as a guide which can be found here:
Fine tuning your PC for better gameplay
Let me know if you guys need any help or have any questions about anything on the list.
***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***
Guides:
Fine tuning your PC for better gameplay
Securing your computer from attacks
City of Heroes on Linux
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| 08/25/05 19:43 |
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Anachron
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| Re: More Common Solutions to Various Problems |
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Very good information, however ALWAYS remember to back up your registry before making any changes.
For people using other then winXP but still a Microsoft product you can use TweakUI (win95 to 98; winNT, winME) it is free and interface is simple it can greatly improve system performance.
TweakUI:
http://www.microsoft.com/ntworkstation/dow...g/NTTweakUI.asp
Increase of physical Ram is very important, you should also make sure your BIOS is set to recognize new Ram, and CAS latency if applicable, not all BIOSs read the CAS latency automatically so you may need to set it manually, if you happen to set BIOS incorrectly unplug computer and remove battery for a few minutes, replace battery and plug back in this should reset BIOS to defaults.
Partition Magic - is a very good program for partitioning your hard drive, it can be done without reinstalling programs and while running windows.
Run SCANDISK at least once a week and DEFRAG once every 2 weeks to a Month, there are many programs out there that defrag and scandisk better and faster then windows default.
Remove spyware and malware from your computer, it not only steals resources but can make your system crash and slow to a crawl. AdawareSE and SpyBot Search & Destroy are both free and will help you remove spyware, malware and other assorted nuisances from your computer (SpyBot asks for a donation 'but if you choose not to donate you can still download and use it, (once you have seen how well it works you will be glad to donate.)
SpyBot S&D:
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html
Ad-AwareSE:
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/
Have both a hardware (router, IP, Network etc) and software (ie ZoneAlarm, Nortons, etc) firewalls installed and make sure they are set to recognize CoH when it requests files for download.
***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***
--CHAMPION - CoH-SG: CHAOS CONTROL - When Chaos happens we'll be right in the middle of it.
[Anachron] 50 - Mutation Tanker- Ice / Super / Ice
[The KRLL] 50 - Warshade (pronounced 'Krell' ) Nova / Dwarf
[Sub Meson] 50 - Science Troller'- Ill / Force / Psi
[Dr. Lao] 50 - Magic Troller' Mind / Storm (no Epic)
[Alphabeast] (Omegabeasts Brother) lvl` 30- Blaster Electric / Ice
[SHFT] lvl` 23- Peacebringer
  
FLCL
Fooly Cooly
--CHAMPION - CoV-SVG: ZODIAC - Trust no Villain, Fear no Hero!
[Dr. Ventoma Diego] 50 - Mastermind Bots / Dark (Patron Mako)
[Omegabeast] (Alphabeasts Brother) lvl` 34- Stalker Claws / Super Reflexes
[Statesman's Bane] (Arachnos Soldier) lvl` 40-
--VIRTUE - CoV-SVG: Roboczar Dynasty -Bettering mankind through Life, Science, & Technology.
[Experiment 201] (Arachnos Widow) lvl` 12-
---And so many other alts and servers you could just Plotz! Stats Updated 07-24-08
----------------------------------------------
Nothing Unreal Exists --Anon
Currently @ 36 Month Vet Badge6-12-08
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| 09/18/05 16:54 |
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blackphoenix
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| RE: More Common Solutions to Various Problems |
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Well, I posted this in the comments on the guide, but I though I'd copy and paste it here too.
I don't agree with the lose XP sp 2 thing at all. I used to remove viruses from PCs quite a bit. The biggest reason computers get viruses is an out of control user clicking around on the internet like mad. The second is a computer that does not have it's updates installed to patch up the securty holes. There was an article once where they tested how long it would take an unpatched computer to crash from viruses. On a dialup connection, within 8 seconds it had it's first virus and not much longer after that, the PC crashed itself from the load of viruses trying to do their thing. Sure, sp2 may cause some incompatibilities with certain programs, and the internet connection firewall isn't exactly the best as far as firewalls go, but the alternative is to leave your PC open to some viruses and hackers via security holes.
If you don't like what SP 2 does to your game or application, it's been out long enough that the company should have a version or patch that will make it work with SP 2. As for the firewall, turn it off and get a software one that works better. Leaving your operating system unupdated is never an option if you ever plan to connect to the internet.
Everything else, awesome! Great guide.
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| 08/03/06 13:11 |
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blackphoenix
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| RE: More Common Solutions to Various Problems |
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For anyone interested, I found the article that I mentioned that shows how long it takes for an unprotected PC to get a virus:
http://www.bbcworld.com/content/clickonlin...665&co_pageid=3
Here's just a snippet from it:
| QUOTE | | Jacques wanted to show me just how risky it is to connect an unprotected PC to the 'net. We set up a poor Windows XP machine with no firewall or anti-virus software - connecting it to the Internet would be like throwing it into a lion pen with raw meat strapped to its hard drive. How long would it be before we were hit by something nasty on the net? Hours, minutes? As it turned out - eight seconds! |
***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***
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| 08/03/06 13:16 |
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Transmission
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| RE: More Common Solutions to Various Problems |
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Figured I copy over my response as well..
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Unfortunately when this guide was updated the old one was deleted, along with the comments. Also SP2 was just released at the time this guide was first written. The same discussion about SP2 was had on it as well. Which lead me to write another guide Securing your computer from attacks
IMO SP2 is just a bundle of more poorly written Microsoft 'security solutions'. All the security patches can be obtained with SP1 and the windows update site. You can also download windows defender as a stand alone program.
The TCP/IP socket creation limit, DRM and a ton of other changes done to the core of the OS is why I will never install SP2 or upgrade to Vista. I know they can now be 'fixed' with some registry changes but I dont like having to spend an hour using a hex editor everytime I do a fresh install of Xp. I also disagree with where Microsoft is leading their users and why they feel certain things are 'severe security risks'.
If security is a concern then you really shouldn't be running Windows.
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To expand on this,Viruses and spyware are spread through executable files (.exe) or through finding a way to exploit the weak security of all microsoft products. .exe files are native to windows. *nix systems doesnt recognize this extension unless you manually run it yourself through a dos emulator such as wine. Most network admins use a flavor of Linux (redhat, mandrake, etc) because of the security and stability not found on Windows. This is also why hackers dont use Windows as the one in the video did. Backhacking I believe the term is.
In no way am I saying to leave your PC unprotected.I feel SP2 is basically spyware from MS hidden under the cover of 'critical updates' which can all be found on the update site without the extras. SP2 is just an all in one download of the security updates to windows and its components, however hidden within it is a slew of registry changes that put an even tighter choke hold on the home user.
I did find that article intresting. However It seems a little outdated as almost every datacenter uses Cisco IOS Netflow which protects their servers from being DDoS'd. And almost every ISP include a hardware firewall (router) and block certain ports at their service center which are know to be exploited by worms.
How to avoid Service Pack 2 - safely
***THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED***
Guides:
Fine tuning your PC for better gameplay
Securing your computer from attacks
City of Heroes on Linux
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| 08/04/06 11:18 |
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