LAN Tweaks for Windows XP, 2000, 2003 Server
2005-03-15 (updated: 2015-04-10) by Philip
Tags: Registry, TCP/IP, shares, redirector, buffer, tweak, WAN, LAN
The following tweaks are focused towards increasing local network performance under Windows XP/2k/2k3 Server. They can be used in addition to all the broadband tweaks, to improve your LAN throughput. All information in this article presumes some proficiency in editing the Windows Registry. Even though we extensively test all our tweaking recommendations, use of the below information is at your own risk.
Disable Network Task Scheduler
(LAN Browsing Speedup)
Applies to: Windows XP/2000/2003 Server.
This tweak disables searching networked computers for scheduled tasks. It reduces the long wait when opening network folders. To apply this tweak, find the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RemoteComputer\NameSpace\
and delete this key:
{D6277990-4C6A-11CF-8D87-00AA0060F5BF}
Here are registry files you can merge to directly apply/undo this tweak:
sg_lan_speedup.reg
undo_sg_lan_speedup.reg
Note: You might want to export the key before deleting, then to revert the changes, simply merge your exported reg file.
Removing the second sub-key in HKLM\.....\NameSpace that looks like: {2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D} disables checking for network printers.
Increase Request Buffer Size
(reduce network delay)
Applies to: Windows XP/2000/2003 Server
In higher latency Network environments, delays may be encountered with the default request buffer size (4356 decimal). The range of this parameter is 1024 - 65535 bytes. Testing has shown that, in most standard Ethernet environments, 16384 (decimal) is a better choice, if memory is available. This tweak only applies to LANs, and helps with slow browsing of large directories.
To change this setting, edit:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanServer\Parameters and Add Value name SizReqBuf as a type REG_DWORD, increase its (decimal) value to 16384 or even higher and restart the computer for changes to take effect.
See also: MS KB 320829 that describes the procedure as well.
Increase Network Redirector Buffers
(better network performance)
If you increase the number of network redirector buffers it may considerably increase your network throughput. Each extra execution thread that you configure will take 1K of additional nonpaged pool memory, but only if your applications actually use them.
To configure additional buffers and threads, edit: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\LanmanWorkstation\Parameters Modify or Add Value of type REG_DWORD for:
MaxCmds=dword:00000064 - range is 0 - 255 and the default value is 15. Set to a higher number, try 64 for starters.
MaxThreads=dword:00000064 - set to the same value as MaxCmds.
MaxCollectionCount in the same key is a DWORD buffer for character-mode named pipes writes. You might want to increase it from te default 16 as well, its' range is 0 - 65535.
No shares in my My Network Places
Speed up Windows Explorer and network browsing by stopping automatic shares in "My Network Places"
By default, Windows 2k/XP/2k3 tries to read icon information from shortcuts in the "My Network Places" folder, accessing remote files on the network, and causing a very slow system response. Every time you open a file in a remote shared folder, or a file via a UNC name, Windows will automatically add another shortcut to "My Netowork Places", making the problem worse with time. To resolve this:
Navigate to:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer and add a new DWORD value:
NoRecentDocsNetHood=1 (set it to 1 to disable remote shared folders from being added to Network Places).
Depending on your OS, it might also be possible to modify this by accessing the Group Policy Object Editor. To use this method to achieve the same effect:
- Go to Start > Run > type: gpedit.msc
- In the GPOE, navigate to: User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Desktop > Enable "Do not add shares of recently opened documents to My Netowrk Places"
Notes:
The above might also work by adding the same key to the HKLM Registry hive here, but we have not tested it:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NoRecentDocsNetHood=1 . The MS Group Policy Editor adds the entry to HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
For additional info, see: MS TechNet - NoRecentDocsNetHood
