How to setup a dedicated hardware profile for Aces High.
A hardware profile allows you to decide what devices and services you want to load for a given session on your PC. This allows you to prevent services from loading at start up. I did this because I was stopping services to play Aces high and the thought occured to me that some programs may not give back all the memory they take and may leave things in RAM that may make the system less stable. Since doing this my system has been running flawlessly.
Step 1: Create an Aces High Hardware Profile.
Right click on My Computer and select Properties.
Click the Hardware Tab
Click the Hardware Profiles button.
You will see 1 hardware profile named Profile 1 (current).
Click Copy and Call it Aces High, Click OK.
Click OK to close the System Properties.
Step 2: Disable Services on the Aces High Profile
Right click on My Computer and select Manage.
In the Computer Management Console expand Services and Applications
Select Services
Double click the service you want to disable, the Services properties box will appear.
Click the Log On tab and at the bottom you will see your hardware profiles.
Select the Aces High Hardware Profile and click Disable.
Here is a list of services you can safely disable:
(from the sticky post by Skuzzy)
Automatic Updates (this is one nasty program)
Background Intelligent Transfer Service
Fax Service (NOTE: unless you are using your computer to send/receive FAXES)
Internet Connection Sharing (NOTE: unless you use your computer so that other computers access the Internet through it)
NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing
Messenger
Print Spooler (unless you have a printer connected)
Remote Registry Service
Routing and Remote Access (unless your computer is also acting as a router for the LAN)
Smart Card
Smart Card Helper
Task Scheduler (unless you have your computer automatically run programs for you...not recommended to leave enabled)
Telephony (NOTE: XP and Windows 2000 Service Pack 3 or later users may not be able to disable this without it disabling your Internet connection)
Telnet (unless you want to be able to telnet to your computer from a remote location......not recommended to leave enabled)
Uninterruptible Power Supply (unless you have a Windows compliant UPS system)
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There are others depending on your system:
nVidia Service (This is not needed for AH. It can be safely Disabled.
ATI also has a service they load I do not know the name but from what I've read it to can be disabled safely.)
Many sound cards install services along with their drivers., Many of these can be safely disabled.
Terminal Services(If you have this on for remote access to your computer you can safely disable it.)
Disable any Anti-Virus Services
WebClient(Should not be needed.)
System Restore Service
SSDP Discovery Service (possible, I think it is safe)
Protected Storage (always reboot after playing AH so this will be turned back on)
Print Spooler
Network Location Awareness (related to Internet Connection Sharing which also should be turned off)
IPSEC Service(Should be safe to disable while playing AH)
Help and Support
Error Reporting Service
Crypographics Services(possibly OK to disable)
Computer Browser(Safely disabled for AH. If you only have one computer you can turn this off permanently as you don't need it unless you have a network. Even then you don't really need it on workstations)
Application Layer Gateway Service(Part of ICS and can be safely disabled for AH)
Alerter
There may be others depending on your system. When in doubt look it up on Google and you should be able to find out if it's safe to disable it.
Registry changes:
Many programs put startup programs in your registry. A lot of these are not needed while playing AH or at all for that matter.
Check the RUN keys in your registry and remove any programs you don't need. The run keys are not controlled by your hardware profile so any items you remove will not start in any hardware profile. If you need one of these programs for other uses you always can start them manually.
Start registry editor by selecting Start-->Run and enter REGEDIT and click OK.
The RUN keys are:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
Remove everything you do not absolutly need. In reality you don't need anything in here for windows to work and unless it is supporting some device you use along with AH you don't need it. For every day use you could create a batch file to start these programs if you need them.
I run AH on Windows 2000 and I have 12 processes running when I play AH. You should be able to get your system down to at or very close to this with Windows XP.
If you are curious about a process or service just look it up on Google and you should be able to find if it is critical for your system or whether you can disable it for game play.
Last but not least: Check you computer for Spy/Ad ware. Get a good spyware cleaner. Try more than one as some will find things another will not.
This procedure will require you to reboot your computer prior to playing AH. This is always a good ides anyways. Remember to reboot after playing if you leave your PC on like I do as your virus protection is off.
WARNING: You can screw your computer if you disable the wrong service. When in doubt leave it enabled until you find out if it's OK to disable. Look it up on Google or post here. These are recommendations only so if you "screw the pooch(or is it sheep)" it ain't my fault. You can always reboot and choose your default profile which has all your services enabled.
Hope this helps everyone.
cyas up in da skys.
