You can gain a lot of memory and performance by changing a few values that are hidden in your Windows registry. I am not going to go into what VCache is or how it affects your system - if you want to know, then there are countless websites out there that will explain it to you.

The following is just my opinion and may not present any performance gain to your computer. I use the following on all of the systems that I maintain and build.

The only vcache adjustment that really makes a difference is 'MaxFileCache'. If you have ever adjusted other settings such as the MinFileCache, or ChunkSize, then you should set them back to the Windows default, especially if you are running Windows 98 or ME. Those versions do a much better job of managing vcache than Windows 95 did.

So, once again, if you have adjusted the values above already, then you need to set them back to the default using the program you changed them with or by editing your SYSTEM.INI file and removing those entries under the VCACHE header.

To figure out your best maximum setting for vcache, I feel that you should set it to 1/4 of your total system RAM. So, if you have 128MB of RAM, you should set it to 32768. If you have 16MB of RAM then set it to 4096. If you have more than 128MB of RAM, then do not set the maximum vcache... let Windows manage it for you. Lets say that the value you calculate is called 'x'.

Run notepad or your favorite text editor and open your SYSTEM.INI file in your Windows directory. Look for the header called [VCACHE]. If it is not present, then create the header yourself by typing on a blank line: [VCACHE].

Right below that line, add the line: MaxFileCache=x

'x' equals the value we figured out above. Save this file and exit.

Another way to gain some performance is to set Windows to think of your computer as a network server. This will set a cache for filenames and paths. To do this, enter System Properties (right click on My Computer and select Properties). Select the Performance tab at the top. Click on File System. Then select your Typical Role of this Computer as a Network Server. Click OK twice.

Now reboot your computer and it should be optimized better than it was before.