Crazy man tweak

Radio- · Post by **Radio-** » Wed Feb 07, 2001 1:40 pm

Right about one thing Cablenut.. This is a crazyman's tweak =)

It sounds great, and is actually a perfectly logical Idea!!

I just tried it myself, and unfortunatly couldn't quite get it working. I managed to get the Ramdrive 'installed' just fine and the script executed and copied the files to the ramdrive, however I simply coudn't access the net, no error messages or anything.

Well, I'm gonna go back to fiddling around with this and I'll see if I can get something working. Thanks for your sharing of your experience and skill with all of us

cablenut · Post by **cablenut** » Wed Feb 07, 2001 4:20 pm

Kinda weird there Prey521 how big did you make it? Make sure in your Script file you start tcpip before AFD. A question Radio are you on DHCP?

Firezap · Post by **Firezap** » Wed Feb 07, 2001 6:22 pm

Originally posted by cablenut:
I just put my TCP/IP protocol driver on my ramdisk (tcpip.sys) edited the nesaccary registry values and woot the net is faster as a result but beware this is for CRAZZY people only

Hi!

I have a cable modem, that is a 512Kbit.
But my reseler says that its actually a 1.2 Gbit line. And the modem is "lockt" @ 512kbit. Do you (or someone else) know how to remove this block?

JediMonkey · Post by **JediMonkey** » Wed Feb 07, 2001 8:03 pm

I am having the same problem Radio is. The ramdrive is there, the files are copied over and started, but there is no connection. I am using DHCP w/ the Linksys befs41.

[ 02-07-2001: Message edited by: JediMonkey ]

RicRogue · Post by **RicRogue** » Wed Feb 07, 2001 8:22 pm

Originally posted by Janne Aho:
Hi!

I have a cable modem, that is a 512Kbit.
But my reseler says that its actually a 1.2 Gbit line. And the modem is "lockt" @ 512kbit. Do you (or someone else) know how to remove this block?

Janne Aho

Welcome to SpeedGuide

What you are refering to is called uncapping. We do not discuss that on this site. Please refer to this web page for more information why it is impossible.

RicRogue

cablenut · Post by **cablenut** » Wed Feb 07, 2001 8:24 pm

This method probably doesn't work on DHCP machines me and phillip are working more on it.

Radio- · Post by **Radio-** » Wed Feb 07, 2001 9:06 pm

About your question CableNut:

Yes, I am on DHCP, I'm getting my ip from my Linksys Router acting as a DHCP server.

Yea, with playing around on this everything loads just fine and the script executes, just no internet

Oh well, a surely neat little trick if ya can get it working.

Thanks for your support!

Rick · Post by **Rick** » Wed Feb 07, 2001 9:16 pm

Very interesting. I wonder if there's a way to reduce tcp/ip boot time.
.................................

~Rick E.J

[ 02-07-2001: Message edited by: Rick ]

JediMonkey · Post by **JediMonkey** » Thu Feb 08, 2001 12:01 am

I think I found a workaround to the DHCP limitation. If you goto Control Panel>Admin Tools>Services once your computer has completely boot up, and start the DHCP Client service, your connection will be back. It works fine for me.

Can anybody think of a way to automate this process?

[ 02-08-2001: Message edited by: JediMonkey ]

[ 02-08-2001: Message edited by: JediMonkey ]

cablenut · Post by **cablenut** » Thu Feb 08, 2001 12:18 am

Ah yes just figured it out here is a sample script for DHCP users:

copy c:\winnt\System32\DRIVERS\tcpip.sys r:\
copy c:\winnt\System32\DRIVERS\afd.sys r:\
net start tcpip
net start afd
net start dhcp

I forgot about the DHCP service since I use static DUH oh well it's fixed...

Post by **Philip** » Thu Feb 08, 2001 12:30 am

Here is my script, just name it something.bat and add it to the "START>Programs>Startup" folder, it will execute at startup...

Code: Select all

@echo on

copy c:\winnt\System32\DRIVERS\tcpip.sys z:\
copy c:\winnt\System32\DRIVERS\afd.sys z:\

net start tcpip
net start afd
net start dhcp

ipconfig

@pause

[ 02-08-2001: Message edited by: Philip ]

Prey521 · Post by **Prey521** » Thu Feb 08, 2001 12:52 am

Didn't work for me

I followed the guide to the T and I couldnt access the internet. I got an error saying that the RAM disk was an unrecognized file format. Did anyone else get this error?

dannjr · Post by **dannjr** » Thu Feb 08, 2001 1:52 am

This is perfect now instead of 4 minutes to start it takes only a couple... at least on mine..
Latency is gone from the machine at least most of it..
I'm using it with DHCP. With a .BAT file in the start menu for the commands...
The longest wait time is for TCP/IP to start once it does the rest pop on..
Time to install once you have the Ramdrive files from Microsoft takes about 15min most to configure it.
ONE LAST TIME..
MAKE SURE YOU AT LEAST BACKUP THE KEYS IN THE REGISTRY YOU RECONFIGURE

Thank you Philip & Cablenut it was great to see you guys work this together..

[ 02-08-2001: Message edited by: dannjr ]

Prey521 · Post by **Prey521** » Thu Feb 08, 2001 2:15 am

Philip & Cablenut,

will those new settings specified above fix the unrecognized file format error that I was gettin when the Ram Drive was loading from the script?

Prey521 · Post by **Prey521** » Thu Feb 08, 2001 2:19 am

Originally posted by cablenut:
Kinda weird there Prey521 how big did you make it?

I made it exactly like the instructions said, 1 Meg

dannjr · Post by **dannjr** » Thu Feb 08, 2001 3:51 am

Originally posted by Prey521:
Philip & Cablenut,

will those new settings specified above fix the unrecognized file format error that I was gettin when the Ram Drive was loading from the script?

Prey521;
Make sure that the files and the registry are pointing in the right direction..
Your registry should point at your new Ramdisk.
check it a couple of times to make sure.

the copy command in the script should copy over the files.. Make sure the files are being copied from the folder to the ramdisk in other words make sure the files are in the C:\WINNT\system32\Drivers folder. If there not there you will get that problem.
It also helps to be logged in as the Administrator when you make changes like this.
DHCP does log a little faster to...

Radio- · Post by **Radio-** » Thu Feb 08, 2001 4:20 pm

w00t! Yep, I guess starting the DHCP service does help... way to go guys!!

So far I haven't really noticed a change in performance, but, I'll play around and try some more accurate tests and let ya know what I get..

Edit>> Also, is there a system file for the dhcp client, and can we load this to the ramdisk? I'll see if i can.. <<
Hmm, the image path for DHCP uses 'services.exe' which are used by ..well.. a ton of other services, I'm going to make a copy of services.exe (87k) onto the ramdisk and have dchp use that, while the others still use the on on the HD..

Laterz,
Radio

[ 02-08-2001: Message edited by: Radio- ]

[ 02-08-2001: Message edited by: Radio- ]

donald_k · Post by **donald_k** » Thu Feb 08, 2001 6:19 pm

ok boys and girls firsyt I would like to thank cablenut for being so brave with this tweak as it could trash the computer if done wrong (I almost killed win2k when I attempted to get NDIS in the ram drive but my computer BSOD'd)

If you are using MS ramdisk for your ram drive and the batch file that cablenut put up this will shorten the LONG boot time big time.

Note how I have AFD start before ANY of my networking protocols. The reason before it takes so long to boot is because TCPIP is looking for the AFD driver to latch on too, but if AFD is not in memory before TCPIP loads it will hang for 3 minutes or longer. so in short AFD must start before everything else.

@echo on

Echo Starting TCP/IP Services

copy c:\winnt\System32\DRIVERS\netbt.sys z:\
copy c:\winnt\System32\DRIVERS\tcpip.sys z:\
copy c:\winnt\System32\DRIVERS\afd.sys z:\
net start afd
net start netbt
net start tcpip

[ 02-08-2001: Message edited by: donald_k ]

cablenut · Post by **cablenut** » Thu Feb 08, 2001 7:09 pm

Thank you donald_k very helpful information!

Lobo · Post by **Lobo** » Thu Feb 08, 2001 7:13 pm

Woot, you loosing stars Mr. Webcheese

donald_k · Post by **donald_k** » Thu Feb 08, 2001 9:07 pm

Glad I was a help. I would have posted this last night as soon as I seen this thread and had it going but I had to get to bed for school

. So did it decrease your boot time?

cablenut · Post by **cablenut** » Thu Feb 08, 2001 9:11 pm

Yeah it only seems logical you should load the sub services of TCPIP before loading tcpip itself.

Juggernaut · Post by **Juggernaut** » Thu Feb 08, 2001 11:29 pm

Hey Donald, I noticed that you added the netbt in there as well...what's that one used for and if it should be added, does the reg entry have to be changed as well?

donald_k · Post by **donald_k** » Thu Feb 08, 2001 11:32 pm

Because the TCPIP stack makes calls to NETBT just to find out NETBT is disabled. I wonder if adding the DNS service may help also with DNS resolutions.....so far my ramdisk is at 1MB so I can defiantly turn it up. And CPU usage with this puppy is pratically NIL.

cablenut · Post by **cablenut** » Thu Feb 08, 2001 11:37 pm

CPU Usage with the TCPIP services on the RamDisk would actually go down.

donald_k · Post by **donald_k** » Fri Feb 09, 2001 12:12 am

yes I know..right now I am walking Jesse23 through with MS ramdisk.....and talking to some jack about the school computer network (you can guess what it is

)

Post by **Philip** » Fri Feb 09, 2001 12:27 am

What I'd do is change:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip]
"ImagePath"=\??\Z:\tcpip.sys

and

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\AFD]
"ImagePath"=\??\Z:\AFD.sys

Then, add the following as a .bat file and put it in the Startup menu:

Code: Select all

@echo on

copy c:\winnt\System32\DRIVERS\tcpip.sys z:\
copy c:\winnt\System32\DRIVERS\afd.sys z:\

net start tcpip
net start afd
net start dhcp

ipconfig

@pause

That's all...

Post by **Philip** » Fri Feb 09, 2001 12:28 am

Oh, all that is with the default Ramdisk.inf settings, Drive letter is Z: by default.

Juggernaut · Post by **Juggernaut** » Fri Feb 09, 2001 12:54 am

I just found out something bad about this...It basically disables ZoneAlarm. I have ZAPro going and it doesn't work anymore after the tweak. It doesn't show what's connecting to the net, any connection attemps coming in, and my ports aren't stealthed anymore.

Anyone else have this problem or know what to do about it?

Juggernaut · Post by **Juggernaut** » Fri Feb 09, 2001 12:58 am

Ok, if you shutdown ZoneAlarm after everything is loaded and it's done, and then restart ZoneAlarm, it will start to work again. Kind of a pain but it works....

cablenut · Post by **cablenut** » Fri Feb 09, 2001 1:26 am

Does ZoneAlarm run as a system service in Windows 2000? If so you might have to start it in your .bat file

Juggernaut · Post by **Juggernaut** » Fri Feb 09, 2001 1:30 am

I'm not quite sure. The True Vector Internet Monitor runs as a service and it is set to Automatic but I notice that it says it hasn't started. The ZoneAlarm program itself starts from the Programs->Startup shortcut.

cablenut · Post by **cablenut** » Fri Feb 09, 2001 1:35 am

You could try starting that in your .bat and see if that works.

Aeric67 · Post by **Aeric67** » Fri Feb 09, 2001 1:51 am

Just curious, but how exactly does this work to increase speed?

When TCPIP loads, doesn't it load itself into RAM anyway? I can't believe that even MS would allow such a low level network component to be accessed directly from disk during use.

Maybe I am missing something here...

Aeric

Juggernaut · Post by **Juggernaut** » Fri Feb 09, 2001 1:52 am

The path for the service is C:\WINNT\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe -service

I can't use "net start net start C:\WINNT\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe -service" on it, gives an invalid filename.

dannjr · Post by **dannjr** » Fri Feb 09, 2001 2:04 am

Juggernaut

Try this after everything else but before pause
PATH=C:\WINNT\system32\ZoneLabs\
vsmon.exe -service

Juggernaut · Post by **Juggernaut** » Fri Feb 09, 2001 2:14 am

still doesn't work. When I added that in, the ipconfig command didn't work in the .bat file during startup (said it wasn't an internal or external command....). This is what my .bat file looks like now.

@echo on
copy c:\winnt\System32\DRIVERS\tcpip.sys z:\
copy c:\winnt\System32\DRIVERS\afd.sys z:\
net start afd
net start tcpip
net start dhcp
PATH=C:\WINNT\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe -service
ipconfig
@pause

Juggernaut · Post by **Juggernaut** » Fri Feb 09, 2001 2:19 am

I don't think it's working because all the things in the .bat file are being executed after/during ZAPro is loaded. Is there a way to set this file to load before other things load?

dannjr · Post by **dannjr** » Fri Feb 09, 2001 2:56 am

Ok heres what I tryed here but I don't have ZA on my machine so you will only know for sure if this would do it...

-------------------------------------
@echo on
copy c:\winnt\System32\DRIVERS\tcpip.sys z:\
copy c:\winnt\System32\DRIVERS\afd.sys z:\
net start afd
net start tcpip
net start dhcp
@pause
PATH=C:\WINNT\system32\ZoneLabs\vsmon.exe -service
@pause
ipconfig
@pause

---------------------------------------

Now there is a way of timing the @pause but it will have to wait till I can get to that book later today

dannjr · Post by **dannjr** » Fri Feb 09, 2001 8:12 am

Juggernaut
Here is a sample of my startup .BAT file for my ZA I was having a similar problem with it starting up..I really don't use it but I figured I would make sure since I was ahving a similar problem with my FTP server starting up...
---------------------------------------------
@echo on

Echo Starting TCP/IP Services

copy c:\winnt\System32\DRIVERS\netbt.sys z:\
copy c:\winnt\System32\DRIVERS\tcpip.sys z:\
copy c:\winnt\System32\DRIVERS\afd.sys z:\
net start afd
net start tcpip

ipconfig

@pause

Path=C:\Program Files\Zone Labs\ZoneAlarm\
zonealarm.exe
---------------------------------------------

This worked out well as I don't need to see ZA start in the BAT file I only needed the results..

[ 02-09-2001: Message edited by: dannjr ]