Cool Broadband Speed Upgrade Courtesy of http://www.GeerCom.com.
Geer Communications - your on time technology writer!

Welcome!

OK, if it's all there in black and white, why am I telling you how to do it? Well, I'm giving you the absolute, totally, complete nincompoop's guide to how to do it, adding steps that should help a beginner step through this process without a hitch.

Here we go!

"This tip is designed for increased BROADBAND speed in Windows XP while using standard Network Interface cards (NIC) that are connected to ADSL modems, or when using any directly-connected USB ADSL modem."

DG: If you have a fast connection because you use DSL and you have WindowsXP, which is found on most computers sold today, this will help you surf and do other Internet things faster.

"To speed up the Internet connection speed we need to configure a special buffer in the computer's memory in order to enable it to better deal with interrupts made from the NIC or the USB modem."

DG: For most of you, the above is as important to this process as if the writer had just said, "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah … "

"This tip is only recommended if you have 256MB RAM or higher."

DG: To check whether you have enough RAM, even if you have no idea what RAM is, do the following. Find the icon labeled My Computer, usually in the upper left corner of your screen. Right click on it, and at the bottom of the menu that pops up, left click on Properties. Under System Properties, under the General tab, you will see at the bottom of this window a line that reads ____ MB of RAM. If the number is 256MB or a higher number, you have enough RAM for this procedure.

"Step #1 - Identify the IRQ used by the NIC/USB modem"

DG: Blah, Blah, Blah … you get the idea.

"Follow these steps:"

DG: Ditto!

"1. Open the System Information tool by running MSINFO32.EXE from the Run command."

DG: Left click on the Start button, bottom left, and then left click on the item menu that says Run. You should see your cursor blinking in the field next to Open in the Run window. Type in exactly the following: msinfo32.exe

This is not case sensitive so it doesn't matter if you type it in small case or large. Click on the OK button and wait for the System Information box to appear.

"2. Expand System Summary > Hardware Resources > IRQs."

DG: In the left pane of the system information box under system summary, left click once on the + sign next to Hardware Resources, then double left click on the IRQs item underneath it.

"3. Look for the listing made for your NIC (in my case - an Intel(R) PRO/100+ Management Adapter). Note the IRQ next to the specified line (in my case - IRQ21)."

DG: In the right pane, try to find the line with your Network Interface Card (NIC). His says the above, mine says Intel® PRO/100 VE Network Connection. Who knows what yours says. Relax; I can help you find it.

If you can't identify it, check my archived blogs for a free tool called Belarc Advisor that easily lets you find out the name of your NIC or USB connection to your DSL modem (which is actually a router not a modem). It will be listed under Communications with your "IP Address" beneath it if you are currently connected.

Now find that information in the pane mentioned above and note the Irq number next to it.

You can ignore all of the section on finding the right USB device if you have a USB connection to your DSL hardware, and jump to here:

"Step #2 - Modify the system.ini file"

DG: Blah

"Follow these steps:"

DG: Ditto (don't worry, we're nearing the end now)

"1. Run SYSEDIT.EXE from the Run command."

DG: Open Run as before and type in sysedit.exe and click OK.

"2. Expand the system.ini file window."

DG: Highlight and maximize the window labeled system.ini in the blue border at top by clicking on the upper right button on that window with a square on it.

"3. Scroll down almost to the end of the file till you find a line called [386enh]."

DG: Ditto, using the scroll bar at right of the window or the down arrow bottom right of your keyboard.

"4. Press Enter to make one blank line, and in that line type IrqX=4096 where X is the designated IRQ number we found in step #1, in my case it's IRQ21. Note: This line IS CASE SENSITIVE!!!"

DG: With your cursor at the end of [386enh], hit the enter key on your keyboard so that you have a blank line directly below [386enh]. On that blank line you type in IrqX=4096, replacing that X with the number of the Irq that your NIC or USB device has.

It's case sensitive, like he said, but of course he had to type it two different ways to confuse you. Do it the first way, IrqX=4096, where in his case it would be exactly Irq21=4096.

"5. Click on the File menu, then choose Save."

DG: Click on the File menu upper left of the window you are working in, the system.ini window, then click on Save. (If you haven't guessed, most folks say click when they mean left click and right click when they mean right click, since you will be left clicking most of the time.)

"6. Close SYSEDIT and reboot your computer."

DG: X out upper right or go to File again and click Exit. You do know how to reboot your computer, right? Please, not by turning the power off, your computer will get mad at you.

"Done. Speed improvement will be noticed after the computer reboots."

DG: The speed improvement will occur when your computer reboots. If it makes a big enough difference, which in most cases it will, you will also notice it.

Best,
David Geer - your on time technology writer!
Geer Communications  ¶ 12:26 PM