10 Intermediate Ways To Speed Up Windows

Given how successful my Simple Guide to Tweaking Windows XP has been I’ve decided to post some more complex tweaks. The effectiveness of each of these tweaks will vary from machine to machine. I’ve tried to focus on tweaks that I’m confident can be made on any XP machine regardless of the individual setup. Please do not make any of these changes if you are not sure what you are doing, and remember to make backups first and good luck!

1. Disable Unnecessary Services
Because Windows XP has to be all things to all people it has many services running that take up system resources that you will never need. Below is a list of services that can be disabled on most machines:

• Alerter
• Clipbook
• Computer Browser
• Distributed Link Tracking Client
• Fast User Switching
• Help and Support - (If you use Windows Help and Support leave this enabled)
• Human Interface Access Devices
• Indexing Service
• IPSEC Services
• Messenger
• Netmeeting Remote Desktop Sharing (disabled for extra security)
• Portable Media Serial Number
• Remote Desktop Help Session Manager (disabled for extra security)
• Remote Procedure Call Locator
• Remote Registry (disabled for extra security)
• Remote Registry Service
• Secondary Logon
• Routing & Remote Access (disabled for extra security)
• Server
• SSDP Discovery Service - (Unplug n’ Pray will disable this)
• Telnet
• TCP/IP NetBIOS Helper
• Upload Manager
• Universal Plug and Play Device Host
• Windows Time
• Wireless Zero Configuration (Do not disable if you use a wireless network)
• Workstation

To disable these services:

1. Go to Start and then Run and type “services.msc”
2. Doubleclick on the service you want to change
3. Change the startup type to ‘Disable”

2. Turn Off System Restore

System Restore can be a useful if your computer is having problems, however storing all the restore points can literally take up Gigabytes of space on your hard drive. To turn off System Restore:

1. Open Control Panel
2. Click on Performance and Maintenance
3. Click on System
4. Click on the System Restore tab
5. Tick ‘Turn off System Restore on All Drives’
6. Click ‘Ok’

3. Defragment Your Pagefile

Keeping your pagefile defragmented can provide a major performance boost. One of the best ways of doing this is to creat a separate partition on your hard drive just for your page file, so that it doesn’t get impacted by normal disk usage. Another way of keeping your pagefile defragmented is to run PageDefrag. This cool little app can be used to defrag your pagefile, and can also be set to defrag the pagefile everytime your PC starts. To install:

1. Download and Run PageDefrag
2. Tick “Defrag at next Reboot”,
3. Click “Ok”
4. Reboot

4. Speedup Folder Access - Disable Last Access Update

If you have a lot of folders and subdirectories on your computer, when you access a directory XP wastes a lot of time updating the time stamp showing the last access time for that directory and for ALL sub directories. To stop XP doing this you need to edit the registry. If you are uncomfortable doing this then please do not attempt.

1. Go to Start and then Run and type “regedit”
2. Click through the file system until you get to “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem”
3. Right-click in a blank area of the window on the right and select ‘DWORD Value’
4. Create a new DWORD Value called ‘NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate’
5. Then Right click on the new value and select ‘Modify’
6. Change the Value Data to ‘1′
7. Click ‘OK’

5.Disable System Sounds

Surprisingly, the beeps that your computer makes for various system sounds can slow it down, particularly at startup and shut-down. To fix this turn off the system sounds:

1. Open Control Panel
2. Click Sounds and Audio Devices
3. Check Place volume icon in taskbar
4. Click Sounds Tab
5. Choose “No Sounds” for the Sound Scheme
6. Click “No”
7. Click “Apply”
8. Click “OK”

6. Improve Boot Times

A great new feature in Microsoft Windows XP is the ability to do a boot defragment. This places all boot files next to each other on the disk to allow for faster booting. By default this option in enables but on some builds it is not so below is how to turn it on.

1. Go to Start Menu and Click Run
2. Type in “Regedit” then click ok
3. Find “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOpt imizeFunction”
4. Select “Enable” from the list on the right
5. Right on it and select “Modify”
6. Change the value to “Y to enable”
7. Reboot

7. Improve Swapfile Performance

If you have more than 256MB of RAM this tweak will considerably improve your performance. It basically makes sure that your PC uses every last drop of memory (faster than swap file) before it starts using the swap file.

1. Go to Start then Run
2. Type “msconfig.exe” then ok
3. Click on the System.ini tab
4. Expand the 386enh tab by clicking on the plus sign
5. Click on new then in the blank box type”ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1″
6. Click OK
7. Restart PC

8. Make Your Menus Load Faster

This is one of my favourite tweaks as it makes a huge difference to how fast your machine will ‘feel’. What this tweak does is remove the slight delay between clicking on a menu and XP displaying the menu.

1. Go to Start then Run
2. Type ‘Regedit’ then click ‘Ok’
3. Find “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop”
4. Select “MenuShowDelay”
5. Right click and select “Modify’
6. Reduce the number to around “100″

This is the delay time before a menu is opened. You can set it to “0″ but it can make windows really hard to use as menus will open if you just look at them - well move your mouse over them anyway. I tend to go for anywhere between 50-150 depending on my mood

9. Make Programs Load Faster

This little tweak tends to work for most programs. If your program doesn’t load properly just undo the change. For any program:

1. Right-click on the icon/shortcut you use to launch the program
2. Select properties
3. In the ‘target’ box, add ‘ /prefetch:1′ at the end of the line.
4. Click “Ok”

Voila - your programs will now load faster.

10. Improve XP Shutdown Speed

This tweak reduces the time XP waits before automatically closing any running programs when you give it the command to shutdown.

1. Go to Start then select Run
2. Type ‘Regedit’ and click ok
3. Find ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop’Select ‘WaitToKillAppTimeout’
4. Right click and select ‘Modify’
5. Change the value to ‘1000′
6. Click ‘OK’
7. Now select ‘HungAppTimeout’
8. Right click and select ‘Modify’
9. Change the value to ‘1000′
10. Click ‘OK’
11. Now find ‘HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop’
12. Select ‘WaitToKillAppTimeout’
13. Right click and select ‘Modify’
14. Change the value to ‘1000′
15. Click ‘OK’
16. Now find ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control’
17. Select ‘WaitToKillServiceTimeout’
18. Right click and select ‘Modify’
19. Change the value to ‘1000′
20. Click ‘OK’

That’s it. I hope you find these tips useful - you should now see a noticeable speed improvement if you make all of these changes correctly. Hopefully you’ll be pleasantly surprised!

I found all of this on the following site and I suggest you pay it a visit to read the comments. I think it’s a great, GREAT compilation of tricks and although I’m not gutsy enough to try all of them I did do most and had no problems just great results. I love my computer again. Yay! Here’s the URL.

http://www.connectedinternet.co.uk/2005/12/05/10-intermediate-ways-to-speed-up-windows/1/

$100 OLPC to Cost $176 and May Run WINDOWS!

If you weren’t sick of the OLPC, here is even more news. Nicholas Negroponte, the head of the One Laptop Per Child project, has almost confirmed that the cost of the laptop would be close to $176 but also make a reference to the machines may be adopted in US schools and it may run Windows.

XO’s developers have been working with Microsoft so a version of Windows can run on the machines […] It could be the $3 software package that Microsoft announced last week for governments that subsidize student computers. It includes Windows XP Starter Edition and some of Microsoft’s “productivity” software.

That would be a direct blow to Steve Jobs who offered MacOS X for Intel to run on the upcoming laptop - for free. However, Jobs’ offer was declined in 2005 as the organization is searching for a 100% open source solution.

Posted on Uneasy Silence by Dan

Microsoft admits Vista failure

Actions speak louder than PR

By Charlie Demerjian in Beijing: found on the inquirer

WITH TWO OVERLAPPING events, Microsoft admitted what we have been saying all along, Vista, aka Windows Me Two (Me II), is a joke that no one wants.

Microsoft did two unprecedented things this week that frankly stunned us.

Dell announced that it would be offering XP again on home PCs. The second that Vista came out, Microsoft makes it very hard for you to sell anything other than Me II. It can't do this on the business side because it would be laughed out the door, but for the walking sheep class, well, you take what you are shovelled.

This is classic abusive monopoly behavior, Microsoft wrote the modern book on it. It pulled all the major OEMs in by twisting their arms with the usual methods, and they again all fell into line. Never before has anyone backpedalled on this, to do so would earn you the wrath of Microsoft.

But Dell just did. This means that Me II sales are at least as bad as we think, the software and driver situation is just as miserable, and Dell had no choice but to buck the trend. If anyone thinks this is an act of atonement for foisting such a steaming pile on us, think again, it doesn't care about the consumer.

What happened is the OEMs revolted in the background and forced Microsoft's hand. This is a big neon sign above Me II saying 'FAILURE'. Blink blink blink. OK, Me II won't fail, Microsoft has OEMs whipped and threatened into a corner, it will sell, but you can almost hear the defectors marching toward Linux. This is a watershed.

The other equally monumental Me II failure? Gates in China launching a $3 version of bundled Me II. Why is this not altruism? Well, it goes back to piracy and how it helped enforce the MS monopoly. If you can easily pirate Windows, Linux has no price advantage, they both cost zero.

With Me II, Microsoft made it very hard to pirate. It is do-able, you can use the BIOS hack and probably a host of others, but the point is, it raised the bar enough so lots of people have to buy it. Want to bet that in a country with $100 average monthly salary, people aren't going to shell out $299 for Me II Broken Edition?

What did MS do? It dropped the price about 100x or so. I can't say this is unprecedented, when it made Office 2003 hard to pirate it had to backpedal with the student edition for about $150. This time though, things are much more desperate.

If you fit Microsoft's somewhat convoluted definition of poor, it still wants to lock you in, you might get rich enough to afford the full-priced stuff someday. It is at a dangerous crossroads, if its software bumps up the price of a computer by 100 per cent, people might look to alternatives.

That means no Me II DRM infection lock in, no mass migration to the newer Office obfuscated and patented file formats, and worse yet, people might utter the W word. Yes, you guessed it, 'why'. People might ask why it is sticking with the MS lock in, and at that point, it is in deep trouble.

So, it did the unthinkable, and dropped the price. I won't bother to hunt down all the exec quotes saying how people can't afford clean water would be overjoyed to sell kidneys to upgrade to the new version of Office, but they are out there. This was a sacred cow, and it is now hamburger backed up against the wall.

These two actions by Microsoft are proof of what I suggested three years ago. Microsoft has lost its ability to twist arms, and now it is going to die. It can't compete on level ground, so is left with backpedalling and discounts of almost 100 times.

What we are seeing is an unprecedented shift of power. It is also an unprecedented admission of failure. And the funniest part about the moves made? They are the wrong things to do. Microsoft is in deep trouble.

New Mac v.s PC Ad

This one actually RIGHT ON THE MONEY! I hate stupid trial programs, they suck and I don't ever want to buy them. I don't want to have Norton or Mcafee virus protection for a year and then be forced to pay for it afterwards. If you try to delete the damn you get ALL SORTS of problems, especially with Mcafee. And for god's sake, I don't want real player or quicktime to be bundled with anything. I know where to get it, and I'll get it if I want it. I hate realplayer! Say NO to bundled trial versions and other bundled software!

If It’s XP You Want, It’s Vista You’ll Get

Microsoft is adamant that they will no longer allow Windows XP to be installed on new PC’s after January 2008, DESPITE only 10% of Windows users actually wanting Vista.

Also, hardware will be manufactured to ONLY support Vista, so you would not be able to install XP on your new hardware. Do you think anyone should care about XP anymore? Are people really overreacting to Vista? Is Vista the next Windows ME?

found on Uneasysilence

VAIO's Now in More Great Colors!

The Sony Vaio notebooks have been upgraded and now come in several adorable new colors including "espresso black, shell white, coral pink, summer sky blue, urban grey and fresh green."

The upgrade includes refreshed processors, starting with the Celeron M 430 at 1.73 GHz and reaching up to the 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo T7400. Sadly, the new versions have the same 1.280 x 800 pixels 13.3-inch display, although this time the top of the line is powered by the NVIDIA GeForce Go 7400 card instead of the previous Intel GMA 950 chipset. And of course, they all come with yet another license of Windows Vista Home Premium.

WINDOWS XP HIDDEN APPLICATIONS

To view a complete list of handy, but hidden applications already on your Windows XP running computer just visit this site and you'll see an amazing list of simple apps that are actually kind of neat. Here are some of my favorites.

To run any of these apps go to Start > Run and type the executable name

Clipboard Viewer = clipbrd.exe (views contents of Windows clipboard)

Character Map = charmap.exe (very useful for finding unusual characters)

DirectX diagnosis = dxdiag.exe (Diagnose & test DirectX, video & sound cards)

System configuration = msconfig.exe (can use to control starup programs)

System Monitor = perfmon.exe (very useful, highly configurable tool, tells you everything you ever wanted to know about any aspect of PC performance, for uber-geeks only )

Windows for Workgroups Chat = winchat.exe (appears to be an old NT utility to allow chat sessions over a LAN, help files available).

Note: I can't get the last one to work properly.

Window Vienna....What comes after Vista?

Okay so, I was just stumbling (SU-Stumble Upon) along minding my own business, when I came across http://www.windowsvienna.com/

I hadn't heard anything about this Vista successor until now. Actually, I didn't believe it. I was very skeptical (I still am) so I looked it up on several other sites and compiled the best bits below.

Wikipedia

Windows "Vienna" (formerly known as Blackcomb) is a codename for a future version of Microsoft Windows, originally announced in February 2000, but has since been subject to major delays and rescheduling. Microsoft now announced it will be released in 2009, and according to a magazine called "Smart Computing In Plain English", work on it was begun right after Windows Vista came out. As of February 2007, the name of the operating system used internally is undisclosed and is not used publicly by Microsoft,^[1] though "Windows 7" has been noted in job postings as a working name for the project.^[2]

Microsoft has refrained from discussing the details about "Vienna" publicly as they focus on the release and marketing of Windows Vista,^[3] though some early details of various core operating system features have emerged at developer conferences such as Windows Hardware Engineering Conference in 2006.

At first, internal sources pitched Blackcomb as being not just a major revision of Windows, but a complete departure from the way users today typically think about interacting with a computer. For instance, the "Start" philosophy, introduced in Windows 95, may be replaced by the "new interface" which was said in 1999 to be scheduled for "Vienna" (before being moved to Vista ("Longhorn") and then back again to "Vienna"). While Windows Vista was intended to be an evolutionary release, Vienna was targeted directly at revolutionizing the way users of the product interact with their PCs. However, the situation has now changed. Windows Vista, which was expected to be a minor release became a major release, when it was released five years after the release of Windows XP. Windows "Vienna" will become a minor release, and is currently planned to be released two years after Windows Vista.

On February 9, 2007, Microsoft's Ben Fathi claimed that the focus on the operating system was still being worked out, and could merely hint at some possibilities:^[1]

"We're going to look at a fundamental piece of enabling technology. Maybe it's hypervisors, I don't know what it is" [...] "Maybe it's a new user interface paradigm for consumers."

—Ben Fathi, Windows Core Operating System Division Vice President

Bill Gates, in an interview with Newsweek, also suggested that the next version of Windows would "be more user-centric."^[5] When asked to clarify what he meant, Gates said:

"That means that right now when you move from one PC to another, you've got to install apps on each one, do upgrades on each one. Moving information between them is very painful. We can use Live Services to know what you're interested in. So even if you drop by a [public] kiosk or somebody else's PC, we can bring down your home page, your files, your fonts, your favorites and those things. So that's kind of the user-centric thing that Live Services can enable. [Also,] in Vista things got a lot better with [digital] ink and speech but by the next release there will be a much bigger bet. Students won't need textbooks, they can just use these tablet devices. Parallel computing is pretty important for the next release. We'll make it so that a lot of the high-level graphics will be just built into the operating system. So we've got a pretty good outline."

CNET

The code name for Windows XP was Whistler, a Canadian ski resort. Blackcomb was also a ski resort, while Longhorn (Vista's code name) came from the Longhorn Saloon, which was about halfway between Whistler and Blackcomb.

Microsoft evangelist Robert Scoble first confirmed the new code name in a posting to the company's Channel 9 developer site.

Directions on Microsoft analyst Michael Cherry said that Microsoft is looking to speed up the frequency of its Windows releases, but cautioned not to read too much into the name change.

"It's just a morale thing," Cherry said. "The other names have been kicking around so long. It's much more about trying to keep focused and keep some excitement around where they are going."

And finally, what windowsvienna.com had to say...

Windows Vienna - two and a half years from now

February 14, 2007

Now that Vista is on the shelves, Microsoft is focusing on its next major operating system release, Windows Vienna. Even though Windows Vienna is going to be a major release with a totally revised GUI, Microsoft made a bold statement: by the end of 2009 Vienna will hit the shelves.
However, Microsoft needs to keep the buzz on Windows Vista for now and so they are not releasing any Windows Vienna official information to the public yet, expect for the fact that they are working on it.

Windows Vienna - opening a new generation of operating systems

September 7, 2006

In the past 20 years, the Microsoft Windows operating system has accumulated old code libraries that brought it to the size it has today, 2.5 GB and about 50 million lines of code (Windows Vista). These old code libraries consume resources and are often the targets of security exploits. The best way to avoid such problems, is to start from scratch, which is close to what Microsoft plans to do with Windows Vienna. Windows Vienna will represent the start of a different generation of operating systems, bringing in new concepts and support for new types of hardware, along with a better security and a modular approach, which will allow future versions of Windows to be built more easily on Windows Vienna's engine.
It is also likely that the future success of Microsoft's products will be strongly decided by the success of the new generation operating system.

Windows Fiji, then Windows Vienna

May 1st, 2006

Windows codename Fiji, or Vista R2 is now scheduled to deliver before Windows Vienna. Windows Fiji is planned to be released in 2008, while Windows Vienna had its estimated release date in 2010. Due to the recent Windows Vista delay the domino effect could cause these other two versions of Windows to also be delayed, however the schedule disruption will not be significant.

Why the name change?

January 22, 2006

Many were wondering why Microsoft decided to change the codename of the future version of Windows from Blackcomb to Vienna. Bruce Morgan from Microsoft, expresses his personal opinion:
"Blackcomb was the code name for some other project driven by other people, started many years ago. The people who chose that name and started that have moved around quite a bit since then, and different people have the leadership roles now. The vision for the product is quite a bit different, I'd imagine, than in the late 90s. So many things are different now that it's been many years since Blackcomb was the "next version of Windows after Whistler."

Codename change is official

January 19, 2006

"The codename for Blackcomb has changed to 'Vienna'. This does not reflect a big change for us; we have used city code names in the past," a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement. "These code names are derived from cities/locations in the world known for great 'vistas'. The kinds of places we all want to see, experience and that capture the imagination. Vienna fits with this concept."

Windows Vienna is the successor of Windows Vista

January 18, 2006

NeoWin.com writes about how Windows Blackcomb changed its name to Windows Vienna. Windows Vienna (formerly Blackcomb) is the successor of the Windows Vista operating system. The new codename was not officially confirmed by Microsoft, however Robert Scoble confirmed the rumour in a Channel9 topic.

100th Post! And Microsoft Becomes a Philanthropist

Yes, I've finally made it to my 100th post and I wanted to make it special. So in honor of my last 6 months of blogging I've decided to pass on some good new news about Microsoft.

Every time you start a conversation using i’m, Microsoft shares a portion of the program's advertising revenue with some of the world's most effective organizations dedicated to social causes. Choose the one that best addresses the issues you feel most passionate about. As you can see, these are groups you know and groups you know can get things done. Because this isn't only about good intentions, it's also about great results.

Every Conversation Counts

i’m is easy to use, so join now and let the giving begin.

Get Involved

It's easy to get everyone talking by adding a Windows Live™ Messenger i’m button to your Web site or blog, or by displaying it in your e-mail signature.

This next bit it from uneasy silence.

Nope this isn’t the classic “Bill Gates will give you money for forwarding this email” scam, this is a legitimate effort by Microsoft to donate money to several selected charities for even IM you send.

Choose from stopglobarwarming.org, the National AIDS Fund, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, UNICEF, ninemillion.org, the American Red Cross, or Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Add a text code and each conversation will trigger a contribution to your selected charity.

Even though this is a marketing ploy to get more people to use “Windows Live Messenger” I support any effort of a company that donates a significant sum of money to worthy causes.

How i’m works

i’m starts with you. When you start an i’m conversation you start giving.

1

Download the Windows Live Messenger instant messenger service. There's no charge and it's easy to download and use.

2

Place the text code corresponding to the cause of your choice into your Display Name.

3

Keep having i’m conversations so you can keep funding the cause doing the work most important to you.


I swear, I'm gonna finally restore Live Messenger back to my quickstart menu. Hope everyone who reads the blog will come back for another 100 posts and I hope many more discover the blog.

Windows Chat (Winchat.exe)

SUMMARY

This article describes how to use Windows Chat (Winchat.exe) in Windows XP

MORE INFORMATION

Chat Overview

You can use Windows Chat on your computer to communicate with someone on another computer. Both computers must be connected to the same network (for example, a local area network [LAN] or the Internet). Also, each computer must be running a similar protocol, such as TCP/IP.

Chat is interactive. You see a reply to your messages as the other person types it. The Chat window is separated into two panes: one contains the messages you send, and the other contains the messages you receive.

To Start Windows Chat

1.	Click Start, and then click Run.
2.	Type winchat, and then press ENTER.

To Make a Chat Call

1.	On the Conversation menu, click Dial.
2.	Click the computer name, or type the computer name, for the person with whom you want to chat, and then click OK.
3.	When the person with whom you want to chat answers the call, begin typing in the Chat window. You cannot begin typing until the person you are calling answers.
4.	If the person you are calling does not answer, or you want to end the call, click Hang Upon the Conversation menu.

The messages from the person with whom you are chatting appear in the lower pane or the right pane, depending on how your Chat window is arranged.

To Answer a Call

To answer a call, click Chat, which appears on the taskbar when someone uses Chat to call your computer. Or, if your Chat window is already open, click Answer on the Conversation menu.

Note that you must have Chat running or have the Network DDE service started to answer a call. To start the Network DDE service:

1.	Click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click Administrative Tools.
2.	Double-click Computer Management, double-click Services and Applications, and then double-click Services.
3.	In the Details pane, click Network DDE.
4.	On the Action menu, click Start.

To have the Network DDE service start automatically every time you start your computer:

1.	Click Start, click Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click Administrative Tools.
2.	Double-click Computer Management, double-click Services and Applications, and then double-click Services.
3.	In the Details pane, click Network DDE.
4.	On the Action menu, click Properties.
5.	On the General tab, in Startup type, select Automatic, and then click OK.

To Hang Up

To end a call, click Hang Up on the Conversation menu. If the person with whom you are chatting hangs up before you do, a message appears in the status bar. If you quit Chat, hang-up occurs automatically.

To Turn Sound On or Off

To turn sound on or off, click Sound on the Options menu.

If your computer has a sound card, you can change the sound for incoming and outgoing rings. To do so, double-click Sounds and Audio Devices in Control Panel. For more information, click the Help menu in Control Panel.

To Change the Background Color

To change the background color for the Chat window:

1.	On the Options menu, click Background Color.
2.	Under Basic colors, click the color you want, and then click OK. The color you choose is mapped to the nearest solid color.

By default, the pane that displays your chat partner's conversation uses the background color and font that your chat partner has selected. You can view your chat partner's conversation with the same background color and font that you are using by clicking by clicking PreferencesOptions menu, and then clicking Use Own Font. on the

To Change the Font

1.	On the Options menu, click Font.
2.	In the Font dialog box, click the options you want.

By default, the pane that displays your chat partner's conversation uses the background color and font that your chat partner has selected. You can view your chat partner's conversation with the same background color and font that you are using by clicking by clicking PreferencesOptions menu, and then clicking Use Own Font. on the

To Change Window Preferences

1.	On the Options menu, click Preferences.
2.	Under Window Style, click the layout you prefer.
3.	Under Partner's Message, click the option you want.

Note that if you choose to view your partner's font, you also view your partner's background color.

---

APPLIES TO

•	Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
•	Microsoft Windows XP Professional

From Microsoft.com

totalXP.com

Tweaks

Windows Boot-Up & Shutdown:

• Automatically end tasks at Windows shutdown
• Speed-Up the Shutdown process of Windows XP
• Search for network folders and printers
• Disable the Windows XP boot screen
• Automatically Logon

Disc Space & HDD Performace:

• Enable the DMA transfer mode for all IDE devices
• Disabling the Hibernation feature to free disk space
• Disable Windows WBEM logging

RAM & Virtual Memory:

• Clearing the Pagefile at Windows shutdown
• Optimizing the Windows XP Prefetcher
• Disable the disk Indexing Service

Visual Style & General Performance:

• Decrease the time for Menus to slide out
• Enhance the readability of text by enabling ClearType
• Show the extensions of known file types
• Show the Drive Letters first

Home

30 Essential Pieces Of Free (and Open) Software for Windows

Recently,
I received a fresh new laptop from Dell. Upon receiving it, I did the
traditional “installation of Windows from scratch” on it to remove a
lot of the garbage that is preinstalled on Dells. Then I got really
busy installing tons of great software that takes care of pretty much
every software need I have. Not only was all of the software free, every piece of it was open source, which means that the code is peer-reviewed; no spyware here!

What follows is a list of thirty pieces of software that are the
cream of the crop of open source software for Windows. Not only is
every piece of it free, almost all of them directly replace expensive
software packages.

Now, if only there were an open version of The Sims 2, I might go the whole way and switch to Linux…

1. Firefox


http://www.getfirefox.com/


Replaces Internet Explorer


If you haven’t switched to Firefox for your web browsing needs, do it now. It stops annoying popups and it has tons of amazing plugins
that can make surfing the web even better. I could evangelize all day
about Firefox, but one thing’s for sure: the first thing I do on any
new Windows machine is run Internet Explorer just long enough to
download Firefox.

2. Thunderbird


http://www.mozilla.org/thunderbird/


Replaces Microsoft Outlook or Eudora


Thunderbird is an email client that has five big things going for it:
it’s free, it’s full featured, it’s lightweight and runs quick, it has
an unparalleled spam filter, and it protects you from those ridiculous
phishing attacks by clearly indicating which emails send you to a bogus
website. If you’re not already using a web-based email solution,
Thunderbird should be your client.

3. Sunbird


http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/sunbird/


Replaces Microsoft Outlook’s calendaring functions


Might as well get the Mozilla trifecta out of the way by mentioning
Sunbird, which is the Mozilla Foundation’s calendaring program. It’s
extremely easy to use (I figured out everything I needed in a minute or
two) and easy to share your calendar with others. I consider a
calendaring tool to be essential if you’re using a laptop, and this is
no different.

4. Abiword


http://www.abisource.com/


Replaces Microsoft Word


Want a good word processor but find Microsoft Word too expensive?
AbiWord is my favorite replacement for Word. It’s lightweight (meaning
it runs quickly) and includes pretty much every feature that I use
regularly in a word processor, plus it can save files in formats that
you can exchange with Word and WordPerfect users, plus open any of
their files, too.

5. OpenOffice


http://www.openoffice.org/


Replaces Microsoft Excel and Microsoft PowerPoint


If you want to replace the rest of the Office suite, your best bet is
OpenOffice. It includes very nice replacements for Excel and PowerPoint
(and workable replacements for Access and other Office elements). In
fact, I actually prefer their Excel and PowerPoint replacements to the
real thing.

6. ClamWin


http://www.clamwin.com/


Replaces Norton AntiVirus or McAfee


ClamWin is a slick anti-virus software that’s quite easy to manage and
is unobtrusive while keep your system free of viruses. That’s pretty
much all I want from a package, so why pay money for McAfee to keep
bugging me all the time?

7. Gaim


http://gaim.sourceforge.net/


Replaces AIM, Windows Messenger, etc.


This is a very clean instant messaging program that allows you to be on
AOL Instant Messenger, Windows (MSN) Messenger, and Yahoo Messenger
simultaneously with one program. There are other free packages that do
this, but Gaim is stable and clean and simple.

8. BitTorrent


http://www.bittorrent.com/


Original but essential


From their website, “BitTorrent is a peer-assisted, digital content
delivery platform that provides the fastest, most efficient means of
distributing, discovering, and consuming large, high-quality files on
the Web. Our mission is simple: to deliver the content that entertains
and informs the digital world.” In other words, BitTorrent allows you
to download large media files and also use your bandwidth to help
others download these files. Search for media files you want and
download ‘em.

9. GIMPShop


http://www.gimpshop.net/


Replaces Adobe Photoshop


This is a version of the GNU Image Manipulation Program that does a
pretty solid job of imitating Adobe Photoshop - a regular user of
Photoshop (like me) can adapt to it quite quickly. It’s very richly
featured and runs quite well - in fact, I see no reason to ever go
back, even if Photoshop were free.

10. Gnucleus


http://www.gnucleus.com/Gnucleus/


Replaces LimeWire, BearShare, etc.


Sure, LimeWire and BearShare are free, but why not just get the same
basic software without all of the spyware? Gnucleus is pretty much
identical to those software packages - but without all that extra junk
that slows down your computer.

11. VLC Media Player


http://www.videolan.org/vlc/


Replaces Windows Media Player, Quicktime, RealPlayer, etc.


If you get tired of having tons of media players on your computer, get
this package that runs pretty much every media type you’ll run across
without breaking a sweat.

12. Juice


http://juicereceiver.sourceforge.net/


Unique but essential


Juice lets you effortlessly subscribe to podcasts, organize them, and listen to them at your convenience. In conjunction with PodNova, I find it easier to use Juice to organize podcasts than using iTunes itself.

13. Audacity


http://audacity.sourceforge.net/


Unique but essential (for some)


If you’re interested in recording your own podcast (or just want to
make your own voice recordings for whatever reason), Audacity and a
microphone are pretty much all you need to get the job done. I’m not
much for podcasting (let’s just say I don’t have a radio voice), but I
use Audacity for other voice recording purposes.

14. RSSOwl


http://www.rssowl.org/


Unique but essential


RSSOwl is one of many open source RSS readers. In other words, it
enables you to use one program to keep track of the content of a lot of
different blogs; if you read a lot of blogs, it’s the only way to keep
tabs on all of them without devoting hours jumping from site to site.
If you have a laptop, it’s preferable to using sites like Bloglines,
but if you’re on a desktop, a web-based feed manager might be better.

15. Filezilla


http://filezilla.sourceforge.net/


Replaces WinFTP


Many people occasionally have a need to FTP files to other computers;
if you ever have the need to transfer files in such a fashion,
FileZilla will do the job slickly and quickly.

16. Keynote


http://www.tranglos.com/free/keynote.html


Unique but essential


Keynote is basically designed specifically for the task of taking notes
on a laptop. If you ever find yourself in a meeting or a presentation
with your laptop open and want to jot down notes and organize them just
a bit, Keynote is unquestionably the program for you. It’s not good at
quality word processing, but that’s not the point. In my professional
work, I find myself using Keynote almost as often as any other utility.

17. MusikCube


http://www.musikcube.com/


Replaces iTunes


If you’re not already committed to downloaded music from the iTunes
Music Store, then MusikCube is the best choice available for a music
organizer and player. It organizes your mp3s, makes it really easy and
really fast to find them, and allows you to make some incredibly clever
smart playlists.

18. Handbrake


http://handbrake.m0k.org/


Unique but essential


Handbrake enables you to stick a DVD in your DVD drive and have the
contents of that film stored to your hard drive in a form that can be
read by pretty much any media player. I often use it to put a few
movies on my laptop for travel purposes, so I don’t have to worry about
keeping track of DVDs while on the road.

19. X-Chat 2


http://www.silverex.org/


Replaces mIRC


X-Chat is a free IRC client. For those unfamiliar with IRC, it’s a
place for technical people (and, as my wife loves to point out, nerds)
to meet and discuss topics in an open environment. I often find it very
useful when piecing through difficult technical issues.

20. KeePass


http://keepass.sourceforge.net/


Unique but essential


KeePass is a program that securely stores and manages the abundance of
passwords we all use on a daily basis. I have literally hundreds of
usernames and passwords spread out all over the place; KeePass keeps
them all for me and keeps them safe.

21. TrueCrypt


http://www.truecrypt.org/


Unique but essential


TrueCrypt enables you to convert a memory stick into a strongly
encrypted data storage device, meaning that you can store personal data
on it without worrying about losing it and having personal information
get out and about. I use it to keep some of my most personal data off
of my laptop and strongly secured, just in case.

22. PDFCreator


http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/


Replaces Adobe Acrobat


PDFCreator creates a virtual printer on your computer that, if you
print a document to it from any program, creates a PDF of that document
that can be read on any computer with Acrobat Reader on it. After
installing PDFCreator, all you have to do is print like normal and out
comes a PDF!

23. Freemind


http://freemind.sourceforge.net/


Unique but Essential


Freemind is a “mind mapping” software program. In essence, it enables
you to brainstorm and link together ideas quickly, creating “maps” of
concepts similar to what you might do on a whiteboard. I find it
incredibly useful when putting together ideas for new posts or planning
small projects or assembling the backbone of a writing project.

24. NASA Worldwind


http://worldwind.arc.nasa.gov/


Replaces Google Earth


WorldWind is very similar to Google Earth in that it allows you to
browse the globe. While it isn’t strong for creating maps (but why not
just use Google Maps for that?), it is utterly incredible for viewing three-dimensional landscapes of any place on earth.

25. Notepad2


http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html


Replaces Notepad


Notepad2 is a replacement for the traditional Windows Notepad that just
adds a few sweet little features: multiple documents; line, word, and
character counts; and some highlighting of tags. In fact, I’m using
Notepad2 as I draft this post (after using Freemind to organize it).

26. HealthMonitor


http://healthmonitor.zucchetti.com/


Unique but useful


HealthMonitor enables you to keep an eye on the health of your
computer. It identifies slowdowns and other system issues quickly and
lets you know (for example, it gives a popup if your system memory gets
to a certain percentage of fullness, or if your hard drive has only 10
GB free). This can keep you out of trouble and also give you clues to
problems your machine might be having.

27. Workrave


http://www.workrave.org/


Unique but useful


Sometimes late into a writing session, my wrists get sore from too much
repetitive movement. Workrave basically jumps in before this happens
and locks down the computer for a while, preventing me from working too
much and causing repetitive stress injury. Since I’ve started using it,
it hasn’t significantly hurt my productivity at all and my wrists are
thanking me!

28. GanttPV


http://www.pureviolet.net/ganttpv/


Replaces Microsoft Project


If you do any project management (or have a need to dip your toes in
the water), GanttPV does a brilliant job of managing the task quickly,
easily, and freely. If you need to move to MS Project later, you can
export from GanttPV to Project, but once you start digging into
GanttPV, you’ll likely have no reason to use Project.

29. GnuCash


http://www.gnucash.org/


Replaces Microsoft Money or Quicken


GnuCash is a slimmed-down version of the bloated Microsoft Money and
Quicken packages, but it contains all of the features I want for
managing my money. The interfaces are incredibly simple - it functions
much like a checkbook ledger on your computer - but there’s a lot of
meat hidden throughout the software.

30. True Combat: Elite


http://www.truecombatelite.net/


Replaces Quake IV, Halo, etc.


After all this downloading, you’re going to need to blow off a little
steam, and I’ve yet to find a more enjoyable free game than this one.
It’s basically a third person combat game, but the graphics are
spectacular and the game is quite engrossing.

If you’ve downloaded and installed all of these, you’ve got access
to all the productivity software you’ll likely need, clean and open and
best of all free.

Courtesy of thesimpledollar.com

powered by performancing firefox

Boot Windows XP from a USB flash drive

by Brien M. Posey MCSE | Tech Republic

You can't boot Windows XP from a floppy disk the way you used to be able to with DOS. One handy way to easily boot XP is by using a USB flash drive. Here's how to make it work.

Almost everyone who has worked with computers for any length of time at all has run into at least one situation in which a problem left a PC unbootable. What if you could return the machine to a bootable state just by inserting a USB flash drive though? Believe it or not, it is actually possible to install a bootable copy of Windows XP onto a flash drive and then boot a PC off of the flash drive. From there, you can use applications that you have installed on the flash drive (anti virus, anti spyware, disk repair, etc.) to fix the PC's problem. In this article, I will show you how.
What's the catch?

As with most cool new techniques, there are a few catches. For starters, not every PC is capable of booting from a USB flash drive. For the most part, computers manufactured within the last two years are generally able to boot from a flash drive. Older systems may require a BIOS update, or might not be able to boot from a flash drive at all.

Another catch is that not every flash drive will get the job done. The primary factors that limit your use of a particular flash drive are capacity and speed. Technically, speed isn't really a limiting factor, but booting Windows will be painfully slow unless you use a flash drive that supports USB 2.0.

The flash drive's capacity is actually a limiting factor though. Surprisingly though, there are size limits on both the upper and lower end. Your flash drive can't be too large or too small. There isn't really a documented minimal size for a flash drive. You just need something large enough to hold Windows XP and a few applications. As you probably know, Windows XP normally consumes over a gigabyte of disk space. Later I will show you how to use a free utility to trim the excess fat off of Windows XP and make it a whole lot smaller. Even so, I still recommend that your flash drive be at least a minimum of 256 MB in size.

As I mentioned, there is a maximum size for the USB flash drive that you can use. Currently, USB flash drives exist in sizes of up to 4 GB, and 8 GB flash drives are expected to be available by the end of the year. As nice as it would be to have 8 GB to play with, the flash drive that you use for this project can be no larger than 2 GB. The reason for this is because you will have to format the flash drive using the FAT-16 file system, which has a 2 GB limit. Presently, you are stuck using FAT-16 because most computers will not recognize a flash drive as being bootable if the drive is formatted with anything other than FAT-16.
Preparing your Windows installation CD

One of the requirements for creating our bootable USB flash drive is a Windows XP with Service Pack 2 installation CD. If your Windows XP installation CD doesn't already include Service Pack 2, then you will have to make a CD that includes Service Pack 2 through a technique called slipstreaming.
Other requirements

In addition to your Windows XP installation CD, there are a couple of other things that you are going to need. For starters, you will need the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool. You can download this tool for free.

Another utility that you are going to need is Bart's Preinstalled Environment Bootable Live Windows CD / DVD, or BartPE for short. You can download this utility for free from the BartPE Web site.

In addition to the software requirements, you must verify that the PC that you will be using to create the Windows deployment has 1.5 GB of free hard disk space (minimum) and supports booting from a USB device. I also strongly recommend that the PC be running Windows XP Service Pack 2. Prior to Service Pack 2, Windows XP sometimes had trouble interacting with USB storage devices.

Read more about this article on Tech Republic!
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How To Use Your Windows Media Player To Get Free Music Downloads

By Tony Miller

In today’s article I’m going to show you an easy way to use your Windows Media Player to get unlimited free music downloads.

The first thing your going to do is open your Windows Media Player and click on the tab that says Guide.

After windowsmedia.com has finished loading you will see a screen similar to the one shown below.

Using the search feature, find a song that you want to listen to and keep. While the song is playing windows is actually downloading the song to a temporary file on your hard drive.

After the song has completely finished playing , open either My Computer or My Documents, then type in at the top:

C:\Documents and Settings\Your User Name\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files

Replace “Your User Name” with the user name you use to logon to your computer.

After you have found the song all you have to do is right click and click copy. Now go to a folder where you want to keep your music files and click paste.

You now have the option of playing the song, transferring it to an Mp3 player or whatever else you choose.

How To Increase Your Broadband Speed In 3 Minutes

Here’s a simple 3 minute tweak ( XP Pro only ) that will increase your broadband speed.

By default ( even with QoS disabled ) Windows XP reserves up to 20 percent of your connections bandwidth.

To override this reserve take the following steps.

Make sure you Log on as Administrator, not as a user with Administrator privileges.

* Start-> Run-> type gpedit.msc
* You will see [Local Computer Policy]
* Expand the [Administrative Templates] branch
* Expand the [Network] branch
* Highlight [QoS Packet Scheduler]
* Double-click [Limit Reservable Bandwidth]
* Check [Enabled]
* Change [Bandwidth limit %] to 0 %
* Click [Apply] [OK]

* Restart

Effect is immediate.

All thanks to Welcome to Saving Money

>>> How To Crack Date Protection On Free Trial Shareware

How to Speed up a Windows XP Computer

If not properly maintained, the performance of all Windows XP systems will eventually degrade. To counteract this slow-down, scheduling a computer shop visit isn't your only option; you can correct performance issues yourself. Save money and squeeze more speed out of Windows XP!

Steps

1. Remove Spyware and Viruses
   
   • Spyware and viruses are a leading cause of computer slowing. See this article to learn how to remove them.
     
   • Update and run your spyware and virus software weekly.
     
   • If you do not have tools installed to protect against malware, spyware, and viruses, download a free copy of AVG's Anti-Virus and/or Anti-Spyware software (free for personal use). Also, Microsoft's Windows Defender is a widely-used anti-spyware tool that is currently distributed freely as a Beta version.
     
     
   
   
2. Defragment Your Computer - This will place similar files physically closer on the hard disk to improve load speeds.
   
   • Click start, again, then click run.
     
   • Type, "dfrg.msc" in the text field.
     
   • Click Defrag to start it.
     
   
   
3. Perform a disk clean up.
   
   • Click start in the bottom left corner, then click run.
     
   • Type, "cleanmgr.exe" in the text field.
     
   • Press "okay". This can take a while if you have never done it before.
     
     
     
   
   
4. Remove unwanted software.
   
   
   • Click start, then click control panel.
     
   • Click add/remove programs.
     
   • Highlight any old software you do not use and then click "remove".
     
   
   
5. Stop unwanted Start-Up programs.
   
   • Click here and download StartUpCPL.
     
   • Install the software you have just downloaded.
     
   • Open control panel, select Start up.
     
   • Disable any programs you do not want load automatically.
     
     
     
   • Disable Services you do not use or need. Open control panel, open Administrative Tools, and select Services. Disabling the wrong Services may lead to serious problems that you may not notice right away. Please consult a reference such as overclockersclub.comfor information on specific Windows XP Services.
     
     
     
     
   
   
6. Make Windows load faster
   
   • Click Start, then Run.
     
   • Type in 'msconfig' and press enter.
     
   • Click on the BOOT.INI tab at the top.
     
   • Over to the right there will be a box labeled Timeout with 30 in it. Change the 30 to a 3.
     
   
   
7. Speed Up Processing Time
   
   • Turning off the fancy Windows XP graphics will noticeably increase the speed of your computer.
     
   • Go to Start, (Settings), Control Panel, System. NOTE: You may need to 'Switch to Classic Mode' to see the System applet.
     
   • Go to the Advanced tab. Click the Settings button under Performance.
     
   • Select the 'Adjust for best performance' radio button, then Apply, and OK.
     
   • The graphics aren't as flashy, but your computer will run a lot faster.
     

Tips

• If this is your first defrag, do it after the disk clean up twice, then a disk defrag, and then another disk clean up.
  
• For best results run defragmenter last after performing all other steps.
  
• Do all the above steps quite often to keep the speed of your PC going.
  
• Also, if you are willing to, there are some shells that you can use to replace explorer to free up more RAM. Installing more RAM is better but it costs more. If you can, buy your RAM on EBay or another online auction site, because the retailers like Circuit City and Office Depot have RAM marked up over 200 percent.
  

Warnings

• Always create a restore point before uninstalling software, even better before you start any step.
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Defragment Your Computer
  
• How to Alter Startup Programs in Windows XP
  
• How to Maximize the Speed of Your Internet Connection
  
• How to Back up a Computer
  
  
• How to Alter Startup Programs in Windows XP