All PC Tips

Double your uTorrent Speed!! Get Double Speed

noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:14:00 PDT

After trying all the methods available in the internet i was failed to increase uTorrent download speed maybe 1-2kb which is not worth of effort. But lucky me i got a great trick to double your uTorrent speed and this really works. Give it a try i am sure you will not be unhappy.

uTorrent: uTorrent is a software that lets you download files from multiple other people at once. Torrent technology is often faster than other forms of downloading since each user gives different parts of the same file to everyone else downloading the file. To increase the speed more just you need to do a few steps.

To start/perform this trick you have to download and install a software. Find the link below:

Download Cheat Engine 6.1

Your anti-virus may give warning just ignore that or you may have to turn off your anti-virus to download/install this software.

Install it.

Current/Before Trick uTorrent Speed:

Now run Cheat Engine and uTorrent both.

In Cheat Engine you will find one computer icon.

Click on this and now you will find one process list select uTorrent from the process list and click open.

Now again click the computer icon and select the uTorrent process and
under open you will get one option "Attach debugger to process". Click on it.

Now you will get one confirmation box. Click yes.

Now on Cheat Engine check the option "Enable Speedhack".
You will get speed box. Make it 0.5 . Click Apply.

Now Check your speed. It just increased to double.

Note: Don't Close Cheat Engine

Any Comments will be appreciate.

CPA Lead Ad | Prmium Content Area | Take a Survey | BLOCK /STOP Cpa lead

noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 11:31:00 PST

To block it

go to
C:\Windows\System 32\Drivers\etc\

Then open the file "hosts" with notepad

add the 2 lines :
127.0.0.1 www.cpalead.com
127.0.0.1 cpalead.com

to the bottom and save the file

restart your browser.

done

Firefox Not Responding | Firefox Already Running | Firefox Cannot Restart Due To Profile In Use | Close Firefox Window Appearing

noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 11:22:00 PST

Trouble:

This problem is regarding a frequent error I face these days in my computer after I upgraded to firefox 3.5. Every time when I close firefox by closing all its windows and the next time I try to start firefox the following error message box appears

If you can’t read the error message, here is the error message

Firefox is already running, but is not responding. To open a new window, you must first close the existing Firefox process, or restart your system.

This message may appear due to following known reasons like

Trouble Cause #1 – Firefox Profile Lock Not Released

The first foremost reason behind this error is when firefox is not closed down properly due to which firefox profile lock may not get released

Fix:

Fix Cause #1:

In this case firefox creates a lock on the profile getting used in firefox, but sometimes due to improper shutdown of firefox application the lock may not get released which cause the above error message to appear. In that case you will need to delete the following file from the profile folder depending on the operating system you are running.

Open the firefox profile folder and delete the following file,

"parent.lock" in Windows,
"lock" and ".parentlock" in Linux
".parentlock" in Mac OS X

The profile folder exists at following in different operating system, some of these folders may be hidden.

Operating system	Profile folder location(s)
Windows NT(NT 4.x, 2000, XP, and Vista)	"%APPDATA%\Mozilla\"
Windows 95 (without Desktop Update)	C:\Windows\Mozilla
Windows 95 (with Desktop Update)/98/Me	C:\Windows\Application Data\Mozilla\ C:\Windows\Profiles\\Application Data\Mozilla\
Unix/Linux	~/.mozilla/
Mac OS X	~/Library/Mozilla/ ~/Library/Application Support/

In order to open profile folder for windows users

Press [Windows Key]+[R] >> Type in %APPDATA% >> click OK

Note: When you try to delete the "parent.lock" file and you receive the error, "Cannot delete parent: The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable", restart the computer and run the error-checking tool Chkdsk Windows 2000, XP, Vista and 7 or Scandisk in Windows 98, ME.

Trouble Cause #2 – Firefox 3 Delayed Shutdown

This error can also occur due to delayed shutdown in firefox 3 or above due to heavy usage of Firefox or too much history remembered in some heavy profile of firefox which makes it slow and cause delayedshutdown so when you close firefox window and try to re open it too soon after it was closed you will see this error.

Fix Cause #2 – Just wait for 2-3 minutes after closing firefox to re open it again

Trouble Cause #3 – Firefox Cannot Find the Profile Folder

In this case Mozilla firefox may not be able to find the profile folder then it will report this error message, and this can happen when you delete , rename or move the profile folder or if you run firefox from a removable media storage device or when the profile folder is stored some where on the network.

Fix Cause #3 - Fix the entry in profiles.ini in profile folder

Search for the file named profiles.ini and you will find one at the following path

C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Mozilla\Firefox

Open profiles.ini in notepad

[General]
StartWithLastProfile=1

[Profile0]
Name=default
IsRelative=1
Path=Profiles/v6zui74n.default

It will look like the text written above, make sure the value of IsRelative=1 to load the default firefox profile and save it and try to start firefox. If still the problem persist then create a new profile with firefox profile manager and transfer the data from the locked profile to the new profile.

1. To create a new profile, press Windows Key + R to open run prompt

2. Type firefox.exe –p to open profile manager and create a new profile

Here is how you can transfer the data from your locked profile to new profile in firefox or backup up your data through mozbackup

The most simple way to solve this problem is to end the firefox process (firefox.exe) shown in task manager under process tab, locate it, right click and select end process, open task manager by press ctrl+shift+esc or In my case I create a desktop shortcut to force kill firefox, here is how it can be done.

1. Right click on the empty area of the desktop and select new >> desktop shortcut

2. Now copy and paste the following path in the target box

C:\Windows\System32\taskkill.exe –f –im firefox.exe

Note: –f is for force kill and –im is to kill all instances of Firefox

3. Give a name to your shortcut and click Finish

credit: troublefixers.com

SOLVED : "WINDOWS CAN'T FIND NULL" error message

noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Mon, 24 May 2010 02:14:00 PDT

This issue can be caused by any of the following possibilities.

1. Hard disk drive is short on available disk space.
2. Several software programs have been installed/uninstalled leaving behind bad files and/or confusing the software.
3. Data Corruption.
4. Computer is overheating.
5. Bad Hardware.

Below are steps for Microsoft Windows that should help speed up the computer or determine why the computer is running slow.

1. If you have a hard disk drive that is 2GB or smaller, ensure that there is at least 200MB of hard disk drive space free. If you have a hard drive larger than this size, verify that there is at least 500MB of free hard disk space. This available space allows the computer to have room for the swap file to increase in size as well as room for temporary files.
2. Run Scandisk or something equivalent to help ensure that there is nothing physically wrong with the computer hard disk drive.
3. Run Defrag to help ensure that data is arranged in the best possible order.
4. Remove or disable any or programs that automatically start each time the computer boots.
5. Verify that the device manager has no conflicts, but if conflicts are present, resolve them.
6. If you have Windows XP try deleting all files in the prefetch directory. These are prefetch files and can lower system resources if loading programs no longer being used.
7. Try running through the basic troubleshooting steps for your operating system.
8. Make sure your computer and processor is not overheating, excessive heat can cause a significant decrease in computer performance some processors will even lower the speed of the processor automatically to help compensate for the heat related issues.
9. Finally, if none of the above solutions resolve your issues, it is recommended that you either reinstall Windows or erase everything and then start over.

Windows 7 Tips and Tricks ( 70 Hacks )

noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 07:20:00 PDT

Windows 7 is much better than the latest version of Windows Vista and it comes with a lot of new features. Unfortunately, some of them aren’t so easy to figure out, so I created a list of the most important tips and tricks and a step-by-step guide that will help you apply all of these great tips and tricks.

1. PC Safeguard

I rarely let anyone use my PC because I’m afraid he will mess it up, but it seems Microsoft has been thinking at me and came with a solution. The PC Safeguard doesn’t let anyone mess your PC settings, because after the user logs off, the configurations are reset back to normal. Of course it will not restore the configurations changed by you, but only the ones done by other users you define.
To use PC Safeguard, go to Control Panel -> User Accounts and create a new account, then select “Set Up Pc Safeguard” and switch it on. Then you can stay relaxed when others use your computer, because you won’t find anything changed, including configurations, downloaded software, installed programs.

2. Screen Calibration

Fortunately, Windows 7 comes with a display calibration wizard that lets you set up the screen brightness properly, so you won’t have any problems viewing photos or text. The problem was that on one PC a photo could look sharp and bright and on another it looks awful. Now the problem can be fixed by pressing the Windows logo key and then typing “DCCW”.

3. AppLocker

If you are usually sharing your computer with someone else, then you might want to restrict their access to your applications, files or documents. Using the AppLocker tool, you have a few options to do this by blocking other users to access Executables, Windows Installers, Scripts, a specific publisher or path.
You can simply do this by pressing the Windows key then typing Gpedit.msc. Then go to Computer Navigation -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Application Control Policies -> AppLocker. Right click on one of the options (Executables, Installers, or Script) and create a new rule. That should save you from a lot of headaches.

4. Burn Images

We all had trouble with image burning in Windows, because it couldn’t do it itself, a standalone software being needed. With Windows 7 this will not be a problem anymore. All you have to do is double-click the ISO image and burn it on the CD or DVD that’s inserted in the drive.

5. Display Empty Removable Drives

Windows 7 will not show empty drives by default, so if you connect an empty drive to your PC, don’t worry, just go to Tools -> Folder Options -> View and uncheck “Hide empty drives in the computer folder”. This doesn’t seem like a good idea and it should not be default setting, because it will be hard for inexperienced users to figure it out. I bet a lot of users will return their newly bought drive thinking it’s broken.

6. Dock The Current Windows To The Left Side Of The Screen

This new feature seems useful because sometimes it’s disturbing that windows seems to float like crazy on the screen and it’s hard to attach them to one side of it. Now this can easily be done using a keyboard shortcut. Press the Windows key + Left key (arrow) to dock it to the left side of the screen.
6.1 Dock The Current Windows To The Right Side Of The Screen
Press the Windows key + Right key to dock it to the right side of the screen.

7. Display Or Hide The Explorer Preview Panel

Press ALT + P to hide it then once again to display it.
8. Display Gadgets On Top Of Other Windows
Press ALT + G

9. Background Photo Slideshow

If you are like me, lazy and bored, then you will want to change the background from time to time, wasting a lot of time. Now you don’t have to do this anymore, because you can set up a slideshow.
Right click on the desktop then go to Personalize -> Desktop Background and hold the CTRL key while choosing the images. Then you can choose the time intervals between images and opt to display them randomly or in a row.

10. Make The Taskbar Smaller

If you feel like the taskbar is using too much of your screen space, you can choose to make the icons smaller. To do this, right-click on the Start button, then go to Properties -> Taskbar and set it to “Use small icons”

11. Combine Taskbar Icons

When you have more windows or applications opened, the taskbar’s space might not be enough for them all, so you need to combine them, just like you would in Windows XP or Vista. To do this, right-click the Start button, then go to Properties -> Taskbar and check “Combine when taskbar is full”.

12. Multi-threaded File Copy

If you are a more advanced user, you’ve heard already about Robocopy. Now it’s included in Windows 7 and lets you perform multi-threaded copies from the command line. You can choose the number of threads like this “/MT[:n], which can be from 1 to 128.

13. Maximize Or Restore The Foreground Window

Press Windows Key + Up Key.
14. Minimize The Active Window
Press Windows Key + Down Key

15. Activate The Quick Launch Toolbar

The Quick Launch Toolbar in Windows XP and in Vista seems a very good idea that you might miss when using Windows 7. Fortunately though, you can get it back in a quick few steps.
Right click the taskbar, go to Toolbar -> New Toolbar and type “%UserProfile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch” into the folder box, then click Select Folder.
To make it look like it would in Windows Vista, right click the taskbar, uncheck “Lock the Taskbar”, then right click the divider and uncheck “Show Title” and “Show Text”. Then right click the taskbar and check “Show Small Icons” and you should be done.

16. Preview Photos In Windows Explorer

While in Windows Explorer, Press ALT + P and a preview should appear on the right.

17. Desktop Magnifier

Press the Windows Key and the Plus Key to zoom in or Windows Key and the Minus Key to zoom out. You can zoom anywhere on the desktop and you can even configure your magnifier. You can choose to invert colors, follow the mouse pointer, follow the keyboard focus, or the text insertion point.

18. Minimize Everything Except The Current Window

Press the Windows Key + Home Key.

19. TroubleShoot Power Management

Windows 7 can tell you how much power your system uses or provide detailed information about the power usage and issues caused by each application and device. This way you can optimize the way your battery is used, making It last longer.
Press the Windows Key and type “POWERCFG –ENERGY –OUTPUT ”, and it will create a file called energy-report.html in the folder specified by you, after observing your PC for 60 seconds.

20. Web Searches From Your Desktop

Windows 7 lets you search for online resources, by adding a connector that be downloaded for free.
For instance, go to http://www.istartedsomething.com/flickrsearch/ and download the Flickr connector. After that, you should see the Flickr Search in your searches folder and you will be able to do it directly from your desktop, without needing to visit their website.

21. Add Videos To Your Start Menu

If you were looking for a faster way to access your videos, then Windows 7 has the right answer for you.
Right click the Start button, then go to Properties -> Start Menu -> Customize and set the Videos to “Display as a link” and you’re done, you will now find them in the Start Menu.

22. Shift The Window From One Monitor To Another

If you are using two or more monitors, then you might want to move the Windows from one to another. There is a very simple way to do it.
All you have to do is press the Windows Key + Shift Key + Left or Right Key, depending on what monitor you want to move it to.

23. Custom Power Button

There is an option to replace the “Shut Down” button with another action, if you rarely shut down the computer, but you more often restart it or put it on sleep.
Right click the Start Button, go to Properties and choose the ‘Power Boot Action” to do whatever you want, from the given options.

24. Easily Add A New Font

Adding a new font it’s now easier than ever. Just download the font you want, double click it and you should see the install button.

25. Stretch The Window Vertically

You can stretch the active window vertically to the maximum display height by pressing the Windows + Shift + Up (arrow) keys. Press Windows + Down Keys if you want to restore it.

26. Open Windows Explorer

Press the Windows logo key + E to open a new instance of Windows Explorer.

27. Create A New Instance Of The First Icon In The Taskbar

Press Windows + 1 Keys to open a new instance of the first icon in the taskbar. This could prove really useful in some circumstances.

28. Windows Action Center

Windows Action Center offers you important information about your PC, like the Antivirus Status, updates, troubleshooting and provides a backup scheduling feature.
To access it, go to Control Panel -> System And Security -> Action Center.

29. Windows Troubleshooting Platform

This platform can help you solve a lot of issues you may encounter, like the internet connection, hardware devices, poor system performance and more. You can choose what to troubleshoot and it will come with some possible explanations for the problem that might really help you.
There are a lot of options, guidance and information available there, so give it a try by typing “troubleshoot” or “fix” after pressing the Windows Key.

30. Turn Off System Notifications

System notifications are usually disturbing and aren’t always useful, so you might want to turn some of them off and.
This can be done in Windows 7 by double clicking the Notification Area Icons in Control panel. There you can change notifications and icons for the Action Center, Network, Volume, Windows Explorer, Media Center Tray Applet, Windows Update Automatic Updates.

31. Turn Off Security Messages

To turn off security messages you have to go to Control Panel -> System and Security -> Action Center -> Change Action Center Settings and you can turn off the following notifications: Windows Update, Internet Security Settings, Network Firewall, Spyware and related protection, User Account Control, Virus Protection, Windows Backup, Windows Troubleshooting, Check for updates.

32. Cycle Through The Open Programs Via The Taskbar’s Peek Menu

This works just like Alt + Tab, but opens the menu just above the sidebar, doesn’t seem very useful. Give it a try by pressing The Windows Key + T.

33. Run A Program As An Administrator

You can easily run a program as an administrator by pressing Ctrl + Shift while opening it.

34. Same Program Windows Switching

If you have more instances of a program running, simply hold Ctrl while clicking on its icon and it will cycle through all the instances.

35. Auto Arrange Desktop Icons

You can now forget about the Right Click -> Auto arrange. All you have to do is hold F5 pressed for a bit and the icons will auto arrange.

36. Encrypt Removable USB Drives

Encrypting an USB drive has never been easier. Now you can right click on the removable drive and then on the “Turn on Bitlocker”.

37. Turn Off Smart Window Arrangement

If you don’t like Windows 7’s new features that arrange your windows intelligently, there’s an easy way to turn it off.
Press the Windows Logo Key, type “regedit”, go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop and set WindowArrangementActive to 0. After you reboot your system the smart arrangements will be turned off.

38. Create A System Repair Disc

Windows 7 features a tool that lets you create a bootable System Repair Disc that includes some system tools and the command prompt. To create it, press the Windows Key and type “system repair disc”.

39. Hard-Link Migration Store

The Hard-Link Migration store is only available for new computers and can migrate files, settings, and user accounts. The new Hard-Link Migration Store uses more less disk space and takes less time.

40. Turn Off ‘Send Feedback’

If for some reason, you’re still using the Beta version of Windows 7 and if you feel disturbed by “Send Feedback button”, there is a way to turn it off. Press the Windows Key and type ‘regedit’, then go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop and set FeedbackToolEnabled to 0. After you restart the computer, it shouldn’t be there anymore. Also, if you want to turn it on again, set the FeedbackToolEnabled to 3.

41. Improved Calculator

Windows 7 features an improved calculator that can do unit conversion, date calculation, gas mileage, lease, and mortgage. Also you can choose between Standard, Scientific, Programmer, and Statistic calculator.

42. Open A Folder In A New Process

Windows 7 opens all folders in the same process in order to save resources, but this means if one folder crashes, they all crash. So if you feel like that’s a risk you don’t have to take, then you have to open them all in their own processes.
To do this, hold down Shift button, right-click the drive and “Open in New Process”. Now you will be safe.

43. Problem Step Recorder

The Problem Step Recorder is a great tool that can be used in many circumstances. You can turn it on by pressing the Windows Key, then typing “PSR.exe” and click Record. Now it will record all your moves and save them as a HTML document that you can view or write descriptions to it. This can help you with troubleshooting or when writing a guidance or tutorial.

44. Free Codecs Pack

Unfortunately, Windows Media Player still isn’t able to play many audio and video files, so you will still need some codecs. But with the free codecs pack you can download here you shouldn’t have any problems.

45. Start Windows Explorer From My Computer

Windows Explorer opens in the Libraries directory by default. Most of us are used to see the My Computer page instead.
To change it to My Computer, press the Windows Key, then type “explorer”, select Properties and in the Shortcut tab type “%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /root,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}”. Now you have to right-click the Explorer icon in the Taskbar and hit “Unpin this program from the taskbar” and then drag it back from the Start Menu.

46. Clear The Desktop

If there are too many windows on the desktop, you can clear it by shaking a window from left to right and all others will minimize. To restore the other windows you have to shake the active one again.

47. Use Gadgets With UAC Turned Off

Maybe you noticed that once you turn off UAC you can’t use the gadgets anymore, as a security measure. But if you want to risk using them, there a simple way to do it, even with UAC turned off.
Press the Windows Key, type ‘regedit’, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Sidebar\Settings and create a DWORD value named AllowElevatedProcess and set its value to 1. Now you should be able to use your gadgets. If not, then reboot your PC and you should be done.

48. Fix The Media Player & Media Center MP3 Bug

If you have the final version of Windows 7, then go ahead and skip this one, since it applies only to Beta and RC versions.
Both Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center come with a bug that can damage your MP3s by filling missing metadata automatically on imported MP3 files. This can cut a few seconds from the beginning of the tracks and can prove really disturbing. This problem was fixed by Microsoft using the fix that you can download here.

49. Search Everything In Your Computer

Windows 7 offers the possibility to search all file types, including unknown ones and this could help you in some cases.
Though it is not recommended, because it’s much slower than normal search, you can give it a try by doing the following: Launch Windows Explorer, go to Tools -> Folder Options -> View and check “Try to search the content of unknown file types”. If you don’t need it anymore, don’t forget to clear it for an increase in speed.

50. Mouse Gestures

Windows 7 has not only brought gestures for those who use touchscreen devices, but for mouse users too. So, instead of right-clicking a Taskbar icon to access the jump list, you can hold left-click and drag upwards to smoothly call it up. In addition, clicking and dragging down the address bar in Internet Explorer will open the browsing history. There might be more gestures yet not discovered.

51. Configure Your Music Favorites

The Windows Media Center creates a list of favorite songs based on how often you play them, your ratings and date you’ve added them. If you aren’t comfortable with the way they thought it out, change the way it sorts your favorites by going to Tasks -> Settings -> Music -> Favorite Music.

52. Turn Off Recent Search Queries Display

Windows 7 holds and displays the recent search queries by default. This can often prove to be irritating. No need to stress though because it can be disabled.
Press the Windows Key, type “gpedit.msc”, then go to User Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Explorer and double click on “Turn off display of recent search entries”.

53. Advanced Disk Defragmentation

Fortunately, Windows 7 offers much better defragmentation than Vista and also lets you configure it a bit from the command line.
To do it, press the Windows Key and then type “CMD”.
You can defragment your hard disk from the command line by typing “defrag” and you have the following options: “/r” will defrag multiple drives simultaneously, “-a” performs a defrag analysis, “-v” prints the report, “-r” treats files with at least 64 Mb of fragments like are not fragmented, “-w” will defrag everything. An example is “defrag C: -v -w” to defrag the whole drive C.

54. How To Make Internet Explorer 8 Load Faster

If you want Internet Explorer 8 to load faster, you need to disable the add-ons that slow it down, so go to Tools -> Manage Add-ons and check the load time for each one. You can choose for yourself the ones you can live without and ones that would increase the load speed.

55. Media Center Automatic Download

Windows Media Center 12 allows you to schedule data downloads, so it can be done without disturbing you. To do it, go to Tasks -> Settings -> General -> Automatic Download Options and you can configure it to start and stop the download whenever you want.

56. Remove The Sidebar

Windows 7 doesn’t seem to feature the sidebar anymore, but it still exists and runs in the background, being launched automatically at startup. So if you want to get rid of it, there are two ways.
The easier one is to press the Windows Key, (or click Start), in the search box, type MSCONFIG.EXE, click the Startup tab and clear the Sidebar box. The hard way is to press the Windows key, type “regedit”, find and delete the registry key at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run. This can save you some RAM consumed with no use.

57. Volume Tweaking

Don’t you like that Windows 7 automatically reduces the volume when it detects PC calls? You can turn off this feature by right-clicking the speaker icon in the taskbar, go to Sounds -> Communications and get rid of it.

58. Run A Program As Another User

Windows 7 comes with the possibility to run a program both as an administrator or another user, by right clicking on the executable or shortcut while holding down the Shift key. Then you have to select “Run as another user”.

59. How To Use Virtual Hard Disk Files

You can now create and manage virtual hard disks files in Windows 7 as if they were real disks. This can allow you to use a live Windows installation on the virtual disk without the need to boot the virtual Computer. To create a virtual disk you have to press the Windows Key, right-click on Computer, then go to Manage -> Disk Management -> Action -> Create VHD. There you can specify the location and size of your virtual hard disk file.
To attach the virtual disk file, press the Windows Key, right-click Computer, then go to Manage -> Disk Management -> Action -> Attach VHD and you have to specify the location and if it’s read only or not.
To initialize a virtual hard disk, press the Windows Key, right-click on Computer, go to Manage -> Disk Management -> Action -> Attach VHD, specify the location, click Ok, then right click on the virtual disk and click on Initialize Disk. Select the partition style you want to use and then right-click on the unallocated space and click “New Simple Volume” and follow the instructions wizard. Now, a new hard drive appears in Windows Explorer and you can use it as a real partition.

60. Remove The Windows Live Messenger Tab In The Taskbar

To get rid of the Windows Live Messenger Tab and put it back in the system tray, where it belongs, go to C:\Program Files\Windows Live\Messenger, right-click msnmsdgr.exe and set its compatibility mode to Windows Vista.

61. Lock The Screen

There is no Lock Screen button in the Start Menu anymore, so you have to press the Windows Key + L to lock it, now. It seems easier, in case you don’t forget the shortkey.

62. Create A Screen Lock Shortcut

In case you don’t like shortkeys or you keep forgetting them, there’s another option for screen lock.
Simply create a new shortcut to C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe user32.dll, LockWorkStation and place it wherever you want.

63. Enable Run Command In Start Menu

If you miss the old Run Command button in XP, then there’s an option to get it back in Windows 7.
Right-click an open area in Start Menu, go to Properties -> Start Menu -> Customize and check “Run Command”. Now you should be done.

64. Improve Desktop Window Manager For Nvidia Graphics

Sometimes the animations for Desktop Window Manager don’t look very well and aren’t smooth enough and this is cause because Desktop Window Manager renders effects with no transparency and blurring, but you can turn off animations for more pleasant graphics.
Press the Windows Key, right-click on Computer, go to Properties -> Advanced System Settings -> Performance -> Settings and clear “Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing”. Click OK to finnish.

65. Change Default Save Location For Files

Windows 7 is a bit different from Vista, because it saves Documents, Pictures, Videos and Music under the Public folder inside C:\Users. You might not want to save your documents, pictures, videos or music to this location, but create your own locations and you can do it quite easy.
Press the Windows Key, click your username and double-click on the folder you wish to change. Then you will see Includes: 2 library locations. Click on that text, right-click on the folder you wish to set like default and click “Set as default file location”, then click Ok.

66. Make 64bit Windows Media Player Default (only for X64 users)

Windows comes with the 32bit version of Media Player by default. If you are a x64 user, you can keep the system cleaner by only installing one set of codecs.
To do this, press the Windows Key, type “command”, right-click on Command Prompt and hit “Run as administrator”, then type “unregmp2.exe /SwapTo:64?”. After that, press the Windows Key, type “regedit”, go to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\wmplayer.exe\, double click on value and change “%ProgramFiles(x86)” to “%ProgramFiles%”. Now you should be using the 64bit Windows Media Player.

67. Open Multiple Instances Of Windows Explorer Via The Taskbar

If you want to run more instances of the Windows Explorer just by hitting the startbar, you can do it by following these steps:
Unpin Windows Explorer from the Taskbar, then press the Windows Key, go to Accessories, right-click Windows Explorer, go to Properties and change the shortcut path to %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /root,::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D} ( if you want it to default to My Computer ) or %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe /root,::{031E4825-7B94-4dc3-B131-E946B44C8DD5} ( if you want it to default to Libraries ). Now repin Windows Explorer to your Taskbar and you’re done.
All that is required for opening more instances of it is just a click of the middle mouse button. If you aren’t pleased with what you’ve done, change the shortcut path back to %SystemRoot%\explorer.exe.

68. Make The System Tray Clock Show The AM / PM Symbols

By default Windows 7 does show the time in 24 hour format, so if you want to get the AM / PM symbols, press the Windows Key, type “intl.cpl” to open Regional and Language Options, go to Additional Settings -> Time where Long Time is set to HH:mm and change it to HH:mm tt, for example, where tt is the AM or PM symbol ( 21:12 PM ). To change it to the 12 hour format, you need to type it like this hh::mm tt ( 9:12 PM ).

69. Internet Explorer 8 Compatibility Mode

If your websites don’t render correctly, you might need to enable Internet Explorer 8 display them in compatibility view. This issue is because of the updated rendering engine, which causes a lot of trouble. To do it, open Internet Explorer, go to Tools -> Compatibility View Settings and check “Display all websites in compatibility view”, then click Ok.
That’s it! There you go – 70 very useful tips and tricks for Microsoft Windows 7. Maybe you knew some of these but I’m sure there are some that you did not heard of. They can prove very useful and can save you a lot of time while using Windows 7.
I’m sure you’re asking yourself where’s the tip number 70? Ok, the tip or advice that will help you work faster and more efficiently, with less frustration is…

70. Just Don’t Use Windows Vista

Yes, this is very useful tip and it is strongly recommended. In fact, I should have put this one on the top of the list, so you better apply it… for your own good.

Hapy New Year

noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 11:20:00 PST

WINDOWS 7:Shortcut Keys

noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:54:00 PST

WINDOWS 7: Things u need to know

noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:28:00 PST

1. Add Search Providers to Windows 7

Windows 7 allows you to search remote website databases from your desktop, using open

standards like Open Search and RSS. Here are some of the popular and useful search

providers you can add to Windows 7:

    * Bing (via Chakkaradeep)
    * Flickr (via Long Zheng)
    * Twitter (via Chakkaradeep)
    * YouTube
    * eBay
    * Google News
    * Digg
    * Deviant Art

You can install these and additional connectors from Windows 7 forums, or get a pack with

multiple search providers here.

These search connectors work even within Windows Common Dialogs, such as the Insert Picture

dialog from PowerPoint or any other application. You can even drag and drop Flickr images

from Explorer search results to copy them to your desktop, without opening any web browser.

2. Single Click Screen Lock

You can lock your computer using the Win+L keyboard shortcut. Here’s another way to do it

with a single mouse click. Right-click on your desktop, select New, Shortcut. In Type the

location of the item, enter rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation. Click Next, name the

shortcut ‘Quick Lock’, and Finish.

If you wish, you can make it look pretty by giving it a lock or keys icon: Right-click,

select Properties, click Change Icon, enter shell32.dll, and select any icon you wish. Drag

this shortcut and pin it to the taskbar, after which you can delete the desktop shortcut.

3. Customize Sticky Notes

You can format your Sticky Notes, by selecting text and using different keyboard shortcuts

as shown in this screen capture:

4. Use New Accessories

Don’t forget to use the revamped accessories in Windows 7. With WordPad, you can open and

save Office 2007 .docx and Open Document .odt documents.

The improved Calculator can convert units, and calculate dates, fuel economy, mortgage and

lease payments.

Paint has new brush strokes, shapes, and grid support. Paint and WordPad have Print Preview

and the Ribbon UI, which brings customizability and live formatting previews.

5. Use Check Boxes in Windows Explorer

You can select non-adjacent files in Explorer using Ctrl-click, but there is an easier way

using check boxes. In Explorer, click Organize, then select Folder and search options.

On the View tab, under Advanced Settings, scroll down to select Use check boxes to select

items. Now you can easily select multiple items using only the mouse.

6. Shortcut to Run Program as Administrator

You can Ctrl+Shift+Click on a taskbar icon to run the application as an Administrator with

full rights (provided your account has permissions). Simply Shift+Right-Click on any

program shortcut to run it as a different user, if for example you need higher privileges

when logged in with your child’s account.

7. Boost performance with ReadyBoost

ReadyBoost improves your system performance by using faster USB Flash Drives instead of

slower hard disks for system operations. It works best using flash drives with at least 1

GB of storage. Simply insert your flash drive, and if it meets certain performance

benchmarks, Windows 7 will ask you if you want to use it for ReadyBoost and recommend the

size to reserve.

8. Tweak Windows Search/Defender Services

By default, Windows indexes all files appearing under all your libraries, email, and

offline files. You can reduce the time and resources spent in indexing by tweaking this to

your actual needs.

Go to Control Panel, then Indexing Options. Windows 7 shows a list of locations currently

being indexed. Click on Modify to choose only those locations where you perform frequent

searches.

You can also disable Windows Search and Windows Defender services, which can take up system

resources. If you do not search for files, images, documents, etc. using Windows Explorer,

or use another search/indexing program, then you should disable Windows Search service. If,

and only if, you use a third-party anti-virus program that is also anti-malware (the best

ones are), you can also disable the Windows Defender service.

Go to Start, enter and run msconfig. From the Services tab, uncheck the box for the service

you wish to disable, and reboot for the changes to take effect.

9. Secure USB Drives with BitLocker

Secure your USB flash drives using BitLocker encryption. Right-click on your USB drive in

My Computer, select Turn on BitLocker and follow the instructions to protect sensitive data

on your thumb drives.

The next time you use your USB drive on another computer, it will prompt you for the

password before allowing you read-only access to your flash drive. You can even use the

drive on older computers running Windows XP/Vista.

10. Create a System Recovery Disc

A system recovery disc helps you in situations where Windows cannot start successfully.

Your Windows 7 installation disc also serves as a recovery disc. When Windows 7 comes pre-

installed on computers, you will need to create a system recovery disc.

Click Start, enter and run recdisc.exe. Insert a blank CD/DVD in your burner, and click

Create Disc.

**Caution**

Follow the next two tips only if you’re knowledgeable enough to edit the Windows registry.

Before making any changes, make sure you back up your registry as described earlier on

MakeUseOf.

11. Faster Thumbnail Previews

thumbnailpreviewThe taskbar shows thumbnail previews of opened windows when you hover the

mouse over the program icon. By default, it takes a little time for the preview to appear.

Make the previews appear faster with this registry tweak:

Go to Start, enter and run regedit. Navigate to

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse. On the right, open the MouseHoverTime key and reduce its value from the default 400 to around 150.



Be careful, as decreasing it further may cause problems.





12. Faster Shutdown



Start regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control. Find the 



WaitToKillServiceTimeout key on the right, double-click to edit and change it from the 



default 12000 (12 seconds) to 2000 (2 seconds) or above.



This setting tells Windows how long to wait before prompting you that a service is not 



responding to the shut down request. This may help speed up your shutdown if you have any 



such services running.



WINDOWS 7: Some Tips and Tricks
noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:21:00 PST
* Windows key + Left: docks current window to the left side of the screen.



* Windows key + Right: docks current window to the right side of the screen.

    * Windows key + Up: maximizes and/or restores foreground window.



    * Windows key + Down: minimizes active window.



    * If you want a more Vista-esque taskbar rather than the superbar (why anyone would revert is beyond me), right-click the Taskbar, go to Properties, check the ‘Use small icons’ option, then change the “Taskbar Buttons” option to ‘Never combine.’



    * Windows 7 now burns ISO files themselves instead of making users grapple with third-party applications.



    * For those lucky people with a multi-monitor setup, Windows + SHIFT + Left (or Right) will shift a window from monitor to monitor.



    * Gone is the “Add Font” dialog. It’s been replaced with a much nicer system. Download a font and double-click it (you’ll be greeted with the familar font window, but you should notice it now has a ‘Install’ button).



    * Windows 7 now includes Gabriola. This is an elaborate display typeface that takes advantage of OpenType layout to create a variety of stylistic sets.



    * If you press Windows + 1, it will create a new instance of the first icon in the task bar. This is handy if you do a lot of coding and need to open several instances of a program.



    * If you right-click on a Taskbar icon, it brings up the much talked about Jump List. However, the same can be done by clicking with the left mouse button and dragging the icon “out” (so to speak). This was specifically designed for touch-enabled computers, such as your lovely HP TouchSmart PC.



    * To run a program as an Administrator, it’s now as easy as holding CTRL + SHIFT when you open the application.



    * you can now create a ‘System Repair Disc.’ This is a CD bootable version of Windows 7 that includes the command prompt and a suite of system tools. Very handy for those really tough spots (which, with this still in beta, could be just around the corner). To get to this, simply open the Start Menu and type: “system repair disc” in the search field.









WINDOWS 7: Set the Taskbar Buttons to Show Text Instead of Icons-Only
noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:17:00 PST
Unlike the Windows of old, Windows 7 uses an icon-only Taskbar. If you find this difficult to use, you can return the buttons back to the way they used to be so that the button displays a label for the open file or application.



1. Right-click on an empty portion of the Taskbar and select Properties.



2. Go to the Taskbar buttons section and use the dropdown to change it from Always combine, hide labels to Never combine.



3. Click the OK button.







WINDOWS 7:Upgrade easily from Windoes Vista
noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:14:00 PST
Step 1: The checks



First off, you would want to make sure your existing hardware can support Windows 7. Windows XP has been out for a long time and your hardware might not support the newer and comparatively more demanding versions of Windows like Windows 7. These are the official system requirements:



    * 1 GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)

    * 1 GB of RAM (32-bit); 2 GB of RAM (64-bit)

    * 16 GB of available disk space (32-bit); 20 GB of available disk space (64-bit)

    * DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver



You can use the Windows 7 Upgrade advisor to see if your computer will run Windows 7. Once you are sure that you are good to go, hop up to the next step.



Step 2: Backup and Migration





It is always a good idea to have backup of your important files and settings that you worked so hard to create. We have shown you various applications to backup your files and settings in the past. If you would rather not install any new software, a simple copy and paste would suffice for the time being. Just make sure to include everything you might need. While you might have set up your folders differently according to your taste, here are some key locations that you should check out and decide if you would like to back them up:



    * My Documents

    * My Music

    * My Pictures

    * (If you have more than one user account on your computer, make sure to back up their files as well)

    * Your projects folders and files, if it is your work computer

    * Browser bookmarks, saved passwords, etc.

    * Other program data under %AppData% (This doesn’t always work. It is better if you use respective applications to export settings)



Another option you can use to quickly backup and transfer your settings is the Windows Easy Transfer tool that you can find on the Windows 7 DVD. Browse to the folder named support and then to migwiz on your Windows 7 DVD and launch migsetup.exe. This will launch the Windows Easy Transfer tool.



upgrade Windows XP to Windows 7



Choose how you would like to transfer the settings:



upgrade Windows XP to Windows 7



and then select what to transfer:



upgrade XP to Windows 7



and Windows Easy Transfer will do the rest and give you a file you can store, on say a flash drive to transfer the settings to new installation later.



Step 3: Drivers



Next up are the drivers. It is always a good idea to search your computer manufacturer’s website to see if they have newer drivers for Windows 7. Older drivers may not always work, or may not work as intended. This is especially true for drivers made for Windows XP. I was able to use an XP display driver with Windows 7 beta but it didn’t work when Windows 7 RC came out. You might have more luck with Vista drivers on Windows 7, but nothing is guaranteed. So if you are trying to get older drivers to work, you better be prepared to play around after installation.



Step 4: Install



Finally, you are ready to install Windows 7. Pop in the DVD and restart your computer. Boot from the DVD and follow the prompts to install Windows 7.



Choose Custom (Advanced install) when given the choice:



Then choose the system drive (which was your C: on Windows XP) as the partition you would like to set up Windows 7.



Wait for the installation to complete, and boot into Windows 7 once you are done.



Now that you have Windows installed there are few additional steps you should take before you are ready to go. First off, make sure you install an antivirus before you start browsing the web or transferring files using USB drives. MS Security Essentials, AVG, Avast and Antivir are good free choices. You might want to look into commercial ones if you want something better. ESET and Kaspersky are good choices over there .



Install your favorite applications now. This would be a good time to get the latest versions if you have been postponing pending software updates. Looking for some software recommendations? Check out the Mark pack.



don’t forget to restore the settings you backed up earlier. If you went the copy-paste route, its time to do some more copy-paste. If you used Windows Easy Transfer instead, click on Start button and type Windows Easy transfer, launch the application and let it know that this is your new computer, then browse to the location you stored those settings to and let it do the rest.









WINDOWS 7:How to Show AM / PM Symbols in System Tray Clock
noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:09:00 PST
Windows 7 doesn't show AM/PM symbols in system tray clock. Also it shows the time in 24 hour format i.e. 18:03



If you want to get back the AM / PM symbols, then this tutorial will help you.



1. Type intl.cpl in RUN or start menu search box and press Enter. It'll open Regional and Language Options window.



2. Now click on "Addition Settings" button.



3. Go to "Time" tab and you'll see the value of "Long time" will be set to HH:mm:ss. Just add tt at last of the value, i.e. change the value to HH:mm:ss tt



4. If you want to show the time in 12 hour format (06:30 instead of 18:30), then change the value to hh:mm:ss tt



5. That's it. Click on Apply button and you'll get the AM / PM symbols back in system tray clock.







WINDOWS 7: Registry Hack to Enable Aero
noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:04:00 PST
Aero Glass Transparency Effect one of best features of Windows Vista is also extended to Windows 7. However the hardware requirement to enable aero in windows 7 is much higher then average users can have.





1. Click on Start and type regedit at run



2. Now Navigate to the following registry key:



    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\DWM



3. In the right details pane, create following Three DWORD (32-bit value) entry



UseMachineCheck, and set its value to 0.



Blur, and set its value to 0.



Animations, and set its value to 0.



4. Close Regedit



5. Click on Start and type CMD with administrative Priviliges



6. Now type following command



Net Stop uxsms



Net Start uxsms



Above command will stop and start Desktop Window Manager Session Manager.



7. Now Attempt to Enable Aero by right clicking on desktop-> Personalize ->Windows Colors.



This Registry Hack to enable Aero in Windows 7 can also be used on Windows 7 install on Virtual Machine like Virtual PC 2007 but this wont work on Vmware Player which doesn’t have DirectX 9 or support physical machine video Drives.







WINDOWS 7: Enable or Disable Taskbar Thumbnails Preview
noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:01:00 PST
Windows 7 Taskbar Thumbnail Previews



Windows 7 Taskbar is completely different from Windows Vista and XP. Windows 7 taskbar also know as super bar .It has bigger icons, no more title text of windows, thumbnail preview, jump list, pinning option etc.



Since most of the windows 7 users are not comfortable with taskbar thumbnail previews feature why not disable taskbar thumbnail preview. 





1. Click on start and type on search bar gpedit.msc and press enter



2. Now navigate to User Configuration, Administrative Templates, and Start Menu and Taskbar in left pan of Group Policy Editor



3. Locate “Turn off Taskbar Thumbnails” in right pan of Group policy editor and double click on it.



4. Select Disable click apply and Press ok



5. Now check your Taskbar, it shouldn’t show Thumbnails Preview .



Please Note: Taskbar Thumbnail Preview only works when you have Enabled Aero in Windwos 7.







WINDOWS 7: Hidden Themes
noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:57:00 PST
Windows 7 by default has only few themes available for customization. There is some hidden themes available for certain regional countries such as Australia, Canada, Great Britain, United States and South Africa.



To get those do the following steps



1. Open Windows Explorer and click Organize.



2. Select Folder and Search Options and navigate to the View tab.



3. Select Show hidden files, folders and drivers and uncheck Hide protected operating system files (Recommended). Click Yes, if prompted for confirmation.



4. Click OK and now browse to the folder: Windows\Globalization\MCT.



5. There are five folders here with the name with format MCT-XX (where XX is AU, CA, GB, US, or ZA)

which represents globalization settings for each region. Go into the folder that you want to activate its theme.

Note that AU, CA and ZA regions have the same themes.



6. Open the Theme folder inside the selected region folder.



7. Double click on the XX.theme file to apply the theme to the Windows 7 desktop system. Once a theme is executed and activated, the theme will be available and saved into Personalization options, so that user can select this theme directly from the personalization settings.



8. Now to go to Folder Options to reverse the first 5 steps to hide the hidden and protected system files and folders again.









WINDOWS 7: Starting explorer from My Computer
noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:54:00 PST
To do this, navigate to Windows Explorer in the Start Menu (it's in the Accessories folder).



Then edit the properties and change the target to read:



%SystemRoot%\explorer.exe ::{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}







WINDOWS 7: Get Quick Launch toolbar back
noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:51:00 PST
Get Quick Launch toolbar back



   1. Right-click the taskbar, choose Toolbars / New Toolbar.



   2. In the folder selection dialog, enter the following string and hit OK.



      %userprofile%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch



   3. Turn off the "lock the taskbar" setting, and right-click on the divider. Make sure that "Show text" and "Show title" are disabled and the view is set to "small icons".



   4. Use the dividers to rearrange the toolbar ordering to choice, and then lock the taskbar again.







Removing The Recycle Bin
noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:21:00 PDT
To remove the Recycle Bin from you desktop, follow these steps:



1. Click on the Start button and select Run

2. Type in 'regedit' and press OK

3. Look for this string:



HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\Namespace



4. Click on the 'Namespace' string in the left pane

5. Delete the 'Recycle Bin' string in the right pane.

6. Close regedit and reboot your computer







Running CHKDSK In Windows XP!
noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 12:21:00 PDT
One way to run a chkdsk (this is like Scandisk that was with Win9X), is to



1. Double click on My Computer 

2. Right click on the drive you want to check 

3. Select Properties 

4. Click on the Tools tab 

5. Click on the Check Now button 

6. Check to Automatically fix file system errors - This is the same as running chkdsk /f 

7. If you want to Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors, check that box - This is the same as running chkdsk /R. It can also add a lot of time to the scan 

8. Reboot if necessary 

You can also run chkdsk from the command line with will give you more options.



The following switches are available:

/F - fix any errors

/R - identifies bad sectors

/V - with FAT32, displays a verbose output

With NTFS Volumes:

/I - Performs simpler check (stage 2)

/C - Skips the checking of cycles within folder structures

/X - Forces the volume to dismount if necessary. Intended for server administrators and should be avoided for normal use.







Remove Items from the Add/Remove list
noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:21:00 PDT
If you share your computer with other people in your house and they have a habit of uninstalling programs from the Add/Remove list, or you don't want them seeing what is installed on your computer, you can take out any program from the list without actually uninstalling it. Just follow these steps.



  1. Click on your Start button, select Run and type in regedit

  2. Look for this key:

     HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Uninstall

  3. Look for the program you want to hide under the Uninstall

     subkey and highlight it (If you see all numbers and

     letters, highlight that key and look in the right pane

     for the programs name)

  4. Select Export from the File menu and select a name and

     location for the .reg file that will be created

  5. Now delete the program under the Uninstall subkey

If you ever decide to uninstall a program, simply double-click on the .reg file to restore the uninstall data then launch the Add/Remove Programs.







Remove The Shortcut Arrows
noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:21:00 PDT
If you want to remove those irritating arrows from your desktop shortcut icons and not change their properties, follow these steps:



1. Right-click on an empty space on the Desktop

2. Select 'Properties'

3. Click on the 'Appearance' tab

4. Select 'Item' then Scroll for 'Icon'

5. Change the default size of 32 to 30

6. Click 'Apply'







Make your PC boot faster
noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:01:00 PDT
1. Take a moment to defrag



To improve performance in applications, including booting, is to make sure the drive is defragged. When a drive is fragmented, chunks of each file are scattered so in order to read them, the hdd's read/write head has to jump all over the platters wich takes time. By defragging, your files are arranged in sequential order. Use any defragmentation utility like Diskeeper. 



2. Clean the rest of the startup folders



To find which apps are loading every startup, click Start, Run then type MSCONFIG, then click the startup tab. Every item in this tab checked runs every time you boot, so cleaning the list will shave your boot time especially on systems with tons of apps. Anything having to do with your display, antivirus or spyware utilities can stay. If you dont know something, it is better to leave it be. If you are sure it is junk, delete it.







3. Prefetch (For Windows XP only)



Whenever you run a program or open a file, Windows will add bits of the file to the prefetch folder on your harddrive so the next time you open that app, Windows can deliver it to you faster. Sometimes Windows prefetches items you do not need, sucking system resources. You can see what Windows is prefetching by going to C:\Windows\Prefetch. Go to the prefetch folder by clicking start, run and type prefetch. Delete all files that are there. Next, open Regedit then navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters. Look for the “EnablePrefetcher” in the right side pane. Right click & click Modify. If you change the value to 2, it will prefetch only boot items. Type in 3 and it will prefetch apps and boot items. I recommend typing 2. Close Regedit then restart your computer to save your changes.



(Note: Backup this key first before you edit your registry)



4. Disable the splash screen (For Windows XP only)



Every time you boot, you see the same XP splash screen since 2001. Disable this and get a couple seconds of your boot time. To disable, open MSCONFIG, and go to the boot.ini tab. Check the /NOGUIBOOT box, click apply then ok, then restart your pc. 

(Note: it will just affect the logo of WinXP on startup, no damage will be made)



5. Tweak your BIOS



The last of relatively simple tweaks will require you to enter your computer's BIOS. To enter it, you must press F2 or DEL key as soon as you turn onyour pc. IF you dont have a floppy drive, it is reccomended to disable your floppy controller. Also. for max boot speed, your hard drive (C:) must be the first boot device. Enable the Quick POST and Fast Boot. Then, disable any unused I/O devices, such as parallel ports, save changes, then reboot your pc.

(remember to backup your old bios settings first)





5. Upgrade your hardware!



If you have gone through all the tweaks listed here, and your machine is still slow, the only way to improve performance is to buy a faster hard drive. Because much of the boot process involve disk reads, a 10,000rpm hard drive will speed things along.









Fix A Corrupt Boot.ini File In Windows XP
noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 11:59:00 PDT
As the Windows XP operating system begins to load, the Ntldr program refers to the Boot.ini file to determine where the operating system files reside and which options to enable as the operating system continues to load. So if there's a problem rooted in the Boot.ini file, it can render Windows XP incapable of booting correctly.



If you suspect that Windows XP won't boot because Boot.ini has been corrupted, you can use the special Recovery Console version of the Bootcfg tool to fix it. Of course, you must first boot the system with the Windows XP CD and access the Recovery Console!



To use the Bootcfg tool, from the Recovery Console command prompt, type Bootcfg /parameter



Where /parameter is one of the required parameters listed in the table below. 



Parameter And Description

/Add

Scans the disk for all Windows installations and allows you to add any new ones to the Boot.ini file.



/Scan

Scans the disk for all Windows installations.



/List

Lists each entry in the Boot.ini file.



/Default

Sets the default operating system as the main boot entry.



/Rebuild

Completely re-creates the Boot.ini file. The user must confirm each step.



/Redirect

Allows the boot operation to be redirected to a specific port when using the Headless Administration feature. The Redirect parameter takes two parameters of its own:

[Port Baudrate ] | [UseBiosSettings].



/Disableredirect

Disables the redirection.









Make A Folder Private In Windows XP
noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 12:01:00 PDT
There is a way to keep people who use your PC from viewing your files: You can make every folder under My Documents private--meaning only you can access these folders and their contents. Anyone else is denied access. To make your My Documents folder private:



1. Right-click My Documents and then click Properties.

2. Click the Sharing tab and select the Do Not Share This Folder checkbox.

3. Click OK.



Now all your folders and files are private. If you don't need this much privacy, you don't have to protect everything. You can simply follow the steps above to make individual folders private instead.







To Install Windows Components After An Installation!
noreply@blogger.com (Hirak Chattopadhyay) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 12:00:00 PDT
1. Log on to the computer as an administrator.



Note: You must be logged on to the computer as either an administrator or a member of the Administrators group to complete this procedure. 



2. Click Start, and then click Control Panel. 





3. In Control Panel, double-click Add or Remove Programs. 





4. Click Add/Remove Windows Components.



The Windows Components Wizard starts and the Windows Components screen appears. 

The components that are available are:



- Accessories and Utilities 

- Fax Service 

- Indexing Service 

- Internet Explorer 

- Internet Information Services (IIS) 

- Management and Monitoring Tools 

- Message Queuing 

- MSN Explorer 

- Networking Services 

- Other Network File and Print Services 

- Update Root Certificates 



Note: Internet Information Services (IIS) and Message Queuing are not included in Windows XP Home Edition. They are available only in Windows XP Professional. 



5. You can either click to select or click to clear each check box to add or remove a component.



Note: A shaded box means that only part of the component can be installed. 



6. To observe what is included in a component, click the component, and then click Details.



Note If the Details button is unavailable, the component does not have any subcomponents that are associated with it. 



7. Follow the instructions in the Windows Components Wizard.



Note: Certain Windows components need to be configured before they can be used. If you installed one or more of these components, and you did not configure them, and then you clicked Add/Remove Windows Components, a list of components that you must configure appears. To configure a component, click Configure, and then follow the instructions on the screen. To add a new component, click Components, and then follow the instructions in the Windows Components Wizard.