Faster Start-Up on Xp

If your computer takes a long time to become useable after starting up or logging on, or you want a clean boot of Winodws XP try this,

Click Start > Run > Type "msconfig" > On the Startup tab click Disable All and on the Services tab check the Hide All Microsoft Service box and then click Disable All. Click Restart and Windows XP will restart with only the system services and applications running resulting in a vey fast logon / startup.

N.B This tweak will disable all non-system startup sevices and applications so if you have anything you want to run in the background such as anti virus software do not disable that item.

ReadyBoost Info

ReadyBoost helps your computer by giving it more high-speed memory. If your computer is running low on RAM then it has to kick a lot of applications out of high-speed physical memory to the paging file on your hard drive. This usually results in a big hit in performance and increased activity on your hard drive. ReadyBoost helps this situation by giving Windows an alternative to having to stick data into the slow paging file on your hard drive. Instead, ReadyBoost uses a USB storage device that is faster than a hard disk. This results in a performance boost because Windows will have a high speed alternative than using the slow paging file on your hard drive.

In order for ReadyBoost to work, it requires a USB storage device that meets minimum performance and space requirements:

* The device must be at least 64 MB
* The device must be USB 2.0
* It has to be able to read at 3.5 MB/s
* It has to be able to write at 2.5 MB/s

If you are unsure if your USB storage device meets these requirements, just give it a try anyways. To get started using ReadyBoost, follow these steps:

1. Plug in USB storage device.
2. Go to Computer and right click on the removable storage device and select Properties.
3. If your device is compatible, you will see a ReadyBoost tab. Click on that.
4. Select Use this device and select the amount of space on it you want to dedicate for the ReadyBoost system file.
5. Click OK and you are finished.

If you have more questions about ReadyBoost, check out Tom Archer's blog. He has a great FAQ about ReadyBoost posted.

Via vistatweak

Aero Snap

Windows 7 includes the new Aero Snap feature that allows you to easily work with multiple windows at once by neatly sizing both windows automatically. For Windows Vista and XP users a cool utility called FreeSnap will provide much of the same functionality with a exhaustive list of keyboard shortcuts.

To get started, download the latest version of FreeSnap.

Once you have FreeSnap installed and running you will have the following keyboard shortcuts available to you:

* Win key + Up Arrow – Snap top
* Win key + Down arrow – Snap bottom
* Win key + Left arrow – Snap left
* Win key + Right arrow – Snap right
* Win key + Home - Move to top-left corner
* Win key + Page Up – Move to top-right corner
* Win key + End – Move to bottom –left corner
* Win key + Page Down – Move to bottom-right corner
* Win key + 5 – Center window/next monitor
* Win key + Plus – Resize up
* Win key + Minus – Resize down
* Win key + Shift + Up arrow – Grow top
* Win key + Shift + Down arrow – Grow bottom
* Win key + Shift + Left arrow – Grow left
* Win key + Shift + Right arrow – Grow right
* Win key + Ctrl + Up arrow – Shrink top
* Win key + Ctrl + Down arrow – Shrink bottom
* Win key + Ctrl + Left arrow – Shrink left
* Win key + Ctrl + Right arrow – Shrink right
* Win key + . (period) – Minimize
* Win key + Enter – Maximize
* Win key + / – Close
* Win key +? – Help

Speed up internet Browsing

When you type in a domain name such as wingeek.com in your browser the computer must resolve the friendly name into an IP address of the server to download the web page and supporting files. Windows uses a DNS (domain name system) server to lookup this information. By default, Windows uses your ISP’s DNS server. Depending on your provider, the performance of their DNS resolving server varies. Some large national providers are known to provide unreliable and slow DNS servers.

The performance of the DNS server you are using is one component that affects the speed of your internet browsing. Since each domain name you type in must be resolved into an IP address, the amount of time that takes will delay the loading of any web page. Some users with overloaded ISP DNS servers can see delays in multiple seconds before web pages start to load.

OpenDNS provides free alternative DNS servers that anyone can use with any internet provider. Unlike many national internet providers, OpenDNS’s DNS servers are very fast and reliable. Using OpenDNS servers instead of your ISP servers will help you speed up your internet browsing by cutting down on the delay between resolving a domain name and getting the IP address so your browser can start loading the web page.

Configuring your computer to use OpenDNS servers instead of your ISP’s is a simple change that works in both Windows XP and Windows Vista:

1. Click on the Start Button and type in ncpa.cpl and hit Enter. In Windows XP Click on the Start Button, click Run and then type in ncpa.cpl
2. Right click on your active network connection that you use to connect to the Internet and select Properties.
3. On the Networking / General tab, select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) (version 4 on Windows Vista) and hit Properties.
4. On the properties screen, select Use the following DNS server addresses and then type in 208.67.222.222 in the preferred and 208.67.220.220 in the alternate boxes.


5. Hit OK twice and you are finished.

Visit OpenDNS.com to learn more about some of the advanced features of OpenDNS on top of the speed benefits.

Convert FAT 32 to NTFS (for stability)

To change from FAT 32 to NTFS file system for more stability, security and less fragmentation, open the command prompt and type:

Convert C: /FS:NTFS

"C" being the drive you wish to convert. Make sure there is a space between the C: and the forward slash (/). Once you press enter it will ask you for confirmation and press Y. Then press Y and enter once more to reboot.. This also works for windows XP Home.

A Little Aero Tweak for Vista Users

The transparent glass in Windows Vista computer can look very nice. However, on some computers that have underpowered video adapters will see a performance hit when running the transparent glass effect. One way to speed up Windows Vista and still get the benefits of aero, such as flip 3D and taskbar thumbnails, is to disable glass transparency.

1. Click on the desktop and select Personalize.
2. Select Windows Color and Appearance.
3. Uncheck Enable Transparency.

XP Speedy Graphics

Windows XP has a lot of new cool looking visual elements, however, those new elements take up more RAM and cause your computer to be less responsive. By tweaking your graphics settings, you can increase the performance of your computer.

To get started, Let's reduce the color quality. This setting determines how many colors are displayed on your screen.

1. Right click on your desktop and select properties.
2. Click on the settings tab and adjust the color quality drop down box to Medium (16 Bit).
3. Click OK.

Next, let's use the windows performance settings to optimize your computer for performance. This will revert back to the old Windows 2000 look as well as take away a lot of the fancy graphics effects. However, if you are really into performance, this is the price you have to pay.

1. Right click on the My Computer icon on your desktop or in your start panel and select properties.
2. Next, Click on the Advanced tab and hit the setting button under performance.
3. On the visual effects tab, select Adjust for Best Performance and hit OK.
4. Hit OK once more to exit system properties.

Now your computer will run slightly faster!