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