Whenever Windows stumbles across a file type it doesn’t recognise you are will see a message box that says Windows cannot open this file’ and gives you the option to ‘Use the Web Service’, to find the necessary program. I don’t know about you but I can’t recall a single instance where it has worked and it’s usually much quicker just to Google the file name or extension. Well, thanks to the clever folk at ‘howtogeek’ here’s a way to zap that dialogue box and go straight to the Programs list, that you would get if you chose the second option. It works in both XP and Vista and involves editing the Registry, so pay attention, and bear in mind the usual warnings and disclaimers about backing up the Registry first, and not messing with it if you don’t know what you are doing.
Begin by opening the Registry Editor (‘regedit’ in Run on the Start menu) and pop along to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\
If there is a key called Explorer skip the next step, if not create one by right-click Policies then New > Key and rename it ‘Explorer’ (without the quotes). The Explorer key should now be open in the right hand pane, right click into it and select New > DWORD Value, rename that to: ‘NoInternetOpenWith’, right-click it, select Modify and change the Value to 1. (Changing the Value to 0, or deleting the key will reset the hack). That’s it, close Regedit, there’s no need for a reboot, so all that remains is to try it out by creating a file with an unrecognised extension and see what happens whenyou try to open it.
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Written by Jason on April 24th, 2008 with no comments.
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How would you like to completely protect your PC from viruses, malware and the myriad of nasties floating around the Internet? Of course you would, but even with the best security software available there’s always the chance something will get through, but maybe there is a solution…
What we have here is a freeware program called Returnil Virtual System that creates a sacrificial ‘mirror’ or clone of your system on a virtual partition on your hard drive. Your PC boots into the virtual system, so your original system remains isolated and protected. If something does make it through your defences no harm is done, you just reboot and any changes the malicious software has made are automatically erased and you reboot into a newly created system.
It’s a bit like The Matrix, a PC within a PC, spooky and quite tricky to get your head around at first but once you get used to it, it makes a lot of sense and your PC will become virtually bullet-proof.
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Written by Jason on April 2nd, 2008 with no comments.
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One of the things which are never too fast is the computer speed. Everybody complains, there are a lot of programs that promise us help, but in reality, they have a very small influence, if any.
Yet, there are two things you can do in order to get rid of have the sensation of the computer moving a bit faster (I am not sure it gains some speed, but I feel like saving time by not viewing those annoying messages all the time):
1. Deactivate the suggestions given by Windows in the shape of yellow balloons
You already know those messages. You have seen them a hundred times before. They tell you that “Your local area connection is now connected” or other useful, well-known bit of info. To get rid of them, just do the following: (more…)
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Written by Jason on March 3rd, 2008 with comments disabled.
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Managing PC memory isn’t as big an issue as it used to be, but freeing up memory can still provide benefits. Rather than spending a lot of time closing old processes, installing Instant Memory Cleaner is a quick solution.
Once installed, this tiny app (and it really is tiny at 1.8MB) sits in your system tray and if you hover your mouse, it will tell you how much memory is available. To free up memory all you have to do is right click on the icon and select ‘Clean Memory’. Within seconds your PC will have more memory available, which will make all those resource hungry apps you run, move along that little bit faster. (more…)
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Written by Jason on February 25th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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Microsoft decided to pull KB937287 from automatic updates that was supposed to prepare machines for the upcoming SP1 release after reports the patch was causing infinite reboots. According to Microsoft Help and Support, patch KB937287 was designed to “improve reliability and performance when you install future individual update from Microsoft.”
Nick White on the Windows Vista Blog states that the problem affects “a small number of customers in unique circumstances.” The unique circumstances are still unknown. I have installed this patch on a handful of different manufacturers and models and have not yet had any issues. (more…)
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Written by Jason on February 25th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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If there is one bloated and unnecessary service that you should immediately disable, it’s definitely the Indexing Service built into Windows XP. The idea behind the Indexing Service is that you can search for files more quickly if it is enabled. The indexing service uses a lot of CPU cycles and RAM, which slows down applications you use on a daily basis. Assuming you spend more time using applications more than you spend searching for files, chances are you’ll benefit a lot by disabling the Indexing Service.
To disable the Indexing Service go to Start –> Administrative Tools –> Services. You can see the Status says “Started,” and the Startup Type says “Automatic.” (more…)
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Written by Jason on February 23rd, 2008 with comments disabled.
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Microsoft KB article 929868 describes a problem which will cause you to experience very slow browsing on certain websites when using Internet Explorer 7 on Windows Vista, and eventually the website might even drop the data completely. The cause is that by default, Windows Vista Enterprise fully supports RFC 1323 and supports a Windows Scaling factor of 8. This issue occurs when a Web site does not fully support RFC 1323 or when a Web site does not support the default scaling factor.
THE QUICK FIX
To work around the slow browsing issue change the Windows Scaling to a factor of 2. First open and Administrator command line prompt. Click Start –> All Programs –> Accessories, right click Command Prompt, then left click Run as administrator. As an alternative you can click Start then type into the Start Search box, or the Run box, cmd, then use the shortcut keys Ctrl-Shift-Enter. (NOTE: After you set a new autotuninglevel you will need to reboot in order for the changes to take effect.) (more…)
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Written by Jason on February 23rd, 2008 with comments disabled.
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Windows Vista Service Pack 1 might very well deliver users from the Reduced Functionality Mode black screen of death kill switch, but the prerequisite updates for the service pack are doing a wonderful job at cutting access to the operating system. Following Microsoft’s monthly patch cycle non-security updates released on February 12, 2007, containing two of the remaining prerequisite updates for Vista SP1, Vista users began complaining about installation failures. Some Vista machines, after the implementation of updates via Automatic Updates are thrown in an infinite reboot loop, while stuck on displaying the following message: “Configuring Updates Stage 3 of 3 0% complete. Do not turn off Computer.” (more…)
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Written by Jason on February 19th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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Post from: ITsVISTA
ITsVISTA Web Links: February 18th
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Written by Joe on February 18th, 2008 with comments disabled.
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Step 1:
The biggest problem is that almost every time you install new software, it loads when you boot. I have applications that I rarely use like optical character recognition, and those I turn to several times a day like MS Outlook. By simply loading software only when you need it, you can cut your boot time significantly. To see what is loading now and to pick and choose in Windows XP click on your Start Menu. Go to Run. Type: msconfig. You’ll be presented with tabs. You’re probably operating under Normal Start Up which loads all device drivers and services. Choose Selective Startup instead. Under Selective Startup I’ve checked Process System.INI file, Process Win.INI.file, Load System Services, Load Startup Intems and Use Original Boot.INI. If you are an advanced user and you know what you are doing you can select or deselect these boxes as you choose. If you click everything except Services and then click disable all, followed by OK, you’ll end up booting in Safe Mode. Our goal here is to cut back on the Start Up programs. Click that tab. There you’ll find a long list of applications like ALCMTR and hpsysdrv. I took the time to enter each of them in Google to search for what they did. Sites like processlibrary.com proved useful in determining whether or not I should enable or disable the applications on booting. Right now I’ve only selected about a third of those listed. My machine boots faster and I’ve notice no lack of performance. (more…)
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Written by Jason on February 14th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Performance and Software and boot ini and boot time and booting in safe mode and computer and control panel and defragmentation and device drivers and faster and google and hibernation and how to and ms outlook and reboot and start menu and start up programs and windows.
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