We all know that when you use a PC you leave a trail, half a mile long, in ‘log’ and ‘dat’ files and Registry entries detailing everything you’ve been doing, from the files and programs you’ve opened, to the websites you’ve visited. It’s no small concern as it can include sensitive and personal information, like passwords and PINs for example. It’s not too difficult to keep your own PC’s record keeping in check, with a free utility like CrapCleaner (see Software section) but what happens when you’ve been using someone else’s computer?
This little program, called CleanAfterMe is what you need to tidy up after you. It’s a small freeware application that you can keep handy on a USB memory stick and when you run it you have the option to delete all of the data and changes you may have left behind during the session. If you are a regular user of other people’s computers and value you privacy and security then don’t leave home without this really handy utility.
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Written by Jason on June 21st, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 1340 and 1354 and 1426 and 1429 and 1673 and 169 and 2065 and 2157 and 401 and 544 and Contributors and Security and Software and USB and Utility and application and computer and freeware and memory and program and registry.
No matter how fast or shiny computers might be when they are new, they all seem to get slower over time. That state-of-the-art PC you bought last year might not feel like such a screamer after you install a dozen programs, load it with antispyware and antivirus tools, and download untold amounts of junk from the Internet. The slowdown might happen so gradually you hardly notice it, until one day you’re trying to open a program or file and wonder, “What happened to my poor PC?”
Whatever the cause, there are a lot of ways to help speed up Windows and make your PC work better even without upgrading your hardware. Here are some tips to help you optimize Windows Vista for faster performance.
Delete programs you never use
Many PC manufacturers pack their new computers with programs you didn’t order and might not want. These often include trial editions and limited edition versions of programs that software companies hope you will try, find useful, and then pay to upgrade to full versions or newer versions. If you decide you don’t want them, keeping the software on your computer might slow it down by using precious memory, disk space, and processing power.
It’s a good idea to uninstall all the programs you don’t plan to use. This should include both manufacturer-installed software and software you installed yourself but don’t want anymore especially utility programs designed to help manage and tune your computer’s hardware and software. Utility programs such as virus scanners, disk cleaners, and backup tools often run automatically at startup, quietly chugging along in the background where you can’t see them. Many people have no idea they are even running.
Even if your PC is older, it might contain manufacturer-installed programs that you never noticed or have since forgotten about. It’s never too late to remove these and get rid of the clutter and wasted system resources. Maybe you thought you might use the software someday, but never did. Uninstall it and see if your PC runs faster.
Limit how many programs load at startup
Many programs are designed to load automatically when Windows starts. Software manufacturers often set their programs to open in the background, where you can’t see them running, so they’ll open right away when you click their icons. That’s helpful for programs you use a lot, but for programs you rarely or never use, this wastes precious memory and slows down the time it takes Windows to finish loading.
Decide for yourself if you want a program to load at startup.
But how can you tell what programs load automatically at startup? Sometimes this is obvious, because the program will add an icon to the notification area on the taskbar, where you can see it running. Look there and see if there are any programs running that you don’t want to load automatically. Position your mouse over each icon to see the program name. Be sure to click the Show hidden icons button so you don’t miss any icons.
Even after you check the notification area, you might still have missed some programs that load automatically at startup. You can find and disable them using Windows Defender.
If you’re unsure about whether a program should open automatically at startup, you can try disabling it, restarting your computer, and then using the program. If that causes any problems with the program, you can go back and re-enable it to start automatically.
Defragment your hard drive
Fragmentation makes your hard disk do extra work that can slow down your computer. Disk Defragmenter rearranges fragmented data so your hard disk can work more efficiently. Disk Defragmenter runs on a schedule, but you can also defragment your hard disk manually.
Clean up your hard disk
If you want to reduce the number of unnecessary files on your hard disk to free up disk space and help your computer run faster, use Disk Cleanup. It removes temporary files, empties the Recycle Bin, and removes a variety of system files and other items that you no longer need.
Run fewer programs at the same time
Sometimes changing your computing behavior can have a big impact on your PC’s performance. If you’re the type of computer user who likes to keep eight programs and a dozen browser windows open at once—all while instant messaging your friends don’t be surprised if your PC bogs down. Keeping a lot of e?mail messages open can also use up memory.
If you find your PC slowing down, ask yourself if you really need to keep all your programs and windows open at once. Find a better way to remind yourself to reply to e?mail messages than to keep all of them open.
Turn off visual effects
If Windows is running slowly, you can speed it up by disabling some of its visual effects. It comes down to appearance versus performance. Would you rather have Windows run faster or look prettier? If your PC is fast enough, you don’t have to make this tradeoff, but if your computer is just barely powerful enough for Windows Vista, it can be useful to scale back on the visual bells and whistles.
You can choose which visual effects to turn off, one by one, or you can let Windows choose a bunch for you. There are 20 visual effects you can control, such as the transparent glass look, the way menus open or close, and whether shadows are displayed.
To adjust all visual effects for best performance:
1. Open Performance Information and Tools by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Performance Information and Tools.
2. Click Adjust visual effects. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
3. Click the Visual Effects tab, click Adjust for best performance, and then click OK. (For a less drastic option, select Let Windows choose what’s best for my computer.)
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Written by Jason on June 18th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 1340 and 1354 and 1426 and 1429 and 1673 and 169 and 2065 and 2157 and 401 and 544 and Cleanup and Contributors and Defender and Defragment and Hardware and Network and Password and Performance and Spyware and USB and Uninstall and Virus and Windows Defender and Windows Vista and anti spyware and computer and defragmenter and memory and startup and tools and virus scanners and windows.
So you just woke up your PC and one of your USB devices isn’t working as it should? Here’s a half-dozen Microsoft suggestions on how to troubleshoot the problem.
Post from: ITsVISTA
How to troubleshoot USB device problems that may occur after a computer that is running Windows Vista resumes from sleep or from hibernation
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Written by Joe on June 12th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 1426 and 1429 and 1673 and 169 and 2065 and 2157 and 401 and Contributors and USB and hibernate.
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If you don't partition your drive correctly before the OS install, you won't be able to install Bitlocker. This tool will create another volume to boot from so that you can get BitLocker set up.
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An excellent article on how to make UAC work for you, instead of turning it off and loosing all the benefits it can offer.
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Microsoft handing out USB keys that circumvent Vista security? I don't think so.
Post from: ITsVISTA
ITsVISTA Web Links: April 30th
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Written by Joe on May 1st, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 1429 and 1673 and 169 and 2065 and 2157 and 401 and BitLocker and Contributors and News and Security and UAC and USB.
Microsoft Windows XP was designed to make it easy to connect computers together and to give you access to everything the Internet has to offer, while still keeping your computer as safe as possible from potential threats.
After you add your computer to your home network, you’ll be able to print to a printer on your home network (the printer will no longer need to be attached directly to your computer) and access the other computers and devices connected to your home network. You’ll be able to share files, which means you can get data from any computer you connect to the network. You can even share one Internet connection among all your computers.
To connect to the Internet, follow these steps (which may vary slightly, depending on the software required for your network adapter)
1. Shut down your computer and install your network adapter.
Note: If you are installing a USB (Universal Serial Bus), CardBus, or CF card network adapter, you do not need to shut down your computer before installing the network adapter.
2. Start Windows, and log on as an administrator.
3. The Found New Hardware Wizard will appear. Click Yes, now and every time I connect a device. Then click Next..
4. The Found New Hardware Wizard asks you how you would like to find your driver. The driver is software Windows needs to communicate with your network adapter. Typically, it is included on the CD-ROM that came with your network adapter. Insert the floppy disk or CD-ROM, and then click Next.
5. If prompted, click Continue anyway. Software that does not have a digital signature has not been officially tested by Microsoft. However, it’s usually okay.
6. Windows XP copies the needed files and installs the software for your network adapter. On the final page, click Finish.
7. If prompted, click Yes to restart your computer. After your computer restarts, log on normally.
If you are connecting to a wired network, you are ready to use the Internet. If you are connecting to a wireless network, read Set up a wireless network, or follow the instructions provided with your wireless network adapter to configure your wireless network connection.
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Written by Jason on April 27th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 1429 and 1673 and 169 and 2065 and 2157 and 401 and Contributors and Hardware and Internet and Network and USB and Windows XP and computer and internet connection and microsoft and wireless network adapter.
Let’s say you have a computer that’s connected to the internet via a broadband modem. This guide shows you how to share that computer’s internet connection (turning it into a router) with other computer(s) in your house without using a router or even a network switch in some cases.
Two Computers
If you want to share an internet connection with one additional computer on your network you’ll need an addition network (LAN) card installed on your computer if your broadband modem connects to your computer via a network (LAN) card.
If your broadband modem connects to your computer via a USB cable you probably won’t have to purchase an additional network card because one will be available.
Connect the two computers together with a regular CAT5 network cable. If you don’t want to run a wire or you want to make the shared internet connection wireless for a laptop, connect the computer sharing it’s internet to a wireless access point via a CAT5 cable and connect to the wireless access point wirelessly with the computers accessing the shared internet connection.
Three or More Computers
If you want to share an internet connection with two or more additional computers (a small network) you’ll need an additional network (LAN) card if your broadband modem is not connected to your computer with internet access via a USB cable. You’ll also need to purchase additional network cards (one for each connection), a switch, or wireless access point to network the computers you’re sharing the internet connection with.
Connect the computers to the computer sharing it’s internet via a network switch and CAT5 network cable or a wireless access point and wireless devices installed on each computer accessing the shared internet.
Enable Internet Connection Sharing
1. Click the Start orb and then select Control Panel.
2. Click Classic View on the left side of the Control Panel.
3. Open the Network and Sharing Center.
4. Click Manage Network Connections on the left side of the Network and Sharing Center.
5. Right-click the network connection you want to share and then select Properties.
6. Select the Sharing tab at the top of the Network Connection Properties window.
7. Check off Allow other network users to connect through this computer’s network connection.
8. Click OK to save the changes.
9. Now you can connect your computer, switch, or wireless access point to the extra network connection on the computer sharing it’s internet connection via CAT5 network cable.
Note: If you turn the computer connected to the broadband modem off all of the other computers will lose their internet connections as well.
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Written by Jason on April 25th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 1429 and 1673 and 169 and 2065 and 2157 and 401 and Connections and Contributors and Hardware and Internet and Network and USB and Windows Vista and broadband and computer and internet connection and lan and windows.
This tutorial describes how to install Ubuntu by copying the contents of the installation CD to an USB memory stick (aka flash drive) and making the stick bootable. This is handy for machines like ultra portable notebooks that do not have a CD drive but can boot from USB media.
In short here’s what you do:
Prepare the USB flash drive
Boot the computer from your USB flash drive.
Install Ubuntu as you would from a normal boot CD
Prerequisites
A running Ubuntu 8.04 or any ubuntu version installation
A USB device (stick, pen-drive, USB hard disk) that has already been formatted with FAT32 and has enough free space to hold your Ubuntu installation image
A Ubuntu CD image downloaded from the Ubuntu servers or mirrors (*.iso file) or from here
Step 1
On the root directory of your USB device, create a folder “install”
Copy the installer kernel and the initramdisk into this folder (Download source below.You need the files “vmlinux” and “initrd.gz”).
Download source for the installer kernel and initramdisk
For AMD64 Download from here
For i386 Download from here
You need to download the files “vmlinux” and “initrd.gz”.
Step 2
Note: You need to have the installer that fits the architecture of your Ubuntu version you want to install. In other words, you need a amd64 installer if you want to install an amd64 Ubuntu .iso image and the i386 installer for an i386 iso.
Step 3
From the installation iso image you downloaded, copy the folder “isolinux” to the root directory of your USB device (right-click on the .iso file, choose “extract here”). Rename “isolinux” into “syslinux”. Go inside the directroy “syslinux”. There, rename the file “isolinux.cfg” into “syslinux.cfg”.
Step 4
Make the stick bootable: Use fdisk to set the boot flag,
Install syslinux using the following command
sudo aptitude install syslinux
Now use syslinux to install a boot sector on your USB device
sudo syslinux /dev/sdbX
where sdbX is the device name and number of your USB device, check with “sudo mount”. A file called “ldlinux.sys” will be created in the root direcotry of the USB device.
Step 5
Copy the Ubuntu CD image in the root directory of your USB device (Contents of USB you can see as follows).If you are using i386 you need to copy the complete .iso image in to the root directory of your USB device.
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Written by Jason on April 23rd, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 1429 and 1673 and 169 and 2065 and 2157 and 401 and AMD and Contributors and Install and Installation and Linux and USB and cd drive and computer and download and how to and kernel and memory and tutorial and ubuntu and usb flash drive.
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This article describes the behavior that occurs in Windows Vista when you are prompted to enter administrative credentials for a directory to which you do not have permissions.
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One of last weeks updates, a re-release, is causing some to have problems with their USB devices. Microsoft has confirmed the bug.
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32 different issues resolved in this release.
Post from: ITsVISTA
ITsVISTA Web Links: April 16th
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Written by Joe on April 16th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on ATI and Contributors and Drivers, and News and USB and Update and administrator and video.
If you have a spare U.S.B. flash drive with at least 256 megabytes of free space on it, you can use it to give your Windows Vista-operated PC an extra cache of memory to help increase speed, using the Windows ReadyBoost feature. Just plug the drive into a U.S.B. 2.0 port, and if it is fast enough to work with ReadyBoost, the system will prompt you to set it up. You do not have to erase any existing files on the drive and can indicate how much space you want to use for storage. The feature also works with Secure Digital cards.
Windows ReadyBoost can use storage space on some removable media devices, such as USB flash drives, to speed up your computer. When you insert a compatible device, the AutoPlay dialog box will offer you the option to speed up your system using Windows ReadyBoost. (more…)
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