05 June 2009
Since the mass majority still uses Windows XP, I'm going to start off with a guide for maximizing performance for Windows XP. This guide is completely original and written by me, so if you plan to share it elsewhere, credit me.
This guide requires basic knowledge on computers (installing programs, editing registry, changing options within Windows).
Before we start, please make a backup of your registry. Run > Regedit > File > Export > Save it to a location you can remember
To begin, we want to make sure that your system is free of junk files and such.
Go download CCleaner, install it without the extra toolbar, start up the program, and with the defaults left on, click 'Run Cleaner'. Let the program run, and when its done, it'll tell you how much space it has freed up. Then click the 'Registry' button to the left, and click 'Scan for Issues'. When it reaches 100%, click 'Fix Issues', click yes to creating a backup (save it somewhere in case we need it later) and fix the problems. Then download ATF Cleaner, check all the buttons, click 'Empty Selected', and do the same for the 'Firefox' tab (on top).
Now that we've got that out of the way, go to your start menu, click run, type in 'MSCONFIG' without the quotes, and click okay. This will launch a window with several tabs on it, we will need to go to the 'Startup' tab. Don't be frightened by all the letters and numbers, under startup item you will find the name of all the programs that run when you start your computer. If you don't need one, uncheck it, and when you're all done, click 'OK' and restart. *NOTE* If you don't know what something is, please Google it first. If you absolutely DO NOT KNOW what something is, DO NOT UNCHECK IT. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Getting rid of useless startup programs is probably the best way to speed up bootup times. To finish this step, we will need to uninstall useless programs. Download Revo Uninstaller, run it, and you will see the icon of all the programs you have installed. To uninstall one that you do not need, double click the icon and click 'Next'. When you finish uninstalling the product, Revo Uninstaller will show you left over registry files and other left other things. Select all and delete.
Again, if you do not know what something is, DO NOT UNINSTALL IT.
Next up we have some registry tweaks. Download this, save it to your desktop, and double click it. It should ask you if you wish to add these entries to the Registry. Click yes, and click okay. If this doesn't happen, and Notepad pops up, right click the icon and click 'Merge'. If for any reason this causes you problems, use this file to restore the settings back to default.
Okay, we're almost done, hang in there!
Right click 'My Computer', click Properties, go to the Advanced tab, and click settings under 'Performance'. Make sure that these settings are checked and everything else is unchecked.
a.) Show window contents while dragging.
b.) Smooth edges of screen fonts.
c.) Use common tasks in folders (If you use the left side pane in My computer)
d.) Use drop shadows on icon labels on the desktop. (to make the desktop icons label transparent.)
e.) Use visual styles on windows and buttons. (If you use XP themes.)
b.) Smooth edges of screen fonts.
c.) Use common tasks in folders (If you use the left side pane in My computer)
d.) Use drop shadows on icon labels on the desktop. (to make the desktop icons label transparent.)
e.) Use visual styles on windows and buttons. (If you use XP themes.)
Next up, go to any random folder, click tools, and under View, uncheck these items
a.) Automatically search for network folders & printers.
b.) Display file size information in folder tips.
c.) Display the contents of system folders
b.) Display file size information in folder tips.
c.) Display the contents of system folders
d.) Display simple folder view in Explorer's Folders list.
e.) Launch folder windows in a seperate process
e.) Launch folder windows in a seperate process
f.) Show encrypted or compressed NTFS files in color.
g.) Show pop-up description for folder and desktop icons.
h.) Use simple file sharing.
g.) Show pop-up description for folder and desktop icons.
h.) Use simple file sharing.
Download one last registry file. This is a services file from Blackviper.com. There are some useless services that we simply don't need running and hogging memory, so we can safely set those to manual or disabled. This file will do it all.
For XP Home: http://www.mediafire.com/?lzty11wo2z4
XP Professional: http://www.mediafire.com/?4h2cjddyyon
XP Media Center Edition: http://www.mediafire.com/?imwumimyjza
Congratulations! If you've done all these steps, restart one last time, and there should be a
noticeable speed increase. To increase performance further, check these two posts
Stick around, I'll have a Firefox speed tweak post up soon, as well as one for Windows Vista.
Have any comments or suggestions? Post them here.
Have any comments or suggestions? Post them here.
Microsoft recently came out with a serious competitor to Google and Yahoo.
Bing, Microsoft's newest search engine, is certainly a lot better than its predecessor, Live Search. On Thursday, Bing got 16.28% of all searches in the United States. Although this is a meager percentage compared to Google's 70%+, it is extremely impressive for a new release, indicating that it has been long-awaited by many.
Some critics say that this gargantuan amount of searches over search engines such as Yahoo is just the public poking around at something new, but Microsoft truly did do a good job on this one. I for one think that Bing is a large improvement over Live Search, and the look is certainly attractive. Give it some time, and we'll find out if Microsoft's planned $100 million for advertising will payoff and take over Yahoo's 2nd place title for search engines.
Don't be afraid to try something new, see if you like Bing
Don't be afraid to try something new, see if you like Bing
On Thursday, Google released its browser, Chrome, for Macs and Linux. Although many were looking forward to its release, Google claims that it still has over 400 bugs to work out and is still in development phase, but is letting the public test it out. They warn that you should not download it unless you are comfortable with bugs and consistent crashing. Many basic features, such as Flash and printing, do not work. You can't import bookmarks or autofill passwords, yet. Google is, without a doubt, working as fast as they can to release a stable version to the public.
Chrome for Macs and Linux is certainly fast, and that does make it stand out from the other browsers. Although still in early beta phase, it is only a matter of time before Chrome becomes a serious competitor on Macs, which primarily uses Safari. Many who have tried Chrome on Windows want to use it on their Macs, but in the past 8 months, has been for Windows only, so this is definitely a long awaited browser for Macs. How much time will it take for it to become a stable browser? Who knows. It took Google a while to come out of beta phase for its Windows version, and a few more months after that until people felt that it was good enough to use. Even now, over half a year later, users are still awaiting better add-on compatability for Chrome, which the Chrome development team is looking forward to implement.
(Remember, the development team is still working on this and should not be used for your day to day browsing yet)
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