Computer Info, Tips and Tricks about the
Operating System.. ( Windows XP )
Since defragging the disk won't do much to
improve Windows XP performance, here are
23 suggestions that will. Each can enhance
the performance and reliability of your
customers' PCs. Best of all, most of them
will cost you nothing.
1.) To decrease a system's boot time and
increase system performance, use the
money you save by not buying
defragmentation software -- the built-in
Windows defragmenter works just fine --
and instead equip the computer with an
Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-
MB cache buffer.
2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM,
add more memory . This is a relatively
inexpensive and easy upgrade that can
dramatically improve system performance.
3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the
NTFS file system. If you're not sure, here's
how to check: First, double-click the My
Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive,
then select Properties. Next, .. examine the
File System type; if it says FAT32, then
back-up any important data. Next, click
Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click
OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /
FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This
process may take a while; it's important that
the computer be uninterrupted and virus-
free. The file system used by the bootable
drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly
recommend NTFS for its superior security,
reliability, and efficiency with larger disk
drives.
4.) Disable file indexing. The indexing
service extracts information from documents
and other files on the hard drive and creates
a "searchable keyword index." As you can
imagine, this process can be quite taxing on
any system.
The idea is that the user can search for a
word, phrase, or property inside a document,
should they have hundreds or thousands of
documents and not know the file name of
the document they want. Windows XP's
built-in search functionality can still perform
these kinds of searches without the Indexing
service. It just takes longer. The OS has to
open each file at the time of the request to
help find what the user is looking for.
Most people never need this feature of
search. Those who do are typically in a
large corporate environment where
thousands of documents are located on at
least one server. But if you're a typical
system builder, most of your clients are
small and medium businesses. And if your
clients have no need for this search feature,
I recommend disabling it.
Here's how: First, double-click the My
Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C:
Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck "Allow
Indexing Service to index this disk for fast
file searching." Next, apply changes to "C:
subfolders and files," and click OK. If a
warning or error message appears (such as
"Access is denied"), click the Ignore All
button.
5.) Update the PC's video and motherboard
chipset drivers. Also, update and configure
the BIOS. For more information on how to
configure your BIOS properly, see this article
on my site.
6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder
every three months or so. Windows XP can
"prefetch" portions of data and applications
that are used frequently. This makes
processes appear to load faster when called
upon by the user. That's fine. But over time,
the prefetch folder may become overloaded
with references to files and applications no
longer in use. When that happens, Windows
XP is wasting time, and slowing system
performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing
critical is in this folder, and the entire
contents are safe to delete.
7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup.
Here's how: Double-click the My Computer
icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and
select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup
button -- it's just to the right of the Capacity
pie graph -- and delete all temporary files.
8.) In your Device Manager , double-click on
the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and
ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive
you have connected to the Primary and
Secondary controller. Do this by double-
clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click
the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the
Transfer Mode is set to "DMA if available"
for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat
this process with the Secondary IDE
Channel.
9.) Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive
technology improves, the cabling
requirements to achieve these performance
boosts have become more stringent. Be sure
to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of
your IDE devices with the connectors
properly assigned to the matching Master/
Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device
must be at the end of the cable; connecting
a single drive to the middle connector on a
ribbon cable will cause signaling problems.
With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling
problems will prevent the drive from
performing at its maximum potential. Also,
because these cables inherently support
"cable select," the location of each drive on
the cable is important. For these reasons,
the cable is designed so drive positioning is
explicitly clear.
10.) Remove all spyware from the
computer. Use free programs such as
AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search &
Destroy. Once these programs are installed,
be sure to check for and download any
updates before starting your search.
Anything either program finds can be safely
removed. Any free software that requires
spyware to run will no longer function once
the spyware portion has been removed; if
your customer really wants the program
even though it contains spyware, simply
reinstall it. For more information on
removing Spyware visit this Web Pro News
page.
11.) Remove any unnecessary programs
and/or items from Windows Startup routine
using the MSCONFIG utility. Here's how:
First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG,
and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then
uncheck any items you don't want to start
when Windows starts. Unsure what some
items are? Visit the WinTasks Process
Library. It contains known system processes,
applications, as well as spyware references
and explanations. Or quickly identify them
by searching for the filenames using Google
or another Web search engine.
12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused
programs, from the Add/Remove Programs
section of the Control Panel.
13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary
animations, and disable active desktop. In
fact, for optimal performance, turn off all
animations. Windows XP offers many
different settings in this area. Here's how to
do it: First click on the System icon in the
Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced
tab. Select the Settings button located under
Performance. Feel free to play around with
the options offered here, as nothing you can
change will alter the reliability of the
computer -- only its responsiveness.
14.) If your customer is an advanced user
who is comfortable editing their registry, try
some of the performance registry tweaks
offered at Tweak XP.
15.) Visit Microsoft's Windows update site
regularly, and download all updates labeled
Critical. Download any optional updates at
your discretion.
16.) Update the customer's anti-virus
software on a weekly, even daily, basis.
Make sure they have only one anti-virus
software package installed. Mixing anti-virus
software is a sure way to spell disaster for
performance and reliability.
17.) Make sure the customer has fewer
than 500 type fonts installed on their
computer. The more fonts they have, the
slower the system will become. While
Windows XP handles fonts much more
efficiently than did the previous versions of
Windows, too many fonts -- that is, anything
over 500 -- will noticeably tax the system.
18.) Do not partition the hard drive.
Windows XP's NTFS file system runs more
efficiently on one large partition. The data is
no safer on a separate partition, and a
reformat is never necessary to reinstall an
operating system. The same excuses people
offer for using partitions apply to using a
folder instead. For example, instead of
putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in
a folder called "D drive." You'll achieve the
same organizational benefits that a separate
partition offers, but without the degradation
in system performance. Also, your free
space won't be limited by the size of the
partition; instead, it will be limited by the
size of the entire hard drive. This means you
won't need to resize any partitions, ever.
That task can be time-consuming and also
can result in lost data.
19.) Check the system's RAM to ensure it
is operating properly. I recommend using a
free program called MemTest86. The
download will make a bootable CD or
diskette (your choice), which will run 10
extensive tests on the PC's memory
automatically after you boot to the disk you
created. Allow all tests to run until at least
three passes of the 10 tests are completed.
If the program encounters any errors, turn
off and unplug the computer, remove a stick
of memory (assuming you have more than
one), and run the test again. Remember, bad
memory cannot be repaired, but only
replaced.
20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder,
check the drive manufacturer's Web site for
updated firmware. In some cases you'll be
able to upgrade the recorder to a faster
speed. Best of all, it's free.
21.) Disable unnecessary services. Windows
XP loads a lot of services that your
customer most likely does not need. To
determine which services you can disable
for your client, visit the Black Viper site for
Windows XP configurations.
22.) If you're sick of a single Windows
Explorer window crashing and then taking
the rest of your OS down with it, then follow
this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools,
then Folder Options. Now click on the View
tab. Scroll down to "Launch folder windows
in a separate process," and enable this
option. You'll have to reboot your machine
for this option to take effect.
23.) At least once a year, open the
computer's cases and blow out all the dust
and debris. While you're in there, check that
all the fans are turning properly. Also
inspect the motherboard capacitors for
bulging or leaks. For offers about discounts:
www.discountsvu.com
Following any of these suggestions should
result in noticeable improvements to the
performance and reliability of your
customers' computers. If you still want to
defrag a disk, remember that the main
benefit will be to make your data more
retrievable in the event of a crashed drive.
Athor:- sandi patel
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