Tag: optimization
October 28, 2009 by
Jason
Following the worldwide launch of Windows 7, Microsoft has made available a resource designed to give customers an insight into the operating system. The successor of Windows Vista hit store shelves on October 22nd, 2009, and in concert with the actual bits, the Redmond company released the Windows 7 Product Guide. For users who want to understand all the changes that the latest iteration of the Windows client brings to the table, all the new features, functionality and capabilities, the official Windows 7 Product Guide is the best resource available. Furthermore, the software giant is offering the product guide completely free via the Microsoft Download Center.
Brandon LeBlanc, Windows communications manager on the Windows Client Communications Team, revealed that the Windows 7 Product Guide was designed to deliver customers as much information on Windows 7 as possible in an easy to digest style. “This easy to read guide gives you a clear overview of the features in Windows 7 without a lot of technical jargon that you might find in other content. The guide was designed to educate and inform readers about benefits you get from adopting Windows 7,” LeBlanc added. Read More»
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October 07, 2009 by
Jason Over a year ago, Microsoft revealed that it considered 15 seconds the ideal startup time for Windows 7 under laboratory conditions. While 15 seconds was half the time it took Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1) to boot, some critics pointed that the 15-second boot was a pipe dream. Well, Windows 7 did manage to provide its fair share of surprises when it comes down to boot performance, and the latest involves a startup that takes just 10 seconds. Just watch the video embedded bellow in order to get an idea of just what is involved in getting from a cold boot to a fully functional Windows 7 desktop in just 10 seconds.
“At (…) Intel Developer Forum, a company called Phoenix debuted new BIOS technology that allows Windows 7 to boot up from black screen to desktop in only 10 seconds. Called “Instant Boot BIOS,” the Phoenix BIOS uses new UEFI technology to power on several system devices at once instead of one-by-one. It also runs only those processes that are necessary to hand control over from BIOS to OS,” revealed Channel 10’s Sarah Perez (initially reported by LaptopMag).
The boot speed improvements over Windows Vista became clear very early on in the development process of Windows 7, via the now famous boot drag race. Read More»
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September 04, 2009 by
Jason Microsoft is currently hard at work on the evolution of the resource that was formerly labeled Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios Solution Accelerator. According to the Redmond-based company, the building phase hasn’t actually started, as the software giant still has to deal with the planning of the next iteration of the solution accelerator. In this regard, customers that are already leveraging or intend to take advantage of the Windows Optimized Desktop Toolkit can share their insights with Microsoft.
The software giant is offering all users the possibility of sending feedback on the solution accelerator, with the promise that input will be integrated into the next version of the Windows Optimized Desktop Toolkit. Customers interested in helping shape the future of the Windows Optimized Desktop Toolkit can access a survey hosted on Microsoft Connect.
“The Microsoft Solution Accelerators Team is currently planning the next release of the Windows Optimized Desktop Toolkit (previously known as Windows Optimized Desktop Scenarios Solution Accelerator). To help identify and prioritize features to include in the toolkit, we have created a survey to gather information about our customers’ desktop infrastructures,” revealed a member of the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit Team. “The survey is now available on Connect and will be open until September 22, 2009.” Read More»
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It’s time to continue from where I left off in my previous article regarding registry tweaks for your Microsoft Windows XP operating system. Therefore, in part ten of your tweaking saga we’ll go through a few more important tweaks for your Start Menu. So if the previous article caught your attention and you’re interested in finding out more ways in which you can easily customize the look and feel of your Start Menu, rest assured that this article won’t disappoint you either.
On the other hand, if this is your first encounter with the Microsoft Windows XP registry saga, you should start by going back a bit, to the first article, which explains the concept behind these articles and the few steps that must be followed before heading on to the tweaking part. Otherwise, it’s highly probable you won’t understand what’s with the bolded lines below and, more importantly, what exactly you should do with them in case the tweak sounds really appealing, so make sure you read the first article. Now that you’ve created your tweaks.reg file and wrote Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00, let’s continue our free tutorial on how to personalize your system’s Start Menu. Read More»
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December 26, 2008 by
Jason
In part eight of the our tweaking series we’ll go through a few Control Panel optimizations for Windows XP power users that may not interest most people using their operating system for basic tasks. When they wish to install and especially uninstall a program, users access the Add or Remove Programs component in the Control Panel. However, this window has many other options that a system administrator, for example, would remove for safety reasons.
As we’ve grown accustomed to it by now, Microsoft does not allow users to customize this window in the “old-fashion” way, therefore a workaround is needed and a few modifications to the registry must be performed. That’s where we come in and, fortunately, the registry patching is fast and very easy to perform. For starters, if you’re not familiar with the tweaking process, please take the time to read the first article that will help you understand what the bolded lines below mean and what you should do with them. Read More»
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December 24, 2008 by
Jason In this episode of our Windows XP tweaking saga, we’ll learn how to customize a few default applications of this operating system. If you’re just joining us, please allow me to ‘fill you in’ on the details: the “Registry Tweaks to Enhance Your Windows XPerience” series provides tweaks that do not require any IT knowledge whatsoever, that are easy and fast to apply and don’t need any third-party software to be installed on your computer. Notepad is all you need. During the process, you will create an optimization file with just the tweaks you’re interested in, that you can apply on any number of computers.
The first thing you have to do, if you’re not familiar with this series, is to read the first article. There, you’ll find the few steps that must be followed in order for the optimization process to be completed successfully (and for you to understand what must be done with the bolded lines below).
So, now that you’ve created your tweaks.reg file and wrote ‘Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00′ at the beginning, let’s start changing a few things under the hood of Notepad. Before making these modifications, please be sure that Notepad is not running. Read More»
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December 04, 2008 by
Jason One of the several things I like to do to keep my Windows computer running efficiently as possible is to remove unnecessary programs or processes from running that I really don’t need (such as crapware).
The next type of optimization I usually perform is to see if there are processes that I do need, but don’t want them running all the time and wasting valuable resources that can slow down performance. The first place I usually look for these types of processes is Windows Services that are set to auto start during boot up.
Once I identify which service or set of services I don’t need running constantly in the background, I’ll create a simple batch file that can be clicked on to start them up quickly…when I need to have them running.
If you are not familiar where to look for Windows services, there are several ways to access the services console window. The quickest way is to click on Start \ Run and enter services.msc from the run box. Read More»
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November 30, 2008 by
Jason The moment has come once again to pimp your Windows XP with the skills of a power user and the tool that will always be at your disposal, Notepad. This article, along with the previous ones (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5), will allow you to enhance and customize your operating system with advanced IT knowledge. Are there advantages to it? Of course there are. For one, the procedure is very fast, easy to perform and, in most cases, the result cannot be obtained through the “standard procedure” – Control Panel, Folder Options, Performance Options etc.
However, before getting started, if what we’re talking here is not something that you’re familiar with, or if you have not read yet the first article in the tweaking series, please do so now, because, otherwise, what is about to follow may not make any sense at all. Without a single trace of a doubt, that’s not something that we would want, is it now? This is all the more true since, as long as we are here, you will probably notice that, as promised above, the tweaks I’m about to present cannot be made using the old-school methods. It would be a pity to pass up this chance just because you’re not familiar with a few basic rules. Read More»
Posted in Windows XP | 1 Comment »
November 27, 2008 by
Jason Once again, it’s time to enhance your Windows XP operating system exactly the way you want and without paying a cent on expensive programs that do something so simple that even a kid could handle it. This series allows you to make important changes to the look, feel and behavior of your Microsoft Windows XP with just the help of the good ol’ Notepad. These tweaks, performed on the Windows Registry, can be undone, but it’s very important that you follow a few steps and remember that the lines you are about to copy must be carefully selected and/or copied, because a single misplaced / missing / added character may seriously damage your OS.
So, before continuing our journey into the land of magical tweaks, it’s imperative that you read the first article in the series to understand not only the basic rules that must be followed in order to get the job done right, but also… what’s the deal with all the bold lines below. Before starting yet another series of desktop tweaks, please allow me to remind you not to leave the tweaks.reg file blank after opening it. Therefore, now that you’re viewing it in Notepad and have placed the “Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00” [without the quotes] at the beginning, let’s start optimizing. Read More»
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November 25, 2008 by
Jason
Welcome to yet another episode of our Microsoft Windows XP tweaking saga. If you’re not familiar with the procedure, please start by reading the first article in the series, so as to fully understand how exactly you should use the lines below and how to run the tweaks.
However, don’t hesitate to have a look at some of the other tweaking articles as well, other than part one – part two and part three, which might uncover some of the secrets behind Windows XP that you weren’t aware of.
If the previous article was focused on Folder Options-related tweaks, in today’s piece, we’ll only take a look at a few ways to change the behavior of Display Properties. If you’ve already read the other articles in the series, then you should already know they contain tweaks that cannot be activated from Control Panel, Folder Options, or any other standard Windows customization utility.
Of course, this is the case with this piece too, but, since activating some tweaks will no longer grant users access to very important areas of Microsoft Windows, I will also post the reverse tweak to ensure the way back, just in case you’re not very fond of a particular change in your system. Read More»
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