Tag: RAM

6 Tips for Windows XP

March 02, 2008 by Jason

1. How to Clean the Start Menu
The start menu of the Windows XP is populated with the number of shortcuts and newly installed programs. If you want to remove any of the programs from the start menu just right click on that program and click “Remove from this list”. The program will be removed from the start menu. Additionally, there are certain programs at the right side such as My documents, Run, Search etc and if you want to customize this list then right click on the empty place > Properties > Start Menu > Customize.

You will see a number of options there such as Large Icons, Small Icons and number of programs in the list. In the advance tab you will see the three options such as 1. display as a link, 2. display as a menu and 3. Don’t list this item and you can choose these options for the control panel, my documents, my music and my computer etc. Read More»

Posted in Windows XP | No Comments »

New Vista update sniffs for pirated copies

March 01, 2008 by Jason

As it promised, Microsoft Corp. yesterday started sending Windows Vista users an update that identifies illegal copies of the operating system installed with cracks that the company will disable when it distributes Service Pack 1 (SP1) in two weeks. Last Thursday, Microsoft announced the update, which detects two common cracks used to activate pirated copies of Vista, and said it would hit Windows Update (WU) within a week. Users who have left Vista’s recommended WU settings alone will receive the update automatically. Others, said Microsoft, must enable Automatic Update within Vista or manually call up WU from the Start menu.

A document posted to the company’s support site spelled out the details. Among other things, it promised that the 3MB update “does not affect the functionality of your operating system.” Read More»

Posted in Windows Vista | 3 Comments »

Can Loonies Speed Up Your PC?

February 29, 2008 by Jason

I tend to be wary of programs that purport to make computers go faster, fix problems and so on. The vast majority of them are worthless snake oil. I’m also a bit suspicious of Russian software – they’ve still got a reputation for dodgy programs and scams and anything that comes from a company called Loonies is bound to set the alarm bells ringing so Actual Booster doesn’t get off to a very promising start.

Nevertheless, after giving it a fairly thorough road test I can tell you that Actual Booster really does liven things up a bit. It’s also free, and as far as I can see there’s no iffy content and it doesn’t try to phone home. Read More»

Posted in Computer, Software | 1 Comment »

Disable the Indexing Service on Windows XP

February 23, 2008 by Jason

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.” Read More»

Posted in Windows XP | 1 Comment »

How Processor Speed Is Reported to a Computer

October 07, 2007 by Jason

The System tool in Control Panel uses currentspeed to do its reporting rather than maxspeed, but the System tool may display the wrong clock speed for the Central Processing Unit (CPU).

As of January 2002, Windows XP uses the currentspeed value rather than the maxspeed value because the maxspeed value was reporting inconsistent values.

After startup, the processor may not correctly reflect its correct speed until a program utilizes processor cycles.

The computer basic input/output system (BIOS) in some laptop computers may throttle the processor because of heat, load, power AC/DC. Read More»

Posted in Computer, Hardware, Windows XP | 4 Comments »

Disk Swap to pc Performance

February 01, 2007 by Jason
  • Console-based OSs like DOS have only modest memory requirements. GUI-based operating systems like Windows needs lot of memory, much larger than the RAM that is usually installed on PCs. So, they use something called virtual memory. Here, a large file on the hard disk is used in conjunction with the RAM, which greatly expands the memory available to the OS. Only the data that is required at the given moment is loaded on the RAM; the rest is cached on the swap file. Just like any other file on a disk, the swap file can also get fragmented over time and OS might seem to slow down. To prevent the swap from breaking up, you can place it on a dedicated partition (just like in Linux). Set the size of this partition at about 2.5 times the size of your installed RAM and format it. Next, you need to make sure that the OS does not reserve space on this partition for deleted files because this partition is going to have only one file – the swap file. From the Recyle Bin context menu, choose Properties » Configure drives independently. Select the partition’s tab and select the Do not move files to the Recycle Bin. Remove files immediately when deleted option. Read More»

    • Posted in Computer, Hardware | 1 Comment »

    How to solve ” Program cannot be deleted because is already being used by another program ” error.

    January 31, 2007 by Jason

    When you try to delete a folder or file you get the error ” File/Folder cannot be deleted because it’s already being used by another program ” . This happens because a process is still using the target file/folder.

    To solve this error follow these steps:

    1. Download Unlocker 1.8.5 .
    2. Install the program.
    3. Right click on the folder/file or file you want to delete and click ” Unlocker ” .
    4. Now simply delete the folder/file (repeat the step for every folder/file that give you this error)

    Note: Normaly you can kill the process that uses your file/folder, but sometimes thats not enough.

    Posted in Software | 3 Comments »

    Hardware to pc performance

    January 31, 2007 by Jason
  • Choice of CPU: Because ordinary people do not know much about computers, they simply buy one that has an Intel processor. More discerning buyers get PCs with AMD processors. Benchmark tests by prominent computer magazines and websites have shown that AMD Athlon processors score over Intel Pentium processors. Unlike Intel CPUs, AMD processors natively support both 32-bit and 64-bit software. AMD processors consume less power and consequently generate less heat. Hence, they do not require huge noisy fans. AMD is also a much better consumer-friendly company. It has been contributing to the development of open standards, which results in cheaper PC components. Intel, on the contrary, had tried to impose proprietary products like the RD-RAM memory technology, which was developed by its subsidiary Rambus. The biggest argument for AMD processors is the cost. AMD CPUs are always cheaper than Intel’s. Remember, it is always the consumer who ultimately pays for the advertising and marketing expenses.

    • Read More»

    Posted in Hardware | 1 Comment »

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