Tag: speed
If you have more than one operating system installed on your PC for example, you may have both Windows Vista and Windows 7 beta installed – your computer displays a menu asking you which operating system you want to load. If you don’t select an operating system within 30 seconds, it automatically loads your default operating system.
You can cut the amount of time your computer waits for your input before loading Windows Vista by going back to Msconfig and selecting the Boot tab. Where it says Timeout, change the number to a lower setting, but give yourself enough time to actually make your choice. If you only have Windows Vista installed on your machine, you don’t need to complete this step.
Fix notifications
Windows Vista is great at letting you know if there’s a problem with your computer. Your antivirus program should also alert you to potential problems, such as when a virus has been found or if you haven’t downloaded and installed the latest update for the software. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | 1 Comment »
The time it takes for your computer to start up and run has been massively improved under Windows Vista. One of the reasons older versions of Windows, such as Windows 95 and Windows 98, took so long to boot up was because those versions of Windows were running on top of another operating system MSDOS.
With Windows Vista this is no longer the case, so start-up times are a lot faster. If you have a brand new computer or a fresh installation of Windows Vista, it will take no time at all for your PC to start up, so you can begin using your favourite programs at once. Unfortunately, after a while, with the more programs you install and the more files you have on your PC, you may begin to notice that your computer takes longer and longer to start up. Before you know it, you’ll be able to get up, make a cup of tea and drink it while waiting for Windows Vista to load. When things get this bad, you know you have to do something about it.
We recently asked visitors to the pctipsbox.com website how long it took for their PCs to start. The results varied from less than a minute to over ten!
There are plenty of factors that could make your PC startup grind to a halt, so there are plenty of tweaks to try to get your PC starting up in a flash. It’s all very well listing these tweaks, but do they work? Read More»
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One of the issues that plagued Windows Vista when the operating system was launched in January 2007 was the slow copying speeds delivered. Over two years later, and after SP1 resolved the initial issues, Microsoft informed users that there were additional problems impacting performance. In this regard, the Redmond company noted that, while copying a file from Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 to a down-level system, such as Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, in the context in which Intel I/OAT
was enabled, users would notice that the performance was significantly slower compared to when the feature was disabled.
“Consider the following scenario: you have a computer that is running Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008. Intel I/O Acceleration Technology (I/OAT) is enabled on the computer. You copy files to this computer from another computer that is running a down-level operating system, such as Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. In this scenario, the file copying is significantly slower than when Intel I/O Acceleration Technology is disabled,” the company noted. Read More»
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A DNS server translates a human address like google.com into a numerical IP address so your computer can take you to the right site. Usually, this takes a few hundred milliseconds to complete so it’s barely noticeable, but over time, these milliseconds can really build up. Also, your ISP’s DNS server isn’t always reliable as witnessed by Comcast subscribers recently when their DNS server failed, leaving customers unable to access Google and other sites. By using OpenDNS and FastCache, you can solve the two problems of reliability and speed.
OpenDNS runs a distributed network of DNS servers so using it is more reliable. It filters out bad addresses so phishers and spammers can’t direct you to their site. OpenDNS also detects typos in the URLs you enter so entering craigslist.og leads you to craigslist.org.
A piece of software called FastCache takes care of the problem of speed. It stores the IP address that is returned by your DNS server so your computer doesn’t have to request it every time you want to go to a particular site, saving a few hundred milliseconds each time. Read More»
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There has always been a gap between computer gamers and console gamers. Generally because of the impossibility of a console gamer to play computer games or a PC gamer to play console–only games. Luckily for us, some people just don’t understand when to quit and keep on trying to create a bridge between consoles and computers as far as gaming is concerned.
Those people are the ones behind console emulators for the PC allowing PC gamers to play titles that appeared in a console-only format. This is how emulators such as Chankast for the Sega Dreamcast, Dolphin GameCube emulator, ePSXe PlayStation One emulator and many more appeared. Next generation consoles, however, seemed to be impossible to emulate on a modern computer mainly because their architecture is pretty different from that of a computer. Although it is said that console manufacturers have created emulators, there are no real facts confirming these speculations.
There are numerous teams working on Xbox360 and Nintendo Wii emulators, and one has just succeeded in making the first emulator to play PlayStation 2 video games. Read More»
Posted in Computer | 1 Comment »
1. Select multiple files
Select multiple files and folders by holding down the Command or Shift key as you click with the mouse. This also lets you select non-continuous items, so you can skip those that you don’t need. You can then drag them all to another location as one, or duplicate or copy them all in one go.
2. Open multiple files
Open multiple files and folders as one by hitting Command + [O]. Folders will show their contents, and any files selected will open in their respective applications.
3. Transfer multiple files
If you need to email or transfer a group of files, say via iChat or FTP, multiple-select the items or group them into a folder. Then right-click on the folder or items and choose Create Archive or Compress (depending on your version of OS X). Finder will then create a zip file containing all the items. The overall file size will now be smaller, so sending the email will also be quicker. Read More»
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1. Boost memory
The simplest way to a faster Mac is by installing extra RAM. Before you buy, check the maximum RAM capacity of your Mac. You can download a free program called MacTracker that will tell you the precise technical specifications of every Mac ever produced.
2. Install RAM in pairs
Many Macs will give you a speed boost if you install matching RAM modules in pairs. G5 and Mac Pro towers actually require the installation of pairs of modules, though most other Macs will allow the use of an odd number, with the proviso that you won’t get the fastest possible performance from them. Crucial’s website will tell you the specifics for your model.
3. Faster drive
Installing a faster hard drive as the boot drive on a tower Mac will yield performance gains, especially if you go up to a 10,000-speed drive. On a laptop, installing a 7,200rpm drive (to replace a 5,400 rpm model) will also make things faster, though older Mac portables don’t have user replaceable hard drives Read More»
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1. Delete items from address bar history
While it’s very handy to have your recently visited pages autocompleted as you type, it’s not always desirable. Go to the address bar (Ctrl-L), start typing an address, and the drop-down menu will appear with the URLs of pages you’ve visited. You can highlight and delete these at will, for maximum privacy.
2. Protect your PC from malware
You don’t have to visit the seedy side of the web to pick up a virus – even the best social networking sites regularly host all kinds of malware. But you can reduce the chance of infection by installing NoScript. This handy add-on blocks Javascript, Java, Flash and other executable content from running unless you explicitly allow it, and is a great way to keep yourself safe online.
3. Speedily search for images
Browse Google images and your results are split into blocks of 21. But use CoolIris and you’ll get all your results displayed on a 3D photo wall, a much faster and easier way to find the images you need. It only works with some sites, unfortunately, but as these include Google, Flickr, Picasa, Yahoo, Photobucket, Facebook and MySpace then you’ll still have plenty to browse. Especially as it searches and displays YouTube videos, too. Give it a try. Read More»
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At the end of the past week, Microsoft made available to the public the results of a “browser measuring contest” involving Internet Explorer 8, Firefox 3.05 and Google Chrome 1.0. What the Redmond company did was to measure the browser load times for the top 25 websites worldwide. In the software company’s own comparison, IE8 managed to come out on top of its rivals, besting the open source Firefox and Chrome which were released in 2008, and not the current 3.1/3.5 version of Firefox or the 2.0 flavor of Chrome. But the real question is does it matter?
Obviously, Microsoft is rather a new comer to the browser measuring game. Simply because Internet Explorer, while considered by rival browser makers a reference point, never actually needed to compare itself to competitive products, especially from the perspective of the dominant browser on the market. IE continues to account for the lion’s share when it comes down to browser usage share worldwide, but Firefox has made a dent in its dominance that is harder and harder to ignore. And fact is that for the first time in the long life of Internet Explorer, Microsoft has a release that it’s worth comparing, as it is bound to score at least on par with rivals, if not even best them in certain scenarios. Read More»
Posted in Internet | 3 Comments »
Are you tired of waiting for your computer to catch up to your life speed?. While it seems that you are always waiting for your computer to catch up, there are things that you can do to get things back on track and bring back your PC to it’s normal state. Here are 3 very simple steps that can help you optimize your computer.
1. Remove unnecessary programs at at startup. When you start your computer there are lots of programs that loads at the same time. Many programs automatically adds themselves to your startup programs. Keep those startup programs to a minimal amount, you can do this by changing the settings of the programs you do not need at startup. Find the options on your program that say’s “run at startup” or something to that effect and uncheck it. You can also remove some programs by opening “msconfig” (Go to Start -> Run) and going into “startup” tab. Under the startup tab you can see the programs that loads when you boot your computer. Remove all unnecessary programs by unchecking it. This will lower the load your computer needs to sort thru at start up. Read More»
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