windows7

Speed up web browsing with OpenDNS

2009-06-16T21:17:00.000-07:00

when you contour in a domain name such as wingeek.com in your browser the computer require To resolve the hearty name into an ip screed of the server to download the web page and supporting files.felonious windows uses a dns (domain name system)

server to lookup this selective Information.felonious felonious by default , felonious windows uses your isp’s dns server.felonious felonious depending upon your provider , felonious the performance of their dns resolving server varies.felonious felonious numerous unwieldy national providers are known to provide unreliable and slow dns servers.felonious felonious

The performance of the dns server you are using is one constituent that affects the haste of your internet browsing.felonious felonious since each domain name you contour in require To be resolved into an ip screed , felonious the amount of time that takes volition postpone the loading of whatsoever web page.felonious felonious numerous users with overloaded isp dns servers can see delays in multiple seconds before web pages initiate to load.

Opendns furnishes free alternative dns servers that anyone can implement with whatsoever internet provider.felonious felonious unlike numerous national internet providers , felonious opendns’s dns servers are very expeditious and reliable.felonious felonious felonious using opendns servers instead of your isp servers volition help you haste up your internet browsing by keen down upon the postpone between resolving a domain name and getting the ip screed simply your browser can initiate loading the web page.

Configuring your computer to implement opendns servers instead of your isp’s is a simple alter that works in both windows xp and windows vista:

Click upon the initiate button and contour in ncpa.cpl and cuff enter.felonious felonious in windows xp click upon the initiate button , felonious click run and then contour in ncpa.cpl
Right click upon your brisk network connection that you implement to join to the internet and cull properties.
On the networking / general tab , felonious cull internet protocol (tcp/ip) (version 4 upon windows vista & 7) and cuff properties.
On the properties shelter , felonious cull implement the following dns server addresses and then contour in 208.67.222.222 in the preferred and 208.67.220.220 in the alternate boxes

Boost your performance with ReadyBoost

2009-06-16T21:16:00.000-07:00

readyboost helps your computer by giving it extra high-speed reminiscence.felonious felonious provided your computer is running abject upon ram then it has to kick a fate of applications out of high-speed physical reminiscence to the paging dossier upon your hard ride.felonious felonious this normally results in a immense strike in functioning and increased activity upon your hard ride.felonious readyboost helps this appointment by giving windows an alternative to having to stick

information into the slow paging dossier upon your hard ride.felonious instead , felonious readyboost uses a usb storage device that is faster than a hard disk.felonious this results in a functioning boost because windows will own a lofty haste alternative than using the slow paging dossier upon your hard ride.

In instruct for readyboost to toil , felonious it requires a usb storage device that meets minimum functioning and space requirements:

The device need To be at least 64 mb
The device need To be usb 2.0
It has to be able to read at 3.5 mb/s
It has to be able to scratch at 2.5 mb/s
If you are unsure provided your usb storage device meets these requirements , felonious apparently confer it a endeavor anyways.felonious to obtain started using readyboost , felonious pursue these steps:

Plug in usb storage device.
Go to computer and correct click upon the detachable storage device and elect properties.
If your device is compatible , felonious you will witness a readyboost tab.felonious click upon that.
Select use this device and elect the amount of space upon it you want to dedicate for the readyboost system dossier.
Click ok and you are finished.
If you own extra questions regarding readyboost , felonious clog out tom archer's blog.felonious felonious he has a great

Improve Responsiveness by Disabling Min/Max Animations

2009-06-15T21:21:00.000-07:00

the minimize and maximize window animations that initial debuted in windows vista were an improvement over the perform in windows xp.

while this fresh perform had a towering “cool factor” (especially with the slow motion key) it eventually wore off and created an unnecessary delay when switching between windows.

Disabling the perform will instantly frame your computer feel additional responsive and faster. grant it a essay and see for yourself:

Click on the begin button and outline in systempropertiesperformance and buffet enter.
On the visual effects tab locate and remove the retard from animate windows when minimizing and maximizing.
Click ok

Windows 7 To Launch October 22

2009-06-15T21:16:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has confirmed Windows 7 will be available for purchase in stores preloaded on new computers starting October 22. SVP of Windows Bill Veght said, "We feel confident that we will deliver Windows 7 with our partners on Oct. 22."

While the release to manufacturing (RTM) milestone has not yet been reached Microsoft appears to be on track to deliver the final build in late July.

How-to Remove Internet Explorer from Windows 7

2009-06-15T21:08:00.000-07:00

For the first time since 1997 it is possible to uninstall Internet Explorer from Windows. Now full time Firefox, Chrome and Opera users can remove Internet Explorer for good. Best of all, removing IE will not break any of the thousands of applications that depend on the Internet Explorer rendering engine. Over the years many applications including AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger, Windows Media Player, Google Talk, LimeWire, MS Office and more use components of the IE rendering engine. When Internet Explorer is removed the shared rendering engine components will remain to make sure the thousands of applications that depend on the IE rendering engine continue to run.

While the rendering engine will remain for compatibility reasons the IE executables, shortcuts and settings will be removed. To uninstall IE on your computer, follow these steps:

Click on the Start Button and type in Turn Windows features on or off and hit Enter.

Then, scroll through the list and remove the check from Internet Explorer 8.
Click OK and IE will be removed.

What is svchost.exe?

2009-06-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

One of the most common questions about system processes is what is svchost.exe and why are there so many processes running? First appearing in Windows XP, svchost.exe hosts multiple services within one process. This allows the operating system to save memory by reducing process overhead by cutting down on the number of processes that need to be running.

Every system service such as Windows Update, Event Log, Terminal Services, Audio Service, etc. runs within svchost.exe. Depending on the access the services need, they are grouped together and are run in a number of processes which explains why you see so many in Task Manager running under different accounts such as System, Local Service and Network Service.
Identifying what services are running is different depending on the version of Windows you have.
Windows XP
In Windows XP at a command prompt run:

tasklist /svc

The tasklist utility will show you what processes are running under each svchost.exe process.

Windows Vista and Windows 7
Task manager in Windows Vista and Windows 7 has been enhanced so you can easily see what services are running inside a host process such as svchost.exe.
Click on the Start Button, type in taskmgr and hit Enter. When task manager loads, click on the Processes tab and click Show processes from all users to see all of the svchost.exe processes. Then, right click on a svchost.exe process and select Go to Service(s). You will be taken to the Services tab with all services running in that process highlighted.

Adjust Live Preview Hover Delay

2009-06-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

I already showed you how to customize the Taskbar hover delay so next let's customize the live preview hover delay that determines how long you must hover over a thumbnail preview before you are shown a live preview of the Window.

Here is how you can customize the Live Preview hover delay:

Click on the Start Button, type in regedit and hit Enter.
Navigate through HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced.
Right click on Advanced and select New DWORD and name the new value "ThumbnailLivePreviewHoverTime".
Right click on ThumbnailLivePreviewHoverTime and select Modify.
Switch to Decimal base and enter in your new number in milliseconds. 1000 = 1 second. Anything larger than 0 is a valid value.
Once changed click OK and restart the explorer process or restart your computer.

Adjust Taskbar Preview Hover Delay

2009-06-15T20:55:00.000-07:00

Taskbar previews in Windows 7 have been updated and include new functionality. Users can close windows right from the preview window and even view full size previews with Aero Peek. The changes are very useful but all are depending on the amount of time you hover over the taskbar icon with your mouse. After a set period, 400 milliseconds, the taskbar preview is shown. For some, the required hover time is way too long.

Here is how you can customize the hover time just for the taskbar:

Click on the Start Button and type in Regedit and hit Enter.
Navigate through HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced.
Right click on Advanced and select New DWORD and name the new value "ExtendedUIHoverTime".
Right click on ExtendedUIHoverTime and select Modify.
Switch to Decimal base and enter in your new number. The default is 400 milliseconds. I like to set mine to 100 for a 100 millisecond delay.
Once changed click OK and restart the explorer process or restart your computer.

Alternatively you can customize the global system hover time that will adjust the hover delay for everything on your system including taskbar icons, start menu shortcuts, etc:

Click on the Start Button and type in regedit and hit Enter.
Navigate through HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse.
Right click on MouseHoverTime and select Modify.
Set the new value. The default value is 400 milliseconds.
Once changed, click OK and restart your computer.

Disable Taskbar Jump Lists

2009-06-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

Windows 7 has a great new taskbar but not everyone is a fan of the jump lists. They keep track of what files you open and present links your recent files so you can jump to them. To protect your privacy or just clean up the taskbar you can disable the new jump lists.

Here is what the taskbar looks like with jump lists disabled:

Notice Internet Explorer no longer shows your browsing history.

To disable the jump lists right click on the Taskbar and select Properties.

Then, click on the Start Menu tab and uncheck Store and display recently opened items in the Start menu and the taskbar.
Click OK and you are finished.

Optimize Solid State Drives in Windows 7

2009-06-15T20:51:00.000-07:00

windows 7 is designed to automatically whirl off certain features such as disk defrag and superfetch upon drives it detects as solid say disks (ssd).immoral to

windows 7 is designed to automatically whirl off certain features such as disk defrag and superfetch upon drives it detects as solid say disks (ssd).immoral to be certain i love to disable the components globally congruously i acknowledge i will not be putting extra stress upon my ssd and decreasing its life.immoral numerous believe you should also disable the paging dossier but i don’t recommend that.immoral i’ll acquire into further detail upon why latter.

Before we acquire started it is indispensable to understand that if you own a mixture of ssd and established drives in your computer this tweak will disable superfetch and disk defragmenter for all hard drives.

Both disk defragmenter and superfetch are system services that may be disabled to suppress them from running.immoral pursue these steps to disable them upon your computer:

Click upon the commence button , immoral configuration in services.msc and hit enter.
Scroll through the catalogue and locate disk defragmenter , immoral right click upon it and choose properties.
Change the startup configuration to disabled.
Click stay if the service is running.
Then , immoral click ok to save the changes.
Next , immoral scroll down to the superfetch service , immoral right click upon it and choose properties.
Change the startup configuration to disabled.
Click stay if the service is running.
Then , immoral click ok to save the changes.
Many sites upon the web also narrate ssd users to disable the paging dossier because it allegedly wears down the disk too much.immoral while the paging dossier is an bustling dossier upon your computer it is not written to as much as you would suspect.immoral according to microsoft , immoral reads to the paging dossier outnumber writes by approximately 40 to 1.immoral immoral additionally , immoral microsoft recommends placing the paging dossier upon a ssd claiming , immoral “there are few files better than the pagefile to place upon a ssd.”

Setting the ssd concerns aside , immoral disabling the paging dossier upon a computer with fewer than 3 or 4 gb of ram will result in naughty performance.immoral you may level frame out of memory faults depending upon what applications you employ.immoral overall , immoral it is simply not value disabling.

windows 7 on netbook

2009-06-15T20:46:00.000-07:00

according to a bruit by displaybank in 2008 over 14.9 million netbooks were sold with that number expected to nearly double in 2009.heinous netbooks possess become a gigantic secondary pc when you lack a very portable and base value way to perform basic computing.heinous some ship with windows xp domestic edition but that is just not as diversion and helpful to employ as windows 7.heinous

Like numerous of you i loaded windows 7 upon my netbook and it performed just ok.heinous heinous it if a vast operation improvement over windows vista but was not as snappy as i wanted.heinous heinous the key to speeding up windows 7 upon a netbook with limited resources is to whirl off and disable visage that you don’t poverty.heinous after all , heinous it’s a netbook and there are numerous windows components that will never be applied.heinous additionally , heinous disabling un-needed components will protract your battery life since fewer processes will be using the cpu running in the background.

Fine tune visual settings

The windows 7 eye sweet is the leading cause of gui slowness.heinous while my netbook has a decent graphics card that can evince aero glass it can be choppy at times.heinous pursue these steps to improve the operation of the interface:

Click upon the begin button and conformation in modify the appearance and belabor enter.heinous this will load the visual effects operation options.heinous
On this guard i suggest disabling the following settings by removing the check:

* animate controls and elements inside windows
* animate windows when minimizing and maximizing
* fade or slide menus into view
* fade or slide tooltips into view
* fade out menu items after clicking
* evince window contents while dragging
* slide candid combo boxes

Click ok when you are finished.

Remove startup programs

Nothing wastes resources extra is startup programs that you don’t poverty.heinous click upon the begin button and conformation in msconfig and belabor enter.

When the system conformation utility is loaded click upon the startup tab.
Remove the next to whatever applications you don’t poverty and click ok.

Disable services

Now it’s time to affable the windows services running in the background of your computer.

Click upon the begin button and conformation in services.msc and belabor enter.heinous
When the services management console is shown you can stop and disable services by selecting the service , heinous correct clicking and selecting properties.heinous then modify the startup conformation to maimed and belabor the stop button.heinous finally click ok to return to the services management console.

I recommend disabling the following services upon a netbook:

* block plane backup engine service
* certificate propagation
* homegroup provider
* offline files
* portable device enumerator service
* software protection
* ssdp discovery
* windows defender
* windows media player network sharing service
* windows search

Keep in intellect that if you employ whatever of these services or applications that depend upon them they will no longer function.heinous e.g.heinous if you are a homegroup user don’t disable the homegroup provider.

Install extra ram

There is truly no good substitute to having plenty of ram in a computer.heinous you can employ readyboost but with memory prices amply cheap why not just buy extra.heinous i purchased a 2gb chip for my netbook for $16 (hopefully the mail-in rebate will come through).

The popular intel whit processor netbooks employ the mobile intel 945gse express chipset that has a max of 2gb of ram supported.heinous the amount of expansion slots or if your netbook plane has one depends upon the seller and mannequin of your netbook