| Santa Fe - Online's
Computer Hint's & Tricks ' Streamline your system ' |
 Links SPY
WARE HOSTS ANTI
SPY WARE
Legalities & how to How to contact us
 The Ultimate Tune-up Software Pc Pitstop |
SPEED UP YOUR COMPUTER
How to, without any $$$ needed. If you read the following exercises, and are unsure your self or prefer not to modify any settings, please don't hesitate to get in contact with me, and i can arrange a time for a home visit to tune up and repair any possible issues you might have with your computer. Click here for Computer Tune up info page. There are a few easy steps
you can do quickly at home to make some slight to good improvements on
your computer's operating system. Most of these tips are found in
various magazines, or out on the internet, and verified with my self
here at Santa Fe online.
One of the first, was the HOSTS file, which we previously mentioned. Though it has to be stated that in some case's with Windows XP/2000 may slow the browsing down slightly, as it accessing the cache memory at start up of the HOSTS file, to block the unwanted advertising/spyware servers, (if it is noticeable to the average user at all?), but in return to have nearly all advertising banners, blocked of the web page you desire to view, well, that in return can dramatically speed up your computer's internet surfing. I have noticed that more and more companies, are using banner ad's on their web pages to earn revenue. By displaying third party ads, Web site owners can generate revenue, by you just visiting their site, and clicking on a banner. Now that these ads are getting more complex with multimedia flash, and animated ad banners running. You have to wait till the banner load's in some case's before the web page finish's loading. So the old debate 'which is slower? the HOSTS file, or waiting for banners to load on web pages you are viewing, from experience here, on my system here at Santafe-online, using an updated HOSTS has not slowed down my system, but has dramatically increased the speed that a web page loads ! If you find this different, you have a back up of your original HOSTS file, for this very reason. Though by not using an updated HOSTS file, the risk of ad web sites infecting your system, is quite probable. A lot of Companies running web sites, are using these unscrupulous ad companies without knowledge their ad banner's, like Ist xxxtoolbar and Double click for two examples are infecting their web page visitors with spy ware. If you are running the Windows Xp/2000, compared to the old Windows98/ME, you will need considerable, more memory and a stronger processor in your computer, as they are very memory hungry. The animation's, 3d effects, etc., all use a significant amount of visual memory to run. Sure Windows Xp is very pretty, but to run all those gorgeous windows and folder's etc., you will need a stronger system, and if you were one of the early ones to get xp/2000, back in the earlier days, on a weaker system, you know what we are talking about. Well lets disable a few items to speed up the running of your computer. This will not affect in anyway the running of your applications, but will significantly speed up the running of the basic windows system. Here are 4 steps you can do to speed up
your computer
Visual
Performance
Time to increase it. In Windows Xp, open your control panel, by clicking 'Start~Control panel'. Look for the Icon called 'System". Double click on it. This will open a panel called 'System Properties' Click on the tab called 'Advanced' you will see a heading called 'Performance', click the button next to it called 'Settings' you will now see a list of options, choose the option 'Adjust for best performance'. This will remove every tick out of the box's below, make sure every one is empty, and click ok. This will take a few seconds to adjust your screen looks. You will notice a significant difference in the look of windows, but the performance has now been dramatically increased. If you wish you can always choose 'Custom' and select a few options you like, but remember, for every option you choose, you loose just a little speed in running. This is your choice, and in no way will it harm the way your computer runs. Eliminate
Animation's
To ensure the previous step has worked, this secondary step is usually recommended. Now you 'right click' with your mouse anywhere on your desktop screen, and within the window that opened, select 'Properties'. Then select the 'Appearance' tab. Then click the 'Effect' button, and make sure everything is 'UnChecked' in the next window, click 'ok'. Increase
Virtual Memory
Staying in the Visual Performance tab, go to the top, and now select 'Advanced'. We are now going to increase your computers Virtual memory for applications that require, or desire higher memory to run smoothly. Programs such as Photo shop etc., use a lot of memory, and this will significantly help them. This is a paging file, which is an area on your hard disc, that windows can allocate and use, as if it were RAM memory. At the bottom of that window, in Performance/Advanced, you will see a heading called 'Virtual Memory', click the 'Change' button. Hopefully you still have a significant amount of spare space on your hard drive. These settings are all different for all systems. On the older systems the virtual memory was set quite low, as their were not that many software programs out there for home user's that needed significant high memory. select your hard drive ( usually C: ). This lets you know how much space you have available. You can now modify the 'Custom Size' option, and increase some what the Initial size and maximum size you will allow windows to allocate for virtual memory. Select an amount that is under your total available space, ie, if you had available, in the heading called, 'Space Available' say 3600 MB, you could say modify the virtual memory to Initial size of 800 (mb), and the maximum size of 1500 (mb). As i previously stated, all systems are going to be different, but increasing the memory some what, can increase the running of some of your software. Once you have made your selection, click ok to shut down those windows. You have now increased windows virtual memory. Terminate
indexing
For a slight speed boost, try disabling Windows Indexing, a feature that keeps a record of all files on your hard drive. Go to the Control Panel again, and select Administrative tools (some times under the icon of Performance & Maintenance) and double click on 'services'. Scroll down to 'indexing service', then double click it. Select the 'General Tab', then select 'Disable' from the startup type pull down menu, and click ok, then shut that window down. Final Recommended step The
above steps should give your computer at least a 10% boost in
performance. For a small fee of $29.95, I highly recommend
PC Pitstop.
I have been using this software for over two years
now, and not only has it dramatically improved my performance, but also
maximized my internet connection speed.
When windows is installed on your computer, the internet settings are set to a default speed, which is set way lower than today's internet speeds. An example, running comcast cable, 6mb download speeds, i was only achieving speeds of 3.8 mb down. After running pc Pitstop, i am now running speeds of 5.9 mb down, which realistically is perfect. Apart from this dramatic improvement, Pc Pitstop comes bundles with so many performance tweaks, you will be surprised just how fast your computer performance can be tuned. Click here to purchase this product : PC Pitstop * Santa Fe Online's personal recommendation |