Computers

This section is a collection of computer-related information; tips, comments, suggestions, experiences and advice. Buying a new PC? Check my PC Buying page!

Check Out These Websites

Computer Tips and Tweaks:
The consumer version of Windows is designed to run on the lowest common denominator hardware and you can do a lot to improve performance if you don't mind popping the hood, so to speak, and tinkering a little. Improvement predictions: from barely discernible to 30% or more. There are hundreds of websites that offer good tips on speeding up your computer. Search out these links ... and use them. Some of my favorite links for "anything Windows:" Caution: some of these websites take you into the "registry." Don't get into the registry unless you know what you're doing - or have the time (lot's of it) to fix errors or reinstall Windows!

• www.annoyances.org - Windows frustrations? Check this site for the answer
• www.freewarehome.com/index.html - List of (mostly) free software
• www.tucows.com - Another list of computer software: a great resource
• www.tomshardware.com - Great info on PC hardware
• www.ramelectronics.net - Computer cables, high quality, low price, fast delivery
• www.tweak3d.net - "Tweaking" info... and more
• www.macecraft.com - Juno Vuori's (Finland) classic & updated website (registry-related)
• www.sharkyextreme.com - Mostly hardware and software reviews
• www.x86.org - Mostly microprocessor-related info
• www.planethardware.com - PC hardware reviews and info
• www.thetechzone.com - More reviews (plus some junk)
• www.bootdisk.com - Everything related to getting your PC to start
• more to follow...

Tip #1 - Do Basic PC Maintenance

Computer Maintenance:
Even if you do very little maintenance on your automobile, it's almost a sure thing that you get regular oil changes and tire rotations. It's basic maintenance. You need to do the same on your PC - basic maintenance. Here's a (suggested) schedule of basic PC maintenance. The precise procedure for this maintenance depends on your version of Operating System and installed software, but this will get you started (based on Win XP):

• Daily, or each time you finish using the PC on the Internet delete your .tmp/.temp files and cookies. In Internet Explorer go to Tools, Internet Options, General tab, and then Delete cookies and Delete files.
• Weekly, run your spyware / adware program and remove any identified files. (Deleting your .tmp/.temp files and cookies first will speed up this operation). Need a spyware program? - go here and get it.
• Weekly, run your antivirus software (keep your virus definitions up to date!). Be sure it looks at all files including inside ZIP files. Set your antivirus software to scan incoming and outgoing emails. If you need a good, free antivirus program, go here and get it.
• Monthly, or more often if you do a lot of work on your PC, run the defrag software to make the files on your hard drive contiguous again. In WinXP, go to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter.
• Yearly, make sure you have all your original CDs for reinstallation, then format your hard disk and start over! This may seem a bit drastic, but it pays big performance benefits as well as getting rid of all the "stuff" that collects on your PC.
• TIP - leave your computer on 24/7 and automate many of these tasks using Windows Scheduled Tasks, aka Task Manager. (Go to: Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Scheduled Tasks).

Wow, Check Out This Computer:
In 1954, Popular Mechanics Magazine published this picture of how a computer may look in the year 2004 - check out the "joy stick" - enough to steer the Queen Elizabeth II!  Click the thumbnail for the full size pic, then your back button to return here.

 

Tip #2 - Add Memory or Configure Virtual Memory

One of the biggest single things you can do to speed up your computer is to add more physical memory. If you can't add physical memory, tweak virtual memory. All programs will run faster when there is sufficient virtual memory always allocated and ready. Here's how in WinXP. From the Windows desktop...

• right click on "My Computer"
• select "Properties" item in the menu
• select "Advanced" tab
• in the "Performance" section, select "Settings"
• under "Visual Effects" select "Adjust for best performance" (this isn't virtual memory, but it helps)
• click the "Advanced" tab
• under "Virtual memory," click "Change"
• if you have more than one drive, select the fastest drive, then click the "Custom Size" radio button
  adjust the "minimum" value box from 2 to 5 times the amount of your installed RAM - Make the min and max value the same so Windows doesn't have to resize the swap file.
• click the "OK" button three times and then restart your computer.

Tip #3 - Configure Memory, Free-up L2 cache

Programs will run as fast as possible if recently used elements can stay in L2 Cache without any competition from other programs, so do the following:

• Any screen activity (even moving the mouse) will hammer the cache so offload graphics tasks from the CPU to a good graphics card (I prefer ATI cards like the Rage-128 or the Radeon). A screen saver will waste CPU cycles and will also hammer the L2 Cache every time the OS allows it a time slice to run (tens to hundreds of times per second) so get rid of your screen saver. Newer monitors don't have a phosphor burn-in issue, and LCD panels don't need screen savers at all. (Note: ATI - a Canadian company located in Thornhill, just north of Toronto, make fabulous graphic cards, but unfortunately they can't write software - their software (such as the ATI Multi-Media Center) crashes frequently so avoid it).

Tip #4 - Always run a virus shield

• If a virus shield is enabled to constantly run in the background, and it should be ...  make sure that all incoming data (via floppy, email, download, USB key, etc.) is fully scanned (select "all files" and also enable "scan compressed files") but never turn off virus checking unless you have a specific reason for doing so. The best way to avoid a virus is to be very cautious of emails from people you don't know.

Tip #5 - A few of my personal tweaks...(for WinXP)

• First off, implement the four tips above, then...
• If you have MS-Office installed then consider finding and deleting the program "findfast.exe". This program will run in the background to maintain an index of every file on the disk. Unless you're in "Office" all day searching for files it's a waste of resources.
• Disable System Restore - Right-click "My Computer" and choose Properties. Click System Restore tab, check the "Turn off System Restore on all drives..." check box. Click OK. Why? It rarely works right and sometimes can overwrite updated files with older, possibly corrupt files. And it will save you some hard drive space.
• Turn off Error Reporting - Right-click "My Computer" and choose Properties. Click the Advanced tab, click Error Reporting (at the bottom of the box). Click Disable Error Reporting and click "But notify me when critical errors occur." Click OK twice. Why? It wastes your time and ties up your machine. (Microsoft has been in business 30 years - a few error messages from you is not going to help them)!
• Improve performance by turning off Visual Effects - Right-click "My Computer" and choose Properties. Click the Advanced tab. In the Performance box, click Settings. Click the Visual Effects tab and then check "Adjust for Best Performance." Click OK twice. Why? Many of these visual effects drain system resources and slow your computer.
• Give your machine the three-finger salute (ctrl-alt-del) then click on task manager, then processes to see everything that is running on your machine - you'll be surprised. Many of these are necessary to the operation of Windows, but some are superfluous. Do a search on each one and investigate - you can disable non-essential services. For example, if you don't have a wireless Internet connection, you can safely disable the Wireless Zero Configuration Service, wcz.exe. See Tip #7 for the remaining services you can disable.

Tip #6 - Configure DMA correctly

Many computers are improperly set up in both hardware and in Windows for DMA support. This means that DMA (direct memory access) transfers between high performance hard drives and your motherboard are usually disabled in one or two places. Without DMA your processor must directly orchestrate hard disk data transfers which means it suspends all other work while doing so. Since Windows is a virtual memory system, this is going on all the time (paging/swapping), not just when you save/load application data or start new executables. You can enable DMA by doing both of the following (see Warnings below):

• enable DMA support in hardware by going into your motherboard BIOS. Make sure that DMA or UDMA (Ultra DMA) is enabled or set to auto.
   
• enable DMA support in Windows, by doing the following:
• right click on "My Computer"
• click on "Properties"
• click on the "Device Manager" tab
• double click on "Disk Drives"
• double click on the drive you wish to enable
• click on the "Settings" tab
• enable the "DMA" check box
• click "OK"

Warnings:

• Don't waste your time enabling DMA if your hardware was manufactured before 1998.
• DMA is a high performance feature borrowed from mini and mainframe systems. It usually doesn't work properly on el-cheapo or over-clocked motherboards.
• Do not enable DMA on a drive in Windows if that drive's hardware doesn't support it (all newer drives support DMA while most older ones do not). If you enable DMA on a drive that doesn't support it, then you may not be able to reboot your machine. If you're not sure if your drive(s) support DMA but you just can't resist trying this, like me, then take the following precautions:
  
  Create an alternate hardware profile. In Win XP:
• right click on "My Computer"
• click on "Properties"
• click on "Hardware Profiles" tab
• click on "Original Configuration"
• click on "Copy"
• enter an alternate name in the text box like "Backup_for_DMA"
• now go through the enable DMA support in Windows described above then reboot
• when you reboot you'll be given the chance to select one of the hardware profiles so choose the one that was active when you made the changes (should be "Original Configuration" if you haven't already booted an alternate hardware profile)
• if your system doesn't come up just reboot and choose the copied profile (remember to go back into hardware profiles and delete the original configuration)

Tip #7 - Create an "Optimized" Profile

Create an alternate hardware profile (Tip #6 tells how) and optimize it by disabling non-essential services that run in the background, gobbling up scarce system resources. Name your new profile 'Optimized' so you'll know what it is. Don't do this to your original boot profile: the alternate profile gives you a safety net - you can boot using the original profile if any of these services need to run, restore them to the optimized profile, and then reboot. Here is a list of services you can safely disable on most machines.

Tip #8 - Make a Bootable CD

You really do need one. Click here to see how to make it!

Tip #9 - Control Startup Programs in the System Registry

One of my big annoyances is those programs that take over your system and add things - without your permission - to the System Tray (aka the Notification Area). This is where the clock is located on the lower right corner of the desktop. These programs or 'applets' start up when you turn the computer on. Rogue programs put the startup instructions into the system registry so you can't easily turn them off. Here's how to get rid of the ones you don't want. First, the usual caution about working in the registry: make a backup and be sure you know how to restore it in the event you need to! Not sure how to do that? Go here to find out.

The registry is a hidden database in your computer that controls every aspect of your PC. It's hidden for a reason - mess it up and your computer is toast! Startup programs are usually hidden in one of the "hives" in the registry. Most startup programs will be located in one of these hives:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Userinit
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\ActiveSetup\InstalledComponents
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\SharedTaskScheduler
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellExecuteHooks
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Extensions\Approved
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser Helper Objects
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\InternetExplorer\Toolbar
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\InternetExplorer\Extensions
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon\Notify
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Winsock2\Parameters\Protocol_Catalog9
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKEY_USERS\.Default\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

One more place to check... click on Start, Programs, Startup and see what's in there... if you don't like it, just drag it off the menu into the trash bin! Keep in mind none of these will uninstall the program - they just control what starts and what doesn't. You CAN take back control of your PC!

Above all, have fun messing up your system: you'll learn tons of stuff as you work to fix it.

Tip #10 - Coming Soon

Check back!

Top of Page     Home