tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46736225379792782312024-03-12T22:54:14.571-04:00My Computer and Windows 7 Optimization GuideAn Exclusive and Free Internet Resource That Provides The Best In Computer and Windows 7 Fine Tuning And Hidden Secrets That Even Microsoft Didn't Want To Tell You About.Les Tokarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03136917211731204617noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673622537979278231.post-86638872540913187542013-03-05T14:33:00.005-05:002010-05-25T18:22:33.683-04:00The Guide For ALL levels of Computer Experience!!<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_703436745">THIS JUST IN!!!!</a></span></span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_703436745"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"></span></a></span></b><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_703436745"> </a><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><a href="http://thessdreview.blogspot.com/p/windows-7-ssd-performance-optimization.html">The Win7 SSD Performance Optimization Guide</a></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><a href="http://thessdreview.blogspot.com/p/windows-7-ssd-performance-optimization.html">!</a></span><br />
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Gotta admit, I have been getting ALOT of flack about the word "Tweak" as it seems that many shy away believing the guide is strictly for those more advanced in their computer knowledge. <b>NOTHING COULD BE FURTHER FROM THE TRUTH!!!</b> I might have been smarter naming this the Ultimate Win7 Optimization Guide but I can assure everyone that everything in this site is laid out in a very easy to read and understand format.<br />
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Thinking of doing a fresh install of your system to get rid of all that bloatware??? <i><b>Its here</b>!</i><br />
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Thinking of learning some of the new Tricks of Windows 7? <i> They are here!<b></b></i><br />
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Wondering what key combinations do what? <b>Yup...we got it!<i></i></b><br />
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Wondering why your computer takes so long to start and how to fix that? <b>Uhhh right place!!<br />
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Wondering how to get extra space from your hard drive? <b>Yup!!!!<br />
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Wondering what kind of a regular cleaning schedule you should have with your system? <b> Got it!!!<br />
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Wondering about virus programs? <b> uuuuuh huh... Got it!!<br />
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The truth is I simply tried to put the best package together I could for every different level of reader. I have taken part in assisting many on a technology site for years and simply put the problems people experience most into this guide.<br />
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I know I am running on here but enjoy!!! I am excited about the response. I also have a very professional Manual that I will send along for just a very small donation. You may think I am trying to profit but, really, thats kinda funny. Very little money comes from such a site. I simply want to maybe get the wife out for a dinner in exchange for her compassion shown so many nights when she woke up at 3am to find me still here punching away at this.<br />
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Good luck,,,and please....please...please...if you feel a donation is not the right approach, <b>please leave a comment </b>which can let me know how the site was for you!!!Les Tokarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03136917211731204617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673622537979278231.post-31246622626621769212010-04-17T22:54:00.017-04:002010-04-18T14:32:08.592-04:00Windows 7 SSD Performance Optimization Guide<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;">The Win7 SSD Performance Optimization Guide</span></b> is a great contribution by Marshall Dean AKA Spartacus of ExtremeOverclocking.Com. With its illustrations and easy to follow advice, it is the premier publication found anywhere on optimization of the solid state drive.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is an important guide which will teach the reader ways to avoid pitfalls which will severely degrade the ssd, tricks that will return some of that valuable ssd storage property as well as methods to ensure your ssd is in top shape and tuned as best as it can be. There will be '<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><b>Webmaster Notes</b></span>' included with some of the suggestions which serve to explain the importance of the particular suggestion.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">READER ALERT!!! There is no need to Optimize Win7 or your SSD whatsoever for it to function correctly. The reader retains sole responsibility in their following of this thread and the Site and its authors shall not deemed liable for any damage that may occur to the readers computer or its hardware in following the thread.</span></span></b></i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">Have a problem? Send us an email!</span></span></b></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-weight: normal;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Graphics in this guide have been reduced to assist the reader and simply clicking on each will enlarge them to their original size for better viewing.</span></b></i></span></span></b></i></span></span></b></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">1. Install Chipset Drivers</span></span></span></b></span><br />
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<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="152" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS1.png" width="200" /></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ensure your Chipset drivers are up to date by checking with your system or motherboard manufacturers website and seeking the support and drivers page. This will allow for the efficient managing of data transmission through the SATA bridge and newer drivers may also be released to solve problems discovered with the system after its release. If it asks for a restart please do so.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b6d7a8;"><i><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b6d7a8;"><i>WEBMASTER NOTE: </i></span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b6d7a8;"><i><b>TRIM is a very important part of ssd maintenance and allows for background wiping of previous deletions to retain ssd performance. There is an AHCI driver which is a standard part of Win7 and Intel has finally released a new driver</b></i></span></span></span><a href="http://downloadcenter.intel.com/SearchResult.aspx?lang=eng&ProductFamily=Chipsets&ProductLine=Chipset+Software&ProductProduct=Intel%C2%AE+Rapid+Storage+Technology+(Intel%C2%AE+RST)"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b6d7a8;"><i><b> here</b></i></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b6d7a8;"><i><b> which is also TRIM compliant. Testing has shown that there are no performance improvements whatsoever between the MS or Intel drivers on a normal system, however, testing has shown that the new Intel driver provides performance improvements to RAID. There are numerous documented tests that show that the new drivers perform 'wiping', similar to TRIM' almost immediately after a deletion is made on a RAID drive, thus restoring performance. Again, unless you are using a RAID system, there is no proven benefit to installing the Intel Storage drivers whatsoever and no need to do so.</b></i></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b6d7a8;"><i><b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">2. Disable System Restore</span></span></span></b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b6d7a8;">WEBMASTER NOTE: This is the most important piece of information in this Guide. Recent testing has discovered that System Restore allocates restore points within the SSD that do not work well with the SSD or TRIM. Typically, System Restore will degrade ssd performance significantly within a few weeks and makes it very difficult for TRIM to function. Disabling System Restore is not only recommended throughout the web, but also, Intel has lately also included this advise with respect to its ssds. Disabling System Restore will also return to you a fair amount of ssd storage space.</span></i></b></span><br />
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<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS60.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="110" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS60.png" width="200" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right click on <b>My Computer</b> and select <b>Properties.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select <b>System Protection.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select <b>Configure.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select<b> Turn Off System Restore.</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">3. Disable Drive Indexing</span></span></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b6d7a8;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b6d7a8;">WEBMASTER NOTE: The purpose of drive indexing on a hard drive was to allow quicker access to a file. As access times on a ssd are almost instantaneous (.1ms), there is a common belief that indexing does nothing more than increase the total number of writes to the ssd which results in a lesser life cycle. Having stated this, there is no confirmed performance increase by disabling indexing and the chances of wearing out ones ssd is somewhere in the area of impossible to one in a million.</span></i></b></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS15.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS15.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="115" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS15.png" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Go into <b>My Computer,</b> right click your SSD and select <b>Properties </b>(usually C: if the OS is installed on it). Un-check the box marked <b>Allow files to have contents indexed in addition to file properties</b>. If it asks for administrative permissions allow it to do so. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>A popup will appear stating an error applying attributes has occured, this is normal, select ignore all and it will continue. This process will take about 2 minutes.</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">4. Disable Disk Defragment Schedule</span></span></span></b></span><br />
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<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/ss17.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></a><br />
<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/ss17.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b6d7a8;">WEBMASTER NOTE: Windows 7 should, by default, disable Windows Defrag automatically but this does not always occur for some reason. Disk Defragmentation is not required in a ssd as the mechanics are completely different. There are no moving parts so file fragmentation doesn't occur as frequently as it does with a hard drive which fragments files as they are retrieved and stored on the disk while it spins at very high speeds. Leaving Windows 7 with an enabled defragmentation schedule will drastically increase your ssd total writes and decrease its lifespan.</span></i></b></span><br />
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<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/ss17.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/ss17.png" width="200" /></a>After finishing indexing, in the same properties of the SSD, select the <b>Tools</b> tab. Select the box <b>Defragment Now.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select the box <b>Defragment Schedule. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Un-check the <b>Run on a Schedule Box.</b></span></b></span><br />
<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/ss18.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="233" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/ss18.png" width="320" /></span></a><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">5. Turn Off Windows Write-Cache Buffer Flushing</span></span></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b6d7a8;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b6d7a8;">WEBMASTER NOTE: Turning Off Write-Cache Buffer Flushing may increase or decrease the performance of your drive and it is suggested that you perform benchmark tests with it checked and unchecked. It is reported to improve performance on OCZ drives, however, decreases the performance of Intel drives.</span></i></b></span></span><br />
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<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS19.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="94" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS19.png" width="200" /></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right Click <b>My Computer</b> and select <b>Properties.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select <b>Device Manager.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select <b>Disk Drives.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right click the <b>SSD</b> and select <b>Properties.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Under the <b>Performance</b> tab check the box <b>Turn off Windows write-cache buffer flushing on this device.</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">6. Turn Off Page File</span></span></span></b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b6d7a8;">WEBMASTER NOTE: This is an extremely controversial optimization and does not improve performance whatsoever. It does, however, return to the user 3.5-4Gb of valuable ssd storage space. It is NOT recommended for typical users with less than 4Gb RAM that are not aware of their system and its RAM use. It is also not recommended without first watching RAM use closely for some time prior to this being done.</span></i></b></span></span> <br />
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<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS45.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="93" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS45.png" width="200" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right click on <b>My Computer</b> and select <b>Properties</b>.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select<b> Advanced System Settings.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select the <b>Performance</b> setting box.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Under the <b>Advanced </b>tab select the <b>Change</b> box for virtual memory.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Un-check <b>Automatically Manage Page File Size For All Drives.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the SSD select <b>No paging file</b> and click the set box.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select<b> Yes</b> to allow. <b>Restart.</b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">7. Turn Off Multi-Boot Selection</span></span></span></b></span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">NOTE: This should not be done if the drive is being used to boot multiple operating systems off the same OS drive.</span></span></b><br />
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<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS34.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="114" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS34.png" width="200" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right click <b>My Computer</b> and select <b>Properties.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select <b>Advanced System Settings.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select the <b>Startup and Recovery</b> setting box.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Un-check the <b>Time to Display List of Operating System</b> box.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">8. Turn Off Hibernation</span></span></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b6d7a8;">WEBMASTER NOTE: Hibernation was a very useful program for hard drives as it enabled one to resume their work in a very quick time. It is less useful with ssds as they can load completely in as quick as 10-20 seconds which, in some cases, equals Hibernation. Disabling Hibernation will return 2.5Gb of valuable ssd storage space to the user.</span></i></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS29.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="105" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS29.png" width="200" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Using the start menu search box type "<b>cmd" <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Right click the <b>cmd program</b> and select <b>Run as Administrator. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">In the command line type "<b>powercfg -h off</b>". This will take about 30 seconds it has finished once the command prompt reappears.</span></b></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><br />
</span></b></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">9. Power Settings</span></span></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS46.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i></i></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><b><i>This is needed for trim to activate at the log-in screen.</i></b></span></i></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS46.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="167" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS46.png" width="200" /></a>Go to <b>Control Panel.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select <b>System and Security.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select <b>Power Options </b>and Click the drop down for<b> Show Additional Plans.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select the <b>High Performance</b> bubble to apply it.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click <b>Change Plan Settings </b>for High performance.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Change Advanced Power Settings.</b></span><br />
<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS47.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="75" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS47.png" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click the hard disk drop down option.</span><br />
<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS47.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Change <b>Turn off hard disk after</b> to 0 minutes (will display as <b>never</b> after applied).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select <b>OK.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select <b>Save Settings.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b></span><br />
<b></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">10. Disable Windows Search and Superfetch (Services.msc)</span></span></b></span></span><br />
<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS32.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span></a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS32.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="146" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS32.png" width="200" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the start box type <b>"services.msc"</b> and press <b>Enter</b>.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Scroll</b> to find Superfetch, right click and select <b>Properties.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the drop down menu select <b>Disabled </b>and select <b>Ok</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scroll down further to find <b>Windows Search</b>, right click and select<b> Properties</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click the <b>Stop</b> box then use the drop down menu to <b>Disable</b> select <b>Ok.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span><br />
<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS31.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="233" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS31.png" width="320" /></span></a><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">11. Enable Faster Booting Sequence (Msconfig)</span></span></span></b></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS23.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">WARNING: Do not change anything else in this section unless you know what you are doing, especially in the advanced options menu you can seriously mess up the OS.</span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS23.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS23.png" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This will remove the spinning windows logo at the start which reduces start-up time by about 2-3 seconds. If you want the boot to look pretty don't select the "<b>No GUI Boot</b>" the rest can still be done to improve the boot sequence.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Use the start box type </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"msconfig".</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Under the boot tab select the box <b>"No GUI Boot". <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><i><b>Timeout should be set to 0 from step 6 (if still 30 seconds set to 3).</b></i></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">Select the <b>Advanced Options</b> box.</span></b></i></span></b></span><br />
<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/ss22.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/ss22.png" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Check the <b>Number of processors box</b> and set it to the highest number possible. NOTE: This is based off the number of cores you have.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select <b>Ok</b> then <b>Restart </b>when prompted.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">12. Disable Recycle Bin</span></span></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div><br />
</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS41.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS41.png" width="177" /></span></a><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This will assist in instant activation of trim upon delete for smaller files.</span></b></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">WARNING: By removing this feature it can seriously impend accidental deletions do not apply if you often accidentally delete incorrect files.</span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right Click <b>Recycle Bin</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select the <b>SSD</b> and select <b>Don't move files to the Recycle Bin</b>. <b>Remove files immediately when deleted.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select <b>Apply</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">13. </span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Verify TRIM</span></span></span></span></b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;"></span></span></span></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #b6d7a8;">WEBMASTER NOTE: Verifying that TRIM is working is actually a next to impossible task which requires monitoring your computers activity closely as TRIM can take only a split second to complete. There is truly no way for the user to confirm that it is working. Verifying TRIM wilkl confirm for the user that the TRIM commands are being sent from the software to the ssd. This, unfortunately, is the closest one will come without trying to catch it in action for that split second.</span></i></b></span></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Using the Start Menu Search Box, Search <b>CMD</b>.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right click the </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cmd Program</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and select </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Run as Administrator</b>.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the command line type </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify"</b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If DisableDeleteNotify=0 TRIM is Enabled.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">DisableDeleteNotify=1 TRIM is Disabled.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><div><br />
</div><a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS40.png" imageanchor="1" style="display: inline !important; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img alt="" border="0" height="102" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS40.png" width="200" /></span></a><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>REGISTRY OPTIMIZATION</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">WARNING: </span></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">The registry edits can be seriously harmful if not done correctly, please do not change anything if you don't know what you're doing outside of the recommendations in this guide.</span></b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><br />
</span></b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">14. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Wait To Kill Service Timeout (Decrease Shutdown Time)</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"> </span></span></b></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS33.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img border="0" height="105" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS33.png" width="200" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Type </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Regedit</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> into the Start Menu Box.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select the file path "</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CurrentControlSet\Control"</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last file is WaitToKillServiceTimeout.</span><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right Click</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and select </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Modify</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> to change the value from 12000 to </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1000.</span></b></div><div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Restart</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<div><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NOTE: If you experience program hangups increase this to 5000 or so.</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b></span></span></span><br />
<b></b></div><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">15. Disable ClearPageFileAtShutdown and LargeSystemCache</span></span></span></b><br />
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<div><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Type <b>Regedit</b> into the Start Menu box.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select the file path<b> "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contr ol\SessionManager\MemoryManagement"</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 2nd and 5th files are ClearPageFileAtShutdown and<b> LargeSystemCache</b>.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right click and select <b>Modify</b> on each of these to change the value from 0 to <b>1 </b>and <b>Restart.</b></span><br />
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<a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS4.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img alt="" border="0" height="200" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS4.png" width="71" /></span></a><a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS11.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img alt="" border="0" height="186" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS11.png" width="200" /></span></a><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">16. Disable Superfetch and Prefetch</span></span></span></b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Type <b>Regedit</b> into the Start Menu box. Select the file path <b>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>SYSTEM\<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>CurrentControlSet\<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>Control\</b></span></b></span></b></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>SessionManager<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters"</b></span></b></span></b></span></b></span></b></span></b></span></b></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The last file two files are<b> EnablePrefetcher</b> and <b>EnableSuperfetch.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right click and select modify on each of these to change the value from 1 to<b> 0</b> and <b>Restart</b>..</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS9.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="200" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS9.png" width="185" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;"><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">17. NTFS Memory Usage and NTFS Disable Name Creation</span></span></span></b></span></b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Type </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Regedit</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> into the Start Menu box. Select the file path</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contr ol\FileSystem"</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 5th files is </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation. </b>Right click and modify to <b>1.</b></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The 11th file is</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <b>NtfsMemoryUsage</b> right click and modify to <b>2</b> and <b>Restart.</b></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<b></b> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="clear: left; float: left; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="286" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS25.png" width="320" /></span><br />
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<b></b> <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></b></b><b><b></b> <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></b></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: yellow;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">18. Change from IDE mode to AHCI</span></span></b><br />
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<b><i>This is only for those who installed Windows 7 in IDE mode</i>.</b><b> </b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">WARNING: Double check that you have AHCI in your mobo BIOS before changing, you will NOT be able to boot into IDE mode after changing this setting. This site claims no responsibility for any modifications made as a result of advise afforded herein.</span></b></span></div><div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b></b></span></span><br />
<b></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> SSD's run the fastest in AHCI mode which allows for plug and play SATA devices and Native Command Queuing which can give 5-10% performance boosts with single drives.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></div><br />
<div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Type <b>Regedit </b>into the Start Menu box.</span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Select the file path </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servi ces\msahci"</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right Click and modify </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Start</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> from 3 to</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> 0</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Restart.</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b><br />
</b></span><br />
<div><a href="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS49.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><img alt="" border="0" height="73" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS49.png" width="200" /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="168" src="http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii74/Spartacus2009/SSD%20Guide/SS48.png" width="200" /></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><br />
</span></span></span></div>Les Tokarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03136917211731204617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673622537979278231.post-13757781297691633692010-04-15T15:15:00.002-04:002010-04-15T15:15:52.699-04:00Windows 7 Rescue<script type="text/javascript">
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<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-13275059-5");
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} catch(err) {}</script>Some time ago, myself and members of <a href="http://www.notebookreview.com/">NotebookReview</a> compiled a guide of the best tips, tricks and tweaks found on the Net with respect to Windows Vista. The end result of that guide saw it published in several languages and make its way across the internet like wildfire. As popular as it remains, Windows 7 has now introduced itself and filled in so many of the pot holes left open with Vista, proving itself to be an almost unnecessarily tweakable operating system. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Technological advances have made huge steps yet the consumer continues to search for shorter boot times, speedier use, shorter shut down times, as wells as a compilation of the best tips, tricks and shortcuts for Windows 7. In addition to this, solid state drives, 64 bit operating systems as well as larger memory configurations have added a new dimension to our computer use which, when accompanied by Windows 7, is a somewhat unmatchable experience today.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This guide is dedicated to those of us who get stuck and continue trying to solve a problem, only to realize at 3:30am that they have to be up for work in an hour or so.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><strong><em>READER ALERT!!!!</em></strong></span><span style="color: red;"><br />
<strong><em></em></strong></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>There is no need to alter Windows 7 whatsoever. Doing so may cause your operating system to act strangely or even crash without notice. </em></strong></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>In my quest to fine tune my own systems, I have experienced both of the above and there have been times when I could not understand the reasoning behind those results. As well, all of the listed tips, tricks and tweaks are organized as best thought possible, however, some are more advanced than others. Some require specific skills to work through editing registry settings, working with DOS as well as starting and stopping programs and services which run in Windows 7 background. </em></strong></span><span style="color: red;"><br />
</span><span style="color: red; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><em>Given respect to this, I would advise one to NOT follow this article unless you have the background and knowledge to do so. I cannot take responsibility for any changes you make to your own system that may cause any adverse effects. Please be aware that the only person who can be held responsible for loss of information, crashing or unusual experiences your system may exhibit is yourself as you have chosen freely to accept the risks.</em></strong></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Aside from that, there are always 4 escapes to any mistakes made as a result of trying these tweaks:</span><br />
<ul><li><span font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Call on the experience of the site and members who have been through similar ordeals and have the knowledge and background to assist;</em></span></li>
<li><span font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Reboot your computer while quickly tapping <strong>F8</strong>. This will bring you into the Advanced Boot Options where you can select options such as <strong>Repair Your Computer</strong>, <strong>Last Known Good Configuration </strong>or booting into <strong>Safe Mode</strong> where you can do a <strong>System Restore</strong> to an earlier time;</em></span></li>
<li><span font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Reboot your computer with your Windows 7 disk in the drive. Boot to the disk select the installation you want and then click on <strong>repair,</strong> or</em></span></li>
<li><span font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Complete a clean install of Windows 7 which, although time intensive, will confirm that your problem is solved and the system is in tip-top shape.</em></span></li>
</ul><br />
<strong><em></em></strong>Les Tokarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03136917211731204617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673622537979278231.post-44224732360651887282010-04-15T15:10:00.004-04:002010-04-15T15:13:45.899-04:00Fresh Windows 7 Installation Eliminates Bloatware<script type="text/javascript">
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<script type="text/javascript">
try {
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} catch(err) {}</script><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Enough cannot be said about the importance of doing a fresh, full and clean installation of Windows 7 on your computer if it has never been done in the past. New computers contain vast amounts of bloatware (trial programs, manufacture specific utilities and freeware), as well as specific settings that will slow your computer which serve to ensure the stability of the system for the needs of the manufacturer. Many times, newer systems contain programs that the consumer believes are vital yet utilize a vast amount of system resources to do their job. This slows your computer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did you ever wonder why some computers take several minutes to start yet others take less than 30 seconds??? A ‘clean install’ alone will change your start times significantly. The most valuable upgrade one can make to a computer is a fresh installation of the operating system and its hardware drivers. We first need to put pen to paper and determine what will be involved in our new OS installation.</span><br />
<ul><li><em><span font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did the system come with an OS Win 7 disk? If not, we definitely need one of them;</span></em></li>
<li><em><span font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Are we aware of what hardware is installed within our systems in order to find the proper drivers?</span></em></li>
<li><em><span font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Do we know how to find our drivers through the manufacturers support site or that of the hardware vendor themselves?</span></em></li>
<li><em><span font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have we downloaded these drivers onto a separate USB/DVD so we can have them when needed?</span></em></li>
</ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These are very important questions we have to tackle before the new installation because, sure as heck, something will go wrong even with all the preparation in the world. Care for an example?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I bought my new system, an Acer 1810T-6188, a few weeks back and wanted to do a fresh OS installation. Well, my first thing to tackle was finding the OS disk as I never received one with the system. It came with an internal system recovery drive which was useless as I was also changing to a SSD. I dug up the disk but then needed to create an .iso file in order to create an installable Windows 7 USB disk for the installation as my sytem doesn’t contain a DVD drive. I then learned that, since I was moving over 64 bit form 32 bit, the USB disk couldn’t simply be created on a 32 bit system. I tackled that and then did the installation only to find out that the laptops wireless module was not recognized by my new installation of Windows 7. This wasn’t good. I didn’t figure I would need to download the drivers as I would simply do it after the installation as I was told that all hardware would certainly be recognized by Windows 7. It was a long day, but one that I enjoyed because I thrive on problem solving which is an asset if your following through with this thread. It never stopped there though. While experimenting with different service settings the next day, I did a computer reboot only to find my ‘hardware’ wasn’t recognized as a result of a hardware or software change. So I tackled that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ok so… I’ve probably done a great job of disillusioning and scaring you right? If so, refer once again to the above <span style="color: red; font-size: large;">READER ALERT!</span> because once you start it’s just too late to go back. It becomes an addiction which will definitely present, yet one that will make you confident in your problem solving skills and your creation of a new system to suit your own personal needs and ideas.</span>Les Tokarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03136917211731204617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673622537979278231.post-32599302410938540262010-04-15T15:08:00.004-04:002010-04-15T15:09:31.040-04:00Reduce Windows 7 Boot Time and Shut Down<script type="text/javascript">
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</script>Simply put, this little collection of tools will help you to gain control on quicker start times, internet confirmation, shut down times as well as throwing in some performance improvements. As a bit of a start though, lets discuss two of the largest causes of a lengthy boot time on a computer, automatic updating and virus programs. A great many programs leave files in your startup folder and automatically set themselves to automatic updating on installation. Automatic updating can increase your boot time by 6-60 seconds, and more, depending on what you have installed.<br />
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For example, I use a great optimization utility called Advanced System Care which does a great job keeping my system clean. It only get used when I choose so I never considered that it would be the cause of a 7-8 second delay in my start time. It turns out that, in the programs Options menu, there are two check boxes, one for starting the program automatically at startup and the other for automatic updating. I simply unchecked them and got that time back but who knew right?<br />
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The other consideration that I mention has to do with finding the right virus program. I like freeware myself and have had the opportunity to check the start times of four programs in the past while. Was I surprised to find that the best program started in the least amount of time was 5-6 seconds while at least two others chocked 10-15 seconds on to the boot time.<br />
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<strong>a. Configuration File Adjustment</strong><br />
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The Configuration File can be found by pressing the <strong>WinKey</strong> + letter ’<strong>R</strong>’ simultaneously which will bring up the Run command. From there, type ‘<strong>msconfig</strong>’ into the box and press enter. While here we are going to perform a few changes to decrease our boot time:<br />
<ol><li><em><strong>Check No GUI Boot</strong> which will stop the colorful opening ceremonies of the software and save you precious seconds at start up as will these others;</em></li>
<li><em>Reduce the Delay time to <strong>3</strong> seconds;</em></li>
<li><em>Choose Advanced options and select<strong> 2</strong> for the number of processors if you are fortunate to have such; and</em></li>
<li><em>Click on OK followed by Apply and then agree to restart your computer.</em></li>
</ol><br />
<strong>b. Remove any Unused and Unneeded Services</strong><br />
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Windows 7 running services can potentially be the main cause for slow start and performance in a computer system. Many of the services are never used by the computer as the general settings are meant to cover any number of computers and their configurations. On first seeing the Service Applet, the columns will show the name of each service, description, status and startup type. The user needs to carefully consider the properties of each one to determine if it needs to be running or not. The safest method of approach is to set services to manual, when unsure, rather than to disable them.<br />
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So, simply press <strong>WinKey</strong> + ‘<strong>R</strong>’ to again bring up the Run Command and type in <strong>‘services.msc’</strong> before pressing<strong> OK</strong>. Double clicking on any service will help in determining if it is useful or not as well as changing its properties.<br />
<br />
Some services that start automatically, by default, that can be disabled are:<br />
<br />
• Computer Browser<br />
• Distributed Link Tracking Client<br />
• IKE and AuthIP IP Keying Modules<br />
• Offline Files<br />
• Remote Registry<br />
• Tablet PC Input Service (If you are not using a tablet)<br />
• Windows Error Reporting<br />
<br />
You can experiment carefully with some services and I would suggest only a few at a time and then return if something doesn’t work as planned or there are adverse results.<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>c. Eliminate Unneeded Start Up Programs</strong><br />
<br />
Start Up programs, as with Windows Services, have the ability to slow your system down a great deal. Start Up programs are a bit more obvious to the typical user however. Many software programs, on installation, embed files within the Startup folder that are running behind the scenes needlessly. Quick Time is famous for this as is MS Office, however, MSN Messenger and the many communications programs that start automatically are a better example. My best suggestion is to choose quicker boot times rather than starting frequently used programs automatically.<br />
<br />
To examine your Startup, press <strong>WinKey</strong> + ‘<strong>R</strong>’ and type ‘<strong>msconfig</strong>’ and <strong>OK</strong>. From there select Startup and examine the running files. Again, determining what you can shut down may take a bit of work, however, my policy is that if I can start it when I select the program, there is no need for its files to be running all the time and slowing my system.<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>d. Remove Unused Fonts</strong><br />
<br />
I have just counted and was astounded to learn that there were a total of 708 fonts installed on my computer by Windows 7 taking up a whopping ½ GB of space, all but three of which I may never use. Windows loads each and every one of these fonts at boot up and must keep track of them, thus slowing your system. Feel free to cut down on the total number by simply deleting them. Go to <strong>Start Menu/Control Panel/Fonts</strong>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>e. Get Quicker Internet Confirmation</strong><br />
<br />
There is a quick trick to getting your internet to confirm quicker on boot. Press<strong> Winkey</strong> + ‘<strong>R</strong>’, type in ‘<strong>services.msc', double click</strong> and <strong>disable Workstation</strong>.<br />
<br />
<b>PRECAUTION: This tweak is not advisable if your system is located within a network or workstation environment as it will affect the environment itself.<i></i></b><br />
<br />
<br />
<strong>f. Speed Up Your Shut Down Time</strong><br />
<br />
Windows 7 allows you to control your shut down time and allows it to be set from instantaneous to a 20 second delay. In considering this, your work habits need to be thought of and whether or not there is data being saved on exit. My shut down time is set at 2 seconds which I find a perfect setting as I hate waiting for a computer to shut down. We need to go into the Registry for this one so buckle up!<br />
<ol><li>Press <strong>Winkey</strong> +’<strong>R</strong>’ and type ‘<strong>Regedit</strong>’ which brings you to the Registry Editor;</li>
<li>Follow” <strong>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control</strong> and then look to the right to find <strong>WaitToKillServiceTimeOut</strong> and double click on it. You can enter a value from 2 to 20000, each value representing a millisecond. Two seconds would be 2000; and</li>
<li>Again click <strong>OK</strong> and then simply exit the program; it will be saved automatically.</li>
</ol><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The following tweaks may or may not yield individual results as much as they will when done as a group. One may not notice a change of a few milliseconds in menu appearance or that of reducing start time by two seconds through an individual tweak. Some tweaks are extremely controversial. Some will draw a lot of attention and some require a certain amount of acceptance of risk. Many have been used for years without incident and it would be wrong to not pass them along and let the user decide. Some are carried forward from the Vista Guide while others were emailed or found elsewhere on the internet. Pick out what you like and are comfortable with and leave others for those who like the risks or who have a bit more (or less) knowledge and definitely less sense.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">a. Disable Windows 7 Search Indexing</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By default, Search Indexing is turned on in Windows 7, although most recreational users have no need for it since they know what they want and where to get it. Disabling Windows Search can provide a significant performance boost to users who know where their files can be found and find that the Search command is not one found in their normal use of this OS. There are a few separate processes to shut down to ensure search functioning is disabled. These are as follows:</span><br />
<ol><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Right click on the Windows <strong>Orb </strong>(bottom right) and select<strong> Properties/Start Menu</strong> and <strong>Customize</strong>. <strong>Deselect</strong> the radio button for <strong>Search Programs</strong> and Control Panel and <strong>select </strong>the radio button for <strong>Don’t Search</strong> in the selection of Search other files and Libraries;</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Click <strong>Winkey</strong> + ‘<strong>R</strong>’ and type ‘<strong>services.msc’</strong>. Click on <strong>Windows Search</strong> and <strong>disable</strong> it; and</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Click <strong>Start Menu/Computer</strong> and Right Click on ‘<strong>Local Disk ‘C’</strong>. <strong>Uncheck</strong> the bottom box that speaks of indexing and allow it to complete. This may take a few minutes. Reboot your computer and you are done.</em></span></li>
</ol><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">b. Enable Write Caching</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">By default, Windows 7 uses Cache flushing. This means that the system will periodically instruct the storage device to write all data waiting in the cache to the storage device. When you select Enable write caching on this device, you can turn off these periodic commands to transfer the data. Not all devices support all of these features.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you select the Better Performance option, Windows 7 uses a method known as write-back caching. In this method, the storage device itself is allowed to determine whether using the high-speed cache will save time completing the write commands. If it will, the device signals to the computer that the data has been stored successfully even though the data may not actually be present in the storage device yet (such as the hard disk or flash memory). This method markedly increases the throughput of storage operations, which are often a major bottleneck for system performance overall.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Go to <strong>Start Panel/Computer</strong>, right click on <strong>’Local Disk C’</strong> and select <strong>Properties</strong>. Find <strong>Hardware</strong>, right click on your <strong>hard drive</strong> shown, follow <strong>Policies </strong>and check both boxes shown.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">c. Consider Potential of Shutting Down Your Pagefile</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This next suggestion is sure to raise the eye of many which is why there needs to be a bit of an explanation behind it. Many years ago, the creators of Windows realized that the need for physical memory could not keep up with the demands of newer and more demanding software. There simply wasn’t enough physical memory available to keep up with technology. As a result, virtual memory was created which is commonly known now as Pagefile.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pagefile is a section of your computer’s hard drive which is dedicated solely to assisting the needs of your computers physical memory which is commonly known as RAM (random access memory). In short, rather than storing information into RAM, your system likes to make sure there is always sufficient amount available for programs so it places active programs in Pagefile where they can be quickly accessed. Pagefile is actually a dedicated portion of your hard disk which is doing the job of your RAM. There are two controversies related to this which speak to that of system performance as well as system and information safety.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><strong>With respect to system performance, there is little, if any, evidence that would substantiate that turning off Pagefile will show any noticeable improvement.</strong></em> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The simple mechanics of it depict a different picture, however. Physical RAM is a great deal faster than Pagefile and, therefore, information stored there must be retrieved at a much higher rate. Conversely, if you consider that your hard drive is trying to retrieve its normal course of data and, also, trying to utilize Pagefile in place of RAM, it is something like two people trying to drive a car at the same time. Windows 7 is wonderful at making it work, however, with Pagefile, you are guaranteed a great deal more disk activity and many believe a slower system. Again, there are many who also believe otherwise.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is also an inherent risk associated with shutting down Pagefile, in that if your system does not have sufficient RAM available, it could cause problems or even shut down your software, causing one to lose any information they haven’t backed up. <span style="color: orange;"><em>(As did my husband and that is why I am retyping this whole article for him. No word of lie.)</em></span> This is why one needs to ensure that they have sufficient physical memory installed and available for their normal every day use. For example, I utilize Windows 7 64 bit which enables me to use as much physical RAM as I can feed it, this being 4 GB in my case. I use a system monitor within my gadgets to watch my RAM use. Commonly, with Pagefile shut off I have 3 of 4 GB free. Now, even with 8 copies of Word, Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat, the internet, a mail program, video playing as well as music in the background, I still have 2.6 GB of free physical memory.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My view quite simply is that we pay for the amount and power of our physical RAM so it just makes sense to use it to its full potential. Myself, I believe that the difference in system response is physically noticeable. And beside, Windows 7 even has a check box to turn your Pagefile off so who are we to argue right?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shutting down Pagefile is a bit more work than usual but, like all else, you will learn a lot about your system in your trip to get it done.</span><br />
<ol><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Left Click on the <strong>Orb</strong>, <strong>Control Panel</strong> and then <strong>System</strong>;</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Choose <strong>Advanced System</strong> settings, <strong>Advanced </strong>Tab, and <strong>Performance Settings</strong>;</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>In Performance Options, left click on <strong>Advanced </strong>and <strong>Change Virtual Memory</strong>;</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><strong>Unclick Automatically Manage Paging File</strong> and <strong>Select the No Paging File</strong> radio button; and</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Select Set, <strong>OK</strong> and then allow your system to <strong>Reboot</strong>.</em></span></li>
</ol><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is also another little benefit to this if you are storage space strapped like many ssd users. You gain 3.5 GB space that is no longer reserved for Pagefile.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">Hibernate Freebee!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">There is another space saver if you never use Windows Hibernate. Simply Click on the Start <strong>Orb</strong>, <strong>All Programs</strong>, <strong>Accessories</strong> and <strong>Command Prompt</strong>. Now Type <strong>powercfg -h off</strong> and hit<strong> enter</strong>. Presto, you just gained another 3 Gb of hard drive space.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">d. Uninstall Unneeded Features and Windows Programs</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Consider uninstalling unneeded Windows 7 features, and while you are there, unused programs, in order to save space and improve performance. Your performance is improved in turning off unneeded windows features such as Remote Differential Compression (RDC). Briefly RDC monitors changes in files in order to transfer them with minimum compression over a network, thus eliminating the transfer of an entire file which has already been moved. This checking and rechecking can hinder system performance.</span><br />
<ol><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Left click<strong> Orb</strong>, <strong>Control Panel</strong> and <strong>Programs and Features</strong>;</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Click <strong>Turn Windows Features On or Off</strong> and decide what to keep and what is not needed; and </em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Click <strong>OK</strong>, exit and then look through and remove any unneeded software programs that you have.</em></span></li>
</ol><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">My Windows Features checked items consist of Games, Internet Explorer 8, Media Features, Table PC Components and Gadget Platform. The only reason I don’t shut down Tablet is because of a handy little item called the Snipping Tool which will be described later.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">e. Get a Flash Drive and Use ReadyBoost</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To start, this does not really apply to SSD users as there is no significant access time increase between the SSD and USB flash drive.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For the rest, lucky you!!! You can literally add physical memory to your system by popping a USB flash drive in and enabling it to use <strong>ReadyBoost</strong>. For the systems with limited RAM this is a great add on because it limits the use of Pagefile which, as discovered earlier, is a portion of the hard drive which is dedicated to emulating physical RAM and can slow your system.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The drive must be USB 2.0 compliant and it is recommended that the USB have at least 1 GB of available space for ReadyBoost.</span><br />
<ol><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Insert a USB drive or SDHC card;</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Go to Computer on your desktop and right click on the device you want to use; and</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>You will see a tab for ReadyBoost.</em></span></li>
</ol><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You can also wait for<strong> Autoplay</strong> to pop up, select <strong>General Options</strong> and click <strong>Speed Up My System.</strong> A little wandering around within the ReadyBoost menu will show you that you can also choose how much memory from the drive to dedicate.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">f. Ensure all Hardware Drivers Are Up To Date </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To start, I understand many are going to read this and realize that they never had a clue that drivers need to be updated. Well, technically they do and they don’t. On one hand we could question why we would fix a good thing yet, on the other, there are sometimes important performance gains to be realized. Believe it or not, there have also been several instances of manufacturer fixes and upgrades that take care of problems associated with brand new systems.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are some great sites to update your drivers available such as <a href="http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/">http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/</a> for video drivers and <a href="http://www.x-drivers.com/">http://www.x-drivers.com/</a> for just about everything else. The most important consideration that must be given is that the correct driver is downloaded and close examination of the driver information confirms it’s the right driver for you. Installing the wrong video driver could necessitate a complete system re-installation in just the right circumstances so ensure you have the right driver and <span style="color: red;"><em>READ CAREFULLY!</em></span></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">g. Change Your Power Settings</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I’ll start first with a simple trick that most will laugh once they learn. Have you ever wondered why sometimes your system runs very slow, especially after plug in from battery power with Windows 7?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">To help you in controlling performance and battery power, Windows 7 has brought forward an option from Vista (that dreaded word) that lets you decide at what level you want your system to perform. You simply ‘left click’ on the battery icon in your system tray and decide whether you want your system running in balanced, power saver or high performance mode. It is as easy as that.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yes… I know … this is really a cheat tweak that many know already but, it is really a reminder for all that will be a performance increase at some point. How many times have we wondered why our system was running slow only to go into the power option and see that we are still on power saver mode?</span>Les Tokarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03136917211731204617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673622537979278231.post-49470569681817664792010-04-15T15:03:00.003-04:002010-04-15T15:03:59.500-04:00Adjust Windows 7 Desktop For Speed<script type="text/javascript">
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<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-13275059-5");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The easiest and quickest way to increase performance, short of changing your power option, is through adjusting your desktop appearance and ability to display Windows Aero features. Although these may not be as visually appealing, many claim these can provide a great performance boost when needed.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">a. Trading Appearance for Performance</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Windows 7 has done a great deal to improve upon the look and feel of its graphical environment and a large amount of resources are used to ensure this ‘premium’ appearance. One of the best boosts we can give Windows 7 comes from disabling visual effects to maximize performance.</span><br />
<ol><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Go to System Properties by pressing WinKey + Pause/Break (top right corner of keyboard);</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Click on Advanced System Settings, Advanced and then Settings; and</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Click the radio button for Best Performance. </em></span></li>
</ol><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Windows greatest strength in this option is that it is completely user friendly in that you can customize it to best suit your needs or let Windows decide what is best as it sees fit.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">b. A Different Way of Seeing Your Desktop</span> </span><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Disable Aero by right clicking on your Desktop, select Personalize and then scroll to a non-Aero theme.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Toss the Transparency by right clicking the Desktop, select Personalize, Window Colour and uncheck Enable Transparency.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Remove Desktop Gadgets that can be slowing your system by deleting them individually by clicking the X that appears in their upper right corner or by right clicking the Desktop, View and un-checking Show Desktop Gadgets.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Adjust Resolution by right clicking Desktop, selecting Screen Resolution and then selecting the screen that suits you needs. You can also go into Advanced Options, Monitor and change it from 32 Bit to 16 Bit if need be.</span></li>
</ul><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When you perform these changes, your system, of course, will lose some of its curb appeal and shine but the performance may be considerably greater, depending on whether you have a newer and streamlined or older and less equipped system.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">c. Speed Up Menu Appearance Time </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This little ad on is exactly as it sounds. It is the time that elapses when you select a menu until it actually pops up. We need to dig into the registry for this one so, if you are not comfortable with this, move along to the next tweak.</span><br />
<ol><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Press WinKey + ‘R’ and type ‘Regedit’ which brings you into the Registry Editor;</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Follow HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop and look to the right until you find MenuShowDelay which will display a number representing the number of milliseconds until the menu pops up. You can change it to a number ranging from 1 to 4000; and</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>From here, simply click OK and then exit by pressing the red X top right of the screen.</em></span></li>
</ol><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">See… now that wasn’t so hard now was it? You will need to log off and log on before this little tweak works. Get ready for it!</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">d. Turn on a Desktop Slideshow </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of the great features of Windows 7 at the ability to set your desktop as a slide show which allows you to choose the folder with your favorite pictures or backgrounds, how long between intervals and also the choice to shuffle. My wife loves this as our pictures are in the thousands and span several years of our family life. They display at random on the desktop which she thoroughly enjoys.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Simply right click on your Desktop and choose Personalize. Select Desktop Background and browse to find select pictures. I put all my favorites into a specific folder and select the folder. Once complete, right click again on your Desktop, you will see a selection for Next Desktop Background just in case you don’t like the present one too much.</span>Les Tokarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03136917211731204617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673622537979278231.post-74978017030374941712010-04-15T15:02:00.003-04:002010-04-15T15:02:43.195-04:00Change Windows 7 Security Features<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
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<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-13275059-5");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There are a number of changes one can make with respect to Windows 7 Security Features. Some will help speed up your movement within Windows while others will increase, or decrease, performance depending on whether you choose to use it or not. Many users reading this may not be of a level to determine whether these will best suit their needs and for this, I would advise against making changes to their User Account Control and System Restore specifically. This article was created in the sense that it should provide all the options to the consumer and one should consider that certain changes may not be in their best interest depending on their level of knowledge.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">a. Make Windows 7 Log On Automatically</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you are simply using a home computer and have no need for log on screens, you can eliminate this by the following these steps:</span><br />
<ol><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Press Win + ‘R’ for the Run Command;</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Type ‘netplwiz’ and hit enter; </em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Uncheck Users Must Enter a User Name and Password to Use this Computer and press Apply; and</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>You will be prompted for your User Name and Password; do so and hit Enter.</em></span></li>
</ol><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Many believe this change alone to save them several seconds in system boot times.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">b. Take Control of UAC</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One of my biggest pet peeves of Windows is the annoying prompts each and every time one wants to install a program or make system changes. This can be changed easily by adjusting the scale in User Account Settings to a level that makes you happy with both protection and your ability to work with your computer</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Simply left click on the Orb and then Icon top right of the Start Menu. Next click Change User Account Control Settings and adjust the scale to suit your needs. While there, one can also learn how to change their account type, name and picture as well as being able to manage other accounts if they are in Account Administrator.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">c. Get Rid of Action Center Balloon Notification</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The new Windows Action Center is a great thing for those who aren’t quite on top of their system. It is capable of pop-ups and balloons for pretty much everything under the sun that might reflect security in one way or another. I am really not a fan of always seeing that little flag with some new red mark on it to remind me that Windows doesn’t think my security is quite up to par.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The icon can either be shut right off or not shown yet still active. Right click on the <b>Power Icon</b> and selecting <b>Turn System Icons Off </b>where you get to choose which you want and which you don’t. You can also customize them to how and when they alert you by selecting <b>Customize Notification Icons</b> if you don’t want to shut them off completely.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">d. Disable System Restore </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">System restore is an effective tool for backing out of things such as tweaking mistakes, failed program installations and other activities that seem to leave your system damages. For this reason, consider carefully whether you want to turn it off or just leave it. Turning it off allows for performance improvement as new system backups aren’t being created in the background and, also, it allows for more computer space as it frees up some valuable disk property. I regularly back up to an external which solves my problems with respect to this.</span><br />
<ol><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Go to Control Panel/System/System Protection and then Configure;</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Turn off or adjust System Protection; and</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Apply and then confirm Yes.</em></span></li>
</ol><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you elect to just reduce the size of your System Restore file, create a restore point to be safe.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">e. Password Protection and Encryption For Flash and External Drives</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Windows 7 inclusion of Bit Locker to Go now allows a user to encrypt and password protect USB or external drives with little to no trouble at all.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<ol><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Go to your Computer icon, right click on the drive you wish to protect and Turn On Bitlocker;</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>A Password screen will appear to create your password for the drive;</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Save or Print Your Recovery Key;</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Start encryption and wait until complete and that’s it!!!</em></span></li>
</ol><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The next time that you insert the disk on Windows 7 system, the password screen will open up allowing you access to your files.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>NOTE: This will only work on Windows 7 systems and the USB /external drive will not work on other OS’s once encryption is complete.</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">f. Log On As A Guest</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A new and great feature about Windows 7 appears in its guest log on. This is a great method for allowing children to use the system as this mode places limits on making system changes, installing software or writing to the disk outside the user profile. A great security feature is that all data saved inside the profile is deleted once the user logs off.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">g. Browse In Private While On Public Computers </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A new feature in IE8 is the ability to open the browser in an InPrivate Browsing session that allows you to perform banking and so forth from a public location without fear of leaving behind any residue. IE will not retain anything you do in an InPrivate Browsing session. You can perform this action if you are already within IE by selecting the Safety button and then InPrivate Browsing. This will open another IE window altogether. However, you can save a few steps by using the shortcut. Right-click the desktop IE icon, click InPrivate and the windows will open in an InPrivate session already.</span>Les Tokarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03136917211731204617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673622537979278231.post-74250141058426355612010-04-15T15:00:00.003-04:002010-04-15T15:01:20.999-04:00Create A Windows 7 Maintenance Schedule<script type="text/javascript">
var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www.");
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script><br />
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-13275059-5");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I think one of the best things we can do for our computer in order to keep it running its best is to commit to a weekly cleanup. I will confess that I am a nut for this and do it daily but, most importantly, it does ensure your system is in top shape and running its best.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Through internet use, trying new things and…yes tweaking, your system will save internet and tmp files which will build up over time to an incredible size, slowing your system down quite a bit. Further, installing and uninstalling new programs and application leaves tons of unneeded registry entries in your system.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">a. Know the Software that Works!</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I rely heavily on freeware that has been proven, has great reviews and works. People needlessly pay valuable money for virus programs and cleanup tools when there are better ones available for free on the internet, many of which are actually better and in the case of virus software, do not eat up a lot of your critical system resources. I have absolutely no hesitation in promoting the download site I use which is www.download.com as well as these following software programs which are all FREE and not time limited:</span><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">AVG Antivirus Free Edition is probably the number one download for the entire internet and has been downloaded just under 2 million times on this site alone. I have downloaded it on countless occasions for my systems and that of those I have helped. It is a complete protection program, is easy to install, uses very little system resources, works in the background and updates very often. It has been around for years and, in my opinion, is the best Anti-virus program one can invest in. I haven’t used Avast software but it also ranks at the top of the popularity chart;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">IoBit Advanced System Care 3 Optimizer is Amazing. It takes all the maintenance and cleaning concerns off your hand and works with a simple mouse click if you don’t want it to run automatically. Again free and not time limited, this software takes care of spyware removal, registry errors and concerns, privacy sweep and free space by cleaning junk files. It is a complete system and its utilities have add ons like Internet Booster, Game Booster and Smart Defrag;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">VLC Media Player is an all around media player that plays just about every type of media possible. Everyone has run into those times when media won’t play because such and such an extension is not compatible. I have never had this problem with VLC installed; and</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CCleaner just to confirm my system is clean. There is really no need with Advanced System Optimizer but I like having the second system cleaning program available justin case. It’s a bit overboard I know but I have been using this for so long I had to throw it in. Its cleaner and registry fixing tools are just as powerful as Advanced System Care 3.</span></li>
</ul><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">b. Troubleshoot Computer Problems</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Got a computer problem you are not sure of? Windows 7 has great troubleshooting capabilities which can be found by going to the Control Panel and then Selecting Troubleshooting. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once there you will find a bevy of capabilities to troubleshoot Programs, Hardware and Sound, Network and Internet, Appearance Personalization as well as System and Security. From there you can choose to go to Change Settings </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and turn background checking of stability off since it is on by default. I would suggest leaving it on.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">c. Find the Hidden Power Efficiency Diagnostic Tool</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Windows enables us to conduct energy efficiency testing of our systems and then see the subsequent report to determine what we can improve upon. Simply: </span><br />
<ol><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Access your command prompt through Accessories or by typing ‘cmd’ in the Run command menu;</em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Type ‘powercfg/energy’ at the prompt and let the system do the test; and </em></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Go to your root drive (C: ) and click on the energy report. It will display errors, warnings and information that can assist in improving your power efficiency.</em></span></li>
</ol>Les Tokarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03136917211731204617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673622537979278231.post-9592788725793839762010-04-15T14:57:00.007-04:002010-04-15T14:59:55.742-04:00Find Windows 7 Hidden Features<script type="text/javascript">
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document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E"));
</script><br />
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-13275059-5");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I would be a bit negligent not to add some of the great little Windows 7 tricks and tools that are included with the program. I hope you find something in this little tool box that you can use.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">a. Lets Resurrect Quick Launch</span> </span><br />
<ol><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right click on Taskbar/Toolbars/New Tool Bar and paste following into Folder: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">%userprofile%/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/Internet Explorer/Quick Launch; and</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You will immediately see a Quick Launch menu appear on the right. You can then right click and unlock the task bar, right click on the divider and choose how you want this little applet to appear. You can choose to have just small or large icons, text and/or title.</span></li>
</ol><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">b. Whats this inside the Calculator?</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The new calculator has an incredible little tool hidden within that lets you simply calculate mortgages, leases as well as fuel economy. Simply go to Accessories/Calculator/View and Worksheets. To add to this functionality, one will also find unit conversions and date calculations as well as the 3 types of calculators.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">c. Taking A Closer Look At Magnifier</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Did you ever want to quickly zoom somewhere on the screen, whether it be for a picture or letters that are just a bit to small? By holding down the WinKey and pressing ‘+’ or ‘-‘, it turns the magnifier on and zooms the screen. That’s just the beginning though!!! By exploring the available options you can choose full screen, lense or docked views and there is even more in setting up the magnifier options. Amaze yourself with the power of this little tool.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">d. Windows Snipping Tool is Amazing!</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A little known tool that Windows 7 has that merits discussion is called Snipping Tool. It enables you to freeze whatever is on your screen, take a picture of that spot on the screen and save it. Simply press WinKey + ‘R’ for the un Command and type ‘Snippingtool’ and hit Enter. Just for a bit of a background, this is Microsoft’s description of ‘The Tool’:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Win...605b41033.mspx">http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Win...605b41033.mspx</a></span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">e. Whats Up With Wordpad?</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You probably haven’t given much thought to WordPad lately, but the version shipping with Windows 7 has undergone a major renovation. Think of it as a lite version of Microsoft Word. WordPad sports a spiffy ribbon interface, making it a snap to create well-formatted documents. Plus, you are no longer relegated to saving them as .RTF files. WordPad now supports the Office Open XML document (.DOCX) format. This makes it even easier to open .DOCX files created in Word in WordPad.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">f. Open a Command Prompt in Any Folder</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We know that we can get to a command prompt through Start Menu/All Programs/Accessories but there is a much easier way which is new to Windows 7. One can simply hold down the Shift key and right click on their Desktop or any folder menu to see a selection ‘Open Command Window here’. Thanks Microsoft..nifty add on.</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">g. Can We Burn Disks Yet?</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a word …. Yes. Windows 7 makes creating a disk form an .iso file as easy as a double click on </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the file</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span>Les Tokarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03136917211731204617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673622537979278231.post-38227495140229857002010-04-15T14:57:00.000-04:002010-04-15T14:57:01.011-04:00Windows 7 Hot Keys<script type="text/javascript">
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<script type="text/javascript">
try {
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pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">How could we do a guide without some of the newest and most popular key combinations of Windows 7?</span><br />
<br />
First though, here is an interesting inclusion from <a href="http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Keyboard-shortcuts">Microsoft</a>.<br />
<br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Win + Left/Right – Maximizes program to the preferred side of the screen</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Win + Home – Reduces all windows and leaves only the active one</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Win + Home Again – Restores the screen to its original look</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Win + Number – launches corresponding application to number in Quick Lauch area</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Win + Space – allows you to view your entire desktop by hiding all open application or allow you to quickly hide your activities by pressing Win + space bar. The activities only return on release of the WinKey</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Win + Shift + Arrow – Move current window to alternate screen</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ctrl + Win + Tab – Open persistent task selection window, roll mouse over each icon to preview item and minimize others</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Win + D – Minimize all windows and show desktop</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Win + E - Opens computer drive folder</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Win + F – Opens search</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Win + G – Brings gadgets to forefront</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Win + L - Locks the users screen</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Win + M – Minimize the current window</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Win + P – Opens menu for alternate screens or projectors</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Win + R – Opens run command</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Win + T – Cycle through task bar opening each with Aero Peak</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Win + U – Starts ease of Access center where you can access the onscreen keyboard</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Win + X – Starts Mobility Center</span></li>
</ul>Les Tokarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03136917211731204617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673622537979278231.post-7945321934022629292010-04-15T14:53:00.003-04:002010-04-15T14:55:37.848-04:00Windows 7 God Mode<script type="text/javascript">
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</script><br />
<script type="text/javascript">
try {
var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-13275059-5");
pageTracker._trackPageview();
} catch(err) {}</script><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I thought I would leave one of the best shocks in Windows 7 to last, this being a small yet incredibly powerful hidden application called God Mode. God Mode will place a control panel icon on your desktop that has every command available in Windows 7 inside and listed alphabetically. Here is how to get it:</span><br />
<ol><li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Right click on the desktop and select New followed by Folder;</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Open the folder and name it: ‘God Mode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}’; and</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once done, the folder will change to that of the Control panel and the user now has immediate access to a word of commands within Windows 7, 281 commands to be exact.</span></li>
</ol><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Conclusion</span> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Congratulations for making it through My Computer and Windows 7 Optimization Guide. I hope that there was something that you found that may be of use in the future. Tweaking isn’t anything we need to do, but rather, somewhat of an addiction, for many. It is an opportunity to set up your system to exactly the way you want it. I hope you enjoyed the guide and invite you to pass the knowledge on to others just as I have gained throughout the years.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">If you found the guide helpful and were able to take anything at all from it, any contribution as a bit of a thank you is appreciated!!! </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post"><input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_s-xclick"><input type="hidden" name="hosted_button_id" value="LPRK5CU9LNEA8"><input type="image" src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/btn_donateCC_LG.gif" border="0" name="submit" alt="PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" height="1"><br />
</form>Les Tokarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03136917211731204617noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4673622537979278231.post-42230247318651723772010-04-10T16:03:00.001-04:002010-04-10T16:06:23.561-04:00Windows Mail With Windows 7 FINALLY!I had originally intended this site as containing only the Guide for your assistance but found something I think would be EXTREMELY valuable to all. Personally, I cannot stress enough how wrong Microsoft was to delete Windows Mail from Windows 7 but, well, that was their choice right. Well, thanks to a very close friend who pointed me in the right direction, I now have Windows Mail on Windows 7 and it was a very simple procedure.<br />
<br />
In fact, for those of you that got frustrated when Mail didn't allow such programs as GMail to be included in the e-mail clients allowed in Mail, I have another link that shows you hot to fix this as well.<br />
<br />
Without further adieu, my hat is off to Mark of www.sevenforums.com for his easily followed '<a href="http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/5481-windows-mail.html">How To Reinstate Windows Mail in Windows 7'</a> It works like a charm!<br />
<br />
As well, for those looking to get the http email clients to work from mail, www.about.com has published an article entailed, '<a href="http://email.about.com/od/windowsmailtips/qt/et_get_gmail.htm">How to Access Gmail With Windows Mail</a>'<br />
<br />
Personally, I could never figure why they got rid of Mail in the first place but its great to have it back again!!!Les Tokarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03136917211731204617noreply@blogger.com0