Permanently delete
files
If you want to
permanently delete
files without
moving them to
Recycle bin, hold
down the Shift
key while pressing
delete. If you
don't want the
recycle bin altogether,
right-click the
Recycle Bin and
click on Properties.
On the Global
Tab, select Do
not move files
to the Recycle
Bin. If you enable
configure drivers
independently,
you can set this
up for the drivers
you want.
Windows System Configuration
A very useful
tool included
with Windows is
the System Configuration
Utility. Select
Start > Run
and type 'msconfig'
in the Open box
to launch the
application. The
system Configuration
utility makes
fiddling with
programs to launch
at Startup or
editing autoexec.bat,
config.sys etc.
a lot easier.
To system Configuration
Utility also allows
you to crease
a backup of your
system files.
It would be a
good idea to use
this before you
begin making changed.
Preview Images
You can easily
preview your Image
files by enabling
"Web View" from
the toolbar or
from the Windows
Explorer menu,
select View >
As Web page. A
better way to
preview images
is as thumbnails
instead of icons.
To enable this
view in Windows
Explorer, right-click
the folder you
want to preview
and click on Properties.
Check the box
against Enable
thumbnail view
and click OK to
exit the dialog
box. Now, form
the View menu,
select Thumbnails.
Optimizing the Swap File
Windows uses a
portion of the
hard disk as RAM,
constantly swapping
data between RAM
and hard disk
as required. The
speed of your
hard disk is in
the order of 1000
times slower than
that of your main
memory. Inefficient
use of the swap
file could considerable
slow down your
system to a very
great extent.
One of the best
ways to speed
up the swap file
usage is to create
a permanent swap
file. In a permanent
swap file, the
file used for
swapping information
has a fixed size
and location on
your hard disk.
When a temporary
swap file is used,
the location and
size of the file
is determined
by application
being used and
is not predictable.
Also, since a
temporary swap
file is constantly
written to and
is not fixed in
size, it would
be highly fragmented
across the partition
that holds it.
A better option
is to create the
swap file on a
dedicated partition
on your hard disk.
By doing this,
the swap file
will never be
fragmented since
that partition
is only being
utilized by the
swap file itself.
You can configure
the swap file
size and location
from Control Panel
> System >
Performance >
Virtual Memory.
The size of the
swap file should
be around 2.5
times the amount
of RAM on the
system.
Dummy entries in Add/Remove Programs list
Sometimes, even
after program
are uninstalled,
or due to the
files being deleted
instead of a uninstalled,
the entry in the
Add/Remove Programs
list does not
get deleted. To
remove it form
the list: 1. Start
the Registry Editor.
2. Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows
\CurrentVersion\Uninstall.
3. Delete the
program entry
here. You can
also use TweakUI
to do this.
Restart only Windows
When restarting
Windows, you don't
always need to
go to thought
the BIOS initialization
and POST. Instead
of simple clicking
on Restart form
the Shut Down
Windows dialog
box, help down
the Shift key
as you click on
OK. This will
restart only Windows.
This is particularly
useful when you
change some registry
entries or a few
system settings.
Improve Removable Disk Drive Performance
Windows gives
you the option
to use write-behind
caching to improve
the performance
of removable disk
drivers.
-
Open
control Panel
> System
> Performance
and click on
File System.
-
Check
the Enable write-behind
caching on all
removable disk
drives check
box under the
removable Disk
tab and click
OK
Note:
If this result in
a problem with disk
operations, uncheck
the Enable write-behind
caching on all removable
disk drives check
box.
MS Office memory hoggers
A typical installation
of MS Office installs
Find Fast, an indexing
utility that loads
at startup. This hogs
system resources by
regularly indexing
the entire hard disk(s).
You can improve performance
of your computer by
removing Find Fast
form your Startup
folder. To reclaim
the space used by
the Find Fast index,
open Control Panel
> Find Fast, select
your hard drives(s)
and form the Index
menu, click on Delete
Index. When you've
deleted your Index,
click on Close and
Stop form the Index
menu. Another item
installed in the Startup
folder is named Microsoft
Office. This does
nothing apart from
loading all MS Office
libraries at startup
to speed up launching
of any Office applications.
Since this is not
necessary, you can
delete this shortcut,
too.
Stop Automatic Dialing
Many Internet
applications or
software are often
set to automatically
dialup and connect.
To setup automatic
dialing, open
Control Panel
> Internet
Options. Under
the Connections
tab, enable Never
dial a connection.
Automatic maintenance
The Windows Maintenance
Wizard can automate
a lot of routine
system maintenance
tasks. To open
this wizard, choose
Start > Programs
> Accessories
> System Tools
> Maintenance
Wizard. It sets
up the Task Scheduler
to regularly run
Scandisk, Disk
Defragmenter and
Disk Cleanup.
Clean Desktop
To hide all the
icons on your
Desktop, open
the Registry Editor
and navigate to
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft
\Current Version\Policies\Explorer.
Add a DWORD value
and name it NoDesktop.
Change it's value
to 1. Close the
Registry Editor
and restart Windows.
ToolTips
To disable ToolTips
in Windows, open
the Registry Editor
and navigate to
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control
Panel\Desktop.
Double-click UserPreferencemask
and change its
value to 3E 00
00 00. Chose the
Registry Editor
and restart Windows.
Speed up your modem
Even if your modem
if apparently
working well,
the baud rate
of your COM Port
might not allow
you to reach top-speed.
To improve your
port's speed:
-
Click
Start >Settings
> Control
Panel > System.
-
Click
the Device Manager
tab, and click
on the "+" sign
next to Ports
(COM & LPT).
-
Select
the port your
modem uses,
click Properties,
then click the
Port settings
tab and set
the Bits per
second to 115200
bps. That way
you won't have
a sort of filter
on the Port.
Associations in a jiffy
To associate files
of a certain type
with a different
program, hold
down the Shift
key while right-clicking
on a file of that
type and click
on Open With...
from the context
menu. Select the
program you want
to open files
of this type with
and enable Always
use this program
to open this type
of file. Henceforth,
the file will
always open with
this program when
double-clicked.
A clean Registry
As time passes
the computer's
registry accumulates
a lot of corrupted,
unused, and unnecessary
register keys,
especially if
keys are not removed
when you uninstall
a program. As
a result, you
might experience
problems and your
machine might
function slower
than expected.
The latest version
of Microsoft's
RegClean could
delete a lot of
such registry
junk. You can
download this
from zdnet Just search for RegClean and it will let you
download it. Best
of all, it is
free !!
Assigning
passwords to folders
in win 98 and
2000
Right-click on
empty space in
the folder which
you want to protect
and
select CUSTOMIZE
THIS FOLDER, then
choose CREATE
HTML DOCUMENT
FOR THIS
FOLDER. Once the
document is opened
in Notepad, scroll
down until you
see
<script language>="JavaScript">
Insert a blank
line after this
string.
Then insert the
following text.
var pass = prompt("Enter
the password")
if(pass != "YOURPASSWORD")
{window.location="C:"}
Hit the Enter
key on your keyboard
Put a password
in the place of
YOURPASSWORD but
leave the quotes.
Save the
document, exit
Notepad,
refresh the folder
(or hit F5), enter
your new password,
and the next time
you try to enter
that folder,
you'll be prompted
for your password.
If you enter a
wrong password
you'll
end up in C: drive!
This works on
Windows 98 and
2000.
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