Trace the route
A great utility
included with
Windows is
a program
called Trace
Route. Open
a DOS window
and type tracert
<location
name>.
The location
name can be
any IP address
or Internet
domain like
tracert .The
program will
then trace
the route
from your
Internet service
provider to
that locating,
and show you
every server
along the
way. This
could be useful
for when you
can't connect
to a site
it will show
you if some
server is
down along
the way.
Select your Monitor
Windows might
not always
detect your
Monitor accurately.
This affects
display and
refresh rates.
To select
your monitor
manually:
-
Right-click
on the Desktop.
-
Choose
Properties
from the
context
menu. On
the Settings
tab press
Advanced
button.
Select the
Monitor
tab. If
your monitor
is not listed
(correctly)
here, click
on Change.
-
Select
your Monitor
form the
list, or
if you have
a driver
disk for
your monitor,
select have
Disk.
-
Click
Apply, and
follow any
other instructions
on screen.
Redialing
Dial-Up Networking
provides for
automatic
redial.
-
-
-
From
the menu
select Connections
> Settings.
-
Enable,
Redial,
select the
number of
times to
redial and
click OK.
A clean Run!
To remove
unwanted items
form the Run
menu:
-
Start
the Registry
Editor.
-
Open
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\
Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\RunMRU.
-
Delete
the entries
that you
do not want
on Run menu.
-
Close
the Registry
Editor and
Restart
Windows.
Note: Do
not delete
the (Default)
or MRUList
values.
Bitmap as icons
You can preview
bitmaps (.BMP
files) as
icons in Explorer
instead of
the default
icon of the
application
it is associated
with. Open
the Registry
Editor and
navigate to
HKEY_ CLASSES_ROOT\Paint.Picture\DefaultIcon.
Double-click
the Default
string and
change it's
value to '%1'
(without quotes).
Close the
Registry Editor
and restart
windows.
Window and menu Animations
One of the
desktop enhancements
built into
windows is
the animation
displayed
when you minimize
and maximize
windows or
when displaying
menus. Disabling
this makes
navigating
Windows a
lot faster.
Open the Desktop
Properties
dialog by
right-clicking
any blank
area of the
desktop and
clicking on
Properties.
Disable Animate
windows, menus
and lists
form the Effects
tab.
Smooth Screen Fonts
You may find
that the fonts
in your Internet
Explorer and
other windows
seem jagged
as you increase
the font size.
To make them
smooth and
thus, beautiful.
-
Right-click
anywhere
on the free
space of
the Desktop
and click
properties
- Select
the Effects
tab from the
Display Properties
- In
the Visual effects
frame, enable
Smooth edges
of screen fonts
Change the Refresh rate of your Graphics Adapter
Refresh rate
of your monitor
determines
how fast the
screen if
updated. Generally,
the higher
refresh rate
monitor can
support, the
better. Optimum
refresh rates
can be set
manually for
a flicker-free
display. If
Windows hasn't
already configured
it. Right-click
on the Desktop,
click on Properties
and open Settings
> Advanced
> Adapter.
Depending
on your graphics
card and monitor,
you will get
different
choice for
the refresh
rate. Click
on Apply after
setting the
appropriate
refresh rate.
Click through
the warning
message to
change the
refresh rate.
If, for some
reason the
display becomes
garbled, don't
do anything,
Windows will
restore the
original refresh
rate.
Speed-up your connecting time
To speed-up
the time it
takes for
Dial Up Networking
to establish
a connection
with your
ISP:
-
-
Right-click
your connection
and choose
Properties.
-
On
the server
types tab,
under Advanced
Options,
make sure
that the
check-box
for Log
on to network
is unchecked.
-
Under
Allowed
network
protocols
select only
TCP/IP and
uncheck
NetBEUI
& IPX/SPX
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