Tutorial

Where Do I Go To Get Help With Windows

Benjamin Franklin is often quoted as saying “In this world, there is nothing that is certain except death and taxes”, but had he lived in the 21st century, I’d bet my last bag of lollies he would have added “and problems with my computer”.

For every problem Microsoft seems to solve, there is another one or two that rear their ugly heads. If it wasn’t the case, I’d never have to endure another Service Pack update!

But what do you do when your Windows Vista computer doesn’t behave itself and stops doing what you want it to? You can call Microsoft for help, but if you do that, make sure you have your credit card ready, because the company charges to help these days. Some help!

You could just type your problem into Google, but a much quicker and safer way to search for a solution is to try your luck on one of the following Microsoft Web sites. You’ll find they are well worth a visit.

1.       Windows Vista Solutions Center

The first place you should look is Microsoft’s own Windows Vista Solutions Center. It lists all the popular questions users have asked. Thankfully, those questions have been divided into neat categories such as ‘Home networking’ and ‘Printing, scanning and faxing’. This site covers more generic questions, but it’s a good first port of call if you run into the problem. And yes, it’s free. Head to http://support.microsoft.com/ph/11732.

Now, if only Microsoft could solve its spelling problem and call it ‘Solutions Center’!

2.       Microsoft Answers Beta

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Stay Safe And Secure On Your PC

It is hugely important to maintain your PCs security level. Keeping your computer safe from viruses and other malware, and protecting your privacy and data from prying eyes; should all be a part of your ongoing computer maintenance programme. Not only that, but you’ll also need to have Windows itself. Finally you’ll need to have some kind of backup system in place just in case things go wrong.

Security is a big topic – one that could fill an entire Ultimate guide all of its own. Fortunately, it’s pretty easy to stay on top of things. With the right tools you should be able to keep your computer and your data safe without really having to think too much about it. In this article, I’ll be explaining which areas you need to pay attention to and why.

Windows Update – Downloading and installing Windows Updates is an absolute must. Not only do these ensure your system files are up to date, but updates also address security vulnerabilities, both in Windows and other Microsoft programs such as Office. Fortunately, the process can be automated to the point of being (almost) effortless.

Go to Control Panel, Security Center and in XP click on the ‘Automatic Updates’ link at the bottom of the Window. In Vista, click on the Windows Update link on the left of the Security Center, then on Change Settings at the left of the Update window. The default setting is Updates are Automatic and downloaded daily (if available) at 3am.

If you don’t plan on having your computer running or being connected to the Internet at this time, then you have two choices. Either change the time to a more convenient one (I recommend, however, that you keep the checks on a daily basis), or just leave the settings as they are – Windows will automatically check for updates the next time your PC is running and online. This also applies if your computer is in Standby or Hibernate mode. Some updates do require user intervention – you may have to restart your computer or agree to a EULA. You can also opt to have the updates downloaded, but not installed without your say-so. You’ll need to set the time and frequency first, then click the second option from the top. Be warned, however, that you can only install updates this way if you are logged on with Administrator status.

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Registry Hack to Speed Up Your Network

You are tired of getting slow speed on your own Private network? Files present on other system opens very slowly and even it takes a long while to show name of available computers on network. Then you should try this registry hack.

This registry hack will not speed up your network access but it can also speed up your Internet Access speed. While using DialUp connection I have seen a boost of about 25% in internet speed where on higher speed connection it goes about 10-20%.

Increasing Network Browsing Speed

When you accessing your other computer on network, You get slow speed because of a special feature on Windows which is showing scheduled task on other computer. By default when you browsing Networked Computer, you cr computer will query and show the task which are scheduled on other computer. This process consumes some time and thus slowing down the process of showing computer and computer shares over the network. If your system is a bit slow you might feel like your system is hanged while it keep querying for these information.

Windows XP: Speeding Disk Access

The solution to this problem is very simple and straight forward, despite problem itself is a bit complex. As Scheduled task information is not useful for anyone unless you are configuring them remotely, you can safely disable this feature to speed up access to remote computers. This will increase the response time As your computer will not wait for information related to Scheduled tasks on remote computer. This can be done by editing registry and deleting related Registry key. To complete the process please follow the steps mentioned below –

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Tips To Speed Up Your Windows XP – Part 3

Read Part 1  —  Tips To Speed Up Your Windows XP – Part 1

Read Part 2 —  Tips To Speed Up Your Windows XP – Part 2

Continued from above links —

10. Perform a Boot Defragment

This is simplest way to improve boot speed for your Windows XP box. For most of windows installation it is already enabled, but you should double check it and enable it if not. To do so follow these steps –

  1. Click Start > Select Run > Type Regedit > hit enter.
  2. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftDfrgBootOptimizeFunction
  3. Set / Check the value of Enable string value to Y,  if it is not already set to Y.
  4. Exit the Registry and Reboot.

Boot defragment, when set to yes put all system files required during system boot in a block next to each other. This will reduce the seek time for the file and gives you better boot speed.
11. Remove Junk or temp Files.

While running XP Windows create several Temporary files which should be deleted automatically once there use is over. But Windows is not that sufficient and it leaves the file behind even when it is no longer required.

There are several ways to remove this files, and windows also have an inbuilt tool to do so. Also there are several clean up utilities available in market. One of such clean up tool which is highly recommended is CCleaner (http://www.ccleaner.com/). it is free also.

ccleaner-1

Just Install and run the Ccleaner, hit analyze and then once analysis is finished hit Run CCleaner button…and you are done..

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