Speed up Your PC
Driver updates
When downloading new drivers, always make sure you're getting the right versions.
Because of the arrival of Windows Vista, many companies are devoting a lot
of time to perfecting drivers to make their products work properly with the
new version of Windows. Double check that what you're downloading is a stable
version of a Windows XP driver. This is essential software and it's very
important to use the correct versions. Note also that desktop PC drivers
sometimes differ from drivers for similar components designed for notebook
PCs.
Boost your memory
If you have a system with less than 256MB of memory that's struggling to cope
with the power of Windows XP, consider switching over to the Windows Classic
interface. Once done, open the Services console and disable the Themes service
to free up to 10MB of memory – nothing if you've got plenty of RAM, but a real
help if you're struggling.
Bring order to your Programs menu
If you've installed new software and find that when you click Start > Programs
things seem disordered, right-click and select Sort By Name to alphabetize
your programs.
Stop Indexing
To cut down on unnecessary disk activity, disable the indexing system used
to help speed up hard disk searches. Open My Computer, right-click on C: and
choose Properties. Under the General tab, uncheck ‘Allow Indexing Service to
Index this disk for fast file searching'.
Remove malicious files
Spyware has a nasty habit of hijacking your internet browser, which could explain
why your connection seems unusually slow. Use an anti-spyware program such
as Windows Defender .
Faster printing
We've already seen how creating a new spool folder can speed up printing. Using
this principle, if you have more than one printer connected to your computer,
it's possible to specify the spool folder for each separate one. Open the registry
at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers\PRINTERNAME
and select the key for the particular printer you want to alter. Rightclick
the SpoolDirectory value in the right-hand pane and set its value to the path
of the spool directory location. Of course, you need to make sure that this
spool directory location appears correctly under ‘Printers and Faxes' in Control
Panel.
Processor and RAM
To learn about your PC's ‘brains', open the System Properties dialogue by pressing
[Windows] and [Pause/Break] together. You'll see the type and speed of your
processor (measured in GHz) and the amount of system memory (RAM) available.
Hard Drive
Finding out the capacity of your hard drive, and the amount of free and used
space you have, is also easy. Press [Windows] + [E] together to open up Windows
Explorer. Now right-click on your C: drive and select Properties.
Graphics card
To find out what kind of graphics card you have, use the Device Manager. Press
[Windows] and [Pause/Break] together and click the Hardware tab. Now
click Device Manager and then the‘+' next to Display Adapter in the list.
Graphics memory
If you need to know the amount of memory your graphics card has, right-click
on the desktop and select Properties. Click the Settings tab and then the Advanced
button. Click the tab with your graphics adapter named.
Opening files
Although different file types have a default program associated with them to
open the file, chances are that you have alternatives. Right-click on the file
and follow Open With… to find out.
More accuracy from your mouse
Get more control and precision from your mouse by slowing down the pointer
speed. Simply select Start > Control Panel > Mouse and adjust the slider
in the Pointer Options tab.
Benchmark your graphics card
Find out how well your graphics sub-system copes with the demand og modern
gaming by running a test on it with 3DMark 06. The free version can be downloaded
from here .
Defrag hard drives
Regularly defragment your hard drive to prevent sluggish performance causing
problems with your system. You won't need to do this more than around once
every three months.
Conserve memory
Avoid opening too many windows and programs at once, especially if you have
less than 512MB of memory, as this can overload your PC.
Task Manager
Use the Performance tab of Task Manager to see if you have enough memory. Check
the Peak Commit Charge figure against Total Physical Memory.
Helping hand
Click Start > Help and Support and choose ‘Fixing a problem' under ‘Pick
a help topic' for more troubleshooting advice.
Error reports
Configure the Error Reporting Tool from the Advanced tab of System Properties – click
the Error Reporting button.
Event Viewer
Use the Application Event Viewer log to help troubleshoot program-related crashes
and problems.
Stop on STOP errors
To view STOP errors, open System Properties > Advanced, click Settings under
Startup and Recovery and untick ‘Automatically restart'.
Set Restore point
Take a System Restore point before installing new software or hardware. Click
Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore.
Online help
Having problems using System Restore.
Use the Doctor
You can send error reports to expert friends and support professionals using
the Doctor Watson tool – click Start > Run and type ‘drwtsn32' to use the
tool.
Stay safe
A common cause of crashes is the presence of malicious software
of your hard drive, so make sure you have anti-virus and anti-spyware software
installed and up to date, along with a firewall.
Search for the code
Try entering error codes and messages into Google to see whether your problem is documented (and possibly
fixed) online.
Get tidier
An unfortunate yet inevitable consequence of using your PC regularly is that
clutter will build up on your hard drive. A mature installation of Windows
will generally contain a lot of unnecessary data that drags your system down.
Get some of this back by uninstalling unnecessary programs and using a clean-up
utility like EasyCleaner.
Service station
If a problem is tracked down to a malfunctioning Service, you can disable it
from the Services console (click Start > Run, type ‘services.msc' and press
[Enter]).