More Fast-n-Friendly Windows Tips

This is part 2 of a collection of tips for Windows users submitted as part of our Aug. 2000 Content Contest. See part 1 and part 3 for more Windows Power Tips.

(Continued from part 1)

13. Want to launch Explorer fast?  Just right click on the Start-Button and choose Explore!

14. For the Network Control applet, right click on Network Neighborhood, then choose Properties.

15. Double click on the active-window's title bar (the blue one normally) to change from full-screen to restored size and vice-versa. It's often easier than getting the mouse cursor right over the icon.

16. If you have about 110mb of spare drive space and are fed up with entering the Win98 CD-ROM every time you change a setting, like adding a network protocol, changing the screen resolution etc. Then rather than digging out the Win98 CD-ROM each time, how about storing the files that Win98 is looking for on your hard-drive instead ? Just copy all the .CAB files from the WIN98 folder on the CD-ROM to a new folder on your hard-drive (say Win98Cabs) and then when Win98 wants the CD-ROM after you've changed something, just use that folder instead of the real CD-ROM. You'll have to Browse there for the first time, after that you can use the drop-down box and select the name of the folder from there.

17. Change the drive letter of your CD-ROM to a letter further down the alphabet (e.g., M or R), that way when you add a new hard-drive, get a new CD-RW or re-partition an existing drive, it won't be 'bumped' to the next free letter and confuse you when you re-start. You can change the drive-letter by using the Device Manager (right click on My Computer and choose Properties, Device Manager), then clicking the '+' on the CD-ROM entry and select the CD-ROM line, then Properties, Settings - choose the letter under the Reserved Drive Letters box.

18. For those with a DVD-ROM, check that you have the DMA setting turned on in the Device Manager for the drive, it will enhance performance noticeably. This also applies to other CD-ROM type devices too. Do some simple timings yourself to confirm this - make sure you restart between timings otherwise you'll just read the cached version and it'll be inaccurate.

19. If you bought your machine from someone else and want to change the registered user-name of the computer, then use the following Registry key via Regedit to change it. It's at:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion

Double click on the RegisteredOwner or RegisteredOrganization and enter your own information. Remember backup your system before using Regedit as you can render it badly messed up if you are careless.

20. If your machine is a bit slower than it used to be and you use Themes and animated cursors etc., they do use extra memory and CPU cycles, so turn them off and see if it improves the performance.

21. Use Scandisk at least weekly and Defrag monthly if you use your machine a lot, less often if you don't install or remove files so much.

22. Is the back of your machine a mess of wires and you keep getting your feet caught in a wire? Then do yourself a favour and turn off the machine and go get yourself a set of Velcro cable tidies or maybe someone in your house has some spare Velcro strips in the needlework box ! Then screw the middle of some 4" Velcro strips to the underside of your desk at the back and then one at a time re-route the wires through the Velcro. This way the cables are out of sight under the desk-top and off the floor.

23. While you're down under the desk - look at the air-intake of the power supply. Is it very dusty ? If so, then now is the time to open up your system and blow out the rest of the dust before the machine overheats! Turn off the machine and blow some canned-air through it; you'll be amazed how much dust and dirt gets in there.

About the author: Steve Fairbrother of Jentek Systems Inc. lives in Victoria, BC.

• Did you enjoy this article? Your feedback is encouraged!

For Further Reading
See part 1  and part 3 of this feature for more Windows Power Tips.

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