Faster Startup Tips N°1 –Disabling Useless Services

by Pedro Santos

It’s a fact of life that computers tend to start slower and slower as they are used. But there might be a way to avoid this.

For example, what are computer services? Why do they slow down the startup time?

Well, services are like programs that start with the Windows. And they do things for you and for your programs, hence the name services. The problem is, there can be too many of them! And, as you install new programs, those new programs will install even more services! And many of them become useless with time.

What happens is, when you uninstall an old program, they don’t uninstall their services. Go figure! So, after a few years (or programs uninstalled), you will be flooded by old, useless services. So, what to do?

Well, open the start menu and chose “Run…”. Type ‘msconfig’. Go to the ‘services’ tab, and check the ‘hide all Microsoft services’ box. This is so because we don’t want to disable the original Microsoft services, as they are not useless (most of the time).

Now take a look at those services. Do you really need them? Are those programs still active in your computer? If not, disable them! And if something stops working, you just have to enable them again.

Msconfig will ask you to restart the computer. Do so. On the next startup, things will seem a bit slow, but that’s just because the Windows is starting with ‘Msconfig’. He will ask you if you want this to happen every time, and you will check the box that says ‘no’ (or something like that). Restart the computer again to see the difference!

This is a little-know tip. Actually, I haven’t seen it anywhere else! So, you can call it an ‘Efficient Computer Solutions’ exclusive :D. This tip alone has reduced my startup time from four minutes to one and a half!

So, what are you waiting for? Go speed up that startup!

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How to Clean Your PC Registry and Old Files –With Just One Program –Entirely For Free

by Pedro Santos

Isn’t it annoying the quantity of junk our computers collect nowadays? You have to use dozens of different softwares just to keep it to a minimum. Well, CCleaner has made this number just drop!

CCleaner is a free program that not only cleans your hard drive –doing the job of the original Windows cleaning program, ‘Disk Cleaner’ –but it also cleans your registry! This program offers the same functions of its Microsoft counterpart, plus a lot of other useful ones. For example, CCleaner doesn’t just clean your hard drive. It cleans specific programs like Opera, Media Player, eMule, Kazaa, Google Toolbar, Netscape, MS Office, Nero, Adobe Acrobat, WinRAR, WinAce, WinZip, and many others.

It also gives you the option of uninstalling other programs, instead of using the slow Add/Remove menu on the control panel. Another great function is the ability to easily control witch programs startup with the windows, optimizing your startup time.

This program has been downloaded for millions of people, it is completely spyware free and it often offers free new updates. It is a must-have for any serious computer user!

You can download it right now for free in here: www.ccleaner.com

Help spread the word about CCleaner! Send this post to a friend

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The Internet Gives Birth To A Monster Called Spyware

by Julian Pereira

Internet users worldwide, may not realize that there is a monster, known as spyware, that has taken up residence in their computers. Infact, there could be several monsters, going by various names, such as adware, trojans, malware etc. They could be described as cookie monsters of the internet world.

How do these monsters thrive in a computer ? They feed off the information they gather about people and often times they are well fed. These creatures are not conducive to your wellbeing. They infest and corrupt the workings of a computer and they transmit personal information to their buddies at the other end of the internet line. They have lots of such buddies that want to get to know peoples surfing habits, their online purchases, their interests, their chats, their credit worthiness, their birth date and the list goes on and on.

Spyware and adware help the workings of promotional companies. They can only be successful in their promotions, if they can target people in an effective manner, by getting to know their audience as best they can. It is only by understanding peoples needs, likes and dislikes that they can send out promotional material with the hope of generating sales. However, sales materials may only be the tip of the iceberg, and while this may be more of an annoyance, the infiltration by spyware can lead to loss of privacy, loss of credit card details and lead to stolen identity. When personal information is stolen there is no limit to the extent of damage this can cause and the hardships it can bring about to an individual or a family.

Spyware and adware have an easy entryway into computer systems. They usually piggyback with other software downloads, including shareware, freeware, p2p sharing of files, music downloads etc. Once lodged into a computer they can reside indefinitely, till detected and removed.

The solution is to have spyware detection and spyware removal software.

The authors site can be viewed at http://www.DeleteSpyware.net. Julian Pereira Enjoys writing articles that are related to Internet Security and computer privacy issues. His site can be viewed at http://www.DeleteSpyware.net

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Windows Vista - What to Look Forward to

by Richard Callaby

Microsoft Windows Vista promises to have many enhanced features that will make it one attractive operating system. Find out the key features of Windows Vista that seperate it out from its peers.

Perhaps you have heard about the next new version of Microsoft Windows, called Vista? The Vista operating system has many promises to one great, stable and dynamic operating system. Not only will this operating system have the .Net framework built into the core of the operating system it will also feature some other key communications, user interface and security breakthroughs.

For instance Vista will utilize the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) which will greatly increase the aesthetic value of each application. Perhaps you may be familiar with a website developed with Flash animation software. Now picture the same type of functionality and aesthetics however instead of being restricted to a website format having the freedom to develop the interface so it is a true Windows application. Further, this WPF will allow for much easier and faster deployments of these applications through the use of "one click deployment" technology. If you are familiar with the updater application block and the BITS service then you are already familiar with innovation. However, instead of being some cumbersome application block you will be able to easily deploy these applications with just a few clicks from your development environment.

Secondly the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) will provide a secure and reliable messaging platform which will allow for a new era in the creativity of application developers. This WCF will bring in a new time when true service oriented applications will become commonplace. This will make it much easier to connect businesses to each other and their customers.

The in built security mechanisms will make for a much more secure platform as well. Since this operating system is built around the .Net framework Code Access Security will be much easier to enforce and maintain. Code access security is when the author of the program can specify exactly what the program is allowed to do based upon the role of the user who is accessing the software. This will allow for a much finer grained security mechanism which will make software much more trustworthy by the end user.

Another feature of Vista is called SuperFetch. SuperFetch seems to be a caching mechanism for frequently used files so that the end user experiences fast response times and is not hindered by the background tasks that the operating system is performing. This will greatly speed up and perhaps cause less system crashes thereby making the OS much more stable.

One other great feature of Vista is its use of the sidebar and gadgets. Gadgets are small programs that either you or someone else has created that performs some frequently used task such as viewing the latest weather or traffic information from your desktop. Now this might seem to be a small feature but I am sure the general public will eat this feature up and it is one place where some new innovative software inventions might take place. It might even make managing your life that much easier.

Perhaps the best feature of Vista is its new ability to easily search through and organize your files for later retrieval. I cannot tell you how many times I have had to search my own hard drive for a file that I knew I created but could not remember where I stored it.

Let's face it Windows XP and Windows 2000 are by now old fashioned. The public needs a new operating system simply because the other's are beginning to show their age. It is time for an upgrade.

Richard Callaby is a Independent Computer Consultant, Writer, Author, Speaker and Instructor. More articles from this author can be reached at his blog at http://blog.richard-callaby.net Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Callaby

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