Defragment Disk(s)
OK, now that everything is clean and in good working order it’s time to reorganize the hard drive so that all the files that belong together are stored together.
When you store files on your computer Windows just puts them wherever there is a space available, it keeps track of where everything is, but if you delete something then the hole(s) that now appear become available for the next time something needs storing, all well and good if the new stuff could always be smaller than the old stuff, but obviously that’s not going to happen all the time. The result is that files are stored in lots of little chunks all over the place and when you need to read them the hard drive heads have to move back and forth between all the little storage places.
This is called fragmentation. You can imagine that if all the little pieces of a file were in consecutive order, the heads would get to them more quickly making everything more efficient. That is the goal here.
This is what we do:
Go to “Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter”
Select the disk you want to defragment and click the “Defragment” button.
Repeat for any other disks as necessary.
Another free program that we can use is MyDefrag, available here:
http://www.mydefrag.com/Manual-DownloadAndInstall.html
MyDefrag is not a fancy program but it is based on the standard defragmentation API by Microsoft that just gets the job done.
Good luck,
John
I would love to hear your opinion. Please add your comments below.
Filed under Computers, Defragment by on Nov 18th, 2009. Comment. 
Check The RAM
Another thing to consider is do you have enough RAM (Random Access Memory), this is where the bulk of the hard work goes on when programs are running, if you run out of available RAM then programs start to use available space on the hard drive which is much much slower and can cause massive fragmentation. We discussed why that is bad in a previous tip.
A recommended bare minimum for Windows XP would be 512MB.
A recommended bare minimum for Windows Vista would be 2GB.
A recommended bare minimum for the new Windows 7 is 4GB.
It is a lot easier and much more common to have too little memory rather than too much.
If you are an average Windows XP user that is not running lots of games, or running programs that require high end computer graphics then you can probably get away with 1GB of memory.
You can see how much memory you have and how much you are using with Task Manager.
Right click on a blank area of the Taskbar and choose “Task Manager”
Click the “Performance” tab
Look at the box labeled “PF Usage” and then look at the box labeled “Physical Memory”. If PF Usage exceeds or is close to Physical Memory Total then it’s time to up your memory capacity.
Nowadays RAM is relatively cheap and upgrading your RAM can be a cheap way to really boost your computers speed.
Crucial have an online scanner here:
Where you can allow their server to examine your computer and they will make recommendations as to whether or not a memory upgrade would benefit you, they will also tell you what memory modules to buy and how much it will cost. All that without having to open the case on your computer!
If you suspect that you have faulty memory in your computer then as long as you only have up to 4GB of RAM, Microsoft offer a free memory testing utility that you can download from here:
http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp
You can also get the famous Memtest86+ software available here:
Good luck,
John
I would love to hear your opinion. Please add your comments below.
Filed under Computers, Memory by on Nov 19th, 2009. Comment.
Sticky mouse…
Does your cursor jump or stick when you move the mouse?
Most computer mice now are the optical type, that is they have a red (usually) light shining out of the bottom of them and the reflection of that light is what determines the movement of the cursor.
The older type have a ball in them. Over time, the ball type mice will accumulate dust and dirt on the insides that can cause your cursor to skip or jump which makes using your computer a pain.
If you have a ball type mouse, turn it upside down and you should see that the hole where the ball protrudes is actually in a small plate which when rotated will come away from the mouse body allowing you to get out the dirt and gunk.
So, to clean your mouse, first remove the plate, then remove the mouse ball. Examine the insides and you should see that there are three things which come into contact with the ball under normal conditions. There will be two straight rods at 90 degrees to each other which control the cursor movement and then a small spring loaded wheel to keep pressure on the rods. These three items are what need cleaning in most cases.
If you look at the rods you may see what looks like a stripe around the middle of them, this is dirt and needs to be carefully removed. Use a small screwdriver or similar item to carefully scrape the dirt away, DO NOT NICK OR DAMAGE THE ROD. Carefully rotate the rod and make sure you get all the dirt off. Repeat for the other rod and the pressure wheel. Now just wipe off the mouse ball, reassemble and you should be done.
If that doesn’t do it, you can always get yourself an optical mouse which are not as prone to dust and dirt collection.
Good luck,
John
I would love to hear your opinion. Please add your comments below.
Filed under Cleanup, Computers, Hardware, Peripherals by on Nov 22nd, 2009. Comment.
How to change your Internet Explorer Start Page
When you start up Internet Explorer, or any browser, you can have it start on any web page you like. You may have seen websites that say “click here to make this site your start-up” or something similar, maybe you (or someone else) has clicked on one of those and now you would like to get YOUR start page back.
Well, here is how you do it.
Open up Internet Explorer, click on Tools > Internet Options
Under the “General” tab look for the section labeled “Home page”
In the box enter the site URL that you want to start on, for example if you want to start on Google’s home page, you would enter http://www.google.com
Now if you have tabbed browsing enabled you can hit enter after that entry and on the next line put another URL, now when IE opens up you will have two tabs which load your two favorite sites. Just repeat for as many sites as you want to open up.
In Firefox it is very similar, click on Tools > Options
Under the “Main” tab look for the “Startup” section. If you want multiple tabs in Firefox, separate the url’s with the “pipe” character which looks like two vertical lines on top of each other (shift backslash for US keyboards, Alt GR and the key to the left of 1 for UK keyboards)
Good luck,
John
I would love to hear your opinion. Please add your comments below.
Screen Capture and the Print Screen Key
Here we are going to discuss how to get a picture of something that is on your screen into a Word document or similar application. I am sure you have seen instruction documentation which has built in screen shots of the process that it is explaining. If you were wondering how to do that, here is one simple way.
We will be using the “Print Scrn” key.
A lot of people seem to think that if you hit that key then whatever is on your screen will shoot out of your printer. Well, back in the good old days of DOS, that was the case but nowadays, when you press the “Print Scrn” key a copy of your screen is sent to the “Clipboard”.
What is the “Clipboard”?
It is an area of memory set aside for temporary storage, so normally you can’t see it or its contents and that is fine just as long as you know it’s there.
You can use the clipboard to copy text from one place to another with the cut and paste features built into Windows and many other programs, simply highlight the text you want and press “Ctrl” and “C” together, this COPIES the highlighted information to the “Clipboard”, then move your cursor into the location or document where you want it to appear and press “Ctrl” and “V”, this PASTES the information stored in the “Clipboard” to the new location.
It is worth noting that the information stays in the “Clipboard” until it is overwritten by a future “Ctrl” + “C” operation.
So, how does that help us?
Well, if we had a word processor document open that we were working on and we wanted to include a screen shot of our desktop in that document, simply hit “Print Scrn” and then “Ctrl” + “V” and the image should appear in your document. Try it using Wordpad, the lightweight word processor that comes with Windows.
Here’s another little trick using “Print Scrn”, if you hold down the “Alt” key and press “Print Scrn”, that copies just the contents of the active window to the “Clipboard” rather than the full desktop image.
So, there you have it, play around with it and soon you will be an expert.
Good luck,
John
I would love to hear your opinion. Please add your comments below.
Filed under Computers, Windows by on Nov 24th, 2009. Comment.
What can you do with the Windows Key?
OK, those of us who use Windows based computers all have at least one Windows key (unless you have a really, really old keyboard) but what is it used for?
Here are 11 uses for that little key:
- “Windows” + “E” opens up a new instance of Windows Explorer.
- “Windows” by itself opens up the “Start” menu.
- “Windows” + “D” minimizes all open windows and shows the Desktop, “Windows” + “D” again puts them all back.
- “Windows” + “F” opens the find files feature (or Google Desktop Search if you have it installed).
- “Windows” + “L” locks your computer.
- “Windows” + “M” minimizes all open windows.
- “Windows” + “Shift” + “M” restores the last “Windows” + “M” operation.
- “Windows” + “R” displays the “Run” command.
- “Windows” + “F1″ displays the Windows Help function.
- “Windows” + “Pause/Break” Displays the System Properties dialog.
- “Windows” + “Tab” cycles through the items in the task bar.
There you have it, eleven uses for the Windows Key
Good luck,
John
I would love to hear your opinion. Please add your comments below.
Filed under Computers, Windows by on Nov 25th, 2009. Comment.
The Mystical Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool
OK, What is it?
According to Microsoft:
“The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool checks computers running Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows Server 2003 for infections by specific, prevalent malicious software – including Blaster, Sasser, Mydoom and Confiker – and helps remove any infection found. When the detection and removal process is complete, the tool displays a report describing the outcome, including which, if any, malicious software was detected and removed.”
This has been around since January 2005 and as long as you are checking your Microsoft Windows Updates then you have the latest definitions. There are new definitions released with the regular “Patch Tuesday” (2nd Tuesday of each month) security releases from Microsoft and the tool will automatically run in the background on a monthly basis.
So, why am I telling you this if everything is automatic?
Well it turns out that you can very easily run this tool any time you want, not just on Microsoft’s once a month schedule.
Go to Start > Run and type in “mrt” without the quotes (Vista users click the Start orb and type in “mrt” at the start search bar) a nice little window will open which allows you to see what “nasties” the tool is ready to find and the next window allows you to start a scan. I recommend doing a full scan which can take a few hours, but really digs deep into the crevices of your system to look for any abnormalities.
Keep in mind that this is NOT a replacement for antivirus software, but rather an enhancement of it that could potentially find a hazard that has maybe slipped in between anti virus updates or piggy backed in as an email attachment and is just waiting for the right sequence of events to be activated.
Add this useful tool to your arsenal of freebies and run it whenever the need arises.
Good luck,
John
I would love to hear your opinion. Please add your comments below.
Filed under Anti Virus, Computers, Malware, Spyware, Windows by on Nov 26th, 2009. Comment.
