How to Delete Online Accounts from Google, Facebook, Twitter and from More than 500 Web Services

Creating an account on Google, Facebook, and countless other online websites is very easy, in fact now a days almost any second website requires you to create an account at their website in order to use their services. But incase if you decide to delete / deactivate your account, some websites are not so user friendly and won’t have a direct method to do that. It is advised to properly deactivate or delete your online account from any website, once you decide not to use any service from them.

AccountKiller is a website which comes for the rescue of helpless people who are unable to delete / deactivate their online accounts. It helps in deleteing / deactivateing  accounts from more than 500 well known websites.

 

Just go to the AccountKiller website, type the website name (from which you want to deactivate / delete your account) or search the website name from the list and follow the Instructions listed over there. It also contains direct links to the main website from where you can easily delete / deactivate your account.

 

That's it, it's so simple to delete your account from many websites.
 

 

 

How to Change Background Picture At Windows Log In Screen

The Logon studio software helps you to change your logon screen on Windows XP, Vista and 7.

Follow the following steps to change your logon screen.

1. Open the Logon Studio websites by clicking here and click the Download button.

2. Click the Download button as per the operating system you are using.

3. It will ask you an email address to send you the download link. Enter your email address in the box and click Download button.

4. It will ask you an email address to send you the download link. Enter your email address in the box and click Download button.

5. It will open the Cnet website, Click the Download Now button to finally download the software.

6. Once the download is complete, double click the downloaded file to begin the Installation.

7. The installation steps are siple to follow. Just click next, next and finish to complete the installation.

8. After installing the software, open it and you will see the main screen of it.

9. You can select the background picture from its own collection (which you can see at the software's main screen) or you can click Download to open the Logon Studio website, from where you can download the background pictures.

10. If you already have a background picture in your computer, than just click Create.

11. Name this Login screen and click Browse button to look for the background picture in your computer which you want to set at Log in time.

12. Once you find your picture, click Open.

13. Click the Save button to close this option.

14. Now simply select your picture and click Apply button.

15. Withing seconds the software will lock your computer, where you can see your background image.

This is the best way to change screen of your logon window...

How to Survive an Operating System Crash

Once in a while it happens to every one of us, an Operating System crash of you computer. Then you have to reformat your hard drive, reinstall the operating system. You cannot prevent the loss of time you suffer while working to get everything in order again.

There are some very easy things you can do right now to make ensure your peace of mind for your business. You need to be back up and running as quickly as possible in the event of an operating system crash.

When you buy your computer, be sure to ask the dealer for a diskette or CD-ROM with the drivers for every hardware component that is not standard in the operating system. ('Drivers' are those pieces of software that the operating system needs for handling a hardware component.) Usually such a diskette or CD-ROM has an "autorun" program stored: You just need to insert it in the diskette/CD-ROM drive – and the driver installs it.

So Just What is a Hard Drive Crash?

 

Make sure all of your .exe, zip and software install files are on a disk. This is easily done by backing them up or burning them onto a CD. You should already have the system restoration and any other store-bought software disks handy.

The actual repair or reinstall of your operating system may simple or it may be complicated. If you are well versed in this area, you may be able to restore the system yourself. If you're like most of us, you may have to call a computer repair professional.

When your p.c. is restored, you will be able to simply reinstall your software and documents files from the disks you created. If you have access to a secondary p.c., you can install your programs on the backup computer in the interim.

A "daily backup" is extremely important to everyone who is working on any "project" that is more extensive than one day. It is important because only with that "security net" can you work freely.

 Here's How You Can Recover From a Hard Drive Crash

In addition to 'daily backup', I prefer to do a 'weekly backup' every weekend. You should use one directory on your portable computer for "long-term backup". Particularly if you often download a software and don't have any physical representative of it.

Re-arrange the directory structure on your desktop computer , creating one primary root directory, with a sub- directory for every application you use to work with. The sub- directories under the root "Own" are only to take the data files associated with Winword, Eudora or any other programs that create output.

 Whenever you create or modify a file (whatever the file type), be sure to write/update the current date in a comment line near the top. Finally, let's not forget that, especially in computing there is hardly anything bad that wouldn't have any positive side effect. Over time a lot of the "scrap" will assemble on your hard drive. Nowadays that's not much of a problem, just some wasted storage space. But remember the performance is diminished when the operating system has to struggle with a lot of complicated entanglements.

 Following These Steps To Recover Your Hard Drive

First, turn off the computer. If the computer continues to restart after the Windows logo appears without giving a chance to access the desktop and a blue screen flashes for a split second, it is most likely a registry problem, virus or hard drive fail.

The impending loss of important documents and files is a sickening feeling, but there is a way to recover them before reformatting the computer. For an affordable price, external hard drive cases can be bought at any retail outlet specializing in computers. After the case is purchased, carefully remove the hard drive from the computer by detaching the connected wires, plug the hard drive into the case and it will act as an external USB drive.

Once this is completed, attach it to another computer and hopefully it will show up as another drive. If this works, simply drag and drop the important files onto the computer and back them up onto a USB stick or DVD disc. If this doesn't work, the hard drive has either failed or it's not connected properly.

Now that the files are safe, it is time to reboot the computer. Ideally, when a computer is purchased, the user will make a back up disc of the operating system in case of a meltdown. If you don’t have the disc, contact the company that makes the computer and perhaps they will supply one.

 

 

 

Common Broadband Problems

The most common high speed internet problems whether its DSL or cable connections are not being able to log on and poor signal.

If the Cable modem often reboots, you should check to see if your signal indicator is strong. If the signal seems good, electronic signal from mobile phones and other devices nearby may be interfering with the signal.

Stop and look behind the cable or DSL modem to see if the connections have worked themselves loose or have come off completely. Be sure the connections have not be damaged in any way.

The modem is connected to an Ethernet card which will receive and send signals to the computer. Look at the rear of the card and see if the green indicator is on. If not, there is a problem with the card installation or the card may be faulty.

If the Ethernet card in the computer become loose, your high speed Internet reception will be interrupted. Place a finger on the Ethernet card and try to move it. If you can, open the system unit case and tighten the card.

If the Ethernet card has become loose, it may be a good idea to remove it and inspect the yellow contacts to be certain they are not dirty or damaged. Power will not transfer to the card should this be the case.

Other causes may be the main wiring to the modem may be faulty. The vacuum cleaner or the power tools your son is using in the garage may be causing the problem as well. And we cannot omit the idea that the cable or DSL modem themselves may be faulty.

While you're learning about your computer, understand the modem at every level and do so now while it is still in good operating order. Print or write down modem and all troubleshooting tips.

Put these troubleshooting tips in a binder or at least in a safe place so you can refer to them should your PC fail to boot. Knowing about your computer takes time and effect but you be glad you took the time should your system goes on the blink.

How To Repair Cable, DSL, And Dial-Up Modem

When it comes to diagnosing the modem and any other computer problem, always start with the most obvious first. Modem problems may be repaired as fast as re-booting the computer or can be as complex as resolving hardware conflicts.

First remember to check for the most obvious signs of trouble, such as loose connections at the rear of the computer for external modems.

Internal modems may have their retaining screw at the expansion slot loose or missing. Phone line connections may simply be inserted in the wrong connector. Nearly all internal modems are inserted into the PCI or Peripheral Component Interconnect slot in the system unit.

No Power At the Modem

For Internal Modems, first try inserting the modem in a different PCI Slot. Reboot the computer and click on Start, Control Panel, and click the Phone and Modems icon.

Then click on modems, properties, and look for the statement "This Device Is Working Properly". You can click on Diagnostics and run a test to see if the modem has power as well.

External modems can be checked for power by inspecting the adapter plug to see if it is plugged in completely. Look to see if any indicator lights are flashing and be certain you are using the adapter for your modem.

Be sure the surge protector or wall outlet is providing power by plugging in a lamp or a radio. If the radio works, the culprit may be the adapter or the external modem itself.

If you purchased the modem in your town, you may have the chance to return it to the store and ask the technician to test it with a known good power adapter. You can been replace either the adapter or modem.

 

Modem Disconnects Often

If your modem, whether internal or external, is working but disconnects from the Internet often, without warning, check to be sure your call waiting option is not enabled.

Another culprit that cause this headache is line noise. This noise and interference can be caused by such things as loose wiring. Poor waterproofing, old wiring, worn phone jacks are other causes of line noise. Make sure no other equipment is using the same line that your modem is on.

Be sure other devices as your fax machine, answering machines or even security alarms are not sharing the same line as your modem.

Other PCI devices may be causing conflicts with your modem. Clicking the Control Panel, and clicking the modem icon will show the message "This Device Has A Problem" or something similar if there is a conflict.

Windows will offer ways to resolve the conflict. Take the time to carefully follow instructions to correct any conflicts that may be present.

Loose Data Lines for Internal modems and loose or damaged connectors for External modems can cause data lost as well. Visual check and double check these connections.

 

 

What to Do When Windows Won't Boot

When Windows fails to boot it is normally caused by you installing a program or device and it has caused a conflict with one or more other programs. This will no doubt give you plenty of heartache if you're not certain which program caused Windows to not boot up.

If you recently installed a program or application and know where it was installed, you may be in much better shape as for as correcting the error. Here are common ways to correct the problem of your computer not completely booting up or not booting up at all.

If your computer will not boot-up at all, hopefully you have made a good emergency boot disk. You can always make a windows startup disk by creating one from another computer running Windows 98 or Me. Perform the following if your computer........

Won't Boot-Up At All

FIRST: Put your boot floppy disk in the floppy drive and turn on the PC. On some computers, you may have to access the bios and select the Boot priority to your A: drive. Save any changes and select "Start Computer without CDROM support" and press Enter. Once you are at the A> prompt, type dir c: and press enter.

If your programs and other files are present, try restoring your system Registry by following the steps below. This may repair Windows, the Config.Sys and autoexec.bat files to where the PC may boot up normally. When the files are present, it’s a good indication of a good hard drive.

SECOND: To correct the problem of your computer not booting up, type in "fdisk /mbr" and press Enter to restore your master boot record. Type "Scandisk C:" to check the hard drive for errors that have occurred. You can also type "Sys C:" to hopefully restore files needed to boot up your computer.

THIRD: If the above procedures fail to repair your computer, you can repeat the first part of step one above and select "Start Computer with CDROM Support" re-install Windows.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tips to trobubleshoot harddisk software related problems

Hard Drive Software Problems and Solutions

If the drive CMOS settings are not correct, the drive will not boot up. Find the key combinations to access your BIOS and check the settings to see if the drive has been recognized. Select "Auto" from the main BIOS screen and after rebooting, the drive should be detected automatically. Be sure to save the changes and then reboot the computer to see if the drive works.

 

Computer Boots but with Many Errors or Hangs

The LBA or Logid Block Addressing settings may be set wrong when your computer have many errors, and if your computer is an older model. LBA is a method used by older PCs to support IDE hard disks larger than 504 megabytes.

Access your BIOS and check the LBA settings. If the LBA settings are not enabled, enter the BIOS and enable your LBA.

 

Your Hard Drive may have an IRQ Conflict

The primary hard drive controller normally uses the IRQ or Interrupt Request Line of number 14 and if you have a second drive, it may use number 15.You may install a new device such as a modem that uses IRQ 14 by default and once installed, the may not recognize the hard drive.

The solution here would be to change the IRQ setting of the new device you installed to another IRQ. Check the manual that came with the new device for possible IRQ settings.

Your Hard Drive Device Drives Causing Problems

In Windows XP, Vista, and 7, you can view the device drivers in the Control Panel and update them if needed. If you are not sure you have the latest device drivers, perform these steps to update, especially if you operating system is Windows 7.

Click on Start, Control Panel, System, and the System Properties will appear. Then click on Hardware, and Device Manager. Click on Disk Drives and then your Hard Drive. Click on Driver and here you can Update the Device Driver. You also have the option of Rolling back to the old driver should something go wrong.

 

 

 

How to trobubleshoot Harddisk problems

Since computer users are human, the user can be the primary cause of computer failure. And we operators of our computers are in most cases but that, we operate the computer but know very little concerning software and hardware components and peripherals.

Since this is the case, you should ASSUME NOTHING when diagnosing any computer problem. We diagnosed a new PC with a video display problem. After briefly looking at the video card it took a while to see that the video card was not pushed into the adapter slot completely.

Even though I looked at the card, I failed to check it thoroughly. This cause me to spend more time on troubleshooting that was not needed. The thought of a hard drive failure strikes terror in the heart of every computer user. This is because a hard drive failure may lead to invaluable data loss. Here are the most common procedures you should perform when you experience hard drive failure.

General Hard Drive Troubleshooting

The hard drive can display problems such as "retry, abort, ignore" or "cannot read sectors" while operating. This is an indication that there may be bad or unreadable spots on the drive.

Reformatting and reinstalling the operating system can normally correct this problem. This will cause you to lose all data on your drive so it is important to always have a good backup of your files daily.

If the hard drive seems to be causing you problems, such as constant error messages. Watch this video and, watch this video for a possible cause if your hard drive is showing errors and is slow.

There are good utilities you can purchase that can repair hard drive problems without destroying data. The utility Spinrite is a good utility and only cost $100.00 which is a good price if you want to avoid the hassle of reformatting the drive and restoring the operating system. Here are some general hard drive problems you should start from and we'll be more specific later.

Use Operating System Utilities

First you may be able to correct those bad spots and errors from your hard drive by performing those PC maintenance in the operating system. Windows has Disk Defragment and you should run disk defragment after running Scandisk since scandisk will need to fix any problems it finds. After scanning the drive and defragment the files, run Disk Cleanup to ensure all junk files have been delete.

Check Drive Cables and Connections

If there is no indication that the drive is receiving power (you don't hear that familiar clicking noise or the drive light is no working) check the 4 wire connector coming from the power supply. Watch this video to understand and see the cables and some problems that the connectors can cause.

If the connection is secure, you can remove the power supply connector and do two things. You can check to see if there is voltage with a multimeter. But it’s much faster to connect another 4 wire connector to the drive to see if the drive works.

There are normally extra connectors from the power supply or you can use the connection to the cd rom drive to test for voltage from the power supply.

If the connection indicates no or very little voltage (4 volts or less) from the power supply, the power supply may be going bad. Now check and double check all connections, especially if you are someone else have recently worked inside the computer.

If the Drive Will Not Boot Up?

Boot the computer with your bootable DOS disk. If you don't have one made, STOP and make one NOW by clicking on Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add and Remove Programs and Startup Disk.

Try to access drive C: by typing DIR C: and press Enter. If you see the directories on drive C: try to make the drive bootable by typing sys a: c: and press Enter. The system files should be restored and the drive may be restored to boot on its own.

If this fails, you may have to reformat and partition the drive with the setup utility that came with your drive or computer.

If the Drive Boots but Hangs Up at Boot?

Turn the computer off, open the system unit and disconnect the ribbon cable at the motherboard end. Turn on the PC AND you will get an error message that the drive is bad and in most cases will go into your BIOS.

Change the hard drive type to AUTO and shut off the computer. Reconnect the ribbon cable and see if the hard works properly. The drive settings should be restored and should operate fine.

A hard drive that fails to boot up may also have a bad controller. If the controller is mounted on the hard drive, there is not much you can do except replace the drive?

 

 

                                                                                                

How to solve display problems of computers

When you have problems with your video display, it can be something as simple as having the brightness turned down to a bad controller on the motherboard. If you have not done, first learn to identify the components of the video display system.

When you look inside any open computer,see if you can locate the Video Card. Is your video card mounted in an adapter slot or is it integrated onto the motherboard. If the card is motherboard integrated, locate the jumpers that will allow the card to be disabled should you need to install another card.

The Monitor is the second component in the video display and it must be compatible with your video card. Be sure the maximum resolution of your video card and monitor are the same. Its even better to your a higher resolution display on your monitor.

 

Nothing on the Monitor

As we first mentioned, check the brightness and contrast buttons on the monitor to be sure they are not turned down. Yeah,we know. This sounds a little silly to think this could be overlooked,but believe me, it really does.

And while we're talking about simple checks,be sure the monitor is receiving power. If the power indicator light is out, remove the power cable and look for any bent or broken pins or connectors.

Try to reboot the computer one or two times to be sure the system did not just lock up. If nothing happens, replace the cable with a known good cable to prove that the wall outlet or surge protector has power.

If the monitor has power but nothing is on the screen, check the data cable going into the rear of the computer. Be sure the cable is secure. If it is,Turn the power off to the system unit, remove the cable and look for broken, loose, or bent pins.

Finally, if you're blessed enough to have two computers, exchange the monitor with a good monitor to see if it works. Replace the old monitor if the new monitor works. If the new monitor fail as well, remove the system cover to inspect the Video Card.

Monitor Works But No Display

When the Monitor is known to be good but its screen is still blank, the Video Card is the most likely culprit. First inspect the card to be sure it is fully seated in its slot if it is adapter slot mounted.

Check the jumpers of any motherboard mounted card to be sure a jumper has not been lost or loose. If you have been inside your system,its always a possibility to have moved the card.

 

Monitor Works But Poor Display

If your monitor works but the images appear fuzzy, or flickering often, and the text are hard to read, it may be time to adjust the video card's resolution and the refresh rate.

Right click the desktop, select properties and open the display properties dialog box. Choose the tab for settings and adjust the slider to change your display resolution. Most 17-inch monitors will have a resolution of 800 x 600 but choose the best resolution for your eyes.

After adjusting the resolution, check the display to see if all flickering and other problems have vanished. If not, optimize the refresh rate. The refresh rate is the rate in which the video card redraws the screen. Lower refresh rates sometimes cause flickering.

To adjust this rate, open the display properties dialog box in the desktop, and choose the settings tab once again. Click the advanced button and choose the adapter tab if you still have Windows 98.

If you have Windows XP, choose the Monitor tab. And from there you can set the refresh rate to about 70Hz or 70 Hertz. Check your monitor's manual or web site to see the maximum refresh rate for your monitor.

To effectively maintain your video display,visit the supporting web sites for updated software patches and device drivers. Watch for new control software for your card that will greatly boost its performance.

Take the time to clean the system unit case which will allow air to flow freely. This in turn will help keep the video components cool which will allow the card the perform smoothly.

 

 

 

How To Upgrade Graphics Card

 

THE PCI-EXPRESS GRAPHICS CARD SLOT ON THE MOTHERBOARD

Your graphics card is responsible for sending data to the monitor to display pictures, presentations, and videos that you love so much. That being the case, it would be a great benefit to you if you get and keep your graphics card up to date.

If your graphics card seems slow you may want to update your current card by visiting its support web site and look for any patches or new device drivers.

Take the time to download and install these files and you should see a big leap in the performance of your graphics card. As you download the files, don't forget where you saved them.

Installing The Graphics Card In The System Unit

After choosing the video card that you know is compatible with your monitor, open the system unit after the system is turned off, unplugged, and all peripherals are disconnected.

You may want to lay the system unit on its side for easier access to the empty expansion bays. Locate the empty AGP Slot to insert the video card and remove the cover plate at the rear of the case with a screwdriver. Save the screw to secure the card later.

Before removing the new card from its protective wrap,ground yourself to remove any and all electrical static charge from your body. Now you can carefully and firmly inserted the card into the Accelerated Graphics Port.

Aligned the card in the port and slowly but firmly pushed the card in the AGP Port. You may use a slight rocking back and forth motion to seat the card in the port.

Check to be sure it has been pushed all the way in the slot for a solid connection. Secure the card to the case with the screw you saved from the cover plate earlier.

Check and double check your installation process before replacing the cover onto the system unit case. With the cover replaced,reconnect peripherals and turn on the computer.

 

 

How to Speed Up Any Desktop or Laptop computer

When you start using a new computer its fast and may impresses you as a big change from before. On the other hand you may be disappointed at the relatively small increase in speed. Even if fast, over time your machine may get bogged down. After a few months you may wonder if it is worth computing at all, considering how long it takes to do anything.

The truth is by default when your computer arrives it has many services and unneeded programs that can be turned off or deleted without harm. Also with a machine that has slowed over time, many things can be done to improve the speed. In fact, after a treatment like here, you'll be amazed what a tiger was under hood. If you were considering it, you may decide to postpone the purchase of a new one. The various procedures and habits you can perform and change are as follows:

Make Sure You Have Enough Memory

Choose Start Button → Start Menu → Settings → Control Panel → System → General Tab

Before You Buy Computer Memory Upgrades, you can find out how much you have by clicking on the System Icon in the Control Panel. The amount is on the first tab that comes up, the General Tab. With Windows 2000 or XP, you really should have at least 1 GB of memory and 2 GB is a more comfortable amount. With Vista be sure to have 2 GB of memory you'll be much happier.

Be Sure To Clean Up Your Desktop

Windows puts everything on your Desktop into memory, for rapid loading purposes. If you have a lot of big files there, that means trouble. Apparently folders are not loaded. Shortcuts apparently are loaded, but it stops there. The applications the shortcuts point to are not loaded. Maybe downloaded exe files are though.

Make Sure You Have a Fast Enough CPU Chip

Only Windows XP and Vista, in the System Applet again, will show you how fast your processor is. 1 GHz Processor is really the minimum these days. If you have less than this, spare yourself some frustration and buy a cheap new computer for $250- $400 from Dell, HP, Compaq, E-machines, or Gateway. You'll be much happier.

Uninstall Those Unneeded Applications To Free Up Memory

 One last suggestion of the about.com article that sounds useful, is to uninstall unneeded programs. The reason for this is apparently the registry settings made by installed programs can eventually slow down your machine. A smaller cleaner registry is therefore useful. A registry cleaner might be a good tool to use too after removing the unneeded programs. It will be discussed again below.

Get And Keep Your BIOS Fine Tuned

In the BIOS (or "Setup") stop floppy seek, stop memory check (Fast Boot), and put the disk on best performance setting instead of silent if you have it. For a faster boot up enter your Bios, by clicking the Delete, F2, or F12 key or whatever flashes on the screen when you turn on the computer. Next choose boot order, and remove all entries except the first one which you should set to your hard drive. This will stop the most of the time useless seeking of a floppy disk at boot time.

If you need to reinstall Windows or some other operation, you can always go back and change this entry to floppy or CD. Also there should be a setting in your BIOS to make the boot, quick.

Patch Your Computer To Keep It Updated

Go to Windows update on the top of your start menu and download all the patches for your operating system, whether they are optional or critical.

Better yet, go into the Control Panel, choose Automatic Updates, Choose Automatic (your screen might look different with a different version of Windows). Make it Every Day at a time when you are not using your computer.

Generally if you have cable or DSL, despite the risk of infection, computers should be kept on and attached to the Internet. This is to allow antivirus and security patches downloading at off-peak hours.

Keep Your Antivirus Up to Date and Scan Your Disks

Bring your antivirus program up to date and regularly do a full virus scan of your computer. Check your antivirus program as it will tell you when the last full scan was done. You may be surprised to see it is not what you thought, but was done months ago.

If you don't have an up to date antivirus program, and don't want to pay for a new one, there are several high quality free ones available to the private consumer.

They are: AVG, Antivr, avast, PC Tools antivirus, Comodo antivirus and the open source ClamAV.

Also look into a new different kind of antivirus program Threat Fire which you can use to supplement your other antivirus. Threat Fire doesn't look for the fingerprints or DNA of known viruses. Instead it looks for suspicious behavior like key logging.

Also try the no longer free WinHki Anti-Virus, which acts as a supplement to normal Anti- virus program like above. WinHki calculates the checksums (a mathematical calculation extremely difficult to fool) of your files on initialization. After that, whenever a virus changes a file it will be flagged by WinHki because the checksum will change.

Make Sure You Have no Spyware

Run at least a couple different antispyware programs. Perhaps most people these days are buying full computer suites to use with their computers, which should include antispyware programs, but it doesn't hurt to independently run standalone anti-spyware programs.

The free ones are, Super Anti Spyware (maybe the best of the free ones now), Spybot, LavaSoft's Ad-Aware, Yahoo Toolbar with Anti-Spy, and "Bazooka Adware and Spyware Scanner".

Note it's also a good idea to use the free spyware prevention tool, Spyware Blaster. The commercial anti-spyware programs Spy Sweeper, Spyware Doctor and CA Anti- Spyware (formerly Pest Patrol) are excellent. They cost $30-40.

Stop Unneeded Startup Programs

New installation of software often adds unneeded startup entries in any of several different hidden locations. These programs will start when Windows starts and take up resources. The best free program to deal with this problem, is in my opinion, Startup Inspector for Windows.

If you use this program, be sure to select the "Consult" Button in the upper left of GUI. This will make the program search through its database of startup programs and tell you

whether the software is necessary or can be safely removed from the bootup sequence. Windows Defender is Microsoft's similar program. It's standard in Vista and can be reached through the Control Panel. Click on Tools → Software Explorer, to see all the programs that begin at startup.

Another good choice is Code stuff Starter. This free program has the additional advantage of having a sort of Power Task Manager which will tell you all the programs that are currently running and all their dll dependencies.

Additionally there is a new section on Services, so you can look through these semi-programs that are running in the background and see if there are any you don't need. More on services in a later step.

Unfortunately you will manually have to look up your entries in other resources to see whether the software is necessary for normal functioning. You can also sometimes get info about the manufacturer of the running program by double clicking on its entry in the

Startup list. The best database for checking whether programs are necessary http://www.castlecops.com/StartupList.html.

Defragment Your Hard Drive Regularly

Vista now includes an automatic defragment system that is enabled by default. With XP or Vista (if you want to set it off outside the schedule) defragment your hard drive by choosing Start → Programs → Accessories → System Tools → Disk Defragmenter.

This should be done every week if possible and can take several hour, so again do it at night or while you are at work. There are some free disk defragmenter scheduler solutions, so you can "set it and forget it." They are start defrag, auto defrag and Lexun Freeware Drive care. There is also a Microsoft article that tells you how to use Scheduler to schedule defragmentation.

Remove Those Unneeded Files

Hard disk begin to fragment files noticeably and slow down after passing the 50% full mark. For this reason, it is said that the single most important investment one can make to improve the performance of a PC is to purchase the largest hard drive possible. This situation will change with the advent of solid state hard drives as the files don't fragment meaningfully in these sort of devices. At any rate if you have a hard drive and it's over 50% full, use a program like CCleaner or Microsoft's disk utility to get rid of unneeded files.

Also uninstalling unneeded software can improve performance for disk space reasons and because programs often install right click options which disappear after uninstallation. This is valuable because menus are often built on the fly and take time to rebuild each time you open them. With less options there's faster performance.

Move the Page File to another Partition

The page file is your virtual memory. Windows uses your hard drive as a secondary source of memory in addition to your RAM memory. If you move this file to another partition then the one where Windows is installed this can increase performance.

You can change this setting here: Control Panel → System Applet → Advanced Properties → Performance Settings Button → Advanced Tab → Virtual Memory Settings Button → Click on the C drive and change the setting to no virtual memory and hit the "set" button → move the selection to another partition and set it to 150% of the amount of RAM memory you have in both the minimum and maximum amounts. Then click the "set" button.

Stop File Indexing

By default, in order to speed file searches in XP and Vista, Windows indexes the entire drive. However most people do not search very often and find that the overhead that the process represents in terms of memory and CPU cycle does not justify the short time lost looking for files that have not been indexed once in a while.

It is true that this indexing is only supposed to take place during times when the machine is not in use, but the system doesn't work perfectly and makes for continual noise from the hard drive throughout the time the PC is on.

At any rate to stop indexing is a bit of an involved process.

To start it, right click on your C: drive in My Computer or Explorer and choose "Properties". Simply uncheck the checkbox "Allow the Indexing Service index this disk for fast file searching" → In the next Window that comes up, choose the radio button next to "apply changes to C: subfolders and files. That's the easy part.

Because it's applying the changes to all the folders, this process takes up a lot resources and time. As a shortcut to all this you could stop the indexing service in XP by typing type "net stop CiSvc" without the quotes. For a long time stop of the Indexing Service you would need to disable it.

Type services.msc in the Run box → right click on the Indexing Service → choose disabled from the Startup type drop down box. In Vista, do the same thing with the command "net stop WSearch" and disabling the Windows Search Service.

A third way to do this in XP and VIsta is to go to Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel (Programs and Features in Vista) and choose Add/Remove Windows Components (in Vista "Turn Windows features on and off"). There you'll find the Indexing Service which you can uninstall. If I remember correctly with Vista, there is some Indexing that goes on even if you have done all three of these things. This might be related to Vista's Prefetch and Superfetch systems.

Turn Off Animations

In XP and Vista, some visual effects have been added to the basic Windows 2000 appearance. These can be removed to improve PC speed.

You can do this here:

Control Panel → System Applet → Advanced System Settings (in Vista) or Advanced tab (In XP) → Performance Settings Button → Visual Effects → Adjust for best performance.

You may want to restore the use of smooth edges for screen fonts and the showing of thumbnails instead of icons (In Vista only).

Clean the Registry

Over time the registry gets clogged up with useless registry settings that slow a PC. Freeware to fix this issue include PC Fixer, CCleaner and Toni Arts Easy Cleaner among others.

Stop Unneeded Services

Services are again programs that Windows starts up automatically at startup and run in the background (some of them at least others are started when needed). Many of these are not needed and stopping them can help speed up you considerably.

To get to services, click on the Start Menu and in the Run dialogue box add "services.msc" and hit return. Now, consult one of the lists on the net, which list which services are necessary and which are not.

Look at a program called Win Services. If you download the mini setup of version 2.1.4.0, and choose Tools → "Program Settings" → Columns Tab → Select Activate Recommendations → check "Suggested Settings" and "Safely disable", the program will show which services you can disable. Use a little common sense here, for instance Task Scheduler might be better left on. Check with the other sites.

Turn Off Fancy Desktop Backgrounds, and Screensavers

Elaborate background pictures and fancy screensavers can take up an enormous amount of RAM memory and Hard disk space. For instance with hibernation activated, a file easily 1

GB in size is created in the root of the C: drive. If you are low on hard disk space, this can be vital. These operations can be done by right clicking on a blank part of your Desktop and choosing "Properties." Go to the Desktop Tab and set the Background to "None." On the screensaver Tab, set the Screensaver to "None."

To turn off the Hibernation feature in XP only: Right Click on your Desktop → choose Properties → Click on the Screen Saver Tab → Click on the Power Button in the lower right corner → Click on the Hibernate Tab → Uncheck "Enable hibernation". For Vista see this article in regards to hibernation: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929658.

ReadyBoost for Vista Speeds Boot Times and Other

Operations With Vista, if you plug in USB or other flash memory, you will be given a choice to use the device with machine as ReadyBoost agent. It's a little complicated and I don't understand it, but, the PC uses the drive then for SuperFetch routines as cache memory, whatever that means.

All you seem to have to know is that using USB memory as ReadyBoost can speed boot times as well as other memory intensive activities that the PC would normally use the hard drive virtual memory for. Your free memory can be 256 MB to 4 GB usable by the machine.

You must tell the machine to set aside this amount and you will not be able to use that memory while the card is plugged in the machine. Apparently also the machine learns during each boot up so the boot up times gradually get faster. A Wikipedia article is here and at the end of the Live Links/Additional Resources list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadyBoost.

Change Your PC Use Habits

Things that can speed the Windows experience is to rely more heavily on keyboard shortcuts. Print out a cheat sheet for yourself for reference. Two links are listed below.

Another thing to do is to use Windows Quick Launch Toolbar. You display this right clicking on the Start Button → choosing Properties → Choosing the Toolbars tab → check the Quick Launch Toolbar display option box.

If you hold down the control button you can drag shortcuts from the Start Menu or desktop and keep copies in their original locations. Another speed tip is when surfing and downloading start many at the same time, you don't have to wait for one download to finish before starting another.

Also you might try to download the free Opera Internet browser or Apple's Safari for Windows. It is the fastest but will not display some of the pages IE and Firefox can display. I use all three browsers about equally. Another thing to try is to set up category folders in your Startup menu.

You can then drag the programs folders into the folders. This speed things because it takes Windows some time to rebuild its menus each time you click on them. You can get to the Start menu folders by right clicking on the Start Button and choosing "Explore".

There is a complication that not all the Start Menus are stored under your user name. However if you work at it you can categorize most of your folders by dragging them around and placing them in new folders. You can also right click on the folder and choose cut, then paste them in your new folders.

Additionally if your right click on the Start Menu Folder and it does not give you the cut option, it's probably installed in the Default or All user folders. Choose the "Open all users" option instead to manipulate those folders.

Have Your PC health Assessed for Free at PC Pitstop

PC Pitstop will give you a wealth of information about whether you have enough disk space, how fragmented your drives, whether you have enough memory and many other things discussed below. This is an unbelievable free service and can be done anonymously.

 

 

 

How to Revive a Dead Computer

When it comes to PC Repair, PC Training courses both online and off, offer a wide range of computer training programs and some of the best computer training software. But understanding your computer will help you learn how to bring it back to life or at least understand why you can't.
 

It’s not something we like to think about but your computer will fail, if you keep it long enough. It may be a simple problem, such as the floppy drive not reading the disk to a major system crash.
 

Because computers are run by operators, User Error is the most common cause of computer malfunction. When the user is at the computer, he or she may add or delete certain files. Or he/she may remove or exchange certain hardware features.

 

When we look at user error, we must remember that since we're human, the user error may be easy to solve by simply asking the last user if he/she installed any software, re- configured any software or hardware settings, etc.
 

A large percentage of computer malfunctions are due to environmental factors such as power surges caused by lightning, resulting in over-voltage.
 

Another cause for failure may be room temperature being too high or low, as well as dust, dirt, or sunlight. If you're in business and heavily dependent on your computers, such factors as room temperature, sunlight and protection against power surges is of the utmost importance and simply cannot be overlooked.

 

 

The most common pc problem is when you can't access your PC at all. When you turn on the power switch, NOTHING HAPPENS.
 

Here is a quick checklist of troubleshooting procedures you should follow if you encounter this problem .We also have videos you can download from the Internet should you need assistance in just how to perform these procedures:

 

 

Try the Power Switch a second or third time. If nothing happens.
 

Check the wall outlet for power. If the outlet has power. Check the power cord itself from wall to computer. Check the Power Supply inside the System Unit. Replace the Power Supply rather than trying to repair it.

 

 

If the system make those click noises, but the screen is blank, check the Monitor. If the monitor proves to be good, check the Video Card, even in a new system.

 

 

Another big headache you will most likely encounter if you're a regular user of your computer system,is the fact that Windows will fail to load or the system's POST will fail to run. Download the file below to learn much more about the Power on Self-Test. Don’t forget those preventive maintenance procedures that can be done often to keep your PC running at peak performance.
 

Running such Windows utilities as Scandisk, Disk Defragment, and Disk Cleanup will help your computer performing at its best. Using a can of compressed air removes dust that could build to the point of causing a short.
 

If you get the computer to boot but it does not want to read from the hard drive, the Master Boot Record on the hard drive may be corrupted or even missing. To verify that the master boot record has not been damaged... Boot from the floppy disk that contains the FDISK program and type the command "fdisk mbr" to restore the master boot record onto your hard drive.