Need for speed

Life

12 May 2006

Unless it’s a complete lemon, a modern car will break down less often than a car made 10 years ago. This isn’t simply because it’s newer; just talk to a good car mechanic, and they’ll tell you how modern cars, which need less maintenance, are putting them out of business.

The same concept applies to Windows. Older versions were a bit of a nightmare, but with each episode of the Windows saga, more and more problems appear to have been ironed out. That’s not to say that Windows is maintenance-free – far from it. Just like any car, it still needs the computing equivalent of a service from time to time.

If you’ve not done anything like this before, don’t worry. In this feature, we’re going to walk through the whole process of tidying up your computer and making it run a whole lot better. Most of the tips are aimed at Windows XP, but some will also work for 98 users. In addition, we’ll provide some tips on getting better performance out of a home network and the Internet.

Windows XP tools
Before starting, it’s time for us to wheel out a familiar instruction: at this point, it’s absolutely vital to create a restore point in Windows, and make a copy of the documents you couldn’t live without or would sorely miss. You should back up on a regular basis.

A restore point is invaluable, and very easy to set up. Go to the Start*All Programs.
Open the Accessories*System Tools*System Restore. Now select Create a restore point in the right-hand side of the window that pops up, click on Next and give your latest restore point a name.
If things don’t work out as you wanted them to, and you wish to restore the system to its previous state, restart the PC, repeatedly tap the key before Windows starts to load and select the most recent restore point to undo any changes made since then.

There is a second thing to consider before starting. Some of the jobs described over the next few pages take a long time for Windows to perform, so you may be in for a wait while the computer sorts itself out. However, it’s possible to set most processes going and then leave the PC to its own devices.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s get on with sorting out the computer. To get an immediate increase in Windows performance, take away some of the more cosmetic pieces of XP. Years ago, the makers of a free e-mail program actually had an option for turning graphical animation effects in Windows on and off called ‘waste processor cycles with frivolous animation’. Effects in XP that make the computer look and act differently from earlier versions of the operating system are also likely to slow it down.

Modern PCs are powerful enough that this is unlikely to cause any problems, but when it comes to performance, every little helps. From the Start menu, go to Control Panel*System. Click on the Advanced*Visual Effects.

The default setting in XP lets the system decide the best balance of snazzy effects and performance. Get round this by ticking the Best Performance option, click on Apply, and wait for a moment. The screen will switch from colour to shades of black and white, but don’t worry. After a few seconds, things should return to normal – well, relatively. Windows will now look like older versions of the operating system, with square edges on all the windows, instead of XP’s rounded edges. Alternatively, try using the Custom option, turning the various effects on and off until you’re satisfied with the final look.

We can’t go any further without mentioning the two of the biggest factors that affect your PC’s speed. Both viruses and spyware can have a major impact on the speed at which computers perform. We’ve said it a thousand times, but it’s a good idea to download Adaware and AVG and run them on a regular basis if you don’t already have a computer security suite that includes anti-virus and spyware tools.

One of the most frustrating and noticeable areas a PC’s performance can drop is during the start-up process. As Windows loads, it installs all the drivers and other bits and pieces necessary for peripherals to work and software to load. The more processes Windows has to start, the more clogged up start-up becomes.That’s why it’s important to properly uninstall software that isn’t used.

But there’s another way to weed out unnecessary tools, providing you have created a restore point. Click Start*Run then type msconfig into the dialogue box that appears and press Enter. This launches the System Configuration Utility, and you should click on the tab marked Startup. A word of warning: do not make changes in the other tabs, and if you accidentally do, click on the cancel button at the bottom of the Window to undo the action.

In the column marked Startup Item is a list of all the tools that Windows can be asked to load. Those with green ticks are part of the start-up procedure; those without must be launched manually elsewhere once Windows is ready to start work. Not all the names are particularly descriptive, and it’s important not to disable key programs such as anti-virus software, which is a must at start-up. To be sure, before proceeding you should type the name of the process as it appears into www.google.com and hit Enter. The links that appear will provide some basic information about what task it performs.

If you decide to remove items from start-up, the best approach is to try a process or two to begin with, and see if there are any ill effects. If so, reactivate the processes or use System Restore.
If in doubt, leave items alone.

Tooling up
Windows Powertoys are tools created by Microsoft developers and enthusiastic programmers that help make Windows perform a bit better – although the company itself provides no technical support. Despite that, though, they’re very handy. We’re going to look at two PowerToys in particular here: the first is TweakUI, and the second is Alt-Tab Replacement.

It took a great deal of tinkering with its innards before Microsoft started promoting TweakUI a few years ago. TweakUI (the UI bit stands for ‘user interface’), is worth an entire article on its own, as it provides users with the ability to control in detailed ways the way Windows looks and feels.

Download TweakUI from our Cover CD ROM. The site is laid out with downloads to the right-hand side. There are plenty of these to choose from – read the descriptions on the page for more details. TweakUI is about halfway down the page. Download it, and run the set-up program. Once installed, TweakUI can be found in a folder called Powertoys for XP in the All Programs menu.

Perhaps the most important thing about TweakUI is that it allows users to change some of what goes on under the bonnet of Windows without having to tinker around in the Registry. As we warned before, make sure you’ve got a restore point set up before changing anything with TweakUI – it’s quite user-friendly, but you can make some pretty serious changes to the way Windows works. Of its many features, our favourites are the customisation available for the Taskbar and the Start menu, and the advanced mouse controls.

The Alt-Tab Replacement tool is a fancier version of being able to switch between windows by holding down the key and pressing Tab. Before downloading this tool, try using the standard shortcut if you haven’t done so before. The replacement PowerToy goes further by providing a preview of what is in the window you are switching to – something that’s very handy if, for example, you have several Word documents open.

It almost goes without saying, but the best thing to do for your copy of XP is keep it up to date. The easiest way to check this is to go to http://update.microsoft.com, for which you’ll need Internet Explorer 5 or later. Follow the instructions and choose Express Install to get a group of updates sorted out at the same time. Bear in mind that some of these can be huge – Service Pack 2 can weigh in at up to 266Mb on its own, although it can be made a smaller file if you go through Windows Update, which picks and chooses files based on your computer’s set-up.

Speed up search
There’s no getting around it: the search facility in Windows is fairly shabby, especially compared with rival operating systems. The good news is that there’s a free search utility that works a treat. Google Desktop Search can be found on the Google home page. Be careful, however, to read the terms and conditions and Google’s privacy policy before agreeing and downloading the search tool.

Google says the information your Desktop sends back on searches is not personally identifiable – so you can’t be identified from the data it receives. But if you don’t opt out of providing personal information during the install, the program can identify you to Google.

Once you have read through the terms and conditions and are satisfied, click on Agree and Download. Open the file that is downloaded – it’s called GoogleDesktopSetup.exe – and follow the instructions. It takes a while for Google to index your hard disks, but it’s worth the wait.

Essentially, Google Desktop does for a PC what Google did for the Web –  it indexes all of the information on your computer’s hard disk. If Google Desktop does the trick, there’s little reason to allow XP to index the contents of the hard disk as well. Indexing can slow down Windows quite a bit, so it makes sense to get rid of the function if it won’t be used. And the same applies to Google Desktop; so switch that off too if speed is more important than using the search facility.

To switch off the Windows XP indexing tool, go to Start*My Computer. Select a hard disk – on nearly all systems, the C: drive is the main hard disk. Right-click on the disk icon and select Properties; remove the tick in the box at the bottom of the General pane marked ‘Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching’. Click on Apply, and another window will pop up. Select Apply changes to C:, subfolders and files, and click on OK. It will take a while for this change to take place – the new attributes have to be applied to all files in the hard disk. Errors may pop up; if so, click on the button marked ‘Ignore all’.

System Restore works very well, but it takes up a huge amount of room. If you are willing to reduce the number of Restore Points available for you to roll back to, it can save space on your hard disk.

Go to the System Restore window, and click on System Restore Settings in the left half of the window. The System Properties control panel will open at a tab marked System Restore. Drag the slider in the Disk space usage area to the left to reduce the amount of space this feature uses. Please bear in mind that this lessens the number of restore points you can choose from, so be cautious when deleting them.

Ditch old programs
Everyone’s done it – a new program comes around, and it seems like a good idea to download and run it. A few days later, the program loses its excitement and is left to gather dust in a far away corner of the computer’s hard disk. Now is the time to clear up all of that useless software clogging up your PC and slowing it down.

Go to Start*Control Panels*Add or Remove Programs. Take a look through the list that pops up for programs that you don’t use any more. If you do not recognise a program, the general rule of thumb is that you should leave it alone.

If, on the other hand, the programs can easily be downloaded again, or if you’ve got the installation disc anyway, why not remove it? A quick scan of the hard disk on an office machine here turned up a redundant version of Ipod for Windows, as well as half a dozen other programs that haven’t been used much at all. Just clearing those off the PC freed up almost a gigabyte of storage space.

To remove a program, click on the Change/Remove button and see what happens. The computer will check to see that removal is definitely what it required, and then will delete the particular software.

A PC’s hard disk gets filled up with more than just program files. Go to Start*All Programs*Accessories*System Tools and then Disk Cleanup, and wait for the program to work its magic. Disk Cleanup finds the likes of temporary files downloaded while browsing the web (such as the graphics used on web pages), and works out what can be safely deleted. What you throw away is your choice, however. After scanning the computer, Cleanup presents a list of what it thinks can be safely deleted. Click on each selection to highlight it and read a description. Put a tick in the box of each set of files you want to get rid of, then click on OK. The rest of the cleanup happens automatically and will take a few moments, so be patient. Note that if you delete cookies, saved usernames and passwords for frequently visited websites may have to be re-entered on your next visit.

Another system tool that comes with Windows is the Disk Defragmenter. The PC doesn’t store files – a home movie, a collection of MP3s or Word documents – in one specific place on the hard disk, but puts them wherever they can be fitted. It’s a bit like a librarian putting books back on the shelves where they fit, rather than in alphabetical order. Defragmenting sorts out the files and places like with like, speeding things up a bit.

As with Disk Cleanup, the Defragmenter can be found in the System Tools folder of the Control Panel. Open Disk Defragmenter and click on the button marked Analyze. After a few seconds, the program will ask if you want to view a report, or simply defragment. The report makes pretty dull reading, so if you don’t understand it, don’t worry. Just hit the Defragment button, and leave the PC to work while you get on with something more interesting.

An easy way to boost performance is to update the drivers – the small chunks of software that enable peripherals to communicate with Windows. In certain cases, a dodgy driver update can slow things down, but this is increasingly unusual. If your machine runs XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), then updates will be automatic. If you haven’t downloaded SP2, we’ll explain how to get hold of it later. Otherwise, try going to the Microsoft Update site at http://update.microsoft.com. For Windows Me, go to the Security Essentials link we have put on the web page for this feature.

Wi-Fi issues
Aside from actually getting Wi-Fi to work, there are two things that can be done to improve its performance.

The first is to remove interference. Anyone who has tried to tune a cheap FM radio will know that moving the radio around alters the sound quality. Brick walls, large chunks of metal, other electrical appliances and even the weather can have an affect on signal quality.

If a notebook PC is not picking up a signal in the kitchen, it may be because the base station in the living room is in the wrong position. Try moving the base station away from the TV, placing it higher up (for example, on a bookcase) or to another part of the room to see if that improves the quality of the signal.

The second way to spice up your Wi-Fi is to use products of the same standard, or from the same manufacturer. For example, running wireless cards from the older and slower wireless B standard will slow down the network speed of any equipment using the newer and faster wireless G standard.

If all of your kit runs on the same standard, it’s more likely to run at peak efficiency. If the base station and wireless cards are from the same manufacturer, there’s also a better chance that they’ll work together.

E-mail and the Web
Your e-mail inbox can expand in all directions and every now and then it’s necessary to compact it. This can speed up e-mail programs, and also clears out old, deleted messages.

To do this in Outlook Express, go to the File*Folder*Compact All Folders. To set up the mailbox-compacting feature to run automatically in Thunderbird, go to Tools*Options. Click on the Advanced button – it’s the cog-shaped icon on the top right-hand side. At the bottom of the window is an option marked Disk Space. If the checkbox in that option is not ticked, click to place a tack, then click on OK to activate it.

There’s not much that can be done to speed up e-mail downloads, but your mail application will probably run a lot faster if you clear out your inbox. Web browsers are another story, however.

If you fancy a swifter browsing experience, why not swap Internet Explorer for a browser that’s a bit more fleet of foot? Both Opera and Firefox are fairly small, pretty quick and boast functions that make Explorer green with envy. They may not download pages quite as quickly, but we’ve found that browsing the Web with more than one window open is more efficient using these rival browsers.

If you haven’t ever tried alternative browsers, give Opera or Firefox a try – they’re both free of charge. Finally, consider some compression software, which decreases the amount of physical data being sent to a PC by squashing the elements of a web page, thus speeding up their arrival, as well as some downloads.

Looking good
Even if some of the suggestions in this feature are already familiar to you, regular application of the right tools and maintenance can make your computer run faster and smoother. Just as cars need an annual service to stay in good running order, a computer also needs regular polishing and tweaking. Follow our tips, and you’ll find working on your PC a lot more enjoyable.

More memory
One of the most effective ways to speed up a computer is to add more memory. There are other hardware-related improvements that can be made as well – installing a faster hard disk and upgrading the graphics card are two of the most obvious – but upgrading the memory can make day-to-day computing snappier and smoother.

Different computers use different types of memory, so before buying, check online to see what memory your computer uses. Companies such as Kingston (www.kingston.com) and Crucial (www.crucial.com) have tools on their websites to work out what sort of memory is used in a specific PC.

Installing the memory modules is relatively simple. Disconnect the PC from the mains and, using an earthing cable to protect the memory module from static, push it into a vacant memory slot until it clicks firmly into place.

If you’re not sure how to do this, or are unable to find the correct memory from the manufacturer’s site, it may be worth paying a visit to a local computer shop and asking them to upgrade the memory for you.

A word of warning
The Internet is awash with tools that claim to enhance PC performance, but not all of them work, and some can be harmful. Some are pretty advanced and highly technical, such as anything to do with improving the cooling on a PC, and these will most definitely affect claims for repairs under warranty. Making any changes to Windows settings is always a risk, which is why we always recommend that you make a copy of valuable documents and set a restore point first.

However, don’t be put off by this. One of the best ways to improve performance on any system is through tinkering and tweaking, and as XP is now getting close to five years old, most things have already been tried and tested. As a result, feel free to use tweaks recommended by friends or those mentioned on our Readers to the Rescue forum on our website should they take your fancy.

Other versions of Windows
If you’re still running Windows 95, 98 or Me, then there are plenty of things you can do to clear all the clutter from your computer. The most important of these is clearing out the Temp files. These two folders – found by clicking on the C: drive and opening the folder named Temp, or C: then Windows then Temp – fill up with unwanted files that can generally be removed once a fortnight or so. Note that not all versions of Windows have both folders.

There is one caveat; before XP, Windows was careless about where it kept files, so it’s possible that documents and program files may find their way into the Temp folders. Emptying them won’t break Windows, but it might mean that applications stop working or that you lose documents. It’s always worth checking first.

A similar folder is the one used by Internet Explorer to stash files as you surf the web. This is called the Temporary Internet Files folder, but it’s also referred to as Internet Explorer’s Cache folder. The cache is used to store elements of web pages you visit while online, so that when you go back to a page, they don’t need to be downloaded all over again, making browsing faster. However, this also takes up disk space, so if you’re running out of room, changing the size of the cache might help.

You can clear the cache out – or limit its size – by opening Internet Explorer and going to the View menu. Click on Internet Options*Temporary Internet Files section, click on Settings. Using the slider bar, it’s possible to change the amount of space that Internet Explorer uses to store files, and it is also possible to change how often it updates the cache.

There are plenty of tips that work just as well on older versions of Windows as they do on XP. Disk defragmentation is one, as is regularly clearing out the Recycle Bin.

Read More:


Back to Top ↑

TechCentral.ie