Windows 7 includes a little-known new feature called Virtual Wi-Fi, which effectively turns your PC or laptop into a software-based router. Any other Wi-Fi-enabled devices within range - a desktop, laptop, an iPod perhaps - will "see" you as a new network and, once logged on, immediately be able to share your internet connection.
This will only work if your wireless adapter driver supports it, though, and not all do. Check with your adapter manufacturer and make sure you've installed the very latest drivers to give you the best chance.
Once you have driver support then the easiest approach is to get a network tool that can set up virtual Wi-Fi for you. Virtual Router (below) is free, easy to use and should have you sharing your internet connection very quickly.
If you don't mind working with the command line, though, maybe setting up some batch files or scripts, then it's not that difficult to set this up manually
GET A POWER EFFICIENCY REPORT
If you have a laptop, you can use the efficiency calculator to get Windows 7 to generate loads of useful information about its power consumption. Used in the right way, this can help you make huge gains in terms of battery life and performance. To do this you must open a command prompt as an administrator by typing 'cmd' in Start Search, and when the cmd icon appears, right-click it and choose Run as administrator.
Then at the command line, just type in 'powercfg -energy' (without quotes) and hit Return, and Windows 7 will scan your system looking for ways to improve power efficiency. It will then publish the results in an HTML file, usually in the System32 folder. Just follow the path it gives you to find your report.
Then at the command line, just type in 'powercfg -energy' (without quotes) and hit Return, and Windows 7 will scan your system looking for ways to improve power efficiency. It will then publish the results in an HTML file, usually in the System32 folder. Just follow the path it gives you to find your report.
CALCULATE MORE
At first glance the Windows 7 calculator looks just like Vista's version, but explore the Mode menu and you'll see powerful new Statistics and Programmer views. And if you're clueless about bitwise manipulation, then try the Options menu instead. This offers many different unit conversions (length, weight, volume and more), date calculations (how many days between two dates?), and spreadsheet-type templates to help you calculate vehicle mileage, mortgage rates and more.
Don't take any Windows 7 applet at face value, then - there are some very powerful new features hidden in the background. Be sure to explore every option in all Windows applets to ensure you don't miss anything important.
CALCULATE MORE: The new Calculator is packed with useful features and functionality
Don't take any Windows 7 applet at face value, then - there are some very powerful new features hidden in the background. Be sure to explore every option in all Windows applets to ensure you don't miss anything important.
CALCULATE MORE: The new Calculator is packed with useful features and functionality
PROHIBITED DUBIOUS SOFTWARE
Take control
Tired of the kids installing dubious software or running applications you'd rather they left alone? AppLocker is a new Windows 7 feature that ensures users can only run the programs you specify. Don't worry, that's easier to set up than it sounds: you can create a rule to allow everything signed by a particular publisher, so choose Microsoft, say, and that one rule will let you run all signed Microsoft applications. Launch GPEDIT.MSC and go to Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Application Control Policies > AppLocker to get a feel for how this works.
Tired of the kids installing dubious software or running applications you'd rather they left alone? AppLocker is a new Windows 7 feature that ensures users can only run the programs you specify. Don't worry, that's easier to set up than it sounds: you can create a rule to allow everything signed by a particular publisher, so choose Microsoft, say, and that one rule will let you run all signed Microsoft applications. Launch GPEDIT.MSC and go to Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Application Control Policies > AppLocker to get a feel for how this works.
Boost Windows Xp Speed Upto 60%
Whenever you start your computer, you are faced with a few moments of thumb twiddling while Windows XP boots and prompts you to log on. Although you should expect to wait for a few moments, sometimes Windows XP seems to boot rather slowly. In fact, you may notice that over a period of time the PC that used to roar to life seems a bit sluggish instead. Fortunately, you can perform several techniques that help Windows XP get the bootup speed you want. This chapter explores how to put these techniques to work.
Stopping Unneeded Startup Services
Along with the core operating system and programs that Windows XP runs when it starts, there is also a host of services involved. Many of these services are necessary for Windows XP to operate correctly. However, many of them are for features in Windows XP that you may not use at all. You can peruse the services and disable any service that you do not want to run. The fewer services that run, the more quickly Windows XP will boot.
Caution:
Exercise caution when stopping services. If you do not know what a service does or are unsure of the ramifications of stopping the service, leave it alone. Some services are critical to Windows XP's operations, so make sure you understand what the service is before you disable it.
To reduce the number of services that start on bootup, you can access two different areas of Windows XP. The first is the System Configuration Utility. The Services tab shows you the services that start when the computer boots.
You can stop a service from starting by simply clearing the check box next to the service and clicking OK. However, before you do so, there is another way to disable services that you may prefer because the interface gives you more information about the service in question.
Open Control Panel/Administrative ToolsServices or else select Start/Run, type services.msc, and click OK. Either way, you see the Services console.
I prefer to use the Services console instead of the System Configuration Utility because it describes what the service does. Additionally, you can double-click a service and examine its properties.
Notice the Startup Type column in Figure 4-2. This information lists whether the service is automatic or manual. Manual services are only started in Windows XP when you start a process that requires the service. Some other process may require the service that has a "dependency" relationship with it; in this case, the dependency service will start, as well. Because these services do not start automatically when you boot Windows XP, you do not need to do anything with manual services.
However, all services listed as automatic start when Windows XP boots. These are the services that increase boot time. As I have mentioned, many of them are necessary and important, so you should not stop automatic services from booting unless you are sure of the ramifications. You can get this information by looking at the Description column. Here's a quick look at common services you may want to live without:
Automatic Updates:
This service enables Windows XP to check the Web automatically for updates. If you don't want to use
Automatic Updates, you can disable the service. You can always check for updates manually at the Windows Update Web site.
Computer Browser: If your computer is not on a network, you don't need this service. If you are on a network, leave it alone.
DHCP Client: If you are not on a network, you do not need this service. If you are on a small workgroup, you can still increase boot time by configuring manual IP addresses (which I explore later in this chapter).
DNS Client:
If you are not on a network, you do not need this service. If you are, leave it alone.
Error Reporting and Event Log:
You don't have to use these services but they can be very helpful, so I would leave them configured as automatic.
Fax:
If you don't use your computer for fax services, you can disable this one. Help and Support: If you never use the Windows XP
Help and Support Center (found on the Start menu), you can disable this service.
IMAPI CD-Burning COM:
This service enables you to burn CDs on your computer. If you never burn CDs, you can disable the service.
Indexing Service:
Your computer keeps an index of files but if you rarely search for files, the service is just a resource hog. You can stop it and turn the service to manual.
Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing:
If you do not use these features, you can disable them.
Infrared Monitor: If you do not use infrared devices, you can disable this service.
Messenger:
This service sends alert messages on a local area network (it is not the same as Windows Messenger). If you are not on a network, you can disable this service.
Print Spooler:
If you do not do any printing from the computer, you can disable this service. If you print, make sure you leave it as automatic.
Remote Registry:
This service allows remote users to modify the Registry on your computer. If you are not on a network, you can disable this service.
System Restore Service:
This service allows you to use System Restore. If you have turned off System Restore anyway, you do not need to turn off the service. If you do, you turn off System Restore.
Themes:
If you do not use themes, you can disable this service.
Windows Image Acquisition:
If you do not use scanners or digital cameras, you can disable this service.
Wireless Zero Configuration:
If do not use wireless networking devices, you can disable this service.
You may have a number of other automatic services, depending on software and other configurations on your computer. So it's a good idea to look through the services and learn more about them. If you double-click a service, a Properties dialog box appears
Notice that on the General tab, you see a Startup Type drop-down menu. If you want to change an automatic service to manual, select Manual here and click OK. As a general rule, don't disable a service unless you are sure you will never use it.
However, manual configuration allows the service to be started when you find it necessary, thus speeding up your boot time. However, before you change a service to manual, look at the Dependencies tab (see Figure 4-4). This tab shows you which other services depend upon the service you are considering changing.
Keep in mind that services are necessary for the vast functionality you get with Windows XP. Change only those services that you understand and do not use. How you use your Windows XP computer should be the best guide in terms of optional startup services.
Tips:
The Indexing service and the System Restore service take up a lot of disk space and system resources across the board.
You can live without the Indexing service but I suggest that you keep using System Restore. It works great when you are in a bind and this is one case where the loss of speed may not be worth the ramifications of not using System Restore. Speed Tips and Tricks for Windows XP Startup Aside from startup programs, services, and the Prefetch folder, there are a number of other startup procedures and issues you can modify to help Windows XP start faster. The following sections explore those tips and tricks. Manual IP Addressing on Small Office/Home Networks Windows XP is configured to help you take care of networking. It uses the TCP/IP protocol for networking in workgroups, or what you might call small office or home networks that do not use a dedicated server. The problem is that automatic IP addressing can be slow. When your computer boots, it has to query the network to see what IP addresses are already in use and then assign itself one. If you want to speed up the boot time a bit, consider manually assigning IP addresses to all computers on the network. This way, the network computers do not have to worry about locating an automatic IP address. Because one is manually configured, the operating system doesn't have to spend time solving this problem. This isn't a networking book, however, so I won't delve into the implications of using a manual IP address, but if you are using a computer that functions as a host computer to the Internet (using Internet Connection Sharing [ICS]), you can get into connectivity problems if you change the configuration of the IP address. However, you can still work around this problem by starting with the ICS host computer. Select Start/Connect To/Show All Connections. Right-click your network adapter card and click Properties. On the General tab, select TCP/IP in the list of services and click the Properties button. In the TCP/IP properties, you can see if you use an automatic or manual IP address. In the example in Figure 4-5, I have configured a manual IP address of 90.0.0.1 and a default subnet mask. The other computers on my office network each use a different IP address in the same class, such as 90.0.0.2, 90.0.0.3, 90.0.0.4, and so on. This way, each computer has a permanent IP address, which helps increase boot time. Note that if you change the IP addresses of your computers, they must all use the same subnet mask. A default subject mask of 255.255.255.0 will keep you in good shape. Make sure you understand the implications of changing IP addresses on your network. If you have no networking experience at all, you may be wiser to leave the automatic IP addressing as is and try to gain some speed using the additional suggestions in this chapter. Disabling Recent Documents History Windows XP includes a feature that keeps track of all recent documents you have opened or used. The idea is that you can select Start/Recent Documents History and quickly reopen any document you have recently used. I use many documents each day and never use the feature myself. In my opinion, I can keep up with what I want to use without Windows XP doing it for me. The bad thing about Recent Documents History is that Windows XP has to calculate what should be put there each time you boot Windows, which can slow things down. So, if you never use the Recent Documents History, it's a good idea to disable it.
Here's how:
1. Open the Registry Editor (select Start/Run, type regedit, and click OK).
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mcft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
3. Create a NoRecentDocsHistory D_WORD key. Double-click the value to open it once it is created.
4. Set the Data Value to 1 to enable the restriction.
5. Click OK and close the Registry Editor. You'll need to restart the computer for the change to take effect. Disabling the Boot Logo You can remove the boot logo that appears when you start Windows XP. This little tweak probably shaves only a few seconds off your boot time but seconds count if you are serious about trying to get Windows XP up and running as quickly as possible. The only negative is that if you remove the boot logo, you will also not see any boot messages, such as check disk. (But if you are not having problems with your computer, this isn't such a big deal.)
To remove the boot logo, follow these steps:
1. Select Start/Run, type msconfig, and click OK.
2. In the System Configuration Utility, click the BOOT.INI tab.
3. On the BOOT.INI tab, click the NOGUIBOOT check box option. Click OK. Removing Unwanted Fonts One trick that increases your boot time a bit is to lose any fonts in the Fonts folder in Control Panel that you never use. The more fonts you have, the more processing Windows XP has to do to prep all of those fonts for use. You must be a bit careful here to not remove fonts that you might want, but there is a good chance that you can live without many of them. For instance, you may have foreign language fonts and other symbol fonts (such as Wingdings) that you never use. To delete unneeded fonts, follow these steps:
1. Open the Fonts folder in Control Panel.
2. Select Edit/Select All and then Edit/Copy.
3. Create a new folder on your desktop, open it, and select Edit/Paste.
4. In this new folder, delete any of the fonts you do not want.
5. Return to the Fonts folder in Control Panel. Right-click the selected fonts and click Delete.
6. Go back to your new desktop folder and click Edit/Select All.
7. Return to your Fonts folder and click Edit/Paste. You now have only the desired fonts in the Fonts folder. Tip: You can directly delete fonts from the Fonts folder without creating the secondary folder. However, I recommend the preceding steps to help ensure that you do not make a mistake in the deletion process. Stopping Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop Sharing In Windows XP Professional, you have two remote networking features called Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop Sharing. These remote networking features are very helpful in a variety of situations but if you don't use them, it is good idea to disable them to save boot time. You can always enable them later if you want to use them. Note: If you are interested in using Remote Desktop or Remote Assistance, see my book Windows XP for Power Users: Power Pack published by John Wiley & Sons.
1. Open the Start menu, right-click My Computer, and choose Properties.
2. Click the Remote Tab.
3. Clear both check boxes to disable Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop. Speeding Up the Dual-Boot Timeout If you dual-boot your computer with Windows XP and another operating system, you see an operating system selection menu on startup. If you typically boot into Windows XP and not the other operating system, you can speed up the dual-boot timeout value so that you do not wait so long for the boot process to select your default operating system and continue with the boot process. The default timeout value is 30 seconds but you can change this setting to 10. This gives you enough time to select the alternate operating system if you want but also speeds up the boot process. You can skip this section if you do not use a dual-boot configuration.
Follow these steps:
1. Locate the boot.ini file on your computer. It is a hidden file by default; mine is located in C:\boot.ini.
2. Open the file with Notepad (which is what opens it by default).
3. Change the Timeout value to 10 (see Figure 4-11).
4. Select File/Save and close Notepad. Speeding Up Your PPPoE Connection If you use a Point-to-Point Protocol connection over Ethernet (PPPoE), you may notice a delay in using the PPPoE connection after startup. By default, there is a 120 second delay but you can stop this behavior by manually configuring an IP address for the network adapter card. If you do not use a PPPoE connection, you can skip this section.
1. Select Start/Connect to/Show All Connections.
2. Open the TCP/IP properties for your LAN network interface card.
3. Manually set the IP address on the TCP/IP properties to an appropriate IP address and subnet mask for your network. Reducing the Wait Time When you start to shut down Windows XP, it has to quit, or "kill," any live applications or processes that are currently running. So close all applications first. However, some applications and processes are always running in the background. You can reduce the amount of time that Windows XP waits for those applications and processes to close before Windows XP kills them. Edit three different Registry settings to change this:
1. Open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Select WaitToKillAppTimeout and set the value to 1000.
3. Select the HungAppTimeout value and set it to 1000 as well. 4
. Navigate to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop. Set the WaitToKillAppTimeout and set the value to 1000. Select the HungAppTimeout \newline value and set it to 1000 as well.
5. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Contro l. Select the WaitToKillServiceTimeout value and set it to 1000.
6. Close the Registry Editor. Automatically Killing Tasks on Shutdown You know the drill. You start to shut down the computer, you wait a few moments, and then you see a dialog box asking if you want to kill an application or service that is running. Instead of prompting you, you can make Windows XP take care of the kill task
automatically. Here's how:
1. Open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop.
3. Highlight the value AutoEndTasks and change the value to 1.
4. Close the Registry Editor.
Stopping Unneeded Startup Services
Along with the core operating system and programs that Windows XP runs when it starts, there is also a host of services involved. Many of these services are necessary for Windows XP to operate correctly. However, many of them are for features in Windows XP that you may not use at all. You can peruse the services and disable any service that you do not want to run. The fewer services that run, the more quickly Windows XP will boot.
Caution:
Exercise caution when stopping services. If you do not know what a service does or are unsure of the ramifications of stopping the service, leave it alone. Some services are critical to Windows XP's operations, so make sure you understand what the service is before you disable it.
To reduce the number of services that start on bootup, you can access two different areas of Windows XP. The first is the System Configuration Utility. The Services tab shows you the services that start when the computer boots.
You can stop a service from starting by simply clearing the check box next to the service and clicking OK. However, before you do so, there is another way to disable services that you may prefer because the interface gives you more information about the service in question.
Open Control Panel/Administrative ToolsServices or else select Start/Run, type services.msc, and click OK. Either way, you see the Services console.
I prefer to use the Services console instead of the System Configuration Utility because it describes what the service does. Additionally, you can double-click a service and examine its properties.
Notice the Startup Type column in Figure 4-2. This information lists whether the service is automatic or manual. Manual services are only started in Windows XP when you start a process that requires the service. Some other process may require the service that has a "dependency" relationship with it; in this case, the dependency service will start, as well. Because these services do not start automatically when you boot Windows XP, you do not need to do anything with manual services.
However, all services listed as automatic start when Windows XP boots. These are the services that increase boot time. As I have mentioned, many of them are necessary and important, so you should not stop automatic services from booting unless you are sure of the ramifications. You can get this information by looking at the Description column. Here's a quick look at common services you may want to live without:
Automatic Updates:
This service enables Windows XP to check the Web automatically for updates. If you don't want to use
Automatic Updates, you can disable the service. You can always check for updates manually at the Windows Update Web site.
Computer Browser: If your computer is not on a network, you don't need this service. If you are on a network, leave it alone.
DHCP Client: If you are not on a network, you do not need this service. If you are on a small workgroup, you can still increase boot time by configuring manual IP addresses (which I explore later in this chapter).
DNS Client:
If you are not on a network, you do not need this service. If you are, leave it alone.
Error Reporting and Event Log:
You don't have to use these services but they can be very helpful, so I would leave them configured as automatic.
Fax:
If you don't use your computer for fax services, you can disable this one. Help and Support: If you never use the Windows XP
Help and Support Center (found on the Start menu), you can disable this service.
IMAPI CD-Burning COM:
This service enables you to burn CDs on your computer. If you never burn CDs, you can disable the service.
Indexing Service:
Your computer keeps an index of files but if you rarely search for files, the service is just a resource hog. You can stop it and turn the service to manual.
Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing:
If you do not use these features, you can disable them.
Infrared Monitor: If you do not use infrared devices, you can disable this service.
Messenger:
This service sends alert messages on a local area network (it is not the same as Windows Messenger). If you are not on a network, you can disable this service.
Print Spooler:
If you do not do any printing from the computer, you can disable this service. If you print, make sure you leave it as automatic.
Remote Registry:
This service allows remote users to modify the Registry on your computer. If you are not on a network, you can disable this service.
System Restore Service:
This service allows you to use System Restore. If you have turned off System Restore anyway, you do not need to turn off the service. If you do, you turn off System Restore.
Themes:
If you do not use themes, you can disable this service.
Windows Image Acquisition:
If you do not use scanners or digital cameras, you can disable this service.
Wireless Zero Configuration:
If do not use wireless networking devices, you can disable this service.
You may have a number of other automatic services, depending on software and other configurations on your computer. So it's a good idea to look through the services and learn more about them. If you double-click a service, a Properties dialog box appears
Notice that on the General tab, you see a Startup Type drop-down menu. If you want to change an automatic service to manual, select Manual here and click OK. As a general rule, don't disable a service unless you are sure you will never use it.
However, manual configuration allows the service to be started when you find it necessary, thus speeding up your boot time. However, before you change a service to manual, look at the Dependencies tab (see Figure 4-4). This tab shows you which other services depend upon the service you are considering changing.
Keep in mind that services are necessary for the vast functionality you get with Windows XP. Change only those services that you understand and do not use. How you use your Windows XP computer should be the best guide in terms of optional startup services.
Tips:
The Indexing service and the System Restore service take up a lot of disk space and system resources across the board.
You can live without the Indexing service but I suggest that you keep using System Restore. It works great when you are in a bind and this is one case where the loss of speed may not be worth the ramifications of not using System Restore. Speed Tips and Tricks for Windows XP Startup Aside from startup programs, services, and the Prefetch folder, there are a number of other startup procedures and issues you can modify to help Windows XP start faster. The following sections explore those tips and tricks. Manual IP Addressing on Small Office/Home Networks Windows XP is configured to help you take care of networking. It uses the TCP/IP protocol for networking in workgroups, or what you might call small office or home networks that do not use a dedicated server. The problem is that automatic IP addressing can be slow. When your computer boots, it has to query the network to see what IP addresses are already in use and then assign itself one. If you want to speed up the boot time a bit, consider manually assigning IP addresses to all computers on the network. This way, the network computers do not have to worry about locating an automatic IP address. Because one is manually configured, the operating system doesn't have to spend time solving this problem. This isn't a networking book, however, so I won't delve into the implications of using a manual IP address, but if you are using a computer that functions as a host computer to the Internet (using Internet Connection Sharing [ICS]), you can get into connectivity problems if you change the configuration of the IP address. However, you can still work around this problem by starting with the ICS host computer. Select Start/Connect To/Show All Connections. Right-click your network adapter card and click Properties. On the General tab, select TCP/IP in the list of services and click the Properties button. In the TCP/IP properties, you can see if you use an automatic or manual IP address. In the example in Figure 4-5, I have configured a manual IP address of 90.0.0.1 and a default subnet mask. The other computers on my office network each use a different IP address in the same class, such as 90.0.0.2, 90.0.0.3, 90.0.0.4, and so on. This way, each computer has a permanent IP address, which helps increase boot time. Note that if you change the IP addresses of your computers, they must all use the same subnet mask. A default subject mask of 255.255.255.0 will keep you in good shape. Make sure you understand the implications of changing IP addresses on your network. If you have no networking experience at all, you may be wiser to leave the automatic IP addressing as is and try to gain some speed using the additional suggestions in this chapter. Disabling Recent Documents History Windows XP includes a feature that keeps track of all recent documents you have opened or used. The idea is that you can select Start/Recent Documents History and quickly reopen any document you have recently used. I use many documents each day and never use the feature myself. In my opinion, I can keep up with what I want to use without Windows XP doing it for me. The bad thing about Recent Documents History is that Windows XP has to calculate what should be put there each time you boot Windows, which can slow things down. So, if you never use the Recent Documents History, it's a good idea to disable it.
Here's how:
1. Open the Registry Editor (select Start/Run, type regedit, and click OK).
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mcft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.
3. Create a NoRecentDocsHistory D_WORD key. Double-click the value to open it once it is created.
4. Set the Data Value to 1 to enable the restriction.
5. Click OK and close the Registry Editor. You'll need to restart the computer for the change to take effect. Disabling the Boot Logo You can remove the boot logo that appears when you start Windows XP. This little tweak probably shaves only a few seconds off your boot time but seconds count if you are serious about trying to get Windows XP up and running as quickly as possible. The only negative is that if you remove the boot logo, you will also not see any boot messages, such as check disk. (But if you are not having problems with your computer, this isn't such a big deal.)
To remove the boot logo, follow these steps:
1. Select Start/Run, type msconfig, and click OK.
2. In the System Configuration Utility, click the BOOT.INI tab.
3. On the BOOT.INI tab, click the NOGUIBOOT check box option. Click OK. Removing Unwanted Fonts One trick that increases your boot time a bit is to lose any fonts in the Fonts folder in Control Panel that you never use. The more fonts you have, the more processing Windows XP has to do to prep all of those fonts for use. You must be a bit careful here to not remove fonts that you might want, but there is a good chance that you can live without many of them. For instance, you may have foreign language fonts and other symbol fonts (such as Wingdings) that you never use. To delete unneeded fonts, follow these steps:
1. Open the Fonts folder in Control Panel.
2. Select Edit/Select All and then Edit/Copy.
3. Create a new folder on your desktop, open it, and select Edit/Paste.
4. In this new folder, delete any of the fonts you do not want.
5. Return to the Fonts folder in Control Panel. Right-click the selected fonts and click Delete.
6. Go back to your new desktop folder and click Edit/Select All.
7. Return to your Fonts folder and click Edit/Paste. You now have only the desired fonts in the Fonts folder. Tip: You can directly delete fonts from the Fonts folder without creating the secondary folder. However, I recommend the preceding steps to help ensure that you do not make a mistake in the deletion process. Stopping Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop Sharing In Windows XP Professional, you have two remote networking features called Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop Sharing. These remote networking features are very helpful in a variety of situations but if you don't use them, it is good idea to disable them to save boot time. You can always enable them later if you want to use them. Note: If you are interested in using Remote Desktop or Remote Assistance, see my book Windows XP for Power Users: Power Pack published by John Wiley & Sons.
1. Open the Start menu, right-click My Computer, and choose Properties.
2. Click the Remote Tab.
3. Clear both check boxes to disable Remote Assistance and Remote Desktop. Speeding Up the Dual-Boot Timeout If you dual-boot your computer with Windows XP and another operating system, you see an operating system selection menu on startup. If you typically boot into Windows XP and not the other operating system, you can speed up the dual-boot timeout value so that you do not wait so long for the boot process to select your default operating system and continue with the boot process. The default timeout value is 30 seconds but you can change this setting to 10. This gives you enough time to select the alternate operating system if you want but also speeds up the boot process. You can skip this section if you do not use a dual-boot configuration.
Follow these steps:
1. Locate the boot.ini file on your computer. It is a hidden file by default; mine is located in C:\boot.ini.
2. Open the file with Notepad (which is what opens it by default).
3. Change the Timeout value to 10 (see Figure 4-11).
4. Select File/Save and close Notepad. Speeding Up Your PPPoE Connection If you use a Point-to-Point Protocol connection over Ethernet (PPPoE), you may notice a delay in using the PPPoE connection after startup. By default, there is a 120 second delay but you can stop this behavior by manually configuring an IP address for the network adapter card. If you do not use a PPPoE connection, you can skip this section.
1. Select Start/Connect to/Show All Connections.
2. Open the TCP/IP properties for your LAN network interface card.
3. Manually set the IP address on the TCP/IP properties to an appropriate IP address and subnet mask for your network. Reducing the Wait Time When you start to shut down Windows XP, it has to quit, or "kill," any live applications or processes that are currently running. So close all applications first. However, some applications and processes are always running in the background. You can reduce the amount of time that Windows XP waits for those applications and processes to close before Windows XP kills them. Edit three different Registry settings to change this:
1. Open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Select WaitToKillAppTimeout and set the value to 1000.
3. Select the HungAppTimeout value and set it to 1000 as well. 4
. Navigate to HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop. Set the WaitToKillAppTimeout and set the value to 1000. Select the HungAppTimeout \newline value and set it to 1000 as well.
5. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Contro l. Select the WaitToKillServiceTimeout value and set it to 1000.
6. Close the Registry Editor. Automatically Killing Tasks on Shutdown You know the drill. You start to shut down the computer, you wait a few moments, and then you see a dialog box asking if you want to kill an application or service that is running. Instead of prompting you, you can make Windows XP take care of the kill task
automatically. Here's how:
1. Open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop.
3. Highlight the value AutoEndTasks and change the value to 1.
4. Close the Registry Editor.
Trick to Show Your name after time in taskbar
Try this trick to add up ur name in place of AM and PM beside time
Its simple
Step-1:- Navigate to -> Start -> Control Pannel -> Regional and Language Option -> Click on Customize -> Go to TIME Tab -> Change AM symbol and PM symbol from AM and PM to ur name -> Apply -> Ok ...
Did It change? If not, follow step-2 below.
Step2:- Now go to time in taskbar and Double Click it to open "Date and time property" ...Look place where time changes in digital form i.e. 02:47:52 AM , click to arrow to cnage the AM or PM by selecting and press arrow. It will Show ur name or name that was entered by u, Apply -> OK
Its simple
Step-1:- Navigate to -> Start -> Control Pannel -> Regional and Language Option -> Click on Customize -> Go to TIME Tab -> Change AM symbol and PM symbol from AM and PM to ur name -> Apply -> Ok ...
Did It change? If not, follow step-2 below.
Step2:- Now go to time in taskbar and Double Click it to open "Date and time property" ...Look place where time changes in digital form i.e. 02:47:52 AM , click to arrow to cnage the AM or PM by selecting and press arrow. It will Show ur name or name that was entered by u, Apply -> OK
Customizing the Desktop Environment
The desktop environment can help a user be more productive by providing easy access to the most used resources, or it can hinder productivity by being cluttered, disorganized, and difficult to locate icons when you need them. When you customize the desktop environment, you will focus on making access to resources as easy and efficient as possible.
Four areas that you can customize are the:
Start menu
Startup folder
Taskebar
My Documents folder
Customizing the Start Menu
Clicking Start displays a menu that enables users to easily gain access to the most used items on the computer. The following sections describe the organization of the Start menu and provide instruction about how to customize it.
Examining the Windows XP Professional Start Menu
The right frame of the Start menu consists of three sections that display standard folders and utilities. The left frame also consists of three sections. The top section displays the pinned programs, which are programs that are manually attached to the top left of the Start menu. The default e-mail program and browser always appear in pinned programs. Beneath the pinned programs, recently used programs appear.
The Start menu is color-coded. The white area of the Start menu is user-based, while the light blue area is operating-system-based. The light blue area can only be customized in limited ways. When customizing the different sections of the Start menu, you have the choice of customizing it for the user who is currently logged on, or for all users on the computer.
Customizing the Start Menu for All Users
When you customize the Start menu for all users, you are adding an item that anyone logged on to the computer can use.
You can add a submenu to the Start menu for easy access to a group of programs. For example, if everyone who uses a computer performs the same job function, you might want to add a submenu that contains the programs that the employees use most. You can also add to the Start menu a shortcut to a specific program or resource, or drag a frequently used item in a submenu onto the main Start menu.
Adding a Submenu for All Users
To add a submenu for all users, perform the following steps:
Right-click Start, and then click Open all Users.
Double-click the folder to which you want to add the submenu
If you place the submenu in the Start Menu folder, it becomes pinned to the top of the All Programs menu. If you place the submenu in the Programs folder, it will be placed alphabetically in the list of programs.
On the File menu, point to New, and then click Folder.
Type a name for the folder, and then press ENTER.
In My Computer or Windows Explorer, drag any programs or shortcuts that you want to appear on the menu into the folder that you just created.
Adding a Shortcut for All Users
To add a shortcut for all users, perform the following steps:
Right-click Start, click Open All Users, click File, point to New, and then click Shortcut.
Type the location of the item for which you want to create a shortcut, or click Browse to locate the item, and then click OK.
Click Next, type a name for the shortcut, and then click Finish.
Customizing the Start Menu for Individual Users
There may be instances when you will want to customize the Start menu for a particular user only. You can add shortcuts and submenus, and pin programs to an individual’s Start menu.
Adding a Submenu for an Individual User
The process for adding a submenu to an individual’s Start menu is similar to adding a submenu for all users. The difference between the two procedures is the first step of the process, which changes as follows:
Right-click Start, click Explore All Users, expand the folder of the user whose Start menu that you want to customize, and then click Start Menu.
Adding a Shortcut for an Individual User
To add a shortcut to an individual’s Start menu, perform the following steps:
Right-click the object for which you want to create a shortcut, and then click Create Shortcut.
Drag, or cut and paste, the shortcut into the individual’s Start menu or Programs folder.
Changing Start Menu Properties
You can alter the properties of the Start menu; for example, you can change whether items are displayed as links or menus or not displayed at all. When you make this type of alteration, the change affects only the logged on user.
To make changes to Start menu properties, perform these steps:
Right-click Start, click Properties, click Customize, make desired changes on the General and Advanced tabs, and then click OK twice.
Note: You can use the Start menu that is used in previous versions of Microsoft Windows instead of the Start menu in Windows XP by changing the properties of the Start menu.
Pinning a Program to the Start Menu
Programs are the only items that you can pin to the Start menu. When you pin a program to the Start menu, it applies only to the user that is currently logged on. To accomplish this task:
Right-click the program that you want to pin to the Start menu, and then click Pin to Start menu.
Customizing the Startup Folder
If users always use a particular program or programs as soon as they log on, it is convenient to have those programs automatically start when the user logs on. To enable a program to start automatically when a user logs on, place a shortcut to that program in the appropriate Startup folder. You can customize the Startup folder for all users or individual users.
To enable programs to start automatically upon logon, perform the following steps:
Right-click Start, and then click Explore All Users.
Expand either All Users or a specific user.
Expand Start Menu, and then click Programs in the left pane.
In the right pane, copy the shortcut for the programs that you want to start automatically upon logon.
Expand Programs, right-click Startup, and then click Paste.
The shortcuts to the desired programs will now appear in the Startup folder. When the user whose Startup folder you have customized next logs on, the programs will automatically start.
Customizing the Taskbar
The taskbar in Windows XP Professional is substantially different than it is in previous versions of Windows.
Adding Programs to the Quick Launch Toolbar
To add frequently used icons to the Quick Launch toolbar for easy, one-click access, perform the following steps:
Right-click an empty area of the Quick Launch bar, and then click
Open Folder.
On the File menu, click New, and then click Shortcut.
Type the location of, or browse to, the desired program, click Next, and then click Finish.
Alternately, you can drag any program icon onto the Quick Launch toolbar, which will automatically create a shortcut to the program.
Customizing Taskbar Properties
You can easily customize the properties of the taskbar. For example, you can control whether the taskbar is automatically hidden, whether inactive icons are hidden, and when individual icons should display in the notification area. To customize taskbar behavior:
Right-click an empty area on the taskbar, and then click Properties.
Make desired changes on the Taskbar tab, click Customize, make desired changes to individual notification icons, and then click OK twice.
Adding Toolbars to the Taskbar
There are a number of different toolbars that you can add to the taskbar. The following table delineates the functionality of those toolbars, and how to customize them.
Toolbar Function To customize
Address Provides a Web browser address bar into which you can type the URL (uniform resource locator) to a Web site that you want to open. Each time you type a URL into this toolbar, that URL will become part of a list from which you can choose.
Links Provides a quick way to open Web pages, shortcuts, and other items. Drag the Web page’s icon from the Address bar directly to the Links bar. Or drag any link from a Web page, your Favorites bar, or your desktop onto the Links bar.
Desktop Provides easy access to all items on the desktop. Because this toolbar shows all items on the desktop, you can change what is available on the toolbar by adding or removing items from the desktop. Users who do not like a crowded desktop can hide all items on the desktop and open them from this toolbar.
Language Band Provides easy access to text tools such as IMEs and writing and speech recognition programs. It also provides a way to switch between languages and keyboard layouts. This bar automatically displays when you have any of the appropriate programs installed. The buttons displayed depend on which programs are installed.
New Toolbar Provides a quick link to any folder or network place on your computer. Right-click the taskbar, point to Toolbars, click New Toolbar, move to the desired resource, and then click OK. The toolbar will be named the same as the resource, and you will be able to gain access to everything within that resource from the toolbar.
Customizing the My Documents Folder
My Documents is a commonly used folder for storing a user’s data. Customizing this folder can improve a user’s productivity by enabling that user to more easily and efficiently store and gain access to data.
A user’s My Documents folder is by default available only to that user and administrators when on an NTFS file system partition. However, My Documents can be shared, and another user can be given specific permissions to the folder.
You can change the default properties of the My Documents folder. To gain access to these configurable properties, click Start, right-click My Documents, and then click Properties.
Changing Folder Location
You can change the location of the My Documents folder from its usual position within Documents and Settingsuser_nameMy Documents (where user_name is the user’s logon name). You may want to change the location of the folder when you want to move the storage of documents to:
A local drive other than the one on which programs reside, so that programs and user data are stored separately.
A network share, to prevent the loss of data if the local disk becomes corrupted.
Note: If you choose to remove My Documents to a server, be sure that both the local computer and the server are configured for caching.
To change the location of the My Documents folder:
Click Start, right-click the My Documents folder, and then click Properties.
On the Target tab, click Move.
In the Select a Destination dialog box, browse to the desired location, and then click OK twice.
Customizing Folder Attributes
The My Documents folder, like all other folders, has four important attributes that can be customized:
To change the attributes of the My Documents folder:
Click Start, right-click the My Documents folder, and then click Properties.
On the General tab, click Advanced, select or clear the desired attributes, and then click OK twice. (The Advanced button does not appear on drives formatted with a FAT file system).
If you do need to configure security parameters at the folder level, use the Security tab in the My Documents Properties sheet.
Four areas that you can customize are the:
Start menu
Startup folder
Taskebar
My Documents folder
Customizing the Start Menu
Clicking Start displays a menu that enables users to easily gain access to the most used items on the computer. The following sections describe the organization of the Start menu and provide instruction about how to customize it.
Examining the Windows XP Professional Start Menu
The right frame of the Start menu consists of three sections that display standard folders and utilities. The left frame also consists of three sections. The top section displays the pinned programs, which are programs that are manually attached to the top left of the Start menu. The default e-mail program and browser always appear in pinned programs. Beneath the pinned programs, recently used programs appear.
The Start menu is color-coded. The white area of the Start menu is user-based, while the light blue area is operating-system-based. The light blue area can only be customized in limited ways. When customizing the different sections of the Start menu, you have the choice of customizing it for the user who is currently logged on, or for all users on the computer.
Customizing the Start Menu for All Users
When you customize the Start menu for all users, you are adding an item that anyone logged on to the computer can use.
You can add a submenu to the Start menu for easy access to a group of programs. For example, if everyone who uses a computer performs the same job function, you might want to add a submenu that contains the programs that the employees use most. You can also add to the Start menu a shortcut to a specific program or resource, or drag a frequently used item in a submenu onto the main Start menu.
Adding a Submenu for All Users
To add a submenu for all users, perform the following steps:
Right-click Start, and then click Open all Users.
Double-click the folder to which you want to add the submenu
If you place the submenu in the Start Menu folder, it becomes pinned to the top of the All Programs menu. If you place the submenu in the Programs folder, it will be placed alphabetically in the list of programs.
On the File menu, point to New, and then click Folder.
Type a name for the folder, and then press ENTER.
In My Computer or Windows Explorer, drag any programs or shortcuts that you want to appear on the menu into the folder that you just created.
Adding a Shortcut for All Users
To add a shortcut for all users, perform the following steps:
Right-click Start, click Open All Users, click File, point to New, and then click Shortcut.
Type the location of the item for which you want to create a shortcut, or click Browse to locate the item, and then click OK.
Click Next, type a name for the shortcut, and then click Finish.
Customizing the Start Menu for Individual Users
There may be instances when you will want to customize the Start menu for a particular user only. You can add shortcuts and submenus, and pin programs to an individual’s Start menu.
Adding a Submenu for an Individual User
The process for adding a submenu to an individual’s Start menu is similar to adding a submenu for all users. The difference between the two procedures is the first step of the process, which changes as follows:
Right-click Start, click Explore All Users, expand the folder of the user whose Start menu that you want to customize, and then click Start Menu.
Adding a Shortcut for an Individual User
To add a shortcut to an individual’s Start menu, perform the following steps:
Right-click the object for which you want to create a shortcut, and then click Create Shortcut.
Drag, or cut and paste, the shortcut into the individual’s Start menu or Programs folder.
Changing Start Menu Properties
You can alter the properties of the Start menu; for example, you can change whether items are displayed as links or menus or not displayed at all. When you make this type of alteration, the change affects only the logged on user.
To make changes to Start menu properties, perform these steps:
Right-click Start, click Properties, click Customize, make desired changes on the General and Advanced tabs, and then click OK twice.
Note: You can use the Start menu that is used in previous versions of Microsoft Windows instead of the Start menu in Windows XP by changing the properties of the Start menu.
Pinning a Program to the Start Menu
Programs are the only items that you can pin to the Start menu. When you pin a program to the Start menu, it applies only to the user that is currently logged on. To accomplish this task:
Right-click the program that you want to pin to the Start menu, and then click Pin to Start menu.
Customizing the Startup Folder
If users always use a particular program or programs as soon as they log on, it is convenient to have those programs automatically start when the user logs on. To enable a program to start automatically when a user logs on, place a shortcut to that program in the appropriate Startup folder. You can customize the Startup folder for all users or individual users.
To enable programs to start automatically upon logon, perform the following steps:
Right-click Start, and then click Explore All Users.
Expand either All Users or a specific user.
Expand Start Menu, and then click Programs in the left pane.
In the right pane, copy the shortcut for the programs that you want to start automatically upon logon.
Expand Programs, right-click Startup, and then click Paste.
The shortcuts to the desired programs will now appear in the Startup folder. When the user whose Startup folder you have customized next logs on, the programs will automatically start.
Customizing the Taskbar
The taskbar in Windows XP Professional is substantially different than it is in previous versions of Windows.
Adding Programs to the Quick Launch Toolbar
To add frequently used icons to the Quick Launch toolbar for easy, one-click access, perform the following steps:
Right-click an empty area of the Quick Launch bar, and then click
Open Folder.
On the File menu, click New, and then click Shortcut.
Type the location of, or browse to, the desired program, click Next, and then click Finish.
Alternately, you can drag any program icon onto the Quick Launch toolbar, which will automatically create a shortcut to the program.
Customizing Taskbar Properties
You can easily customize the properties of the taskbar. For example, you can control whether the taskbar is automatically hidden, whether inactive icons are hidden, and when individual icons should display in the notification area. To customize taskbar behavior:
Right-click an empty area on the taskbar, and then click Properties.
Make desired changes on the Taskbar tab, click Customize, make desired changes to individual notification icons, and then click OK twice.
Adding Toolbars to the Taskbar
There are a number of different toolbars that you can add to the taskbar. The following table delineates the functionality of those toolbars, and how to customize them.
Toolbar Function To customize
Address Provides a Web browser address bar into which you can type the URL (uniform resource locator) to a Web site that you want to open. Each time you type a URL into this toolbar, that URL will become part of a list from which you can choose.
Links Provides a quick way to open Web pages, shortcuts, and other items. Drag the Web page’s icon from the Address bar directly to the Links bar. Or drag any link from a Web page, your Favorites bar, or your desktop onto the Links bar.
Desktop Provides easy access to all items on the desktop. Because this toolbar shows all items on the desktop, you can change what is available on the toolbar by adding or removing items from the desktop. Users who do not like a crowded desktop can hide all items on the desktop and open them from this toolbar.
Language Band Provides easy access to text tools such as IMEs and writing and speech recognition programs. It also provides a way to switch between languages and keyboard layouts. This bar automatically displays when you have any of the appropriate programs installed. The buttons displayed depend on which programs are installed.
New Toolbar Provides a quick link to any folder or network place on your computer. Right-click the taskbar, point to Toolbars, click New Toolbar, move to the desired resource, and then click OK. The toolbar will be named the same as the resource, and you will be able to gain access to everything within that resource from the toolbar.
Customizing the My Documents Folder
My Documents is a commonly used folder for storing a user’s data. Customizing this folder can improve a user’s productivity by enabling that user to more easily and efficiently store and gain access to data.
A user’s My Documents folder is by default available only to that user and administrators when on an NTFS file system partition. However, My Documents can be shared, and another user can be given specific permissions to the folder.
You can change the default properties of the My Documents folder. To gain access to these configurable properties, click Start, right-click My Documents, and then click Properties.
Changing Folder Location
You can change the location of the My Documents folder from its usual position within Documents and Settingsuser_nameMy Documents (where user_name is the user’s logon name). You may want to change the location of the folder when you want to move the storage of documents to:
A local drive other than the one on which programs reside, so that programs and user data are stored separately.
A network share, to prevent the loss of data if the local disk becomes corrupted.
Note: If you choose to remove My Documents to a server, be sure that both the local computer and the server are configured for caching.
To change the location of the My Documents folder:
Click Start, right-click the My Documents folder, and then click Properties.
On the Target tab, click Move.
In the Select a Destination dialog box, browse to the desired location, and then click OK twice.
Customizing Folder Attributes
The My Documents folder, like all other folders, has four important attributes that can be customized:
To change the attributes of the My Documents folder:
Click Start, right-click the My Documents folder, and then click Properties.
On the General tab, click Advanced, select or clear the desired attributes, and then click OK twice. (The Advanced button does not appear on drives formatted with a FAT file system).
If you do need to configure security parameters at the folder level, use the Security tab in the My Documents Properties sheet.
How to manage startup or booting applications?
Microsoft Windows use different places for booting processes and application. Microsoft Windows use Windows Registry, Boot.ini and Start up Menu for booting or start up applications.
To manage all start up applications is not an easy task but I will tell you an easy task. Microsoft Windows has built in utility for managing start up applications.
Open Run Command, type msconfig and press enter.
System Configuration Utility will load.
Note: Microsoft Windows 2000 does not support this utility.
After loading this utility click on Startup tab and manage all starting applications. If you want to disable any startup process then un check that process and click OK.
Windows will ask to reboot Windows. You can reboot your Windows.
To manage all start up applications is not an easy task but I will tell you an easy task. Microsoft Windows has built in utility for managing start up applications.
Open Run Command, type msconfig and press enter.
System Configuration Utility will load.
Note: Microsoft Windows 2000 does not support this utility.
After loading this utility click on Startup tab and manage all starting applications. If you want to disable any startup process then un check that process and click OK.
Windows will ask to reboot Windows. You can reboot your Windows.
Hide or Show Run Command from Start Menu
You can easily hide or show run command from Start menu of Windows. First of all you have to log in from user who have Administrative rights and then load Windows Registry Editor by typing “regedit” in Run Command without quots.
If you want to hide Run Command only for logged on user then open this path.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
If you want to hide Run Command for every user of Windows then open this path.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
After opening this path. Create a new key. NoRun (String Type) and enter value 1 in it.
Regedit Create Key
After creating this key restart or log off your Windows to take effects. If you are using Microsoft Windows 98 then you have to restart your windows. After restarting or logging again your windows you can’t see Run Command in your Start menu.
If you want to show again Run Command in Start menu then remove key from Registry which you created above.
If you want to hide Run Command only for logged on user then open this path.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
If you want to hide Run Command for every user of Windows then open this path.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
After opening this path. Create a new key. NoRun (String Type) and enter value 1 in it.
Regedit Create Key
After creating this key restart or log off your Windows to take effects. If you are using Microsoft Windows 98 then you have to restart your windows. After restarting or logging again your windows you can’t see Run Command in your Start menu.
If you want to show again Run Command in Start menu then remove key from Registry which you created above.
Hide or Show File Search Command in Start Menu?
Posted in Windows Registry Tips | August 7th, 2010
Hiding or Showing Windows File Search Command in Start Menu is easy as ABC. You can do this by using Registry Editor. First of all open Registry Editor by typing “regedit” in Run Command or Creating short cut on Desktop using “regedit” command line.
Open this key if you want to hide Search File Command for current logged user only.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Open this key if you want to hide Search File Command for every user of Windows.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
After opening this key in Registry Editor. Create new key “NoFind” as String value and enter value 1 in it.
Regedit Create Key
After adding this key Log Off or restart your windows. If you are using Microsoft Windows 9x then you should restart your windows and open Start Menu. You can not see File Search command any more. File search command is hidden now.
If you want to show again File Search Command then delete key from Registry which you created above.
Hiding or Showing Windows File Search Command in Start Menu is easy as ABC. You can do this by using Registry Editor. First of all open Registry Editor by typing “regedit” in Run Command or Creating short cut on Desktop using “regedit” command line.
Open this key if you want to hide Search File Command for current logged user only.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Open this key if you want to hide Search File Command for every user of Windows.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
After opening this key in Registry Editor. Create new key “NoFind” as String value and enter value 1 in it.
Regedit Create Key
After adding this key Log Off or restart your windows. If you are using Microsoft Windows 9x then you should restart your windows and open Start Menu. You can not see File Search command any more. File search command is hidden now.
If you want to show again File Search Command then delete key from Registry which you created above.
How to use Bluetooth in Windows XP?
Bluetooth functionality is found almost all the latest models of laptops and it does not matter that whatever the manufacturer of that laptop is. This technology is getting fame within the community of laptop users rapidly as now several devices are using the way of Bluetooth to connect them with any kind of computer, laptop or any other device which has Bluetooth enabled in it.
If your laptop also supports the same wireless technology and you want to get benefit from it but do not know how to install or use this technology if there is a version of Windows XP in your laptop? Then do not worry and just keep reading to get as maximum as possible detail about installing and using Bluetooth in Windows XP of your laptop. We suppose that your version of XP is included the Service Pack 2.
All you need to do is to following the step by step information provided below in order to install and use Bluetooth device with your laptop if it is running XP on it:
We are considering that your laptop is on. Now first step is to click on “Start” button
A pop-up will be in front of you immediately. Here you will see several options in two columns. Click on the option saying “Control Panel” and it will be seen in the right column.
You will see several options within the window of “Control Panel”. You need to find and click on the option of “Bluetooth Devices”.
Another pop-up window will be in front of you. Click on the tab saying “Devices”.
Here you need to click on “Add” button which can be seen on the left bottom side
A wizard will be in front of your eyes which will help you to install Bluetooth
Now before stepping up to the “Next” button, make sure your Bluetooth is powered on
An option saying “My device is set up and ready to be found” must be checked before clicking on the “Next” button
Then a device search will be performed by the Windows and your device will be shown in the same pop-up windows if it is found in this search
Click on your device to highlight it before hitting the button “Next”
Then a Passkey will be asked by the system. It should be set if there are more than 1 Bluetooth devices in your use or if you are living in an area where other may also use their Bluetooth devices. It is really helpful to increase security of your Bluetooth device.
Bluetooth
You have done it. Now this Bluetooth device can be used with any application, software or hardware device like your mobile phone, video game console etc.
If your laptop also supports the same wireless technology and you want to get benefit from it but do not know how to install or use this technology if there is a version of Windows XP in your laptop? Then do not worry and just keep reading to get as maximum as possible detail about installing and using Bluetooth in Windows XP of your laptop. We suppose that your version of XP is included the Service Pack 2.
All you need to do is to following the step by step information provided below in order to install and use Bluetooth device with your laptop if it is running XP on it:
We are considering that your laptop is on. Now first step is to click on “Start” button
A pop-up will be in front of you immediately. Here you will see several options in two columns. Click on the option saying “Control Panel” and it will be seen in the right column.
You will see several options within the window of “Control Panel”. You need to find and click on the option of “Bluetooth Devices”.
Another pop-up window will be in front of you. Click on the tab saying “Devices”.
Here you need to click on “Add” button which can be seen on the left bottom side
A wizard will be in front of your eyes which will help you to install Bluetooth
Now before stepping up to the “Next” button, make sure your Bluetooth is powered on
An option saying “My device is set up and ready to be found” must be checked before clicking on the “Next” button
Then a device search will be performed by the Windows and your device will be shown in the same pop-up windows if it is found in this search
Click on your device to highlight it before hitting the button “Next”
Then a Passkey will be asked by the system. It should be set if there are more than 1 Bluetooth devices in your use or if you are living in an area where other may also use their Bluetooth devices. It is really helpful to increase security of your Bluetooth device.
Bluetooth
You have done it. Now this Bluetooth device can be used with any application, software or hardware device like your mobile phone, video game console etc.
How to Configure Gmail in Microsoft Outlook?
Configuring your Gmail account in Microsoft Outlook would become as easy as 1, 2, 3 for you after reading the below mentioned step by step process. Gmail messages can now be retrieved with the help of any device or client which can provide POP support and Microsoft Outlook is one of those clients that offer POP support to their users. Just concentrate and read the every step carefully to understand the whole process:
POP Option Enabling in Gmail:
First of all login to your Gmail account
Then click on “Settings” option which can be seen on right top of your screen
There you will find “Forwarding and POP / IMAP” option, click on it
There an option i.e. “Enable POP for All Mails” or “Enable POP for Mail” should be clicked
Now an action would be asked to choose after getting POP access from Gmail. Choose appropriate one that suits your need
Check “Configure your POP client” and then a button saying “Save Changes” should be pressed
Configuration in Microsoft Outlook 2007
We consider that you have already opened Microsoft Outlook 2007, click Tools Menu
Click an option “E-mail Account”
There you will see an option “Add a new e-mail account” select it and then click on the button “New”
There you will be asked by the system to select server type. POP3 or POP option must be selected ….. then click on the option “Next”
Now system will ask for necessary setting. Put on your desired / required setting including email address and password of your email
Write “pop.gmail.com” as your incoming mail server and as the settings of outgoing mail server “smtp.gmail.com” must be written in the required field
Then click on the button that says “More Settings . . .”
Then click on the tab saying “Outgoing Server” and an option saying “My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication” must be checked by you. It will increase security and a password will be required to even send a single email from this Microsoft Outlook in addition to receiving email
Then on the same screen, you will see a tab saying “Advanced”, click on it
Here you will have to change port numbers for your incoming and outgoing mail server but first you need to check the appropriate box before assigning any value
Incoming server should be set a port value as “465” and “995” port number should be set to outgoing mail server
That’s it. You are done and finally have set up Gmail in Microsoft Outlook 2007.
POP Option Enabling in Gmail:
First of all login to your Gmail account
Then click on “Settings” option which can be seen on right top of your screen
There you will find “Forwarding and POP / IMAP” option, click on it
There an option i.e. “Enable POP for All Mails” or “Enable POP for Mail” should be clicked
Now an action would be asked to choose after getting POP access from Gmail. Choose appropriate one that suits your need
Check “Configure your POP client” and then a button saying “Save Changes” should be pressed
Configuration in Microsoft Outlook 2007
We consider that you have already opened Microsoft Outlook 2007, click Tools Menu
Click an option “E-mail Account”
There you will see an option “Add a new e-mail account” select it and then click on the button “New”
There you will be asked by the system to select server type. POP3 or POP option must be selected ….. then click on the option “Next”
Now system will ask for necessary setting. Put on your desired / required setting including email address and password of your email
Write “pop.gmail.com” as your incoming mail server and as the settings of outgoing mail server “smtp.gmail.com” must be written in the required field
Then click on the button that says “More Settings . . .”
Then click on the tab saying “Outgoing Server” and an option saying “My outgoing server (SMTP) requires authentication” must be checked by you. It will increase security and a password will be required to even send a single email from this Microsoft Outlook in addition to receiving email
Then on the same screen, you will see a tab saying “Advanced”, click on it
Here you will have to change port numbers for your incoming and outgoing mail server but first you need to check the appropriate box before assigning any value
Incoming server should be set a port value as “465” and “995” port number should be set to outgoing mail server
That’s it. You are done and finally have set up Gmail in Microsoft Outlook 2007.
How to use Bluetooth technology to connect laptop and cell phone?
We can use Bluetooth technology to connect laptop and cell phone. We can move videos, images, photos etc from a desktop computer or a laptop to our cell phones. In order to use Bluetooth technology to connect laptop and cell phone we need a laptop and a cell phone which support this technology.
If the laptop doesn't support it, we can use a USB Bluetooth dongle. Just plug it into the USB port of the desktop computer or laptop. Leave the rest to Microsoft Windows. It will find the driver and install it itself. If it is not supported, we can manually install it via the manufacturer's compact disk. Follow these simple steps in order to use Bluetooth technology to connect laptop and cell phone: (In this example, we are using Windows Vista.)
Turn on the Bluetooth feature on your cell phone.
Make this setting: my Phone's visibility -> Shown to all on the cell phone.
Open Bluetooth Devices by clicking on its icon in the Control Panel.
OR
Look for the Bluetooth driver in the Device Manager and double-click on its icon.
Click on the Add button in Bluetooth Devices dialog box.
Check the box for "My devices is set up and ready to be found" in the Add Bluetooth Device Wizard dialog box.
Click on the Next button.
This device wizard will display the name of the found Bluetooth device close by.
Click on the device name that you would like to add and click on Next.
Select "Let me choose my own key" or "Choose a passkey for me" and click on Next.
It will now display the passkey. Key this into the cell phone. Now the laptop is initiating to install the Bluetooth device. (Click Yes as you see the prompt message on the cell phone to allow connection with the laptop.)
Click on the Finish button to close the dialog box of Add Bluetooth Device Wizard.
The Bluetooth device (the cell phone) is now displayed in Bluetooth Devices dialog box. Select the Bluetooth device and click on the Properties button.
The Properties dialog box for the device will become visible. Choose the Services tab.
Check the boxes for the services you want.
In the end you can launch the items of the cell phone. Transfer photos, videos etc to cell phone via Bluetooth technology.
This method can also be used to connect laptop to Bluetooth devices like Bluetooth mouse, Bluetooth keyboard, Bluetooth headset, etc.
If the laptop doesn't support it, we can use a USB Bluetooth dongle. Just plug it into the USB port of the desktop computer or laptop. Leave the rest to Microsoft Windows. It will find the driver and install it itself. If it is not supported, we can manually install it via the manufacturer's compact disk. Follow these simple steps in order to use Bluetooth technology to connect laptop and cell phone: (In this example, we are using Windows Vista.)
Turn on the Bluetooth feature on your cell phone.
Make this setting: my Phone's visibility -> Shown to all on the cell phone.
Open Bluetooth Devices by clicking on its icon in the Control Panel.
OR
Look for the Bluetooth driver in the Device Manager and double-click on its icon.
Click on the Add button in Bluetooth Devices dialog box.
Check the box for "My devices is set up and ready to be found" in the Add Bluetooth Device Wizard dialog box.
Click on the Next button.
This device wizard will display the name of the found Bluetooth device close by.
Click on the device name that you would like to add and click on Next.
Select "Let me choose my own key" or "Choose a passkey for me" and click on Next.
It will now display the passkey. Key this into the cell phone. Now the laptop is initiating to install the Bluetooth device. (Click Yes as you see the prompt message on the cell phone to allow connection with the laptop.)
Click on the Finish button to close the dialog box of Add Bluetooth Device Wizard.
The Bluetooth device (the cell phone) is now displayed in Bluetooth Devices dialog box. Select the Bluetooth device and click on the Properties button.
The Properties dialog box for the device will become visible. Choose the Services tab.
Check the boxes for the services you want.
In the end you can launch the items of the cell phone. Transfer photos, videos etc to cell phone via Bluetooth technology.
This method can also be used to connect laptop to Bluetooth devices like Bluetooth mouse, Bluetooth keyboard, Bluetooth headset, etc.
What is a Web Server?
Learn Web server software overview, how to configure, how it works, apache, tomcat. Web server is a computer including a software package that provides the specific services to the client computers. Web server delivers the web pages. Every web server has an IP address and a domain name. If you sends a request through your browser for this website http://www.networktutorials.info, the request goes to the server whose domain name is networktutorials.info.
The server fetches the index or main page of the website and sends it to your browser. Web-based servers are used for hosting the websites. One web server can hosts thousands for one sites. But in the hosting companies there are number of the web servers for load balancing and sharing the other services.
The web hosting companies offer different types of hostings services including Ecommerce hosting, CPanel hosting, PHP hosting and reseller hosting.
A computer can be act as a web server by installing and configuring the server software and connecting the computer to the Internet. Normally, web server computers have to be turn on (online) for almost all the day.
There are many software applications that are used as the web server like IIS, Apache web server, Tom Cat web server. A web server typically accepts thousands of the concurrent incoming requests for the specific domain, that it hosts.
In case if the server is down for any reason, the websites that are hosted on this server cannot be accessed. So the downtime is a biggest negative thing for the web hosting companies. Many hosting companies have to mention the uptime of their servers for the client’s satisfactions like 99.9 % uptime. You may have seen this percentage on many hosting companies’ websites.
The web servers serves the objects in the form of html documents, plain text, images, sounds, video and some other form of the data. Many of the data types may not be placed in the static form but they are shown on the run time by the software programs, that are installed on the web server and the CGI scripts are the most common form of these programs.
Web servers and the browsers such as internet explorer, Firefox, Netscape, Opera etc communicate with the web server by using the HTTP protocols (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). This is very effective method of requesting the data over the Internet. Web servers are in various shapes and sized and run under different operating systems like Windows, Linux, and Unix etc. They are also range differently in prices and working.
The server fetches the index or main page of the website and sends it to your browser. Web-based servers are used for hosting the websites. One web server can hosts thousands for one sites. But in the hosting companies there are number of the web servers for load balancing and sharing the other services.
The web hosting companies offer different types of hostings services including Ecommerce hosting, CPanel hosting, PHP hosting and reseller hosting.
A computer can be act as a web server by installing and configuring the server software and connecting the computer to the Internet. Normally, web server computers have to be turn on (online) for almost all the day.
There are many software applications that are used as the web server like IIS, Apache web server, Tom Cat web server. A web server typically accepts thousands of the concurrent incoming requests for the specific domain, that it hosts.
In case if the server is down for any reason, the websites that are hosted on this server cannot be accessed. So the downtime is a biggest negative thing for the web hosting companies. Many hosting companies have to mention the uptime of their servers for the client’s satisfactions like 99.9 % uptime. You may have seen this percentage on many hosting companies’ websites.
The web servers serves the objects in the form of html documents, plain text, images, sounds, video and some other form of the data. Many of the data types may not be placed in the static form but they are shown on the run time by the software programs, that are installed on the web server and the CGI scripts are the most common form of these programs.
Web servers and the browsers such as internet explorer, Firefox, Netscape, Opera etc communicate with the web server by using the HTTP protocols (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). This is very effective method of requesting the data over the Internet. Web servers are in various shapes and sized and run under different operating systems like Windows, Linux, and Unix etc. They are also range differently in prices and working.
How to Configure a Network
In this section you will learn how to configure a network, peer to peer, client server, workstation, server, basic data communication.
Peer to Peer network model
Before configuring a computer network, you have to decide that, which networking model you require. There are two main types of network models. Peer to peer and client-server network model. In the peer to peer network model you simply use the same Workgroup for all the computers and a unique name for each computer.
Additionally, you will have to give a unique IP address of the same class A, B, or C for all the computers in your network and its related subnet mask e.g if you decide to use class A IP address for your three computers in your Peer to Peer network then your IP address/Subnet mask settings can be as follows.
Computer Name IP Address Subnet Mask Workgroup
PC1 100.100.100.1 255.0.0.0 Officenetwork
PC2 100.100.100.2 255.0.0.0 Officenetwork
PC3 100.100.100.3 255.0.0.0 Officenetwor
Please note that the above example is for only illustration purpose so you can choose any IP address, computer name and workgroup name of your interest.
For doing this right click on My Computer and then click Properties then go to the Network Identification section and set these.
In a peer to peer network all computers acts as a client because there is not centralized server. Peer to peer network is used where not security is required in the network.
If a computer fails to work then all other computers work normally in peer to peer network.
Client/Server Network Model
In the client/server network model a computer plays a centralized role and is known as a server all other computers in the network are known as clients. All client computers access the server simultaneously for files, database, docs, spreadsheets, web pages and resources like hard diver, printer, fax modem, CD/DVD ROM and others. In other words, all the client computes depends on the server and if server fails to respond or crash then networking/communication between the server and the client computes stops.
If you want to configure a client-server network model then first prepare the server. Install Windows 2000 or Windows 2003 Server from the CD on the server computer and make a domain. You can create a domain by this command on the Run “DCPROMO”. You can give this command once you install the server successfully. After you give the DCPROMO command you will be asked for a unique domain name. All the client computers will use the same unique domain name for becoming the part of this domain. This command will install the active directory on the server, DNS and other required things. A step by step wizard will run and will guide you for the rest of the steps. Make sure that a network cable is plugged in the LAN card of the server when you run the DCPROMO.exe command.
When the Active directory is properly installed on the server, restart the server. You can create network users on the server computer and also name/label the network resources like computers/printers etc.
Once you install the server successfully now come to the client computers. Install Windows 2000 professional on your all client computers. Once you install the Windows 2000 professional on the clients the next step is to make this computer (client computer) a part of the network.
Configuration Steps
1. Choose a unique name for each client computer
2. Choose unique IP address for each computer and relevant.
3. Use the same domain name for all client PCs.
Network/System administrators are required to do these administrative tasks on the server and client computers. Any shared resources on the network either on the server or the clients can be access through the My Network Places in the Windows 2000 platform. There is another way to connect to the shared resources by giving this command in the run \\ComputerName\SharedDriveLetter.
Network configurations steps can be implemented by right clicking the My Computer>Properties>
For giving the IP address you will have to right click on the My Network places>properties>Local Area Connection>Properties>Internet Protocols (TCP/IP)>Properties and then give the IP address and subnet mask of the same range and class for all the computers in the network.
Peer to Peer network model
Before configuring a computer network, you have to decide that, which networking model you require. There are two main types of network models. Peer to peer and client-server network model. In the peer to peer network model you simply use the same Workgroup for all the computers and a unique name for each computer.
Additionally, you will have to give a unique IP address of the same class A, B, or C for all the computers in your network and its related subnet mask e.g if you decide to use class A IP address for your three computers in your Peer to Peer network then your IP address/Subnet mask settings can be as follows.
Computer Name IP Address Subnet Mask Workgroup
PC1 100.100.100.1 255.0.0.0 Officenetwork
PC2 100.100.100.2 255.0.0.0 Officenetwork
PC3 100.100.100.3 255.0.0.0 Officenetwor
Please note that the above example is for only illustration purpose so you can choose any IP address, computer name and workgroup name of your interest.
For doing this right click on My Computer and then click Properties then go to the Network Identification section and set these.
In a peer to peer network all computers acts as a client because there is not centralized server. Peer to peer network is used where not security is required in the network.
If a computer fails to work then all other computers work normally in peer to peer network.
Client/Server Network Model
In the client/server network model a computer plays a centralized role and is known as a server all other computers in the network are known as clients. All client computers access the server simultaneously for files, database, docs, spreadsheets, web pages and resources like hard diver, printer, fax modem, CD/DVD ROM and others. In other words, all the client computes depends on the server and if server fails to respond or crash then networking/communication between the server and the client computes stops.
If you want to configure a client-server network model then first prepare the server. Install Windows 2000 or Windows 2003 Server from the CD on the server computer and make a domain. You can create a domain by this command on the Run “DCPROMO”. You can give this command once you install the server successfully. After you give the DCPROMO command you will be asked for a unique domain name. All the client computers will use the same unique domain name for becoming the part of this domain. This command will install the active directory on the server, DNS and other required things. A step by step wizard will run and will guide you for the rest of the steps. Make sure that a network cable is plugged in the LAN card of the server when you run the DCPROMO.exe command.
When the Active directory is properly installed on the server, restart the server. You can create network users on the server computer and also name/label the network resources like computers/printers etc.
Once you install the server successfully now come to the client computers. Install Windows 2000 professional on your all client computers. Once you install the Windows 2000 professional on the clients the next step is to make this computer (client computer) a part of the network.
Configuration Steps
1. Choose a unique name for each client computer
2. Choose unique IP address for each computer and relevant.
3. Use the same domain name for all client PCs.
Network/System administrators are required to do these administrative tasks on the server and client computers. Any shared resources on the network either on the server or the clients can be access through the My Network Places in the Windows 2000 platform. There is another way to connect to the shared resources by giving this command in the run \\ComputerName\SharedDriveLetter.
Network configurations steps can be implemented by right clicking the My Computer>Properties>
For giving the IP address you will have to right click on the My Network places>properties>Local Area Connection>Properties>Internet Protocols (TCP/IP)>Properties and then give the IP address and subnet mask of the same range and class for all the computers in the network.
Introduction to PC Components
Here you will learn computer hardware tutorials introduction, basic pc components, networking devices, ram, vga, monitor and printer etc. Computer hardware is the physical part of the computer including the digital circuits inside the computer as opposed to the software that carry out the computing instructions. The hardware of a computer is unlikely to change frequently unless due to the crash or for upgrading them. The devices that is capable of storing, executing system instructions and controlling other logical outputs.
Hardware comprises all of the physical part of the computer such as Monitor, CPU, motherboard, ram, CD-Rom, printer, scanner, hard disk, flash drive (AKA pen drive), processor, pci buses, floppy disk, power supply, VGA card, sound card, network interface card, peripherals, joystick, mouse, keyboard, foot pedal, computer fan, camera, headset and others.
On the other hard software is a logical part of a computer and is used to carry out the instructions, storing, executing and developing other software programs. A typical PC consists of a case or chassis in the desktop or tower case and these components.
Motherboard
• CPU
• Computer Fan
• RAM
• BIOS
• Digital Circuitry
• Computer Fan
• PCI Slots
PC Buses
• PCI
• USB
• Hyper-transport
• AGP
• ISA
• EISA
• VLB
Media
• CD-Rom
• DVD-Rom
• Combo box
• Joystick
• BD-Rom drive
Internal storage
• Hard disk (ATA & SATA)
• Data array controller
• Floppy disk
Other Peripheral Devices
• Mouse
• Modems
• Digital Camera
• Sound, Video Cards
• Printer
Output Devices
• Printer
• Scanner
• Monitor
• Speakers
• Headset
• Video output devices
CPU (Central Processing Unit): CPU or central processing unit relates to a specific or processor. The performance of the computer is determined by the CPU chip (processor speed) and the other computer circuitry. Currently, the Pentium chip (processor) is the most popular even though there are other chips available in the market today such as AMD, Motorola and others. The clocks speed becomes most important factor in determining the performance of a computer. The motherboard contains the hardware circuitry and connections that allow the different hardware components of the PC to interact and communicate with each other. Most computer software is being developed for the latest processors so it would be difficult to use the older systems.
Hard Disk Drives – Disk drive is the mechanism to run the disks. All disks need a drive to get the information, read it and put it back to the disks. Hard disk is used to store the data permanently. Often the terms disk and drive used to describe the same thing but it should be clear that a disk is a storage device.
Modem – A modem is used for the modulation and demodulation of the data that is transferred through the modem and the telephone lines. Modem translates the data from digital to analog from analog to digital. Because on the telephone lines data can travel in the form of the analog signals and in the computer data transmits in the form of digital signals. Modems are measured by the speed which is called baud rate. The typical baud rate is 56Kb.
Keyboard – The keyboard is used to type something or input information to the computer. There are different designs and models of the keyboards in the market. The most common layout of the keyboard is QWERTY layout. A standard keyboard has 101 keys and embedded keys.
Video cards-Video cards allow computer to display video, graphics and animation. Some video cards allow computers to display television. A video card with a digital video camera allows users to produce live video. A high speed broadband internet connection is required to watch the videos on net.
Network cards: Network interface cards allow PCs to connect with each other and communicate. Every network computer is required to have a NIC card. NIC cards are required both in wired and wireless networking.
Cables: There are two broad types of cables internal cables, which are embedded on the mother board circuit that performs the communication between the devices and CPU. The other types of the cables are the network cables like coaxial cable, CAT 5, Ethernet cables. These cables are used for the communication purposes between the devices or computers.
Memory – Memory is the one of the important piece of the hardware. Sometimes memory chip memory is confused with the hard disk memory. Sometimes unallocated space of the hard disk is used as virtual memory also known as page file. This type of memory is a temporary memory and is used actual memory is less and requires some additional memory to perform a specific task.
RAM (Random Access Memory) RAM is a memory that is being used by the computer to store the information temporarily. For example when some work is performed on some applications that work is temporarily stored in the RAM. More RAM in the computer more faster computer works. Today at least requirement of a modern PC is 64 RAM. RAM is in the form of a chip and different vendors have developed the RAM of different capacities.
Mouse – Every modern computer requires a mouse for faster operations. Generally a mouse has two buttons left and right to perform different functions. One type of the mouse has a round ball under the bottom. Another type of the mouse use optical system to track the movement of the mouse.
Monitors – The monitor is used to display the information on the screen. All the activities of a computer, functions and tasks are seen on the computer screen and this is called outputting information. Monitors come in many sizes and shapes, monochrome or full colors. Today most computers use LCD screens. It is light weight and consumes less power as compared to the monitors.
Printers – The printer takes the information from the PC and transfers it to the paper of different sizes, which are placed in the printer device. There are three basic types of a printer such as dot matrix, inkjet and laser.
Scanners- Scanners allow you to transfer pictures and photographs to your computer. A scanner is used to scan the images and pictures. You can then send the image to someone, modify it or take a print out of it. With optical character recognition software you can convert printed documents into the text that you can use in the word processor.
Digital camera- You can take the digital photographs with the digital cameras. The images are stored on the memory chip of the digital cameras and you can transfer them to your computer with the USB drive.
Case – Case or casing covers the whole computer’s circuitry. There are two types of casings desktop and tower casing. There is room inside the casing to add or remove components. Cases come in many sizes like desktop, mini, midi and tower. There are some additional empty slots inside the cases such as IDE, USB, ASI, PCI and firewire slots.
Cards – Cards are the hardware components that are added to the computer to increase their functionalities and capabilities.
Sound cards produce the sound like music and voice. The older cars were 8, 16 and then 32 bits.
Color cards allow computers to produce colors. Initially there were 2, 4 and then 16 bits. The main types of the graphic cards are EGA, VGA and SGA. The 32 cards are the standard to display almost billions of the colors on the monitor.
Hardware comprises all of the physical part of the computer such as Monitor, CPU, motherboard, ram, CD-Rom, printer, scanner, hard disk, flash drive (AKA pen drive), processor, pci buses, floppy disk, power supply, VGA card, sound card, network interface card, peripherals, joystick, mouse, keyboard, foot pedal, computer fan, camera, headset and others.
On the other hard software is a logical part of a computer and is used to carry out the instructions, storing, executing and developing other software programs. A typical PC consists of a case or chassis in the desktop or tower case and these components.
Motherboard
• CPU
• Computer Fan
• RAM
• BIOS
• Digital Circuitry
• Computer Fan
• PCI Slots
PC Buses
• PCI
• USB
• Hyper-transport
• AGP
• ISA
• EISA
• VLB
Media
• CD-Rom
• DVD-Rom
• Combo box
• Joystick
• BD-Rom drive
Internal storage
• Hard disk (ATA & SATA)
• Data array controller
• Floppy disk
Other Peripheral Devices
• Mouse
• Modems
• Digital Camera
• Sound, Video Cards
• Printer
Output Devices
• Printer
• Scanner
• Monitor
• Speakers
• Headset
• Video output devices
CPU (Central Processing Unit): CPU or central processing unit relates to a specific or processor. The performance of the computer is determined by the CPU chip (processor speed) and the other computer circuitry. Currently, the Pentium chip (processor) is the most popular even though there are other chips available in the market today such as AMD, Motorola and others. The clocks speed becomes most important factor in determining the performance of a computer. The motherboard contains the hardware circuitry and connections that allow the different hardware components of the PC to interact and communicate with each other. Most computer software is being developed for the latest processors so it would be difficult to use the older systems.
Hard Disk Drives – Disk drive is the mechanism to run the disks. All disks need a drive to get the information, read it and put it back to the disks. Hard disk is used to store the data permanently. Often the terms disk and drive used to describe the same thing but it should be clear that a disk is a storage device.
Modem – A modem is used for the modulation and demodulation of the data that is transferred through the modem and the telephone lines. Modem translates the data from digital to analog from analog to digital. Because on the telephone lines data can travel in the form of the analog signals and in the computer data transmits in the form of digital signals. Modems are measured by the speed which is called baud rate. The typical baud rate is 56Kb.
Keyboard – The keyboard is used to type something or input information to the computer. There are different designs and models of the keyboards in the market. The most common layout of the keyboard is QWERTY layout. A standard keyboard has 101 keys and embedded keys.
Video cards-Video cards allow computer to display video, graphics and animation. Some video cards allow computers to display television. A video card with a digital video camera allows users to produce live video. A high speed broadband internet connection is required to watch the videos on net.
Network cards: Network interface cards allow PCs to connect with each other and communicate. Every network computer is required to have a NIC card. NIC cards are required both in wired and wireless networking.
Cables: There are two broad types of cables internal cables, which are embedded on the mother board circuit that performs the communication between the devices and CPU. The other types of the cables are the network cables like coaxial cable, CAT 5, Ethernet cables. These cables are used for the communication purposes between the devices or computers.
Memory – Memory is the one of the important piece of the hardware. Sometimes memory chip memory is confused with the hard disk memory. Sometimes unallocated space of the hard disk is used as virtual memory also known as page file. This type of memory is a temporary memory and is used actual memory is less and requires some additional memory to perform a specific task.
RAM (Random Access Memory) RAM is a memory that is being used by the computer to store the information temporarily. For example when some work is performed on some applications that work is temporarily stored in the RAM. More RAM in the computer more faster computer works. Today at least requirement of a modern PC is 64 RAM. RAM is in the form of a chip and different vendors have developed the RAM of different capacities.
Mouse – Every modern computer requires a mouse for faster operations. Generally a mouse has two buttons left and right to perform different functions. One type of the mouse has a round ball under the bottom. Another type of the mouse use optical system to track the movement of the mouse.
Monitors – The monitor is used to display the information on the screen. All the activities of a computer, functions and tasks are seen on the computer screen and this is called outputting information. Monitors come in many sizes and shapes, monochrome or full colors. Today most computers use LCD screens. It is light weight and consumes less power as compared to the monitors.
Printers – The printer takes the information from the PC and transfers it to the paper of different sizes, which are placed in the printer device. There are three basic types of a printer such as dot matrix, inkjet and laser.
Scanners- Scanners allow you to transfer pictures and photographs to your computer. A scanner is used to scan the images and pictures. You can then send the image to someone, modify it or take a print out of it. With optical character recognition software you can convert printed documents into the text that you can use in the word processor.
Digital camera- You can take the digital photographs with the digital cameras. The images are stored on the memory chip of the digital cameras and you can transfer them to your computer with the USB drive.
Case – Case or casing covers the whole computer’s circuitry. There are two types of casings desktop and tower casing. There is room inside the casing to add or remove components. Cases come in many sizes like desktop, mini, midi and tower. There are some additional empty slots inside the cases such as IDE, USB, ASI, PCI and firewire slots.
Cards – Cards are the hardware components that are added to the computer to increase their functionalities and capabilities.
Sound cards produce the sound like music and voice. The older cars were 8, 16 and then 32 bits.
Color cards allow computers to produce colors. Initially there were 2, 4 and then 16 bits. The main types of the graphic cards are EGA, VGA and SGA. The 32 cards are the standard to display almost billions of the colors on the monitor.
How to troubleshoot computer network using Ping command
The PING command is the basic network troubleshooting command. Ping shows the status of the other computer whether it is on the network or not. Let’s say you have three computers in your computer network computer A (IP Address, 10.10.10.1), computer B (IP address 10.10.10.2) and computer C (IP address 10.10.10.3). You are on computer A and you want to check the connectivity of the computer B then you will need to go the Start > Run > type CMD > DOS screen will appear. Now type there ping 10.10.10.2 if you get the reply this means the computer B is connected on the network and if you get the timed out message then there is some problem in the connectivity. This can be due to different reasons like check both the ends of the network cables in the computer and in the Router/Switch, check if the green LED light is blinking in the network card of the computer also check if any software application blocking the network communication such as firewall or antivirus etc.
How to Hide a shared folder in Windows XP
If you want to hide a shared folder from the network users, right click the folder and click sharing and security and give a shared name of a folder plus $ sign e.g. ebooks$. In this way network users will not be able to see the shared folder on the network. For you to see the hidden shared folder, map the drive and type in the path including the $ sign in the folder box.
How to Install IIS in Windows XP
Windows XP Professional edition has the built-in IIS. Internet information server is used to host the website on your own computer and these sites can be accesses from all over the world. IIS has great administrative features but it supports only 10 concurrent connections of the clients at a time.
1. Click start>settings>control panel>Add remove program
2. Click Add remove windows components.
3. Click on Internet information services > Details.
4. In the IIS check the boxes SMTP and World Wide Web and you can also check FTP if you want to setup it.
5. In Windows components selection, make sure that you have selected IIS and you may need to insert the CD of Windows XP Professional during the installation.
1. Click start>settings>control panel>Add remove program
2. Click Add remove windows components.
3. Click on Internet information services > Details.
4. In the IIS check the boxes SMTP and World Wide Web and you can also check FTP if you want to setup it.
5. In Windows components selection, make sure that you have selected IIS and you may need to insert the CD of Windows XP Professional during the installation.
10 Easy Steps to Speed Up Your Computer - Without Upgrading
It seems that the longer you own your computer, the slower it gets! A lot of people will keep their computer until it gets so slow that they feel they need a newer, faster model. Some feel like the reason it is getting slower is because it is getting older, when that is just not the case. Your computer should run just as fast as the day you brought it home – if you follow these 10 Easy Steps to Speed Up Your Computer.
1. Empty the Temp directory regularly. After a short while, the temp directory fills up with hundreds of temp files that always get scanned over when Windows starts up and when programs launch. This slows everything down immensely.
Rule of thumb for Temp Files: If you don’t have any programs open (and nothing minimized in the bar below), then you shouldn’t have ANY temp files in your temp directory. If you do, delete them.
To delete Temp files, make sure NO programs are open, and…
a. In Windows 95, 98 or Me, go to C:WindowsTemp and delete everything inside the Temp folder.
b. In Windows 2000 or XP, it is a little trickier. First, make sure that you can see hidden folders. Double-click My Computer. Click on the Tools pull-down menu, and then on Folder Options. Click on the View tab. Scroll down and click on Show Hidden Files and Folders. Click Ok. Now you can go to the C:Documents and SettingsAdministratorLocal SettingsTemp folder. Delete everything here.
2. Empty the Temporary Internet Files regularly. To empty Temporary Internet Files, go to your Control Panel and double-click the Internet Options icon. Choose to Delete Cookies, and to Delete Files. This will clear all of your Temporary Internet Files.
3. Check your hard disks for problems.
a. For Windows 95, 98, or Me, double-click My Computer. Right-click the C-drive and click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose to check the computer for problems. If you choose to do a Thorough Scan, this will do the hardware check for physical disk damage or sector damage. Choose to fix any errors it finds.
b. For Windows 2000 and XP, double-click My Computer. Right-click the C-drive and click Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose to check the computer for problems. Click on Check Now. You will then have two check boxes. The top option is for the file check, and the second option is for the hardware (physical disk) check. Check either one, or both. At least check the top one. Hit ok, and reboot. This may take some time, but let it run.
4. An even more thorough disk check, would be to use a 3rd party utility. One of my favorites is TuneUp Utilities 2004. It does cost $39.99, but they do offer a FREE download trial of 15 days. This program does a really good job of fixing software and physical hard drive problems. It also tunes up your system for increased speed, and streamlines your operating system for peak performance.
5. Or, you can do a few of the performance tweaks yourself, if you have Windows XP. By default, EVERYTHING is turned on in Windows XP. It isn’t very streamlined for performance, but rather for appearance. You can turn off a few of the unnecessary features, and Windows will still work just fine, and maybe a little faster.
To do this, right-click on My Computer and click on Properties. Click on the Advanced tab. Under the Performance section, click on the Settings button. On the Visual Effects tab, you will see a list of check boxes. By default, these are all on. You really don’t need any of them for Windows to run. Go through the check boxes one by one, and determine which ones you can and can’t live without.
6. Turn off Active Desktop. Active Desktop turns your desktop into a web page, and allows you to have things like a real-time calendar, and up-to-the-minute weather or stocks. These are nice, but really slow down your computer. And even if you don’t use Active Desktop for anything, just having it active can cause a performance decrease. Turn it off.
a. In Windows 95, 98 and Me, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose Active Desktop. Inside that option, uncheck Active Desktop. If there is no check next to it, then it isn’t on. Don’t choose it. Instead, just click the desktop again to get out of the menu.
b. In Windows 2000, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose Active Desktop. Inside that option, uncheck Show Web Content. Again, if there is no check next to it, then it is not on. Do not check it.
c. In Windows XP, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose Properties. On the Desktop tab, choose Customize Desktop. Now, on the Web tab, make sure that there are no websites chosen here. If there aren’t any, then Active Desktop is not on. Cancel and go back to the desktop.
7. Install and run a good AntiVirus program to keep out viruses that can take over your system. One of my favorites is AVG. It is not only a really good AntiVirus program, but it is also FREE! If you don’t have any AntiVirus software on your computer.
8. Get rid of Spyware. A lot of computer users have Spyware and don’t even know they have it, much less how to get rid of it. If your computer has been taking you to websites that you don’t want to go to, or if you get pop-ups when you aren’t even on the Internet, or if your computer has been running extremely slowly lately, for no reason, you probably have Spyware.
On all of the computers that I setup, I install two different AntiSpyware programs: AdAware SE and SpyBot. These two programs are highly recommended by TechTV (G4) and other computer authorities (including my own research on Spyware) and work very well together. They compliment each other and catch Spyware that the other misses, but together, do a very good job.
AdAware SE does a good job when you keep up on the updates and manually scan your system.
In some cases, when the Spyware has become too entwined into your system, even a computer repair technician can’t get rid of the Spyware. At this point, it is better to just backup only what you need and have the operating system reinstalled. Believe me, when your computer gets to this point, you don’t want to just put a “band-aid” on it. Just start from scratch with a clean system. It’s the best way to go.
9. Streamline MSCONFIG. One thing that really causes a HUGE performance decrease is to have unnecessary programs running in the background. Some of these programs can be seen in your System Tray (located next to the clock). These are tiny programs that are robbing you of memory and processing power. Some of them you need, while most you don’t. Some of the programs you DON’T need are printer icons, CD burning icons, shortcuts to programs (such as video settings), AOL, any Instant Messaging Programs, etc. Just because these programs aren’t always running, doesn’t mean that you still can’t print, burn CDs or Instant Message. They can all be run from a shortcut.
You can use a utility, called MSCONFIG, to turn OFF unnecessary Start Up items.
a. In Windows 98, Me, and XP, click on StartRun and type msconfig. Click on the Startup tab. This is a list of everything that is running in the background, some of which show up in the System Tray. Now, be careful, some of these you do need. Some items to keep are Ctfmon.exe (XP), Scan Registry (Win98, Me), Task Monitor (Win98, Me), System Tray (Win98, Me), LoadPowerProfile (Win98, Me), Rundll.32, any AntiVirus programs (such as McAfee, Norton, or AVG). Others, you can uncheck, such as NeroCheck, ypager, qttask, AOL, and any other Instant Messaging programs, or printing programs. Remember, if something doesn’t work, because you turned it off, it can always be turned back on. You just have to reboot every time you make a change here. But, as you uncheck the unnecessary programs that run in the background, you will see that Windows loads much faster, that there are less icons in the System Tray, and that your system is much more “snappy” and quick to respond.
b. In Windows 2000, MSCONFIG wasn’t supplied. You actually have to download and run an MSCONFIG utility.
After you reboot, you will have a window that says that the configuration utility was edited. Just check not to show that in the future, a check box at the bottom. This just means that there was a change made to the MSCONFIG.
10. Defragment your hard drives. NOTE: to efficiently defragment a hard drive, it likes to have 25% free space. It can still do the defragmentation with only 15% free space, but it takes quite a bit longer. If you can, delete any unnecessary files before deframenting your drives.
a. To defragment your hard drives (in any Windows operating system), double-click on My Computer. Right-click on the c-drive and click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose the bottom button, to Defragment Now
1. Empty the Temp directory regularly. After a short while, the temp directory fills up with hundreds of temp files that always get scanned over when Windows starts up and when programs launch. This slows everything down immensely.
Rule of thumb for Temp Files: If you don’t have any programs open (and nothing minimized in the bar below), then you shouldn’t have ANY temp files in your temp directory. If you do, delete them.
To delete Temp files, make sure NO programs are open, and…
a. In Windows 95, 98 or Me, go to C:WindowsTemp and delete everything inside the Temp folder.
b. In Windows 2000 or XP, it is a little trickier. First, make sure that you can see hidden folders. Double-click My Computer. Click on the Tools pull-down menu, and then on Folder Options. Click on the View tab. Scroll down and click on Show Hidden Files and Folders. Click Ok. Now you can go to the C:Documents and SettingsAdministratorLocal SettingsTemp folder. Delete everything here.
2. Empty the Temporary Internet Files regularly. To empty Temporary Internet Files, go to your Control Panel and double-click the Internet Options icon. Choose to Delete Cookies, and to Delete Files. This will clear all of your Temporary Internet Files.
3. Check your hard disks for problems.
a. For Windows 95, 98, or Me, double-click My Computer. Right-click the C-drive and click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose to check the computer for problems. If you choose to do a Thorough Scan, this will do the hardware check for physical disk damage or sector damage. Choose to fix any errors it finds.
b. For Windows 2000 and XP, double-click My Computer. Right-click the C-drive and click Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose to check the computer for problems. Click on Check Now. You will then have two check boxes. The top option is for the file check, and the second option is for the hardware (physical disk) check. Check either one, or both. At least check the top one. Hit ok, and reboot. This may take some time, but let it run.
4. An even more thorough disk check, would be to use a 3rd party utility. One of my favorites is TuneUp Utilities 2004. It does cost $39.99, but they do offer a FREE download trial of 15 days. This program does a really good job of fixing software and physical hard drive problems. It also tunes up your system for increased speed, and streamlines your operating system for peak performance.
5. Or, you can do a few of the performance tweaks yourself, if you have Windows XP. By default, EVERYTHING is turned on in Windows XP. It isn’t very streamlined for performance, but rather for appearance. You can turn off a few of the unnecessary features, and Windows will still work just fine, and maybe a little faster.
To do this, right-click on My Computer and click on Properties. Click on the Advanced tab. Under the Performance section, click on the Settings button. On the Visual Effects tab, you will see a list of check boxes. By default, these are all on. You really don’t need any of them for Windows to run. Go through the check boxes one by one, and determine which ones you can and can’t live without.
6. Turn off Active Desktop. Active Desktop turns your desktop into a web page, and allows you to have things like a real-time calendar, and up-to-the-minute weather or stocks. These are nice, but really slow down your computer. And even if you don’t use Active Desktop for anything, just having it active can cause a performance decrease. Turn it off.
a. In Windows 95, 98 and Me, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose Active Desktop. Inside that option, uncheck Active Desktop. If there is no check next to it, then it isn’t on. Don’t choose it. Instead, just click the desktop again to get out of the menu.
b. In Windows 2000, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose Active Desktop. Inside that option, uncheck Show Web Content. Again, if there is no check next to it, then it is not on. Do not check it.
c. In Windows XP, right-click on the desktop and in the pop-up menu, choose Properties. On the Desktop tab, choose Customize Desktop. Now, on the Web tab, make sure that there are no websites chosen here. If there aren’t any, then Active Desktop is not on. Cancel and go back to the desktop.
7. Install and run a good AntiVirus program to keep out viruses that can take over your system. One of my favorites is AVG. It is not only a really good AntiVirus program, but it is also FREE! If you don’t have any AntiVirus software on your computer.
8. Get rid of Spyware. A lot of computer users have Spyware and don’t even know they have it, much less how to get rid of it. If your computer has been taking you to websites that you don’t want to go to, or if you get pop-ups when you aren’t even on the Internet, or if your computer has been running extremely slowly lately, for no reason, you probably have Spyware.
On all of the computers that I setup, I install two different AntiSpyware programs: AdAware SE and SpyBot. These two programs are highly recommended by TechTV (G4) and other computer authorities (including my own research on Spyware) and work very well together. They compliment each other and catch Spyware that the other misses, but together, do a very good job.
AdAware SE does a good job when you keep up on the updates and manually scan your system.
In some cases, when the Spyware has become too entwined into your system, even a computer repair technician can’t get rid of the Spyware. At this point, it is better to just backup only what you need and have the operating system reinstalled. Believe me, when your computer gets to this point, you don’t want to just put a “band-aid” on it. Just start from scratch with a clean system. It’s the best way to go.
9. Streamline MSCONFIG. One thing that really causes a HUGE performance decrease is to have unnecessary programs running in the background. Some of these programs can be seen in your System Tray (located next to the clock). These are tiny programs that are robbing you of memory and processing power. Some of them you need, while most you don’t. Some of the programs you DON’T need are printer icons, CD burning icons, shortcuts to programs (such as video settings), AOL, any Instant Messaging Programs, etc. Just because these programs aren’t always running, doesn’t mean that you still can’t print, burn CDs or Instant Message. They can all be run from a shortcut.
You can use a utility, called MSCONFIG, to turn OFF unnecessary Start Up items.
a. In Windows 98, Me, and XP, click on StartRun and type msconfig. Click on the Startup tab. This is a list of everything that is running in the background, some of which show up in the System Tray. Now, be careful, some of these you do need. Some items to keep are Ctfmon.exe (XP), Scan Registry (Win98, Me), Task Monitor (Win98, Me), System Tray (Win98, Me), LoadPowerProfile (Win98, Me), Rundll.32, any AntiVirus programs (such as McAfee, Norton, or AVG). Others, you can uncheck, such as NeroCheck, ypager, qttask, AOL, and any other Instant Messaging programs, or printing programs. Remember, if something doesn’t work, because you turned it off, it can always be turned back on. You just have to reboot every time you make a change here. But, as you uncheck the unnecessary programs that run in the background, you will see that Windows loads much faster, that there are less icons in the System Tray, and that your system is much more “snappy” and quick to respond.
b. In Windows 2000, MSCONFIG wasn’t supplied. You actually have to download and run an MSCONFIG utility.
After you reboot, you will have a window that says that the configuration utility was edited. Just check not to show that in the future, a check box at the bottom. This just means that there was a change made to the MSCONFIG.
10. Defragment your hard drives. NOTE: to efficiently defragment a hard drive, it likes to have 25% free space. It can still do the defragmentation with only 15% free space, but it takes quite a bit longer. If you can, delete any unnecessary files before deframenting your drives.
a. To defragment your hard drives (in any Windows operating system), double-click on My Computer. Right-click on the c-drive and click on Properties. Click on the Tools tab and choose the bottom button, to Defragment Now
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