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SPEED IT UP…
Zharal P. Lewis
tips, tricks, and everything in between…
Why are we here?• to learn how to increase performance• to learn about programs in Windows that if ran
routinely, can maintain this improved performance
• to learn about visual styles—how to prepare your system, where to get them, how to apply them, and disabling unnecessary visual effects
• to learn about freeware that may prove useful (Paint .Net, Media Player Classic, ObjectDock)
System properties• this application allows for quick access to hardware
management, automatic updates, and more…
two ways to get there:
Disable error reporting
• when a program crashes, you may get a message asking you to send a report to Microsoft; we can prevent this annoying message altogether:
Device Manager• lists all hardware• can disable,
enable, uninstall, or install hardware
• update, uninstall, or restore drivers
• useful for laptops and saving power
• use with caution!!!
Maintenance tools• all of the following tools
are found using My Computer
• right-clicking a drive and go to properties opens up another window showing a pie chart w/ available space
• Disk cleanup can be started by clicking the button
• clear everything but “office setup files”
• clearing system restore points is one of the additional options
Maintenance Tools 2• defragmentation optimizes hard drives for faster access
←click here
• you can also check your hard drive for errors
←click here
• you may have heard of commercial skinning applications such as Style XP. The free alternative—the UXTheme Multi-Patcher 3.0
• This first screen gives the purpose of this program
• The second validates the version of Windows you have
• The third warns you to cancel all Windows File Protection windows that appear
• visual styles are “skins” for Windows XP that allow you to change the way that windows looks
• the name of this skin is “Longhorn Inspirat” after the next version of Windows to be released in 2006
• the font being used is also new, called “Segoe UI”
Visual Stylesthis is a Windows File Protection Window…
click cancel on any that you see…↓↓↓
Visual Styles 2• you can download visual
styles from websites like themes.belchfire.net and www.deviantart.com; they usually come in .zip files
• unzip the contents into a folder, and copy those contents to C:\Windows\Resources\Themes
• make sure the folder’s name matches the name of the visual style file inside
• ObjectDock - www.objectdock.com– A program that allows a dock similar to that on Mac
OS X
Cool Freeware
• Paint .Net - http://www.eecs.wsu.edu/paint.net/– Think Paint2, created by students at Washington State
• MPC - http://sourceforge.net– A powerful player with a simplistic
touch
