Orlovsky TechTips - Keeping Your PC Running

Make Your System More Responsive

orlovskytechtips — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:57:34 +0000

There’s a setting in Windows that controls how fast it is. Well, not really, but something similar. There’s a small bit in the registry that tells Windows how fast to open menus. By default, it’s half a second before Windows ever starts try to open menus.

We can throw this number down quite a good amount. Go into Regedit (hit Windows+R, type regedit and press enter) and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. You should see in the main window a line saying MenuShowDelay. Right-click Modify, and change the number (either 500 or 400, I believe it varies on your version of Windows) to 100.

While you computer won’t really be faster, it’ll feel faster – and that’s what counts.

Uninstall Intelligently

orlovskytechtips — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:44:00 +0000

A lot of companies spend time making their product the best – but then they skimp on the uninstaller. How many times have you uninstalled a program, only to see a few remnants remain in various places? Perhaps not often, but over 95% of uninstallers (I just made that number up, but from what I’ve seen it sounds accurate) leave a few strands of data floating around the Windows Registry. This might not sound too threatening, but Windows has to load the whole registry when it starts, and so loading all the useless data can really bog it down.

It is recommended that you use the free Revo Uninstaller, which acts just like the uninstaller in the Windows Control Panel but with one major difference. After running the uninstaller, Revo will then scan your computer for anything that the uninstaller for whatever reason did not remove. Next time you uninstall, try it with Revo. You won’t notice your computer getting faster, but you’ll have killed one of the major causes of your system slowing down over time.

Speed up your Shutdown

orlovskytechtips — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 22:43:40 +0000

Windows come with a nifty feature – when you press shut down, the computer doesn’t immediately begin the shutdown procedure. Instead, it waits for all open programs and services to finish whatever it is they’re doing, and only then does it begin to shut down.

The only problem with this feature is that Windows gives programs too generous a safety margin – a full 20 seconds. This means your computer will sit for 20 seconds before starting the shutdown procedure. But, we can lower the number to a more realistic 5 seconds, and your computer will shut down faster than ever.

First, hold down the windows key and while doing so press “r”. You should get a window titled Run. In this window, type “regedit” (without the quotes). You should get a somewhat complex window titled Registry Editor. There should be a sort of “tree” interface on the left hand side, which you may already be familiar with after using other programs. Click the plus sign next to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, then the plus sign by System, then the plus sign by CurrentControlSet, and then click on Control (on the word control, not on the plus sign). You should have a line that says “WaitToKillServiceTimeout”, along with some other things. Right-click on WaitToKillServiceTimeout, and then click Modify. Where it says “Value Data”, change the number to 5000 and then press Okay.

Close the Registry Editor, and put a smile on your face – your computer will now shut down much faster.

Defrag, Defrag, Defrag

orlovskytechtips — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 02:54:21 +0000

What is fragmentation, and why is it a bad thing? To understand this, you first need to know a little bit about how your computer’s hard drive works. Inside the hard drive is a disc with data on it, plus a tiny part (the read-write head) that can read data off of the disc. To read the file you want, the disc inside has to spin so that the data you need is directly under the read-write head. This means the hard drive is kind of like a cassette – to get to the file (or song, in the case of a cassette) you want, it first has to spin through everything that you don’t want (that’s why computers make that whirry noise). So, where does fragmentation come in?

For the purposes of this article, think of each file on your computer as a stack of documents, and your hard drive as a filing system. Sometimes, if you have a huge stack of papers, you can’t fit it in the right cabinet. Computers have the same situation, so what do they do? The computer will put part in the right cabinet, and put the rest in a different one. Think back to how the hard drive works – this means that first it will have to spin to the first part of the file, and then it will have to spin a second time to get to the other part of the file. This means that it takes much longer to access the file, plus a laptop computer the hard drive motor will waste battery life by turning more than it really has to. It’s logical, really – wouldn’t it take you less time to get to your birth certificate if you put it where you keep your important documents than if you were to cut it in half, and then put one half with your important documents and the other half with your baby pictures?

Okay, so you know what fragmentation is. What should you do now fix your computer’s fragmentation problems? Thankfully, Microsoft is kind enough to include a free defragmenting utility with every copy of Windows. Go to Start – All Programs – Accessories – System Tools – Disk Defragmenter, and you’re set. Just wait for it to open, hit the “Defragment” button, and give it some time to work. If you don’t mind downloading software online, try Disk Defrag from Auslogics – it’ll do a better job than the Windows Defragmenter, and it will do it faster. If you want to pay up for the best top-of-the-line defragmentation utility, try Raxco’s PerfectDisk 10 for $35 (there’s also a free 30 day trial available).

When your computer’s hard drive is healthy again, what can you do to prevent fragmentation in the future? Most importantly, try not to continually install and uninstall programs. Just like in real life, if you move files around so much you’re bound to make a mess, and somewhere down the line things will be filed away where they don’t belong. But, to be honest, there’s no way to truly prevent fragmentation. Run your favorite defragmentation program monthly, and you should notice improvement in how long it takes for files to open and for programs to load, and how long it takes for Windows to start up.