How To Speed Up Windows: Part 3

In part two of How To Speed Up Windows, we checked your services to make sure you weren’t wasting precious resources. In part three, we’ll look at additional steps to get your system to top speed.

STEP #1 – Clear the startup folder(s).

When you start Windows and log in there are many processes that are supposed to start automatically.

Some people want additional programs to start when they log in so they put shortcuts and programs in their start up folder.

If you didn’t know any shortcut or executable program that exists in this folder will start when you log on.

This can be a neat customization but sometimes there are programs in this folder that you don’t need.

Hackers like to put little programs and scripts in this folder because they know it will run with YOUR user credentials when you log on.

My advise, clear it and keep it cleared.

OPEN YOUR STARTUP FOLDER:
Click START > ALL PROGRAMS > STARTUP

Make sure there are no shortcuts or programs inside this folder.

There could be an desktop.ini file in the folder and you can leave it if you want or delete it if you’re mean or thorough it won’t impact your system negatively.

The full path to the starup folder is:

C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

Make sure you also check this folder for any other user accounts that exist on your system.

STEP #2 – Check out the Registry.

I know some people are scared of looking into the registry.

It’s understandable being that this is probably the easiest way to screw up your system if you don’t know what your doing.

My view is life’s too short for fear.

Here’s what you need to do to make sure your registry is clear:

CLICK START > RUN > REGEDIT

Once the Registry editor opens click F3 to search the registry and enter the text “RunOnce”:

This is just a shortcut to find the keys that you need to check. You could also just browse to them:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
When you select each key above you will see the programs that are being run whenever you start your system.

These programs are started by the registry in STEALTH so they run no matter who is logged on, that’s why it’s so important to check out what’s listed here.
Now search Google for the name of the executable that’s being run to determine if it is required or not.
If you find a suspicious or unneeded file DELETE THE KEY.

Just right click it and select DELETE:

Also check the following USER registry keys for executable programs
HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-19\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run

HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-19\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce

These are USER registry entries so they would be different for each user account on your system.

That’s it.

With these additional advanced tips you should have a strong sense of what’s going on inside your PC and the ability to return your Windows performance back to “how it was when it was new” whenever you want.

How To Speed Up Windows Part 2

In order to speed up your Windows installation you must first understand what is happening to your computer from a high level.

Look at your computer like a house.

If you were trying to figure out why your light bill was sky-high what would you do?

Wouldn’t you first look at all the possible USERS of electricity in your house?

You would investigate:

• Lighting. Inside and outside your home.
• Major Appliances. Refrigerator, water heater, stove, and air conditioner.
• Televisions and electronics. Computers, monitors, video games, etc.

The idea would be to find out where you can cut back on usage and conserve energy, right?
That’s why mom used to always say, “Cut off the lights, unless you’re going to pay the fregg’n light bill!”
Your computer is in the same situation.

The lights or resources that you want to use are not responding because they are already in use.

When you click a program and it delays and drags, it’s like cutting on a light switch to a light fixture that’s already ON.

Your computer seems like it’s ignoring your commands but it’s not it’s just busy, it’ll be with you in a minute or two or three, arrrrggggg!

Here are are some additional advanced steps that you can take to identify what is making your computer slow and how to stop it:

Check your Services.

In part one of this guide I focused on the PROCESSES but there is a difference between processes and services.

In short all services eventually create some process on your computer this is why they need to be investigated when slow performance is the symptom.

READ: Processes and Services by David.

These “service processes” use precious system resources and if they are not needed they must be disabled.

The problem with service processes is they are started by a service installed on your system so even though you stop the processes manually with TASK MANAGER they just keep coming back like a bad rash.

Here’s how to stop them for good:

OPEN COMPUTER MANAGEMENT

START > RUN > type “compmgmt.msc” and click ok

You can also right click on “computer” and select Manage.

Now click on “Services and Applications” and select “Services”

Now click the “Standard” tab at the bottom of the services window.

This is the list of all the services that are running on your system.

There’s a bunch of them aren’t there?

The fact is you don’t NEED all of these services but ALL of these services have access to use the finite resources on your computer.
Sort the list by name and check every single process one by one.
If you cannot find a legitimate reason for the process to exist disable it.
Open the service properties by double clicking on the name:

Search Google for the name of the service and find out more information, is it required or not that is the question.
Once you are confident that the service is not required disable it by changing the Startup type to ‘Disabled’:

Click OK and repeat this process for every service on your system.

Once you are complete REBOOT.

We aren’t finished yet. Tomorrow in part 3, I’ll show you even more ways to speed up your system.

How to import e-mail messages from Yahoo into Hotmail.

Outlook.com (All Hotmail accounts have been switched to Outlook.com) makes it simple. They have a free tool called Trueswitch. Here’s how it works.

You click https://secure5trueswitch.com/hotmail/ to fill out the form. The link still has Hotmail in the title even though all Hotmail accounts have been switched over to Outlook.com.

You would fill out the address and password of your Yahoo! Mail account and the address and password for the account you wish to copy the messages to.

This will not delete your emails and contacts from your Yahoo! Mail account. You also select what you wish to copy. You can take your messages, address book or calendar.

You can choose to send a message to your contacts informing them about the change in your e-mail address.

You can choose to personalize the message and also select which contacts you wish to send the information to. If you choose personalize, a window will open to let you compose your own message.

There’s also the option to have your Yahoo! messages forwarded to your Outlook.com account for 90 days.

When you have everything set up the way you like, hit the copy to Outlook.com button.

This could take awhile to finish. You should receive e-mail messages updating you on the progress of the import and an message to let you now when the process is complete. Once you’re sure that your Yahoo! e-mails have successfully copied to Outlook.com, you can shut down your Yahoo! Mail account.

I-google discontinued . we can get that same features by another similar one its Netvibes

  NetVibes – this free dashboard (there is a premium version as well, but a free version is available to home users) offers many of the features you are looking for. Start by going to netvibes.com. You’ll be asked if you are a business or and individual – select I’m Just Me.

You can sign in with Facebook

Or choose to fill out some basic information.

You’ll need to reply to an e-mail confirming your new account and then you’ll be taken to the NetVibes dashboard.

You’ll be happy to see the Google search box front and center and the weather.

You can customize the location.

There’s also an e-mail wizard to help set up access to your e-mail accounts.

It’s easy to add access to various social media accounts and to eBay.

There are a wide range of financial and news widgets and apps available to add, there’s one for Wikipedia as well.

There’s a wide variety of themes available. You can customize your theme or choose themes created by other users.

I was able to set up a customized weather app, e-mail, a Google finance news feed and a Wikipedia app in about five minutes, plus change themes.

One nice feature is the ability to create tabs for different topics or apps. For example you could choose to create a Finance tab to follow multiple financial news sources.

Or create a tab to follow news feeds about a particular topic you want to track

Other options you could consider are a My Yahoo! home page and igHome.

How to save only images from powerpoint presentation

When you receive a PowerPoint presentation and only need to save a single image, rather than the full presentation itself, there’s actually a pretty simple solution available, even if you can’t right-click the image at first. Embedded images don’t always survive the transition as separate files when being emailed around in a PowerPoint document, which can be fixed by forcing PowerPoint to save the image as a GIF or JPEG.

To start the process, click the image in question so it’s highlighted on the PowerPoint slide. With the image highlighted, navigate to the “Home” tab at the top of the presentation and click the “Copy” button, which is located in the “Clipboard” section of the ribbon.

Now that you’ve got the picture copied to the clipboard, you can save it as a proper image file by clicking the “Paste” button in the “Home” tab and then selecting the “Paste Special” option.

In the new window that pops up on the screen, click the “Paste” radio button and then select the type of image file you’d like to use in the list of options, such as “GIF,” “JPEG,” “Bitmap,” etc. Click the “OK” button to paste another copy of the image onto the slide.

At this point you should be able to right-click the picture, since it has been saved as a specific image type usable by PowerPoint. Right-click the pasted image and select the “Save As Picture” option from the pop-up menu.

Type whatever name you want to use for the picture in the text box and then select the type of image file you’d like to save the picture as from the drop-down menu. Click “Save” to save the image to your computer’s hard drive.

But what if you still can’t right-click the picture for some reason? In this instance, there’s still a way to save the image, although it requires a little more effort. Remember how you previously copied the image to the clipboard? Since it’s still saved there, open up any image editing program that lets you paste images. Even something as simple as Microsoft Paint will work.

Create a new file in the image editing program and then click the “Paste” option at the top of the screen, or press “Ctrl” and “V” to manually paste the image. Now you can save the image as whatever file type you’d like in Paint (or whichever image editing tool you are using).

In the event that all these attempts fail, there remains one final option using a keyboard shortcut. Navigate to the slide containing the picture, and take a screenshot by tapping the “FN” and “Prtsc” keys on your keyboard. This shortcut saves an exact copy of everything currently on your screen into the clipboard.

Return to your image editing program and click “Paste” to bring up the screenshot. You can then use the program’s “crop” feature to simply cut out everything on the screen besides the image you need.

Turn Your Wired Computer Into A WiFi Router

Did you just get a brand new tablet, smart phone or WiFi connected device (camera, bluray player, etc), but you only have a wired Internet connection? How will you connect it? Are you somewhere that doesn’t allow you to install a permanent router? Don’t want to spend a fortune when you only need it to download apps or update software?

Well if your computer has a wireless adapter built in (or you purchase one) you can turn your computer into a wireless router with this amazing piece of software called MyRouter.

MyRouter Free Edition allows you to:

• Turns your computer into a WiFi hotspot.
• Re-broadcast your WiFi network with your own network name (SSID) and password.
• See who is connected to your hotspot
• Open/Close ports on local network only.
• Share your Internet with other computers only – no phones/devices.

Windows 8 - Two Versions Of IE 10

One curious feature of Windows 8 is that there are two version of Internet Explorer installed. One version, you can access quickly from the Metro/Modern Screen.

And one to run from the desktop mode.


The desktop version looks pretty much like your traditional Internet Explorer Interface.

The Metro/Modern version is optimized for touch screens and puts the address bar on the bottom.

The desktop version displays tabs to indicate your open windows.

The Metro version shows bold graphics that are easy to find with your fingers.

Your most frequently visited sites display as large buttons.

The reason for the two version of Internet explorer is the dual nature of Windows 8. While it’s designed with touch screens in mind, a lot of people are still using it with a mouse in the desktop mode.

Even though I have a Surface with a touch screen, initially I thought I preferred the desktop version because it just looked more familiar. Then I made a discovery. The Metro/Modern version is wicked fast. IE 10 in desktop is pretty good, but the touch-friendly Metro/Modern mode is even faster. I found it noticeably faster.

If you have Windows 8, especially if you have a touch screen device, I’d suggest giving the Modern IE App a try. In fact, if you’re a Windows 8 user and you’ve been avoiding the apps because the interface is unfamiliar, I’d suggest taking some time to check out what’s available. You may be pleasantly surprised at what you find.

To get the classic screen in windows 8 instead of the tiles and charms?

Simply tap the Desktop tile on the Metro/Modern Screen and you’ll head straight to the familiar Windows Desktop.

Or press the Windows logo key + D.
If you don’t see the desktop tile on your start screen, search desktop in the search box.

You’ll see the Desktop icon appear to the left. Select it.

Down at the bottom of the screen, select the option to pin that program to the Start Screen.

The Desktop tile will now appear on your Start Screen.

How do get free email from Microsoft?

First, go to Outlook.com. Down at the bottom right, you’ll see the option sign up for a new account if you don’t already have one. If you have a Hotmail, Live Mail or MSN e-mail address, you can just sign in with that one because you already have an account.

First you’ll provide your name, birth date and gender (the gender is optional)

Now you will choose your e-mail address and password. This e-mail address is also your Microsoft account that you will use to sign into all Microsoft sites and services. Your password mus be at least 8 characters and it is case sensitive.

Then you’ll enter a phone number or alternate e-mail address where Microsoft can contact you in case you lose your password and need to reset.

You can also opt to have a security question instead, such as your mother’s birthplace or childhood best friend.

Then you provide your Country and ZIP code.

Next you fill out one of those annoying CAPTCHAS to ensure you aren’t a spamming robot program. You also have an audio options if you can’t read the text. There’s also an option to receive promotional offers from Microsoft if you so choose.

Then read and click accept Microsoft’s terms of use and you’ve got a new e-mail account.