We know it can be boring to wait for windows to start up but sometimes it can also be boring to wait it to shut down. In such circumstances there is a way to shut windows in 5 seconds. Simply cut off the electricity. Of course this is a joke. Here is the way;
1: Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to go to the Task Manager .
2: Click on Shut Down on the Top .
3: Highlight ‘ Turn Off ‘ and while holding down the Ctrl key , click on it .
It works on Vista and XP, and said to be harmless to your computer.
I have been using Ubuntu for about 3 months and I love it more and more everyday. There are a lot of reasons for this but the most important one is that you can find a lot of alternatives to softwares made for windows and ,what is more, all are free.
A download manager is a computer program designed to download files from the Internet,unlike a web browser, which is mainly intended to browse web pages on the World Wide Web (with file downloading being of secondary importance).
Wget
Wget is a network utility to retrieve files from the Web using http(s) and ftp, the two most widely used Internet protocols. It works non-interactively, so it will work in the background, after having logged off. The program supports recursive retrieval of web-authoring pages as well as ftp sites — you can use wget to make mirrors of archives and home pages or to travel the Web like a WWW robot.
Wget works particularly well with slow or unstable connections by continuing to retrieve a document until the document is fully downloaded. Re-getting files from where it left off works on servers (both http and ftp) that support it. Both http and ftp retrievals can be time stamped, so wget can see if the remote file has changed since the last retrieval and automatically retrieve the new version if it has.
Wget supports proxy servers; this can lighten the network load, speed up retrieval, and provide access behind firewalls.
Wget is a default download manager for Ubuntu . Therefore you do not need to install it again
Gwget
Gwget offers a GNOME front-end to the popular wget application, with enhanced features, such as systray icon, multiple downloads and a powerful preferences manager.
Install Gwget in Ubuntu
sudo aptitude install gwget
Curl
Curl is a client to get files from servers using any of the supported protocols. The command is designed to work without user interaction or any kind of interactivity.
Curl offers a busload of useful tricks like proxy support, user authentication, ftp upload, HTTP post, file transfer resume and more.
Install curl in Ubuntu
sudo aptitude install curl
Axel
Axel is a command-line downloader for unix-like operating systems. Unlike wget, axel includes download acceleration, whicThis program tries to accelerate the downloading process by using multiple connections for one file. Starting from version 0.97, the program can use multiple mirrors for one download as well. The program tries to be as light as possible (25-30k in binary form), so it might be useful as a wget clone on byte-critical systems.
Install axel in Ubuntu
sudo aptitude install axel
Wxdownloadfast
wxDownload Fast (also known as wxDFast) is an open source download manager. It is multi-platform and builds on Windows(2k,XP), Linux and Mac OS X(binary still not available). Besides that, it is a multi-threaded download manager. This means that it can split a file into several pieces and download the pieces simultaneously.
Install Wxdownloadfast in Ubuntu
Download .deb package from here
Install .deb package using the following command
sudo dpkg -i packagename
Multiget
MultiGet is an easy-to-use GUI file downloader for Windows/Linux/BSDs/MacOs. It’s programmed in C++ and has a GUI based on wxWidgets. It supports HTTP/FTP protocols which covers the requirements of most users. It supports multi-task with multi-thread on multi-server. It supports resuming downloads if the Web server supports it, and if you like, you can reconfig the thread number without stopping the current task. It’s also support SOCKS 4,4a,5 proxy, ftp proxy, http proxy.
Install Multiget in Ubuntu
Download multiget .deb package from here
Install .deb package using the following command
sudo dpkg -i packagename
aria2
Aria2 is a command line download client with resuming and segmented downloading. Supported protocols are HTTP/HTTPS/FTP/BitTorrent and it also supports Metalink.
Install aria2 in Ubuntu
sudo aptitude install aria2
Downloader for X (d4x)
Downloader for X is a powerful graphical download manager. It supports both HTTP(S) and FTP protocols and has nice graphical user interface, though some actions can also be performed using the command line.
Among others, its key features include proxy and SOCKS5 support, recursive downloading,wildcard matching, download scheduler, multiple download queues and more…
Install d4x in Ubuntu
sudo aptitude install d4x
KDE KGET
KGET is a a download manager similar to GetRight or Go!zilla. It keeps all your downloads in one dialog and you can add and remove transfers. Transfers can be paused, resumed, queued or scheduled. Dialogs display info about status of transfers – progress, size, speed and remaining time. Program supports drag & drop from KDE applications and Netscape.
Install Kget in Ubuntu
sudo aptitude install kget
This package is part of KDE, as a component of the KDE network module. Therefore you need to install another KDE packages to run KGET on your Ubuntu
Desktop Data Manager
Open-source app Desktop Data Manager is a clipboard manager, download manager, and advanced screenshot capturing app rolled into one. Desktop Data Manager actually installs three separate programs: DDM Screenshot, DDM Download, and Desktop Data Manager.
Install Desktop Data Manager in Ubuntu
Download .deb package from here and install using the following command
sudo dpkg -i packagename
Jigdo
This is a BETA version of the jigdo GTK+ download manager. In particular, it is NOT yet capable of processing .jigdo files – use jigdo-lite from the jigdo-file package for that!.This download manager features FTP and HTTP 1.1 support, pausing, continuing and resuming of downloads, and automatic guessing of your proxy configuration.
Install Jigdo in Ubuntu
sudo aptitude install jigdo
Aria
Aria is a download manager.The transfer can be paused, resumed, queued and saved. It has a very user friendly GTK based GUI, and useful log consoles. Program supports CRC checking, HTTP proxy server, cut-and-paste, drag-and-drop, and can define specific file retrieving procedure for particular web servers.
Install aria in Ubuntu
sudo aptitude install aria
Firefox Support
Firefox is a default web browser for Ubuntu .There are so many download extension for Firefox.I am giving best of them as follows.
DownThemAll!
The first and only download manager/accelerator built inside Firefox!
Download from here
FlashGot
Download one link, selected links or all the links of a page together at the maximum speed with a single click, using the most popular, lightweight and reliable external download managers.
Download from here
I personally like wget,downthemall,multiget and curl
If your Windows is too slow and if you say” I dont mind the look of my pc”, then you can speed up your pc in 30 seconds. What you should do is realy simple, just 5 steps:
1. Right-click on My Computer
2. Then choose Properties, and then click on Advanced system settings.
3. From Advanced, click on Settings.
4. Then check Adjust for best performance under Visual Effects.
5. Click Apply then OK.
That’s All!
Categories:
Windows Tags:
vista, Windows, xp
Windows Vista is the latest Operating system by Microsoft. But after Windows XP, Vista is being criticised for its slow manner. It has so high requirements and limitations to be fast. But it is possible for us to speed up Vista by applying simple changes in settings. Here are the simple tips:
1. Turn off Windows Search Indexing
Windows Vista search indexing is constantly reviewing files on your system to make their contents available for quick searching. This is handy, but can severely impact system performance.
To disable this constant indexing:
* Click Start then Computer
* Right Click the C: Drive
* On General Tab, Uncheck Index this drive for faster searching
* On the subsequent dialog box, Select Include subfolders and files
2. Turn off Remote Differential Compression
Remote Differential Compression measures the changes in files over a network to transfer them with minimal bandwidth rather than transferring an entire file that has previously been moved. By constantly checking for file changes, this service can hinder system performance.
To disable this service:
* Open Control Panel
* Switch to Classic View
* Select Program Features
* Choose Turn Windows features on and off
* Scroll down and uncheck Remote Differential Compression
3. Turn off Automatic Windows Defender Operation
Windows Defender real-time protection against malware continues to run despite having Automatic operation disabled.
To disable this feature:
* Open Control Panel
* Select Windows Defender
* Choose Tools from the top menu
* Select Options
* Uncheck Auto Start at the bottom of the window
4. Turn off Automatic Disk Defragmentation
Windows Vista and its always-on defragment feature isn’t really that necessary and can cause system slow down. Just remember to run a defrag manually every week or so.
To disable this:
* Click Start then Computer
* Right Click the C: Drive
* Select the Tools Tab
* Uncheck Run on a schedule
5. Add a 2GB or higher USB Flash drive to take advantage of Windows Ready Boost (Additional Memory Cache)
Ready Boost is Microsoft’s name for using a USB thumb/flash drive to provide some quick access memory the operating system can use as extra RAM. The Ready Boost system can significantly improve system performance.
To set this up:
* Insert a USB Flash Drive (preferably 2GB or more)
* Click Start then Computer
* Right Click the USB Drive in My Computer
* Select the Ready Boost Tab
* Choose Use this device
* Select as much space as you can free up for RAM usage vs. Storage
6. Turn off Windows Hibernation
Windows hibernation background services can use a large amount of system resources. If you don’t use the Hibernate feature on a regular basis you may want to disable it to give Vista a performance boost.
To disable Hibernation:
* Select the Control Panel then Power Options
* Click Change Plan Settings
* Click on Change Advanced Power Settings
* Expand the Sleep selection
* Expand the Hibernate After selection
* Crank the selector down to zero
* Click Apply
7. Turn off System Restore
Analysis and restore point creation by Windows Vista can eat a fair amount of system resources. Disabling this service will obviously mean the system restore feature in Vista will not be available in the event of a system crash. Change this at your own risk.
* Control Panel>System
* Click System Protection on the left panel
* Uncheck the main system drive
* Agree to the confirmation
8. Disable User Access Control (UAC)
This much-loathed new Vista feature attempts to protect your system from malware infection by making you manually confirm a whole host of everyday user operations. While it doesn’t directly impact performance, it can be annoying and might be more hassle than good.
To disable User Access Control:
* Click Start then Control Panel
* Select User Accounts
* Select Turn User Account Control on or off
* Uncheck User Account Control Box
* Restart as recommended
9. Disable excess Windows Services that Auto-Launch at Startup
Just like Windows XP, Vista ships with all kinds of services enabled that load at startup and may never be used by most users.
To see what loads at startup and disable the ones you likely won’t be needing (they can always be started manually later):
* Click Start then Control Panel
* Select Administrative Tools
* Choose System Configuration
* Click the Services Tab
* You can safely deselect:
- Offline Files (unless you’re using Offline File Sync)
- Tablet PC Input Service (unless you have a tablet PC)
- Terminal Services
- Windows Search (If you have already disabled indexing)
- Fax (unless you’re using a fax modem)
10. Disable Excess Windows Features
Windows ships with other features that are listed separately in the Vista operating system from the startup services.
You can view and disable these features by:
* Clicking Start then Control Panel
* Select Program Features
* On the left panel, select Turn Windows Features on or off
* You can safely deselect:
- Indexing Service
- Remote Differential Compression
- Tablet PC Optional Components
- Windows DFS Replication Service
- Windows Fax & Scan (unless you use a modem for faxing)
- Windows Meeting Space (unless you use the Live Meeting Service)
Categories:
Windows Tags:
microsoft, vista
If you are not satisfied with your computer’s speed and you are sure you have right hardwares for a speedy computer, then it is time for you to play with the settings of your windows xp. Here are some simple tips to spped up your xp.
1. Disable Indexing Services
Indexing Services is a small little program that uses large amounts of RAM and can often make a computer endlessly loud and noisy. This system process indexes and updates lists of all the files that are on your computer. It does this so that when you do a search for something on your computer, it will search faster by scanning the index lists. If you don’t search your computer often, or even if you do search often, this system service is completely unnecessary. To disable do the following:
* Go to Start
* Click Settings
* Click Control Panel
* Double-click Add/Remove Programs
* Click the Add/Remove Window Components
* Uncheck the Indexing services
* Click Next
2. Optimise Display Settings
Windows XP can look sexy but displaying all the visual items can waste system resources. To optimise:
* Go to Start
* Click Settings
* Click Control Panel
* Click System
* Click Advanced tab
* In the Performance tab click Settings
* Leave only the following ticked:
* Show shadows under menus
* Show shadows under mouse pointer
* Show translucent selection rectangle
* Use drop shadows for icons labels on the desktop
* Use visual styles on windows and buttons
3. Speedup Folder Browsing
You may have noticed that everytime you open my computer to browse folders that there is a slight delay. This is because Windows XP automatically searches for network files and printers everytime you open Windows Explorer. To fix this and to increase browsing significantly:
* Open My Computer
* Click on Tools menu
* Click on Folder Options
* Click on the View tab.
* Uncheck the Automatically search for network folders and printers check box
* Click Apply
* Click Ok
* Reboot your computer
4. Disable Performance Counters
Windows XP has a performance monitor utility which monitors several areas of your PC’s performance. These utilities take up system resources so disabling is a good idea.
To disable:
* download and install the Extensible Performance Counter List
* Then select each counter in turn in the ‘Extensible performance counters’ window and clear the ‘performance counters enabled’ checkbox at the bottom.button below
5. Improve Memory Usage
Cacheman Improves the performance of your computer by optimizing the disk cache, memory and a number of other settings.
Once Installed:
* Go to Show Wizard and select All
* Run all the wizards by selecting Next or Finished until you are back to the main menu. Use the defaults unless you know exactly what you are doing
* Exit and Save Cacheman
* Restart Windows
6. Optimise your internet connection
There are lots of ways to do this but by far the easiest is to run TCP/IP Optimizer.
* Download and install
* Click the General Settings tab and select your Connection Speed (Kbps)
* Click Network Adapter and choose the interface you use to connect to the Internet
* Check Optimal Settings then Apply
* Reboot
7. Optimise Your Pagefile
If you give your pagefile a fixed size it saves the operating system from needing to resize the page file.
* Right click on My Computer and select Properties
* Select the Advanced tab
* Under Performance choose the Settings button
* Select the Advanced tab again and under Virtual Memory select Change
* Highlight the drive containing your page file and make the initial Size of the file the same as the Maximum Size of the file.
Windows XP sizes the page file to about 1.5X the amount of actual physical memory by default. While this is good for systems with smaller amounts of memory (under 512MB) it is unlikely that a typical XP desktop system will ever need 1.5 X 512MB or more of virtual memory. If you have less than 512MB of memory, leave the page file at its default size. If you have 512MB or more, change the ratio to 1:1 page file size to physical memory size.
8. Run BootVis – Improve Boot Times
BootVis will significantly improve boot times
* Download and Run
* Select Trace
* Select Next Boot and Driver Trace
* A Trace Repetitions screen will appear, select Ok and Reboot
* Upon reboot, BootVis will automatically start, analyze and log your system’s boot process. When it’s done, in the menu go to Trace and select Optimize System
* Reboot.
* When your machine has rebooted wait until you see the Optimizing System box appear. Be patient and wait for the process to complete
9. Remove the Desktop Picture
Your desktop background consumes a fair amount of memory and can slow the loading time of your system. Removing it will improve performance.
* Right click on Desktop and select Properties
* Select the Desktop tab
* In the Background window select None
* Click Ok
10. Remove Fonts for Speed
Fonts, especially TrueType fonts, use quite a bit of system resources. For optimal performance, trim your fonts down to just those that you need to use on a daily basis and fonts that applications may require.
* Open Control Panel
* Open Fonts folder
* Move fonts you don’t need to a temporary directory (e.g. C:\FONTBKUP?) just in case you need or want to bring a few of them back. The more fonts you uninstall, the more system resources you will gain.
Hope you find these 10 tips useful please leave a comment below and please share any other tips you may have with other readers.
Categories:
Windows Tags:
windows xp
Do you want to extend your laptop battery life – don’t use it! No seriously, what I mean is if your laptop is connected to the mains, then you should remove the battery to extend its life.
Why? Well when you battery is inserted in your laptop it is constantly charging. Batteries are only capable of a finite number of charges, so reducing the number of charges will extend its life. Also, by removing it from the mains it will allow the laptop battery to discharge properly when you actually use it, which will allow it work nearer its capacity.
