Posts Tagged ‘windows xp’

Windows 7 theme for Windows XP

Microsoft has released Windows 7 M3 build, although you can find it at bittorrent sites, you may not have the opportunity to test it. But still you may want to see its look. You can download the Windows 7 theme for XP below and relief your feelings.

You can download the theme using following link:

Download Link

Alternative Download Link

More Info and Instructions

Make your Windows look like Ubuntu

You are fond of linux and ubuntu and you have to use ubuntu because of its software support, then Ubuntu Customization pack is just for you. With this pack you can make your windows pc look like ubuntu with the files it contains like; visual styles for Ubuntu, Cursors, Boot Screen, LogonUI, Screensaver, custom sounds and much more utilitie.

To apply the Ubuntu Customization Pack simply download the installer using the following links. Please download and install at your own risk.

Download Ubuntu Customization Pack (Part1, Part2 and Part 3)

Via Sizlopedia

Increase Your Internet Speed By 20%

If you are using Windows XP, It is possible to increase your internet speed by %20. Windows itself uses %20 of your bandwidth for updating and scanning your pc. By turning this feature off, you can gain %20 of speed. Here is how to do that:

1. Go to Start-> Run-> and type gpedit.msc
2. Expand the Administrative Templates branch
3. Expand the Network tab
4. Highlight QoS Packet Scheduler
5. Click on Limit Reservable Bandwidth and check the enabled box
6. Then Change the Bandwidth limit % to 0 %
Then restart your computer and you will see the difference in speed of your internet.

10 things that slow down your computer

When you first bought your computer, it was fast and enough for you to do everything with your computer. You used it for some years and you saw it gradually slowed down. Now you can hardly use it? What happened to your computer?

Well, there are a lot of reasons for a computer to slow down. But the most important one is the softwares you use. They improve very fast and so do their requirements. For example Windows XP works with a 256 mb ram but Vista requires minimum 2 gb to work correctly.

But of course there are other reasons, here are ten reasons that causes your computer to slow.

1. System Start-up packed with too many applications (Start-up overload)

Over time, as you add more and more programs to your computer, many of these applications automatically add themselves to your Windows Start-up folder. Additionally, these applications can add themselves quietly to a hidden area of your Windows Start-up system (accessed via the MSCONFIG run command). In extreme cases your PC will appear completely frozen.

Limiting the number of applications loading themselves at start-up can speed boot times considerably and increase overall system performance.

2. Spyware

Malicious programs that stealthily embed themselves into your Windows Registry and core file system are the number two most common cause of a slow PC or poor PC performance.

These applications are usually installed without your knowledge or consent during the installation of a “free” application you’re trying out, or pushed out automatically in the background when you visit websites that engage in this practice without the user’s knowledge.

These spyware programs must be removed as soon as possible to return your PC to top running speed, and before they damage your file system.

In some cases they can be removed by manually editing the Windows core file system and registry or by using an automatic spyware remover like XoftspySE, our favorite pick for spyware removal and cleaning.

3. Corrupted/Bloated Windows Registry

The Windows Registry is the master control center for your operating system and applications it runs. Corruption or overload registry issues can cause all sorts of pc performance problems, including poor application startup times, slow Windows start-up, extremely slow shut down, inability to resume from computer sleep and more.

Cleaning, compacting, and optimizing your Windows registry can go a long way to dramatically speeding up your computer’s performance, start-up and shutdown speed.

4. Badly Fragmented Hard Drive

The sixth most common reason for a slow PC is hard drive and file system fragmentation. Over time, your computer’s files can be scattered into bits and pieces located all over your hard drive. This is called fragmentation. Windows has a built in tool to help you with hard drive defragmentation:

* Open My Computer,
* Right-click once on your C: Drive and go down to “Properties”
* Select the “Tools” tab and choose the “Defragment Now” option and follow the step by step instructions.

5. Poor Security Software that is stealing system resources

Unfortunately, a large number of security software programs and suites out there demand a huge portion of your system resources and memory. This can lead to sluggish performance from the rest of your PC while your security software is constantly scanning and monitoring your computer for threats.

While threat detection is essential, some security vendors go overboard with their approach and drag your PC down with them.

To see how much memory and system resources your security software is using, press and hold CTRL+ALT+DELETE and choose the task manager.

Once the task manager is open look at the “processes” section to see how much of your system resources are being used by your security apps.

6. Remnants of uninstalled programs

Uninstalling an application either via the control panel or the application’s start menu folder has been known to leave behind remnants of the uninstalled program. These remnants can slow down your computer while Windows tries to figure out what to do with them. Additionally, residue of old program stays behind in your system registry, clogging up your PC’s core.

7. Pagefile

The Windows page file is a temporary area of memory that your computer uses to move files around while it processes functions. Basically, it’s a buffer that your computer uses for wiggle room. If your Pagefile is too small, your operating system won’t have enough room to move and you could end up with poor performance and error messages.

To increase the size of your Pagefile:

* Right-click on “My Computer” and go down to “Properties”
* Click the “Advanced” tab
* Click “Settings” under the “Performance” section
* Click the “Advanced” button
* Click “Change” under “Virtual Memory”

8. Hard Drive getting full and too many internet temp and windows temp files

If your hard drive has less than 10% free space, you will experience a dramatic slowdown in the performance of your PC. To improve this, free up some space by removing old documents you no longer use or programs that are no longer needed.

9. Virus

Closely related to Spyware, viruses can wreak havoc on your system’s performance and severely limit your PC’s ability to do what you ask it to.

Typically, viruses get onto your computer via infected email or instant messages, although they can also be installed via applications or files that you download from file-sharing networks and other non-trusted web sites.

10. Hardware Problems

The fourth most common cause of a slow or freezing computer is gradually dying internal hardware components. These can often show up in the form of slow boot and shut down, as well as poor program launches riddled with errors.

There are very few hardware diagnostic utilities out there, so we recommend careful removal of any newly installed pc components to see if they are causing a problem or incompatibility. Other than that, taking your PC to a certified, trusted hardware repair shop is usually a good idea.

Shut down windows in 5 seconds

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.

10 Simple Ways To Speed Up Windows XP

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.