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Ur system configurationHow can u find out your system configuration?
ie simple..... from start menu> My computer> Right click> Properties> Geneta tab...  ഈ ജനറല് ടാബില് OS,Service pack,Registration എന്നിവയേ ക്കുറിച്ചുള്ള വിവരങ്ങള് കിട്ടും. അതിന് താഴേ കമ്പ്യൂട്ടര് വിവരങ്ങള് പ്രോസ്സസര് നെയിം, വേര്ഡ് ലെങ്ങ്ത് (32,64 bits) CPU സ്പീഡ് (GHz), RAM, [ RAM കോമന്ലി ഇന് 128,256,512(MB),1024(1GB),2048(2GB) ] കുറച്ചു mb ഷെയര് ആയി പോകും ( മദര് ബോര്ഡ്,ഡിസ്പ്ലേ...)  In hardware tab select devece manager> Yellow colocur indicates ur system driver failure
(if yellow colour present, double click on it and re install driver)
PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHENEVER YOU'RE USING A PC AT A PUBLIC PLACEAttention Please
Ur PC will be Flying...simple techniques to remove your temporary filesHere are some simple techniques to remove your temporary files from your hard drive. These temporary files if not cleared frequently, could take up a lot of space. But, if you are working with internet regularly or didn’t care much about your temporary files, you can keep them. Oh, btw, these temporary files makes your webpage loads faster and makes programs runs much faster, no doubt.
1. Start > Run > Type %temp% in the text field (including %). You can delete all the files from that folder. In case, a file is currently used by a running program, you will not be able to delete it. Do it at a later time, or when you stop every program that is running.
And just press the Up button from this folder and you will see a folder named “Temporary Internet Files”. Guess, you know what to do. (Once in a week)
2. Start > Run > Prefetch : You can delete all the files from this folder. (Once in a week) 3. Start > Run > Temp : Same as prefetch.
4. You can search for a temporary files yourself by typing *.tmp in the Find files or folders. But this is risky. To clear history, cache, cookies..etc.etc… you can do it easily from the browser itself. One recommendation, do defrag your hard drives frequently, at least once a week. Do Disk Cleanup. And you can have certain software for junk file removal and registry cleaner. 5. start> All Programs> Accessories> system Tools> Disk clean Up.
(Once in a week)
6. start> All Programs> Accessories> system Tools> Desk DeFragmenter.
(Once in a month)
7. Regularly Delere ur Browsing History
Internet Explorer> Menu Bar> Tools> Internet Option> Browsing History> Delete> Delete (check all tabs)
Arrange ur Start Up Programe
1. Start> Run> msconfig
Use Disable all> apply> ok> then restart ur systam....
മലയാളം ട്രാന്സിലറേന്സ്ഈ നൂറ്റാണ്ടിന്റെ അവസാനത്തോടെ 7000 ത്തോളം വരുന്ന ലോക ഭാഷകളില് പകുതിയിലധികവും ഇല്ലാതാകുമെന്ന് നാഷണല് ജ്യോഗ്രാഫിക് സൊസൈറ്റി നടത്തിയ പഠനത്തില് പറയുന്നു. നമ്മുടെ ഭാഷയായ മലയാളത്തിനെന്തു സംഭവിയ്ക്കും?
URL: http://www.samayamonline.in/type%20malayalam.htm
Google Indic Transliteration offers an option for converting Roman characters to the Malayalam characters. This lets you type Malayalam words phonetically in English script and still have them appear in their correct alphabet. Note that this is not the same as translation -- it is the sound of the words that are converted from one alphabet to the other, not their meaning. For example, typing "avan" transliterates into Malayalam as:
1. How do I use transliteration to type in Malayalam? The transliteration feature is controlled by the button at the top left corner of the text box. This button toggles the transliteration feature on and off. (You can also use Ctrl-G as a shortcut.) When it is on, it affects the text box contents. The letters of a word will appear as you type them until you reach the end of the word. As soon as you type a space or a punctuation mark, the letters will be converted to Malayalam characters, like this:
The transliteration will attempt to match the sounds of the letters as accurately as possible between the two alphabets. However, if you find that it is incorrect, you can fix it. 2. How do I correct and edit words? When you find a word you want to change, just click on it once, using the left mouse button. This displays a short menu of alternate spellings, as well as an option to switch back to the original Roman characters you typed, or to edit the word further. If you choose the "Edit..." option, you'll see the word in an Edit mode that provides on-the-fly suggestions for the next letter in the sequence. Click on the letter you want to enter next, it will be added to the word, and suggestions for the following letter will come up. You can also continue typing from your keyboard as well, if you prefer, and the characters will be entered according to this chart. Type a space or press the Enter key to end the word and go back to normal typing mode. The suggestions provided in the "Edit..." option are limited to letters which could reasonably follow the ones already typed. Each button shows some English text in gray, which indicates the part of the last syllable that you have already typed. The text in bold indicates what you can type to get the Malayalam letter displayed on that button. Alternatively, you can just click the button and it will add the correct letter for you. If a button is green, that means that the letter is phonetically similar to the last typed syllable, and clicking on the button will replace it.
3. How do I use the on-screen keyboard? If you want complete control over the choice of letters, click the keyboard icon to the right of the word you're editing. A full on-screen keyboard comes up, and you can simply click the letters you want to insert them into your text.
Matras (accent marks) are shown with dotted circles to indicate that they can be applied to different letters. To use them, first click the letter you want to use, then click the matra you want to apply to it. For example, to type വ്യാ pronounced "vyaa",
Type a space, punctuation mark or the Enter key to end the word and go back to normal typing mode, or just click the "X" icon on the keyboard to remove it. 4. Does my system support transliteration? The transliteration feature is only supported in Internet Explorer versions 6.0 and higher on Windows (preferably Windows XP), and Firefox 1.5 and higher on Windows and Linux. 5. How do I install and view Malayalam fonts correctly? The Transliteration page uses Unicode to encode the Malayalam characters in your post. Unicode is a system of representing text and symbols and is supported by all modern browsers and operating systems.
Mozilla Firefox requires support for complex text layout, otherwise it might display the Malayalam text incorrectly. The support for complex text layout is usually turned off by default, but this Wikipedia article gives a detailed explanation on how to turn it on in various operating systems. The above Malayalam characters with chillus may not be rendered correctly on some systems even with complex script rendering enabled, in which case you can refer to this Wikia article for solutions to set this right. 6. How do I use the editing options better? For a complete mapping of which Roman characters will be converted into which Malayalam characters, please see this article. Note that this is a static mapping that only applies in Edit mode. When you are simply typing as usual, a more complex algorithm is used to determine the correct characters to display based on the sound of each overall word. 7. Will transliteration work even without internet connectivity? Transliteration requires a live internet connection, as all the transliteration is done on Google's servers and sent back to your browser while you continue typing. If you see a message saying that the transliteration service is unavailable, check your internet connection. 8. Which other languages do you support? Transliteration is available for the Hindi language in Blogger and Orkut. It is now available in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam, on the Google Indic Transliteration page and the iGoogle gadget. 9. Is transliteration available in other Google services? Yes. Transliteration is available in the following services:
Regards...... Sumod Smitha AdharshHow to Empty My Recent Documents Automatically on Log off?How to Empty My Recent Documents Automatically on Log off?
All
the files you open will be stored in your user profile in a hidden
folder named My Recent Documents. This is really annoying and a treat
to our privacy! We can make this folder auto cleared on logoff using a
single registry change. 1. Click Start > Run > Type in regedit 2. In the Registry editor navigate to the following key. HKEY_Current_User > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Policies > Explorer 3. Right click on the Right Pane > New > Dword Value & name it as ClearRecentDocsOnExit . 4. Double Clcik on it & se the value to 1 . This will clear the My Recent Documents Folder automatically on logoff. To Revert back either delete the Dword value or set the value to 0. That's it. Enjoy! XP Tips....Change the font wondows xp displays in the wondows explorer Windows XP uses the same font for desktop icons and Windows Explorer.
If the font is too hard to read, you can change its size or the font
itself with a few mouse clicks. Here's how to adjust the look of your
system fonts.Windows Explorer and My Computer display the same font that Windows XP uses for icon titles on your desktop: Tahoma, 8 point. If you want to change the font or font size used in Windows Explorer, follow these steps:
You can see the new font by launching Windows Explorer or My Computer. If you don't like what you see, repeat the steps and select a different font. Prevent a shutdown of a Windows XP systemBy default, at three o’clock every morning Windows XP’s Automatic Updates tool contacts the Windows Update site and automatically downloads and installs updates for your system. However, that cannot happen if other people who use the computer shut it down at the end of the day. Fortunately, you can prevent anyone from shutting down Windows XP with a little registry tweak. Here’s how:
To enable the setting, close the Registry Editor and restart your system. Once your system restarts, you will not be able to it shut down by clicking the Shutdown button on the Start menu. This will prevent most users from inadvertently shutting down the computer. When you do want to shut down your system, just access Task Manager by pressing [Ctrl][Alt][Del], then pull down the Shut Down menu and select the Turn Off command. Note: Since editing the registry is risky, be sure you have a verified backup before saving any changes. This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional. Removing unused device drivers from Windows XP machinesTakeaway: Did you know that unless you uninstall a device driver on a Windows XP machine that it still may be sucking up valuable system resources? Here are step-by-step instructions on how you can view and remove these unnecessary devices.When you install a device driver on a Windows XP machine, the operating system loads that driver each time the computer boots regardless of whether the device is present—unless you specifically uninstall the driver. This means that drivers from devices that you have long since removed from your system may be wasting valuable system resources. Follow these steps to view and remove these unnecessary device drivers:
Using the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility in Windows XPTakeaway: Can't uninstall an application using Windows XP? The Windows Installer CleanUp Utility may be able to help you wash your Windows clean.Not able to remove or uninstall an application in Windows XP using either the Uninstall option or the Add/Remove Programs tool? Try using the Windows Installer CleanUp Utility. As long as you installed the application using the Windows Installer, this utility will remove all the folders, files, registry keys, and entries from your system and allow you to start over with a clean slate. Here's how:
You may now reinstall the application. Enable Malayalam on Windows XP
Enable Malayalam on Windows XP
control Panel-ലെ Regional Language Option'ല് Language എന്ന Tab എടുത്ത് 'Install Files For Complex Script' എന്നു കാണിക്കുന്ന കോളം ടിക്ക് ചെയ്തിട്ടുണ്ടോ എന്നു പരിശോധിക്കുക, ഇല്ലെങ്കില് ടിക്ക് ചെയ്യുക. Win XP CD ആവശ്യപ്പെടുമ്പോള് CD ഡ്രൈവില് ഇട്ടതിനുശേഷം അതു പൂര്ണ്ണമായി Install ചെയ്യുക.തുടര്ന്ന് സിസ്റ്റം റീബൂട്ട് ചെയ്യുക
വീണ്ടും Controle Panel ലെ Reagional Language Tab- ല് Deatils ബട്ടണ് ക്ലിക്ക് ചെയ്യുക.അപ്പോള് വരുന്ന Window-യില് Add button ക്ലിക്ക് ചെയ്യുക. Input Language ലിസ്റ്റില് നിന്നും 'Malayalam (India) ' എന്ന ഭാഷ തിരഞ്ഞെടുക്കുക. ഇപ്പോള് നിങ്ങളുടെ task bar-ല് Language എന്ന ചിഹ്നം കാണാന് സാധിക്കും .
ഫോണ്ട് ഡൗണ്ലോഡ് , ഇന്സ്റ്റാള് ചെയ്യുന്ന രീതി ഒരു Unicode font നിങ്ങളുടെ കമ്പ്യൂട്ടറില് കോപ്പി ചെയ്യുക.ഉദാ. Meera ( Download Malayalam unicode fonts) ഡൗണ്ലോഡ് ചെയ്ത ഫോണ്ട് Control Panel-ലെ "Fonts" Directory യില് Paste ചെയ്യുക. ട്രാന്സ്ലിറ്ററേഷന് ട്രാന്സ് ലിറ്ററേഷന് വഴി മലയാളം ഉപയോഗിക്കുന്നതിനായി മൊഴി കീമാന് ഉപയോഗിക്കുക. ആദ്യമായി ഇത് http://varamozhi.wikia.com യില് നിന്നും Download ചെയ്ത് ഇന്സ്റ്റാള് ചെയ്യുക. ഇന്സ്റ്റാലേഷന് പൂര്ത്തിയായാല് Taskbar-ല് വലതു വശത്തായി മൊഴികീമാന് ചിഹ്നം കാണാന് സാധിക്കിം.അതില് ക്ലിക്ക് ചെയ്താല് ട്രാന്സിലിറ്ററേഷന് Keyboard ആക്റ്റീവാക്കാം. Boosting ur Word 2007Use Word 2007’s new Reading Highlight feature to highlight words in your document If you've ever wished you could use Word's Find feature to search for a particular word and highlight all occurrences of that word—then have the document stay highlighted even after you turn off Find—you can now with Word 2007's new Reading Highlight feature. When you use Find's Reading Highlight feature, the highlighting of all occurrences of a word or phrase in your document will remain active until you clear it—even after you close the Find dialog box. Also, you can choose the highlight color. For example, let's say you receive your new product's user manual and you want to review the document's warranty information. Rather than read the entire document to find the appropriate sections, you can have Find highlight every instance of the word warranty for you. Follow these steps:1. Click the Home tab and then click the Text Highlight Color command in the Font group.
2. Select the Yellow box.
3. Open the manual document and press [Ctrl]F.
4. In the Find What text box, type
5. Click the Reading Highlight drop-down list and select Highlight All.
6. Click Close. Save time by using Word 2007's built-in cover pages Prior to Word 2007, you had to manually set section breaks at the top of your document before you could create a cover page with a different page format from the rest of your document. With Word 2007's built-in cover pages, the section breaks are already formatted for you. Follow these steps to add one of the built-in cover pages to your document: 1. Click the Insert tab.
1. Click the Cover Page button.
2. Scroll down and click Sideline.
3. Select the Title field and add your own title.
4. Click to select the Subtitle field and add your own subtitle.
5. Click the list arrow on the Date field and select the date from the calendar.
6. Click anywhere in page two of your document.
7. On the Insert tab, click the Page Number button.
8. Point to Bottom Of Page and click Plain Number 3.
9. On the Design tab, click the Page Number button.
10. Click Format Page Numbers.
11. Click in the Start At text box and change the 1 to 0. Click OK.
12. On the Design tab, click the Close Header And Footer button. Note: This feature is not supported in Word 2007 Compatibility Mode documents.Add a header to Word 2007 documents with three mouse clicks Although Word 2007 comes with some sophisticated built-in header styles, most documents do not require such complex headers. Sometimes all that is needed is a quick way to add your name and page number to the top of each page.
Word 2007 makes it easier to add a simple header, with fewer mouse clicks than previous versions. For example, to create a simple header for a report, follow these steps:
1. On the Ribbon, click the Insert tab.
2. Click Header in the Header & Footer Group.
3. Click Edit Header. In the blank header area, you can add your name and page numbers. To do so, follow these steps:
1. Press Ctrl+R.
2. Type your name and press Enter.
3. Type
4. Click the Insert tab.
5. Click Page Number in the Header & Footer Group.
6. Click Current Position.
7. Click Plain Number.
8. Click the Close Header button. You can go back at any time and edit the header by double-clicking the header text on any page. When you finish your edits, double-click outside the header area to continue working in the rest of the document. Change the default margins of your Word 2007 documents Word 2007 makes it easy to change your default margins. For example, if your organization requires all documents to have one-inch margins, you can set it once, and then make it the default setting for all new documents. Follow these steps to make the changes stick: 1. On the Ribbon, click the Page Layout tab.
2. Click the Margins tool in the Page Setup group.
3. Click Custom Margins.
4. Change your right and left margins to one inch.
5. Click the Default button.
6. Click Yes. All new documents based on your document's template will have one-inch margins. If you need to temporarily change the margins to one of the standard choices—for example, two-inch left and right margins—follow these steps: 1. On the Ribbon, click the Page Layout tab.
2. Click the Margins tool in the Page Setup group.
3. Click Wide. The left and right margins for the document you are currently working on will adjust to two inches. Let Word 2007 proofread your documents with a click of the mouse Word 2007 automatically proofreads your document for spelling, grammar, and style errors as you type and lets you correct the errors as they occur or at the end of your Word session. You can customize how Word proofreads your documents by setting the desired options before you work on your document.
For example, suppose you want Word to make suggestions before automatically changing a misspelled word, as well as identify gender-specific words in your text. Follow these steps:
1. Click the Office button and then click the Word Options button.
2. Click Proofing.
3. Click the AutoCorrect Options button in the right pane.
4. In the AutoCorrect tab, clear the Automatically Use Suggestions From The Spelling Checker check box. Click OK.
5. Click the Writing Style Settings button.
6. Scroll to Style and click the Gender-Specific Words check box.
7. Click OK twice. When you are ready to proofread your document, click the Proofing Errors button in the status bar to sort through and correct any errors that Word has found. Use Word 2007's options to change your default document folder In Windows, all your Word documents save to the My Documents folder by default. However, your organization may require that you save your documents to a folder on the network server. Rather than navigate to the network server every time you need to save a file, change the default so your Word 2007 files automatically save to the correct folder. Follow these steps:
1. Click the Office button.
2. Click the Word Options button.
3. Click Save.
4. Under Save Documents, click the Browse button next to the Default File Location text box.
5. Navigate to and click the folder you want to be your default.
6. Click OK twice. If you save a new document in Word 2007, it will save in Word 2007 format. If you know you will be sharing your document with users of older versions, such as Word 2002 or Word 2003, you may want to set the default to the older format to ensure that those users will be able to read your newly created documents. Follow these steps:
1. Click the Office button.
2. Click the Word Options button.
3. Click Save.
4. Under Save Documents, select Word 97-2003 Document (*.doc) from the Save Files In This Format drop-down list.
5. Click OK. By default, all new files will save in a format that users of earlier Word releases can read. Transfer information to other documents using Word 2007’s View Side By Side feature When you need to copy information from one Word 2007 document to another, you could use the Copy button to copy the selected information from one document, open the destination document, click where you want to insert the information, and then click the Paste button. Or you could just right-click and drag the information from one document to another. Word 2007’s View Side By Side feature makes it easy to do just that. Let’s say you want to copy a picture in Document A to Document B. Follow these steps:
1. Open Document A.
2. Open Document B and scroll to where you want to insert the picture.
3. Click the View tab.
4. Click the View Side By Side command in the Window group.
5. Click in Document B and then click Window on the View tab.
6. Click Synchronous Scrolling to turn it off.
7. Select the picture in Document A.
8. Right-click and drag the selected picture to where you want to insert the picture in Document B.
9. Release the mouse button and select Copy Here. After copying your selections, you can turn off the View Side By Side feature by clicking Window on the View tab of the active window and then clicking the View Side By Side command. Customize the Word 2007 Ribbon with these quick tips If the Word 2007 Ribbon is taking up too much space on your desktop and you’d rather have one toolbar displaying the most frequently used commands, you can set up Word 2007 to do just that.
First, to hide the Ribbon, press Ctrl+F1 or double-click the Home tab. The Ribbon will disappear from view, leaving only the Ribbon tabs and the Quick Access toolbar visible on the screen. When you need to use a command on the Ribbon, click the appropriate tab to display the Ribbon group where the command is located. When you finish with the command, click the tab to hide the Ribbon again.
If you frequently use certain commands on the Ribbon, you can add them to the Quick Access toolbar. For example, follow these steps to see how simple it is to add Date & Time to the Quick Access toolbar:
1. Click the Customize Quick Access Toolbar button found to the right of the Office button.
2. Click More Commands.
3. Choose All Commands from the Choose Commands From drop-down list.
4. Click Date & Time.
5. Click the Add button and click OK. If you repeatedly display the Ribbon to format selected text, use the Mini toolbar rather than the Ribbon. The Mini toolbar displays automatically when you point to selected text. You can also format without the Ribbon by right-clicking any part of your document. This will display a shortcut menu of formatting commands that relate to the part of the document you clicked. For example, right-clicking the footer will display the Edit Footers shortcut menu. Assemble professional documents with Word 2007’s building blocks When you need to quickly produce an important report in Word, you don’t want to spend time formatting it. But this doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice presentation for substance. You can still achieve a professional look by assembling the document from Word 2007’s built-in components.
Before you begin writing your report in Word 2007, follow these steps to add headers, footers, a confidential watermark, and a cover page:
1. Open a blank Word 2007 document and click the Insert tab.
2. Click the Quick Parts command in the Text group and select Building Blocks Organizer.
3. Scroll to the Footer gallery, select Tiles, and click the Insert button.
4. Click the Close Header And Footer button. 5. Click the Insert tab on the Ribbon.
6. Click the Quick Parts command and select Building Blocks Organizer.
7. Scroll to the Header gallery, select Tiles, and click the Insert button.
8. Click the Close Header And Footer button.
9. Click the Insert tab on the Ribbon.
10. Click the Quick Parts command and select Building Blocks Organizer.
11. Scroll to the Watermark Gallery, select Confidential 1, and click the Insert button.
12. Click the Quick Parts command and select Building Blocks Organizer.
13. Select Tiles in the Cover Page Gallery and click the Insert button.
14. Double-click the footer section in the document.
15. Click Page Number in the Header & Footer group on the Ribbon and click Format Page Numbers.
16. Type 0
17. Click the Close Header And Footer button. Use Word 2007’s contextual spell checker to avoid embarrassing errors Word’s spell checker can help you cut down on spelling errors, but what if you type the word right, and it should be write? Until Word 2007, the spell checker would have ignored the error.For those of us who consistently type to for too, there for their, or site for sight, Word 2007 has a new feature that not only checks for the correct spelling but also for the correct context. Follow these steps to activate the contextual spell checker:1. Click the Office Button.
2. Click the Word Options button.
3. Click Proofing.
4. In the When Correcting Spelling And Grammar In Word section, select the Use Contextual Spelling check box.
5. Click OK. If you type Now is the time for all good people to come to the aid of there country, Word will underline there in blue. You can then right-click the word to select the correct spelling: their.Check the compatibility of your Word 2007 documents Before you send out that beautifully formatted Word 2007 document, it's a good idea to check the compatibility of your document with other versions of Word. For example, if your document contains SmartArt (a feature that is not supported in earlier versions of Word), when a Word 2003 user opens your document, the SmartArt graphics will be converted into a single object that can't be edited. To have Word check the document for features that are not supported in earlier versions, follow these steps: 1. Click the Office button.
2. Point to Prepare in the left pane and click Run Compatibility Checker. Word 2007 provides a report that lists the document's unsupported features and details what you can do, if anything, to make your document readable in earlier versions. If you frequently e-mail documents in compatibility mode, you can have Word automatically run a compatibility check every time you save a file. To do so, select the Check Compatibility When Saving In Word 97-2003 Formats check box in the Word Compatibility Checker dialog box before clicking OK to close the compatibility report. Xp _speed_up_boot
Speed Up Boot and Shutdown Times Hack #3
Shorten the time it takes for your desktop to appear when you turn on your PC, and make XP shut down faster as well. No matter how fast your PC boots, it’s not fast enough. Here are several hacks to get you right to your desktop as quickly as possible after startup. Perform a Boot Defragment There’s a simple way to speed up XP startup: make your system do a boot defragment, which will put all the boot files next to one another on your hard disk. When boot files are in close proximity to one another, your system will start faster. On most systems, boot defragment should be enabled by default, but it might not be on yours, or it might have been changed inadvertently. To make sure that boot defragment is enabled on your system, run the RegistryEditor [Hack #83] and go to:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\BootOptimizeFunction Edit the Enable string value to Y if it is not already set to Y. Exit the Registryand reboot. The next time you reboot, you’ll do a boot defragment. I’ve found many web sites recommending a way of speeding up boot times that might in fact slow down the amount of time it takes to boot up and will probably slow down launching applications as well. The tip recommends going to your C:\WINDOWS\Prefetch directory and emptying it everyweek. Windows uses this directory to speed up launching applications. It analyzes the files you use during startup and the applications you launch, and it creates an index to where those files and applications are located on your hard disk. By using this index, XP can launch files and applications faster. So, by emptying the directory, you are most likely slowing down launching applications. In my tests, I’ve also found that after emptying the directory, it takes my PC a few seconds longer to get to my desktop after bootup.Hack Your BIOS for Faster Startups When you turn on your PC, it goes through a set of startup procedures in its BIOS before it gets to starting XP. So, if you speed up those initial startup procedures, you’ll make your system start faster. You can speed up your startup procedures by changing the BIOS with the built-in setup utility. How you run this utility varies from PC to PC, but you 12 | Startup and Shutdown # 3 Speed Up Boot and Shutdown TimesHACK typically get to it by pressing the Delete, F1, or F10 keys during startup. You’ll come to a menu with a variety of choices. Here are the choices to make for faster system startups: Quick Power On Self Test (POST) When you choose this option, your system runs an abbreviated POSTrather than the normal, lengthy one. Boot Up Floppy Seek Disable this option. When it’s enabled, your system spends a few extra seconds looking for your floppy drive—a relatively pointless procedure, especially considering how infrequently you use your floppy drive. Boot Delay Some systems let you delay booting after you turn on your PC so that your hard drive gets a chance to start spinning before bootup. Most likely, you don’t need to have this boot delay, so turn it off. If you run into problems, however, you can turn it back on. Fine-Tune Your Registry for Faster Startups Over time, your Registry can become bloated with unused entries, slowing down your system startup because your system loads them every time you start up your PC. Get a Registry clean-up tool to delete unneeded Registry entries and speed up startup times. Registry First Aid, shown in Figure 1-3,is an excellent Registry clean-up tool. It combs your Registry for outdated and useless entries and then lets you choose which entries to delete and which to keep. It also creates a full Registry backup so that you can restore the Registry if you run into a problem. Registry First Aid is shareware and free to try, but it costs $21 if you decide to keep using it. Download it from http://www.rosecitysoftware.com/Reg1Aid/index.html .After you clean out your Registry, you might want to try compacting it to get rid of unused space. The Registry Compactor, available from http://www.rosecitysoftware.com/RegistryCompactor/index.html , will do the trick. Compactingyour Registry reduces its size and decreases loading time. It’s shareware and free to try, but it costs $19.95 if you decide to keep it. Speed Up Shutdown Times It’s not only startup times that you’d like to speed up; you can also make sure that your system shuts down faster. If shutting down XP takes what seems to be an inordinate amount of time, here are a couple of steps you can take to speed up the shutdown process: Speed Up Boot and Shutdown Times #3Startup and Shutdown | 13 |
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