Windows tries to be all things to all users and has plenty of features you're unlikely ever to need. Rosemary Hattersley, Patrick Miller and Lincoln Spector offer a range of tips, tweaks and simple upgrades that will improve everyday PC use and give your Windows PC a new lease of life
Windows 7 launched 18 months ago and was available as a public beta for many months before then. It's been well received by home and business users, and has many fine qualities. (Not least among these has been the excuse we needed to fork out for a new PC or laptop after hanging on to a clunky XP machine longer than we'd ideally have liked.) But there's always room for improvement. We still find ourselves tinkering with backgrounds and themes and getting lost in the maze of desktop-navigation options Microsoft thoughtfully provided. The big-ticket features unique to Windows 7 are few and far between: the operating system (OS) was more of a refinement than anything else. Microsoft took a punt on some of the multimedia features going largely unused and shunted items such as Windows Movie Maker over to its cloud-based Live Essentials site. You can download this capable program in return for your email address (needed to set up a Windows Live ID), but if you prefer to edit your video clips in another program - or not to use video tools at all - your hard drive won't be clogged up unnecessarily. Microsoft has sought to ensure unpopular features introduced in Vista - notably User Account Control (UAC) - are less intrusive, but there are other culprits that are almost as annoying. And, for all its plus points, Windows 7 is still prone to the odd hissy fit or crash. Here, we address how to keep Windows running straight and true, regardless of whether it's a new-ish Windows 7 model or an XP or Vista machine. Along the way we suggest useful, easy-to-implement upgrades that will keep any Windows computer ticking along and allow you to take advantage of the latest technologies as they emerge. Simple speed tweaks Windows can do all sorts of amazing things, some of which you might actually want it to do. Unfortunately, the things you don't want it to do can slow down your PC. By turning off unnecessary programs, processes and services, you can unburden Windows and help it live up to its full potential. Some of the following suggestions may not produce a noticeable improvement in performance individually. But their cumulative effect can be to significantly speed up your system. Switch off services to speed things up First stop is the System Properties menu. In Vista or Windows 7, go to Start, right-click Computer, Properties. Choose Remote settings, System protection, or Advanced system settings in the left pane. Alternatively, click Start, type sysdm.cpl and press Enter. In XP, click Start, right-click My Computer and select Properties. Or click Start, Run, type sysdm.cpl and press Enter. We can now get rid of some cosmetic features that do little beyond eating up processor clock cycles. Click the System Properties dialog box's Advanced tab, then go to Settings in the Performance section. Select which visual effects to keep and which to lose (see screenshot, top right). Select 'Adjust for best performance' to turn off them all or individually deselect particular items you don't require. Remote assistance Unless you're providing or receiving support for your PC via the Remote Access tools built into Windows, there's no reason to leave the Remote Assistance feature on. To turn it off, click the System Properties dialog box's Remote tab. Untick 'Allow Remote Assistance connections to this computer' in Vista or Windows 7 (see screenshot above). In XP, disable 'Allow Remote Assistance invitations to be sent from this computer'. Error reporting Both Windows and the programs that run on it occasionally make mistakes. When that happens, the OS attempts to send a report back to Microsoft. In theory, your report helps the company find bugs and improve future versions. Whether that reporting system really helps is open to debate. It certainly doesn't help you in the short run. If you'd rather get on with your work than report a bug, click the System Properties dialog box's Advanced tab and choose Error Reporting. Select 'Disable error reporting', but keep the 'But notify me when critical errors occur' option active. To turn off error reporting in Vista and Windows 7, go to the Start, Run menu and type in services.msc. Select the option from the several dozen that appear. Fast user-switching This service in XP helps Windows keep two or more users at a time logged on and active. This is useful and convenient, provided that you're sharing the PC with another person. If the PC is all yours, go to the Services menu, find and double-click the 'Fast User Switching Compatibility' service, then set the 'Startup type' to Disabled. Help and Support You shouldn't turn off the Help and Support options entirely, but you may want to tell Windows to run such services on demand rather than in the background. In Services, find and double-click 'Help and Support'. Change the 'Startup type' to Manual. Windows Features optional add-ons Windows Features in Vista and Windows 7 (it isn't included in XP) gives you on/off control over a multitude of elements. You can control which games are available, turn on useful features and turn off some resource-wasting services (see screenshot below). To open the Windows Features dialog box, click Start, type programs and features and press Enter. Once the 'Uninstall or change a program' application comes up, click 'Turn Windows features on or off' in the left pane. Windows 7 users can also click Start, type windows features and select 'Turn Windows features on or off'. Note that this dialog box takes a long time to load; when you've made your changes and clicked Ok, it takes an even longer time to close. Then it usually reboots the PC. Consequently, it's best to make all these changes at once. Don't print over the web If you never print documents over the web, you're unlikely to miss Windows' Internet Printing Client. To turn it off, find and expand the Windows Features dialog box's Print Services (or 'Print and Document Services') listing. Deselect the 'Internet Printing Client' option. Cancel your Meeting Space If you collaborate on projects with other Windows Vista users, Meeting Space is a handy program to have around. It lets you share files across a network, while editing them with a remote colleague. A lot of people were therefore disappointed that Microsoft dropped Meeting Space from Windows 7. But if you're not using this feature in Vista, Meeting Space is a waste of resources. To disable it, simply clear the 'Windows Meeting Space' option in the Windows Features dialog box. Tablet PC options The iPad has changed our perception of tablet PCs, but there's yet to be one running on Windows that's proved its worth. However, over the years Microsoft has had several stabs at creating a tablet-optimised Windows interface. If your computer has such a mode - and it isn't a touchscreen PC - turn off the feature. Go to Windows Features and deselect the 'Tablet PC Optional Components' (Vista) or 'Tablet PC Components' (Windows 7). Next, in Services (click Start, type services and press Enter to get there; in XP it's Start, Run, type services.msc and press Enter) find and double-click the 'Tablet PC Input Service'. In the 'Startup type' drop-down menu, select Disabled, then click Ok. Service please There are nearly 200 settings you can tweak in the Services window, so it pays to know which you can safely deactivate. Many are critical to your PC's running, so it's a good idea to Google the service name. Double-click a service to bring up its Properties dialog box. An option on the General tab, 'Startup type', controls how the service starts. Select Automatic and it loads when Windows boots. Select Manual and it loads when a program needs it. Select Disabled and the service won't load at all. Indexed search Indexing speeds up searches considerably, especially in Vista and Windows 7. An indexed search can take seconds, whereas a non-indexed search can take minutes. But when you're not searching, indexing drags down performance. If you rarely use desktop search, hunt down the 'Windows Search' service in Vista and Windows 7, and 'Indexing Service' in XP. Select Disabled to turn it off (see screenshot, top left). Outwit iTunes iTunes isn't as straightforward to use as some people would have you believe. In particular, it likes to constantly check for new versions to install and it isn't above turning a blind eye to new albums and tracks copied to your PC. To tame it, you need to introduce an 'automatically add to iTunes' rule to Windows. Just such a feature was introduced with iTunes 9.0. It works by checking for new items at the default folder location (C:\Users\username\ Music\iTunes\iTunes Media). Download new music and videos to this folder and you won't have to add or organise them later. If it's podcasts rather than CDs you've ripped to your PC that fail to appear, it's likely iTunes has stopped downloading them. iTunes will automatically stop updating your podcast subscriptions if you don't listen to them. Fix this with this simple Visual Basic tweak ( tinyurl.com/itunespods), which automatically marks all your unplayed podcasts as played, causing iTunes to continue updating them. Use Windows' built-in Task Scheduler to set the script to run every week or so. iTunes can share music across several PCs, but you may not want others to be able to access everything that's stored in iTunes. Use Libra ( sillybit.com/libra) to set up and easily switch between multiple iTunes libraries. Another by-product of the growing reach of iTunes is the brakes Apple applies. Unless you tell it not to, it looks for shared libraries, Airplay (speakers) and AirTunes devices and Apple TVs, as well as remote controls, iPhones, iPads and various iPods. To fix this, go to the iTunes Preferences menu and clear the boxes for any device you don't use in the 'Sharing and Devices' menu. Turn off Genius from the Store menu, too. Extending the lifespan of your Windows PC isn't just about fitting a faster processor or a larger hard drive; it's also about adding new technologies that allow It to work harmoniously with types of device that perhaps didn't exist when your machine was made. You'll find a guide to updating the firmware on your PC, laptop and various gadgets in this month's Troubleshooter pages ( page 94). There's also a guide to flashing your firmware in the Troubleshooter section of our cover DVD. But it's not simply drivers and firmware that can be used to give your Windows PC a new lease of life. Those for your peripherals can also be reinvigorated, unlocking potential new or improved features that enhance how you use them. It could even make the difference between a device not working at all with your PC - an issue should you decide to upgrade the OS itself (see Windows upgrade options, page 83) - and it continuing to function as you expect. An instant boost ReadyBoost is a feature that Microsoft introduced with Vista and enhanced in Windows 7. It uses available memory on a USB flash drive to supplement your system's RAM. The option usually pops up in the Autoplay options when you insert a suitable device. Windows 7 users can take advantage of ReadyBoost across multiple USB devices (Vista supports one device at a time). A standard memory key plus your iPod, for example, can be simultaneously used for this purpose. An option in iTunes lets you use spare storage capacity for hard-disk duties, too. Conversely, if you aren't using ReadyBoost to speed up Windows, the feature will no doubt slow it down. To turn it off, in Services find and double-click ReadyBoost. In the 'Startup type' drop-down menu, select Disabled, then click Ok. (Note that XP doesn't have ReadyBoost, and Windows 7 doesn't allow you to turn it off.) Improve compatibility with Windows updates Our Helproom pages often carry requests from readers keen to enable their printer or scanner to continue working with their upgraded OS. Drivers for older peripherals aren't a given, especially once the OS enters its extended support phase and is no longer actively supported by Microsoft. Such is the case with XP SP2. But it's not just a newer OS that can add features to an older device: expansion cards for laptops, USB memory sticks that augment existing capabilities, and updates to firmware all bring benefits. If your laptop is between two and five years old, it may have a slot that's about twice the width of an SD Card. This is an ExpressCard slot, and it offers easy upgrades where you choose the elements you want to update and buy the appropriate ExpressCard to do so. Faster Wi-Fi, FireWire, a 3G module or a GPRS radio can be added via ExpressCard. Alternatively, you could use this slot to add memory card slots (if your laptop doesn't have any or your camera uses, say, MemoryStick Duo rather than SD memory). Flash memory ExpressCards also exist - Transcend's 32GB ExpressCard flash memory costs around ukp78 online. File transfers aren't as nippy as with a solid-state disk (SSD), but it's a much cheaper option than SSD and has the same no-moving-parts benefit. As with a USB key, flash memory added via a USB port can be recognised by Windows 7 as supplementary working memory. Simply tell Windows to use the available memory to boost your machine - an option that usually appears on the Autoplay dialog box when you plug in a suitable device. Get better connected A USB port can be used to add connections too. A single port can be combined with a USB hub, which lets you run several USB peripherals at once. USB dongles containing 3G or Bluetooth technology are also cheaply available. If you've got a home printer that supports Bluetooth, pairing it with your PC will allow you to wirelessly send photos and documents to print, saving on cable clutter. Since most phones these days also support Bluetooth, you'll also be able to send cameraphone snaps to the printer this way or, conversely, beam them to your PC ready to upload to Facebook. Another technology you should consider adding is USB 3.0. Still somewhat rare on laptops and PCs, it can potentially increase data transfers by a factor of five to 10 times. Paired with a USB 3.0 hard drive, it's an obvious means of future-proofing your current machine. A USB 3.0 add-in card costs from ukp22, while a PCI version that slots inside your PC on the motherboard will set you back as little as ukp10. You will need to check your motherboard is able to accept such an upgrade, but you really only need a spare PCI slot and be confident enough to perform the simple upgrade. The final upgrade we'll suggest here is to your home network setup. Faster Wi-Fi is desirable as it will enable you to share photos, video and other files around the home network. You can pick up an adaptor for less than ukp30. As with the Bluetooth adaptor we recommended, a USB dongle version is the most straightforward. For a faster option, consider HomePlug. Pairs of HomePlug devices cost just over ukp100, but can boost home network transfers to 80 megabits per second (Mbps), 100Mbps, 200Mbps or even 1Gbps. Based on the mains electrical circuit, HomePlugs in essence form a direct link from your PC to whatever is on the other end of the corresponding HomePlug. For streaming video from your PC to your TV, it's ideal. You'll need the 200Mbps version for streaming HD video. For sharing more widely across multiple PCs and laptops, an 802.11n network makes more sense and will be cheaper. Again, it will be fast enough to push music, photos and standard-definition video around the home - but don't expect everyone in the house to be able to draw on the network to this extent simultaneously. Play with me This super-fast network you've created makes many other functions very rapid. Pushing files to a home server or a NAS drive for automatic backup is lightning-fast and can easily be automated. A further advantage is that you don't need to clog up your laptop's hard drive with files you can just as easily stream from a central location. And if you use a Windows Media Player feature called Play To, you'll be able to push tracks from device to device. For netbook owners with limited storage and no DVD drive, streaming is the best option all round. Note that Windows Media Player supports iTunes, so you could use this setup for sharing iTunes libraries or set up an iTunes server that everyone can access. Continuous service Updating to XP SP3 makes a material difference to the support experience, as well as adding valuable patches that help your PC continue to run smoothly. If you're running Windows XP but aren't currently on SP3, head to update.microsoft.com, validate your copy of Windows if required, then install the service pack. You'll now have support for Windows XP until July 2014. Windows upgrade options Windows itself has gone through revisions over the years, and there's a lot to be said for upgrading from an older version to Windows 7. It's not something to be carried out on a whim - if upgrading from XP you'll need to perform a 'fresh install', which will require you to back up all your files, programs and settings before beginning the upgrade process. However, the upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 is usually possible as an in-place installation, and should preserve your applications and documents (although it won't do any harm to back up). Another upgrade option for Windows is to move from a basic version of your current OS to a more feature-rich edition. For example, Windows 7 Home Premium to Windows 7 Ultimate, or Vista Home Premium to Vista Ultimate. Depending on how Windows was supplied - preinstalled on the PC when you bought it or purchased separately and installed by you - it may be possible to 'unlock' some of the missing features that are supported by pricier versions of Windows. A key code that you can buy from Microsoft or one of its recognised partners, such as PC World, HP, Dell or Amazon, will enable the 'open sesame' moment. Windows tricks No matter how fast your PC is already, a well-crafted Windows shortcut can give it a productivity boost. These tricks will make programs launch faster and your PC simpler to manage. Get straight to the problem To quickly view your system specifications press Windows, Pause to bring up the System Info window. This shortcut can be handy if you're troubleshooting a PC and need to pull up its specs in a hurry. Launch Taskbar apps quicker Put your most commonly used applications in the Taskbar, and you'll use your mouse a lot less. Pressing Windows plus any number key will launch the program in the corresponding Taskbar slot. Ditch the Displays Control Panel To switch display modes instantly when you plug in a projector or dock your laptop to an external display, press Windows, P. Run programs from anywhere You can launch programs and set parameters from your keyboard, without wasting time digging through the Start menu to find the one you want to use. Press Windows, R to bring up the Run dialog box. Prevent automatic updates Windows Update often forces your PC to restart after it finishes updating the OS with the latest fixes. If you're away from your desk with an unsaved document open at the time, you'll lose your work. To prevent this from happening, open Windows Update in the Control Panel, click Change settings and, in the drop-down menu, select 'Download updates but let me choose whether to install them'. Change Windows Explorer's routine It's a small thing but, over time, you probably lose an hour or so to the extra clicks required to ensure items you download save to the folder you need them to. To make Windows Explorer open a specific folder each time, right-click the Explorer icon in your Taskbar and choose Properties. In the Target field, add a space and a file path at the end of the %windir%\explorer.exe section, so that the new path looks like this: %windir%\explorer.exe C:\Users\yourusername\yourfolder. Take a view A related idea is to discipline Windows to always show items in the same view. To specify a particular view setting open a folder, click Organize and choose 'Folder and search options'. Select the View tab and click the 'Apply to Folders' button (pictured bottom left). Finicky folders One reason Windows thinks images belong in the Pictures folder and text documents in the Documents folder is the default information it's fed that states items within each folder type are 'optimised' for these respective file types. Right-click on a folder to bring up its Properties and you'll see which of several file types the folder is associated with. Choose a more appropriate one from the drop-down menu if you wish. Disable unwanted touchpad clicks If your touchpad is set to detect a tapping motion as a mouse click, it can send your cursor flying around your screen whenever your wrist accidentally brushes against the touchpad. Grab Touchfreeze ( tinyurl.com/nte6wu), a free utility that automatically disables your touchpad while you're typing. Make use of your Library Windows 7's Libraries provide an easy way to organise and access files. They become even more useful when teamed with the Win7 Library Tool ( tinyurl.com/zorntool, pictured above), which lets you add non-indexed folders to your library of choice. Get Quick Launch back Windows 7 added a number of useful features to the Taskbar, but in the process it got rid of the Quick Launch bar. Bringing back Quick Launch is easy. Right-click the Taskbar and deselect 'Lock the Taskbar'. Right-click it again and choose New toolbar. Type appdata%\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch into the file path, then navigate to that folder. Quick Launch will be back in action. Clean up your System Tray Your System Tray probably contains lots of icons that you rarely use, which makes it harder to find those you need. Drag those you use most often from the expanded tray to the minimised tray area. Drag-and-drop to your Taskbar apps A Taskbar icon's behaviour depends on which modifier keys you hold down as you click it. Hold down Shift while you click a program's icon to open a new instance of it. Hold down Ctrl, Shift while clicking the program's icon to open it as an administrator. Drag a file from your desktop (or from an open window) over a program's icon on the Taskbar to pin it to the Jump List, or hold down Ctrl to open a file with that program. Merciful makeovers You don't have to stick to the accessories that Microsoft provides as part of Windows. There are plenty of alternative media players, web browsers, calculators and other gadgets that may suit you better. For example, weather and news apps that use the UK as the base are a good start. There are also plenty of simple word processors and note-takers that allow you to jot down items you want to remember for later and that don't require you to wait for the program to load. Notepad++ ( tinyurl.com/28va737) is an advanced version of Notepad, with most of its features aimed at people who work with raw code. Notepad++ supports HTML, XML, JavaScript, .INI files and various flavours of C, among other languages and formats. ZuluPad ( tinyurl.com/69kddm5) focuses on the 'note' side of the Notepad feature set. ZuluPad Basic is free; the Pro version costs $15. Both can pull in images, automatically link to your other notes while you type, and even sync your ZuluPad documents online. Sticky Notes ( tinyurl.com/5ufqo4x, pictured above) look similar to Post-It notes - they even come in similar colours (right-click to choose another shade) and can be moved around the desktop. For visual effects we suggest Paint.net (tinyurl.com/jcyu9). It's much more capable than Microsoft Paint and is easier to use than paid-for programs such as Adobe Photoshop Elements. Replace Windows Picture and Fax Viewer Windows' picture viewer offers a glimpse of an image so you can preview a photo or a document layout before sending it to print (or fax). With large icons and a thumbnail setting in Explorer that can be adjusted via a slider bar, there's no real need for it in Windows 7, while XP and Vista users should look to IrfanView ( irfanview.com) or FastStone Image Viewer ( faststone.org). Both are free. To be rid of the default Windows viewer, just ensure you set the replacement as your default image viewer. You can crop, rotate and resize shots from IrfanView, too. Backup without the bother Go to the Start menu in Vista or Windows 7, type backup and press Enter. Here, you can select a regular day and time of the week for backups to take place. Remember that the more items you back up and store externally, the more space you can free up on your hard drive. This, in itself, will make Windows run faster and enable it to handle several tasks at once more easily. Use System Restore to disarm troublemakers Another feature in the same Control Panel menu as the Backup scheduler is System Restore. Its primary purpose is as a get-out mechanism should you install a program and find it does bad things to your PC. It's particularly useful if you've inadvertently installed something you no longer want on your PC. It works well alongside Windows' Uninstall a Program and Add/Remove Programs utilities. System Restore works by creating a marker - known as a restore point - when you install a new piece of software. Note that it doesn't always do so, but it will for anything that requires a reboot to take effect. The utility also periodically creates a restore point just because Windows decides it's about time it did. To get things back on track should your PC go awry, go to System or type System Restore in the Start menu's search field and follow the prompts to restore your PC from an existing restore point. How do I look? Windows allows lots of control over how your desktop looks. Unless you're running Windows 7 Home Premium or above on a low-powered laptop or a very elderly PC, screensavers and gadgets shouldn't make a noticeable difference to how well the machine runs. To use an image of your own as a background, right-click the desktop and browse to your chosen photo. Alternatively, you can preview an image and select 'Set as desktop background' by right-clicking the image itself. A rolling selection of themed images can also be used to jazz up your desktop. Right-click a free area of the screen and choose Personalize, then select a preloaded theme and specify how often the onscreen image should change (pictured below). For more Windows Themes and additional gadgets and skins go to tinyurl.com/yfxj6hu. The same menu allows you to choose a new user account image and to switch the alert sounds Windows makes. Should you find things becoming sluggish, you may be better running gadgets within your web browser rather than as desktop items. At this stage a quick desktop clean-up or defragmentation is also worth performing. Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
