Everything you need to know about speeding up your computer, but didn't know where to go to find it out.
Well, MOST of what you need to know, anyway....
Okay, okay a bit of what you need to know. Now get off me.
Whether you have a new computer, or an old jalopy like mine, there are things you can do to get the most performance out of it. Windows is a lonely soul who likes a lot of company. The way it does this is to keep several programs running in the background.
DUMP THE JUNQUE: (Windows 98 only, I will post a solution for 95 soon, for now, I suggest going to VirtualDr and asking them.)
One way to find out just who all W98 is carousing about your computer with is to press CTRL+ALT+DELETE all at the same time and make note of all the programs listed. Do this when you are not online so you can batter guage what is actually going on, because when you are online, you will have more programs running than if your computer were at rest. So, when you log off the internet, and your computer is sitting there not doing anything, check and see what all is running.
All you really need running is Explorer and systray. Double click on each item that is listed other than these, and browse around your computer and see if you don't think it runs a bit faster. Remember, do this while you are offline, so you don't accidently knock yourself offline.
Get these to stop from loading up at startup:
So, you like the way your computer runs now that you have run off WIndows' buddies? Want to keep it this way? Do this:
Go to start
programs
accessories
system tools
and then click system information.
Now click tools, and go to system configuration utitliy. Once there, click start up, and look at all the programs Windows loads up when you start your ocmputer. Shame on Windows, and all this time you thought it was you friend. Look at the boxes with check marks in them. Some of these will load no matter what you do, and there's not anything ou can do about it. Take "load power profile" for instance. It is my understanding that it is listed twice because the computer needs to load it the first time for it's own information, and the second time for the system's infromation. No need to worry about this, it won't hog any resources. BUT, look at all the other thingies. My, my, my, what do we do about all this mess? Simply click the boxes that you don't want to load up at start up, and click "apply", then "okay". I would leave scan registry, task monitor, and scheduling agent alone. The rest? Bye bye.
Now close out of system information and restart your computer and see if not only it comes up a bit faster, but also it should run a bit faster.
"But Mr. Bill, there was really nothing to get rid of", or "But Mr. Bill, I did all that, but got no real performance boost". ALL IS NOT LOST!!! It is now time to download software that will kick your computer in the ascii and get it varooming.
THE NEED FOR SPEED:
You are now your own.
Just kidding. I have found two programs that do wonders for boosting performance. The first is CACHEMAN. It has several different settings for both Windows98 and 95. Just download it and follow the instructions. This program is free.
The next program is called RAMBOOSTER. As with the other one, just download it and follow the instructions.
Oh, and you can always load the latest edition of the drivers for your hardware. Go to www.windrivers.com and check them out.
MAKE MY INTERNET CONNECTION GO, "VAROOM", PLEASE:
Easier than you think. DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH ANY OTHER WEB ACCELERATOR. Most of them either cost money (a waste) or only prefetch pages, and don't speed anything up other than letting you access those pages the program "thinks" you are going to access faster. EASYMTU, on the other hand, actually tweaks the settings your modem uses to connect ot the internet. ( It will even speed up your AOL access, though I hardly understand why you would be paying for an internet service provider... What? What did I mean by that? Well why not click here to find out? )
You will need to keep up with where you put this program, because, for some reason, it will not install itself in your programs file under start. ONce you have installed it, just go to start, find, files or folders, and search c: drive, or whatever drive you host on, and look for easymtu. Once found, I would link it to my desktop until I were through using it.
This program is not exactly the most user friendly one out there, but if you do this, you will have no problem. At whichever tab you go to, just click the question mark on the tool bar, and you will get a handy bit of advice on the function your are looking at. I, personally, have seen this program double connection speeds. BUT, while it may not increase you connection speed, you will notice that pages load faster, and your download time should increase.
Did I leave anything out? Email me and I will add your comments to this page along with mentioning your name.
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