Quiet a Shrieking Monitor

Old CRT monitors have this tendency to produce a shrill high pitched sound as then age. Try this tip and save yourself from the noise.

The problem is mostly caused by a vibrating flyback transformer. In this case, you just need to set up your display settings again. The easy fix is to increase the refresh rate at which the monitor is operating. This might require you to lower the resolution.

• Go to Start > Control Panel > Display Settings and click the settings tab.

• Then click on the "Advanced" button. Under the 'Monitor' tab, select a refresh rate higher than 72 hz.

• Typically, refresh rates that are higher than 72 Hz give a better display experience and may reduce eye strain.

An alternate fix is to perform "percussive maintenece". give the monitor a good, solid whack on ths side. This will stop the vibration, albert temporarily.

Common Command Console Utilities

WindowsXP has few console utilities you can easily run from the command line:

Computer Management - compmgmt.msc
Disk Managment - diskmgmt.msc
Device Manager - devmgmt.msc
Disk Defrag - dfrg.msc
Event Viewer - eventvwr.msc
Shared Folders - fsmgmt.msc
Group Policies - gpedit.msc
Local Users and Groups - lusrmgr.msc
Performance Monitor - perfmon.msc
Resultant Set of Policies - rsop.msc
Local Security Settings - secpol.msc
Services - services.msc
Component Services - comexp.msc

Locking File Associations

If you have your file associations the way you want for a particular file type, you can remove it from the list that gets displayed in the Folder Options / File Types screen

1. Start Regedit

2. Go to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

3. Scroll to the file association you want to lock.

4. In the right panel, create a new Binary value

5. Call it EditFlags

6. Give it a value of 01 00 00 00

7. Now when you go to the Folder Options / File Types screen, you won't see that file type listed.

Cleaning the Fan

If your CPU or Chassis fan is not spinning at the correct RPM (this mostly happens with cheaper quality fans), remove the sticker which is on the fan and you will see the "Bush" beneath. Clean out this area with a small brush and makes sure that you put one drop of sewing machine oil in it. Do not put more that a drop at this assembly is very small and larger quantity would flood this area causing a mess when the fan starts. Don't forget to place the sticker back in its place.

Improving Speed of Slow Hard Disks

The fragmentation of saved files by Windows XP throughout the complete disk memory is directly proportional to the space occupied in the hard disk, this also slows down the PC. You can easily optimize almost all the files for quick access using XP’s defrag tool, but not the Pagefile and the Registry. The reason is Windows XP does not provide access to these files while operating.

Yet, the Pagefile and the Registry files can easily be optimized for quick access using the ‘PageDefrag’ tool.

Unzip the archive into any directory you want. Start the file “pagedfrg.exe” after unzipping and activate “Defragment at next boot”. The tool latches itself at the next boot before the operating system starts and defrags the system files. Windows then boots and the hard disk then starts functioning with its usual speed again.

Protection Against Power Surges

A power surge is a sudden brief increase in the line voltage, usually caused by lightning or power outages, short circuits, tripped circuit breakers, etc. It can damage you electrical equipment or at least reduce its life span. When lightning strikes a power line, it creates an extremely large power surge that overpowers almost any surge protector, so don't rely only on a surge protector. The best way to protect your computer is to unplug it. Also unplug any phone or coaxial cables.

To tackle voltage fluctuations, it's advisable to use a good quality surge protector. The quality is generally proportional to the price, a cheap spike guard would do little more than just providing power outlets. It should also have an indicator light indicating whether it's functioning properly or not. It should have a fuse that burns out if more than a particular amount of voltage passes through it. Power surges can also travel through your phone lines and coaxial cables-the phone lines connects to the modem and the coaxial cable is used to provide broadband Internet. Look for a surge protector with a telephone and coaxial cable line-in-jack. Some UPS units also provide surge protection.

Tweaking The Bios

It was very easy to alter the Bios settings of the Motherboard, but sometimes the system can get unstable and crash. Here is the tips to Tweak Bios Settings:

Playing around with the bios settings is alright, but it can result in an unstable system. Certain settings are related to over clocking of the Motherboard's voltage settings for the memory and processor. If incorrectly altered, the system can come down crashing or even go dead. Graphic cards, can also have their own settings problems. Certain Motherboard enable you to adjust an array of settings including timings. Altering these can be risky. While it seems to be fun to tweak these and see what the result in the systems speed are, remember that you are playing with delicate memory wait states.

The simplest option is to reset the Bios to safe defaults available in the menu. However, a flash on the Bios rom and now its working efficiently. It can be annoying, but we have to follow the method of upgrading the technology for best compatibily purposes at regular intervals.

Analyze Your Hard Disk Space

The software JdiskReport enables you to understand how much space the directories and files consume on your disk drives. It helps you find large, old and obsolete files and folders. It analyzes file trees and collects statistics that are presented as overview charts and tables. You need to have Java Run time Environment previously installed in order to install this application.

There is a feature called as "Size Views", which quickly show how much space the files and folders consume on your disk drives. The "Top 100 Lists" show the list of 100 largest files, the least recently modified files. "Size Distribution Views" help you learn more about the different file sizes on your disk drives. I you are in the "Show file size" mode, you can see how much space is consumed by large, medium sized and small files.

Download : JdiskReport

Place Your Speakers Correctly

If you have just upgraded your PC speakers to more powerful and advanced ones, you should learn how to use them optimally. These days PC speakers sets come with woofers and multiple speakers referred to as satellites. The placement of these speakers can go a long way in deciding the final output and quality of the sound. Whether you upgrade to a 2.1 speaker system (which comprises two satellites and woofer) or a 5.1 speaker system (five satellites and a woofer), make sure you place the woofer in the corner of the room or the listening area. The woofer should be placed in a corner but not too close to any wall or other objects.

The more open space it gets the better it sounds. The placement is also very important, it should be placed on the floor and not on any objects or shelves. Also make sure that it's away from the computer or any other electronic device. Woofers are generally not magnetically shielded and hence may cause interference with other devices. Satellites should ideally be placed at ear level in terms of the height from the floor. This creates an ideal sound field, which plays a key role in delivering positional audio - a dominant feature for DVD movies.

Disabling Scan Disk

When Windows is not 'Shut Down' properly, it will perform an Auto Check using CHKDSK (Check Disk) on the next restart. Auto Check is executed after a short time delay. Auto Check can be disabled or delayed by tweaking a few Registry Settings.

• Run "Regedit" from 'Start > Run.

• Go to
  

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/System/CurrentControlSet/Control/SessionManager

• Creat a new DWORD value or modify the existing value, called "AutoChkTimeOut" and set it according to the value data below.

Value Name : AutoChkTimeOut.
Data Type : REG_DWORD (DWORD value).
Value Data : Time in Seconds or O to disable (Default = 10).

• Exit your registry, and restart or log out of windows for the change to take effect.

Prevent Excess Heat and Vibration in Hard Drives

With Hard Drives becoming more and more affordable, buying a second hard drive to boost the computer storage is very common upgrade amongst users. Hard Drives have a major contribution to the overall system heat and hence you need to take the following precautions before installing a second Hard Drive. Here are some tips to see your new Hard Drive does not bring new problems :

• Make sure there is enough ventilation in the cabinet and ensure that the Hard Drive is not in physical contact with any other device ( like Floppy Disk Drive, Hard Drive or Optical Drive).

• The two Hard Drives should have sufficient space between them, if they are too close to each other, the heat emitted by them can not only cause damage to the Hard Drives but also pushes the system temperature higher, putting the other components is danger of excess heat. Maintain a minimum distance of 2 inches between the two Drives. In case you have more than two Drives, which don,t allow sufficient gap between the Drives, it's recommended that you use Hard Drive coolers to control the heat.

• Hard Drives have a tendency to vibrate in case they are not attached properly. Loosely fit Hard Drives can cause vibrations that not only damage the hard drive but other components as well. To avoid such issues, make sure that they are fit properly and ensure that they are attached to the chassis of the cabinet from all four sides.
  

Access the Speed and Temperature of the Fans installed in your Computer

You can monitor the speed of the fans installed on the processor using a free tool "Speed Fan". You can monitor the fans without going to the Bios. Download and install "Speed Fan". You can monitor the health of the fans and the S.M.R.T status of your hard drives too. If the fan is running slow, then your CPU can over heat and cause problems. Dust can clog the fans if they are not serviced on time, and your computer can start running slow or even shutting down without any warning. This tool is best way to address some problems quickly and without even opening the cabinet. You can even know the temperatures of your processor.

Website : http://almico.com/sfdownload.php

Important Commands in Windows XP.

Useful Run Commands for Windows XP are :

fsquirt : Bluetooth Transfer Wizard.

devmgmt.msc : Device Manager.

main.cpl : Mouse Properties.

desk.cpl : Display Properties.

gpedit.msc : Group Policy Editor.

compmgmt.msc : Computer Management.

Convert FAT32 to NTFS File System

If your partition was formatted in FAT32 and do you want to convert into NTFS file system?

Here is the Tip :

Windows has a built in command line tool called "convert.exe". To convert a partition from FAT32 to NTFS, make sure you first have proper backup of your system before you start. Now, click
"Start/Programs/Accessories/Command Prompt". At the prompt type "Convert", followed by your drive letter and then the file system type has to be changed to, for instance. For example, if you want to convert Drive "E" which was in FAT32, the command used here will be
'convert e: /fs:ntfs'. The duration for this process depends on the size of your hard drive or partition. It usually takes a few minutes.

Note : Drives converted to NTFS cannot convert back to FAT32 so make a prudent decision.

Inadequate Cooling of the Processor

Processor problems can vary from incorrect fittings of the Cooling fan, to minor problems in the Bios settings. Critical Problems found is the Cooling fan heat dips leading to breakdown of the PC. However, P4 and even the Athlon, can run with only a heat sink and no fan, but I wouldn't advice this. The processor can overheat, breakdown, or even drop in performance, if the CPU fan breaks down or is filled with dust.

Sometimes, even the power cables inside the chassis touch the fan and stop it, leading to overheating. In this case, open the chassis, check for any cables which have got in the way of the Cooling path or the fan. Also regularly keep your PC free from dust inside, as well as the surroundings. Use a blower (something like an AC blower or the blowing end of a vacuum cleaner) to blow away the dust from unreachable corners. But be careful whilst doing this as you may damage the delicate components, and even the fan blades. This is a must if you are situated in a environment prone to dust. Do this at least once a month. Assure that the fans inside the computer are clean and dust free.

Adding Safe Mode To Your Boot List

At times you might need to switch to Safe Mode to fix a problem such as a virus infection or uninstalling drivers. You can add an entry to the boot list. To do this, Go to:

Control Panel > System or press Windows logo + Pause/ Break.

In that click on Advanced Tab. Then, Click on the settings button under the Start Up and Recovery section. Click on Edit under System Start Up to indirectly edit the boot.ini file.

Add the following entry :

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINDOWS="Microsoft
Windows XP - Safe Mode" /fastdetect /safeboot:minimal /sos /bootlog

Monitoring Hard Drive Reliability

If you’re hard drive makes welrd noise and data access from it is extremely slow? Is there any way to predict hard drive failures?

While it is not possible to accurately predict hard drive failure, advances in technology have made it possible to monitor certain aspects of hard drives and a deterioration of some of the values indicates a decline in reliability and possibly a near-time hard drive failure.

All modern hard drives have an in-built self-monitoring system known as S.M.A.R.T. or Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology. While electronic failures cannot be determined in advance, mechanical failures In a hard drive (constituting at least 60 percent of failure) give fair failure indications. S.M.A.R.T. provides certain attributes to determine hard drive failures.

You can monitor your hard drive’s SMART attributes using free software like HD Tune that can be freely downloaded from http://www.hdtune.com. If HD Tune shows any of the attributes in yellow, you know there is a problem. Programs like HD Tune also indicate the drive’s operating temperature with the help of which you can predict and prevent the hard drive from burning out by providing it with additional cooling or bringing down the ambient temperature.

Disabling Recent Documents History

Windows XP includes a feature that keeps track of all recent documents you have opened or used. The idea is that you can select Start/Recent Documents History and quickly reopen any document you have recently used. I use many documents each day and never use the feature myself. In my opinion, I can keep up with what I want to use without Windows XP doing it for me.

The bad thing about Recent Documents History is that Windows XP has to calculate what should be put there each time you boot Windows, which can slow things down. So, if you never use the Recent Documents History, it's a good idea to disable it. Here's how:

• Open the Registry Editor (select Start/Run, type regedit, and click OK).

• Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.

• Create a NoRecentDocsHistory D_WORD key. Double-click the value to open it once it is created.

• Set the Data Value to 1 to enable the restriction.

• Click OK and close the Registry Editor. You'll need to restart the computer for the change to take effect.

Mastering Problems in Switching over to Windows Vista

Users report problem while transferring iTunes to Vista. You must therefore read this tip before you put your music collection at stake.

The iTunes version 7 can cause compatibility problems during a system upgrade from Windows 2000 or XP to Vista. Apple thus recommends that one should wait with the upgrade till an updated iTunes is available. If you want to switch before that, you should follow the steps to prevent potential problems:

Deactivate Accounts : First and foremost, deactivate your accounts at iTunes store. For this, open 'Store/Deactivate account on this computer', enter your 'Apple-ID' as well as the password and confirm with 'OK'.

Set The iPod Mode : Now, configure the iPod as an external hard disk. Connect the device to the PC and click on the left on 'iPod' in iTunes. Activate the 'Overview' tab and the 'Activate use as volume' option. Activate the 'Manage music manually' option to prevent automatic synchronization. Now uninstall iTunes.

Install Upgrade : You can now play Windows Vista and iTunes. The latest version is available at www.apple.com/itunes/download/. Register the system with "Store/Activate Computer' in the program at the iTunes Store.

Take note of the special features : Do not use the "Safely remove hardware" from the system tray to take the iPod off the list-this can turn the database. Instead, use the command "Control/Eject iPod" to remove the hardware safely.

Disabling the splash screen

When Windows XP boots, it displays its own splash screen that prevents from viewing the details of the boot up process. Is there any way to disable this splash screen?

Here is the Tip :

The splash screen that you normally see during the boot up process hides details such as what files are loaded as the computer boots, what version of Windows XP you currently have, information about the system data, file system check, and lots more. You may want to view this information out of curiosity or for troubleshooting boot up problems. To disable the splash screen in Widows Xp, follow these steps :

• Right click on "My Computer" and then click on "Properties".

• Click on the "Advanced" tab and then click on the "Settings" button under "Startup and Recovery.

• In the "System Startup" area, click on "Edit".

• After the /fastdetect entry under [operating systems], add a space and /SOS.

• It should look something like this,
  

although systems vary:
[boot loader]
timeout = 3
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional"/fastdetect/SOS

• Then click on "File" and "Save".

• Click on "OK" to apply the settings and close the System Properties dialog box.

• Restart the computer and the flash screen will be gone.