Windows Visual Effects Kill Your Computer's Performance

Windows XP struck a good balance between performance and visuals. Vista remains unpopular both in sales and in public opinion two an a half years after release because the overdone visual effects pose little practical purpose yet weigh down a computer's resources. The same holds true for XP. You might be surprised how much better your PC runs with limited visual effects. I didn't notice anything visually different yet my computer now feels lightning fast. 'Fade' effects only delay window movements for aesthetic value.

Head over to:
Start-> Control Panel-> System-> Advanced-> Performance
and click Settings. You can also hit Windows Key+Pause/Break


You will be selecting your own set of customized visual effects.

You can, box by box, deselect the visual flairs that XP comes packaged with. Keep in mind that the less effects you select the more power will be left for actual computing. My computer only has those five boxes checked in the screenshot above and it looks and runs much better because of it. I recommend deselecting one at a time and making sure you are alright without each individual effect. 'Animate windows when minimizing/maximizing' is an effect you will not miss.

Ten Essential Windows and Firefox Shortcuts

Once you've taken steps to physically speed up your computer, there are still small steps you can take to speed up your computing experience. Practicing touch-typing, memorizing shortcut keys, and organizing your files for easier access are all great ways to enjoy your computer more. You will accomplish more yet spend less time at the computer.

I'd like to share my favorite Windows and Firefox shortcuts. The idea is to keep your hands on the keyboard and spend less time fiddling with your mouse.

Useful Windows Shortcuts:

1. Windows Key + D will minimize all windows and bring up the desktop. Very useful.
2. Alt+F4 will close whatever program/window currently has focus. When you've minimized to the desktop, hit Alt+F4+S to put your computer into Standby. Alt+F4+U will shut down your computer.
3. Windows Key by itself will bring up the Start Menu. This one is simple and will make you feel much more efficient.
4. Alt + TAB is great if you tend to have many programs running at once. It displays the open programs and allows you to switch between them instantly.
5. Ctrl + A will select all the text in an open window, or all the files in an open folder. This is great for moving all the files from a folder efficiently, or deleting all the files within a folder or text within a document fast and easily. If you want to select a group of files except for a few, hit Ctrl + A and continue to hold Ctrl as you click the few files you don't want highlighted.

Here is the complete list from Microsoft.

Favorite Firefox Shortcuts:

1. Ctrl + F is one of the best shortcut keys to have memorized. After hitting this you can immediately search within a body of text. This is essential to being an efficient web-surfer. Once you've entered a search, tapping Enter will cycle through your results. Alt + A will highlight all the results. Hitting Esc will end the search.
2. Ctrl + T will open a new Tab--memorize this one for sure. Ctrl + Shift + T will open the last tab you closed, great for backtracking if you accidentally closed the window. This shortcut key alone really validates Tab-based browsing. Ctrl + W closes a tab.
3. Ctrl + K will bring the focus to the search in the upper-right corner. I have mine set to search Wikipedia. Ctrl + E does the same thing.
   
4. Alt + D or F6 brings the focus to the address bar of your current tab. Another great time-saver. You can immediately enter a new address that you'd like to surf to.
   
5. Middle Mouse Button (or Wheel) + Hyperlink should open a link in a new tab. This can be an incredibly useful tool.
   

For fun... F11 will make Firefox full screen. Good for large websites, if you'd like to look at something without the distraction of the address bar/toolbars at the top of the screen.

Here is Mozilla's complete list of Firefox shortcuts.

These ten shortcuts alone will make your computer feel much faster--without tweaking your computer at all. When your hands can quickly and automatically communicate through the keyboard what you'd like to do, you seriously enjoy navigating around the web.

CCleaner: Essential Freeware for a Fast Computer

Your computer collects quite a lot of digital dust as you search around the internet. The freeware program CCleaner is a fantastic way to keep both your browser and your computer running well. It takes about 5 to 10 seconds to run and the latest version of the program is only 3.1 MB.

Download it from: Download.com or FileHippo.


Before you run the program for the first time, head over to 'Options' on the left column. Click 'cookies'. Add your favorite websites to the list of 'Cookies to Keep'. This way, your favorite websites and potentially your saved passwords won't get erased each time you run CCleaner. Mine include Amazon.com, YouTube.com, Imdb.com, Flickr.com, Mail.Google.com (Gmail), and Maps.Google.com (Google Maps).

How to Defragment Your Hard Drive

Imagine that your hard drive is similar to your local library. Each file on your computer corresponds to a book. As people check out books, they are not returned to their correct shelves. In fact, people just leave them laying around the library. Over time, it becomes harder and harder for new library-goers to find the books they need.

Similarly, files on your hard drive are not always returned to the same spot when you are finished using them because they are returned to spots where deleted files might have been before.

The image above shows how pieces of information can become separated. This is called file system fragmentation or file system aging. Your computer must work harder to access files or groups of files that are strewn across your hard drive. The disk defragmenter can 'reorganize' your hard drive.

Go to:
Start-> All Programs ->Accessories->System Tools->Disk Defragmenter

You will not need to use this tool very often. I run the disk defragmenter once a month or less. Hit 'analyze' when you have your main drive selected (here it's the C drive). A message will indicate whether or not you need to defragment.

I strongly suggest that you leave this running before you go to bed. It takes much longer to run if you are using other programs. Depending on how fragmented your drive is, the process can take 2 to 8 hours with Windows XP. Defraggler is a freeware program that has more functionality and works a bit faster than the default Windows tool, feel free to use it as an alternative.

An occasional defrag will keep your hard drive in good shape.