Windows XP tips.
Sure, you can read the original article here, but I provide a translation into RealWorldSpeak for each of the ten tips below.
Tip 10: Halt background services to improve performance. (Don't ask XP to do two things at once or all the stuff you don't need that's running that you can't see will crash.)
Tip 9: Increase available disk space by scaling back System Restore. (The system that recovers your data from frequent XP crashes is actually bigger than it needs to be, just like all Windows programs.)
Tip 8: Scrub your hard drive clean. (Get rid of those leftover files from failed uninstalls, because XP can't even take out the trash.)
Tip 7: Run two displays on the same PC. (The Blue Screen of Death becomes the Blue SCREENS of Death.)
Tip 6: Force unresponsive applications to close at shutdown. (All you need is a "registry hack" that looks like assembly language. Couldn't be easier.)
Tip 5: Automatically optimize your hard drive. (It works when your PC is idle, like when it has failed an uninstall, or ran out of room for System Restore.)
Tip 4: Set a custom resolution. (Ooh, muck around with dangerous settings, or spend $29.95 on a program from the author's company.)
Tip 3: Stay on top of registry changes. (You'll need a special app to keep track of all the spyware, rootkits, and "other malware" that are just part of the fun of XP.)
Tip 2: Recover lost data. (Helpful in case you accidentally delete an unresponsive application that you have become attached to.)
Tip 1: Automatically log when and why shutdowns have occurred. (Make sure you save a lot of hard drive space for this log. It will be extensive. Scale back your System Restore, that should help.)
After all kids, what's more fun than a registry hack?
Labels:
microsoft
6 comments:
I'm not even the biggest fan of Windows, but I'll concede that XP is far better than previous versions.
10. This is a valid tip. Why run a DNS client if your router does DNS for you? The services enabled are a good default set and power users can turn some off. I do frequently.
9. A System Restore Point saves a point in time that you can "rollback" to. Just like saving a game on your memory card in case you die, you save a point in time you can restore to. Of course it takes HD space. Pick any OS; a "saved game" is a "saved game".
8. This has little to do with Windows; many application developers provide uninstallers that don't delete everything. Again, this is not an OS-specific problem.
7. Video card features, video card drivers. Here at work, I have two 24" LCDs. Little to do with Windows as well.
6. The registry is simply a tree of key/value pairs. Here is some ASM code. I agree though; digging through the registry to enable/disable some features (like Autoplay) is poor design.
5. Fragmentation/defragmentation and hard drive maintenance is useful on any OS.
4. I don't get this tip at all. Video card drivers allow creation of custom resolutions, not Windows. I do it at home; on my DLP 1240x700 looks best. Needing PowerStrip (which can be run for free with a nag for registering) is a thing of the past.
3. Not a bad idea, but your registry is rarely the source of all your problems. See #8; a lot of uninstallers forget to remove registry values.
2. Again a function of the way hard drives (and file allocation tables) work. Non-OS specific.
1. Not too much space needed; it's a log file. You can also set how far back to keep logs and also set the amount of space it uses (which isn't much). I've found the information it provides is useless anyway.
Anyway, my experiences and opinions. I've struggled with Windows 98 and 2000. In comparison, XP is a godsend. I've used other OSs too; Linux/Unix and Mac variants. They all have their plusses and minuses. I could do everything I do (software development, server, HTPC) on another OS, but gaming is the one thing that ties me to Windows at present.
I've read recent news articles that state Apple could possibly implement the Windows API in their OS, allowing Windows software to run without a copy of XP installed at all. If this comes to fruition, that would be a huge incentive for a lot of PC gamers to consider other alternatives.
oh yea...well at least I don't have some half eaten fruit splattered all over my hardware.
so...nyeh
Hmm...very odd. I read the article and don't see the phrase "frequent" or "crash" anywhere on it. Could it be that there's a little editorializing on this page, Shocho?? :0
Let me clear some things up. First, XP rarely, if ever crashes. I have used it since it came out and I do a LOT in Windows, including diving in and poking around with my registry. Never a problem.
When I started using a Mac, at the company, I had crashes almost daily for a while. I got the "black screen of death" which I was told "didn't exist" and "was impossible". That was until I pulled IT into my office and showed them. "Wow. I've never seen that before." In case you don't know what the Mac "Black screen of death" is, it's a black screen with white text IN FIVE LANGUAGES that tells you what a sap you are for buying a Mac. Incidentally, they replaced out the entire computer for me because they couldn't fix it.
I should also point out that the aforementioned "blue screen of death" no longer exists on XP.
But, to each his own. I like Windows because the world is compatible with me. I hated Mac because they're pretentious, everything needs to be converted, and I felt like I was playing with an expensive toy.
Mkae, I think I mentioned before that you're not supposed to click on the links. You're just supposed to accept my worldview. It's not editorializing, because I'm right and they're wrong.
The "black screen" you refer to is a kernel panic. I have seen that once on my Mac in three years of use. I can't remember the last time my OS crashed. WoW locks it up sometimes, but that's because it takes control of the video and you can't tab out.
I'll buy an Intel Dual Core Mac as soon as I can and use XP to play WoW. I hear it's twice as fast. But I'll use OS X for everything else.
At least, of course, until the next uber game comes out.
I recommend Warhammer, considering my DAoC guild is all psyched up about playing Warhammer for some reason.
Maybe I'm weird, but I like to pokearound in the registry. Properly backed-up, of course.
Post a Comment