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Whether you have upgraded to the latest Vista system or stayed in the XP camp, our list of tips can help you speed up your computer's processing speed, improve your PC's security, and even improve your computer's stylish nature, believe me!

Objectively speaking, the performance of the Windows operating system is general, if you do not try to "dig" deeply, or change it according to your will, then you can never let it play a real potential.

Whether you want to improve the speed of XP running, customizing the Vista Aero interface, managing your own disk partitions, or performing quick photo processing, we'll give you a full description of how to do this, and in this article we'll start with a few tips on performance improvement before we talk about file management, Interface adjustment, network and browser options, and Windows Media player player.

It is only after you have patched up a number of Windows vulnerabilities that you have completed all of the operations. Refer to our previous article "Security settings in XP and Vista". If you are using a new version of the operating system, refer to the tips we gave in "upgrade to Vista" and "Change Vista defaults" in two articles.

Case 1: Prepare for system changes before

Start Backup first

Before you start to adjust the functions of the computer, you should first do a backup operation, even if it is simply to create a restore point. The way to back up in XP is to click Program (or All programs) on the Start menu. Select "Attachment" in the expanded menu--system Tools--System Restore, select "Create a restore Point" in the System Restore window that pops up and click "Next", then follow the prompts to do the appropriate action. If it is a Vista operating system, click "Program (or All Programs)" In the "Start" menu, select "Maintenance" in the expanded menu, "Backup and Recovery Center", select "Create a restore point or change settings"--"System Restore", then click "Next" Then follow the instructions that appear on the screen to do the following.

However, simply creating a restore point alone is not enough to solve all the problems. This is why a tool called "Full computer Backup" in Vista is so popular that it can create an image file for the user's computer that contains all the applications, settings, and data files. Then if you have a problem with your hardware, you can restore the entire system, not just the files. One point to note is that both the Vista home base version and the home advanced version do not have a "Full computer backup" feature.

You create a backup by clicking Control Panel on the Start menu (or in the Classic Start menu by clicking "Start"-"Settings"-"Control Panel"), click on the "Backup Computer" (in Classic View, double-click the Backup and Restore Center), Select: Back up the computer by following the steps given. If you are working with a computer, then I recommend that you make a backup at least once a month, or at least 6 months, regardless of how often your computer is used.

A backup should be made before any major changes are made to the computer. It should be explained that Windows will automatically create a restore point before installing each new software and making any other significant system changes.

To turn off non-essential startup programs

When you start your computer, applications that typically have multiple services are started in the background, usually in a state that the user does not know about. While most of them are applications or services that are often used by users like firewalls and antivirus software, applications such as instant messaging software, which are rarely used, waste system resources and slow down the user's computer.

The easiest way to get rid of these infrequently used automatic startup programs is to use the System Configuration tool to: In the Start menu, click Run (or enter information in the Start search box on the Vista operating system Start menu), type "msconfig", and then press OK , you can see a program that starts with the Windows system by selecting the Startup tab in the window that is called up. Before you do not want to run the application, remove the check, select the Services tab to see the computer system running on the list of all service programs. Before canceling any service, it is necessary to confirm repeatedly, after all, many of them are necessary to keep the computer hardware and software running normally. The runtime (process Library) explains thousands of Windows services and programs and tells users if they are necessary. If you are not sure if you need to use a service or program, you might want to use a web search engine to find out about its information.

Focus on performance

Running a diagnostic application is the best way to know the performance of a computer system. The results provided by the XP System Monitor show the operation of the user's computer, but it is difficult to understand its interpretation. To run the program, click "Run" on the Start menu, enter "Perfmon" in it, and press "OK". In the Expand window, select System Monitor in the left panel and select Add Calculator in the right sidebar to add more performance metrics.

Vista's "Reliability and Performance Monitor" has been greatly enhanced compared to XP's System Monitor. Click "Start" (or select "Run" from the Start menu in the Classic Start menu mode), enter Perfmon and press OK to open the Performance window, which is really a collection of features, but the most practical features are "Resource Overview" (Resource Overview) ", it has a description of the CPU, hard disk, network and memory usage status and historical use of the Illustrated graphics. The application provides extremely detailed information about each measurement, for example, in the CPU section, users can see each running service and application, how many threads are used, and what CPU is occupied.

Click Reliability Monitor on the left panel of the application to see daily historical information about the stability of the computer, detailing each system crash and hardware or software errors. You can even delve further into any single result. The tool also estimates the overall stability information and makes daily updates to reflect whether the user's system or program has been compromised.

Restoring files through Shadow Copies

Another feature I like in the Vista final version (Ultimate) and the commercial version (Business) is the shadow copy (Shadow copies), which automatically backs up the user's files and easily restores the previously incorrect version files. To restore a previous version of a file, open Windows Explorer, right-click file to select Revert to previous version, and click the target file to open in the listed version.

For this function, what users need to know is that, first of all, Vista does not keep "shadow copies" for every file version that a user opens, but rather every time vista creates a recovery point that produces a "shadow copy," and there are some listed versions that may be in the user's use of Vista " Created when all computer backups are in process.

Adjust the user's accessories

By default, Windows specific files are connected to a particular application one by one: When a user double-clicks a file, the specified application is called out to run the file. But why not stick with Windows? To change an application in XP and Vista that echoes a particular file by right-clicking the file in any folder window in the Explorer and choosing Open with, you can see a list of programs that can run the file. Click "Select a program" in XP or "Choose Default Program" in Vista, in the Results dialog window, click the application you want to use as the default, and make sure that you have checked "Always use the selected application to open this file," and then click OK. If the application you want to use as the default does not appear in the list, click the "Browse" button, select the application location you want to use, click "Open", and then click "OK" to complete the operation.

Using Ready Boost Technology

The easiest and cheapest way to speed up Vista is to use the ready boost technology, which uses a USB flash to augment the memory of the user's computer. A 1GB flash memory is the lowest price of only 15 U.S. dollars, 2GB capacity flash prices are slightly higher than 1GB flash price of twice times.

How can I know the flash capacity for my computer? The minimum capacity supported by the ReadyBoost is 256MB, with a maximum of 4GB. Microsoft recommends a ratio of 1:1 or 2.5:1 additional flash capacity to system memory. For example, you use a computer with a memory capacity of 512MB, you can purchase 512MB to 1.25GB storage capacity of the flash, configured to 1GB memory capacity of the system should use the flash capacity between 1GB to 2.5GB.

The most difficult information to know is whether the USB flash that the user purchased has passed the ReadyBoost test. So be sure to verify the minimum requirements and other ReadyBoost information before purchasing. Before purchasing the specified flash memory, you can search the network for information and determine if it has been readyboost tested.

When using the ReadyBoost feature, first insert the flash memory into the USB interface, and then select "Acceleration System" in the window that appears on the screen. Next select "Use Flash" and then click "OK" button. In the ReadyBoost tab of the Properties dialog window, users can either follow Vista's recommended space capacity or use the slider bar to select the capacity they think fit.

Easy Partition Management

Vista's disk partitioning program makes it easy for users to create, delete, resize, and format partition operations. To access these tools, in the Start menu, in Control Panel (or start on the Classic Start menu, settings, Control Panel), select System and performance, and under Administrative Tools, click Create and format hard disk partitions (in Category View, double-click Administrative Tools Select Disk Management in the left panel. Use the Disk Management menu under Actions on the left to access all of the user's save options. You can also right-click an existing partition and choose an action in the menu that appears.

The best way to manage disk partitions in XP is to use Third-party applications such as the Acronis production of Partition Expert ($ 45).

Diagnostic Report of One-Step

Vista itself has a diagnostic tool that scans the user's computer, discovers problems, and forms a diagnostic report with a full bug fix recommendation. The way to use this tool is to click the "Start" menu, select "Control Panel" (or click "Start" in the Classic Start Menu mode-"Settings"-"Control Panel"), in system and maintenance, locate the performance information and tools-Advanced tools, and click Generate System Status reports. If you are in Category view, first double-click Performance information and Tools, and then click Advanced Tools-Generate system Status reports. The diagnostic procedure for this system will take approximately 1 minutes to produce the results of the report.

Case 2: Quick file Lookup

Convert FAT format to NTFS file format

The Windows NTFS file format has many advantages in terms of performance, security, and others compared to the original fat and FAT32 formats. When the user upgrades from XP to Vista, the system asks if you want to convert the files on your hard disk to NTFS format. If you want to manually convert FAT or FAT32 to NTFS by selecting Run from the Start menu, clicking OK when you enter cmd, and jumping out of the command window, enter convert X:/fs:ntfs (where x represents the drive letter), and then click OK Can.

Right-click to display command prompt

Sometimes the quickest way to complete an operation in a Windows system is through a command prompt. And the quickest way to get command tips is through the right-click menu. To do this, enter regedit in the Run input box on the Start menu, and press ENTER to confirm that the Registry Editor will be paged out. Find Hkey_ Local_machine/software/classes/folder/shell in the panel on the left, right-click the mouse in the right pane and select "New Key", name it "Command Prompt" and select the new key in the left panel. Double-click the right panel "default" to enter Cmd.exe/k pushd%l in the data value and press OK to confirm. This allows you to find the "open command Prompt" feature when you exit Registry Editor, regardless of when the user right-clicks a folder. When a folder is selected, the command prompt feature is invoked when the item is selected.

Clear the Open with menu

When you right-click the mouse in Windows Explorer, you see the Open with option on the menu that appears, listing all the programs that you can use to open the file. Because when a user installs a new program, it is automatically added to the list, so for certain types of files, the menu may be very long, and some of the listed programs may not be able to open the file at all. Do you really want to use software like Word to open a ". bmp" Format picture?

You want to remove them by typing regedit in the Run input box on the Start menu, pressing the OK button, opening Registry Editor, and finding Key_current_user\software\microsoft\windows\ in the left panel Currentversion\ explorer\fileexts, in which you select the file name extension you want to edit, for example, to remove Word from the open mode of the. bmp format Picture, Select the openwithlist under. bmp, and in the Panel on the right you can see a series of letter-like key names, each representing an open method of the file (such as "Winword.exe"). Delete the item you want to clear from the open list, and now double-click MRUList, and then remove the letters from the program you just cleared. For example, if the value of Winword.exe is "a", delete the letter in MRUList.

Add a folder to the index

The new search tool built into Vista is faster than XP, but it only indexes a handful of folders by default, so it is likely to miss many other files on the user's computer.

By selecting the Start menu and entering any entry in the Start Search box, users can manually add folders to the index (or click Start on the Classic Start menu-"Search"-"Files or Folders"). When the search results appear, click "Search Tools" to select "Change index location"-"Change", then click "Show All Locations" to open the Index Location dialog box. The top window displays the user's storage devices, check the box next to them (or double-click the entry to display a list of folders), select the location where you want to add the index, and then click OK and close to return to the search window.

Save Search

Want to save and upgrade Vista search results? The action method is to select Search from the Start menu (or select Start in the Classic Start Menu mode-search-Files or folders) and enter a search entry. Then click "Save Search" to bring up the Save As dialog box and choose Save. The user-saved search appears in the Search Folder in the left panel of the search window.

Case 3: Reshaping the interface

Find the Classic menu

One of the most controversial changes in Vista compared to previous versions of Windows is the use of toolbars in Windows Explorer and IE in place of the original menu. If you like to order under the menu, simply press the "ALT" key to call back the original menu and press the "alt" menu again to disappear. In Windows Explorer, if you want to use a menu all the time, you would do this by selecting Organization (Organize)--"layout"--"menu bar." In IE, simply select "Menu bar" in "Tools".

Same Process Run menu

The XP operating system's "run" input box is an easy way to open applications and run DOS commands, but the new Start menu in Vista replaces this feature with the Start search box. If you have a passion for the "Run" command box, you must be happy to find that it is so simple to retrieve "run". Right-click the Start button, select Properties-Custom, tick the Run command, and click OK, and the long-awaited "old friend" will immediately return to its original "post".

Create your own icon

Icons in Windows do not play a significant role in quickly looking for important files and folders. Actually creating icons to help you find similar "last year's refund" is very simple. You are not an artist to design these icons, of course, if you are willing to spend 50 of dollars to buy Microangelo toolset 6 (21 days of free trial), then it will make you into the eyes of others "Picasso".

First, open Microangelo Studio and create a new icon in the steps you specify. For users who use Windows XP systems, your icon should use a format that is 16x16, 32x32, or 48x48 pixels in size. For Vista operating systems, users can choose to use either format or large to 256x256 pixels. You can also use the program's pencils, brushes, and other drawing tools to make use of the icon. I primarily use its input tools to work with pictures that other people create. The application supports entering several different formats, shrinking or expanding the pictures to the appropriate size, and then storing them as icon files (. ico). Google Image search will be a good collection of downloadable pictures, but pay attention to check whether you choose a concession for free use of pictures. To replace an icon with an icon you just created, right-click on the old icon and select "Properties"--"shortcut"--"replace icon", browse and select the new icon and click on the "Open" button.

Explore the new features of bubbles screen protection in Vista

Vista's screen saver offers very few options, for example, if you want to make the bubbles cooler in Bubbles screen saver, it's generally not possible unless you know the following way to modify the registry by filling in the appropriate keys with three new values. It allows bubbles to become metallic, shaded, and displayed on the desktop or on a black background.

The action method is to enter "regedit" in "Run" on the Start menu (or just click "Start" in the Vista menu) and press "OK" to locate and select Hkey_current_user\software\microsoft\ in the Open Registry Editor Windows\

Currentversion\screensavers\bubbles, right-click in the right panel, select the new--dword (32-bit) value, and then type "Materialglass" and double-click the newly built new, when the value entered in it is 1 o'clock, Bubbles can be set to transparent, the value of 0 o'clock will be able to see a sense of metal bubbles, after the input, click "OK" button.

Also in just the right panel, through a similar series of steps, create a DWORD named "Showshadows", enter its value 1 o'clock to display a shadow under bubbles, with a value of 0 without shading. Then create a new DWORD named "Showbubbles" to set the value to 1 (which can be displayed on the desktop bubbles) or 0 (show bubbles on the back).

Adjust the transparent edges in the Aero interface

In the XP operating system, change the size and color of Windows window and dialog box edges, and make other display adjustments by right-clicking the mouse on the desktop to select Properties and setting it in the advanced feature on the Appearance tab. The Vista operating system also allows users to customize many of the features in their aero interface. Right-click on the desktop to select Personalize-Windows colors and skins; To change the transparency of Windows edges, adjust the "color depth" slider.

Case 4: Optimizing the Network

Patching network failures in Vista and XP

If you're in a network that uses Windows Vista and XP computers, then these computers may not work well with each other. One of the problems is that Vista and XP use different network names in the default state, Vista uses "Workgroup" and XP uses "Mshome", which may cause the systems to not recognize each other.

The way to rename a computer that installs an XP operating system is: Right-click My Computer, select Properties, click the "Change" button in the "Computer name" tab of the Expand window, and then click "Workgroup" in the Workgroup input box below the pop-up Computer name Change dialog box. OK to complete the operation.

Network Diagram

Vista's network and Sharing Center can display information about all computers on a user's network, including Mac and IP addresses. Click on "Start"--"Control Panel" (for the Classic Start menu, click "Start"--"settings"--"Control Panel"), in the network and Internet connection, select Network and Sharing Center--"View network full Map", The mouse is placed on a device to see its IP and MAC address.

For non-Vista operating systems, if they exist, they are even listed at the bottom of the page, but they are not displayed. Vista's new draft for drawing a network diagram will eventually be open to XP, but Microsoft has not yet confirmed the time to implement it.

Add a virtual personal network (VPN) to any hot zone

Whenever a user is in a public Wi-Fi hot zone, anyone with a particular software can fully grasp each step of the user's online operation. But the virtual network establishes the channel which protects the user to transmit the data, just can protect the user's data security. My favorite VPN (virtual private network, personal network) service is HOTSPOTVPN, which enables VPN functionality on XP and Vista operating systems. The cost of the service is USD 9 per month, with a single day, three days or seven days for a separate charge of USD 4, 6 USD or 7 USD. The version with the encryption level service is charged between USD 11 and $14 per month.

Users who sign up to use the software will get a username and password and the IP address of the wireless VPN server. Enter this information when you are running a Windows network connection. To do this: for an XP operating system, the action is to select Control Panel from the Start menu (or select Start from the Classic Start menu--Settings--Control Panel--"Network Connections"--"Create a new Connection"--"next"--"Connect to my workplace network"-- Next-"Virtual private network Connection", follow the instructions to complete the following.

The actions in Vista are: Select Control Panel from the Start menu (or select Control Panel from Start menu in the Classic start). Choose to create a connection or network, double-click Connect to Workplace, select Use my Internet connection (VPN), and then follow the instructions to complete the following.

Set up wireless encryption

Each home or small office wireless network requires a "Wi-Fi Protected access (Wi-Fi Protected access, or WPA)" encryption method to prevent possible intrusions. If your network does not now support WPA functionality, then you need to upgrade. The steps for setting up WPA are also different for various routers, and the following instructions apply specifically to Linksys WRT54GX4.

First, login to your router management interface and click on "Wireless Connection", then select "Wireless Security", select "WPA" in the Drop-down list as your encryption, enter the encryption key, and then record the key on paper, because when you log on to the network from another computer, click Save Settings.

The user then needs to establish encryption for each of their computers with the same password used on the router. On each XP operating system computer, click on the Wireless connection icon on the system tray, then select the "Wireless Network" tab in "Properties", mark out your network, click "Properties" and select "Association" tab. Select your own encryption method in the trusted network (network authentication) drop-down list. In the Data Encryption dialog box, select TKIP, remove the check for "Give me this key automatically", enter the user's WPA key in the Network Key dialog box, and then type it again in the "Confirm Network password" box. Click "OK" two times. Now the computer is connected to your network.

In the Vista operating system, click Control Panel on the Start menu (or "Start" in classic Menu mode--"Settings"--"control Panel")--"Network and Internet"-"network and Sharing Center"-"manage wireless networks." Right-click your wireless network connection, select Properties, click the Security tab, select Wpa2-personal in the Security Type Drop-down menu, select Tkip in the encryption type Drop-down menu, and then click OK when you enter the WPA key in the Network security key box.

Change Search provider ...

Want to add Google or other search engines to the IE 7 search box, click the down arrow to the right of the Explorer bar, select Find more providers, select a provider, click "Add Provider", and then check "set it as my default search provider," or continue using the current search engine. Currently select a new search provider in the input search bar.

... Or use the provider you created

If you are not satisfied with the search engine available in the IE "Find more providers" list, it is only a matter of seconds before you build an engine based on your requirements: Click the down arrow to the right of the search bar and choose "Find more providers." Open a new tab and browse to the provider you want. Perform a "TEST (note all uppercase)" Search, and then copy the URL address from the address bar of the resulting page to the first text box under self-creation in the Add service provider to IE 7 window. Enter a name in the box, and then click Install.

"Put pressure" on the browser.

In any case, the user clicks on the network link or enters the URL information in the address bar, the browser will send the user's request to the DNS server on the network, it inquires the IP address and returns the result to the user's browser, this process may need to occupy certain time. To reduce this latency, you can add the most frequently accessed IP address and the host name of the site to the host file. So if the user wants to find the address in the file, the computer can skip the slow DNS server and find the address directly in the file. In the Vista or XP Home version, the file is stored in "C:\Windows\System32\Drivers\Etc\HOSTS", and in XP pro, the storage address is "C:\Winnt\System32\Drivers\HOSTS." Double-click the file to open the file in Notepad or the user's default file editor. Enter the IP address or host name of the site you frequently visit (each Tanjin one line). The IP address is listed in the first column, and the corresponding host name is listed in the next column. Keep at least one space between the two columns, and then put each pair on a line (to find the IP address, you can choose "Run" from the Start menu, enter "cmd" to press ENTER, and then enter "Ping", A space and host name, and then press the "enter" key. When the operation is complete, save the file with a name that is consistent with the existing location.

Secret browsing

The user's browsing behavior is often like a publicly available book. If you want to navigate without leaving traces, you can use a proxy server that is set up between users to visit sites, but using a proxy server may cause problems with downloading files.

First, find the proxy list for Atom Inersoft, which lists information for each server, including the percentage of time available. Note that you choose to use the server's IP address and port. For example, in a list of 24.236.148.15:80, its IP address is 24.236.148.15, and the port number is 80. To query the IP address of a Web site, open the command prompt by using the method mentioned in "Convert FAT format to NTFS file format", enter "Ping www. site name. com" and then press ENTER, and the result will contain the address of the site.

In IE browser, select "Tools"-"Internet Options"-"Connect", click on the "LAN Settings" button, tick "Use proxy server for LAN", and then enter the IP address of the proxy server in the address bar. In the Port input box, enter the number of ports, check "Do not use proxy server for local addresses", and click "OK". This way, when you browse the network again, the proxy server protects your privacy. You can also go to the tor.eff.org website to learn about the Electronic Frontier Foundation (Electronic Frontier Foundation.) Active support for Tor Anonymous network information.

Working with Offline Files

Vista Commercial, Enterprise, and Advanced editions enable users to use network files. Open Windows Explorer and right-click the network file or folder that you want to keep offline. Select "Properties"--"share"--"share"--"share", then right click on the shared file and choose "to be available offline (on some computers, just ' Offline Files '-" Can be used offline all the time, the file automatically synchronizes.

Vista's photo gallery (Photo Gallery) application is not only able to implement a photo preview, it can also act as a quick picture editor. After you use the program to open a picture, click Modify to adjust its color and exposure, remove red eye, and perform other actions, and clicking AutoFit allows the application to automatically complete the patch operation. Whether you have upgraded to the latest Vista system or stayed in the XP camp, our list of tips can help you speed up your computer's processing speed, improve your PC's security, and even improve your computer's stylish nature, believe me!

Objectively speaking, the performance of the Windows operating system is general, if you do not try to "dig" deeply, or change it according to your will, then you can never let it play a real potential.

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