Andromeda43

As somewhat of a memory expert, I'm amazed and even Horrified at how many people are using refurbished ram and don't even know it. When a major manufacturer of ram tests a run of chips, they put the top quality chips on their own DIMMS and sell them under their own label. Seimens, Micron and Samsung are the top dogs in the yard when it comes to High Quality RAM. I'll use nothing else. I get a lifetime warranty on every chip I buy and almost never have to replace one. So what do they do with the chips that don't totally fail but just fail to come up to their level of quality. Well, they sell them to Kingston, PNY and a dozen or so other companies that take those same failed chips and mount them on their own boards. Kingston ram is about 85% failed ram. The profit margin in selling failed chips is so high that those companies can replace a DIMM, here and there and still come out smelling like a rose. I'm surprised that the best ram brands didn't even get put on the Poll. Well, Samsung did. I guess folks really don't know what quality ram is all about. If it fits in the slot and the 'puter boots up, that's good enough, right? Cheers

Since the early days of Windows, there are certain things that windows needs to do that it can only do during a normal boot up procedure. Leave a PC on all the time and it's not able to do its built in procedures. In Windows 98 is was the ol' memory leak. Windows needed to reboot to flush ram and restore the registry. XP is none the less dependent on periodic reboots. Leaving an off the shelf PC run 24x7 robs the OS of its chance to flush and refresh itself. And, the mechanical components like the cooling fans are not designed for a 100% duty cycle. I always set my hard drives, for instance, to spin down after 15 min's of inactivity, to decrease the power draw and heat dissapation and to save the bearings. SO, when you're done with it....Turn it OFF. Good Luck, Andromeda43

God, I hate to wait for a long shutdown procedure to finish. I have developed a set of tweaks to speed up this process. My own PC with XP pro, now shuts down in five seconds when I tap the power ON button. Give these tweaks a try. Can't hurt. ********************************************************* Decrease Shutdown Time Cut the amount of time it takes your computer to shut down to only a few seconds. Click Start, click Run, and type regedit. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ System \ CurrentControlSet \ Control Click the Control folder. Right click "WaitToKillServiceTimeout" and click Modify. Set the value to 1000 (One Second) ********************************************************** Automatically Ending Non-Responsive Tasks HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ AutoEndTasks = Set the value to 1 HungAppTimeout = Set the value to 1000 WaitToKillAppTimeout = Set the value to 1000 (One Second) ********************************************************** I use these myself and install them for all my customers. Good Luck, Andromeda43

Please add my name to the "NERO" list. I've been using it since I got my first 4x burner years ago. Since then I've downloaded, tried and deleted so many burner wannabees that I've lost count. When you've got the best, you trash the rest. I bought ver 5 years ago via the internet, at the insistance of a professional CD maker. Since then I've been able to get all the updates for free. Yes, if you buy the full retail package in a retail store, it's pretty pricey, but you can find it on the internet for quite a bit less. Be carefull what you buy though.....an OEM version is designed to work only with the brand of burner it originally came with. To work with all brands and models of drives, you'll need the full retail version. Cheers, Andromeda43

Registry cleaners are just like Anti-Spyware programs. You need more than one to do the whole job. I've used RegClean from MS since its inception. As good as it may be, it only does part of the job and yes, its very safe. Another very good program that's also safe, is "Easy Cleaner" from Toni Arts. Cleaning the registry is only the first step...it's like deleting junk from a HD. It leaves holes in the registry. Compacting the registry shrinks it and greatly improved its performance. The only program that I've ever seen that will do this is "NTREGOPT.exe". It's freeware and really works good. On my customers PC's, I run it after I've cleaned up the system and run RegClean and "Easy Cleaner". I've seen compression of as much as 25%. Since the registry has to load into ram on boot, that saves quite a bit of ram. It takes many steps, done in the right sequence, to really optimize a system. I've spent the last ten years developing the process I use for all my hundreds of customers. When properly applied, the gain in efficiency is phenominal. I regularly see performance increases of 100% or better. It ain't Rocket Science,,,,,but dang'd close to it!

What on earth are you talking about? Try it in English.

It's already been done....it's called a "Custom Hosts File". It's currently blocking over 10,600 bad web sites and it's updated every two weeks. I even run a freeware program that tests for a new HOSTS file and downloads it if available. It's heavily written up on several internet help forums. Download it here: *********************************** The MVPS HOSTS file was updated [01-20-06] http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm Download: hosts.zip (101 kb) http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.zip How To: Download and Extract the HOSTS file http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts2.htm HOSTS File - Frequently Asked Questions http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hostsfaq.htm Note: the "text" version also makes a great resource for determining culprit URLs ... (404 kb) http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.txt Sign up for HOSTS file update notices http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm#contribute Mike Burgess Microsoft MVP "There's no place like 127.0.0.1" *********************************** Sorry, didn't mean to burst your bubble, but you're a day late and a few sites short. Blessings, Andromeda43

I've made several shortcuts on my desktop with custom icons. To do it, put the icon you want to use in windows' icon folder. or another folder of your choice, I use one called, "My Favorite Icons". Then do a "change icon" and point to the one you want to use. It's really pretty simple. Good Luck, Andromeda43

IT Specialists don't come here looking for help...... Home users do....users that are exposed to the worlds worse threats every day and are not hiding behind a hardware firewall. Users that don't have a clue what they need to do to get safe and stay safe. Telling them that they don't need anti virus and multiple anti spyware programs is the most irresponsible thing I've read here in ages. I'd think that the admins would just delete that kind of stuff from this forum. It makes me ashamed to even be a member of this forum. I'm outta hear.....

From a REAL computer tech, all I can say to that quote is "that's a big 10-4 good buddy!" Anyone who would start off a thread listing McAfee and Norton as top quality products, should be just disregarded on everything else he said. Those two brands of software are the biggest Frauds on the market. Maybe on the planet. As a working tech, I take that crap off of my customers' PCs all the time and improve performance by a quantum leap. It ranks right up there with viruses, trojans and spyware in my book. As for Norton, I'd rather try to remove a virus than that P.O.C. I have a special package that I call the "Norton Killer". It removed all Norton product files from the HD and then strips out all the registry entries that Norton installs. There's several hundred of them. For a nice friendly and very efficient AV program you can't beat AVG 7.1 FREE. I use it and share it with all my customers. The automatic update and scan feature is just excellent. There are some tweaks that will greatly improve XP system performance. You can find them written up on This Webpage Shutting down un-needed Services is a great place to start. Then shutting down all the junk that's loading from the MSCONFIG / startup folder is a good second. Finally, get the Kernal up off the HD and into ram where it can run hundreds of times faster. That GREATLY improves system performance. Then do a very thorough cleaning of the HD and remove all files not required. Don't forget to Defrag regularly to keep the HD running smoothly. I do this stuff for a living and if I do say so myself, I'm dang'd good at it. Have a good day now, y'heah? Andromeda43

You can either use Regedit.exe to enter the registry and navigate down to the key and edit it yourself, or you can put the line given you into a .reg script. To do that, copy the lines of text between the lines of *'s into "Notepad", (not wordpad) and save it as "regset.reg". ************************************** Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop] "AutoEndTasks"="1" "HungAppTimeout"="1000" "WaitToKillAppTimeout"="1000" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control] "WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="1000" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management] "DisablePagingExecutive"="1" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon] "LogonType"=dword:00000000 ************************************** After you save this file, run it just once to tweak your Registry. Reboot. Put it away for future use or to share with your friends. Oh, by the way, the first three lines are my own tweaks to improve system performance by loading the Xp Kernal into ram where it can run a thousand times faster than from the HD. The first two lines will greatly speed up your Shutdown, by forcing programs to close. If you don't want to use these tried and true tweaks, just delete them before you save the file. OK? Manually make yourself a restore point before you run this little program just in case you want to go back. Good Luck, Andromeda43

I'd just as soon have a virus on my PC as a stupid screen saver running. It's just one more P.O.C. running in the background sucking up resources. Anyone with good sence would just totally disable those things and remove the .scr files from the HD. No more problems. Andromeda43

Usually, the mobo CD needs to be run to build the drivers Floppy Disk for you. At least mine did. See if your PC will boot off of the Mobo CD and make the drivers disk (A:) for you. I'm assuming here that you DO have a floppy drive on that PC. (?) Windows will consider that SATA drive as a SCSI device, NOT an IDE device. You must also set your mobo to boot from that SATA port and NOT an IDE port. I could fix that thing in five minutes if I had it here, but it's a hard thing to explain over the internet. I FDISK'd and formatted my first SATA drive in DOS before I ever turned XP loose on it. I knew that I could boot to DOS on the SATA drive so I knew that it was all setup correctly on the mobo. I'm still running Xp pro on that FAT-32 formatted HD and it works just fabulous. Good Luck, Andromeda43

As a tech, I won't touch XP-Home with a ten foot pole. What a piece of crippled Krapp. It's PRO or nothing. I got from 98/SE to XP-Pro in just one jump with an XP Pro Upgrade CD.... Since then I've Slipstreamed it with SP2 for a repair CD that just won't quit. It will overlay any previous ver of windows. I've rerun it several times to fix problems in my own running version of XP. Go Pro.... Cheers, Andromeda43

There's very few replacements for a clean and well oiled (tweaked) system. Take the Kernal for instance. Windows will access that puppy sometimes several times a second. If it's setting on a slow, fragmented, HD, you're in serious trouble. Moving it up into RAM can do more to supercharge your system than just about anything else you can do. I did this for myself a long time ago and regularly do it for all my customers. Combined with a few more tweaks, it makes a real nice upgrade for any system running Windows XP. Copy the text between the lines of *'s and paste into "Notepad". Then save as "XPTweaks.reg" ********************************************* Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop] "AutoEndTasks"="1" "HungAppTimeout"="1000" "WaitToKillAppTimeout"="1000" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control] "WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="1000" [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management] "DisablePagingExecutive"="1" ********************************************* run it just once to tweak your registry. Reboot. Your PC will shut down much quicker too. Cheers, Andromeda43

It's rediculous how little a tech will make when working for a 'company'. Been there, done that. It's piddlin' to say the least. After taxes, its hardly enough to even live on. A guy with a wife and three kids and a mortgage and two cars just can't make it. The only one who makes a decent living in the computer repair business is the business owner. So, why not become the Owner? I did it in 1995, when I told my last boss to take a hike. (you can't soar like an Eagle, when you work for a Turkey!) After taxes, I was doing good to clear $250 a week. My first week on my own I made almost four times what I'd been making before. A decent tech working for himself can make a grand a week easily. That's one thousand dollars, for the ones not familiar with American slang. All you need is to go around and hand out your business cards and "meet the people" you want to become your customers. Home computer users are the nicest group to do business with. They never ask you for your credentials and they are just so happy to have someone who will come into their home and FIX their ailing PC. Then you give them a little bunch of your cards and they will hand them out to their friends, increasing your business with no more work on your part. Word-of-mouth is the very best advertising you can get. That's exactly how I've built up my own business, that's supported me for the last ten years. All my customers are the most simple home users. I won't touch a business system on a bet. Just too many headaches. If you're taking care of big commercial systems, you had better be ready to take calls 24x7. I did that with three former employers (years ago) and I want NO part of it now. Also you have to be bonded....I don't know how hard that would be for a non US Citizen. Oh well, just a thought for a lazy Sunday afternoon. Cheers, Andromeda43 I wonder, if the original poster is still reading this forum?

It seems to me that incident made the 6 O'clock news.....but that was 8 (eight) years ago. Hard to remember. I just hope it was a flavor of pie that Bill liked. I'd be glad if someone would hit me with a key Lime pie with lots of really thick whipped cream on it. Cheers, Andromeda43 B)

CCleaner is like an unruly child....it doesn't follow directions well. It takes out things that I tell it to "Leave Alone". NO one cleaner does 100% of the job. To really clean your registry requires a battery of programs. If I had to settle on just one, it would be "Easy Cleaner", FREE. I've used it for years and have never had even one problem with it. I also use Reg Clean from MS. Finally after doing all the cleaning that you have the patience for, you need to compress the registry, just like you do to the HD after removing a bunch of stuff. (Defrag) NTREGOPT.exe is the program for that. It comes with ERUNT, which I don't use. Once you've removed all the c.r.a.p. from your HD and cleaned up your registry and compressed it, it's time for a full backup. My program of choice for that is Ghost 2003. It runs nicely from a boot floppy or CD and writes directly to a DVD, or HD. Cheers, Andromeda43

I bought A WD SATA drive in June 2005. Since then I've had to replace it three times. I'm currently using a Maxtor SATA 160gig., with NO problems. Most of the tech's I rub elbows with recognize that WD's quality is just NOT there, and to preserve their own reputations, they just won't use WD drives. WD has several different plants in different countries, most are in the far east. The last RMA drive I got back from WD was made in Malaysia and was badly scratched like it had been kicked accross a cement floor. I won't even use it. Someone want a freebee? Cheers, Andromeda43

As a computer security and efficiency specialist, I'd love to get my hands on Bill's PC for a few hours. I'll bet it's just as screwed up as any that I see in my daily work. Or worse! Cheers, Andromeda43 B)

For me and most of my technical associates, NERO is the only game in town. I've used Nero since ver 5.0 and am now using 6.x.x I tried ver 7, but for some reason it didn't like something in my drive or Pc. It refused to validate what it had just written. NO big deal, I just went back to my ver 6 and everything's working fine again. My friends are having no such problem with ver 7. I really loved ver 5 because it had that little Wizard that made burning a data CD so very easy. That was removed from ver 6, but I'm getting used to it....so, no big deal. Nero! That's my vote. Andromeda43

There is NO DOS in XP. DOS will not work on an NTFS drive also. SO, the only way a batch file will run on an Xp machine is after XP is loaded and running and activates the DOS interpreter, to run batch files. Sorry, that's just the way it works. Bye!

If you have plenty of ram, here's a registry tweak that can greatly improve system performance. ***************************** Memory Performance Tweak These Settings will fine tune your systems memory management -at least 256MB of ram recommended, 512 preferred for first tweak. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Control \ Session Manager \ Memory Management 1.DisablePagingExecutive -double click it and in the decimal put a 1 - this allows XP to keep data in memory now instead of paging sections of ram to harddrive. 2.LargeSystemCache- double click it and change the decimal to 1 -this allows XP Kernal to Run in memory improves system performance a lot. This tweak can actually slow down a system with less than 256 megs of ram. ***************************** I use these tweaks myself and share them with all my customers. These are of course, for Windows XP. Good Luck and Happy Computing, Andromeda43

Windows will puke if you just do away with your pagefile. Many programs are designed to use it. True,,,,so true. A fragmented Pagefile can do you more harm than good. So how would the average user defragment that puppy? Well, here's one way: Shut down the pagefile completely. Defragment your hard drive. Reboot Now, turn the Pagefile back on and let windows manage it's size. The new Pagefile will be written at the end of the data. With a good background in DOS, I kept my FAT-32 file structure when I upgraded from '98 to XP-Pro. I can do things with my computer that most users cannot do. I can boot up my PC with a floppy disk or boot CD and remove any file I want from my HD. So, when I boot up to do a "Ghost 2003" backup once a week (or oftener) I run a little batch file that totally cleans out my HD of all the crap that XP stores up. It also deletes my Pagefile and System Restore folder. That usually gives me back about 2 gig's of HD space, that won't go into my Ghost backup Image File. Then while I'm still on my boot disk, I run Ghost again and do a Restore of the file I just created. All my data is written back to the HD in the same orderly manner in which it was added to the Image File. Here's a pix of my HD right after that Restore, as displayed by Windows Defrag. The big blue area is the result of the Ghost Restore,,,,the green area is the Pagefile, etc. written by windows when the computer was restarted and booted into XP. I hope this can help someone trying to decide how to set up their PC. God Bless, Andromeda43

Stranger things have happened Right Phil? Cheers Mates