I split my work time about evenly between Windows XP and Vista. Let me tell you, I'll take Vista 99 days out of 100. Vista's safer than XP, it looks better than its predecessor, and it runs at least as fast as XP.
Performance has been a knock on Vista since the operating system was released, but there are some relatively simple ways to give Vista a little goose so it performs some common operations a tad faster. These five tips should shorten your workday:
Put an encrypt/decrypt option on your context menu
If you frequently encrypt files or folders to protect your privacy, you can access this function via the right-click menu by changing a Registry key. Editing the Registry is always risky, so back it up first by creating a restore point. To do so, press the Windows key, type systempropertiesprotection.exe, and press Enter. Click Create, give the restore point a name, and choose Create again.
With your Registry backup in place, press the Windows key, type regedit, and press enter. Navigate to and select this key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
Right-click in the right pane, choose New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it EncryptionContextMenu. Double-click the new entry, give it a value of 1, and click OK. After you restart your system, you'll see an Encrypt/Decrypt option when you right-click a file or folder.
Disable DOS-era 8.3 file-name compatibility
Most hard drives on Vista systems are partitioned using NTFS rather than the older FAT32 format. But Vista still supports the old 8.3 file-name convention of DOS and early versions of Windows. This is handy if you still run DOS-era 16-bit programs, but most of us have no need to retain this backward-compatibility. You can speed up your file accesses a bit by disabling this feature.
To do so, open the Registry Editor as described in the previous tip and navigate to and select this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
Double-click the key named NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation, change its value from 0 to 1, and click OK.
Do without last-access file updating
Whenever you open a file on an NTFS partition, it gets a date stamp that's separate from its "last modified on" date and time. If you can do without this information, you can disable it and open your files a skosh faster.
Start by opening the Registry Editor as described above. Navigate to and select this key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
Double-click NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate, change the DWORD value from 0 to 1, and click OK.
Change this Registry key to disable the last-file-access feature to open files faster.
(Credit: Microsoft) Access Vista's report on your start-up and shutdown speeds
Among the interesting performance-measuring tools in Vista is the Event Viewer's log of your system's start-up and shutdown performance. To view these reports, press the Windows key, type event, and press Enter. Navigate in the left pane to this entry:
Applications and Service Log\Microsoft\Windows\Diagnostics-Performance
Double-click Operational in the middle pane to view the most recent events. Look for entries numbered from 100 to 199 to indicate start-up items, and ones numbered from 200 to 299 for shutdown items. Click the Details tab below the event log and make sure Friendly View is selected.
Vista's Event Viewer records your boot times and other performance information about your start-ups and shutdowns.
(Credit: Microsoft)You'll see the boot and shutdown times in milliseconds and other information about your start-ups and shutdowns. Compare the numbers for each system start and shutdown to determine whether your machine's slowing down. If it is, try paring your list of start-up applications using the tips in this post from last October. And use the tips in this post from March 2008 to put Windows to bed in a jiffy.
Let Vista tell you how it's doing
A little-known addition to Vista is the System Health Report Generator, which gives you an inside look at how well your PC is running. To access the tool, press the Windows key, type perform info, and press Enter. Click Advanced tools in the left pane and choose Generate a system health report.
About a minute later, you'll see the test results in various categories. For help deciphering the information and on using other components of the Performance and Reliability Monitor, check out this guide on Microsoft's TechNet site.
I approach the Windows Registry the same way I approach my dentist's office. I enter both places only when necessary.
Sometimes, the fastest, most efficient way to make your PC more usable is to venture into the belly of the Windows beast via the Registry Editor. Before you make any Registry changes, create a backup by setting a restore point via System Restore.
Put the brakes on stalled apps
Programs crash: it's a simple fact of PC life. But you don't have to wait for Windows to spin its wheels while it waits for the stuck process to come to life. You can close frozen apps in no time by changing a key value in the Registry.
With your restore point in place, click Start > Run (in XP) or just Start (in Vista), type regedit, and press Enter. Navigate to and select this key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
In XP, right-click the key AutoEndTasks in the right window and select Modify (or simply double-click the key). In Vista, you may have to create this key by right-clicking in the right pane and choosing New > String Value. Type AutoEndTasks and press Enter. Then double-click the new key. In XP, change the Value data to 1. In Vista, enter a Value data of 1.
Reposition your desktop wallpaper
For years, I've decorated my PC desktops with images of fine art I download from the Web Museum. Unfortunately, the images sometimes are pushed a little too far to one side or the other, cutting off one edge and leaving an unsightly white border on the opposite.
To adjust your wallpaper's placement on the desktop, reopen and select the same Registry key as in the above tip:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
This time, double-click WallpaperOriginX in the right pane, or right-click the key and choose Modify. (If you don't see such a value listed, right-click in the right pane and select New > String Value. Type WallpaperOriginX and press Enter.)
Enter the number of pixels from the left edge you want the image to start and click OK. Now repeat the steps for the WallpaperOriginY key, but enter the number of pixels from the top edge you want the image to appear. You can enter a negative number to move the left or top edge of the image off the screen that number of pixels.
To check your wallpaper's position, right-click the desktop, choose Properties, and click OK or Apply to refresh the screen.
Block programs from appearing on the Start menu's list of frequently used apps
Many people like the way the Start menu lists the programs you access frequently. But you might prefer to keep a program you use from being displayed on the Start menu. To prevent an application from being shown along with other programs you often access, open the Registry Editor as described above, and navigate to and select this key:
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications
Select the key corresponding to the executable file for the program you want to keep off the menu. For example, choose the Winword.exe key if you want to exclude Microsoft Word. Right-click in the right pane, choose New > String Value, type NoStartPage, and press Enter.
Bonus tip: As I mentioned above, I keep my trips to the Registry to a minimum, but if you find yourself opening the Registry Editor on a regular basis, create a desktop shortcut that opens the utility. Just right-click the desktop, choose New > Shortcut, enter the path to the Registry Editor executable file (it's probably C:\Windows\regedit.exe), give the shortcut a name, and press Enter to create the shortcut.
Go one step further by adding a keyboard shortcut that opens the utility. To do so, right-click the shortcut you just created and choose Properties. Click in the "Shortcut key" text box under the shortcut tab, enter the key combination of your choice (Ctrl-Alt-R is one possibility), and click OK.
The last time Windows' System Restore failed on me, I didn't blink an eye. I gave up trusting Microsoft's own Registry safety net a long time ago. And considering the quality Registry freeware available, there's no reason you should rely on Windows to repair and recover from Registry-related problems. These four freebies will keep the Windows engine purring like a kitten.
Clear out the clutter with CCleaner
Piriform's popular Windows-optimization utility includes a Registry-scrubbing component that clears out old application paths, ActiveX controls, shared DLLs, fonts, icons, and other Registry detritus. The program gives you the option to fix some or all of the problems it discovers, and before it starts the cleanup you can create a Registry backup so your system can be rolled back if something goes wrong. Two nice extras are CCleaner's options for uninstalling programs on your system, and for clearing the temporary files and recent-file lists from Firefox, Office, Windows Media Player, and other popular apps.
The free CCleaner utility improves your PC's performance by removing unused and duplicate entries from the Windows Registry.
(Credit: Piriform)
ERUNT out-restores System Restore
Windows' built-in Registry backup utility is better than having no Registry backup at all, but just barely. It seems the times I need it most are the times System Restore is most likely to crap out. Lars Hederer's Emergency Recovery Utility NT program has been saving Windows users' bacon for many years. Despite the program's name, it works with Windows 2000, XP, and Vista as well. You can set the program to back up the Registry every time Windows starts, or create backups manually to the folder of your choice. The accompanying Registry optimizer is just as quick and simple to use as the backup program. ERUNT lets you back up the Registry for all users on the system, or selected users, and it even provides command-line switches for automating backups and restores. It works when Windows fails to load, though doing so may require a boot disc (which you can create with the great BartPE freeware).
The free ERUNT utility lets you back up the Registry for all users or only the current user.
(Credit: Lars Hederer)
Keep an eye on the Registry with Process Monitor
Sysinternals combined its FileMon and RegMon system-monitoring utilities into this program, which gives you a snapshot of your PC's activity in real time. In fact, Process Monitor provides so much information that it's difficult to keep up with the file and program activity it tracks. You can view your system activity in a simple graph, and display a summary of file and Registry accesses. There's even an option to log activity during the next Windows boot to help diagnose startup problems. A geek could easily kill the better part of an afternoon just rambling around the many monitoring options provided, though the program is most valuable when it's used to track down a system problem.
Get a real-time view of your system's file and process activity with Sysinternals' free Process Monitor utility.
(Credit: Sysinternals)
Find your keys faster with RegScanner
NiriSoft's Registry-scanning utility makes it easy to navigate to a specific Registry key, and then open it in Windows' Registry Editor by double-clicking the entry, or by clicking File > Open In RegEdit (the keyboard shortcut is Alt-F, R). Other time-saving features let you copy a Registry key to the Clipboard and then open the Registry Editor to that key automatically, and to scan for all keys containing a specific value. You can also search by data length, value type, or date modified.
Search your Registry keys in a jiffy with NiriSoft's free RegScanner utility
(Credit: NiriSoft)Tomorrow: maximize your Office workspace.
The other evening I turned off my Windows XP system and busied myself with other matters, only to find the machine churning away several minutes later as it worked through its shutdown process. I could've understood the delay if it were installing updates, or even if some program or service had hung the system. But this was a typical PC shutdown, and it was taking forever.
"There's gotta be a better way," I thought, and after doing a little research, I found a bunch of Registry tweaks that reset Windows to close shop like it's late for the bus ride home. Keep in mind, any changes to the Registry can be troublesome, so you may want to make these alterations one or two at a time just to make sure they don't futz up the works (it'll also be easier to diagnose any problems that may arise). And for sure back up the Registry by creating a restore point before you begin.
Kill your apps
Some programs just don't know how to say goodbye. To speed up force-closing them at shutdown, open the Registry Editor (in Vista, press the Windows key, type regedit, and press Enter; in XP, click Start > Run, type regedit, and press Enter), and navigate in the left pane to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/desktop (or Desktop). Double-click WaitToKillAppTimeout in the right pane, and change the value data (measured in milliseconds) to 1000-if you're in a real hurry--or something larger, if you want to give your recalcitrant apps a little more time to call it quits. Click OK when you're done.
Use this Registry key to reduce the number of milliseconds you want Windows to wait before killing apps at shutdown.
(Credit: Microsoft)To reduce the wait before forcing hung applications to close, double-click HungAppTimeout in the right pane of the same key, and change the value data to 2000, or however many milliseconds you want to give the apps to unhang on their own. Of course, a better approach is to figure out why the app is hanging in the first place; I'll cover diagnosing hung applications in a future post: Stay tuned!
You may also want to change the value data of WaitToKillAppTimeout and HungAppTimeout in HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop key to apply the changes to all users on the system.
Clip your running tasks and services
There's another Registry key that automatically ends running tasks at shutdown. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop, double-click AutoEndTasks in the right pane, and change the value data to 1. Now to whack your slow-ending services, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control, double-click WaitToKillServiceTimeout in the right pane, change the value to 1000, and click OK.
Some people will tell you that you can speed up shutdowns by telling Windows not to clear the pagefile when it closes. Unfortunately, this could compromise your system security because sensitive data may be stored in the file unencrypted. There's even some question about whether disabling this setting will save you any time at shutdown. For me, the possibility of saving a couple of seconds on shutdown isn't worth the risk. That's why I recommend that you leave the ClearPageFileAtShutdown value at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/SessionManager/Memory Management at 1.
Some Vista systems (including mine) don't have all the Registry key entries described above. To add a missing entry, right-click in the right pane of its key, choose New > String Value, type the name, such as AutoEndTasks, double-click the new entry, add its value data (1 in the case of AutoEndTasks), and click OK.
Tomorrow: create multiple workspaces in Ubuntu.
Windows breaks; it's a fact. Sometimes the only fix you need is a system restart, but other times you may feel like you'll never get your PC working again. While not even a building full of Microsoft engineers can promise solutions to every Windows problem, these tips will help you begin your quest for a cure.
Windows won't update
First, make sure you're logged into an administrator account. Next, open the Windows Update log, which is at C:\Windows\Windows Update.log, and look for an error message, which may include an error code you can search for in Microsoft's knowledge bases. (Make sure you have Windows set to show hidden files: Open Windows Explorer, and in XP, click Tools>Folder Options>View>Show hidden files and folders; in Vista, click Organize>Folder and Search Options>View>Show hidden files and folders.)
Scan your Windows Update log file for clues to your system's update failures.
Now visit the Windows Update Troubleshooter and browse around for an entry relating to the error. If nothing on this page solves the problem, try disabling your antivirus and anti-spyware programs, your firewall, and any Web accelerators you've installed before going to the Windows Update page. Just be sure to reactivate your security programs before you browse anywhere else.
If you're still unable to update Windows, here are three more things you can try:
Check your clock to make sure your PC is set to the correct time and date. Double-click the time in the bottom-right corner of the screen to open the Date and Time Properties dialog box (in Vista, click Change date and time settings).
Log into another administrator account and try to update. If you don't have two administrator accounts, open the User Accounts Control Panel applet, click Create a new account (in Vista, select Manage Another Account first), and step through the wizard, choosing Computer administrator as the account type (Administrator in Vista).
Start Windows in Safe Mode and retry the update. To enter Safe Mode, press F8 after your PC starts but before Windows loads, and choose Safe Mode from the resulting menu.
You'll find more update-troubleshooting options on DTS-L.org's Windows Update Checklist.
The Registry has gone haywire
The fastest and simplest way to repair a garbled Registry is via Windows' System Restore: In XP, click Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore>Restore my computer to an earlier time (likely selected by default)>Next. Choose a restore point on the calendar, and step through the wizard. In Vista, press the Windows key, type "system restore," and press Enter. Vista recommends a restore point; if you approve, click Next>Finish. Otherwise, click Choose a different restore point>Next, make your selection, and step through the wizard.
Vista's System Restore applet chooses a restore point for you, or you can opt to select another.
You always have to be careful when you make changes to the Registry, which is why you should triple-check any Registry-cleaning utilities before you use them. One that has been around for a while is TweakNow's RegCleaner Standard (the company also offers a $27 Professional version).
Windows doesn't know when to quit
Sometimes Windows reboots when you only want it to turn off. This may be caused by the OS thinking a shutdown is actually a crash, which it is programmed to respond to by restarting. To disable this feature, right-click My Computer (Computer in Vista), choose Properties>Advanced (Properties>Advanced system settings>Advanced in Vista), and click Settings under Startup and Recovery. Uncheck Automatically restart under System failure, and click OK.
Stop Windows from restarting automatically after a crash by unchecking Automatically restart in the Startup and Recovery Settings dialog box.
This doesn't address the cause of the "crashes", however. A primary reason for such failures is a hardware or software conflict, so if you've recently installed some device or program, check the vendor's Web site for updated firmware or a new driver (more on fixing hardware conflicts tomorrow).
If your shutdowns are just slow, Windows may be clearing your virtual memory and system-hibernation cache (sleep mode in Vista) when it closes, which adds considerably to the shutdown process. To reset this option, click Start>Run (in Vista, simply press the Windows key), type gpedit.msc, and press Enter to open the Group Policy Editor. Navigate in the left pane to Computer Configuration>Windows Settings>Security Settings>Local Policies>Security Options, double-click Shutdown: Clear virtual memory pagefile, choose Disabled (if it isn't selected already), and click OK.
Tomorrow: Remedies for Windows networking and hardware failures.
The new year is fast approaching. What better time to give your system a good scrubbing? The best tool I've found for taking out the digital garbage is Piriform's CCleaner. (Quick tip: Click the "Alternative Download" link, not the FileHippo.com link above it. For some reason, the FileHippo page links to a download for a program I never heard of.)
Read this before you install CCleaner! By default, the program wants to add the Yahoo Toolbar to your browser. This lets you run CCleaner from the browser, but I suggest you uncheck that option in the program's installation wizard and instead choose to add a shortcut to CCleaner on your Recycle Bin right-click menu.
There are a couple of things you might want to do before you launch the utility. First, run Windows Update (or Microsoft Update if you use Office or other Microsoft apps). Then open the Add/Remove Programs applet in Control Panel (Vista calls it Programs and Features) and uninstall any apps you no longer use. Updates and uninstalls are the sources of many orphan files and Registry entries that do nothing but take up space on your hard drive and generally get in the way.
Once your system is updated, right-click the Recycle Bin on your desktop or in Windows Explorer and choose Open CCleaner. With the Cleaner option selected in the left pane (it's the default), check the locations you want to clean, or uncheck the folders that the program checks automatically, under both the Windows and Applications tabs. Then click Run Cleaner.
Choose the locations in Windows and your applications that you want CCleaner to scour.
Next, choose the Registry button in the left pane, and click Scan for Issues. When the scan finishes, Select Fix selected issues, and then choose Yes when you're asked if you want to back up changes to the Registry. That way if something goes haywire, you can simply double-click your Registry backup (it's named "cc" plus the date and time) to restore things to their pre-scan state. Once you're back in CCleaner, you can either fix the "issues" one at a time, or all at once by selecting Fix All Selected Issues. Click OK at the warning, and then Close.
CCleaner's Tools option lets you uninstall programs or Startup items, but you don't get any more information about the items listed than you do when you use Windows' own uninstall and startup options.
Technically, CCleaner is donationware, not freeware. If you didn't drop a couple-few dollars in Piriform's Paypal account when you downloaded the program, and you find yourself using it more than once or twice, consider returning to the company's site to make a donation. That's the best way I know of to keep great tools like CCleaner available in the future.
Monday: Use Web tools without sacrificing your privacy.
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