DID YOU KNOW THESE WINDOWS SECRETS ?

Both WINDOWS XP and VISTA have vast hidden commands and functions which are in most part unknown to many of you readers of this blog.
Today I'm going to show you some of these "secrets", which will make your computer work better and faster.
Like everything else, if you proceed to optimize your computer by following the suggestions herein, make sure to do it step by step and read the instructions carefully.
HERE GOES:

1- Lots of visual effects cost valuable computer power. You can tone down the visual effects on WINDOWS XP by going to Control Panel/System and under the "Advanced" tab disable "visual effects" to free up valuable computer power.
On WINDOWS VISTA, go to System Properties, click "Advanced" tab, then "Performance settings" tab and under "Visual Effects" click "Adjust for Performance" button and then OK.

2- When using an alternative firewall, which in most cases are better the WINDOWS firewall, such as Norton or other security programs, it is highly recommended to disable the WINDOWS firewall, otherwise the two firewalls operating at the same time may slow down the system or even make it inoperable.

3-Every time there is a crash or program error, WINDOWS saves a "memory dump" in a file called "MEMORY.DMP" under the installation directory, (e.g. C:\Windows). In order to free disk space, this file can be deleted without a problem.

4- WINDOWS can significantly slow down its own start as it searches for shared files, folders and printers. In WINDOWS EXPLORER, you can go to "TOOLS/Folder Options/View" and disable the feature "Automatically search for network folders and printers".

5- WINDOWS XP has a command that lets you verify and restore critical system files if necessary. Type the command "sfc /scannow" under the "Start/Run. WINDOWS XP will check through the system files and automatically replace any damaged files. (It might sometimes ask you to insert the WINDOWS CD when doing this).

6- When WINDOWS VISTA is first installed and in most cases also in a new computer just purchased, there is no "Run" command in the "START" menu. If you want to have this command available, (and I recommend you should have it available), go to "Control Panel", choose "Task bar and Start Menu Properties", go to the "Start Menu" tab, click "Customize" find and check the option "Run Command" and then click OK and OK again.

7-Did you know that you can download WINDOWS VISTA and test it for a period of 30 days, without having to buy it? Well you can do it and extend that period to 120 days! How?
Log on as Administrator, go to "All Programs/Accessories" and right click on "Command Prompt". Select "Run as Administrator", then type in the command "slmgr.vbs-rearm".
You can do this up to 3 times!

8- WINDOWS indexes nearly all files and folders used during work flow on the system. Those who can do without this feature, can go into "My Computer", right click on the drive in question, (normally drive C:), choose "Properties", then uncheck the option "Allow Indexing Service to Index This Disk for Fast File Searching".

That's it for today. From time to time I'll come up with more secrets, (there are so many that it will take a life time...)

Enjoy,

George Freire