Increase the size of the DNS cache in Vista
A larger DNS cache will mean fewer trips to the nameserver and faster overall performance.
Latest How To Articles
Stop Sharing Scheduled Tasks in Vista
Sharing Sheduled Tasks makes network browsing slower. The problem is that sharing Scheduled Tasks slows network browsing considerably. Follow these steps on every PC in your workgroup to stop sharing Scheduled Tasks and increase your network performance considerably.
Common Ubuntu installation problems and solutions
Once the DVD-ROM has booted in live distro mode, and you're run the installation program,
you may get error messages or experience other difficulties. This article offers some solutions
to common installation problems.
Prevent Users from Shutting Down Vista
Among the restrictions you may want to impose on others who use your computer is that of shutting down Windows. For instance, if you're logging in remotely, you'll want to make sure that your PC is always on.
How To Convert your drives from FAT to NTFS in Windows Vista
If you've upgraded your PC from an earlier version of Windows, there's a chance you're still using the FAT32 filesystem. Assuming you don't need to keep FAT32 for compatibility with other operating systems, you should convert your drive to NTFS. The process is easy, relatively quick, and won't harm your data (although you should back up beforehand just to be safe).
How To Hide Unwanted Control Panel Icons in Vista
You can hide certain types of icons in Control Panel's Classic View with a quick Registry hack. Just open the Registry Editor, and expand the branches to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\don't load\.
Make a “Show Desktop” Button in Vista
By default, the Quick Launch toolbar comes with a Show Desktop button, which allows you to quickly hide all open windows and access stuff on your desktop, and then quickly bring them all back when you’re done. But what if your Quick Launch toolbar doesn’t have one?
Limit automatic login in Vista by number of boots
It's possible to limit the automatic login feature, so that the Log On dialog (or Welcome screen) reappears after a specified number of boots.
Control or change the space between desktop icons
As any green grocer will tell you, the most efficient way to stack oranges is the face-centered cubic arrangement, wherein each piece of fruit is placed in the cavity formed by three adjacent oranges in the lower plane. Sadly, Windows Vista doesn't have this option, but if you're content with Windows rectilinear arrangement, you can fine-tune row and column spacing on the desktop.
How To Make Shortcuts to Control Panel Pages in Vista
Many windows are buried several levels deep in Vista's Control Panel, so it can be a bit of a pain to make your way around the program. If you find yourself returning to the same spot often, there are several ways to make shortcuts and save yourself some time in the future.
How Malware Spreads on Windows
Once they've infected a system, viruses and the like can be very difficult to remove. For that reason, your best defense against them is to prevent them from infecting your computer in the first place.
Understanding Hard Disk Cluster Sizes
Clusters are the smallest units into which a hard disk's space can be divided. A hard disk formatted with the traditional FAT system, found in Windows 95 and an ancient operating system called "DOS," can have no more than 65,536 clusters on each drive or partition. This means that the larger the hard disk, the larger the size of each cluster.
Advanced NTFS Settings
The following settings allow you to fine-tune NTFS to squeeze the most performance out of your NTFS drive; experiment with these settings to find the configuration that works best for you.
How to make Vista menus open faster
Ever noticed the half-second or so delay between the instant you move the mouse over a menu item and the moment the menu is opened? By default, Vista waits 400 milliseconds (just under a half-second) before opening menus, but if you eliminate the delay, menus will open instantaneously, and your PC will feel a little more alert.
Manage IRQ Priority in Windows Vista
Most components directly attached to your motherboard - including PCI slots, IDE controllers, serial ports, the keyboard port, and even your motherboard's CMOS - have individual IRQs assigned to them. An interrupt request line, or IRQ, is a numbered hardware line over which a device can interrupt the normal flow of data to the processor, allowing the device to function.