When your web browser or email program connects to another computer on the Internet, it does so through a TCP/IP port. If you have a web server or FTP server running on your PC, it opens a port through which other computers can connect to those services. Port numbers are used to distinguish one network service from another.
The System applet provides access to general system properties. You also can open the System
applet by right-clicking Computer and choosing Properties. The first page of the System property applet provides basic information about your system, including OS version, installed memory, CPU type, and registration information.
Some Control Panel applets control fairly simple sets of options, while others are relatively complex. As in other Windows platforms, the Windows Server 2008 Control Panel serves as a control center for configuring hardware and operating system settings.
The Guest user account, as mentioned, is sort of a catch-all account for guests, people who want to borrow the computer for a short time. Allowing such people to use the Guest account prevents them from accessing any other user accounts.
One of the things we spend most of our time doing at a PC is waiting for applications to start. Larger applications, particularly, can take what seems like an eternity - OK, 10 to 15 seconds on a fast PC - before they're ready to use. And small programs, even though they load quickly, don't always "pop" on screen as quickly as one would like.
By default, Device Manager doesn't show devices that aren't connected to your computer, even if the drivers for those devices are installed and loaded. But why would you want to do this?
Bad memory can manifest itself in anything from frequent error messages and crashes to your system simply not starting. Errors in your computers memory (RAM) aren't always consistent, either; they can be intermittent and can get worse over time.
You can optimize Vista all you want, possibly shaving 15 or 20 seconds off your boot time, or you can approach the problem from a different angle.
Theoretically, when you shut down Windows, your computer should be powered down in less than 15 seconds. The problem is that all of the cleanup Windows tries to do before it considers it "safe" to power the system down can sometimes cause delays. This includes shutting down your
open applications, stopping any running services, and writing any pending cache data to the disk.
When you add a permanent entry to the DNS cache, it will always override the information provided by the nameserver. Here are a few reasons why you might want to do this.