http VS https

http:// & https://


The main difference between http:// and https:// is, It's all about keeping you secure

HTTP stands for HyperText Transport Protocol, which is just a fancy way of saying it's a protocol (a language, in a manner of speaking) for information to be passed back and forth between web servers and clients.

The important thing is the letter S which makes the difference between HTTP and HTTPS.

The S (big surprise) stands for "Secure".
If you visit a website or webpage, and look at the address in the web browser, it will likely begin with the following: http://.

This means that the website is talking to your browser using the regular 'unsecure' language.

In other words, it is possible for someone to "eavesdrop" on your computer's conversation with the website.

If you fill out a form on the website, someone might see the information you send to that site.

This is why you never ever ever enter your credit card number in an http website!

But if the web address begins with https://, that basically means your computer is talking to the website in a secure code that no one can eavesdrop on.

You understand why this is so important, right?

If a website ever asks you to enter your credit card information, you should automatically look to see if the web address begins with https://.

If it doesn't, there's no way you're going to enter sensitive information like a credit card number


Source

THE TECHNO TERMS DICTIONARY

THE TECHNO TERMS DICTIONARY Now for a few variations on familiar terms:

STATE-OF-THE-ART
Any computer you can't afford.

OBSOLETE
Any computer you own.

MICROSECOND
The time it takes for your state-of-the-art computer to become obsolete.

SYNTAX ERROR
Walking into a computer store and saying... 'Hi, I want to buy a computer and money is no object.'

HARD DRIVE
The sales technique employed by computer salesmen, especially after a Syntax Error.

GUI
What your computer becomes after spilling your coffee on it. (pronounced 'gooey')

KEYBOARD
The standard way to generate computer errors.

MOUSE
An advanced input device to make computer errors easier to generate.

FLOPPY
The state of your wallet after purchasing a computer.

PORTABLE COMPUTER
A device invented to force businessmen to work at home, on vacation, and on business trips.

DISK CRASH
A typical computer response to any critical deadline.

POWER USER
Anyone who can format a disk from DOS.

SYSTEM UPDATE
A quick method of trashing ALL of your software.

386
The average IQ needed to understand a PC.

Exciting Facts of Technology

Aircraft Carrier An aircraft carrier gets about 6 inches per gallon of fuel. Airplanes The first United States coast to coast airplane flight occurred in 1911 and took 49 days. A Boeing 747s wingspan is longer than the Wright brother's first flight (120ft). Aluminum The Chinese were using aluminum to make things as early as 300 AD Western civilization didn't rediscover aluminum until 1827. Automobile George Seldon received a patent in 1895 - for the automobile. Four years later, George sold the rights for $200,000. Coin Operated Machine The first coin operated machine ever designed was a holy-water dispenser that required a five-drachma piece to operate. It was the brainchild of the Greek scientist Hero in the first century AD. Compact Discs Compact discs read from the inside to the outside edge, the reverse of how a record works. Computers ENIAC, the first electronic computer, appeared 50 years ago. The original ENIAC was about 80 feet long, weighed 30 tons, had 17,000 tubes. By comparison, a desktop computer today can store a million times more information than an ENIAC, and 50,000 times faster. From the smallest microprocessor to the biggest mainframe, the average American depends on over 264 computers per day. The first "modern" computer (i.e., general-purpose and program-controlled) was built in 1941 by Konrad Zuse. Since there was a war going on, he applied to the German government for funding to build his machines for military use, but was turned down because the Germans did not expect the war to last beyond Christmas. The computer was launched in 1943, more than 100 years after Charles Babbage designed the first programmable device. Babbage dropped his idea after he couldn't raise capital for it. In 1998, the Science Museum in London, UK, built a working replica of the Babbage machine, using the materials and work methods available at Babbage's time. It worked just as Babbage had intended. Electric Chair The electric chair was invented by a dentist, Alfred Southwick. E-Mail The first e-mail was sent over the Internet in 1972. Eye Glasses The Chinese invented eyeglasses. Marco Polo reported seeing many pairs worn by the Chinese as early as 1275, 500 years before lens grinding became an art in the West. Glass If hot water is suddenly poured into a glass that glass is more apt to break if it is thick than if it is thin. This is why test tubes are made of thin glass. Hard Hats Construction workers hard hats were first invented and used in the building of the Hoover Dam in 1933. Hoover Dam The Hoover Dam was built to last 2,000 years. The concrete in it will not even be fully cured for another 500 years. Limelight Limelight was how we lit the stage before electricity was invented. Basically, illumination was produced by heating blocks of lime until they glowed. Mobile (Cellular) Phones As much as 80% of microwaves from mobile phones are absorbed by your head. Nuclear Power Nuclear ships are basically steamships and driven by steam turbines. The reactor just develops heat to boil the water. Oil The amount of oil that is used worldwide in one year is doubling every ten years. If that rate of increase continues and if the world were nothing but oil, all the oil would be used up in 400 years. Radio Waves Radio waves travel so much faster than sound waves that a broadcast voice can be heard sooner 18,000 km away than in the back of the room in which it originated. Rickshaw The rickshaw was invented by the Reverend Jonathan Scobie, an American Baptist minister living in Yokohama, Japan, built the first model in 1869 in order to transport his invalid wife. Today it remains a common mode of transportation in the Orient. Ships & Boats The world's oldest surviving boat is a simple 10 feet long dugout dated to 7400 BC. It was discovered in Pesse Holland in the Netherlands. Rock drawings from the Red Sea site of Wadi Hammamat, dated to around 4000 BC show that Egyptian boats were made from papyrus and reeds. The world's earliest known plank-built ship, made from cedar and sycamore wood and dated to 2600 BC, was discovered next to the Great Pyramid in 1952. The Egyptians created the first organized navy in 2300 BC. Oar-powered ships were developed by the Sumerians in 3500 BC. Sails were first used by the Phoenicians around 2000 BC. Silicon Chip A chip of silicon a quarter-inch square has the capacity of the original 1949 ENIAC computer, which occupied a city block. Skyscraper The term skyscraper was first used way back in 1888 to describe an 11-story building. Sound Sound travels 15 times faster through steel than through the air. Telephones There are more than 600 million telephone lines today, yet almost half the world's population has never made a phone call. Television Scottish inventor John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of television in 1926 in Soho, London. Ten years later there were only 100 TV sets in the world. Traffic Lights Traffic lights were used before the advent of the motorcar. In 1868, a lantern with red and green signals was used at a London intersection to control the flow of horse buggies and pedestrians. Transistors More than a billion transistors are manufactured... every second. VCR's The first VCR, made in 1956, was the size of a piano. Windmill The windmill originated in Iran in AD 644. It was used to grind grain. World Trade Center The World Trade Center towers were designed to collapse in a pancake-like fashion, instead of simply falling over on their sides. This design feature saved hundreds, perhaps thousands of lives on Sept. 11, 2001, when they were destroyed by terrorists.

Good computer quotes

Before software can be reusable, it first has to be usable!!
--Ralph Johnson

If debugging is the process of removing bugs, then programming must be the process of putting them in.
--Edsger Dijkstra

There are two ways to write error-free programs; only the third works.
--Alan J. Perlis

If the code and the comments disagree, then both are probably wrong.
--attributed to Norm Schryer

Every program has (at least) two purposes: the one for which it was written, and another for which it wasn't.
--Alan J. Perlis

Copy and paste is a design error
--David Parnas

Any code of your own that you haven't looked at for six or more months might as well have been written by someone else.
--Eagleson's law

Measuring programming progress by lines of code is like measuring aircraft building progress by weight.
--Bill Gates

The primary duty of an exception handler is to get the error out of the lap of the programmer and into the surprised face of the user.

Laptop Security: Quick Facts, Tips

Quick Facts

Thinking of taking your laptop on the road? It’s a great way to work and stay in touch when you’re out and about, but you need to take some steps to keep your laptop safe–and in your possession. Here are some things you can do to keep track of your laptop:

• Treat it like cash.
• Get it out of the car...don’t ever leave it behind.
• Keep it locked...use a security cable.
• Keep it off the floor...or at least between your feet.
• Keep passwords separate...not near the laptop or case.
• Don’t leave it “for just a sec”...no matter where you are.
• Pay attention in airports...especially at security.
• Use bells and whistles...if you’ve got an alarm, turn it on.

Keeping Laptops From Getting Lost or Stolen

A laptop computer defines convenience and mobility. It enables you to work from home, a hotel room, a conference hall, or a coffee shop.

Maybe you’ve taken steps to secure the data on your laptop: You’ve installed a firewall. You update your antivirus software. You protect your information with a strong password. You encrypt your data, and you’re too smart to fall for those emails that ask for your personal information. But what about the laptop itself? A minor distraction is all it takes for your laptop to vanish. If it does, you may lose more than an expensive piece of hardware. The fact is, if your data protections aren’t up to par, that sensitive and valuable information in your laptop may be a magnet for an identity thief.
Chances are you’ve heard stories about stolen laptops on the news or from friends and colleagues. No one thinks their laptop will be stolen– at least not until they find the trunk of their car broken into, notice that their laptop isn’t waiting at the other side of airport security, or get a refill at the local java joint only to turn around and find their laptop gone.

OnGuardOnline, a website managed by the federal government that is devoted to computer security, protecting personal information, and guarding against Internet fraud, suggests keeping these tips in mind when you take your laptop out and about:

• Treat your laptop like cash. If you had a wad of money sitting out in a public place, would you turn your back on it – even for just a minute? Would you put it in checked luggage? Leave it on the backseat of your car? Of course not. Keep a careful eye on your laptop just as you would a pile of cash.
• Keep it locked. Whether you’re using your laptop in the office, a hotel, or some other public place, a security device can make it more difficult for someone to steal it. Use a laptop security cable: attach it to something immovable or to a heavy piece of furniture that’s difficult to move – say, a table or a desk.
• Keep it off the floor. No matter where you are in public – at a conference, a coffee shop, or a registration desk – avoid putting your laptop on the floor. If you must put it down, place it between your feet or at least up against your leg, so that you’re aware of it.
• Keep your passwords elsewhere. Remembering strong passwords or access numbers can be difficult. However, leaving either in a laptop carrying case or on your laptop is like leaving the keys in your car. There’s no reason to make it easy for a thief to get to your personal or corporate information.
• Mind the bag. When you take your laptop on the road, carrying it in a computer case may advertise what’s inside. Consider using a suitcase, a padded briefcase or a backpack instead.
• Get it out of the car. Don’t leave your laptop in the car – not on the seat, not in the trunk. Parked cars are a favorite target of laptop thieves; don’t help them by leaving your laptop unattended. That said, if you must leave your laptop behind, keep it out of sight.
• Don’t leave it “for just a minute.” Your conference colleagues seem trustworthy, so you’re comfortable leaving your laptop while you network during a break. The people at the coffee shop seem nice, so you ask them to keep an eye while you use the restroom. Don’t leave your laptop unguarded – even for a minute. Take it with you if you can, or at least use a cable to secure it to something heavy.
• Pay attention in airports. Keep your eye on your laptop as you go through security. Hold onto it until the person in front of you has gone through the metal detector – and keep an eye out when it emerges on the other side of the screener. The confusion and shuffle of security checkpoints can be fertile ground for theft.
• Be vigilant in hotels. If you stay in hotels, a security cable may not be enough. Try not to leave your laptop out in your room. Rather, use the safe in your room if there is one. If you’re using a security cable to lock down your laptop, consider hanging the “do not disturb” sign on your door.
• Use bells and whistles. Depending on your security needs, an alarm can be a useful tool. Some laptop alarms sound when there’s unexpected motion, or when the computer moves outside a specified range around you. Or consider a kind of “lo-jack” for your laptop: a program that reports the location of your stolen laptop once it’s connected to the Internet.
• Where to turn for help. If your laptop is stolen, report it immediately to the local authorities. If it’s your business laptop that’s missing, also immediately notify your employer. You may also wish to review the FTC’s information for businesses about data breaches. If it’s your personal laptop and you fear that your information may be misused by an identity thief, visit the FTC’s Identity Theft page for more instructions.

Source: Internet

Strong passwords: How to create and use them

The passwords are the keys we use to access personal information that we've stored on our computer and in our online accounts.


What makes a strong password?
To an attacker, a strong password should appear to be a random string of characters. The following criteria can help our passwords do so:


Make it lengthy
Each character that we add to our password increases the protection that it provides many times over.
The passwords should be 8 or more characters in length; 14 characters or longer is ideal.
Many systems also support use of the space bar in passwords, so we can create a phrase made of many words (a "pass phrase"). A pass phrase is often easier to remember than a simple password, as well as longer and harder to guess.


Combine letters, numbers, and symbols
The greater variety of characters that we have in our password, the harder it is to guess. Other important specifics include:
Use words and phrases that are easy for US to remember, but difficult for others to guess.
The easiest way to remember our passwords and pass phrases is to write them down.
Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing wrong with writing passwords down, but they need to be adequately protected in order to remain secure and effective.
In general, passwords written on a piece of paper are more difficult to compromise across the Internet than a password manager, Web site, or other software-based storage tool, such as password managers.


E.g.: Password

Name: Jack, DOB: 03/04/1984, Complexion: Wheatish

Password: jK4891Wheat$

Phrase: I like You.

Password: I2L1kU

Source: Internet

Ramayana by Bill Gates!!

When Bill Gates was in India, he had a chance 2 listen Ramayana from Atal Behari Vajpayee. After, returning 2 US he wrote it in his personal Diary.A Tabloid in US got a copy of his writings. These are excerpts from his diary.
Ramayana by Bill Gates...

LAN, LAN ago, in the SYSTEM of I/O-dhya, there ruled a PROCESSOR named DOS-rat. Once he EXECUTED a great sacrifice PROGRAM after which his queens gave an OUTPUT of four SUNs--RAM, LSIman, BUG-rat and SED-rughana. RAM the eldest was a MICROCHIP with excellent MEMORY. His brothers, however, were only PERIPHERAL ICs. Once when RAM was only 16MB, he married princess 'C'ta. 12years passed and DOS-rat decided to INSTALL RAM as his successor.However, Queen CIE/CAE(KaiKayee), who was once offered a boon by DOS-rat for a lifesaving HELP COMMAND, took this opportunity at theinstigation of her BIOSed maid (a real plotter), and insisted that her son Bug-rat be INSTALLED and that RAM be CUT-N-PASTED to the forest for 14years. At this cruel and unexpected demand, a SURGE passed through DOS-rat and he collapsed, power-less. RAM agreed to LOG INTO forest and 'C'ta insisted to LOGIN with him. LSI-man also resolved on LOGGING IN with his brother.The forest was the dwelling of SPARCnakha, the TRAN-SISTOR of RAW-van, PROCESSOR of LAN-ka.Attracted by RAM's stature, she proposed that he marry her. RAM,politely declined. Perceiving 'C'ta to be the SOURCE CODE of her distress, she hastened to kill her. Weeping, SPARC-nakha fled to LAN-ka, where RAW-van, moved by TRAN-SISTOR's plight, approached his uncle MAR-icha. MAR-icha REPROGRAMED himself into the form of a golden stag and drew RAM deep into the forest. Finally, tired of chase, RAM shot the deer, which, with his last breath, cried out desperately for LSI-man in RAM's voice. Fooled by this VIRTUAL RAM SOUND, 'C'ta urged LSI-man to his brother's aid. Catching the opportunity, RAW-van DELINKED 'C'ta from her LIBRARY and changed her ROOT DIRECTORY to LAN-ka.

----------------INTERVAL--------------------

RAM and LSI-man started SEARCHING for the missing 'C'ta all over the forest. They made friendship with the forest SYSTEM ADMINISTRATOR SU-greev and his powerful co-processor Ha-NEUMAN. SU-greev agreed to help RAM.SU-greev ordered his PROGRAMMERS to use powerful 'SEARCH' techniques to FIND the missing 'C'ta. His ROGRAMMERS SEARCHED all around the INTER-NETworked forests. Many tried to 'EXCITE' the birds and animals not to forget the 'WEBCRAWLERS' (Insects) and tried to 'INFO SEEK' something about 'C'ta. Some of them even shouted 'YA-HOO' but they all ended up with 'NOT FOUND MESSAGES'. Several other SEARCH techniques proved useless.Ha-NEUMAN devised a RISKy TECHNOLOGY and used it to cross the seas at anastonishing CLOCK SPEED. Soon Ha-NEUMAN DOWNLOADED himself intoLAN-ka.After doing some local SEARCH, Ha-NEUMAN found 'C'ta weeping under a TREE STRUCTURE. Ha-NEUMAN used a LOGIN ID (ring) to identify himself to 'C'ta.After DECRYPTING THE KEY, 'C'ta believed in him and asked him to send a 'STATUS_OK' MESSAGE to RAM. Meanwhile all the raakshasa BUGS around 'C'ta carptured Ha-NEUMAN and tried to DELETE him using pyro-techniques. But Ha-NEUMAN managed to spread chaos by spreading the VIRUS 'Fire'.Ha-NEUMAN happily pressed ESCAPE from LAN-ka and conveyed all the STATUS MESSAGES toRAM and SU-greev. RAW-wan decided to take the all powerful RAM head-on and prepared for the battle.One of the RAW-wan'sSUN(son) almost DELETED RAM & LSI-man with a powerful brahma-astra. But Ha-NEUMAN resorted to some ACTIVE-X gradients and REFORMATTED RAM and LSI-man. RAM used the SOURCE CODE secrets of RAW-wan and once for all wiped out RAW-wan's presense on earth. After the battle, RAM got INSTALLED in I/O-dhya and spreaded his MICROSOFT WORKS and other USER FRIENDLY PROGRAMS to all USERS and every one lived happily ever after.

Source: Fellow Blogger

11 New Tips for Boosting Windows XP Performance

By Andy McDonough, CMP Channel
9:03 AM EDT Mon. Aug. 14, 2006

Below Article is found on: http://www.crn.com/white-box/191902204?pgno=1
and i found it interesting and useful, just want to share it with you people. Thanks to the publisher.

Here are nearly a dozen new ways to squeeze more speed and capacity from the current version of XP.

Windows XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) is not scheduled until the second half of 2007, and Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT)'s first shot at its successor, Windows Vista, may not be due out before "early 2007." Meantime, many system builders (and their clients) will be keeping today's WinXP SP2 systems running for some time.

That makes now the perfect time for revisiting your deployed XP boxes and making sure your clients are getting the best possible performance from their systems. Your clients will be happy with a faster-running OS; some may even be amazed. This is also a golden opportunity for system builders to check in with clients and pick up a little extra income from performing just such tune-ups.

In this Recipe, I'll show you ways to restore the zip of WinXP-based PCs both old and new. I'll also show you the places to look for WinXP problems that can develop over time, and how to fix them. I'll also look at performance-saving set-up issues, and how to battle the demons—like fragmented disks and unused network devices—that can steal precious CPU cycles and memory from your systems.

First, deciding whether a WinXP system needs a mere tune-up or a full-blown repair is a judgment call you'll have to make. Listen and learn before rushing to judgment. For instance, if a client complains that their system's performance has taken a sudden hit, or that stability has suddenly become an issue, you're probably looking at a hacked machine, virus attack, or failing hardware. In all three cases, a repair job is in order. But if a client complains about an older model PC that simply won't run as fast as it used to, that probably means the time has come for a tune-up. That's where this Recipe comes in.

Also, before starting a tune-up, spend some time observing the system's operation. Note how long it takes to restart. How quickly does it access commonly used applications, such as e-mail clients or browsers? You may want to time the start-up of for the system's word processing program, or measure how long the machine needs to save a typical file. Then, after you complete the tune-up, make the same measurements, and compare your before and after results.

Your goal, of course, is to improve overall system performance. But these measurements will give you a feel for the immediate benefits of system cleaning and tuning. One thing you'll probably note is that some systems respond better to certain tweaks than do others. This is a normal result of different usage patterns.

First, Back Up

You've probably heard this a million times already, but before you tune up any PC, first back up the system's data. Losing data, especially a client's data, is not only embarrassing, but also potentially costly. Avoid this amateur's mistake. Back up the computer before you run any system tools or do any troubleshooting. Period.

I'm not being overcautious. Some of the following steps can cause preexisting, hidden problems to surface. These problems, in turn, can prevent the computer from restarting. This isn't very likely, but it is possible. So don't take chances, and do make backups.

If you're not using backup software, Windows XP Professional even includes a utility called Backup that can be deployed quite easily. To open the Backup wizard, click Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools. Then select Backup. Told you it was easy!

For information on how to use Microsoft's Backup, see the company's Windows XP Backup Made Easy. You can also show this article to more advanced clients who have critical backup needs, such as daily accounting and customer records.

Once you have completed the backup and the system's data is secure, you're ready to move on to my performance-improving tips.

Tip 1: Remove Unused Programs

To begin tuning up a computer's performance, remove unnecessary programs. New programs are installed all the time, but typically, only a few are actually used. Maybe your client has installed a trial version or two of a popular game to check them out, and then forgot about them. Users are quick to say "Yes" to an install, but rarely take the time to remove the software after the trial period. All those unused installations can be sitting on the hard disk, consuming resources and hurting performance.

Let's get rid of them! Follow these four steps to remove unused programs:

1. Click Start, then click Control Panel.
2. Click on Add or Remove Programs.
3. Scroll through the list, and examine each program. WinXP lists how often a program is used and what day it was last launched. You might want to review this list with your client. Ask, "Do you ever use this? Will you ever use this?" If the answers are No, remove the program.
4. But do not remove anything labeled Update or Hotfix. These are official Windows updates and fixes. Leave them alone.
5. For each program you no longer want, click on the program's name, then click the Remove button and follow the prompts to uninstall them. It's that easy.

You may have to restart the computer each time after removing a program. If so, after the computer restarts, repeat the steps above to remove the rest of the unused programs you and your client have chosen. If the computer has been in service for a while, repeating this process may take some time. No matter; it's well worth the effort. Every unused program, even trial versions, take up much-needed space on the disk, as well as in the OS proper. Bottom line: If your client doesn't need it, their PC will be faster without it.

Tip 2: Free Up Wasted Space

Let's continue finding and freeing up otherwise wasted disk space. For this step, we'll deploy Microsoft's Disk Cleanup tool. Just follow these four steps:

1. Open My Computer, then right-click Local Disk, and then click Properties.
2. On the General tab, click the Disk Cleanup button. Disk Cleanup will spend a few minutes examining your disk.
3. The Disk Cleanup dialog box shows you space on your disk that you can free up.
4. Select the desired checkboxes in the Files to Delete list, and then click OK. Disk Cleanup will spend several minutes clearing space.

Consider automating this disk cleanup process for your clients. For more information on this, check out the Microsoft Knowledge Basic article, How to Automate the Disk Cleanup Tool in Windows XP.

Tip 3: Defragment

WinXP comes with a great tool to defragment the data stored on disk called, appropriately enough, the Disk Defragmenter. Commonly referred to as simply "defrag," this utility cures a condition that occurs when disks become congested and parts of files get written farther and father apart. When a file is fragmented, it takes longer for the computer to read it; the disk head has to skip around to find the data on different sections of the hard disk, and the computer's logic has to keep track of the various pieces and reassemble them correctly.

Defrag will first do a quick analysis of a disk and determine if there's enough fragmentation to warrant use of the utility. If it does finds significant fragmentation, defrag will move data around on the disk to make accessing it more efficient. Running this utility should ensure your client's programs will load faster by retrieving data quicker.

It's easy to defragment a disk. Just follow these four steps:

1. Open My Computer, right-click Local Disk, and then click Properties.
2. On the Tools tab, click Defragment Now. The Disk Defragmenter opens.
3. Click the appropriate hard disk, and then click Defragment. Disk Defragmenter will start to work. Defragging will take from several minutes to several hours, depending on how much data there is and how badly the data is spread out. As the amount of data stored approaches the disk's capacity, defragging takes longer, as there is less space in which to work.
4. If the system has more than one hard disk, repeat this process for each hard disk in the system. Defragmenting the disk with WinXP on it will result in the greatest improvement in overall performance.

If files on your computer are not badly fragmented, you won't see a large improvement in performance. But for most XP machines that have been running for a long time, startups and general performance can improve remarkably by doing a defrag.

Tip 4: Disconnect Unused Network Connections

While sharing network drives is a quick way to add capacity to PC, unused connections can cause serious performance problems on startup when remote computers or network drives don't respond immediately.

At startup, or whenever a network drive is accessed, WinXP will wait patiently for the drive to come online, even if the drive is disconnected. This can slow a PC, even if the file the user is opening is directly on the local computer. If a system has unused network connections, you can shave time off the startup wait-time and generally improve performance by removing these connections.

To get rid of unused network connections, disconnect any unused drives by following these three steps:

1. Open My Computer.
2. On the Tools menu, click Disconnect Network Drive.
3. Select the network drives that you no longer need. Then click OK.

Without these unused network connections, startup and file access should be faster.

Tip 5: Remove Unnecessary Autostart Programs

Software providers that want their programs to appear to load quickly when needed configure autostart programs to run in the background. Some of these programs show an icon on your taskbar to let you know that they're running, but others are completely hidden. All are stealing trace amounts of memory and processing time as the computer runs.

WinXP comes with the System Configuration tool (Msconfig.exe), an excellent way to manage the startup process, as well as to identify any unnecessary programs that start automatically. To start it and make the changes, follow these four steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type Msconfig, and then press Enter.
2. On the Startup tab, you'll see a list of all the programs and processes that are set to run when WinXP loads.
3. Clear the checkbox next to any item the user doesn't need.
4. Click Apply, and then restart the computer for the changes to take effect.

If you need help figuring out which startups do what, look up the entries at Paul Collins' Startup Applications List. It's a very handy resource.

Tip 6: Rejuvenate Prefetch

WinXP loads applications much faster than its predecessors. To accomplish this, XP uses what's known as the Prefetch technique, in which the OS gathers information about each program launched, then stores that information in the \Windows\Prefetch folder. On subsequent restarts, WinXP uses the information stored in the Prefetch folder to essentially preload parts of those programs at boot time. The result: When the user launches an application, it appears to load really fast.

But there's one problem: Over time, the Prefetch folder can accumulate too much information. This makes the OS so busy loading bits and pieces of lots of applications into memory, the boot process gets slowed down. Fortunately, you can clean out the Prefetch folder at any time by following these four easy steps:

1. Access the Run dialog box by clicking Start, then Run.
2. Type "Prefetch" (without the quote marks) in the Open text box. Then click OK.
3. Press Control A to select all the files.
4. Press Delete.

Over time, WinXP will rebuild the contents of the Prefetch folder. By the way, an excellent time to create a disk image for your clients is after a couple of weeks of use, after Prefetch has "learned" about applications to preload, but before it becomes bulky.

Tip 7: Remove Remnants of Old SP2 Installs

Upgrading XP with SP2 leaves a lot of unused files on the disk that the user will need only if they were to uninstall XP. Personally, I've never had to back-out of SP2, but if you did, chances are it would have be shortly after you installed it. So, assuming the user is happy with their SP2 installation, remove these old files by following these steps:

1. A very big System Restore point will have been made by the SP2 installation. To be sure you have a good regular size restore point, create a new one by going to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore. In the System Restore dialog box, click Create a restore point. Then click Next. Type a description for your restore point, such as "After SP2" and click Create. Then do a clean-up by going to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup. Under "More Options," click the bottom button to remove all but the most recent restore point.

2. Delete the hidden folder of files that would be restored by an uninstall: C:\Windows\$NTServicePackUninstall. After this step, if you try to use the "Remove" for Service Pack 2 in Add/Remove Programs, it will fail and offer to delete the entry.

3. There may also be a large folder C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download, depending on how the installation was done. This can be deleted, too.

4. Check that the installation's temporary folder was properly removed. The directory will be in the root directory of the drive where you downloaded the setup files (probably on C:) and will have a long name of random letters. If you can find this folder, remove it.

Tip 8: Paging File Across Multiple Hard Drives

If a client runs demanding applications, such as complex graphics or video editing, try a more complex tweak associated with the system's "paging file." The paging file is closely related to the physical RAM installed in the computer. Its purpose is to extend the amount of physical RAM and make it available to the system.

Tweaking the paging file boosts performance by speeding access to the PC's store of virtual memory, so bear with me. Of course, the amount of performance increase depends greatly upon the application and machine. But increases of 30 percent or more are not uncommon when the PC is memory-constrained.

A PC's paging file (Pagefile.sys) is a hidden file on a computer's hard disk that WinXP uses as if it were RAM. The paging file and physical memory make up the total virtual memory. By default, Windows stores the paging file on the boot partition—the partition that contains the OS and its support files.

To enhance performance, it's good practice to put the paging file (or a portion of it) on a different partition than the one WinXP is on, and to also put the paging file and WinXP on different physical hard-disk drives. That way, Windows can handle multiple I/O requests more quickly. Otherwise, when the paging file is on the boot partition, Windows must perform disk reading and writing requests on both the system folder and the paging file. But when the paging file is moved to a different partition, there is less competition between reading and writing requests.

But there is one problem with removing the paging file from the boot partition: Windows cannot create a dump file (Memory.dmp) in which to write debugging information in the event that a kernel mode Stop Error message occurs. This could lead to extended downtime if you must debug to troubleshoot.

The optimal solution is to create one paging file that is stored on the boot partition, and then create another paging file on another partition that is less frequently accessed on a different physical hard disk (assuming a different physical hard disk is available). Sounds complicated, but it's really not. WinXP uses an internal algorithm to determine which paging file to use for virtual memory management. By design, Windows will use the paging file on the less frequently accessed partition over the paging file on the more heavily accessed boot partition.

WinXP performance can be enhanced even more by creating the second paging file so that it exists on its own partition, with no data or operating-system-specific files. So if you have two or more hard drives, especially if they reside on separate IDE channels, you can split the paging file across these two drives. WinXP, by accessing both of the drives at the same time to read/write information, will considerably improve its performance.

The following steps show an example of adding a second paging file location: From System Properties > Advanced > Performance > Settings > Virtual Memory. Then assign the paging file a size on each drive.

Here's how I did mine. I have two hard drives, each formatted with two partitions. In other words, I have a total of four partitions being displayed. On my secondary hard drive, I created the first partition and called it "my_swap." Since I have 512 MB of RAM, I created the partition with 1.5 GB. On this partition, I assigned the swap file of 764 MB to 1500 MB. On the primary partition, which contains my OS, I also have a swap file of the same 764 MB to 1500 MB.

WinXP sizes the paging file to about 1.5 times the amount of actual physical memory by default. While this is good for systems with smaller amounts of memory (under 512 MB), it's unlikely that a typical XP desktop system will ever need 1.5 X 512 MB or more of virtual memory unless special programs require it. If you have less than 512 MB of memory, leave the paging file at its default size. If you have 512 MB or more, change the ratio to 1:1 paging file size to physical memory size.

For those who'd like a more exact method for figuring the optimal paging file size, see this article at Microsoft (NSDQ:MSFT)'s support site: How to determine the appropriate page file size for 64-bit versions of Windows Server 2003 or WinXP. For more information on optimizing XP's paging file, see Microsoft's support site: How to configure paging files for optimization and recovery in WinXP.

Tip 9: Speed-up the Start Menu with Registry Editor

The default speed of the Start Menu is pretty slow, but you can fix that by editing a Registry Key. The Microsoft Registry Editor (regedit.exe) enables you to view, search for, and change settings in your system registry, which contains information about how your computer runs. Although you can use Registry Editor to inspect and modify the registry, doing so is not recommended by Microsoft, as making an incorrect change can damage the system.

Before you fire up the Registry Editor, make sure you know how to restore the registry and are familiar with all the risks. For details, read this Microsoft article: Using Regedit.exe.

If you're comfortable with the risks, follow these three steps to speed-up the Start Menu with the Registry Editor:

1. Click Start, then click Run.
2. Type Regedit, then click OK.
3. Locate the value for HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop \ MenuShowDelay. By default, the value is set to 400. Change this to a smaller value, such as 0, to speed it up.

Tip 10: Disable Costly Display Options

WinXP provides some pretty effects when it opens menus, Tooltips and boxes, but all that carries a cost in valuable CPU cycles. It's not a big performance drain, but unless your clients love these niceties, you can boost performance by shutting them off. Here's how:

1. Click Start > Control Panel > System Information.
2. On System Properties, click the Advanced tab.
3. In the Performance section, click Settings.
4. Consider disabling the following:

5. Fade or slide menus into view
6. Fade or slide ToolTips into view
7. Fade out menu items after clicking
8. Show shadows under menus
9. Slide open combo boxes
10. Slide taskbar buttons
11. Use a background image for each folder type
12. Use common tasks in folders

Tip 11: Disable Indexing Services

Indexing Services is a small program that uses large amounts of RAM. Its job is to process indexes and update lists of all the files that are on the computer, so that when the user searches for something, the system will search faster by scanning the indexed lists. The problem is that Indexing typically uses lots of CPU time.

If the user doesn't search their computer often, Indexing won't help them at all. And if they do search frequently (depending on what they are looking for and how the machine is used), Indexing still may not make your searches faster. Consequently, many XP users, looking for better performance, have turned indexing off and never looked back.

You can easily disable Indexing. Here's how:

1. Go to Start.
2. Click Settings.
3. Click Control Panel.
4. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
5. Click the Add/Remove Window Components.
6. Uncheck the Indexing services.
7. Click Next.

With the tweaks in this Recipe, your clients' PCs should be running up to maximum speed. Once you've tried these performance boosts, I'm sure you'll be amazed at how a few minutes of maintenance in the right spots can rejuvenate a PC. Your clients will enjoy better performance without dropping a bundle on a new PC.

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SIDEBAR: Third-Party Tools for XP

In addition to the Microsoft tools mentioned in this Recipe, there are lots of freeware tools that can help you tune up WinXP systems. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Autoruns: This amazing utility features the most comprehensive knowledge of auto-starting locations of any startup monitor. It shows which programs are configured to run during system boot or login, and it also shows the entries in the order Windows processes them. It can be a handy tool for discovering processes that are configured to start themselves up, and which make the user wait while they do.

• Ccleaner: This optimization and privacy tool removes unused files from a system, letting Windows run faster while freeing up valuable hard-disk space. It takes only about a second to run. Ccleaner also does regular maintenance, such as cleaning Internet history and unused entries from the registry.

• CleanCache: This simple software is a "set it and forget it" utility that cleans up after browsers and Office applications. It can be set to work at timed intervals, and it can support multiple users.

• PageDefrag: This program uses advanced techniques to provide what commercial defragmenters cannot, such as the ability for you to see how fragmented your paging files and Registry hives are, and to defragment them. In addition, PageDefrag defrags event log files and Windows 2000/XP hibernation files (where system memory is saved when you hibernate a laptop).

• BootVis: Bootvis.exeis a performance-tracing and visualization tool. It was designed by Microsoft to help PC system designers and software developers identify performance issues for boot/resume timing while developing new PC products or supporting software.