Remove nuisance in Windows

The 29 tips introduced in this article will help you quickly cure Windows 'sloppy' diseases, ensuring that your computer is always efficient and time-saving.

Remove nuisance in Windows Picture 1 The 29 tips introduced in this article will help you quickly cure Windows "whooping" diseases, ensuring that your computer is always efficient and saves time.

Compared to the previous version, Windows XP is more stable, more secure (here we do not consider this aspect), but that is not all because there are still many improvements needed for Windows to work. faster and more efficient. If you use Windows XP every day, you will encounter many silly little errors during startup, or on-screen icons that "hide at show time" like playing hide-and-seek and countless other annoying things. While waiting for the arrival of the new version of Windows, you need strong doses to sever the root of the disease on your computer. However, if you are too bored with your Windows friend, please refer to the "Replace Windows" article (A0509_78) for more information on Mac and Linux operating systems.

MAINTENANCE MAINTENANCE

Accelerate startup

Problem: You just installed some new applications into the system. However, these applications will automatically launch with the Windows boot process, so the operation of the system becomes slow. Worse, these applications do not provide any options to disable autostart.

Resolution: If there is no option to prevent the application's autostart (maybe they do not exist), then use the System Configuration Utility of Windows. First, select Start, Run, type "msconfig" command and click OK to open the System Configuration Utility window. In the System Configuration Utility interface, select the Startup tab, remove one (or several) options corresponding to the listed applications that you do not want them to be uploaded during the boot process, then click OK and select Restart to restart the machine. When Windows restarts, the System Configuration Utility window will appear. If there are no problems, check the option to select Show this message or launch the System Configuration Utility and click OK.

Backup Windows

Problem: Windows XP Professional provides a basic, simple and effective utility to perform a backup of a system called Backup (you can find this utility in Start.All Programs.Accessories.System Tools ). You have tried to find this gadget everywhere but still have no results. So where does Microsoft hide this utility?

Solution: Fortunately, the Backup utility is included in the Windows XP Home CD. Go to valueaddmsftntbackup folder on CD, right-click on ntbackup.msi and select Install to install this utility. However, if you only have the system recovery disk that comes with the purchase, not the regular Windows XP installation disc, it will be more difficult to find the right Backup file. You can find valueaddmsftntbackup folder in the Windows folder on your hard disk. The Backup utility can back up directly to a CD if your computer has a CD-R / RW drive and is equipped with a packet writing utility.

Clean up temporary files

Problem: Browsing the web, installing software, and running common Windows applications will create temporary temp files in the Temp (Documents and SettingsusernameLocal SettingsTemp) folder, affecting Windows performance. In addition, Windows ignores this directory when ordered to delete temporary files.

Resolution: Open Windows Explorer, right-click on the C drive partition (do the same for the remaining partitions). In the General tab, select Disk Cleanup. Although the Disk Cleanup tool can delete temporary files, free up disk space but does not "touch" the files of the Temp folder under the Local Settings folder (Figure 1), so you must delete those This file is manually. Close all applications before proceeding, move to this folder, then press -A to select all files and to delete.

Show full file attributes

Problem: Windows XP thinks users don't need to see the file extension and hide them. This is completely useful when you just need to browse your documents as JPEG or BMP image files. However, you can guess what will happen if some computer viruses take advantage of this default setting to trick users into activating malicious programs. If the file extension is not displayed, you will activate the file SafePic.jpg.exe because all you see is just the icon of the file SafePic.jpg.

Resolution: To display the file extension, open Windows Explorer, select Tools. Folder Options.View, uncheck the option of Hide extensions for known file types and check the option Show hidden files and folders below, then click OK.

CPU overloaded

Problem: Why is Windows slowing down even though you have turned off all applications and devoted all system resources to a single task?

Solution: It seems that the culprit is that a program or service has problems and still tries to execute even if it doesn't show the program window or the taskbar icon so that you can close them manually. . To find programs that are consuming the CPU, first close all the currently running applications. Then press the key combination - to open the Task Manager utility, select the Processes tab. Browse the list of active programs until you determine where the culprit is "occupying" CPU resources (valuable in high CPU columns). Select this program and press End Process. Don't pay much attention to the System Idle Process, this is simply a notice of the percentage of unused CPU resources, keep the number as high as possible.

Set Hibernate mode

Problem: You want your laptop to boot faster. But with the default settings, the computer can only shut down the device (shutdown) or temporarily turn off the monitor and the drives but still maintain the power for the CPU and memory in standby mode. Still wasting battery time.

Solution: You have a new option, which is to set the Hibernate mode (also known as hibernation) for your computer. This mode records the current state of the system to the hard disk before performing a shutdown, avoiding wasting battery power. When rebooted, the system will read the information stored on the hard disk and so you can start working right away. The problem is that you must enable this feature before using it by selecting Start, Settings, Control Panel, double-clicking the Power Options icon. In the Hibernate tab, check the Enable hibernation option and click OK.

However, in order for Hibernate to work properly, keep in mind the following factors: Free space on the hard disk, Windows will create a file the size of RAM, so you need free space. The hard disk must be at least 1.5 times the amount of RAM. Log in to the system with an Administrator account or Power User. Update the latest Windows fixes, applications and hardware device drivers (Windows XP SP2 fixes Hibernate errors with computers with 1GB of RAM and hopefully soon releases Fix errors for computers with 1.5GB or more RAM.

USEFUL NEEDS

Create a Windows XP boot disk
If the computer suddenly becomes infected, you can boot the system from a floppy disk to check for viruses, recover lost files . However, this can only be applied to versions before Windows. 2000 and Windows XP. Although Windows XP can create an emergency boot disk (Emergency Recovery Disk), most users don't know how to work with the command line. The Preinstalled Environment (BartPE), a free tool that can be downloaded at, ID: 49064 will help you create a bootable CD (or DVD) from the Windows XP installation disc.

Restore network connection
One of the ways spyware works to gain control of a user's computer is to install themselves into Windows network software. Utilities like CouterSpy of Sunbelt Software) can remove spyware, but some of them ruin your network connection. Then, use WinSock XP Fix, ID: 48609) to fix this problem.

Organize photos with Picasa
For image storage, Windows XP provides users with the Camera and Scanner Wizard and My Pictures folder, but only with a simple tool. Google's free Picasa (, ID: 051101) utility can help you organize and organize images better. Picasa offers more than 12 useful tools such as searching for duplicate files (saving disk space), basic tools like image editing (you can replace the Windows Paint utility) and even Please upload your images to the Blog.

Change the iPod interface
Are you annoyed with iTunes or crazy about Nomad?Most digital music players have a default interface.So you don't have many options to use and they often don't work well with the Windows Explorer utility.But Red Chair Software sells gadgets with many outstanding features (priced from 15USD to 35USD depending on the version,) capable of replacing music players on digital music players of Apple, Creative, Dell, Iriver, Rio and Xclef.Red Chair's utilities do a great job of integrating digital music players into Windows Explorer.

SECURITY HOLE

Protect your computer when reinstalling Windows

Problem: Normally, a hard disk failure requires you to reinstall Windows even if you don't want to. The last step to complete the installation is to download the SP2 version of Windows XP and many other fixes. However, this new system has not been equipped with necessary self-defense weapons, so it easily becomes a prey for attacks by computer viruses and spyware.

Resolution: Before performing the reinstallation, you should unplug the network cable, the phone cord connected to the computer. Next, log into Windows, open the Control Panel window, select Network Connections, right-click on the connection that you use to connect to Intermet and then select Properties, Advanced. In the dialog that appears, select the option Protect my computer and network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from the Internet and clicking OK (Figure 2). From now on, the computer will be safer to resist external attacks while you update the fix from the Windows Update website (Start.All Programs.Windows Update). If you use multiple computers, you should consider copying the SP2 (about 178MB capacity) fix to CD to save download time.

Change user account

Problem: Essentially, Windows XP determines user permissions based on user account groups. Logging in and using a computer with a default account belonging to the Administrators group is an extremely risky action because unfortunately if any malicious software (malware) enters the system, it will "inherit" the authority. of this account. Changing an administrator account to a Limited Users group is also not a good solution because you will have some difficulties in installing the application and performing some other tasks.

Solution: Fortunately, in addition to the two opposite user account groups, Windows XP Pro also supports many other user account groups for users to choose (Windows XP Home Edition does not have this feature).The Power Users are groups of user accounts that have fewer permissions than the Administrators group and, of course, are safer for the system and are able to install applications against the limited account group.To add an account to the Power Users group, in the Control Panel window, open Administrative Tools and select Computer Management.In the left pane, double-click the "Local Users and Groups" section and select Users, then double-click the user account that you want to change in the right pane.Next, in the Member Of tab, click Add and type in Power Users under "Enter the object names to select" and click OK.

WINDOWS 64-BIT IS REAL?

There are a lot of users who successfully installed Windows XP Pro 64-bit versions, but only a few people realize their true benefits. Please refer to the following tips before proceeding with the upgrade.

Do you need 64-bit Windows?
The benefit of 64-bit systems is to expand the RAM limit and CPU processing capability. "Gluttony" applications that need a lot of resources will operate more efficiently than 32-bit systems. For normal applications, this does not bring much benefit. For example, the 64-bit version of the Firefox browser seems very appealing, but it actually works in the same way as a 32-bit system.

Check the driver
Before switching from 32-bit Windows XP Pro to a 64-bit system, check and download 64-bit drivers for computer hardware devices from the manufacturer's website and write them down. CD. If there is no suitable driver, the system may malfunction.

Use the full version
Once you upgrade from a 32-bit version of Windows XP Pro to a 64-bit version, you will lose the license of Windows XP. Therefore, you cannot return to the old version if you have problems with the new version and cannot use both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems at the same time. It is best to purchase a separate license for 64-bit versions of Windows.

Give up old software
Most familiar applications on 32-bit systems like Firefox, Opera, ITunes, Adobe Reader and OpenOffice.org work well and there is no significant difference when running on 64-bit systems.However, unlike 32-bit Windows XP Pro, Windows X64 cannot run 16-bit or 32-bit applications using a 16-bit installer.In addition, Windows X64 also had trouble installing some system protection programs such as ZoneLabs's ZoneAlarm, Norton Antivirus 2005 from Symantec and AVG Antivirus from Grisoft.

DESCRIPTION DESKTOP

Make icon appear

Problem: Some common utilities can only be accessed via system tray icons, but XP is "enthusiastic" to help them by hiding them when users are not used.

Resolution: The simplest solution for these icons to always appear is to right-click on the Start button or taskbar and select Properties. Uncheck the Hide inactive icons option under the "Notification area" section and click OK to finish the change. However, having all the icons appear will take up a lot of space on the taskbar. Then click Customize instead of unchecking the option, select Hide inactive icons to decide which icons are most needed.

Customizing Explorer

Problem: It's a headache to always reset how to display information every time you open a new folder in Windows Explorer.

Resolution: The Windows Explorer utility is able to record user changes instead of using the default display. First of all, customize the Explorer to your own discretion, details, properties to display, display format (thumbnails, categories, details, icons .). Let Explorer use these changes by default, select Tools, Folder Options, and in the View tab, click Apply to All Folders.

Quick access to Desktop

Problem: There are many important things you need to use regularly from Windows screens like program icons, downloaded files, and even the Recycle Bin utility. But when you run an application, the icons on the Quick Launch toolbar disappear or are hidden.

Solve: Don't worry! You can easily add icons to the taskbar. First of all, you need to activate the Quick Launch toolbar by right-clicking on the taskbar and selecting Toolbars.Quick Launch. By default, the Show Desktop icon will appear on the Quick Launch bar. If you don't see this icon (it may have been hidden), click the two arrow icon to display it, drag / drop frequently used icons into the area that can be displayed on the Quick Launch bar. In addition, you can quickly access the icons on the screen without having to minimize the windows of the applications by inserting the Desktop toolbar into the taskbar: right-click the taskbar and select Toolbars. Desktop

Resetting My Documents folder

Problem: Like previous versions, Windows XP "encourages" users to save documents to the My Documents folder. However, you want to save your document elsewhere for ease of use, backup and retrieval from other Windows versions.

Resolution: Windows XP is quite "comfortable" when allowing users to change the path of the My Documents folder. Right-click the My Documents icon and select Properties. Next in the Target tab, select Move to move all My Documents folders and files to a different location. To specify the available directory as the My Documents folder, click Find Target instead of Move.

Quick access to documents

Problem: Windows places a link to the My Documents folder on the Start menu so you can quickly access your files. However, if you want to open a specific file, it's annoying to have to click multiple times to access this file.

Resolution: If you want the extra menus in the Start menu to automatically open, including My Documents, right-click on the Start button and select Properties.Then, select the Start Menu tab and click Customize and then the Advanced tab.Next, browse the Start menu items list, in the My Documents section, check the Display as a menu option and click OK.Do the same for frequently accessed folders like Control Panel, My Computer .

FAST OFF THE MACHINE

Being a patient person, but sometimes the way to solve the problem of Windows XP is too confusing or not so frustrating. Hopefully the next version of Windows, codenamed Longhorn, will fix some problems such as booting / shutting down the system longer than backing up. And finding causes is quite difficult work.

While waiting for the new version of Windows, use the interpolation method to find out the exact cause of an application or driver problem. If it is an application, close it before performing a shutdown or updating the latest fix if this is a software error. If it is a driver, use Device Manager to update to the new version. To proceed, right-click the My Computer icon, select Properties, Hardware and click the Device Manager item. Next, right-click the driver that caused the problem and select Update Driver to search for the latest version from the Windows Update website. To check if the driver is the cause of the error, select Disable instead of Update Driver and restart Windows.

Alternatively, go to http://aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.php for more information on troubleshooting Windows XP boot and shutdowns.

CONNECTING DIFFICULTIES

Turn off network connection notifications

Problem: The wireless network you are connecting to has a slightly weak signal but still works. However, sometimes the waves are flickering, even dropping. At that time, Windows appears a disconnected message and establishes a reconnection. Is there any way to turn off these notifications?

Solution: It's easy for you to set up yourself to prevent the occurrence of these "boring" messages (this still applies to normal cable connections). Select Start, Settings, Control Panel, Network Connections. Right-click on the connection icon and select Properties. Uncheck the Show icon in notification area option when connected and Notify me when this connection has limited or no connectivity. Finally, click OK to finish.

Safe with ActiveX

Problem: Strange links suddenly appear when you are browsing the web using the Internet Explorer utility. Who is the culprit? Is the adware installed because of the "positive" help of the ActiveX driver.

Resolution: Tightening ActiveX security is one of the security policies for the system. Select Tools, Internet Options, select the Internet item in the Security tab, click Custom Level. Go to ActiveX controls and plug-ins, check the Promt or Disable options for the "Download signed ActiveX controls" and "Script ActiveX controls marked for safe scripting" (Promt option will display a warning whenever required. Installing ActiveX, the Disable option will prevent the website from using ActiveX. Next, select Disable in the "Download unsigned ActiveX controls" and "Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe" (these changes are available in SP2).

Users browse the web with Firefox regardless of ActiveX.If it is impossible to perform the task if you cannot access some websites using ActiveX, the temporary solution is to allow the ActiveX feature of the website to operate in a controlled manner.By the way, the SP2 version of Windows XP has enhanced security against malicious ActiveX and the next version of the web browser Internet Explorer 7 promises a safer solution for ActiveX especially when used in Longhorn OS.

REMEDY ERROR CONNECT

One more problem that Microsoft should add to the list needs to be done in Longhorn is to fix the button to fix network connection errors. In fact, nothing happens when you click this button to repair the connection in case of a network failure. Does Windows want to provoke users with this help?

Instead of using a button to fix the connection error of Windows XP, you can use the "ipconfig" command in the DOS Prompt window, a simpler solution to disable and re-enable the network connection.To do this in Windows XP, open the Control Panel.Network Connections window, right-click the connection and select Disable.After that, right-click again and select Enable.If it still does not fix the problem, check and reset things related to the network connection by unplugging the network cable, restarting the modem / ADSL router.

SOLID FACILITIES MULTI-MEDIUM

Fast storage

Problem: Windows Explorer provides an interface for dragging / dropping files to a CD-R / RW drive. But when you do, nothing happens. In fact, before copying files to a CD, Windows merely arranges them into a folder (using the hard disk space for this) until the user actually writes and closes the CD.

Resolution: First, make sure you have installed the device driver to write packet data with your reader or computer (Roxio Easy CD Creator and Nero Burning ROM provide their own drivers) with How to check the path of the program in the Start menu (eg, Drag-to-Disc of Roxio). However, even if you have installed this driver, Windows only arranges the files and performs a write on CD at a different time. To fix this problem, right-click the CD burner icon in Explorer, select Properties, in the Recording tab, uncheck the "Enable CD recording on this drive" option (Figure 6). From now on, when you perform dragging / dropping files or folders onto the drive's icon, the program will use the program to burn the package data to CD immediately.

Restore Autoplay capability

Problem: In the past, Windows could anticipate your activities, open a wizard window when you connected the camera to your computer, or open a music player when you put the music CD in the CD drive . However , after installing a new application or accidentally clicking without carefully reading the contents of the dialog box, Windows "doesn't know" what to do with music files, images and some other files.

Resolution: In the Explorer window, right-click the drive icon or the storage device for the files to open and select Properties. In the AutoPlay tab or Events tab, re-establish which application will launch corresponding to your operation. Tuy nhiên, tính năng Autoplay thỉnh thoảng vẫn bị lỗi và bạn cần sử dụng tiện ích Autoplay Repair Wizard của Microsoft (find.pcworld.com/48612) để khắc phục. Mặc dù Microsoft yêu cầu xác nhận người dùng hợp pháp (sử dụng hệ điều hành Windows có bản quyền) nhưng bạn có thể bỏ qua bước này và tiếp tục tải tiện ích này về.

XỬ LÝ TẬP TIN THÔNG MINH HƠN

Một yêu cầu nữa cho phiên bản Longhorn tương lai là phải có thêm khả năng tự động xác định và cách ly những tập tin bị lỗi trong quá trình sử dụng. Ví dụ, trong trường hợp bạn cố gắng thực hiện thao tác với 500 tập tin cùng lúc (chẳng hạn như kéo/thả chúng sang thư mục khác), một trong số chúng có thể bị lỗi và gây treo máy. Khi xảy ra lỗi, Windows XP chỉ thông báo chung chung rằng có một lỗi đã xảy ra và đóng tiện ích Explorer nhưng vẫn để một số tập tin đã di chuyển sang thư mục mới và một số vẫn còn nằm trong thư mục cũ. Thậm chí nếu bạn khắc phục được lỗi này, thì tìm kiếm và tiếp tục chuyển những tập tin còn lại là việc làm khá "dở hơi" và gần như không có gì đảm bảo rằng lỗi sẽ chấm dứt.

Thay vì đóng cửa sổ lại, tại sao tiện ích Explorer không cô lập những tập tin lỗi (như cách các chương trình phòng chống spyware và virus thường làm) và tiếp tục thực hiện công việc. Bằng cách đó, người dùng có thể dễ dàng xác định tập tin lỗi để khắc phục sau đó.

Thật không may, chỉ có một giải pháp duy nhất để hủy bỏ những thao tác vừa thực hiện là nhấn tổ hợp phím -Z. Bạn nên đóng tất cả những ứng dụng đang sử dụng trước khi thực hiện.