 | Use disk defragmenter ~ Windows comes with this awesome utility that
basically puts all of your data back in order on your hard disk. You
should perform this task at least every two weeks and more often if you
consider yourself a power user or load and blow away software often.
You can find this handy tool in Start, Programs, Accessories, System
Tools. Norton Utilities has an even better defragmenter in it called
Speed Disk. Remember to disable your screen saver and do not use your
PC while this program is running or it'll keep restarting itself. |
| Keep your files tidy ~ Empty your recycle bin and your temporary
Internet files often. |
| Spring clean your PC ~ Because it's uses electricity, dust is attracted to
your PC.......specifically the inards. Open the case and use a can of
compressed air to blow all dust bunnies away from the circuitry. Don't
use a vacuum cleaner to clean the inside of your PC. Pay special
attention to the power supply and processor. |
| Use an Anti-Virus program ~ and better yet, UPDATE THE VIRUS
DEFINITIONS! I can't tell you how many people I know never update
their virus software....it'll only work on virus's if it knows about them!
:) |
| Update your device drivers ~ Every once in a while, go into your device
manager (Start, Settings, Control Panel, System) and update the drivers for
your video card, modem and any other peripheral device. Believe it or
not, driver files can be a huge problem if they fall too far behind
technology. |
| Use your uninstall utility ~ Don't just go into explorer and start blowing
away file folders of programs! Try and use the Add/Remove program
utility in the Control Panel, or the programs own uninstaller. |
| BACK UP YOUR DATA!! Use whatever means possible to back up key
data. Just yesterday a friend of mine had her PC go sideways on her
for no reason....she uses Quicken for money management, Outlook for
mail...and guess what? She didn't back up her files! She is in
deep do-doo. Key files to back up include: All documents (.wpd,
.doc, .xls), Outlook files including .pst (Personal Folders-where your mail
is) and .pab (Personal Address Book) and .ost if you use offline file
folders. Other files include your Favorites folder (for Internet
links), money management programs (Microsoft Money's extension is a .bak
file) of course and also back up a copy of your internet settings. You
can back up to floppy, CD-R, Jazz, Zip, or another drive in your system in
case your C:\ drive crashes. Just do it! You never know when you
will be a victim to this and I have seen it happen to unsuspecting
individuals countless times! |
That's a pretty good start to help you get on your way to being a very
healthy computer owner! Hey, and if you have something to add to this
list, please email me and I will
post it here!
The Need for Speed!
With the advent of cable modems and DSL, T1's, 2's and 3's, we are in the age
of getting around the Internet at speeds faster than we imagined only a few
years ago, and not only are those of us lucky enough to be in an area serviced
by cable or DSL service getting to surf more efficiently and game with greater
gusto, it's actually quite affordable.
What I am going to post here are some tweaks that you can perform on your
Windows system registry to give you even more surfing speed than you would
otherwise have! REMEMBER to export your registry to a
safe/retrievable location just in case you type something incorrectly or there
is some other problem. I haven't come across anyone having any problems
with these tweaks, however, your registry isn't something to be played around
with. Remember, it is your operating system's brain. Note from
Microsoft's knowledge base says it all:
IMPORTANT:
Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a
problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring
the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry
Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.
The first thing you want to do before tweaking anything is a speed test of
your connection. You don't want to fix what isn't broken, right? Click this button
to take a look at your current speed and to see if there is the
need to tweak. If you do need to make some changes, here are the ones that
I used on my system in conjunction with my Cable modem setup:
Windows 98 Registry Settings
Go to the Start menu and select Run. Type regedit.
Open the keys (the folders) as if you were using Windows Explorer. Go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
--> System --> Current Controller Set --> Services --> Class -->
NetTrans.
There should be a number of keys starting with 000.
Click on them looking for a key containing the value name DriverDesc
and the value data is TCP/IP.
You will be adding a new value to this key.
- Make sure you have the correct key selected (in the picture it is 0000,
your system may vary).
- Using the Edit pull-down, select Edit -> New String Value
- New Value #1 will appear in the key.
- It should be highlighted for you to name it. Otherwise, select Edit ->
Rename. Make the name of this value "MaxMTU."
- Double-click MaxMTU and type 1500
in the value data box
Note: speedguide.net
notes that if your are a DSL user and your ISP uses PPPoE (Point-to-Point
protocol over Ethernet), you should set your MaxMTU value to 1492 or less. Other
sources say use 1500 if your connection is above 128K. I have not tested this
with PPoE so don't have a recommendation.
Setting the Receive Window
The next steps may require you to experiment with your settings to get the
best values.
Many of the following suggested values were defined by the authors of speedguide.net.
Alternate
values are suggested where appropriate.
Start by opening the following keys: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
--> System --> CurrentControlSet --> Services --> VxD --> MSTCP
As in the previous step, you will provide the value names and values for the
MSTCP key. Please take special care to use the correct variable type when
defining a new value pair. These are the values you will be defining:
- DefaultRcvWindow="64240"
Type: String Variable
- Try the setting in this order: 64240, 46720, 32120, 17520, 11680. This
string value should be a multiple of MSS and has a maximum of 1Gigabit in
Windows 98.
- PMTUDiscovery="1"
Type: String Variable
- This value is a Boolean or true/false option. True (1) lets your system
establish connections at an optimal speed with other systems. False (0) will
send fixed sized packets as defined in MaxMTU. You want to set this to
"1" so your computer will go as fast as possible.
- PMTUBlackHoleDetect="0"
Type: String Variable
- True (1) tells the computer to locate "black hole routers." This
can slow down your connection. Leave it off by setting this value to False
(0).
- TCP1323Opts="3"
Type: DWORD Decimal Variable
- This value refers to windowscaling and timestamp options. It's used when
sending data to a computer with a buffer greater than 64k. A setting of 3
enables both, a value of 1 turns off timestamping, and a value of 0 turns
off both settings. Set it at "3" and make sure you click on
Decimal value and NOT Hexidecimal.
- SACKOpts="1"Type:
String Variable
- This value is another boolean and controls how your computer resends the
same information if packets are lost. True (1) turns Selective
Acknowledgements (SACK) on. False (0) turns off SACK. Turn SACK on by
setting this to "1".
The next key we need to adjust is: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
--> System --> CurrentControlSet --> Services --> VxD --> MSTCP
--> Parameter
This key requires one more value:
- MaxDupAcks="3"
Type: DWORD Decimal Variable
- This value controls how quickly your computer sends new data if packets
are lost. It can be set as "2" or more. Set it at "3"
and make sure you click on Decimal value and NOT Hexidecimal.
That's it! Go back and check your work for spelling and proper types. Then
reboot and test your speed using the link below.
Are you interested in tweaks for other operating systems? Email me
and I will post them for you here!
![[Under Construction]](images/undercon.gif){kind=small}
