Benefits Of Restarting Your Computer

  Lot's of people are wondering  - what do you get from restarting your PC? There are lots of obvious reasons here, and it was part of my Mini-Tips. So here I am, explaining. These reasons are fundamentally, theoratically sound reasons.

• Remove minor pc errors. Sometimes while you're running your comp you see some anomalies like maybe volume doesn't run, strange / jumbled language on your screen. It might have been triggered by inappropriate starting of some services / programs. Restarting would shut them down and start it again with better chance of working properly.

• Recover from hang. Of course you restart when your PC hangs. But don't switch it off from the main switch, restart by pressing the power button till it restarts. "Hang"ing might be caused by overloading of the processor from you keep switching between programs.

• Improve internet connection. Seems to work for me. That's why I always shut down when i'm finished or when my internet is really lagging. After a long time of using the computer, the fan can no longer cool the CPU fast enough. Result? Processors can't work properly because it's in a melting state already XD.

• Apply changes after installing programs. After you installed programs, they need to add some things to your PC services and registry. Some program features require things from your computer to run together when they (programs) are started.

And... that's all.

UPDATE(S):

• If you're wondering why your browser is just not showing website correctly, try reading this post. TQ.

Understanding Your Processes (In Task Manager)

In Conjunction to the other post, "Processors & RAMs *Explained*", this post here explains more on the functions in Task Manager.

  So, let's see... you should bring up your Task Manager before continuing on the details.

For Windows 7 users,

1. Right click on your "Taskbar" & choose "Task Manager" or
2. Using the traditional method, press "Ctrl + Alt + Delete" at once & choose "Start Task Manager"

For XP users,

1. Right click on your "Taskbar" & choose "Task Manager" or
2. Press "Ctrl + Alt + Delete", which would lead you directly to "Task Manager"

"Applications" tab. Here, you can see what tasks/programs are running and which one is not responding. This is the place you end programs that you see are not responding to you, solves the problem for windows/applications that cannot be closed. "End Task" button is just riiiiiiiigght at the bottom.

  Priorities, that is, for the processes that you see in the "Processes" tab. Just as the direct meaning suggests, it prioritizes which processes to run first, making it run faster. For example, making your CPU focusing more on your "Left 4 Dead 2" game than your other programs. Steps are shown below.

  Threads, as I have explained in my other post "Processors & RAMs *Explained*", is a single process cut up into pieces called "threads". The threads would then run in parallel, which means different parts of the program running at once together, so it would run better. Normally only exists more than 1 if the program is big (logical, since some only use little memory, no point to chop it up). To see no. of threads specifically for each program, see steps below..

Steps for prioritizing your programs,

1. Just follow the game post link up there and just follow the instructions there.

Steps for looking at your threads,

1. While under "Processes" tab, go to View > "Select Columns..."
2. Tick "Thread Count" then click "OK", you will be able to see threads for each process ...& done!
3. For overall threads, go to "Performance" > under "Totals", see "Threads"

  Now, for some people who wants to save the changes they made to their priorities of the processes, Ashampoo has their own program called "Ashampoo Core Tuner". Here you can save your priorities as "profiles". BUT there is 1 thing you must remember: when everything's high, nothing is. Because when all is high, all is at the same level so it makes no difference.

Steps :

1. Download from Rapidshare or Megaupload
2. Replace 'ct.exe' at 'C:\Program Files\Ashampoo\Ashampoo Core Tuner' with crack before you start the program
3. In Ashampoo Core Tuner, choose your program and change priority at top right corner, changes automatically saves as profile ...& done!

Processors & RAMs *Explained*

  When a potential buyer wants to buy a computer, they should always see what processor and RAM it uses as it will determine how fast it can get the job done. But the main problem is they don't understand how that 2 things work together, all they know is "newer/bigger chip, faster performance". That is true in some way, but to know which type of processor and RAM is right for you, you'll have to understand the works of both together.

  

(from left) This is a Core 2 Duo processor (showing the 2 cores at the top)... and this is Core i7 Extreme (4 cores) cool eh?

The Processor
  To make it short, choosing a good processor means how fast can it process your datas, how fast can it complete it. There are several things that come with the processor :

•   Clock Speed determines how fast can the processor performs in an activity, like a stopwatch. But when you are just using your computer for daily usage, you wouldn't need that high of a clock speed. Imagine comparing a race car speed with the speed of a guy running, you wouldn't be able to use up that much speed as the car if you're the runner.  Besides, running a high-speed processor would need lots of money and uses lots of electricity.

•  Threads are processes(activities) like gaming or word processing cut into pieces. The processor will switch between threads fast enough to look like they're running at the same time. Some processors have multi-threading technology that literally allows threads to run together rather than keep switching. This allows much smoother multi-tasking.

•   No. Cores in the lowest processors, including Pentium and Celeron, are 2 and only 1 in ultra-low battery usage processors. High-end processors like Core i7 have 4 cores. Cores mainly handle threads(explained above). If you have read above, then you can see here that a core switch between threads for multi-tasking. By having 2 cores, 1 core can work on a single activity and another work on multi-tasking, or both working together on 1 thing.

Kingston RAM

The RAM
  RAM is part of the cpu that also decides how fast your computer will be. So I suggest you buy a quality RAM like from Kingston.

• Temporary storage for datas, unlike the hard disk. Datas are sorted here from where they came from, then is send to the specified places.

• Storage size increases, then the more datas that can be sorted.

     So here's the wrap-up :

• Fast processor + Small RAM = less things get done, because even if you process things fast, you wouldn't have enough space for all those things to be sorted
  
• Slow processor + Big RAM = less things get done too, this time you have lots of space to sort datas, but the datas comes in slow
• Fast processor + Optimum RAM = good multi-tasking, I refer to the RAM as "optimum" because too big the RAM, then you'll have to apply the 2nd equation

   Even if you have fast processor, having a 4G RAM would not make much difference, the processor can only use the RAM space to so much only. Unless you are using Windows Vista or 7, then you go get that big RAM.

  Additional reading can be obtained here (Multi-cores & RAMs), and credits from part of the explanation goes to Intel website. To see what is the specification of your Processor and RAM on your computer :

My Computer properties

Steps :

1. Right click 'My Computer' > 'Properties' ...& done!
   

Voted #1 : Defrag Your Computer With Better Utility

  Westlife excerpt, 'everybody's looking for that something, one thing that makes your computer fast...' just messing with you. Want to know the story of how defragmentation works? First you must know how a hard disk writes datas.

A look on the inside of the hard drive

  If you look at the inside of the hard disk, there is a long and pointy end thingy called the actuator arm and the head, the round disk is called a platter. The hard disk writes data by magnetizing the parts on the platter through the the head of the actuator arm. The platter has to keep turning in order for the head to write datas on the whole disk with the actuator arm moving left and right. Long story short :

• Platter turns & actuator arm moves left and right to be able to cover the whole place
• Head writes the data onto platter by magnetizing it

 When the hard disk does this, it fragments the disk. Take for example : when you saved your file, the hard drive writes the data onto the platter wherever there's space on it. It does that by splitting your data into bits and is written everywhere on the disk whereever there is space. When you want to retrieve your data, it has to go all over the disk just to piece the whole data together.

  As it repeats this process on every data, the hard disk gets to messy to find, resulting in longer time to open your files. The way to undo this is to defragment it, meaning putting the files into one piece again so that it's easier to get the whole piece of the file without having to go through cycles. And here's the program, IObit Smart Defrag :

Advantages :

• Simple interface
• Defragments your computer much more effeciently than other products
• There is a auto-defrag that can be set-up
• It's free!!

Smart Defrag 1.30

Steps :

• Download from main website
• Install it
• Choose the drive you want to defragment and the type of defragmentation method ...& done!

  I recommend using the 'fast optimize' than the other 2 options. It defragments files + places all your files all in the same area for easy access. You should also defragment your hard drive before it get's to fagmented. Try imagining your room being very messy. It'll take more time to  clean up compared to when it is just a little bit dirty. So try weekly defragmenting.

  From this information, you will know that comparing the speed of a computer you just bought with a computer full with your works is just not right. So whatever computer you are buying, always have a good defragmenter on the go. For more info on hard disks, go here.

Update(s) :

• Comparison with other defragmenting products can be found here. I personally think IObit Smart Defrag is already the best defragmenter as I have already try it out myself.
  

Faster System Startup @ Boot (Part II)

  This post continues from the other one here. Ok, so....... this time to tweak your computer to be faster at BOOT time, you can use a tool from Microsoft called 'BootVis'. Note : Microsoft don't supply this program anymore (don't know why...), so we're gonna download it from SoftPedia.

BootVis program

Advantage :

• Faster bootup time
• Program has simple interface
• Program takes up small space
  

Disadvantage (1st time I have to write this) :

•  It'll take 'some time' for the program to evaluate your computer after you restart

Steps :

1. Go to SoftPedia, then download the program
2. Install
3. In the program, go to the toolbar and find 'Trace' > 'Boot + Driver delays' (After clicking this, it'll ask you whether you want to restart now or later, that'll be your choice)
   
4. After restart, wait for the program to evaluate. DON'T CLOSE THE PROGRAM YET EVEN IF NOTHING IS HAPPENING!
5. Then after it has shown the graphs, go again to toolbar and find 'Trace' > 'Optimize System' (the restart in step 4 & 5 will repeat again) ... & done!

More details could be found here (with pics).

Make Your System Startup Faster At Login

  For most users, their computers slow down at startup after installing loads of programs on their computer. Programs that load themlselves at startup like anti-virus are the ones causing this. With this, users get frustrated and lose patience real fast. The solution is right in your computer itself.

 Msconfig.exe

Advantages :

• Need I say more? Your computer will load faster at startup
• Your emotional status returns to normal
• Saves time

Steps :

1. "Start Menu" > "Run..." <-- (for vista & 7 users is in the search box)
   
2. type 'msconfig' without the brackets
3. Click 'startup' tab
4. Untick unwanted programs to start at login, then click 'OK' ...& done!

  If anything appears after you click 'OK', just continue clicking 'OK' for the messages, unless its asking you about restart. If you want to restart right away just click 'Restart' or otherwise. List of what programs is safe to untick will be given in the next update.