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Windows 7 First Thoughts?

Paul Cody — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 14:23:32 +0000

Wow!! After doing a clean install of Windows 7 Professional, (which went flawlessly) I was immediately blown away by the uncluttered desktop and general feel of the OS. I actually thought Win 7 might be simple fixes of Vista, Aww no, this is the real deal, new system, and what a system it is. I played around with some cool new features for a few hours, surprisingly Win 7 is quite fast, the MS engineers have done their homework.

If your looking for such things as Windows mail you’ll have to download and install “Live Essentials”, this little pack includes Mail, Messenger, Photo Gallery, Writer, Movie Maker and Family Safety Feature. You can get the pack here Live Essentials.

I was going to install a Win 7 tweaking programme to ring every last drop of speed out of the operating system but as I delved deeper, I found this system is already geared toward performance, even with the cool effects. For the die hard performance geeks though you would be better off tweaking the system manually, visit the Seven Forums to find some sweet tweaking tutorials for Windows 7.

If you wish to slim down the services visit Black Vipers site for a guide on what services you can disable. This will give a good performance increase but has the possibility of breaking your system if done incorrectly, be wary of which services you disable and read the services descriptions and dependancies.

As I play around with this system I’m liking it more and more, for those thinking it is only a Vista update, think again! Do yourselves a favour and grab a copy, Windows 7 for me is definitely shaping up to be “All That”.

Upgrading to Windows 7

Paul Cody — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 00:58:40 +0000

With the release of Windows 7 to the public a question on hardcore Windows OS user minds would be “Should I upgrade or Not?” To help you answer this question I have found some informational write ups and videos about pros and cons, upgrading explanations and what to expect if you go-ahead and upgrade to Windows 7.

Windows 7 Upgrade Write Ups

Windows 7 Upgrade Videos

My clients ask me if they should upgrade to Windows 7, as I haven’t done this yet myself it’s pretty hard to give an informed decision, but going off writeups and videos I have watched it appears Windows 7 is all that Vista should have been.

Pros

Touch Screen Support
Better Programme Permission Management
New Task Bar & Snap-To Resizing
Uncluttered Clean Look
6 Versions Available 32bit & 64bit Support

Well I’m off to grab myself a copy and see first hand what all the Hooha! is about.

Updating Windows

Paul Cody — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 08:20:40 +0000

Windows isn’t my favourite operating system but a majority of PC users use it and with that comes hackers, operating system security holes and so on.. So it is imperative that you keep your Windows operating system up to date. Fortunately this is relatively easy with Windows as it comes with a self updating application built in to the operating system.

Here’s how to check and setup your PC to keep Windows updated.

Click “Start”.
Goto “Control Panel”.
Select “Windows Update”.
Choose “Settings” and select how and when you would like Windows to download and install updates.

Follow my video of how to setup Windows updates.

Application Cleanup

Paul Cody — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 05:24:22 +0000

Have you ever taken the time to look at all the installed applications on your PC? How many you actually use? I mean I see computers with piles and piles of apps installed which the owner hasn’t accessed for quite awhile, so many unneccessary toolbars which only clutter your system. Well it’s time for a spring clean of your apps to gain some performance from your PC.

Follow the steps below to cleanup your system applications.

Click “start”.
Goto “Control Panel”.
Click “Add/Remove Programmes”.
Browse your list of applications and programmes and un-install the ones you won’t use including rubbish browser toolbars.

This will free up some harddisk space and improve your computer performance overall.

Disable Visual Effects

Paul Cody — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 03:22:37 +0000

In this post I will show you how to extract more performance from your computer by disabling visual effects. Visual effects-What are they? Visual effects are the eye candy you see in your operating system. This eye candy or nice visual effects use up valuable resources your computer could use elsewhere.

For me it’s all about performance so if you want some much needed responsiveness from your PC then follow my guide below or the video of How to Disable Visual Effects in your operating system.

From desktop “start” or the “Windows” button in Vista.
Right click “My Compter or Computer” in the menu and select “Properties”.
Select “Advanced System Settings”.
Click the “Settings” button in performance.
Check the “Adjust for Best Performance” button and click “Apply”

You will see your nice visual effects disappear but your PC’s responsiveness will greatly increase. Below is the video of how to do this.

MalWarebytes

Paul Cody — Sun, 24 May 2009 10:43:23 +0000

In this video review I will look at a favourite application I like to use called Malwarebytes. This application is used to combat malware infections and restore your computer to it’s optimum performance. Of course the application we will look at is free (shareware) but you can purchase the full version if you wish.

I had malware through a clients computer one day and tried my usual applications which this time failed. I installed malwarebytes for the first time, ran the application and bingo, all malware gone, needless to say I was impressed.

The application is quite light and very speedy when running in quick scan mode, I highly recommend this application to anyone looking for rock solid anti-malware software.

Go-ahead and download the free version of Malwarebytes and install the application. I will run through the software in the video below and show you just how easy it is for you to remove unwanted malicious software from your computer.

Harddrive Defragmentation

Paul Cody — Mon, 11 May 2009 07:46:14 +0000

Disk defragmentation is a term used to describe the process to reduce fragmented files on your harddrive. Windows does have a defragmentation programme included in system tools but we will use a much better piece of software. This free software will not only reduce the fragmented files and organize these files so they are close together and contiguous but the programme will also optimize the placement of the files.

The performance boost to harddrives is explosive, your applications will open and run faster

Download Ultimate Defrag

I will also show you how to optimise your harddisks for peak performance simply using some harddrive tweaks.

Follow my video of how to setup and run UltimateDefrag and How to Optimize Harddisks.

PC System Cleanup

Paul Cody — Sun, 10 May 2009 08:09:01 +0000

In our first part of this series I will show you how to cleanup your PC system. I like to start any system optimization with a clean base. Please download CCleaner (Crap Cleaner). This is a very lightweight and powerful application for any computer system cleanup. Follow the steps below to clean the crap from your system or alternatively see my video below performing the system cleanup steps using CCleaner.

Run CCleaner

1.Install CCleaner.
2.During installation at the “Install Options” screen uncheck “Automatically check for Updates” and “Add CCleaner Yahoo! Toolbar”, then proceed with install.
3.When running the programme for the first time you will see two tabs “Windows and “Applications”. Click the “Windows” Tab and ensure all checkboxes are ticked. (This is what will be cleaned up)
4.Click the “Analyze” button. CCleaner will inform you how much waste will be removed from your computer.
5.Finally click “Run Cleaner” (Ensure no browsers are open as it will interfere with the cleaning process).
6.Click the “Applications” tab and repeat the “analyze” and “Run Cleaner” steps as previous.

You are well on your way to a faster system by simply performing this step. You have effectively cleaned up your temp files, emptied the trash, cleaned caches, internet history and cookies.

Follow this video of how to cleanup your PC system