Tuesday, January 12, 2010
How to Increase the Size of Your DNS Cache
Windows stores your most recently visited website addresses in a special DNS cache on your hard drive. Your web browser accesses this cache of known addresses before it goes out to the Internet to send a URL request to an external DNS server. If the web address you’re looking for is in the cache, it gets used by your browser, saving valuable browsing time. You can speed up your browsing by increasing the size of this DNS cache. A bigger DNS cache enables addresses for more websites to be stored locally, which means fewer external DNS lookups. To increase the size of your computer’s DNS cache, you have to edit the Windows Registry, which is the large database where all the configuration settings for your system are stored. You edit the Registry using the Registry Editor utility. Here’s what you need to do:
1. Open the Start menu, enter regedit into the search box, and then press Enter.
2.When the Registry Editor, navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Dnscache\Parameters key.
3. Select Edit, New, DWORD (32-bit) Value.
4. Name this new item CacheHashTableBucketSize.
5. Right-click this new item and select Modify.
6. In the Value Data dialog box, change the value to 1.
7. Select Edit, New, DWORD (32-bit) Value.
8. Name this new item CacheHashTableSize.
9. Right-click this new item and select Modify.
10. In the Value Data dialog box, change the value to 180.
11. Select Edit, New, DWORD (32-bit) Value.
12. Name this new item MaxCacheEntryTtlLimit.
13. Right-click this new item and select Modify.
14. In the Value Data dialog box, change the value to ff00. Note, these are zeroes.
15. Select Edit, New, DWORD (32-bit) Value
16. Name this new item MaxSOACacheEntryTtlLimit.
17. Right-click this new item and select Modify.
18. In the Value Data dialog box, change the value to 12d.
For these changes to take effect, you need to close the Registry Editor and restart Windows. You should notice a slight speedup when next you browse the Web.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
How to Install Programs Faster Using the Explorer Restart Option
Whenever you install a new program,utility or application, Windows asks you to restart your system before allowing you to use it. The following tip will help you save time and imitate a system reboot by actually restarting the Windows Explorer shell and rereading the registry, which is what the program actually needs.
For Windows XP and Vista, this tip describes that the Windows Explorer can be killed using the command ‘tskill /f /im explorer.exe’ via the Command Prompt. Now restart it by
typing ‘explorer.exe’ right after that in the same Command Prompt window.This makes Windows read the registry all over again, which is a substitute for the usually required restart after any new software installations are done.
However, in Windows XP Home, thiscommand is slightly different — ‘tskill /a explorer’. The file name ending with ‘.exe’ does not need to be included. Windows Explorer restarts automatically in Windows XP Home without the need to type in the ‘explorer.exe’ command modifier.
Note: When you use the command in a batch file in Windows Vista, you must take care that you run the file with administrator rights. To do that, right-click on the batch file in Windows Explorer and select the context menu ‘Start as Administrator’.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Removing a Blocked Print Command and Enabling Printing Again
You may face this situation many occasions .The print order is sent, suddenly the LAN connection dies. The job cannot be cancelled as usual through the print control. Now it is blocking all further printing attempts as well.
Using the usual dialog, you can actually delete those orders, which are still in progress. In order to get rid of the stuck print order and enable printing the queued orders, you must first manually stop the Printer Spooler service and then delete the file. For better control, start the commands in the command prompt.For that, open the command ‘Run’ in the ‘Start’ menu, then enter ‘cmd’ and then press ‘Enter’. In Vista, enter ‘cmd’ in the search box in the start menu, right click on this entry and select context command ‘Run as administrator’. Now use the following command
net stop spooler
and check, whether the print queue is gone. Then open Windows Explorer and navigate to the ‘C:\Windows\system32\spool\PRINTERS’ folder. There, delete all SPL files – they contain the affected print data. Now switch back to the still open command prompt. Enter the following here:
net start spooler
And the printing queue will start working smoothly again. After this, the command must be deleted, so that you can also use the printer again.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Repair Your Windows problems with FixWin Utility
Many occasions you may have issues in your PC like unable to recognize the CD/ DVD drive,Recycle bin suddenly disappeared from the desktop and Task Manager & Registry Editor disabled issues .FixWin is a freeware portable application for Windows 7 & Vista to repair and fix such Windows annoyances & issues.It is suitable for 32/64 bit versions of Vista & Win7.
The solutions to repair and fix 50 common Windows annoyances, issues & problems have been categorized under 5 tabs, viz : Windows Explorer, Internet & Connectivity, Windows Media, System Tools & Misc Additional Fixes.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Useful Commands
Normally you would not associate Windows with commands. For everything, you have to navigate through a couple of menus using the mouse before getting to the concerned window/utility/tool. But Windows does come with commands that give you quick access to tools for configuring and fixing your computer. Some of these are very helpful if you prefer the use of keyboard more than your mouse and don’t like moving your hand back and forth between them or suddenly the touchpad of your laptop stops working/ behaves erratically. Just press [Win] +[R] to get the Run Command Indexing reduces search time, but is resource intensive Dialog box to get started.
| Command | What it opens |
| %temp% | Temporary fi les folder. Your recently downloaded files, unzipped setup packages, etc. will be present here |
| appwiz.cpl | Add/Remove Programs window for uninstalling applications. |
| hdwwiz.cpl | Add Hardware Wizard for connecting any new piece of equipment you recently connected to your computer |
| fsquirt | Bluetooth File Transfer Wizard for sending and receiving files from your Bluetooth enabled mobile phone/ PMP |
| calc | Calculator |
| charmap | Character Map for inserting special characters such as copyright and trademark symbol |
| chkdsk | Check disc Utility |
| devmgmt.msc | Device Manager for troubleshooting hardware |
| cleanmgr | Disk Cleanup Utility for cleaning up your temporary files and retrieving wasted hard-disk space |
| dfrg.msc | Disk Defragment Utility |
| diskmgmt.msc | Disk Management to help you manage your hard-disk partitions and removable storage devices |
| diskpart | Disk Partition Manager |
| desk.cpl | Display properties for changing display resolution |
| gpedit.msc | Group Policy editor |
| ciadv.msc | Indexing Service settings |
| inetcpl.cpl | Internet Properties. Very helpful when you want to change your proxy settings without going through Internet Explorer |
| iexplore | Internet Explorer |
| logoff | Log off from your account |
| main.cpl | Opens Mouse Properties |
| main.cpl keyboard | Opens Keyboard Properties |
| ncpa.cpl | Network Connections Window to manage your networks |
| netsetup.cpl | Network Setup Wizard to create an ad hoc network among other things |
| notepad | Notepad |
| perfmon | Performance Monitor |
| powercfg.cpl | Power Management to change power profiles |
| regedit | Registry Editor |
| services.msc | Services to disable unused services and boost computer speed. We, however, recommend you not to play around with |
| fsmgmt.msc | Shared Folders |
| shutdown | Shutdown Windows |
| msconfig | System Configuration Utility, mainly used to change boot options and disable startup items |
| sysdm.cpl | System Properties |
| taskmgr | Task manager for killing processes that are not responding and monitoring resource usage |
| firewall.cpl | Windows Firewall |
Monday, November 23, 2009
Windows 8 in 2012?
Windows 7 having been released nearly a month and it's time to talk about the next version of Windows - Windows 8.According to a slide revealed during a Windows Server presentation at last week’s Professional Developer’s Conference in LA, the next-gen desktop OS is due to hit around 2012.
Microsoft has plans to roll out Windows 8 in 2012 - that's a mere 3 years since Windows 7 was launched, keep in sync with Microsoft's rhythm of releasing major and new software every three years apart.Microsoft sticking to their 2.5-3 year release cycle, with Windows Vista launching Jan 2007 , Windows 7 in October 2009 ,so Windows 8 may be in 2012?
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Process Monitor 2.8
Process Monitor is an advanced system monitoring tool that enables you to monitor file system, Registry and process/thread activity in real-time.The pop-up is also available as the toolbar Event menu and Other pull-down menus manipulate the great amount of information . A button bar offers single-click icons for the most used commands. Three commonly used filters appear on the bar to show Registry Activity, File System Activity, or Process and Thread Activity.The captured activity can be viewed in real-time and also saved and exported to file.
Features
- More data captured for operation input and output parameters
- Non-destructive filters allow you to set filters without losing data
- Reliable capture of process details, including image path, command line, user and session ID
- Configurable and moveable columns for any event property
- Filters can be set for any data field, including fields not configured as columns
- Advanced logging architecture scales to tens of millions of captured events and gigabytes of log data
- Process tree tool shows relationship of all processes referenced in a trace
- Native log format preserves all data for loading in a different Process Monitor instance
- Process tooltip for easy viewing of process image information
- Detail tooltip allows convenient access to formatted data that doesn't fit in the column
- Boot time logging of all operations
Process Monitor a core utility in your system troubleshooting and malware hunting toolkit.You can save event logs in a native Process Monitor format or to a comma-separated value (CSV) format file that can include all the event captures, only those events that meet the current filter, or selected events. Events saved in the native Process Monitor format can be read back into the utility at a later time.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Fix MSE,IE&WU
You may have experience when you try to update Windows it refuses to do so. The update does not start at the scheduled time of which you have set it to update, and when you do it manually, all you get is the green progress bar going across the time and time again.Sometimes Update History still says they were successfully installed, but if you go into View installed Updates, they are not there .
When you click a hyperlink in an e-mail message or on a Web page, or right-click a hyperlink on a Web page and then click Open in New Window, you may experience one or more of the following issues:
- Nothing happens
- The new window may be blank
- You may receive a scripting error message
- When you use the Print command or the Print Preview command in Internet Explorer, nothing may happen.
- When you try to connect to Web folders, you may receive the following error message: "The current operation could not be completed because an unexpected error has occurred."
- Internet Options Advanced tab is completely blank.
- Internet Explorer About box version information is completely blank.
- Address bar search does not work.
- Unable to type in text boxes in a search engine or website
Recently Windows Club released 3 portable utilities for fixing Windows updates, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Security Essentials errors.
1.Fix WU Utility v1.0
Automatic Updates feature of Windows 7 and Windows Vista stops working due to the Registry clashes or missing DLLs.In case anytime, you find that you are facing any issues in running Microsoft Updates or Windows Updates due to any reasons, run this utility. This utility will re-register a total of 114 .dll, ocx and .ax files which are required for the proper functioning of Windows Updates.On completion, you will see a dialog box: The process completed successfully.
Fix WU Utility | OS:Windows 7 (x86 and x64) ,Windows Vista (x86 and x64)
2.IEFix
It is a general purpose fix utility , which repairs Internet Explorer using IE.INF method and also fixes the application path setting.It also registers the core Internet Explorer libraries properly.
When you run IEFix you'll be prompted for the Operating System CD or the Service Pack Files location.If you're using Windows XP, insert the Operating System CD. For OEM systems, point to the Operating System source path when prompted. If you've applied a Service Pack separately, you need to insert the Slipstreamed Operating System CD (if you have one) or point the installer to the ServicePack source path when prompted Mention the path as "C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles\i386" or "C:\Windows\ServicePackFiles
If you don't have the Windows installation CD, and if the installation source files are not present in the hard disk, you may click Cancel . IEFix will continue with DLL registration part.You have to restart the system.
IEFix |OS:Windows 98/ME/2000/XP
3.Fix MSE Utility
This is a portable freeware utility to reset all the Registry and other settings of Microsoft Security Essentials to default value.
When you are facing any issues in running Microsoft Security Essentials due to any reasons, simply run this utility. This utility will restore all its registry values & service settings to known good defaults, without re-installing MSE. It also re-registers the concerned .dll and .exe files, required to run MSE properly. The utility may take only a moment to run, but rest assured, it does the job! It works on both 32bit and 64bit of Windows Operating Systems
Fix MSE Utility | SysReq: Microsoft .Net Framework 2.0,Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0|OS:Windows 7,Windows Vista,Windows XP
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Block Programs in Vista
If you have multiple users working on your computer ,using different accounts ,then your PC is sure to be at risk.There are wide range of applications available in net, which can be downloaded and installed .To overcome this problem, you can use the parental control feature in Windows Vista.This can block the installation and access of such applications on different user accounts.
To use this utility do the following.
- Start>Control Panel.Click the ‘Setup Parental Controls for any User “link
- Select a user account on the resulting screen
- Click the ‘On,enforce current settings’ radio button.
- Click the ‘Allow and block specific programs ‘ link
- Select the ‘This account can only use the programs I allow’ radio button .A list of applications will now be displayed.
- Select the applications that need to blocked and click “OK”
- If the program is not mentioned in the list,click “Browse’” and select the required program.
- Once the program has appeared in the list ,select it and click “OK”
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
How to correct Mixed up Icons in XP
Your OS has been behaving weirdly,with the icons in ‘My Computer’ on the Desktop and the Quick Start bar have been changing of their own free will. There are several reasons why this could happen. This can happen if Windows no longer updates the icon cache properly. To verify this, open a folder with incorrectly displayed icons. Refresh the screen by pressing [F5]. Then close the window, re-open the folder and then restart the computer.
If the problem persists, renew the icon cache ‘IconCache’. Windows recreates the file automatically if you change the color depth of the display. For this, right click on a free area of the desktop and select ‘Properties.
In the ‘Settings’ tab, modify the current color depth from ‘Maximum (32 bit)’ to ‘Medium (16 bit)’. Click on ‘Apply’ and ‘Yes’ one after the other to confirm. Then set the original color depth again If that is still not sufficient, click ‘Start |Run…’, type ‘regedit’ and click ‘OK’ to
open the registry and find the key
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
In the right-hand pane of the window, create the ‘REG_SZ’ value ‘Max Cached Icons’ with ‘Edit |New | Character string’ and set it to ‘2000’ for example. This number defines the number of intermediately saved icons. Values between 100 and 4096 are possible here.
After closing the registry, delete the file ‘ShellIconCache’ or ‘IconCache’ under your profile in ‘Documents and Settings\Local Settings\Application Data’ and then restart the computer.
Shared Access Computing With Windows SteadyState
Creating several user accounts on a common PC is annoying: You want to work quickly, yet at the same time keep logging on to individual accounts separately for configuring special settings. Instead, you can do all that centrally as well as be able to use an existing account as a template for other accounts.
In a shared PC you may face following threats
- Hard disk filled with downloaded files
- Strange options configured
- Programs installed that you don't want
- System infected with viruses and spyware
- Computer bogged down for unknown reasons
You can manage user accounts centrally with Microsoft’s SteadyState.With this you can manage whole groups of users as single user accounts.On the right side of the window, all user accounts set up on the system are listed under ‘User Settings’ with the exception of the one that is currently being used. Click on the desired account. You can now access the account settings via the ‘General’, ‘Windows Restrictions’,‘Feature Restrictions’ and ‘Block Programs’ tabs. Options that cannot be accessed directly have been explained in the English manual that can be downloaded from here
Using Windows SteadyState has another advantage: You can use existing accounts as templates. To do this, follow the ‘Export User’ link on the home page. In the following dialog, enter a name under ‘File name’ under which you want to store the account profile as a template. It has the file extension ‘.SSU’. Then select the account under ‘User name’ and click on ‘Import User’. In the next dialog, select the SSU file and click on ‘Open’. You can now define the name and also a password for the new user account. Confirm this information and click ‘OK’.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Defragment Individual Files With Microsoft Contig
Every version of Windows have disk defragmenter utility.But with this you can not defrag an individual file or folder .It defragment entire hard drive at once and ignore files below 64KB. Contig is a single-file defragmenter that attempts to make files contiguous on disk. Its perfect for quickly optimizing files that are continuously becoming fragmented, or that you want to ensure are in as few fragments as possible.
For instance, to defragment all DLLs under Windows you could enter you could enter "contig -s D:\WINDOWS\*.dll".
To make an existing file contiguous use Contig as follows:
Usage: contig [-v] [-a] [-q] [-s] [filename]
-v Use the -v switch to have Contig print out information about the file defrag operations that are performed.
-a If you want to simply see how fragmented a file or files have become, use the -a switch to have Contig analyze fragmentation.
-q The -q switch, which over-rides the -v switch, makes Contig run in "quiet" mode, where the only thing it prints during a defrag run is summary information.
-s Use the -s switch to perform a recursive processing of subdirectories when you specify a filename with wildcards.
To make a new file that is defragmented upon creation, use Contig like this:Usage: contig [-v] [-n filename length]
You can run Contig from the command prompt,but with the help of another tool it is more easy and have more visual interface.Power Defragmenter is a graphic user interface designed to use Contig program.With this you can visually select files, folders and drive you wish to defragment.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Windows Tips
1.Insert a timestamp in Notepad
This is a handy tip for those who often use Notepad program.With the application to open in either XP/Vista pressing F5 will insert the current date & time;perfect for quickly logging phone messages and the like.
2.Turn off delete confirmation messages dialogue box
The confirmation dialogue box that appears when you delete a file might seem unnecessary,especially when you have got the Recycle Bin to help recover them.To stop it appearing right-click Recycle Bin and deselect the ‘Display delete confirmation dialogue’ option.
3.Resurrect desktop icons
If you find your desktop is missing the My Computer/My Documents/My Network Places icon ( or even all three),it is easy to get them back.Right click an empty part of the desktop, select Properties and in the Display Properties window that appears ,choose the Desktop tab.Now click the Customize Desktop button and you will see tick boxes for all three desktop icons.
4.Stop new programs being highlighted.
XP highlights new programs that have been installed on your computer in the start menu,but this can untidy.To disable this feature, right click the Start button,select Properties and then the Start Menu tab.Now click the Customize button next to the Start Menu option and select the Advanced tab.Uncheck the tick box for “Highlight newly installed programs”
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
WINDOWS 8 128 BIT! Coming
Windows 7 is not yet released ( Releasing on OCT 22) but Microsoft is already in the initial planning stages for its replacement: Windows 8. According to Microsoft employee Robert Morgan, future iterations of Windows, including Windows 8, could support a 128-bit architecture.
Morgan announced that he has been part of several "research and development projects". Among these assignments is a 128-bit architecture compatible with the Windows 8 kernel. (Source: tech.yahoo.com) The plan is to have the 128-bit system also compatible with the Windows 9 project.According to the LinkedIn page, which has been removed since, Morgan has been with the software giant since January 2002.Microsoft is expecting to release Windows 8 some time in 2011.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Windows Search 4.0
In today's information-intensive workplace, finding just the right file when you need it can be challenging.Compared to Vista, Windows 7’s search function will be a lot quicker and more useful, with the results organized better. But did you know that the new search tool is also available for XP and Vista?
Windows Search 4.0 lets you perform an instant search of your computer. Windows Search 4.0 helps you find and preview documents, e-mail messages, music files, photos, and other items on the computer.
Once it is installed, you will see a new search field in the task bar. Type a specific file name or something like “*.jpeg” in this. You can even choose whether Windows will search only your computer or even on the Internet for the term.Windows Search indexes your computer files to create a quick reference. To find a file, you enter a search term in the toolbar field and press enter. A window opens with the search results that you can scroll through or limit to certain types of files. It is just that fast and easy.
Features
- Support for indexing encrypted documents of local file systems
- Reduced effect on Microsoft Exchange when you index e-mail in online mode, and there is no local cache (.ost)
- Support for indexing online delegate mailboxes
- Support for client-to-client remote query to shared indexed locations
- Improved indexing performance
- Faster previewer updates for Windows XP
- Per-user Group Policy settings
- Windows software updates for Watson errors
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Microsoft Security Essentials 1.0.1611.0 - Final Version
Security Essentials,once codenamed "Morro" is the company's replacement for Windows Live OneCare.It consumes less memory and disk space than commercial security suites.It is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple. Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.
Microsoft Security Essentials is available for Windows XP 32-bit (8.61MB), Windows Vista/7 32-bit (4.28MB), and Windows Vista/7 64-bit (4.71MB).
Also Read
How to Remove Cannot Be Removed Program From Add / Remove
Many of us experience situations where software cannot be removed using the standard remove programs module in windows.This may due to uninstaller not found or some other reason like corruption of registry entries.The uninstallation simply stops or does not start at all leaving the user puzzled and confused.
Here is the free program called ARP++ which will allow you to uninstall programs which cannot be removed from or may not even appear in the Windows Add Remove Programs.And still more programs may not even appear. ARP++ displays all known programs on your system that can be uninstalled through conventional means.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Editing Windows Services Easier with Services Editor
Automatic, Manual, and Disabled are the three startup settings for Windows Services.In windows many nonessential services are setting by default to start automatically.However, some of them won't be of any use for you. By quitting those unused services, you can realize higher system performances.When services are stopped, they don't use memory.A bigger impact is found in available RAM
To see the services that are on your computer go to Start|Run and enter “services.msc”.This will open what is called the “services console.” You can disable or enable the services according to your needs, but you have to edit each service one by one.This takes a lot of time and a lot of effort.
Here an online utility from ServicesEditor.com allows the users to quickly run down a list, choose what action they want for the service and then download a quick and easy registry file which updates their PC's .You can download the registry file after enabling or disabling services.This facility is available for Windows XP,Vista and Windows 7.
Right click on the reg file and choose "merge to execute the file.You should be asked something like: "Are you sure you want to add the information in.reg to the registry?" Click "OK" .In another way by Start> Run>Type in regedit, and then press OK .In regedit, click on File, and then Import .Locate the ".reg" file you want to enter, and press OK .The contents of that ".reg" file will be entered into the registry. Reboot your PC.
Visit http://serviceseditor.com/ [Via]
Monday, September 28, 2009
View Blue Screen Crash Information With BlueScreenView
If you are a Windows user, you may have experienced with BSOD- the famous Windows Stop Error or 'Blue Screen of Death.’Blue Screen of death can happen for many reasons but here are some common ones
- Software errors during Windows operation
- Hardware errors during Windows operation
- Installation errors
- Startup errors
- Intermittent errors
A small memory dump file records the smallest set of useful information that may help identify why your computer has stopped unexpectedly.These minidump (*.dmp) files are usually found in C:\Windows\Minidump .Sometimes the problem solved with simple reboot.But many occasions it is not so.
BlueScreenView is a portable application that will scan all your minidump files and then display the information about all crashes in one table.BSV doesn't require installation .With this you'll be able to see the exact programs and dlls involved in the crash
Features
- Automatically scans your current minidump folder and displays the list of all crash dumps, including crash dump date/time and crash details.
- Allows you to view a blue screen which is very similar to the one the Windows displayed during the crash.
- BlueScreenView enumerates the memory addresses inside the stack of the crash, and find all drivers/modules that might be involved in the crash.
- BlueScreenView also allows you to work with another instance of Windows, simply by choosing the right minidump folder (In Advanced Options).
- BlueScreenView automatically locate the drivers appeared in the crash dump, and extract their version resource information, including product name, file version, company, and file description.
Also read How to use Dumpchk.exe to check a memory dump file: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/156280/ | http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315271/ | Debugging Tools for Windows
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Eliminate Shortcut Arrows in Vista
Windows Vista Ultimate has an amazing graphical interface like you’ve never seen before. An arrow appears on every shortcut that is placed on the desktop or anywhere on the computer.This can be annoying and you may want to remove them. All you need to do
is edit the registry. Follow the steps listed below to do so:
- Click ‘Start’ and type ‘regedit’
- Expand on folder named the‘HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT’.
- Click the ‘Inkfile’ folder.
- Type ‘AriochIsShortcut’ instead of ‘IsShortcut’
- Once done close regedit and reboot.
- The arrows no longer appear on the shortcut icons.
- To reverse the process, replace ‘IsShortcut’ with ‘AriochIsShortcut’ and reboot the system.
