Windows Tips & Tricks (Windows 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP and Vista) The Straw That Broke The Camel's Back Windows 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Windows Vista The biggest cause of a computer "freezing" is not enough memory. We cannot stress this enough. It does not matter whether you have 1 GB of memory, 2 GB of memory or 512 MB of memory. If you allow all kinds of programs to start with Windows, you're going to eventually reach the point where some program you install at some point will become the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. The two most important thing you can do to ensure your computer will perform adequately are: 1. Make sure you have far more than the minimum amount of RAM for your operating system. a. If you're using Windows XP Home, we suggest no less than 512MB of RAM. 1 GB is highly suggested b. If you're using Windows XP Media or Professional, you should have at least 1 GB of RAM installed. c. If you're using Windows Vista Basic we suggest you have 1 GB of RAM installed d. If you're using Windows Vista Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate, the minimum RAM to ensure adequate performance is 2 GB. 2. Control your start up programs. Every program you install these days most likely will set itself to start with Windows. When a program starts with Windows it does two bad things: a. It uses memory b. It continues to use memory because programs that start with Windows run in the background and may or may not show an icon in your System Tray. The only way to see what programs are running in the background without using a 3rd party program is to use Windows Task Manager (right-click on your taskbar - in an empty area of it, please, and choose "Task Manager") and click the "Processes" tab at the top. You may be very surprised see how many things are running on your computer. Some are necessary and some are not. If you don't recognize some of these programs running in the background, that does not mean they are necessarily bad. It does not necessarily mean they are spyware or adware. It does mean that you need to do your homework to learn what each of these programs is and if you need them running in the background or not. You can use Google to search for each item you see running in the background or you can use a program like WinPatrol to assist you. In any case it's imperative that you learn what these processes (programs) are and whether you need them to be running in the background all the time. Remember, most of these processes are also programs that start with Windows. Once you determine if you need them running all the time or not, you can use MSCONFIG (click start/run and type in MSCONFIG then click the Startup tab) to prevent unnecessary programs from starting with Windows. If you don't take control of your own computer, and you continue to install new programs, you will eventually reach a point where you're using up most of your RAM just starting Windows and then you'll reach that point when the next program you install will cause your computer to freeze or programs to "crash". Most people naturally blame the program they just installed for "freezing" their computer or causing programs to crash, when in fact it was just a matter of time before you installed the straw that broke the camel's back. Think of it this way. You can only plug in so many electrical gadgets into one socket before you blow a fuse or trip a breaker. You might be tempted to blame the last item you plugged in for shorting out your breaker or blowing the fuse - but it wasn't the last thing you plugged in that caused your breaker to trip, was it? It was the combination of all the things you plugged into that one receptacle that was the straw the broke the camel's back. If your computer starts freezing or programs start crashing; don't be so quick to blame the last program you installed. It was a problem just waiting to happen - months and months of installing programs and not monitoring and/or controlling your startup programs combined with not enough RAM to handle the overload of startup programs, is a far more likely cause than it being the last program that you installed ----------------------------------------------------- Remembering DOS Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, and Windows Vista Many of you don't remember MS-DOS. But, you should know that it was the foundation of Windows 3.1, Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows ME. And while it's not the foundation of Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista, there are still DOS-like functions you can use. And there are times when they come in handy. Don't worry, we're not going to get into a long diatribe (ah yes!) here about DOS, we just want you to know that whichever version of Windows you use that you can bring up a form of DOS on all of them. And we'll give you couple of simple commands you can try so that you can navigate around in black and white world of DOS and its new form on Windows 2000/XP/Vista. You'll be looking at strange world, at the root of your computer, without color, icons or things you can left or right click on. We just want you to know that DOS and DOS-like options are still there, what it looks like, and how you can use it. But use it carefully, especially the DEL command (DELETE). Because using this command in the old DOS-like world can cause you grave problems :) Ready? - Click Start/Run and type in CMD - To change directories use the command "CD" (without the quotes, please) - For example, to change the directory from C:\Windows\System32 to the root directory of drive C type CD C:\ - You'll get window that looks like this - Want to see your program files directory? Type CD C:\program files - Want to see it broken down by "page" use the /p switch - for example: C:\program files /p breaks down the directory into "pages" to move to the next page, press "Enter". At any prompt you can type HELP and you'll get a list of available commands with explanations of each. To delete a directory type DEL Name of Directory. You'll get a prompt that asks if you really want to delete this directory. Y=Yes N=No. (Don't press "Y" unless you really want to delete the directory). You can delete files the same way. This command comes in handy if the file you want to delete is in use by Windows. While you can delete a file in use by Windows most of the time by using the DOS-like DEL command, sometimes you can't. Sorry about that. For a complete list of commands, just type HELP at the > prompt. Now you know that DOS and it's successors are still there underneath all those fancy colors and pretty icons. Whether it's the real DOS of one of its successors, it's still a world of arcane commands and black and white world devoid of graphics and Windows splendor :)