So, I have installed Internet Explorer 8 on my Windows Server 2008 SP1 Datacenter Edition 64-bit, but… not that smooth. Somehow, something goes wrong somewhere, and I got the following problems after the installation of Windows IE8 RTW.
- In Windows Explorer (I mean those file explorer for browsing folders/files), when I double-click on a folder, a new Windows Explorer is popped up instead of (my default behavior is) showing the folder in the same explorer.
- In Windows IE8, when I right-click a web address on a web page, and then click [Open in New Window] or [Open in New Tab], the web page cannot be opened in a new window / tab.
- In Windows IE8, when I click a link on a web page that uses scripting to open a new window, the new window cannot be opened. (This is absolutely inconvenience as I need to use some kind of banking services immediately, while that bank uses JavaScript to open a new window.)
After investigating the problem for a while, I found that a registry entry was (somehow!) missing after the installation of Windows IE8, that relates to [ actxprxy.dll ].
===== Solution =====
Run [ Command Prompt ] (You will need to **Run as administrator**)
Type the following command. ( regsvr32 actxprxy.dll )
All go smoothly!… and, I am now enjoying the much faster explorer engine. :)
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Decrease your Applications startup time
By default, Microsoft includes the /prefetch:1 switch to speed up it's Windows Media Player application start time. This switch can be used for other Windows applications and also many third party programs.
Example #1
You have AOL 8.0 installed on the computer. Complete the steps outlined bewlo to add the /prefetch:1 switch to AOL's Target path.
1. Right click on the AOL shortcut and select properties from the menu.
2. In the Target: Field add the /prefetch:1 switch to the very end of the path, like this: "C:\Program Files\America Online 8.0\aol.exe" /prefetch:1 and then click ok.
Now start AOL. It would load at least 50 times faster than ever before.
Example #2
1, Go to the Start button/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools
2. Right click on System Restore and select properties from the menu that appears. Add the /prefetch:1 to the Target Path entry so it looks like this %ystemRoot%\System32\restore\rstrui.exe /prefetch:1 and click ok.
Now System Restore will start immediately when executed.
Note: This switch will only work with some programs. Others will return a message saying the program in the target box is invalid. Just remove the switch (by Allan, forum admin).
Example #1
You have AOL 8.0 installed on the computer. Complete the steps outlined bewlo to add the /prefetch:1 switch to AOL's Target path.
1. Right click on the AOL shortcut and select properties from the menu.
2. In the Target: Field add the /prefetch:1 switch to the very end of the path, like this: "C:\Program Files\America Online 8.0\aol.exe" /prefetch:1 and then click ok.
Now start AOL. It would load at least 50 times faster than ever before.
Example #2
1, Go to the Start button/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools
2. Right click on System Restore and select properties from the menu that appears. Add the /prefetch:1 to the Target Path entry so it looks like this %ystemRoot%\System32\restore\rstrui.exe /prefetch:1 and click ok.
Now System Restore will start immediately when executed.
Note: This switch will only work with some programs. Others will return a message saying the program in the target box is invalid. Just remove the switch (by Allan, forum admin).
Decrease system loading time by changing network settings
When you start up your computer and you are connected to a LAN and your computer is set to DHCP and your computer has to search for the DHCP server and then request and IP address and all other configuration. This process takes up some time and slows down the time it takes to boot the computer up. Following the directions below will help your set a static IP address. Even if your ISP says to use DHCP this tweak may still work for you, but you are warnned!
Click Start and click on Run.
Type command in the text box and click OK.
In DOS, type ipconfig and hit enter.
This will show you your current IPs that your NIC and PPPoE adapters have. Only pay attention to your Ethernet Card Adapter, not to the PPP adapter.
Next, right click My Network Places and select Properties from the drop down menu. This will open up the Network Connections window. In here, locate your Local Area Network connection and right click it, select Properties from the drop down menu.
When the next Window that opens up, select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and click Properties at the bottom.
In the next window, click 'Use the following IP Address'. This is where that DOS window comes in handy. Copy the same exact IP Address from your Ethernet card (in the dos window) and place it where it says IP Address. Same goes for the Subnet Mask and Default Gateway. If your Default Gateway is blank, then just leave it blank. Click Ok, then Ok again.
In the DOS window type exit dos then enter. Reboot your machine.
Now there is absolutely NO loading. You can connect as soon as you see your desktop.
Quick Note: If you use DHCP (Dynamic IP Address) to connect to the net, you may find that your net connection does not work after this. So if some day your network connection stops working, just go back into the NIC card properties and select automatically get IP address and reboot.
Click Start and click on Run.
Type command in the text box and click OK.
In DOS, type ipconfig and hit enter.
This will show you your current IPs that your NIC and PPPoE adapters have. Only pay attention to your Ethernet Card Adapter, not to the PPP adapter.
Next, right click My Network Places and select Properties from the drop down menu. This will open up the Network Connections window. In here, locate your Local Area Network connection and right click it, select Properties from the drop down menu.
When the next Window that opens up, select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and click Properties at the bottom.
In the next window, click 'Use the following IP Address'. This is where that DOS window comes in handy. Copy the same exact IP Address from your Ethernet card (in the dos window) and place it where it says IP Address. Same goes for the Subnet Mask and Default Gateway. If your Default Gateway is blank, then just leave it blank. Click Ok, then Ok again.
In the DOS window type exit dos then enter. Reboot your machine.
Now there is absolutely NO loading. You can connect as soon as you see your desktop.
Quick Note: If you use DHCP (Dynamic IP Address) to connect to the net, you may find that your net connection does not work after this. So if some day your network connection stops working, just go back into the NIC card properties and select automatically get IP address and reboot.
Correcting System Hang at Startup
If your system hangs about 2 or 3 minutes at startup, where you can't access the Start button or the Taskbar, it may be due to one specific service (Background Intelligent Transfer) running in the background. Microsoft put out a patch for this but it didn't work for me. Here's what you do:
1. Click on Start/Run, type 'msconfig', then click 'OK'.
2. Go to the 'Services' tab, find the 'Background Intelligent Transfer' service, disable it, apply the changes & reboot.
This problem with the Background Intelligent Transfer Service should have been corrected in Windows update Q 314862, part of Service Pack 1. (yoyo)
1. Click on Start/Run, type 'msconfig', then click 'OK'.
2. Go to the 'Services' tab, find the 'Background Intelligent Transfer' service, disable it, apply the changes & reboot.
This problem with the Background Intelligent Transfer Service should have been corrected in Windows update Q 314862, part of Service Pack 1. (yoyo)
Convert to NTFS from FAT32
To change from FAT 32 to NTFS file system for more stability, security and less fragmentation, open the command prompt and type:
Convert C: /FS:NTFS
"C" being the drive you wish to convert. Make sure there is a space between the C: and the foward slash (/). Once you press enter it will ask you for confirmation and press Y. Then press Y and enter once more to reboot.. This also works for windows XP Home.
Convert C: /FS:NTFS
"C" being the drive you wish to convert. Make sure there is a space between the C: and the foward slash (/). Once you press enter it will ask you for confirmation and press Y. Then press Y and enter once more to reboot.. This also works for windows XP Home.
Clicking AVI Files on explorer causing 100% CPU Usage
Well windows seem to have a REALLY big problem when it comes to reading AVI files. It seems that when you click on an AVI file in explorer, it'll try to read the entire AVI file to determine the width,height, etc. of the AVI file (this is displayed in the Properties window). Now the problem with Windows is that if you have a broken/not fully downloaded AVI file that doesnt contain this info, Windows will scan the entire AVI file trying to figure out all these properties which in the process will probably cause 100% CPU usage and heavy memory usage.
To solve this problem all you have to do is the following:
1. Open up regedit
2. Goto HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.avi\shellex\PropertyHandler
3. Delete the "Default" value which should be "{87D62D94-71B3-4b9a-9489-5FE6850DC73E}"
Voila! Please not that this will no longer provide you with the windows properties displaying the AVI file information such as width, height, bitrate etc. But its a small price to pay for saving you resources.
NOTE: Please use caution when using regedit. Improper usage may cause windows to behave imcorrectly. Also, I cannot be held resposible. Backup your registry first.
To solve this problem all you have to do is the following:
1. Open up regedit
2. Goto HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.avi\shellex\PropertyHandler
3. Delete the "Default" value which should be "{87D62D94-71B3-4b9a-9489-5FE6850DC73E}"
Voila! Please not that this will no longer provide you with the windows properties displaying the AVI file information such as width, height, bitrate etc. But its a small price to pay for saving you resources.
NOTE: Please use caution when using regedit. Improper usage may cause windows to behave imcorrectly. Also, I cannot be held resposible. Backup your registry first.
Clean your prefetch to improve performance.
This is an unique technique for WinXP. We know that it is necessary to wash registry and TEMP files for Win9X/ME/2000 periodly. Prefetch is a new and very useful technique in Windows XP. However, after using XP some time, the prefetch folder can get full of rarely used or obsolete links which can slow down your computer noticeably. My suggestion is: open C(system drive):/windows/prefetch, delete all files (or at least those more than 3 weeks old), reboot. I recommended that you do this every month.
Editor Note: Deleting prefetch files too often (Every reboot) can decrease system performance!
Editor Note: Deleting prefetch files too often (Every reboot) can decrease system performance!
Automate Disk Cleanup
Cleanmgr.exe is designed to clear unnecessary files from your computer's hard disk. You can use command-line options to specify that Cleanmgr.exe cleans up certain files. You can then schedule the task to run at a specific time by using the Scheduled Tasks tool.
To start the Disk Cleanup tool, either run the Cleanmgr.exe command, or click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup.
Disk Cleanup supports the following command-line options:
/d driveletter: - This option specifies the drive that you want Disk Cleanup to clean.
/sageset: n - This option displays the Disk Cleanup Settings dialog box and also creates a registry key to store the settings that you select. The n value, which is stored in the registry, allows you to specify tasks for Disk Cleanup to run. The n value can be any integer value from 0 to 65535. To have all of the options available when you use the /sageset option, you might need to specify the drive where Windows is installed.
/sagerun: n - This option runs the specified tasks that are assigned to the n value if you use the \sageset option.
For example, in Scheduled Tasks, you could run the following command after you run the cleanmgr /sageset:11 command:
cleanmgr /sagerun:11
This command runs Disk Cleanup and includes the options that you specified with the cleanmgr /sageset:11 command.
To start the Disk Cleanup tool, either run the Cleanmgr.exe command, or click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup.
Disk Cleanup supports the following command-line options:
/d driveletter: - This option specifies the drive that you want Disk Cleanup to clean.
/sageset: n - This option displays the Disk Cleanup Settings dialog box and also creates a registry key to store the settings that you select. The n value, which is stored in the registry, allows you to specify tasks for Disk Cleanup to run. The n value can be any integer value from 0 to 65535. To have all of the options available when you use the /sageset option, you might need to specify the drive where Windows is installed.
/sagerun: n - This option runs the specified tasks that are assigned to the n value if you use the \sageset option.
For example, in Scheduled Tasks, you could run the following command after you run the cleanmgr /sageset:11 command:
cleanmgr /sagerun:11
This command runs Disk Cleanup and includes the options that you specified with the cleanmgr /sageset:11 command.
ASPI Drivers
I have had some bad times trying to get CD/DVD programmes working with XP. This was down to the ASPI drivers which I have now downloaded and installed. PowerDVD, AudioCatalyst and a few others now work how they were meant to.
Click Here to download the ASPI drivers from Adaptec
Click Here to download the ASPI drivers from Adaptec
Application Defrag
This type of defrag pushes all commonly used programs and boot files to the edge of the hard drive for faster access. Windows XP normally schedules this every three days when it is idle, however you can force it to do this by using the b switch anytime
i.e defrag c: -b
i.e defrag c: -b
Adjust Graphics for Speed
Windows XP has a lot of new cool looking visual elements, however, those new elements take up more RAM and cause your computer to be less responsive. By tweaking your graphics settings, you can increase the performance of your computer.
To get started, Let's reduce the color quality. This setting determines how many colors are displayed on your screen.
Right click on your desktop and select properties.
Click on the settings tab and adjust the color quality drop down box to Medium (16 Bit).
Click OK.
Next, let's use the windows performance settings to optimize your computer for performance. This will revert back to the old Windows 2000 look as well as take away a lot of the fancy graphics effects. However, if you are really into performance, this is the price you have to pay.
Right click on the My Computer icon on your desktop or in your start panel and select properties.
Next, Click on the Advanced tab and hit the setting button under performance.
On the visual effects tab, select Adjust for Best Performance and hit OK.
Hit OK once more to exit system properties.
Now your computer will run slightly faster!
To get started, Let's reduce the color quality. This setting determines how many colors are displayed on your screen.
Right click on your desktop and select properties.
Click on the settings tab and adjust the color quality drop down box to Medium (16 Bit).
Click OK.
Next, let's use the windows performance settings to optimize your computer for performance. This will revert back to the old Windows 2000 look as well as take away a lot of the fancy graphics effects. However, if you are really into performance, this is the price you have to pay.
Right click on the My Computer icon on your desktop or in your start panel and select properties.
Next, Click on the Advanced tab and hit the setting button under performance.
On the visual effects tab, select Adjust for Best Performance and hit OK.
Hit OK once more to exit system properties.
Now your computer will run slightly faster!
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