New laptops with Vista

Rocky · Jul 18, 2008

Chris said:
Forgot to say, if you're using AVG, please turn off link-scanner!

I run it here but my puter is powerful and has Vista.
Is that the reason you suggest turning it off, because it slows your puter down?

Rocky · Jul 18, 2008

One more quick clean up.

After installing so many programs, making changes, scanning, removing programs, etc, it would be good to clean up the mess we left behind, so another Disk Clean up and Defrag would be in order.

Windows
Disk Clean up and restore clean up.
http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/67055-new-laptops-vista-16.html#post658043

Windows Defrag.
http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/67055-new-laptops-vista-17.html#post658083

Rocky · Jul 18, 2008

Chris · Jul 18, 2008

Rocky said:
I run it here but my puter is powerful and has Vista.
Is that the reason you suggest turning it off, because it slows your puter down?

No, but it drives webmasters nuts with bandwidth issues by continually walking links in websites. Grisoft has had much negative and critical technical press about it. They did some stuff to fix, but I'm not following the issue closely.

Rocky · Jul 19, 2008

Kool Toys.

Let's take a break from tweaking, etc, and have some fun.
Below are some samples of what your desktop can look like, rather than being covered with icons.

By placing my cursor at the top of the desktop image, my icons will pop out.

Same goes for the left hand side.

If I have windows opened and want to access a program or any shortcut that would normally be on the desktop, I simply place my cursor to the top of the page and the icons pop out ABOVE the window that I'm viewing.
It's super fast and super easy,

Same goes for the left.

For those who are a bit savvy with computers, here are the links for Rocket Dock (top) and Object Dock. (left)

http://rocketdock.com/download
<O

</O

http://www.download.com/ObjectDock/3000-2341_4-10210264.html?tag=lst-0-1&cdlPid=10696248
<O

</O

There are a few complexities to setting the options to fit your needs, but it's not as if you could damage anything, playing around with them.

I made some of my own icons, as well as found some on the internet.
Anyone who uses the icon docks and would like some of the icons I have, can PM me their email address.

PS: Not suggested for usage on weak computers, as the icon docks do draw a bit of power. The puter used in this example is a 2.5 Ghz processor with 1.5 gigs of ram with XP, however I use the icon docks on much weaker computers with no problems.
That being said, I would not use them on a puter with a slow processor (1Ghz or less) and only 256 megs of ram.

Rocky · Jul 19, 2008

Shortcuts

Shortcuts

<HR style="COLOR: #173f96; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #173f96" SIZE=1>Windows
Disk clean up and restore clean up.
New laptops with Vista

Installing and using Advanced Windows Care.
New laptops with Vista

Windows Defrag.
New laptops with Vista

Some tweaks and how to remove a program.
New laptops with Vista

Choosing an Anti Virus program with links.
New laptops with Vista

Installing Avira Anti Virus program. (Mostly for medium to weak puters with XP)
New laptops with Vista

Installing AVG8 Anti Virus program. (For powerful computers)
New laptops with Vista

Installing and using Ad-Aware Anti Spyware program.
New laptops with Vista

Installing SpywareBlaster Anti Spyware program.
New laptops with Vista

Turning off the "User Account Control".
New laptops with Vista

Installing Spybot Anti Spyware program.
New laptops with Vista

Scanning with Spybot.
New laptops with Vista

Tea Timer capacities & usefulness. (Spybot)
New laptops with Vista

Icon Docks.
http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/67055-new-laptops-vista-19.html#post659852

We'll try to keep these links near the end of the thread, to give easy access to any one individual function/installation/etc.

Rocky · Jul 19, 2008

Super Kool Free Toys. (Download Links)

PixResizer.
Download PIXresizer
Indispensable photo resizing program.
Fast and easy to use.

CPU ID.
CPUID
ID your processor and ram.
It also serves to verify that your processor is functioning at it's rated speed.

Everest 2.20
MajorGeeks.Com - Contacting Download Site
Everything and anything you want to know about your computer.
Incredibly elaborate.

Gadwin Print Screen 4.3.
Screen Capture and Print Screen software
Same as using Window's own "Print Screen" but a lot faster, more practical and versatile.

Google Earth.
http://pack.google.com/intl/en/inte...=en-cdr-earth4&utm_medium=cdr&utm_campaign=en
View Planet Earth from Sat pix.
Find towns, streets, buildings, etc.

Mozilla Firefox.
Firefox web browser | Faster, more secure, & customizable
Alternate internet browser to Internet Explorer.
Folks say it is less prone to spyware.

Opera.
Download Opera Web Browser
Other alternate internet browser.

.

Rocky · Jul 19, 2008

Shortcuts

Shortcuts

<HR style="COLOR: #173f96; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #173f96" SIZE=1>Windows Disk clean up and restore clean up.New laptops with Vista

Installing and using Advanced Windows Care.
New laptops with Vista

Windows Defrag.
New laptops with Vista

Some tweaks and how to remove a program.
New laptops with Vista

Choosing an Anti Virus program with links.
New laptops with Vista

Installing Avira Anti Virus program. (Mostly for medium to weak puters with XP)
New laptops with Vista

Installing AVG8 Anti Virus program. (For powerful computers)
New laptops with Vista

Installing and using Ad-Aware Anti Spyware program.
New laptops with Vista

Installing SpywareBlaster Anti Spyware program.
New laptops with Vista

Turning off the "User Account Control".
New laptops with Vista

Installing Spybot Anti Spyware program.
New laptops with Vista

Scanning with Spybot.
New laptops with Vista

Tea Timer capacities & usefulness. (Spybot)
New laptops with Vista

Icon Docks.
New laptops with Vista

Super Kool Free toys with download links.
http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/67055-new-laptops-vista-20.html#post659864 http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/67055-new-laptops-vista-20.html#post659864

We'll try to keep these links near the end of the thread, to give easy access to any one individual function/installation/etc.

Rocky · Jul 19, 2008

Services Tweak

Services that run in the background can be controlled by opening the Services page and turning them on or off, make them automatic or manual, or disable them altogether.
If a service is disabled, it cannot function, whereas one that is manual, can operate, but shouldn't come on by itself when booting up.

Ad-Aware has a service that draws resources, that unfortunately loads up in the automatic option.
It must be set to manual.
Do not disable, otherwise the scanner will not work.

Depending on which menu you use, this is the way to get to services.
With the classic menu

Type "services.msc" and enter.

With Vista menu, Type "services.msc" and enter.

Click on "Status" to align all the started programs.

Navigate alphabetically to "Lavasoft" and double click on it.

Change the option to "Manual".

Click "OK".

Right click on "Lavasoft" and click on "Stop".

Service will deactivate.

Now it will not come on, unless you are scanning.

There are several services that can be stopped, disabled, made manual, etc, but this is a touchy area.
If you don't know what you are doing, it may be better to leave it alone.
If you know what you are doing and you stop some of the services that are of no use to you, you stand to pick up a bit more speed, although nothing substantial.

Rocky · Jul 19, 2008

Shortcuts.

Windows Disk clean up and restore clean up.
New laptops with Vista

Installing and using Advanced Windows Care.
New laptops with Vista

Windows Defrag.
New laptops with Vista

Some tweaks and how to remove a program.
New laptops with Vista

Choosing an Anti Virus program with links.
New laptops with Vista

Installing Avira Anti Virus program. (Mostly for medium to weak puters with XP)
New laptops with Vista

Installing AVG8 Anti Virus program. (For powerful computers)
New laptops with Vista

Installing and using Ad-Aware Anti Spyware program.
New laptops with Vista

Installing SpywareBlaster Anti Spyware program.
New laptops with Vista

Turning off the "User Account Control".
New laptops with Vista

Installing Spybot Anti Spyware program.
New laptops with Vista

Scanning with Spybot.
New laptops with Vista

Tea Timer capacities & usefulness. (Spybot)
New laptops with Vista

Icon Docks.
New laptops with Vista

Super Kool Free toys with download links.
New laptops with Vista

Services.msc (essential for Ad-Aware users)
http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/67055-new-laptops-vista-20.html#post659997

We'll try to keep these links near the end of the thread, to give easy access to any one individual function/installation/etc.

Rocky · Jul 20, 2008

Periodic Clean Up.

There is no set time period between cleanups, updates & scans.
The need varies with the amount of usage and the type of things you do.
Once a week should be ample for anyone and once a month is probably sufficient for the average user.
To give you an idea of how fast a puter can get "dirty", here is an example.
One week ago, in this post,
http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/67055-new-laptops-vista-16.html#post658043
I did a disk & restore clean up.
In that one week period I have done way more things that create "dirt" than an average person would, what with removing and installing programs, so as to create all the screenshots necessary for this thread.
That being said, look at how much space has been consumed.

Before cleanup.

After cleanup.

That's 14.8 gigs of junk.
Considering how a hard drive starts slowing down fairly radically, once it gets below 50% free space, it goes to show how important periodic cleanups are.

Your anti virus program self updates, so there is nothing to worry about.
The anti spyware programs could be updated once a week with an Ad-Aware scan at the same time. (I never scan with Spybot as its immunization blocks the recognized spywares from entering)
The Advanced Windows Care program could be updated and scanned, once a week as well.

aross · Jul 31, 2008

Big Thanks to Rocky

I just wanted to give a big public thanks to Rocky for spending several hours playing with my new Vista computer and tuning it up so it is now streamlined, fast and organized. I watched him do his stuff, but don't ask me to explain what he did (read this thread if you want to know).

Andy

sokitoumi · Aug 25, 2008

whos the new computer expert- sometimes the arrow on my mouse pointer moves across the screen on its own without touching it - has anyone else had this problem in vista (also the computer types things by itself- i was joking about the last bit )

aross · Aug 25, 2008

sokitoumi said:
whos the new computer expert- sometimes the arrow on my mouse pointer moves across the screen on its own without touching it - has anyone else had this problem in vista (also the computer types things by itself- i was joking about the last bit )

I am far from an expert and no I have not had that happen but you should be able to go to settings, control panel and click on the mouse icon and there are all sorts of adjustments you can make that may eliminate that challenge.

What I do find though is that at times I will be typing a sentence and without realizing it I will have skipped back to a previous sentence and end up typing in the middle of it. Has anyone had that very annoying situation happen and if yes, how did you eliminate it happening? I do have Vista and do not know if this is an "operator" problem or a Vista problem.

Tamborista · Aug 25, 2008

aross said:
What I do find though is that at times I will be typing a sentence and without realizing it I will have skipped back to a previous sentence and end up typing in the middle of it. Has anyone had that very annoying situation happen and if yes, how did you eliminate it happening? I do have Vista and do not know if this is an "operator" problem or a Vista problem.

You either inadvertantly hit the "backspace key, or your thumb touched the built in "mouse pad" on the bottom of the key board and moved your cursor to the middle of the sentence. "Shift/tab" will also move you to another field! Take a look at the screen after every few words.

I have all of my F1-12 "function" keys programmed to do crazy things for my work, and have occasionally made very expensive typos!

I hope this helps.

tambo'

aross · Aug 25, 2008

Tamborista said:
You either inadvertantly hit the "backspace key, or your thumb touched the built in "mouse pad" on the bottom of the key board and moved your cursor to the middle of the sentence. "Shift/tab" will also move you to another field! Take a look at the screen after every few words.

I have all of my F1-12 "function" keys programmed to do crazy things for my work, and have occasionally made very expensive typos!

I hope this helps.

tambo'

Thanks Tambo, I was wondering if I was maybe touching the pad. Is there anyway to disconnect/turn it off as I use a wireless mouse all the time.

Tamborista · Aug 25, 2008

I assume you can adjust the sensitivity/disconnect it in the control panel...never tried it. The name is Alps Touch pad under the mouse hardware properties tab.
(I do not recommend this, but you can uninstall the driver quite easily to disable the pad)

tambo'

rubio_higuey · Oct 23, 2008

Rocky said:
Shortcuts

<HR style="COLOR: #173f96; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #173f96" SIZE=1>Windows
Disk clean up and restore clean up.
New laptops with Vista

Installing and using Advanced Windows Care.
New laptops with Vista

Windows Defrag.
New laptops with Vista

Some tweaks and how to remove a program.
New laptops with Vista

Choosing an Anti Virus program with links.
New laptops with Vista

Installing Avira Anti Virus program. (Mostly for medium to weak puters with XP)
New laptops with Vista

Installing AVG8 Anti Virus program. (For powerful computers)
New laptops with Vista

Installing and using Ad-Aware Anti Spyware program.
New laptops with Vista

Installing SpywareBlaster Anti Spyware program.
New laptops with Vista

Turning off the "User Account Control".
New laptops with Vista

Installing Spybot Anti Spyware program.
New laptops with Vista

Scanning with Spybot.
New laptops with Vista

Tea Timer capacities & usefulness. (Spybot)
New laptops with Vista

Icon Docks.
http://www.dr1.com/forums/living/67055-new-laptops-vista-19.html#post659852

We'll try to keep these links near the end of the thread, to give easy access to any one individual function/installation/etc.

Tomorrow I'll try to tweak my new Dell with Phista... thx for all the steps summarized

Rocky · Oct 23, 2008

Updated links

AVG 8 Anti Virus
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloadget.php?id=886&file=15&evp=dcdcda7ae8a7f7fc5c8683524884d470

Avira Anti Virus
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloadget.php?id=955&file=15&evp=b7cc93b8a46387032dd7756deb50bbbd

Ad Aware
MajorGeeks.Com - Contacting Download Site

Spybot
MajorGeeks.Com - Contacting Download Site

SpywareBlaster
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloadget.php?id=2859&file=10&evp=61b0e8ad41924a03c37615f4682b4cef

Malwarebytes
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloadget.php?id=5756&file=11&evp=693ee0b20204960edfd909666f809b26

Advanced Windows Care (Fantastic tweaking tool)
http://www.majorgeeks.com/downloadget.php?id=5927&file=11&evp=42472cd3f1aa59886cf05e3f3046518e

catcherintherye · Oct 23, 2008

I have nothing to add or say. I just wanted to get in a post right after one of Rocky's.

God, I miss him!

New laptops with Vista

Honorificabilitudinitatibus

Honorificabilitudinitatibus

Honorificabilitudinitatibus

Gold

Honorificabilitudinitatibus

Honorificabilitudinitatibus

Honorificabilitudinitatibus

Honorificabilitudinitatibus

Honorificabilitudinitatibus

Honorificabilitudinitatibus

Honorificabilitudinitatibus

New member

sokitoumi

Guest

New member

hasta la tambora

New member

hasta la tambora

Gold

Honorificabilitudinitatibus

Silver