Gtdatazone Techweb

Windows 7 – Disable Windows Defender

gtdatazone — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 08:35:22 +0000

If you have your own internet security solution, the quick way to disable Windows Defender is to click on the Start button and type in the search box – services.msc, and then hit enter. Scroll down to and hightlight Windows defender, right click and select properties, from the startup type select Disabled, apply and OK it and then close all the screens.

*Note this works in Vista as well

Speed up Windows 7

gtdatazone — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:13:11 +0000

By default Windows 7 puts you on its “balanced” power plan, which saves energy but might also cut performance.

If you’re using a desktop and are interested in speed above all else then click Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options > Create a Power Plan, choose the High Performance option and give your plan a name. Click Next > Create, choose the “Change plan settings” link next to your custom power plan, and tweak it to suit your needs.

Windows 7 – Customise Explorer

gtdatazone — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:12:15 +0000

Windows 7 adds many useful improvements, but the default Explorer settings are still as dubious as ever and you’ll want to tweak them right away. Click Start, type Folder and choose Folder Options from the list to get started.

The new Explorer navigation pane shows disconcertingly few drives and folders when you start. This makes for faster loading, but also means reaching your destination often requires extra clicks.

If you prefer the Vista style of navigation then click the General tab, and check both “Show all folders” and “Automatically expand to current folder”.

Windows 7 also hides drives that are empty, which means the contents of the Computer folder can change in unexpected ways. We find that distracting, but it’s easy to change: just click the View tab and clear the “Hide empty drives…” box.

And it’s generally a good idea to set up Explorer to display file extensions and hidden files, unless very inexperienced users have access to your PC. Click the View tab, select “Show hidden files, folders and drives”, clear the “Hide extensions for known file types” and “Hide protected operating system files” boxes and click OK to finish the job.

Windows 7 – Make Adobe Reader display PDFs properly

gtdatazone — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:09:26 +0000

sometimes when you try to open a PDF file, you get an error message and the file doesn’t open. It seems Adobe doesn’t play well with IE 8 in Windows 7 and won’t open the files (or at least won’t open some of them) in the browser.

If you set Adobe not to display PDFs in the browser, it will open them without any problems. Here’s how to configure that:

1. Open Adobe Reader.

2. Click Edit | Preferences.

3. Click Internet in the left Categories pane.

4. Under Web Browser Options, deselect the Display PDF In Browser check box and click OK.

Windows 7 – Security Software

gtdatazone — Fri, 29 May 2009 09:54:23 +0000

If your upgrading from Windows XP, you will probably need a new internet security suite or anti-virus program, the ones I’ve tested so far are:

Kaperski security suite 2009 – Good, works fine

Norton 360(2) – This is a vast improvement on the last version, works fine

AVG Free version – Installs OK, but had problems with updates

AVG Security suite – Again installed ok, but had the same updating problem

Turn off Vista’s System Restore

gtdatazone — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:59:44 +0000

Analysis and restore point creation by Windows Vista can eat a fair amount of system resources. Disabling this service will obviously mean the system restore feature in Vista will not be available in the event of a system crash. Change this at your own risk.

To disable this service:

Control Panel > System
Click System Protection on the left panel
Uncheck the main system drive
Agree to the confirmation

Turn off Windows Vista Hibernation

gtdatazone — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:57:48 +0000

Windows hibernation background services can use a large amount of system resources. If you don’t use the Hibernate feature on a regular basis you may want to disable it to give Vista a performance boost.

To disable Hibernation:

Select the Control Panel then Power Options
Click Change Plan Settings
Click on Change Advanced Power Settings
Expand the Sleep selection
Expand the Hibernate After selection
Crank the selector down to zero
Click Apply

Windows 7 – Connecting a Projector

gtdatazone — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:56:10 +0000

To connect Windows 7 to a projector, simply use the Windows key and tap P

Windows 7 – Add Quick Launch Toolbar

gtdatazone — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:53:16 +0000

To add a quick launch toolbar with Windows 7, do the following:

1. Right click empty space on taskbar – select new toolbar

2. In the folder box type:

%userprofile%\appdata\roaming\microsoft\internet explorer\quick launch

Add a 2GB or higher USB Flash drive to take advantage of Vista’s Ready Boost

gtdatazone — Wed, 27 May 2009 16:50:01 +0000

(Additional Memory Cache)

Ready Boost is Microsoft’s name for using a USB thumb/flash drive to provide some quick access memory the operating system can use as extra RAM. The Ready Boost system can significantly improve system performance.

To set this up:

Insert a USB Flash Drive
Click Start then Computer
Right Click the USB Drive in My Computer
Select the Ready Boost Tab
Choose Use this device
Select as much space as you can free up for RAM usage vs. Storage