Faster-PC.net "How-To" Guides
Are you stumped on how to do a certain thing with your computer? Faster-PC.net's technicians have been through it all - and we can prove it. Scroll through our massive list of "How-To" articles that give you step-by-step directions on repairing a certain aspect of your computer. You'll be an expert in no time! Want a custom "How-To"? Contact us with your request.
List of "How-To" guides:
- Adding a utility to your path Adding a utility to your "Path" is a great way to get fast access to useful applications and utilities from anywhere on your computer. It also makes it easy to access from the command line and the "Run" dialogue box. Read on for a step-by-step tutorial on how to add an application to your path.
- Cleaning EXE.exe from your PC Exe.exe is a component of one of two pieces of malware - but either way, it's bad news. It's imperative that you remove this executable from your system if you want to maintain your computer's security. Read on for detailed information on what Exe.exe is and how to get rid of it.
- Fixing DLL errors The most common DLL error occurs when the DLL is missing. If you or a program has accidentally moved, renamed, or deleted a DLL, the programs that rely on it will generate a DLL error message. Also, if the DLL has become 'unregistered' - that is, removed from the registry - your programs may crash.
- Fixing Screen Resolution Errors The term 'screen resolution' refers to the number of picture elements, known as 'pixels', that your monitor displays. Common resolutions have acronyms representing the number of horizontal pixels by the number of vertical pixels.
- Getting Rid of Thumbs.db Thumbs.db is a special hidden file Windows XP uses to cache thumbnails for every image and video in a certain folder. By caching these thumbnails, Windows can quickly look up the preview image for a set of folders, images, or videos by consulting the thumbs.db file instead of re-rendering each thumbnail. The first time you look at thumbnails in a media-rich folder, your computer will take longer to display them as Windows is building the database; however, after the first time, it should get much faster.
- Helpful Site Reviews Everyone has their list of favorite sites, and we thought we'd share ours. These are sites that we use daily or weekly to keep our computers running properly or learn more about technology. Check them out and let us know what you think,
- How to Clean Cookies Cookies are little plain text files that your web browser produces at the request of web servers. It allows server programmers to store persistent data (data that will not disappear on the next request) on your computer for later access. This can be used to remember user information, login information, preferences, track marketing data, and provide extremely (though not 100%) secure authentication systems.
- How To Stop Net Send and Alerter Messages The Messenger service is an application that runs in the background of most Windows NT-based systems, including Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. The Messenger service allows IT administrators to send your computer messages about important network events. For instance, if your corporate IT administrator has to reboot your company's primary server, he may use the Messenger service to send an Alerter message telling your entire company to ensure they've saved their work.
- Improving PC Performance The Task Manager is your stethoscope for diagnosing the cause of your computer's poor performance. Close all of the programs that are running on your computer and open the Task Manager by pressing "CTRL" + "ALT" + "DELETE". Go through each tab step-by-step to identify the cause of your slow computer.
- Managing and Disabling Automatic Windows Updates Windows Update is a service that was installed alongside Windows XP that enables Microsoft to provide your PC with critical security updates. Microsoft has used Windows Update for other purposes as well, such as ensuring your software isn't pirated, pushing the latest feature updates for bundled applications, and deploying brand-new software to users of authentic Windows software.
- Modifying and Repairing the Windows Registry Accessing the Windows Registry manually isn't for everyone, but if you're dead-set on taking matters in to your own hands, read on for step-by-step instructions on how to safely edit the registry. Just a warning, though - if you screw it up, don't come crying to us!
- Monitoring PC Performance The simplest PC performance monitoring tool is the Windows Task Manager. The Windows Task Manager allows you to inspect each process running on your machine for memory and CPU usage. Press "Ctrl" + "Alt" + "Delete" to access the Windows Task Manager, and navigate to the Performance tab. The performance tab gives you performance aggregates like total CPU usage, total virtual memory usage, and total physical memory usage. Under the "Processes" tab, you can se which processes are taking the majority of your resources. This is especially useful if your computer is sluggish even when you're not running any applications on it, as it allows you to inspect your PC for a runaway process.
- Optimizing System Restore When you perform certain operations on your PC, you face a high risk of causing otherwise irreversible damage to your operating system. For instance, installing new drivers for your sound card, installing a Windows service pack, and making edits to Windows initialization files are sometimes necessary but dangerous steps to fully optimizing your PC. What if something goes wrong? Even the most conscientious of technical gurus are still helpless if the software or hardware developer made a mistake. This is where System Restore comes in. By making regular backups of your system's state, as well as performing one-time backups whenever Windows detects that you are installing new software or drivers, System Restore gives you the ultimate "rewind" button for your PC.
- Optimizing Your Notebook's Battery Life The three culprits in your laptop that are responsible for its abysmal battery life are everything that glows, everything that moves, and everything that radiates. Your bright, shiny screen, high-speed hard disk, and Bluetooth+802.11n wireless radio all collude to sap precious power from your battery.
- Prevent Startup Programs from Running The simplest method for controlling the programs that start with Windows has to do with modifying the "Startup" folder in your Start menu. You can find the "Startup" folder by choosing "Start", "All Programs" (or "Programs" in Windows 98SE/2000), then "Startup". Inspect the Startup folder and note any programs present there that you feel are unnecessary. To clean your Startup folder, take the following steps:
- Removing Windows Messenger Windows Messenger is included with most editions of Microsoft Windows XP in the default installation. Users who run Windows XP Professional are more likely to have Windows Messenger come with their PC than users who run Windows XP Home. Just like Microsoft Paint, WordPad, and Calculator, Windows Messenger is installed on your computer at the same time as the host operating system. During the installation of Windows, you are not given an option to avoid installing Windows Messenger. If you purchased a computer that came with Windows XP, the computer manufacturer may have used a special installation process to prevent Windows Messenger from being installed on your computer.
- Speeding Up Your Computer First, restart your computer to get a clean slate. In Windows XP, press "CTRL+ALT+DELETE" to bring up the Task Manager. Choose the "Processes" tab, and press the header of the "Mem Usage" column. This will organize all running processes by the level of memory, or RAM, they are using. Scroll to the bottom of the list and note any processes that you don't recognize that are using more than 50MB of memory. Programs that are taking this much RAM can hog resources that other programs and files need, and cause your computer to slow down and crash. Select these processes and press "End Process" to terminate them. Note the effects on your computer. If this made a noticeable difference, you may want to prevent this program from starting up automatically in the future.
- Uninstalling Software Uninstalling software correctly is critical to maintaining the health of your PC. If you do a bad job of uninstalling a program, you can leave behind harmful remnants that will cause errors down the road. The lesson is simple: Clean up your mess! Here's a guide to how to keep your computer tidy by uninstalling software cleanly.