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.
Detect and Repair disk errors If your computer’s performance is degrading, you must take action immediately! The issue can be caused by disk space, data access, or disk errors. To get rid of the disk space problem, simply run the Disk Cleanup utility. To make sure your data is accessed correctly and your disks are not fragmented, run the Disk Defragmenter tool. But what can you do if you have disk errors on your computer?
Disable unnecessary services Different people need different things from their Windows. Some need only the basic, while others need more advanced features. This is why Windows features support for everything you might need. These services can be Started, Paused, or Stopped, depending on your needs. By default, most of the services are Started. However, there are many services the average user does not need. Each of them takes up resources to work, slowing your computer down. The more unnecessary services you have Started, the slower your computer will work.
Display Settings and Paging File The Display is one of the components that eat lots of resources without any clear use. Why would you want to have visual effects if they decrease the speed of your computer?
File System Optimization If your computer is running slower and slower each day, the file system can be the cause. First of all, let’s look at some processes that are useless and can be stopped. This will free up some processor and memory resources.
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.
Free up disk space Have you ever wondered why is your computer working slowly? If you did, you have certainly tried to fix this problem. Although you might have succeeded, it was only a temporary success. Computers tend to start working slowly after a few weeks, or even days, depending on how much they are used. However, this is not a major problem and can be quickly fixed.
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.
Speed up access to data Disk fragmentation is a serious problem that will definitely slow down your computer. When the disk is fragmented, Windows has to search the entire hard drive to find pieces of the file you want to open. This causes performance issues and lack of responsiveness from you system.
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.
Tutorial on how to open 3g2 files What is a 3g2 file?
Tutorial on how to open a 3GP file Before we explain what a 3GP file really is, you must understand what 3G is and what it stands for. 3G stands for third generation, which is a generic term for high speed mobile data delivery in cellular phone networks.
Tutorial on how to open a TORRENT file Torrents are files that have the extension .torrent. These files come in small sizes and contain information about the files they contain, the announce address of the tracker, the hash key, etc. For example, if you have the file I.Robot.2.(2008).torrent, it would contain all the important info about the archives it contains.
Tutorial on how to open JPG files JPG is a lossy bitmap image format that is used by digital cameras and also by the World Wide Web. JPG files have many uses and are often used to transfer and display photographs on the web. This is a compressed graphic format standardized by the JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group). The lossy compression can noticeably reduce the quality of the image in cases where high amount of compression is used.
Tutorial on how to open PDF files The Portable Document Format (PDF) was launched in 1993 by Adobe Systems for document exchange purposes. It is an open commercial format. This means that anyone who has programming skills can write a tool that creates and opens PDF files.
Tutorial on how to open QFX files QFX files are files that have a .qfx extension. These files are a financial format that is used to import data into a tool called Quicken financial software. QFX files are not widely used, but are quite interesting. They may include account balances, transactions, and many more information that has been recorded in a standardized format.
Tutorial on how to open RAR files A RAR file is basically a collection of compressed files, processed to take up a lot less space than the actual files. The file is named a RAR file because all these archives usually have the .rar extension. A RAR file can be transferred on other computers faster that uncompressed files.
Tutorial on how to open VOB files VOB is short for DVD Video Object. This is the most important file you can find on DVD-video discs and it also contains the most important data about the movie.
Tutorial on how to open WPS files A WPS file is a Microsoft Works file. Microsoft Works was designed to provide the basic home productivity tools a person would need to make his everyday tasks easier from start to finish. Microsoft Works can create letters, greeting cards, and resumes.
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.
Upgrade your computer Although there are many ways in which you can speed up your computer, you might let one slip out of your mind. This is the most obvious solution to low speed computers: Upgrade your computer!