Artillery for your PC
Updated August 29 2000

Windows users get frustrated by the ever increasing bloat of the Operating System. Ever wondered why your PC gets slower by the day? Blame it on Windows. Never fear though here are some tips on maintaining your PC and keeping it in good health.

** Speed up the loading of Windows

How? Edit MSDOS.SYS in the root of C:\ drive, it is a hidden file containing settings for Windows. Type in the following under the [Options] section. What each setting done is explained in white, do not type them in, only those bold text.

Logo=0 Disables the booting of the Windows Logo
DoubleBuffer=0 Disables Double buffering
Dblspace=0 Disables Doublespace, an old ancient Microsoft compression driver used in the days of MS-DOS that no one ever uses anymore
Drvspace=0 Disables Drivespace, refer to the above
Disablelog=1 Disables logging

How? Defragment your hard disk regularly. This decreases access time taken for the spindle of the hard drive to access data. When would you know your hard disk is fragmented? If you frequently hear your hard disk making noises, that is the sign of a fragmented hard disk. ** For Windows users, this means starting Disk Defragmenter. Click on Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Defragmenter

** Sometimes it may also be due to the lack of RAM available. Windows makes use of a swap file whenever RAM runs out. This swap file is a hidden file in the Windows folder, called Win386.swp. More RAM would mean a smaller swap file and less "swapping to disk". In an optimal situation, Windows users should have at least 128 MB of RAM (any more than that would have negligible performance gains) in order to minimize disk swapping. Windows NT users however should have at least 256MB.

Other hints Disable Active Desktop. Active Desktop slows down the performance of a PC tremendously, not to mention consuming a sizable amount of resources!

** Tweak Windows

How? There are programs out on the market that allow you to tweak Windows hidden settings. The most popular one for Windows is Tweak UI. (by Microsoft, coincidence?) It is not officially supported by Microsoft but is efficient in what it does. Type in Tweak UI in any file search engine to search for it.

It allows you to * Disable Internet Explorer * Disable Active Desktop * Hide Network Neighbourhood, Control Panel icons and other icons * Customise the Start Menu * Speed up the Start menu and a lot more

** Install the latest drivers

New drivers usually mean better and faster performance for your hardware. Speed increases can be obtained by obtaining the latest drivers for your video card alone. That goes the same for all hardware, hard drives, CDROM readers, and so on.

Obtain the latest drivers from your hardware vendor or visit http://www.driverguide.com or http://www.windrivers.com

** Upgrade your PC

Is your PC good enough? Windows 95 will only just run adequately on a Pentium computer or above with 16MB RAM (or more). Anything less would be just too slow. Windows 98 will work on Pentium IIs with 32MB RAM, anything else will mean a lean mean chugging machine. Windows NT/2000 requirements are even more.

If it's required, upgrade your machine. You won't regret it. Start with a faster processor, motherboard, at least 32MB of RAM, with ample storage space. If you play computer games, get one of the new video cards, otherwise a regular 16MB video card would be enough.

I recommend http://www.maximumpc.com for looking up information on the best deals on computer hardware and reviews.