How to make your computer faster for free

Wondering "How do i make my computer faster", but don’t have the cash to buy better hardware? Well here is some quick and easy tips on how to make your computer more efficient without dropping a dime!
1.) Defrag your hard drives.

I. Often windows will automatically do this once per day or per week or so. Mine does it every Wednesday night when I should be sleeping ~3AM. This way I know that all my files are organizing themselves relatively often.

II. To make sure your computer is doing this regularly, go to Start Menu>>Program Files>>Accessories>>System Tools>>Disk Defragmenter.

2.) Remove Spyware, clean up your temporary Files, fix your registry and clean out dangerous startup entries. These can all be done individually, but it can be time consuming. GLARY UTILITIES is an amazing program that does all of this with the program’s “1 Click Maintenance.” I swear by this program now. It is amazing. It regularly finds and removes several gigabytes of temporary internet files and the first time I ran it, over 400 registry errors were found and fixed. This program is free so I highly recommend that you check it out. Also, check out my TIGGITY POST on Glary Utilities for more about its capabilities.

3.) Remove unused programs from your hard drive. Chances are there is a ton of programs on your computer that you don’t use, and probably never will use. How about removing them and getting that extra storage space available so your computer has less junk to think about. Note: I highly recommend checking out the importance of each program on Google before removing it permanently. How about all of those crappy demo games that came with your comp, or old games you no longer play, or programs that you didn’t even know existed? Ya, you can do without those.

I. Go to Start>>Settings>>Control Panel>> then click ‘Programs’ or ‘Programs and Features’

i. A long list will open eventually and it will be a near comprehensive list of all of the programs that are installed on your computer. Again, I recommend removing only stuff you are familiar with and know your computer can function properly without. So click on any program that you can do without and then click the ‘Uninstall button at the top of the window. This is a great way to remove computer garbage and get your PC back to health.

4.) Change what programs automatically run at windows start up. Ok so you like Skype, Windows Messenger, Norton, AIM, Yahoo! Messenger etc, etc, etc. These programs can be set so that they do not load at windows startup, but instead ONLY WHEN YOU WANT THEM TO. You don’t need a bajillion programs launched at the same time as windows. Open Messenger when you want to, or Skype etc. This is really easy and reduces computer start up time drastically. There are two methods to do this:

I. (Automatic) Download and run Vista Services Optimizer if you are still using Windows Vista. Check out my EARLIER POST about this free software for quick instructions on how to use it.

II. ( Manual) Go to start menu>>Run>> and then type ‘msconfig’
Then click the startup tab. Here you can uncheck the programs that you do not want to launch at start up. This does not disable the program, it simply sets the program to load when you start it, rather than at windows launch. Here, again, be careful to make sure you don’t uncheck programs that Windows needs to launch at startup. Just type in the command and do a Google Search to see if it is vital at startup or not. Most of them that are here are probably not essential, but make sure before you uncheck them, please.

5.) Adjust the visual graphics that appear during Windows use. If you can do without mouse trails, and fancy windows minimizing and other effects that make Windows look cool, but are not necessary, then you can remove all of these and set Windows to max performance.

I. Go to Start>>Settings>>Control Panel>> click ‘Performance’ or ‘Performance Information and Tools.’ Then click on ‘Adjust visual effects.”

i. Here you will have options to ’Let Windows choose whats best,’ Adjust for best appearance, ‘adjust for best performance’ or create your own custom scheme. I recommend letting Windows choose, but if you really need that extra speed then create your own custom or adjust for best performance.

6.) Change your desktop background. Having a simple background color or design can actually make a pretty significant difference in performance when compared to a fancy landscape or large image from the internets or your digital camera. Simple, but it should work on low capacity computer.

7.) Disable the Bandwidth reserve in Windows. Windows reserves 20% of your bandwidth so that it has access to priority bandwidth when it might need it. Why not let it share in your regular bandwidth and allow those extra 20% participate all the time?! To do this, click on this link HERE. http://www.vistax64.com/attachments/tutorials/1757d1196149757-qos-bandwidth-reserve-limit-disable_reserved.reg?ltr=Q

I. Download the .reg file somewhere easy to access – I recommend your Desktop.
II. Right click on the icon and select ‘Merge’

III. Click Run
IV. Click Yes

V. Click OK

VI. For this change to take place, restart your computer.
VII. Feel free to delete the .reg file at this time. Also, if you would like to restore your reserved bandwidth for whatever reason, you can do that HERE http://www.vistax64.com/attachments/tutorials/1758d1196149762-qos-bandwidth-reserve-limit-restore_default_reserved.reg?ltr=Q


I hope you find these resources to be useful! I know i did. Enjoy!

99 ways to make your computer faster

Check out the Microsoft page for improving speed for more suggestions
Microsoft speed page

Making Mondays Easier: Accessing Blocked websites

So its Monday… again. For most people that means back to work or school. I bet you wish you could access all those web pages that your employer or school blocked, huh? Here is a sneaky little trick that makes it so you can! While you won’t be able to check the most recent versions of the web pages, you can check the most recently cached version of the page even if it is blocked! Schweet.
Open up your web browser (this should work in any web browser). Do the following:
In your address bar type in "cache:" and then the URL of the website you would like to visit. So if you wanted to check out textsfromlastnight.com you would type in “cache:http:www.textsfromlastnight.com” or for ebaumsworld “cache:http:www.ebaumsworld.com” and so forth. I hope this helps get you through your Monday! Enjoy! Love, Tiggity

Cover your tracks! History Block and Securedelete

It never hurts to be too safe when dealing with files, documents, folders or browsing history of extreme secrecy. Here are two methods to ensure that your privacy is kept intact. The first is Tweak Now Securedelete, which can be used to permanently delete files and folders (I’m not talking about emptying your recycling bin kind of secret, this REALLY gets rid of them). Data Recovery Specialists can recover most, if not all, of the data that you deleted through your recycling bin. Securedelete is supposed to make data deleted through this method completely irrecoverable so this is good for stuff you want to keep ultra secret.
Here is a quick rundown of this extremely simple to use and free software or free-ware. Get Securedelete here . It is a small file (3.75MB) so it downloads and installs rather quickly. When you click Download a confirm installation window will appear that looks like this:

Click ‘Save File’ and the download will proceed. Then open the new file from your download bar, window, folder or however you have your setting configured and follow the installation instructions.
When you open the program it will look like this:

It is very simple and the large window can be resized to fit your preferences. Click either the ‘Add File’ or the ‘Add Folder’ button and then select the objects that you want to PERMANENTLY erase beyond any possible recovery. Once you have a folder or file selected then the ‘Remove’ and ‘Delete’ buttons will encolorize. The ‘Remove’ button just removes the object from the list and puts it back where it came from. The ‘Delete’ button will erase the object from the known universe, never to see the light of day again. And, yes, it is as simple as that.

Note: I do not endorse you downloading scandalous files, even though you now have a secure way of removing your tracks permanently. Just kidding. But seriously.


The second is History Block. So what this Mozilla only add on does is allows you to select certain sites that will never show up in your browsers history. You can type in any sites that you want to be excluded and they will never show up nor can your excluded sites be viewed in this app (because that would void the entire purpose!). There are others ways to gain added privacy with out History Block, such as starting a private browsing session or setting your browser prefs to not save history or cookies/cache. In my opinion this is much cooler than those and much more practical. Here is a quick walk through of the download and installation (which is uber easy) and a view of the user interface.
Click on the History Block link above and click the ‘Download Now’ button. A Window will pop-up unless you have pop-up blocker on, in which case you will need to allow this instance.

Then it will automatically install (in like a second) and this bubble will show up:

So restart FireFox and History Block will be running, but you have not entered any sites yet. To do that go to your Add-Ons manager and click on the Extensions tab. There you will see History Block along with any other add-ons you have. To add a site, just simply click the ‘Options’ button and a tiny window will pop up that allows you to enter a site. Once again: sites you add to the blacklist cannot be viewed by you or anyone, so rest assured. You can unblacklist any sites you want via this window as well.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy your newly acquired privacy. Cheers!