Microsoft Windows Defender (formally known as Windows AntiSpyware) helps protect Windows users from spyware and other potentially unwanted software, slow performance, annoying pop-up ads, unwanted changes to Internet settings, and unauthorized use of your private information.

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 In any folder that contains files.
Click on the tools menu and select folder options.
Then click on the view tab.
Locate where it lists Hide extensions of known file types and uncheck it.
Click OK

2. Show hidden files

In any folder that contains files. Click on the tools menu and select folder options.
Then click on the view tab.
Locate where it lists Hidden files and folders and select Show hidden files and folders.
Click OK.

3. Sort your start menu

 Open your main menu
 Select any program
 Right Click and choose “Sort by Name” and voila!!!

4. Don’t Cache Folder Thumbnails

To make folders with thumbnail images start up faster
Go to control panel and then folder options
Click on view tab and Uncheck “Do not cache thumbnails”.

5. Disable Programs at Start up

 Go to start – run 
 Type misconfig
 Go to the tab “Startup”
 Untick anything you don’t want starting when XP boots up, but be careful!!!!!
 Reboot

6. Clear temp file on close

The latest versions of Internet explorer include some great new security improvement tweaks, I will talk about the feature that clears the temporary Internet files each time you start Internet explorer.
Launch Internet explorer
Select the tools from the menu bar
Then select Internet options…from the drop down menu
Once the Internet options has loaded click on the advanced tab
Under security find where it says empty temporary Internet files folder when browsing and check it
Click OK

7. Disable error reporting
One feature that I can do without is error reporting. Every time a program crashes it tries to send a report to Microsoft. Read below to find out how to disable this stupid feature.

 Open control panel
 Click on performance and maintenance
 Click on system
 Then click on the advanced tab
 Click on the error reporting button on the bottom of the windows
 Select disable error reporting
 Click OK

8. Remove text from desktop icons

Right click on the icon whose title you want to remove and select Rename. Instead of entering any characters in the text box, hold down the ALT key and type 255 (ALT + 2 + 5 + 5). Note - you need to use the NUMPAD numbers for this to work ( i.e. the numbers to the right of your arrow keys, not the ones at the top of the keyboard). When you release the ALT key the title will be black, and you can press ENTER to accept this (blank titles are usually denied under windows, but not this way). For every other icon you’ll have to add a ‘255’ to the end of the string you enter. That is, to black a second icon name, you’ll need to hold down ALT and type 255 then 255 again, then release ALT. For a third, you’ll have to type ALT 255 255 255, and so on.

This tweak just works for up to 5 desktop icons and you’ll need to use the space-bar in between the multiple 255, like 255[space]255[space]255  !!

To Edit registry settings you need to go to
Start
Run
Type in regedit and flow instructions carefully

9. Shutdown on speed

By altering a few registry settings, you can dramatically decrease the amount of time it takes for Windows to shut down. To do this, first open up the registry editor and navigate to

HKEY_CURRENT-USERControl PanelDesktop

Once there, find the value HungAppTimeout and make sure it is set o 5000 (that’s the default). Now, in the same folder, look for the value WaitToKillAppTimeout. Set this to 4000 (the default is 20000).
Lastly, navigate to the folder

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetControl

And change the value WaitToKillServiceTimeout to 4000 as well. Another thing that helps speeding up shutting down is going to Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services and then setting the NVidia Driver Help service to manual.

10. The XP Prefetcher

With Windows XP comes a service called the Prefetcher. This service monitors which programs initialize when windows boots, then in future, fetches them quickly. The Prefetcher is enabled by default, but you can improve its performance. Simply navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSessionManagerMemory ManagementPrefetchParameters

In the registry and find the value EnablePrefetcher. Most likely, it will be set to 3. The recommended setting for the prefetcher is 5, and that’s what works best for me. Feel free to play around with it a bit, though, and find out what works best for you. It is possible to disable the Prefetcher by setting the value to 0, but the only reasons you might want to do this is if you wanted to test a machine in a lab environment.

11. Hibernation

Another really quick and easy tweak – if you’re not going to be using Hibernation (as most people don’t), make sure it is disabled, as windows reserves an amount of hard drive space equal to that of your RAM for hibernation. To disable Hibernation, go o Control Pan -> Power Options -> Hibernate Tab.

12. Change the Menu Show Delay (All Windows)

Windows normally delays menus before they are displayed.
For regular users this delay can become annoying,
with this setting you can change the delay time or remove it altogether.

Go To Start
Run
Type In Regedit
Open your registry and find the key below.

Registry Settings
User Key: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
Value Name: MenuShowDelay
Modify the existing value, named ‘MenuShowDelay’
Value Data: 0-999 (milliseconds)
And set it to equal the delay you would like before the menus are shown as a time in milliseconds.

Default is 400
Super Fast is 0
200 Seems to work well
Log off or restart Windows for the change to take effect.

Disclaimer: Modifying the registry can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. We cannot guarantee that problems resulting from modifications to the registry can be solved. Use the information provided at your own risk.

When you have a PC running Windows Vista Home Premium or Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows Media Center lets you use the power of your PC to interact with your TV  you can take advantage of the many features of Windows Media Center, including the ability to use your computer to watch live TV and as a digital video recorder (DVR)

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AVG Antivirus Version 8.0 Free for Windows XP and Windows Vista With Combined AntiVirus And Spyware Protection - I have tested many Anti Virus and Spyware programs both pay and free versions.  There are many options to a pay version but not all are good, a healthy size program can take up valuable resources and load times.  To get the basic protection with some good solid features is always the main goal and if its free then that is a BONUS.

  To Grisoft for making AVG 8.0 Free another geat program

AVG has released a new version of their great software which now includes both the antivirus and spyware protection all rolled into one.  There are some other great improvements and also some concerns I will address in the article.

The Good Stuff

AVG 8.0 Free offers very good (and very free) protection against viruses and spyware. As a bonus, its real-time Link-Scanner technology keeps you from clicking search links to dangerous sites. It’s an excellent choice if you need free protection against both viruses and spyware. Fast, effective security that is easy on resources Compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista

You can also download the new AVG Free 8.0 directly from our server.

Listed under Free AntiVirus

Click here to see the Supported Platforms

The Not So Good

Safe Search can be an asset if you are looking for secure web browsing, but it also can slow your website browsing down while this feature checks each link for safety.  I have chosen to disable it since I run Internet Explorer Version 7.0 which already uses a Phishing Filter.

About Safe Search - The new web shield checks every web page,  all links on search results pages in Google, Yahoo, and MSN are analyzed and their current threat level is reported in real time before you click on the link and visit the site.  Basic AVG 8.0 Free antivirus and antispyware protection for Windows Limited features are

No support
Private and non-commercial use only

How to disable the Safe Search Option

AVG 8.0 Free Edition contains a plug-in for scanning of search results in Google, Yahoo and MSN search engines. This plug-in (AVG Safe-Search) is designed for MS Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox Internet browsers. If you would like to disable it proceed as follows

For Internet Explorer Users
Run Internet Explorer.
Choose the Internet Options from the Tools menu.
Switch on the Programs tab.
Click on the Manage add-ons button.
Select the AVG Safe Search add-on.
Tick in the Disable option at the bottom of this window.
Confirm changes by clicking on the OK button.  
Close Internet Explorer and run it again.

For Mozilla Firefox Users
Run Mozilla Firefox.
Choose the Add-ons option from the Tools menu.
Select the AVG Safe Search add-on and click on the Disable button.
Close Mozilla Firefox and run it again.

Motherboard :
GIGABYTE P4 Titan Series GA-8IPE1000-G. AGP 8X/Dual Channel DDR
Intel 865PE Chipset

Processor :
Intel Pentium Prescott 3.0GHz 1MB L2 Cache Socket 478

Memory (RAM):
CORSAIR XMS 4GB (4 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel

Video Card :
Diamond Viper Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express

Power Supply :
ATRIX 550Watt Silent ATX Power Supply

USB Ports :
5 Port USB 2.0 PCI CARD
Total USB Ports : 9

C Drive :
Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
F Drive :
Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
D Drive :
LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM IDE DVD-ROM Drive
E Drive :
LITE-ON Black 16X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe

KeyBoard + Mouse :
Logitech MX3200 Cordless Keyboard & MX 600 Laser Cordless Mouse

Total Parts $694.38

MackDaddyz,
Damn, I love my computer that you built me.  Look at this list, this Tower smokes every job I throw at it.  Only Internet traffic can slow this computer down, but not a single program is slow.  Fan-F-ING-tastic!!!!!
Oh Boy!!! 
John

AMD Athlon- Sempron 3000+ 1.8 GHz
1 GB Ram
OS - XP Pro

New Parts

GIGABYTE GA-K8U 754 ULi M1689 ATX AMD Motherboard -  $43.99 
AMD Sempron 64 3000+ Palermo 1.8GHz Socket 754 Single-Core Processor $62.00 
Kingston 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Desktop Memory - $47.99

Total Rebuild Parts $153.98
Rebuild Fee’s - $75

XION Black/Blue Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
GIGABYTE AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7025 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
COOLMAX CR-450B ATX 450W Power Supply
AMD Athlon 4200+ Brisbane 2.2GHz Socket AM2 Dual-Core Processor
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
Western Digital 160GB 7200 RPM SATA  Hard Drive
LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner
Total Parts $384.94
Software $99
Custom Build Charges $100

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