October, 2005

If there are any topics you would like to see discussed in the future or if you have any comments, please contact me at JoeT@HighCaliber.com

Bullet Points

  • Windows XP Services That Can Be Disabled

    One way to improve performance and increase security on a workstation running Windows XP is to disable unnecessary services. You can view and disable running services by pressing [Ctrl] + [Alt] and [Del] simultaneously, clicking Task Manager, and then selecting the Processes tab. Here are some services you can safely disable:

    • Alerter - Notifies selected users and computers of administrative alerts
    • Application Management - Processes installation/removal requests for Active Directory IntelliMirror group policy programs
    • ClipBook - Enables ClipBook viewer to store information and share it with remote computers
    • Distributed Link Tracking - Coordinates transactions that span multiple resource managers, such as databases, message queues, and file systems
    • Error Reporting - Collects, stores, and reports unexpected application crashes to Microsoft
    • NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing - Enables an authorized user to access this computer remotely by using NetMeeting over a corporate intranet
    • Telephony - Provides TAPI support for clients using programs that control telephony devices and IP-based voice connections

     

  • Problems With Thumbnail View in Windows Explorer

    When using Windows Explorer, there is an option that allows you to view small "thumbnail-sized" copies of image files stored in the folder you are inspecting. To do this, click View and then Thumbnails while viewing files in Windows Explorer.

    Occasionally, you may get an "invalid page fault" error when you try to view the contents of a folder in Thumbnail view. To fix this problem:

    1. In Windows Explorer, click Tools in the horizontal menu bar
    2. Click Folder options
    3. Click the View tab
    4. Make sure Show Hidden Files is selected.
    5. Click OK
    6. Navigate to the folder where the Thumbnail view was causing problems
    7. Delete the Thumbs.db file (you must do this for each folder that had problems).
    8. Click the folder, click View and click Thumbnails to re-create the Thumbs.db file

     

  • Shrinking Pictures Attached to Email in Outlook

    Windows XP, by default, gives you an option to reduce the size of pictures that you attach to email messages in Outlook or Outlook Express, in order to decrease the file size. Sometimes, however, you may find that the option no longer appears. You can fix this by doing the following:

    1. Click Start
    2. Click Run
    3. Type cmd to open a command window
    4. At the command prompt, type regsvr32 shimgvw.dll
    5. Press Enter
    6. Type Exit

     

  • 'Find' Tips In MS Word

    When using the Find/Replace tool in Microsoft Word, you may click the Find Next button too quickly and pass the text you were looking for. Use this tip to find that occurrence of the 'find'.

    1. Press Ctrl+F to open the Find & Replace dialog box
    2. Enter the text you want to find
    3. Click Find Next once
    4. Close the Find and Replace dialog box
    5. Press Ctrl+PageUp to find the previous occurrence of what was found
    6. Press Ctrl+PageDown to find the next occurrence

    You can even make format changes, etc. between each use of the Ctrl+PageUp or Ctrl+PageDown. Another benefit of this is that the annoying Find & Replace dialog is not blocking the screen.

     

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PC Slow to Wake Up?

All newer PC's now have the ability to automatically switch to power-saver modes after defined periods of inactivity. To "wake the computer up" after it has entered one of these modes, all you generally need to do is move the mouse or press a key on the keyboard. Sometimes, however, it may take an inordinate amount of time to wake up, especially if the PC has been "sleeping" for an extended period of time.

There are six distinct power levels supported by most PCs (and laptops) today. If your PC was in a highly energy-conserving state when it went into deepest sleep (or hibernation, in some cases) the CPU was already throttled back to a very low performance level. The PC will initially wake up in that same slow, energy-conserving state. Once everything is running the PC's power-management software realizes that you're ready to use the machine, and it lets the CPU operate faster. The more software you have running at the time of sleep/hibernation, the longer the wake-up cycle can take, too, because there's that much more stuff to restore.

There are a couple of things you can do. Instead of letting the PC switch to power-save mode by itself, slowly sinking into deeper and deeper power-saving modes, perform a manual sleep or hibernation shutdown at the end of the day. That way the PC will go to sleep directly from a higher-power state, and should wake up in that same higher-power mode. It may still take a while to wake up fully, but may be faster than letting the PC power itself way, way down, on its own, first.

You might also try doing a thorough software housecleaning of the system too: the less stuff the PC has to wade through, the faster system-level operations can take.

 

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