Windows Tools, Help & Guides

Portable applications are programs that require no installation and can be used on a thumb drive on any machine that works with thumb drives. Back in college, I would use a portable version of Firefox as it contained all my personalized settings. I’d even carry a portable version of Photoshop to work on images I’d use on this site. That was a long time ago and I don’t really have need for portable applications anymore; however, if you like portable programs (or you want to give them a try), you’ll love this list over at Gizmo’s Freeware.

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A few days ago, I asked you if you use Windows 7’s XP Mode. Thank you to those who took part in the poll. Here’s what you said:

What Did I Learn from This?

I learned a lot from this poll and I’m glad I asked the question. Specifically, I learned that a lot of you use XP Mode (even in the home) and I also learned that a lot of you don’t know what XP mode is.

What’s Next?

Expect to see some guides in the near future on the following (subject to change) topics:

• What is XP Mode?
• How to improve performance when using XP Mode.
• How to share files between your host machine and XP Mode.

Thank you again to everyone who took part in the poll.

Slow computers need lots of patience

USB has become a daily part of our computer life. Almost any gadget or external device use the USB port to connect to your computer. Some devices also rely on our USB ports to get power or charge their battery.

Problem is that the USB ports doesn’t support true high-speed data transfers (at least until version 3 becomes generally available). Granted, USB is an ingenious way of connecting devices to your computer. It really revolutionized the home computer when it became a system standard. However, too much of a good thing, often results in sluggish computers and slooow file copying. Why’s that ?

In this article I’m going to try answer that and give you a few tips and tricks on how to improve your USB (and computer) performance and to avoid those sluggish moments.

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I’ve been meaning to read this article for a while now and finally got round to it. Thus, the Windows 8 category begins with Paul Thurrott’s overview of some of the stuff coming with Windows 8.

Here are some highlights from the article if you don’t want to read the whole thing:

When Will Windows 8 be Released?

According to the article, Microsoft currently plans to ship Windows 8 by mid-2012; thus, the first beta should be released by mid-2011 and public beta should follow by the end of 2011. Windows Server “8”/2012 is also being developed concurrently.

User Detection

Windows 8 will likely support detection of which user just walked in the room so that it can automatically turn on your PC, log you in, and play your favorite music. When you get up and leave, Windows will automatically log your PC off for you.

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Windows 7 comes with several features that maybe you haven’t noticed. This post will show you some of these useful tools.

It may seem that operating system utilities are just for system administrators but that is not always true. Windows 7 offers some tools that may not solve great problems but can improve your productivity.

To start these programs we are going to use the search utility that appears when you press the WinKey.

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We recently launched our suggestion box (Read about it here) where we ask you to help us improve our site, and to come up with suggestions as what articles to write. In response to that Bert H. asked us to write: “A clear and concise explanation about RAM. A lot of my co-workers are clueless about what it is, what it does, and why upgrading is simple.”

RAM the story behind…

RAM (or R.A.M) is an acronym for Random Access Memory (pronounced ramm). This is, your computers short time memory, which temporarily stores important data or information while the computer is working. In the early days of Computer Development, all data and information had to be stored on magnetic tapes in reels. In order to retrieve the data, you had to rewind the tape to the beginning and then search through the tape until you found the part needed. With RAM you didn’t have to do that anymore. The CPU (Central Processing Unit, or the number-crunching part of your computer) could access “randomly” parts of the memory, without having to search through the entire thing. RAM is organized and controlled in a way that enables data to be stored and retrieved directly from specific locations. Which of course saved a lot of time and energy. Thus making the computer faster and more efficient.

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