If you are running Windows Vista, then this article will quickly and easily help you to free up some memory in order to speed up your computer. By default, the Windows Aero theme is the default theme for Windows Vista. This is fine if you have more than 2 GBs of memory (i.e. RAM), not running multiple applications simultaneously and really want to have the cool Windows Aero effects such as transparent windows. However, the Windows Aero theme uses about 30 MBs of RAM under the minimal settings. Here is a capture of the task manager showing the Desktop Windows Manager (dvm.exe) using 33 MBs of RAM.

By simply switching to a less memory aggressive theme, you can free up some memory to speed up your PC. To do this, right click on your desktop and pick Personalize, then click on Windows Color and Appearance. Choose to open the classic appearance properties link and then change your theme to Windows Vista Basic as shown here:

Once you apply the new theme settings, you will have freed about 30 MBs of memory that is now available for other more important programs. Here is a screen shot of the task manager once the Windows Vista Basic theme is applied:

We hope you enjoyed this simple yet effective tip to speed up your Windows PC. For further computer speedup, try a free scan using RegCure.

Ever wonder why your computer takes longer to loadup windows the more you use it? We all have purchased a brand new computer and it seems so much faster to boot up to Windows then it is now. The slow bootup is not your imagination and may not be due to anything being wrong with your PC. From my experience, the slow bootup time is due to the increased Windows startup entries added by installed programs. For example, if you installed Adobe Acrobat reader, it automatically adds an entry into your Wndows startup file to load Adobe Acrobat when Windows loads. In addition, this startup will also try to check for updates everytime Windows is started up. This adds to increased use of resources and longer bootup times. Therefore to increase the bootup time of your Microsoft Windows computer, remove any programs from the Windows startup that is not necessary. To do this go to Start>Run and type in msconfig. This will bring up the Windows’ System configuration window as shown here:

Fig. 1 Windows system configuration window.

When the Windows system configuration window comes up, choose Selective Startup. Now you can click on the Startup tab and uncheck any programs that do not need to be loaded at startup. Just becareful not to uncheck any programs you do not know are necessary. Here is a screen shot:

Fig. 2 Startup tab programs.

Once you are done, click apply and Windows should load up faster the next time you startup. If your computer still seems slow, then please try the free PC scan offered on RegCure-PC-Optimizer.com.

If you have ever tried to run a game or any other multimedia on your PC, and received a message indicating that you need to install DirectX, don’t panic. DirectX is software that Windows uses for displaying videos and playing audio files in standard formats. It is generally important to have the current version of DirectX installed to avoid any conflicts. The current version, DirectX 10.0, will typically run programs that once required DirectX 8, DirectX 9, or any previous version. However, this is not the case the other way around. If you have something that requires DirectX 10.0, you will have to upgrade Windows. Sometimes you may not realize that the DirectX needs to be updated. However, there are errors and programs you may encounter with older releases of the software. When trying to run a program, if you can errors about the system not being able to locate or  initialize a file, failing to start, or performing an illegal operation, it could be due to you running an old version of DirectX. Poor quality video and/or sound playback is a strong indicator that there is an incompatibilty in your DirectX version and the program trying to display the multimedia.

You can check to see which version of DirectX by going to Start>Run. Type in dxdiag in the text box and press Enter. The DirectX diagnostic tool will launch and you can now see what version of DirectX you are currently have installed on your Windows system.  If you are running Windows Vista then DirectX 10.0 is what you should have installed. If not you can go here, http://www.gamesforwindows.com/en-US/AboutGFW/Pages/DirectX10.aspx, to get the latest version. If you are running Windows XP, then you should have DirectX 9.0c installed. If not go here, http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=2DA43D38-DB71-4C1B-BC6A-9B6652CD92A3&displaylang=en, to download the latest version.

want to make sure your computer is running optimally? Want to make sure you are protected from the latest viruses and Windows hacks? Then make sure you have Windows update running and that it is set to update automatically. To see if you have this setup, go to your control panel and click on Windows Update. There you should select the recommende setting of “Install updates automatically.” If you want to see what updates will be performed and would like to confirm yourself, you can choose the second option of “Download updates but let me choose whether to install them.” Keeping your Windows operting system updated is your best defense for Windows exploits and the hackers trying to exploit them.

A printer spooler queues up print jobs for later printing. This is a great tool if you are dealing with networked printers or have several computers printing to the same printer. The printer spool will help the printer to print the pages in a queue. In general, consumer grade printers have insufficient memory to store all the pages that you are printing. A printer spool with queue everything to be used later.

This service is required if you have printers with applications that use the printing sub-system (like PDF converters). If this does not fit your needs, you can disable the print spooler service. This will save about 3.8 MB in memory resources. Your printers will still be “installed” if you disable this service, but not visible in the printers folder. After restarting the print spooler, they will reappear and be available for use. I place this service into manual mode and only start it up when printing is required. In manual mode, the service will not automatically start at boot time. However, if you do a lot of printing, automatic mode is the most convenient.

If you have a print spooler error, try disabling and then re-enabling the service again. If this does not work, uninstall the printer and reinstall it again.

Keeping your PC optimized and in the same condition you first got it is not always the easiest thing to do. Files get corrupted, your harddrive gets fragmented, and often you’ll end up with background programs which you never use eating up your computer’s processing power. So what can you do? There are several simple tips you can use to optimize your PC, speed up boot time, and keep your PC running more smoothly for years to come especially in these tough economic times.

1.) Disable Special Effects: New operating systems—Vista in particular—tend to include great-looking visual effects such as animations and windows transparency. However, for older computers these unneeeded features can really slow down performance. Optimize your PC by disabling these options and enjoy smoother computer performance.

2.) Defragment your Hard Drive Once a Month: When your computer saves data to the hard drive, it does so in a fairly random fashion. After you first install a software program the entire application may be located in the same place on the drive, but each time you save data, it will likely get saved to a different location. When this happens the files become fragmented, and your Windows OS will operate more slowly over time. When you defragment your drive, all the tiny fragments of data are collected and stored in a more logical fashion, so the computer can retrieve them more quickly.

3.) Check for Spyware Once a Week: If you have an internet connection, your computer is vulnerable to spyware, adware, viruses, and other types of malicious software programs, collectively known as malware, which slow your computer down hugely if it becomes infected. Even if you use a good fire wall and run antivirus software, it’s still a good idea to scan your computer once a week or so, simply because most antivirus programs aren’t comprehensive enough to provide protection against every type of malware.

4.) Upgrade your RAM: One of the most cost-effective ways to speed up your computer is to buy some RAM for your computer. This is especially critical if you upgrade your software or are installing new software since they usually take up more RAM. In addition, if you use Windows Vista, a minimum of 2 GB RAM is recommended.

5.) Uninstall Unused Programs: One quick method to clean up your hard drive and to free up space is to uninstall any programs you no longer use. A clean hard drive will help with your computer performance.