Tune Up Your PC In a Weekend, 2nd Edition (Windows XP, ME, 98, 95)

Front Cover......Page 1
Title Page......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Dedication......Page 6
Acknowledgements......Page 7
About The Author......Page 8
Table Of Contents......Page 9
Introduction......Page 0
How This Book Is Organized......Page 18
Conventions Used In This Book......Page 19
Friday Evening Assessing Your System......Page 20
Hardware......Page 22
Operating System......Page 25
What Have You Got?......Page 26
Evaluating Your Current Processor......Page 32
Evaluating Your Current Operating System......Page 34
Overall Slowness......Page 37
Out Of Memory Errors......Page 38
General Protection Faults......Page 39
Lockups And Freezes......Page 40
Certain Programs Not Working......Page 41
What’s Your Solution?......Page 42
Reformat And Reload Everything......Page 43
Buy And Install Upgrades......Page 45
Take A Break......Page 47
Backing Up Important Files......Page 48
Copying Data Files To A Removable Disk......Page 49
Backing Up To Cd......Page 51
Creating An Emergency Startup Disk......Page 53
Creating A Startup Cd-rom......Page 55
Testing Your Pc’s Ability To Boot From Cd......Page 56
What Makes A Cd Bootable?......Page 57
Setting Up Your Software To Create A Bootable Cd......Page 58
Starting The Recovery Console From Your Hard Disk......Page 60
Showing All Files And File Extensions......Page 61
Take A Break......Page 62
Understanding Disk Errors......Page 67
Checking For Errors With Scandisk (windows 95/98/me)......Page 68
Checking For Errors With Check Disk (windows Xp)......Page 69
Preventing Computer Viruses......Page 71
Antivirus Programs To The Rescue......Page 72
Take A Break......Page 77
If Windows Won’t Start At All…......Page 78
Lockups During Startup......Page 80
Registry Errors At Startup......Page 83
Restoring An Earlier Copy Of The Registry......Page 84
Missing File Error Messages At Startup......Page 86
Controlling Which Programs Load At Startup......Page 91
Enabling Or Disabling The Startup Menu (windows 98/me Only)......Page 100
Repairing The Windows Registry......Page 102
Fixing A Specific Device......Page 104
Checking A Device’s Status In Device Manager......Page 105
Installing Or Updating A Device Driver......Page 108
Troubleshooting A Device Conflict......Page 119
Solving Printer Problems......Page 130
Fixing A Specific Program......Page 135
Locating A Missing File......Page 136
Uninstalling An Application......Page 137
Reinstalling An Application......Page 139
Configuring A Dos-based Program (windows 95/98/me)......Page 142
Using The Program Compatibility Wizard In Windows Xp......Page 148
Take A Break......Page 149
Saturday Afternoon Enhancing System Performance......Page 150
Defragmenting The Disk......Page 152
Setting Cache Size (windows 95/98/me Only)......Page 159
Checking For Dos Compatibility Mode (windows 95/98 Only)......Page 161
Configuring Virtual Memory......Page 162
Updating Your System......Page 166
Updating Windows With Windows Update......Page 167
Saving Disk Space......Page 170
Uninstalling Unwanted Programs......Page 172
Removing Windows Components......Page 174
Deleting Unwanted Data Files......Page 177
Removing Unnecessary Files With Disk Cleanup......Page 179
(windows 98 Only)......Page 181
Compressing A Disk (windows 95/98 Only)......Page 182
Improving The Display......Page 184
Selecting A Video Mode......Page 185
Configuring The Monitor......Page 188
Changing The Display Refresh Rate......Page 191
Making The Computer Easier To Use......Page 194
Organizing The Start Menu More Efficiently......Page 195
Managing Desktop Shortcuts......Page 202
Arranging Shortcuts......Page 203
Creating Shortcuts......Page 204
Customizing The Quick Launch Toolbar......Page 206
Running The Maintenance Wizard (windows 98/me Only)......Page 208
Scheduling Additional Recurring Tasks......Page 212
Take A Break......Page 214
Saturday Evening Starting Fresh With A Clean Install......Page 216
Eradication Of Tough-to-troubleshoot Problems......Page 218
Removal Of Unwanted Files......Page 219
What To Try First......Page 220
Will You Repartition Your Hard Disk?......Page 221
Will You Reformat Your Hard Disk?......Page 223
Backing Up Your Important Files......Page 225
Making Notes About System Settings......Page 226
Testing Your Startup Disk......Page 228
What Next?......Page 229
Partitioning A Hard Disk With Fdisk (windows 95/98/me Only)......Page 230
Formatting A Hard Disk With Format (windows 95/98/me Only)......Page 235
Preparing To Install Windows 95/98/me Without Reformatting......Page 236
Preparing The Disk Space......Page 237
Cleaning Out The Root Folder......Page 238
Preparing To Install Windows Xp Without Reformatting......Page 239
Take A Break......Page 241
Installing Windows Xp......Page 242
Running Windows 95/98/me Setup From The Cd......Page 244
Running Windows 95/98/me Setup From Your Hard Disk......Page 245
Completing Windows 95/98/me Setup......Page 246
Reinstalling Device Drivers......Page 248
Installing Network Drivers......Page 249
Setting Up Network Access Control......Page 252
Sharing A Drive Or Printer......Page 255
Sharing A Printer......Page 258
Checking The Modem......Page 259
Running The Internet Connection Wizard......Page 262
Take A Break......Page 263
Sunday Morning Planning System Upgrades......Page 264
Upgrades That Enhance Performance......Page 266
A Faster Processor......Page 267
More Memory......Page 268
New Hard Disk......Page 275
A Larger Or Better Monitor......Page 278
Operating System Upgrades......Page 283
Cd-rom Drives......Page 284
Removable Mass Storage......Page 291
Modems And Other Internet Access Methods......Page 293
Sound Cards......Page 296
Printers......Page 297
Scanners......Page 304
Video Capture And Digital Cameras......Page 306
Mouse Variants......Page 307
Special Keyboards......Page 308
Joysticks And Game Controllers......Page 309
Portable Digital Audio Players......Page 310
Name-brand Or Generic Parts?......Page 311
Making Your Buying Decision......Page 313
Where To Buy Upgrades......Page 314
Computer Superstore......Page 315
Office Supply Stores......Page 316
Direct From The Manufacturer......Page 317
Mail Order Vendors......Page 318
Take A Break......Page 319
Sunday Afternoon Installing Upgrades......Page 320
Need Professional Help?......Page 322
Installing A New Version Of Windows......Page 323
General Tips......Page 324
Monitors......Page 326
Printers......Page 327
Scanners......Page 329
Keyboards......Page 330
Processor......Page 331
Circuit Boards......Page 338
Memory......Page 342
Batteries......Page 346
Drives......Page 348
Modems......Page 362
Take A Break......Page 364
If You Have A Setup Program......Page 365
If Windows Fails To Detect The Device…......Page 366
Take A Break......Page 367
Appendix A Acquiring And Installing Tweakui......Page 368
Downloading Tweakui From The Internet......Page 369
What Tweakui Can Do......Page 370
Glossary......Page 374
Index......Page 389