Top 10 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer's Boot Time

If there's one thing everyone dreads, it's rebooting their computer. It may only take a minute or two, but it can seem like forever. Here are our top 10 tweaks that'll make your computer boot a little faster. Photo by Alex Schwenke. This is a pretty controversial topic, as there are a lot of startup-tweaking myths out there. So, we took to the streets (of the internet) and searched for as many easy, well-supported tips as we could find. There may be others, some of which are controversial, but these 10 things are almost sure to get you a faster-booting machine. 10. Tweak Your BIOS When you first set up your computer, your BIOS is set up to make things a bit more convenient for you, but once you're all set up, those things can be disabled. If you hold the DEL key when you start up your computer (or whatever key your BIOS tells you to enter setup), you can turn on the "Quick Boot" option and move your hard disk to the top of the boot priority list. The Quick Boot setting will turn off the tests your computer runs when it first turns on, and the boot priority tweak will tell your computer not to look for CDs, thumb drives, or other media when it first starts, which will get you booted into your OS quicker. If you ever need to boot from CD though, you'll have to go back into the BIOS and change this again before you do. 9. Clean Out Programs that Launch at Startup One of the most tried and true ways to speed up your boot process is to keep unnecessary programs from starting up with your computer. You can do this by running msconfig from the Start Menu's search box, and going to the Startup tab. This applications list will tell you what each of those applications does, so you know which ones you can disable and which ones you don't want to. Previously mentioned Soluto is also a fantastic way to clean up these programs, and these days it's got a bunch of other handy features that make it worth a download. 8. Delay Windows Services That Run at Startup Many people argue that disabling Services frommsconfig will also speed up your boot time, but we've found that this is more problematic than anything. However, you candelay certain startup services so that your computer boots quickly and then worries about them later—after all, you don't need all those services the minute you start up your machine. 7. Change Your Boot Menu's Timeout Values If you're dual-booting your machine, then your boot menu probably has a "timeout value", meaning the amount of time it waits for you to make a selection before it just boots into the default OS. On Windows, this timeout value is often 30 seconds, which is a long time to wait if you aren't looking directly at your screen. To change this timeout value, head tomsconfig and click on the BOOT.INI tab, and change the number in the timeout box to something lower. If you're dual-booting with Linux, you're probably running the GRUB boot menu, and you can change the timeout on that too. 6. Disable Unused Hardware Your computer loads a lot of drivers when it first starts up, some of which you might not even use. Head into the Device Manager from the Start Menu's search box, and look for anything you aren't using—Bluetooth controllers, modems, and virtual Wi-Fi adapters are common culprits. Right-click on the entry you want to disable and hit "Disable". Remember to only do this with things you don't actually use—if you use Wireless Hosted Networks, you'll need to keep those virtual Wi-Fi adapters enabled. It's also worth mentioning here that keeping all your drivers up to date will help this portion of the startup time, too (which you can do with the help of a program like previously mentioned Device Doctor). 5. Keep Your Antivirus Running and Up to Date This should go without saying, but we'll say it anyway: install some antivirus software, keep it up to date, and run a regular scan. This is more of a preventative measure than an actual boot-speeding tip, but if you ever do get malware, it's sure to slow your computer's boot time. With a good antivirus around like Microsoft Security Essentials, you'll be more protected against that happening. Don't like MSE? There are some great ones out there too, so there's no reason not to have one around. 4. Remove Unnecessary Fonts Since the dawn of time, Windows has loaded fonts at startup and slowed down the boot time. This is less of a problem than it used to be, but it can still slow you down a bit. Windows 7 loads over 200 fonts at startup; even more if you've installed Microsoft Office. Chances are, you use very few of those fonts, so you can hide them to speed up that process. In Windows 7, open up the Fonts folder from the Start Menu's search box, and check off all the fonts you don't need. Then click the "Hide" button in the toolbar. This way, if you ever want them, you can bring them back, but Windows won't load them at startup. Note that just removing a few fonts probably isn't going to make a noticeable difference—you'll probably need to get rid of a few hundred. That said, you might have hundreds more fonts installed than you realized, so that isn't as ridiculous as it sounds. 3. Upgrade Your RAM Installing more RAM has always been an effective way of speeding up your computer, and that hasn't changed. RAM is pretty cheap these days, so if you're running low, there's no reason not to stock up and make your computer run a little smoother. We've gone over how to replace it in both a desktopand a laptop, and even for the inexperienced, it's a pretty simple procedure. 2. Give Your Computer a Static IP When you first start up your computer, it spends a significant amount of time asking the network for an IP address. You can get rid of this process altogether by giving your computer a static IP address that never changes. Not only does this make your network easier to manage (since each computer will always have the same IP address), but it can shave a bit more time off your startup. Here's how to do it in different versions of Windows. 1. Install a Solid State Drive These days, your hard drive is probably the biggest bottleneck in your machine. One of the best upgrades you can make to your computer is to install a solid state drive, which has super-fast read times that can speed up your startup considerably. They're certainly not a cheap upgrade, nor are they without their own maintenance requirements, but if you want to speed up your computer and its boot time, you can't go wrong by installing an SSD. The difference will be shocking. Again, these aren't the only ways to shorten your computer's boot time, but they are some of the most well-known, trusted methods that we've found. If you have any of your own favorite tweaks, share them with us in the comments, but beware of myths and snake oil—there are a lot of tweaks out there that do more harm than good.

How to Stream Your Media from Home to Your Phone Anywhere You Go with Plex

Your smartphone is great for catching up on your favorite TV show on your commute or watching that movie you'd been meaning to get to, but there's one pesky detail that often gets in the way: you have to remember to do a time-consuming sync beforehand; if you don't, you're out of luck. Here's how to stream any media from your home computer (Windows or Mac) to your smartphone (iOS or Android) using media center applicationPlex. Plex—an XBMC spinoff that was once Mac only—has come a long way recently. It now has companion apps for Android and iOS, as well as a media server application for Windows systems in addition to its server and media center apps for Mac. One bonus with the mobile apps: They can stream music and movies from your home anywhere you go, from the next room to the next state. What is Plex? Plex, for those unfamiliar, is a fork of XBMC that used to be called XBMC for Mac. We mentioned when the app appeared, and again when the Android app and iOS app appeared, and it's still a great home theater and media management application. Mac users get the benefit of Plex's beautiful interface and integration with the Apple Remote or your iOS or Android device to control media playback and screen actions. The Mac version also comes with the Plex Media Server (unfortunately abbreviated PMS,) which serves up your music and movies to other devices on your home network. Windows users can get the Plex Media Server, but not the media center side of the app. We're going to focus on the Plex Media Server, which works with the mobile apps to stream your media right to your mobile device without a third-party service in the way. Why Plex? There are certainly other apps that allow you to stream music and video from your home computer to your mobile device. Plex is unique because it also offers a media center application you can use on your Mac if you have one connected to your TV at home. More importantly, Plex offers media server apps that sit quietly in the background of your computers and lets you connect and stream from them whether they're in use or you're away from home. Perhaps one of Plex's biggest benefits is that you don't need a third party, cloud-hosted, or managed solution to manage your music or media for you. You control the app on the computer with the media you want to watch, and then on your phone. The phone streams straight from the computer—no need to upload your music or movies to another service, or pay for storage. Also, Plex does transcoding on the fly, so you don't need to worry whether or not the video on your computer at home is the right format to be seen on your Android phone. Plex handles that for you when you press play. (Sort of like Air Video or StreamToMe for iOS, but with a little more open-source and cross-platform friendliness.) Step One: Install and Configure Plex Before you get streaming, you'll need to install Plex on both your home computer (Windows or Mac) and your phone (Android or iOS). Desktop: Visit Plex's homepageto download the media center suite for Mac or the media server for Windows. When you install Plex on the desktop, the app asks you where you keep your music and movies the first time it starts. You can add as many folder locations or network folders as you choose, and media players like iTunes will be automatically indexed. If you're installing the Mac version, you'll get dropped into the media center side of the app while Plex indexes your music and movie collections. If you're installing the Windows version, the app goes to the systray and waits for you to open it and add more media folders. Mobile: Once you have the media server apps configured and indexing, use that time to installed the mobile apps on your phone. Visit the iTunes App Store or theAndroid Market to grab the version for your device, pay the $5 bucks, and install the app. The first time you launch the Plex mobile app, you'll see the settings page. The app will asks if you want it to look around its local network for Plex Media Servers. If you already have PMS running on your Mac or PC and your phone is connected via Wi-Fi to the same network as you Plex desktop server you set up above, the app will likely find your media server and connect to it. If you don't see it, you can tap "Add a New Server" to enter its name, network address, and credentials (if any, more on this later.) You can only connect to one media server at a time, but you can have several in the list of known connections, so you can switch between them by going back to the settings page. From the Settings screen, you can also configure the video quality displayed on your device when you're connected via Wi-Fi on the same network as the server, on different Wi-Fi network, or over 3G. Select the server you want, and whether you want to control the server with your phone, or play the media on your phone, and you're set up. Step Two: Configuring Remote Access and Streaming Now you've set up Plex so you can stream media from your home computer to your device as long as you're on the same network. That's nice, but the goal is to stream your media anywhere. Here's how to set up remote access and streaming: Desktop: If you want access to the media indexed by the Plex Media Server when you're traveling, there isn't too much you'll have to do in the desktop app or media server, but you will need to make some changes to your home network from your desktop or laptop before you can leave your home theater behind and watch everything from your mobile device. First of all, you'll need to configure port forwarding on your router to allow your phone to connect to the PMS on your network when you're using Wi-Fi at the office or coffee shop, or when you're on the train on commuting home. Plex Media Server uses both TCP and UDP ports 32400. You can either open it on your router to external connections, or better yet tell your router to route traffic arriving on that port directly to the system on your network running PMS. If you have a dynamic IP address assigned by your ISP, you'll need to grab it and jot it down. By default, your router blocks external connections to your computer on anything but default ports, like 80 (web browsing) and 443 (SSL secure web sites,) among others. You'll need to open up 32400 to allow your phone to connect through your router and to your computer to stream media. The process varies by router, but you can head to Port Forward for detailed instructions. For extra convenience, use a service like DynDNS to give yourself a hostname that stays put even if your home IP address changes. You can run the DynDNS app on your home system like we suggest, but odds are your router already supports DynDNS, so set that up when you set up port forwarding. For added security, you can set up a username and password on each Plex Media Server on your home network in the Security tab of the PMS Settings. This way only phones with the right username and password (which you define) can connect successfully and stream your media. We highly recommend you do this. Mobile: Once you have the IP address or freshly assigned DynDNS hostname for your home network, and the username/password for your PMS, turn off Wi-Fi on your iOS or Android device to make sure you're using 3G and you're no longer on the same network as your PMS. Then open up the Plex settings on your iOS or Android device, and add a new server. Give it a name, and then type in the IP address or hostname you'll use. Enter the user/pass credentials you set up above, and you should be connected. That's all there is to it: the next time you're on the go, the connection will be saved so you can get to it again. Playing Media Once you have the Plex Media Server running and your phone is set up to connect, playing media is the easy part. Simply open the Plex app on your iOS or Android device and connect to your remote server. If you've connected recently, the app will take you right back to the media menu, and you can choose what you'd like to play. It may take some buffering, especially over 3G, but your media will play. If you left the video and audio quality controls to their defaults, Plex will automatically adjust the stream based on the strength of your connection. Keep an eye on your data usage when you do this over 3G, though. Streaming media can be a quick drain on any wireless carrier's bandwidth caps. Besides, once you get yourself set up, you'll find yourself watching your favorite podcasts, movies, and music from your home theater when you're on the go. The real beauty of Plex is how simple the application makes streaming your media over your home network or over the internet without a ton of setup and hassle. The indexing is largely automatic, and you have access to all of the plug-ins and tools from your mobile device that make Plex a powerful tool. Sure there are other tools or services that can do this for you (feel free to share your preferred setup in the comments), but this method lets you roll your own solution that you have complete control over, no third-parties required.

Photovine: Photo sharing service from Google

Like capturing photos and pics? Then you might be using some online albums to share the pics with your friends. There are lot of free photo sharing services available like the famous Flickr, Facebook albums or even the Google Picasa. You can create an account and use the service free of use.

Google has launched its awaited photo sharing service called Photovine, which is not just another photo sharing service. Then what happened to Picasa? Well nothing is sure about Google Picasa but the news is that Google is planning to bring down the Picasa service and take on Photovine.

The website of the service shows iPhone running the Photovine app, which indicates the upcoming release of a Photovine application for iPhone, however, there should be one for the Android market too. You can click pictures from your phone and upload it right there for your friends to sit back and enjoy the moments captured by you.

Photovine is currently for some users only who register themselves on the website for an invitation to use the service. So which web service are you going to choose among the many already present?

Visit Photovine

How to Set Up a File-Syncing Dropbox Clone You Control

File syncing is a godsend when you work on multiple computers or devices and want to make sure you have the most up-to-date files wherever you log in. While online services like Dropbox may be the most convenient options, there are plenty of reasons you may want to "roll your own cloud" and sync your files to your own web server or just on your local network. Below, we'll detail how to set up a Dropbox clone, complete with instantaneous, encrypted syncs, cloud backups, and file versioning, using cross-platform software GoodSync. Why Set Up Your Own Syncing System? Control. The biggest reason many of us might go looking for Dropbox alternatives is lack of control or a feeling of uncertainty with things like odd changes in terms of serviceimplying the syncing service "owns" our files. A self-hosted solution will give you more control and peace of mind than most sign-up-and-forget online services can offer. Flexibility and precision. Instead of selecting just one folder to keep up to date, you can, if you choose, select several with GoodSync. You can schedule multiple syncing jobs for different purposes: sync your work and home documents folders every time a file changes, for example, while syncing the music folder on your laptop with your home server every Wednesday at 5pm in another. Space and savings. Finally, if you're paying for web hosting service already, you can make better use of available free space by using it to store your own files. (Note: not all web hosts approve of you using their web space for just backups or file storage, so check with yours first; Dreamhost is one provider that offers dedicated space for personal storage as well as hosting). You could also rent cheap server space from somewhere like Amazon S3. Why GoodSync? We're going to use GoodSync to sync files to your web host via SFTP (SFTP is a file transfer protocol like FTP except it's secure, since it encrypts all your data and commands during the transfers). It works on Windows and Mac (and can be run off a portable drive) and has a variety of types of devices you can sync to (including network shares, SFTP, WebDAV, Amazon S3, Google Docs if you're a paid account user, SkyDrive, and Windows Mobile). GoodSync is also developed by the makers of Roboform, one of our favorite password managers. You can find other alternatives to create a Dropbox clone (see the end of the post), but GoodSync is my preferred option. The free version of GoodSync (for personal use) allows up to three sync jobs after the trial period (a "job" in GoodSync includes a folder and a specific sync type; for our Dropbox clone, you'll just need to set up one job) and up to 100 files/folders in each sync job, while the pro version removes these limitations and costs $29.95 (one time fee for the application). You might not need more than the free version if you don't have a lot of files to sync. One sync job can keep your local and remote folders in sync instantaneously. Realistically, if you're building a Dropbox clone, the $30 the paid version is a good investment, especially compared to paying a monthly fee for more than 2GB on Dropbox. How to Set Up Your Dropbox Clone with GoodSync The first thing you'll need to do, besides downloading and installing GoodSync, is to make sure you have access to the locations you want to sync with. SFTP on your web host: In this example, we're using SFTP to transfer our files to a web host because it's commonly available as an option on most web hosts; it works just like FTP except the transfer is run over SSH. Some hosts require you to request SFTP or SSH access or use a different port than the typical port 22, so you may need to contact your web host if you run into errors connecting to your server with your usual FTP login information. If you can't get SFTP access, see if your host offers WebDAV (check your hosting control panel for the option), which also has more security than plain FTP, but SFTP may be quicker. If you don't already have a web host, take a look atthese five popular options. SFTP on your home server: If you'd prefer to keep your files on your own computers at all times, you can set up SFTP on your own computer—like a home server. Our guide to turning your computer into a remote access media server details enabling SFTP on Windows and Mac. Step 1. Create a Job When you first run GoodSync, you'll be prompted to create a new job. As mentioned above, this is simply the sync task (e.g., sync office folder to home folder instantaneously). Give the job a name (e.g., Sync home docs to SFTP backup folder) and select two-way synchronization (backup will just copy the files to your remote folder, not keep your local files updated). Step 2. Select Left and Right Folders for Your New Job In this step, we're going to point our local folder to the SFTP server that's acting as our cloud server. So, for your Dropbox clone, create a new folder, perhaps called GoodSync, that's going to act as the equivalent of your old Dropbox folder. On the left panel, browse to and select that folder. Then click on the right panel to select the SFTP server you wish to sync to. For SFTP, enter in the address of your web site (or your local SFTP server) as well as your username and password. If your SFTP server uses a non-standard port, enter it at the end of the url address, e.g.:sftp://mywebsite:2222. Once GoodSync connects to your SFTP server, navigate to the folder that you want to sync to or create a new one. For first time setup on your web host, I recommend creating a folder above the "www" folder so it's not accessible from the web. Note: There's very little difference in this process if you wanted to sync to a different device/location, but that's beyond our scope here. Step 3. Click Analyze to Compare the Changes After your two folder locations are selected, click the Analyze button and GoodSync will compare the files in both locations to see the differences. Once you get a list of all your folders and files in both locations, you can choose to exclude specific files or folders from the syncing process. Although it only took a few minutes for me, it can feel very slow, so be prepared to get up for some coffee or something while the program does its thing. Step 4. Finalize Your Sync Job and Get Syncing Finally, GoodSync will offer you a proposed, detailed syncing solution, indicating which files will be copied to which location. Here's an illustration of what the symbols mean: Since we're setting up an instant, automated system, click Auto to sync files as soon as they change, a la Dropbox. Options you may want to enable here include: General: Here you can set file versioning (default is 30) to keep deleted or overwritten files for file versioning in a saved folder—this is enabled by default. Auto: This is the main scheduling tab. Check the Sync checkbox beside "on file change" to make syncing happen immediately when files or folders change, like Dropbox does. GoodSync says that it automatically detects changes in files by comparing current file status to the stored file status, so no system-based monitoring is required. Filters: Set preferences for files you don't want included in the job based on name, size, or modification time. Once your options are set and you hit OK, GoodSync will sync your files according to your settings. Keep in mind that the initial syncing/backup can take a while, but after that you should have GoodSync working like a legit, solid alternative to Dropbox and other online syncing services—with even more flexibility and capabilities. Disadvantages There are a few downsides to this approach. As you can see, the program is more complex and the many options might feel overwhelming (or freeing, depending on your perspective). The main issue is there's no built-in sharing or collaboration features built-in, like Dropbox and other online syncing services have. Although you can certainly share files you've stored on a cloud server with a friend, it's not as convenient as, say, right-clicking on a file and generating sharable public links or adding people who can access a folder. Finally, depending on the service and programs you use, file syncing performance can also differ greatly. SpiderOak uses a compression technology for faster syncing, and Dropbox only syncs bit-level file changes. While GoodSync is very fast, its block level sychronization (which only updates file changes) is only available for local networks syncing in the enterprise version of the software. Other Options Besides GoodSync Jungle Disk is a great option if you don't have web hosting space or would like to use Amazon S3's servers or Rackspace. It has strong encryption (you control the security key). Pricing is $2-3/month plus storage fees from Amazon/Rackspace. For just local network syncing, you could use Windows Live Mesh, which is very easy to use and works great, SyncMate which syncs between Macs and Windows, plus mobile devices (Android, iOS, more), or several other local syncing tools. But you'd lose the benefits of cloud storage. Finally, SparkleShare is an open-source project aiming specifically at creating a Dropbox clone. We're watching it closely and plan on covering in more detail in the future. The program lets you set up your own host to share files with others and keep everything in sync. It's currently only available for Linux and Mac, with Windows, Android, and iOS support slated for development.

Recover Corrupt or Deleted Images from the Memory Card

It is a common situation which one might have experienced some time or the other that the images present in the memory card of their digital cameragets corrupt, or deleted. This is a very irritating situation as the images present in the card might be of significant importance.

Then how would you recover the images? Well you can use any data recovery tool to recover a file present which has not been overwritten by some other data but what if the image has been corrupted? In this situation too, you can try out this tool called ZAR data recovery software.

The tool is able to recover most image files even if the image file is corrupted, you just need to download and install the tool and use the data recovery process of the tool. Click the Image Recovery button, select the drive having the USB card reader attached and let the data recovery process start.

After the completion of the process, the tool will display all the images recovered from which you can select the image to save to the system. You can read the complete recovery process listed at the tool website listed below.

The tool is able to recover pics and images in the following cases:

• The images are deleted before copying to the PC
• The card is accidentally formatted
• Some camera failure occurred and the images are not accessible any longer

Note: Data recovery is possible if you connect the camera directly however it is not that reliable, thus you should connect your card to the card reader first and then recover the images.

Download ZAR data recovery software

Determine the reason when an Application is Not Responding

It doesn’t feel good when an application hangs, isn’t it? There are situations when we are working on our system and doing some important work but suddenly we notice that theapplication we are working hangs and do not respond well.

There are many reasons why an application hangs like insufficient memory available for the process to execute or the busy processor that is currently working on some other tasks. Wouldn’t it be great if we get to know the actual reason why an application is freezing? But finding it out is not easy so we have a tool called WhatIsHang that is developed by Nirsoft.

WhatIsHang lets you know why a certain application is hanging in the background knowing which you can either terminate the program or the reason for its hang. This utility tries to detect the software or process that is currently hung, and displays some information that may allow you to sort out and understand what exactly is at the root of suchunexpected behaviour.

The tool is designed to work great on Windows but as of now it is developed for 32-bit systems and not 64-bit Windows OS. However, if the application hung is 32-bit running in 64-bit Windows, you can still use it.

It would be in the following situations when this tool would not be able to detect:

• Programs without any user interface
• Program waiting for a thread which is waiting for another that is in a deadlock situation.
• When the entire system hangs.

Download WhatIsHang

Find when your USB device was last Accessed

If you work on a shared system be at your work or at home, you must have experience when you want to know if your pen drive was used secretly by anyone in your absence or not. This was the same case with one of our readers who wanted to find out if there is any way to find out if the data in his USB drive was accessed by someone or not.

If this is the same case with you then you must have noted by now that it is somewhat difficult to determine the time but with the help of some third party tools we can determine that. On researching a method to do that, I came across a tool called USBDeview which can help to achieve our objective.

USBDeview is a small app using which we can get to know the details of all the USB drives that are either connected the system or previously were. For each USB device, exteneded information is displayed: Device name/description, device type, serial number (for mass storage devices), the date/time that device was added, VendorID, ProductID, and more.

USBDeview also allows you to uninstall USB devices that you previously used, disconnect USB devices that are currently connected to your computer, as well as to disable and enable USB devices. Installing the tool is very simple as you just need to download and run it which will actually show the details of the drive connected.

The app will surely help you in determining the last time your USB was accessed.

Download USBDeview

Windows 8 to launch in Sept 2011 at the BUILD

Excited about the upcoming Windows OS? Well if you have liked theWindows 7 then you are sure to like the next upcoming Windows OS called Windows 8. While Microsoft had not revealed the date when it is going to launch the Windows 8 officially but here is some good news for the people who are actually waiting for it.

Build is a new event that is going to take place in September 2011 and it is where the new OS will be launched officially. The event starts at 13th September and it, surely is the date to watch out for.

According to the tag line posted at the Build website, we can expect what the major change would be “In 1995, Windows changed the PC. BUILD will show you that Windows 8 changes everything”. So in case you are planning to move to Windows 7, you should reconsider your decision and hold on for some time so as to have the new Windows OS in your system right after the launch.

Windows 8 would surely be some improvement on the Win 7 OS. Are we also expectingthe release of Internet Explorer 10 at the same place? Let’s wait and see how the event unfolds and what are all the products that we expect to see at the launch event. (viawindows8news)

Customize My Computer and Control Panel items with Companel

My Computer and Control Panel contain items that are set by Windowsby default, and there is no option of customizing them in Windows. Then what if we need to change some of the items from My Computer and Control Panel?

Adding or removing some of the items in the Control panel and the My Computer is notdifficult any more. With the tool called Companel, you can easily customize the items present in the My Computer and Control Panel by either adding new items or removing those already present.

Companel is the updated version of the tool called Computer Customizer which was also developed to do the same work. The tool contains 5 tabs with more than 65 items that can be either added or removed from the My Computer or Control Panel.

Using the tool is very simple, you just need to download and run it as it requires noinstallation. The tool’s got good UI and glass view to give a good look. Check the item you want to include in the system and uncheck those you wish to remove.

The tool is designed to work on Windows and has been tested to work on 64 bit version, which worked fine without any issues.

Download Companel