The launch of Windows 7 is an exciting development and most of us would want to look at upgrading to it from the existing Windows Vista operating system. However, there are certain procedures that we need to follow so that the upgrade is smooth.
a) Is it possible to upgrade?
The first thing to check for is whether your computer is in a position to accept the new operating system. Microsoft has made available a tool referred to as the Windows 7 upgrade advisor which needs to be just downloaded and then installed. This tool does a good job of telling you whether your PC has the requisite hardware and software capability to run Windows 7. The tool also advises you where to fetch the necessary drivers. It would also prompt you to uninstall certain programs that may interfere with the upgrade process such as the anti virus program if any and ask you to reinstall the same once the upgrade is complete.
b) Back up procedure
As with any upgrade, you need to make sure that you have created sufficient back up of all important files and documents. The use of an external hard drive is recommended. Regular back ups are anyways advisable to protect your music, photos and other crucial data as hard disk failures are quite rampant and you would stand to lose everything in a jiffy if you have not taken care to take adequate back up precautions.
The good news is that external hard drives are becoming very affordable and you can now get more space than ever at much cheaper rates. In any case, buying one is always prudent and a good investment. Windows Vista provides a tool which facilitates such a back up including the saving of all files and other important settings related to the profile. All you need to do is link the external hard drive to the USB port. You are also free to use the back up tools that come with the hard disk and in case you are too particular and wish to play very safe, you are at liberty to take two back ups.
In case of a clean install process, you only need to make use of a utility tool called Easy Transfer. This is available in both the Vista and XP, so you can download as per your system requirement. Though the process is simple, it can take time. It prompts you to confirm for which version the application is required and then it is up to you to decide the files to be backed up.
40% of the hard drives sold on ebay and other websites still contain personal information. However, even though they think the hard drive is erased, most of this data is still readable to the new owner. We have added this software to the
MyComputerTips Free Software Downloads area.
Darik’s Boot and Nuke software is free and very easy to use. So before you recycle or sell your computer to a stranger, protect yourself and information by using this tool.
Here is a little background on Darik’s Boot and Nuke Freeware-
Darik’s Boot and Nuke (“DBAN”) is a self-contained boot disk that securely wipes the hard disks of most computers. DBAN will automatically and completely delete the contents of any hard disk that it can detect, which makes it an appropriate utility for bulk or emergency data destruction.
DBAN is a means of ensuring due diligence in computer recycling, a way of preventing identity theft if you want to sell a computer, and a good way to totally clean a Microsoft Windows installation of viruses and spyware. DBAN prevents or thoroughly hinders all known techniques of hard disk forensic analysis.
The development and support of the DBAN software project is funded in part by GEEP International. GEEP is the largest, the most efficient, and the most environmentally conscientious consumer electronics recycling company in North America
To make sure the hard drive is properly deleted, follow these easy steps before selling your hard drive:
Total Disk Wipe – All Platforms
- Darik’s Boot and Nuke – an open-source boot disk utility (read: works on nearly any computer) that supports a wide variety of disk wiping methods and operates from inside the computer’s RAM, allowing it to scrub the disk thoroughly at a remove.
Let us know if you have any questions or need some assistance.
Limewire itself is safe for your computer. However, the items you download may not be. If you have to have it, make sure you are using the best anti-virus software you can find and scan each file before opening.
Also, look at the file extension before opening. If you meant to download a .mp3 and the extension is .exe or anything other than the .mp3 you meant to download, delete that file right away. Please click here if you need a free anti-virus program to keep those pesky viruses away from your computer. I would suggest Avast over AVG. It seems to get rid of more viruses than AVG. Free Anti-Virus Software
Windows Vista is a very nice looking operating system and has many new options that XP does not. However, it still lacks the gaming punch that XP holds. One of the reasons is that most of the current games are not designed for Windows Vista which utilizes the new DirectX 10 technology. Windows Vista has so much going on in the background that XP doesn’t and this is another reason for the poor gaming performance.
We have compiled 10 useful Windows Vista tips and tricks to help you improve your gaming performance.
1) Upgrade your hardware
This includes the RAM, CPU and graphics card. For gaming in Vista, make sure that you have at least a dual core processor, 2 GB RAM and a DirectX 10 compliant graphics card.
2) Disable System Restore
Vista’s System Restore helps you to backup your files and provide a restoration in the event that the OS crash. Although a useful feature, it can slow down your system to a great extent. I have had very little luck in getting this feature to work in the past. So let’s disable this now. To disable it, click on Start -> Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> System and remove the tick next to any drives that you have protected.
3) Turn off hibernation
If you don’t use the hibernation feature, you can disable it and recover around a gigabyte of hard disk space. To do this, open up “Run” and type “powercfg – H off”
4) Disable the Sidebar
While this looks very catchy and makes your desktop look like something is actually going on, it takes up a TON of resources. To disable the sidebar, open Control Panel -> Windows Sidebar Properties. Uncheck the “Start Sidebar When Windows Start”.
5) Move swap file to another drive/partition
Swap file is a temporary file used to store data for future use. If you have another drive, you can speed up Vista a bit by moving the swap file to that drive. Or if you are using only one drive, you can set up a partition to store your swap file.
• Click on Start -> Control Panel -> System and Maintenance -> System
• Choose Advanced system settings from the top left hands side
• Make sure that the Advanced tab is selected
• In the Performance section click Settings
• Click on the Advanced tab
• In the Virtual Memory section click Change
• Uncheck “Automatically manage paging file sizes for all drives”
• Click on the partition you want to use as a swap partition, select Custom Size, and set the new sizes of your swap file. The recommended size is 2.5 times your RAM size, and my choice is to set the Initial Size and Maximum Size values equal, to get a fixed size swap file.
• Click on the primary partition, check “No paging file” and click Set. This is to prevent Vista from placing a swap file on your primary partition.
• Restart the computer
6) Add 3D sound
The DirectX 10 architecture changed the ways sound is processed in gaming. If you are playing Windows XP games that use hardware 3D audio effects, most likely you will not hear any sound at all. To overcome this, you can use Creative’s ALchemy tool. Download and install the Alchemy tool from Creative website. This tool will pipe any DirectSound calls in Windows XP games to OpenAL to give it a full 3D audio hardware support.
7) Turn off Vista’s Indexing Engine
The Vista’s Indexing Engine is a useful tool that allows you to search for files easily. However during gaming, it is running in the background and takes up resources that affect the gaming performance. To turn it off, go to Control Panel -> Indexing Option. Click Modify -> Show All Locations to remove any drives or folders that you don’t want to be indexed.
Change your Startup program
To prevent any unused programs from loading during the boot up process and take up your system resources, you can change your startup program by typing “msconfig” into the Run box. Click the startup tab and uncheck the box next to any software that you don’t want to run during startup.
9) Use Ready Boost
This is a new feature in Vista that uses an external USB flash drive as a cache to store frequently access data. It is said to be able to increase the performance up to 10 times. Insert in a USB 2.0 flash drive into your USB port. In the window that pops up, click on the ReadyBoost tab. Select “use this device”.
10) Disable SuperFetch
Another new feature of Vista that utilizes all your free memory to store frequency accessed data. While it is a good feature, it is actually causing more harm to your game performance. Your game needs a lot of free memory to load maps, process AI and so on, while the SuperFetch is constantly taking up free memory to store data. To disable the SuperFetch, open Run and type “services.msc”. Select “Stop/Disable SuperFetch”, and then reboot the computer.
Let us know if you have any questions or comments!
