How to Speed up Windows explorer or Burn CD DVD faster

Here is a simple hack to speed up any application and make it run faster whether it is Adobe photoshop, Firefox, Safari, Windows explorer, Or Burn CD / DVD with Nero faster !

You can speed up an Application by setting the priority of the process in the Windows Task Manager.

Step 1
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To access the task Manager you can either press Alt + Ctrl + Del or right click on the task bar and choose Task Managar.

Go to the Processes tab and Choose the Process under the Image name column. This could be tricky sometimes since the process name may a little different that usual for example Microsoft Word will be listed as Winword.exe

Here are some of the common Application and their process name:-

Nero - NeroStartSmart.exe
Windows Explorer- Explorer.exe
FireFox - FireFox.exe
Microsoft Frontpage - Frontpg.exe

Step 2
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Right click on the process you want to speed up and choose Set Priorityand choose High.

You get a Warning, just agree to it

Now you computer will give the process from that application priority. By doing this you can reduce the CD writing time or speed up an application.

Here is the Video Tutorial

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Reduce/Remove the Icons in Systray near the Clock

The Notification area, the Systray or just the area next the clock whatever people call it.
It is usually the place where Windows gives notification is the famous windows popup balloon but unfortunately it is also the place where most program which run at startup also is shown. And because we install many programs over a period of time what you get is a Overcrowded Notification area.


Check out how to Reduce by removing the unwanted Systray Applications.

Apart from being a eyesore, many application running at the same time slows the system down. Check out how many processes run as soon as you startup ! Click Alt + Ctrl + Del and choose the Processes Tab.

Windows have an feature in Xp where you can hide most of them :-

Right Click on Task Bar > Properties > In the Notification area > Customize


But it only hides the Icons the Processes still are running many of them checking for updates and other RAM / processing consuming activities.

We in our earlier post showed how to remove the processes and get better performance.

1) Go to Start And choose Run


2) In the Run window, type msconfig and click Ok


3) This will open the System Configuration utility window, in this click the Startup tab



Then unselect the apps you dont want to start, but make sure you can recognize the apps since stopping key windows apps can cause you PC to explode (just kiddin)



4) Almost done



You will get this Dialog box, you can either restart or choose Exit without restart.

When you do restart you will get a message



Choose Don't show this message !

and its done !

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Make your Windows Xp Run Faster : More Ways

I had earlier posted about the few ways you can make your Windows Xp run faster Check out some more way to get more juice from RAM deficient system.

In this post find out how to Make your Windows Xp faster by Virtual memory, disabling system restore and few more.



1) By Increasing the Virtual Memory on your system or Shifting the Windows xp Page file - The Paging File is a Area on the hard disk that is designated for Programs to use it like a virtual RAM. So if you are short on RAM as most of us are increasing the Virtual Memory adds to the performance.

To do that Right -Click on My Computer > Properties
or Press [Windows] + [Pause Break]

Go to the Advanced > Performance > Settings > Advanced > Virtual Memory > Change


This will open the Virtual Memory Window. Now The idea is to shift the Windows xp Page file from C: to some other drive which have more space.

To do that:

- Remove the page file from c: as shown and shift to some other partition in the disc.
- Click on some other Drive then choose Custom and enter the Space you are want to give the Page file. Double the amount recommended should be more than enough

2) Remove all alert sounds and welcome music - Believe it or not the Alert Sound that you get takes a hell a lot of the memory. Signs that your Memory is unable to process that effectively that are seen when it take some while for the sound to come.

To silent all the alert sounds just go to Control Panel > Sounds and Audio Devices and choose the silent mode.

3) Disable network folder/printer automatic search - If your computer is have network places / folders /printer then OS takes a lot of processing energy to search such folders and tries to connect to them, If you dont access network too often this is good idea.

Go to My Computer > Tool > Folder Option



Apart from the above do check out our previous post on few ways you can make your Windows Xp run faster

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Make your Xp Faster

There are days that you could have bought that 1GB Ram instead of (now obsolete) 256 ! Even there are days when you could make a coffee and drink it too before that app you ran completely opened.

Now one easy solution for those day when you can do away with the fancy anim and feel of windows Xp. It may a "Plain Jane kinda" Xp but yet faster and the bottom line you will get the job done.

Step 1

Right Click on My computer and click on properties



Step 2

In the system properties dialog box choose the advanced tab then in the performance section click on settings



Step 2

Now in the performance dialog box choose the radio button "Adjust for best performance" or customize your looks by choosing the check box.



Press Ok and you will notice the difference immediately !

One more tip to run the Windows faster is to choosing the programs that automatically run at startup. At any given moment many app are running in the background without you even knowing and many run at the Sys tray (near the clock).

To find out the programs running at any given moment you can press Alt + Ctrl + Del to open te windows task manager.

Programs such as Yahoo msgnr, Download accelerator, Winamp all run at windows startuo and use up system processing.

To stop this programs to run at startup follow this:

Step 1

Click on the start button and click "Run"




Step 2

In the Run window, type msconfig and click Ok




Step 3

This will open the System Configuration utility window, in this click the Startup tab



Then unselect the apps you dont want to start, but make sure you can recognize the apps since stopping key windows apps can cause you PC to explode (just kiddin)



Click OK !

Step 4 Almost done



You will get this Dialog box, you can either restart or choose Exit without restart.

When you do restart you will get a message



Choose Don't show this message !

and its done !

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