Beauty Sparkling

Computer running slow? Starting to piss your off? Try tuning your virtual memory. See, your computer has a hard drive that it uses to store files like your computers operating system and your personal stuff. Then it has something called RAM which is space that it uses temporarily to open and work with files or programs. The problem happens when your computer runs out of space on your RAM to work with.

The name for this space on your hard drive is called a Paging File and is what you need to “tune” if you want to make your slow computer a bit faster. Your paging file is designed to be two different sizes that it moves in between: the Initial Size and the Maximum Size. Since these two sizes are constantly changing it causes your paging file to work inefficiently. All you have to do is to just make your paging file the same size and it will help you make your slow computer faster. Here’ what to do:

If you using Windows XP, click Start, right click My Computer and select Properties. Click on the Advanced tab and then under the section that says Performance, click on Settings. In this window, click on the Advanced tab and under Virtual Memory, click Change. Look under where it says “Drive [Volume Label]” and make sure that C: is selected (it should be highlighted blue). Now look under Page file size for selected drive and select Custom Size.

Now look in the section that says “Total page file size for all drives section”. Under there you should take not of the amount that it says is Recommended. What ever that specific number is, type it exaclty as you see it into both boxes that say “Initial Size” and “Maximum Size”. Now you Click Set, and then Ok. To finish off, just click on Apply on the next window and then OK to cllose it.

For those of you using Windows Vista, just click Start, select Control Panel and on the left hand side make sure Classic View is selected. Now double click on the System icon. Now look on the left side of the window and click on the Advanced System Settings. Select the Advanced tab at the top of the window and then under the section that says Performance select Settings. A new window should appear. Just click on the Advanced tab at the top of the screen and under the section that says “Virtual Memory” select Change. Now uncheck the box that says “Automatically manage paging file size for all drivers” and look in the area where it says “Drive [Volume Label]” to make sure that C: is selected. Now look under Page file size for selected drive and select Custom Size and where it says “Total page file size for all drives section” take not of the amount that says “Recommended” as you will be using this number. Now take whatever number it says is recommended and type that into both boxes that say “Initial Size” and “Maximum Size”. To finish just click on Set, then Ok and for the next window just click on Apply and then OK.

So your computer’s slow and you have no clue where to start to make it faster? Try cleaning up your Temp folder. Your computer’s operating system is designed to run as quickly as possible but after time it will start to slow down (don’t worry this is natural). Why does this happen? See when your first get your computer it is completely “clean”. Then after you have used it for a while what happens is that it will start to slow down since it starts to accumulate “junk” in different areas of the computers operating system. All you really have to do is to just go in there and clean up all of that junk – yes it’s that simple (well for the most part, you do also have to know how to tune your computer but that’s more in depth and beyond this article). This is why the idea of registry cleaners is so attractive – it cleans one area of your computer (your registry) to make it faster – but the big problem with registry cleaners is that they only clean one area while there are many different areas that need to be worked on to make your computer faster.

Your computer operating system uses RAM as a temporary working area for files and programs but sometimes those files that are being used in RAM are going to also need a temporary working area. This new temporary working area is a folder on your hard drive called the Temp folder. When your files in your RAM are done using the Temp folder Windows will automatically delete everything in that folder. The issue happens when your computer freezes, hangs or you end a program. All of the files that were in the Temp folder are still in there and they haven’t been deleted. This may not sound like much but after time these files can add up to a lot and start to slow your computer down. Here is how you get rid of them:

If you are running Windows XP on your computer just close all the running files and programs and then click on Start, click on Run and then type %Temp% in the little box and then hit the enter key. Now you’re going to get another small window that will now show you what is in your Temp folder. All you have to do now is to just delete everything that you possibly can in that folder. If for some odd reason it says that you cannot delete a certain file, just skip it and move onto the next one.

For those of you using Windows Vista, close all running programs and files and click Start, type Run in the start menu search box. When the Run window comes up type %Temp% and hit enter. Now delete everything that you see in that folder. If there are some files that you cannot delete, then just ignore them and move onto the next one.

So what are benefits of deleting as many files as you can in the Temp folder? Well for starters, you will have more space on your hard drive. You will also speed up your computer because having these files on your computer can actually cause it to have some internal errors which will obviously slow your computer down.

Training for your CompTIA A+ covers four specialised areas – you need to pass exams in two of these areas to be seen as competent in A+. This is why, the majority of colleges limit their course to 2 of the 4 sectors. Our opinion is this is selling you short – yes you’ll have qualified, but knowing about the others will give you a distinct advantage in your working life, where knowledge of all four will be necessary. This is why you need education in all four areas.

CompTIA A+ without additional courses will allow you to mend and maintain computers and Macs; ones that are generally not connected to a network – which means the home or small business market.

If you would like to be the person who works for a larger company – fixing and supporting networks, you should include CompTIA Network+ to your training package, or alternatively look at doing an MCSA or MCSE with Microsoft in order to have a deeper understanding of the way networks work.

The right sort of training package will undoubtedly also include wholly authorised exam preparation packages.

Avoid depending on non-official exam papers and questions. The type of questions asked can be completely unlike authorised versions – and this leads to huge confusion once in the actual exam.

Ensure that you request some practice exams so you’ll be able to check your comprehension at all times. Simulations of exams help to build your confidence – so the actual exam is much easier.

Don’t listen to the typical salesman that offers any particular course without a decent chat to better understand your current abilities as well as level of experience. They should be able to select from a generous product range so they can provide you with what’s right for you.

An important point to note is that, if you’ve got any accreditation or direct-experience, then you may be able to commence studying further along than someone new to the industry.

Where this will be your opening attempt at studying for an IT examination then you should consider whether to begin with some basic PC skills training first.

The somewhat scary thought of finding your first IT job can be eased because some trainers offer a Job Placement Assistance facility. Ultimately it’s not as difficult as you may be led to believe to secure your first job – once you’re trained and certified; the growing UK skills shortage sees to that.

Bring your CV up to date as soon as possible however – look to your training company for advice on how to do this. Don’t wait till the exams have actually been passed.

Getting onto the ‘maybe’ pile of CV’s is more than not being known. Often junior support jobs are bagged by trainees in the early stages of their course.

Actually, a local IT focused employment agency (who will, of course, be keen to place you to receive their commission) will perform better than any sector of a centralised training facility. It also stands to reason that they’ll be familiar with the area and local employers better.

Many trainees, apparently, conscientiously work through their course materials (sometimes for years), and then just stop instead of finding the right position. Sell yourself… Do everything you can to get yourself known. Good jobs don’t just knock on your door.

Does job security really exist anywhere now? In the UK for example, where business constantly changes its mind on a whim, we’d question whether it does.

Now, we only experience security through a swiftly rising market, fuelled by a shortfall of trained staff. It’s this alone that creates the appropriate environment for a secure marketplace – a far better situation.

Reviewing the Information Technology (IT) business, the recent e-Skills survey highlighted a 26 percent shortage in trained professionals. To explain it in a different way, this shows that the UK is only able to source three qualified staff for every 4 jobs existing today.

Acquiring full commercial computing exams is as a result a fast-track to achieve a long-term and pleasing occupation.

Actually, acquiring professional IT skills throughout the next year or two is most likely the greatest choice of careers you could make.

Many computer users want to know if they should use registry cleaners. Several computer experts say that it is a good idea to use a registry cleaner on occasion. They believe that computers will function better if a registry is employed.

The registry in you computer keeps track of your system, meaning your settings, hardware configuration, your user preferences, associations of files, and the software installed in your machine. For those with a little more technical knowledge, you know that the registry tracks the hardware, software, and operating system relationship.

The reason you should use software to clean your registry is because the computer configuration settings can become a tangled mess of design and engineering over time. This results in a computer that runs slower and less reliably than when you first took it out of the box. It is common for the computer registry to build in size over a period of time.

This can lead to an unstable computer. If your system is slow to start up, this might be one symptom of an over sized registry. When you pare down your registry, your computer will run faster. This is the simple explanation of what is actually a very complicated process.

No matter the registry cleaning software you use, make sure to back up your system before you start the cleaning process. Many cleaning software have a backup system function. Before you do anything back up your system. The registry is a very sensitive component of your computer.

You will find many registry cleaning software online. Some are free applications while some you have to pay for. Some do more than clean registries. For instance, you can find software to, in addition, delete unnecessary files, temporary files, and your recycle bin.

If you need to free up space on your hard drive, you can do so by deleting temporary files. Some people like to leave their recycle bin intact in case they need to recover a file they deleted. But you can safely empty your recycle bin if you know you no longer need the files in the bin.

You can also freely delete files from your recycle bin if you are sure you will not need those files any longer. Read the reviews of all the registry cleaning software you are thinking of using. If you have a friend in the computer business, ask his advice on the product he would recommend that you use for your system.

When it comes to cleaning unwanted software on your personal computer, it’s critical to get software known as registry cleaners.

Having a slow computer can be very frustrating. If you like me, you are probably trying to do just about everything in order to speed up the process of what it is that you are doing. One of the best ways to do this is to get to your most commonly used applications as quickly as possible. Just think of how much time is wasted when you are looking all over your computer trying to find the applications that you use all of the time.

At first it wouldn’t seem like much but it would eventually add up as the day goes on, and it would also be a lot more convenient if you could almost instantly get to your applications quicker instead of having to look all over your desktop to find them.

Let’s begine with the quick launch (if you are not sure what the quick launch is, its the group of icons that are right beside your start button). For those of you that don’t see a group of small icons right beside your start menu, just right click on the taskbar and select the Properties option. Then just select the “Show Quick Launch” option. Now, in order to do anything you are going to have to unlock the quick launch since it is locked by default. To unlock it, right click on the task bar and select “Lock Taskbar”. Now you should see small dotted lines which will allow you to resize it your quick launch. Now all you have to do is to just find the top 3 applications that you frequently use by going through your All Programs list (in the start menu) and then just right click on their icons and select the Copy option. Now go to your desktop, right click and select the Paste option. Now you should see a copy of that icon on your desktop. All you have to do is to just drag it into the quick launch area and the icon should be in bottom right hand corner next to the start menu. So now when start up your computer you don’t have to look all over the place for your main programs – there right in front of you now.

Now the next step is to work on your start menu. If you click on your start menu you will notice that there is a faint horizontal line on the left hand side. Everything that is above this line is permanent unless you manually remove them and below this line are programs that you have most recently used. Here is where you are going to add 3-5 programs you use often to the permanent part of the start menu (the top half). Just go to the All Programs on the start menu, right click on the program icon and select “Pin To Start Menu”. This will then put it on the permanent part of the start menu so that you can quickly get to them without having to search around your messy desktop.

One more smaller thing that you can do is to just clean up your desktop of its unused icons. This may seem pointless, but dont underestimate an organized desktop – it will save you some time.