135 - Windows7 Netbook Visual Styles

135 - A Newbie (Noob) tries Visual Styles on a Windows 7 Starter netbook
==== written Oct.15.2011 by JCPMA©
On a Windows 7 Starter netbook, some of the desktop themes are Windows Classic (no frills), and a more fashionable Windows 7 Visual Styles.  With this flavor of Windows, you cannot add a customized wallpaper.  There probably are un-official and non-sanctioned ways to do this through using software or other hacks.  (You could probably find several methods on the internet if you searched.)
The familiar Windows Classic theme has the monotone blue wallpaper and simple but hardy appearing icons.  If you adjust your netbook to favor "Performance", than this theme is the one Windows will choose for you.  The looks are plain but this will speed up your computer.

The Visual Styles desktop theme has a blue brightness-gradient wallpaper with a small amount of a Sunburst and image of a plant sprig on the lower left side.  The taskbar buttons have rounded corners and the concept of graded color/brightness continues with the buttons as well as the taskbar.  (I believe Microsoft has inactivated the transparency features in Windows 7 Starter because otherwise it  would require more computing power.  Netbooks have weaker processing chips compared to Laptops or Desktop PCs.)

To try either theme go into the Performance section setting by doing this:
go into ControlPanel > System and Security > System > on the left side click on "Advanced System Settings" > under the "Advanced Tab" one-third of the way down is the "Performance" section. > hit the "Settings" button there and this will take you to the "Visual Effects" tab. 
To activate the Classic theme, uncheck the box "Use visual styles on windows and buttons".
Conversely, to activate the Visual Styles theme, check the box "Use visual styles on windows and buttons".

As shown in the picture, the problem with the Visual Styles theme is the wallpaper.  The brightness/brightness-gradient cannot be changed or reduced.  The wallpaper, as mentioned above, cannot be altered.  This theme causes some of your icons/folders labels to be difficult to read.  It seems like Microsoft put alot of effort into making a "pretty" desktop and realized after the fact that a brightness graded background makes icon labels harder to read.  That is where this next checkbox comes in.  Checking the box "Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop" will provide the much needed contrast.  (Doing so, I speculate, will also require a small increase in computing power consumption.)  I discovered, by trial-and-error, this same checkbox will have no effect on the Windows Classic theme.  It only provides drop shadows in the Visual Styles theme. 

Is the Visual Styles theme worth having?  Probably not for a netbook.  I like the rounded buttons, but the color-graded wallpaper is irritating.  That sunburst effect is irritating.  Also, I want to divert all the computing power available toward computer work and toward getting on the internet to communicate with my friends.  Fancy looks?  Save that for a powerful Desktop PC.  (I am starting to sound like Andy Rooney.)

==
On a previous post, I wrote about changing the background color of the netbook's desktop.

112 - Icon Spacing on Windows7 Starter

A Newbie (Noob) Adjusts Icon Spacing on the Desktop of a Windows 7 Starter Netbook
======== written by JCPMA© [Oct.14.2011]

My netbook's default resolution is 1024 x 600 pixels. The default icon spacing values are 47 pixels horizontal and 47 pixels vertical. This translates into being able to fit 12 icons across the screen and 6 icons along the height of the screen. This means this desktop can accomodate 72 icons visually. If you have more than 72 items, they are still there, but you will not be able to see them on the desktop.
Holy Cow! Who has 72 or more items on a desktop?

My preference for desktop items is along the philosophy of "Fewer is Better." Perhaps the ideal desktop has six or less icons on it. This being said, there may be times where you need to do some intense work or heavy organizing, and being able to have more desktop items will be helpful.
When you reduce the Icon Spacing values, what you are doing is decreasing the space between icon items. That is, decreasing the pixel number of the "spacing" (padding) will "scrunch/squish" the icons more closely together. The Horizontal spacing will adjust the number of icons for the width of the screen, and the Vertical spacing, the number of icons for the height of the screen. In my extreme example, without altering the netbook's resolution, I can fit upto 120 icons on the desktop! (Values for this are: "IconSpacing Horiz."=36(pixels), and "IconSpacing Vert."=28; [ie., This holds 15 icons across & 8 icons down].) Look at the illustration for examples.

Photobucket netbookIconDensity-b.png http://s556.photobucket.com/albums/ss4/jcpma/blogger-kx/?action=view&current=netbookIconDensity-b.png

Accessing the Adjustment
This adjustment is located in the "Advanced Window Color and Appearance" settings. Access this by typing into the StartMenu search field "Change the color scheme" > Advanced button > Item dropdown menu > adjust the size to your taste, and then > click OK, followed by clicking on the Apply button.

Here are the values. [You would enter the 1st number before the slash]:
Icon Spacing Horizontal: 47/12 icons; 46/13 icons; 40/14 icons; 36/15 icons
Icon Spacing Vertical: 47/6 icons; 41/6½ icons; 36/7½ icons; 28/ 8 icons

This method allows upto 120 desktop items, 48 more than the default 72. Although we may prefer a sparser icon spacing on our desktop, it is nice to know we can have the choice of easily changing this when the need arises.
===
In a future post, I will discuss the Windows 7 Starter netbook desktop theme "Visual Styles".

109 - Newbie Windows 7 Starter netbook Backup and Restore

109 - A Newbie (Newb) test-drives Windows 7 Starter netbook's Backup and Restore program
====== [Sep.30.2011 written by JCPMA] ===

Windows 7 Starter® Backup and Restore
what it is used for: backing up personal data/files
ease of use: 4 (out of 5)
user friendliness for newbies: 2
documentation clarity: 1

Windows 7 Starter® Backup and Restore
what it is used for: making a system-image of a hard drive
ease of use: 4 (out of 5)
user friendliness for newbies: 1
documentation clarity: 1


Recently, I tried Windows 7 Starter Backup and Restore program. It does have some usefulness value but the user experience is poor. This program is lacking a user manual. You are left to piece together how it works and what options are available, by jumping around, it seems, haphazardly clicking on links to help-files whenever you see a link. It would be less confusing if all this information was gathered into one document. I will try to explain plainly what Windows fails to make clear.

Experience with older Windows machines.
----
My Windows 98® PC came bundled with a Seagate® backup software which I can't remember using often. It also came with Configsafe®. This program may have come with only certain brands of PCs. I don't know; But it was the program I relied on. It backed up your SYSTEM-STATE quickly and into a small file which could be exported.
Windows XP® comes with an extra feature called NtBackup® which works very well but is not enabled by default. It can save data &/or the system-state. It is reasonably fast and has size and time-remaining indicators to let you view the progress of the backup.

On Win7S Backup and Restore, you CANNOT backup the system-state. You can backup data &/or a system-image, ie., an image of your core drive C:\. It takes an understandably long time to backup an image. The program must compress, re-encode and verify the files. Approximately 30GB sys-image + personal files took 1 hour & 7 min. to back up. There is a progress bar, but no indication of time remaining or size expected.
Access Backup and Restore by going to your: StartMenu > AllPrograms > Maintenance > Backup and Restore. Here is the first problem. There is a another way is to go into this: ControlPanel > ... > System and Security > Backup and Restore; Here is the second problem. At this screen you have 2 choices. On the left pane is the link "Create a system-image". On the right is "Set up Backup". The left link leads to making a system-image of drive C with one or a few clicks of the mouse. The choice on the right gives an extra option of making the same image, but you can leave out some/all personal files. Both methods of making a system-image ultimately result in the same output using the same program!

The backup is saved on another internal or external hard drive at its root. You cannot choose a specific location for the target. It will be located at the root. A folder illustrated as a silver storage device will be labelled with the name/nickname of your computer. In this folder are many many zip archives of your personal data. You can accumulate more than one backup set in this folder.
Also at the root of your hard drive will be another folder called WindowsImageBackup. It contains your system-image in the form of one or two .vhd (virtual hard disk) files. These files will be huge ie., 20GB or more or less depending on your current computer system. The info in the help-file is misleading in that you can keep multiple images. This is partially true. You can keep only 1 image on 1 hard drive. If you do a subsequent backup, the image is overwritten by the most current one. You can have another image, but it has to be on a different hard drive. If you explore/check out these folders/files you will be greeted by a prompt that says "you don't have permission".

If you click on your funny-looking data folder in the root of your (external) hard drive, Windows will ask you if you want to restore your files, or all user files, or manage disk space. This is pretty straight forward. But you cannot recover your system by clicking on this icon. This icon is only for restoring files. The next paragraph summarizes the ways to recover your system from your backup.

Restoring from your system-image can be done in one of three ways:
i) using the Recovery Control Panel:
ControlPanel ... > Recovery ... > AdvancedRecoveryMethods > "use a system-image you created earlier to recover your computer"
ii) at boot up:
press F8 during bootup > Advanced Boot options > highlight "Repair your computer"
iii) reboot with a Windows installation disc OR system repair disc in the cd/dvd drive.

I tried to backup a system-image to another internal hard drive. It progressed to 12% and then the program realized there was not enough space and aborted the procedure. Well this is just an example of poor coding. Microsoft has enough money, talent and resources to design an app which can calculate/estimate space required BEFORE the backup begins. In this instance, the backup starts and has wasted the time spent up to the 12% mark.

PROS:
•pre-installed
•you have the option to make backups on demand and to turn off scheduled backups
•you can make subsequent backup sets of personal data
•other computers with Windows 7 should be able to read/recover your data if needed.
•simple one click operation
•automatic creation of system restore point when you make a system-image backup

CONS:
•difficult to navigate
•confusing interface(s) for the beginner
•you can only have one (the most recent) backup of the system-image
•you can't backup the SYSTEM-STATE/registry separately.
•you can't choose a specific target folder for the backup; it will be at the hard drive's root.
•documentation is scattered; there is no single user manual
•Backup is turned on permanently after your first use; this adds to more processes or services running in the background on your computer

"System Restore is a good feature. Why not just use that instead?" Yes it is a good feature, but every 7 days one restore point is made and if you run out of space, that means one restore point will be deleted. Also, there is no way to isolate and archive a good restore point.

Epilogue
====
Backup and Restore does have value. It is convenient. It comes ready to be setup on Windows 7 Starter. Once you get the hang of it, it is easy to do a personal data backup. However, there are many data backup/synchronization apps available which don't require installation, and don't require to constantly be run in the background. My two favorite examples are "z-Back" and "Back4Sure".
Making a system-image may be a good investment. There may be a day in which you will depend on it to recover your computer. It may save you.

My Suggestions
----
1) Make a System Restore® point now.
2) for safety's sake, use Backup and Restore to make a system-image.
3) after completion, restore back to the System Restore® point you made above. (This will effectively take you back in time to the point where Backup and Restore has NOT been turned on yet.)
4) now you have a system-image that you can store, indefinitely, for "a rainy day".

107 - Newbie Password Reset Disk Windows 7 Starter Netbook

107 - A Newbie (Noob) makes a Password Reset Disk on a Windows 7 Starter Netbook
==== written Sept.25.2011 by JCPMA

When Windows XP was young, I stumbled upon the feature "create a Password Reset Disk". I had all but forgotten about this until recently when I looked at my Windows 7 Starter netbook God-mode folder. One of the shortcuts "create a Password Reset Disk", in this folder is categorized under User Accounts. What this does is, for 1% of netbook owners is to make a floppy disk with a file unique unique to your netbook. The file is "userkey.psw" and it is 2 KB in size.This floppy disk is used so you can gain easy access to your netbook and account in the unlikely scenario where you forget your logon password. For the remaining 99% of netbook users who don't own an external floppy disk drive, this feature will create the userkey.psw file onto a USB flash drive.

Access this feature by going to: Control Panel > User Accounts and Family Safety > User Accounts > click on the left link "Create a password reset disk".

Note: You can only make 1 Reset USB disk (or Floppy disk) at a time. If you choose to make another one, Windows informs you that it will invalidate the first one that was created.

Future posts
(On previous posts I wrote "A Newbie (Noob) Uses Ten Tweaks on a Windows 7 Starter Netbook" & "Changing the color of the desktop of a Windows 7 Starter netbook")

106 - shortcut faster shutdown Windows 7 and XP

106 - Make a shortcut for a faster shutdown on Windows 7 and Windows XP
==== [Sept.27.2011]

The excerpted info from the following will tell you how to create a quicker shutdown shortcut that shout work for Windows XP as well as Windows 7:
3 Ways To Speed Up The Windows 7 Shutdown Process
posted on June 15, 2011 by Tina Sieber
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-ways-speed-windows-7-shutdown-process

Create a Fast Shutdown Shortcut
As of Windows 2000, Windows has come with a remote shutdown tool to shut down and restart Windows. You can control this tool through the command line, but a much faster alternative is to create a shortcut.

•Right-click your Windows 7 desktop and select > New > Shortcut.

•Enter > shutdown.exe -s -t 00 -f in the location field,

> click Next, > give the shortcut a descriptive name, e.g. "Shut Down Computer", and > click Finish.


The letters (options) added above tell the tool to:
•(-s): shut down with a
•(-t): timeout of
•(00): zero seconds , and to
•(-f): force running applications to close without forewarning the user .

... You can see a full list of options when typing > shutdown.exe into the command prompt, which you can open via > [WINDOWS] + [R] then type > cmd into the text field and click > OK.

You can move this shortcut from the desktop to your quick launch bar or pin it to the taskbar. Double-click the shortcut to instantly shut down the system.

This trick is courtesy of Seven Forums.
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/61294-shut-down-computer-shortcut-create.html
Shutdown time: 24 seconds

105 - Newbie Changes Desktop Color Windows 7 Starter Netbook

105 - A Newbie (Noob) Changes the Desktop Color on a Windows 7 Starter Netbook
==== written Sept.25.2011 by JCPMA

Many users of Windows 7 Starter netbooks will have the Windows Classic desktop theme instead of the Windows Basic. The reason is because it makes the netbook less slow. The default background color of this theme is a very lovely calm blue. This color can be easily changed to personal taste by accessing these steps: Go into your Startmenu search field and type "color scheme" > click on the resulting control panel's "Change the color scheme" > click the Advanced button > select Desktop > to the right there is a drop-down panel which lets you choose the new desired color.

I used a black desktop on all my computers, for the longest time, but this default blue on Windows7Starter is very pleasing. The reason I looked into altering this blue is because it intereferes with the Google Chrome Browser's blue. This browser has a similar but not identical shade of blue for its skin. My compromise is to alter the desktop color of the netbook slighty darker to provide enough contrast in order to identify the edges (especially the top edge) of the browser.

What About a Desktop Wallpaper?
Desktop Wallpaper feature has been removed in Windows 7 Starter. However,...
I'm not brave enough to try it, but I found what appears to be a convincing (un-official?) method of implementing a personal wallpaper on this site. http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/11243/how-to-personalize-windows-7-starter/
A commenter named bOrek on this post, April 12, 2010 3:06 am, contributed this method:
To change wallpaper you can do the following:
1. Open regedit (aka registry editor; you can access it from the star menu by typing “regedit” in the search box…)
2. Go to “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\” folder and click on it
3. On the right hand side find there are a bunch of entries. Find the key named “Wallpaper” and double click on it and put the path of the picture you want as your new wallpaper (example path is “C:\Users\Bob\Pictures\new_wallpaper.jpg”)
4. Right-click on the “Desktop” folder in regedit that you found in step 2 and click Permissions.
5. Click “Advanced”
6. Go to “Owner” tab, highlight your name in the box that says ?Change owner to' ( There are only two choices the other is Administrator )… once your user name is highlighted click “OK”
7. Click on “Advanced” again
8. Uncheck the button that reads “Include inheritable permissions from the object's parent”… click “Remove” when prompted
9. Click “Add”
10. Type “Everyone” and click “OK”
11. Check Allow “Read Control” and click “OK”
12. Click “OK” again
13. Highlight “Everyone” and check to Allow “Read” and click “OK”
14. Restart Computer and enjoy new Wallpaper

My 2 cents is that you should consider the screen/wallpaper dimensions for a netbook. I think the default is 1024x600 pixels. This should be ok for most. Sometimes the netbook is run at an artificial (squished) horizon at false dimensions of 1024x768 pixels. I also read somewhere that the background should be a .jpg of less than 256 KB. I don't know if this applies to the wallpaper or if it applies to the logon screen background.

What About a Logon Screen Background?
I have not tried to change it, but perhaps the easiest way to do it is to use the tweaking app Ultimate Windows Tweaker v 2.2 by Ramesh Kumar. In the middle of the page is a button to "set custom background on Welcome Screen". It has a note about a file size less than 256 KB and a resolution of 1024x600.
This website instructs on a registry edit which will allow a change in background.
http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/67-windows-7-tips-tricks-and-secrets-643861?artc_pg=2
22. Customise the log-on screen
Changing the Windows log-on screen used to involve some complicated and potentially dangerous hacks, but not any more - Windows 7 makes it easy.
First, browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Authentication\LogonUI\Background in REGEDIT, double-click the DWORD key called OEMBackground (not there? Create it) and set its value to 1.

Now find a background image you'd like to use. Make sure it's less than 256KB in size, and matches the aspect ratio of your screen as it'll be stretched to fit.

Next, copy that image into the %windir%\system32\oobe\info\backgrounds folder (create the info\backgrounds folders if they don't exist). Rename the image to backgroundDefault.jpg, reboot, and you should now have a custom log-on image.

Alternatively, use a free tweaking tool to handle everything for you. Logon Changer http://tweaks.com/software/tweakslogon displays a preview so you can see how the log-on screen will look without rebooting, while the Logon Screen Rotator http://www.lukepaynesoftware.com/lsr accepts multiple images and will display a different one every time you log on


Future posts
(On a previous post I wrote "A Newbie (Noob) Makes a Password Reset Disk on a Windows 7 Starter Netbook.") My future posts will include the topic Making a Shortcut for Quick Shutdown of a Windows 7 Starter netbook.

104 - Newbie Ten Tweaks Windows 7 Starter Netbook

104 - A Newbie (Noob) Uses Ten Tweaks on a Windows 7 Starter Netbook
==== written Sept.25.2011 by JCPMA

My netbook is over a year old. It comes pre-installed with Microsoft® (MS) Windows 7 Starter®. And I must state I am pleasantly surprised with how well Windows 7 works on a netbook. Before writing this I had, for a long time, already customised and improved, performance by turning off Win7's visual "candy" (see item No. 5). How I got "caught up" recently in doing more tweaks started by my search to reduce the number of Windows "processes". This will be discussed below as well as other tweaks that I have tried and learned about from the internet.

1.) Recently I became overwhelmed with my obsession of viewing the MS Task Manager and its number of processes shortly after booting on the netbook. The processes number in the 50s to 60s! It bothered me for months. A significant number of these are start up processes. Michael Lin's Startup Control Panel 2.8 helps remove them, but not all. Some are locked and cannot be changed in real-time. So I began my web-crawl to find some solutions. It is funny that most articles about "tweaking" on the web discuss "turning off" Windows' features rather than using them to their full advantage. I guess like most people, speed and performance are more important to me than fancy appearances.

2.) Before continuing, if you are a newbies' newbie (noobs' noob), and tweaking is not really your fancy, then the best suggestion is to download a copy of Ultimate Windows Tweaker v 2.2. This version works for Windows 7 and probably for other recent varieties of Windows too. This is not a "plug" for UWT, but a personal testimonial. This small app requires no installation. Just go ahead and start using it. Take your time to review each option. Change the ones you feel comfortable about. For each "page" of the program, remember to click on "apply" at the bottom before you proceed to the next page of tweaks. I will talk more about UWT later.

3.) To reduce the number of startup processes, you have to access the Windows interface "msconfig". Hit the Start button > in the search field type "msconfig" > the result will include "msconfig.exe"; click on it > go to the Startup tab > uncheck the boxes of the items you don't want to run at start-up. The beautiful part about this tweak, is that it is very easy to reverse if needed.
Notes:
*There is an Adobe®..."?sth?" process here. I discovered that it makes the Adobe pdf reader quicker to launch when you open a pdf file. If you rarely/occasionaly use pdf files, then it is ok to uncheck. If you frequently use pdfs, then you should leave it alone.
*If there are audio driver or graphic driver apps at startup you should not change them. It is ok however, to uncheck their task-tray launcher apps. This will not disable the driver, but will quicken startup because one less item will be loaded into the task-tray. I unchecked an audio driver app and had some strange behavior from my sound devices. So I had to re-checkmark the box to put it back. I had not realized that this particular app had an option to disable the task-tray icon! If possible, see if you can right click on the app itself and select the option to remove its presence in the task-tray (This may not be possible with all apps). Finally, there may be startup items in the task-tray that are beyond the skills of a newbie to remove.
*A USB DVD-drive & its supporting software had been installed previously. To my dismay, the software suite inserted 8 startup items! These processes were not task-tray items but they were easy to recognize because they belonged to the manufacturer of the DVD-drive software.

4.) Services take up resources. To get access to services, go to
Start > type "services.msc". The method of changing a service is to select the particular service, right-click on it, select Properties. There is a button to click on to STOP the service. A drop-down menu lets you choose the "startup type". The four choices are Automatic-delayed; Automatic; Disable; and Manual. Several sources from the internet mention a handful(s) of SERVICES that you can stop in order to improve performance. I reviewed Tweakhound http://www.tweakhound.com/windows7/tweaking/8.html , and BlackViper http://www.blackviper.com/Windows_7/servicecfg.htm sites and came to these decisions:
*a) Cautious note: avoid tweaks in this category if you don't know what you are doing. Altering a service also changes your netbook's functionality. It is ok to leave all services alone, even though there are many of them.
*b) It is safer to switch a startup type to "manual" than to "disable"
*c) some of your settings are already (by default) "manual" or "disabled"
*d) Active X Installer - my preference for this service is "manual"
*e) Application Experience - my preference for this service is "manual"
*f) Remote Registry - "disabled" (note, this may already have been disabled because it may pose a security risk.)
*g) Windows Time - "disabled"
*h) I left this one alone: Windows Search. It is a unique part of Windows 7 and should not be resource heavy if in normal use you elect to limit the locations Windows® offers to index. (In my situation, I never ask Windows to index any of my searches or locations.)
*i) I left this one alone: Superfetch. It seems too valuable to turn off.

5.) Disable (fancy) visual effects. This category of tweaks may be the most significant enhancers of performance because visuals require diversion of a lot of computing power. In your StartMenu > right-click on Computer > Properties > Advanced System Settings > Advanced tab > click the "Settings" button of the Performance section. Choose the radio button "Best Performance" or alternately, choose "Custom" and then select 3 or 4 features you can't live without. (Personally, I like MousePointerShadows, and SmoothEdges of ScreenFonts.)

6.) Disable Aerosnap. This feature makes your windows a different size and moves them to different locations if you happen to drag a window to the sides of the screen. It is very annoying. Fixing this probably will not speed up your netbook but will make you happier. Access: Control Panel > Ease Of Access > then click on "Make it easier to focus on tasks" > uncheck the box "Prevent windows from being automatically arranged when moved to the edge of the screen".

7.) Turn off the Windows 7 Features that you don't use. Access: Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features > "Turn Windows Features On or Off". Here, you clear the checkmarks from the boxes of items you don't want. In my case, I unchecked some of the Games, and I unchecked the Windows Gadget Platform

8.) God-Mode is a folder of shortcuts. This aggregation of shortcuts quickly direct you to the spot where you can adjust system settings. Choose a location where you want the God-Mode folder. From what I have read, the Desktop is the recommended location. Create a new folder here and give it the following name (without the quotation marks): "GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}"
I learned about God-Mode from these sites: http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?63273-*-Windows-7-Ultimate-Tweaks-amp-Utilities-*&s=aa15af640cd8be455050932f34883dde
http://lifehacker.com/5439498/create-an-all+inclusive-control-panel-shortcut-in-windows-7

9.) Registry Tweaks. If you are comfortable navigating Registry Editor and altering registry keys, then consider the following tweaks.
*a) Shorten the mouse hover delay before the pop-up message appears. Access: Start > type in the search field "regedit" > open the Registry Editor. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Mouse. Right-click on the key MouseHoverTime and click Modify. Change the value (from the default 400) to 100 (milliseconds).
*b) Shorten the shutdown time, specifically the time taken to kill a service. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control. Right-click on the key WaitToKillServiceTimeout and click Modify. Change the value (from the default 12000) to 6000 (milliseconds).
*c) Shorten the menu show delay, the time it takes for a menu to activate from the instant the mouse touches it. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Right-click on the key MenuShowDelay and click Modify. Change the value (from the default 400) to 200 (milliseconds).
*d) Shutdown's Kill App delay, and Hung App delay. These keys exist in the earlier Windows flavor, Windows XP®, but I was unable to locate them in Windows 7's registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\. The keys are: "WaitToKillAppTimeout" and "HungAppTimeout". The default values are 20000 and 5000 ms respectively. I am not at a comfort level to manually creating new keys in the registry, so my work-around is to use the portable software Ultimate Windows Tweaker 2.2 to do this for me. Navigate to UWT's "System Performance" page, and move the sliders to the left until you get the desired values of 7000 for Killing App Time & 2000 for Killing Non-responding App Time. The desired values are approximately 1/3 of the default, but you can modify them if you wish.

10.) Enable Clear Type Font on your netbook. For me, since Windows XP, this is a major tweak for laptops and netbooks as they use LCD display screens. The Clear Type font feature offers such a large improvement in readability, I wonder why it doesn't come enabled by default. Access: Control Panel > Appearance > Adjust ClearType Text > put a checkmark in the box "Turn On ClearType". Follow the prompts and take a few minutes to fine-tune the settings. This is easy to do and only requires a one-time setup.

Epilogue
My netbook Startup processes have been reduced by 11! There are 2 fewer items being loaded into the task-tray. The time saved by the task-tray loading may not seem like much, but over the long term you save a big chunk of time and you are happier! Adobe (pdf) reader still works fast enough for my satisfaction; Alternate pdf readers are available if I am really picky about it though. My resource meters seem to be lighter but this is subjective. Objectively the tweaks don't appear to have a noticeable effect. I can't notice a quicker shutdown time. That is because, my netbook manufacturer has its own built-in software for managing shutdown & its pretty quick (slower than a Windows 98 old old old Pentium®2 computer, but faster than a Windows XP computer circa 2005.)! Before I wrote this my netbook Windows Experience Index was 2.3. This index is a score out of a possible 7.9 points. It is a miniature benchmarking feature which evaluates your netbook's strength. This reviews five elements: processor, memory, graphics, gaming graphics, and hard drive. Your Index is the lowest score of these five elements. After I applied the tweaks in this article, my Index sky-rocketed to 2.4. Ok so no big deal, but I am happier++ with the improved performance. To run this feature, access this: Control Panel > System and Security > System > click on the link Windows Experience Index > at the bottom of the screen click on "Run the assessment". It will take a few minutes to complete.
Here is a "plug" for a small resource meter. Try PESoft's TinyResMeter. Version 0.96 is simple to use. Version 0.97 has more "bells and whistles"

Sources
Many of the tweaks I learned about also came from reading these websites:
http://www.computingunleashed.com/speed-up-windows-7-ultimate-guide-to.html
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?63273-*-Windows-7-Ultimate-Tweaks-amp-Utilities-*&s=aa15af640cd8be455050932f34883dde
http://www.askvg.com/master-tutorial-to-make-your-windows-7-super-fast
http://techtalk.pcpitstop.com/2009/05/26/windows-7-tweak-guide/
http://www.tweakhound.com/windows7/tweaking/index.html
http://www.askvg.com/windows-7-services-that-can-be-safely-set-to-manual
http://www.techradar.com/news/software/operating-systems/67-windows-7-tips-tricks-and-secrets-643861
http://www.blackviper.com/Windows_7/supertweaks.htm

Future posts
(On a previous post I wrote about system recovery options for a Windows 7 Starter netbook.) My future posts will include the topic Creating a Password Reset Disk for a Windows 7 Starter netbook.

103 - Warzone 2100 Manhattan Cheat Challenge

103 - Warzone 2100 Manhattan Cheat Challenge
==== [written 2011.10.01 by JCPMA]

This article discusses setting up a single player game against the computer which may be challenging especially to Warzone 2100 newbies.
I came up with this challenge to take on the 7 computer opponents. Why I had to incorporate a cheat was to even the odds. The other 7 will form alliances and share weapons research at, relative to you, an exponential rate. Without a cheat, they will quickly attack you with superior weapons.
This is how you set it up. You only have to do this once. After downloading the game Warzone 2100 Portable 2.3.3 (from Portableapps.com), start a multi-player game with the 8 player map "Manhattan" against the computer. For the game settings, allow Alliances.
Enable cheats by going into debug mode (Shift+Backspace). Use the cheat "research all". This will give you all the research available. Press Escape and save this game and give it a name you can remember. Exit. Restart the game by loading what you have just saved. Now the other 7 will gradually grow in weaponry sophistication and will form alliances to get you. You already have everything researched and can concentrate on total annihilation.
(You can play this map without the cheat, and without allowing alliances, but what fun is that?)

102 - 9 recovery options Windows 7 Starter netbook

What nine system recovery options do you have with a netbook which comes pre-installed with Windows 7 Starter operating system?
====================================== [written by JCPMA Sep.17.2011]
The most significant factor for system restoration of netbooks is that they do not have built-in optical drives, ie, CD-drive or DVD-drive. My netbook comes pre-installed with Windows 7 Starter operating system. Here are some recovery options available, some with, some without the need for an external optical drive.

1. Use the Microsoft's LAST KNOWN WORKING CONFIGURATION. Access this by pressing F8 button during the boot screen.

2. Microsoft's AUTOMATED REPAIR. If your computer has booting problems, this feature may kick in by itself and run a self-diagnostic and then prompt you to try different things. It takes several minutes or much longer++ but if it is successful it is well worth the wait.

3. SYSTEM RESTORE ("System Protection") is one of the options the Automated Repair Wizard, mentioned above, may offer you if you run into a critical booting problem. Users familiar with Windows XP will recognize this feature as "System Restore". From my perspective it looks identical to Windows XP's System Restore. (I can see no value in giving an alias of "SystemProtection" to SystemRestore; It just adds to un-necessary confusion!)
PROS
* easy to use
* at least 7 days current
* can manually configure/set a restore point anytime

CONS
* first usage requires manual ACTIVATION
* older (good) restore points cannot be kept for a long time.
* some computer power is diverted to this feature

A funny but not so funny story: This Spring, the automated repair wizard recognized a critical OS malfunction and went through all available Microsoft options to get Windows7 back to a working condition. System Restore was one such option, but when selected, Windows stated that there are no Restore-Points in the computer. It is true, that by default, System Restore is active for the netbook hard drive that contains the Windows Operating System (; see screenshot win7sysR-20110917_161636.gif below), but I found out recently, that you MANUALLY have to move a slider before it will save any RestorePoints. Under the SystemProtection tab, hit the "Configure..." button in the middle of the screen. This brings up a field where you move the slider, which is currently at 0 bytes disk space usage, to a larger number (; see screenshot win7sysR-20110917_161733.gif),. Windows help screen, "System Restore: frequently asked questions" (screenshot win7sysR-20110917_162042.gif), recommends a minimum of 300 MB. My gut instinct tells me, however, that you should set the slider for perhaps 5-10% of your hard drive space. If I activated SystemRestore on my netbook, I would move the slider to 3-5 GB!

4. The above story continues by my attempt to restoring the computer, by trying the netbook manufacturer's REPLACING WINDOWS' CORE SYSTEM FILES. This has the similar effect of reinstalling Windows.
You access this feature by pressing one of the F# keys at boot-up. Either F1 or F4 or F7 etc., "which" button depends on your particular netbook and manufacturer. Microsoft's Automated Repair Wizard has a similar feature, but it is always nice to have another choice.

5. Netbook manufacturers usually include an option to restore the hard drive to ORIGINAL FACTORY CONDITION. This option is likely the least preferred as it erases your current data. Again you access this by one of the F# keys during boot-up.

6. For lucky netbook users, some manufacturers offer the ability to create one SYSTEM IMAGE in addition to the pre-existing recovery factory system image, using the manufacturer's proprietary software. Also you would press one of the F# keys during boot to recover with this image.

7. Microsoft's SYSTEM IMAGE creation and recovery. Windows considers this as one of two Advanced Recovery Methods for more serious conditions where SystemRestore fails. You must have first though, created a system image in Microsoft "Backup and Restore". In my Start Menu I would find it under All Programs > Maintenance. Some info from Microsoft Help file, "What backup settings should I use to maximize my disk space?":
*a "full backup" is known as a "backup period";
*once your hard drive is occupied by 30% with backup system images, it starts to delete older Backup Periods;
*backups are stored on "internal or external drives or on CDs or DVDs"...

8. Microsoft's System Repair Disc. To use this option, go into "Backup and Restore" and choose "Create a system repair disc". According to the help file, "Create a system repair disc", you can make such a disc to repair Windows if you do not have a Windows Installation disc. (It sounds like this will make a System Repair CD disc or DVD disc.) You will know this feature is unavailable if during the procedure, the computer prompts you to insert a Windows Installation disc. (This is too kooky!)

9. Microsoft's 2nd Advanced Recovery Method is to Reinstall Windows. This requires a Windows Installation disc. If you click on the dialog (; see screenshot win7sysR-20110917_163130.gif), A pop-up prompt asks if you have an Installation disc, if you click "No", the recovery process is aborted.

Well there you have it. Nine possibilities for restoring a netbook Windows7 system. Hopefully at least one of these will be successful for you and thus prevent you from having to have your netbook professionally restored and save you some buck$. I have not tried options 7, 8, or 9 above. If anyone wants to share their successes/experiences please drop a comment. My motivation for writing this was to sort it out, for my own benefit, as you can see it can be quite confusing. The ideal software would be one where your system image is saved to a different partition or external hard drive. A good image could be kept indefinitely and not arbitrarily erased by the backup software. Recovery would be initiated by booting off from a USB flash drive.

[In a future post, I will review Windows 7 Starter's "Backup and Restore" application as I try it out.]

100 - E-text tutorial

This picture shows a tutorial for Etext version 1.1 text encrypter & how, if you must, use it on a computer with Windows XP or higher (Windows7).



http://i56.tinypic.com/2dueeee.jpg

alt.link:

099 - My Windows7 laptop dies

My Windows7 laptop dies
===
Date of Windows crash = The morning of Saturday May21,2011. There is some strange Karma today. This day is the prophetic Doomday/Rapture predicted by the religious people at www.familyradio.com . At Calgary International Airport, many experienced inconvenience as there was a ??power/computer?? disruption. This is also the Victoria Day long weekend (Monday the 23rd is Victoria Day). Thus the airport would be more busy than a typical weekend.
"
My Windows7 laptop dies. Windows states there is an error, likely an "incompatible driver". It starts into a self-diagnosis, and then suggests:
1) checking disk for errors. I do this as prompted. I am unable to boot into computer;
2) use last known good configuration. This fails. Windows can't do this;
3) use system restore. Windows says it can't find a system restore point. This is funny because I always keep at least 1 system restore point on the hard drive. Also, system restore is automatically active, by default, for the C:\ drive in a Windows 7 computer.

Now, I try booting into "safe-mode". This fails because, once again Windows says there is an incompatible driver.

One day prior, (ie., Friday May20, 2011), there was a reminder on my computer to install an Adobe upgrade, probably for flash or shockwave. I click OK but nothing happens as Adobe tries to connect to the internet and cannot find the connection. Also on this day, before shutting down, I had cleaned the drive C:\ simply by right-clicking on the drive C:\ icon, then on the Properties, and next choosing the Disk Cleanup button. This was straightforward and the process only took what seemed to be 1-2 minutes.

Two days prior (ie.,Thursday May19, 2011), at the public library, WiFi was very slow. My current antivirus software was, as usual, turned on.
(Come to think of it, my WindowsXP laptop similarly experienced a fatal "lsass.exe error", almost 1 year ago, on the evening of Tuesday May25, 2010. During the day, of May25,2010, I was also at the public library on their WiFi network, and my antivirus software was active too.) What kind of a coincidence is this?!
There is something else that is similar that may have occurred on these 2 dates. I may have intentionally or unintentionally switched wifi networks without shutting down the browser first. Windows may report an error with a router conflict of address or connection or similar jargon.

Back to the WindowsXP laptop and the lsass.exe error. No one seems to know exactly what an lsass.exe error is. I ask the computer technicians at the big chain electronics retailers and they don't know. The web has information that it is a software error resulting in a registry corruption. Other web sites claim that the lsass.exe error is due to a virus. Approximately, from the year 2007 to the Summer of 2009, this laptop has several times, encountered the lsass.exe error at the startup/boot stage. This was always remedied by my choosing the Windows-XP choice of using the "last known good configuration" or by restoring the registry via the ERUNT/ERDNT app (Written by Lars Hederer), using a (BartPE)live-CD. In the Summer of 2009, the CD-drive breaks down, so I am no longer able to restore the registry by this method.
In the Autumn, on September 06, 2009, the lsass.exe error strikes again. All Windows could show was a small box saying there is an lsass.exe error. If you click on the "ok" button, the laptop reboots & goes into this vicious cycle again. Now that I can't use the cd-drive to restore the computer, I had to use the services of the computer technician for a pricey $ data recovery and OS re-installation. As indicated above, the lsass.exe error happened again May2010 and the laptop remains dead.

I'm so cynical about Windows. As for my Windows7 laptop, I used the manufacturer's proprietary recovery software, and it worked like a charm. I did lose some data, but most of it had previously been backed up and my losses were minor. It's funny how Windows has frustrated me so often (ever since Windows 98), and yet reliable hardware and software all seem to come from non-Microsoft Brands or Corporations!

Conclusion
----------
Things which I speculate may cause Windows to get a major/fatal booting error:
- lsass.exe error;
- switching wifi networks without first shutting down the browser;
- trying to upgrade Adobe Flash player (or Shockwave?);
- Using Windows' Disk Cleanup feature;
- some unknown virus which strikes in the month of May? (note: I don't know if I got a boot error in May of 2009/2008/2007; I don't have it documented. If the error did occur annually, that would be freaky.)

The only preventative measures I can think of for boot errors:
- frequent antivirus updates;
- don't switch wifi networks without first closing your browser;
- don't update your Adobe software, unless you absolutely must;
- make frequent/regular backups of data
- avoid cleaning your hard-drive using Windows' Disk Cleanup button;
- don't totally rely on Windows' System Restore feature. It has failed me several times on two different machines, and with two different versions of Windows.



tags: incompatible driver, lsass error, windows xp, windows 7,