Monthly Archives: October 2013

Rearranging icons on the Start Menu and Home Screen for a Quick Launch Access

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Newer versions of Windows have been equipped with some state of the art upgrades for managing and relocating icons and administrative tools. Administrative tools come in handy during the management of disk drives and their partition space selection, managing the firewall settings, and other program operations. Rearranging icons according to their particular use and needs can most certainly optimize the windows experience of a user.

 

Locating the Administrative Tools section

A user can have access to the Administrative tools through the ‘Security’ icon in the Control Panel. This method is used in windows XP; however, you can have access to these tools by typing Administrative Tools in the search bar of My Computer, Control Panel, and even the Start Menu in newer versions of windows.

 

Setting up the Administrative Tools option on the Start Menu

Adding a link of Administrative Tools to the Home menu is simple. Right click on the task bar (select and empty section) and click on Start Menu option. Click on the customize start menu option and select the Administrative tools. The properties for the Administrative Tools are located at the end of the Customize Start Menu section with three options for the tools. A user needs to select the last option namely, ‘do not display this item’ and click on OK, to verify settings.

Now, click on the Start Menu and locate Administrative tools at the bottom right section (just above the shutdown icon) with all the options like Windows Firewall settings, Task Scheduler, System Configuration. The good part is that you will not be required to access these tools in the Control Panel as a hot key has been created in the Administrative Tools section of the Start Menu.

Administrative Tools are also used to locate the IP address of a particular computer that is attached to a printer in an office. This way, a user can set up multiple computers in an office by creating a Home Network of all the computers that need to be connected to this computer. In this day and age, Admin Tools are also used to connect to a wireless printer or fax machine.

Optimizing Windows by Enhancing Internet Services – The YouTube Lag

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Adjusting various programs on the Internet, which have become slow due to daily usage, requires making necessary adjustments for the smooth operation of these programs. It is crucial that you constantly make changes to Internet services like YouTube and Facebook so that they perform to the expectations of the users. Menaces such as pop ups, and opening of new tabs is reported frequently by windows users and it seems that Microsoft and Google are unable to fix these complications. In addition, streaming problems are reported almost daily and, since last year, YouTube has estimated more than 20% streaming problems by users. Even if a user has a fast Internet connection, the problem of video buffering persists and user are unable to find a suitable answer. Pragmatically speaking, no one can make changes to the buffering speed themselves; still YouTube users can make some alterations to their browsers to prevent this jeopardy.

 

The YouTube fix explained

To fix YouTube buffering problems, you need to make changes to the browser and some of the browser settings. Following steps will guide you in this regard:

Stop using Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera Mini and switch to Google Chrome. Most of you might not know but YouTube has been bought by Google, which means that it is best to run videos on a Google browser. For this purpose, navigate to the Google home page and download chrome.

Install the current version of flash player by typing ‘Flash Player 2012’ in the Google search bar. Restart the computer manually for the system to accept the changes and start using the browser. The videos will run fine in the first few days but you will feel the lag in buffering after seven or eight days.

To clear out this lag, you need to navigate to the wrench icon located in the top right corner of the screen. Click “History” and clear out all the items. You will have to delete the cookies and cache manually by clicking browsing data settings under the ‘wrench’ icon. Clearing out cookies and cache will remove all the temporary data from the browser’s memory. The computer needs to be restarted for these changes to take their effect.

Installing HD Wallpapers and Themes

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Installing High Definition wallpapers and themes uplifts the beauty of a home screen, and correspondingly protects monitor pixels from fading. By improving the viewing angles and general performance of a computer screen, in this article, users will be guided in making small changes that will yield superior results.

High Definition wallpapers are available throughout the web and software like the Adobe Photoshop and Adobe illustrator can also help a user in customizing such works of art.

 

Monitors

Monitors and Liquid Crystal Display (LCD and LED) screens are somewhat delicate viewing instruments in the respect that they require regular maintenance in terms of wallpapers and home screens. Although wallpapers are installed with the Windows, you need to make some necessary adjustments like installing a theme that would keep the pixels in motion. The most commonly heard jargon in the IT department is the ‘pixel dry out’ which means that a screen pixel or a group of pixels have lost the color displaying capability due to a lack of themes. Pixel dry out can distort the viewing angles and the monitor’s screen will not be able to auto adjust itself to the settings. A theme keeps the pixels in motion (or it uses the pixels) when a screen is idle and thus, saves them from drying out.

 

Installing themes and High Definition (HD) wallpapers

Buying a new LED or LCD screen is a requirement if you are using the cathode ray screens especially if a user is interested in installing HD wallpapers and themes. Themes are not available on all the websites but it is important that you install a few. For this purpose, navigate to the Google home page by double clicking on the Internet Explorer icon (or any other browser that you use) and type High Definition wallpapers. Click on any of the trusted search results and download the wallpapers. Now, type HD themes and download a few.

Setting up these themes and wallpapers is quite easy. Right click on the home screen and click on properties. Now, navigate to the Screen Savers tab and select the theme. Correspondingly, select the time interval for the theme, and finally, navigate to the wallpapers tab and select HD wallpapers for the home screen.