Dr. Bill | The Computer Curmudgeon
Join Dr. Bill as he examines the wild and wacky world of the web, computers, and all things geeky! Hot Tech Tips, Tech News, and Geek Culture are examined… with plenty of good humor as well!
Hooray! 40 years ago today was THE day! The day Star Trek went on the air! 40 years of “boldly going where no man (or, one) has gone before!” Live long and prosper my friends!
And, a “Peace and Long Life!” to the Star Trek franchise and it’s upbeat vision of the future!
OK, this is weird. I am technically considered by most a “card carrying member” of the “Religious Right,” OK?!?! This is embarrassing! There are “religious dewds” that want to stop Net Neutrality from succeeding! Sigh. (Actually, I am a Christian… I don’t consider myself “religious”… “religion” is stifling, Christianity is a personal relationship. So, I am not “religious!” But I AM for Net Neutrality! So, I am weird… OK!)
Net Neutrality ‘Gets Religious!’
“A group of US religious and ethical organizations, including Morality in Media, the Institute on Religion and Democracy, and Faith 2 Action, has issued an open letter to the Senate Commerce Committee, expressing support for the current language of a key communications reform bill that has emerged from conference, and is soon to be introduced for debate on the Senate floor. It is the bill around which the current debate on ‘net neutrality’ — whether to prohibit broadband service providers from being able to offer premium carriage services to larger content providers — is centered. The letter begins by praising the Committee for having ‘recently resisted attempts by Senators who wanted to regulate the Internet, but rather, included language that would specifically protect our ability to communicate our message.'”
Well, that’s good, but we can have a free Internet, AND still preach the Gospel! (I do it all the time! Grin!) So… it is STILL embarrassing! Sigh.
[NOTE: the tweak outlined in this post has been called into serious question. It seems that it has been circulating around geek sites for a LONG time, and that there is a question as to whether it is valid. There seem to be good arguments FOR and AGAINST… as with any recommendation, I tried it myself and reported my findings… which appeared to be that it worked for me… BUT, YMMV (Your Mileage My Vary)… and, it is very possible that there were other factors that caused my apparent boot time speedup (from a minute to 30 seconds.) Now, 50% better is pretty impressive… but it could have been the result of other factors rather than the registry setting itself. I suggest that you read all of Andrew’s comments following this post… check out the sites he points to… and make up your own mind, based on the points made. I DO try and keep this a “fair and balanced” guide to user helpful hints… and now back to your regular reading….]
Original Post Starts Here:
Everyone wants a faster Windows boot time, huh? Well, here’s a cool tip! Clean out your Windows Prefetch Cache! A Geek Project for you!
In Windows Explorer, navigate to C:\Windows\Prefetch
Once there, delete everything under the “Prefetch” directory. (DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK! I ain’t responsible! REALLY!)
Now, reboot your system. This reboot will be very slow, because it will be “rebuilding” the system’s prefetch cache again. This is because Windows needs to “relearn” the prefetch for it’s system files. Subsequent boots will be MUCH faster! However, the Winodws Prefetch cache will soon “fill up” again as you use the system and it’s applications. Sooooo… let’s keep that from happening!
We will need to edit a registry key to fix that. (If you aren’t comfortable editing the Windows Registry, don’t do it… call your friendly local geek and show him this article!) If you are “down wit'” doin’ it… go for it! Open Regedit and browse to this Registry Key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters
Under this key you should see a value named: EnablePrefetcher
It has 4 possible values:
0 – Disabled : The prefetch system is turned off.
1 – Application : The prefetch only caches applications.
2 – Boot : The prefetch only caches boot system files.
3 – All : The prefetch caches boot, and application files.
Now, keep in mind, we don’t want to disable the prefetch entirely! This would actually make system boot times much longer! This is because this feature is used to speed up the loading of Windows boot files. So, let’s pick the number 2 option. It allows us to keep the advantage of caching Windows system files, without filling up the prefetch with application data.
Set the value to 2 and reboot your system. The next time that you boot it will be MUCH faster! Cool, huh? So, do this and, like me, you could do from over a minute in Windows boot time to 30 seconds! Very, very cool! You can also defrag your hard drive… that will help too!
Dewd! If you have ever used (or wanted to use) Adobe Photoshop… but couldn’t afford the over $1000.00 price tag, then you NEED The GIMP! The GIMP stands for “GNU Image Manipulation Program” and it truly rocks! It is Open Source, free, and very cool! I was reminded by a listener to the podcast that I hadn’t spotlighted The GIMP yet as a Geek Software of the Week winner! As I told him, it is just that I use it all the time, and hadn’t really thought about the fact that it is VERY useful to anyone that needs to graphic editor… and doesn’t want to drop a grand!
The GIMP is available on nearly all Linux Distributions, and for Mac OS/X! The link above is for the Windows installer version. You will need to download and install the GTK+ envirnment first, then download and install The GIMP. It is slick, fast, and cool! And, if you need an interface that is more familiar to Photoshop-ers… try GIMPshop! Here’s that link:
GIMPshop, a GIMP Hack by Scott Mochella
Scott hacked the GIMP interface to “Photoshop-ize” it. Very cool, Scott!
Thanks, Joe, for the e-mail reminding me to feature The GIMP!