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System Snafus

Speed Up the Windows Boot

The annoyance: I installed some new applications on my system, and now Windows blithely lets them load automatically every time Windows boots, slowing my speedy startup to a crawl. Adding insult to injury, the new apps don't offer any way to disable this automatic launching.

The fix: If you can't find a program's startup configuration settings (perhaps because they don't exist), use Windows' System Configuration Utility to block program startup manually. Choose Start, Run, enter msconfig in the 'Open' text box, and click OK. Select the Startup tab, uncheck one or more of the items listed (for clarity, try disabling just one item at a time), click OK, and then click Restart. When Windows restarts, the System Configuration Utility will pop up in an annoying test mode. If no serious problems have cropped up, check Don't show this message or launch the System Configuration Utility and click OK.

Bring Backup Home

The annoyance: Windows XP Professional includes Backup, a basic but handy backup utility (find it in Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools) that I use on my office computer. I've searched--and searched, and searched--for the same backup program on my XP Home Edition system back at the ranch. Where has Microsoft hidden the utility?

The fix: Fortunately, the Windows XP Home installation CD contains Backup. To install it, browse to the CD's valueadd\msft\ntbackup folder, right-click ntbackup.msi, and choose Install. If (like me) you're unlucky enough to have received a system restore disc with your PC instead of an actual XP installation disc, you may have to hunt for the necessary Backup files. I found the valueadd\msft\ntbackup folder on my hard disk under the Windows folder. If you have enabled packet writing on your system (as described in "Burn It Now"), Backup will even work with your CD-R/RW drive.

Terminate Temp Files

The annoyance: Browsing the Web, installing utilities, and performing other normal Windows activities can cause a whole bunch of useless files to build up in a hard-to-find Temp folder. (Typically it's located in Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Temp.) Worse, Windows skips this folder when I tell it to delete temporary files.

The fix: In Windows Explorer, right-click the C: drive (or other drive, as appropriate), select the General tab, and click the Disk Cleanup button. Even though the Disk Cleanup tool deletes useless files and thereby frees up disk space, it doesn't touch the Temp file folder under Local Settings (see Figure 1). So I have to delete these orphaned files manually: To do that, close all programs, navigate to the folder, press <Ctrl>-A to select the files, and press <Delete>.

Uncover Hidden File Name Extensions and Expose Cloaked Files

The annoyance: Windows XP thinks I don't need to see file name extensions and hidden files. Guess what? I do. For one thing, it's just good information as I browse through my stuff--are those images JPEG or BMP files?--but also, virus writers use the default-to-hidden setting to try to trick me into launching their code. With no file extensions showing, I might launch SafePic.jpg.exe, because all I saw in my e-mail program was an icon labeled SafePic.jpg.

The fix: To display all file name extensions, open Windows Explorer, select Tools, Folder Options, View, uncheck Hide extensions for known file types, select Show hidden files and folders directly above it (for good measure), and click OK.

Halt CPU Hoggers

The annoyance: I have closed all but one application to dedicate my system's full resources to a task, but Windows is still sluggish. What gives?

The fix: The likely culprit is a program or service that has malfunctioned and continues to run, even though it may not show a window or taskbar icon that you can use to close it. To find and close these CPU hogs, first close all running applications, press <Ctrl>-<Alt>-<Delete> to launch Task Manager, and select the Processes tab. Scroll down the list of processes until you come to the one that's gobbling up the resources. Select it and click End Process. Don't worry about System Idle Process--that simply shows the percentage of processor resources that remain unused.

Enable Hibernation

The annoyance: I want to boot up my laptop quickly. But by default, it either shuts down entirely or goes into a battery-consuming standby mode that, in turn, rapidly leads to dead-battery syndrome.

The fix: There is a third option: hibernation, where Windows writes the current state of the PC into the hard disk before powering off. You get a quicker boot from hibernation than from a normal shutdown, without wasting battery life. But you have to enable it. Go to Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance in Category View, open Power Options, select the Hibernate tab, and check Enable hibernation.

Keep three things in mind when trying to enable hibernation: You need a sufficient amount of free disk space (I recommend 1.5 times the RAM); you must log in as a Computer Administrator or Power User; and you have to install the latest updates to Windows, your applications, and your drivers. (Windows XP Service Pack 2 fixes a problem with hibernation in computers that use 1GB of memory; however, reports persist of problems with hibernation on SP2 systems that are equipped with 1.5GB or more of memory. Microsoft acknowledges that this is an ongoing issue and will be looking into a solution.)