Archive for September, 2007

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was invited by Columbia University for a Q&A session recently. Check out the videos of this session below.

Ahmadinejad may not be a very nice person, but he sure is intelligent. He even raises some valid points during the Q&A (on capital punishment and nuclear weapons) and did a small blunder in proclaiming that there are no gays in Iran!

Last week I wrote a post on how disabling search indexing can boost Windows vista performance. In this I will look at various methods which you can use to drastically Windows Vista performance.

Ok. You just bought your brand new laptop which comes pre-installed with Windows Vista. But unfortunately your new laptop performance looks worse than your pretty old laptop! Is there any way to improve it?

Well, as an operating system, Windows Vista is stable and I think it is just a matter of tuning to get it performing. Before I go into the methods, here is a word of advise. Get your machine atleast 1GB of RAM since Vista is really memory hungry!

1. Remove all junk software from your PC - Most of the online stores (Dell for example) bundle a lot of software when they sell a Windows Vista installed laptop/pc. You don’t need many of these software and hence removing them can substantially boost Windows Vista performance. First thing to do when you get your PC/Laptop is to remove everything except the bare minimum you need!

2. Disable Windows Defender - One of the biggest complaints about Windows operating systems was its vulnerability to viruses. To address this issue, microsoft added a lot of stuff into Vista, essentially making it bloated and cumbersome. Windows Defender is one such feature. If you are a power user who knows what can cause virus infection or security problems you don’t need Windows Defender.
To disable windows defender, go to control panel->administrative tools -> services -> windows defender and stop it. Also change the startup type to manual.

3. Disable UAC (User Access Control) - This is one of the most annoying features. Whenever you click on anything which affects system configuration, a popup comes up asking whether you want the operation to be executed! Of course, I want that, that is why I clicked on it! For a power user this is the first thing to disable.
To disable user access control, go to control panel->user account->turn user account control off.

4. Use ReadyBoost to extend RAM - If you have below 2GB or below, you can use readyboost feature of Vista to improve performance. For this, you will need a high speed USB 2.0 memory stick (flash drive). Vista will use this as an extension to RAM. This improves system performance and also reduces load on harddisk there by extending its lifespan.

5. Reduce graphics and other UI features - Windows Vista by default has a pretty jazzy user interface. If you are a power user, you rarely bother about these UI features. Disabling these features will dramatically reduce load on your processor and memory. This is one method sure to speed up your experience on Windows Vista.
To optimize system configuration for maximum performance, go to control panel->performance information and tools->advanced tools (on the left menu)->adjust the appearance and performance of windows->Select Adjust for best performance radio button and press Apply.

6. Remove unnecessary startup programs - You might have couple of startup programs configured. Remove all the unnecessary programs to reduce startup time and to improve overall system performance. Anti-virus programs are notorious for reducing system performance and increasing harddisk load.
You can check out startup programs using regedit command (use with caution!). Find all the startup programs under computer->HKEY_CURRENT_USER->Software->Microsoft->Windows->CurrentVersion->Run. (User can also use Windows Defender for this)

7. Disable unncessary services - Your system might have a lot of services which you may not need. But identifying them may not be very easy. Open up control panel->administrative tools->services and stop/disable services. Some of the services I disabled are Windows Search, Windows Defender, Windows Cardspace etc.

8. Disable Windows Search Indexing - As i have written earlier, disabling Windows Search indexing may improve performance substantially, especially when you have a new system.

9. Monitor tasks running - Monitor your task manager regularly. Look for any processes which hogs memory/processor resource. Also monitor for programs which may be accessing harddisk frequently. Find out the real use of resource intensive processes and if not required, remove them.

10. Buy a new PC/ upgrade RAM - If your system performance is still low, you probably need to buy a new PC to run Windows Vista. Also remember to have atleast 2GB RAM for optimal performance!

I recently bought a new laptop with Windows Vista pre-installed. It is a dell machine and I had to spend around one hour to remove all the junk. This machine has 2GB RAM and surprisingly I saw that the harddisk light is lit almost continuously. My earlier old laptop with Windows XP had much better performance even though it had only 1GB RAM. Also the internet access (using a USB mobile network - Reliance NetConnect) was also much slower in Windows Vista.

I was wondering what the heck is going on! You buy the latest stuff and it appears everything goes back in time. Then I decided to find the real problems behind this performance issue in Windows Vista.

Here is the first important tip. Disable File Search Indexing (which includes processes - SearchProtocolHost, SearchFilterHost and SearchIndexer) in Windows Vista to substantially boost performance. This is a windows service which runs in background always accessing harddisk and network resources. If you disable this, windows search may not be accurate, but that is something I don’t care.

Disbling Windows Search Service is simple. Open up Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Service. Find a service named Windows Search. Stop this service and change its startup type to manual. If you want, you can manually run the service when you are not using your system.

Once I disabled this, I found that harddisk access reduced substantially and also my internet connection was running in top speed.

You can also explore Google Desktop Search which seems to be gentle when it comes to system performance.

Andrew Meyer, a student tried to ask John Kerry a set of uncomfortable questions in a Florida University lecture. For his behavior, he was tasered with an eletric stun gun by the police. Check out the following video,

It seems that Police is increasingly using Taser gun as a toy. Devices such as this should only be used while dealing with a violent criminal, not when somebody asks a question! If you check the video, you can see that Andrew could have been taken out of the hall without using any taser gun. I am not saying what Andrew did was right. But clearly tasering should have been the last option, not the first!

One of major design issues in laptops is the harddisk reliability. Since people can run around with laptops while the machine is on, it is very important to build some disk crash protection in laptops. Laptops typically handle this situation by switching off harddisk when it detects any movement.

Solid state drives are here (which don’t have any moving parts) which eliminates this problem! Today I came across an Alienware laptop advertisement which features a 64GB solid state drive! The good thing is that it consumes 50% less power and is supposed to be faster than an ordinary harddrive!!

Yeah, this thing comes with a price. The Alienware configuration section gives an additional $1100 for a 64GB solid state drive ($500 for 32GB). I think the best option will be to use 32GB solid state drive with a portable harddisk for your long term storage needs.

The main advantages of solid state drives are,

1. No moving parts and hence highly reliable.
2. Faster booting time (2x faster than fast harddisks)
3. Power efficient and increases battery life.
4. Quiet operation.

I think we can soon see other brands (dell, thoshiba etc.) coming up with solid state harddisks. Well, I won’t be buying this until the extra price comes below $100.

Zavikon Island probably has the smallest international bridge in the world. It is only thirty-two feet long and connects a Canadian island and an American island. The boundary agreement in 1793 between the American and Canadian governments decided that no island would be split in two. Two-thirds of the islands are in Canadian territory, but the total area of the Canadian and American islands is roughly equal.

Theoretically the second island is in US, but both are considered to be part of canada. Local guides and tour operators definitely want this to be known as “shortest international bridge”

Found via deputy dog..