FOH Team Ways to Speed Up Windows 8 Activate Windows 8 god mode: Every version of Windows since XP has had something called ‘god mode’. This useful mode allows users to access every setting on the computer with just a single click. Unlike the administrative tools menu, which only features a grouping of about 10 different tools, god mode includes every single setting that you could ever want to access. To turn on Windows 8 god mode, go to your desktop and right click to create a new folder. Name that folder: GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} Once you’ve renamed the folder, click on it and you’ll find that it turned into a shortcut. That shortcut opens the god mode menu, under which you’ll find every Windows 8 utility and setting. Keep that folder on your desktop for easy access to all system settings. ===================== Turn off Windows 8 visual effects: If you’re running Windows 8 on an older machine, then you may have noticed some lag and performance slowdown as you move between menus. Windows 8 isn’t the most resource-intensive operating system, but it does have some visual settings that can slow down older PCs. If you’re finding yourself low on CPU power and RAM, then you can easily turn off these visual effects. Follow these steps in order to do just that: -Open the Windows Start screen search bar (press Windows Key + Q) then type in advanced system settings -Click View advanced system settings from the search results -Click on the Advanced tab at the top of the screen and click on the Settings button under Performance (or just press Alt+S). -From here, you can customize which visual effects you want to display. Remove any visual effects you don’t like, add the ones that you actually use, and you should notice a good performance boost. =============== Turn off Windows Search: If you frequently use Windows search to find the information you need, then you shouldn’t implement this tip. But if you would rather save resources and use a third-party search program, then turning off indexing is a great way to speed up performance. Windows search feature and indexing can be turned off by following these steps: -Go to ‘Run’ and type in services.msc and press enter -Find Windows Search from the list of services -Right click on Windows search and click Properties -Under Startup type, you’ll see that Windows Search is on Automatic (Delayed Start) by default, but you can switch it to Disabled for better performance ===================== Turn off indexing for certain folders: If you still want to use search, then you can save performance power by disabling indexing on certain folders that you don’t search through. For example, if you only search through your My Documents folder, then you may want to disable indexing on large folders like My Programs. To do this, simply search for Indexing Options by pressing Windows Key + Q and then open the first result that pops up. From here, you can exclude certain files from indexing. If you do this to a few larger files, then you should be able to boost performance without sacrificing too much usability. ======================= Clean your hard drive and optimize its performance automatically: Windows 8 has a number of automatic disk checking tools that can be used to speed up hard drive performance and keep your computer as error-free as possible. Here’s how to enable these tools: -Defragment your computer’s hard drives automatically by scheduling weekly defragmentation when your computer is not in use. To do this, go to the Windows 8 search bar and type in defrag and check the Run on a schedule button. Choose Weekly from the dropdown list and highlight which drives you want to defragment. If you have an SSD (a special type of storage unit), then you should absolutely not defragment that drive. Defragmentation should only be performed on traditional HDDs. -Cleanup your disks with the Disk cleanup tool, which wipes out unnecessary data while improving hard drive performance. Right click on any one of your hard drives and click Properties then look for Disk cleanup along the top menu bar. Do this on a monthly basis to ensure that drives stay as clean and healthy as possible. -Run the Error Checking tool to make sure your drive’s files are always in good, working condition. The Error Checking tool is accessed the same way as the Disk cleanup tool. Go to Computer, right click on the hard drive that you want to access, then click Properties and find the Check button under the Tools tab. From here, you can scan a drive and look for any errors. =========================== Use the built-in Windows 8 antivirus software: Windows 8 comes with built-in antivirus software called Windows Defender, and it’s actually surprisingly good. It works just like any other antivirus program by proactively defending your computer against threats. You can also use it to perform quick scans or full scans of your computer. you suspect your computer has a virus, run Windows Defender. It should be able to identify and remove any security threats facing your system. If you want to make sure your system is as secure as possible, you should also customize Windows Firewall. ============ Disable the Metro UI: One of the most noticeable changes to Windows 8 is the new interface. Code-named metro, the new UI has also polarized the Windows fanbase between those who hate it and those who love it. While some like the sleek, polished look, others claim that it favors tablet and mobile PC users over desktop and laptop users. To force Windows 8 to start in classic mode, follow the walkthrough listed below. First, find your Windows directory and perform a search for ‘Shows desktop’. A shortcut called ‘Shows desktop’ should appear. Copy that shortcut into the following location: C:UsersusernameAppDataRoamingMicrosoftWindowsStart MenuProgramsStartup Then, restart your PC to apply these changes. ==================== Link up to your Xbox 360 console: If you have an Xbox 360, then you’ll like Windows 8’s ability to synchronize movies, music, and games across both your PC and your Xbox. Find the ‘Xbox companion’ application in your Start menu and walk through the steps to connect your two systems together. While the features of this mode are limited in the beta, Microsoft has big plans for the future, including the ability to play Xbox 360 games through your PC. Linking up your Xbox and PC today will give you a head start once these features are officially released. ================== A new approach to passwords: If you’re sick and tired of memorizing passwords for your user accounts, then Windows 8 has a new feature you’ll like. Instead of typing in a password every time you log onto your computer, you can associate a picture with your account. When you want to log in, you draw three different shapes on this picture. You might draw a heart around a picture of you and your cat, for example. While this may seem awkward on PCs, people who use touch-screen devices are going to find it quite useful. You need to get all 3 gestures correct in order to successfully log in. ====================== Optimize the placement of your tiles: The Windows 8 desktop has a rectangular grid of tiles that you can arrange to your heart’s content. Each tile represents a shortcut to an application, and it’s easy to group common applications into certain areas of your screen. You can also resize tiles by right-clicking on them and selecting ‘larger’ or ‘smaller’. Unfortunately, there is no ‘select all’ tool that lets you move multiple tiles at the same time. ======================== Change your default start-up programs: Windows 8 starts with a bunch of cool applications, but you may not need all of them from the moment your PC starts up. To speed up your PC and reduce your boot time, try removing a few applications from the start-up sequence. This can be done by typing ‘default programs’ into the Metro UI and clicking on the first link that pops up. From that menu, select ‘set your default programs’. Then, pick and choose the applications you want to load when your computer starts up. To make this feature even more useful, Windows 7 notifies you if the number of programs set to start up exceeds your computer’s resources and ‘batch processing power’. ===================== Sync up your social media accounts: Using the ‘Peoples’ application in Windows 8, you can easily sync your social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Hotmail. One of the major advantages of this app is the ability to sign into just one messenger program and talk to all your friends on Facebook Chat and Windows Messenger. ================= Sync your Microsoft account: Once you’re done syncing up your social media accounts with Windows 8, you should try linking your Microsoft account. This helps you connect with Microsoft’s SkyDrive cloud storage and also keeps track of your personalized settings, like language, apps, visuals, and more.
Posted on: Thu, 05 Sep 2013 05:17:10 +0000
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