Tech Tips: Windows Vista – Speed up Booting Time

In Windows Vista, you can speed up the boot time by requiring the processor to boot using 2 processor. This is provided you are using Dual Core or Core 2 CPU.

To change the setting, type msconfig under the start search panel.

Once you have launched msconfig.exe, select <Boot> tab

Click <Advanced options…>

In the panel, top left corner, it shows number of CPU with a 1 in the list box. Change it to 2.

You need to restart the PC.

Tech Tips: Windows – Modify ‘Send To’

To modify ‘Send To’, we must get to the ‘Send To’ folder which is located at %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo

The location %APPDATA% should be at C:\users\<username>\AppData\Roaming

In this ‘Send To’ Folder, you can add any shortcuts you want and it will be included under Send To.

Tech Tips: Windows Vista – Weather Gadgets Not Working

If you had installed Windows Vista and would like to use the weather gadgets in the sidebar, soemtime you may encounter such error “Service Not Available”. this is because this gadgets only works with English (US) format. If you use other format such as English (Australia), you need to change the system locale under “Regional and Language Options” to English (US). Then you can customize the currency, date and time according to your preference.

You can also refer to this link http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931272 from Microsoft.

Tech Tips: Windows Auto Login

For automatic log in without the need to enter your ID and password, you can follow the steps below. Please note that this will post a security risk and it is not advisable to use it when you are sharing your PC with others and it is not advisable to use it on notebook/laptop.

Windows XP

1. Click “Start” and click “Run”

2. Type “control userpasswords2″

3. Unchecked “Users must enter a username and password to use this computer”

4. Enter the username and password you wish to use for auto login and you are done.

Windows Vista

1. Type “netplwiz” under the search bar.

2. Select the user account that you want to use as default.

3.  Unchecked “Users must enter a username and password to use this computer”

Note: In Vista “netplwiz” and “control userpasswords2″ is the same