Kwarlord Kronicles

Volume 1, issue 4
December 13, 2007

In this issue:
Optimizing Windows Vista
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Once you're at the login screen you need to setup an administrator account with a password.

The first thing after you login is to change the computer settings to the way that best suits your needs. Go to Start, then select Control Panel. Now go to Programs, then to "Change startup programs". Here is where you can disable (never Remove, because you may need them again) all those unwanted programs that startup when you login. You can also change the category to "currently running programs". Here is where you can end currently running processes individually or go to Task Manager and see all of the running processes.

Task Manager

There's an even quicker way to get to Task Manager. Press ctrl+alt+del to get to the following options :

Lock this computer
Switch user
Log off
Change Password
Start Task Manager

And Cancel to bring you back to the desktop.

Hey, Where's my files?

To view Windows explorer, type "win" in the new search bar. Here you can see all your folders and files on your hard drive. To view any other drives, such as your CD-ROM drive or USB devices, go to Start, then select Computer.

So clean it shines

Now to keep your computer running smoothly, you need to maintain the operating system on a regular basis. Clean the registry for invalid entries, Defragment your hardrive, and set Windows Defender to check for spyware on startup.

Essential programs:

Free Registry Cleaner for Vista
AVG Antivirus
Windows Defender (included)

Windows Update will keep your system up to date and all it needs is an internet connection. Be sure and run it at least once a week.

Recommended Programs

Firefox Internet Browser
Opera Internet Browser
Openoffice Database, Word Processor, Spreadsheet
Google Earth

More Optimization tips:

To get more file options, hold Shift and right-click the file.
Click the Start button and enter services.msc to see what services are running. Set any services that are running Automatically at startup to Manual. If you are 100% sure you don't need the service, you can disable it.

Is Windows Vista right for You?

If you just bought a new computer with Windows Vista on it, then stick with that. Trust me, your experience with the operating system will get better when Microsoft fixes most of the problems with it. It is actually more secure than Windows XP is right now, but it is far from the performance level that XP has.

If you have XP, there is no need to rush out and get Vista. Wait another year or two, until most of the bugs are ironed out of it.

For the Online Gamer: stick with XP until the graphics and sound drivers are updated for vista.

For the Legacy Gamer: Get a computer with no internet connection and Windows 98 second edition. Some games wont work with XP or Vista's compatibility wizard and others where made for systems pre-Pentium era.

I hope this helps you out.

thanks for reading!

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