disable double-clicking | change screen resolution | change the time server | clear the Windows Update cache | disable unsused services

disable double-clicking

1. Start the Windows Explorer by opening My Computer or use the key combo of Windows Logo+E.
2. Click on the Tools menu then select Folder Options...
3. Click the radio button next to Single-click to open an item (point to select).
4. Choose between either of the two sub-categories for single clicking. The first will underline file names in the same manner as your Web browser does with Web page links. The other will hide the underline until you move the mouse pointer over the file name (regardless of current Web browser setting for Web links).

change your screen resolution

1. Right-click on an empty area of the desktop and left-click on Properties.
2. Click on the Settings tab at the top of the Display Properties window.
3. Move the screen resolution slider to the right to increase the resolution and left to decrease. The numberical resolution in pixels appears below the slider.
4. Click on the Apply button to test the settings. There is a 15 second countdown before returning to the previous resolution.
5. Click on the Yes button during the countdown to keep the new resolution. If the screen goes blank or appears odd the video will return to normal after the 15 seconds pass.

The maximum resolution your computer can display is dependent upon your video chipset and monitor. Just because your video chipset can handle the resolution does not mean your monitor can. Higher resolutions are good for larger monitors since objects become smaller at higher resolution. Higher resolutions also mean more stress upon your system causing a slow down.

change the time server

1. Double-click on the time clock at the bottom-right corner of the screen.
2. Click on the tab labeled Internet Time.
3. There will be a time server listed in a pull-down menu. Click on the text and you should be able to use the delete or backspace key to erase. Type in the name of another time server. Try north-america.pool.ntp.org or pool.ntp.org.
4. Press the Apply button to make the change.
5. Test it by clicking the Update Now button. Click OK when you're done.

Here is a screenshot of the time server set as north-america.pool.ntp.org.

clear the Windows Update cache

1. Open the Run command by clicking the START button then selecting Run...
2. In the Run... window type cmd and hit the Enter key on the keyboard.
3. In the new command prompt window type net stop wuauserv then hit Enter. This stops the Windows Automatic Update service.
4. Type cd /d %windir% and hit Enter to change the working directory to the Windows directory.
5. Type rd /s SoftwareDistribution and hit Enter. Hit Y when asked if you're sure.
6. Type net start wuauserv and hit Enter to restart the Windows Automatic Update service.
7. Type exit to quit the command prompt and be on your way.

disable unused services

Check out the default setup and what each services does at www.BlackViper.com's service configuration page.

hide a computer from the Network Neighborhood

This will allow you to share files from a computer, but it will not appear listed amongst the computers in the Network Neightborhood.

1. Open a command prompt by running cmd in the Run... command.
2. Type net config server /hidden:yes.

clean the prefetch cache

Emptying out the Windows prefetch cache can help speed things up. Don't do it every day since that would actually slow things down. Once a month may be good. The prefetch cache is typically located in C:\WINDOWS\Prefetch

Disable the Network Connectivity Status Indicator test in Windows Vista and 7

SuperUser: How does Windows know whether it has internet access or if a Wi-Fi connection requires in-browser authentication?

Set HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\NlaSvc\Parameters\Internet\EnableActiveProbing to 0