How to speed up Shut Down time in Vista

If it takes a long time for your computer to shutdown, you may need to limit the time that Vista takes before deciding to automatically shutting down a program on your computer.  Lowering this setting should not cause any problems if you save your work and close open applications before shutting down.

1.  The first thing you want to do is open up your Registry Editor by clicking Start and then typing regedit in the Start Search box.  Click enter to open this up.

2.  If you are unfamiliar with the Registry Editor, it should look like this when opened up:

Now, you need to navigate to the setting where you can change Vista's default value.

3.  Do this by going to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control.

4.  To the right, the last setting you see should say WaitToKillServiceTimeout.  Right click this and click Modify.  Value Data is where you want to change this value.

5.  What to change it to is the question.  Vista has is set to 20000 by default which means 20 seconds.  I wouldn't recommend setting this anywhere below 3000 and at the lowest, 2000.  Right now,  I have mine set at 3000, which is 3 seconds.  You can experiment setting it lower at your own risk.  If you have problems with Vista shutting down too fast, simply raise the time to a higher value.

How To Get Programs To Open Automatically On Startup

Everybody has a couple of their favorite programs that they always open up immediately when their computer loads up.  What if there was a way to get those programs to load up automatically when your computer is booted up?  Well there is, and it is very quick and easy to do for anyone no matter what experience you have with computers.

1) The first thing you need to do is decide what programs you would like to open upon Startup.  Some ones that people use are your Internet (such as IE or Mozilla), Email (such as Outlook or Windows Live), or any other programs you would like automatically opened.


2)  The first thing you do is navigate your mouse to the Start menu and right-click it.  Then click on Open All Users.

3)  Once this window opens,  double click the Programs folder.  This is just a list of your Start menu folders.  Scroll down to your Startup folder and drag and drop or copy and paste the program into this folder.


4)  Now, whenever your computer is restarted, whatever program you dragged into this folder should immediately open up with the rest of your programs.

Free Programs That Every Computer Should Have...

This is just a list of some of the programs that I think every user should have:

1)  CCleaner - CCleaner is a program that should be on everyone's computer.  It is a great program that  removes unused files, clears internet history, uninstalls programs, and also has a registry cleaner.  It frees up space on your hard drive and allows your computer to run faster.

2)  iTunes -  iTunes is not just your standard music player.  It is also a music store and a necessity for Ipod/Iphone owners.

3)  uTorrent - For you bit torrent users out there, uTorrent is the best client you can use for it.  It's user friendly design and ability to have multiple simultaneous downloads/uploads makes it a must-have program.  It doesn't use a lot of system resources so you barely feel it's presence while it's running.

4)  Google Earth - This isn't necessarily a must have program, but it's definitely one of the coolest.  It allows you to travel the Earth from the comfort of your home.  Check out places you've always wanted to see, view maps, look at topographical information, view buildings in 3D mode, or even check out your own house.  Now, it also has the options to view the Moon, Mars, and Outer Space.

5)  Driver Max - This is a good program that automatically searches for updated drivers for your computer.  When you run Driver Max, it builds a list of all of your drivers, informs you which ones you need to download, and then gives you the file to download.  This is a great way to keep your computer up to date and running smoothly.

6)  CPU-Z - CPU-Z shows you the valuable system information about your computer and components.  It shows you cpu, mainboard, memory, and system information.

7)  Mozilla Firefox - If you don't have Firefox yet, what are you waiting for?  IE is garbage compared to this browser.  It is definitely the most superb browser as it is more secure, faster, and just better all around.  The ability to add many different add-ons, privately browse, tabbed browsing, remember your passwords, etc... are just a few reasons you should switch to Firefox.

8)  Steam - Steam is a great gaming application that lets you download a lot of new games as they come out.  It's come along since I used it to play Counter Strike and Day of Defeat many years ago.  It allows you to access your favorite games, add friends and chat with them while in games, see new and upcoming games, and play in mulitplayer servers online.

9)  Rainmeter - This is a pretty cool desktop customization program.  I just started messing with it recently but it's fairly easy to figure and fun to mess with.  It has apps such as cpu resources, music players, RSS feeds, battery power, email, weather, etc....  Also, it doesn't use a lot of resources like a lot of programs like this use.  Here is a pic of what my Windows 7 desktop looks like with Rainmeter.

This is all that I have time to do for now.  I will update as I find new programs as well.  If there are any programs you think I should add, let me know.

Google vs Bing search engine comparer...

I saw this new website in Maximum PC's magazine and thought it was pretty cool.  It lets you search both Google and Microsoft's new search engine Bing and compares the results beside each other in one screen.  I'm a Google fan, personally, but it gives Bing skeptics a chance to compare the results with Google's.

www.bing-vs-google.com

Setting your default Operating System on a dual-boot system

When you have a dual-boot system set up on your machine, you are prompted at startup to choose which Operating System you would like to load. Also, there is a timer set by default to 30 seconds which automatically loads your default OS if you do not pick one within the time allotted.
This short tutorial will show you how to change your default OS and also how to change the amount of time it takes to automatically start your OS.
On my system, I have Windows Vista and Windows 7 RC. I changed the default OS to Vista and the Startup time to 20 seconds.

1. The first thing you want to do is open up your Control Panel by clicking the Start button.
2. Once that is open, click on System and Maintenance and then click System.
3. Now, in the left pane, click Advanced System Settings as shown in the picture below.
4. Locate the Advanced tab and then click Settings under Startup and Recovery.
5. Now, in the System Startup group, you will see the options to set your default OS, and also to set the time that list of operating systems will remain on screen before the default OS is loaded.


In the picture below, I am choosing whether I want my default OS to be Windows 7 or Windows Vista.



In the picture below, you can see that there is a check in the Time to display list of operating systems: check box and I have mine set to 20 seconds.