Randar's Tech Page: Tweaks, Tweaks, and More Tweaks!

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Tweaks! Tweaks! And More Tweaks!

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“tweak” - a verb that means “to tinker or twiddle with (i.e., adjust, change, fine-tune, frobnicate - hey, now there’s a word for you!, etc.) something until you get it right or make it better” (Randar)

There are two basic kinds of computer users: (1) Those who Tweak; and (2) Those who don’t. The tweakers are the curious few who can’t stand to leave things as they are when they could be so much better. The non-tweakers are the throngs of unwashed masses who don’t care to ask, “Could this be done differently? Is there a better way?” They are content to sleep through life doing everything that can be done in the same way everyone has always done it – with little thought and no imagination. You, gentle reader, are not of that mindset. (If you were, you would have choked and died on the front page to this site!) So, do you look at something and ask, “Why can’t it be this way?” If so, then you are a “frobnicator”! (Hey, reading Randar makes you smarter. Nine out of ten frobnicators agree!)

After that first paragraph, I’ll bet you did not think that it could get any better (or is that worse), didn’t you? Well, it can ... just keep reading. Here is what you need to do to orient your mind toward frobnicat ... err, I mean, tweaking. (Okay, I won’t use that word any more ... maybe.) Here is where you start:

First, don’t buy anything. All of these “tweaks” can be done for next-to-nothing. In other words they are “Free! Free! Free!” Too many utility products are just so much “junk.” You pay a whole lot for a whole lot of nothing. Symantec’s Norton Utilities and SystemWorks come to mind. Now don’t get me wrong, there are a few good products under the Symantec banner. But, you can do without most, and nearly all of them can be duplicated by low or no cost programs that are just as good if not better. So, where do you begin? Begin with Windows itself! Use the utilities that come with the Windows operating system. No, they are not the best, but for the most part they are sufficient and able to get the job done. Windows comes with its own suite of utilities. Get to know these before you consider using anything else.

NOTE: This article will consider only the Windows 2000/XP/7/8/10 operating system, though some of this information will certainly translate to Windows 98. Why leave out Windows 98? Well, it was nice in its day, but it just is not as stable or as secure as Windows 2000/XP/7/8/10. For these reasons alone Windows 98 should not be used for serious computing. But Windows 2000 and Windows XP are rather outdated as well and you should really be using Windows 7/8/10 by now.

Now you are ready to consider the following ways to access all of the utilities in Windows 2000/XP/7/8/10. (You should note that there is more than one way to “skin a monkey.” You can get to most any Windows feature one of several ways. Thus, for most Windows elements there is almost always a work-around. In other words, if one way does not work for you, try another. So, you can get to the Device Manager through the My Computer icon by right-clicking and choosing Properties. Or you can get to it by going to the Control Panel and choosing the System icon and then choosing Hardware. And, you can find it by going to the Computer Management Console under Administrator Tools ... and on ... and on. You get the idea!)

My Computer Icon – Double-click or right-click and choose Properties and go from there.

Control Panel – The System Icon will take you into the bowels of Windows and your system.

Hardware – The Device Manager is the key to all your hardware and its current condition.

Computer Management Console – This has it all together in one glorious place!

Right Click on the Start Menu and Taskbar for Properties and Settings for customization and other features.

Control Panel – Administrative Tools ... Make sure that you can access this!

Start Menu – Customize the Taskbar and Start Menu by right-clicking and choosing Properties.

Computer Management Console – This important module gives you access to most of the power tools and utilities in Windows!

Event Console – This log shows what is going on behind the scenes and, most importantly, records error messages.

Performance Console – This module shows what your system’s performance on numerous levels as it monitors your machine.

Services Console – This shows what processes run on your system. It also give you extensive control over what services run and how and when and if they run.

Group Policy Console – This module allows you to control who and what runs on your system.

First go into all the Control Panel items and explore every setting and option. Most Windows settings that can be “easily” changed are found here. This is where you begin your journey into the world of “tweaking” Windows. Do not make any changes unless you know what you are doing! Remember, all you are doing for now is educating yourself and learning where to go to access any given feature.

Next, go into every “Advanced” menu and learn about every setting and option. Start with the Start Menu and Taskbar Properties menus. Right click on either to find the Properties Options. Then go to My Computer or Control Panel’s System icon and get to know every feature and selection. Then familiarize yourself with the Administrative Tools. This is not an area for beginners! That is why it is for “Administrators” only. No one else, other than the power user should have access to these utilities. Basically, the same is true for almost any item in the Control Panel as well. You can do things in these areas that can completely trash your system! So, don’t say you haven’t been warned.

Finally, do the same exploration for the programs you use on a regular basis, such as Internet Explorer and Outlook Express, that are part of the Windows package. Also, do this for any program you have installed on the system. Go to each program’s “Tools” and “Options/Preferences” menu and learn about all of the ways you can configure your software. There are a wealth of “hidden” settings and tweaks buried in almost every application. The software developers make them rather “difficult” to get to, because most computer users are ... well ... stupid. But, that’s not you! Remember, you are on your way to becoming a power user.

None of these programs are “top notch” but they all work and they work rather well. There is really little need to use any other utilities in most cases. For instance, the Disk Management and Defragmenter in the Computer Management Console along with Windows Explorer is really about all you need for most every file and hard disk maintenance need. No, the Disk Defragmenter does not have all of the “bells and whistles” of the pricey counterparts in Norton’s Utilities, but there is something you need to know and it’s something that nobody will tell you: You don’t need to defragment your disk very often with Windows 2000/XP/7/8/10 because Windows 2000/XP/7/8/10 are much more efficient in disk usage than in previous versions of Windows. And there is something else. Defragmenting your hard drive just does not make that big a difference anyway! More and more we are finally being told by the experts that defragging your hard drive is just not that big a deal. The fact is, you probably won’t be able to tell much difference “performance wise” before and after you defrag your hard drive. Of course there are exceptions, but still, overall when everything is taken into consideration, the defragmenter that comes with Windows is more than adequate to defrag your hard drive. The utility companies for the most part are not telling the truth about the “benefits” of regularly defragging your hard drive with their pricey products! (Oh yes, did I mention that Symantec actually wrote the defragger that comes with most versions of Windows? It is really just a stripped down version of their own product. How interesting.) With all this said, you should realize that it is still a good idea to defragment your hard drive every once in a while. Why? Well, not for system performance, but for system integrity and reliability. If you ever have a problem on your hard drive and need to recover a file, it will be much easier to recover a non-fragmented file than a fragmented one.

Also you need to notice that some of the utilities that come with Windows, like Disk Cleanup, aren’t really that big a deal. But, neither are the third-party utilities in this area! None of the disk cleanup and uninstallers out there are 100% perfect in “cleaning up” your hard drive and in uninstalling your programs. (Neither are the Registry cleaners, for that matter!) Every one should know by now that whenever you uninstall almost any Windows program they never completely remove themselves from your system! Why? Because the programmers were too lazy to go to the trouble to do it right! They wrote the program assuming that it was so wonderful that you would never want to remove it! (Also, some programs purposely want to “know” if they have ever been installed before because they want to be able to monitor your use of the product.) Many programs make all kinds of changes not only to your hard drive and drop files all over the place, but they also make all kinds of changes to the Windows Registry as well. When you uninstall a program it rarely removes all of these various and sundry fragments. Sometimes it does not even remove the main program’s directory from your hard drive. (One more thing, for the uninstaller programs to work they have to kind of take over and constantly monitor your system. So they present just one more thing to go wrong and create system conflicts.) Well, what are you to do? Don’t waste good money on the disk cleanup and uninstaller programs out there because they don’t do a very good job. The short answer is to not install any and every program that comes along unless you are willing to live with all the clutter they eventually cause. Yes, you can do system saves and restore points and backups to try and get your system back, but you will find that it’s all a lot of trouble. The truth is, if you install and uninstall enough programs, sooner or later you are going to realize that the best solution is to reformat your hard drive and “start over”!

By now I hope you get the idea that you need to wise up and learn to think critically about how you are going to approach the matter of tweaking your system. Mostly you need to think very carefully about whether or not you even need to go out and buy some bloated and over-priced utility suite. And you need to realize that with a little thought and some careful research it is possible to create your very own system suite. Oh the beauty of it all! So, which will it be for you? You have three basic choices: (1) Just rely on Windows alone to do all of your system utility and tweaking chores – How boring!; (2) Go out and buy an expensive program that claims to do it all better than Windows – How foolish!; or (3) Build your own system toolkit and utility suite and become a power user – How exciting! The choice is up to you.

● If you make a change – especially a system wide change – make only one change at a time!

● If you make any change to the system or a particular program, make sure that you keep track of the changes you make and make sure you know how to undo it!

● If you are going to make any system or program changes whatsoever make sure that you have in some way, shape or form, backed up your computer! Use the System Restore feature; backup your computer using Windows Backup and make sure that you save the System State; backup the Registry; etc. If you are going to tweak your system sooner or later you are going to make a mistake. If you have not done some kind of “backup” you may have to reinstall everything from scratch. So, back it up!

WARNING: Most every setting you change – especially using the Control Panel – effects the Windows Registry. While you can make direct changes to the Windows Registry, it is usually advised against ... except for the power user. But even then, you should know that you can “kill” your Operating System with one errant “tweak” of the Registry. You can also mess up your system to the point that you may have to reinstall Windows all over again. Once again, don’t say you haven’t been warned. The moral of this story is that you need to learn to back up the Registry! (By the way, Windows XP – especially the Home Edition – does not have a very easy way to do this. But, there is a small, free utility that can do the job. More on this latter.)

After you have grown weary with the Microsoft Way of doing things – after you have done all you can with Windows to beat it into submission – it is time to turn to the professional tweakers places and programs. These are the places and programs that take Windows to the next level and do it better. These are the places and programs that make Windows work the way you want and the way it should have worked in the first place. And this is what its really all about: MAKING WINDOWS WORK THE WAY YOU WANT! So, are you ready? But, be warned, if you break free of the shackles of Microsoft and begin to think for yourself rather than let Microsoft tell you what you want and where you can go and what you can do, you might find your freedom to be a little bit exhilarating and then come to realize that ...

Yes, there are more free tweaker places and programs than you can imagine out there on the Internet but these will get you moving in the right direction. If you want to know more, I encourage you to read my “Free! Free! Free!” article which will give you a glimpse into the underlying philosophy of this page. And, for even more great free web sites and links to free programs and products, go to “Your Links to the World of Computers” page. Happy frobnicating! (Sorry, I just could not resist.)