Tips to Keep PCs From Being Such a Drag

There are several easy steps to make a PC faster and friendlier.

* Let’s start with Windows. Right-click anywhere on the Desktop and a menu box will open. Notice that it opens diagonally from top left to bottom right. This happens because Windows is set by default to animate menus and drop-down boxes. To change this, right-click anywhere on the Desktop and then click Properties. Click the Effects tab and notice that there is a check mark to the left of “Animate windows, menus and lists.” Click on that check mark to remove it, and then click OK. Now right-click on the Desktop and notice how much faster the menu pops up.

* Another default setting that should be changed is the amount of hard disk reserved for the Recycle Bin. Windows by default sets aside 10% of a hard drive. So on a 20-gigabyte drive, 2 GB are reserved for trash. Fix that by right-clicking the Recycle Bin and then Properties to see a slider switch set to 10%. Click on the vertical bar and while holding down the left mouse button drag that bar down to 1%. Click OK. The result is a gain of about 1.8 GB in disk storage space on a 20 GB hard drive.

* You can dedicate more RAM for caching files to increase speed. To do that, right-click My Computer and then Properties. Click on the Performance tab and then the File System button. The spot reading “Typical role for this computer:” is set by default to “Desktop computer.” Click on the black down arrow to the right of the words “Desktop computer” and select “Network server.” Click OK and then Close. You will be asked to restart your computer so that the changes you made can take effect.

* To save a lot of mouse clicks by telling Windows to work on a single click, right-click My Computer and left-click Explore. Click View and then Folder Options. Make sure that “Custom, based on the settings you choose:” is selected, and then click the Settings button off to the right. There are four sets of choices here. In the last set, “Click items as follows,” click the first and third choices. Now click OK and then Close. Close Explorer, and now every time your mouse pointer touches a shortcut, that shortcut will be underlined and highlighted. One click launches the shortcut.

* If you use a modem to connect to the Internet, double-click My Computer and then Control Panel. Double-click the Modem icon. Click Properties, and notice that the modem speed is set to 115,200. Click on the black down arrow and select 57,600. Click OK and then Close. Now close Control Panel. This change helps stabilize a modem connection.

* If you frequently print documents, a printer shortcut is really helpful. To create this shortcut, click Start, then Settings and then Printers. Your default printer will have a check mark inside of a black circle to the left of the icon. Right-click the default printer and click Create Shortcut. Windows will respond with the message “Windows cannot create a shortcut here. Do you want the shortcut to be placed on the desktop instead?” Click Yes. Now you will have a printer icon on your Desktop.

Double-click the My Documents folder on the Desktop. If it fills your screen, click the box in the upper-right corner of your screen to reduce the size of the My Documents window. Now click a document, drag it to the printer shortcut icon and drop it. Windows will open the application you used to create the document, print the document and then shut the application down. It’s much easier than always having to open Word or Excel.

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Jeff Levy hosts the “On Computers” radio talk show from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on KFI-AM (640).