A guide to a smoother XP

[masey]

I have been working on a simple easy to use speed guide. Take a look and let me know what you think. Be honest. I Think I have it pretty tweaked out for almost all users. But it is not quite done yet. Give me your Ideas!!  A couple of quick notes. Hijack this was put in there more to define it and try to keep new users away from it. The resetting the modum once a month just to let them know its ok fine to do it and you will not screw anything up. No I dont really do that.

  I decided to write this handy little speed guide to help increase your download speeds and overall Internet speeds. Keep in mind there is no simple fix to increase your speeds. No magic button as it were. I write this for users of xp with service pack 2. It is super important that you follow the guide in the steps provided. A example would be this. It is pointless to "tweak" your Internet connection if you have a virus and or spy ware. I will keep an eye on this thread for a few days and give you all the help I can. Ask away. Those programs that promise to increase your download speeds or Internet speeds. Pretty much are "snake oil" They just do not deliver on the promise.

  Before starting on your work in xp do this. Go to start.......control panel.....folder options.......select the "view" tab. Go to "Hidden files and folders"  Change the settings so "show hidden files and folders" is selected. Click apply.  Keeps some nasties from hiding out. I would also uncheck the box that says "hide extensions for known file types"  click apply. This way when you scan for virus and finding them will be a bit easier .

  "hijackthis"  is a MAJOR GEEK TOOL!!! IT CAN SCREW UP YOUR COMPUTER IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!!!!  Now hijackthis can be a great tool to help find and get rid of nasties!!  You can come to www.testmy.net and ask for help!

  http://www.windowsstartup.com/ Is a free handy program that will help you manage programs that run when your computer starts. Virus and Spy ware can be found pretty easy by checking what programs start when your computer does.

  Make sure your firewall or lack of firewall is not creating the problem Turn off your firewall just before you test your speeds. Now DONT forget to turn your firewall back on. Now run a speed test with your firewall on. Try running the test with your firewall disabled. See if that could be the issue. To better understand firewalls I suggest you do some research on the internet to learn more about firewalls.  DO NOT FORGET TO TURN YOUR FIREWALL BACK ON!!

  Ok I found a file that Will NOT delete. There are 2 free programs that will help. "moveonboot" is a free program you can get at most download sites. or look here http://www.gibinsoft.net/gipoutils/ I found when using this program. After you reboot the file will still be there. Just right click on it and delete it then. The other one I have not used but hear it works great can be found here.http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/  Or last but not least reboot to safe mode and delete from there.

1. First step is lets start with your modem.  Its that little box that you or your installer hooked your computer into. That is your modem. Little box that shows the flashing lites when your computer is on the internet. It has a power cord from the back of it that plugs into a wall socket.  What you want to do is reset it. Shut off your computer. Unplug the modem power cord from the wall. Now wait 2 min. Plug the power cord back into the wall. Wait 2 more min then turn on your computer. That just resets your modem. Kinda the same idea as rebooting the computer.  Doing this every once in awhile is always a good idea. I reset mine about once a month.

2 .Now run your speed tests here  http://www.testmy.net/ Select download test. Use the "SmarTest" That gives you a nice starting point to fixing speed issues. Now lets run a speed test. Keep in mind if you run 2 speed tests back to back with out running this handy free little program you could get false results. http://www.ccleaner.com/  Run one test. Close your browser (firefox or internet explorer) run this crap cleaner program then run another speed test.

3. Speeds still seem slow now what? OK you want to run a virus and spy ware check. Reboot your computer.(Turn the computer off then back on) Hit and hold the f8 button at the top of your keyboard. Using the up and down arrows on your keyboard select "safe mode with network". You will see a pop up window. Simply hit yes. Now your icons will be huge and the screen will look funny. That is normal. Now run a anti virus check and check for spy ware as well. If something is found. Get rid of it. Now get out of safe mode by rebooting your computer and "start windows normally"

4. Speeds still seem slow. Consider this. If you have a cable connection. That means your internet is hooked up through your cable company. You share your connection with other users. So during the day your speeds may suffer. If you have dsl. Dsl is when your computer is hooked to the internet through your phone company. You can surf the internet and your phone still works. Dsl no one shares your connection. Dial up is your connection is through your phone company. You can not use your phone while on the internet. Your speeds are pretty slow. No one shares your connection

5. Now try this patch. Xp by default only allows 10 half open connections. You can increase that by running this free patch. This patch does seem to work great on all types of connections. If it makes things worse for you speed wise then run the patch again and reset your connections to default. Remember to reboot your computer after you apply the patch. http://www.lvllord.de/

6. I can not stress this enough!!  Only use this handy little free tool if you are on cable or dial up. IF YOU ARE ON DSL LEAVE THIS ONE ALONE. I have seen countless people with dsl try this program an make things worse. After you use the tool reboot. If it makes things worse then run the tool again and go back to the default settings. A note. See the little slider bar at the top. You want to move that to your advertised speeds. Advertised speeds is how fast your internet connection is supposed to be. Call the provider of your internet connection and ask them what your "advertised speeds" should be. Or when you run the download speed test read the page and it will tell you what your " advertised speeds" should be. Xp by default has the best settings for DSL. You were warned.

7. Now you have the information and the tools to fix your speed issues. If you are still having problems go to the forum section of http://www.testmy.net/ and ask away. Those guys rock and will help anyway they can.

8. Now if you run the xp system restore on your computer. AFTER you get rid of all the junk. They virus and spy ware and your internet speeds are super great you will need to do one of 2 things. Make a restore point. Call it what you wish. That way if you have to "restore" your computer you can use that one. No point in going back to a restore point that may have a virus or issues.  You can also turn off system restore. Go to Start....My computer.....System restore button........check the box "turn off system restore on all drives. Now after your computer is the way you want it. Turn off system restore. Reboot the computer. Turn system restore back on and that will keep you from accidentally restoring your computer to a time you had a virus or nasty or speed issues. I myself suggest turn off system restore AFTER you get rid of nasties and get speed issues dealt with. Turn it off. Reboot your computer. Turn it back on. DOING THIS WILL Get rid of ALL PREVIOUS RESTORE POINTS!! It will also keep your system from becoming re infected.

9. Always make sure before you run your anti-virus or your anti spy ware they are up to date!!

Kinda pointless to run a virus check or a spy ware check if the program and definitions are outdated!!  Try to get your self into this habit. Open your anti-virus or your anti-spy ware and before you do anything MAKE SURE IT"S UPDATED!!  After the updates are done then run your scans. Scanning in safe mode does not have to be done every time you want to check for virus or spy ware.  As a rule. Scan in safe mode for virus and spy ware once a month. If your having major issues with your computer then "scan in safe mode" right away!!

10. Virus..Spy ware....Adware...Trojans.. Why should you worry. I speak in general here. There are always exceptions. Generally speaking they are all the same. They want to use some of your internet connection to steal from other computers. So in short. You are sharing your connection with a hacker and really don't know it. That in a nut shell is the general idea.

11. I wasn't to explain adware. You will see that a lot. So you are surfing on the internet and come across this super cool free screen saver. All you have to do is download it and give them your e-mail address. Sounds like a good deal huh?? NO!!!!!  Full of ad ware. That means they are gonna use some of your internet connection for there own use. In simple terms. Its a trade off. You get the software. They get to use part of your internet connection as long and as much as they want. DO NOT DO IT!!  If you see a "free" Program out there. Make sure its not "adware". As always if you do download a "free" program from the internet. Scan your computer for spy ware. DO NOT forget. Update the spy ware program first before you run your scan or you are wasting your time.

12. E-mail. Get your self a free e-mail account at hot mail. Or yahoo. Or countless others. Use that for your e-mail address. DO NOT USE THE ONE YOU PAY FOR!! Do not use outlook express!!  Use hot mail. Or yahoo. Or there are countless others. So when you are online and have to give a e-mail address have it sent to the free one. Yahoo. Hot mail. Or find a free one. To better understand it if you wish. I suggest. Ask a geek or a friend. Or research it on the internet.  When the junk mail starts coming in and it will you will be glad its on your free e-mail account and not the one you are paying for.

  I hope you found some useful information in this guide. With some help of others. Years of my own experience with computers. As well as helping others as much as possible. I am pretty sure I have come up with a simple easy to use guide to help you with your internet connection issues. This guide is meant to give you a huge head start in fixing and speeding up your internet connections. Of course there could be other issues not addressed in this guide. But generally speaking this will deal with 90 percent or more of thoes  with issues. For the other 10 percent When you ask for help from others you can tell them you did all the basics already. That should speed up getting your connection fixed quite a bit. If you found the guide useful and it helped then simply pass along the information and help others. Have a Nice day.........