Windows XP Slow Startup Problems.

How to partition hard drive but before we go into this I think I had better explain what a hard disk partition is. Not for you knowledgeable people but for those you have not had the insight on these things that you and I have.

Hard disks are for the storing of data and software programs, with partitioning you can place these on different parts of the disk that are logically separated from each other.

Let look at an analogy. Think of your pantry, in it you have shelves each shelf space is analogous to a hard disk partition. The shelf spaces are separated by a wooden shelf. A hard disk partition is separated by a logical barrier. In your pantry you may put all your tins of food in one shelf space and all your cereals in another. Another one you may use to put all your pots and pans.

With a hard disk partition you would have your windows operating system on one, your data on another, software programs in another partition. You can even have another Windows system in another partition.

But why, why, why do you say. Well if we consider that two windows operating systems are installed, one in each partition then it provides a good backup system if for some reason one fails. If your main one fails then you can choose to boot the other windows system from the other partition. If you also have all your data on a third partition then you can still get all your data.

There is also one other very good reason to partition your disk. The size of hard disks are getting astronomical 300 plus gigabytes in size. ( My first PC had a 10 megabyte drive). Partitioning makes them much easier to manage in chunks. Also it is preferable to have your windows on a small partition as it make the startup faster. Also if you have problems with your windows system and you need to do a disk check it makes it much faster when performing this.

So how do you partition a disk? It can be a bit tricky if your window’s operating system was already installed when you bought your PC. If you are starting from scratch and installing windows for the first time then the windows install program allows you to partition a part. For windows I suggest a partition size anything from 20Gbytes up to 100gb depending on the size of your hard disk.

Once you have Windows installed on this first partition then the windows disk manager allows you to create further partitions in the free space remaining on disk. As I said before you can only do this if you are installing a new windows system.

So what if the windows system is already installed and you have been using your computer for a while?

Unfortunately to create a new partition completely, contiguous space is required without anything in it. Windows has the annoying habit of spreading stuff all over the disk. The only way of partitioning an existing disk is by using partitioning software that compacts all the programs down to the bottom of the hard disk, freeing up all the higher space. This comes at a cost because you will have to purchase this software. One you may like to review is “Paragon Partition Manager“. This and other types usually provide you with more enhancements that just partitioning, they provide complete disk management that is usually superior to the windows disk management system.

So how to partition hard drive, manage and secure your hard disk as well as your valuable data it is essential that you have the right tool for the job.

Want to clean your files system up? Got to “File Cleanup” to find out how.

Windows XP Utilities | No Comments »

The Windows XP Taskbar is usually situated at the bottom of the display. Did you know that there are several things you can do to it to make it more friendly and useful?

For example you can make it disappear and reappear at will thus making your whole screen display available for just viewing. You can also put your most used programs as icons and invoke them with a single click. You can also move it around and make it bigger so if you are a person who has lots of windows open can show them all in buttons in the taskbar.

If you are interested in customizing your windows xp taskbar, then read on.

Your windows xp taskbar consists of 3 parts. On the left you can see the “quick Start” icons. On the right you can see icons of all the programs that are started during startup. The middle contains all the buttons of the programs you have running.

Windows XP Taskbar

First find the start button and left click with your mouse, select “settings” then “Taskbar and Start Menu” You will get a window like this:

Taskbar Window

As you can see there are several boxes you can select. Before you can on the actual Taskbar you need to unlock it. The Auto hide selection makes the windows xp taskbar disappear if you mouse pointer is not at the bottom of the screen. If you do not want to use the quick launch buttons you can deselect it this makes extra space for the program buttons. If you select the “Hide inactive icons” This hides any startup programs that are not presently in use.

Select everything you need but leave the “lock the taskbar” deselected. Click on “apply” then “OK”.

Now let us have a bit of fun with the windows xp taskbar.

If you place your mouse pointer in an empty space in the taskbar and press the left button on your mouse holding it down, you will find that when you move the mouse to the right, left or top the taskbar will move to those locations. Take you finger of the left mouse button and it will stay there. Move the taskbar to the location you like best.

If you would like your most used programs as “quick launch” icons in your windows xp taskbar all you have to do is to left click on the icon on your main desktop. While holding the button down drag the icon down into the “quick start” area of your windows xp taskbar then release the button. You will get a miniature of the icon in the taskbar. You can then delete the program icon on your main desktop if you wish. This enables you to reduce the “clutter” on you desktop.

You can make the windows xp taskbar deeper if you wish. Just move your mouse down to the taskbar, move it to the top edge until you see an up and down arrow. When you see this press your left mouse button and while holding it down move the mouse up until you get the depth you require then release the button.

One other thing you can do is increase the width of the “quick start” area. You may want to do this if the number of icons cannot fit the area. You will see a vertical bar to the right of the quick start area. Move your mouse to this until you see a left and right arrow. Press your left mouse button and while holding it down move the mouse to the right until all your icons can be seen.

The last think you should do to your windows xp taskbar is to lock it. This will prevent any accidental changes being made. All you have to do is “Right” click in an empty area in the task back. A window will appear where you will see a menu item “lock the taskbar” just click on this and then your taskbar is locked and no changes can be made. If you need to make changes just do the same and deselect the “lock the taskbar” and you will then be able to modify your windows xp taskbar again.

More information on what you can do on your desktop can be found at “Desktop Shortcuts“

Windows XP Desktop | No Comments »