Life after Windows 7 installation (Part 1 of 2)
Windows 7 is, for most people, the best operating system launched by Microsoft in the last years. Launched October 22nd of 2009, has increased by 23% the benefits of Microsoft Windows division from last year. Have sold 175 million copies, which represents about 639,000 every day (7 copies per second).
Although to a lesser extent, Windows 7 also requires careful attention after installation. So, here you have 6 mandatory points to step in after its installation (please note that all actions below require you to be logged as Administrator or with enough admin rights).
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Optimize your Virtual Memory
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Virtual memory combines your computer’s RAM with temporary space on your hard disk. When RAM runs low, virtual memory moves data from RAM to a space called a paging file (PF). Moving data to and from the PF frees up RAM to complete its work. In certain situations make sense to modify your PF settings manually.
If you have multiple disks move the PF out of the Operating System drive this will improve R/W ratio. If you want to avoid fragmentation of your PF (so, you want to avoid performance decrease) set the minimum and maximum values to the same size (at minimum 1,5 times the amount of physical RAM you have; i.e. for a 2 GB computer set it to 3072 MB).
How to do it?
- Open System by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking System.
- In the left pane, click Advanced system settings. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
- On the Advanced tab, under Performance, click Settings.
- Click the Advanced tab, and then, under Virtual memory, click Change.
- Clear the Automatically manage paging file size for all drives check box.
- Under Drive [Volume Label], click the drive that contains the paging file you want to change.
- Click Custom size, type a new size in megabytes in the Initial size (MB) or Maximum size (MB) box, click Set, and then click OK.
Increases in size usually don’t require a restart, but if you decrease the size, you’ll need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect. Don’t disable or delete the paging file.
Get protected with an Anti-Virus
More important than good performance is security. Having a good anti-virus solution to keep your data free of viruses, malware and spyware should be a priority.
Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. Is a free download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology.
How to do it?
Step-by-step instructions on how to quickly install Microsoft Security Essentials.
Get the most of your hardware (update your drivers)
The Device Manager is a management console snap-in in Microsoft Windows operating systems. It allows users to view and control the hardware attached to the computer. When a piece of hardware is not working, the offending hardware is highlighted for the user to deal with.
Check that all your hardware is working correctly and with the latest available drivers. Be sure to update all hardware marked with a question (unknown hardware) or exclamation mark (conflictive hardware). This will let you enjoy your Windows 7 experience at maximum.
How to do it?
- Download the appropriate driver from manufacturer’s site or provide physical media like CD or DVD with the driver.
- Open Device Manager by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Device Manager. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
- In Device Manager, locate the device you want to update, and then double-click the device name.
- Click the Driver tab, and then click Update Driver and follow the instructions.
As usual, you can find more information on the links below: