The Only Yard For The Internet Junkie

Here you will see the list of all the winners for the "Contest Winner Week 2" top spot… :cool:

And plus! The winner for this contest will get this shiny award banner for winning the contest… :wub:

So when your visitors visits your site and click this banner… They will see this post and they will find your site listed here in this winning list post… And this is the proof that you’ve won this contest… :w00t:

Here’s the code for the "Contest Winner Week 2" winning banner… (Winners only) :devil:

<a href="http://www.junkieyard.com/2008/04/12/winner-week-2/"><img src="http://www.junkieyard.com/images/contest-winner.jpg" border="0" alt="TopSpot Contest Winner" width="125" height="125" /></a>

The winner may display this banner at their site or not… It’s up to the winner… You CAN’T and will NOT display this banner at your site if you’re not in this winning list… :alien:

To join this contest please visit this link here … Or you can click this contest banner here or at the sidebar… It will point you to the latest contest…

*** Will be updated when there’s a new winner…

Listed winners for "Contest Winner Week 2"

14 April 2008

Whack! News won a top spot (125×125) banner advertising space for a month. Read the winning post …

Similar Posts:

• Contest Winner Week 1 (Updated 07 June 2008)
• Contest Winner Week 3 (Updated 21 June 2008)
• Contest Winner Week 4 (Updated 30 June 2008)
• Blog And Win A Top Spot Contest Week 3 (Updated 17 April 2008)
• Blog And Win A Top Spot Contest (Updated 14 April 2008)

Since defragging the disk won’t do much to improve Windows XP performance, here are 23 suggestions that can enhance the performance and reliability of your PC. Best of all, most of them will cost you nothing.

1.) To decrease a system’s boot time and increase system performance, use the money you save by not buying defragmentation software — the built-in Windows defragmenter works just fine — and instead equip the computer with an Ultra-133 or Serial ATA hard drive with 8-MB cache buffer.

2.) If a PC has less than 512 MB of RAM, add more memory. This is a relatively inexpensive and easy upgrade that can dramatically improve system performance.

3.) Ensure that Windows XP is utilizing the NTFS file system. If you’re not sure, here’s how to check: First, double-click the My Computer icon, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Next, examine the File System type; if it says FAT32, then back-up any important data. Next, click Start, click Run, type CMD, and then click OK. At the prompt, type CONVERT C: /FS:NTFS and press the Enter key. This process may take a while; it’s important that the computer be uninterrupted and virus-free. The file system used by the bootable drive will be either FAT32 or NTFS. I highly recommend NTFS for its superior security, reliability, and efficiency with larger disk drives.

4.) Disable file indexing. The indexing service extracts information from documents and other files on the hard drive and creates a "searchable keyword index." As you can imagine, this process can be quite taxing on any system.

The idea is that the user can search for a word, phrase, or property inside a document, should they have hundreds or thousands of documents and not know the file name of the document they want. Windows XP’s built-in search functionality can still perform these kinds of searches without the Indexing service. It just takes longer. The OS has to open each file at the time of the request to help find what the user is looking for.

Most people never need this feature of search. Those who do are typically in a large corporate environment where thousands of documents are located on at least one server. But if you’re a typical system builder, most of your clients are small and medium businesses. And if your clients have no need for this search feature, I recommend disabling it.

Here’s how: First, double-click the My Computer icon. Next, right-click on the C: Drive, then select Properties. Uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching." Next, apply changes to "C: subfolders and files," and click OK. If a warning or error message appears (such as "Access is denied"), click the Ignore All button.

5.) Update the PC’s video and motherboard chipset drivers. Also, update and configure the BIOS. For more information on how to configure your BIOS properly, see this article on my site.

6.) Empty the Windows Prefetch folder every three months or so. Windows XP can "prefetch" portions of data and applications that are used frequently. This makes processes appear to load faster when called upon by the user. That’s fine. But over time, the prefetch folder may become overloaded with references to files and applications no longer in use. When that happens, Windows XP is wasting time, and slowing system performance, by pre-loading them. Nothing critical is in this folder, and the entire contents are safe to delete.

7.) Once a month, run a disk cleanup. Here’s how: Double-click the My Computer icon. Then right-click on the C: drive and select Properties. Click the Disk Cleanup button — it’s just to the right of the Capacity pie graph — and delete all temporary files.

8.) In your Device Manager, double-click on the IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers device, and ensure that DMA is enabled for each drive you have connected to the Primary and Secondary controller. Do this by double-clicking on Primary IDE Channel. Then click the Advanced Settings tab. Ensure the Transfer Mode is set to "DMA if available" for both Device 0 and Device 1. Then repeat this process with the Secondary IDE Channel.

9.) Upgrade the cabling. As hard-drive technology improves, the cabling requirements to achieve these performance boosts have become more stringent. Be sure to use 80-wire Ultra-133 cables on all of your IDE devices with the connectors properly assigned to the matching Master/Slave/Motherboard sockets. A single device must be at the end of the cable; connecting a single drive to the middle connector on a ribbon cable will cause signaling problems. With Ultra DMA hard drives, these signaling problems will prevent the drive from performing at its maximum potential. Also, because these cables inherently support "cable select," the location of each drive on the cable is important. For these reasons, the cable is designed so drive positioning is explicitly clear.

10.) Remove all spyware from the computer. Use free programs such as AdAware by Lavasoft or SpyBot Search & Destroy. Once these programs are installed, be sure to check for and download any updates before starting your search. Anything either program finds can be safely removed. Any free software that requires spyware to run will no longer function once the spyware portion has been removed; if your customer really wants the program even though it contains spyware, simply reinstall it. For more information on removing Spyware visit this Web Pro News page.

11.) Remove any unnecessary programs and/or items from Windows Startup routine using the MSCONFIG utility. Here’s how: First, click Start, click Run, type MSCONFIG, and click OK. Click the StartUp tab, then uncheck any items you don’t want to start when Windows starts. Unsure what some items are? Visit the WinTasks Process Library. It contains known system processes, applications, as well as spyware references and explanations. Or quickly identify them by searching for the filenames using Google or another Web search engine.

12.) Remove any unnecessary or unused programs from the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel.

13.) Turn off any and all unnecessary animations, and disable active desktop. In fact, for optimal performance, turn off all animations. Windows XP offers many different settings in this area. Here’s how to do it: First click on the System icon in the Control Panel. Next, click on the Advanced tab. Select the Settings button located under Performance. Feel free to play around with the options offered here, as nothing you can change will alter the reliability of the computer — only its responsiveness.

14.) If your customer is an advanced user who is comfortable editing their registry, try some of the performance registry tweaks offered at Tweak XP.

15.) Visit Microsoft’s Windows update site regularly, and download all updates labeled Critical. Download any optional updates at your discretion.

16.) Update the customer’s anti-virus software on a weekly, even daily, basis. Make sure they have only one anti-virus software package installed. Mixing anti-virus software is a sure way to spell disaster for performance and reliability.

17.) Make sure the customer has fewer than 500 type fonts installed on their computer. The more fonts they have, the slower the system will become. While Windows XP handles fonts much more efficiently than did the previous versions of Windows, too many fonts — that is, anything over 500 — will noticeably tax the system.

18.) Do not partition the hard drive. Windows XP’s NTFS file system runs more efficiently on one large partition. The data is no safer on a separate partition, and a reformat is never necessary to reinstall an operating system. The same excuses people offer for using partitions apply to using a folder instead. For example, instead of putting all your data on the D: drive, put it in a folder called "D drive." You’ll achieve the same organizational benefits that a separate partition offers, but without the degradation in system performance. Also, your free space won’t be limited by the size of the partition; instead, it will be limited by the size of the entire hard drive. This means you won’t need to resize any partitions, ever. That task can be time-consuming and also can result in lost data.

19.) Check the system’s RAM to ensure it is operating properly. I recommend using a free program called MemTest86. The download will make a bootable CD or diskette (your choice), which will run 10 extensive tests on the PC’s memory automatically after you boot to the disk you created. Allow all tests to run until at least three passes of the 10 tests are completed. If the program encounters any errors, turn off and unplug the computer, remove a stick of memory (assuming you have more than one), and run the test again. Remember, bad memory cannot be repaired, but only replaced.

20.) If the PC has a CD or DVD recorder, check the drive manufacturer’s Web site for updated firmware. In some cases you’ll be able to upgrade the recorder to a faster speed. Best of all, it’s free.

21.) Disable unnecessary services. Windows XP loads a lot of services that your customer most likely does not need. To determine which services you can disable for your client, visit the Black Viper site for Windows XP configurations.

22.) If you’re sick of a single Windows Explorer window crashing and then taking the rest of your OS down with it, then follow this tip: open My Computer, click on Tools, then Folder Options. Now click on the View tab. Scroll down to "Launch folder windows in a separate process," and enable this option. You’ll have to reboot your machine for this option to take effect.

23.) At least once a year, open the computer’s cases and blow out all the dust and debris. While you’re in there, check that all the fans are turning properly. Also inspect the motherboard capacitors for bulging or leaks. For more information on this leaking-capacitor phenomena, you can read numerous articles on my site.

Following any of these suggestions should result in noticeable improvements to the performance and reliability of your customers’ computers. If you still want to defrag a disk, remember that the main benefit will be to make your data more retrievable in the event of a crashed drive.

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Just like the title said… Blog and win a top spot for a month… How about that? Feeling excited already? Now… Let’s start the contest then…

I will run this contest every week… The first one should be on day 1 every month… The second one is on day 7 every month… The third one is on day 14 every month… And the last one for the month is on day 21 every month… Then I will start it over again on day 1 the on the next month and the next and the next… The winner will get the top spot for a month… So… we got a winner every week… As you can see at the top of this page where it says "Contest Winner Week 1" "Contest Winner Week 2" "Contest Winner Week 3" "Contest Winner Week 4" That’s where you’ll get your top spot… How about that… At the top of the page… Nobody will missed that… It’s the first thing they see…

To enter this contest is easy… What you have to do? You just need to blog about this contest at your site and don’t forget to put a link to this post in it… Then you can leave a comment here pointing to your post and banner that you blogged about… It’s that easy… You also have to post a comment to congratulate the previous winner of this contest at their winning site… (Since this is the first contest then you don’t have to do this… but you have to do this on the next contest)

I will randomly pick the winner each week based on the content of your blog… So… make sure you blogged it nicely and cool… If it got my attentions then it will be the winner for the week and got the top spot for a month… And the winner cannot enter this contest again until the next month…

And as usual… there’s a little requirement to follow… You have to put our 125×125 banner anywhere at your site… I’m not so good at image graphic manipulations… That’s the best I can get… :lol: You can click this banner here or at the bottom of my sidebar to get to the latest post about this contest… I will link it to the latest contest post every week when I run a new contest about this…

And here’s the code for the 125×125 banner…

<a href="http://www.JunkieYard.Com/"><img src="http://www.junkieyard.com/images/topspot.jpg" border="0" alt="TopSpot Contest" width="125" height="125" /></a>

Let’s recall what we have to do here…

1. Blog about this contest at your site and put a link to this post in it…
2. Put the 125×125 banner anywhere at your site…
3. Leave your comment here and point the link to your post and banner…

*UPDATE*

You can click this banner here or you can click the text "Contest Winner Week 2" at the top of the page to see the winning list of the winners for this contest…

And remember… If the comment in this contest post is closed then it means that this contest is also closed… You’ll have to wait for the next contest to enter…

You must be logged in or use an OpenID to post a comment here… Seems like people don’t know how to use an OpenID… Here’s a hint… How do I get an OpenID? or just Register here (It’s free) And you can also use the trackback address to comment here from your own site…

That’s it… And good luck… :wink:

*** THIS CONTEST IS OFFICIALLY CLOSED ***

You can click the images here to see the new contest and to see the winner for this contest…

Similar Posts:

• Blog And Win A Top Spot Contest Week 3 (Updated 17 April 2008)
• 1200 EntreCard Credits And A Top Spot To Be Won
• Contest Winner Week 4 (Updated 30 June 2008)
• Contest Winner Week 2 (Updated 14 April 2008)
• Contest Winner Week 3 (Updated 21 June 2008)