CLEANING PRIVACY CONTENTS

For many reasons we may want to erase our privacy files. That includes internet browsing history, Recycle bin, Windows log files, DNS cache, User assist history, IIS log files etc. Clearing them manually can be a tedious task. Luckily most system optimization utilities come equipped with features to clean privacy items with just a couple of clicks.

Other than controlling your privacy, advantages of clearing some of these files are junk file removal, optimized and refreshed system function etc.

You can use the Privacy Sweep feature in Advanced System Care or use cleaning option in Wise cleaner.

CACHE-SPEED RELATION

More the cache memory available, higher the speed of processing. The cache is of mainly 3 types. L1, L2 and L3 cache. L3 cache memory is our area of interest. It ranges from 2 to 16 MB. 2-4 MB cache is enough for tasks like document editing, web browsing. However for advanced jobs such as video editing and high-end games you may need cache in the range of 4-16 MB.

BOOT OPTIMIZATION

Configuring the boot order is one way to speed up your computer’s startup. The BIOS manages the order of system boot items, such as floppy, CD/DVD optical drive, flash drive and hard drive. Rarely, you might need to boot from an optical disk or a USB drive. During startup, BIOS checks whether there are any bootable CDs or floppies inserted. When it doesn't detect any of these devices, it moves on to the hard drive. Since you use the hard drive to boot your OS every time you turn your computer on and almost never use bootable CDs or other drives, it only makes sense to give your hard drive first priority. This will save you a few seconds during computer startup.

Steps to follow:

1. Enter BIOS by pressing the correct key (usually esc or delete or any other function keys) for your system during startup
2. Find the “Boot” entry and navigate to the submenu
3. Find an entry that says "Boot Sequence" or "Boot Priority Order" or "Boot Device Priority". Press Enter if required.
4. Then find your hard drive on the list. If it's first on the list, then you don't need to change anything. If it's not, then you'll need to make it first by moving it up the list. Just follow the on-screen instructions.
5. When you're done, press F10 to save the changes and exit.
6. Reboot your computer for the changes to take effect.

Floppy disks are obsolete nowadays. If your computer has a Floppy Drive and you no longer use it, disabling it will further speed up the computer startup. To disable the Floppy Drive, you'll need to select Floppy Drive A within BIOS and set it to Disabled.

 After you’ve saved the changes, your computer won't look for floppy drives anymore. You can do the same for your CD drive and re-enable it or move it to the top later on in case you need to boot from a disc.

SELECTING THE RIGHT BATTERY FOR YOUR PC

Selection of a battery is directly linked with your back up needs. Commonly available batteries for laptops are of 4-cell, 6-cell, 8-cell and 12-cell. Batteries with 4-cell being are having lowest power backup and are least expensive whereas 12-cell will be having highest backup and are highly expensive.

The battery backup depends upon many factors. Some of the prominent factors are:

1. Processor power utilization.
2. Other hardware such as Memory, HDD power utilization.
3. Screen size and brightness used.
4. The condition of the battery.
5. Cooling ability of the laptop.
6. OS and BIOS dependency.
7. Charger power rating and battery type.

Ensure compatibility of battery with your system. You can check the price and model of battery from most of the manufacturer’s website. The purchase can be made from the manufacturer’s website or from an e-commerce website such as e-bay, amazon etc.

CHANGE APPLICATION PRIORITY

If you don't have a dual or multi-core CPU, you can still speed up applications and overall computer performance by changing priority settings for programs of your choice. Basically, assigning high priority to an application will speed up the application itself, but might affect overall system performance. Similarly, assigning low priority to a resource-hungry application will speed up overall computer performance, but will slow down the application itself.

You can change application priority in the Task Manager:

1.   Open the Task Manager by pressing Ctrl+Shift+Esc.
2. Now go to the Applications tab, right-click the application you want to assign to a different processor and select Go to process.
3. Right-click on the highlighted process, navigate to Set Priority and select the desired priority from the list.
4. Close the Task Manager.