my startup items
Have you ever taken a glance by the time in the lower right hand of your computer and notice a number of icons sitting there. When you install most programs, they have a small part of the program running, so when you finally need the program it doesn’t have to start loading from scratch and it starts faster, another use is to automatically check for updates and specific intervals.
These are all legitimate uses, but when you start to install a number of programs and they all do this, it starts to slow the system down and it takes a bit longer to start. AOL, itunes, quicktime, AIM, Google Desktop are all culprits.
There is a quick and easy way to deal with this, if you are comfortable using computers hit start > run and they type msconfig in the dialog box and hit enter, then hit the startup tap. You will see a list of programs and a check box beside it to see which ones start with the computer. I usually remove them all except for my anti-virus and firewall programs. After you it ok it will ask you to restart. On your first restart a dialog box will open telling you that system changes have been made, check the box and hit ok.
If after making any changes, some of your programs don’t work the same or if you need something to start with the computer such as a fax program or Magic Jack phone service, put all the check boxes back and disable them one by one.
For router to router connections
Suppose you have an ADSL modem with a four port router (e.g., a D-Link DSL504 ADSL Modem/Router). You’ve bought a second router (e.g., a Belkin 54Mbps Wireless 802.11g) and want to plug this into the network to add in and to share more local machines, and to share the Internet connection. Let’s refer to the first ADSL router as router A and the second as router B.
Configure router A to issue DHCP addresses in some range that does not include one IP address that we will use for router B For example, router A might only issue IP’s in the range starting at 192.168.0.2 and ending at 192.168.0.33 and we’ll configure router B with 192.168.0.40. This is all the setup that is required for router A, which otherwise has DHCP enabled and its usual WAN setup for your ISP.
Disable DHCP for router B, and configure its WAN (Wide Area Network) to any STATIC IP. Specify a gateway IP of 0.0.0.0 (or perhaps 192.168.111.1, if your router will not allow 0.0.0.0). This will stop it sending traffic to its WAN (we won’t be using this router’s WAN connection). Further configure the WAN Type to be Static with a WAN IP of 192.168.111.2 perhaps (should be different to the A network), and a Subnet Mask of 255.255.255.0.
The LAN (local area network) configuration for router B should be set to STATIC with an IP address within the subnet range of router A but outside its DHCP range. We might set the LAN IP to 192.168.0.40 with a Subnet Mask of 255.255.255.255 (or 255.255.255.254 perhaps if that doesn’t work) and with DHCP Disabled. In fact, router A will serve as the DHCP server for anything connected to router B.
Make sure that nothing is plugged into router B’s WAN. Connect a LAN ethernet port of router B to a LAN ethernet port of router A to have them talking to each other, using the usual ethernet cable that you would use to plug your computer into the router.
Your comments as usual are always welcome and appreciated
windows xp logo
Windows XP D-Day is 6-8-08.
Monday June 30th 2008 will be the last day that Microsoft will offer Windows XP to the general public. The rumors that Microsoft would extend the date have been proven false. They will, however, continue to support Windows XP until 2014. So XP users needn’t fret that you’ll suddenly be victimized by hackers due to unpatched security flaws. Updates should work exactly as you’re used to them currently through the Windows Update system.
Some exceptions to this are some manufacturers that are making low cost computers that are not powerful enough to run Windows Vista.
There is always eBay, where a search for Windows XP in the Software>Operating Systems category returned almost 800 results.
UPDATE: JAN 29th 2009
I guess this was an overstatement because Windows XP continues to be sold. On new notebooks, netbooks and you can find it in abundance on store shelves, online and on ebay
