Boot Up Faster

1)Boot Up Faster
All of you readers running Windows will know how much of a pain it is to boot up the ol' computer (because a lot of times it takes a while). Here's a good tip to help you get blogging, surfing the web, and reading Liehacker posts quicker:
Click Start and then click on Run.Into the dialogue box type "msconfig"
This will now open a dialogue with numerous options available. Click on the tab to the far right (it is called Startup), and you shall be presented with a list of programs and processes that will have check marks beside their names. These are the various apps that load on your computer when you boot it up. Help make the boot a little less painful by unchecking boxes of programs that you know you don't use from startup unless you specifically need them. Warning: This is recommended for intermediate Windows Users only. Lack of in-depth knowledge or understanding of Windows may result in unwanted results (such as the computer not working as intended). For example, if you don't use Quick Time often, uncheck the box beside "qttask." This will now stop Quick Time from booting with your computer. Uncheck as many as you like, but don't uncheck programs that you are unsure what they do. Congratulations! Your boot times should now be faster depending on how many processes were unchecked. Happy Booting fellow readers!
2)start -> run -> services.msc
Turning off unecessary services can make your system run faster, and more secure. If you have a custom wireless client that comes with your wifi card, and windows is always fighting for control, then turn off Wireless Zero Config. Turn off things like telenet, windows messenger, etc. Turn off themes if you want a bigger performance boost, but be warned that everything is ugly without them.
However: BE CAREFUL with what you turn off! Make sure you keep track of which ones you're turning off, because they can sometimes have unexpected consequences. Make sure you know what to turn back on, if you make a mistake ;-)
3)I've found the handiest Windows secret to be changing the priority of tasks on the fly. If you have an application that hogs the CPU for an extended period of time (such as 3D rendering) but still wish to work without delay in other programs, give this a try...
1. Press CTRL-ALT-Del2. Click the Processes tab3. Right-click on the hog process (easy to find by looking at the associated CPU % display)4. Choose the Set Priority menu5. Bump the priority down to "BelowNormal"
Now Windows will give more CPU to other tasks you start, while using whatever's left for the (former) hog process. This will obviously slow down the hog process somewhat but not terribly so since it will get full access to the CPU during any idle time.
To return priority to the original task, just set it back to Normal. For an extra boost you could even set it to AboveNormal.
You'll get a popup advising you that this may cause instability in some applications but I've never had a problem. I wouldn't advise doing this to a task like CD/DVD burning but for most anything else it's great.