Experienced Windows XP users likely know how to manually alphabetize their Start menu’s programs list, but doing so after every new program installation gets old pretty quickly. The Elder Geek offers a solution that keeps your programs alphabetized at all times—even if you try to re-sort them. The trick involves making a registry hack, and the Elder Geek points out that this one in particular could do some damage if done incorrectly, so make sure to back up your registry before venturing in.
Category: Windows Tip
Speed Up a Slow My Computer with a Simple Tweak
If you’re used to taking a coffee break because of long hangs every time you fire up Windows Explorer, the How-To Geek weblog suggests turning off network folder and printer searching in Explorer’s folder options. Just open Explorer, go to Tools -> Folder Options and click on the View tab. At the top of the File and Folders list, uncheck “Automatically search for network folders and printers” and click OK. If the networking issue was your Explorer slow-down culprit, you should notice a significantly faster startup next time you open up My Computer.
Hibernate vs. Standby
Quick: What’s the difference between putting your PC in Hibernate or Standby mode? Yeah, we weren’t sure either. Luckily the Productivity Portfolio weblog schools us on the finer details of Windows XP power schemes. Using Standby:
Your machine recovers quickly as your data is stored in RAM. The slower part is waking up the peripherals. Although your machine is in “standby” the power has been cut to items such as your hard drive and monitor. You’re running your machine in a very low power mode, but it is still on. This mode can be useful if you’re on a notebook and need to conserve your battery while you step away.
With Hibernate:
The big difference is that your PC has shut down and is not pulling power. Another difference is that your data is saved to your hard disk and not RAM. This makes it a safer, but slower option for shut down and resume.
Not all PCs have the capability and are configured to Hibernate. If yours is, to see the Hibernate option on your XP shutdown screen, hold down the Shift key when you shut down.
A really interesting article on the differences!!
