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Tip of the Day -
Beefed Up Resource Monitor
As I am sure you know one of the first place to look, when
your PC starts running slowly or erratically, is the Performance section of
Task Manager (Ctrl + Alt + Del). The graphs for CPU and Page File usage can
tell you at a glance how much of your PC’s resources are being gobbled up by
programs and Services. Well, this useful facility is even better in Windows 7,
select the Performance tab in Task Manager as before then click the Resource
Monitor button and there’s a whole new world of information of what your PC is
up to.
In addition to the CPU moving graph there’s extra graphs
charting Disk and Network Activity and Memory faults/sec and these are neatly
arranged down the right hand side. However, the best features are the itemised
drop-downs for CPU, Disk, Network and Memory. For me the Network section is the
most intriguing and it lists each and every connection to your PC, including
all of the ports and who’s scanning them. It’s fascinating, and at the same
time slightly worrying to watch. There’s all sorts of activity, from mystery IP
addresses having a sniff around, to occasional exchanges between the PC and
Microsoft swapping who knows what data, so if you have a spare five minutes,
take a look and see who your computer is talking to…
03/12/09
Do
you have a tip or tweak for Windows that you would like to share with
other PC users? If so we would really like to see it, jot it down and
email it to us at: PCTopTips


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News Briefs
News Brief Archives 2006, 2007 2008 2009
Here We Go Again, Again…
Windows 8 On The Map
No sooner has Windows 7
left the Microsoft nest and news of its successor Windows 8, is starting to
circulate on the rumour mill. Win 8 is now in the early stages of development
and pencilled in for release some time in 2012, coinciding nicely with the
London Olympics, and the end of the world (if those Mayan priests are to be
believed…). Work on the new OS is progressing apace and industry reports of
recently advertised job vacancies at Microsoft have given the tea-leaf readers
some clues as to what we might expect. Windows 7 is almost certainly the last
32-bit operating system from Microsoft and it’ll be 64-bit from now on but 128-bit
compatibility is being widely touted as one of the headline features (full
implementation is expected in Windows 9). We can also look forward to something
called Distributed File System Replication or DFSR, which is a fancy way of
keeping folders synchronised across multiple servers. More news when we have
it.
0311
The Healing Power of
Cellphones
No, they’re still on at
least one of the suspect lists when it comes to the alleged hazards of electromagnetic
radiation but news has just reached us, via Engadget, that Japanese cellphone
manufacturer NTT DoMoCo has licensed car maker Nissan’s Scratch Shield paint
technology. The idea is the transparent layer has the ability to heal itself
when scratched. Nothing too deep mind you, but light scratches should disappear
over the course of a few days or weeks. As an added bonus the paint is actually
a lot tougher than regular coatings, so for those of us who take good care of our electronic
wizwangs, if it’s as good as they reckon there may no need to buy a protective
case.
3011
Pervy PC
Warning, only read this if
you are over 18, of an adult disposition and very broad minded! We can thank
Gizmodo for news of the latest gadget, designed by a former NASA engineer, we’re
told, to attach to your computer, and you… It’s called Real Touch (do not go
there if you are easily offended!) and all we can decently tell you at this
point is that the device, which costs $200 has an orifice at one end, it is crammed with motors
and rubber belts and a heating element and it comes apart for cleaning. The
idea is you plug it into your PC and the motors move the belts back and forth
in time to what is on the screen. The rest we’ll leave up to your imagination.
2611
News Brief Archives 2006, 2007 2008 2009
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