Fix Windows Vista Errors

Transient Multimon Manager (TMM) is a feature on Windows Vista that is targeted at improving the user experience of connecting and disconnecting external displays. TMM automatically finds external displays at boot, it can also remember settings of the same external display if you connect it later.

TMM is great if you often want to connect your PC to any external display etc, but if you never use one you can speed up your boot by a few seconds by disabling your TMM. To disable your TMM just;

• Open control panel
• Open system and maintenance
• Open Administrative tools
• Click task scheduler
• Expand task scheduler library (left column)
• Expand Microsoft and windows
• Click on MobilePC
• In the middle column click on TMM
• Right click and click disable
• Done

Or alternatively you can disable your TMM in your Regeditor;

• Open regeditor
• Go to this location
  • Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\TMM
• Click UseIViewHelper
• Set the value data to 0
• Click OK

Here are two new tweaks I have discovered that should boost the performance of your Vista PC, remember if you do use these features don’t disable them!

Windows Hibernation

Hibernate is a feature seen in many operating systems where the contents of RAM is written to non-volatile storage, such as the hard disk (as either a file or on a separate partition) before powering off the system. Windows hibernation background services can use a large amount of system resources thus can slow down the performance of your PC so if you don’t use this service you can disable it;

• Select Control Panel
• Click hardware and sound
• Click Power Options
• Click Change when the computer sleeps
• Click Change Advanced Power Settings
• Expand the Sleep selection
• Expand the Hibernate After selection
• Crank the selector down to zero
• Click Apply

Remote Differential Compression

Remote Differential Compression (RDC) allows data to be synchronized with a remote source using compression techniques to minimize the amount of data sent across the network. By constantly checking for file changes RDC can potentially slow down your system performance, to turn RDC off just do this;

• Select Control Panel
• Switch to Classic View
• Select Program and Features
• Choose Turn Windows features on and off
• Scroll down and uncheck Remote Differential Compression

We are very green friendly in our office here and we are always looking at better ways to conserve energy and better manage the environment. Since almost everyone has a PC, we can all help out with a few little steps.

Today we will look at some options  for Windows Vista energy conservation - Remember, by being more efficient and using less energy, this not only benefits the environment, but it also ends up costing you less.

The Windows Vista OS does feature significant changes to its power management infrastructure, functionality and default settings. All of these changes affect how Vista PCs consume energy. Here is some further info on the potential energy savings available when using Windows Vista and the changes from XP.

PC Power Consumption

Here are some numbers on PC power consumption and the type of savings that can be made by using sleep vs idle modes.

Common power usage output for Desktop PCs (watts):

Calculating power savings:

In projecing the potential savings, a PC left on constantly was compared with a PC put in sleep mode during non-use hours. The non-use hours are calculated at approximately 14 hours per day. So if we also factor in weekends, the approximate non-user hours for the year is: 6,160 hours.

To calculate the saved poser, we use (idle power - sleep power) x 6160 hours = annual savings.

In the table below you can see the savings (kWh):

Financial Benefits

As you can see above, a considerable amount of kWh hours can be saved by using the Vista power functions. To put this into a financial value see the formula below (this is assuming an average cost per kWh of $0.094):

760.14 x 0.094 = $71.45

So there is an annual saving of $71.45 for just a single PC by employing the Vista energy saving features. If this is applied to every PC using Vista, the saving is absolutely enormous, especially for large corporations.

Environmental Benefit

Obviously as more energy is consumed this adds to increased greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. According to the EPA, generating 1kWh of power in the USA results in 1.55 lbs of carbon dioxide emissions. So a saving of 760 kWh for a single PC results in a reduction of carbon dioxide emissions of 1,178 lbs.

This is quite a significant saving and again, when implemented on every PC running Vista, there is a massive reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.

So if you are using Windows Vista, start using the power saving features. Not only will you save on costs, but you will be benefitting the environment.

Here is a Windows Vista resource that I am sure you will all find very useful for getting the most out of your Vista.

What is it?

This guide will show you how to tune and improve Windows Vista. The focus is on a single PC, but it can be extended to environments where multiple performance and tuning may be required.

The Vista performance guide will cover the following performance areas:

• Making configuration changes that help a computer feel more responsive when you use it.
• Using hardware to boost the actual physical speed of a computer.
• Making configuration changes that help a computer to start faster.
• Making the computer more reliable may help increase performance.
• Monitoring performance occasionally so that you can stop problems before they get too big.

This resource was recommended by our friend Rick from the Vista Outreach team. So check it out.

Windows Vista Performance and Tuning

I talked about in a recent post about different methods you can do to increase the overall speed of your computer using Vista, and one of these ways was to use ReadyBoost. Since that post I have had a few emails from Vista users asking for more information about ReadyBoost, and how they can set it up.

ReadyBoost is a great new feature in Vista that essentially uses the memory from your flash stick, flash drive or any other portable device as RAM. By increasing RAM using ReadyBoost you will increase the speed of your PC.

The best way to test the actual increase of speed with ReadyBoost is to use a computer with only a small amount of RAM (512mb). There have been tests done on similar computers and it was shown that basic operation where done heaps faster using ReadyBoost.

How do I setup ReadyBoost

• Insert a flash drive or any other external memory device
• In the Removable Disk Properties pop up select ReadyBoost
• Here you can select to use the device for system speed (note: You may receive a warning saying this device does not have the required performance characteristics for use in speeding up your system)
• It will now recommend how much space you should reserve for optimal performance (my 512 MB data stick shows I should reserve 430MB)
• Click apply
• Click OK

We just posted some great tips on how you can speed up Windows Vista yesterday, but lets look even further at some more optimization techniques for Vista.

Unfortunately most users have not been too satisfied with the performance of Vista, and we have certainly seen some lacklustre performance even on high quality hardware. It seems kind of a shame to have to turn off all the new features in Vista just to be able to use it without some serious slowness.

Anyway, these tips are straight from Microsoft, so hopefully they will help you out in getting more from Vista. We ran these on our test machine and the performance was pretty good. The estimated gain was around 15-20%.

Windows Vista Optimization Tips

• Limit startup programs. Edit the startup config and don’t run anything you don’t need. This one can be a big timesaver
• Delete software/programs you never use. This one is pretty obvious, but most users don’t do this. So do it now.
• Defragment your hard drive. This helps speed up drive access and program access.
• Clean up your hard disk. Another pretty obvious one, just make sure you do it.
• Run less programs at the same time. In the age of multi-tasking this one can limit productivity, but try it if your performance is poor.
• Turn off visuals. We have discussed this before - turn off Aero and other fancy stuff.
• Add more RAM. Another one discussed previously. Try it after you have tried all of the other tweaks.
• Disable unnecessary services. Just turn off any service that you don’t need. You would be surprised by how many silly services are running in the background hogging your valuable resources.
• Check for spyware and adware. Spyware, adware or malware can seriously affect performance. Run a spyware scan now.
• Install updates. Install Windows updates and driver updates for your software and hardware.

You can find the full source of the article here. We hope this helps you get some extra performance out of Windows Vista.

Many people since upgrading from XP to Windows Vista have complained that their computer seems sluggish and they actually preferred XP. This isn’t due to any major fault in Vista, it is just that you need to alter and tweak your PC so that it can handle Vista.

This can take only 10 minutes of work but when it is done your computer will run much faster, and you will get to appreciate some of the great features that come with Windows Vista. Just follow these points and you will boost your Vistas speed;

Run a Vista Registry Clean

Like in Windows XP your Windows Vista registry can become so full and chocked up so quickly that it will dramatically slow down the performance of your computer, so run this scan and improve your Vista’s speed - run a free vista registry scan.

ReadyBoost

ReadyBoost is a new but innovative feature on Vista, essentially you can use any data stick to increase your RAM. To run ReadyBoost just insert a flash drive and select ReadyBoost.

Turn off Your Aero Desktop

Aero Glass is a great feature on Windows Vista but it also can slow down your PC if you are not running a massive amount of RAM and using a great video card, so basically I recommend that you just turn off Aero. To turn off Aero just;

• Right click your desktop
• Click personalize
• Click windows color and appearance
• If the appearance setting box shows up you are probably not running Aero (but you can check this from the list)
• If you see the windows color and appearance box then click the open classic appearance link
• In the color scheme drop down click windows vista basic
• Click apply (could take a few seconds)
• Now click OK and you are done

Increase Your RAM

Basically if you are running Windows than I have just one word for you - RAM. On XP you could get away with running 512mb of RAM on your PC but if you have ungraded to Vista then you need at least 2GB of RAM to get any decent performance out of your computer.

Upgrade Your Windows Vista Drivers

If you upgraded your computer from XP to Vista then you will need to also update all your drivers. Just run this scan and it can update all your Vista drivers for you - Update Your Drivers

Run an Adware/Spyware Scan

As we all know one of the biggest problems with any PC’s performance can come from the dark arts of the internet world, that is spyware and adware. If you think you PC is running slow then you should run a scan to see if you are hosting any adware/spyware and to remove any trace of it. Your Windows Vista will run much faster if you clean your machine totally of these dangers.

Run a free adware/spyware scan for Windows Vista

More Information on Windows Vista

If you want more information on how to improve your Windows Vista performance read this - speed up Windows Vista

Did you ever want to change your desktop icons in Vista but haven’t been able to work out how to do it, well here is an easy way you can do it;

• Right click on your desktop
• Select personalize
• Click change desktop icons
• Select the icon you want to change
• Click change icon
• Now select the new icon you want
• Click OK and you are done

Uninstalling program in Windows Vista is very similar to doing it on XP just with a few minor changes.

The main difference you will find is that the Add/Remove programs feature is missing from your control panel, but it has been replaced with a new feature. To uninstall any program in your Windows Vista just follow these points;

• Open your control panel
• Click on programs and features (you can alternatively open this by clicking uninstall or change a program in the Computer section)
• Here you can scroll through all your programs and select the one you want to uninstall
• Click uninstall and follow the prompts
• Done

In this section you can also browse through your installed updates and even purchase new programs.

Almost every Windows user has at one time or another encountered the dreaded Blue Screen of Death (BSOD).  Many people have also asked ‘what is the blue screen of death’, and ‘can the blue screen of death harm my computer’.

The Blue Screen of Death (BSOD, bluescreen, or stop error) is a common error screen displayed in Microsoft Windows, after encountering a critical system error. Bluescreen errors can be caused by poorly written device drivers, faulty memory, a corrupt Registry, or incompatible DLLs.

Bluescreens have been present in all Windows-based operating systems since Windows 3.1; OS/2 and MS-DOS suffered the Black Screen of Death, and early builds of Windows Vista displayed the Red Screen of Death after a boot loader error.

The Red Screen of Death is a nickname for the error message which existed in some beta versions of Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows Vista, however, it has since been dropped.

If you do get a blue screen of death you should always write down the errors displayed on the screen before you reboot your machine, this will give you some information on what the error exactly was. Although, sometimes the messages are very cryptic and can be difficult to debug. 

If your blue screen of death experiences start after installing new hardware and/or software there is a good chance the new stuff is at fault. Just uninstall or reinstall following the directions this time and the problem should be gone.

If the problem persists, we highly recommend that you use a third party repair program that is specifically designed for problems such as bluescreen errors. You can run the free scan below.

Fix Vista Bluescreen Errors Now - Free Download