Lock Others Out of Your Computer

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Bypass the BIOS Password
Recover from a CMOS memory-affecting virus or work around a boot-time password by making BIOS forget all it once knew
[Discuss (4) | Link to this hack]

Recover a BIOS That Won't Boot
Recover from hacking your BIOS into an unbootable state by starting from scratch with safe defaults for the BIOS settings
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Boot Faster
Some of the stuff your computer does at boot time is of no use. Disable those features to boot faster
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Display a Boot-Time Graphic
Many computers will display a graphic at boot time. Make it one of your own
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Configure Boot Device Order
Don't wait for the floppy disk or CD-ROM to time out before the system boots
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Set Your Clock Back
Avoid or test date- and time-related features of your programs by setting the system clock back or ahead in the BIOS
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Avoid the Legacy USB Option
Save yourself from boot-up delays and Windows device detection confusion
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Hack an Unhackable BIOS
You may be able to find a BIOS upgrade to work around that unhackable, squeaky-clean OEM BIOS
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Upgrade Your Flash BIOS

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Step Away from the Legacy Device

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Manage Devices
Take control of device configuration
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Configure Serial Ports
Starting with a clean, industry-standard serial port configuration can save hours of headaches when you're ready to add more devices
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Configure Parallel Ports
Set up your parallel ports in ways that accommodate your peripherals and your other expansion needs
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Configure Sound Cards
Make your sound card sing amidst the variations of limited PC resources by finding and using alternative settings
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Configure SCSI Host Adapters
Accommodate SCSI host adapters with nonconflicting configurations
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Configure Network Cards
Give your network card the resources it needs to get and keep your LAN and Internet traffic flowing smoothly
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Reeducate Plug and Play

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Get More Power

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Identify Your CPU
Find out which CPU is in the system
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Which CPUs Are Hackable?
Know which CPUs can be hacked or overclocked
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Which System Boards Are Hackable?
Read the box and online reviews to determine if your system board might accommodate hacking the system and CPU clock speeds
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Determine Your CPU Speed
Benchmarking programs can tell your present system speed and if you've made any improvements
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Keep It Cool
Better to overcool than undercool. A CPU survives best with adequate cooling to keep it stable
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Control CPU Clock Speed from the BIOS
Increase your CPU speed with parameters controlled by your BIOS
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As Goes Voltage, So Goes Speed
Adjusting the power supply voltage to your CPU can make all the difference between an erratically performing speed-hack and a stable screaming demon
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Set the CPU Multiplier
Changing the CPU's clock multiplier values can dramatically boost its performance without affecting other components
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Unlock Your CPU Multiplier
Overclocked AMD processors benefit from this down-and-dirty hardware hack that allows you to change the CPU multiplier value
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Check the Vents

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Install More RAM

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Recognize Memory Limitations
Sometimes your system board and BIOS are your biggest limitations when it comes to adding more RAM—either a BIOS upgrade or a new system board is the answer
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Install the RAM Your Operating System Needs
Understand how your operating system and applications use RAM to solve memory dilemmas
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Tame the Windows 95 and 98 Cache
Stop Windows 95 from consuming all your RAM by fixing the VCACHE bug
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Manage the Paging File
Windows can get confused about what memory is and how it uses it. Giving Windows some guidance will keep things running smoothly
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Manage Windows System Resources
Windows System Resources have been misunderstood and maligned for years. There isn't much you can do about them but change your software
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Force Windows 98 and Me to Swap Less
Tame Windows use of the swapfile and improve your system's performance in one simple parameter
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Pin the Kernel in RAM
Force Windows NT operating systems to keep themselves in RAM for faster performance
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Speed Up Your RAM
Get higher performance by optimizing the timing parameters for the faster memory in BIOS
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Enable Memory Interleave for Via Chipsets

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Partition and Format Wisely

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Determine Your Filesystem
How do you tell what type of filesystem your disk is partitioned with?
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Create a New Partition with NT, 2000, XP, and 2003
Use XP's Disk Management console to create a new partition in unused disk space
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Create a New Partition with PartitionMagic
Create new partitions from free or existing partition space with PartitionMagic
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Merge Partitions with PartitionMagic
Merge two partitions into one with PartitionMagic
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Convert FAT to NTFS
Use NT/2000/XP/2003's CONVERT program to change a FAT partition to NTFS
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Create or Delete NTFS Partitions from the Recovery Console
Create and delete NTFS partitions using the DISKPART from the Recovery Console
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Fix the Master Boot Record on FAT Partitions
Use FDISK to restore the ability to boot from your FAT-16 or FAT-32 hard drive
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Fix the Master Boot Record on NTFS Partitions
Windows NT, 2000, XP, and Windows Server 2003 users having problems accessing or booting from an NTFS disk can use the FIXMBR program to rewrite a new Master Boot Record on the hard drive
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Fix the Partition Boot Sector on NTFS Partitions
Use FIXBOOT to restore the ability to boot from your NTFS hard drive
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Fix GRUB or LILO Boot Problems
Use the SystemRescueCD to repair a blown GRUB or LILO boot
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Format Your Disk
Lay down some awesome data tracks on diskettes, hard drives, Zip disks, or LS-120 cartridges with FORMAT
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Change Logical Drive Letters
Rearrange your drive letters with the Disk Management console in Windows NT-2003
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Restore DOS Bootability
Make your drive bootable to get a DOS or Windows 9x-Me drive back up and running quickly
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Rescue a Blown 2000 or XP Installation
Corrupt installations of Windows 2000, XP, and 2003 can be fixed in minutes with their bootable setup disks
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Fix the Windows 95 File-Caching Bug
Implement this hack to fix the "Typical Role of This Computer" bug in Windows 95
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Avoid the Delayed-Write-Caching Blues
This Windows performance enhancer could make you a real loser, of your data. Make this simple tweak and compute with peace of mind
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Detect Drive Failure Before It Happens

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Choose the Fastest Hard Drive

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Use an 80-Wire Cable
It's not free, but upgrading your hard drive cable could be a very economical boost to your disk drive's performance
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Upgrade Your IDE Interface
Speed up your system with a turbocharged IDE interface
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Kick It Up a Notch with Serial ATA
Upgrading to Serial ATA will stomp all over UDMA-5's 133 MBps performance
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Get the Fastest IDE Driver for Intel Chipsets
The proper driver for your Intel is the key to top drive performance for free
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Get the Fastest IDE Driver for Via Chipsets
Optimize your hard drive parameters for their best performance
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Speed It Up with RAID
If one fast drive is good, then five working together is surely better
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Speed Up DOS with SMARTDRV
You can add a boost to disk performance with the DOS SmartDrive program
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Speed Up Windows with VCACHE
If you absolutely must stick with Windows 9x or Me the least you can do is give your system this free performance-boosting tweak to your Windows disk cache
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Linux's Drive Performance Booster

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Get off the PCI Bus

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Upgrade from Built-in Video
Untie yourself from that low-performance built-in adapter by upgrading to an after-market AGP video adapter
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Don't Expect Much from AGP Aperture Size
Setting the AGP aperture size is not a performance boost, but it will let your AGP adapter work to its maximum rendering and display capabilities
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Choose the Correct AGP Mode
Tell your system BIOS to throttle up the AGP bus for the best video data throughput
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Overclock Your nVidia Adapter
Specifically designed for video adapters that use the nVidia chipset, nVidia's Detonator driver or the RivaTuner utility give you control over your video clock speeds
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Overclock Your ATI Radeon
Perhaps the simplest and safest way to determine and set the highest speeds for your ATI adapters
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Overclock Anything

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Let Windows Tell You About I/O Card Conflicts

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Break the Rules with LPT Ports
Get back the use of IRQ lines by changing your LPT port settings
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Break the Rules with COM Ports
Allow more than two COM ports to work simultaneously without conflicts
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Rewire Your COM Ports
Rewire an old COM port board to use available IRQs to run four ports simultaneously
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Boost COM Port Performance
If your PC has a COM port, tweak your state-of-the-art UAR/T chip through Windows settings
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

New Uses for an Old Port
Select the correct LPT port settings to optimize the performance of Windows's Direct Cable Connection and third-party file transfer applications
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Use USB for Peer-to-Peer Networking
USB's versatility comes in handy for PC-to-PC data transfer as well as file and Internet sharing
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Get the Most out of USB
Use separate USB ports to get the best performance out of your high-speed devices
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Install the Driver Before You Install the Hardware
How not to "outsmart" Plug and Play and the Windows Add New Hardware wizard
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Please Continue Anyway

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Make a Bare Disk Bootable

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Configure a Multiboot System
Windows NT and later provide multiboot capabilities supporting DOS and Windows
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Multiboot with Third-Party Utilities
Use a third-party partitioning and boot utility to extend multiboot support beyond DOS and Windows
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Speed up Operating System Installation and Maintenance
Save yourself time by making Windows installation files available on your hard drive
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Access NTFS Files from Other Operating Systems
Read files on an NTFS partition from a non-NTFS operating system with these free tools
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Give Your XP Installation Access to the Recovery Console
Add this essential recovery tool to your boot menu to save time saving your system
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Hack the Windows 95/98/Me DOS Startup
Gain more control and boot faster by customizing this DOS configuration file
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Hack the MS-DOS Configuration File
Tailor DOS's file to optimize memory use, load device drivers, and set the DOS environment
[Discuss (7) | Link to this hack]

Hack the MS-DOS Startup File
Set up DOS environment parameters and load utilities and virus protection before Windows takes over your PC
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Hack the Windows NT/2000/XP Boot Loader
Customize what and how you boot using the BOOT.INI file.
[Discuss (20) | Link to this hack]

Clone Your Hard Disk

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Move Applications and Settings from One PC to Another
It's not hard to get essential PC "personality" information from your old PC to your new one
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]

Protect Your PC from Viruses
Stop incoming and outgoing viruses before they begin to tear apart your new system
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Protect Your PC from Malware
Rid your PC of dozens of performance-robbing pop-up and search bar annoyances with a few free programs
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Surround Yourself with a Firewall
Protecting yourself from incoming and outgoing threats is easy with personal firewall software
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Do Your Backups

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