Wisconsin Energy

Windows 7 (W7) 64-bit is the best operating system (OS). Period.Use 8+ GB and at least a dual core CPU; use 64-bit software if available. Memory and CPU are cheap, frustrated employees are not! All legacy 32-bit software will work on 64-bit OS unless the software is artificially limited to 32-bit OS. Stay clear of such castrated software. For many reasons 64-bit OS will be the future (the 4 GB RAM limitation of 32-bit OS is only the most famous reason among many many others) and you don't want to invest money in licenses and training for a software without future!

Never touch a running system! If it ain' t broke, don't fix it! Less is more!

Be organized and know where all data are and where the software stores the files. Backup all data and keep copies of older versions of files. A backup should be in real-time (RAID 1 or similar) and additional backups should be done daily and stored off-site if possible.

Keep your software and drivers up-to-date. Good software manufacturers will support their product for several years for free (Microsoft Lifecycle) or per paid subscription. Modern software often is much more complex and has higher requirements on the hardware and OS. Newer hardware often needs a modern OS. Therefore it will be necessary to upgrade hard- and software every once a while. An old NT system might be paid off, but it certainly is not safe anymore and doesn't offer a productive work environment and might not allow the use of modern software at all. Windows XP is the absolute minimum OS that is needed for professional work. Obviously we recommend switching to W7 as soon as possible.

Do not use registry cleaners or registry-defragment tools! All the free and commercial tools are snake oil at best, at worst they mess up the system! If we had a penny for every time a registry cleaner caused a crash and required new installation of the operating system, we could have retired a long time ago!

Install as few tools as possible and after deinstallation of a program delete all its remaining files in the "programs" folder. Very often the deinstallation is not complete, so some manual work may be required.

Use a professional virus scan tool and firewall. All the free tools don't provide the level of protection and comfort needed. Our preferred tool is Kaspersky Internet Security. The support is great and most independent tests rate it as the best Anti Virus tool. Free software has its merits, but don't save money here!

Do not disable the page-file or change its size! Even if you have free RAM with all applications, some software needs a page-file regardless. W7 only uses the page-file when needed anyway. There are many sources on the internet recommending disabling it, however, we experienced that some software (i.e. Maple) does not work properly if page-file is disabled.

Free software is sufficient in mnay situations.

Cleaner is a file cleaning tool that is not known to cause any issues. It has a registry clean option that is rumoured to not be dangerous. However, only work with the registry MANUALLY when you know what you are doing!

Defraggler is a defragmentation tool that has a wide range of options including the exclusion of certain folders from defragmentation. It also can defragment specific files or folders.

Windows Installer Cleanup helps to uninstall a program that is resistant in the system and can't be removed.

Recuva is a tool that can recover deleted files.

Lockhunter helps to delete files that are used by an unknown process.

7-zip is a fast zip-program.

CD burner XP is a lean but useful burning tool. ImageBurn can create and burn ISO images.

Virtual Clone Drive is an image-mount program that can mount images by just " right clicking" the iso file.

Partition Wizard helps creating and resizing partitions.

Macrium can create images of HDD or folders. Acronis is the commercial software of choice. The Windows backup tool is sufficient for most users.

MySyncToy synchronizes drives and folders. You need to take ownership of the drive first.

Bulk Rename Utility renames many files at once.

Ultimate Windows Tweaker gives you easy access to many settings in W7.

PDF Creator enables you to print any document to a PDF. CutePDF converts documents to PDF.

Fences helps to organize the desktop.

Format Factory converts any type of picture, video or audio in almost any other format. Any Video Converter converts and alters videos.

Picture Shark adds watermarks to pictures.

Paint.NET alters pictures.

Eraser safely erases any files - forever.

OpenOffice is similar to MS Office.

Speccy gives a lot of information about your computer.

Go to “START” —› Click “Control Panel”

Alternatively create a list of all Tasks:  —› enter shell:::{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} in Explorer  —› when it says "all tasks"drag it on the desktop and you have a link

Disable Services:
 —›“Administrative Tools” —› “Services” —›Right click on each individual service you want to tweak below.
Black Viper explains what the services are and do. Do NOT disable services you might need! Many websites recommend turning off even more services. However, this can cause problems and can be unsafe if printer spooler or security center are disabled (as recommended elsewhere). Here are some safe to disable in home systems.

Computer Browser (Computer Browser service maintains a listing of computers and resources located on the network. This service is not required on a standalone system. In fact, even if you want to browse the network (workgroup or domain) or have mapped network shares as local hard drives, you can still do so.)

Remote Registry (Enables remote users to modify registry settings on this computer. If this service is stopped, the registry can be modified only by users on this computer. If this service is disabled, any services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start.)

Tablet PC Input Service (Enables Tablet PC pen and ink functionality.)

Disable and Turnoff UAC in Windows 7
 —› "User Accounts" —› User Account —›Click the “Change User Account Control Settings” —› Drag the Slider towards "Notify only when programs try to make changes to my computer” (safer) or “Never notify” —› click “OK”

Change the Power Plan To Maximum Performance
The Power settings in Windows 7 is not automatically set for maximum performance. By default the power plan in Windows 7 is set for a balanced performance with energy consumption on hardware. So you may not get the optimal performance from windows 7 if this is the case. So we need to change the power plan to High Performance Mode.
 —› Double click the "Power Options " —› Click the down arrow showing "Show Additional Plans" to see the "High Performance" power plan  —› activate the "High Performance" plan go for the advanced settings for further tweaking if you want (disable hibernating if not needed, that saves memory).

Manage Drives
 —› “Administrative Tools” —› “Computer Management” —› “Disk Management”
(here you can rename drives, resize partitions etc.)

Change Visual Effects
 —› "Performance Information and Tools" —› "Advance Tools" —› "Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows" —› in "Visual Effects" un-check all that are not needed (especially everything with "Animation", Effect" and "Slide")

Write Cache
 —› "Device Manager" —› double-click "Disk Drives" —› double-click drive in question —› under "Policies" check "Enable write caching" and REMOVAL POLICY (for removable drives) "Quick Removal" or "Better Performance" (but then you need to "safely disconnect" before removing the drive); DO NOT turn off "Windows Write-cache Buffer Flushing"!; this can lead to data loss in case of power failure!

Turn off Windows Features
 —› "Programs and Features"  —› "Turn Windows features on or off"  —› turn off unneeded features, like "Tablet PC components"; but careful to not turn off features that are needed elsewhere!

Time to chose Operating System
 —› "System" —› "Advanced System Settings" —› "Advanced" —› "Settings" button under "Startup and Recovery" —› change "Time to Display the List of Operating Systems" (0 for if only one OS needed)

Hide or show empty drives
 —› "Folder Options"  —› "View"  —› Check "Hide empty drives in the Computer folder"

“Msconfig“ Mods: Press [Win] + R or take the RUN option from the start menu —› type “msconfig”-->  press Enter

• Click on the tab “ Boot” —›  “Advanced options…” —› Check “Number of processors” and enter how many your PC has (usually 2,4 or 8)—› Click “OK” and “Apply”
• Click on the tab “ Boot”  —›  You will see a box called Time out. (This is the time (in sec) which the system waits for the user to select the operating system to boot to. If you use only a single operating system (don't dual boot) you can safely set the value to 0. But if you have more than one operating system installed then set it to 3 or more.)—› Set time—› Click “OK” and “Apply”
• Click on the tab “Startup”  —› uncheck anything you are certain you don’t need e.g. don’t uncheck your AV program (Many programs start automatically or start components with Windows, which will slow your bootup times and use unnecessary resources.  These include programs like Acrobat, Quicktime, iTunes, Java etc.) —› Click “OK” and “Apply”

Right click on desktop and choose "Personalize"

• Disable The Screen Saver and Wallpaper in Windows 7
  “Screen Saver”—› From the Screen Saver drop down menu, Set it to "None"—› Click “OK” and “Apply”
• Disable Unwanted System Sounds in Windows 7
  "Sound Scheme"—› select "No Sounds"—› Click “OK” and “Apply”
  (You can keep some of your favorite sounds turned on if you want, but sounds played during the Windows 7 start up, shutdown, Logon, logoff, start navigation etc should be set to none if you want some real speed boost.)
• Disable the Aero Theme on Windows 7
  “Window Color”—› Uncheck the Box "Enable Transparency" —›  "Open classic appearance properties for more color options"—› Then a window will open up—› “Apply a Standard or Basic theme”

Click on Start and type in regedit and hit Enter

Faster Toolbar:
Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER —› Software  —› Microsoft —› Windows —› CurrentVersion —› Explorer —› Advanced —› Right-click on Advanced, select “New DWORD” and enter the following value: “ThumbnailLivePreviewHoverTime” —› right-click on “ThumbnailLivePreviewHoverTime” and select “Modify” —› Choose “Decimal Base” and enter in your new number in milliseconds (400 (0.4 seconds), experiment to find a time you like)

Copy the following in a note-document --> save as *.reg file --> right-click on the *.reg file --> "merge"

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00  

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
“ThumbnailLivePreviewHoverTime”=dword:00000001
          

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer]  
"NoLowDiskSpaceChecks"=dword:00000001  
"LinkResolveIgnoreLinkInfo"=dword:00000001  
"NoResolveSearch"=dword:00000001  
"NoResolveTrack"=dword:00000001  
"NoInternetOpenWith"=dword:00000001     

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]  
"AutoEndTasks"="1"  
"HungAppTimeout"="1000"  
"MenuShowDelay"="0"  
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="2000"  
"LowLevelHooksTimeout"="1000"     
               [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Control] 
"WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="1000"     

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control]  
"WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="1000"     

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control]  
"WaitToKillServiceTimeout"="1000"     
               [HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-19\Control Panel\Desktop] 
"AutoEndTasks"="1"  
"HungAppTimeout"="1000"  
"MenuShowDelay"="0"  
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="2000"     
             [HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-20\Control Panel\Desktop] 
"AutoEndTasks"="1"  
"HungAppTimeout"="1000"  
"MenuShowDelay"="0"  
"WaitToKillAppTimeout"="2000"

• Disable Search Indexing: Click on “ Start” and type in services.msc —› right-click “Windows Search” —› In the startup type field choose “Disabled”
• SetUp the Windows 7 Ready Boost Service for an Extra Speed Boost: To configure the Ready Boost Feature in Windows 7 you need to have a High Speed Flash/USB or Pendrive with you which is ready boost compatible.
  —› Plug in drive —› "START" —› "Computer" —› Right-click the on USB Drive/Pendrive —› select "Ready Boost" —› tick the "Use this device" checkbox. —› configure how much space on your USB drive/ Pendrive to be used as Ram.
• Faster Window Switching: Disabling the Minimise-Maximise animation can make your PC run a lot faster. 
  —› “START” and type in “SystemPropertiesPerformance” —› Visual Effects tab —› Uncheck “Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing” and any other effects you don’t need —›  “OK”
• Disable the Aero Peek
  The Aero Peek feature in Windows 7 helps you to peek through all open windows by hiding all other windows and showing only the outlines of all windows.  Aero Peek is similar to the " Show Desktop " Feature in XP and Vista.
  —›Right click on the Windows 7 taskbar —›  "Properties" —› uncheck the "Use Aero Peek to preview the desktop"
• Turn off Windows Defragmentation: The Windows Defragmentation is somewhat slow. Use Disk Defrag or Defraggler and put them on a weekly schedule. —› "START" —› "Computer" —› Right-Click a drive —› " Properties" —› "Tools" —› " Defragment Now" —› "Configure Schedule" —› Uncheck "Run on schedule" —› " OK"
• Turn off Passwordcheck: Press [Win] + R or take the RUN option from the start menu.
  —› type "control userpasswords2" —› The user accounts windows will open up —› uncheck "Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer" —› "OK" —› A windows opens up asking you to enter the current password you use to log in to Windows 7 —› Enter the password and confirm.
• Add Flip 3-D to taskbar (or press "Windows Key + Tab"): --> Right-click on your desktop —› "New" -->"Shortcut" —› In the location field, type "C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe dwmapi #105" (assuming that Windows is installed on C:) —› " Next" —› type "Window Switcher" for the shortcut name —› "Finish"--> Right-click on the "Window Switcher" shortcut that you just created —› "Properties"
  5. Click on the Change Icon… button.
  6. In the Look for icons in this file field type %SYSTEMROOT%\system32\imageres.dll, and then press Enter.
  7. Select the first icon and then click on OK.
  8. Click on OK to dismiss the properties dialog.
  9. Drag the Window Switcher shortcut from your desktop onto the taskbar.
  
• Task Switcher: "ALT + Tab"
• Aligning Windows Side by Side: drag & drop window to either right or left side of screen OR "Windows Key + LEFT or RIGHT arrow"
• Maximizing/Restoring Windows
  --> Click on the window’s title and drag it to the top to maximize or drag it to the bottom to restore it. OR "Windows Key + UP Arrow or DOWN Arrow"
• Maximizing a Window to its Full Height:resize the window to touch either the top or bottom of the screen. OR double-click when the pointer changes shape to the “Vertical Resize” once it placed around the window’s upper or lower border. You can then slide the window horizontally from its title bar.
• Aero Shake: Too just see one specific window --> shake it OR "Windows Key + HOME"
• Rename multiple files at once: select the files that should be renamed in Windows Explorer —› press "F2" —› the name that is entered will be applied to all files that have been selected. Numbers are automatically added to files of the same file type.