How Processor Speed Is Reported to a Computer

The System tool in Control Panel uses Current Speed to do its reporting rather than Max Speed, but the System tool may display the wrong clock speed for the Central Processing Unit (CPU).

As of January 2002, Windows XP uses the Current Speed value rather than the Max Speed value because the Max Speed value was reporting inconsistent values.

After startup, the processor may not correctly reflect its correct speed until a program utilizes processor cycles.

The computer basic input/output system (BIOS) in some laptop computers may throttle the processor because of heat, load, power AC/DC.

To check the Current Speed setting:

1.Click Start, click Control Panel, and then click Performance and Maintenance.

2.Click See basic information about your computer. On the General tab, the processor speed (in MHz) appears under Computer.

To check the Max Speed setting:

1.Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Information.

2.The speed (Max Speed) of the processor appears in MHz in the System Information window, in the right column of System Summary, under Processor..

NOTE: System Information from Administrative Tools always reports Max Speed.

If you click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click System Information, the correct processor speed (for example, 797 MHz = 800 MHz) is shown. After you start the System Information tool, the System Properties tool in Control Panel displays the correct speed. However, when you first start your computer, the incorrect speed is shown in the System Properties tool in Control Panel.

Computer maintenance tips

With the amount of information available for download on the Internet, it's easy to quickly fill up your valuable hard drive space and turn your computer into a sluggish, unresponsive monster. Keeping your hard drive clean is essential to the high performance that the latest computers can achieve. Fortunately, it's a simple process; one that can easily be performed on a regular basis and, with some organization, keep your computer running like a well-oiled machine.

You can discover how much hard drive space is available on your computer by accessing the DriveSpace program in your System Tools. A pie graph will show you the amount of used and unused space for each of your drives. Check this often to keep an idea of how much space you are using.

There are six simple steps to clearing up your hard drive:

1. Uninstall unused programs.

Many times a new program will come along that looks fun to have or play with, but after a week or two you simply stop using it. These programs clutter up your drive and take up valuable space. You might be tempted to delete these programs from your drive, but doing so will cause problems. You must use the uninstall function of Windows for the program to be removed safely and completely.

2. Clean out temporary files.

When your computer is not shut down properly, it will pass information from memory into fragmented files. Also, while you are running programs, your computer will write information that it does not immediately need into temporary files. Installation files will also expand themselves into the temporary folder and will not always clean up after themselves. You can delete these temporary files safely by using the Disk Cleanup option in your System Tools.

3. Empty your Internet cache.

As you surf the Internet your computer stores web pages and images into a temporary Internet cache so that it can quickly recall and access information when you move back and forth between pages. This backup information can quickly add up and eat hard drive space.

Whether you use Internet Explorer, Netscape, or one of the many other browsers available, emptying out your cache is quick and easy. Simply follow the instructions in the Help files located within those programs. You may also wish to set a specific maximum file size for your cache folder, so that it is not allowed to run rampant.

4. Empty your mail programs of clutter.

It's easy to browse through your email and leave old messages there, promising yourself you'll sort them out later. One or two messages don't take up much space, but hundreds certainly do. Take the time to sort through these old emails now and delete what is not important. Create folders and organize what is left. Make it a habit that when new emails come in, they are either filed immediately or thrown away. Set your email program to empty your deleted items folder each time you close your mail program.

5. Empty your recycle bin.

Once you've emptied your drive of cluttering, unnecessary programs; empty your recycle bin to remove what has been placed there in the process.

6. Scandisk and Defrag.

When Windows installs programs, it will put the files it needs anywhere that it finds free space, and not directly after the last program installed. As a result, your hard drive has patches of empty space on it that are not big enough to fit a full program, and will result in a drive space error if you attempt to install something new. Scandisk your drive to check for lost file fragments and to fix any errors it finds, then Defrag to pack all of the program files together at the beginning of your drive. This will clear out those empty patches and move all of the free space you've just created to the end of your drive.

Now that you've got it clean, keep it that way. Perform this quick maintenance routine every week. For your work computer, Friday afternoon before you leave for the weekend is the perfect time. When you return to work on Monday, you'll have a computer that is clutter-free and as responsive as it should be.

Organize your surfing habits. Direct all of your downloads to the same folder, so that you can easily find them and delete them when necessary, or move them to zip disks for storage. Keep track of the programs that you install. For trial versions, note the date that they will expire on a calendar. This will remind you to uninstall the programs that you can no longer use rather than allowing them to clutter up your drive. Also, if you run into problems, keeping track of new downloaded and installed programs and the date they were installed can help you track down the cause of problems.

Remember that the cleaner your hard drive is, the better your machine will respond! In order for your computer to be user friendly, it must have a friendly user. Be your computer's best friend and clean out the cobwebs regularly.

Microsoft Excel Shortcut keys

Auto sum shortcut key : Quickly create a Microsoft Excel formula to get the sum of all cells by highlighting the cells you wish to know the value of and pressing ALT and = .

Create hyper links in Excel : Quickly create hyper links in your Microsoft Word, Excel, or Front Page document by highlighting text and pressing "CTRL + K".
Close all open files at once : Close all open Microsoft Word and/or Excel files by holding down the shift key and clicking "File" and then "Close All".

Quickly open recently opened files : Quickly open the recent files by first pressing "ALT + F" to open the file Menu and press 1, 2, 3, or 4.

Create underlines without any text : This tip works with the majority of Microsoft Office applications. Easily create an underlined space by pressing CTRL + U to start the underline, then press SHIFT + Space for each underlined space you wish to create. An example of how this could be used is for printable forms, for example: Name: .

Print only sections of a document : Save on your printer ink by selectively printing in Windows programs such as Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer, WordPad, Outlook, etc. To do this highlight portions of text you wish to print and click print. In the printer dialog window under Page Range choose the option Selection. It is important to realize that not all programs or printer drivers support this feature.

Repeat recent action : Using the F4 key in Microsoft Office 2000 and above allows the user to repeat the last used action. For example, if you have changed the font of a selected text and wish to change another portion of text to the same font, pressing F4 will do this for you automatically.

Quickly undo : Quickly undo mistakes in the majority of most PC Windows program by pressing CTRL + Z.

Quickly above cell contents : In Microsoft Excel press CTRL + SHIFT + " to copy the above cells contents.

Using the Microsoft Excel Auto filter : Organize cells quickly by using Microsoft Auto filter. Columns that contains long listing of data can be easily sorted by using the Auto filter option, to use this option select the top rows of the columns you want to be used and select Data / Filter and Auto Filter. Once successfully completed you can use drop down arrows to filter the data automatically.

Enable Administrator at Welcome Screen

View Admin At welcome Screen


By default windows XP doesn't show the Administrator in the user list at the welcome screen. Here's a way to get around it.


Now head up to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ Software\ Microsoft\ WindowsNT\ CurrentVersion\ Winlogon\ SpecialAccounts\ Userlist

Create a new DWORD entry and name it as Administrator and change its value to 1.

Exit and reboot for the changes to take effect.

To change it back change its value to 0 or simply delete the key.