3DSpotlight has a new guide up for ya. It is based on running background services started automatically by the OS... There are ways of optimizing the usage of these Services and configure your machine for improved performance and even security by modifying their respective Startup types, and in some cases disabling them altogether. 3D Spotlight's tweak guide will take you through a multitude of different Services, explaining how and what they work for. Read the guide

Adrians Rojakpot has a new guide up & running and this site is as good as one can get if it comes to guides. Here is a snip: RAID 0 shouldn't be even called RAID as it does not provide any redundancy at all. And no redundancy means no increase in data reliability and security. Even so, it is the highest performing RAID level. The hardware requirements for setting up a RAID 0 array is the least demanding of all RAID levels. It only requires a minimum of two hard disks and can use as many hard disks as the RAID controller can support. Check the RAID guide here

I just finished writing a list of some Windows XP Command Line utilties. Many of them are intended for network administrators, but home users will be very happy to know them if ever needed (eg. MSB failure)


Check it out @XPFreaks.com

Spotted this over @ XP-erience
Do you use Windows Internet Connection Sharing? Do you find it to be a bit....too simple? Perhaps you would like more control over NAT settings, and other more advanced configuration options like those available in hardware routers....
Read on...

ExtremeTech has a very detailed WinXP tuning guide at your service. Beat every single bit of power out of your OS to be the fastest kid on the block.

Here is an XP tweak guide I stumbled upon at FiringSquad.

XP Tweak Guide

Bench House has a nice guide using crayons and liquid silver to unlock and overclock the Athlon XP! An Athlon XP as well as TBird and Duron processor has a group of L1 contact lines. They are cut by laser during the manufacturing process, so the multiplier couldn't be changed. In difference to its predecessors, Athlon XP has a far deeper laser cut that breaches into the next layer. What we have now is that between the contact points there is a small hole that prevents a simple connection of the contact points with a regular pencil... Err, right but an interesting guide nonetheless

Probably many of you have been looking for this. Digit-Life has posted a quick guide on how to flash your BIOS right. Here's a snip: We are going to highlight theoretical aspects and tools which will help you reach the desirable results. First of all, I'd like to attract your attention to the variety of different BIOSes. You should be careful when choosing the one - your video card must correspond to the BIOS you want (I mean a chip, memory type and size, a manufacturer etc.). Read more @ Digit-Life.

Tweakers Asylum have updated their Windows 9X/ME NVIDIA Detonator Driver Performance Database with the newly released 22.40 and 22.50 Detonators

The Windows 9x/ME NVIDIA Detonator Driver Database contains performance data on most of the Windows 9x/ME NVIDIA Detonator Drivers. For each set of NVIDIA Detonator Drivers added to our database we have included performance data from SEVERAL different benchmarks, not just a few

Tweakers Asylum Detonator Driver Database

AMDMB has upped a guide on general fan performance. Snip: CFM is an often-confusing term because it has no single definition that applies to all instances. In the most basic sense, CFM means cubic feet per minute. Sounds simple enough, doesn?t it? Unfortunately, air is a compressible gas. This means that if you put one cubic foot of air into a balloon at sea level and then go climb a mountain, you?ll have more than one cubic foot of air atop the mountain. Sound confusing yet? For the full guide use warp: Engage!

My guide has just been updated to include new Error Codes to help users of Windows XP Home and Pro edition. the changes in my guide include:

New Codes added (33 to 49)
Updated Code Definitions for Windows XP
Add a Guide to Using the Device Manager
Optimised HTML Code for Guide
Easier Navigation

Tweakers Asylum have just finished updating their Windows XP NVIDIA Detonator Driver Performance Database with the newly released 21.88 Detonators.

The Windows XP NVIDIA Detonator Driver Database contains performance data on most of the current Windows XP NVIDIA Detonator Drivers. For each set of NVIDIA Detonator Drivers added to our database we have included performance data from SEVERAL different benchmarks, not just a few.

So warp to Tweakers Asylum and check out their Detonator Driver Database For Windows XP.

TweakersAsylum have done a great Windows XP ACPI Tweak Guide!

Here's a bite from their guide:

Recently I received a rather excited ICQ message from Tempest, our Windows 2000/XP nut. ?I know how to get higher frames per second in Windows XP!? Of course this peaked my interest so I bit, ?How?s that?? To my surprise Tempest replied with, ?I disabled ACPI in Windows XP and gained 14 FPS in Quake 3!?

Want to know more? Then warp to TweakersAsylum Windows XP ACPI Tweak Guide

Windows NT (New Technologies) was originally created as a business operating system designed to be more stable, with more security and better networking abilities than previous operating systems. But occasionally the Windows NT operating could malfunction and produce a blue screen type error. Microsoft realised this and built in to the operating system a coding system for identifying the types of errors produced in the hope that the problem can be fixed or avoided. These errors can happen because of faulty hardware, a corrupt program file and even by installing a new device drive. But these are just a few of causes of this blue screen which is why this list of error codes has been produced. The information in this guide is for: Read more

PracticallyNetworked have a great guide for Win XP. You've just bought a computer with Windows XP installed, or maybe you've upgraded an older computer to XP. The tricky part is making this XP system part of your existing network of Windows computers. Here's the potential traps and how to avoid them... ;-)

Adding Windows XP Home Edition To An Existing Network

For all rookies out there and the people, who want to refresh their knowledge. You?ve done your research, found that perfect system for your budget and now you want to build it for yourself. This guide is aimed at Beginners and Pros for building or/and upgrading computer systems. It contains information on what to do before, while and after building your computer. Parts of this guide will also help you with a single aspect of computer system to building of an entire computer. By the end of the guide people will start to see you as an expert when it comes to computer hardware. ReadMore and don´t forget to write a comment about this guide !

3D Spotlight have published a guide on how to reinstall Windows on your machine, the guide covers Windows 98, ME and 2000.

Here's a bite from their guide:

Installing a Microsoft Operating System is a relatively easy procedure for many, although for most others it seems like a fairly daunting task. This guide will take you through the Pre-Installation, Installation & Post Installation steps for Microsoft Windows Operating Systems & through such other procedures as installing Drivers for Hardware, or other system updates. If you intend to Dual Boot your system then please check out our Dual Boot Guide instead, although you may well find some sections of the guide to be of great use as well, e.g. Driver installing/updating.

3D Spotlight Windows Installation Guide

Tweaker's Asylum has updated their Detonator Driver Database. Using the latest Detonator Drivers 21.80 and 21.85 for Win9x/ME and using 3DMark2001, DroneZmarK, VULPINE GLmark, and Quake3 Arena to show off the results.

So warp to Tweaker's Asylum and check out their Detonator Database.

Digit Life has an article that shows you how to turn a normal 4-channel SB Live! card into a 5.1 supporting card. It's a simple program that alters the software built into the card.

Here's a bite from the article:

This article is for those who got used to squeeze the maximum out of his or her hardware system. Today we will talk about modernization of 4-channel models of the SoundBlaster Live! cards in order to ensure their operation with modern acoustic 5.1 systems.
More than 3 years ago Creative released its famous SoundBlaster Live! based on the digital EMU10K1 audio processor. This chip was developed by E-MU (a department of Creative) which is known as a manufacturer of professional audio equipment. Due to an advanced EMU10K1 audio processor, high-quality AC'97 codecs and a competently designed printed-circuit card PC users got in 1998 a card with rich multimedia, game and audio possibilities and with a decent sound.

So warp to Digit Life for the full story.

We have tested them!
If you like to see the benchmark results of Microsofts newest DX 8.1 version click right here!