How to check graphic card memory in Window XP

Checking graphic card memory in Window XP is quite easy. Follow the below step

• Right click on any empty space on your Window XP desktop and then click on Properties
• Now click on the Settings Tab and Click the Advanced button.
• Now click on the Adapter Tab.
• There you will see Memory Size : xxxMB. [ See the Screen Shot Below]
• That is your Graphics Memory.

Disabling unnecessary Windows services

As a disclaimer, this is a bit more of an advanced tip. This is not that risky. However, you can cause problems if you disable services that are needed.

Services are programs that are continuously running in the background of Windows and are doing different tasks that Windows needs done. There are a lot of these services and they can use a lot of resources. The good news is that a lot of these services are expendable and can be turned off without any problems. You can go through the list and read the descriptions Windows gives to decide which services you need. You can always turn the service back on if need it later in time. The following steps show you how to turn off services.

Managing Services with Services.msc

1. Go to Start -> Programs -> Administrative Tools -> Services. You can also go to START -> Run -> and type services.msc.
2. Left-click on a service.
3. Read the description of the service just to make sure you don't think you will need the service.
4. If you decide you want to disable the service, Right-click -> Properties -> Change the "Startup Type" to "Manual" and then stop the service. The next time you reboot Windows the service will not start.

Here are some services we found could be disabled in most common home computers:

• Computer Browser
• Error Reporting Service
• Help and Support
• Indexing Service
• Messenger
• NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing
• Performance Logs and Alerts
• Protected storage (this service stores passwords and enables auto-complete for web forms)
• Remote Registry (this service allows remote access to your registry)
• Routing and Remote Access (this service enables dial-in routing to your computer if you use this)
• Secondary Logon
• Task Scheduler

Bits, Bytes, and Megabytes - Know the difference?

It's amazing how too many people still have no sense of computer storage space, even when they handle a computer on a daily basis. This lack of perceptiveness is often inconvenient. Fortunately, it's something that can easily be fixed.

This is the kind of thing they're teaching first graders nowadays, and yet it's something that adults often have never been taught. The digital age dawned quite rapidly on us, and many people are still adapting to this transition.

Free MP3 Cutter and Editor 2.5.0.612

Free MP3 Cutter and Editor is an extremely simple and easy to use Windows software for editing mp3 files. The program displays a waveform graph that lets you easily select a portion of the MP3 for editing. You can cut out unwanted part of the audio, change volume by specifying a percentage value, create a fade in or fade out, and convert the audio between stereo and mono.

Here are some key features of "Free MP3 Cutter and Editor":

• Delete Selected - Deletes selected part from the MP3 document.
• Delete Unselected - Deletes unselected part from the MP3 document.
• Change Volume - Changes audio volume by specifying a percentage value.
• Maximize Volume - Increases volume as high as possible without distortion.
• Fade In - Gradually increases the volume throughout the selection.
• Fade Out - Gradually decreases the volume throughout the selection.
• Convert to Stereo - Duplicates mono track to make a stereo track.
• Convert to Mono - Mixes all channels to make a mono track.

How to Reduce Firefox Memory Usage

Firefox is very easy to use and has also proved itself to be one of the best browsers when it comes to security year after year. Firefox also is known for having great add-ons to the browser that are both useful and easy to use. Despite all of these great reasons to use Firefox, I have noticed that Firefox can be a bit of a memory hog at times. I have noticed it using over 1 GB of memory at times for my new PC. This large use of memory can surely contribute to a slow PC. In this article, we look at ways to reduce this memory usage.

Restart Firefox

The first and most obvious way to reduce the memory usage for Firefox is to restart the browser. The longer you have the Firefox browser open, the larger the cache will grow in memory. By restarting Firefox, you will clear all the caches out of the memory.

Reduce Session History in Firefox

The session history keeps track of the pages you visited in the past. This history is cached in memory and it is what allows you to hit the back and forward buttons. The default value for this is 50. You can reduce this to a number much lower such as 10.

To change this value, type "about:config" in the Firefox URL bar and click enter. You may be warned by Firefox. Click OK. Search for "browser.sessionhistory.max_entries" by using CTRL+F. Double click on the line item and change this to 10 or whatever value you want. Click OK and restart Firefox. That is it!

Reduce Add-ons, Themes, and Extensions

Despite how useful they are, some add-ons, themes, and extensions can increase Firefox resource usage. I recommend using only the extensions and add-ons that you really need. However, this is 100% a personal preference. If you are ok with a little extra memory usage, then keep the extension by all means.

If you decide you want to remove an extension, you can press CTRL+SHIFT+A to edit the extensions, add-ons, and themes.

Explicitly Set Firefox's Max Cache Size

Another thing you can do is to tell Firefox exactly how much memory it is allowed to use for its cache. You will want to be careful with this setting though. Giving it too small of a cache could slow down your browsing.

To do this, type in "about:config" in the address bar and click enter. If warned, click OK. Search for "browser.cache.memory.capacity" by using CTRL+F. Set the capacity keeping in mind that it is in Kilobytes (1024KB = 1 MB). For example, if you wanted to set this to 100 MB, then you would use 1024x100 = 102400 Kilobytes. I also want to point out that this is a setting that I personally have not changed. On my PC, I let Firefox determine the cache size based on my amount of memory.

Quick Tip: Check Memory Usage in Firefox

In Firefox, you can check to see how much and where memory is being used. To do this, simply type "about:cache?device=memory" into the URL bar and click enter. A webpage will be displayed that shows you memory cache for the browser. This is a cool feature included with Firefox to help you analyze how Firefox is utilizing memory.

5 tips for using text effects in Microsoft Word 2010

Word 2010 has many text options--including glow, shadow, and reflection text effects.

But how much is too much? How can you make sure a text effect will enhance your message, not detract from it?

Musicmatch JukeBox 10 Free Full Download

Get access to Musicmatch Jukebox 10

Musicmatch Jukebox 10 is a powerful and easy way to find, organize, and enjoy your music. An all-in-one, digital-music solution, Jukebox 10 lets you manage, play, rip, burn, buy, and discover music in one easy-to-use program.

Musicmatch Jukebox also provides instant access to all of its popular music services, including Musicmatch On Demand, Musicmatch Music Store, and Musicmatch Radio with more than 800,000 songs in its catalog.

Microsoft gives sneak preview of Windows 8

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, California - Microsoft gave a sneak preview on Wednesday of the successor to Windows 7, a next-generation operating system designed to work on both personal computers and touchscreen tablets.

Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows Division, demonstrated some of the features of the operating system code-named "Windows 8" at the D9 technology conference here hosted by All Things Digital.

"Laptops, slates, desktops -- all can run one operating system," Sinofsky said.

"Things that people see work... on an iPad, I think we can do that and then bring with it all of the benefits that you have with Windows," he said.

Firefox 5 Beta Released for Desktop and Android

Mozilla has announced the availability of the first Firefox 5 beta release for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and Android. The new desktop version includes a built-in release channel switcher and support for CSS animations. The new mobile version introduces support for the Do Not Track header and a number of other improvements.

Microsoft Bing Adds Facebook Data

Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) is rolling out an expansion to features on its Bing search engine that display data from Facebook Inc., such as restaurants, brands and links friends have recommended, aiming to make results more social.

The company is broadening the scope of a tool that lets users who are searching for a restaurant, movie or news story see if their friends have "liked" it on Facebook, the world’s most popular social network. Searches for places will list friends who live nearby, while looking for www.amazon.com shows Amazon items “liked” by friends, as well as popular items among the Facebook community, said Sean Suchter, general manager of Microsoft’s Search Technology Center in Silicon Valley.