Hello loving friend, I feel glad you landed on this page. Today, I decided to let you know what I do with my laptop. Here, I will be suggesting best essential PC settings recommended for you. You can check top essential software which each PC must have.
Factors which make it to install windows:
There may be number of reasons why we feel need of installing copy of windows again on Laptop. Few of them may be:
- It has been a long while when you installed windows.
- The laptop is not working well as it has been so slow.
- Blue screen of death started to appear.
- Updated windows and now it ran into problem.
- Copy of windows got corrupted.
Stating all above reasons are the major reasons why we install windows.
What are the settings I do?
Basically, I use windows 8.1 Enterprises. Metro UI interface is really a new thing which I thought people would love but unfortunately it did not work. I don’t know what people want. I love metro UI interface too much. What an awesome idea? Hat’s off! If people supported it and Microsoft kept on working on this then I’m sure one day it could compete Mac OS in look. BTW, I was talking about settings. So, let’s discuss.
1. Installing drivers for windows.
This is the basic thing which every user has to do in order to get the laptop work well. If you don’t have them, then go to your manufacturer’s official website and download them. If you don’t know what to do, just download AUTO SYSTEM DETECT program, this program will automatically detect required drivers and suggest you. You can then download them.
2. Turning off automatic windows update.
After my laptop looks good, next thing needed to be done is to turn off automatic windows update. I don’t understand why peoples always get stressed of updating their pc or laptop. I hate updating because it consumes 30-40 % of bandwidth which make my net to work slowly. Updating finishes never. Just think of those who are at dial-up connections. Updating windows create problems as well.
How I turn off:
Right Click on Computer Icon> Manage> Services and Applications> Services> Windows Update (last 8th)> Properties> Disabled.
3. Close the lid and go away. Laptop will turn off itself.
This is most valuable setting I love. Whenever there is an emergency to go somewhere or I feel asleep. I just close lid of my laptop and it hibernate on its own. When I turn it on again, I get my work back as it was left last time. Hibernating takes nearly 60% less time to wake up than shutting down and rebooting the computer. You never need to wait to let laptop shut down or reboot. Stop wasting time. 🙂
How I do it:
Click on start button> Click Search Bar> type “Change what the power buttons do”> Match exactly the same keywords and click on it> under When I Close Lid, choose Hibernate for both battery and plugged in> Click OK.
4. Pinning Resource Monitor to Start Menu.
Resource Monitor is a very useful tool to trace what programs are using CPU, RAM and most important, internet. However, there is no direct way to pin Resource Monitor to Start Menu. We need apply a trick.
Pin Resource Monitor to Start Menu:
Open windows explorer> Go to C: Drive> Windows> search for “resmon”> Click on it and copy its path from Home tab and click on Copy Path> Open Desktop> Create Shortcut> Paste path of “resmon”> Rename Shortcut as Resource Monitor> Pin to Start Menu> Now you can delete it.
5. Fixing “Install .Net Framework 3.5” error.
My copy of window lack this feature. It doesn’t install .Net Framework on its own. An error message asking to install .Net Framework 3.5 keeps on appearing on screen all the time. However, the installation media (SD Card, Pen Drive or DVD Disk) contains complete set of .Net Framework but doesn’t install it. So we need to do it manually.
Installing .Net Framework 3.0:
Insert Installation Media> Open cmd as administrator> write the following command:-
Dism /online /enable-feature /featurename:NetFx3 /All /Source:#:\source\sxs /LimitAccess
Where # is the letter of your Installation Media.> Click OK and let it to install.
6. Typing automatically in Search Bar.
We generally use Search Bar. So to search, we need to type. So, I made it default to direct type in search bar. This helps me a lot.
Type Automatically:
Open Windows Explorer> Click View Tab> Choose Options under Show/Hide section> View Tab> Choose “Automatically type in search bar” (at last)> Click OK.
7. Make Taskbar look beautiful.
By default, taskbar looks too big. Its size doesn’t look cool. Make it smaller and make it beautiful.
Do it:
Right click on Taskbar> Properties> Tick Use Small Taskbar and Use Aero Peek to View desktop (preview of desktop without minimizing programs)> Click OK.
Other settings are micro setting and need not to be mentioned.
8. Software everyone should use.
We all use software but most of us don’t use them at their best. We use them for only one purpose but a program comes with lot of features. I have used a lot of software and don’t know the exact number. But here I’ll be discussing only important one. Let’s discuss:
1. VLC Media Player:- I use only this media player for all type of media files. It is the best and freely available and gives such a user experience like any paid software would fail to. One thing that create problem is that it resizes its window each time whenever I play a new video. Each time I have to resize it to smaller window.
Common Settings:
- Theme: The problem which I discussed was fixed with installation of this skin. I use Slim_Beam_Black-krypton.vlt it is a Metro UI interface skin is awesome. You can download My collection of Best Skin Packs from Here.
- I always keep VLC Player on the top by using ALWAYS ON TOP option. By this, it doesn’t hide behind other windows.
- Subtitles are chosen: Segoe UI Light
- Under set up associations: chosen all types for VLC Player only.
2. Adobe Photoshop
3. Avast! Anti-Virus
4. Video Converters: Bigasoft Total Video Converter, EffectMatrix Total Video Converter, Format Factory.
5. Google Chrome: Always signed in with only one e-mail address and stay sync.
6. Recuva Pro: Helps to recover files after deleting from Recycle Bin
7. CheatBook: Finding Cheats to Play games and easily get whatever want without completing missions. J
8. Speecy: Getting complete information about system configuration.
9. Connectify HotSpot Pro: Make your system Wi-Fi Hub.
10. Moo0 Transparent Menu: Transform look of right click menu.
11. Transformation Packs: Windows Transformation Pack, Android Skin Pack, Mac Skin Pack.
12. Dictionary: Sheel’s Dictionary
- Hindi to English (Visual Hindi Typing Keyboard Support)
- English to Hindi
13. DirectX
14. DOSBox: Using older versions of programs.
15. IconPackager: Changing Icons.
16. Internet Download Manager: Best Downloading Utility.
17. Microsoft Visual Studio: Missc.
18. Nitro Pro: Supports editing of .pdf files. Better than Adobe Reader.
19. Picasa: Best Photo Viewer.
20. PowerISO: .iso file utility.
21. Revo Uninstaller: Removes leftover files which uninstalling programs lefts behind.
22. Mp3 Tag: Change everything of mp3 file.
23. Prevent: Disable Cut, Copy and Paste.
24. The File Splitter: Split file temporarily and combine that later. Useful in sending larger files by breaking them in into parts by removable media.
25. Stardock CursorFX: Changes cursor’s look.
26. Sublime Text: Awesome text editing tool.
27. Team Viewer: Remote control other computer.
28. Who is on my Wi-Fi: As name suggests.
29. WinZip: .zip files utility.
30. Wondershare Dr. Fone: Android Recovery Utility.
31. BlueStacks: Run Android Apps on PC.
30. Icaros: Set thumbnails on video files. Useful.
31. Kill Disk Suite: Erase everything on Hard Disk. Don’t Use. 🙂
That’s all friends! Using other software also but stated important only. I wish at least a single may be used by you in future.
Let me know your thoughts on this.
Feel Free to clear doubts.