[App][BETA] Kill**** - process killer - Touch HD Themes and Apps

This is my first app for WinCE so please be nice!
Rant
It seems I'm part of a minority of users who understand that mobile devices and PDA's are not designed to run multiple apps at once. You can, but anyone with a decent sense of quality will agree that it's a rubbish experience once you get under 50% free memory. In fact the iPhone by default design doesn't let you multi-task apps (jailbreak changes this) which may be one of the reasons peeps think its a faster device. I say I'm part of a minority because most apps around are coded so that when you hit the 'x' close button they minimize instead of close (even by holding x). Also Windows has no inbuilt mechanisms for keeping your apps closed, and none of the roms I've tried (cooked or otherwise) seem to have these types of tools included.
Disclaimer
Firstly I hope I haven't reinvented the wheel or stolen anyone else's idea. I didn't research for months but didn't find anything like this around so apologize in advance if I upset anyone. Also I provide this tool "as-is" in BETA form - so it could damage your device - so use at your own risk.
Kill****?! What is it?
It is a simple app that kills running processes.
Why would I want it - what's wrong with Task Manager?
A common example is you open up Calc to do divide a dinner bill, lookup how to get home in Google maps, send an SMS to a friend and hit Home key. Then you wonder why the thing is running like a dog. You open task manager and notice you have these 3 freakin apps are open still and taking up your memory. So you're expected to open Task Manager after every time you're finished with an app?...no I dont think so..because you've got Kill****! You manage an exemption file, assign the app to one of your softkeys (or events) and it will quickly, quietly kill all other **** running for you.
How Does It Work?
It stores a text file on disk with names of processes that you wish to exempt. You can manage this via the included config tool. When you run the app (which is a console app) it just kills every running process other than the ones on your exclude list. The exclusion file is stored in your default MyDocuments folder and is called something like "NoofnyKill****.settings". Real simple.
What Do I Need To Run It?
Microsoft Windows Mobile (4 and above)
Microsoft .NET Compact Framework 3.5
How Do I Install It?
Simply run the attached CAB and everything is installed for you. 2 icons are added to your Start Menu (the config tool and the console app itself). The app is installed in the default Programs folder.
How Do I Use It?
If the exceptions file does not exist it will be created new and will contain all of the running process at the time the app ran.
The best instructions are;
1) Have your device in your preferred state with only your basic apps running.
2) Open the config tool from the start menu (Kill**** Config).
3) All of the running processes will list with a check next to them (which 4) means they will be exempted).
4) Click Menu -> Save Exceptions and close the config tool.
5) Assign the console app (KilL****.exe) to one of your softkeys or other buttons using your favorite tweak tool.
What Else Do I Need To Know?
I am not responsible for anything negative or positive this app will do to you, your device or life. Use at your own risk. I have not tested this app well and can only guarantee that I have fundamentally screwed something up. If anyone does use it and wants help I will do my best but try to help by giving as much detailed info as possible when reporting any bugs. I'm open to suggestions and are planning to put the source code up here if anyone shows interest.
That's about it - hope it makes someone's life a little brighter.

Hi!
This looks interesting. Is there anyway to cook this into a ROM properly? I dont like to have users make a file in their my documents folder.
Cheers
Epiphany

EpiphanyNL said:
Is there anyway to cook this into a ROM properly? I dont like to have users make a file in their my documents folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks...i can have the file live anywhere really, I just chose MyDocuments cause its easy and accessible. It's easy to even have them define in the config tool where they want to save the settings. I'm new to mobile dev and the whole rom cooking thing, so could you expand about what would be needed to cook this app into a rom?

actually after giving it more thought it would be more practical to store this in the registry. I chose to use a text file at first because I was not going to bother have a config app and you could modify it using notepad or something.

In registry would be the most preferred method yes.

Related

[APP] HD Power Manager - A fast and functional app to PowerOff or perform a SoftReset

Hi,
I've written a little finger-friendly app (rather a script) to perform a soft reset on the HD or power off the device
Background:
A similar app does already exist here in the forum, but it is rather slow. Therefor I've written a little script which does the same. Its advantage is that it's much faster, disadvantage is that it doesn't look that pretty and doesn't have a graphical UI.
The Program:
... is a little MortScript, which gives you the choice to
- perform a soft reset,
- power off the device,
- cancel the operation.
In addition, you have an option to get warning dialogs for the operations or directly perform the desired operation.
How to install / use:
1.) First you have to install MortScript (a nice functional FREEWARE script language), which is available as installer or cab file here.
2.) Copy the attached file 'HD_Power_Manager_v_1_0.mscr.zip' on your desktop and remove the '.zip' file extension (It's actually NOT a zip file, I've just renamed it for uploding purposes)
3.) Copy the 'HD_Power_Manager_v_1_0.mscr' file anywhere to your device.
4.) To choose whether you want to get warning dialogs, open the file with a text editor and change the first program line:
WD=0 --> Warning Dialogs off
WD=1 --> Warning Dialogs on (default)
Save and make sure that the file extension is still 'mscr'
5.) Run the script on your device. You can initiate the action either by choosing and pressing 'ok' or by double-clicking
6.) enjoy & give feedback
Regards Jan
Any comments on that from people who tried it? does it work like it should? do you think it's useful or rather useless?
regards jan
Hey, this looks nice. I gave up on the other app, because it was too slow for my needs, so if this is fast as you say, that is surely a big plus.
I don't care about graphic UI when I'm going to reset the device anyway
I was just wondering if you know will this work on new Manilla (Dutty ROM series)?
Rozenthal said:
...
I was just wondering if you know will this work on new Manilla (Dutty ROM series)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't say that for sure as I use the origial o2 stock rom (GER), but I think it should work without problems...
As the program which is rather "only" a little script uses common system commands, I think it should work. For soft reset it uses the "Reset" command from MortScript, and for Shut Down (Power Off) the "PowerOffWarning.exe" from the windows directory, which should still be present in the Dutty Rom, i think.
Just give it a try.. Only "real" system installation is MortScript (which is really small and useful anyway and removable without problems), while my little app ist only a script which doesn't change any registry settings at all and is just copied and executed on the device... so no danger from that...
regards jan
If anyone's interested, I've made a replacement for PowerOffWarning.exe (which goes with my VJPoOf suite of apps) that will instantly switch off the phone. No shut down anims and things. It's rather frightening, and probably screwing the phone up something rotten, but it should be fine as it works in the same way HTC shuts down the phone, without all the anims etc, so it should be fine...
V
vijay555 said:
If anyone's interested, I've made a replacement for PowerOffWarning.exe (which goes with my VJPoOf suite of apps) that will instantly switch off the phone. No shut down anims and things. It's rather frightening, and probably screwing the phone up something rotten, but it should be fine as it works in the same way HTC shuts down the phone, without all the anims etc, so it should be fine...
V
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you'd be so kind to post that replacement file here? (or give the link)? I could try and incorporate it into the script. For the moment the script performs a "workaround" of the warning dialog from the original "poweroffwarning.exe" by automatically sending the "yes" command...
regards jan
VJF-Off
Here you go, the very subtly named, VJFastOff.
http://www.vijay555.com/vj/releases/vjpoof/vjfastoff.exe
It will instantly shut the phone off.
​Please note that it's instant, and there are no warnings etc whatsoever, so make you're you've finished doing what you're doing before launching it.
Feel free to use it in your package, but please give it a credit back to my website if possible.
V
vijay555 said:
Here you go, the very subtly named, VJFastOff.
http://www.vijay555.com/vj/releases/vjpoof/vjfastoff.exe
It will instantly shut the phone off.
Please note that it's instant, and there are no warnings etc whatsoever, so make you're you've finished doing what you're doing before launching it.
Feel free to use it in your package, but please give it a credit back to my website if possible.
V
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for supplying, vijay.
Depending on the interest in my script by other people i'm going to incorporate your file in a later public version... first i need some feedback concerning the present version... until then, I'll test your file my own...
regards jan
vijay555 said:
Here you go, the very subtly named, VJFastOff.
http://www.vijay555.com/vj/releases/vjpoof/vjfastoff.exe
It will instantly shut the phone off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks vijay, do tou mind if I include it with my 18 buttons action screen?
Feel free to include it with anything you want, so long as you are not charging for it. I'd be pleased if you drop me a credit, but I won't break your legs if you don't.
BTW, VJF-Off was developed as part of my VJPoOf suite of apps, where I had it assigned to a long press of the power key, to skip the shutdown anims.
If you are leaving feedback for VJFastOff, please leave it in the VJPoOf thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=476412
Further btw, my old app VJEschaton can be used to soft reset, shutdown, hard reset and a few other things as well.
V

[Sovled] CAB installer with long_send.lnk included.

Hi all
I've 99% finished an app that I'm about to upload, but have 1 tiny, tiny problem with it.
I've included a "long_send.lnk" shortcut in the CAB file, and it seems to be being duplicated for some reason.
I've got it set to install to the windows folder, and it does this, but it also installs a duplicate one in the Start Menu (I do have 1 other shortcut in the start menu - don't know if this is relevant).
My question is, does anyone have any idea why this would happen and, more to the point, how the hell do I stop it???
It's really annoying to get so close to completion and have 1 silly problem stop me dead, especially after having solved so many issues, like shortcuts that work no matter where you install the app (device or storage), and running the target app with parameters (they were both a pain in the arse to fix!)
Any advice would be very welcome.
Thanks in advance
Edit:
Sorry, I should probably have said that I'm using VS2008.
I should also explain that I'm creating the long_send shortcut in VS2008 as part of the CAB project, not externally, as I want it to point at the application, regardless of where it is installed. If I create the shortcut outside VS2008 then it may not be pointing at where the application is installed.
Just in case anyone stumbles across this with the same, or similar problem, I've just discovered the joy that is setup.dll, where you can code whatever you like for install and uninstall events.

Making sense of Start menu, Programs, Apps et al

I have been following XDA-Developers since the days of the SX66 (Blue Angel), and have enjoyed many ROMs and improvements that came along. But there seems to be a new paradigm now, with the whole 3D/HD capabilities, and I am getting lost in the jungle of terms, capabilities, nuances, et cetera.
I am trying to make sense of the application manager, start menu, programs - whatever the correct term is - for the Tilt2 with standard AT&T shipped ROM. I have added a few applications - some that are quite new and some that I've carried with me since the days of the early IPAQs (remember those?). But I'm lost when it comes to putting these programs in a place where I can find them, and using a good tool that will manage them. (I don't presently want to put on a new ROM until I figure out for myself what my needs are.)
For example, I installed Pocket Putty - the one intended for WM6.x. It works great! But I always have to search for it... and cannot seem to add it to any of the menus involved. I go to the Programs tab... I press + to add.. and it's not in the list of programs available. So I press the Start menu and I get a list - a different list - of programs available. Not there either. I have to either search for it or open it with Total Commander or other file tool. Why are these three separate lists? That is no less than three separate/distinct program lists, and they don't seem to interrelate. How can I properly manage/synchronize them, and what do I need to do to make programs appear in these lists?
I understand there's something called Sense and something called Manila involved. I don't really want to spend the rest of my life reading about these technologies before I get the chance to use them, but I do want to understand them well enough that I know what needs to be manipulated in order to accomplish some task.
Am I forever lost? Or is there a crash course? Or something else?
Lost in the jungle
Make a shorcut of the program with total commander. Place the shortcut in your start menu >> programs. This way the program will show up in your start menu and you can add them in the programs tab.
And I thought that every program that shows up in your programs tab is somewhere to be found in your start menu . Those two are linked if I am not mistaking.
Lennyz1988 said:
I thought that every program that shows up in your programs tab is somewhere to be found in your start menu .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's certainly what I expected, too. But no. So experimenting with Pocket Putty as my example: I created the shortcut on \Windows\Start Menu\Programs. I renamed the shortcut from "htc-pocketputty.lnk" to "Pocket Putty.lnk". Now I have been able to add it to my Programs tab (THANK YOU for that!). But it is not in the Start Menu. There are plenty of mismatches like that. For example, the Windows Mobile folder is visible in Start Menu, not available as an app in Programs tab (I'd rather do that and use up about 4 less buttons). MSN Weather shows up in Add Programs but not on Start Menu. Et cetera.

[DFT] z..::H.O.W...T.O...N.A.T.I.V.E::..z [PREVIEW]

..::H.O.W...T.O...N.A.T.I.V.E::..
Hello,
today I had decided to start this thread about native development for WP7.
At the current moment I don't upload/attach any working stuffs to this message. It will happen a bit later, after new DFT ROMs release. This is because it's very difficult to run them for now.
Let's start from current achieved results:
1) It's possible to run any EXE files (after "FullUnlock")
2) Those EXE files can do any operations in the system (after "FullUnlock")
3) It's possible to show some GUI from this applications. But GUI has legacy Windows CE style, it's impossible to create Metro-style applications for now.
How can it be used by community?
We can develop a lot of homebrew applications: like porting emulators, old native applications, video players and etc.
It can be possible to port famous TCPMP player for example and get ultimate playback on Windows Phone 7!
Is it possible to run old Windows Mobile 6.5 applications without modifications?
No, it's not possible. A lot of different APIs are missing for those applications.
Is it hard to modify old Windows Mobile 6.5 applications?
Well, it's almost same like porting to pure Windows CE, but a lot of Windows CE stuffs are "damaged" inside Windows Phone. They just doesn't work right, because nobody never used/tested them before
Photos of sample "WP7 Native test"
Information for developers you can find in the next messages.
So I will release demo WP7 native application, when we fix issues with FullUnlock.
Demo will be as binary EXE file. And as VS2008 project, which can be good start point for other developers.
Now this thread dedicated for discussion, share ideas and thoughts.
DFT, Cotulla
Information about "FullUnlock"
Information about "FullUnlock"
DevUnlock actually allows only to deploy XAP files from external sources.
It doesn't give more privileges.
So we (DFT) developed "FullUnlock". FullUnlock is implemented as replacing some system files by wrappers, which allows any kind of access (disable access checking at all)
We replace LVMOD.DLL which used to check files and data (checksums, certificates and etc) and POLICYENGINE.DLL which implements internal objects access checking.
All written before means that FullUnlock at the current moment only possible by flashing custom ROM to device. In future maybe we can find good ways to do it without flashing, but for now I don't see any ideas how to do it without flashing.
Maybe we can replace DLLs inside \Windows\ directory (put a shadow copy), but I am not sure if it will work really. It's stuffs for future experiments.
It can be possible to do something near by editing policy values, but it need big research to find right way. As it still won't disable file checking, maybe we can add own certificate to right store and then sign files with them.
The last DFT 7720 MANGO ROMs contains FullUnlock, but it doesn't work as expected there few issues. as well some users got issues with debugging on those ROMs and etc. We will continue work under it
So I will release demo WP7 native application, when we fix issues with FullUnlock.
Demo will be as binary EXE file. And as VS2008 project, which can be good start point for other developers.
Now this thread dedicated for discussion, share ideas and thoughts.
For developers
For developers
(users do not read! danger for brain!)
First of all I want to talk about abilities of native code.
Most applications built in inside WP7 are native. But they don't use usual Dialog UI style, they are using some kind of Silvelight scripts. This kind of UI is called "UIX".
Main idea of UIX that DLL files have UIX resources inside which describe whole UI.
Something similar is used inside CE 7.0 Slivelight - there some xml compiler which make binary data and put them as resources inside DLL. I don't know how to decode this binary data.
Seems Zune desktop application also using this framework.
So UIX used some kind of scripts for UI part and callbacks for all actions.
If we decode this UIX format, we will able to change/modify UI as we want, like it was before with regular resources inside DLL. But UIX must be much more powerful.
We can't use UIX for native application because we don't know how to use it, how to make proper binary data and etc. It's hard to reverse.
But native application can have some GUI with Windows CE style (you can see examples on the photos above)
Another issue: If you call API function "CreateWindowW" you won't see anything on the screen. It seems because shell handle all output, so window doesn't visible.
After some searching I found inside some test ROM nice DLL called "WindowTreeUpdater.dll". After looking inside and decoding functions parameters, it's working!
Basic idea: you create window and call function from this DLL and Window appear on the screen. There seems some kind of proxy engine to output legacy windows on top of shell output.
Nice, it's working...
So we can use usual windows for UI inside native application.
There present standard controls, but they work rather laggy (hey, and looks too).
Basic controls like PushButton, Static, CheckBox, Radiobutton, Icon are working.
About extended controls: (Progress bar, list view, and etc)
they come from Commctrl.dll usually, it was present inside Initial/NODO releases, ut it was removed inside MANGO. I was able to run NODO Commctrl.dll under MANGO after some modifications. But all this controls are shown on screen, but they don't do anything on input. So you can see toolbar, but can't press any button.
CommDlg.dll is missing and never was inside WP7.
There present AYGSHELL.DLL, but most functions are broken. For example, I was not able to create menu bar.
So, a lot of functions are broken, like MessageBox not working.
But we still can create own custom controls and use them for developing.
For example porting TCPMP means that we will need reimplement UI fully - because toolbar doesn't work. slider also won't. Maybe get and reuse some source from ReactOS or NT40 CommCtrl
reserved1reserved1
reserved2reserved2
reserved3reserved3
This is some crazy ****! I like it
for...all...devices!? If possible...damn
I just came...
Holly smoke !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Way to go guys....BRAVO... This is a major breakthrough for wp7 dev
Once again well done DFTeam
You guys are beasts...please keep it up
for...all...devices!? If possible...damn
I just came...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For now it's only for HTC devices with flashing custom ROM
The UIX/UIB scripts are a real pain.. I tried going through them a while back to change the annoying notification system (10 seconds? Really, Microsoft?) and figured it would all boil down to the usual XML-style script that WM6.5 and other MS products use, but the format is newer and there doesn't seem to be an easy way to decompile them.
From what I do know, however, is that it's more of an encoding than a compilation, and can be decoded if we can figure out what all the different headers mean... but that's a serious reverse engineering project.
Keep it up.is it possible to add Samsung device into support list?
Great work! Are there any multitasking restrictions for these apps? presumably because they are not Silverlight they will not be present in the task switcher & the app will be in charge of when the process terminates?
Looking forward to doing some nice low-level operations - hopefully this will open a whole new world for WP7 dev
Sent from my 7 Pro T7576 using Board Express
That's great,,,Thanks
Cotulla said:
For now it's only for HTC devices with flashing custom ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hopefully this will change when you receive the Samsung Focus and try custom ROMs.
Blade0rz said:
Great work! Are there any multitasking restrictions for these apps? presumably because they are not Silverlight they will not be present in the task switcher & the app will be in charge of when the process terminates?
Looking forward to doing some nice low-level operations - hopefully this will open a whole new world for WP7 dev
Sent from my 7 Pro T7576 using Board Express
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would suspect that they won't be killed unless there's an Out of Memory issue (you can see the whitelists for that in the registry), because these processes are not like the silverlight/xna apps that are launched in Taskman.exe. Whether they show up in multitask lists, idk, but they probably won't be killed in the traditional way..
but that's a serious reverse engineering project.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes...
maybe it's precompiled XAML scripts, like inside Managed applications?
Great work! Are there any multitasking restrictions for these apps? presumably because they are not Silverlight they will not be present in the task switcher & the app will be in charge of when the process terminates?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would suspect that they won't be killed unless there's an Out of Memory issue (you can see the whitelists for that in the registry), because these processes are not like the silverlight/xna apps that are launched in Taskman.exe. Whether they show up in multitask lists, idk, but they probably won't be killed in the traditional way..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Plain EXE can run without restrictions, but I guess it will be killed at OOM condition still. EXE with window seems all a bit more complex. When I press back button it usually disappear after few seconds. I think window got WM_CLOSE or something at that moment. It should be researched more in the future.
Furthermore, I forgot to say: Interesting thing, before MANGO WP7 supports native XAP files too!
There was few files nativeinstaller* which implements native installation. There references inside for setup.dll and _setup.xml like in old CAB files.
But it was removed from MANGO seems
Cotulla said:
For now it's only for HTC devices with flashing custom ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would we be able to install an old application like fpsece for windows mobile? One of the biggest things I miss about windows mobile! I get paid today so I will be making a donation for your hard work! I'm currently using your custom rom on my HD7! Thanks again, and keep up the good work!
支持DFT論壇!支持xda-developers!至於你信不信,反正我是信了!

[Guide][Tools] Windows 8 (or any Windows Version) Optimization

This is guide made for Windows 8, but can be used with any version of Windows. The options might just vary a little.
**This guide is meant to provide a way to improve performance on your computer. This is in no way, shape, or form, a fool-proof method (although i tried to make it fool-proof). I will not be responsible for any damage done to your computer by using any of these tools in this thread.**​
This guide will show you ways that I have found to optimize windows to get the most you can out of any computer. Some of these tools come with windows, while others I will provide links for your convenience.
To make some of this easier, i have created a '.bat' script for your use.​
HDD – Hard Drive
Free up space: Using Windows Tools
This first tool comes with windows. It is the disk cleaner.
The easiest way to find this tool is to go to the start page and type in: “cleanmgr.exe” and click on that.
This takes a little while to sort through your hard drive. Here are the categories that I recommend cleaning:
Code:
[LIST]
[*]Downloaded Program Files
[*]Temporary Internet Files
[*]Recycle Bin
[*]System error memory dump files
[*]Temporary files
[*]Thumbnails
[*]Any of the user error reporting categories if you want
[/LIST]
There is the option to clean system files, which requires administrator privileges. Here are the additional categories that I recommend you clean:
Code:
[LIST]
[*]Previous Windows Installation(s)
[*]Windows Update cleanup
[/LIST]
Depending on how much data is going to be erased, this may take awhile. This tool also tends to use a lot of CPU
Free up space: Using CCleaner
This second tool is not part of windows, but is simple and easy to use. It is called CCleaner. This is a program that has a lot of options that are explained in the different sections (Registry)
- Link: CCleaner
For this category, you will be using the cleaner section which is opened by default when you open the program.
Everything that is checked, I recommend keeping checked. You may choose whatever you want though.
1st click analyze and let it sort through your HDD
It may pause and ask you if you want to force close Chrome or any other conflicting program. Go ahead and let it force close them.
2nd look at what it is going to remove a second time and make sure it’s all stuff that you don’t care about. After that, you may click clean.
There is a third tool that is under the “tools” section in CCleaner. It is the driver wiper.
When you go to this section, you will only wipe the free space on your HDD.
The 35 passes option is a little overkill. Feel free to choose what ever option you want though.
If you have an SSD, DO NOT do the 35 passes. this will only shorten the SSD's life. See more info regarding this in post #4
This could take many hours to complete so make sure you have time.
This also may not give you a whole lot of space, but it should give you some.
Make your disk load files faster:
The major thing that many people recommend to do often, is to defragment the HDD. For people with SSD's, this is not needed
This program is found by going to the start menu and typing in “defrag” in the settings section.
When this opens, click on your HDD, and then click on analyze. It will then scan your HDD and tell you the amount of your HDD is fragmented.
You then click on optimize and this process will take a while as it does about 13 passes over the HDD
Registry
*For this procedure, you will be using CCleaner again. For those who skipped the HDD section, link for this program is in that section.*
In CCleaner, click and on the registry section and then click: “scan for issues”
After it scans, you can take a look at what it has found before it removes them. You can also choose what to delete.
Click fix issues, and this is when it will ask to backup the registry. I HIGHLY recommend doing this.
It will then ask you one by one what you want to do with each entry. You also have the option to fix all issues with one click
Uninstalling programs
For uninstalling programs, the windows uninstaller does not do it for me. I use revo uninstaller
- Link: Revo Uninstaller
This program is pretty self-explanatory but it does more than just uninstalling the program. After the program is uninstalled revo will scan your HDD and your registry to find anything that it believes it left over from the program.
BEWARE: make sure you choose wisely what you delete. Revo does make a system restore point before it uninstalls the program, but this is not a fool-proof method.
**On windows 8, there is a small bug, as far as I know, that when scanning all of this, it will use a decent amount of your CPU.**​
*If any of you have ideas on how I can make this guide better whether it is by adding methods, or just clarifying some of these directions as this is the first time that I have written a reference guide like this. Any help is greatly appreciated. :fingers-crossed:
Thanks:
Microsoft: for Windows
Piriform: for CCleaner
VSRevo Group: for Revo Uninstaller
BillP Studios: for WinPatrol (Next post)
GoodDayToDie: for giving some major tips.
Awidawad: letting me use his code as a guide
Tips:
GoodDayToDie: Post #4
SixSixSevenSeven: Post #5
Tips on how to make your computer start-up faster.
Programs start-up
Using task manager
In task manager, there are a ton of options that can be used to help performance. This is especially true with the new task manager that
Microsoft has pushed out with Windows 8.
For the majority of people, when you open up task manager, it will look like this:
To get the full format of task manager, which you will need for this process, you will need to click on the button at the bottom that says: “More Details” and it will open the full version of task manager.
Now to disable start-up programs:
At the top where all the tabs are, click on the “Start-up” tab and you should see something like this:
Now all you have to do is click on the process that you do not want starting with your computer, and click the “Disable” button. Here are some processes that I recommend but you can choose whatever you want.
Code:
[LIST]
[*]Adobe CS6 Service Manager
[*] Apple Push
[*] Bing Desktop Application
[*] Evernote Clipper
[*] Hamachi Client Application
[*] iTunesHelper
[*] KiesPDLR
[*]Logitech Download Assistant
[*]Quicktime Task
This is only what I have disabled. You may disable whatever you want because there are no system tasks that are there to disable.
**That does not meant that you can disable whatever you want because that might cause some programs to not work**
[*]Using WinPatrol
[/LIST]
This program does more than just control start-up programs. This section is only going to talk about the start-up section.
This section of the program, in essence, is a more advanced program to deal with start-up programs.
- Link: WinPatrol
After you install WinPatrol, go to the "Startup Programs" section. It should look like this:
Run through the list of programs and find ones you want to disable. My list of recommended programs is listed under the task manager section.
NOTE: If you do not know if what you are going to disable is going to effect any of your programs, then I would recommend using the "Disable" button. If you KNOW that it WON'T effect any program, then feel free to hit the "remove" button
This program does not only take care of start-up programs. There are many other features such as Active taks and IE Helpers that i will not be covering in this thread. I do however, recommend that you look at them.
Services:
Using Service Manager:
This is going to show you how to use the service manager that is built into Windows to disable some services form starting automatically with your computer. For this, you will not be disabling any services completely, but rather just have them set to manual which will allow them to run when needed.
Start by opening the start page and typing "services" into the settings section. you should end up with a screen that looks like this:
Click on "View Local Services"
Right-click on a service such as "Apple Mobile Device", click properties, and change the startup type from Auto, to Manual.
Choose other services and do the same.
WARNING: I highly advise you NOT to disable any system services as this could cause problems. I am at no fault for what you disable.​
Tips from users:
GoodDayToDie said:
tip of my own: there's a bunch of Windows Services which are enabled by default because *somebody* might need them, but which are really unnecessary on most computers. Some good examples include the Bluetooth service (if you don't have or don't use Bluetooth), Encrypting File System (if you don't use EFS), Print Spooler (if you never print), and so on. These can be disabled from the Services management console (services.msc, or find Services using the Start search). I actually recommend just turning them from "Automatic" down to "Manual"; this way, if you ever do want to use such a thing, it's possible that it will still work when you try to invoke it. As with other tweaks, do bear in mind what you've changed and watch for any potential system problems; if you're unsure, either revert the change or don't make it in the first place. Changing certain system services will make the system nigh-unusable. Also, be aware that changing many of these services really won't help much; it might shave fractions of a second each off of the bootup time of the system and/or save a few megs of RAM, but an idle service really isn't that big a threat to system performance if it's not coded completely horribly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SixSixSevenSeven said:
In almost a year on win7 I never had to manually invoke defrag, whenever I went to and analysed the disk it was only ever 1%, on the 80gb hard disk I had at the time its an insignificant amount of dragged data and I ignored it. I got windows 8 in November and so far it still says 0%.
I would recommend at least checking the values though, especially for external drives (my one hit 20%, think it was unplugged during windows scheduled defrags)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the_scotsman said:
Windows 8 knows if an SSD is being used. If it sees one, it won't allow you to "defrag". it will still allow you to "optimise" the drive. What this does is to manage TRIM to help clean the drives.
Look up TRIM if you want to know more. But do not disable the scheduled "optimisation" of an SSD drive as it's not a defrag, it does other things.
More info here: http://www.helpwithwindows.com/Windows8/Windows-8-on-Solid-State-Drive.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One last one just in case
also if this is in the wrong section, can someone please let me know. Thanks :good:
this guide is also a work-in-progress and no where near complete. again, feel free to offer whatever advice you have
A couple things to point out here, quickly:
* Don't try to do a massive overwrite a la CCleaner if you have a SSD. It will do nothing except use up a small portion of the disk's lifetime. SSD logical sectors are dynamically mapped to physical NAND blocks by a wear-leveling algorithm; overwriting the same address on the "disk" 35 times probably just means burning one write operation (out of tens or hundreds of thousand each, mind you) on 35 different chunks of NAND memory. Trying to read the "erased" data back in after even a single overwrite is quite futile, though.
* Manual defragmentation shouldn't be necessary on Win7 or later, unless somebody has disabled or otherwise tampered with the automatically scheduled task that runs it in the background. If you never leave the computer on except when it's in active use, though, it might be necessary. Also, SSDs don't benefit from defragmentation in any meaningful way - the speed boost is completely trivial given the lack of seek times, but again it burns a bit of NAND lifetime - although Windows should be smart enough to figure this out on its own.
A tip of my own: there's a bunch of Windows Services which are enabled by default because *somebody* might need them, but which are really unnecessary on most computers. Some good examples include the Bluetooth service (if you don't have or don't use Bluetooth), Encrypting File System (if you don't use EFS), Print Spooler (if you never print), and so on. These can be disabled from the Services management console (services.msc, or find Services using the Start search). I actually recommend just turning them from "Automatic" down to "Manual"; this way, if you ever do want to use such a thing, it's possible that it will still work when you try to invoke it. As with other tweaks, do bear in mind what you've changed and watch for any potential system problems; if you're unsure, either revert the change or don't make it in the first place. Changing certain system services will make the system nigh-unusable. Also, be aware that changing many of these services really won't help much; it might shave fractions of a second each off of the bootup time of the system and/or save a few megs of RAM, but an idle service really isn't that big a threat to system performance if it's not coded completely horribly.
+1 on defrag. In almost a year on win7 I never had to manually invoke defrag, whenever I went to and analysed the disk it was only ever 1%, on the 80gb hard disk I had at the time its an insignificant amount of dragged data and I ignored it. I got windows 8 in November and so far it still says 0%.
I would recommend at least checking the values though, especially for external drives (my one hit 20%, think it was unplugged during windows scheduled defrags)
A note on freeing up space (which is a good idea!):
goldflame09 said:
I recommend that you use the “very complex overwrite "35 passes" option.
If you have an SSD, DO NOT do the 35 passes. this will only shorten the SSD's life. See more info regarding this in post #4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
35 passes is also overkill on hard disks. Most government standards only require 1-3 passes. Just one pass is sufficient to prevent data recovery via software - there are probably only a handful of labs in the world which can recover data after this (by removing the platters from the drive and reading the bits off).
You also don't need to do this at all if you use bitlocker or truecrypt to encrypt the drive.
Updated: added service management to second post
Windows 8 knows if an SSD is being used. If it sees one, it won't allow you to "defrag". it will still allow you to "optimise" the drive. What this does is to manage TRIM to help clean the drives.
Look up TRIM if you want to know more. But do not disable the scheduled "optimisation" of an SSD drive as it's not a defrag, it does other things.
More info here: http://www.helpwithwindows.com/Windows8/Windows-8-on-Solid-State-Drive.html
the_scotsman said:
Windows 8 knows if an SSD is being used. If it sees one, it won't allow you to "defrag". it will still allow you to "optimise" the drive. What this does is to manage TRIM to help clean the drives.
Look up TRIM if you want to know more. But do not disable the scheduled "optimisation" of an SSD drive as it's not a defrag, it does other things.
More info here: http://www.helpwithwindows.com/Windows8/Windows-8-on-Solid-State-Drive.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Added to tips from users section
Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2
Updated: Added '.bat' script to make this as easy as possible for all of you
will be adding description soon for extras that i have included

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