Boost your PC performance with an SD card

Most standard package entry level PCs (Desktop, netbook or notebooks) comes with just 1GB of RAM.  Your only option is to upgrade to much higher memory capacity and it will cost you a lot.

There’s a solution for that.  There’s disk cache component native in Windows 7 called ReadyBoost designed to boost your systems performance by using a flash memory device (USB flash drive, SD card, or any kind of flash storage device) as cache. Most notebook now a days have an SD card slot which you can use for ReadyBoost, just insert an SD card  and configure it for ReadyBoost or you can just use a USB flash drive if you don’t have an SD card slot. 

To use ReadyBoost

Insert your SD card into your notebook’s card slot.  In the AutoPlay options, click Speed up my system using Windows ReadyBoost.

In your disk properties, you may select to dedicate your SD card for ReadyBoost.  Or you may just reserve/ limit a certain space for ReadyBoost.

Click OK, and your PC will start to configure your SD card for ReadyBoost.

Browsing your SD card after setting up ReadyBoost, you will see a ReadyBoost cache file that corresponds to the size that you have specified for ReadyBoost.

You can eject your SD card anytime when you need to use it or may just leave it there to boost up your system every time you use your PC.

Note: Use a high speed SD card for speedier file caching, class 6 SD card will do.  Using your SD card for ReadyBoost will shorten its lifespan since your system will use it for file caching.  Some forums says that when using your battery in your notebook, ReadyBoost will give you better battery life since file caching will be redirected to the SD card therefore less use of your hard drive.

Disable Annoying Sign In Notification in Live Messenger

Annoyed on those Windows Live Messenger notification every time a friend of yours signs in? Why not disable those notification by just tweaking your Live Messenger.  Last night a group of community members (particularly MSPs) ask me if I got a template deck on Windows Live, I said yes and I let them copy my deck.  On the course of our discussion somebody asked me, aren’t you annoyed on those notifications in Live Messenger when a friend goes online? I answered NO cause I disabled those notifications, they asked How?.  Since I promised them I’ll teach them how to do it, here it goes.

In your Windows Live Messenger, hit Alt key.  It will show you your menu bar. Click on Tools and click Options.

In the left pane of the Options window click on Notifications. Just uncheck the first two check box or you may select any setting that you want. Click OK when you’re done.

And that’s just it, no more annoying notifications for smooth and happy computing!

IE9 Community Launch, “An Earth Shaking Event?”

After the release of the Windows Internet Explorer 9 RTW, I received an email from Gian Javellana asking for help in organizing the IE9 RTW community launch and if I can tag along some community members who can help.  The planning and meeting was set on March 10, 2011, ten days before the community launch.  It was all agreed that the theme of the launch is all about speed and the main idea is car racing.  We also assigned tasks to each member of the organizing team.  I volunteered to discuss the {Dev: Unplugged} contest featured in IE9’s www.beautyoftheweb.com.  Other members of the planning team are Erwin Magno, Jeffrey Lacatan, Cesar Cuaresma, John Remir Cueto, and Dexter Dar (all of them are members of the windows7ako community)

March 21, 2011, the day of the IE9 RTW community launch, the organizing team met early before the event to prepare the venue.  We did some art workshop like making a racing flags, cones, printed some traffic signs and the like.  We finished the workshop on time before guest and community members started to arrive.  We started the event by filling our stomachs with the catered food courtesy of Microsoft.  During the dinner an unexpected earthquake with a 5.6 magnitude disturbed the festivities.  Since we’re all in the 16th floor we can really feel the shaking of the building.  The building admin issued an order to vacate the premises as the situation might get worse, so without finishing our food, we immediately proceeded to fire exits and took the stairs all the way to the building’s ground floor.  About few minutes later when the building admin determined that it’s safe to go back inside the building, we went back at the 16th floor to start the event proper. 

The event was hosted by Miss Chay Saputil, a fellow MVP, welcomed guests and community members by attending the event.  After the welcome and introductions I started to discuss the mechanics of the {Dev:Unplugged} contest. A big wow came from the crowd when they’ve seen the prizes of the competition.  My discussion was followed by a game hosted by Erwin and John Remir, followed by Dexter’s IE9 tips and tricks, and another game hosted by Cesar and Jeffrey.  The event ended at around 9PM in the evening with all smiles (though tired) from the community members who enjoyed the event.

I forgot to mention that Miss Mae Rivera-Moreno, product manager for Windows and members of the DPE team was also present on the said event. :)

Here are some pictures taken from the event (pictures are credited to Peter Baltazar, Mark Barraca, Daryl Silao, and I)

		ie9 Community Launch (March 21, 2011) VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL