Windows 7 is a great operating system, and it’s easy to get started. But if you’re like most people, you probably don’t have all the tools you need to speed up your workflow. One of the best tools for speeding up your work is PowerPoint Clicker. It’s a free software application that lets you quickly open and save presentations using PowerPoint slides. And if you’re looking for a cheap way to organize your slides, there’s no better option than cardboard cable organizers. They’re easy to make and can help keep your slides in order while they’re being used.
Once a week we dump out the tips box mailbag and share the weeks hottest tips with you. This week we’re looking at how to speed up Windows 7,
Speeding Up Windows 7 by Enabling AHCI
Paul writes in with the following tip for increasing the speed of Windows 7:
Thanks Paul! While the results for this are strongly dependent on the particular chipset/HDD combination you’re dealing with most people report a small increase in speed at worst and a large one at best so there’s little harm in trying it out. As always, back up your registry before mucking about in it!
ACHI is a way to speed hard disk operations devised by Intel. It is available on most computers and hard drives built after 2007. If the Windows 7 install was done on a computer that had a previous operating system or on a new one whose BIOS is set to IDE standard (as most are) then Windows will limit the drive speed to IDE. To remedy this and really speed disk access, you have to modify the Registry, then the BIOS. Here how you do it, courtesy of a helpful forum member at the Guru3D forums:
To answer that question (and I do this safely with all Intel ICHR9/10 chipsets) there is a way to safely enable AHCI mode. Here we go: 1. Startup “Regedit 2. Open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SYSTEM / CurrentControlset / Services 3. Open msahci 4. In the right field left click on “start” and go to Modify 5. In the value Data field enter “0” and click “ok” 6. exit “Regedit” 7. Reboot Rig and enter BIOS (hold “Delete” key while Booting In your BIOS select “Integrated Peripherals” and OnChip PATA/SATA Devices. Now change SATA Mode to AHCI from IDE. You now boot into windows 7, the OS will recognize AHCI and install the devices. Now the system needs one more reboot and voilla .. enjoy the improved SSD performance.
Use Your Android Device as a PowerPoint / OpenOffice Presentation Tool
Play Video Andrew writes in with the following tip for using your Android phone as a presentation clicker:
Nice find Andrew, as PowerPoint and Android users we’re looking forward to taking it for a spin.
Organize Your Cords with Power Towel Tubes
Dylan writes in with the following organization tip:
Like you, we had dismissed the whole paper towel tube thing because it sounded like you’d just trade your pile of cords for a pile of stuffed paper towel tubes. This is definitely an improvement. Thanks for writing in!
Have a tip or trick to share? Shoot us an email at tips@howtogeek.com and you might just see it on the front page.
