32 Part II • Optimizing Your PC Note If you are curious, you can view your computer’s temporary files by click- ing the Details button. Permanently deleting these types of files frees up disk space that typi- cally results in better overall PC performance. Click Next after identifying the junk files you would like to optimize and to continue to the next screen. Step 6: Optimize Your Internet Settings You will now be at the Internet Settings screen, as seen in Figure 4-15. Figure 4-15: Internet Settings screen Specify whether you would like to optimize your Internet connection settings by checking or un-checking the checkbox. You can see a list of the all changes PC Pitstop Optimize has recom- mended that should help increase your Internet speeds. 09_068557 ch04.qxp 12/13/06 6:12 PM Page 32 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Chapter 4: Performing a Scan 33 Here are some of the entries you may receive: • Maximum Transfer Unit (MTU) The maximum packet size that is sent and received over the Internet. • TCP Receiving Window Size The amount of data that is received before confirmation. • Default Time to Live The length of time the data is kept before being discarded. • Automatic MTU Detection Allows your system to identify the MTU size. • Blackhole Detection Checks if connected systems supports Automatic MTU discovery. • Large TCP Windows Support for larger amounts of data before confirmation of received. • Fast retransmission and recovery Allows for a fast transaction recovery after lost packets. • Selective Acknowledgements Allows for recovery without re-sending existing data after lost packets. • Number of Allowed Simultaneous HTTP Connections Number of open connections to a single website at one time. Click Next to continue. Step 7: Remove Unnecessary Startup Programs Now you will be at the Unnecessary Startup Programs screen, as shown in Figure 4-16. 09_068557 ch04.qxp 12/13/06 6:12 PM Page 33 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Figure 4-16: Unnecessary Startup Programs screen Select the programs that you would like to disable from starting up each time you start your PC. Here are some of the most common unnecessary programs that you may want to disable: • qttask.exe - QuickTime Icon This is Apple’s Quick Time Tray Icon, as shown in Figure 4-17, which lets you start Quick Time from the System Tray. This unnecessary program uses as much as 750KB of memory. Even if disabled, you can still start Quick Time from its Start menu icon or by clicking an associated file such as .MOV. • realsched.exe - RealPlayer This is a scheduler for some generally unneeded functions, such as occasionally checking to make sure that RealPlayer “owns” certain media types. 34 Part II • Optimizing Your PC 09_068557 ch04.qxp 12/13/06 6:12 PM Page 34 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Figure 4-17: Apple’s Quick Time system tray icon • realplay.exe - RealPlayer This is RealPlayer’s system tray icon (called StartCenter), which runs when Windows starts to preload some RealPlayer components and provides a tray icon to access RealPlayer. However, this application also uses up valuable system resources. Even if disabled, you can still start RealPlayer from its Start menu icon or by clicking an associated file such as .MP3. • hkcmd.exe - Intel Hotkeys This is part of the drivers for boards with Intel 81x graph- ics chips, and allows you to define hotkey combinations to change video resolutions. This is not something that most users do often, and it can be done through Control Panel (Intel Graphics icon) or Desktop Properties pretty quickly. It’s recommend to stop this task to save resources and pre- vent accidental use of the hotkey feature. Chapter 4: Performing a Scan 35 09_068557 ch04.qxp 12/13/06 6:12 PM Page 35 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. 36 Part II • Optimizing Your PC • soundman.exe - Realtek Sound Manager This application lets you manage and control some of the esoteric features of the Realtek sound chip. Most users don’t need to change any of these features and can safely disable this program.You can always use the stan- dard Windows volume control to change the sound volume. • waol.exe - America Online This is the main AOL executable; however, it does not need to start during Windows boot. You can always start America Online as needed, via its Start menu entry or desktop icon. For more information on these applications or others, you can click each item to learn more about the program, which can help you determine which programs to remove. Click Next to continue. Step 8: Optimize Your Registry Entries You should now be at the Registry Entries screen, as seen in Figure 4-18. Figure 4-18: Registry Entries screen 09_068557 ch04.qxp 12/13/06 6:12 PM Page 36 Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. . II • Optimizing Your PC Note If you are curious, you can view your computer s temporary files by click- ing the Details button. Permanently deleting these types of files frees up disk space that. Automatic MTU Detection Allows your system to identify the MTU size. • Blackhole Detection Checks if connected systems supports Automatic MTU discovery. • Large TCP Windows Support for larger amounts. this watermark. Figure 4-16: Unnecessary Startup Programs screen Select the programs that you would like to disable from starting up each time you start your PC. Here are some of the most common