Posted 10/06/08 at 01:00:00 PM by Gordon Mah Ung

When man first booted the PC, he saw the BIOS screen: a jumble of monochromatic numbers that made about as much sense as the binary language of load lifters. Sadly, not much about the BIOS has changed since the DeLorean and skinny ties were cool. Decades later, in our modern, visual-based world, we’re still greeted with a screen full of text from machines 1,000 times faster than those that were around when the ol’ BIOS was born.

Most PC lightweights simply ignore the BIOS and wait for their OSes to take over. Power users, however, know that the BIOS can be a friendly and rewarding place to go spelunking.

And by spelunking, we mean caving. And by go, we mean hit the jump. 

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7

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how_to, bios, tweaks, features, ami, award/phoenix

Posted 08/03/08 at 09:30:06 AM by Justin Kerr

When Vista launched over a year ago we had many compelling reasons not to upgrade. But as time progressed and Microsoft silently addressed our woes, it seems clear; the Vista of today could be somewhat misjudged. That doesn’t make it perfect however, and Microsoft has owned up to this by releasing a 14 page guide with tried and tested tweaks that improve overall performance and boost notebook battery life. This free and easy to follow PDF guide walks you through native tools built into the OS which allow you to optimize Vista’s performance. The contents are especially helpful if you are new to Vista, having just come from XP, but even Vista veterans are bound to find a few things of note. If you manage to make your way through the Microsoft guide and are still looking for more, a host of other tweaks and tips can be found in both our online archives and Maximum PCs March 2008 print issue.  

Looking for a summary of Microsoft’s tips?

Click the jump to find out.

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0

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vista, windows, operating system, Software, OS, tips, tweaks, microsost

Posted 02/19/08 at 11:53:37 AM by Paul Lilly

Forget what you think you know about Windows! Whether you use XP or Vista, these 51 tips and tweaks will give you a whole new OS

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5

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vista, windows, Software, XP, power user, how_to, tips, tweaks, features, from the magazine