tasks

Fri
08
Mar
John Lister's picture

Processor Breakthrough Could Double Speeds

A new approach to computer processing could double speeds while halving power consumption, according to researchers. The approach could work on existing hardware without needing physical modifications. The research builds on the existing technique ... of multithreading. That's an attempt to overcome the major limitation of computer processors (CPUs). They are broken down into cores (often 2, 4 or 8 cores) but each core can only carry out one task at any specific split-second. Workload Optimized Threading means breaking bigger tasks down into a list of individual steps known as a thread. The ... (view more)

Mon
11
Apr
Dennis Faas's picture

How to Fix: Svchost.exe High CPU Usage

How to Fix: Svchost.exe High CPU Usage Infopackets Reader Ben J. writes: " Dear Dennis, I just reinstalled Windows 7 on my machine, and from the get-go the machine is very slow to use. I ran Windows Task Manager to see what is going on, and the ... svchost.exe process is consuming 50% of my CPU. I have disabled the sleep mode on my computer and let svchost run for a few days, but nothing has come of it - it's still causing high CPU usage. I should also mention that I have not yet received any Windows Updates on my computer for the last week. What is causing the svchost process to run at high CPU ... (view more)

Thu
02
Apr
John Lister's picture

Survey: Are Smartphones a Vital Tool in 2015?

A newly-published study shows that the average person could manage without a smartphone for many common tasks. However, for a select group, smartphones are the only realistic option for accessing online services. The report comes from the Pew ... Research Center, which brought together several surveys, each of around 2,000 smartphone users. The results provide very differing meanings, depending on how they are viewed. (Source: pewinternet.org ) Most Tasks Achievable Without Phones On one hand, the study suggests smartphones are by no means vital for many everyday tasks. Participants were asked if ... (view more)

Thu
21
Jul
Dennis Faas's picture

Windows Azure Harnessed For Science

Microsoft has released a new tool to help scientists and other researchers access the power of cloud computing . Project Daytona could help them analyze data in a more efficient and affordable manner. Cloud System Uses Decentralized Computing The ... project builds on Microsoft's could-based Windows Azure system. That doesn't simply mean storing information online, but also using remote computers to carry out tasks. Cloud computing can range from relatively simple tasks, such as accessing email on services such as Hotmail, to more complex tasks, such as the way some websites run through databases ... (view more)

Wed
18
Aug
Dennis Faas's picture

User Account Control (UAC)

User Account Control (UAC) is a technology and security infrastructure introduced with Microsoft's Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 operating systems, with a more refined version also present in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2. The UAC ... aims to improve the security of Microsoft Windows by limiting application software to standard user privileges until an administrator authorizes an increase or elevation. In this way, only applications trusted by the user may receive administrative privileges, and malware should be kept from compromising the operating system. User Account Control (UAC ... (view more)

Thu
15
Jan
Dennis Faas's picture

'Just Close Some Tasks', and 'Lacuna Launcher'

Just Close Some Tasks JustCloseSomeTasks allows you to easily close inactive tasks. These tasks are automatically marked for closing when they are deemed not in use for a specified period of time. The program adjusts to your behavior as it schedules ... the expiry time. http://www.donationcoder.com Lacuna Launcher Have you ever wished you had more control over the way applications are launched? Perhaps you'd like to set a delay for launching applications at startup? How about adding a pause in-between the launch of each application? Or control the order in which applications are opened? Or ... (view more)

Thu
10
Jul
Dennis Faas's picture

'Javascript Box', and 'Run Idle Tasks'

Today's fresh software picks were provided courtesy of Bob Helmer at Shell Extension City. Please note that the below software descriptions are provided solely from the developer and are absent from any guarantee or warranty. You are encouraged to ... review the Shell Extension Software Policy for more details. Javascript Box The Javascript Box gadget lets you quickly test some Javascript snippets to see what their result is. Be careful what you write there: everything in the code will be run using eval, so it's just like Javascript behaviour. We're sure it will be useful for all Javascript fans ... (view more)

Mon
22
Aug
Dennis Faas's picture

AutoImager Review

Synopsis: Got a bunch of pictures that need to be converted into another graphic format? AutoImager is a full-featured batch image converter and editor software application. AutoImage is very user friendly because it's completely 'interface-driven' ... -- simply pick the files you wish to convert or process, choose the options for the conversion or processing task, and you're ready to begin! All operations can be performed in batch mode for an entire list of selected images, and multiple filters can be applied to a single image in one batch conversion! This makes AutoImager a unique and a very ... (view more)

Thu
29
Jan
Dennis Faas's picture

Task Manager woes?

Infopackets Reader Gail from Houston writes: " Dennis, I *love* your newsletter! Thanks so much for doing it! I am having trouble with my printer. The more programs that are open, the slower my printer runs. I've pressed CTRL + ALT + DEL and brought ... up the Task Manager and closed as many applications as I could [in order to free up system resources in hopes of speeding things up]. My questions are: How come there's so much stuff open in Task Manager? How do I [prevent tasks that I don't want] from opening? How can I tell which programs are going to shut down my computer (because I always ... (view more)

Subscribe to RSS - tasks