How to reduce your Internet's data transfer

Sometimes, when monitoring your Internet's data transfer, you might notice that you have transferred a lot of data & that your download limit might finish very soon. Thus, you will need to reduce your rate of data transfer. Here are some tips to do so :

Turn off images : 

Images have a much higher size than regular text. Thus, the more the images loaded, the more is the data transferred. Thus, you ahould turn off image loading from your browser's settings.

Turn off other extras : 

Similarly to images, disabling extras like pop-ups, Java, Javascript, etc. too helps in lowering data transfer. Note that some features in some sites may not work with Java / Javascript disabled. So, you can enable them temporarily if the features are important.

Take advantage of RSS Feeds : 

The RSS feed of PC Beginners in Google Reader

Many sites (like this one) offer RSS feeds of their content. If the sites that you visit contain RSS feeds, then subscribe to the required feed in a reader & then read the article from the reader. By doing this, only the article will be loaded excluding the other parts of the web-site. This will reduce 

data transfer.

How can one know whether a site contains feeds or not?

Look for the RSS icon  in the web page. If the page contains RSS feeds, then the RSS logo icon will be usually present in it. You can subscribe to the feed by clicking on the icon.

I will write more points in this article once I find them. 

---

E-mail this article ↑Back to Top

ISP Internet Plans explained

With the increasing demand for the Internet, several ISPs (Internet Service Providers) have entered the competition. All of them provide a choice of a variety of plans/schemes to the consumers. The plans differ from each other in many ways. So, below is the explanation of the various properties of ISP plans :

Speed : The speed of the data transfer is an important feature of all ISP plans. Obviously, the higher the speed, the faster is the Internet. One thing that is important to know with regard to the Internet speed is the difference between Kilobits & Kilobytes. 

Download limit : ISP plans usually have a download limit applied of a specific amount ex. 500 MB, 5 GB, etc. If the limit is exceeded within the period of the plan, then you are charged extra or the plan expires early. 

One thing to note is that this limit is not just limited to actual downloads. Even the data transferred while surfing web sites is included in it. This is because, to view a web site, the browser needs to 'download' its images & data temporarily. Similarly, the data transferred in chatting, playing videos, etc. is also included. Thus, it is actually the 'data transfer' limit rather than the 'download' limit.

Related : How to monitor data transfer.

                 How to reduce data transfer.

Note : These two properties (speed & download limit) are generally available complementarily to each other. For ex. The plan having a higher speed will have a lower download limit & vice versa. So, you will need to make a choice between the two. If you download a lot of data of a big size, then it is advisable to select a plan with a higher download limit. Otherwise, a faster plan would be better.

Night plans : Some ISPs offer night plans. In such plans, you are offered higher speeds & download limits between certain night hours. Ex. 10pm & 8am, etc. Use such plans only if you are absolutely sure to use it in the given time.

That's it! Good luck in selecting an Internet plan perfectly suitable for you.

---

E-mail this article ↑Back to Top

How to stay safe from your Internet's download limit

The monthly download limit is an important property of ISP plans. Usually, a data transfer (download) limit is applied & if more data is transferred than it, extra proportionate charges are charged. But, manually keeping a check on the amount of data transferred is a tedious task. So, given below is information on tools that will help you to analyze your data transfer easily & effectively  :

NetMeter : This is one of the best tools available for monitoring data transfer. It carries out its task very effectively. It runs in the

background & monitors the data download & upload. Then, you can easily view the amount of data transferred & other such information from the Reports & Totals option (contained in the the right-click context menu of NetMeter's monitor or its taskbar icon). You can also view the daily, weekly & monthly reports from this option.

NetMeter --> Totals & Reports option

Should I set NetMeter to run on Start-up?

Yes, if you use an Internet connection that is always on, ie., which does not require you to start an extra application like a dialer. However, if you have a connection that starts with a dialer, you can disable this option & then start NetMeter everytime you connect to the Internet. If you forget things often, then it's recommended to let it run automatically on Start-up.

I will post about more such powerful, free tools for monitoring data transfer once I find them.

---

E-mail this article ↑Back to Top

How to speed up your PC

1. Remove spywares & viruses : 

Viruses & spywares are one of the major & most common reasons of PC slowdown. This is because, they use up the majority of the available memory for their unethical activities. And, the remaining memory is shared by the other programs. Thus, as the programs have to suffice with low memory, slowdown is caused. Therefore, removal of spywares & viruses is the first step towards a speedy PC.

Related : How to stay safe from Viruses

How to remove tough Viruses

How to scan for & immunize against spywares with Spybot S&D

---

2. Clean & defragment :

In course of time, the PC gets filled up with lots of junk files, gets fragmented & takes a lot of time to carry out simple tasks. Thus, for fixing this problem, you will need to clean & defragment your PC.

i) Cleaning up the junk files is a very easy task these days thanks to free, simple & powerful utilities like CCleaner & Advanced SystemCare Free. Using these tools, you simply need to select the junk items to remove, start the cleaning process & within 

a couple of minutes, your PC will be clean! You can clean several junk items like temporary Windows files, obsolete registry entries, browser data, etc. using these softwares.

ii) As data moves from one place to another in a PC, it becomes fragmented, as a whole. This also acts as a reason for slowdown. Thus, it is important that you regularly defragment your PC drives for a quick PC. There are several utilities like Auslogics Disk Defrag, Smart Defrag, etc. For this purpose. You can occasionally defragment the Windows Registry as well.

You should clean & defragment your PC regularly twice a month to maintain its efficiency & quickness. 

Related : Keep your registry defragmented

How to use AusLogics Disk Defrag

The need for Disk defragmentation

---

3. Disable unnecessary Windows services : 

Windows provides a variety of services to us. However, many of these services are not at all useful for most types of users. These services use up extra memory, causing slowdowns for other programs. Thus, disabling some of these services will help in quickening up the PC. The following services can be safely disabled :

ClipBook

Remote Registry 

Telnet

NetMeeting Remote Desktop Sharing

Alerter

Error Reporting Service

Messenger

Print Spooler (if you don't use a Printer)

To disable the services,  go to Start --> Run --> services.msc. Then, right-click on the concerned service, click on Properties & change the Start-up Type to Disabled.

For information on why the given services should be disabled, check the main article on disabling unnecessary Windows services.

---

Decrease the programs on Start-up :

The Startup list is a list of the applications that start along with Windows. Many applications put itself on the Startup list by default. The more the programs on it, more programs will run, which will slow up the PC. So, it is recommended to reduce the number of programs on the Startup list to speed up the PC. You can do so from the Startup tab of the 'Msconfig' utility (Open it from Start --> Run --> msconfig)

Click here for the detailed instructions.

---

[Older PCs] Turn off visual effects :

One of the various features that Microsoft® Windows XP & Vista has over the previous versions is its display effects. For example, the colorful start menu, shadow effects, etc. It definitely adds up to the display value of the OSes. But for slow computers, the effects lead to slower PC performance. Therefore, it is highly recommended to turn off all the visual effects if you are using an older PC. 

You can disable the extra effects from Start --> Right-click on My Computer --> Properties --> Advanced --> Settings (1st). 

[Detailed Instructions]

---

So, good luck in speeding up your PC!

---

E-mail this article ↑Back to Top