Michael Davis
Help. Cool stuff. Lifehacker, tips and downloads for getting things done. Techdirt. Reader. Ars Technica. Techmeme. Seven steps to netbook marital bliss with Windows 7. More than fifty million netbooks have been sold since the phenomenon's beginnings in late 2007, and of those, only a small fraction run Windows 7.
With cheap licenses available in family packs and academic discounts, and XP installs increasingly decrepit, ugly, and vulnerable to malware, lots of Windows 7 upgrades are going to happen. However, a quick install from a USB DVD-ROM or thumb drive won't let users get the most out of a netbook. As with the Hindu Saptapadi wedding vows, there are seven steps to optimizing your netbook for maximum Windows 7 performance. Take the first step: Install the best available drivers First, make sure that your netbook is running the latest and best drivers for its hardware.
Even if nothing shows up as lacking a driver in the device monitor, this doesn't mean everything's OK. Take the second step: Install any power management tools supplied by the vendor Take the third step: Turn off Aero and other graphical hotness. Facebook.