Cheap Modem Tweaks

The Dual-Diode Tweak:

This tweak is interesting and is really simple and makes data transfers smoother. This tweak requires soldering. You need a standard telephone cord, two 1N4001 diodes and an enclosure (a pill bottle works nicely). There are telephone cords available with RJ-11 plugs on one end and prepped (prepared) pins on the other end, of these you need two (I don't know if Radio Shack carries these). If you just have a standard telephone cord, then cut it in half and strip the ends. You don't need the black and yellow wires in this configuration. If the wires of the telephone cord are the same color, then use a continuity tester or an ohmmeter to see which wire is which. When looking directly at the RJ-11 plug pointing straight ahead and away from you, with the copper terminals face-up, the green wire is on the right. Make holes in the enclosure and insert the stripped ends of each half of the split cord into the holes, one in each. Solder the diode between the red wires and solder the green wires back together. Wrap tape around all parts showing metal to avoid shorts and close the bottle. Make sure to write "input" and "output" on the cords. Note: Germanium diodes work well with this tweak, also.

By the way, when I used some freeware programs to clean out my registry, my computer became much faster and I experienced less "fatique" and "lethargy" when using the computer.

The freeware registry-cleaning programs that I have used and like are Microsoft's RegClean4.1, RegCleaner & jv16 Power Tools by Juoni Vuornio, EasyCleaner by ToniArts, RegCompact by Daniel Werner and RegMaid by Jeremy Collake. RegMaid (not Microsoft's Registry Maid) and EasyCleaner work quickly. Remember to back-up your registry before editing any entries.

Qfresh was originally from PC Magazine in the late 80's. Qfresh slows down your computer's memory refresh rate, thereby speeding-up your computer by around 20%. With Qfresh, my 200 Mhz computer runs as fast as a 250 Mhz computer would run. The major drawback of this program for me is that I have to activate the program manually every time I reboot my computer in Windows95. The instructions that came with the main .com file said that all the user had to do was to put a reference to the .com file in autoexec.bat for the program to load automatically, but that didn't work, at least not for me. I've tried a few of the registry and startup folder tricks offered on the net, but those techniques didn't work either (with Windows95). If you find out how to have Qfresh load automatically with Windows95, then please e-mail me at Mas1911@aol.com.

I also use AolSpeed (freeware) which speeds-up the computer a little and alleviates harddrive noise a lot when using America Online. Uninstalling RealPlayer didn't hurt either because RealPlayer seems to make the computer sluggish. Windows Media Player is better and less sticky. Logging-on to AOL, minimizing AOL and then using Internet Explorer alone makes for faster surfing as well.

Using Raymond Espinola's Double Modem, to change the TCP/IP settings, worked well. What worked better, though, was using the freeware program Terminal Overdrive 2000. If and after you install the Terminal Overdrive 2000 freeware program, RIGHT-CLICK on the icon near the clock on the Windows toolbar and RIGHT-CLICK on "Auto Accelerate". Then, select your OS and connection-type. I've read that EasyMTU by Rob Vonk is supposed to work with AOL.

Using the freeware programs Cacheman and Rambooster made my computer system more stable.

If you get anti-virus software, then make sure that "heuristic scanning" is one of the functions of the software. Otherwise, the software is practically useless. Antidote.exe is a good freeware program that uses heuristic scanning to identify unknown viruses. You have to delete the infected files manually, though, which takes some time. Make sure to toggle (checkmark) all of the functions before you scan. Rav Anti-Virus 8 seems to be a good program.

The freeware firewall programs ZoneAlarm, SyGate and Kerio Personal Firewall seem to work well, but the best firewall that I've used is Tiny Personal Firewall, which is supposedly made by some of the same people who make Kerio Personal Firewall.

As always, upgrading a computer's memory to over 64 Megs speeds up the computer. What also speeds up a computer is upgrading to a faster harddrive. I was using a 200Mhz Pentium MMX NEC Ready 9820 with 128 Megs of RAM. Now I'm using a Duron 1.2 Ghz-equipped Soyo with 256 Megs of RAM. The modems that I use are an Actiontec ISA Master, an Actiontec PCI Pro and an Aztech Sound4 Winmodem.