MaximumPC 2005 10

MISSING: 1GHZ

I recently reinstalled my OS. After I

had my PC back up and running, I

noticed that Windows XP’s System

Properties reports that my computer

is running at the specified 2GHz, but

MSI’s Core Center utility tells me it’s

running at only 1GHz. All settings in

the BIOS are set to the proper front-

side bus and multiplier defaults.

What gives?

—Jake Moxon

If you’re running an AMD CPU,

you probably have AMD’s

“Cool‘n’Quiet” feature turned

on. Cool‘n’Quiet helps keep the

system cooler and quieter by

lowering the clock speeds and

voltage consumption whenever

the processor is not under a heavy

load. Then again, XP’s System

Properties should reflect the CPU’s

clock speed in its cool mode.

Whether or not you decide to leave

Cool‘n’Quiet activated, you might

also try overriding your default

BIOS settings by manually setting

them to the correct multiplier and

FSB for your particular part.

MAC ATTACK

I’m moving into an apartment next

year with three other guys, one of

whom is a Mac user. We plan to sign

up with a cable ISP, and I’ll probably

be in charge of supplying the wire-

less router. Will I run into any prob-

lems hooking a PC and a Mac into the

same network?

—David Hoang

Pretty much any router you buy

today will work with both Macs

and PCs. Just set the router to

assign IP addresses to the com-

puters on your network via DHCP,

turn on the Mac, and it should be

good to go.

TITLE BAR BUTTONS

Windows’ title-bar buttons enable you to minimize,

maximize, or close a window. Big whoop. Activate

nVidia’s title-bar buttons and you

can instantly resize a window

to fi t a screen section, send the

window to a different monitor, roll

the window up into the title bar,

and a whole lot more.

Get back to the User

Interface menu, if you’re not

already there. Place checkmarks

next to all the items listed in the

box labeled “Title bar buttons,”

and then click the Apply button.

Open any resizable window and

you’ll see a new set of buttons

in the title bar. Click the button with

nVidia’s logo and a menu will appear

displaying all your nView options. The

other buttons, from left to right, perform

more specifi c functions: Click the Collapse to Title Bar button, and the entire window will roll up

into the title bar. Click it a second time to restore the window to its previous size. Click the Next

Display button to send the entire window from your fi rst display to your second. The fi nal button

maximizes the window within its assigned grid section; click it a second time, and the window

will maximize to fi ll the Windows desktop. The standard Windows title-bar buttons, meanwhile,

retain their original functions.

Ask the Doctor

Diagnosing and curing

your PC problems

OCTOBER 2005 MA XIMUMPC 55

Continued on next page Ë

Use the Display Gridlines option to divide your display

into as many as four sections of varying sizes.

NVIDIA FORCEWARE (continued)

The nView title-bar buttons make managing a

plethora of windows a breeze, especially if you

have more than one monitor.

DISPLAY GRIDLINES
As displays grow larger and
multiply, screen real estate
becomes more and more diffi cult
to manage. nVidia’s solution is to
create an invisible grid, so that
you can quickly assign windows
to individual sections of the
same display. GeForce cards
allow you to divide your monitor
into two, three, or four sections.
Scroll down to Desktop
Management in the left-hand
pop-out menu and choose the
User Interface option. Check
Enable Display Gridlines and
then click the Edit Gridlines
button. A menu will appear over
your desktop. Click anywhere on
the screen, hold the left mouse
button down, and drag to draw a vertical or horizontal line. This will divide your screen
into two sections on either its vertical or horizontal axis. Draw second or third horizontal
or vertical lines and you can divide the screen into as many as four sections. You can click
and drag the lines to resize the sections, and you can remove them by selecting one (it
will turn red) and hitting the Delete key. Click and hold down on Show Grid Names in the
overlay menu and the videocard will overlay a number within each grid.
When you exit the Grid Settings menu and drag any of your resizable windows, the
gridlines will temporarily appear. Drag a window until a majority of it is within a particular
section, and the window will automatically resize to fi t that section without wasting a single
pixel of display area.