Showing posts with label download. Show all posts
Showing posts with label download. Show all posts

Monday, May 24, 2010

Acer Aspire 4740G Optimal Drivers

If your EFI/BIOS version < 1.05 please update the firmware to enable DEP.
Because I am using AS4740G therefore I will be sharing my Driver Findings here.
  1. Intel Chipset Driver http://www.station-drivers.com/page/intel%20chipset.htm
  2. Intel Rapid Storage Driver http://www.station-drivers.com/page/intel%20raid.htm
  3. Intel Management Engine http://www.station-drivers.com/page/intel%20chipset.htm
  4. Nvidia Graphics Driver http://www.nvidia.com/page/drivers.html
  5. Nvidia High Definition Audio Driver (Included in the Display Driver)
  6. Realtek High Definition Audio Driver http://www.msi.com/index.php?func=nbdriverfile&driver_no=832 (Why this driver is the best? The MSI Gaming Notebook using this driver uses the same AL888 Realtek High Def chip, it has excellent driver customisation better than Acer Drivers)
  7. Acer Launch Manager (Get it from Acer Site Don't use the 4740G Launch Manager use the 4540G if you want to customise the Backup Manager Shortcut Key)
  8. BroadCom Bluetooth Driver (Get it from Acer Site driver updatedness doesn't matter too much)
  9. Finger Print Driver (Available from Windows Updates Optional Driver updates)
  10. SuYin/Chicony WebCam Driver http://www.station-drivers.com/page/camera.htm#chicony or get the Chicony Driver from the newer Acer Laptop models eg Download the Chicony Driver for the Acer Aspire 4551G.
  11. Conexant Modem Driver (Get it from Acer Site driver updatedness doesn't matter too much who the h*ll uses Modem nowadays anyway??)
  12. Synaptics/ALP Touchpad Driver ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp48001-48500/sp48337.exe
  13. Intel Management Engine Controller http://www.station-drivers.com/page/intel%20chipset.htm
  14. BroadCom NetLink LAN Driver (Get it from Acer Site driver updatedness doesn't matter too much)
  15. Atheros/Intel Wireless Driver http://www.station-drivers.com/page/atheros.htm http://www.station-drivers.com/page/intel%20lan-wan.htm
  16. Realtek Card Reader Driver (Get it from Acer Site driver updatedness doesn't matter too much)
  17. Acer Smart Power Manager & Optical Driver Power Manager (Get it from Acer Site)
  18. Turbo Boost (Only for Core i5/7) http://www.station-drivers.com/page/intel%20chipset.htm

Friday, January 15, 2010

Acer Smart Power Manager

Finally some useful software from Acer
Please note: Different Power Smart Manager is meant for different configuration.
Some Power Smart Manager supports Radeon Switchable meant for laptops with ATi Radeon Specification.
So to get the best fit, look for the latest Acer Laptop with specification as close to yours as possible.

Acer Smart PowerManager

Download here
Conserve Power On the Go.
Installable on most Acer/Packard Bell/Gateway/Emachine Laptops (Even on Laptops that doesn't came with this originally).
When you install it on a (eg. Packard Bell) Computer the software calls itself Packard Bell Power Save!

Optical Drive PowerManager

Download here
Conserve Power On the Go.
Installable on most Acer Laptops (Even on Laptops that doesn't came with this originally).
Software originally meant for Acer Aspire Timelines but work on Non Timelines as well.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Nvidia Driver Release


3D Mode


2D Mode


Windows Desktop Default Mode


Nvidia WHQL Notebook Driver version 195.62 is released.
Download them from Nvidia Website here
Please note that the new Nvidia Driver fixes the issue of not being able to throttle to default clock in Windows Desktop so please use this driver instead of the Acer Download (187.XX) which has the problem.
This driver is recommended.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Windows 7 ISO CD Creator

Windows 7 ISO CD Creator
Using this utility you can create Windows 7 ISO CDs and Bootable Thumbdrive.
Download it here.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

RAM SPD Burner

I wish to share with you guys this tool ThaiPhoon Burner, I was introduced to recently by der_mali of Notebookreview.
Quite a guy as he had quite a few tip and tricks up his sleeve.
I will not reinvent the wheel instruction of how to use here.

BEFORE I FORGOT, YOU NEED A SUPPORTED CHIPSET TO READ THE RAM CORRECTLY!
THE SOFTWARE WILL NOT RUN CORRECTLY ON CERTAIN CHIPSET.

I did as instructed and flashed both my RAM to PC2-6400 from PC2-5300 but Aspire 4530 only reads 667MHZ as shown in CPU-Z.
But the RAM timings improved and performance improvement for free is considered great.
Only thing I have to warn you is like flashing BIOS it can kill your RAM, so try to flash settings as close to your original RAMs as possible.
Take a look at my upgraded RAM originally it was PC2-5300 at 333MHZ
I even got in an EPP Profile!
In other words this Tool is a must have!

Simple Step by Step Guide:

1)You must run this software on a Compatible Chipset.

Certain NForce Chipset like the one on the Aspire 4530 WILL NOT work.

2)First extract this program to a location you find comfortable to run it in.

Right Click and Run as Administrator.

Agree to the EULA.

3)Click on EPROM, Read SPD at 50H or 52H if you have 2 RAM SLOTS occupied.

If you have 1 RAM SLOTS only either 50H or 52H will be available.
If it is read correctly you should see the Module Specification read correctly as shown above.

An example of incompatible Chipset is shown below.


First notice the numerous SPD displayed.

Next the Module Specification is incorrectly displayed.

Do not proceed if you encountered the above.

4)Next Click on Browser button.

Then Click on Download button.

It will proceed to download all the RAM dumps from the server as shown above.

5)Using the search parameter find the next closest update in RAM Specification

For Example you have a Kingston DDR2-667MHZ find the next closest DDR2-800 based on the

Module Code Number and Parameters.


Click Save Dump and save it to a location on your Harddisk

7)Next Exit the Browser Back to the Main Menu.

Select Open and Choose the Dump File you saved previously.

8)It should open up the Dump File details.


Choose EEPROM Select Full Rewrite.

9)You should see the Full SPD Rewrite Windows as shown below.


Select the correct SPD Device Address and click on write.

Wait for the process to complete and you are done!

Friday, October 9, 2009

Issue For Aspire 4530 Owners on Windows 7

Please take note when installing NForce Drivers
Make sure your Add/Remove Nvidia Driver has the entries below:

Use the 15.45 NForce Drivers I advised (Can be downloaded on Guru3d.com) DO NOT USE 15.37 NForce Drivers from Nvidia except for the AHCI Storage Driver from 15.37.
Note you get SMU Driver and PCI System Management Drivers, otherwise you get a Fatal Machine Check error occasionally in Windows 7 Event Log, you won't see any BSOD but the error log will be there .
In conclusion use the Storage Drivers from 15.37 and SMU and PCI System drivers from 15.45.

Update:
Please update the Storage Driver from 15.51 (from Guru3D) the driver from 15.37 causes occasional freezing issue.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Microsoft Security Essentials

Microsoft is finally taking responsibility of its OS security.
Microsoft Security Essentials is now Officially Released.
Users have to pass Windows Genuine Authentication before installing.
Download MSE here.
If you have already installed the Beta, the Update to official release should be pushed down via Windows Updates.
The Microsoft Security Essential Scanning Engine is based off its Corporate Counterpart Microsoft ForeFront Security.

Personally I recommend this product as
  • It is FREE.
  • It is a Microsoft Product hence should integrate well with the Operating System (Other Anti-Virus are known to have false positives and has a history of identifying Windows System Files as Virus killing Windows).
  • It is light weight and consumes little System Resources.
Cons
  • Have to pass WGA (This shouldn't really be an issue)
  • May collect System Information from Systems which MAY BE personally identifiable

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Disk Cleaning Scheduler



Hi, today I will be sharing a Disk Cleaner Scheduling Script I created.
I took parts of the Temp File Remover Script and combine it with Windows Disk Clean Up.
I also scheduled them to run once a week minimized.
Download it here for Vista
Download it here for Windows 7 (I decided to leave the Prefetch folder alone in Windows 7 since it handles itself well enough.
To install simply Download, Extract and Right Click, run Install.bat with Administrator Permission.
It will create a new Folder called "Clean Disk" in C:\windows (Due to the stupid spacing parsing problem with Program Files) then schedule the tasks.
You can delete the downloaded folders and zip files after that.
To uninstall, Download,Extract and simply Right Click run the Uninstall.bat with Administrator Permission.
I think this will be my final version.
Give your comments.
Thank You.

Edit:
I have updated the script to run as a System Task so the annoying popup that tell you it is cleaning up tempfiles no longer appears.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

nForce Drivers For Windows 7

New nForce Drivers 15.45 for Windows 7 is out
Download it here

Includes
  • Ethernet Driver (v73.10) WHQL
  • Network Management Tools (v73.13) "Sedona"
  • SATAIDE Driver (v11.1.0.30) WHQL
  • SATARAID Driver (v11.1.0.30) WHQL
  • RAIDTOOL Application (v11.1.0.30)
  • SMBUS Driver (v4.69) WHQL
  • SMU Driver (v1.71) WHQL
  • GPU Driver (v186.34) WHQL
  • PhysX (v9.09.0428)
  • Away Mode Driver (v6.0.6000.111) WHQL
  • Installer (v7.53)
Only SMU Driver, SM BUS Driver and Away Mode Driver installs for Aspire 4530 as SATA Drivers have to force installed via Device Manager.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Upgrading Driver from 186.03 to 186.24

I just updated the Nvidia Drivers for my 9100M G from Nvidia Released 186.03 to Nvidia Beta 186.24.
Here are the new Windows Experience Index Scores

Nvidia Released Drivers 186.03

Nvidia Beta Drivers 186.24

Also I felt the display was better looking, brighter more vibrant (well can't really benchmark, this could be my eyes too).
Anyway I recommend this driver for Nvidia Users.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Optimize Windows Vista Boot

What you should do to conserve and optimize disk space and boot time.

1) After download software like Firefox, after installation please delete the installer.

eg. Setup.exe

New Versions will come out and internet download speeds are so fast, so there is no point keeping it.

2) Do this weekly:
Start>> All Programs>> Accesories>> System Tools>> Disk Clean Up

Check Everything Except for Hibernation File.

Or download and install a autodiskcleanup script I created

CCleaner is a extra ware that does the same thing it uses System Resource hence I don't use this.

3) Open Control Panel >> Administrative Tools >> Services
Disable "SuperFetch"
Stop "Superfetch"
Reason being Superfetch isn't very efficient, very often it overfetches Programs you rarely use, increasing boot time as a result.

4) Clean temporary Directories.
They are:
C:\Users\{Your User Name}\AppData\Local\Temp
C:\Windows\Temp
C:\Windows\Prefetch (Delete the ReadyBoot Contents before ReadyBoot folder)
I have created a batch file to kill superfetch.
Download and run with Administrator permission here (Superfetch Killer)
5) Here is a Windows Batch File that clears useless file recursively in all directories.
Batch file is provided by mydigitallife

Open in Notepad to see the script content.
To Run, Right Click "Run as Admin"

Next run sdelete to zero the harddisk space and return all unused space

Use the command:
sdelete -c
After that do a Disk Defragmentation and Reboot

Using this method my Acer Aspire 4530 now boots in 5 Rolling Bars instead of the previous 18 &
My 5 year old Desktop has the following specification:
Intel Pentium 4 HT 2.8GHZ 512KB L2 Cache (NorthWood)
4GB DDR RAM 400MHZ
250GB WD 16MB Buffer Cache
875P Motherboard
Currently the dinosaur is running Windows Vista rather speedily so try it!


Saturday, June 27, 2009

Acer Aspire 4530 nForce Drivers

Edit: New nForce Drivers
Check out the link here
Note only use the SMBus and PCI Drivers in this download.

Many Acer Aspire 4530 including mine did not come with nForce mainboard driver pre-loaded into the default disk image so I have uploaded the driver for Vista here.

It comes with Nvidia SATA Harddisk Controller driver as can be seen below


The new option AAM stands for Automatic Acoustic Management
  1. It slows down your harddisk in exchange for a quieter and possibly longer lasting Harddisk
  2. 128 is the lowest setting (Quiet) while 254 is the highest (Noisy)
  3. As you can also see the harddisk controller supports Automatic Free Fall Protection however it isn't enabled because my Harddisk WD BEVT doesn't come with a Free Fall Sensor
If you upgrade to a harddisk that has a free fall sensor, Free Fall Control can be enabled

Alternatively
You can download the nForce driver from Nvidia Website
It contains
  • Ethernet Driver (v67.86.2) WHQL
  • NAM (v.67.93)
  • Sata/IDE Driver (v10.3.0.42) WHQL
  • RAID Driver (v10.3.0.42) WHQL
  • RAIDTOOL (v10.3.0.42)
  • SM Bus (v4.69) WHQL
  • SMU (v1.61) WHQL
  • GPU Driver (v178.33) WHQL
  • AwyMode driver (v.6.0.6000.107)WHQL
  • Installer (v6.14)
When installing you can install all of them but make sure you exclude the display driver as you are better off getting the newer 185.20 version from laptopvideo2go

Only the Beta driver offered by Nvidia website and the Beta Driver 185.20 from laptopvideo2go support CUDA and PhysiX at the same time

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Realtek High Definition Audio Driver Version 2.26

Realtek 2.26 Drivers are out
Download them here

UnderVolting AMD Griffin Processor


Edit:
You can read continue to read this as a guide but this is a better tool IMHO.

I chanced upon this site : http://amd.goexchange.de/

This is a new Tool designed to undervolt AMD Griffin ZM/RM/QL/SI Processors.
The program is free for home users (However you are encouraged to donate as it is a lot of work) and it is not free for business users



1)Why Undervolt?
In short conserve power (Battery Life) and reduce thermal emission (Overheating) with no effect on Computing Performance for more info check on the previous link.

2)For Intel Processors and AMD TL and older Series Mobile Processors RMClock is able to overclock them.

However no tool was available to underclock CPU until this tool was release.

How to use?

The documentation on the site is very lengthy and rather confusing.
I was confused first time I read it.

A very simplified guide as follows:

1) Create a folder in Program Files.
eg. Create C:\Program Files\GriffinControl

2) Download the files required (scroll down a bit you should see 2 files each for 32bit and the other 2 files for 64bit) and extract them to the folder you created in 1).

3) Open the GriffinControl_config.xml with notepad (the author provided a skeleton configuration file) .

You will only be looking at the following column and the values in bold
Note QL/SI Processor only should have 2 pstate number (I think it is 0 and 1 , no 2 not sure about this).
How do you go about setting voltage?

Basically AMD ZM/RM Series Processors has 3 Power State.

A full state runs at max frequency when you need the processing power it throttles up to maximium frequency giving you the computation power you need.
This is pstate number 0 which is 100% of the total CPU Power.
pstate number 1 is 50% of the total CPU Power.
pstate number 2 is 25% of the total CPU Power.

If you set too low a voltage the CPU will not run stably due to unsufficient voltage and cause BSOD.

For QL/SI Processor you only have 2 pstate, 0 & 1.
pstate number 0 which is 100% of the total CPU Power.
pstate number 1 is 50% of the total CPU Power.

How do you know the default voltages for the CPU?
Either you run CPUZ as shown by the picture at the end of this entry.
Then use Vista Processor Power Management to throttle at different percentages to find the 3 or 2 voltage level depending on what processor you have.
If you are not sure you can leave a comment at the end of this entry I will recommend values for you to try.
Another way is to refer to the config file provided with the downloads.

4)Reference this table for the list of Voltage ID.
eg. The value 42 as shown above translate to 1.025V and so on.

(Note the lowest VID is 64 no lower values will work and value above 36 can fry your processor )

Edit the values to the voltage you want.

For my RM-72 Processor, I tested 64,52 and 42 is the most extreme stable values.
Which translate to: 0.750V, 0.900V and 1.025V respectively.
Original Voltage: 0.800, 0.950V and 1.075V respectively.
A difference of 0.05V, 0.05V,0.05V , any higher it BSODS

Change the values accordingly and save.

6)Run GriffinControlService_32bit.exe for 32bit Windows and GriffinControlService_64bit for 64bit Windows.
Follow instruction and create the Windows Service if you encounter an error message you did something wrong.
Go to Services Menu and Start the Service if you ever want to delete the service you must stop it first (using the same manner, stopping it instead of starting it)
If you are doing testing make sure the service is set to manual start instead of Automatic so after BSOD it will default to original value and not BSOD repeatedly I learned this the hard way.
If you did not listen to me and it BSOD repeatedly, when it is possible to get to Windows Either start with last saved configuration or try to switch to Power Saver Mode in Vista Power Plan so it will not cause BSOD again.Don't worry no physical damage is done to the processor.

7) Run a CPU stressing Tool like Intel Burn In make sure no BSOD happens when running the tool so the voltage is stable. Use the Vista Processor Power Management to test the different Power States.
Set to auto start service if you are happy with the final setting.

This program is very well created especially when the author implemented it as a windows service, so donate to the author if you are able to.

Special Thanks to the author, now my CPU Voltage Temperature Dropped by a lot at max frequency.

Proof that it works!

Edit: The Service hung on Vista and created a Windows Event Log (no error message) so I set it to Delay Start and the problem went away.

At the end of the process the result of undervolting implies AMD chips are indeed overworked in order to catch up to Intel Processor Performance, the undervolted amount of 0.05 at max frequency implies this.
Any further undervolting results in BSOD.

Just encountered another BSOD raise voltages by 0.025

Finally whenever you encounter a hardware BSOD (read the message on the BSOD) just raise the voltage by 0.025.
Eg. when you BSOD on youtube you probably need to raise p-state 1 and p-state 2 by 0.025
My guess is when the CPU changes state from 2 to 1 it switches too quickly therefore insufficient voltage to support the boost hence it BSOD.

Friday, June 5, 2009

Nvidia PhysX Update

NVIDIA PhysX System Software WHQL
Version:9.09.0428
Release Date:June 03, 2009
Operating System:Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7
Language:U.S. English
File Size:
39.2 MB

Download here

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Atheros Wireless LAN

For those who do not wish to use Windows Xp Wireless Zero Config here is an alternative.

Edit:
New Release Atheros Driver Version 7.7X (WHQL) (Vista only) Atheros WLAN v7.7.0.319

New Atheros Client Utility for Vista here Version v7.7.0.231
After installation a utility will appear in the Control Panel
Here are some screenshots:




Choice of 3 types of Atheros Wireless LAN Drivers:
  1. Modded Atheros Driver (Non-WHQL)(Vista & Xp)
Obtained from LaptopVideo2go
  1. Atheros Driver Version 7.7X (WHQL) (Vista only)
Obtained from LaptopVideo2go
  1. Atheros Driver Version 7.6X (WHQL) (Vista & Xp)
Obtained from Atheros.cz and Microsoft Updates

How To Optimize Your Touchpad (Update)


Update:
You can now enable advance gestures on older touchpad.
I will just post the link as I am too lazy to type 
As of now almost all Synaptics Touchpad support multitouch (even legacy ones) thanks to Synaptics who decided to include multi touch support even for legacy Touchpads.
You need to update the drivers to 15.0.13 then use this guide to optimize the settings


The information below is outdated refer to the above.





New features : Disable touchpad when USB Mouse is attached.

I think some of you have seen the synaptic icon on your taskbar but don't really care what it does.
In this blog I will show you how to properly configure it so that it will perform even better for you

Firstly, Synaptic Touchpad software is consistently updated
You won't get the latest version from Official Synaptic Website
However you can get it at
laptopvideo2go
Let me clarify Synaptic Touchpad Software is universal there is no specific version to install
As long as you have a touchpad on your laptop the latest version will always be compatible to your laptop if you haven't install it, install it now.



  • Firstly Right Click on the Synaptic icon in the taskbar
  • Select Pointing Device Properties
  • Select Pointer Options Tab
  • Set the Pointer Speed bar as shown below



The above picture is just a gauge
The optimal setting should be the when you drag your finger from the top of the touchpad to the bottom the cursor should traverse from the top to the bottom
in one single motion


Next Check that Tapping is enabled as shown below
When tapping is enabled when you touch the touchpad
twice quickly at the same spot is acts like a double left click
When you touch once it acts as a
single left click




After you do this it
effectively replaces your left mouse button




Next we shall set the most comfortable setting for the touchpad





Set both bar to
as low as possible because

  • I don't think people rest their whole palm on the touchpad while using it
  • It makes your touchpad more responsive and you no longer have to apply any pressure to it. You just need to rest the weight of your finger on it
  • Latest version of Synaptics Software will not detect invisible movements and move your cursor randomly


Next we shall explore additional features

Enable Virtual Scrolling as shown below




It will allow you to scroll up and down, left and right by dragging your fingers in the regions shown below



Adjust the size of the scroll region




Next we shall find a
Alternative Right Click Button for convenience
Do the following










This will create a "new" right click button as shown below
To Right Click simply tap the region once




Adjust the size of your "Right Mouse Button"

The new configuration will need some getting use to but you will no longer need to apply pressure to the touch pad for normal usage
If you get use to this you will not need to use the right mouse button hence less likely of spoiling it

If you require finer control you can always fallback on the buttons
In conclusion don't be lazy, the default setting on Synaptic Touchpad sucks to get comfortable settings for use, experiment and find the setting you are most comfortable with.


Friday, May 29, 2009

AMD Processor Driver and Dual Core Optimizer For WinXp

Important

Laptops using AMD Processors which is operating on Windows Xp please note you have to install the following:

AMD Processor Driver Version 1.3.2.0053 for Windows XP & Windows Server 2003 (x86 and x64)
Allows the system to automatically adjust the CPU speed, voltage and power combination to match the instantaneous user performance need. This package is a user friendly localized software installation of the driver designed for end-users. This driver supports AMD processors on Windows XP SP2 and Windows Server 2003 SP2 x86 and x64 Editions.


And

AMD Dual-Core Optimizer Version 1.1.4 (Mirror Download)
The AMD Dual-Core Optimizer can help improve some PC gaming video performance by compensating for those applications that bypass the Windows API for timing by directly using the RDTSC (Read Time Stamp Counter) instruction. Applications that rely on RDTSC do not benefit from the logic in the operating system to properly account for the affect of power management mechanisms on the rate at which a processor core's Time Stamp Counter (TSC) is incremented. The AMD Dual-Core Optimizer helps to correct the resulting video performance effects or other incorrect timing effects that these applications may experience on dual-core processor systems, by periodically adjusting the core time-stamp-counters, so that they are synchronized.


It is required to save power and reduce the thermal exhaust

The reason it is required is at the time of Windows Xp release these Drivers were not included

Windows Vista users just need to install AMD Dual-Core Optimizer Version 1.1.4

There has been some question if AMD Dual-Core Optimizer is really needed.
This is what I found out in the Readme.rtf in AMD Dual-Core Optimizer :

---Improvement and Fixes---

Version 1.1.4

* Fixed installation issue on Windows Vista.

---System Requirements---

* Microprocessor: AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Processors

This software installs and operates under the following operating systems

* Microsoft® Windows® XP

* Microsoft Windows Server 2003

* Microsoft Windows Vista

The rationale is if it was not needed in Vista why would they fix it?

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

A Good Place To Get Acer Drivers

Here is a link to Acer Drivers.
It is far better than the previous ftp links.
Both 32bit and 64bit are available.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Partition Manager

If you have disk partitioning issues and you need to do stuff like moving primary partitions around, I recommend Partition Master.
  • Firstly, it is free.
  • Secondly, it offers advance functions that rival the capabilities of payware.
  • Thirdly, the Windows Interface is easy to use.