Interesting topic! Well, if you think I am going to tell you some magic tricks to make your internet connection fastest with speed exceeding your ISP speed limit, then don’t read the post But, I am definitely going to share few real working tips from my experience that can help you in having the fastest permissible internet connection taken by you from your ISP (Internet Service Provider).

So, here goes the tips to make your Internet connection the fastest:

- Contact Your ISP If You Are Not Getting Allotted  Download Speed For Your Internet Connection

The speed at which you can download (make the data come in to your PC) from your internet connection is the download speed of your internet connection. Suppose, you have bought 1Mb/sec speed connection (One megabit/sec or 1024 Kbit/second connection) then the download speed of your Internet connection theoretically should be 1024/8 = 128 Kbytes/second (1 megabit = 1024 Kbit and 1 byte = 8 bits).

Similarly, if you have 2 Mbps internet connection then you can have the maximum download speed of 256 Kbytes/second. Notice the difference when I write the speed of the connection in Kbit/second and the download speed in Kbyte/second. Verifying that you are getting the right download speed bought by you from your ISP, is very important.

Well, you use your internet connection for uploading also (transferring from your PC to an online server) but it’s very less compared to downloading of data. Some examples of uploading are attaching a file in email and transferring a video from your PC to http://youtube.com.

To check your internet connection download speed, go to a download site and download a big file in megabytes, example: 52.53 MB of Avast Antivirus (It’s good – Does what is needed + Freeware) using the given link:

http://filehippo.com/download_avast_antivirus/download/dd1490670eb96f1a37d411a806961f69/

After few seconds (don’t check immediately, wait for 5-10 seconds), check the speed in your browser. The given screen shot (2nd one) shows the download speed of 106 KB/sec (848 Kb/second) for a 1 Mbit/second (1024 Kbit/sec. connection).

You can check the speed of your intern et connection by downloading a big file from some other download site also.

You can also use the service of http://speedtest.net to check the download speed of your internet connection. As it’s automated, you only have to click on “Begin Test” and then wait for few seconds for the http://speedtest.net script to check the ping (Packet Internet Gopher) response, upload and download speed of your internet connection.

Compared to the manual fi le download method for checking internet connection speed, you cannot choose the size of the file plus you get upload and ping response additionally at http://speedtest.net.

I use both the methods – manual download through browser as well as speedtest.net to make sure that I am getting the right download speed according to my maximum download speed for my internet connection. If you have some different browser other than Firefox, then also you will get download somewhere on the browser download screen window.

Now, for 1024 Kbit Internet connection, 848 Kbit/second is close to the maximum limit and thus okay. When you are downloading there are some overheads and factors such as server load (site from which you are downloading), time at which you are using the internet connection (at normal work time too many users use the same ISP pipe at the same time) etc.

Also, when you are checking your internet connection download speed, make sure you are not doing any of the download in the background otherwise you will get less download speed in the test window.

You should contact your ISP if you are always getting less than 80% of your promised download speed after checking at different times in a day.

- Make Sure That There Is No Packet Loss To The ISP Gateway

Your ISP normally assigns you a gateway IP through which your Internet traffic from your PC is routed to the internet.

You should manually do a ping and extended ping (by putting some load with the help of ping command) to the gateway IP and check for the packet loss (should never be more than 2%).

ping -t 192.168.1.1 (normal ping)

ping -t -l 1024 192.168.1.1 (extended ping with load of 1024 bytes)

If you are getting more than 2% packet loss to the ISP gateway then the download speed will be affected as packets would be getting dropped to/from the Net too. To find out packet loss, press Ctrl+Pause/Break keys with the ping window active.

So, contact your ISP if you are having packet loss of more than 2% to the gateway. There can be number of problems behind this such as configuration issues with gateway setup, its cabling issue, weak signal strength, packet collisions or a faulty network card or switch, hub etc.

- Make Sure That Your ISP Isn’t Oversubscribing

If you are always getting low download speed on your internet connection then you should contact the same ISP users living nearby and confirm their download speeds.If most of the users are having very low download speed issues at the peak time, then the ISP has done over subscription.

This can be made clear by an example of an ISP who has only 2 Mb/sec, pipe to the Internet but sells 100 connections promising 1Mb/sec. download speed to each of the user. Now you can easily see what will happen if 10 users try to use their total of 10 Mb/sec. on a mere 2 Mb/sec. ISP internet pipe.

If you have the right quality professional ISP, then you should definitely get the promised download speed Internet connection also. Some tips to select the right ISP are:

http://www.pctipstricks.com/tips-for-choosing-the-best-isp-internet-service-provider-in-your-region-part-1/

http://www.pctipstricks.com/tips-for-choosing-the-best-isp-internet-service-provider-in-your-region-part-2/

- Use Correct DNS (Domain Name Server)

Configure your Internet connection to use the right DNS server, usually given by your ISP.

When you browse the Net, DNS translates the entered site name in the browser to the correct IP from its database. The fast the DNS server is in terms of load and reach to your PC, the faster will be the address resolution and the internet browsing. Which ever interface (wired or wireless) of your PC you are using to connect to your ISP, check its properties to verify that the DNS IP is the one that you should be using.

- Ensure Your PC Is Fast

Having a PC with fast processor, sufficient RAM, defragmented hard disk, fast network interface (one connected to ISP) and no malware infection definitely helps in having increased browsing speed.

You can check the following URL’s for making/ensuring your PC is configured to process at fast speed:

http://www.pctipstricks.com/tested-expert-tips-for-making-computer-faster-part-1/

http://www.pctipstricks.com/tested-expert-tips-on-making-pc-faster-part-2/

http://www.pctipstricks.com/expert-tips-on-making-your-pc-real-faster-part3/

- Take Right And Faster Internet Connection Matching Your Needs From Your ISP

You may laugh at me but sometimes people are not aware of the types of current internet connections and their prices being offered by their ISP. Buy an Internet connection that suits your requirements. Example if your monthly download never ever exceeds 10 GB and you can get 2 Mbps fast internet connection with 10GB monthly download limit compared to 1 Mbps speed connection with unlimited download at the same price then go for the former, i.e. 2 Mbps one. If you can afford the double speed internet connection compared to your present one then go for it as it will save your time and make you more productive. I have given only those tips that have worked for me in my years of online surfing experience! There may be some additional tips that may make your internet connection faster but either they have not worked for me or it has been not tested by me/I am not aware!

Some of the sites claim that users can increase the web browsing speed by using their Web and Download Accelerators. Most of the Web Accelerators (I have used Onspeed and Nitro when I had dialup and both helped) increases the speed by reducing the resolutions of the images being downloaded or serving you cached data that your ISP should normally provide. I have checked Download accelerators also like DAP but didn’t notice any appreciable change in download speeds.

Winsock Rebuilding and Tweaking the Packet Receive Window and Local Network card setting of PC etc. have not worked in my case and thus I don’t recommend them.

There is huge disparity in internet download speeds in different parts of the worlds. In India, presently a home user normally has a  connection of 1 Mbps/ 2Mbps maximum internet speed whereas in South Korea and Japan, it’s normally 15 Mbps or more. Whatever your Internet connection promised maximum download speed is, it makes sense to check and then take actions to get the same prescribed speed on your internet PC that you are paying for!

Hope that these tips help you in troubleshooting low Net throughput and increasing your internet connection speed!

So, if there are some other genuine working tips that have made your Internet connection faster, let me know. Waiting for your comments.

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Tips To Get The Fastest Internet Connection Speed

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Coming directly to the topic of this post, It’s on solving the error message “xvidcore.dll not found” appearing on Microsoft Windows Vista PC. I am writing the solution to this problem as it occured on my Dell Vostro 400 PC loaded with Vista OS and I solved it. Thought of sharing as it may help you in saving some of your time.

Some particulars of this “xvidcore.dll” not found error:

The error “xvidcore.dll not found” was popping up when I was exploring a folder with video file/s (any format – .avi, .mpeg and .flv). When the video files were more, the error kept popping up again and again. Quite annoying as I had to click on OK multiple times to close these popups. I had no problem in playing any of these video files with video players.

Now, this xvidcore.dll error started popping up suddenly and it was not appearing from the day I started using my PC, i.e., more than one and half years back. I am still wondering why it started bothering me as I never installed anything relevant to xvid (Codec – Code/Decode Or Compressor/Decompressor for video files) on my PC. May be it was in built into some other application.

I searched for xvidcore.dll using the Windows Vista Search feature (including the search for hidden files) but as expected it couldn’t be found. The search window showing xvidcore.dll not found on my Vista PC is shown next:

I did a google search for the error “xvidcore.dll not found error” and found that I need to install Xvid codec from xvid.org. I downloaded Xvid-1.2.1 codec for Windows Vista from:

http://www.koepi.info/Xvid-1.2.1-04122008.exe

(Explanation to some of you who are wondering about the URL change from xvid.org to koepi.info. Clicking on “Xvid for Windows” hyperlink at the URL: http://www.xvid.org/Downloads.15.0.html leads to the URL – http://www.koepi.info/xvid.html with page having Download link for Xvid 1.2.1 codec).

I downloaded the xvid codec setup file and installed it choosing the Windows XP compatibility mode as shown below:

After successful installation of Xvid codec, I once again explored the folder with the video files and wow there was no popup of “xvidcore.dll not found” error. Oh! what a relief from the “xvidcore.dll not found” bugging popups. Well, I searched again for “xvidcore.dll” on my computer and found that the file was now  there along with some other files relevant to xvid in the System32 under Windows folder.

The screenshots shows the start of installation of xvid, its finish and location of xvidcore.dll file as found by Vista Search after xvid codec installation:

Now, if you too are facing the error of “xvidcore.dll not found” (sorry for repeating it numerous times), then you can use the procedure in this post to save your time.

Let me know if I explained the steps well and did this post was of any use to you.

So bye to “xvidcore.dll not found” error message and welcome to your comments!

Rajesh

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How To Solve xvidcore.dll Not Found Error In Microsoft Windows Vista Environment

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Most of the normal PC users normally don’t know the detailed hardware information of their PC’s on which they work everyday.

The Windows Device Manager in Control panel gives information about the hardware but it’s not very detailed in terms of multimedia and has no diagnostic tool to perform full troubleshooting of multimedia hardware.

So, in this post, I am going to explain about a tool in Microsoft Windows that can help you as well as the multimedia programmer in performing the basic and advanced multimedia troubleshooting respectively.

The tool is DxDiag – DirectX Diagnostics, an external command available in most of the Microsoft Windows versions.

DxDiag shows the vital system information – Operating System (OS) name, PC model, BIOS version, RAM amount and DirectX version etc. in the main system tab of its diagnostic tool window. To run dxdiag, you need to type dxdiag in the Run window.

As shown above, in the front screen of DirectX Diagnostics, there is a term WHQL. It is short form for Windows Hardware Quality Labs, a Microsoft testing lab that provide test suites for hardware. The lab tests the product hardware and if it meets Microsoft testing standards, it given the product the certification that can be used by the hardware manufacturer to show that the product is designed to work on the tested Microsoft OS.

Also, dxdiag command runs the diagnostic tests to troubleshoot the gaming and multimedia problems and reports the status at the Notes sub window as shown next.

I also feel that I should give some brief explanation of DirectX, though most of my friends playing computer games must have installed DirectX and understood its function also. DirectX is collection of Windows API (Application Programming Interface – applications) that allows direct access to the low-level functions of computer and its peripherals to the games and multimedia programmer. Some of the main components that make DirectX are:

- 2D graphics, 3D graphics, 2D sound, 3D sound, music and input devices.

Dxdiag also provides the facility of saving the hardware information by clicking on the “Save All Information…”, which stores the comprehensive system information to a text file. This is not available otherwise in Windows. So, if you have to send someone, say your remote network administrator, detailed information about your PC having advanced multimedia problem, you can use dxdiag to generate the system report. The “Save All Information” screen of dxdiag tool in Windows Vista is shown:

I checked the DxDiag.txt file generated by Clicking on “Save All Information” and found that it gives exhaustive details of everything related to multimedia of your PC, the DxDiag information has:

- System Information (Processor, memory, BIOS version etc.)
- Notes about Display, Sound and Input problems (No problems/problems)
- DirectX debug levels
- Display devices
- Sound devices
- Sound capture devices
- USB devices
- Gameport devices
- PS/2 devices
- Disk & DVD/CD-ROM Drives
- System devices (Name, Device ID, Drivers of all the controllers on the motherboard or connected to it)
- DirectShow Filters (Filters are building blocks provided by MS windows for reading data, separating audio and video and decoding video frames etc.)

The titles of the list itself are quite technical, Aren’t they? I only wrote the titles of the detailed information generated by DxDdiag tool as the report runs into several pages and pasting here would have made the post very lengthy. If you generate the DxDiag.txt file and go through it, then don’t worry if you can’t understand the full report as it’s meant for multimedia and game programmers. Even I couldn’t understand the full report in DxDiag.txt file as it requires coding knowledge for multimedia devices.

I am sure that you will use dxdiag to know more about your computer’s multimedia hardware and software components and for troubleshooting multimedia problems.

How do you troubleshoot your computer multimedia issues and did dxdiag tool helped you in any way (for basic troubleshooting), let me know!

Happy dxdiag’ing!

Rajesh Mago

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Windows Tool For Detailed Multimedia Information And Running Diagnostics To Troubleshoot Multimedia Issues

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