Speed Tweaks and Tips
Internet

Windows' default networking settings lean towards what's best for networks rather than dialup networking. TweakMASTER lets you set this right by optimising several system settings to favour dialup connections, either by hand or using one of several presets. It also caches commonly-used DNS entries to save time when browsing. Just be careful when tweaking settings for a broadband connection, as what's good for dialup isn't always good for ADSL - check the broadband feature in the July issue of APC for more details and some broadband-specific speed tips.

Licence: 30-day demo.
Online: http://www.tweakmaster.com
Operating system: Windows 95/98/98SE/Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP.
Requires: N/A.

Install instructions

		Windows

Download Accelerators make fast work of file fetching by opening several connections to a single file server (or in some cases, several servers at once) and splitting the file into small chunks which are downloaded simultaneously. The result: a speed boost which can be anywhere from twice to five times as fast as a normal download. It's superb for both for dialup and broadband connections.

Licence: Adware.
Online: http://www.speedbit.com
Operating system: Windows 98/98SE/Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP.
Requires: Internet Explorer 4.x to 6.x; Netscape 4.x to 7.x; Opera 4.x to 6.x.

Install instructions

		Windows