Connectify Dispatch Merges Your Available Internet Connections into One Fat, Super-Fast Pipe

 Windows: Most people only have one internet connection at home, but what if you could merge your connection with the free Wi-Fi from the coffee shop down the street with your phone's 4G connection to create a super-pipe with tons of additional bandwidth? That's what Connectify Dispatch does, perfectly.

Connectify Dispatch came out a few months ago in beta, and so far testers have been getting some impressive results. The app essentially bonds multiple available internet connections around your computer into a single pipe, and manages the traffic among them for you. You can connect multiple Wi-Fi networks and adapters, a wired ethernet connection, even a tethered 3G/4G smartphone, and the service uses the combined throughput of all of those networks together. The service even promises to accelerate your BitTorrent downloads.

Dispatch also provides automatic failover among those networks, so if one of them goes down or is unavailable, your traffic is automatically shunted to another one—this is especially useful if you have an open Wi-Fi network near you and your cable goes out. You won't even notice the drop. The Connectify app also allows you to prioritize the available networks, so you can rank your personal connection at the top, and others in order of speed or reliability. If any of them are unavailable, Dispatch will switch to the next highest one available.
Connectify Dispatch comes with Connectify Hotspot Pro, which allows you to share the bonded internet connection that Dispatch creates with other devices in your home. The service isn't cheap: Dispatch and 1 year of Hotspot Pro will set you back $50, while Dispatch and a lifetime subscription to Pro will cost you $70. Dispatch isn't available on its own, unfortunately.
The folks at Connectify sent us a license so we could test, and it works as advertised—you just need to have multiple networks open and available to you for the app to really work. In my case, all I had was my cable connection, a coffee shop that's about a block away (and too weak to really contribute), and my 4G smartphone. Even so, with two networks combined I managed to see throughput averaging 40-50Mbps down/15Mbps up, where my cable connection alone was around 30Mbps down/5-10Mbps up. Downloading a test torrent was definitely faster with Dispatch enabled. If I moved somewhere with more open networks, I could probably do much better—good enough to even log into a VPN and encrypt my traffic without latency.
Hotspot also worked well, and sharing the connection from the Windows laptop with my Macbook Pro was easy. That said, Dispatch is the real star here: if you live in a place with multiple connections and hotspots available to you (that you can use—all warnings about hijacking random networks to use with this app apply), bonding them this way can get you some serious added bandwidth for downloads, gaming, or streaming video or music. To learn more, hit the link below, check out their FAQ, or visit their technology overview for a deeper dive.

Windows 8 apps and games to explore and download

Windows 8 comes with a bunch of pre-installed "modern UI" apps, so you might as well familiarize yourself with the most high-profile entries. We have detailed primers on Music, Photos, Mail, Calendar, SkyDrive and People. None of these apps is perfect, though the SkyDrive cloud service is an integral part of the new Microsoft ecosystem, so you really should check out its implementation in Windows 8.

Precisely because Microsoft's built-in apps are so lacking, you'll want to hit up the Windows Store for Windows 8 apps to populate your new Start Screen. On the day Windows 8 launched, we published our top 10 list of the Windows 8 apps to download first, but just this week we updated the concept with a new article geared specifically to Windows 8 tablets.

New Windows 8 hardware owners should also read our suggestions of the best streaming media apps for cord cutters, the best Windows 8 casual games (our author tested a vast selection, and then chose the 15 most worthy), and best productivity apps. 

Diving deep into Windows 8 power tools

In the weeks since the new OS launched, we've published a number of deep-dive tutorials that explore the system's more innovative, richer features. For example, BitLocker To Go is built directly into Windows 8, and helps you quickly encrypt external storage devices like USB flash drives and portable hard drives. If you're concerned about your data security, you should also read our how-to on activating Windows Defender, a basic anti-malware tool that's not immediately exposed in many default installations of the OS.

Another great built-in Windows 8 feature is Storage Spaces, a tool that lets you combine all your sundry storage hardware into a single, virtual data pool—which you can then allocate more efficiently, for data redundancy and general file management. Besides explaining Storage Spaces, we also posted a great article on using Client Hyper-V, a tool that lets you virtualize older versions of Windows from within Windows 8.

Finally, it's possible that you just installed Windows 8 on a machine from yesteryear, and your gear isn't up to the task of running the new system in all its glory. If you find yourself in this sorry lot, read our tutorial on optimizing Windows 8 for older hardware. It explains which features to turn off, or otherwise disable.

Windows 8 drivers, utilities and customizations

Once you've become somewhat acclimated to the new Windows 8 landscape, it's time to fine-tune the OS experience to your personal preferences. At the top of the list is driver management. It's very possible that your new Windows 8 device boots up fine, but unless all your device drivers are up-to-date, you won't get the most high-performance experience possible (and driver issues may stop some peripherals from working altogether).

See our exhaustive guide on the whys, hows and wheres of Windows 8 drivers to nip all these issues in the bud.
Utilities like Win8 Start Button will help restore a bit of normalcy in the new OS.

Some Windows 8 problems have nothing to do with drivers. Instead, the OS itself is just innately challenging. To alleviate some of the built-in pain points, you absolutely must read our guide to the 8 worst Windows 8 irritations and how to fix them. Microsoft's decision to omit the traditional Start Button is among a host of bizarre development decisions, but luckily three different third-party utilities—Win8 Start Button, StartMenuPlus8 and Start8—can return the erstwhile Windows mainstay to your desktop.

But, hey, Microsoft didn't kill all the good things from previous versions of Windows. It just relegated many of them to hidden, second-class status. For a bunch of great tools hiding beneath the surface of Windows 8, check out this collection of 6 awesome Windows 8 utilities that no one knows about.

Ultimate Windows 8 starter guide: Must-know tips, apps and utilities

The year is drawing to a close, so there's a very good chance that you now find yourself staring straight down the gaping maw of Windows 8.

Maybe someone gave you a new Windows tablet or PC as a gift. Or maybe you decided to use your holiday down time to upgrade an old PC. The details don't really matter. You're now using Windows 8 for the very first time, and you're searching for answers on how to make the OS an integral, productive part of your high-tech life.

Sound familiar? Then walk with me as we take a tour of recent PCWorld Windows 8 coverage. I trust we have answers to all your Windows 8 questions.
Getting started with Windows 8

Right when the new OS launched, we published a number of essential how-to guides for first-time Windows 8 users. You can start your orientation process with this handy guide to maximizing your first 30 minutes with the new OS. But perhaps even more useful is our compendium of 20 must-know Windows 8 tips and tricks, which starts off with a thorough look at keyboard shortcuts—you should know them all if you don't have a touch screen.

But if you do have a touch screen device, then head straight to our guide to Windows 8 gesture commands. In this article (and in its accompany video) we describe how to navigate the initially confusing touch commands that leave many first-time users wondering what the heck just hit them.
And if you don't have a touch screen monitor for the new OS, you should definitely read our guide to picking the right upgrade display for full Windows 8 compatibility.

How to use System Configuration (MSCONFIG)

System Configuration is a tool that can help identify problems that might prevent Windows from starting correctly. You can start Windows with common services and startup programs turned off and then turn them back on, one at a time. If a problem doesn't occur when a service is turned off, but does occur when that service is turned on, then the service could be the cause of the problem.

System Configuration is intended to find and isolate problems, but it's not meant as a startup management program. To permanently remove or turn off programs or services that run at startup, see Uninstall or change a program.

The following table describes the tabs and options that are available in System Configuration:

1: General Tap:

Lists choices for startup configuration modes:

Normal startup. Starts Windows in the usual manner. Use this mode to start Windows after you're done using the other two modes to troubleshoot the problem.

Diagnostic startup. Starts Windows with basic services and drivers only. This mode can help rule out basic Windows files as the problem.

Selective startup. Starts Windows with basic services and drivers and the other services and startup programs that you select.

2: Boot Tap:

Shows configuration options for the operating system and advanced debugging settings, including:

Safe boot: Minimal. On startup, opens the Windows graphical user interface (Windows Explorer) in safe mode running only critical system services. Networking is disabled.

Safe boot: Alternate shell. On startup, opens the Windows command prompt in safe mode running only critical system services. Networking and the graphical user interface are disabled.

Safe boot: Active Directory repair. On startup, opens the Windows graphical user interface in safe mode running critical system services and Active Directory.

Safe boot: Network. On startup, opens the Windows graphical user interface in safe mode running only critical system services. Networking is enabled.

No GUI boot. Does not display the Windows Welcome screen when starting.

Boot log. Stores all information from the startup process in the file %SystemRoot%Ntbtlog.txt.

Base video. On startup, opens the Windows graphical user interface in minimal VGA mode. This loads standard VGA drivers instead of display drivers specific to the video hardware on the computer.

OS boot information. Shows driver names as drivers are being loaded during the startup process.

Make all boot settings permanent. Doesn't track changes made in System Configuration. Options can be changed later using System Configuration, but must be changed manually. When this option is selected, you can't roll back your changes by selecting Normal startup on the General tab.

Advanced boot options:

Number of processors. Limits the number of processors used on a multiprocessor system. If the check box is selected, the system boots using only the number of processors in the drop-down list.

Maximum memory. Specifies the maximum amount of physical memory used by the operating system to simulate a low memory configuration. The value in the text box is megabytes (MB).

PCI Lock. Prevents Windows from reallocating I/O and IRQ resources on the PCI bus. The I/O and memory resources set by the BIOS are preserved.

Debug. Enables kernel-mode debugging for device driver development. Go to the Windows Driver Kit website for more information.

Global debug settings. Specifies the debugger connection settings on this computer for a kernel debugger to communicate with a debugger host. The debugger connection between the host and target computers can be Serial, IEEE 1394, or USB 2.0.

Debug port. Specifies using Serial as the connection type and the serial port. The default port is COM 1.

Baud rate. Specifies the baud rate to use when Debug port is selected and the debug connection type is Serial. This setting is optional. Valid values for baud are 9600, 19,200, 38,400, 57,600, and 115,200. The default baud rate is 115,200 bps.

Channel. Specifies using 1394 as the debug connection type and specifies the channel number to use. The value for channel must be a decimal integer between 0 and 62, inclusive, and must match the channel number used by the host computer. The channel specified does not depend on the physical 1394 port chosen on the adapter. The default value for channel is 0.

USB target name. Specifies a string value to use when the debug type is USB. This string can be any value.

3: Service Tap:

Lists all of the services that start when the computer starts, along with their current status (Running or Stopped). Use the Services tab to enable or disable individual services at startup to troubleshoot which services might be contributing to startup problems.

Select Hide all Microsoft services to show only third-party applications in the services list. Clear the check box for a service to disable it the next time you start the computer. If you've chosen Selective startup on the General tab, you must either choose Normal startup on the General tab or select the service’s check box to start it again at startup.

Warning

Disabling services that normally run at startup might cause some programs to malfunction or result in system instability. Don't disable services in this list unless you know they're not essential to your computer’s operation. Selecting Disable all won't disable some secure Microsoft services required for the operating system to start.

4:Startup Tap:

Lists applications that run when the computer starts up, along with the name of their publisher, the path to the executable file, and the location of the registry key or shortcut that causes the application to run.

Clear the check box for a startup item to disable it on your next startup. If you've chosen Selective startup on the General tab, you must either choose Normal startup on the General tab or select the startup item’s check box to start it again at startup.

If you suspect an application has been compromised, examine the Command column to review the path to the executable file.

Note

Disabling applications that normally run at startup might result in related applications starting more slowly or not running as expected.

5: Tools Tap:

Provides a convenient list of diagnostic tools and other advanced tools that you can run.

Please Enjoy your Time !! :D