Ever feel like you’re wasting precious minutes navigating through menus and clicking multiple times for simple tasks? These lesser-known keyboard shortcuts might just change your daily workflow forever.
[Read more…] about 3 Time-Saving Keyboard Shortcuts You Never Knew You NeededWindows XP is a landmark in Microsoft’s history. After a couple of unstable releases, Windows XP ironed out all the creases. Even today, Windows XP is more stable and considered a better OS than Vista by many.
No matter how stable, any (Windows) operating system requires proper care, optimization and tuning to keep it quick and responsive over long periods. Temporary files, crumbs of partially (un)installed programs, cached files and similar add to the bloat and make Windows XP slower over extended usage.
However, following a few simple tips, we can keep XP squeaky-clean and fast – just what you want. Follow these easy tips:
1. Install only necessary apps.
Installing every application you come across, trying them out for a few days and then uninstalling them is a bad idea. Install only the important applications, and then stay with it – do not uninstall. The reason is that more often than not, applications leave various files (temporary, shared etc.) even after uninstalling them. Over time, multiple install/uninstalls can lead to an unhealthy system with unnecessary bloat (and hence slowdown).
2. Install a good anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall.
Though the chances of being infected with malware is limited if you access only legitimate sites and downloads, it is still better to be on the safe side. Installing an anti-spyware is important, because spyware can simultaneously slow down your system and use internet bandwidth. Refer to my 8 Freeware for Windows post for good software.
3. Defragment your harddrive.
Defragmenting hard drive is commonplace, and is advisable. However, the default defragmentation app on Windows defragmentation is very slow, so using a third-party tool is a good idea. PowerDefragmenter accomplishes this task effectively. See a how-to by Shankar.
4. Use multiple partitions cleverly.
Using multiple partitions can improve data seek times significantly. Create partitions for operating system, program files (and use this partition as the location for all app installs), documents and media. Try to keep the partitions small in size, except for the media partition.
If you have more than one hard drive, use one of them for OS, and the other for other files (media, programs, My Documents etc.). This improves performance, and also increases the longevity of the hard drive on which the OS is located, since the data access is made for OS only. You can check the eHow page about hard disk partitions.
5. Optimize page-file usage.
Windows controls the page-file usage by default, but performance can be improved by setting the limits manually. Go to Control Panel > System > Advanced, and click the settings button under Performance. In the Performance dialog box, click the Advanced tab. Click on the Change button under Virtual Memory. In the dialog box that comes up, click ‘Custom’ and set the value at 1.5 times that of your system RAM. For example, if your computer has 1GB RAM, enter 1536 (remember, 1 GB=1024 MB).
6. Control startup applications:
Startup items can plague your computer with slower startup times. The best way to improve boot times is to disable unnecessary startup programs. Unlike other tweaks mentioned in this post, this tweak will be different for everyone. Common apps to disable include Skype, Yahoo Messenger, iTunes etc. However, ensure that you do not disable antivirus, anti-spyware and firewall applications.
Not sure how to do this? Check this TweakXP article.
7. Ditch Internet Explorer.
Internet Explorer renders pages poorly and gets a lot of flaming for it. However, an even more important aspect is security. Windows and Internet Explorer are tightly integrated. This means that any vulnerability in the browser can make the OS also vulnerable. Spyware attacks, phishing etc. are commonplace on IE. IE 7 is better in terms of security, but still has creases to iron out. A better idea would be to get a third-party browser – Firefox or Opera.
Paid Windows software like Norton AntiVirus, Adobe Photoshop and Nero are etched into the minds of users thanks to years of advertising by the powerful corporations that own them.
Most of the times the users are not aware of the fact that there are several free alternatives on the market. More importantly, these free alternatives tend to perform just as well as their paid cousins, while consuming less resources and providing a cleaner interface.
Below you will find 8 free software that you can use for a wide range of purposes.
1. Avast AntiVirus: Currently at version 4, and free for home use.
Avast is the best antivirus in terms of resource consumption. It has a low CPU and memory footprint, even while scanning. Several independent tests have found out that Avast is comparable to Norton Antivirus, Kaspersky etc. in terms of scanning accuracy, quicker than every other antivirus, and has the smallest online updates among them. Virus definition updates often go unnoticed, and we are alerted only when the update is complete.
There are several skins available for Avast. My personal favorite is the Mac OS X theme that mimics the Mac interface well, but there is a Vista theme also.
2. Spybot S&D: Free for private use.
Spybot S&D is one of the best anti-spyware tools available. Working in tandem with Ad-Aware SE, these two tools can sweep out most malware. The interface is simple, and presents three large buttons: Check for problems, Recovery and Search for Updates. Self-descriptive commands and options are the hallmark of Spybot S&D. There are two modes, Default and Advanced. Advanced mode adds many new options, but one wrong step and you may make or break the computer. The program will warn this when you try to switch to Advanced mode, though.
3. Foxit PDF: Free for personal use, contains an upgrade option for PDF editing and advanced usage.
Adobe Reader takes several seconds to load up. However, a free, lightweight alternative called Foxit is available. Foxit can be used as a basic reader for free, but advanced features like editing require a paid upgrade. It is the ‘light-weight’ factor that makes Foxit so attractive. Foxit also includes nifty features like minimizing to tray to reduce clutter on the taskbar.
4. ImgBurn: Currently at version 2.4, and free for personal use.
ImgBurn is a lightweight disc burning program, with a focus on getting things done quickly. Too many options may come in your way in Nero, but ImgBurn makes disc burning look easy. When starting up, you are met with a startup screen with options like ‘Write image file to disc’, ‘Write files to disc’ etc. Clicking one of those large icons takes you to the appropriate window.
5. FeedReader/FeedDemon: Free.
Feed reading can be made fun and enjoyable by using a desktop feed reader. While these do not have features like ‘Shared Items’ in Google, they are quick and easy to use. You can read feeds much like reading emails in a desktop app. There are options to bookmark favorite posts for further reference, and there is a separate folder for these bookmarked posts. FeedDemon has another useful feature – synchronization with Newsgator online account. This can be particularly useful if you move between several computers regularly, and want to stay synchronized.
6. VLC player: Free and open-source.
VLC player is best known as a play-it-all media player. The open-source VLC player can play videos with ease. The interface design is rather drab, but not difficult to use. Weighing in at a hefty 35 MB, VLC might look heavy. However, this extra megabytes is caused by the codecs that are bundled. So, you can play most formats without installing any codecs on the PC.
VLC is one of the few players that can play FLV and mobile video files without conversion.
7. Digsby/Pidgin: Free (Digsby) and open-source (Pidgin).
Multi-protocol instant messenger clients are always desirable for those who chat often, or need to connect with users of different protocols. Digsby was launched recently and is invite-only (get invite codes here and here), while Pidgin is free and open-source. Pidgin has a large number of plugins and themes available, while Digsby is feature-rich by default. Digsby has inline email reply(within the client) and integration with Facebook and MySpace – two innovative features. If you’re tired of Pidgin’s drab interface, try Digsby – it has a pleasant-looking interface.
8. IZArc: Free.
IZArc is a powerful archive/unarchive utility. It is free and lightweight. It has all the features of other archival utilities, plus some extra features like unpacking .iso files to component files. This can be particularly useful when you get a disc and need to extract and install any single part of the software, say the .net framework (I have used it for that particular purpose).
I have been using these freeware for over a year, and have never felt like going back to the paid software. Of course, this would require slight adjustments in our mentality and habits, but these can be done easily, once you remember that the benefits of using these are saving money, and saving system resources.
Working in tech support, I constantly run into a wide variety of users who seem to know very little about taking care of their Windows computers. This isn’t necessarily their fault, since most people simply don’t have the time or patience to dig beyond the surface-level workings of their computers. Ideally, users shouldn’t have to worry about the way their computer works, but that sort of blissful utopia is still several years away in my opinion.
Luckily for the uneducated Windows users out there, it’s actually much easier to take care of their computers than they think. This series of posts will offer simple and free ways for even the greenest users to maintain their computers. Let’s start with something basic:
Despite Microsoft’s penchant for buggy operating systems, in truth they do a good job of keeping both Windows XP and Vista up to date. Of course, to take advantage of these updates you need to make sure you’re actually downloading and installing them. You can do this manually from Windows XP by going to WindowsUpdate.com in Internet Explorer (not Firefox), or in Vista by navigating to Start Menu > Control panel > Windows Update.
Check for updates by clicking the appropriate buttons or links in XP/Vista, and then simply proceed through the installation process. If you’re an XP user who hasn’t updated in a while, you may be asked to go through some extra updates before you’re allowed to install actual Windows Updates.
You can also configure both Windows XP and Vista to download and install your updates automatically. Personally, I recommend just enabling the option to download updates but not install them automatically. When Windows installs your updates automatically it also reboots your computer once it’s done, and this could pose a problem if you accidentally leave an unsaved document open. You’ll end up losing all of the unsaved data.
To enable automatic downloading in Windows XP, navigate to Start > Control Panel > Automatic Updates. Choose the option to “Download Updates for me, but let me choose when to install them”, and click OK.
To enable it in Windows Vista, navigate to Start > Control Panel > Windows Update and select the Change Settings option on the left side of the window. Choose “Download Updates for me, but let me choose when to install them”, check off the two check boxes at the bottom of the screen, and click OK.
Once automatic downloading is enabled, you will receive notices in your system tray telling you when you have updates to install. You can either install them by clicking on the relevant icon, or, my personal favorite, choose to “Shut Down and install updates” when you click Start > Shutdown.
You’d be surprised at the sort of performance improvements that you get from making sure your computer is up to date, not to mention the numerous security benefits, so it’s always a good idea to make sure you’re doing so.
A couple of months ago I made the switch from Windows to Linux, and I doubt I will ever look back. Sure, sometimes business endeavors force you to use Windows applications, but other than that Linux gets the job perfectly done.
If you are considering to migrate to Linux as well, or if you have already been using it for a while but want to improve your knowledge, you might want to check the free Linux eBooks library on Homelinux.org.
You will find pretty much everything you need, from tuning the performance to shell scripts and kernel programming. Below you will find my favorite ones:
Malware Wrapper Uses Windows to Infect Android (via slashdot)
A bit of malware discovered by researchers at Symantec this week reverses the target-selection priorities of most malware designs by treating Windows-based PCs as a path to Android devices, rather than as the primary target. “We’ve seen Android…