Good Torrent Client
PDF Reader
Google Earth
Media Manager
Audacity- Sound Editor
OpenOffice (Like Word but freer)
Server Management (FTP Client)
Thunderbird - Email Client
Best Firefox Plugin- Control your tabs!
Another Firefox Plugin for search
VLC Media Player
Media Converter
File Encryption
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Windows Must-Dos (all free)
This guide will:
1. Provide you with the information to keep your computer fast, clean & virus-free 2. Teach you how to do everyday computer activities more efficiently
3. Save you hundreds of hours of time, hassle and headache
What you need:
-A decent internet connection
-About an hour
-Willingness to be more efficient (assumed, as you are on this blog)
What you get:
-A leaner, meaner, faster machine
-Thousands of hours in increased productivity*
-Immunization of your machine against viruses, trojans, malware, spyware and unwanted start-up values
*Assuming you will live at least 10 more years, and use your computer ~2 hrs/day
Background
Every Windows machine requires work to keep it fast, functional and virus/spyware free. Even if you don't ever use the internet, windows will eventually bog down your system with shadow copies, system restore files, disk fragments, random clutter (temp files, prefetch data, etc) and erroneous registry keys.
Not to fear! It is easy to maintain your computer if you know how (and you are about to).
Clean Windows & Immunize!
1. Download.com is your friend!
Use it to get the following:
CCleaner (short for "crap cleaner")
AVG Anti-virus
Ad-Aware
Spybot Search & Destroy!
2. Use lots of Soap
Download and run the best free virus-killer
Install AVG, Ad-Aware, CCleaner and Spybot. Leave CCleaner alone for now.
Depending on the speed of your computer, run all 3 (or one by one), allowing Spybot to install TeaTimer, backup your registry and immunize your system.
When they are done have no fear in clicking "fix these issues." All you will lose is the evil spyware on your machine.
Congratulations! You have made your internet and network faster, and have stopped evil companies from stealing your identity.
3. Throw out the Garbage
Hold down the CTRL key then press "a." Let go.
Hold down CTRL and press "c." Let go.
Now press the Windows Start key (the flag), type "notepad," and press enter.
CTRL "v"
CTRL "s" & name this whatever you want and save it to the desktop.
Congratulations, you just performed a somewhat complex action without the mouse. +1 for efficiency.
Finish all miscellaneous projects you are working on, close your internet browser and close all other programs (except notepad and CCleaner).
Unless you have a particular attachment to your browsing history (which is different than bookmarks), you can click "Run Cleaner" in CCleaner. This will clear temporary files, your recycling bin, error reporting, the system's memory of all that text you just pasted into notepad, and cookies/internet history.
When it's finished, look at how many MBs (or GBs) of efficiency you just gained (displayed under "Cleaning Complete.")
You can now use CCleaner to fix your registry (click "Registry," or, if you are more advanced, use the "Alt" + "Tab" shortcut to select CCleaner, and press "g" then "s".) After scanning press "Fix" and backup if you wish.
The next step is going to be the most fun.
You know all of those programs that start when you turn on your computer? Like MSN Messenger, AIM, etc.? We are about to slay them.
They will no longer start without your direct consent.
In the "Tools" window click "Startup" and look at how inefficient your computer is being.
Silly Windows, I don't need half of these things.
You can pretty safely disable ALL of these things, (because it's easy to re-enable them), but I would suggest leaving things that you want, like SpybotSD Tea Timer (this maintains your registry values and prevents programs from editing it without your permission, so no new program will ever put itself in this list without your knowledge), Battery Monitor, Kernel & Hardware Abstraction Layer, and anything that has it's home file in C:\Windows.
Now all that's left is a few system errands.
Press the Start key and right click on "Computer" Then click "Properties"
On the left, click "System Protection"
Now you can click "Configure," and turn off System restore and delete your restore points. This will give you countless GBs of storage back. Remember to run the restore or backup your system every once in a while.
You may wish to Defragment your machine, but I suggest instead converting to Flash.
4. Be a Machine
Read the post "Efficiencize" (coming soon)
1. Provide you with the information to keep your computer fast, clean & virus-free 2. Teach you how to do everyday computer activities more efficiently
3. Save you hundreds of hours of time, hassle and headache
What you need:
-A decent internet connection
-About an hour
-Willingness to be more efficient (assumed, as you are on this blog)
What you get:
-A leaner, meaner, faster machine
-Thousands of hours in increased productivity*
-Immunization of your machine against viruses, trojans, malware, spyware and unwanted start-up values
*Assuming you will live at least 10 more years, and use your computer ~2 hrs/day
Background
Every Windows machine requires work to keep it fast, functional and virus/spyware free. Even if you don't ever use the internet, windows will eventually bog down your system with shadow copies, system restore files, disk fragments, random clutter (temp files, prefetch data, etc) and erroneous registry keys.
Not to fear! It is easy to maintain your computer if you know how (and you are about to).
Clean Windows & Immunize!
1. Download.com is your friend!
Use it to get the following:
CCleaner (short for "crap cleaner")
AVG Anti-virus
Ad-Aware
Spybot Search & Destroy!
2. Use lots of Soap
Download and run the best free virus-killer
Install AVG, Ad-Aware, CCleaner and Spybot. Leave CCleaner alone for now.
Depending on the speed of your computer, run all 3 (or one by one), allowing Spybot to install TeaTimer, backup your registry and immunize your system.
When they are done have no fear in clicking "fix these issues." All you will lose is the evil spyware on your machine.
Congratulations! You have made your internet and network faster, and have stopped evil companies from stealing your identity.
3. Throw out the Garbage
Hold down the CTRL key then press "a." Let go.
Hold down CTRL and press "c." Let go.
Now press the Windows Start key (the flag), type "notepad," and press enter.
CTRL "v"
CTRL "s" & name this whatever you want and save it to the desktop.
Congratulations, you just performed a somewhat complex action without the mouse. +1 for efficiency.
Finish all miscellaneous projects you are working on, close your internet browser and close all other programs (except notepad and CCleaner).
Unless you have a particular attachment to your browsing history (which is different than bookmarks), you can click "Run Cleaner" in CCleaner. This will clear temporary files, your recycling bin, error reporting, the system's memory of all that text you just pasted into notepad, and cookies/internet history.
When it's finished, look at how many MBs (or GBs) of efficiency you just gained (displayed under "Cleaning Complete.")
You can now use CCleaner to fix your registry (click "Registry," or, if you are more advanced, use the "Alt" + "Tab" shortcut to select CCleaner, and press "g" then "s".) After scanning press "Fix" and backup if you wish.
The next step is going to be the most fun.
You know all of those programs that start when you turn on your computer? Like MSN Messenger, AIM, etc.? We are about to slay them.
They will no longer start without your direct consent.
In the "Tools" window click "Startup" and look at how inefficient your computer is being.
Silly Windows, I don't need half of these things.
You can pretty safely disable ALL of these things, (because it's easy to re-enable them), but I would suggest leaving things that you want, like SpybotSD Tea Timer (this maintains your registry values and prevents programs from editing it without your permission, so no new program will ever put itself in this list without your knowledge), Battery Monitor, Kernel & Hardware Abstraction Layer, and anything that has it's home file in C:\Windows.
Now all that's left is a few system errands.
Press the Start key and right click on "Computer" Then click "Properties"
On the left, click "System Protection"
Now you can click "Configure," and turn off System restore and delete your restore points. This will give you countless GBs of storage back. Remember to run the restore or backup your system every once in a while.
You may wish to Defragment your machine, but I suggest instead converting to Flash.
4. Be a Machine
Read the post "Efficiencize" (coming soon)
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
convert your laptop to flash
My laptop hard drive has broken 3 times in 3 years. Luckily, I have Dell, so I get a new one overnighted for free. However, my warranty is expiring soon, so I decided to convert to a flash-based machine.
Flash-memory is superior to regular hard disk drive (HDD) memory in so many ways.
The problem, however, is the cost. This walk-through gives you the most memory for the lowest price.
What you get:
-A completely flash-memory-based machine (that will perform much, much faster), meaning no moving parts, longer battery life, and no HDD failure
-94GB of super-fast memory
-An empty external HDD (size: whatever your computer's HDD is now)
What you need:
-Less than 94 gigs of data on your current machine
-A small screwdriver
-A built-in memory card slot
-An ExpressCard slot
-$181 to invest
Here is how to do it in 4 steps.
Step 1. Buy the following:
OS/HDD replacement: $90
30GB SSD
Enclosure for old drive: $12
External
2 x 32GB Class 6 SD Card: $32 x 2 = $64
These go in the memory card readers
ExpressCard Memory Reader: $15
Make sure you have the slot on your computer for this
Step 2: Prep your machine
Download MigrateEasy
Put in one of your new 32GB SD cards into the built-in memory reader
Push in your new ExpressCard memory reader, after it installs, put the 2nd 32GB card in
Insert your 30GB SSD into the external enclosure, and connect this to your computer via USB
Step 3: Move your files & Clone
Move all of your music, downloads, etc. onto the two 32GB flash drives now mounted (visible in My Computer. Do NOT use the external SSD)
Make sure you have less than 27GB of files on your native hard drive
Run MigrateEasy and clone your hard drive onto the new SSD (the one in the enclosure)
Step 4: Install the SSD & Enjoy!
Turn off your computer, take out the battery
Remove the SSD from the enclosure, remove your HDD (refer to Google for instructions) from your computer
Install the new (cloned) SSD & battery into your computer & turn it on!
You can put your old HDD in the external enclosure and use it as an external drive for extra storage
Flash-memory is superior to regular hard disk drive (HDD) memory in so many ways.
The problem, however, is the cost. This walk-through gives you the most memory for the lowest price.
What you get:
-A completely flash-memory-based machine (that will perform much, much faster), meaning no moving parts, longer battery life, and no HDD failure
-94GB of super-fast memory
-An empty external HDD (size: whatever your computer's HDD is now)
What you need:
-Less than 94 gigs of data on your current machine
-A small screwdriver
-A built-in memory card slot
-An ExpressCard slot
-$181 to invest
Here is how to do it in 4 steps.
Step 1. Buy the following:
OS/HDD replacement: $90
30GB SSD
Enclosure for old drive: $12
External
2 x 32GB Class 6 SD Card: $32 x 2 = $64
These go in the memory card readers
ExpressCard Memory Reader: $15
Make sure you have the slot on your computer for this
Step 2: Prep your machine
Download MigrateEasy
Put in one of your new 32GB SD cards into the built-in memory reader
Push in your new ExpressCard memory reader, after it installs, put the 2nd 32GB card in
Insert your 30GB SSD into the external enclosure, and connect this to your computer via USB
Step 3: Move your files & Clone
Move all of your music, downloads, etc. onto the two 32GB flash drives now mounted (visible in My Computer. Do NOT use the external SSD)
Make sure you have less than 27GB of files on your native hard drive
Run MigrateEasy and clone your hard drive onto the new SSD (the one in the enclosure)
Step 4: Install the SSD & Enjoy!
Turn off your computer, take out the battery
Remove the SSD from the enclosure, remove your HDD (refer to Google for instructions) from your computer
Install the new (cloned) SSD & battery into your computer & turn it on!
You can put your old HDD in the external enclosure and use it as an external drive for extra storage
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