Ways to make your computer run faster - I

In this article (and subsequent parts), I hope to compile a list of all the different methods and tricks that I’ve used to get the last bit of juice out of a slow PC. Whether you are using an old PC or the latest and greatest in hardware, you can still use some of these to make your PC run faster.

There are probably a lot of great tweaks that I’ve missed here, so do let me know if you have suggestions for additions through comments.

1. Defragment your computer hard disk.

My computer> right click on any drive> Properties> select tab 'Tools'> click on 'Defragment now'> Select Drive to be defragmented> and click 'defragment

You can also use user frendly free tools like Smart Defrag

2. You should also defragment your windows pagefile and registry by using Microsoft's free tool PageDefrag.

3. Clean up hard drive disk space being taken up by temporary files, the recycle bin, hibernation and more. You can also use a tool like TreeSize to determine what is taking up space on your hard drive.

4. Load up Windows faster by using Startup Delayer, a free program that will speed up the boot time of Windows by delaying the startup of programs.

5. Speaking of startup programs, many of them are useless and can be turned off. Use the MSCONFIG utility to disable startup programs.

6. Clean your registry by removing broken shortcuts, missing shared DLLs, invalid paths, invalid installer references and more. Read my earlier post on CCleaner which is the best free registry cleaner.

7. One of the main reasons why PC’s are slow is because of spyware. There are many programs to remove spyware such as SUPERAntiSpyware.

8. Remove unwanted softwares (aka junk software) from your PC by using the add and remove application in your control panel. Be careful to avoid removing any essential program.

9. Delete your Internet browsing history, temporary Internet files, cookies to free up disk space.

10. Move or change the location of your My Documents folder so that it is on a separate partition or hard drive.

Gmail Drive - Use your Gmail space as online storage space

Utilize your 7 GB+, ever increasing, Gmail space effectively...

http://www.viksoe.dk/code/gmail.htm

Gmail Drive enables you to use your gmail account as a virtual storage drive that is accessible from windows explorer. It adds a drive icon to "My Computer" that allows you to access your storage space like any other folder, and upload files via drag and drop. The uploaded files appear in your Gmail inbox as messages with the files attached. The messages have a special subject, so you can use the spcial Gmail inbox tools to automatically move them to a seperate label.

To know more/download software...click here

Now access your Mom’s PC sitting in your office

Picture this- Your mom has complained about a virus warning being displayed on her computer. You have the solution for it and you know it won’t take more than a minute for you to solve the issue if you have the infected machine infront of you.. The only problem is that you are in another city. What will you do?

Welcome LogMeIn – A simple and secure access to a computer from anywhere using a omnipresent web browser.

After a quick registration, you need to install the software ON the machine (target machine) that you want to control. [In the case above, provide your credentials to login to the site and ask your mom to click on the download link to install the software]. Installation is not required on the computer FROM which you want to control other machines.

Once software is installed on the target machine, simply log into LogMeIn.com. Click on the machine name and you will be connected to the target computer. Once connected to the Target PC, Click on Remote Sharing and start controlling your Mom’s PC.

CallingAmerica- How to make free phone calls to America?

Skype.com lets you make free calls to America and practically all over the world, so what’s the difference? The difference lies in the words free and phone. CallingAmerica.com lets you make free call from your PC to any phone or landline present in US.

First question arise, how do they make money then? Through advertising. A small ad is played on the caller side before the call gets connected. Note: Ad is not played on the receiver side.

Some more features:

• Registered users can make unlimited calls but upto 15 mins in length each. Unregistered users can also make unlimited calls but upto 2 mins each only. There is no registration fee. You simply need to fill a form and you’re done.
• It’s completely web based. No need to download any software.

CCleaner - Very effective tool to make your computer run faster and it is free

"CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware!" http://www.ccleaner.com/

This software is great for removing unwanted or extra files and to clear up your system। It is far superior then windows disk cleanup। As it does not create fragments and also searches far more quicker and faster. It is a very very good programe also to remove traces of internet site you visited and cookies and such. However this programe does not have a 'Unwanted files compressing system' like windows disk cleanup. It also help you to due with issues such as fragmented links and files.

The layout of this software is also easy to use and it has a simple plain layout. A checklist is also present for what you want and do not want to be removed.

This programe also has the 'Analyse' function which tells you what you would removed and the amout of space which will be freed. It evens give you a case-by-case analysis of the different types of files.

Extremely useful Gmail tips

I just can't get enough of the wonderful utilities of Gmail...This is in continuation of my last post on "custom from"...a few more excellent tips.

DAMN, I FORGOT TO ATTACH THAT DOC

No more fret about it. With this option enabled, Gmail will detect that you wanted to attach a doc but forgot to and it will prompt you to do so. Go to your Gmail account > labs and enable this feature as shown. It seems that this feature scans for words like “attachment”, “find attached” etc. to detect missing attachment. Simple but a lovely idea.

SECURE YOUR GMAIL ACCOUNT

Worried that someone else might be reading your emails from the cyber cafe you went to and forgot to log out from? No more. Gmail now providesSign out all other sessions facility. Scroll down to the bottom of Gmail page after login. Click on Details. You will get this pop up. You know what to do with this button now. Rest in peace.

GMAIL SIGNATURE IN REPLY-TO EXACTLY WHERE YOU WANT IT

This is something new from the Gmail’s super creative team. With this option enabled, you need not cut-paste your signature from the bottom to just after your message. As soon as you click on reply, your signature will automatically appear on the very top. This is especially useful in long mail exchanges. This feature can be accessed on under the "labs" page on gmail

SHOO AWAY SPAMMERS

Gmail considers r.o.w@gmail.com the same as row@gmail.com. This can be an excellent way to find out your spam mail source. Bloggers submit their email ids to many places. With each submission there is a potential for email abuse. The way to get around this is: Instead of submitting your mail id like row@gmail.com, submit it as r.ow@gmail.com to one, asro.w@gmail.com to another, and so on. Set up filters in Gmail corresponding to each of the mail ids submitted by you. Now when you receive spam, you can identify its source based on the unique filter that has been set up for it.

Digsby - Social Networking, IM and Email managed on the same platform

Digsby helps you manage all your IM, e-

mail, and social network accounts from one easy-to-use application. Digsby lets you chat with all your friends on AIM, MSN, Yahoo, ICQ, Google Talk, Facebook Chat, and Jabber with one simple to manage buddy list. It provides notifications when new

e-mails arrive and lets you perform actions such as "Mark as Read" or "Report Spam

" without having to go to your inbox while also keeping you up-to-date on what's happening on your social networks with pop-up notifications and a news feed of recent events for Facebook,

MySpace, and Twitter.

Many people are members of multiple IM, Social networking, and email services, and like to keep up with each of these. Generally, these

services offer a download that lets you chat, post, or monitor your account. Their tools are aimed specifically at their product, and don't work for anything else. They tend to take up lots of space, and can lack important features. Enter the combined client. Currently, there is no combined email monitoring/social network monitoring tool apart from Digsby, but that will likely change soon. Most combined clients focus on the IM system, allowing one tool to connect to multiple networks. This is nice, because then you can view all your friends and such in one location.

Why Digsby is revolutionary

Digsby is similar to all other IM combined clients in function, but in form. it goes a step above. It allows you to chat on all the major networks, as well as monitor your email and social network site.

Buddy List and IM service

Instead of segregating each service to its own area, like the other tools do, Digsby mixes them together, removing barriers. You can still tell who is on what network, by a symbol added to their picture, but they are all listed in one large contact group. You can easily start chats with people on multiple networks by double clicking their name, no need to change windows or panes. Furthermore, if your friend is on multiple networks, you can combine all their contacts into one. Clicking that will allow you to start messaging them on whatever network(s) they are online with.

PopUp alerts

One thing that one client does (AIM) that is quite nice is that it pops up messages when you get a new message, and has an input box on

those messages so you can reply to the message. Digsby does this as well, but for every network. In addition to IM, these popups work for social networks and email, so you can catch that message as it hits your inbox.

Tabs

If you are chatting with multiple people at once, then each chat is put into its own tab. While this isn't revolutionary, it is nice, and deserves merit.

Social Networks

Many people have facebook, myspace, twitter, etc accounts. Updating these can be a chore, usually involving cellphones or browsers. Digsby integrates with many of these, allowing you to update your status, see your friends status, and much more. This is one of the nicer features, and allows for quick status updates, so you can let your friends know EXACTLY what you are doing.

Email

Both Google Talk and Yahoo! Im offer alerts for when you get new emails, but unless you see the alert when you get it, you miss information about it. Digsby shows similar alerts with its popup, but also allows you to view the summaries of your unread messages, and preform various quick actions on them. This is useful if you are waiting for that memo about the company picknic, or just want to stay on top of your email.

Multiple Computers

One problem of most mixed im clients is you have to configure them separately on each computer you want to use. Digsby doesn't require you to do this. The settings you have on one computer work on ALL computers. This is preformed through a digsby account. You sign up for a free account, and then set it up. Whenever you want a digsby client to mirror your settings, even temporarily, just sign in to that client. All your networks will load, as will all your settings and customization. This really is elegant.

InSite widgets

Wouldn't it be nice to allow visitors to your blog/website/social network page chat with you in real time, without forcing you to have a browser open? Digsby lets you do this as well. By adding "widgets" to your pages, people can come and chat with you, without having to use Digsby. The chat client is flash based, so it is speedy and easy to embed, as well as offering several color choices and customization options. If someone you don't wish to talk to starts chatting you up, you can block their ip address.