Tips
Pssst! Scroll down for the free stuff!
Firefox
Here's a great Firefox tip I recently discovered. Firefox is great, but everybody knows it has an Achilles heel: massive memory sucking. I have had sessions that have eventually brought my computer down to a crawl, often after I have minimized what I was doing and then come back to it later (as you might imagine, I get interrupted around here a lot). But! I have discovered the secret to keep Firefox from getting too bloated when you minimize it for later. Via Lifehack:
This setting will move Firefox to your hard drive when you minimize it, taking up much less memory. And there is no noticeable difference in speed when you restore Firefox, so it's definitely worth a go. Go to about:config, right-click anywhere and select New-> Boolean. Name it "config.trim_on_minimize" and set it to TRUE. You have to restart Firefox for these settings to take effect.
It works like a charm!
If that's not enough, here's the 15 Coolest Firefox Tricks Ever.Disasters
In the event your computer needs to be reformatted, here's a basic checklist you can use for your backup session:
Backup Checklist for a Reformat
Email (here's how to backup Outlook mail, contacts and other data and Outlook Express)
Financial software data (how to backup Quicken)
Photos
Music
Bookmarks/Favorites
Firefox/Thunderbird profile and preferences (MozBackup can backup your profile, bookmarks, cookies, passwords and extensions all in one shot)
Program install files you cannot replace
Fonts - any that are special to you
FTP account settings
Any address books that you use
Passwords
Write down: network name and settings, any special router and firewall settings
Make a screenshot of all currrently installed programs
And finally deauthorize any software that may require it, like iTunes or Adobe software. You will reauthorize after reinstallation
Goodies
Great Free Software
* PDFCreator - $100 for Adobe Acrobat? Nope!
* Ad-Aware Antispyware
* AVG Antispyware (I recommend installing in addition to Ad-Aware; it's good extra insurance and sometimes catches stuff that other programs don't)
* AVG Antivirus - great antivirus program that is easy to understand and doesn't slow your system down like other scanners (plus no nagging to buy subscriptions all the time!)
* Google Pack - this can save you a lot of trouble by downloading & installing essential software for you
* Network Magic - an awesome program for helping you setup and maintain your network
* Songbird - if you're not thrilled with iTunes, you might like this
* Skado ($19) - for recording internet radio (I could probably use Audacity but this is a little easier/smarter)
* AM-Deadlink - checks your bookmarks for 404s and gets those favicons - good if you have a LOT of bookmarks/favorites
* Audacity - sound recorder and editor, very popular
* Azureus - bitorrent...if you do bitorrent I HIGHLY recommend using with plugin called SafePeer to avoid getting a letter from your ISP...and be quite vigilant about updating your antivirus and spyware programs
* Firefox - use this instead of Internet Explorer
* Thunderbird - use this instead of Outlook (looks very similar)
* Juice - podcast receiver, this is what I use to download and listen to Weekly Signals
* DVD Shrink - great free program for copying encrypted DVDs
* DVDFab - This will usually get around any new encryption that DVD Shrink can't. Platinum version is great for getting video converted for ipods
* ImgBurn - you'll need this to actually burn your DVD copy if you don't have Nero (which I like much better than Roxio...)
* HD Tune - monitors your hard drives and warns you of impending disaster
* FLV Player - plays those downloaded YouTube videos
* Exact Audio Copy - great MP3 ripper; try LAME encoding (not lame!)
* Winamp - great lightweight yet feature-rich MP3 player
* Soulseek - for getting MP3 music
* Picasa - I've tried a lot of photo organizers, and I think this one's pretty darn good (with one caveat: discover how to back up your albums/labels, because Picasa doesn't do this for you and if you switch and restore hard drives you lose all your labels and albums. I lost three years worth of labeling in something like 80GB of photos because I didn't know this. I sincerely hope Google fixes this in future editions).
* WinAudit - not the prettiest UI, but tells you everything you could possibly want to know about your computer system
* PC-Decrapifier - This is a GREAT tool for automatically uninstalling all the CRAP that they install on new computers
* Trend Protect IE - say you have a relative that simply will not release their grip on Internet Explorer. You can make their online life a little safer with this plugin.
* TweakUI Powertoy - a little Microsoft program that's very handy for eliminating Windows' default annoyances, like the "informative" balloons and login hassles
* MultiG - if you have several Gmail accounts, this can make your life easier by checking them all at once
* File Hippo Update Checker - checks to see if your software has updates...this managed to find an obscure update for Nero that I needed that wasn't even listed anywhere on their website
* SensorsView Pro 3.1 ($19) - to monitor temps and voltages of everything in your system
Great Firefox Extensions
BugMeNot - Bypass compulsory web registration (i.e., NY Times registration just to read an article, etc.)
Dr. Web anti-virus - This plugin allows you to check any file you are about to download or any page you are about to visit with online version of Dr.Web anti-virus
Colorful Tabs - helps differentiate tabs nicely
Copy Plain Text
Del.icio.us
Flat Bookmark Editing
ForecastFox
Foxmarks - saved my butt when my computer went down and took Firefox and all my bookmarks with it!
IE View Lite - for those pages that require IE, this makes it easy to switch over
Morning Coffee - opens all your favorite sites you specifiy with a click of a button
Video Downloader - for getting those YouTube videos and stuff
Adblock Plus - because we're all sick of hearing those obnoxious Flash ads
Session Manager - maybe you have a lot of tabs and unfinished business open and you want to come back to them later. This is your ticket. Just save your session and restart
Oboe - for doing stuff with an MP3tunes.com account
Gmail manager - lets you check multiple Gmail accounts at once
Better Gmail - does all this stuff
Resurrect Pages - helps you see dead pages
Free Wallpaper
From the SLO Botanical Gardens |
Downtown |
Marigold field on the way to Los Osos |
To download, right-click on your size choice and choose "Save Picture As..." or "Save Image As..." Choose where to save it to and then click "Save." Then to set it as your computer's desktop, find where you saved it, right-click on the file, and choose "Set As Wallpaper."
Recommended Reading
Why it's important to have an antivirus program installed
Phishing - A client of mine was recently ensnared by a phishers and got their AOL account hijacked as a result. This site explains what phishing is and why you should beware
Useful Links
Free virus scan of your computer by Norton
Panda online virus scan