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The First 10 Free Apps to Install on a New Windows PC. It’s about that time for me again: my desktop is a couple years part its prime and my laptop just died (no display, no hard drive activity, no wifi, and a recent history of turning off suddenly for no good reason – those are all bad signs, right?) , which means the near future holds a new PC for me. Which means a blank slate on which to impose my computer-using will. Setting up a new computer goes through five stages: Denial: I’ve got a new computer. Nothing can go wrong now! Once you’ve installed all the updates, uninstalled all the crapware, entered your wifi password, and set your screensaver, it’s time to make that shiny new PC do stuff, and for me the doing starts with installing a pretty fixed list of free applications. 1.

If you did the right thing and uninstalled Norton or McAfee (the two antivirus programs PC manufacturers get paid big bucks to include on their machines), the Windows Security Center will be bugging you about your system being unprotected. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Top 10 Tiny & Awesome Windows Utilities. How to create tags for your windows files with TaggedFrog. The adoption of tags on the internet has almost become a prerequisite on any blog, website or social networking site. The ability to simply add a keyword to anything allows for much better organization and easier searching when something needs to be referenced in the future. Most often they are used on blogs but they are also used in various ways on social networking sites such as Delicious, news sites like Newsvine or even online stores like Amazon.

Any site that generates regular or changing content will usually have some sort of tag system in place. So why just the web? Why can’t we have it on our PCs as well? TaggedFrog is a simple and free file tagging app for Windows XP or Vista that allows for the easy addition of files to be tagged with as many descriptive keywords (tags) as you can possibly think of.

You can then visualize them in a cloud display which looks very similar to your everyday cloud display you see on many websites today. How to rebuild your computer and reinstall Windows without heada. If your Windows PC keeps getting slower and slower, it may be time to rebuild your computer and reinstall Windows from scratch. That it, you wipe everything clean, do a fresh installation of Windows and reinstall all software programs. Check these tips and checklist for rebuilding a computer. If you are planning to rebuild a ‘slow’ computer by reinstalling Windows (XP or Vista) from scratch, here’s a pre-installation checklist + some time saving tips. You existing data on the Windows PC will not be affected even if you do a clean install instead of repair or upgrade. Fix Problems by Reinstalling Windows As a tech blogger, part of my job involves reviewing software which is so interesting but frequent installation (followed by un-installation) of software programs also tend to slow down the computer.

To deal with this problem, I did a clean installation of Windows last weekend and re-installed all the important software programs from scratch. Pre-Installation Checklist 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. I. 6. VirtualBox. Running other operating systems on a Mac is nothing new, and with the advent of Intel-based Macs we've seen a flood of virtual machine software: Parallels Desktop for Mac, VMWare Fusion, and Codeweavers CrossOver Mac. These products enable you to run Mac OS X and another operating system simultaneously. For many of my consulting clients who are switching from PCs and who already have a licensed copy of Microsoft Windows, I've been using Sun's Open Source xVM VirtualBox product. Why? xVM VirtualBox works very well and it's free. If you're new to virtual machines and want to know how to do this, follow along as I set up a Windows Vista virtual machine on an "old" 2GHz Intel Core Duo 20" iMac. This post is continued after the break. To begin setting up a virtual machine on your Mac, you need to download xVM VirtualBox.

Once you've downloaded the app, install it on your Mac, then get ready to build your virtual machine. Click Next, and then give your Virtual Machine a name (below). Whooops! How to speed up your PC's startup. I like to think I run a tight ship. I'm more proactive than reactive I guess.... -msconfig (keep an eye on the startup tab) -ccleaner (usually in auto mode) -regedit occasionally (to make sure nothing's been added to startupreg, winlogon etc that I wasn't aware of -sometimes Autoruns -Revo for a more complete mopping up than uninstallers alone can provide -regseeker -ERUNT — before even touching the Registry -occasionally look in on boot.ini, check the timeout... -hijackthis -a hosts file, e.g. the one at MVPs -Firefox with noscript (both kept updated -keep clear of IE as much as possible -use Clam and AVG for av scans ... -sometimes this helps with bootup time (but not always) Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks I usually run it from a bat file or from the Run box -tweakui, just to make sure my custom settings haven't been f*ed up without my permission That's about it.

How to control your computer with shortcuts to common windows ta. How to get Vista's best features in XP. SExpand Despite the fact that most of you prefer XP to Vista and would rather Microsoft extended XP's shelf-life, several new and improved features available in Vista would be great to have in XP. This new functionality may not be enough to get you to switch to Vista, but that doesn't mean you're out of luck. Let's take a look at a few ways you can incorporate Windows Vista's best features into your current XP PC for free.P We're going to focus on Vista's small and large features that are missing from XP, separated into three categories: applications, functional, and aesthetic (e.g., transparency is aesthetic, the new start menu search is functional).

This list is not exhaustive, but it does cover the features readers feel make Vista worth it.P Bring Vista's Best New and Improved Apps to XPP First, aside from some of the small operating system improvements we'll go into below, Vista also bundles up a few new and improved applications worth mentioning.P Give XP that Vista LookP. How to boost "Save As" options in Windows with XNeat. How to sets keyboard shortcuts for any windows task with HotKeyB. How to add quick access to your filesystem with Direct Folders. You guy really need to work with this program first, before you comment that you can do the same with program A or solution B, because you all talk nonsense.

Not only does Direct Folder work easier (try it!!) , it even works with subfolders, it also works with ALL kind of dialog boxex, even the ones that are non-Windows standard. None of the other solutions here can do that (in Vista or Windows 7) and I've tried them all. The Pro verion also allow you to set the default folder for dialog boxes of any specific application, try to do that with all the junk you guys suggested lol Seriousy... next time when you all open your mouth, do some research first, instead of acting like some pathetic fanoboy of your own favorite application. Btw, I don't use Direct Folders, because it still has a bug in it that has to be fixed, so don't act like I'm just another fanboy.

How to shut down Windows in an instant. The other evening I turned off my Windows XP system and busied myself with other matters, only to find the machine churning away several minutes later as it worked through its shutdown process. I could've understood the delay if it were installing updates, or even if some program or service had hung the system. But this was a typical PC shutdown, and it was taking forever. "There's gotta be a better way," I thought, and after doing a little research, I found a bunch of Registry tweaks that reset Windows to close shop like it's late for the bus ride home. Keep in mind, any changes to the Registry can be troublesome, so you may want to make these alterations one or two at a time just to make sure they don't futz up the works (it'll also be easier to diagnose any problems that may arise). And for sure back up the Registry by creating a restore point before you begin.

Kill your apps Some programs just don't know how to say goodbye. Tomorrow: create multiple workspaces in Ubuntu. How to improve your Windows XP desktop search with Windows Searc. How to supercharge the Windows Task manager with Process Explore. Par Mark Russinovich Paru le 14 septembre 2007 Introduction Vous êtes-vous déjà demandé quel programme a un fichier ou un répertoire particulier ouvert ? Vous pouvez désormais le savoir. Process Explorer affiche des informations sur les descripteurs et les processus DLL ouverts ou chargés. L'affichage de Process Explorer est composé de deux sous-fenêtres.

La fenêtre supérieure affiche toujours une liste des processus actuellement actifs, y compris les noms de leurs propres comptes, tandis que les informations affichées dans la fenêtre inférieure dépendent du mode dans lequel se trouve Process Explorer : En mode descripteur, vous verrez les descripteurs que le processus sélectionné dans la fenêtre supérieure a ouverts ; si Process Explorer est en mode DLL, vous verrez les DLL et les fichiers de mémoire que le processus a chargés. Nouveautés dans la version 11.0 : Installation Exécutez simplement Process Explorer (procexp.exe). Articles connexes Télécharger Process Explorer (1.5 MO) How to decypher the Windows Task Manager with Quick Access InfoB. Windows only: You've popped open the Windows Task manager and found a runaway process hogging memory and CPU cycles but you have no idea what it's for or whether or not you can safely end it.

The Quick Access Info bar quickly looks up information about a process running on your computer in an online database, which lets you know what the task does, whether or not it's spyware, and if you can safely end it. As many as 20 to 30 processes may be running invisibly, silently in the background on your PC. Some hog system resources drastically slowing down your computer; others are a threat to security and privacy; others may be harmless.The Windows Task Manager displays most of these processes but you have no information to learn and understand what is what. The Quick Access Info Bar buys you a little information icon next to process names in the task manager, that when clicked, shuttle you directly to a page in the ProcessLibrary describing it. Top Windows tweaks. How to tile windows with the control key.