Keep your operating system & PC in peak condition

A lot of people remember that their bodies need exercise (even if they do not provide it) but few people think about their PC needing care as well.

Over time your computer can become loaded down with temporary files (which are created basically any time you use a program), log files, old programs, and files that have been scattered across the hard drive.

There are several things you can do to help keep your PC running strong including:

1) Keep your PC virus free. A lot of PCs become infected with viruses. Make sure to have an anti-virus software installed on your machine and keep the virus definitions up to date. Your Internet Service Provider probably has a free anti-virus software you can get or you can go to Google and type in "Free Anti-Virus" and see what you get. I personally recommend getting Symantec’s product and paying for the service.

2) Keep your registry clean, there are several free programs including RegSeeker and CCleaner that do an excellent job of cleaning the registry. This process is important because your registry can get loaded down with information that was valid once but has become outdated or the programs have been removed. Keeping your registry clean allows the system to process through the file faster allowing the overall performance of the PC to be faster as well.

3) Take care of your hard drive. A full hard drive can slow your machine down (although not nearly as much as other things will). Try and delete files that you do not need anymore and remove old programs that you are not using. Also make sure to scan and defrag your hard drive at least once every two months or so. You can do this by going to "My Computer" and then right clicking on your hard drive and selecting properties. From there select the tools tab and select error-checking to scan the drive and defragmentation to defrag the drive. When selecting error-checking make sure to place a checkmark in all the boxes and that will do a low level scan of your hard drive. Both of these options take a while so run them right before you go to bed or when you’re not going to use your PC for a while. You can also use the clean up button on the first tab to clean out a lot of temporary files which can really fill up your drive over time.

4) Keep your PC free of spy/ad/mal-ware. These little nasty programs come attached to fun programs that you download off the Internet or you get them from visiting web sites. Get yourself a copy of ad-aware or another anti-spyware software. There are many out there that are free and easy to use. Again make sure you keep the definitions up to date and scan your computer every few weeks. This software can take a PC from super machine to tinker-toy in just a few hours so keep it off your computer! If your wondering what type of software includes this little added bonus the answer is: music/software sharing programs like Limewire, screensaver software, and games you download from the Internet are just a few of the programs that carry along little extras that watch what you do and transmit information back to their creators.

5) Fdisk, reformat, and reinstall Windows. This process takes quite a while and you have to make sure you have all the drivers you will need (or at least the network / modem drivers so you can get on the Internet to get the rest of the drivers later). A lot of people never rebuild their PCs. I try to rebuild mine at least a few times a year. Think of your PC like a blackboard. No matter how much you wipe it off you still see the old marks. However you can resurface it (or have it professionally cleaned in the case of the chalkboard) and start fresh.

6) Add more RAM, an external hard drive, or a new video card. A lot of things can be improved by adding some more RAM (up to a point), adding an external hard drive allows you to store your files on a separate drive then the operating system which helps to keep that drive clean, and upgrading your video card can really improve the performance of a PC if it helps to remove some of the work from the CPU and move it to the video card. You will probably get a greatly improved picture as well.

These are some "easy" and not so easy ways to keep your PC running "like new" and speaking of like new it is always a good idea to remove as much of the pre-installed software as you can. You’re not going to use most of it so why keep it there?

Another hint is to not install the software your DSL/Cable provider gives you for connecting to their network. Get yourself a router instead. It will handle all the work of connecting for you and you do not have to install another program onto your computer (because adding another program slows your PC down that much more when it is running).

So get back out there, keep your nose and your PC clean and have some fun!

Star practices recycling

Way out in space sits a white dwarf star in the Ophiuchus constellation. What makes this star special is that went super nova. As a matter of fact it has gone super nova six times in the last 108 years.


What we have here is a case of theft, or recycling, depending on how you look at it. The star borrows material from a neighboring star and uses it to explode about every 20 years.

Police are still deciding if they are going to press charges...

You can read more about it here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4885700.stm

HTML Playground - XHTML and CSS

Here is a handy refrence site for XHTML and CSS. It lets you select the code you are intrested it, tells you what it does and then shows you it in action. You even see the code behind what shows.

Rather handy I do say.

Your PC, your friend.

Monoslideshow

I came across a really nice slideshow tool at: http://www.monoslideshow.com. You can do some very cool things with this slideshow, it is small in size, and runs smoothly.

Another great tool that I have been using is JAlbum from: http://jalbum.net/. This program installs on your computer and creates albums for you to post to the web, I've been using them on my family's site at http://www.acksjay.com (see the links on the right side).

Download from YouTube

Ever seen a video on YouTube that you really really wanted? Visit http://vixy.net/ to convert and download that video to your favorite format!

Crimson Editor

Located at http://www.crimsoneditor.com is one of my favorite editors for, well, just about anything. It is smart, it is lightweight, and best of all it is FREE!!!

Crimson Editor offers:

• Syntax Highlighting for HTML, C/C++, Perl, Java, Matlab and LaTeX. Also, it can be extended for other programming languages based on custom syntax files.
• Multi-level undo / redo - all editing actions are recorded from the opening of a file. - any document always can be undone to it's initial contents. - unlimited undo and redo buffers.
• Project management - manage group of related files into one project. - remote files also can be included in a project.Directory tree view window - click to open documents. - filter to display only selected file class.
• and more, a complete list can be seen on their website.

The program is small enough to fit on a floppy disk yet powerful enough to be the only editor you may ever need! One negative is that it is not visual based, you have to enter your code but you can set up the program to have special commands run on your code (like compile and run) which can make your job easier.

I've always liked Crimson Editor and it does a great job with Java and HTML. I cannot speak to the other languages but I am sure it is just as great when you are working with them.

The greatest website ever!

Doesn't everyone remember their favorite Apple games? Play them here: http://www.virtualapple.org/

Windows Update

I was checking for windows / office updates and I got this screen:

Note the fact that it says I have never checked for updates and then shows the last time updates were installed...

Lowcost wireless signal improver-upper

I got myself a Xbox 360 about a month ago and I was really excited about setting up the Media Center part of the system and accessing the photos on my computer via the 360. Of course Microsoft recommends that you have a wired network and I do not.

The install went smoothly enough until I got to the signal strength and was told that it was a bit on the low side (I had never really noticed any speed issues except when trying to stream video and play an online game at the same time). So I needed a solution that would up my radio signal...

That is when I remembered the cooking foil. I ran downstairs and like a crazed person ripped a few inches off of the roll and made a kind of large aluminum foil spoon shape. I wrapped that around the antenna on my computer and noticed an immediate improvement in the speed.

Prior to using the foil antenna the Media Center extension would work but it was very slow. With the super duper foil antenna wrapped around the wireless card's antenna in my PC I am now moving much faster.

The foil is hidden behind the PC (It is a desktop) so it is not to bad to the eyes. You could also use wire to extend your antenna like you do with a radio or even rabbit ears but foil was my cheap, easy, and quick solution.

If it doesn't work for you, be sure to recycle the foil!

A new challenge

I am about to undertake a new challege, I want to syncronize my laptops and desktop calendars with an online service. My first choice was the Google web calendar but since you have to do a CSV export and inport to move things between those systems I am not a big fan of that idea anymore.

I am now going to try Plaxo's service and see how that works. My plan is to setup a laptop in the kitchen of our home for keeping track of all of our stuff so that I can sync that to my work computer and to my treo and my iPod.

So many things to tie together such a need to make it simple.

Today's Fun Stuff

M&M Dark candies has a fun and addicitive online game that can be played here: http://us.mms.com/us/dark/

If you cannot figure it out, you can get the answers here: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20060923092848AANPwg0

Vista

Vista looks really good, the install is easier, I really like the flashier navigation, the hazy windows, and the 3D effects.

The one issue I had with Vista (and this should be no suprise for a beta) is there were not enough drivers out there to make it work right with some of my software. This should be fixed by the launch date and I am hoping to get a copy of the OS early on so I can play with the full version.

Some of the improvments of Vista are:

Power Users can install printers and use flash drives without having to call for an administrator.
The 3D engine should really reduce the blue screens.
They have built better security into the system.
They have expanded the list of command line options.
Vista is truely designed to run in a 64 bit enviroment.

Windows has come a long way and this version seems to be a good improvment over the past editions. The new server edition has many of the same improvments and I am excited about that and Active Directory as well.

Pay Pal Dial-up service!

Below is an email a co-worker in the IT department received:

Hi Adrian,

Just wondering if you can give Teresa pay pal on her computer so that she may access the intranet bulletin when out of the office.Let me know!

Thanks!

Sr. Marketing & Communications Manager

We are excited to find out that Pay Pal is now offering remote dial up service!

(The program we use is called "Pal").

Vista Download

Today I am downloading the Vista RC1, going to test it out and see what I get!