Archive for the ‘Windows’ Category

Free Windows Software Alternatives

I’ve guest blogged at Quick Online Tips, a technology blog which posts about blogging tips, Web 2.0, and computer software. You can read the article over here. It lists free software replacements for Windows built in software, such as Movie Maker and Notepad.

Since this is a mainly empty post, I’d also like to ask readers for any feedback or requests. I’d appreciate any feedback in the comments section of this post below.

Move My Documents to a Separate Partition

(XP only) – We’re going to be using TweakUI to move My Documents to a separate partition (similar to setting Linux’s /home on a separate partition). In this tutorial, we’re going to be moving our own important contents of My Documents to the new partition (we’re not setting up our new partition as My Documents as unwanted folders tend to build up there – but this tutorial can easily be adapted to set the partition as My Documents).

For what reasons? Easier backup of files, and an easy to access collection of your files, not the odd unwanted folders that tend to pop up (EA Games, Battlefield 2, My Stationary, My Google Gadgets, etc.). We’re going to assume you have a new NTFS partition setup already. (more…)

Get Rid of Arrows on Shortcuts

Using TweakUI, you can get rid of the little arrow icons on your shortcuts:

We’ll assume you have TweakUI installed. Head to Explorer and click Shortcut. Pick an option (for the purposes of this tutorial we chose None) and hit OK.

Uninstall Specific Windows Features

While not immediately obvious, the Add/Remove Windows Components allows you to double click particular entries:

Double click Accessories and Utilities and you’ll see a sublist of Accessories and Games, which can also be double clicked to reveal even more specific programs to uninstall. Have the Powertoy Calculator? Uninstall the ordinary calculator. Never play the Internet Games? Uninstall ‘em.

Use the Same Keyboard + Mouse with Multiple Computers

Control two networked computers with the same keyboard and mouse using Synergy, a free program available from SourceForge.net. It’s available for all platforms, but we’ll delve mainly into the Windows usage. Install the latest version for all the computers you want to control, plus the computer with the controlling keyboard and mouse. (more…)

Windows Vista Features for XP

The latest version of Windows, Mojave Vista, is often criticized by others for being slow and having too many unnecessary features. We’re going to show you how to get several of Vista’s major features on XP – for free.

We’re going to also be including a list at the end of minor features touted by Vista, and XP alternatives. (more…)

Selective Idle in Google Talk

Enjoy always being idle, or never being idle in Google Talk – with a small application by the name of GAlwaysIdle:

Once it’s installed, right click on the Google Talk icon and select from 3 choices – Always, Never, and Normal Idle. Note that GAlwaysIdle will run on boot, so you may want to look into disabling its automatic startup.

Windows Media Player Always “On Top”

Rather complicated simply to enable a quick feature:

Right click on the Windows Media Player titlebar, select Tools, then select Options.

Check the box that says Keep the Player on top of other windows. That’s it.

Create PDFs with PDFCreator

‘Print’ anything into a PDF file using PDFCreator, a convenient method of saving documents, webpages, and anything else that can be printed into PDF files. Download it here at pdfforge.org. When you install it, it’ll setup a ‘printer’ on your computer that outputs PDF files.

(Left: Picture of one of our articles in PDF format) (more…)

Share Folders with Windows Live Foldershare

While there exists a seemingly infinite number of ways to send files to your friends, Windows Live Foldershare takes the cake for being the most convenient — once you set it up, which can have its own quirks here and there and may be considered “too much work.”

We’ll show you how to setup a sync so that both you and your friend (or whoever you’re sharing files with) can pick and choose which files to download. To begin, head over Foldershare.com, and hit the Get Started link and download the appropriate version. We’ll leave you to follow through the install and setup an account with Foldershare. (more…)