b.tech.review

Windows. When you first install it works pretty well. Files open and close with a relative amount of speed and the system is pretty responsive. But after a few months you notice a drop in performance. Tasks that used to take a few seconds now take 30 or 45 seconds. If you have more than one program open at a time the system slows to a crawl. One of the main culprits for this problem is the Windows system registry. In simple terms, the registry houses information about everything that is installed or created on your computer (and a few others things as well…configuration settings, etc.) If you uninstall a program or delete a file it may appear to have been completely removed from your system. This is not always the case, as the registry still will contain traces of what you deleted. Over time this can (will) slow down your system. Well by now you might be thinking, “how can I clean out the registry”. I’m glad you asked.

There are basically two methods for accomplishing this task. The first one is to manually go in to the registry and clean out by hand. I don’t recommend doing this. If you’re not sure about what your doing you can really mess things up. The second method is to use a program to clean the registry for you. There are a ton of available programs that will clean the registry, some with better results than others. I have found that CCleaner does the best job, with the least amount of hassle.

CCleaner is very easy to use. All you do is open the program, click on a few buttons and your done. CCleaner will also clean out your temp files as well, which can also slow down your system over time. Once you open the program you will have several options to choose from on the left side: Cleaner, Issues, Tools, Options.

The Cleaner will clean out your temp files, just click on “Run Cleaner” in the bottom right corner. Issues will scan your registry, show you what it found, and then let you choose to clean it up. Click on “Scan for Issues” and then “Fix Selected Issues”. After you click on “Fix Selected Issues” the program will ask if you want to back anything up, there is no need to do this. I have been using this program for a long time now, and I’ve never had a problem.

I recommend cleaning out temp files and the registry at least once a month, more if you have time. By doing this, you will save yourself the frustration of working with a slow system. Download CCleaner here. The download link is at the top right of the page. Happy cleaning!

|> brandon

Two-for-one today…I’m making up for being a slacker this past week. This next one is a little program that I use all the time. If you have a digital camera, or for any other reason have need to frequently open large pictures, you will love this program. It’s a viewer for jpg, bmp, and gif (and probably others) files. If you normally use a program like photoshop or psp for viewing these files you will be amazed at how quickly vjpeg does it’s thing. It takes only a few seconds to open and close a file, regardless of the size. When your finished, just right click the image to close. Simple, effective, my kind of program…

|> brandon

Download

Also, before I forget…the writer lists a few keyboard/mouse commands on his sire that are very helpful when using vjpeg. I have reposted them here:

Left click-drag: resize, move
Right click: close the active picture
double-click: go 1:1 or fit on screen, whichever is smaller
Escape: close the active picture
Ctrl-Alt-Q: close all pictures!

e: email the original file
E: email the bits on the screen (good if you open a big file and want to compress it.)
a: auto-levels
-> / r: rotate right
<- / R: rotate left

“Windows Media/Quicktime” commands:
ctrl-1 / alt-1: 50%
ctrl-2 / alt-2: 100%
ctrl-3 / alt-3: 200%
alt-enter: fullscreen (kinda)

“Photoshop” commands:
ctrl-alt-0: 100%
ctrl +: next bigger size
ctrl -: next smaller size

There are things in life that go together really well. Peanut butter and jelly, fries and ketchup, apple pie and vanilla ice cream. They just seem right together. This is also true with computers. Windows and the BSOD, over priced components today > bargain bin tomorrow, recompiling from source and a headache. The feature that Taskbar Shuffle adds to Windows, is one of these great combinations. Its something that honestly should have been included from the start. Its the ability rearrange the programs on your Windows taskbar. I know this may sound pretty boring on the surface but it is actually really helpful. All you do is left-click and hold the program on the taskbar that you want to move, and drag it to it’s new location. Give it a try, I think you’ll like it!

|> brandon

Download

The company that I work for is making a big push to “go paperless”. As a result, there has been an increase in the number of pdfs that are being circulated. The standard software for viewing pdfs is Adobe Acrobat. I’ve never really liked it though because it’s extremely slow and takes a huge toll on the system when opening large documents. Driven by this frustration I began to look for an alternative. If you’ve done this search before, you know that there is no shortage of Acrobat clones, but most of them aren’t any better than the original. Foxit Reader, however, seems to be a real improvement over the competition. I use it exclusively now for reading pdfs and am really enjoying not waiting as long for documents to open. Check it out and see what you think.

|> brandon

Windows
Linux

I think you can tell a lot about a person by how clean or organized they keep their workspace. I won’t say what you can tell, because mine fluctuates from really clean to really messy. When it comes to my computer I like to keep my desktop (Windows/Linux desktop that is…) as free from clutter as possible. I’ve never been a big fan of having 600 icons on the desktop just for the sake of having everything easily accessible. There is a better way people. For a long time I was a fan of the quick launch bar. It resides next to the start button and houses all of your program shortcuts in one place. This is still a really great way to keep organized but I have moved on to another program in my quest for desktop tidiness. Enter RocketDock.

It’s like the quick launch bar on steroids. It allows you to do all of the stuff you could do with the quick launch bar and much more. Check out this demo video. The system resource hit is relatively minimal and on newer systems it shouldn’t be a problem at all. Download here.

|> brandon

For some reason I have always been fascinated with fonts. I’m not sure what the draw is. On the surface they seem pretty boring. Just text on the page. But for me, they are more than that. By using a unique font it is possible to more clearly convey feelings, or expressions, that go beyond the written text. One thing that inevitably comes up in my search for the perfect font is the need to browse through the list of fonts that I have installed on my system. I normally like to look at how each one conveys the text that I am writing. Whether is be a logo (look at the btr logo) or a heading of a report, choosing the right font is important. I recently came across this great little app (112KB) that will allow you to “browse” each font installed on your system using text that is defined by you. I would highly recommend that if you work with fonts at all you check out fonticate. It is well worth the download.

Also, as a side note, the developer of fonticate also has some other great apps. I’ll be writing about some of them in future posts…

|> brandon

Welcome to my new site. I’ve been thinking about doing something like this for a while now. You might be saying, “what something”, or maybe not, either way here’s the explanation. Just about everyday I run across something technology related that I think is really neat. Over the years I have gathered quite a collection of little programs and other tidbits that I find really helpful. The problem is that eventually I end up losing track of some of them, either by way of a Windows crash/burn/reload, or just plain forgetfulness. That’s where this site comes in handy. I plan on writing them down as I find them. So the next time I forget/lose/(you fill in the blank) that latest and greatest program or valuable piece of computing knowledge I will have place to come and refresh my memory. And instead of just making a plain jane, boring list; I thought I would make it slightly more interesting, hopefully, by putting down my thoughts and opinions about each piece of tech and maybe helping you discover that next great whatever that you just won’t be able to live without (until we both forget about it again and then have to come back here to remind ourselves….its a vicious cycle ).

|> brandon