The PC Guild » Cool Tricks

How To De-Crapify A PC Efficiently

Editor — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 00:19:18 +0000

As I’ve been doing PC repair for quite a while now (see my guide to doing local pc repair), the most common repetitive action I do is cleaning up someone’s PC. Over the years, I’ve found the most efficient way is to do a complete re-install (obviously). However there are times when you can’t or don’t want to do a complete reinstall. I’ve found that with 6 quick easy steps you can effectively de-crapify a computer, leaving it running much faster overall. I have literally tried this on uncountable machines, so you can be sure that this method works.

Whether you are a computer newbie, or just need a checklist for cleaning up a PC, this might help.

Step 1: Uninstall all unnecessary programs

Uninstall all trialware
Uninstall any trial anti-virus or Norton Anti-Virus and replace it with a non-intrusive or free anti virus software
Uninstall unneeded programs
Replace large, resource consuming programs with lighter alternative (e.x. IE for Chrome, Azureus for uTorrent, Avira for Norton, etc.)

Use Revo Uninstaller. It gets rid of unnecessary stuff left over from removed programs, along with uninstalling normally.

Step 2: Make sure there is nothing unnecessary starting up with your account login or windows startup

This, by far, is the greatest cause of slow PC’s, in my opinion. Totally unnecessary crap from Nero to Adobe Acrobat have startup programs which do nothing useful.

Here’s how you disable them in various operating systems:

Vista or Windows 7
XP
An more advanced software for doing just this is Autoruns from Sysinternals

Another tip from GerryK:

There are many unnecessary services that can be disabled or changed to manual start. As an example, I rarely print things so I set my print spooler to manual start. I also manually start my IPOD/Bonjour/Apple services when I need to update my apple devices. You can google “Unnecessary windows services” for more information.

Step 3: Delete all unnecessary files

An extremely handy software that will help you with tis is CCleaner - an accredited software endorsed by many reputable sources.

Step 4: Do a virus scan

Step 5: Update your drivers

Consider using this free driver updater.

Step 6: Do a defrag

You could do this in either one of these ways:

Use the standard Windows defragger
Use defraggler (recommended)
Another tip from a commenter is to use MyDefrag - it has some intelligent defragging capabilities

Tell me in the comments if I missed anything or if you have a good tip…

If you liked this, you might find this interesting:

How To Measure Land With Google Maps

Editor — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:04:15 +0000

Recently when I created a post on how to measure stuff on screen, someone asked how it could be used to measure land. This could come in handy for a variety of applications, so I decided to post a tip on how to do it.

Actually you can’t use an on-screen ruler to measure land, but you could use Wikimapia Tools. If you want to measure the distance on the road between two addresses you could just use Google Maps and type in two addresses. However for measuring beelines or off-road items, you can use this method.

Step 1: Goto www.wikimapia.org

Step 2: Use the search feature on the top right of your screen to find the place you want to measure

Step 3: Click the “Distance Measure” tool on the top left of your screen

Distance Measure tool

Step 4: Use your mouse to click different points on the map. On the right you will see a column which tells you the distance in between each point, or the total distance. Use the appropriate button to clear the points and start again.

Column with distances

One thing to note though – this method is not 100% accurate. For relatively large distance it won’t matter, but if the distance is shorter than 5 metres, you might as well go outside and measure it yourself.

More stuff for you:

A Perpetual Motion Machine?

Editor — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:05:25 +0000

Can someone explain this?

(Ignore all the nonsensical titles and credits)

No, I am not trying to prove wrong all that man knows about physics – I am just enquiring as to whether the above machine exists. According to the laws of physics it is not, but then what am I seeing with my own eyes?

More stuff for you:

Measure Stuff On Your Screen

Editor — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 19:31:21 +0000

How many times have you needed to quickly measure something on your screen? If you are a developer, chances are you’ve definitely come across this problem before. I just ran into the problem recently, so I decided to share my best findings.

So how do we go about doing this? Here are some methods and software to accomplish this simple, yet necessary task.

MeasureIt Firefox Extension

Measure It Official Screenshot

A quick and light Firefox extension that does its job. Simply click the statusbar icon, and you are presented with an adjustable ruler. How simpler can it get?

JR Screen Ruler – free version

For those who need to measure stuff outside of your browser, or don’t use Firefox, there is the free version of JR Screen Ruler. This is also quite simple to use. A ruler is displayed on screen, and simply place the ruler at the beginning of whatever you want to measure and place your cursor near the end to see an accurate distance from your cursor to the end of the ruler. A Pro version is also included which has extra features for those who need it (such as automatic window measurement and transparent rulers).

Screenshot courtesy of SnapFiles