This is a no brainer
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Freeware Picks from FVCS
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| Name | Auslogic Disk Defragmenter |
| Category | Utility |
| Release Date | June 19, 2008 |
| Version | 1.4.16.307 |
| Description | The defragmenter* that comes with Windows is glacially slow. Until recently the best free alternative was Diskeeper, but it kept bugging you with buy now messages.Auslogic has a totally free and fast defragmenter that has become a regular part of my essential toolbox. Not much else to say except get it!(They also have a free Registry defragmenter and System Info tool, but I haven’t tested those. |
| Author’s Web Site | http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/disk-defrag/download |
| Download Link | http://www.auslogics.com/en/software/disk-defrag/download |
Stuff you MUST know: The programs we describe are ones we use or have used and found them to be effective. Many of these are very powerful and could totally hose your computer!! Obviously we would never, knowingly, suggest a faulty program, but there’s always that possibility. Just as there is a possibility of a virus or spyware lurking inside.
Very honestly, I find the free stuff better, on average, than the commercial products, but everyone has to decide for themselves.
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Fragmentation is caused by creating and deleting files and folders, installing new software, and downloading files from the Internet. Computers do not necessarily save an entire file or folder in a single space on a disk; they’re saved in the first available space. After a large portion of a disk has been used, most of the subsequent files and folders are saved in pieces across the volume.
When you delete files or folders, the empty spaces left behind are filled in randomly as you store new ones. This is how fragmentation occurs. The more fragmented the volume is, the slower the computer’s file input and output performance will be.
Defragmentation is the process of rewriting non-contiguous parts of a file to contiguous sectors on a disk for the purpose of increasing data access and retrieval speeds. Because FAT and NTFS disks can deteriorate and become badly fragmented over time, defragmentation is vital for optimal system performance.
In June 1999 the ABR Corporation of Irvine, California, performed a fragmentation analysis and found that, out of 100 corporate offices that were not using a defragmenter, 50 percent of the respondents had server files with 2,000 to 10,000 fragments. In all cases the results were the same: Servers and workstations experienced a significant degradation in performance.
Software I pay for
Over the years I’ve become increasingly disenchanted with commercial software. I blame most of it on Microsoft. They’ve made Bill Gates the richest man in the world (actually 2nd now) by pretending their stuff works when it is barely functional in many cases. Owners using XP and Vista pay us thousands of dollars every year to unwind situations that have their genesis in poor coding.
This is why I try to use Freeware whenever possible. Number one – it’s free! Number two – I’ll probably get better support than commercial software and even If I don’t I won’t get frustrated trying to converse with some kid in New Delhi.
As I look over the stuff I have bought and use it’s a pretty small grouping. Two items do stand out, however – Adobe Premier Elements and Adobe Photoshop Elements.You can buy the pair for about $150 I believe and you will have a near professional toolbox for image and video manipulation. They are worth your consideration.
Save the Vaseline!
Do you hate rebates as much as I do? Do you feel that every rebate form should come with a jar of petroleum jelly? I’m so tired of getting hosed by rebates that I totally refuse to participate and according to the statistics I read I’m not alone.
It seems like every time I see a good deal, I find the dreaded after rebate in the small print.
I recently found a great site called antirebate.com. They track Internet deals that don’t depend on rebates. There are some serious bargains, at times.
They also offer RSS feeds, so quickly checking deals in a reader is easy.
Firefox
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| Name | Firefox |
| Category | Internet |
| Release Date | 06.17.2008 |
| Version | 3.0 |
| Description | For a long time I have been putting the Firefox browser on our clients computers primarily as a diagnostic tool. If they were having trouble with a web page and Internet Explorer, we could try Firefox and begin to isolate the problem.I have, personally, preferred Firefox for a long time, but most of our customers preferred to stick with IE – it was known. More and more, however, I am finding people willing to change and this new version will make many more converts.
I really like it and I think you will too. |
| Author’s Web Site | http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ |
| Download Link | Mozilla.com |
Stuff you MUST know: The programs we describe are ones we use or have used and found them to be effective. Many of these are very powerful and could totally hose your computer!! Obviously we would never, knowingly, suggest a faulty program, but there’s always that possibility. Just as there is a possibility of a virus or spyware lurking inside.
Very honestly, I find the free stuff better, on average, than the commercial products, but everyone has to decide for themselves.
Once more: USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!
One of our favorites
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| Name | Crap Cleaner |
| Category | Utility |
| Release Date | |
| Version | 2.08.588 |
| Description | We probably use this on 95% of the computers that come through the shop.CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system – allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history.So many cleaners are too ambitious and delete the wrong things and leave you with a nonworking system. We have never had this issue with Crap Cleaner. Also, it is one of the very few registry cleaners that has never bonked a system.Should be in everybody’s working toolbox. |
| Author’s Web Site | CCleaner |
| Download Link | http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/ |
Stuff you MUST know: The programs we describe are ones we use or have used and found them to be effective. Many of these are very powerful and could totally hose your computer!! Obviously we would never, knowingly, suggest a faulty program, but there’s always that possibility. Just as there is a possibility of a virus or spyware lurking inside.
Very honestly, I find the free stuff better, on average, than the commercial products, but everyone has to decide for themselves.
Once more: USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!