PC Tweaks, Twiddles, Security, Software Part 2.

I managed to blog some info about "Software Must Have's and Must Do's:" in Part 1 so check it out before this one.

Here are some more:

8. A light Micro$oft Outlook alternative. Another great product from Mozilla Organization is Calendar. I recommend that you install it as an extension of Thunderbird rather than a stand alone application.

9. Did you know there is a free alternative to Miro$oft Office. Open Office has pretty well all the same features and in some areas more. Another Open Source Software project so *way to go*.

Keep your eye out for Open Source Software!!! It is the future!!!

Time for some configuration settings (remember that I'm writing about XP only):

1. The Task Bar. There are 2 things I don't like. The first is that, by default, the bar is only one icon high. The second, also by default, is the auto hide function of inactive icons or, more simply, to not show you what is running.

To change the task bar to 2 lines of height then right click on the task bar and uncheck the "lock taskbar". Now simply drag the top of the task bar higher to as many lines you like, let it go and *wola*. Now lock the task bar by checking it again.

To remove the auto hide of inactive icons then right click on the task bar and select properties, then uncheck "hide inactive icons". Remember I'm translating this from a Portuguese operating system so forgive me if the text is not right.

2. Automatic updates. While automatic updates downloaded "automatically" are fine I believe that it is much better to be notified when something is available and YOU make the choice when to download. If you have everything set to "auto" then when it doesn't work you may not know. So, make sure you have your antivirus, antispyware, windows and firewall programs set to notify YOU before they download. Then, when they don't notify you every week, month or so you know that something is wrong!!!

3. Be aware of your running tasks or programs once you have booted up. If you press Ctrl, Alt, Del then task manager will appear and you can check out the "processes" tab to see what is going on. If there is something that you don't know or recognize that is running then search for it using Google. 9 times out of 10 you will get info on the item. If you are not sure then NEVER delete or remove anything but find an expert in an online forum somewhere or ask your local nerd.

4. My Documents. Have a goooood think about how and where you want to save your data whether it be your e-mail, music, text documents, videos, photos, whatever. Most applications do a default to My Documents but not all. Micro$ofts Outlook Express stores your mail in an absurd path something like this (sorry for the PT language): C:\Documents and Settings\Pessoal\Configurações locais\Dados de aplicativos\Identities\{8F9E0089-E442-4816-8B09-B3373C0F106A}\Microsoft\Outlook Express. You can store it where you want but you need to specify it. Why the hell is it not default in My Documents? So; how do you do a backup of your email? It is actually very easy to change the path to My Documents but you need to know how. That goes for many, many applications. Think about it and find the OE parameters, search the web or send me a mail for an answer. By the way, the Mozilla products that I love don't store their profiles in My Documents, you need to specify something different if you want it to be.

Enough for Part 2.

Albyxx.