Feeling frustrated by your PC?  Does it ever seem to you that your computer has gotten slower since you first set it up?  Is your system freezing or crashing every few hours? Does it seem to take way too long for it to start up?

Are you thinking about buying a new multi-CPU system with huge amounts of RAM?  You may not have to.

Sometimes, computers do slow down.  There are a lot of reasons that this could happen.  Here are a few:

1. Your computer could be infected with spyware or adware.
2. Your hard disk may be highly fragmented.
3. Your Windows Registry may be loading unnecessary programs and drivers.
4. You many not have the latest, best Windows drivers for your hardware.
5. Too many programs that you don't really need may be loaded when your PC starts up.
6. You may have Windows services activated that you don't actually use.

It is possible for an expert to manually search through all your system's files and settings and fix these problems one at a time, but it's far easier and faster to let optimizing software do it.

The subject of removing spyware and adware is large and important enough that I will write a separate blog entry about it.

Optimizing software can be either very specific, or try to do everything.  For instance, RAM Saver Pro does one thing and does it well. It makes RAM access faster.  If your system is being slowed down by RAM shortages, especially if you run multiple applications at once, RAM Saver Pro can dramatically improve performance.

Another program that specializes in one task is Startup Booster.  If your system is taking too long to go from "Off" to "Ready to use", you should try Startup Booster.  This free program will stop the loading of unwanted programs at startup, saving you time whenever you turn your computer on or reboot.

Vista Manager is a package that brings several speedup functions together—over 30 functions, in fact.  In addition to improving startup and shutdown speeds, it removes unneeded files, defragments your hard drives, optimizes hardware settings, and much more.  

Auslogics Software has recently updated their BoostSpeed.  This award-winning software suite also speeds up hard drive and memory performance, and optimizes Internet performance.

These are only a few of the excellent programs available in our System Optimization area.  If you'd like a faster computer, try some today!

Best Regards,
John M.

Today I'm introducing a new feature.  "Minding Your Business" will round up some notable business software.  I hope that I can help you to find the best applications available, and perhaps suggest a useful type of software you never thought about.

This time, I'm going to talk about Personal Information Managers, also known as "PIMs" or "Personal Organizers".  The purpose of a PIM is to keep all the information you need in one place.  The information that might be in a personal organizer includes:

• Appointments
• Addresses
• Phone Numbers
• Lists (including to-do lists)
• Reminders

If this was all on paper, it would be overwhelming.  With a software organizer, when you see the appointment.  You can click on it for Joe's address, and set a reminder to flash on your screen an hour before your meeting.

If you are part of a team, you will need to share information with your group.  With a "group organizer" that shares information with your team members, you can check calendars to see when everyone is free for a meeting, or use a shared address book so that everyone knows how to reach important business contacts.

Microsoft's mail programs (Outlook, Outlook Express, and Windows Mail), include the basic PIM capabilities, including a calendar, reminders, and an address book.  If your company uses Outlook, or if you are simply already happy with the Microsoft solution, this may be the best choice for you.  There are many fine alternatives available.  One advantage of a site like FindApp is that you can try many different programs at no cost, and find the one that will work best for you.

MSD Organizer is a good example.  It has all the basic features of a PIM, plus cool extras like an MP3 catalog, budget tracking and reporting, and more.  MSD works well for individuals, and also supports shared calendars and other groupware features.  It has especially strong support for importing and exporting, making it highly compatible with other software. 

Alive Organizer does something unusual for a personal organizer: blogging.  You can create blog posts using the powerful editor in Alive, then automatically post them to major community sites like Blogger and LiveJournal. 

The award-winning Noto Organizer is a very light, easy-to-use application that will work well on any system.  Designed to look and act exactly like a paper organizer, it's easy to learn and easy to use.  You can completely change the appearance of all its components, including the included MP3 player, using a built-in graphics collection.

If you haven't used a PIM, you should try at least one of the organizers mentioned here.  If you're using one now, take a look at the Personal Organizer area on FindApp.  You just might find something you like even more.

Regards,

John M.