Have you tried or read about the Google Chrome web browser yet?   I have been testing it since it’s first beta release and just finally switch over to it from Firefox as my main browser last week.

First off its really really fast!   It’s designed from the ground up to run as efficiently as possible and take advantage of all the current and many future web technologies.   It now has loads of free third party extensions available that enhance it capabilities and fine tunes your experience even further.   I have been a Firefox fan for many years, Firefox extensions, its speed, efficiency and safety were the main reasons I used it.   I have found Chrome extensions that replace 95% of the Firefox extensions I used.  Many are from the same developer just redesigned for Chrome.

Now there is no excuse to give Chrome a try, make the switch and increase your web efficiency almost exponentially!  Get Google Chrome here: http://www.google.com/chrome

You will not be disappointed.

Some of my favorite Chrome extensions are:

Xmarks -  The best bookmark sync out there.   It syncs and backs up all your bookmarks and various broswer settings between multiple computers and different browsers!  I all the same bookmarks on Internet Explorer, Firefox and Google Chrome and they are always up to date with each other.   I can add a bookmark in chrome and it will be in my Internet Explorer browser the next time I go in it to test a website.   If you ask me its one of the best things that has happened to bookmarks and Xmarks does it best!

IE Tab – If you have a stubborn website that only load in Internet Explorer this extension basically loads IE in a chrome tab.  Very useful and works great!

Toodledoo – Incorporates Toodledoo  Todo lists into the Chrome Browser.     I love Toodledoo, my todo list are always synced between my desktop and iPhone, It’s free and works great!

Session Manager –  Give’s you more advanced control of you current session and lets you save sessions.  For example say you are researching a home and you have 20 tabs open on various web sites you can then save a session on this real estate search and all the tabs will reload.

Cooliris – Cooliris is the fastest and most stunning way to browse photos and videos. Effortlessly scroll through media on an infinite 3D Wall.

Docs PDF/PowerPoint Viewer - Automatically previews pdfs, powerpoint presentations, and other documents in Google Docs Viewer.

I have been defragging my hard disks with MyDefrag for sometime now, when it used to be called JKdefrag.   It’s now even easier to use, it’s fast, safe and really works.   Works just as good or better than all the pay defrag programs out there.   You can even schedule it to defrag routinely.   Download it today and defrag you hard drive, if you haven’t defragged in a while you will notice a speed up in you computer and program load times, things should feel snappier and that’s good!

Download it at:  http://www.mydefrag.com or http://filehippo.com/download_mydefrag

Quoted from MyDefrag.com and FileHippo.com:

“MyDefrag is a disk defragmenter and optimizer (a maintenance utility to make your harddisk faster) for Windows 2000, 2003, XP, Vista, 2008, Win7, and for X64. It is freeware, no time limit, fully functional, no advertisements. Fast, low overhead, with many optimization strategies, can handle floppies, USB disks, memory sticks, and anything else that looks like a disk to Windows.”

“

Why use this defragger instead of the standard Windows defragger?

• Much faster.
• Totally automatic, extremely easy to use.
• Optimized for daily use.
• Disk optimization, several strategies.
• Directories are moved to the beginning of the disk.
• Reclaims MFT reserved space after disk-full.
• Maintains free spaces for temporary files.
• Can defragment very full harddisks.
• Can defragment very large files.
• Can defragment individual directories and files.
• Can be run automatically with the Windows Scheduler.
• Can be used from the commandline.
• Can be used as a screen saver.
• Can be run from cdrom or memory stick.
• Sources available, can be customized.

Want to edit Images like a Pro but don’t have the cash to pay for Photoshop?   If you have never heard of GIMP you should download it and give it a try.  GIMP is available for Windows, MAC and Linux.   It is a little complicated like Photoshop but after you invest a small amount of time to get the basics down you will be well on your way to accessing it full potential.   The GIMP website has some great tutorials, you will also find many support communities on the web that will have their own free video tutorial to do just about everything you can imagine with it.  Do a Google search on what you are trying to accomplish and you will be surprised with the amount of results.    All documentation is online via the GIMP website.   GIMP also supports and has a large base of PLUG-INS that enhance its features even further.  Plugins can do an endless variety of things like enhance brushes,  create new effects, ad new features, provide shortcuts that save hours or even days of work, ad additional file support and much more.   Do another Google search on plugins and you will find an endless supply.   So if your ready to take your image editing to new heights download GIMP, go through a few tutorials, be patient, take the time to learn it and you will be well on your way to professional quality results!

The GIMP website is: http://www.gimp.org (Download the newest Stable version from the download area (currently 2.6.7) , Don’t use the BETA versions)

If you find GIMP is a little too complicated for you or just want another simpler program for some quick edits check out Paint.net, its a great little image editing program that’s quick and easy.  http://www.getpaint.net/

Computer running slow?  Want to throw it out the window?  Well there is hope. I have been tweaking computers for years on end and have tried numerous programs and manual tweaks to achieve the slightest speed increase.  After using AutoMz Ultimate Tweaker it was like giving my PC and all the other PCs I tried it on a boost of adrenaline.    AutoMz is very simple to use and really works.   It’s loaded with the latest tweaks for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7.   I have used it on all three operating system.   It gave my old laptop new life I never knew it had! My already screaming fast Window 7 desktop got even more snappier.   My mom and dad’s PC running XP is so fast they can’t keep up with it!  It’s a fast download and easy install, make sure you do a backup in the beginning when it asks you just in case you never know.   I haven’t had any major problems or messed up any PC I used AutoMZ UT on yet, when testing it I did find that if you choose the “powerful option” your network sharing will stop working because it turns off some services so make sure you leave it at the default “Safe Optimization” if you have network shares with other computers in your home or office.    You will be more than happy with safe optimization, but if you have a stand alone PC that doesn’t share files over a local network Powerful should be good.  But be warned if you are not tech savvy turning on those services again is another challenge.   AutoMZ has other tweakers and programs,  I have tried them all and they work but AutoMZ UT is and easy, quick, no Brainer.  With any freeware program if it really helped you out donate at least a few bucks to the author.  They put in endless hours of hard work to create their programs and only get paid by donations.

After installing MZ Ultimate Tweak make sure you have no other programs running or just reboot your PC just in case and run it after your PC has completely finished loading.

For settings just choose your Operating Sytem, Then Modem type (if you have a router choose local area network, Computer Usage – PC with internet connection, Safe Optimization, then check all the boxes in the optional section (This will do a little helpful cleanup).  Click Start Boost.  After it’s completely done, reboot your computer.  You will notice a definate speed increase, after the second reboot it will get even faster, since the first reboot will do boot file optimization.

Good Luck and post you comments to let everyone know how it worked for you.

Click here to go the the AutoMZ UT website: http://www.mztweak.com/AutoMz.html

Download it from their SkyDrive Link (Its the safest and fastest):   Just go to their website click the SkyDrive link and then click on the word Download in the upper left of the skydrive screen.

Quoted from the AutoMZ Ultimate Website:

“It is a powerful automatic system tweaker, for Windows Xp, Vista & 7.
It contains more tweaks than Mz Ultimate Tweaker and it applies the best values for over 60 powerful tweaks!

AutoMz Ultimate Tweaker features:

• Scan engine (Software-Hardware)
• Cpu Tweaks
• HDD Tweaks
• Memory Tweaks
• Graphic Card Tweaks
• CD/DVD Tweaks
• Modem Tweaks
• Internet Tweaks
• Windows Tweaks
• Boot Files Optimization
• Registry Optimization
• Temporary Files Clean
• Backup – Restore Service
• and much more…”

Paint.net is a free fast loading, full featured image editor that is very refined and easy to use.    It’s not as rubust as GIMP, but it has most of the features you would need most of the time.   It even has layer now!  It has some great tools, filters and effects.    I use it for a quick edit here and there as a companion to GIMP.    Download Paint.net and you will not be disappointed.

Their homepage is: http://www.getpaint.net

To download it quickly just go to: http://filehippo.com/download_paint.net they always have the newest version available for fast download.

CCleaner is one of the best combo Windows registry, temp file and privacy cleaning tools out there that I have ever used.    I have been using it for year to safely clean my registry and speed up my computer.    It’s one of the first tools I use when cleaning up a slow computer.   It also has a built in tools for editing your startup files, removing old programs and managing your systems restore files.  I use it on my computers at least one a month to keep them nice and tidy and running smoothly.    Spyware and adware free, you do have the option to install the Yahoo toolbar during the installation process but it’s not need to use CCleaner.   It also has a neat feature where when you right click on your trash can you have the options to run it or open it!   Works on all version of windows starting with 3.1 all the way to windows 7.     The newest release is optimized for windows 7 also.   http://www.ccleaner.com/

File Hippo is a great place to download the best freeware PC software.   They only post the best and most useful software and always have the current version available for download.   I trust them to provide virus and spyware free software.   They also post many of the most popular drivers.   A great site to add to your bookmarks!   http://www.filehippo.com

• Only the best software, we focus on quality not quantity.
• Very fast servers with 100Mb connections, to make your downloads as fast as possible.
• We keep the old versions of programs, so if you update and don’t like the new version, you can always return to the old one.
• All software is 100% spyware and virus free.
• Filtering feature to allow you to only show Freeware and/or Non-beta software.
• Full support for resuming downloads and download managers.
• Change log and technical details for downloads.
• RSS feeds for all updates, categories and for individual programs.
• New European and US download servers.
• Optimized pages for faster browsing.
• Update Checker to scan your machine for old software.