Operating systems were always installed by disc (or disk, if we’re looking back that far), but Apple decided to change that with Lion. That comes with some benefits, but with most firsts it also comes with a lot of buggy problems. Here’s how to fix some of the most common. More »
Collecting and installing all your favorite apps is usually the most tedious part of a fresh OS installation. FreeApps makes bulk installation of popular free and open-source applications a snap. More »
Even if you know how to compile software from source code, you often end up with an application that your system doesn't technically know exists. That can mean duplicated apps, file issues, and removal problems—unless you use the checkinstall command. More »
You should never feel like your hard drive is holding out on you. Anyone should be able to back up, recover files, boot multiple systems, upgrade, or otherwise improve their storage space. These tips explain the possibilities and procedures. More »
Windows: If you’re setting up a new system or helping a friend to see how much great free and open source software exists, ZeuAPP is a portable installation tool for nearly a hundred applications. More »
One of the most persistent myths about Windows is that you need to reinstall the operating system regularly to keep it running at top performance. Let’s take a look at the real problem and how to fix it.
Today we’re talking about the myth that Windows slows down over time, and how to solve the problem. The reality is that Windows doesn’t slow down if you just take care of your PC a little more. Follow these procedures, and you won’t have to wonder if spending hours backing up data, installing from disc, and re-installing your essential applications is really necessary.
I'm not going to sit here and tell you that your Windows PC will never slow down—because for many people, they almost always do. What actually slows your PC down are too many poorly written applications that stay resident in memory and waste CPU cycles, having too many badly written low-level applications that hook into Windows, or running more than one antivirus application at a time. And of course, if you’ve run your PC’s hard drive out of space, you can hardly blame Windows for that.
If you aren’t getting the picture, the problem is usually the person behind the keyboard that installed too many junk applications in the first place. More gently put, it’s often that (very well-meaning) person’s gradual easing of their safeguards and cleaning regimens as time goes by.
Installing software should be thought of like feeding your PC. If you constantly feed your PC garbage apps, it’s going to get sick and won’t be able to run fast anymore. These poorly written applications clutter your drive with unnecessary DLL files, add always-resident Windows services when they don’t need to, bloat up your registry, and add useless icons to your system tray that waste even more memory and CPU cycles. Usually you can get away with using a few terrible applications, but as you continue to install more and more of them, your PC will slow down to a crawl.
We feature and recommend a lot of software applications around here, but you should keep in mind that we aren’t trying to tell you to install every single one of them at the same time-just install the applications that you actually need and you’ll generally prevent the dreaded format and reinstall.
Here’s a few tips to help you know what applications you should be careful with:
Once you’ve rid yourself of your junk application habit and resolved to only use healthy, useful applications, you’ll want to make sure to keep your PC clean of any remaining clutter that doesn’t need to be there. You can set up a shortcut to manually run CCleaner silently with the push of a button, but your best bet is to set up CCleaner to run automatically on a schedule, so you don’t have to remember to do it.
Since CCleaner is only going to clean up temporary files, you’ll still need a good solution for keeping the rest of your PC clean-and Lifehacker’s own Belvedere can help you automate your self-cleaning PC or automatically clean up your download folder.
With all of this automated file deletion going on, your hard drive is likely to get a bit fragmented. If you’re already running Windows 7 or Vista, automatic defrag comes out of the box and probably shouldn’t be messed with, but Windows XP users will need to use Windows Tasks to setup a schedule and automatically defrag their drives.
If you still want to test out all of the latest software, including apps that look a bit rough around the edges, your best bet is to use a virtual machine to test out anything before putting it onto your primary operating system. You can install all of your software in an XP or Windows 7 VM just like it was a real PC, and with the latest VMWare player releases, you can even enable Windows Aero in a guest VM. If you are new to the idea and need some more help, you should check out our beginner’s guide to creating virtual machines in VirtualBox, or Windows 7 users can check out our guide to using XP Mode. If you don’t want to go the virtual machine route, Windows XP and Vista users can alternatively use Windows SteadyState to protect their PC and roll back all of the changes on a reboot.
The How-To Geek reinstalls Windows only every few years and has no speed problems at all. His geeky articles can be found daily here on Lifehacker, How-To Geek, and Twitter.
If you’re trying to install Windows 7 on a netbook (or are having issues with your PC’s optical drive), the free USB Download Tool from Microsoft allows you to take a .ISO image and turn it into a bootable flash drive.
This was created not only for netbook users, but for anyone that opted to download Windows 7 from Microsoft in lieu of ordering an installation DVD. Windows 7 USB Download Tool can create a bootable flash drive (or DVD, if you prefer) from the downloaded .ISO file in quick fashion—just install it and follow the on-screen prompts. Note that if you opt to use a flash drive, it must be 4GB or larger to hold all the files.
The coolest part: Microsoft has open sourced this little app. Why, you ask? They got a bit of flak early on in the project for re-using open-source code and improperly documenting it (as well as making the program itself closed source), but true to their word that it was only a mistake, it’s been brought back and declared open source for all to use. So if you still haven’t gotten Windows 7 installed on that netbook of yours, head on over to CodePlex, Microsoft’s open-source repository, and download the tool now.
Windows 7 is a big improvement over Vista, and a pretty convenient OS in general—but it's by no means perfect. These 10 downloads improve Windows 7's looks, functions, and make it easier, safer, and more convenient to upgrade to.
Windows 7′s Start menu is a powerful thing, offering program and file launching as you type and allowing for smart pinning of whatever you frequently access. If you’re really attached to the Windows 2000/XP-style Start system, though, CSMenu restores a “classic” look to Windows 7 by installing a companion Start menu on your taskbar. Want to eliminate that new-fangled Start menu and use only your classic model? Grab StartKiller and wipe away all signs of progress—er, change. We meant change. (Original post)
You can customize a lot of your system’s look in Windows 7, but the login/password screen remains fairly opaque and unchangeable. Tweaks.com offers a Logon Changer for Windows 7 that simply takes a JPG file (256K or less, so be sure to re-size and compress) and applies it to your logon background. If you don’t mind doing a little registry hacking, there’s a manual work-around for logon changing, but the Logon Changer is worth the install/uninstall if you know what you want to keep as your logon screen. (Original post)
If you moved up to Windows 7 by way of a new computer purchase, you may have found that getting a full Windows 7 disc, or even a system recovery disc, was an “option” that cost a good bit of extra cash. If you’d like to ensure you can save your system from common boot-up and system errors in the future, NeoSmart offers its own Windows 7 System Recovery Discs that can repair damaged files, restore System Restore points, and even pull in full backups for restoration. If you upgraded to 7 from a student discount package that only delivered a single .exe file, Download Squad explains how to make a DVD upgrade disc from student discount files. (Original post)
If Gmail is your primary inbox, Gmail Notifier Plus not only subtly informs of you of new mail by changing its taskbar icon, but provides a subject line preview of new messages when you hover over its icon. You also get shortcuts to compose a new message, pop open your inbox in your browser, or head to any of your messages individually. Neat stuff, especially if you'd rather have a more firm control over when your inbox can have your attention—just close down Gmail Notifier Plus when it's time to get cranking. (Original post)
Support for Windows 7′s helpful jump lists won’t show up in Firefox until version 3.7. In the meantime, those who want to access their current tabs and most frequently visited sites can do so with Winfox, a helpful little add-on that you pin to your taskbar to access Firefox from. Copy Winfox to your Firefox program directory, install it, and pin the “Winfox” application to your taskbar. Now you can pin favorite pages to your jump list by dragging their tabs down, see the favicons of the sites you’ve got open, and get a read on how many tabs you’re running in the Firefox icon. (Original post)
Windows 7′s Media Center was impressive enough for Adam to bust out his Buster Poindexter headline, and the only thing you might say it’s missing is better access to streaming television. Since Media Center just added CBS streaming, the one big hold-out is Hulu—which would deliver streaming shows from the likes of Fox, ABC, and NBC. Hulu Desktop Integration brings Hulu to Media Center with a clever little app. Launch the Hulu app from Media Center, and Media Center shuts down, opens the full-screen Hulu Desktop app, and then switches back to Media Center when you’re done in Hulu. That’s a nice thing, since because it uses the official channel to get at Hulu, the chances of it being locked out by Hulu are slim. (Original post)
Windows 7's taskbar is getting a lot of notice, and some say it's more useful than Mac OS X's Dock—except it's missing the very neat "Stacks" feature. Missing, that is, until you grab StandaloneStack or 7stacks, which both do a great job of creating blow-up menus of folders and apps from single icons on your taskbar. Add a storage folder or custom collection of shortcuts to your taskbar, and you’ll never have to hunt down that “Computer” link in the Start menu again just to get to the right file. (Original posts: StandaloneStack, 7Stacks)
It’s always a good idea to see what kind of settings you can change from your new OS’ Control Panel, but Microsoft only lets you play with so many check boxes and sliders. Apps like Ultimate Windows Tweaker, along with XdN Tweaker, have been digging deep into the guts of Windows since Vista first arrived (and sometimes before XP showed up), and they let you seriously fine-tune your system. Want only certain Aero 3D effects on your desktop? Need to change Windows 7′s window-snapping behavior? These apps have you covered. The hardest part is knowing when to say when on a settings-changing binge. (Original post)
The familiar Alt+Tab keyboard shortcut gained a little visual overhaul in Windows 7, but it still offers just basic window switching. VistaSwitcher, a more powerful app and window switcher, improves on it in just the right ways. Besides an intriguingly different look, the app supports keyboard shortcuts that let you minimize or tile windows from your Alt+Tab screen, close down programs or file windows in bulk, and, with a Ctrl+Alt+Tab press, switch only between the open windows of the particular program you’re using, like a browser or image editor. Despite the name, VistaSwitcher works perfectly well on Windows 7. (Original post)
The first few times you re-installed an operating system, it probably felt like an adventure, something fun, a test of your tech prowess. At this point, though, you might just want to skip the part where you spend an hour grabbing Firefox, Picasa, an anti-virus app, WinAmp, uTorrent, and other must-have apps from the net. Ninite is your ticket out of redundant installations. Head to the web site, check off the apps you need from a huge range of good, free software, and download the resulting customized installer app. Double-click, hit start, and do something constructive while Ninite installs everything you asked for in the background, with very few, if any, questions or prompts. (Original post)
If you grabbed a Windows 7 upgrade for $30 with a college email address, you might have discovered a file download instead of a DVD. The Download Squad blog details the transformation of that download into a bootable upgrade disc.
Not that your upgrade files wouldn’t work, per se, but making an upgrade based on a batch of files you download doesn’t leave you with much of a safety net if things go wrong. Download Squad’s method involves one command-line trick, one program download, and one file copy. It’s not too hard, especially for the price of having a fallback if you need to wipe your system or otherwise re-install it at some point.
Windows: If you’re upgrading to Windows 7 from XP, you’ll spend a lot of time grabbing installers and Next-Next-Next-clicking through setup wizards. Unless you use Ninite to check off the best free software and install it all at once.
This post can be fairly short because Ninite works exactly as advertised. Head to Ninite's web site, check off the free downloads you want from each category, grab the custom installer download that it serves up, and run it. Ninite runs through each installation with an absolute minimum of pop-up questions—none of them, in face, with most installs—and then it's done.
The selection is pretty great, too, with many of the must-have apps we’ve fawned over in the past like VLC, Audacity, IrfanView, Paint.Net, uTorrent, and many more. In fact, Ninite offers the majority of our 2009 Lifehacker Pack, give or take a few recommendations.
Ninite’s installers are free downloads for Windows systems only. Thanks Josh!
