If you are still using Windows Vista and are tired of the annoyances caused by the User Account Control (UAC) feature, consider downloading TweakUAC (
http://www.tweak-uac.com/home). This little tool makes it easy to tone down UAC without losing the security enhancements that it was designed to provide. You can use the tool to turn off UAC completely, but you can also switch UAC to "quiet mode," which will retain security but get rid of many of the "elevation prompts" encountered when performing simple actions, such as installing applications. --------
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Windows XP users don't have to envy the enhanced search functionality of the Start menu in Vista or Windows 7 - not if they download and install Launchy (
http://launchy.net/index.html). This free, open-source utility indexes the programs in your Start menu, just as Vista and Windows 7 do, so that you can launch programs, documents, folders, or bookmarks with just a few keystrokes. You can even use Launchy to quickly search Google, check the weather, and index your music, among other things.
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Sometimes the simplest Windows shortcuts are the best. Alt-Tab, for example, which allows you to switch from one open application to another, might be the best but most underused of all Windows shortcuts. Hold down the Alt key and tap the Tab key. Continue tapping Tab to scroll through the applications you have open. Switching from one task to another in this manner is far faster than using the mouse.
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If your PC takes forever to boot up, use the Msconfig utility to see which programs are loading automatically at startup. Open the Start menu and type "msconfig" to launch the utility. When it opens, click the Startup tab to see a list of programs and processes that start each time you turn on or reboot your PC. Remove the check mark next to anything that you know you don't need. You might find entries for applications that you thought you had uninstalled.
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Firefox users can go a long way toward streamlining their web browsing by installing Greasemonkey (
http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/748). This free add-on makes available thousands of user-created tools that help you do everything from blocking advertisements to changing how websites are displayed. There are also versions available for Internet Explorer and Chrome.
