Computer Tips
February 13th, 2007 | by Todd W |Frequently, I’m surprised when I have a chance to watch other people using their computers. I mostly run across Windows users, so you Mac people sit down for a few minutes.
By no means am I a useability expert, but I thought I’d pass along some tips that seem to make my life easier.
The Quick Launch Bar - Right click the task bar and enable the quick launch bar. You can stack your frequently used programs right there and launch them without having to minimize and search your desktop, or navigate the start menu. 
The particular configuration I use is double height, with the quick launch above the task bar. Everything I need it right there, and it makes for a smooth experience. It seems like a minor point, but I’m surprised at how many people don’t even have their quick launch enabled.
Daemon Tools and ISO Files - Frequently I’m using Windows or Office and I find myself wanting to access something that requires the CD. I don’t carry those around, but with Daemon Tools, I don’t have to. 
With the Tools, I have a virtual CD drive in my system tray, capable of mounting an ISO file as if it was a CD . An ISO file is a ’snapshot’ of a CD, saved on my hard drive. By mounting it at any time, I have my CDs on hand all the time.
In addition, I keep all of my CDs in ISO format on my primary Desktop, and frequently use them through a network connection to rebuild the other PCs that I screw up through experimentation. It’s nice not having to swap plastic all the time, plus the installs go a lot faster that way.
Firefox - I plug this thing every chance I get. Go get it. There are so many extensions that improve the functionality of the browser. The number one item, for me, is the Google Browser Sync. I use two or three different machines every day, and with the browser sync, every machine has the same bookmarks, cookies, and history. If I add a bookmark on one, it shows up on every machine I use. Good stuff.
FireFTP is another great extension, integrating a nice FTP client right into the browser. I’ve always hated Internet Explorer’s FTP capabilities, and firing up a seperate client was a pain. Now I can launch it within a Firefox tab. Tidy.
And while I’m talking about browsers, here’s a simple tip. Type ‘CNN’ in the addres bar and hit CTRL-Enter. The browser appends the ‘http://www.’ and the ‘.com’ to the address. Saves some time. Shift-Enter makes it a .net address.
