Make your Windows XP run faster

Online Tool of the Week: ZABASEARCH

Zabasearch.com is a free online search tool that allows you to search for people and personal information. It’s basically a “People Search Engine” that searches available public records such as phone listings, court records, real property records and subscriptions.

Zabasearch ONLY searches for people, so unlike an identical search conducted with Google, a Zabasearch will show you a results page with records of people — and nothing else.

If at some point in time you determine that you’d like to remove your personal information from Zabasearch results, I’d suggest reviewing the information provided here: http://tinyurl.com/kxdeg.

<b>Tips of the Week: Make Windows XP Run Faster</b>
Does your PC seem a bit sluggish these days? Take the following steps to give your computer a boost in speed.

Block malware and spyware by making sure you’re totally up to date with Microsoft’s system patches. To ensure you have the latest fixes installed on your computer, open Internet Explorer, then choose Tools > Windows Update.

Let Windows manage your Virtual Memory. In your Control Panel, choose System, then Advanced, then click the Settings button under Performance. Click Advanced once more, then click the Change button under Virtual Memory. Make sure System Managed Size is selected and you’re good to go.

Clean up your hard disk and then defrag defrag defrag. Honestly, when was the last time you defragmented, eh? Here’s what you need to do. Next time you leave your computer for the night or right before you leave work at the end of the day, open up My Computer, click on the C:Drive icon, choose Properties, then Tools. Go ahead and click the Check Now button and then, when the scan is complete, click the Defragment Now button. Oh, and don’t forget to close all your programs and disable your screen saver first, and make sure you give the process plenty of time to complete. It can take a few hours.

If you’re comfortable working with Registry files, go and clean out your messy Registry with a highly-rated (and free) program like RegSeeker (http://tinyurl.com/6r3to).

<b>Grab Bag: Five Links of the Week</b>
• www.foxmarks.com — A sweet little Firefox extension that automatically synchronizes your browser bookmarks between as many computers as you’d like AND lets you access your bookmarks from any computer at any time. Quick startup process, and totally free.

• www.wipeer.com — Enable file sharing directly among computers, for free. Also guaranteed spyware, adware and malware free!

• http://tinyurl.com/2tmdsl — Learn how to send an e-mail with Outlook … without ever touching your mouse.

• http://www.petermaurer.de/software — Little software programs for your Mac, all created by a fellow named Peter Maurer.

• www.quizlet.com — The ultimate online tool for improving your vocabulary — in any language. The program even keeps track of the words you *do* know, ensuring that it only retests you on the ones you don’t.

And that’s it for today, everyone. Have a great week, and see ya next Monday.

<i>Based in Frisco, eRin pheiL is the primary creative force behind timeforcake (www.timeforcake.com). She can be reached via phone at (970) 668-0709 or e-mail at info@timeforcake.com.</i>