What I Use–Part 1

I’ve been doing this blog/newsletter for over 10 years. During that time, I’ve recommend hundreds, if not thousands of products for you to look at or use. Do I use all the hardware/software I recommend? Of course not. But almost everything I do use has been written about here…some more than once.

Over time, I have become a bit of an expert in computer products, so I recognize good products when I see them and use them to help me with my own productivity. So, I decided to write a series of blogs describing the products I personally use and why. I will still write the regular blog with news and new hardware and software recommendations…but I will pop in once-a-week with more info about my personal favorites. I will accumulate these blogs and put them together in one article one my Web site…then continually update it when I change or add products.

Now, I’m guessing that most of you don’t give a rip about what I use as hardware, so I will save that for the Web site…with the caveat that some of my software ties directly to some hardware, so I will mention the hardware then.

With that in mind, I begin this series with software…specifically the utility software I find most useful. I hope you will find this series very useful.

Utilities

1. Encryption: I use TrueCrypt to encode all my personal files on my laptop and netbook computers. These 2 computers are out in the public a great deal so they have the highest possibility of being stolen. If they are, no thief will have access to my data. I don’t currently use it on my desktop computer, but may in the near future. I have tried using Microsoft’s own Bitlocker encryption software, but TrueCrypt works best for me. I have it set so that when the computer boots up, the first thing it asks is for my password to unlock the TrueCrypt directory. TrueCrypt is free so if you are thinking about encryption, I recommend this one highly.

2. Uninstall Software: For this, I use Revo Uninstaller. The standard uninstall option that comes with Windows usually leaves behind a lot of worthless files that can clog up your computer. Revo goes way beyond that, removing related files in the directories and in the registry. I always set it on the highest setting to remove all the junk files. Again, this program in free.

3. General File Cleanup: For this I use CCleaner. Windows leaves behind a lot of temp files and other junk in its wake, not to mention the trash bin, browser temp files, etc. I think the first time you run CCleaner you will be shocked how much junk is left behind…and it’s usually in the Gigabytes. You can tell the program what not to remove. For instance I tell it not to erase my browser cookies. Using this program may not make your computer run much faster, but you will free up a lot of hard drive space.

4. Disk Management: While the new Windows Explorer in Windows 7 is quite an improvement over past version, I still use Xplorer2 Lite the majority of the time. I like it because it gives me two windows to two separate file or drive locations so I can drag and drop files much easier. It is called Light because it is also a paid version.

I will continue this series next week.