Remove unneeded startup items

Many applications run in the background unnecessarily and hog up system resources. If there are programs that automatically startup with Windows, you can disable this “feature” in some…

1. Dig around the program menus for “Preferences”, “Options”, “Settings”, or anything else that implies “You can change stuff about the program here”
   • If the program has an icon in the tray (lower-right part of the screen), right-clicking the icon may reveal a menu
2. Look for and uncheck any option that indicates “Run this program at Windows startup” or anything similar

Contact me if you can’t find the option or if you’re interested in disabling other startup/background items using alternative methods.

Run Disk Cleanup

This frees up some room on your hard drive by emptying the Recycle Bin and removing unneeded temporary and setup files.

1. Start the program from Start => Programs => Accessories => System Tools => Disk Cleanup
2. Select the default drive, C:, and hit OK
   • The program may take a few minutes to process. Enjoy a light snack.
3. Check all options except the last two (“Compress old files”, “Catalog files…”)
4. Hit OK and confirm the prompt
   • The program may take a few minutes to delete files. Enjoy another light snack.

Run Disk Defragmenter

Over time, your hard drive increasingly becomes “fragmented”. Without getting too technical, I’ll just say “defragmenting” your hard drive makes it run more efficiently.

1. Start the program from Start => Programs => Accessories => System Tools => Disk Defragmenter
   1. Make sure the default drive, C:, is selected.
2. Click the Defragment button

The process may take around an hour, so you may want to enjoy a meal or teach a class meanwhile.

Check for viruses and spyware

Viruses and spyware (aka “malware”) can slow down your computer by monitoring activity and/or communicating with other computers. I’ll cover this more in-depth in the next edition… Computer Maintenance, Part II: Security! :oO

Keep in mind I’m in LAUSD, so my posts may be more relevant to teachers in LAUSD.

Q: Can I download a YouTube video to my computer to show in class later?
(Some background info on this question: All LAUSD schools block access on their networks to YouTube (and other sites). Even if you don’t have this problem, you may want to save a YouTube video in case you don’t want to rely on having internet connection during your lesson.)

A: Yes. There are several methods to save a YouTube video onto your hard drive, but this one is probably the most convenient and straightforward: http://www.zamzar.com (works for PC and Mac). Click the “Download Videos” tab. Enter the video URL, and the format of the video you’d like to download (try “.avi” if you’re not sure). Type in your e-mail address and hit the “Convert” button. You’ll be e-mailed a link, which you click to save the converted video file. The site has conversion tools for various other types of files. There are other sites that do the same or similar things.

Q: Can I “make” a PDF file?
A: Yes. Macs have this feature built in. If you try to print a file, there might be a “PDF” button somewhere. I don’t have access to a Mac right now so I’m not sure. For the PC, you can download and install free software: http://www.cutepdf.com/Products/CutePDF/writer.asp. You’ll need to download/install both links on the left side of that page. Once you do that, you’ll be able to create a PDF file out of anything you would otherwise print to a printer. For example, if you’re in MS Word, you go to File => Print, and instead of selecting your usual printer, select “CutePDF Writer” (screenshot below). When you hit the “Print” button, you’ll get to choose the file name and location to where you’d like to save the PDF file.

Few may have reached such a level of idleness that they would empathize with this.