"How do you tell the rogue antivirus Web sites from the good sites?" asks one Download.com reader.
Its answer is poised to help many people outsmart the rogue antivirus spyware that is trying to outsmart them. CNET TV's Molly Wood shares our suggestions in this Quick Tip video.
There's no shame in being too lazy to browse for files on your desktop if you've got a fast desktop search app like Copernic Desktop Search or Google Desktop.
Both free apps install a small search bar on your desktop, and both are good at rooting around in your enormously crowded file trees to pluck the fruit of your very minimal labor.
But there are differences between the Google and Copernic's search apps. Tune in to this Quick Tip video to see what they are.
Which gives you faster browsing in Firefox, the keyboard or the mouse?
The keyboard, of course. Every time you lift your fingers to open a new page or switch tabs, you lose seconds of productivity time.
Commit some of CNET Executive Editor Tom Merritt's tips to memory, however, and that precious time can become yours again.
Control Tab is my favorite shortcut. Which is yours?
If desktop eye candy never gets too sweet for your tastes, you may already know about CursorFX.
The free cursor-enhancing tool that used to be known as CursorXP keeps polishing its cursor choices and effects to bring interest to your screen. CNET Executive Editor Molly Wood talks you through CursorFX in this Quick Tip video.
P.S. It also glorifies plain pointers for Windows XP.
Delighting some Firefox browsing loyalists and distressing others is the so-called "awesome bar" in Firefox 3 (download for Windows and Mac).
Officially known as the Smart Location Bar, it has earned a mixed reputation by suggesting 12 bookmarks and URLs of previously visited sites as the user types keywords into the URL field. If you're one of those users clamoring for an option to silence the 'helpful' new feature in Firefox 3, released on Tuesday, look no further than this Quick Tip video. CNET Editor Tom Merritt, working off a user tip, demonstrates how it's done.
When you want to convert a long link to a short one from your computer, all it takes is a visit to one of these 10 link-shrinking sites. From a Windows Mobile phone, prospects are much more limited. Thank goodness for ceSnipURL, a free, basic mobile application that threads your gargantuan URL through SnipURL's service and quickly returns a much shorter, more manageable bite. There are a few time-saving tricks packed into this link-swapping puppy, and they're all laid out in the video above.
Shiny and glossy just like the iPhone itself is Fring, a relative newcomer to the VoIP-plus-IM communicator scene. Crowning itself the first true mobile VoIP solution for Apple's dream phone, Fring works with Skype, SIP, MSN Messenger (Windows Live Messenger), ICQ, Google Talk, Twitter, and Yahoo, though some of those services are clearly chat-only. CNET Executive Editor Tom Merritt shows you how to get started with Fring on your jailbroken iPhone in this Quick Tip video. If you like the program, you can still recommend Fring to friends who have to make do with merely Symbian, UIQ, and Windows Mobile phones (review).
Confronting a pop-up is one of those times when your gut reaction might lead you down the path of frustration and tears. If the "X" is spring-loaded with malware, anywhere you click on the pop-up could trigger that virus.
This is the path less traveled--the majority of pop-ups truly are the ads they appear to be--but when a pop-up does deliver malware, undoing the damage could be a tense, jittery journey. We get enough panicky Spyware Horror Story submissions to know that so-called button flips and booby-trapped Close buttons continue to deliver malicious payloads.
So what is the best practice for closing a pop-up? CNET Executive Editor Tom Merritt demonstrates in this Quick Tip video.
The all-singing, all-dancing embodiment of frustration is when my computer acts sluggish for no good reason. I know I've got plenty of RAM and a decent processor, so why won't the blasted contraption do as it's told? RAM boosting programs just never seem to work as well as they should, and so a few weeks ago I began digging into other possible sources of those embarrassing and annoying computus interruptus moments.
One possible solution is to manually adjust your virtual memory, stored in a paging file.
Make sure that your paging file Initial Size and Maximum Size are set to the same number to avoid serious defragmentation.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Why do this? Isn't your onboard RAM enough? Well, don't take this the wrong way, but no. When your computer starts using large chunks of RAM, it looks to the paging file--also known as the swap file--for a vigorous back rub and comforting words of encouragement: in other words, the paging file offers relief. However, if the paging file isn't large enough, you'll start to see even basic processes take much longer than they should.
Getting your paging file into shape is a simple operation, if you're confident delving into submenus and manually making adjustments. In Windows XP, open your My Computer Properties, then under the Advanced tab click on Performance Settings, hit the Advanced tab in the new window, and click on Virtual Memory Change. The paging file should be set to at least 1.5 times the amount of RAM onboard. Many experts caution against any smaller than that. Set both the Initial Size and Maximum Size to the same level. By doing this, you prevent the paging file from growing incrementally and adding to disk fragmentation.
Vista users face a similar procedure. From the Start menu, hit the Computer button on the right, and then right-click on your C drive and choose System. From there, click on Advanced System Settings and under the Advanced tab, choose Performance Settings. Choose the Advanced tab in the window that opens and Change Virtual Memory. Vista users should follow the same guidelines as those with XP machines: keep the Initial Size and Maximum Size the same, but no less than one and a half times the amount of RAM you've got.
Aside from making sure that you fragment early and often, you should see a drastic reduction in your computer's sluggishness. Of course, if your computer hasn't been sluggish in the first place, you're not likely to notice much of anything.
The drop-down menu in the upper right-hand corner of your browser window is indispensable for information hounds who regularly narrow their searches to specific databases. Some queries will yield more precise results if bounced around Amazon or Wikipedia instead of Yahoo or Google. CNET producer Randall Bennett demonstrates how you can achieve the same in Opera Mini 4 by adding custom search engines.
