A lot of programs nowadays are serious processor and RAM hogs (yes, I’m looking at you, Adobe). The good news is, that there are many free alternatives for programs like Adobe Reader that are much lighter and have the same functionality. I put up a chart for everyone to reference to.
Over time, your Windows install will get extremely cluttered. With a mess of temporary files and registry errors Windows will slow down considerably, regardless if you’ve got it installed on a netbook or a blazing fast desktop computer. Using CCleaner, a free program developed by Piriform, one can clean virtually every corner of their Windows install and bring Windows back up to speed.
If you’ve ever been digging for a simple, easy to use, feature rich media converter that’s free, look no further. The crew over at iWisoft have made a free and straightforward media converter named “iWisoft Video Converter” – converting not just videos, but audio and picture files as well!
In case you haven’t noticed or have been living under a rock, I’ve managed to get Team Fortress 2 working on my netbook! Using the TF2 Ultimate FPS Pack, all your graphical effects are reduced, particle effects have been optimized or removed, and the models have less polygons. This gets you a decent, playable fps rate. The pack has done wonders for many people (check the testimonials) – so what are you waiting for? Go grab the installer in the Dev. thread!
Development thread
Ever wanted to know the width and height of something in terms of pixels on your screen? Unfortunately, rulers in real life don’t measure by pixels. However, there’s a software solution. The program is called JRuler, and it is used to measure objects on-screen.
Netbook may be small, they may be lightweight, and they may be portable, but in some occasions a vertical resolution of 600 pixels just isn’t enough.
Netbooks with Intel chips natively support screen rotation – in any direction, but the problem is: The trackpad doesn’t rotate along with it. Using a netbook normally will have the mouse go up and down when you put your finger down and move up and down. However, when rotated sideways, the trackpad will act as if the screen is positioned normally and if you want your mouse to go up and down while holding a notebook on its side, you will have to go left to right. Using ScreenMouseRotate, you can flip both your screen and your mouse for easier use.
I’ve been using the freeware version of EASEUS Partition Master, but today on GiveAwayOfTheDay the professional edition is being given away for free. This nifty application for Windows XP and Windows 7 does what it’s named: it manages partitions. You can resize, create new, reformat, defragment, and much more all in an easy to use interface. You can only grab it until the end of July 5th. The freeware version works perfectly for me with no issues and does a solid job of partitioning and managing my hard drive on my netbook.
Hurry up and grab a copy! It’s free until the end of July 5th!
Missed the giveaway? Grab the freeware version here.
NOTE: Be sure to back up your data before managing any partitions, the chance is slim, but it is still a possibility that your files could become corrupted. I’ve used Partition Master 3 times already and haven’t had an issue, but better safe than sorry.
