CloudingClarity

Preinstalled Software: A Gift or Curse?

Eric — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:21:49 +0000

A recent study by PC Pro proves what we geeks have long since known. The boot times and performance of new PC systems are severely inhibited by the pre-configured software put on them by manufacturers such as Acer, HP, Sony, and Dell. Most brand new systems ship with tons of crapware, bloatware, and every other kind of program that needlessly slows down your new purchase. These free applications, seem great at first, but you must realize that they do not typically provide any useful value. To the contrary, these applications are generally 30-day trials, games, or replica software that mimics what windows already comes with (for example Sony has their own version of media center). Your computer will have less available memory and hard drive space as a result. By the time a user installs their required applications, the computer may not have enough computing power to go around. In the end, we may be finding ourselves working on computers that are slower than the ones we were replacing in the first place! Ok, perhaps that maybe a little dramatic.

Ironically, I’ve heard of people celebrating their new purchase simply based on “all the free software” that came with it. In fact, they felt that the more software it came with, the better the deal they got. They believed that they were really getting their money’s worth. Once I made them aware of the problem they immediately realized that they hadn’t been given a free gift, they had been bamboozled! Once I cleaned off all the junk software, they noticed an instantaneous difference in performance.

Getting back to the results of the study, it revealed that Acer has the longest additional boot time at 2 minutes. Sony was not much better crossing the finish line just under the 2 minute mark. Much to my surprise, Dell and HP actually had fairly speed boot times, adding only 52 seconds and 1:35 respectively.

The chart below, provided by Gizmodo summarizes PC Pro’s findings:

Acer: 2:01 longer boot time, 952MB larger memory footprint, 2.4GB less HDD space
HP: 1:35 longer boot time, 1.06GB larger memory footprint, 2.18GB less HDD space
Dell: 0:52 longer boot time, 1.18GB larger memory footprint, 3GB less HDD space
Sony: 1:54 longer boot time, 1.11GB larger memory footprint, 1.3GB less HDD space

So what lesson can we take from this? Should we never buy another brand new PC again? I fear that is not a feasible option. I would recommend that when you purchase a computer, buy it online and pay the extra $10 for a Windows 7 installation disc. Then reinstall the operating system once it arrives and skip installing the “application disk”. Then you will have a truly fresh, clean PC with its undivided attention focused on your tasks. A second and much easier option would be to purchase your computer from one of Microsoft’s brand new stores, it will come without any bloatware whatsoever. Microsoft stores are few and far between though, so that is not an option for everyone. The third method, which I use, is to uninstall every single program from the PC, except for few that I know I will use. This doesn’t restore the computer to run as though it has a clean install, but it helps quite a bit.

Finally, there are many software packages which promise to remove crapware/bloatware from your PC, but I have not experimented with any at this point to recommend. Have any of you sucessfully removed all the junk off of your new computers? If so, how? What method did you use?

MIMO Companion vs EVGA UV Plus

Eric — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:22:07 +0000

Think the picture above looks too good to be true? It’s possible! With the info below you can learn how to expand your netbook’s 10″ screen to be a little more useful.

Recently, I learned of a new product available for netbook computer called MIMO Companion. The MIMO Companion allows a netbook computer to be hooked up to as many monitors as you are willing to buy. You can have dual screens, triple screens, or more if you would like. The 8″ monitor attaches to the computer through USB ports. The MIMO Companion produces 800 x 600 resolution at best, which is kinda disappointing. The premium models even have touch screen capabilities and a USB port on the back. The purchase price of these little screens isn’t terrible, however, it is a bit steep for the average netbook consumer. The non-touch screen model runs $130, while the premium touch screen edition costs $200.

A few days after learning about the MIMO Companion, I was flipping through the pages of my “Computer Shopper” magazine when I discovered an even better product called EVGA UV Plus. The UV Plus allows external monitors to be connected to a computer through its USB ports as well, however, it allows you to hook up any monitor you like. Also, it is capable of producing extremely high resolutions. The best part of the UV Plus is that it costs $30 with a $10 mail in rebate.

If are looking to add some screen real estate to your netbook, the 8″ MIMO Companion could make sense for you if you are going to be traveling a lot or if you would benefit from touch screen capability. Since the MIMO Companion is so costly and has extremely unimpressive 800 x 6o0 resolution, I would prefer to purchase the cheaper EVGA UV Plus and a new 17″ monitor for the money. The bottom line is that the MIMO Companion is a great idea, just not fully realized. The EVGA UV Plus offers flexibility at an affordable price, making it the superior choice.

MIMO Monitors

EVGA UV Plus

Dual Monitor Setup

Eric — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:24:15 +0000

Have two monitors but you only have a use for one? Consider setting up dual screens. Once you experience the freedom and flexibility of dual screen monitors, chances are, you will never go back. Below will give you all the info you need to get started.

Setting up dual screen monitors is fairly intuitive to the geek population of the world, yet it is not so simple for those of you who are not so nerdy. In recent months I have talked to several individuals who have asked the question, “How do I set up dual screens?” Today I’m going to explain just how easy it is to double your screen real estate.

For those of you with a laptop computer, setting up dual screen monitors couldn’t be easier since almost all laptops have a built in VGA output. If you use a desktop computer, check the back of it to see if your video card has 2 outputs. Modern video cards usually have one VGA output and one DVI connector. Don’t see 2 video outputs? Don’t loose hope, you can purchase a reasonably priced video card with the capability, yet that is beyond the spectrum of this post. Below are a few images of VGA connections so you can distinguish what it looks like (click to enlarge).

Alright, at this point we have established that you have the hardware required for dual screens so follow the steps below to make it happen.

1. Plug in the two monitors and turn them on.

2. Press the right click button on your mouse while your cursor hovers over the desktop

3. Select “properties” and a window will appear.

4. At the top of the window, click on the “settings” tab.

5. You should see 2 black boxes in the middle of the window. One will have a “1″ in the center of it, while the other a “2.” Click on the black box with the “2″ in the center.

6. Check the “Extend desktop on this monitor” box toward the bottom of the window.

If you are using windows XP the instructions above will work perfect. For those running Vista, there is a slight variance. When you right click on your desktop you will have to select “personalize.” From there you will click where you see “Display Setting.” That should be the only differences so hopefully there won’t be any confusion.

Recuva: Undo Accidental File Deletion

Eric — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:44:00 +0000

Have you ever accidentally deleted an important file? Perhaps you deleted a file thinking that you no longer needed it, only to discover days later that you desperately need it back. A couple years back I had this experience. After writing a 5 page paper, I turned it in to my professor and deleted it from my computer. Big mistake! A week later he handed everyone else in the class back their papers, except me. After confronting him, I learned that he “had not received it.” Essentially he lost my paper, which forced me to write it over again. For this reason I feel compelled to spread the word about Recuva and the wonderful things that it can do.

Recuva is a free application, which allows you to recover deleted files. One of Recuva’s great features is that it displays the likelihood of recovering each deleted file it finds. It performs this task by placing a green, yellow, or red dot beside each file. Once you identify the file you want to save, all you have to do is click “restore.” Moments later your file will, hopefully, be accessible once again.

Data forensics can be a real challenge. All too often, once a file is deleted, it can’t be recovered. Fortunately, that is not always the case; occasionally you can raise your files from the dead with fantastic applications like Recuva. Be sure to remember one important thing about file recover, the sooner you try to recover a deleted file, the greater the chances of saving it. Even rebooting your computer can overwrite your precious file.

For those of you who are devout Portable Apps users, Recuva also comes in a portable version so you can take it with you, where ever you go.

Recuva

Recuva Portable

Ubuntu Netbook Remix

Eric — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 23:50:30 +0000

Netbook computers have smaller monitors that produce lower resolution than the average computer. While most monitors are able to produce 1024 x 768 resolution, netbooks are limited to 1024 x 600. The resulting difference requires a lot of scrolling and/or squinting.

In addition to small screens, many netbooks ship preinstalled with a Linux operating system. Often the Linux OS shipped with the unit isn’t as useful or full featured as some alternative Linux operating systems. Luckily there are a wide variety of Linux distributions which can be downloaded and installed for free. Today, I am going to present one of these such operating systems, which can put a little extra pep in the step of your ultra portable computer. It is a variation of the popular OS Ubuntu and it is cleverly named Ubuntu Netbook Remix.

What is Ubuntu Netbook Remix?
Ubuntu Netbook Remix delivers all the amenities and features of its big brother Ubuntu 9.1, however, it was designed especially for netbook computers. The entire interface has been retrofitted to run on smaller screens. From my experimenting, Ubuntu Netbook Remix runs extremely quickly without any hiccups. Most of the functionality of my Acer Aspire One 150 was available immediately after booting. I didn’t even have to take the time to install drivers for each device, which is always a pleasant surprise.

How can I try it?
Installation takes very little effort or technical know-how. In fact, Ubuntu Netbook Remix can operate from a USB drive and requires no installation to try it out. If you like what you see and want to run Ubuntu Netbook Remix permanently, you can simply execute the built in installer placed on the Ubuntu Netbook Remix desktop.

If you would like to give it a try, here is what you do:

- Download current ISO from Ubuntu Netbook Remix home page
- Download Disk Imager here and install

- Execute Disk Imager and “burn” the ISO image to your USB drive

- The ISO will require at least a 1GB USB drive

Once you have “burned” the ISO file to your USB drive, restart your computer and set it to boot from USB. Within minutes you will behold the majesty of Ubuntu Netbook Remix!