5 Super Portable Diagnostic Programs

Portable applications are a tech's best friend. Luckily, there are many portable applications resources now, such as PortableAps.com. More and more applications are written for portability and there are numerous advantages for this. Below are five of my favorite Portable tools.

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1. Ccleaner Portable - My favorite Registry cleaner and repair tool in one.  This helps remove broken windows registry entries and gets rid of browser cache and cookies.
2. Revo Uninstaller Portable - This great tool removes junk that an unwanted program's uninstall routine leaves behind.
3. EasyCleaner Portable - This complements CCleaner.  It's great at helping you remove files from a full Hard Drive.  The Space Usage tool shows how much space each folder takes up.
4. SuperAntiSpyware Online Safe Scan - The best malware scanner I've used to date.  Only issue I have had with SuperAntiSpyware was it didn't work in Safe mode.
5. Recuva - This little app helps undelete files you may have deleted.  This app is from the makers of CCleaner.

What tools do you use to help maintain your pc?  Share your treasured utilities in the comments.

Books I recommend

• You can buy the Learning FreeNAS: Configure and manage a network attached storage solution book if you are looking for a good reference book.
• Network Know-How: An Essential Guide for the Accidental Admin
• Absolute FreeBSD: The Complete Guide to FreeBSD, 2nd Edition
  

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Windows 7 Simplified Book Review

If you have bought a computer recently, it will run Windows 7.  There are still ways to get Windows XP, but it is getting rare and hard to buy.  If you are new to Windows, are a beginning PC user or just want a simple and easy introduction to Windows 7 - Windows 7 Simplified is a great book for you.  For those of you with more experience and are familiar with Windows XP for years, this book will not help you much.

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The best part about this book is the screenshots provided during every stage of the book.  Nearly every step is accompanied with a screenshot that lets you visualize what's happening, even if you don't have windows 7 in front of you.

The book shows you the basics of getting started with Windows 7.  Topics include:

• Starting and getting familiar with Windows (boot, shutdown, etc..)
• Working with programs - install, getting to know parts of applications, uninstalls, switching apps.
• Creating and modifying documents - Basic text and document editing.
• Working with images - Viewing, importing, editing and printing images.
• Working with Music and Movies - Listening, ripping music, playing DVDs and other Windows Media player features.
• Files - Basics of organizing, creating, moving, copying, moving, searching and deleting of files.  Also Burning files to CD/DVDs.
• Sharing Computers - Home groups, wireless networks, user accounts.
• Surfing the Web - IE and basics of using a web browser.
• Windows Lie Essentials - Email, contacts and calendars
• Security - Passwords, parental controls, junk mail
• Customizing Windows - Themes, wallpapers, modifying some basic settings that change how windows look and feel
• Maintaining your PC - Disk space, defrag, disk check, backup and restore.

If you are new to computers and have just been given or purchased a new PC with Windows 7, this book should help you get up to speed very quickly.  If you are a windows veteran, this is not a book for you.  You may find an interesting tidbit here and there, but nothing you won't find elsewhere for free.

Related Books


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Work With Microsoft Office 2007 Files Without Office

Many people have opted to keep older versions of Microsoft Office because the older versions are good enough to do what they need.  At times, you will receive Office 2007 versions of files or you may have to work with Access 2007 Databases.  If you don't want to shell out cash for the full package, you can still work with these files via readers and runtime file installs.

Using viewers, you can view Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio and Access files.  Using the Access runtime install, you can work with Access 2007 databases, including data entry, printing etc.  This means you can purchase fewer copies of the full Office install and still work with the files.

You can download Office viewers and the Access Runtime files from Microsoft, links are provided below.

• Access 2007 Download: Access Runtime : The Microsoft Office Access 2007 Runtime enables you to distribute Access 2007 applications to users who do not have the full version of Access 2007 installed on their computers.
• Snapshot Viewer for Microsoft Access : The Snapshot Viewer enables you to view a report snapshot without having the standard or run-time versions of Microsoft Access 97 through Access 2007.
• PowerPoint Viewer 2007 : Microsoft Office PowerPoint Viewer 2007 lets you view full-featured presentations created in PowerPoint 97 and later versions.
• Word Viewer : View, print and copy Word documents, even if you don't have Word installed. This download is a replacement for Word Viewer 2003 and all previous Word Viewer versions.
• Visio 2007 Viewer : The Visio 2007 Viewer allows anyone to view Visio drawings and diagrams (created with Visio 5.0, 2000, 2002, 2003, or 2007) inside their Microsoft Internet Explorer version 5.0 or later Web browser.

Links to Software

• Microsoft Office Professional 2007 UPGRADE
• Microsoft Office Standard 2007 UPGRADE
• Microsoft Outlook 2007

Books

• Microsoft Office 2007: Introductory Concepts and Techniques, Premium Video Edition (Shelly Cashman)
• Office 2007 Bible
• 2007 Microsoft Office System Plain & Simple
• 2007 Microsoft Office System Inside Out (Bpg-Inside Out)
• Microsoft Office 2007 Simplified
• Teach Yourself VISUALLY Microsoft Office 2007 (Teach Yourself VISUALLY (Tech))

What tools do you use for office productivity?  Did you find this post helpful?

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