Since a computer is an indispensable tool for study, work and businesses, there is a need to keep it running fast and effective in order to increase productivity using some essential cleaning and maintaining software. These softwares range from enhancing security like firewall, antivirus, antispyware to systems tools for cleaning Windows registry, defragmentation of hard disks, shredding of confidential files to various open source alternatives for some essential commercial software. All of them are freeware or open source released under GNU, not trial versions or demo.

Freeware as well as open source software for a PC security and optimizations needs,

1. Antivirus

Forget about Norton, McAfee and Trend Micro Antivirus. There is a concept from economics called marginal benefit and marginal cost, that a wise and rational person should take an action when its marginal benefit exceeds its marginal cost. We shall see how it applies to spending money on antivirus software. Suppose that an antivirus software that cost money detect 99.98% of existing virus out there and a free alternative like AVG Free edition and Avast detect a bit less at 99.97%. Is it worth to pay more than US$50 for a licensed copy and subsequent fees in order to continue updating the virus database for the marginal increase of 0.01% of existing virus out there? Take note that a paid version of antivirus still does not detect 100% of the viruses and malwares out there and the fact that a free alternative does not necessarily fare worse than a paid one in the first place if you look at the results of this report from a trustful source. The subscription fees for continuing to update antivirus database, which I think one will be better off spending on MacDonald’s happy meal.

Home Page: http://www.avast.com/index

Download Page: http://www.avast.com/free-antivirus-download

2. Antispyware

Similar to antivirus, there are many well known free antispyware for installing on a home PC that renders a paid one a waste of money. Windows Defender that comes with Windows from Windows 7 onwards is one good free antispyware.

Home Page: http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware.php

Download Page: http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

3. Ccleaner

There are many temporary files left behind by Windows itself and other applications in many normal day to day operations. These include but not limited to temporary Internet files, cookies, Windows log files, recent documents, start menu and desktop shortcuts and many others. While Windows disk cleanup also cleans unnecessary files, Ccleaner is more comprehensive in the range of files to delete. In addition, for those who got surf porn, who got sensitive banking data to securely delete, Ccleaner also got secure file delete to remove Internet cache and history files.

Home Page: http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

Download Page: http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download

This Ccleaner also includes a function for removing startup keys, though Start > Run > msconfig for Windows XP or Start > Search > msconfig for Windows 7 can also do the same. One of the simplest ways to decrease startup time and reduce unnecessary usage of computer memory is to remove unnecessary startup keys using msconfig, startup keys are entries listing programs that load when Windows load and run when Windows run, as you install programs over time, some startup keys are added but most of them are really not necessary and increase Windows startup time and memory usage, thus slowing the PC both when booting and when using as well. Google the meaning of the startup keys before disabling them for faster boot time and more efficient usage, take note that some of them are system critical processes while some is like Antivirus software and need to load when Windows load in order to have real time protection, though not a system critical process.

4. Disk Defragmenter

As you may have already known, over time, as you install and uninstall programs, create and delete files, the hard disk get fragment over time. Fragmentation of hard disk increases mechanical load on read and write head of the hard disk itself since it will take more time and physical movements for it to read/write a file for a fragmented hard disk, thus there is more wear and tear in the long run and ultimately leads to higher probability of hard disk failing in shorter time. While Windows also got provide disk defragmentation tool, it can only defragment when you are totally not using any programs including screensaver, not a very good idea since need to leave the CPU on while defragmenting and waste electricity. This defragger allows multitasking, doing other things like web surfing while the software defrag in the background.

Home Page: http://www.piriform.com/defraggler

Download Page: http://www.piriform.com/defraggler/download

5. Windows Registry Cleaner

Last but not least, another important PC system optimizations tool is Windows registry cleaner. As you install and uninstall programs (games, applications, other software), there will be orphans registries entries from programs uninstalled, lying around and slowing the PC boot up time and processing speed as well. As a result, having one or two Windows registry cleaners and cleaning registry regularly is one essential computer maintenance task to do often.

Home Page: http://www.wisecleaner.com/wiseregistrycleanerfree.html

Download Page: http://download.cnet.com/Wise-Registry-Cleaner-Free/3000-18512_4-10605508.html?part=dl-6288537&subj=dl&tag=button

Open source alternatives to commonly used and essential commercial software,

1. Office Productivity Suites

The great majority of us only use functions from Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. The rest like Onenote, Access and Publisher are what most can do without. A common open source and free alternative to Microsoft Office is OpenOffice which offers a free and open source alternative to Word, Excel and PowerPoint. In addition, its extensions created by the open source community offers almost everything that Microsoft Office has, like templates for Impress (OpenOffice version of PowerPoint) and special characters to insert mathematical equations. Only problem is Microsoft Office 2007 and above got the ribbon tabs that make things atheistically pleasing and more productive too while OpenOffice user interface still resembles that of Microsoft Office 2003 and previous versions.

Download OpenOffice here, an open source alternative to Microsoft Office,

Home Page: http://www.openoffice.org/

Download Page: http://download.openoffice.org/other.html#tested-full

2. Image Editing Software

Ever since digital cameras become popular and affordable, there is greater need for photo editing software with more functions like Adobe Photoshop because there are greater user created images to edit now. However, save for those professional graphic designers, most of us don’t really need the sophisticated features and functions found in the latest release of Adobe Photoshop CS5. As a result, using the free and open source image editing program known as GIMP will do fine.

Download GIMP here, an open source alternative to Adobe Photoshop,

Home Page: http://www.gimp.org/

Download Page: http://www.gimp.org/downloads/

3. Email Client

Whether you are using a web based email account like Yahoo Mail or Gmail, etc, or not, using email client like Microsoft Outlook is a great way to access own email account, simply because one only needs to click to open the program instead of entering user ID and password every time, provided the email client has already been properly set up.

Download Mozilla Thunderbird here, an open source alternative to Microsoft Outlook,

Home Page: http://www.mozilla.org/

Download Page: http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/

4. Secure File Deletion

For those of you who are like Edison Chen, have confidential personal and financial information that needs to be securely deleted until beyond recovery from computer hard disk. There are a few freeware on this available also.

Home Page: http://www.fileshredder.org/

Download Page: http://www.fileshredder.org/files/file_shredder_setup.exe

5. Download Manager

While there is widespread broadband usage now, the fact is that files also got larger and electricity bills also got more expensive. Suppose that you got a more than 500MB file to download, you wouldn’t want to re-download again if your PC hangs or the Internet connection breaks for no good reason. In addition, for a large enough file, you wouldn’t want to let the CPU on for the purpose of downloading only while go and sleep, and since there will be excess bandwidth when doing light web surfing such that the PC can multi-task effectively and save electricity, the optimal option when downloading is to stop when you are about to switch off the PC and resume when you turn on the PC the next day. To do this, a download manager is a good thing to have which allows you to stop and resume from the percentage of data left to download.

Download Free Download Manager here, an open source alternative to GetRight,with Firefox integration,

Home Page: http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/

Download Page: http://www.freedownloadmanager.org/download.htm

6. File archive and zip utility

While the Windows in-built zip function is more than enough for most purposes, the fact is people sometimes send you zip files in rar and other archive formats which cannot be opened by Windows. As a result, using a commonly used open source zip utility for unzipping rar and other archive formats instead of buying the WinRAR archiver is a good idea.

Home Page: http://www.7-zip.org/

Download Page: http://www.7-zip.org/download.html

7. PDF Files Writer

There is no need to buy and install the whole Adobe Acrobat Professional for a whopping hundreds of dollars if your only purpose is to create a PDF file from other types of files like Word, Excel and PowerPoint and don’t really need other features like setting passwords and editing an existing PDF file. Not only is it wasting money but also wasting system resources since the Adobe Acrobat Professional took up quite some memory after installation. Here is a list of PDF files writer to choose from, the most commonly used open source PDF writer is the PDF Creator.

Home Page: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/

Download Page: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/

Related posts:

1. Windows 7 is finally out and Microsoft History
2. Save time and money with remove USB devices shortcuts
3. Download Conspiracy of the Rich ebook before 20 July 2009

The great majority of people get stunned after looking at the jumpers’ settings on the motherboard, not to mention the trouble shooting issues. There is different quality of power supply units and casing, so you need to compare apples with apples and oranges with oranges. The greatest myth is that a customized DIY PC is significantly cheaper than a branded one for a desktop, that is definitely not true for a mid range performance at any one time, not sure for a low end and high end gaming system though.

If you Google online, there are people facing problems with both branded and DIY. The reasons being that one in 100 000 (or any other number) of the components (processors, graphics cards or hard disk) is going to be a lemon, you can’t tell by naked eyes if the branded PC or an individual components that come in a retail box that is used for a DIY PC is going to be the lemon that fails after one year of uses. It is virtually impossible for the QC and QA people at some factories in China to conduct quality checks on every single processor that comes out of every Intel factory, though for my case so far based on three PC purchases, the Intel processor never fails after many years, usually the hard disk fail or CRT monitor first, then it is more economical to buy a whole new set first. As a result, I do not know how long other components of a PC can last.

My first PC purchase, the hard disk fail first after seven years, second PC purchase, CRT monitor and scroll mouse fails after 4 years, then use the CRT monitor from first PC purchase, hard disk fail 2 years later. Then the third PC purchase, is a ThinkPad T43 laptop that still working well currently after around 4.5 years.

The fact is if you calculate all the total prices of each individual component, a customized DIY is not significantly cheaper than a branded PC. Don’t believe me, just do the calculations yourself, but make sure you include the price of original Windows 7 Home Premium. With a customized PC, you do more customizations and do away with unnecessary parts that you don’t need and hence cheaper. But one should compare apples and apples, like adding up all the parts that make up brand and model of the components of a branded PC, for example, an Acer Aspire M5800 or Dell Inspiron 580, the prices are around the same, if not slightly cheaper than a customized PC where you can buy the cheapest price of the same brand and model of each individual components.

Surprisely, contrary to popular belief, a DIY PC is not substantially cheaper or even slightly cheaper than a value brand like Acer or Dell. This is definitely true for a mid range performance at any one time, as for the low end and very high end gaming specs – whether it is around the same or much cheaper than Acer Predator or Dell Alienware, that I have not calculate.

Of course, a customized PC can let you put in the best and fastest motherboards, processors, graphics cards and hard disk. However, there will be compatibility issues, just like you form a soccer team using the best and most expensive players from around the world like David Becham, Michael Owen, etc does not mean that the team is fast and can win every single matches. And also, the great majority of users who will get stunned by jumper settings on a motherboard and troubleshooting which component fail when the PC does not boot up will do better to buy a branded one.

Whether you need extended warranty, either by the PC manufacturers themselves or retailers depends on the specs and what you intend to use the computer for, and of course the person involved. The rationale is simple to understand. If the specs are good, then you can use it for more than a few years, then it is wise to buy extended warranty and especially if you are only use it for surfing the Internet and office applications, then the same PC can last for even more years.

For simplicity, let us assume that there are only three major types of PC users.

1. Those that just need a PC for surfing the Internet and office applications

This group of people usually belongs to the fairer sex and does not really or totally did not play games and uses engineering software. They usually buy a low end system without a dedicated graphics card. At the same time, they will not be competent to troubleshoot should a DIY PC got some problems.

2. Those that just need a PC for surfing the Internet and office applications but at the same time got play some games and not really a hard core gamer, along with using some applications software like Photoshop, Adobe Premier, SolidWorks, AutoCad etc.

I belong to this type of PC user, as a result, at any one time, I need to purchase a mid range performance to ensure that the specs can last for at least four years. Given that after the Pentium 4 generation, hardware technologies advanced faster than software requirements, a mid range performance costing around $1500 should be able to last for the next 5 years at least.

As a non hard core gamer, the specs that can be bought for $1500 will be able to play games up to three years from now, with graphics settings turned on to highest level, based on the latest first person shooter game. Since not really a hard core gamer, can always play the latest game three years from now five years later, after the next PC purchase.

Do take note that other games types like real time strategy and role playing games hardware requirements follows behind first person shooter, meaning to say that when the latest first person shooter game requires processer speed of 2.0Ghz, main system memory of 2GB and dedicated graphics card memory of 256MB. The latest like real time strategy and role playing games usually only requires half of that like for example, processer speed of 1.6 GHz, main system memory of 1GB and dedicated graphics card memory of 128MB.

The level of knowledge may not be competent enough to diagnose which component got problems or went wrong if the PC fails to boot up or kept hanging. In addition, should they be any problems from spywares, malwares or viruses, a brand PC means that one can more easily reformat the computer by using the recovery CD. In which a DIY has to DIY the reformatting yourself. Any hardware issues can call the technical support and have the person to come down for troubleshooting.

As mentioned before, even after factoring three years or five years extended warranty onsite, the branded PC is around or slightly more expensive than a DIY version of same specs, using the exact brand and model for each of the component inside.

3. Hard core gamers

Even if you need to use engineering software, you usually don’t need this kind of specs. For a high end gaming system, it may really be significantly cheaper to buy a DIY version rather than Acer Predator or Dell Alienware. In addition, this group of users usually got sophisticated knowledge regarding stripping and assembling and troubleshooting a PC. At that level of specs, Acer Predator or Dell Alienware may be much more expensive than a DIY version consisting of the same specs. They also need to over clock and installed liquid cooling system. Take note that if you are not involved in competitive gaming but like gaming, it is OK to just buy a mid range performance and have some lag.

The unwise thing about spending more than $1600 on a desktop PC is that the components that made up the computer are like cars, they will experience wear and tear due to prolonged usage and cannot reasonably expect them to last forever. That is computer will become slow and lag after several years of using and also, today specs seen in Acer Predator or Dell Alienware series will become tomorrow mid range performance and that day after tomorrow low end budget PC. As a result, for the great majority of PC users, it will be wise to spend $1500 today for a mid range performance and $1500 for another mid range performance five years later rather than $3000 for Acer Predator or Dell Alienware, or a DIY PC with specs similar to them.

Yes, because there is a Hollywood movie called Alien vs Predators, and Dell high end gaming system happens to call Alienware. It follows that coincidentally, Acer decides to call their high end gaming system the Acer Predator series since they complete in the same market like how the two species fight against each other in the movie.

Related posts:

1. Windows 7 is finally out and Microsoft History
2. A simple asset allocation model for deciding between small and large caps
3. Deciding between actively managed mutual funds and passive index funds

Again, unless you have been living under a rock, you would have use one USB device or another and often, such as flash drives, after using, often you have to stop the device before unplugging it from the USB ports. Failure to do so will result in failure of motherboard in the long run and that is not going to be good for your personal finance, as need to spend more money to repair the computer, especially since such technology items are easily outdated and you need to find back the old motherboard in order for other well functioning existing components to fit in.

The problem with most people as I observed is that due to the size and location of the safely remove hardware icon for computers using Microsoft Windows, people have a high tendency to simply pull out their USB devices without stopping the devices. Especially for those using 12 inches, 13 inches and 14 inches laptop with small screen sizes, it is mentally tedious to look for, and then right click to bring out the safely remove hardware window. With higher screen resolutions and many programs icons on the taskbar, it can only get harder to do this step every time when using USB devices.

Follow the steps below with screenshots to create a much bigger icon to be placed on desktop to save time and hence money, since time is money, in removing USB devices.

Creating a desktop icon size remove USB device shortcut,

Step 1,

Right click on your desktop and choose New, and then Shortcut as shown in screenshot below.

Step 2,

Copy and paste the following line of code in bold under Type the location of the item:

RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll

After placing the code, click next,

Step 3,

Type a descriptive name for the shortcut like Remove USB, it is recommended to place the newly created shortcut icon on the top right hand corner of your desktop. This is for strategic reason since left side is occupied by other programs icons and bottom right hand corner is occupied by Recycle bin for ease in deleting things.

After finishing typing in the name Remove USB, click Finish.

This icon needs to be placed on the desktop in order for it to work, cannot place in other folders, place it in other folders and the shortcut will not work.

Step 4,

Creating a keyboard shortcut for remove USB, as having the desktop icon shortcut is still not good enough. If you open many windows to do work, a more effective way is to use a keyboard shortcut.

The recommended keyboard combination is Ctrl+F1 for two simple reasons – the close proximity of these two keys allows one left hand to easily press the two keys simultaneously and only two keys are need to press at the same time. If you notice after creating the shortcut, in order to create two keys keyboard shortcuts; you can only use Ctrl plus one function keys like F1, F2, etc.

Alternately, you can use F1, F2 or F3 keys etc, alone without the Ctrl, however take note that F1 is the help menu for many programs, including Microsoft Office. Hence, using two keys like Ctrl+F1 will be wise. In addition, other function keys are commonly used as keyboard shortcuts also.

Right click on the Remove USB icon as shown in screenshot and click on Properties,

Under the shortcut tab as shown in screenshot, use mouse to place cursor there, then press the Ctrl and F1 keys on keyboard at the same time, the keyboard shortcuts Ctrl+F1 is created for bringing out the safely remove hardware window. Take note that the keyboard shortcut can only work from the next time that you log in to Windows onwards.

Related posts:

1. Download Conspiracy of the Rich ebook before 20 July 2009
2. How to save on all essential computer softwares
3. Make money online joke

First things first, I am not a fan of chasing technologies, wanting the latest Intel Pentium processors, running on the latest Microsoft Windows operation system. In fact, from the specifications of new computers that I observed, less than $1500 can buy you a relatively good PC, with discrete graphics card and latest Intel microprocessors, coupled with at least 3 years onsite warranty, will be very good. Unless you are a hard core gamer, or need to use advanced engineering softwares, there is absolutely no need to buy a new PC every 3 years, the more economical life cycle should be every 5 years.

After the 3 years onsite warranty is over, if components like keyboard, monitor, system memory and hard disk breakdown due to electronic failures. One can easily purchased separate new items for them and replace the faulty ones. They are not that expensive now, as a result, depending on which specific component breaks down, for less than $50, or even $100 for a LCD monitor, can use another 2 years before another version of Microsoft Windows Operating System like Windows 8 is out, you may even skip one generation, but just don’t skip to the lousy ones like Windows ME and Vista.

Why Windows 7 will be better than Vista?

Based on historical data, an fxxk up operating system will be followed by a better one. Think Windows ME (or Windows Millennium Edition), that is before Windows XP.

Vista is by every standard comparable to ME, and beta tests of Windows 7 showed that it is free of most problems found in Vista and faster also.

Another important reason to postpone purchase of new PC from now until Windows 7 is out during October 2009 is (though got free upgrade now), like Windows XP, it will be on the market for quite sometime, the reason for this prediction is that actually, it is not much different from Vista, and Microsoft has spent quite some time and money developing Vista previously. Last time, there are many versions of Windows release every year before XP is on the market for another 5 years – the longest so far.

It seems like those who bought into Vista is like being screwed, there is no much difference in terms of appearance between Vista and 7, only that 7 will most probably got less problems than Vista and run faster, but not necessary better in terms of performance than XP.

The irony of their advertising messages on Microsoft websites – Windows 7 rocks.

The reason why Windows 7 rocks is simply because Windows Vista sucks.

We do have to learn why a less than ideal product can gain more than 90% of its market share and went on to make its founder the world’s richest man for more than a decade.

The following video is the first of a series of videos on Microsoft history,

The History of Microsoft – 1975

The rest, a series of videos, is available here; this type of historical documentary is quite informative and interesting,

http://channel9.msdn.com/shows/History/The-History-of-Microsoft-1975/

Related posts:

1. Deciding between a customized DIY PC or a branded one for a desktop
2. How to save on all essential computer softwares
3. Save time and money with remove USB devices shortcuts

Saving money is the beginning, not the end of the story in the quest towards financial freedom.

As a result, all of us need to know all the types of savings options available first, before having excess capital to invest in other financial instruments.

All liquid cash that you have are usually placed in following savings options.

How much to place depend on how much you have, needs and wants in the foreseeable future of at least 2 years down the road.

All the benefits and drawbacks of each are as mentioned so that one can decide which to place based on own unique situations.

Beginning with the lowest interest rate of all,

1. Usual savings accounts/passbook accounts

This is the most liquid place to put money for short term day to day financial needs.

Advantages

a. No or very low minimum balance
b. Very easy to withdraw due to ATM machines available everywhere
c. FDIC insured of initial capital.

Disadvantages

a. Lowest rate of return, though higher than stuffing cash under the mattress.

2. Certificates of deposits

This required a minimum holding period of at least 6 months for most financial institutions.

Advantages

a. Guaranteed rate of return and higher than regular savings account.
b. FDIC insured of initial capital.

Disadvantages

a. Penalty of no returns if withdraw before stated deadline. May lose a tiny fraction of initial capital if withdraw early, depending on each financial institutions.
b. Required a minimum sum and a holding period of at least 6 months.

3. Interest earning checking accounts

This is good for those who need to write check regularly.

Advantages

a. Got guaranteed interest and higher than passbook accounts.
b. Can write check on it.
c. FDIC insured of initial capital.

Disadvantages

a. Required minimum balance, if not, will charge a service charge.
b. Other costs and fees associated with writing and banking in checks.

4. Money market accounts

Another type of savings account offered by banks and credit unions but got higher interest rate.

Advantages

a. Higher interests than regular savings/fixed deposits, though not guaranteed.
b. Can write checks but got limits like only allowed 3 per month.
d. FDIC insured of initial capital.

Disadvantages

a. Higher minimum balance required than a regular savings account.
b. No interest and need to pay service charge earned if go below minimum balance.
c. High minimum balance of between $1000 to $2500.
d. Only allow 3 to 6 withdrawals per month.

5. Money market funds

This is different from money market accounts despite similar in names as illustrated below.

Both have around the same market interest rates.

The only difference being that money market accounts is FDIC insured while money market funds are not usually, though this only difference is changed recently.

Advantages

a. Higher interests than regular savings/fixed deposits, though not guaranteed.
b. Can write checks but got limits like only allowed 3 per month.

Disadvantages

a. Higher minimum balance required than a regular savings account.
b. No interest and need to pay service charge earned if go below minimum balance.
c. High minimum balance of between $1000 to $2500.
d. Only allow 3 to 6 withdrawals per month.
e. No FDIC insured of initial capital.

6. U.S. savings bonds

This is more qualified as a form of investments or maybe somewhere between the lines of savings and investing.

Advantages

a. Guaranteed rate of return and higher than regular savings/certificates of deposit account.
b. Interest earnings exempted from income taxes.
c. FDIC insured.

Disadvantages

a. Lower rate of return than stated when redeemed within 5 years.

Related posts:

1. All the different types of life insurance
2. 5 types of financial risk that every human must know
3. Neglected risk when invest in stocks and bonds through mutual funds and ETFs

A lot of people have the assumption that just because they don’t have money or cannot comfortably afford all the expenses associated with private ownership of cars, then should not waste money, time and effort in learning driving.

But that is wrong, if you belong to the second case, then you even need to learn driving as early as possible.

Allow me to explain.

Case 1

You can well afford a car.

Be it owning a business that does millions of dollars in sales, earning a 5 figure income online or offline, as an employee or born with a sliver spoon etc.

99.99% of people in this category will definitely be seen driving their own cars.

As a result, you need a driving license.

Case 2

You can ill afford a car.

You have low educational qualifications and at the same time does not own a business that does millions of dollars in sales, earning a 5 figure income online or offline, as an employee or born with a sliver spoon. etc.

99.99% of people in this category most probably need to become a taxi driver after 50 years old (at least in Singapore).

Or that a driving license opens up more job opportunities in blue collar sector.

In this case, learning and getting driving license as early as possible is even more important due to rising costs of living (and of course fees taking driving lessons and tests).

As you can see, learning driving now means greater savings.

Some Basic Theory Tests Practice Questions – For People Living in Singapore only (Not sure if the questions is the same for other countries)

Generally known as highway code.

Related posts:

1. How to exit rat race as early as possible?
2. Learning from own and other people’s experience
3. Basic Steps in applying for employment