I've been wanting to post a list of programs I use. Things like, um...paint. And WordPad. I remember when I first discovered WordPad. It was so advanced in comparison to Notepad. I would open it with childish glee (I was a child) and I shared my secret with no one...this super-advanced technology I somehow located.
This forced rearrangement will be perfect (y'know, since everything on my hard drive is effectively in one isolated folder now and I'll chronicle my adventures as I retrieve the stuff). And when I find I forgot something and need it, I'll transfer it over and mention it in the next update. Done, done, and done. Thus we begin, humble fools. Thus we begin.
First things first, I had to delete some desktop icons. Windows of course bundles a bunch of stuff. That's fine, it's not like I payed SEVEN-HUNDRED-DOLLARS FOR THIS MACHINE!
I manually delete, on my first fell swoop: AOL for Dial-Up, AOL for High-Speed, Blockbuster, Easy Internet Sign-up, eBay, ESPN Motion, Extended Service, Get High Speed Internet, HP Music, HP Rhapsody, MSN, and My HP Games. I also enable Quick Launch applications (right-click on start(sic), then tab to Taskbar; it will be on that list.), which gives me quick-enough access to shortcuts. I then arrange the "Show Desktop" icon for easy access.
I also change to Classic Start menu (right-click start menu), because I dislike XP's. I was never, ever able to get used to it, and it infuriates me. I do quite enjoy XP's basic window trim and such, though.
My first real order of business is (or, was) to download AVG, so that I can get to blogging. I decided to get the AVG 30 day trial instead of the free version. The free version is hard to find, so here's the link: AVG free. I had to uninstall the Norton trial via Add/Remove programs for AVG to install. I then did a scan, with nothing important showing. Except a few things.
Then I re-downloaded Flash Player. And Don Horsegoggle's blog required a plugin which I downloaded. Speaking of which, my next major order of business was to open Firefox. I guess I still had it installed. Luckily, all my internet history is still there, but needs yet to be incorporated. I downright treasure that internet history. I have two years of internet history saved. I'm a normal person.
Hey, I did back something up- my extensions! As you may know, Firefox allows for extensions (or add-ons). It's not a unique concept; I believe many other browsers allow this. It's kind of like a downloaded toolbar, but allows for more intricate functions. Such as my personal favorite...Speed Dial.
I first fell in love with the dial idea after my two-step of a failed romance with Opera. (I was a little harsh on it, maybe.) As you can see above, the dial allows you to have 9+ shortcuts on one page. Opera has this included, Firefox does not. But Firefox has live (i.e. as you type, like in Word) spell check, which is amazing.
Additionally, each of these pages have a number. You press Ctrl+1, and your #1 pops up on the screen. Ctrl+8 would bring my mom's blog up. Ctrl+Shift+8, 9 would bring up Mom's and Don's blogs in new tabs. This is very quick and handy, handy, handy. Speed Dial basically becomes your homepage, but in short time you'll memorize all of the shortcuts.
My countenance was cast down when I lost this ability on the switch back to Firefox, but there was an add-on for it. Speed Dial. You can find it here on Mozilla's site. I also use PDF Download, an add-on that handles PDFs in a variety of ways, as PDFs can wreak havoc with Firefox. This is an example of add-ons solving problems in addition to being handy.
I also fancy Page Title Eraser for the raw power it allows me to wield. It erases your page titles...see the above picture. I like it. Finally, I use FEBE...which stands for Firefox Environment Backup Extension. I saw this upon looking in the right post-Crisis folder, and clicked on it. Low and behold, it automatically installed the prior mentioned extensions! It was very easy. Before I knew it, I was operating king. Now I just need to learn how to make dict bring up Answers.com. I'll do that next episode- time to go!
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