Top 9 Ways To "Speed Up" Your Surfing & Computing

It seems like fast never quite rates fast enough.

No matter how quickly something moves, especially on the
Internet, it could always move faster.

Email, web surfing, downloading files (legally of course),
none of them ever go as quickly as we want or expect.

Well, let me do my part to perpetuate this microwave oven
mentality (why must popcorn take 3 ½ minutes instead of 2?)
by giving you some tips and hints for making your online
experiences and overall computing as fast as possible (even
on a dial up connection).

** Hit The Accelerator **

Sensing a need for faster Internet access in markets where
broadband cable or DSL can't or won't go, Internet Service
Providers (ISP's) like NetZero offer Internet
"accelerators."

Using a system of caches, compression schemes, and other
technology to double or even triple your dial-up connection
speeds, Internet accelerators can save you hours spent
waiting for simple web pages to appear in your browser.
**
Though they won't work for everyone in every single
situation, check out www.netzero.com, www.propel.com and
www.slipstreamdata.com for more information.

** Clean Up Your Hard Drive **
Often a messy hard drive can contribute to slow online
experiences. Perform a "Disk Cleanup" and a "Defrag"
(available by clicking , , then
Tools>) to clean out the garbage files on your hard drive
that slow your system down considerably.

This will help when running offline applications too.

** Get More RAM **

RAM (Random Access Memory) allows your computer to process
data more quickly without writing and reading from the hard
drive.

Ask any nerd and they'll tell you straight out, "You can
NEVER have too much RAM!" RAM costs so little now that
virtually anyone can afford to add more memory without a
big hit to their wallet.

** Avoid Time Wasters **

Speeding up your surfing doesn't just mean pulling the
maximum amount of data through your phone line until it
melts!

It also means avoiding things that suck your time up and
leave you sitting twiddling your thumbs instead of getting
things done.

Make the most of your time online with these time-saving
tips:

Use Google - Search giant, Google.com, consistently returns
relevant search results in minimum time.

Sure, big search engines like Dogpile.com and AskJeeves.com
query multiple search engines, but the time spent waiting
for and then wading through those results rarely makes it
worth the occasional extra result.

Avoid Instant Messenger - "Heresy! I must have my instant
messenger" you cry! Keep a log of how much time gets spent
mindlessly chatting on the IM instead of doing something
important. If you must IM, do it in moderation.

Filter Spam - Use a program to filter your spam instead of
wading through it by hand. Even if you only get 25 spam
messages a day (I'd love to be you) and only spend 10
seconds on each message, at the end of a year that comes
out to over 30 hours wasted on spam!

Filter your email messages before you take the time to
download them to your machine and you'll love the spare
time that magically comes your way.

** Slow Mouse? **

When I flick my wrist I expect that mouse to hop from one
side of the screen to the other like the house was on fire!

A slow mouse can steal seconds of precious time that add up
to hours of frustration over weeks and months.

If you suffer from a "slow mouse," click then
"Control Panel" then "Mouse".

Then you'll see a tab that says "Pointer Options" or
"Motion" (or something similar) and you can adjust the
slider left or right to increase or decrease the speed of
your mouse's movement across the screen.

** Use Windows Keyboard Shortcuts **

Windows has a number of nifty keyboard combinations that
most people don't know about, but can save you incredible
amounts of time, energy, effort and frustration.
+Z - I call this the "panic button."

Hold down the "Ctrl" key and hit the letter Z and you can
often undo the last action you took in Windows.

This comes in especially handy when you've deleted
something (like a term paper or 500 word article) and want
it back.

If you accidentally do something wrong, STOP hitting keys
immediately and do +Z to undo what you just did.

+D - Ever wonder what the little "flag" key is
on the keyboard next to "Alt?" (I sure have wondered.)

Well, it turns out that little key has some cool uses.

Hold down +D and you can minimize all the open
windows on your desktop.

Very handy when you keep many programs running and need to
hit your desktop in a hurry. +F - allows you
to search for any file on your computer immediately.

It will amaze you how much faster you can get things done
just by understanding how to save little bits of time here
and there using shortcuts, tools and better ways of doing
things.