This week’s online newsletter includes:
- Starting a Program in Full-Screen Mode (Maximized)
Windows has a nice feature that enables the user to control whether an application opens in full screen mode ("Maximized"), or in a normal window that’s less than full screen ("Normal"), or opens as a hidden application, visible on the task bar, but without an open window ("Minimized")… - Fast, Small, Light and Powerful — and It’s a Notebook!
Last week, I wrote about replacing my main computer, a six-year-old Dell Inspiron 8600, with a homebuilt desktop computer. I also mentioned that, for my mobile needs, I ordered a fast, much cheaper notebook from someone else, and promised more about that notebook in a future issue. This is the one…I built my new desktop and bought a fast, light notebook computer for slightly less than I planned to pay for a Dell Studio XPS 16 notebook, without even considering the fast, lightweight Alienware (Dell) M11X cost that I planned to purchase a couple months later. Thank you, Dell — your customer relations blunders on my order helped me save over $1500 — and two other Internet merchants appreciated my business.
Last week’s online issue included the details of my new homebuilt desktop. This week, read about the fast, small, light and powerful notebook I bought for travel…
- A Look at ClickBook for Windows / ClickBook MMX / ClickBook 2010
For years, my choice of programs to create PDF files was BlueSquirrel’s Click2PDF. Ever since I saw it demonstrated at our local computer user group in the 1990′s, it’s been my choice. I used Click2PDF from Windows 98 days through Windows 7 32-bit on my old notebook.I’ve tried a number of the free "print to create a PDF file" programs, but none were as powerful or flexible in the creation process. Not even Adobe Acrobat, granddaddy of them all, is as easy to use for printing from multiple documents or even multiple programs as Click2PDF is.
However, Click2PDF is not compatible with 64-bit Windows 7. For that, I finally had to try ClickBook — and I found that ClickBook is Click2PDF on steroids.
- My Security Software Recommendations
My recommendations for anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, anti-spam software, and backup software…
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Hi Terry,
I understand your frustrations very well! Recently I did some computer moving myself and went through the same thing.
I too have a network with Sun Sparc Ultra320 running as my fileserver. With SAMBA running, it appears as a Windows NT machine to the Windows clients that attach to the shares. With the installation software installed on the “Software” share along with the license numbers, this saves a lot of the painful hunting around for CDs. Some of the software, in particular MS Office, has admin-mode install scripting capabilities. This saves me a ton of time since I don’t have to type in the license numbers, which can be very painful trying to decipher.
One of the best investments I made recently is the BlackX by Thermaltake. This is a hot-plug SATA drive bay that allows for hot-swapping SATA hard drives. The device handles up to 1TB drives, and costs about $39.99 on NewEgg. The Rosswill are junk knock-offs, so don’t get those. The Thermaltake are the better quality ones.
Anyway thanks for sharing your pain.
John