optimisation
Design
Photoshop SpeedUp Optimises Photoshop Startup Time
11:30PM Jason Fitzpatrick | Windows only: Even on a snappy system, Photoshop has a bit of a hang time during startup as hundreds of plugins load. Photoshop SpeedUp helps you optimise your Photoshop install and startup. More »
Design
Radical Image Optimization Tool Provides Side By Side Image Comparison
8:00AM Jason Fitzpatrick | Windows only: Radical Image Optimization Tool makes it easy to see how compression affects the image quality of the pictures you’re optimising with a handy side-by-side interface. More »
Work
OperaTurbo Boosts Performance On Slower Connections
5:00AM Jason Fitzpatrick | Windows/Mac/Linux: If you’re stuck on a slow connection or frequently find yourself using hot spots with different speeds, OperaTurbo can make your web browsing experience more pleasant. Thanks to server-side optimisation, pages load lightning fast. Unlike Opera Mini, which actually tweaks the layout and code of a page to make your mobile browsing experience better, Opera Turbo leaves the page layout exactly how it is but applies varying degrees of compression. Visual elements from the page like images are compressed as they pass through the server to decrease the load time on your end. The pair of images shows the header from the Opera Turbo splash page with the turbo enabled and under normal conditions. While the artifacts in the image are quite visible, images with more varied textures and backgrounds don’t suffer as much. More »
Work
Shutdown Suite Turns Off Your Computer With A Shortcut
3:00AM Jason Fitzpatrick | Windows only: Shutdown Suite is a series of tiny executables you can use to immediately shut down, reboot, or log off Windows—great for desktops, keyboard shortcuts, and app launchers. With these tiny little utilities hanging around, you won’t have to mess around with command line variables or editing your registry to make a quick exit from Windows. The ZIP file for Shutdown Suite contains both an installer, which will place a shortcut menu in your system tray, and the stand-alone executables. Extracting just the stand alone executables is a bit more practical, as you get a set of six .EXE files, one for each “instant” and “safe” version of LogOff, Reboot, and Shut Down as seen in the screenshot above, with none of the extra menu and system tray clutter that comes with the full installation. Shutdown Suite is freeware, Windows only. Shutdown Suite [via Elite Freeware] More »
Fix
Little Registry Cleaner Dumps Your Registry Junk
11:30PM Jason Fitzpatrick | Windows only: If a lot of un- and re-installs left your system a bit messy, Little Registry Cleaner can clean it up, along with startup items and other system utilities. Little Registry Cleaner’s primary function is scanning your Windows registry for invalid entries. You can select which types of entries it will scan for, allowing you to be cautious and only scan for orphan program entries, but leave anything related to the system drivers or DLLs untouched. Little Registry Cleaner has a built-in backup system; once you’ve done a sweep, you can restore to the registry’s previous state if you notice things have gone awry. In addition to speedy registry cleaning, Little Registry Cleaner also has an uninstaller to ensure you don’t end up with orphaned files and registry entries to begin with. You can also edit your startup items, as Little Registry Cleaner has a clean and easy to use interface for seeing which programs are set to start at boot and their associated registry keys. Previously reviewed and popular CCleaner has a similar set of features with a more fire-and-forget style interface, but Little Registry Cleaner is a tool for cautious, incremental cleaners. Finally, it should be noted that cleaning your registry isn’t a magic potion for turning an aging cart horse into a a derby winner; it benefits you most when it removes entries that are causing buggy performance or misapplied software tweaks. As always, be cautious before rooting around in your computer’s brain. Little Registry Cleaner is freeware, Windows only. Little Registry Cleaner [via Download Squad] More »
Fix
BootRacer Checks Your System’s Boot Speed
6:00AM Lifehacker US Edition | Windows only: Startup timer utility BootRacer checks your startup speed between reboots, eliminating the need to hold a stop watch while tweaking your machine for faster boot speeds. Once installed, testing your boot speed is as simple as launching BootRacer and clicking the Race It button, which will prompt you for a few settings and then reboot your machine. By default the application is set to run at every boot and display your results with a tray icon balloon, but that can be easily changed in the settings. Once you’ve got your baseline timing, you should use Gina’s complete guide to speeding up your PC’s startup to increase your rating—and more importantly, your boot speed. BootRacer is a free download, Windows only. The utility only worked on Windows XP in my testing, but Windows Vista is supposed to be supported—so if you get it working, let us know in the comments. BootRacer [via Shell Extension City] More »
Fix
What Your Computer’s Doing While You Wait
9:14AM Gina Trapani | Software developer Gustavo Duarte explains exactly what your computer does while you wait, in a thorough, technical answer to the question “Why the hell is my computer taking so long to do something when I have such a fast processor?” This post isn’t for anyone who glazes over at measurements of throughput in nanoseconds at the component level of a computer. If you want to speed up your computer by giving it less to do, make sure you’re running only the stuff you need clean up your startup. More »
Fix
Track Down Startup Programs And Processes With A Comprehensive Guide
10:00PM Kevin Purdy | If you’re stumped trying to figure out where a rogue background process on your Windows system came from, and what it does, the Los Angeles Free-Net’s web site will likely have your answer. On a page meant to help volunteer mentors of the non-profit ISP, there’s seriously comprehensive list of programs and processes, easily searched with a Control-F text find. It’s based on the well-linked PacMan’s list, and combined with the more system-based Process Library database, there’s not a listing in Task Manager that can’t be identified and dealt with swiftly. For a guide to getting built-in process lookups and more details on what your system’s running, try our guide to reclaiming memory by mastering Windows’ task manager. Thanks, kgeissler!. Startup Programs and Executables Listing [The Los Angeles Free-Net] More »
Fix
The Complete Guide To Speeding Up Your PC’s Startup
4:30AM Gina Trapani | You just hit the power button your PC, and now you’ve got enough time to fetch coffee for the entire office—because that’s how long it takes for your computer to go from “on” to “ready to work.” If your PC’s bogged down by a bunch of programs that automatically start up when it does, it can take forever to get started every morning. Without a major hardware upgrade, there’s not much you can do to cut the time it takes for Windows to actually boot—but you can trim and tweak the amount of time it takes for your desktop to get to a working state. Let’s take a look at a few ways you can cut your Windows’ desktop’s loading times using built-in utilities and third-party tools. More »
Fix
