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Here’s how to get rid of that annoying pop-up bubble that tells you that you’ve installed a new program.

Step 1: Click the Start menu and right click on the blue bar with your name. Click properties.

Have you ever wanted to test another operating system but were afraid it would mess up your computer? Maybe on occasion you need to use more than one operation system but don’t want to dual boot. Whatever your reason may be, virtualization is something to look into.

With VMware Server, you can install virtual machines on your computer. As the name implies, this software is designed for use on servers but can be used on regular desktops and laptops. A virtual machine (VM) is a software implementation of a computer that executes programs like a real machine. In other words, you can run an operating system within your current operating system, almost like a…

OpenOffice is a great free alternative to Microsoft Office. For more information on OpenOffice check out my recent post Open Office- The [Free] Microsoft Office Alternative. However, if you already use OpenOffice on a daily basis, then you have probably noticed how slow it loads. Here is how to speed up the load time:

1.) Launch OpenOffice - It does not matter which of the subprograms you open.

2.) Click ‘Tools’ and then select ‘Options’.

3.) Select the ‘Memory’ from the list on the left side.

4.) Under the ‘Graphics cache’ subheading, change the settings to the following:

• Use of OpenOffice.org - 128MB
• Memory per object - 20.0MB

5.) Under the ‘Cache for inserted objects’ subheading, change the settings to the following:

• Number of objects - 20

Here is what it should look like…

Having a single program scan your computer for software updates is built into both Mac OS X and Linux. In fact, most Mac and Linux users probably don’t think much of this luxury until they try to update a Windows machine. I have dozens of software titles installed that constantly need updated and this is how I do it.

As I’m sure some of you know, Filehippo is a website that allows you to download free software. They have an excellent selection of software and everything is easy to find. If you aren’t sure what a certain program is, not only does Filehippo have a description…

Do you like the balloon popup notices that come up from the Windows toolbar? I absolutely hate them. I don’t need to know that I’ve connected because I can look at the icon and it will tell me. The balloons annoy me because they won’t close themselves. Have you ever wanted to just turn them off?? Here’s a quick how to:

First click the start button and click run. Type in Regedit

You should now see a screen like this:

Now we’re going to navigate to the correct subfolder so be patient. You’re going to want to click the + icon next to the following folders (moving from left to right):

HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Microsoft -> Windows -> CurrentVersion -> Explorer…

CCleaner is a powerful program that will clean all of your unused system files and will also clean your internet history. I use this program every week to remove all the crap from my computer. CCleaner can also be used to fix registry files and remove programs.

Download CCleaner here

Once you have unzipped the folder and installed the file you should see a program that looks something like this:

The analyze button will show you the files that it would delete, and the Run Cleaner button will just delete the files. I usually click the analyze button and then click the Run Cleaner button.

If you click Registry on the left, it will offer you the option of checking for errors in your registry…

DVD Decrypter is one of my favorite DVD ripping programs. This program is best used by people who have plenty of hard drive space to put these rips. Remember that a single layer DVD holds around 4.7 GB of data and this program essentially places the copy of this data onto your hard drive. Your collection of DVDs will fill up your hard drive quite quickly, so I’d recommend using a large external hard drive (you can find 500GB externals for around $100). The program was designed to rip backups of your **legal** DVDs. Why backup your purchased DVDs? I do it so that if I lose my bought DVD, or it gets scratched, I can always burn a copy of it if need be. It’s also…