Here’s something that’s really helped me keep track of passwords, and keep more secure. Sometimes you really can have your cake and eat it too. =D

is highly recommended, and has won many awards. Best of all it’s free, and works with all major browsers, and operating systems! www.LastPass.com.

One recommended setting: During the installation, choose to have LastPass automatically log out when the computer is idle for a certain amount of time as a precaution in case your computer is ever lost or stolen.

For the highest level of protection, and for business use, I recommend Norton or Kaspersky, but Avast is a fantastic money-saving alternative that’s worth a look.

Note: Before installing Avast, you’ll want to uninstall any other real-time Anti-Virus software you may have installed to prevent a conflict.

Say hello to Dropbox.com. After a free registration on their website, download and install the software. Drag your important files to your DropBox folder, and you’ll be able to access this “magic pocket” from any computer where you’ve installed Dropbox.

You can also access your files on any computer with internet access by logging in at DropBox.com.

It’s extremely simple, and works with Windows, Mac, and Linux.

One of my favorites, FBackup, is free for both personal and corporate use.

To setup a backup, manually select the folders you want to backup, or choose one of the plug-ins to backup an application, such as Windows Mail. The plug-ins simply tell FBackup what files and folders need to be backed up for a particular application so that it’s easy to backup and restore its data, user preferences, and settings. If you’re wanting to backup a specific program that’s not showing up as an option, there are more plug-ins you can download and install. (Tools-> Plug-ins… -> Get Plugins)

Once you’ve selected what you’re going to backup, chose the backup destination. Flash drives are great for this, but you’ll have to remember to leave it plugged in if you want the backup to run automatically. Finally, set your backup schedule, and let it run!

Until recently, I rarely recommended defragging because the difficulty and time required for running manual scans, but now I recommend Smart Defrag. It’ll automatically defragment your hard drive when it’s idle. And if you’re going to be away from your computer for a few hours, running a ‘Fast Optimize’ will help as well.

So, what is defragging anyway? If you’ve ever read a Choose Your Own Adventure book, you know that at the end of each page you are presented with a couple of choices, and you continue reading by flipping to the page for that choice. Likewise, when files are fragmented, your hard drive has to skip forward and backward to finish reading a file, which slows down performance. Defragging fixes this problem by moving files so that they can be read sequentially. It also optimizes performance by placing the most frequently used files first on the hard drive.

Cleaning the registry is especially helpful for computers that have had Windows installed a while. As programs are installed and uninstalled, unnecessary junk builds up over time, slowing performance, occasionally causing other problems.

To run the registry cleaner, start CCleaner, click on the registry icon on the left, click on ‘Scan for Issues’, and finally click ‘Fix selected issues’.

Mozilla Thunderbird, like Firefox, is community built, free, and has won many awards. It’s an email client that’s fast, secure, and offers add-ons. When I first started using it, the speed difference was pretty noticeable compared with Windows Live Mail, which is Microsoft’s new name for Outlook Express.

Even if you like using webmail, it’s probably worth installing Thunderbird so that your email is backed up on your computer, and accessible even when you’re offline. Thunderbird works well with most webmail providers. Usually you can find simple instructions on how to configure your account with a quick search on Google, such as “thunderbird gmail”.

If you’re like me, and work best with a calendar and/or a task list, there’s an excellent add-on called Lightening. To install it, download it to your desktop, go to Tools -> Add-Ons, click Install… and select it from your desktop. After restarting Thunderbird, Lightening will be installed.

Another excellent add-on, Zindus, helped me add all of my contacts from Gmail.

Enjoy!

In the meantime, don’t get discouraged. Most DSL and cable internet connections won’t max out the speed of an 802.11g router, and the range is also usually sufficient if the router is strategically positioned. Try to position your router somewhere near the center of your house, and give the antennas clearance. Instead of putting your router underneath your computer desk, position it behind your monitor, or somewhere up high. The direction of the antennas can also make a difference, but straight up is usually best.

The Linksys WRT54GL is probably the most stable router of all time. On Newegg.com, it’s won 27 customer choice awards, the most reviews, and the best overall rating. If you want to plug in your router, and forget about it, this one is for you. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833124190

The last version of Windows, Vista, was not well received, largely because it was really only about half-way done. But developers have been hard at work: fixing bugs, making performance gains, and adding polish. Their work looks like it’s really paid off.

Before you upgrade, check your computers to see if they’ll be compatible with Microsoft’s Upgrade Advisor tool.

One of my biggest disappointments is that there’s no supported upgrade option for those who are using Windows XP. But a fresh install is always an option, or if you’re willing to buy a commercial tool, for $40, PCMover allows you to upgrade Windows XP computers.

Most netbooks use Intel’s dime-sized Atom processor– the Atom N270 processor’s performance is roughly equivalent to a Pentium 4 2.4Ghz.

Some of the leading netbooks of today would include Dell’s Mini Netbook, Acer’s Aspire One, and Asus’ Eee Pc.  Out of these, Asus’ Eee Pc was first to the field, and I think they still have an edge over the competition. I’ve been using an Eee Pc for about a year, and I love it.

My favorite netbook at the moment is the Eee Pc 1005HA with 10.5 hours of battery life! I doubt that the battery would actually perform quite that well outside of the lab, but that’s still quite impressive! When I got my earlier generation Eee Pc a year ago, they were advertising a 7 hour battery life, and I got about 5 hours of juice.

The various Eee PC models have a lot of variety– with different screen sizes, processor speeds, storage types, and battery life. Amazon.com carries a lot of the varieties and older models, so it’s a great website for comparisons of features and prices.

One thing that disappoints me is that netbooks typically only come with 1GB of memory, which is definitely a performance bottleneck. The good news is that it’s easy to upgrade to 2GB, and it only costs about $25. Changing the memory is as simple, and here are directions.

Another thing to keep in mind is that netbooks can be hard on your eyes if you use them a lot. If you’re going to want to use a netbook as your primary computer, you may want to consider getting a LCD monitor that you can plug into when you’re home.