Using your computer effectively takes some practice. These tips save me time and headaches each day and I’m sure they’ll do the same for you.

Read through and give these a try – you’ll be surprised at the great tools available and what you can do with them!

Get the Tools:

1. Desktop Search – Google or Microsoft, they’re both good. The second you don’t know where something is, search for it.
2. Application Launcher - Launchers allow you to get to the screen, folder, or application you want without taking your hands off of the keyboard.I use Slickrun. Another launcher that is used around the office is Launchy.There are lots of these applications available for free.  Find one that works for you and set up your browsers, email, business applications, common folders paths and anything you use on a weekly basis. Get comfortable with this app and read the manual or help file.  You should be using it all the time.
3. A New Text Editor – For me, Word is too slow to load and Notepad is too limited in options. I use Notepad2 and I am very happy with it.  I use Textpad as well, but mostly for searching text within a bunch of files.  If you need to search many files in a folder, Textpad is still the best I’ve found. Notepad++ is also a very good alternative to Notepad2.
4. Multiple  Monitors - Ultramon gives you a taskbar on all monitors and helps you manage your windows on multiple screens.

My new favorite browser is Google Chrome.  I like the way it uses space, the flexibility of the tabs, and plenty more.  I also have the latest releases of Firefox and IE7 on my machine.
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