Today’s tip is about Instant Messenger (IM) programs. Some examples are AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Yahoo Messenger, and Windows Messenger. Even if you don’t use IM, this tip can help to clean up your computer. Instant messaging can be a handy tool in the workplace. But, unfortunately it comes with a few settings that aren’t very good for your computer. For example, all of these programs, by default, are set to start up with Windows. This places an extra burden on Windows while it is trying to boot the entire system, and adds to the slowness at startup.
After doing the steps below, your IM program will no longer start up automatically. It will take an extra click to open in the morning, but it will be worth it if it helps your computer start up a little bit faster.
Most of us install our own IM program(s), but there is also one that is included with Windows. Even if you’ve never used it, Windows Messenger still tries to run when you start your computer. We recommend all EN users do the Windows Messenger steps below. As for AIM or Yahoo!, you will only need to do those steps if you've installed the programs. As always, contact support if you have any problems or questions.
Windows Messenger (All EN users should do this part)
1. Go to Start – All Programs – Windows Messenger.
2. Go to Tools – Options.
3. Select the Preferences tab.
4. Uncheck the box for “Run Windows Messenger when Windows starts” (it’s the first option)
5. Click OK.
6. You can either leave it running now and it will close the next time you shut down or restart. Or you can close it now by Right clicking on the Windows Messenger icon in the system tray (bottom right corner of the screen, near the clock). It’s the blue-green icon that looks like the outline of a person.
AIM 6.5
For AIM, by default, two things will try to run at Windows startup. One is the messenger program itself. The other is AIM Dashboard (called AIM Today in older versions). It is the web page that opens automatically when you start your computer.
*NOTE: Older versions of AIM or AOL Instant Messenger will have different steps. You may have to go into Options or Preferences, or look around in the menus for Sign In/Out preferences. Or you can go to www.aim.com and install the current software version, then do these steps.
1. Open AIM if it’s not already running.
2. In the AIM window (which is your buddy list), go to Edit – Settings.
3. On the left, click “Sign In/Sign Out”
4. On the right, change “When I sign in, display the following: “ to NONE. This gets rid of that web page that opens.
5. Also, uncheck the box for “Start AIM when Windows starts”.
6. Click Apply – Click Save.
7. AIM will stay open until you reboot or shut down your computer. The next time you start up, you will need to open AIM from the Start menu or icon if you want to use it.
Yahoo Messenger 8.1
*NOTE: These steps are based on the current version of Yahoo Messenger. If you have an older version, they still might apply. As with AIM, you can go to http://messenger.yahoo.com/ and download the current version.
1. Open Yahoo Messenger if it’s not already running.
2. In the program window (the buddy list), go to Messenger – Preferences.
3. On the left side, click General
4. On the right side, there is a setting “When I start up my computer:” Uncheck the box for “Automatically start Yahoo! Messenger”
5. Click Apply – Click OK.
6. Yahoo Messenger will stay open until you reboot or shut down your computer. The next time you start up, you will need to open it from the Start menu or an icon if you want to use it.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Removing Toolbars and Weather Programs
To start off, we’re going to remove a few of the most common extras: toolbars, weather applications, and Google Earth. These may seem like small programs, but most of them run constantly in the background, taking up memory that should instead be used for Outlook or Symantec (for spyware and virus detection).
Although these toolbars may seem like useful tools, they are more trouble than they’re worth. Each toolbar you have has to start up every time you open Internet Explorer, causing an extra delay. In addition, Internet Explorer has its own pop-up blocker, but some of these toolbars also have a separate pop-up blocker. These can interfere with your access to certain websites (e.g. employee ESSIC website, or Outlook Web Access). As for the search feature in the toolbars, it is now redundant. Internet Explorer 7 has its own Search box in the top right corner of the window. You are able to choose your own search provider, and it works exactly like the toolbar.
As for the weather applications, they are notorious for causing random problems in Windows. Yes, it’s convenient to always see the temperature, but you can just as easily make a link or shortcut to the website. It takes an extra click to open the website, but the benefits far outweigh that extra mouse click.
Some examples of applications you should remove:
· Desktop Weather
· Accuweather Desktop Alerts
· Yahoo toolbar
· Google toolbar
· AIM or AOL toolbar (just the toolbar, not the IM program itself)
· Accuweather toolbar
· Google Earth (we’ve had many problems with this program lately)
Most of these can easily be removed by going into Control Panel – Add/Remove Programs. You can also sometimes remove them from Start – All Programs – (the specific program folder). In that folder there may be an Uninstall option.
After you’re done removing these programs, you should restart the computer. This will clear out the Temporary files used in the uninstall, and will give your computer a fresh start.
Introduction: Cleaning up your Computer
These days, almost any application or update you install tries to get you to also install an “extra” application - an extra toolbar, for example. There are also the extras that we, as users, install ourselves, like a weather program or instant messaging.
Sometimes these extra programs do not affect the performance of your computer. But over time, you will see degradation in performance, compared to a fresh Windows install. And usually, there is a program that is the “straw that breaks the camel’s back” and seems to reduce your ability to work. Most of the time, that last program isn’t to blame – it’s a combination of everything installed.
One slowdown that is most noticeable is when you are restarting or logging in to your computer. Most of these extras are set to run at startup, bogging down the startup process that Windows needs to perform. These programs also try to run continuously in the background, slowing down everything you do on your computer. Some extras you may have, such as instant messaging (IM) programs, are used for communication within your group, and necessary to do your job, but when used with default settings, can cause slowness. By changing some of these settings, you can keep IM, but it won’t put a strain on Windows.
For the extras that were installed without intent, it’s an easy choice to remove them. But, for the programs you’ve installed yourself, in order to effectively use your computer, you might need to make a choice between your computer’s performance and the extra application.
This article is the beginning of a series of tips, tricks and advice. We will provide you with ways to clean up your computer by removing some of the extras, and ways to reconfigure the extra programs that you need to keep. We hope to give you the knowledge to make your own choices, and to help you avoid installing those extra toolbars or applications that legitimate programs try to sneak past you.
While there is not enough time or space to include every tip or suggestion, we will try to give you information about the most common pitfalls. All of these tips will be combined in this blog. You can come here at any time and read the old or new tips.
The first article will discuss extra toolbars and weather programs. Then, we will present a new topic in each eNews issue, and the corresponding full article will be found here. If you have any questions, please contact Ag IT Support.
Sometimes these extra programs do not affect the performance of your computer. But over time, you will see degradation in performance, compared to a fresh Windows install. And usually, there is a program that is the “straw that breaks the camel’s back” and seems to reduce your ability to work. Most of the time, that last program isn’t to blame – it’s a combination of everything installed.
One slowdown that is most noticeable is when you are restarting or logging in to your computer. Most of these extras are set to run at startup, bogging down the startup process that Windows needs to perform. These programs also try to run continuously in the background, slowing down everything you do on your computer. Some extras you may have, such as instant messaging (IM) programs, are used for communication within your group, and necessary to do your job, but when used with default settings, can cause slowness. By changing some of these settings, you can keep IM, but it won’t put a strain on Windows.
For the extras that were installed without intent, it’s an easy choice to remove them. But, for the programs you’ve installed yourself, in order to effectively use your computer, you might need to make a choice between your computer’s performance and the extra application.
This article is the beginning of a series of tips, tricks and advice. We will provide you with ways to clean up your computer by removing some of the extras, and ways to reconfigure the extra programs that you need to keep. We hope to give you the knowledge to make your own choices, and to help you avoid installing those extra toolbars or applications that legitimate programs try to sneak past you.
While there is not enough time or space to include every tip or suggestion, we will try to give you information about the most common pitfalls. All of these tips will be combined in this blog. You can come here at any time and read the old or new tips.
The first article will discuss extra toolbars and weather programs. Then, we will present a new topic in each eNews issue, and the corresponding full article will be found here. If you have any questions, please contact Ag IT Support.
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