Windows 7 fixes a lot of what is wrong with Vista and XP.  It is a lot faster, removes many of the nag screens that plagued Vista and it is far more compatible with peripherals.  There are many new features, many of which you might never discover on your own.  Windows 7:  The Missing Manual will save you a ton of time and get you up to “power-user” status quickly.    Here are a few of the things it covers:

• Move around and navigate the desktop like a pro, and make full use of the powerful search function
• Take full advantage of Window 7′s apps and gadgets, and find out about 40 free programs
• Learn the ins and outs of surfing the web with the new features in Internet Explorer 8 (they aren’t all obvious!)
• Discover the email, chat, and videoconferencing programs
• Learn how to record live TV and radio, organize and play music, display your photos, and much more with Media Center
• Integration your printer, laptop, fax, and smartphone
• Back up your system and personal files with the much improved backup tools included with Windows 7
• Learn about networking changes and how new features allow you to share documents and other files

Two chapters especially stuck out to me as valuable.  ”Where’d It Go?” and “The Master Keyboard Shortcut List”  Those alone are worth the price of the book in my opinion.

The book is suitable for novices and experts alike although it does assume you have used an earlier version of Windows.  The author also attempts to be funny which makes this large book a more enjoyable read.

In short, I think you’ll find Windows 7:  The Missing Manual to get you up to speed quickly and be more productive with your new operating system.

Click here to purchase Windows 7:  The Missing Manual from Amazon.com

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It works by installing itself as a virtual PDF printer driver.  After installation, to convert any file to PDF you simply open your document in any application that can print (Microsoft Word, WordPad, etc), select Print and select the doPDF virtual printer.  It will ask you where you would like to save the newly created PDF file.  Thats it.

This video shows how simple it is to create a PDF file with doPDF:

doPDF is a free PDF converter, not a PDF reader. In order to read PDF files you will need the free Adobe Reader, as with doPDF you can only print to PDF. Furthermore, doPDF doesn’t convert from PDF to a different format (i.e. from PDF to Word) nor does it allow editing PDF files.

Some of doPDF’s main features:

• Predefined page size – you can select a predefined page size for the resulting PDF file such as: A4, A5, A6, Letter, Legal, Executive, Envelope DL/C5/B5/Monarch/#10
• Custom page size – if you need more customization in terms of PDF page size, you can define your own custom size for the resulting document by entering the desired width and height (you can create documents as small as 10×10 millimeters, or as large as 3276×3276 millimeters).
• Measurement units – you can choose to have all measurements displayed in millimeters, inches or points, this way you don’t have to do any conversions of your own.
• Graphic resolution – you can set a custom resolution for images between 72 and 2400 dpi. A smaller resolution results in smaller PDF file, but lower image quality, while a higher resolution means better image quality, but bigger PDF file. The default value is 300 dpi.
• Graphic scale – the content of the resulting PDF can be shrunk to 1% off the original size, or enlarged up to 400%.
• Page orientation – Easily set the page orientation to be Landscape or Portrait, changes being visible in the Preview area
• Always use this folder – You can have doPDF create and save the PDF file to the same folder each time, no matter where you open the original document from.
• Embed font subsets – To ensure that the resulting PDF file will look exactly as originally intended, doPDF embeds by default the font subsets used in the original document.
• Open with PDF reader – You can choose to have the PDF opened with the default PDF reader once it’s converted.

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Download doPDF 7.2

Heat issues are one of the main reasons computer parts fail.  CoreTemp allows you to see the temperature of each of your processor’s cores in real-time as you vary the load on your cpu.  It also has a logging feature so that you can monitor cpu core temperature over any period of time in a way that is easy to export into a spreadsheet.

How does it monitor CPU Temperature?

CoreTemp collects data from a Digital Thermal Sensor (DTS) located on each core in the processors.  The sensor is located near the hottest part of the CPU and is completely digital meaning it doesn’t require any external circuits on the motherboard which improves its accuracy greatly.  Any software can access this register.   Intel and AMD processors report temperature slightly differently but the data quality is similar.

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Supported Processors:

Intel

• Core i3, i5, i7 series.
• Atom.
• All Core Solo series.
• All Core Duo series.
• All Core 2 Duo series.
• All Core 2 Quad series.
• All Core 2 Extreme series.
• All Celeron-M 400 and 500 series.
• All Celeron E1000 and E3000 series.
• All Pentium E2000, E2100, E2200, E5000, E6000 and E7000 series.
• All Dual Core Low Voltage Xeons series (Yonah based. Untested).
• All Xeon 3000, 3200, 3300, 5100, 5300, 5400, 5500, 5600, 6500, 7400, 7500 series.

AMD

• All Phenom / Phenom II series.
• All Athlon II series.
• All Turion II series.
• All Athlon64 series.
• All Athlon64 X2 series.
• All Athlon64 FX series.
• All Turion64 series.
• All Turion64 X2 series.
• All Sempron series. (K8 and K10.5 based)
• Single Core Opterons starting with SH-C0 revision and up. (K8 based)
• All Dual Core Opteron series. (K8 based)
• All Quad Core Opteron series. (K10 based)
• All Hexa Core Opteron series. (K10.5 based)
• All 12 Core Opteron series. (K10.5 based)

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Download CoreTemp 0.99.8 (Installer | 32 bit | 64 bit)

A common reason for slow startup time is due to applications automatically set to start on bootup or login.  With Autoruns for Windows you can find out exactly what programs are automatically starting up.  Autoruns will find programs in your startup folder, Run, and RunOnce.  It can be configured to also look in other locations like Explorer shell extensions, Winlogin notriciations, auto-start services, browser helper objects, among others.

Microsoft provides both a graphical user interface as well as a command line interface.

Graphical User Interface

Autoruns for Windows 7

Command Line

Autorunsc, a command line version of Autoruns is also available as part of the package from Microsoft.

Usage: autorunsc [-x] [[-a] | [-b] [-c] [-d] [-e] [-g] [-h] [-i] [-k] [-l] [-m] [-o] [-p] [-r] [-s] [-v] [-w] [[-z <systemroot> <userprofile>] | [user]]]

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Download Autorun for Windows v10.04

What does this software do?

The problem:
Have you noticed that the longer you have your computer, the slower it runs and the more it crashes? Often this is because whenever you install or uninstall software, adjust hardware or change settings, the Windows registry is updated. Over time the registry starts losing shape, accumulating obsolete, corrupt and harmful files. Left unchecked, your system can become increasingly unstable, run more slowly and crash more frequently.

The solution:
RegistryBooster is the easy answer to Windows registry problems. This award winning software will deep scan your registry to identify problems and errors that can cause instability and slowdown. RegistryBooster will then repair or remove harmful registry entries to optimize your PC for better performance. You can also defragment your registry for extra speed and efficiency.

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Better performance or your money back

RegistryBooster optimizes your PC by servicing your registry. If, for any reason, you are not pleased with our product, contact our customer support team within 30 days of purchase and we will refund the full purchase price.

FREE SYSTEM SCAN | BUY NOW | VISIT WEBSITE (more information)

Get access to the hundreds of hidden options to improve system’s performance and security, erase junk files, optimize network to speed connection, run any Windows 7 utility by one click, and many other miscellaneous utilities.

WinTuning 7 includes a unique module which does not have of analogs all over the world: WT7 3C for remote optimization of Windows 7 from a Control Center called WinTuning 7 Clients Control Center.

Why WinTuning 7?

• WinTuning 7 includes the unique module WT7 3C for remote optimization of Windows 7 from a Control Center called WinTuning 7 Clients Control Center;
• Windows 7 Status Monitor scans for errors of your Windows 7 operating system;
• A lot of image tips for tweaks. It will help you to understand what will happen in Windows 7 after the tweak is applied;
• Tweak your system to improve windows startup and shutdown speed; tweak your hardware to increase system speed and performance;
• Find and clean junk files to increase Hard Disk space;
• Optimize your Internet connection speed;
• Tune up Windows 7 boot menu;
• Customize Windows 7 Logon Screen;
• Show the collection of Windows utilities;
• Get detailed system and all hardware information on your system;
• Edit context menus of mouse Right-Clicking;
• All operations performed on the operating system are completely safe, because all changes can be undone at any time.

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Download / Buy

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Description / Features

Advanced System Optimizer v. 3 is a multi-functional system performance and optimization suite for Windows. This collection of tools lets you supercharge your PC’€™s performance, enhance its security, tweak and optimize its settings, and customize and personalize your screens.

New features in version 3 include a comprehensive driver updater, a game optimizer that enhances the speed and fun of computer game-playing, and unique file and folder recovery tools that are not available in other Windows optimization software.

Advanced System Optimizer’s Registry Cleaner makes your system more stable by cleaning out the bad Registry entries that build up each time you install and uninstall software. The program’€™s Registry Optimizer defragments and rebuilds your Registry, making your entire system run more smoothly and quickly.

The program includes four powerful tools to clean and optimize your hard drives. The System Cleaner removes clutter and unnecessary files from your PC, allowing it to run more quickly. The Disk Optimizer defragments your hard drive, keeping it running efficiently. The Disk Tools checks your hard drive at startup, and ensures that errors are detected and corrected. The Disk Explorer tells you which files and folders are taking up too much space, and makes it easy to manage disk usage.

Advanced System Optimizer’s Windows Optimizers keep Windows running faster. The Driver Updater ensures that all of your hardware devices have up-to-date drivers. The Memory Optimizer ensures that memory is released properly when you stop running each program on your system. There is even a Game Optimizer that creates a special environment so that games run faster.

The software has four Security and Privacy tools to protect you from malware and identify theft. Advanced System Optimizer’€™s System Protector provides realtime protection against spyware, trojans, and other malware. The Privacy Protector erases your Internet history and other private files that could be used to track your online activities. The Secure Delete function permanently deletes files and folders, and wipes their disk space so that these files can never be recovered. The Secure Encryptor lets you add password protection to sensitive files.

Advanced System Optimizer has a number of built-in backup and recovery tools that ensure that your information is safe, even if your hard drive crashes. The program can back up all of the important files that you create, as well as the system files that Windows needs to start and run your computer. The Undelete function lets you restore files that you accidentally deleted. You can even save files from deleted partitions.

The application has a handy database of common computer problems, and their cures. There is a Security Advisor that scans your system for security weaknesses, and advises you on how you can change settings to protect your privacy. Advanced System Optimizer can remove duplicate files from your hard drive, and keep it running more efficiently.

By making it simple to do routine management on your system, Advanced System Optimizer keeps your computer running smoothly. You can manage the Windows Startup process, ensure that programs are uninstalled properly, and automatically schedule your detection and maintenance scans.

Whether you’€™re a business person who needs to ensure that the company’€™s computer is running optimally, a home computer user who worries about the software that your children are installing on the system, or a student who wants to ensure that your computer is optimized for peak performance, Advanced System Optimizer has the tools that you need.

Advanced System Optimizer v. 3 runs under XP/Vista/Windows 7 under both 32 and 64 bits.