Faster Computing


You say your PC is only chugging along at 366MHz
and you're salivating for a new Pentium III
450MHz Screamer. You're moping around because
you don't have an accelerated graphics adapter.
Cable Internet won't be in your neighborhood until
2001.
Well, get a grip. If you want faster computing, you
can get it without spending a lot of cash. A lot of
the time your computing is slow because of you,
not because of the computer. After all, your PC
works on the nanosecond scale. In comparison,
you're still moving in ultra slo-mo. Here are some
inexpensive improvements that will make you
faster, and some shareware programs I've
uncovered will give your PC a good goose without
blowing big bucks.


Mouse Tricks

Get a wheel mouse. They are equipped with a small
wheel in between the left and right click that let you
whirl up and down a page on the screen. Don't
bother with Microsoft's version-- which is designed
for Microsoft programs-- but try one from Logitech
or Kensington.
Once you've used the wheel to scroll through
documents and webpages, you will never go back to
a mouse without the wheel. You can't imagine how
much faster and how much more natural the wheel
is than searching for the elevator buttons on the side
of the screen.
Here's another mousing tip: When you travel with
your laptop, take your wheel mouse with you. There's
no law that says you have to use the stupid, awkward
eraserheads and touchpad pointers that came with
your laptop. I've got a Kensington wheel mouse that
cost about $20 and plugs into the USB port on my
laptops-- one of which doesn't have a serial port or PS
port (unless I pack another adapter). I just keep the
mouse in my travel bags with the notebook. Don't
leave home without one.

Downloads for Faster Computing

Now charge up your browser and download these
programs from the ZDNet Software Library:
NetSonic will speed up your Internet connection
whether you have a T3 or a 56K modem. As you read
one page, NetSonic preloads all the links on that page
so that if you click on one, it pops up onscreen
immediately instead of making you wait for that long,
long trip over the Internet. Its smart caching is far
better than the Net cache built into Internet Explorer
and Netscape Navigator. It's free, although for $30
you can get the Pro version, which has some nice
extras.
How many times have you launched a program or a
dial-up connection and then got distracted by Fido
begging for attention? A minute later you look at the
screen expecting to see your homepage, and instead
there's a dialog box waiting for you to click Connect
before it will even begin to think about dialing. This
is infuriating. Why would you have launched the
dial-up connection if you didn't want it to connect?
What you need is Buzof, a terribly handy shareware
program. You tell it which buttons it should click on
all these mindless dialog boxes, and it does the
clicking for you. It can be used with more than dial-up
dialogs. It will save you from Internet time-out
log-offs and banish every other pointless request for
a click without you doing a thing.