TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

When you first buy your computer, it often comes with a few things already installed. Check out your all programs list, or even better, go to Control Panel, then Add or Remove Programs (a.k.a. Programs and Features on Windows Vista and 7). From here you can not only see all your installed programs, you can also remove unused programs. Any program like a messenger, toolbar, security program, or installation software for a dial-up should probably be removed if you aren’t going to use it. First of all, it’s taking up space on your hard drive that can be used for the programs you actually want, and secondly, these programs are probably starting themselves up every time you turn on your computer. This means that they are using your system resources and possibly even your bandwidth, both unnecessarily.

You may have received a free trial of a security suite, like Norton Antivirus or McAfee. You can certainly use them, at least until you install other security software, but if you don’t upgrade it when the trial runs out, you would definitely want to uninstall it. Programs like these are constantly running and performing maintenance tasks. Again, they are using up your system resources, so try to uninstall any antivirus or anti-spyware programs you don’t want to use. Even if it has “run out” and asking you to upgrade, it’s still using your system resources-not to mention being an annoyance with constant reminders to “renew now!”

Check your system tray for programs that are running on your computer every time it is turned on. It’s in the lower right corner of the screen, just beside your clock. You may see an arrow button that will show you more icons if there are more than 3 or 4 programs running. Each icon in the system tray will tell you what it does if you hover over them with your mouse. You will probably see a volume icon to adjust your sound, an Internet connection icon, and an icon for your antivirus program. You probably have other icons, depending on the type of computer you have and what you have downloaded on your computer.