Zap PC Annoyances, Part 1
Printers, virus scanners, speakers, and venting frustration.Steve Bass
In addition to writing PC World's Home Office column, Steve Bass is the author of "PC Annoyances." Sign up to have Steve Bass's Home Office Newsletter e-mailed to you each week. You can send Steve e-mail, but promise not to annoy him.
For the third year in a row, I've written a PC World feature article about the things that drive me nutso: PC annoyances. It's a cool situation. I find things to kvetch about, a naturally occurring experience in my cynical life, and get paid to write about them. I know, it has the feel of a scam; but the editors keep asking me to write it and I can't turn them down.
The annoyances are in the latest PC World, which looks great in the print edition. The October issue's on newsstands now, and it's available on our Web site.
This week, the next, and the week after, I'll concentrate on ridding you of annoyances and irritations. Not only will I point you to the other articles in this Special Edition, but I'll also pass along the annoyances I had to cut because I ran out of space in the magazine.
Stop Annoying Me!
Right out of the chute, I want you to hear about a big annoyance I have with many Web sites, including PC World's: multiple-page articles. If I see an article that looks interesting, I often want to print it. But some articles go on for two or three pages, forcing me to find and click the "next page" link to continue reading and to print each page separately.
Having to go through that rigmarole for each page I want to print is a royal pain. Then, on top of that, I have to watch as the big, glitzy ads on each page suck my printer's cartridge dry.
Not all sites provide "printer friendly" links on their pages. But when they do, I use it--and it's, as California's governor says, fahn-tastic! Besides allowing easier printing, most printer-friendly pages have fewer ads. (On PC World's site, the words "Printer Friendly Version" appear near the bottom of each article page.)
Printer Tip: If you're like me and recycle paper by printing on the blank side of used sheets, don't use three-hole punched paper. Store bought, pre-punched paper often has a waxy residue left over from when manufacturers drill the holes; the paper you punch is fine. And never use paper that's been through a color laser printer. My Brother laser printer was nearly ruined when the color ink melted while printing. Just trust me on this, okay?
Dig This: The guy's (almost) a marketing genius. He's had coverage all over the Internet. Too bad he didn't put the area code on his truck, eh? [Small image]
How to Fix the Worst Irritations
That's exactly what I offered in the article I wrote: "Enough Already!," a ten-page spread with 26 aggravations, each with a fix. You can read it page by page, or, to avoid being irritated, you can scroll through the "Printer Friendly" version.
I hope you read the article. But if you don't have time for the whole enchilada, here are some favorites to jump to. I assume you're reading the "Printer Friendly" version (you are, right?), so just use your browser's search feature and find "Skip the Registration" for a nifty way to circumvent lengthy registration forms on Web sites. Look for "No-Fuss Backups" for a hardware device that lets you wirelessly back up your entire network. Then zip over to "Good Riddance to Real" to find free replacements for both the Real and QuickTime players.
Another story in the annoyances issue comes from my buddy Scott Spanbauer. He writes the Internet Tips column and also wrote "Keep It Simple," in which he offers 50 tips to help prevent and zap annoyances before they have a chance to get to you. Two that caught my eye include "Slim Down Your Startup" and "Standby to Speedup," both smart ways to reduce startup and shutdown hassles. Another good spot is "System Tray Surgery," a chart with an explanation of the junk you can dump from your system tray, and how to do it.
Two Annoyances (and Fixes)
These two didn't make it into the magazine article--not enough space--and they're irritants I'm guessing some of you have experienced.
The Annoyance: I update and run my antivirus program diligently, and it recently removed two annoying viruses from my Windows XP system. That's great, but subsequent AV program scans found one of the viruses--and couldn't remove it.
The Fix: For this conundrum (no, that's not a virus), I point my finger at XP's System Restore feature, which simply points back at my AV program. The virus was stored in my System Restore folder. The AV program spotted the virus but couldn't get to it--and if you restore your system with a virus-laden restore point, you'll reinfect yourself.
To squash the bug, start by updating your AV program with the latest virus filters and scanning your system to make sure it's squeaky clean. (Don't worry about the virus in the System Restore folder.) Next, remove all of your restore points: Right-click My Computer, select Properties, System Restore, choose Turn Off System Restore, and click Apply. Ignore the dire warnings. Once the System Restore folders are history, repeat the process; but this time turn the Restore functions back on and make a fresh restore point.
The Annoyance: My PC's speaker volume keeps jumping up and down depending on what's playing. When the volume level is just right for music, Windows' system alerts blast me out of my chair. I seem to spend way too much time adjusting the machine's volume. It makes me want to go back to cranking up the old Victrola.
The Fix: You could just move your chair farther back from the PC when the sound gets too loud. A better bet, though, is to keep the Volume Control settings at one consistent level. Double-click the Speaker icon in your system tray to view your volume settings, and change the volume by raising or lowering the level on specific devices.
If you're ready to take your volume control to the next level, however, try ToggleVolume, a neat-o $15 utility that lets you adjust your PC's volume via your mouse wheel and Ctrl key. I used the program to designate a function key that instantly silences my system, and to use the number keypad for changing sound levels.
Dig This: Move your cursor around, rest it on the poor guy's nose, and annoy the dickens out of him. [With thanks to Wes Brockway.] [Flash site] [Editor's note: Bass, you're a sick boy.]