As Jon already pointed out, today is Clean Out Your Computer Day, which makes it the perfect time to review some useful applications and routines for spring cleaning your Windows computer. That said, I hope you don’t limit these routines to one single day every year; all computers can benefit largely from frequent cleaning sessions, in terms of drive space, speed and performance. Here we go!

1. If you install new software apps quite often, you should probably check the list of installed programs on your system and start cleaning there. Ask yourself whether you still need that 500 MB program you haven’t used lately, and don’t be afraid to uninstall anything you don’t need anymore.

2. After months browsing the web, your browser history files and cache memory will have surely reached a huge size. Trim those down the easy way by using the browser’s own history manager (Tools > Clear Recent History in Firefox) or using a third-party app such as Free Windows Sweeper.

3. Check the folder where you save all the files you download from the web, and make sure you clean them up. Keeping a program’s executable file after it’s been installed is just a waste of space!

4. Use disk analysis tools like SpaceSniffer to locate the largest files and folders on your system, and decide whether you need to keep them or not. Maybe it would be a good idea to store those gigabytes of old photos somewhere else…

5. Last but not least, use your favorite cleaning tool to get rid of any other additional junk data your computer has been storing in the background, such as Windows temporary files, recent document lists, log files and more.

These are by no means the only tips we’ve we’ve got about computer spring cleaning. If all this isn’t enough for you, check our previous posts about how to recover hard drive space, five tools to clean up your computer, cleaning tips for a faster PC, how to free up disk space with Scanner, how to use a USB memory device to clean your PC and how to configure advanced options in CCleaner.

What about you? Do you have any other personal routines for computer maintenance?

Because they’re amazing, you might think you never have to think about spring cleaning your Mac, but it’s still a good idea to keep things in order. The second Tuesday of February is Clean Out Your Computer Day, so today’s a good day to start!

There are some myths about optimizing your system, and perhaps the most damaging is that of cache cleaning. Tools like Cache Out X will find and ‘clean’ your various caches, some of which may look pretty big. While that may save you disk space for a few moments, it’s a bad idea. Cache files in OSX are created precisely to speed up performance, so if you delete them, the system will have to recreate them, actually slowing you down!

That’s not to say there aren’t things you can do, so here’s some good advice:

1: If your browser is slow, perhaps it’s time to delete its history, cache and cookies? A year’s worth of browsing with a saved history and cache will seriously decrease efficiency. Instead of relying on the history, bookmark your favorite sites, then hit clean (File>Delete Cache in Safari, Tools>Clear Recent History in Firefox).

2: If you’re running any OSX up to 10.5 (Leopard), and you turn off your Mac at night, there are some scripts that perform clean up tasks automatically in the early hour of the morning - they clear up any unnecessary log files and system cache. Left in sleep mode, they’ll run when you wake up the computer but if you turn off your Mac they won’t. You can’t do any harm by running these scripts anyway, and doing so is really simple:

Open Terminal (look in Applications>Utilities) and enter the following text exactly: sudo periodic daily weekly monthly. You’ll then be asked for your system password - enter it, and hit return. You won’t see anything happening, but it will finish when the blinking prompt reappears.

3: Run Disk Utility. Found in Applications>Utilities again, this will just make sure your directories are in order, and keep things running smoothly. It’s easy to use - click on your Hard drive in the Disk Utility window, then click Verify Disk, wait for the process to finish the click Repair. Repeat for Verify Disk Permissions. It may not speed your system up, but it won’t do any harm.

4: Clean out your folders. Over time it’s easy to let your pictures, documents and downloads folders get messy. Take time every month to clear them out. It makes finding things easier, and will free up some hard drive space. Go through your applications folder and delete apps you never use - they’re a waste of space!

Do you have any other cleaning routines?

We’re big fans of Twitter here at Softonic, so I was surprised when I realized that we haven’t actually written a post about the best clients for PC. Well, fret no more, because I’m about to remedy the situation. Read on…

Echofon is a great option for serious tweeters. Although it seems to get uglier with every release, it’s still the OnSoftware team’s first choice. It integrates into Firefox, doesn’t take up much room, and makes it easy to post and switch between Twitter accounts. Try it!

Saezuri is equally light and flexible, but this app operates from your desktop, not the browser. It has pretty much the same features as Echofon, so if you like the sound of the add-on but don’t use Firefox, this is the client for you.

DestroyTwitter is guaranteed to make an impact. Scary name aside, it’s also a powerful Twitter client. A member of the AIR family, this sleek black app uses tabs to keep your tweets, contacts and messages under control.

Twhirl is the perfect solution if you want something even lighter. Fast, easy to use, but fully-featured, this AIR application is a great option. It also allows you to customize the interface and update frequency, as well as having support for various accounts.

TweetDeck is probably the most popular Twitter app on Softonic. It’s quite a looker and has lots of features, making it almost as good as using Twitter directly. It also integrates into Facebook and MySpace, but it isn’t weighed down by the extra functionality.

Seesmic Desktop is a tool you often see on twitter rankings, but it doesn’t make my top ten. Although it is a perfectly useful Twitter client, it also has a lot of additional non-Twitter related features. If you do want one app for all your social media needs, check out Sobees, AlertThingy or Yoono Desktop. They all do a similar job, but are more streamlined and nicer to use.

I have to say I started using bookmarklets only a few months ago, but since then they’ve saved me a lot of time and certainly hundreds of clicks. Now, what exactly is a bookmarklet? In plain English, it could be defined as a small application stored as a bookmark on your web browser. When clicked, a bookmarklet can perform a variety of actions, usually involving the website you’re currently visiting and the service the bookmarklet is linked to.

There are literally dozens of bookmarklets available on the Web. Most online tools, web apps and social networks nowadays include a bookmarklet to make them easier and faster to use. I’ve created a list with the most popular and useful bookmarklets I’ve come across, but feel free to add more in comments!

• Convert any web page to PDF with PDFmyURL

• Make web pages more comfortable to read

• Share videos, links and music on Facebook

• Shorten URLs for easier sharing with bit.ly or tr.im

• Add anything you see online to your Amazon Wishlist

• Share interesting links more easily on Delicious

• Make microblogging simpler with Posterous or Tumblr

• Create a printer-friendly version of any web page

• Send any web content to your Kindle in one click

• Locate an address on Google Maps right away

I’m planning to visit Japan this year, and as part of my preparations for the trip I’d like to learn a bit of Japanese – at least some basic words and sentences to move around the country. Before starting with vocabulary though, you must learn the two Japanese alphabets, hiragana and katakana; luckily there are dozens of online resources that can help you with this task. The only thing you need to do is configuring your computer to display Japanese characters, and you’ll be ready to go!

Setting up Windows XP to display Japanese – and other Asian languages – properly involves a bit of tweaking, and requires the Windows XP CD as well. Simply follow these steps:

1. Open the Control Panel (Start menu > Control Panel)

2. Click the Regional and Language Options icon and go to the Languages tab. Tick the Install files for East Asian Languages option and hit OK. Follow on-screen instructions and insert the Windows XP CD when prompted.

3. Once the installation is finished, and after the correspondent system restart, go back to the same dialog window mentioned before and in the Languages tab, click the Details button. Read the rest of this entry »

If you’re looking for PDF utilities, you’ve got plenty of choice if you want to open and view without paying a fortune. What’s not so easy is creating and editing them, a problem that leads lots of users to avoid this handy file format altogether.

Just remember: creating PDFs may not be as easy as creating other types of document, but there are still lots of tools that will help you get the job done!

Creating PDFs is most easily achieved by using a PDF ‘printer’ like PDFCreator. Once installed, this program appears like another printer on your printer list. You create the document in your usual Windows application and once you are ready to turn it into a PDF, send it to the PDFCreator printer. This tool will convert your document into a portable, professional PDF, while PdfFactory Pro and Bullzip PDF Printer will do the same job.

What if you have a PDF that you’d like to edit or a form you need to fill in? This one’s a bit harder, as there are very few free apps that do the job well. Obviously there are master programs designed specifically for the purpose, but unless you have a spare $500, you can kiss that option goodbye.

If you have just one document that you want to modify, the trial versions of programs like PDFill PDF Editor and PDF Suite will do the job. If you need a less limiting - and free - option, PDF-XChange Viewer will give you plenty of editing powers. Also bear in mind that some office suites, such as OpenOffice, have PDF functionality built in.

As a final option, you could give online editors like PDF Hammer and PDFescape a try. Just remember that these tools get mixed reviews and only offer basic editing tools, especially in the case of PDF Hammer.

The context menu is usually a shorter and quicker way to access specific system tasks, like copying and pasting, deleting, renaming or checking the file’s properties. It’s also used by many programs to insert shortcuts to their main functions, and while this comes handy for most people, it may also end up turning Windows context menu into a real mess.

If your context menu is already so long that it takes you a few seconds to show it up, it’s time to jump into action. Here’s a list of apps that will help you clean messy context menus by removing obsolete entries, and also make them more useful with new functionality.

• JDContextMenu - This app adds twelve handy new features to your context menu, and lets you freely arrange them to suit your needs.
• Mmm Free - Easily get rid of all the options in the context menu you rarely or never use. It’ll make context menus faster to load and easier to use.
• Context Magic - Adds new commands to the context menu in Windows that make file management more comfortable. Perfect for heavy mouse users!
• Context Menu Editor - Remove all context menu entries you don’t need in just two clicks. Bear in mind you’re just deleting the menu entry, not the program it links to.
• FileMenu Tools - Create a sub-list to the context menu with a bunch of handy utilities. You can remove the ones you don’t use, rearrange them and create submenus and separators to adapt the context menu to your neeeds.

Windows: Download managers may not be as necessary as they were in the modem era, but they’re undoubtedly a handy tool for download addicts. FlashGet proves to be one of the best download managers out there, with great features such as support for Torrent an eMule files, scheduled downloads, and clipboard and web browser monitoring, among others.

iPhone: If you’re a Photoshop addict then why not try out the new iPhone version of the app, Photoshop.com Mobile. It’s by no means a fully-featured editing suite, but what it does do is to allow you to quickly and easily tweak photos on the move, through an excellent interface based around touch gestures. This latest update adds support for video playback.

Mac: kJams (formerly known as kTunes) can Rip, Mix, Play and Burn CD+G format discs in a very easy to use iTunes style interface. kJams allows you to create playlists, sort tracks by name, artist, album etc and much more. If you’ve already ripped some MP3+G files, kJams allows you to import them along with standard formats such as QuickTime, KAR, MIDI and Vorbis.

Deleting files by mistake is one of the most stupid things you can do with a computer. Actually, it may be the most stupid one. Because Windows always asks for confirmation, because you have time to check and double check before clicking “Yes”, because you still have the Recycle Bin to use as last resource… but we’re human, and most of us end up deleting files by accident at some point in our lives. This is why it’s great to have a program like Recuva.

Recuva helps you recover accidentally deleted files, whether they are photos from your last holiday trip or an important essay due next week for your Literature course. It’s a completely free app, created by the same guys who developed CCleaner, that scans your hard drive in search of lost files – because, in case you didn’t know, deleted files are not actually deleted; they’re simply “marked as deleted”. This means that if you have the right tool – and believe me, Recuva is simply brilliant – chances are you’ll be able to recover those files. Read the rest of this entry »

Today’s Symbian smartphones are more like digital swiss army knives. They arm you with tools for listening to music, browsing the web, watching videos, and managing your files. However, as you’ve probably noticed to your frustration before, not all Symbian phones support all formats. This means you can have all manner of problems opening multimedia, accessing web content, or viewing files you’ve transferred from your computer. Help is at hand though, and there are a few crucial add-ons you should download and install in order to improve your smartphone experience. Here’s a quick run-through of what you need.

Video

If you have downloaded movies in DivX format then you might be wondering how to watch them on your phone. The answer is simple: install DivX Player Mobile. The program lets you watch DivX, AVI or MPEG movies in the player window or in full-screen mode. Control elements such as Play, Pause, Stop, Fast Forward and Rewind, as well as the volume can be controlled easily via buttons.

Another very popular video add-on is SmartMovie. It’s getting a bit long in the tooth now, and the interface looks very dated. However, it’s perfect for cropping and shrinking movie files to be stored and played on your phone. It also helps you install codecs onto your device that let you play video files you wouldn’t otherwise be able to.

Nokia Video Converter is also a massively popular app, and is designed to take care of all your video conversion needs. The app is designed to convert movies from popular files formats and DVDs in just a few clicks, preserving picture and sound quality as best it can. The application’s interface is very clearly labeled with large buttons for adding video, adding DVD, playing, and converting.

Read the rest of this entry »

Windows: Firefox releases are something we always look forward to. The all new Firefox 3.6 brings a handful of new features and enhancements that will improve your user experience and web browsing: support for full screen HTML5 videos, better Javascript performance, the latest Gecko engine and seamless integration with Personas.

iPhone: Exchanging contact details with someone is a notoriously annoying process. It normally involves rummaging around for business cards or frantically trying to remember your own phone number. Thanks to Bump these days could soon be behind us. This innovative app (which, incidentally was the billionth app downloaded from the App Store) allows you to exchange contact information simply by bumping into another iPhone.

Mac: Virtual DJ is a complete music mixing application for your desktop, allowing you to dump your vinyl turntables for a laptop. Looking like a classic DJ set-up, with a mixer and two decks, Virtual DJ will be instantly accessible to DJs and newcomers alike. There’s a BPM counter to help you judge transitions between tracks, and the visual wave display also helps to cue up your music so that you sound like a pro.

You may have seen icons like these ones before. Don’t worry, there’s nothing wrong with your computer.  They just indicate that there’s some kind of problem with that specific file type: either you don’t have the appropriate application to open it, or the file extension hasn’t been associated yet – that is, Windows doesn’t know which program to use to open them, even if it’s already installed on your system.

Fixing this issue is easier than it seems: it only takes a couple of minutes and doesn’t require extended computer knowledge. All you have to do is double click the file as if you were actually going to open it and the system will display a dialog window asking you which program should be used. The question has two possible answers:

Read the rest of this entry »

Touch DJ is a recently-approved MP3 mixing app for the iPhone. At $19.99 it’s certainly not cheap, but it’s one of the most impressive apps I’ve ever seen for Apple’s device.

Really convincing you that the iPhone is a powerful little computer, Touch DJ is almost as good as desktop mixing applications. Currently in version 1.0, it’s missing a BPM counter and the library has to be imported - it can’t access your iTunes library. Nevertheless, it makes incredible use of the minimal real estate on the iPhone. There’s a wealth of useful information on screen, but it doesn’t feel cluttered.

To get around the fact you can’t pre-listen to tracks while playing, Touch DJ uses innovative ‘visual mixing’ to allow syncing of your tracks. Bass sounds are highlighted on the moving waves, and the beat makes them flash. Using this you can - with some practice - beat match very well and do some impressive mixes. There are also effects, spins and the touch interface means manipulating tracks feels very tactile.

It’s not a magic DJ tool - you still need practice and it’s essential to know your tracks back to front to mix them well, but just the fact there is such a complete application on the iPhone is amazing. Read my review here, and check it out at the iTunes store.

Last year I received the best birthday gift ever: an ebook reader. For someone who likes reading as much as me, and can’t help buying more books all the time, having an ebook is almost a basic need. And for those of you also own an ebook reader, Calibre is definitely a must-have app.

Calibre is like iTunes for ebooks. It’s a cross-platform, feature-rich manager that helps you organize your collection of ebooks in a snap, adding the ebooks from your hard drive folder, downloading their metadata from the Web and displaying them in a handy list – though you can also view your collection in a flashier, Coverflow-like style. Read the rest of this entry »

So you’ve listened to the warnings and read the horror stories, but you’ve still come back for more. You must be a brave soul, because CCleaner’s advanced options are pretty scary.

I’ll say it again, while CCleaner will positively shout it - don’t use the Advanced options unless you are very, very sure that you know what you are doing. These options are precisely the tools that could do some serious damage to your system if used wrongly. Bearing this in mind, let’s go through what some of these Advanced bits actually do.

Advanced

Old Prefetch Data - this is actually a controversial option. Pre-fetch files are basically parts of programs that Windows caches (’pre-fetches’) so they are easily accessible when needed. Some people argue that over time the function becomes overcrowded, hence the need to delete. Others argue that Windows deletes them automatically, so there is no need. Nobody seems to be able to agree, so this one is completely in your own hands.

Menu Order Cache - this is where Windows stores information about the items that appear or have appeared in your Start menu. As CCleaner warns, any custom preferences will be reset, although nothing will actually be removed.

Tray Notifications Cache - again, where Windows stores information about the items that appear or have appeared in the Tray Menu. If you have any special set-up, it will be reset. Read the rest of this entry »