Please try to stifle your yawns. I'm sure you have heard of Spybot
Search & Destroy, and I'm sure you're saying that you already have a
perfectly decent program to track down spyware. That's fine. But you
need to check out Spybot for two reasons. The first is that no
single antispyware program is enough; I use four, myself, because I
haven't yet found one that can catch all the insidious, constantly
morphing, beastly programs determined to pester me until I pay for a
video of Britney Spears getting out of a car.
Even if you're already using Spybot, you may need it in a way you're
not aware of, because the program's creators hide one of its best
features. They even try to scare you away from this feature with
warnings of computer disasters, lost data, locusts, and earthquakes.
This secret feature is the ability to edit which programs and
services launch when you boot your PC. Other programs give you the
same ability, but what sets Spybot above the others is that it
provides an explanation and recommendation as to whether most of the
programs really need to be there sucking up memory. Without that
information, most of us are left staring at program names written in
computer gobbledygook and wondering if we should chance a plague of
locusts. Be brave: Damn the locusts and take command of your
startup. To download(Free Program), go to:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,22262-order,1-page,1/description.html
Windows thoughtfully gives you a PrintScreen function so at least
one of the orphan keys at at the upper right of your keyboard has
some reason for being. But Windows' PrintScreen is another example
of software underachieving, as it gives you only a full-screen
capture in .bmp format. Like anybody uses .bmp anymore.
Here's a better choice: HyperSnap. A screen shot of your desktop--in
any graphics format you can think of and several you can't--is only
part of what HyperSnap can offer. You set up hot-keys so that with a
single, deft touch you can trigger image captures of individual
windows, a region you select or several regions at the same time,
any controls or toolbars, entire browser screens (including the part
that hangs below screen level), or a single button. Once you have
your screen shot, HyperSnap provides the tools to annotate it with
text, arrows, circles, stamps, and more than you need, really. It
also will capture text in error messages and other dialog boxes that
usually resist being transformed into words you can actually use.
If you have to create instructions, document errors, or just
illustrate online stories about 14 great programs people didn't know
they needed, HyperSnap is the way to go. To download(Free Demo, $35
Program), go to:
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,4561-order,1-page,1/description.html