If you followed the steps in my post from August on merging your Outlook and Gmail contacts, you may have ended up with duplicates in your contact lists. Microsoft's advice for deleting duplicate contacts is to sort them by the date modified, Ctrl-select the ones you want to remove, and press delete.
The problem is, the duplicate entries probably aren't identical, so you're almost certain to delete some data along with the dupe. What you need is a way to merge the information in the duplicate contacts. There's no such feature in Outlook, but if you're willing to spend $30, you can make short work of your extraneous Outlook entries by running 4Team's Duplicate Killer for Outlook.
The program deletes or merges duplicate e-mail messages, calendar entries, tasks, and notes in addition to contacts. I tested the program with Outlook 2007 but, according to the vendor, it works with Outlook 2000, XP, and 2003 as well. The new version, 3, is said to work with "Microsoft Exchange type folders including public folders," according to the vendor's Web site, but I ran it on a standalone Outlook installation.
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If it were up to me, I'd never defragment my PC's drives. I'm one of those people who prefers to have Windows' maintenance operations done in the background, without my direct intervention.
So it comes as no surprise that I'm a big fan of Vista's automatic-defrag setting. But I also know better than to put all my faith in Microsoft's ability to keep my system healthy. Last year, I started using Auslogics' free Disk Defrag utility, which works with Windows 2000 and up.
If you prefer to use Windows' defragger, you can open it by pressing the Windows key (or Ctrl-Esc), pressing R (in XP), typing defrag in Vista or dfrg.msc in XP, and pressing Enter. The interface of Vista's Disk Defragmenter is nonexistent; the utility is clearly designed for behind-the-scenes operation. Your only options are to set the defrag schedule, select the volumes to defrag, and run the defragger.
Vista's Disk Defragmenter utility is a no-frills affair.
(Credit: Microsoft)XP's version of the Disk Defragmenter isn't much more functional, although it does give you a little more graphical feedback about the state of your drives.
You get more control over your disk defrags by running Windows' defragger utility from a command prompt and entering command switches that modify its actions. Start by opening a command-prompt window. One way is by pressing the Windows key (or Ctrl-Esc), pressing R (in XP), typing cmd, and pressing Enter. Or click Start > All Programs > Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and select Run as administrator.
At the command prompt, type defrag ? to see a list of available command switches. In both XP and Vista, you can add -a to the "defrag" command to analyze the drive only, -f to force a defrag with less than 15 percent free space, -b to defrag only boot files, and -v to show a "verbose" report of the defrag.
Vista adds a couple of other switches: -i defrags even when the PC isn't idle, -c works on all drives, and -w processes chunks of files smaller than 64MB; without this switch, Vista's defragger ignores all file fragments smaller than 64MB.
Type defrag ? at a command prompt and press Enter to see a list of available command switches.
(Credit: Microsoft)For example, to defrag all your Vista volumes regardless of fragment size and when there's less than 15 percent free space, enter this line at the command prompt and then press Enter:
defrag -c -w -f
The utility will display a report on the selected volumes prior to beginning the defragmentation.
Windows defrag utility will show a report on the selected volumes prior to defragmenting the drives.
(Credit: Microsoft)Unfortunately, defrags run from a command prompt aren't any faster than those conducted via the graphical interface. That's the biggest advantage of specialty defrag programs such as Auslogics' Disk Defrag, which is much speedier than the defragger in Windows.
The fact is, Vista's automated defrags were doing a great job of keeping my disk space nice and compact. I didn't notice much of a performance improvement after I manually defragged my Vista PC, but the defrag did wonders for my ancient XP box, which I admit I had neglected to defrag for many months.
The other day, I was talking to a guy who wanted a PC but didn't want Vista. He asked me how long he would have to wait for new PCs running Windows 7. When I told him that such systems were still several months away, he indicated that he'd buy a machine from a company that let you "downgrade" Vista to XP.
I didn't say anything, but part of me thought he was crazy. I'll take Vista over XP any day of the week. Not having to run a disk-defrag utility is only one of the reasons why. (Yes, I know you can automate disk defrags in XP via Scheduled Tasks, as Microsoft explains in this Knowledge Base article, but doing so is too much hassle for the average Windows user.)
Windows XP users can't get no respect. A couple of weeks ago, Microsoft announced that it would no longer offer free support for XP, apart from critical security patches. XP machines are much more likely than Vista systems to be infected with a virus, according to a recent Microsoft Security Intelligence Report.
And dis of disses, Microsoft delayed patching the AutoRun glitch in XP (and Windows Server 2003) until last February, more than six months after the same hole was plugged in Vista and Server 2008.
But just because Microsoft believes XP has outlived its usefulness doesn't mean you have to find a fresher OS. There's plenty of life left in your XP machines, though keeping XP hale and hearty is now up to users more than ever.
Get help with XP security
Usually, I would direct you to Microsoft's XP Security and Privacy page, but frankly, there's not much there besides ads for Microsoft security products. The company hasn't even bothered to update the page since Service Pack 2.
You'll find a much more comprehensive look at XP security issues at the Secure XP guide provided by Comcast. (Just be sure to skip the ads that appear at the top of the page.) The guide includes links to such useful free utilities as GRC Shields Up!, Autoruns, TCPView, and Process Explorer.
Find answers to XP-related problems
Your first stop when seeking solutions to Windows XP glitches is Kelly's Korner, which features extensive FAQs, performance tweaks, and links to several support sites and forums. I tend to shy away from the site's Registry tweaks and other scripts, but if you're more adventurous than I am, you'll find hundreds of ways to customize your XP configuration. Just remember to back up (there's information on that, too).
The Microsoft Help and Support site provides help diagnosing XP start-up problems. The page includes about a dozen links to other Knowledge Base articles on solving XP problems, including identifying mystery Device Manager entries and curing standby, hibernate, and shutdown woes.
Another great resource for anyone trying to get XP back on track is the CNET Windows XP forum, which you can browse for posts relating to your particular problem. However, considering that there are close to 33,000 separate threads on the forum, you may want to use its search feature instead. Just enter your term in the search box at the top of the screen and choose either All CNET Forums or within this forum in the drop-down menu to the right.
Improve XP's performance
An operating system as old as XP is bound to get a little crotchety in its old age. You can bring back some of the OS' youthful vigor by clearing out the cobwebs. Unfortunately, many so-called XP performance tweaks are more trouble than they're worth. The How-To Geek debunks many of the so-called speedup tips that are anything but.
As you might expect, Microsoft provides advice on enhancing XP's performance on its Help and Support site. The page includes a Guided Help download that promises to automate the tweak process. I prefer the page's manual instructions, myself. There's another nice collection of XP speedup tips on BlackViper.com's Super Tweaks for Windows XP.
One debatable performance tweak for XP and every other operating system is defragmenting your hard disk. Just last week, I received yet another pitch from a disk-defrag vendor promising faster disk accesses. Is the time spent running a disk-defragger utility worth it? That's a subject for a future post.
I wouldn't give you a nickel for all the system tools that come with Windows. That's because I can replace them with programs that do the job better without spending even that much.
Start with the firewall, which most people would consider an indispensable piece of software. Windows Defender's firewall is better than none at all, but not by much. Of the free alternatives, my favorite is the Comodo Firewall Pro. I described why and how I switched from ZoneAlarm to Comodo in a post from last February.
Since that time, I replaced the Comodo firewall and all my other free security apps with a commercial security suite. For me, the convenience of a single security program is worth paying for.
However, I recognize that many people will gladly put up with maintaining several individual apps if they can save a few dollars. For them, Comodo's a good firewall choice. Popular antivirus programs that are free for home use are AVG, Avira AntiVir, Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, ESET NOD32, and Avast.
Top-rated spyware blockers include Ad-Aware, Spybot Search and Destroy, and Spyware Blaster.
Plenty of better browsers
Internet Explorer 7 has been a big improvement over IE 6, and early reports are that IE 8 will be a big step up from the current release. But Internet Explorer isn't even my fifth favorite browser, trailing (in no particular order) Firefox, Opera, SeaMonkey, Chrome, and Safari.
I acknowledge that some people have to use Internet Explorer--maybe their organization requires it--but the rest of us have no excuse for limiting ourselves to a single browser. The NoScript add-on (donationware) that lets you block scripts in Firefox is reason enough to use that browser. IE has nothing to compare with it.
One-step cleanup tool is the multitasking champ
I'm surprised that so many PC users don't know about Piriform's CCleaner (donationware), which does the job of about a half-dozen Windows applets. Along with a disk cleaner, you get a program uninstaller, a start-up manager, and a Registry checker.
CCleaner clears the clutter from your drive and performs other system tasks with aplomb.
(Credit: Piriform)You have to exercise a little restraint the first few times you run CCleaner, which empties your Recycle Bin, clears your Internet history, and performs other irreversible system chores. Still, I've been using CCleaner for several years and haven't had any problems with the program yet.
A new alternative for shoring up your drive's sectors
In a post from last March, I described the free Disk Defrag utility from Auslogics. My new favorite free disk defragger is another Piriform product, Defraggler (donationware). The program recovered 20GB of lost space on my laptop's 200GB hard drive, though in my unscientific tests it seemed to take longer to complete the defragmentation than it does when using Disk Defrag. This might indicate that Defraggler's doing a more thorough job, but maybe not.
The Defraggler disk defragger provides more info than Windows' built-in defragger.
(Credit: Piriform)You can also defrag from a command prompt. To open a command prompt in Vista, press the Windows key, type cmd, and press enter. In XP, click Start > Run, type cmd, and press Enter. The Vista Forums provide a detailed explanation of the many options you have when you defrag the DOS way.
Some people claim defragging does nothing to speed up your system. Even though my notebook wasn't necessarily low on disk space, I'll take that recovered 20GB any day.
Freebies for inveterate system tweakers only
Sysinternals, which is now part of Microsoft, offers a solid lineup of utilities for digging deep into Windows' darkest corners. Two of my favorites are Process Explorer and its cousin, Process Monitor. Once you get a handle on the information they present, the programs give you as complete a glimpse inside Windows--in real time--as you'll find anywhere.
On Monday, I described Vaita's free Outlook Duplicate Items Remover, an add-on that finds duplicate copies of Outlook messages, contacts, calendar entries, and tasks. Now, I'll continue to trim my bloated Outlook in-box by using another freebie: the Kopf Outlook Attachment Remover created by Bruno Marotta.
After you download the program and restart Outlook, you see a floating Attachment Remover toolbar that you can drag and dock at the top of the screen along with all the other toolbars to keep it from blocking your view. Click the toolbar's one-and-only button to open the program's one-and-only dialog box.
The Kopf Outlook Attachment Remover shrinks your in-box by storing attachments in a separate folder and placing links to the files in the original messages.
(Credit: Kopf/Bruno Marotta)You can choose the folder to scan for attachments, the type of files to remove, the size limit (the default setting is to remove all file attachments more than 10KB in size), the folder to place the attachments in, and whether to replace the file with a link or text message, or to simply remove it.
The add-on will recreate the structure of the folders and subfolders you scan, but I wish it offered a way to separate attachments by file type or by sender prior to the scan. This would let me detach all the PDFs from my boss, for example.
Since Outlook Attachment Remover is donationware, be sure to drop a couple of bills in the hat if you find the program beneficial.
Wednesday: tweak the Registry to return missing icons to the system tray.
The new year is fast approaching. What better time to give your system a good scrubbing? The best tool I've found for taking out the digital garbage is Piriform's CCleaner. (Quick tip: Click the "Alternative Download" link, not the FileHippo.com link above it. For some reason, the FileHippo page links to a download for a program I never heard of.)
Read this before you install CCleaner! By default, the program wants to add the Yahoo Toolbar to your browser. This lets you run CCleaner from the browser, but I suggest you uncheck that option in the program's installation wizard and instead choose to add a shortcut to CCleaner on your Recycle Bin right-click menu.
There are a couple of things you might want to do before you launch the utility. First, run Windows Update (or Microsoft Update if you use Office or other Microsoft apps). Then open the Add/Remove Programs applet in Control Panel (Vista calls it Programs and Features) and uninstall any apps you no longer use. Updates and uninstalls are the sources of many orphan files and Registry entries that do nothing but take up space on your hard drive and generally get in the way.
Once your system is updated, right-click the Recycle Bin on your desktop or in Windows Explorer and choose Open CCleaner. With the Cleaner option selected in the left pane (it's the default), check the locations you want to clean, or uncheck the folders that the program checks automatically, under both the Windows and Applications tabs. Then click Run Cleaner.
Choose the locations in Windows and your applications that you want CCleaner to scour.
Next, choose the Registry button in the left pane, and click Scan for Issues. When the scan finishes, Select Fix selected issues, and then choose Yes when you're asked if you want to back up changes to the Registry. That way if something goes haywire, you can simply double-click your Registry backup (it's named "cc" plus the date and time) to restore things to their pre-scan state. Once you're back in CCleaner, you can either fix the "issues" one at a time, or all at once by selecting Fix All Selected Issues. Click OK at the warning, and then Close.
CCleaner's Tools option lets you uninstall programs or Startup items, but you don't get any more information about the items listed than you do when you use Windows' own uninstall and startup options.
Technically, CCleaner is donationware, not freeware. If you didn't drop a couple-few dollars in Piriform's Paypal account when you downloaded the program, and you find yourself using it more than once or twice, consider returning to the company's site to make a donation. That's the best way I know of to keep great tools like CCleaner available in the future.
Monday: Use Web tools without sacrificing your privacy.
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