Technology

Tips To Keep Your Computer Fast And Efficient

BOSTON (WBZ) ― Michael Ruth is a full-time teacher and coach and a part time DJ. Between synching his schedules, emailing game times, working on his electronic grade book and uploading music, he has not time to waste waiting for his computer to load. "I would love to find different ways to make it a bit faster," he said.

PC World editor Robert Strohmeyer says there are a lot of things we do online that can be done more efficiently.

Tip number one: Don't send photos and video files by e-mail. Instead, use an Internet file sharing service. "Sharing large files through an online service like YouSendIt.com or YouTube is great because they let you send up to 100 megabytes of information without having to clog up anybody's e-mail," he said.

Tip number two: Get your news from one source. Instead of visiting a handful of Web sites, sign up for a service like Google Reader or Bloglines. "It aggregates news from a variety of sources around the world," Strohmeyer said.

Tip number three: Put your phone to work. Online Calendars are a great way to keep track of schedules, and you don't even need your computer. Outlook and Google calendars can be set up to send text message alerts to your cell phone. "Any old phone, even an older one that doesn't support much in the way of calendar functions can support calendars, as long as it receives text messages," Strohmeyer explained.

Tip number four: Making music easier. Making a music mix can be time consuming, transferring all those songs from playlists to your mp3 player. But Srohmeyer says there is an easier way. "By trading some of your favorite tunes into a single playlist and then right clicking on it and choosing burn playlist to CD," he said.

Strohmeyer says there are all kinds of other online tools that can help you save time. Gmappedometer.com will help you calculate a jogging or bike route before you leave the house.

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