Majority of the Internet users including me uses the Google search engine to look for information on the Internet. The Google robot crawling and indexing algorithm is definitely way more advanced if compared to other search engines such as Bing or Yahoo because I tend to get better search results in Google search engine. On the Google search results page, clicking on any links will forward you to the website but it actually has something hidden going on before sending you to the website which is Google tracking what you’ve clicked. Some may argue that this is an invasion of privacy but to me this is still acceptable because they require these data to compute a better ranking algorithm and to improve their search results.

If you move the mouse cursor over to the link on the Google search results, it will show the direct link to the website in your web browser’s status bar but if you copy the link and then paste it to Notepad, you will see that the link contains some random letters and numbers with the direct link somewhere in the middle of the URL. The sample URL below is taken from Google search results when searched for the keyword “raymond.cc”.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCwQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.raymond.cc%2F&ei=fpebT4_7OIjlrAfHodlM&usg=AFQjCNE8SMunoXSWyOJM6pH88FazC1es0g&sig2=TFUL9CP1B01Xkddf8sjUKg

If you look carefully, you will notice that the direct link is in the middle of the URL which I have bolded. The percentage followed by 1 or 2 characters such as %3A are called URL encoding and you can decode them using some online URL decoders to get the full direct link in readable characters.

The amount of Windows applications that don’t need to be installed on your computer is now pretty sizable and growing. Using portable software has a number of advantages and apart from obviously being able to take the software wherever you go, another one is the fact that not installing the software helps keep your registry and system a bit cleaner. The fact that USB sticks and portable hard drives are widely available and the sticks are now ridiculously cheap, more and more users are opting to run portable applications.

The Autorun feature available to USB storage devices has been the subject of virus attacks in recent years, and now on many machines it will be disabled. This can be useful for starting programs up automatically when you plug in the device and is something a lot of users find useful. So without the Windows Autorun, auto opening files or programs on the USB drive is now a manual operation. As usual though, there’s a utility around to do the job.

Most of us end up doing a lot of typing when we use our computers. Whether it’s word processing, creating emails or chatting over social networks. One thing you are quite likely to do, is type common phrases or blocks of text more frequently than others which makes repeatedly entering the same thing again and again a waste of your time and possibly money. It can be quite annoying knowing you have already typed the same thing in multiple times and perhaps in different applications as well, and now you have to do the same again.

If you’re a Microsoft Office user, there is a function called ‘Autotext’ which can insert a common phrase or string of text as you start typing it in, saving a bit of time and keyboard tapping. Unfortunately this is only available when you type common phrases into Word so you have to look elsewhere for a feature like this to be available in all applications.

PhraseExpress is a utility that can do a similar thing to the Autotext function and a lot more besides. It can create macros and text snippets to insert custom text when a specific string abbreviation is entered or a configured hotkey is pressed. It also has an Autocomplete feature that monitors what you type and offers to complete any phrases it recognises you are frequently typing. There is also a number of Text Templates which can be downloaded and imported into the program enabling extra functionality. These include a special functions calculator which can work out sums for you as you type, and a system wide spelling corrector which works with any application.

The other day I decided to upgrade and rebuild my test PC. This is simply a machine I can use for installing and trying out software as well as trying slightly more adventurous things out I wouldn’t, or couldn’t do on my normal machine. Sometimes a virtual machine might do the job, but often there’s no substitute for getting the required tasks done on real hardware for the most accurate results. Some of you will probably have an old second PC or laptop and use it in a similar way.

One thing you do want when using a system that you know is going to have issues, is a complete backup of the operation system. The System Restore option or snapshot software like Comodo Time Machine might get things back running, but there’s nothing like restoring the Windows installation to a known completely clean and stable state.

Bearing that in mind, I made a bootable USB stick and created some backups using EaseUs Todo Backup Workstation. Unfortunately, I put the recovery files on a slow stick and it took forever to boot into the backup software. It was then I remembered that there exists the ability to take an ISO image and get it to boot from hard drive using the Windows Vista and 7 Boot Manager. This would make booting into the recovery environment far quicker and also removes the need to use a CD or plug in a USB stick every time.

Windows is very well known for having a large number of keyboard shortcuts enabling you to do a wide variety of tasks using nothing but the keyboard alone. In fact, a number of people prefer to use the keyboard almost exclusively if they can. Whether it’s working with office software or browsing the web, a combination of hotkeys and keyboard shortcuts can just about get most tasks done. Most of us though tend to rely on the mouse for most things and know of a few selected key combinations. Obviously, the most popular will be Ctrl+Alt+Del for the lock screen, F1 which usually gets some sort of help, the Print Screen key and the Cut, Copy and Paste keys.

Although Windows contains a large amount of them, keyboard shortcuts could be used for a whole lot more and be able to perform much more complex and powerful tasks. As a simple example, I have a Logitech keyboard with a number extra keys for custom keyboard shortcuts. Having used it for several years, I now can’t do without it as things like launching Device Manager or Regedit, putting the screensaver on or turning the screen off, entering email addresses and selected blocks of text are only a key press away.

It sometimes happens that when you’re working away on your PC, perhaps giving it a manual cleanup trying clear out redundant installation left overs, sometimes there will be a file or two that just shouldn’t be there. But when you try to delete, copy or move it, one of the dreaded ‘Cannot delete files: Access is denied’ or ‘The file you’re trying to modify is being used by Windows or other application’ messages pop up. It can be a bit frustrating because quite often there doesn’t appear to be an obvious reason as to why it’s stuck in place and what’s got a hold of it.

These files are called locked files because they are still being used by a Windows process or service and cannot be touched until Windows has finished with the file and it gets released. This can occur straight after a software uninstall when a reboot is needed to complete the process. There is sometimes a way to remove a locked file by renaming it first and then deleting it, and this has worked quite a lot over the years, but more often than not, it won’t.

We are all often told to try and stay security conscious online, and passwords is one of the most important parts of creating a more secure environment for yourself. Different lengths, multiple character types, different login details for every site. This is especially the case when there are multiple users on the same machine.

Personally, I have so many different passwords, that I’d have to sit there with a giant piece of paper every time I wanted to log into a website if it wasn’t for ability to save them on your PC so you don’t have to remember them. These days, most browsers offer to store your login details for you and there are some great dedicated password managers around, such as Lastpass to make filling in forms and logins even easier.