You know what the slow part of your data processor is , the one that really holds you back ? You . Our friendsat Laptop Magare here to teach you how to overclock yourself , admit how much fourth dimension you ’ll hold open — down to the second .
There ’s nothing more soul - suction than ride there pick your earwax while you watch Windows 7′s blue doughnut of fire . Yet , to be fair , your pitiable laptop spends a lot more metre waiting for you to act than you waste watching it charge applications , reboot up or finishing processing .
Fortunately , you may tighten the human bottleneck if you take just a few simple whole tone that will double your personal processing great power . To show the benefits of overclocking yourself , I ’ve put my occlusion watch where my mouth is and immortalize the amount of time you ’ll save by following each of my tips . Sure , you may only save a few seconds by using a particular shortcut , but those moment really add up , particularly when you ’re do wads of similar actions every hour .
1. Assign Keyboard Shortcuts to Favorite Apps
Any prison term you have to roll your black eye pointer across the screen , you ’re wasting precious milliseconds of your life that you ’ll never have again . Just conceive of that your pointer is sitting in the upper correct corner of the screen and you have to roam it all the way over to the Start button , dawn to open up the menu and then navigate your elbow room through the folders , just to find and set in motion PowerPoint . That ’s 5.46 neutralize seconds , harmonise to our estimation .
However , if you assign a keyboard shortcut to the lotion , you’re able to launch it in under .5 endorsement , the amount of meter it takes to reach a combo like CTRL + ALT + C. To assign a live cay to an program , simply right get through on its shortcut ikon , select attribute , clack the shortcut tab , and then enter some combination of CTRL + ALT + ( Letter or Number ) into the Shortcut key box seat . To make remembering them easy , I recommend using letter that match the name of the software system you want to load up . For deterrent example , assign CTRL + ALT + W to Microsoft Word .
Time saved : 5 second per app open
[ 5 Things to Look for in Your Next Notebook Keyboard ]
2. Use Macros to Enter Frequently-typed Text
If you have something you typewrite oft such as “ heartfelt PR crony , For the 100th meter , I ’m a tech journalist . I do n’t embrace the Oak Ridge Boys . Now please go away , ” you could reach that with just one fundamental stroking rather than 17 irregular of touch typing . Even if you ’re just recruit your email reference , you ’ll save a in force 3 mo .
A number of programs permit you to assign text to hot keystone , butQuick Pasteis my favourite , because it ’s altogether free and very easy to utilise . After downloading Quick Paste , be sure to select “ bug out with Windows ” from the # Options carte and “ minimise to tray if stuffy ” so that it will always hunt down in the backcloth .
Time Saved : 17 seconds more or less .
3. Employ a Password Manager to Log in for You
There are few bigger time suck than remembering oodles of dissimilar username / password combo and typing them in every time you need to sign in to your electronic mail client , societal media service , favorite shopping site or bank invoice . And while you could use the same simple curing of certification everywhere , that lead you wide undecided to hacking and personal identity stealing .
The fastest and most secure way to typecast in your login credentials is with a password manager like the entirely - liberal and popularKeePass . With this service program , you’re able to keep all your credential in a single encrypted key file and then go under the plan to type them into any form , online or offline , when you hit a cay like CTRL + ALT + A. A number ofKeePass pluginsallow you to keep your password file synchronise across multiple computers and to integrate it with your web web browser for even fast entanglement logins .
Time Saved : 4 s to 5 Minutes per login , depending on your foresightful - term retentiveness .
[ interlock Down Your logarithm - in : 6 Password Managers to Protect Your account ]
4. Get Social Networking and Email Notifications Without Loading a Single Web Page
If you ’re like me , you need to know right away when someone cite you on a social internet and you need to have it off about every email the second it arrives . However , you run off precious minute every time you pilot to your accounts just to see if you ’ve take anything new .
I commend set up some web browser extension service that will alarm you the instant you get a new subject matter , even if you do n’t have the World Wide Web page for that service open . Though you could get some plug - IN for Firefox and IE that provide some alerts , Chrome browser app puts your alert icons in the most prominent place , right next to its destination barroom .
For Chrome , I recommend the following annexe :
Facebook Notifications
Google+ apprisal
OWA Chrome Companion(for Exchange email )
Google Mail Notifier
Twitter Notifier
Time Saved : 30 seconds every 5 to 10 minutes ( or however often you would have been overpoweringly oblige to discipline your accounts ) .
[ Facebook vs. Google + : Which Social web is Best ? ]
5. Use Dual Monitors and Aero Snap to View Several Windows at Once
Most of us ask several windows open at once to do our study . If you ’re writing a report in Word and need to glint at the designation your Bos sent via email , check the solvent of a calculation in Exel , and seize some additional information from a website , you ’ll have at least four windows you really need to look at . If you may only outfit one of these windows on the screen door at a time , you ’ll expend an eternity shift between them . Pivoting your eye balls from one side of the desktop to another is infinitely faster than moving your pointer or hitting a key .
To write clip , render putting more windows next to each other on - screen . Hit Window Key + lead on one window and Window Key + Right on another to snap two applications right next to each other . add together a second monitor to give you more window on the screen at once or two windows run at full screen . TheLenovo ThinkVision LT1421portable monitor lizard is a great second screen for laptop user on the go , because it press less than 3 pounds and is power by USB .
Time Saved : 1.5 to 2 seconds per window switch , which adds up to several bit per hour .
6. Learn How to Touch Type Faster
If you ca n’t typecast without calculate at the keyboard and using all 10 finger’s breadth , you need to see touch modality typing . Every time you posture there pecking at the keys , your computer is secretly express mirth at you and texting all its friends on the internet to say them what kind of noob it has caressing its keys .
luckily , many online programs can help you learn how to disturb type or improve your touch typing to where it should be , 80 or more word per bit . TypingWeb provides some safe , free typewriting lessons , but I really wish the paid serving atTen Thumbs Typing Tutorwhich costs $ 25.95 .
Time Saved : Enter text 300 per centum quicker or more .
7. Search the Web Directly from Your Browser Address Bar
If you need to perform a web hunting there is absolutely no reason to lay waste to time by navigate to Google.com or Bing.com and then typing your query into the hunt box . Instead , all the New web browser will question your search engine of choice if you just type the text you ’re looking for right hand into the speech bar .
In a test , we ascertain that navigating to Google.com , waiting for the Sir Frederick Handley Page to laden , typing in the search term “ laptop , ” hitting go in and waiting for the result took 9 moment while simply typing “ laptops ” into the Chrome address bar , reach Enter and hold back for results took 4 seconds .
Time Saved : 5 seconds per query
[ entanglement internet browser Tips and Apps to save up You Time ]
8. Find Stuff Faster Using the Start Menu Search Box.
When you need to feel a Indian file or program , there ’s no reason to go fumbling through gobs of folders like some kind of Watergate burglar . It ’s not necessary to launch a consecrated explorer window either . Simply hit the Windows tonality or CTRL + Esc to crop up - up the start menu and start out typing into the “ Search for programme or files ” boxful .
You may want to only typecast the first few letters of a file name before Windows start making suggestions for you . This instant search characteristic is particularly useful when you make love on the button what you ’re look for . For representative , when I wanted to find a document I had write about SSDs , I typed “ SSD ” into the starting time menu and had my result in 3 seconds . When I graze the document folder to notice the same file , it engage 6 seconds .
Time Saved : 3 seconds
9. Configure Your File Associations to Open Documents with the Program You Want
Unless you just bought your computer yesterday , you in all probability have at least five dissimilar computer programme that can open up JPEGs , four programs that can play MP3s , two that can display PDFs and six that can cut TXT files . Unfortunately , the default option program which launches when you repeat press a file is n’t of necessity the one you need . For example , if you want to dress a picture and take out ruddy center from it , you ’ll need to enter the JPEG in Photoshop , not Windows Gallery .
To switch file associations in Windows , typecast the term “ file type ” into the Start menu search box seat and then select “ Make a file type always open in a specific program . ” Then pick out the data file extension you wish to exchange ( ex : .jpg ) and click the Change program button . Finally , you ’ll need to break up the programme you want to open with and come home Ok .
Time Saved : 10 seconds
10. Avoid the Scroll Bar
Every prison term you wander your mouse Spanish pointer over to the gyre saloon on the good side of a windowpane and employ it to move down the Thomas Nelson Page , you ’ve wasting time , a lot of it . If you have a computer mouse , the answer is obvious : use the whorl wheel to slide down your text file , emails and vane pages . However , if you do n’t have a computer mouse , utilize two finger scrolling on your touchpad ; just put your exponent and mediate finger next to each other and drag them down the pad . Pointing joint like Lenovo ’s TrackPoint provide dedicated scroll clit as well .
In web web browser app , hitting the spacebar key is even faste , as a exclusive tap takes you down just one CRT screen . In my tests , using the scroll streak to sail down to the “ presentation ” section of a smartphone critical review took 4 seconds , using the shiner scroll wheel took 2 secondment , and hit the space barroom to leap down two CRT screen took just 1 second .
Time Saved : 2 to 3 seconds
11. Learn Windows’ Keyboard Shortcuts
I ’ve explained already explained how you could assign keyboard macro to commonly typecast text or to opening programs , but it ’s equally important to memorize Windows ’ own built - in hot keys . Every time you use one of the following fundamental combinations , you save precious seconds you ’d otherwise spend rolling the Spanish pointer across the screen until you plant these option on various fare and sub - menus .
ALT + F4 : shut the current window [ save 1.3 second ]
Windows Key or CTRL + ESC : capable start menu [ save 1 second ]
F5 or CTRL + gas constant : Refresh web varlet [ hold open 1 second ]
CTRL + F : Find within document [ save 3 bit ]
CTRL + cholecalciferol : Bookmark this page ( in browsers ) [ salvage 1.5 seconds ]
CTRL + Left or Right Arrow : Jump forward or back one word [ salve 2 seconds ]
CTRL + Up or Down : Jump up or down a paragraph ( only works in some programme ) [ save 1.5 seconds ]
CTRL + A : Select All [ save 2 seconds per full page of school text , save 17 endorsement on an 8 page document ]
CTRL + Shift + Arrow Key : Select Text [ lay aside .5 seconds over scrolling , but be more exact ]
F2 : Rename single file ( used primarily when browse brochure ) [ salvage 2 seconds ]
CTRL + S : Save ( hit this instinctively every few instant when working on documents ) [ save 1.4 seconds ]
CTRL + Z / CTRL + wye : Undo / Redo [ save 1.5 seconds ]
CTRL + C / CTRL + X / CTRL + V : Copy / Cut / Paste ( but you knew that already , right ? ) [ make unnecessary 1.5 sec ]
12. Increase the Number of Google/Bing Results Per Page
When you conduct a web search on Google or Bing , you see just the first 10 upshot by nonremittal . If you do n’t see the exact result you want on the first page you have to clack again and again to see the second , third or fourth page of results . All that click and load guide sentence , approximately 3.6 seconds per special page of results you visit .
as luck would have it , you’re able to configure the two major lookup engines to show you more than 10 solution on a page , allowing you to scroll through more results without clicking on a next clit and wait for another varlet to load .
To change the routine of results in Google :
Select Search options from the gear bill of fare in the upper right quoin of the sieve .
Set Google Instant Predictions to “ Never ”
Slide the Results per Page bar to 50 or 100 . I receive that 50 provides the best rest between speed and selection .
Click Save .
To alter the number of results in Bing :
snap the power train icon in the upper veracious corner of the screen .
Click the WWW button in the leftover column .
Select 50 from the Results dropdown .
come home save .
Time Saved : 3.6 seconds per search result page .
13. Set Your Taskbar to “Never Combine” Icons
By default option , Windows 7 carry all the clear windows from a particular program and combines them into a individual taskbar icon . While this may provide a neater face taskbar , it saps cherished indorsement of your life history away every time you have to levitate over an icon to exchange windows .
For exercise , I had six Word documents heart-to-heart and desire to select the one mark “ Smartphone Buyer ’s Guide . ” When I had to vibrate over the undivided Word image to look for that text file , it accept me 2.5 seconds to place the text file and click it . When the document had its own button on the chore bar , it take me just 1.5 seconds to pick out it .
To stop Windows 7 from combine all of a broadcast ’s window into one taskbar icon :
Right dawn on the Start push button and select property
choose the Taskbar tab .
Select Never Combine from the Taskbar buttons menu .
Click Ok .
Time Savings : 1 2nd
14. Configure Autoplay for External Storage
When you first secure in a new USB flash driving , laborious drive , smartphone , MP3 role player or other USB equipment with storage , by default you are collide with with Windows 7′s Autorun menu , which throw you a slew of pick that pasture from “ viewing ” the contentedness to editing it .
However , most of the time , what you require is to see a view of all the files and then make up one’s mind whether to copy them , give them or add to them with other files you drag in over . Selecting the Autoplay window and then choosing the “ subject folder to view files ” alternative submit me a mind - flex 3.5 second , enough time to observe billion of molecule collisions in CERN .
Fortunately , you do n’t involve to be prompted every meter you pop in a new storage gimmick . Here ’s how to configure Autoplay so it automatically opens all your drives in booklet view :
Type “ Autoplay ” into the Start Menu search loge .
Click Autoplay .
Select Open folder to view file using Windows Explorer for Pictures , Video Files , Audio Files and assorted subject matter . You may also want to select that alternative for specific devices that may come along on your list like your camera or phone .
Time Saved : 3.5 seconds
15. Don’t Put Your Laptop to Sleep when You Close the Lid
Every notebook computer user has had this experience . Your notebook computer is sit undefendable on your lap , you need to contact into your grip that ’s on the ground and you ’re in a tight space so you shut down the chapeau to prevent the notebook computer from hang over as you bend . The notebook lid is only closed for a duet of seconds , but when you open it again , you have to await a while for the system to wake . If your system has word security , it may even prompt you to infix your parole when you lift the lid .
Even if you ’re move down the hallway at work for a full two minutes , it does n’t ante up to put your laptop to sleep . You want to keep your notebook safe by fill up the chapeau before you hold it , but you do n’t want to consume time logging back in . The easy way to annul this whole sleep / wake problem is to configure your notebook not to sleep on lid close .
To stop your PC laptop from log Z’s on lid close :
Type “ Lid ” into the Start Menu hunt box .
flick “ Change what shut the palpebra does ”
Select Do nothing under On battery and plug away in .
tick Save Changes
After making this change you’re able to still put your notebook computer to kip . You ’ll just need to press the power button or utilize the sleep option on the Start Menu .
Time Saved:10 to 15 seconds ( a lot more if you wake the notebook computer before it has break to catch some Z’s )
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