Speed up Visual Studio 2005

Make sure Visual Studio 2005 SP1 is installed.

  1. Turn off animation. Go to Tools | Options | Environment and uncheck Animate environment tools.
  2. Disable Navigation Bar. If you are using ReSharper, you don't need VS2005 to update the list of methods and fields at the top of the file (CTRL-F12 does this nicely). Go to Tools | Options | Text Editor | C# and uncheck Navigation bar.
  3. Turn off Track Changes. Go to Tools | Options | Text Editor and uncheck Track changes. This will reduce overhead and speeds up IDE response.
  4. Turn off Track Active item. This will turn off jumping in the explorer whenever you select different files in different projects. Go to Tools | Options | Projects and Solutions and uncheck Track Active Item in Solution Explorer. This will ensure that if you are moving across files in different projects, left pane will still be steady instead of jumping around.
  5. Turn off AutoToolboxPopulate. There is an option in VS 2005 that will cause VS to automatically populate the toolbox with any controls you compile as part of your solution. This is a useful feature when developing controls since it updates them when you build, but it can cause VS to end up taking a long time in some circumstances. To disable this option, select the Tools | Options | Windows Forms Designer and then set AutoToolboxPopulate to False.

Photoshop: PSD 75% lighter

Photoshop seems to me like a marvelous software, in my opinion isby far the best out there… is the most powerful, versatile, the greatest. But it still has a problem since previous versions, the weight of the files is huge, we could think that for the information it has the size is reasonable but…

Did you know that we can reduce the weight of the PSD up to 75%?

This is something to think about, if we can reduce so much the information in a PSD it would be because this format is not very optimized, right?. Most people think that’s why there are files with compression, TIFF or JPG… but they agree that keeping the original files in PSD format is much more comfortable than working with TIFF (i don’t think we need to compare it with JPG).

Well, how can we do this? Something as simple as hiding the layers before saving the file, if after that you compress it with Winrar or Winzip you will save a lot more.

Capas ocultasCapas ocultas

Here you have the information of the experiment:

  1. Normal PSD: 49,2 MB
  2. PSD saved with the hidden layers: 38,9 MB
  3. PSD saved with the hidden layers and zipped: 11,5 MB

The new version of Photoshop CS3 is out and we still have the same problem… we will have to wait a little more. Now, if you have to send a PSD via FTP or email… you have no choice than doing this.

CCleaner

There are few must install software for any Desktop - notebook Windows installation and one of which is this free software called CCleaner.

What is CCleaner ?

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it’s fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware !

This is what the official web site says, how ever to make it simple, when you run Windows and other application, such as photo shop / word / video editing software / Internet browser and any other, every time they run, they create large amount of temporary files in your system.

As you access each software and use them those also creates large number of registry entry and system short cuts (such as recently used documents). When you stop using those application you are not in need of those entries any more but they are left in your system for future references.

This is where CCleaner comes in. It scans and cleans all these junk to free up HDD space and registry entry to fasten up the system performance.

How do you use CCleaner ?

There is a common theory among many of us, about any system configuration applications that they are hard to use as well as they screw up the system.

However this is what I like about this software. The best part is, its really easy to use, as simple as few steps.

Step 1 - Obtain & install the application

Visit CCleaner.com to download this 3 MB file and start the installation, when prompt remove all entries accept Start Menu short cuts and Automatically check for CCleaner updates.

Installation Configuration

Step 2 - Start and Clean your system

Yes, it is that simple. No other configuration is needed, simply start the application and hit Analyze button.

CCleaner

Notice how much junk is detected and how much can be removed, and hit the Run CCleaner button to execute the cleaning process.

Few Facts which I Like

  • Free Software with no ads or any such.
  • Simple 3 MB Download.
  • Preconfigured - as an user you just need to run it.
  • Compatible with Windows XP (x86 / x64) Windows Vista (x86 / x64).
  • Maintenance free.

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