As regular readers probably know, I'm a big supporter of
Firefox. Their browser has proven to be leaner, quicker, and safer for
Windows users than every one of their competitors, Microsoft's very own
Internet Explorer included.
Have you ever gone to a Web site to
find an article, story, or a piece of information that you remember
reading, only to find that the relevant piece is missing--or worse yet,
the entire site--has gone missing? That can be a frustrating experience,
especially if you can't find the information anywhere else.
Enter
Resurrect, a Firefox extension that just may save the day for you. The
browser add-on allows you to search the Internet Archive (otherwise
known as the Mr. Peabody and Sherman-inspired Wayback Machine,) MSN
Cache, Yahoo Cache, CoralCDN, and the Google Cache for an archived
version of the missing page or Web site. If the first one doesn't have
the information you seek, chances are one of the other four
will.
You can activate Resurrect a number of ways, including
right-clicking on a missing-page error message or selecting it through
the Tools menu. Once you launch the plug-in, you can open the missing
page in the same window you're currently browsing, a new tab, or an
entirely new window. Sure, you can go to any of these services without
this extension and manually enter the URL of the missing Web page
yourself, but this extension is a great resource that makes finding that
missing information just a little bit easier.
Resurrect
is a free download.
Will Swap Cache for Windows
Unlike the Internet Archive, you don't want your PC to save
everything in its cache. In fact, you should periodically clear your
Windows cache to prevent system slowdown. And that's where MemTurbo 4 comes in. This
program helps you not only manage your PC's memory but also trains your
computer to better use available RAM.
Cache, in this case, is an
area of physical memory reserved by Windows to store the most recent
operations and file requests. When a file is read from the disk, it's
stored in the system cache. If there is another read request for the
same file, Windows can retrieve it from the faster system cache memory
instead of reading it again from the slower hard disk, which, in theory,
will save you time.
File caching, however, can behave erratically
after a period of time, corrupting your available RAM. Memory resources
available to run applications will reduce and eventually bloat cache
memory. In this situation, the system's performance may degrade, forcing
you to restart your computer.
MemTurbo helps prevent that by
sealing RAM leaks from poorly written programs, removing unneeded
applications from your PC, and installing a memory monitor that keeps
everything running smoothly and efficiently. Once the program is
installed, the running apps will be able to use allocated memory without
forcing Windows to swap from the cache.
The program is easy to
install and, once it's loaded, you probably won't even notice it's
there. An improved task manager helps you to better monitor processes in
memory, while also supporting better graphic displays to improve
performance of 3D games and graphics-intensive applications. And if
you're a power user who wants to have more control under your PC's
theoretical hood, you can do that too; MemTurbo allows you to tweak what
parts of memory are allocated where, leaving you to decide your own
destiny in terms of how your PC runs.
A 15-day trial version is
available, and the application costs $19 to register.
Cache for Internet Explorer
The Internet
Explorer cache contains a sort of travel record of all the items you've
seen, listened to, or downloaded from the Internet, including graphics,
sounds, Web pages, and cookies. These items, typically stored in the
Temporary Internet Files folder, help to improve IE's speed by not
having to reload pages that are already in memory.
Windows Washer, from Web
Root, enables you to not only see what you've done on the Net, but also
to revisit cached Web sites through IE's internal Web browser. You can
also browse through the cookies stored in your cache to see exactly
who's storing them on your PC.
Cache is a great thing, but storing
these files can eventually slow down rather then speed up your browser
once your cache is full. IE does allow you to flush the cache at will,
but Web Root's program goes one step further by enabling you to delete
whatever parts of the cache you deem unnecessary while saving the rest,
keeping your browser at optimum surfing speed.
And if you're
worried about security, not to mention disk space, the program can be
automatically configured to completely wipe your cookies and cache
whenever you wish. In addition to removing Internet cache, Windows
Washer can also be set to fully erase your hard drive, files, programs
and operating system for easy re-formatting. If you're selling or
donating your PC and you don't want your files to be seen by strangers,
this function is a must if you have anything even remotely sensitive on
your PC.
A trial version of the program is available. Registration
costs $30 and includes a license for one
PC.
Contributing Editor Joe DeRouen writes Windows
Advisor monthly for ComputerUser.
