Computers and hardware

How to build your own external hard drive

External hard drives are great for storing photos, music, videos, and backup files. Not only can they can be used with a PC, but also with media devices to add streaming storage, and with Wi-Fi routers as cheap NAS solutions.

Off-the-shelf external hard drives often contain mystery drives inside and the enclosures aren't meant to be reused. Building your own external hard drive can sometimes be a cheaper, more flexible solution. And if you already have an old internal hard drive lying around, you can turn it into a cool external drive, for as little as $10.

Choosing your … Read more

How to share contacts in Microsoft Outlook

Few resources on your computer are more valuable to your worklife than your list of contacts. Unfortunately, contacts are also among the most difficult assets to maintain.

Recently, a reader named Alan posed this question:

I and my two associates use Microsoft Outlook for our sales contacts. Right now we maintain three separate contact databases. We would like to merge our databases into one that all three of us can access, modify, and update as necessary. Is there a process/software you can recommend to accomplish this?

If you don't mind the manual approach, Outlook lets you export your … Read more

Reclaim storage space on your iOS device with PhoneClean

It was with great skepticism that I approached PhoneClean. I received an e-mail from the developer, iMobie, claiming that this free Windows app would magically allow me to reclaim storage space on my iPhone and iPad without jailbreaking and without deleting any apps or photos, videos, music, or other media content. As iMobie explained it, PhoneClean works its magic by removing long-term caches, cookies, and temporary and junk files generated by many apps or the result of failed iTunes syncs.

It sounded too good to be true.

However, since I have the smallest capacity iPhone 4S and iPad 2 and install many apps each week in an attempt to bring you, dear reader, reports on how to use the latest and greatest and most helpful apps, I am always up against the limit. Thus, I submitted my iPad to the mercy of PhoneClean.… Read more

How to make iTunes sound better

Apple's iTunes software takes a lot of criticism from CNET readers. It's a gigantic memory hog of a program that attempts to do everything from downloading iBooks (e-books) to synchronizing apps with your iPad. For a piece of software named for its music playback capability, that feature seems to be a diminishing part of iTunes' appeal.

But groan all you want, iTunes is still one of the most popular ways to play music on your computer.

If you're one of the millions who get your daily music fix through Apple's ubiquitous software, here are a few … Read more

Keyboard shortcuts in Evernote for Mac

Like Evernote for Windows, the Evernote desktop client for Mac has a large set of useful keyboard shortcuts. We went over the Evernote for Windows shortcuts already, so here's a list of shortcuts for Mac users:

General Application ⌘-N -- new note ⌘-⇧-N -- new notebook ⌃-⌘-N -- new tag ⌘-1 -- list view ⌘-2 -- snippet view ⌘-3 -- card view ⌘-M -- minimize window ⌃-⌘-F -- toggle full screen ⇧-⌘-P -- page setup ⌘-P -- print ⌘-: -- show spelling &grammar ⌘-; -- spell check ⌘-0 -- sync status ⌃-⌘-S -- … Read more

Cover your cluttered Mac desktop with Shade

Do you use a Mac? Does your Mac have a cluttered desktop? Have you tried various methods of keeping it clean and organized, only to find your various methods aren't sustainable? If you nodded in answer to the previous three questions, I would direct your mouse pointer to Shade, a free Mac app.

With Shade, you neither need to keep your Mac's desktop clean nor feel guilty about its ever-expanding mess. With Shade installed, one click of your mouse lets you pull down a virtual window shade over your desktop, presenting you with a pristine work space free … Read more

Keyboard shortcuts in Evernote for Windows

Keyboard shortcuts can help you become more efficient with e-mail, Dropbox, Twitter, Facebook and more. If you're an Evernote user and love using keyboard shortcuts, you'll be happy to know that you can use Evernote almost entirely from the keyboard. Here are some of the more useful keyboard shortcuts in Evernote for Windows:

General Application Ctrl + N : create a new note Ctrl + Shift + N : create a new notebook Ctrl + Shift + T : create a new tag F10 : toggle left panel display F11 : toggle note list display Ctrl + F11 : toggle note panel display F5 : cycle note list views Ctrl + F5 : … Read more

How to get Android notifications in Windows

If you work at a computer for any length of time, the odds are good that you'll be interrupted by your mobile device. It's fairly easy to just mute it, but sometimes you need to act on a text or call that comes your way. DeskNotifier sends notifications from your Android device to your Windows computer. Here's how to use it: 

Download the  Windows app here and the  Android app here and install them both. The first time you run the Android app, you will be directed to turn it on … Read more

How to monitor hard-drive health with DiskCheckup for Windows

Even if you happen to have a good backup solution, a hard-drive failure can be a major inconvenience. If you don't have a good backup solution, then a drive failure can be catastrophic. There are clues, however, that can help you predict problems with your hard drive.

DiskCheckup for Windows uses your drive's S.M.A.R.T. (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology) info to monitor its health and help you notice problems before you experience a complete failure.

In order to use DiskCheckup, you have to have at least one drive that supports S.M.A.R.… Read more