Your printer's manufacturer doesn't want you to use your printer to just print and scan. They want to install bloated apps, eat memory, and to constantly nag you for more ink. Trim your printer setup to the minimum with this five-step guide.

Image via Kevin Cortopassi.

Mac owners and brave Linux adherents don't really need this guide. Oversized, heavily branded printer software does exist for Mac platforms, but you can use most any printer by simply plugging it in and hitting Command-P in an app. Linux, for the most part, works the same way, with the essential driver bits baked into the core of the system.

That leaves Windows. A hardware driver is supposed to be a simple, mostly hidden interface, but the majority of printer installation packages—whether installed off the CD in the box or from the printer maker's web site—want to do far more than just explain a printer's inner workings to your system.

When you're cleaning up a slow-going system, look in the system tray, or hit Ctrl+Shift+Esc. You'll likely find one or more apps running that do nothing more than wait for a printer or scanner to be connected, then somehow pop up and do, well, something. Some printer makers step a bit further, installing toolbars in your browser for supposed "smart printing," and installing a whole mess of software for image editing, photo retouching, project printing, and scanning that's far less useful than a lot of free software.

If you're the victim of a printer maker's overly ambitious plans, here's a sequential guide to getting rid of the bloat and reclaiming working memory, hard drive space, and some semblance of sanity in your printer setup.

Step One: Uninstall What You've Got

If it's a printer you're using at home, go ahead and wipe out whatever software you've got on your system associated with it. You don't want remnants of other drivers and software hanging around when you start over—trust me on that. Hit your Start menu, select the Control Panel, then click "Uninstall a program." Search for your printer maker in the upper-right corner ("HP," "Canon," "Lexmark," etc.). You might be surprised at all the stuff that's there.

Click each item, starting with the most primary-sounding item, and hit "Uninstall/Change." If you're lucky, you'll get a prompt from that main item to uninstall everything; otherwise you might have to doggedly detach each piece individually. You may also have to restart your system once or twice, too, and maybe immediately. When I was cleaning up my system's printer setup, HP's software didn't really give me a choice.

Note: If you're using Windows XP or a similarly older version, I recommend using Revo Uninstaller, especially its portable (a.k.a. no installation needed) version to do your wiping. It's not quite as necessary with Windows Vista/7, but it's still a pretty good app, despite how buried the free version is on Revo's web site these days.

Step Two: Try Windows Update First

Power up your printer and plug its USB cord into your computer while Windows is running. Microsoft has a pretty extensive library of printer drivers, especially for popular printers that aren't brand-new, and if your system is connected to the web, Windows might be able to automatically download and install a driver—possibly a smaller driver package than the manufacturer offers, too. It could just be the same kind of plus-sized installation, too, but installing through Windows gives you access to regular, automatic updates. If you luck out with Windows' automatic installation, skip ahead to the Cleaning Out Auto-Starters section.

Step Three: Grab the Latest from the Web

If Windows can't fix up your printer automatically, head to your manufacturer's web page, then look at the top of the page for the "Support," "Support & Drivers," or "Support & Downloads" section. You'll be asked to enter in your model number, then likely pick which version of Windows you're running (Unsure? Click the second question here).

More than anything, be on the lookout for a more stripped-down version of your printer driver—one without all the extra software and "utilities." You'll know this by the smaller download size, which is usually listed. You may be out of luck, like me, and be stuck with a 200 MB download. Hold your nose, click to save it, and grab yourself a coffee while it downloads.

Step Four: Cut Down the Cruft

That coffee wasn't a cheap transition—well, that's not all it was. You'll want to be paying attention when you install your software. I've installed my own HP printer drivers at least a dozen times, and I just noticed for the first time that I could limit the software it installs. It's a blue link that looks like part of a license agreement (see in the image above). Those "Click here to customize" links are often pretty subtle and tucked away—printer makers want everything to be easy, and they also like the profits from "Buy supplies" links. Look for them and use them if you can, keeping only the most basic software. Hopefully they're labeled as such—driver software, printing functionality, and so on.

Check that your printer actually works: print a test page, if offered, or simply print out a simple document or web page. Now that we know it's installed and operational, let's scale things back.

Head first to your Startup folder in your Start menu (Programs/All Programs->Startup), which is the nicest way software can suggest you run something on your computer automatically. In my case, viagra joke my printer isn't always connected to my main laptop, and even if it was, I'm only scanning things occasionally. So I don't need a "Digital Imaging Monitor" running on my system at all times. Right-click on the entry in the Startup folder and hit Delete. You didn't delete the program, just the shortcut, so you can always add it back if it's useful.

Now we're going to check out what other goodies our printer people asked our system to automatically start each time. Open your Start menu and enter msconfig and press Enter (on Windows XP, enter msconfig into the "Run" item on the Start menu. Click on over to the Startup tab.

Look through this list for your printer's manufacturer. It's never good to make bold pronouncements about computer issues, but I can say that I've never encountered a situation where a computer needed some kind of auto-starting, printer-related app to print. When it's time to print, your app contacts the driver, which feeds the printer, and your paper comes off the roller. When you're done, hit "Apply." If one of your apps really was needed, you can always head back into msconfig and re-check the app, so experiment with a clear conscience.

Unsure of which apps you actually need? Note the name of the application, usually ending with ".exe," and enter it into the search box at Sysinfo.org's Startup List. You'll likely find it there, along with a letter-coded recommendation on whether you need to keep it running or not: N, U, and X are safe to un-check in your msconfig window.

Step Five: Install Great, Lightweight Alternatives for Scanning and Photo Editing

If you've installed the basic printer and scanner driver for your system, that's all you really need to actually print and scan. Printer makers offer you scanning apps, maybe the kind that auto-load when you lift your scanner cover, and image/photo editing tools, but you've probably never heard any tech blog rave about such an app's greatness.

Scanning (and Faxing)

I asked on Twitter for recommendations on alternative apps for scanning, and got quite a few responses. I'm also a little embarassed to admit that I didn't realize that Windows Fax and Scan was available in all versions of Windows 7, and the Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista. It's a pretty straightforward tool for simply grabbing a document from your scanner, saving it to your hard drive, and getting on with your life. It can also handle faxes, if your system is set up with a phone connection.

Twitter user hqraja suggested FreeKapture, as well. But the majority of respondents noted that their favorite image editing apps—Paint.net, Picasa, and more—offer their own scanner functionality, usually tucked into an "Import" function in the File menu.

Scan-to-Text OCR:

Need to convert text on paper to text on your screen? We like FreeOCR for its serious simplicity (Direct download link here). Readers also responded with suggestions for SimpleOCR.

Simple Image Editing Software

You can read up on our readers' general favorite picks for image editing, but they tend to be a bit more in-depth than the average user needs for simple touch-ups, light fixes, and cropping/resizing—except Picasa. Picasa is a great tool for editing, red-eye-reducing, cropping, and emailing or backing up photos, as we suggested in a feature on setting up your folks. If you wanted a more straight-ahead editing tool, Paint.net is the next level up.

With just your drivers installed, your auto-starting items reduced, and better scan and edit software installed, your system, and hopefully your workflow, is a bit cleaner and more agile. If you've done your own printer purge and have further tips, we'll gladly hear them in the comments.

Over the last few years, Microsoft has been trying to make PowerShell the management tool of choice. Almost all the newer Microsoft server products require PowerShell, and there are lots of management tasks that can’t be accomplished without delving into the command line. As a Windows administrator, you need to be familiar with the basics of using PowerShell. Here are 10 commands to get you started.

Note: This article is also available as a PDF download.

1: Get-Help

The first PowerShell cmdlet every administrator should learn is Get-Help. You can use this command to get help with any other command. For example, if you want to know how the Get-Process command works, you can type:

Get-Help -Name Get-Process

and Windows will display the full command syntax.

You can also use Get-Help with individual nouns and verbs. For example, to find out all the commands you can use with the Get verb, type:

Get-Help -Name Get-*

2: Set-ExecutionPolicy

Although you can create and execute PowerShell scripts, Microsoft has disabled scripting by default in an effort to prevent malicious code from executing in a PowerShell environment. You can use the Set-ExecutionPolicy command to control the level of security surrounding PowerShell scripts. Four levels of security are available to you:

You can set an execution policy by entering the Set-ExecutionPolicy command followed by the name of the policy. For example, if you wanted to allow scripts to run in an unrestricted manner you could type:

Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted

3: Get-ExecutionPolicy

If you’re working on an unfamiliar server, you’ll need to know what execution policy is in use before you attempt to run a script. You can find out by using the Get-ExecutionPolicy command.

4: Get-Service

The Get-Service command provides a list of all of the services that are installed on the system. If you are interested in a specific service you can append the -Name switch and the name of the service (wildcards are permitted) When you do, Windows will show you the service’s state.

5: ConvertTo-HTML

PowerShell can provide a wealth of information about the system, but sometimes you need to do more than just view the information onscreen. Sometimes, it’s helpful to create a report you can send to someone. One way of accomplishing this is by using the ConvertTo-HTML command.

To use this command, simply pipe the output from another command into the ConvertTo-HTML command. You will have to use the -Property switch to control which output properties are included in the HTML file and you will have to provide a filename.

To see how this command might be used, think back to the previous section, where we typed Get-Service to create a list of every service that’s installed on the system. Now imagine that you want to create an HTML report that lists the name of each service along with its status (regardless of whether the service is running). To do so, you could use the following command:

Get-Service | ConvertTo-HTML -Property Name, Status > C:\services.htm

6: Export-CSV

Just as you can create an HTML report based on PowerShell data, you can also export data from PowerShell into a CSV file that you can open using Microsoft Excel. The syntax is similar to that of converting a command’s output to HTML. At a minimum, you must provide an output filename. For example, to export the list of system services to a CSV file, you could use the following command:

Get-Service | Export-CSV c:\service.csv

7: Select-Object

If you tried using the command above, you know that there were numerous properties included in the CSV file. It’s often helpful to narrow things down by including only the properties you are really interested in. This is where the Select-Object command comes into play. The Select-Object command allows you to specify specific properties for inclusion. For example, to create a CSV file containing the name of each system service and its status, you could use the following command:

Get-Service | Select-Object Name, Status | Export-CSV c:\service.csv

8: Get-EventLog

You can actually use PowerShell to parse your computer’s event logs. There are several parameters available, but you can try out the command by simply providing the -Log switch followed by the name of the log file. For example, to see the Application log, you could use the following command:

Get-EventLog -Log "Application"

Of course, you would rarely use this command in the real world. You’re more likely to use other commands to filter the output and dump it to a CSV or an HTML file.

9: Get-Process

Just as you can use the Get-Service command to display a list of all of the system services, you can use the Get-Process command to display a list of all of the processes that are currently running on the system.

10: Stop-Process

Sometimes, a process will freeze up. When this happens, you can use the Get-Process command to get the name or the process ID for the process that has stopped responding. You can then terminate the process by using the Stop-Process command. You can terminate a process based on its name or on its process ID. For example, you could terminate Notepad by using one of the following commands:

Stop-Process -Name notepad

Stop-Process -ID 2668

Keep in mind that the process ID may change from session to session.

Additional PowerShell resources

• 10 cool things you can do with Windows PowerShell
• Two PowerShell scripts for retrieving user info from Active Directory
• Three PowerShell queries to obtain critical system information
• Quickly find space-hogging files with PowerShell
• 10 reasons why you should learn to use PowerShell
• Update viagra history Windows scripts using these handy PowerShell commands
• Simplify PowerShell script creation with PowerGUI

viagra headache color="#000000"> color="#000000">Those important computer tasks—like securing, cleaning, and backing up—are like any other resolution: we all say we're going to do them but rarely keep up with them all year. Here's our simple guide to staying on track in 2011.

Keeping your computer in good shape gets to be tedious and annoying when you have to try to fit it in to your busy schedule. Rather than letting things slip through the cracks and watch your computer slow to a crawl, fall victim to a nasty virus, or crash and burn with no backups, we've put together everything you need to tackle to stay on top of all your computer maintenance tasks. Here are the four things we're going to look at (feel free to click to skip to any of the sections):

• Back Up Automatically
• Secure Your Computer and Your Life Online
• Run Regular Maintenance
• Create a Tidy, Attractive Desktop

Back Up Automatically

Backing up our data is something we all know is important but many of us do not do. In the past you might've been able to get away with the excuse of inconvenience, but nowadays it's so effortless that if you're not backing up, you should make it your first order of business for the new year.

A good backup system will duplicate your important data in three places. One of them can be your computer, another can be an external hard drive that you keep in your house, but one of those three places should exist outside of your home. Local backups (like backing up to an external USB drive) protect you if a hard drive dies, but not if your house is robbed, catches fire, or you fall victim to any other incredibly fun disaster you can imagine. While these are rare circumstances, the effects are devastating. Since backup is so easy, there's really no sense in taking the risk. First we'll take a look at backing up to the cloud, which requires essentially no effort at all, and then we'll consider your options for each specific operating system so you can have a local copy on an external drive as well.

Backing Up to the Cloud

As long as your work doesn't consist of serious data creation, I'm of the opinion that you can use Dropbox for all your backup needs, especially now that it includes selective sync. I used Dropbox toorganize my home folder and sync my iTunes library to multiple computers and it works great. While Dropbox can take care of just about everything I want backed up and synced, it can't handle your applications and system files without causing problems. Also, for reasons I don't entirely understand (aside from the cost), not everyone wants to keep the majority of their stuff in their Dropbox. So, for those of you who aren't sold on Dropbox being the golden egg of cloud backup, your other best bet for off-site backup is Mozy.

Mozy has become a Lifehacker favorite, especially with the speed boosts and its ability to also back up to external drives. In fact, its external drive backup options make it a cross-platform tool that can pretty much handle every one of your backup needs (cloud + local drive). While I wasn't in love with Mozy when it first came about, it's now considerably faster than it was in its early days and can handle everything from one application. That's pretty tough to beat. For a full walkthrough, check out our guide to setting up a foolproof and fireproof automatic backup plan with Mozy.

Backing Up to a Local Drive

While Mozy can back up to an external drive nicely, you may prefer a backup tool with a larger feature-set that's more tailored to your operating system. Fortunately, there is no shortage of backup software available for every operating system. We've narrowed down the pool and have a few options for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, that should cover all your local backup needs.

Windows

Built into Windows 7 is the Backup and Restore Center, which Microsoft debuted in Windows Vista and has since improved in Windows 7. While it'll take more than a few clicks to set up, you're given a good number of options to control how your data is backed up. You can choose what you want to backup, where you want to back it up (including network locations), and how often you want the backup to occur. While it may not be the perfect solution for all users, it's built into Windows and pretty easy to set up.

Alternatively, you have the classic SyncBack. The SE version is free but you can pay for additional features. Nearly five years ago, Gina used SyncBack SE to set up an automatic backup plan that still works today. If Windows Backup Center doesn't quite cut it for you, SyncBack SE is a great alternative.

Mac OS X

One nice feature of Mac OS X 10.5 and 10.6 is Time Machine, which lets you plug in a drive and just back up with no effort at all. Once it has a full copy of all your data, it will only backup the files that have changed since that original copy was made. If you want a file you lost, you can activate Time Machine and go back in time to retrieve an earlier copy of that file. Your Time Machine backup drive can also be used to restore lost data and set up a brand new Mac with all your files.

Time Machine pretty much does what it wants to do and that's that, so if you're looking for more control I'd suggest picking up Carbon Copy Cloner. It's a free backup utility that makes a bootable copy of your drive (which Time Machine does not). I use it all the time and love it. It can be as simple as selecting the drive you want to copy, but you can also selectively copy certain files. Carbon Copy Cloner is very straightforward backup software, so you're not going to find the bells and whistles you might with paid software, but if you want something simple that also offers quite a bit of control over your backup, it's an ideal choice.

Linux

For easy backups on Linux machines, Back In Time is a good solution. You can get your backup plan set up pretty quickly, and it backs up using space-saving snapshots (much like Apple's Time Machine). As far as Linux backup apps go, it's pretty easy to understand and runs great on GNOME and KDE-based Linux systems.

Secure Your Computer and Your Life Online

There are a number of ways your computer can get into trouble. Whether you're dealing with viruses, online threats, or physical theft, here are some great tools to help keep you safe.

Antivirus Software

For Windows, however, you don't have to look much further than Microsoft Security Essentials. There once was a day when relying on third-party antivirus software was necessary, but Microsoft put those days behind us. MSE is great at ferreting out malware, performs very well, and is free. Mac OS X and Linux users generally don't have to worry too much about viruses, so you get a pass on antivirus software. But you don't get a pass on the next category.

Online Security

We've take a pretty extensive look at how to stay secure online, so read through that and you should be in pretty good shape. Additionally, you'll want to take a look at how to combat spam email, learn how to prevent someone from breaking into your Mac or Windows PC, and invade your own privacy to make sure your private information is secure.

Preventing (and Preparing for) Computer Theft

Prey is a wonderful, free, open-source tool that can help you track down and (potentially) recover your stolen Mac, Windows PC, or smartphone. If you're like me and you've had your laptop stolen before, you know how devastating it can be. When you lose technology with personal data, the thief doesn't only have access to your expensive hardware but a lot of information about you as well. Coming to this realization is not fun, so be smart and take the necessary steps to protect yourself from a potential theft.

For those of you with iPhones (or other iOS devices), you're lucky enough to have free access to find my iPhone. Set it up and use it! If you're don't have a recent iOS device, we've got you covered. Here's how to set up Find My iPhone on older iOS devices.

Run Regular Maintenance

With your data backed up and protected, you're going to want a computer that runs smoothly. Performing regular maintenance can play a big role in keeping your machine in tip-top shape. Mac OS X and Windows 7/Vista will take care of defragmenting your drive for you—so no need to take care of it yourself—but if you're running earlier versions of Windows you should check out our guides on setting up a self-repairing hard drive and setting up scheduled tasks to run your favorite cleaning tasks in the background. If you're a fan of CCleaner (the all-in-one crap cleaner for Windows), check out this guide to automating your CCleaner sessions.

For Mac users, maintenance tasks are regularly scheduled by OS X and so, technically, you don't have to do anything yourself. Nonetheless, it's in your best interest to play a hand in your system's upkeep. If you want a look at every possible option you have, definitely check out our guide on cleaning up and reviving your bloated, sluggish Mac. Alternatively, if you want to do a bit less, you can just schedule maintenance tasks in the Terminal and repair disk permissions. If you're not familiar with repairing your disk permissions, all you have to do is go into your Applications —> Utilities folder and open up Disk Utility. Inside of Disk Utility, choose the First Aid tab and then click the Repair Disk Permissions button. It'll take a few minutes and slow down the system a bit, but running this operation will help prevent little errors here and there. Running this once a month (and after any major software installation) will keep your Mac a bit happier and less prone to preventable issues.

Last, if you have a bad habit of letting your Downloads folder or Desktop get out of control, check out our guide to automatically cleaning and organizing your folders with Belvedere (or with Hazel if you're on a Mac).

Create a Tidy, Attractive Desktop

Once your computer is backed up, safe, clean, and running smoothly, you ought to finish up with a little fun. Your machine is, ultimately, going to be more fun to use if it's easy to navigate and looks just the way you want it to look. We've taken an extensive look at customizing your desktop, so be sure to check out those options to take on some serious customizations. Need inspiration? Check out our most popular featured desktops from 2010. If you're just looking for some simple customizations, however, you can find some excellent, distraction-free wallpaper over at Simple Desktops and great free icons at the Iconfactory.

Windows 7, like all powerful operating systems, can seem a bit overwhelming and give you the feeling you've lost control.

Here's a taste of what it can show you:

• CPU and memory usage
  
• Broadband speed report
  
• Windows' activation status
  
• Available restore points
  
• Every installed program's version number and update URL
  
• Computer serial number
  
• PC's Windows Experience Index
  
• Maximum system RAM capacity and snapshot of what's currently in memory
  
• How hot a PC is running, in Celsius and Fahrenheit
  
• Your system's IP address
  
• Open network ports
  

System Information viagra for sale without prescription for Windows is portable; you can put it on a flash drive and run it on any Windows PC. The program is free for personal use, but professional versions will set you back $70 to $100.

Take control of when your PC powers down

Lincoln Spector writes about computers, home theater, and film and maintains two blogs: Answer Line at PCWorld.com and Bayflicks.net. His articles have appeared in CNET, InfoWorld, The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other publications.

Whether you do your work on the web, run a home FTP server, or you just prefer a quick download from time to time, a solid, full-featured FTP client can be a lifesaver. You've got tons of options-both free and shareware-for your FTP needs, so finding the right FTP client can be difficult. On Tuesday you shared your favorite FTP clients, and today we're back with the five most popular choices. Read on for a detailed look at the five best FTP clients for your money, then cast your vote for the app you like best.

WinSCP (Windows)

WinSCP, aka Windows Secure Copy, is a free, open-source FTP client. Supporting both SFTP and SCP protocols (upshot: secure transfers), WinSCP is fast and lightweight while still supporting advanced features like remote text editing. When you open a plain text file, WinSCP can open the file in your text editor of choice. Every time you save the file, it transparently saves and uploads the changes to the remote server. Added bonus: a portable version is available. WinSCP's synchronized browsing feature is also worth a look.

Transmit (Mac OS X)

Transmit is a shareware ($30) FTP client packed to the brim with innovative features. It covers all of the usual suspects, including remote file editing and folder sync, and it's also got tons of Mac-centric features like a Dashboard widget, .Mac syncing of your favorites (bookmarked FTP servers), droplets for quick drag-and-drop uploading to favorite locations, inline previews, and Automator support. Transmit can even do server-to-server transfers from one server's tab to another's. Despite its $30 price tag, Transmit has even got some Windows users wishing for their own version.

FireFTP (All Platforms with Firefox)

FireFTP is a Firefox extension that integrates a powerful FTP client directly into our favorite browser. FireFTP isn't the most feature-rich client of the bunch, but if all you need is a simple FTP client for the occasional upload or download, FireFTP is more than up for the job. Even better: You don't have to install a separate program for FTP, since it all runs from the warm and fuzzy comfort of the 'fox. If you're running Firefox Portable on your thumb drive, you can take FireFTP with you wherever you go.

FileZilla (All Platforms)

FileZilla is a free, open-source FTP client for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Due to its price tag (or lack thereof), cross-platform support, and ease of use, FileZilla is a go-to option for many users new to FTP. Users stick around because FileZilla is a fast, full-featured (it also has remote file editing), and reliable FTP client in constant development. There's even a portable version you can toss on your thumb drive to use FileZilla on the go. Finally, if you're a Windows user you can even use FileZilla to build your own home FTP server.

Cyberduck (Mac OS X)

Cyberduck is a free, open-source FTP client for Mac OS X with support for most of the usual suspects in transfer protocols in addition to WebDAV and Amazon S3. It also supports Quick Look, Growl, and remote editing with your text editor of choice. Mac users who aren't happy with FileZilla and don't want to shell out any cash for Transmit can flock to the duck for full-featured FTP and then some.

Now that you've seen the best, it's time to warm up your clicking finger and pick a favorite.

Honorable mentions go out to SmartFTP, FlashFXP, CuteFTP, and WS_FTP. Got more to say about your FTP client of choice that you can't get across in a poll? Let's hear about it in the comments.