Category Archive

It’s a fact: busy people have cluttered hard drives. It’s also true that multiple copies of the same data can account for a substantial amount of that clutter. How many times have you re-downloaded an email attachment or accidentally re-imported old photos from a memory card? These duplicates can be found eating up space in all sorts of crannies on your hard drive.

One option is to painstakingly go through the contents of your hard drive, manually deleting rogue twins. Bit pushed for time? There’s software to do it for you. Read full article on Guardian Unlimited

A recent study by the comparison website broadband-expert.co.uk suggests that actual speeds are often only half the advertised rate. This has lead to the introduction this month of a voluntary code for ISPs by the regulator Ofcom. The new code will mean ISPs taking part will have to give customers an accurate measure of their broadband speed, and offer a lower-speed package if these estimates are incorrect. But how can you tell the speed of your connection? Read full article on Guardian Unlimited

If your desk is obscured by yellow Post-its and scraps of paper, you’ve probably experienced the pain of sifting through random numbers, illegible names and meaningless memos in search of that crucial note. Meetings, phone calls and work in general can all leave us feeling like the victims of an information assault, which is why it’s important to find an efficient way of taking notes.

Using your computer to make notes tackles the dual problems of legibility and location, and provides you with a greater degree of organisation – not to mention a tidier desk. Read full article on Guardian Unlimited

USB stick, external hard drive, online backup – there are now numerous ways to transfer information between two computers. For Mac users, one of the best ways to get large amounts of data from one computer to another is using the built-in Target Disk Mode feature.

Target Disk Mode essentially turns your Mac temporarily into an external hard disk or “target”, allowing it to be connected to another “host” Mac via Firewire. Read full article on Guardian Unlimited

There are times when sending work-related emails is just plain inappropriate. Take that end of year report; do you really want your boss to know you finished it at 3.30am, or would it be better to be the early bird and send it through at 8am, at the top of the Inbox?

Getting up half an hour early just to press send on all your pre-prepared drafts is hardly ideal – which is where scheduling comes in. Many email clients and software add-ons now feature the ability to set a specific time to send your emails, getting around the need to hover your mouse over Send in person. Read full article on Guardian Unlimited