Bookmarks gather by the dozen each day and they gather dust just as quickly. Today, a browser like Firefox offers tagging as a means to clean up bookmarks. Subject specific folders have always existed to bunch similar bookmarks together.

But bad habits reign supreme and usually bookmarks end up in a haphazard array. A lot of sites have their fifteen minutes of fame and then disappear. But the bookmark is left behind like a gravestone marker. A lot many sites update their favicons or change over to a new URL. But the bookmark remains stuck as a misdirected pointer on the web highway.

The broom to clean up bookmarks and bring them up to date by eliminating the dead ones is called AM-Deadlink. The four browser bookmarks it helps sweep are of Internet Explorer, Opera, Mozilla and Firefox (FF ver. 3+ with an alternate method).

AM-Deadlink detects the dead links and duplicates, and marks them for removal. It can also clean up duplicates in comma-separated and tab-limited text files and saved URL files. Also, AM-Deadlink downloads the current favicons for all your Favorites and Bookmarks for the four browsers.

AM-Deadlink is a 1.3MB free download. Its operation is fairly straightforward. Let’s see it in action.

Sweeping away the dead bookmarks

1. On install, AM-Deadlink provides an option to install itself as a normal Windows program or as a portable program on your thumb drive. The second option is for those who want to carry the freeware around on their flash drives and use it to clean up multiple computers. In other words, it’s a portable app!
2. The interface is simple with a dropdown to select the browser of choice. Selection of the browser triggers the program to list out the bookmarks for the specific browser.
3. Proceed to check the bookmarks with a single click. The time required for complete checking will of course depend on the number of bookmarks you have piled up. The software went through the 360 odd IE bookmarks in approximately 8 minutes and alerted the completion with a sound.The Status column shows the state, whether the link is lost, it’s healthy or there is some other error with the page. You can sort the errors to the top the list and individually re-check them by opening them in an internal preview or in a browser.

   

4. After validating the links, you can choose to delete the faulty links. Sorting the errors on top also enables to delete them all together.
5. Favicons can also be similarly checked, updated or deleted.
6. AM-Deadlink searches for duplicate bookmarks which is a common affair for most of us.
7. It’s always good to have a backup copy in case you delete the wrong bookmarks. AM-Deadlink makes safe your browser bookmarks from your itchy-delete-happy fingers by providing a backup option in a zip file.

Alternate Method for Firefox 3+

AM-Deadlink does a good job with IE and Opera but falters slightly when it comes to the latest version of Firefox. You have to go around a bit because the latest version of Firefox uses a database rather than a single URL file to store all the bookmarks.

The alternate method involves using the Export HTML feature in Firefox’s Bookmark Organizer and processing this HTML file through AM-Deadlink. The cleaned up HTML file can then be imported into a fresh bookmarks folder (importing it into the older bookmarks will create duplicates).

The bit of manual labor with the latest edition of Firefox is the only slight flaw in an otherwise impressive free program. Also, apart from the Help file, AM-Deadlink does not really make it clear how to go about the Firefox cleanup job.

But the end, AM-Deadlink does a dandy job of cleaning up the waste that lies in our bookmarks folder. Now, it’s only left to us to pay those links an occasional visit.

AM-Deadlink (ver.3.3) is supported on Win9x/Me/NT4/2000/2003/XP/Vista.

Image Credit: P/\UL

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You can follow these steps and guidelines while cleaning your laptop or LCD monitor to keep out of harm’s way and have a sparkling clean screen.

Materials you would need

• A soft lint free cotton cloth (microfiber cloth works best).
• Distilled Water. Isopropyl Alcohol or white vinegar (if there are oil stains)
• A bottle (atomizer bottle works best)

How to Clean Your LCD Monitor

• If it is just dust you are getting rid of, distilled water would be sufficient and you don’t need any other cleansing agent. If there are fingerprints on the screen or some oily stains than the best thing to use is a solution of distilled water and isopropyl alcohol. Note that you should NEVER clean off the screen with a dry cloth. This way the dust particles can easily scratch the surface of the screen.
• If you are going to need Isopropyl Alcohol, you should make a solution consisting of equal amounts of distilled water and isopropyl alcohol.
• You then need to put this solution (or just distilled water if that is the case) into an atomizer bottle.
• Spray the contents of the bottle onto the soft lint free cloth, DO NOT spray directly on the screen, make sure that you are holding the cloth away from laptop when spraying. A damp cloth (or perhaps an edge of cloth) is what we are looking for, we don’t need to soak it in the solution.
• Gently wipe the screen with the cloth. Horizontal and vertical movements work best, however if there are areas that need a little extra attention or streaks going along the screen, you can concentrate on the area with some circular movements.

What you should not do

I have been pointing out the Do’s and the Don’ts all along, and here are some more absolute NO-NO’s:

• Never use cleansing agents like window cleaners, soap solutions etc. These contain chemicals that can harm the screen. In particular you should avoid anything that contains the likes of ammonia, acetone, toluene or ethyl alcohol.
• Don’t spray directly on the screen. If you can’t find an atomizer bottle, you can pour some liquid onto the cloth just make sure it is not soaking wet. Again do all this away from the laptop
• Do not use tissue papers, newspaper or shower towels to clean the screen. You can easily scratch the screen with these.
• Don’t use tap water, it always contains some dissolved salts that can harm the screen.
• Don’t clean while the laptop/computer is powered on. Turning off not only gives you a nice black screen that lets you see the stains easily, you also avoid the risk of damaging your computer accidentally.
• Don’t put too much pressure on the screen while cleaning. Doing so can permanently damage the screen.

How do you clean your LCD monitor or laptop screens? Any ‘top secret formula X‘ that you might want to share in the comments? We won’t tell anyone. Promise!

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Even though most Mac apps are stand-alone software (the files required for them to work are compiled into the app itself), some of them do leave a few preferences and configuration files behind after dragging the app to Trash. These files won’t affect the operation of the system and most of them are small in size. However, you can sometimes find a large unused chunks of files (such as saved data files from games) that will occupy a huge portion of your hard drive space.

To really swipe everything clean, you’ll need the help of an uninstaller. Here are three free alternatives for Mac.

AppCleaner

AppCleaner is an uninstaller for Mac which will allow users to thoroughly uninstall unwanted apps. It will search your Mac for every file distributed by other applications.

To use it, just drop an application onto the AppCleaner window. It will find the related files, list everything down and let the user delete them. Users can also choose applications, widgets and other items (mostly plugins) to uninstall.

AppCleaner has the ability to prevent certain important apps from being deleted accidentally. Users can add any application to the list of their favorite apps in the Preferences.There’s also SmartDelete – the option to delete an app properly when it’s moved it to trash.

Jackson also listed AppCleaner in his list of Free Alternatives to 10 Popular Commercial Mac Apps.

AppTrap

AppTrap is like a watchdog for the Trash. It will wait until the user deletes an app, then it will pop a dialogue up, asking if all associated files should be trashed together with the application, allowing for a more complete clean-up of the system.

This uninstaller resides in System Preferences as a preference pane.It’s inactive by default. Upon installation, the user needs to activate it. There’s also an option to automatically start this app on login.

AppTrap is no longer being maintained or developed but still works fine under Leopard.

DesInstaller

DesInstaller is a simple tool that reads the receipts generated when you install a “.pkg” file with Apple’s Installer. User can opt to remove every file installed by a package, even if it has been modified, and/or archived.

Caution!
No matter which uninstaller you use, please always double-check the list of associated files to be deleted. Sometimes the app will make mistakenly include unrelated file(s) to the list.

To be sure, you can also confirm the files you’re about to delete by looking inside the Trash before emptying it.

Do you use uninstallers for Mac or you only depend on Trash? Do you have other alternatives? Share using the comments section below.

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What is ChkLnks.exe? Well, it is a simple application that will scour your computer for non-functional shortcuts. And every system I tried this on had a few of them, no matter how clean I thought they were!

If you do not want to grab the entire resource kit you can download the 364KB ChkLnks.exe file, zipped up on its own from here http://www.computerperformance.co.uk/ScriptsGuy/chklnks.zip.

Now, let’s see how ChkLnks.exe works.

You start the program there is no installation required. You will see the screen below, dubbed the “Link Check Wizard”

Hit the Next button to start scanning. The program will start and display results as it discovers them. Each line has a check box next to the title of the broken link. Broken links can come from uninstalling program, deleting applications or files and any number of other ways.

Simply check the box next to each link which you want to permanently remove. Or, just hit the select all button like I did. These are broken links and will not effect your machine.

It will take a few seconds for ChkLnks.exe to do its magic but when it is complete, you will get a dialogue box stating it did what it had to do. And you are one step closer to a lean, clean computing machine!

I decided to run it on another machine which I use for testing freeware and wound up with a huge list of orphaned links as you can see below:

I hit Finish and in a few seconds all my non-functional links were no longer on my machine. Not too shabby! Thanks for helping me out with my spring cleaning Microsoft!

Did you have lots of dead shortcuts on your computer? Surprised? Have you tried ChkLnks.exe on Windows 7? Let us know how it went.

Need more ideas on spring cleaning your computer? Check out Tina’s post Last Minute Spring Cleaning of your Windows XP System.

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This “trick” doesn’t work very well because mouse strokes and Exposé buttons are still registered, shifting the focus to the desktop or any other running application.

I found Keyboard Cleaner a few months ago and I’ve been using it ever since. Every time I get irritated by a dirty keyboard, I launch Keyboard Cleaner, start cleaning, quit the application after I’m done and return to work with slippery, shining keys.

A lot of people ask me,”Why can’t you just turn off your laptop in order to clean it?” I answer, its because I don’t need to. Why should I waste time powering off my computer and then wait for it to boot up again, just to get some dirt off my keyboard? The creator of Keyboard Cleaner agrees. Sometimes, you just need to clean your keys right at that moment. That’s when Keyboard Cleaner comes in handy.

I don’t exactly know how Keyboard Cleaner works and I don’t want to ruin that magical feeling. It just works. It shields my laptop from keystrokes which may be invoked while cleaning my laptop, with the exception for Command + Q – the only keystroke which will bring my laptop back to life.

It also renders mouse strokes unrecognizable and active screen corners don’t work when Keyboard Cleaner is active. So, you won’t have to worry about Exposé bringing Keyboard Cleaner out of focus. Unfortunately, it has an Achilles heel – it will still allow special keys to be recognized, like the volume up and down buttons on my MacBook. Not a very big deal since it can still get the cleaning job done.

So, all I have to do is launch Keyboard Cleaner, clean my heart out and when I’m done, I quit it and return to my desktop exactly as I left it.

There’s not much to mention about Keyboard Cleaner except that it is a very simple application which does a very good job of shielding your laptop from key stokes while I’m cleaning it. That’s how most applications should be. Simple and effective.

Give Keyboard Cleaner a try if you’re constantly having headaches every time you need to clean your keyboard and you don’t want to shut down your computer to do it. It’s free and works on Mac OS X Leopard only.

Let us know what you think of this simple application and whether or not you are glad to have found it!

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I’m sure you’ve all been annoyed with dirt in your home at some point. Now, imagine a stain on your favorite shirt, mold in the bathroom or wine on the carpet. What would you do? Call Mom? Noooo! You’re mature and able to survive on your own. So who is always by your side and will never ask intimidating questions? The internet of course!

So thanks to the internet you’re here, which is where you’ll be provided with the tools you need to survive in the household. This is a guide for all the (soon to be) masters and mistresses of the household who may need a little help in the cleaning section. Here you go!

A few things you should keep handy, even if you wouldn’t normally use them, is some liquid soap, baking soda, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and some hydrogen peroxide. You’ll get the latter at a pharmacy. Those are prime ingredients for non toxic, cheap, eco-friendly and effective cleaning solutions. Seriously, you don’t need to waste your money on the expensive stuff!

Time to open up some online resources.

(1) DoItYourself

Does your apartment look like ALF just landed in it, tried to catch a cat, abused your kitchen, made a bed out of your laundry, had dinner in it, and you just learned [enter family member here] wants to visit? I guess the regular stain removal guide won’t get you anywhere, you need serious help!

DoItYourself.com features several articles on the Household. Just pick a scene, such as Bathroom and Kitchen Cleaning, find the respective article and follow through. The instructions are detailed, so you’ll know exactly what to do.

By the way, you may also find the Natural Disasters section helpful.

(2) About.com & How Stuff Works

Ok, it’s not that bad, your apartment is under control, no disasters, just regular spills. What do you need to know?

Generally, my first stop when I need help, since I tend to end up right there anyways, is About.com. In this case I found 10 Stain Removal Tips you should absorb, and several more helpful articles. Their A – Z list is not as comprehensive as the one that will follow, though.

HowStuffWorks has a three part series on stains. Part one – How to Remove Stains and Spots – sums up what sort of stains you may face. Part two gives some Basic Rules for Stain Removal, which are in fact different than those found on About.com. In part 3 you will See all General Removal Tips articles they have, which are not that many, but they cover the most common incidents.

(3) Precious Textiles

Textile Affairs provides a comprehensive list of Stain Removal Answers To Common Care Questions, tailored to deliver solutions for seriously stained laundry.

(4) A – Z Stain Removal

GoodHousekeeping has a very detailed and helpful A – Z Stain Buster guide. Perfect to quickly look up a cleaning strategy for a specific stain.

(5) Video Instructions

Then, if you hate reading, I recommend searching YouTube for answers. Yes, you heard right, YouTube is a good place to find practical instructions on cleaning. Here is one of my favorites:

Alright seriously, that video is very entertaining, however not helpful. But directing you to YouTube is not a joke. You just have to focus, don’t let the nonsense distract you.

(6) Cleaning Your Computer

And finally, did you know you could Remove Stains from a MacBook with Toothpaste? Would Mom have known that one?

Do you have some ingenious cleaning tips to share? Maybe a website full of cleaning ideas that we can all benefit from? Go ahead and use the comments! And in case your Mom, girlfriend or best friend forwarded this article to you, please let us know so we can reward them with a virtual flower bouquet!

(By) This post was written by one of our regular authors, Tina from Recommended.

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