Tip 1: Get Off the Upgrade Bandwagon
If you constantly upgrade to the latest powerhouse versions of your favorite applications without also upgrading your hardware and Windows version, your system will seem older and creakier than ever. Instead of listening to the siren call of endless upgrades, stick with application versions that you know work well with your system.
In the same vein, consider turning off the auto-update features that so many applications have these days (with the exception of your firewall, antivirus, and anti-spyware tools). An example is Adobe Reader, which seems to phone home faster than you can open a file; to block automatic updates in Adobe Reader 7, click Edit, Preferences, Updates and select Do not automatically check for critical updates. Why should developers decide when and how you update your apps? If you're experiencing a specific problem with a program, or if you need a particular new feature, surf over to the vendor's Web site and download the upgrade manually.
Individual products use different methods tomonitor for upgrades, so you'll have to check the documentation of each one. It also helps to have a tool like Startup Control Panel to help you remove software that runs in the background and constantly checks for updates (see Figure 1). See December's Answer Line column, "Common PC Problems Solved: The Ultimate FAQ" for more on managing your auto-start apps.
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