Top Tricks for Safe, Smart Downloads

Clear Away Clutter With WinPatrol

WinPatrol is a must-have tool: It helps keep your system tray free of clutter and warns you when a program insists on loading at system boot-up. The latest version--WinPatrol 2007--has Delayed Start, a smart feature that lets you delay launch of nonessential programs for up to an hour after the system boots, so Windows loads faster. That's ideal timing for applications such as backup programs. Also new is a right-click function that opens the startup program's folder in Windows Explorer. WinPatrol Plus costs $30 (and I promise you, it's worth the money), but there's a free version as well. Compare the two versions.

Contributing Editor Steve Bass writes the Tips & Tweaks blog and is the author of PC Annoyances, published by O'Reilly. Contact him at hasslefreepc@pcworld.com.