The Ritual of a New PC

Because I know the world cannot stand not knowing, here are the apps I installed and tweaks I did to make my new PC laptop usable:

Approcket - Super-fast application/document/folder launcher.
     then create a folder of just AppRocket shortcuts in Start menu.

Adobe Acrobat 6.0

Dreamweaver MX 2004
     then install the Favorites Menu extension
     MX585495_favorites_menu.mxp

set monitor to 85 Hz refresh (if CRT)

ATNotes - post-it notes for desktop

NoteTab Pro - text editor
     Help > Replace MS Notepad…
     View menu
          hide the Ruler
          hide Line Numbers
          hide Libraries bar
          Clipbar > Hide
          Options
               View > Uncheck “Show Splash Screen”
               Files > Uncheck “Make Backups”
               Documents > Tabs & Font > Tab Size = 4
               Tools > Date Filter = m/d: (and add a space after the colon)
               Tab Bar > Uncheck “Show tab icons”
               Colors > Background: set to 255, 255, 239 (and set same color on Disk Files menu)
          If on a laptop with a low-contrast LCD, do this:
               View > Options… > Tab Bar > Modified… > use yellow (255, 255, 128)
     Tools menu
          Clipbook > hide the Clipbook
     In shortcuts.dat file in “NoteTab Pro” folder, add this line to make Ctrl+W close a window:
               Ctrl+W File/Close Document

PureText - freeware. lets you do Windows-V to paste plain-text into any open document.

TClockEx - shows date in system tray
          Right-click the clock > TClockEx Properties…
               Calendar tab > unclick “Remember selected month”
               Clock tab > Clock format (without quotes): ” ddd M/d h:mm tt ”

HotKeyControl - keyboard remapper
     import last .sav settings file
          i use “alt-G” in the Lotus Notes inbox to highlight a message in green as a placeholder, and “alt-End” to bring up the Move Message dialog box.
          go to the other tabs and set the keys in all those to be NONE, so they don’t interfere with AppRocket trapping the Alt key.

Maxthon - tabbed browsing with IE rendering
     set skin to “No Skin”
     set Maxthon as default browser

IrfanView - tiny, great, fast graphics editor

SendTo Items
     add shortcuts to
          IrfanView
          NoteTab Pro
          (also add shortcut to SendTo Items folder in Start-button folder)

Google Deskbar

Tray Wizard - for hiding icons in system tray

RoboType
          load .rtl library file from network drive.
          File > Create auto-start shortcut.

QuickTime 6 (last full installer i have handy)

Lotus Notes tweaks
     if the Replication tab keeps displaying as an annoying tab, click the Replication dropdown in that page, then click “Display as Slide-Out”. then click that slide-out window closed.

     to get rid of welcome page, right-click the Inbox icon on the left, then click “Set bookmark as home page”.

     go to File > Replication > Settings > Space Savers. Set it to not archive stuff older than 90 days on the local replica.

     Tools > Preferences > Mail > Colors > Sender Names (set to 255/255/208 bkgrd, 160/0/0 text)
          add manager’s name and various other peeps.