Category: Writers Toolkit

SIG Website Calendar Updated

The SIG website calendar has been updated with additional events for 2011, including two courses on writing API and SDK documentation being presented by the SIG’s manager, Ed Marshall.

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Connect with the SIG Email Lists

The Lone Writer SIG maintains two of the most popular email lists in STC.

The main email list, stclwrsig-l, is a great source of support and camaraderie for many STC Lone Writer SIG members. It is unmoderated and managed by the SIG Manager.

The off-topic email list, loners_OT, is a discussion group for all off-topic posts that members of the STC Lone Writers SIG want to share, but don’t want to post to the main mailing list.

Want to learn more about these lists, visit the Main Email List and Off-Topic Email List pages on the SIG website (member user name and password required).

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Writer’s Toolkit: Cleaning The Crap Off Your PC

Years ago, when we launched Scrivener as a newsletter, we had a regular feature called “Writer’s Toolkit,” which was a sampling of the tricks, tips, and tools that were shared on the SIG listserv. (Grant Hogarth, a senior member of both the STC and our SIG, was by far the most frequent contributor.) It’s a feature worth reviving for the blog.

While cleaning out my overstuffed mail folders, I found dozens of Toolkit-worthy e-mails that I’ve been saving. One such group of e-mails was about cleaning junk off your hard drive and clearing out unnecessary processes. Listed below are the tools that were recommended, and one resource site:

• 19 Tools to Get the Junk Off Your PC from PCWorld
• PC Decrapifier
• CCleaner from Piriform Ltd.
• System Mechanic from Iolo Technologies
• Answers That Work
• jv16 PowerTools from Macecraft Software

I can vouch for the freeware program CCleaner, which is a great tool for routine cleaning of your drive, particularly after you’ve been on the Web for any length of time. You can have it search for the whole default list of garbage-file generators, or some customizable subset thereof. It also scans for and repairs Registry problems. It installs quickly, updates quickly, and is not a resource hog. Although it’s freeware, I encourage folks to throw a few bucks to Piriform; it’s well worth it.

System Mechanic is a full suite of optimization tools, from defragmenting hard drives to cleaning out Registry junk to optimizing various performance factors and more. I have an old version, which can be a bit of a resource hog but my geek friends tell me that more recent versions of System Mechanic are less greedy for resources.

Have your own favorites? Share ‘em here!

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