Eight essential netbook utilities you never knew you needed

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They might be small and are often cheaper, but netbooks are no less capable than much larger laptops when it comes to running Windows applications. That’s not to say you should just install them, of course – 10in screens (at best) and often limited storage space mean that the Asus Eee PC, Samsung NC10 and other such netbooks are best treated a little differently to their bigger brethren.

Some applications are obviously essential and most people install a web browser, word processor, anti-virus utility and instant messaging client as a matter of course. But if you’re going to be squinting at a 1024 x 600 screen and prodding away at a Shrinky Dink touchpad, there are a handful of other utilities that will make life an awful lot easier – and we bet you haven’t heard of most of them.

The eight applications and utilities listed below are (almost) all designed to help you make the best of a netbook’s comparatively limited specifications. Some replace bloated big-name programs that gobble up disk space and hog the processor; others make the most of a netbook’s shrunken screen. All, however, are completely free and once you’ve installed on your netbook, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without them.

1. Startup Inspector for Windows

Unfortunately, netbooks aren’t exempt from the megabytes of useless crap that most manufacturers like to pre-install just to annoy new owners. Getting rid of it is usually simple and will transform a sluggish, memory-starved netbook into a lean, mean processing machine.

But what to remove? Cryptic names and esoteric functions can make messing with Add/Remove Programs and MSConfig a risky business, and you could end up uninstalling something that’s essential for a netbook’s smooth operation. Which is where Startup Inspector for Windows comes in.

Not only does this free utility let you browse and selectively disable every program that automatically starts with Windows, it will even look them up in its online database and explain their purpose. So, if you can’t tell your CTFMON.EXE from your PHIME2002A, you need Startup Inspector for Windows installed on your netbook.

2. Launchy

Even if you’re obsessive about keeping your Start menu organised, trying to launch a program by clicking though a series of nested folders using a tiny touchpad is no fun. The solution is to forget the touchpad altogether and switch to keyboard control and for that you need Launchy.

Essentially a Windows version of the excellent Mac OS QuickSilver application, Launchy lets you start any installed program simply by hitting a keyboard shortcut (Alt + Space works well) and typing the first few letters of its name. Launchy can also open web browser bookmarks, search Google and act as a calculator – all without lifting your fingers off the keyboard.

3. Firefox (netbook-optimised)

Yes, yes, we know Firefox is hardly an undiscovered gem, but if all you’ve done is install it and your usual extensions on your netbook, you’re missing a trick. Few web pages are designed with 1024 x 600 screens in mind, which means web browsing on a netbook can be a frustrating experience. With a few tweaks here and a few extensions there though, it’s possible to streamline Firefox’s interface so that it exploits every inch of screen space without sacrificing your favourite features.

While far from complicated, the process is too lengthy to go into detail here, so instead we’ll just point you at our step-by-step guide that tells you everything you need to know. Just don’t forget to come back when you’ve read it – there are still five more essential netbook utilities to go.

4. Foxit Reader

Adobe Reader has long been a bloated monstrosity that occupies inexplicably vast amounts of hard disk space and takes forever to open, but if you need to open PDF files, what’s the alternative? Well, the good news is that there is one – Foxit Reader.

The latest free version of Foxit Reader is just a 3.7Mb download, opens PDF files in seconds and supports the same basic functions (plus a few more besides) as Adobe Reader 9 (a 33.5Mb download!). Essential.

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