Work Smarter In Windows: 55 Great Productivity Tricks

Customize your browser's default search engine. Your PC builder has likely preset Internet Explorer's default search en­­gine to the one that's paying it the most. Otherwise, it'll be set to Microsoft's liking: Bing. Change this setting by clicking the drop-down arrow in the top right corner of the IE window (within the search box), and click Find More Providers. You won't find Google without a hunt, so type Google into the 'Find add-ons' search box, and select the first result, Google Search Suggestions. Click Add to Internet Explorer, and at the pop-up, click Make this my default search provider.

Use Outlook's categorization system. Outlook lets you color-code messages, task-list items, calendar entries, and even contacts into as many as six categories. Figure out a system and stick to it: red for business, for example, and blue for personal items. Or color-code items by level of urgency: green for "must do today," blue for "to do this week," and yellow for "to do this month."

Use Windows' Problem Steps Recorder. Tech support calls are a pain. If you're having computer problems, don't get stuck on an endless phone call trying to explain the difficulty. Run Windows' Problem Steps Recorder to save a step-by-step history of what you're doing so you can share it with a friend or tech support pro. Type PSR in the Start menu search box to find and run the recorder. Then go through the steps that lead to your problem; PSR will record a screenshot of each step, logging everything you type and click. When you're finished, click the Stop button and save the file. E-mail the archive to someone who's better informed for a solution. (Note: This resource can also be used to make quick-and-dirty tutorials.)

Make Internet Explorer load faster. When IE loads very slowly for no clear reason, it's usually due to an add-on clogging the pipes. Fortunately, one of IE's best features is that it allows you to see how long each add-on is taking to load. You can find this under Tools•Manage Add-ons. Check the 'Load time' column to see what has been weighing you down.

Save time with VoIP. You can save significant timeâ€"and possibly money, tooâ€"by using a VoIP system that allows you to click phone numbers in Web pages and in e-mail messages and dial them directly via your PC. Skype offers such an option, which works broadly in e-mail and on most Websites, and Google recently integrated its own VoIP offering, Google Voice, into Gmail. In addition, Google Voice saves call histories as they take place, integrating them into the Gmail contact management system.

1. Allen is a Lotus Notes enthusiast, through and through, but he enhances the spartan Notes interface with the eProductivity add-on, which adds next-generation features to the software. One of these features, for ex­­ample, enables the user to drag an e-mail message to a "call" button in order to place an immediate phone call to the person who sent the message. eproductivity.com

4. Ferriss has gone virtually paperless through the use of Evernote, a free downloadable app that lets him clip to the cloud Web pages, photos, business cards, and even printed matter, which he scans into the system with a portable scanner that he takes with him just about everywhere. Evernote has enabled Ferriss to remove 90 percent of the paper in his house, he says, and since it's searchable, he no longer has to rely on folders and data management.

3. Dropbox is invaluable not just for backing up a PC but for syncing its data with multiple computers, which is key if you use more than one PC. It also works with the iPhone, the iPad, and Android devices.

4. Simplenote is a plain-text note-taking system that, like Dropbox, can sync among multiple desktops, the Web, and an iPhone (iPhone version here). This no-frills alternative to Evernote ensures that notes never get lost.