Your printer's manufacturer doesn't want you to use your printer to just print and scan. They want to install bloated apps, eat memory, and to constantly nag you for more ink. Trim your printer setup to the minimum with this five-step guide.

Mac owners and brave Linux adherents don't really need this guide. Oversized, heavily branded printer software does exist for Mac platforms, but you can use most any printer by simply plugging it in and hitting Command-P in an app. Linux, for the most part, works the same way, with the essential driver bits baked into the core of the system.

         

  

That leaves Windows. A hardware driver is supposed to be a simple, mostly hidden interface, but the majority of printer installation packages—whether installed off the CD in the box or from the printer maker's web site—want to do far more than just explain a printer's inner workings to your system.

When you're cleaning up a slow-going system, look in the system tray, or hit Ctrl+Shift+Esc. You'll likely find one or more apps running that do nothing more than wait for a printer or scanner to be connected, then somehow pop up and do, well, something. Some printer makers step a bit further, installing toolbars in your browser for supposed "smart printing," and installing a whole mess of software for image editing, photo retouching, project printing, and scanning that's far less useful than a lot of free software.

If you're the victim of a printer maker's overly ambitious plans, here's a sequential guide to getting rid of the bloat and reclaiming working memory, hard drive space, and some semblance of sanity in your printer setup.

If it's a printer you're using at home, go ahead and wipe out whatever software you've got on your system associated with it. You don't want remnants of other drivers and software hanging around when you start over—trust me on that. Hit your Start menu, select the Control Panel, then click "Uninstall a program." Search for your printer maker in the upper-right corner ("HP," "Canon," "Lexmark," etc.). You might be surprised at all the stuff that's there.

Click each item, starting with the most primary-sounding item, and hit "Uninstall/Change." If you're lucky, you'll get a prompt from that main item to uninstall everything; otherwise you might have to doggedly detach each piece individually. You may also have to restart your system once or twice, too, and maybe immediately. When I was cleaning up my system's printer setup, HP's software didn't really give me a choice.

Power up your printer and plug its USB cord into your computer while Windows is running. Microsoft has a pretty extensive library of printer drivers, especially for popular printers that aren't brand-new, and if your system is connected to the web, Windows might be able to automatically download and install a driver—possibly a smaller driver package than the manufacturer offers, too. It could just be the same kind of plus-sized installation, too, but installing through Windows gives you access to regular, automatic updates. If you luck out with Windows' automatic installation, skip ahead to the Cleaning Out Auto-Starters section.

If Windows can't fix up your printer automatically, head to your manufacturer's web page, then look at the top of the page for the "Support," "Support & Drivers," or "Support & Downloads" section. You'll be asked to enter in your model number, then likely pick which version of Windows you're running (Unsure? Click the second question here).

More than anything, be on the lookout for a more stripped-down version of your printer driver—one without all the extra software and "utilities." You'll know this by the smaller download size, which is usually listed. You may be out of luck, like me, and be stuck with a 200 MB download. Hold your nose, click to save it, and grab yourself a coffee while it downloads.

That coffee wasn't a cheap transition—well, that's not all it was. You'll want to be paying attention when you install your software. I've installed my own HP printer drivers at least a dozen times, and I just noticed for the first time that I could limit the software it installs. It's a blue link that looks like part of a license agreement (see in the image above). Those "Click here to customize" links are often pretty subtle and tucked away—printer makers want everything to be easy, and they also like the profits from "Buy supplies" links. Look for them and use them if you can, keeping only the most basic software. Hopefully they're labeled as such—driver software, printing functionality, and so on.

Check that your printer actually works: print a test page, if offered, or simply print out a simple document or web page. Now that we know it's installed and operational, let's scale things back.

Head first to your Startup folder in your Start menu (Programs/All Programs->Startup), which is the nicest way software can suggest you run something on your computer automatically. In my case, my printer isn't always connected to my main laptop, and even if it was, I'm only scanning things occasionally. So I don't need a "Digital Imaging Monitor" running on my system at all times. Right-click on the entry in the Startup folder and hit Delete. You didn't delete the program, just the shortcut, so you can always add it back if it's useful.

Now we're going to check out what other goodies our printer people asked our system to automatically start each time. Open your Start menu and enter msconfig and press Enter (on Windows XP, enter msconfig into the "Run" item on the Start menu. Click on over to the Startup tab.

Look through this list for your printer's manufacturer. It's never good to make bold pronouncements about computer issues, but I can say that I've never encountered a situation where a computer needed some kind of auto-starting, printer-related app to print. When it's time to print, your app contacts the driver, which feeds the printer, and your paper comes off the roller. When you're done, hit "Apply." If one of your apps really was needed, you can always head back into msconfig and re-check the app, so experiment with a clear conscience.

Unsure of which apps you actually need? Note the name of the application, usually ending with ".exe," and enter it into the search box at Sysinfo.org's Startup List. You'll likely find it there, along with a letter-coded recommendation on whether you need to keep it running or not: N, U, and X are safe to un-check in your msconfig window.

If you've installed the basic printer and scanner driver for your system, that's all you really need to actually print and scan. Printer makers offer you scanning apps, maybe the kind that auto-load when you lift your scanner cover, and image/photo editing tools, but you've probably never heard any tech blog rave about such an app's greatness.

I asked on Twitter for recommendations on alternative apps for scanning, and got quite a few responses. I'm also a little embarassed to admit that I didn't realize that Windows Fax and Scan was available in all versions of Windows 7, and the Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista. It's a pretty straightforward tool for simply grabbing a document from your scanner, saving it to your hard drive, and getting on with your life. It can also handle faxes, if your system is set up with a phone connection.

Twitter user hqraja suggested FreeKapture, as well. But the majority of respondents noted that their favorite image editing apps—Paint.net, Picasa, and more—offer their own scanner functionality, usually tucked into an "Import" function in the File menu.

Scan-to-Text OCR:

Need to convert text on paper to text on your screen? We like FreeOCR for its serious simplicity (Direct download link here). Readers also responded with suggestions forSimpleOCR.

You can read up on our readers' general favorite picks for image editing, but they tend to be a bit more in-depth than the average user needs for simple touch-ups, light fixes, and cropping/resizing—except Picasa. Picasa is a great tool for editing, red-eye-reducing, cropping, and emailing or backing up photos, as we suggested in a feature on setting up your folks. If you wanted a more straight-ahead editing tool, Paint.net is the next level up.

Are you confused by the barrage of video cables available today?  Let’s take a look at the most important video cables today, HDMI and DVI, and see what’s the differences between the two.

A decade ago, it was much easier to figure out how to get your TV connected to your devices, especially since most people only had a VCR.  Our screens were smaller, the quality was worse, but the world was simpler.  Today you can hardly walk in an electronics store without getting pressured to buy a several hundred dollar HDMI cable just to connect your devices to your TV.  If there’s ever been a confusing time to choose cables and connectors, it’s now.  We’ll try to help you wade through this mess and see what’s really important about the two most common digital video cables of today: HDMI and DVI.

Wires and cables from jACK TWO on Flickr

We’d all love it if you could just zip your video and audio over the air from your devices to your screens.  While there’s been some progress in this area, frankly it’s not a viable solution for most today.  For now, we’re stuck streaming our media through wires.  In general, they all work the same: the connector contains pins that go into ports on your video output device which transmit video, audio, and more over the wires in the middle.  If you want to get the entertainment off your files and disks and onto your screen, cables are a necessary evil for the time being.

DIY Component to VGA Adapter via Balazs H on Flickr

The traditional video cables, including VGA and Composite video, transmit analog video signals only.  While this works great for CRT screens, it isn’t preferable for newer LCD screens.  While many current LCD TVs and computer monitors still accept VGA input, they generally work best with DVI or HDMI.

Some video cards and video playback devices, including the new Apple TV, don’t even include VGA or composite outputs, and this will be an increasing trend looking forward.  Even if your current computer and monitor work fine with VGA cables, you’ll still want to know which digital cable is best for future video equipment purchases.

The two main digital connectors used on computers and entertainment systems today are HDMI and DVI.  DisplayPort is another newer connector that’s being included on some newer computers, and there are also several mini and micro variants of all three.  Confused yet?  Here’s how to know which is which:

DVI is one of the most common digital video cables you’ll see on desktops and LCD monitors today.  It’s the most similar to VGA connectors, with up to 24 pins and support for analog as well as digital video.  DVI can stream up to 1920×1200 HD video, or with dual-link DVI connectors you can support up to 2560×1600 pixels.  Some DVI cables or ports may include fewer pins if they are designed for lower resolution devices, so you’ll need to watch for this.  If your port contains all the pins, however, it can support the max resolution with no problem.  The biggest problem with DVI is that it doesn’t support HDCP encryption by default, so if your hardware only includes DVI ports, you may not be able to playback full HD Blu-rays and other HD content.

You can connect DVI to an HDMI port on a newer monitor with a small digital convertor.  However, since DVI doesn’t support audio, you’ll need to use a separate cable for audio when connecting to an HDMI port.This makes DVI one of the more versatile newer connectors.  It’s both backwards and forward compatible, though at the loss of some convenience.  You can also connect an older monitor that only includes a VGA port with a DVI port easily via a similar DVI to VGA converter if your video output supports analog video.

HDMI is the default cable on newer HDTVs, Blu-ray players, Apple TV, many new computers and video cards, and a multitude of other video devices.  HDMI cables and ports are very easy to use, and are almost as easy to connect as USB devices.  No more bent pins; just push and play.  HDMI cables can stream digital video and audio simultaneously over the same cable.  HDMI cables support up to 1920×1200 HD video and 8 channel audio.  They also support HDCP encryption for the newest HD content.  For almost all purposes, a single HDMI cable is all you’ll need to connect your computer or video device to your monitor or TV, and it’s almost the absolute standard digital cable.

DisplayPort is another new video connector that’s being included on newer equipment, especially laptops.  It was designed as the successor to DVI and VGA on computers, but hasn’t seen as much adoption as either DVI or HDMI.  However, it is being included on all newer Macs and many Dell, HP, and Lenovo computers.  It is actually very similar to HDMI, so it streams both HD video and audio on the same cable, and can output up to 1920×1080 resolution and 8 channels of audio on a single cable.

On the good side, DisplayPort does support HDCP, so you can use it to playback protected HD content from Blu-rays and more.  You can also connect it to an HDMI or DVI port with a  convertor, since the digital signal is compatible.  The problem is, few monitors and TVs include DisplayPort ports, so you’ll almost have to have a convertor if you want to connect your laptop to a larger screen.

Cables are often one of the biggest ripoffs in electronics stores today.  You’ve likely noticed HDMI cables in stores that were higher than the TVs they were hanging beside.  So do you need to get a fancy cable for the best HD experience?

No.  Back in the days of VHS tapes and analog TV, a higher quality cable could definitely mean the difference between a clear and a fuzzy picture.  But with digital video and audio, a cable is a cable.  Your cable will just be transferring bits like your Ethernet or other computer cables, and a cheap HDMI cable from Amazon will serve you as well as a Monster cable.  Standard HDMI cables today can be up to 49’ long without any signal loss, so just look for the cheapest cable, plug in your equipment, and enjoy.

In our opinion, HDMI is the cable and connector to stick with.  It’s the default connector on most devices and screens, compatible with HD content including HDCP protected Blu-ray, and can carry video, audio, and more all on one cable.  One cable and you’re done.  For now, it’s the cable and connector we recommend you standardize on.

Now, if you already have equipment using DVI, VGA, or other cables, and it works fine for you, don’t feel like you need to rush out and change it, because you don’t.  You might get better quality from using digital cables if your devices support it, but unless you have a very large monitor or TV it can be hard to tell the difference.  Technology companies thrive on making people feel like they constantly have to upgrade, but often if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it is a good policy to follow.

The good thing is, now if you buy a new TV, computer monitor, video card, or other video device, you’ll know what you’re looking for.  Make sure your new devices support HDMI, and you should be able to use them with a wide range of video equipment for years to come.  And don’t fall prey to the high-pressure sales tactics trying to get you to buy a $2,200 HDMI cable; a cheap one from Amazon will usually be all you need, so you can save your cash for more HD content to pump through that shiny cable.

Questions?  Comments?  Shout-out in the comments below!

  

Ever need to record something on your computer exactly as it comes out of your speakers?  Enabling “Stereo Mix” will let you do exactly that, and here’s how to do it.

Nowadays, most sound cards have the ability to record whatever is being output.  The only hang-up is accessing that recording channel, which can be done rather easily.

Go down to the audio icon in your system tray, right-click it, and go to “Recording Devices” to open up the proper settings pane.

In the pane, right-click on a blank area, and make sure both “View Disabled Devices” and “View Disconnected Devices” options are checked.  You should see a “Stereo Mix” option appear.

Right-click on “Stereo Mix” and click “Enable” to be able to use it.

In some cases, your audio chipset drivers aren’t helping your cause.  Most likely, this is because they’re outdated.  In other instances, however, it’s because the newest Windows 7 drivers don’t support this feature.  This was the case on my Asus Eee PC (a 1000HE), but I got around the issue by downloading and installing the older Windows XP/Vista drivers for my audio chipset.  As always, before changing your drivers, make sure create a system restore point in case things don’t go as planned.

With “Stereo Mix” enabled, you can open up your favorite recording program and select that instead of your microphone before you record.  If you don’t see the option, or your program doesn’t give you the ability to change the recording device, you can disable or unplug your microphone and make “Stereo Mix” the default recording device.

This works well for when you want to capture audio for a screen-sharing session, or record audio from streaming sources – such as live web-casts – that don’t necessarily allow you to download content immediately.  In order to do that, you’d open up your audio-recording application of choice (like Audacity), be sure other recording devices are muted or disabled, and click record