Tag: Clean
October 14, 2009 by
Jason
Microsoft has made available for download a tool designed to ensure that software installed on top of various Windows operating systems gets updated correctly. The Patch Registration Cleanup Tool is a utility offered by the Redmond company free of charge with a rather self-explanatory name. Designed to clean the patch registration errors, the tool went live on the Microsoft Download Center on October 12th, 2009 and is currently up for grabs for all users of Windows XP, and later releases of Windows, including the latest iteration of the Windows client.
âOn a computer that has a Windows Installer based product installed, you may receive an error while installing an update for the product and the installation of the update may fail. Installation errors caused due to incorrect patch registration may be corrected using this tool,â Microsoft informed.
According to the Redmond company, end users will be able to run the Patch Registration Cleanup Tool not just on Windows 7 RTM, but also on older Windows platforms. The software giant pointed out that the following Windows operating systems are supported by the tool: Windows 2000; Windows Server 2003; Windows Server 2008; Windows Server 2008 R2; Windows Vista and Windows XP. Read More»
Posted in Windows 7 | No Comments »
Our colleagues over at What Laptop are in the middle of posting useful tips and Q&As for solving all sorts of common notebook and netbook problems, for beginner to more experienced users, so we’ve collated 12 of the best for your reading pleasure.
1. Clean and speed up your laptop OS
It’s all too easy to fill your laptop’s hard drive with files and applications, and the more software you add the slower it’s likely to run. Traces of programs are even left behind after you’ve uninstalled them, potentially slowing your laptop further. Thankfully, it’s easy to spruce things up using an application called CCleaner. Read on to discover how to download and use it.
2. Protect your laptop’s data
Due to the portable nature of laptops and netbooks, the data it holds is unfortunately always at risk of both theft and loss. While it’s impossible to keep your laptop 100% safe at all times, you can ensure that your data is kept safe, even if your laptop is stolen or lost, by encrypting it. One particularly easy free solution you can use is TrueCrypt. Read on to discover how to download and use it. Read More»
Posted in Computer | No Comments »
Are you tired of waiting for your computer to catch up to your life speed?. While it seems that you are always waiting for your computer to catch up, there are things that you can do to get things back on track and bring back your PC to itâs normal state. Here are 3 very simple steps that can help you optimize your computer.
1. Remove unnecessary programs at at startup. When you start your computer there are lots of programs that loads at the same time. Many programs automatically adds themselves to your startup programs. Keep those startup programs to a minimal amount, you can do this by changing the settings of the programs you do not need at startup. Find the options on your program that sayâs ârun at startupâ or something to that effect and uncheck it. You can also remove some programs by opening âmsconfigâ (Go to Start -> Run) and going into âstartupâ tab. Under the startup tab you can see the programs that loads when you boot your computer. Remove all unnecessary programs by unchecking it. This will lower the load your computer needs to sort thru at start up. Read More»
Posted in Computer | No Comments »
January 09, 2009 by
Jason
Index.dat files are windows system files on windows which records every web site you visit with internet explorer. These files are hidden on your computer that contain all of the Web sites that you have ever visited.
Every URL, and every Web page is listed there. Not only that but all of the email that has been sent or received through Outlook or Outlook Express is also being logged. Microsoft has not supplied an adequate explanation as to what these files are for or why they have been hidden so well.
According to Microsoft, these index.dat files are used to store cache of visited sites to speed up the loading of sites in Internet Explorer. But this cannot be the case because when we delete the Temporary Internet Files the âindex.datâ files remain behind.
Irrespective of what ever program you have been using to clean windows history they may clean but does not delete index.dat files on your computer as they protected in real time by windows operating system. Read More»
Posted in Computer | 2 Comments »
Although most Windows software comes with an installation program, there can still be problems if you install or uninstall software. A failed installation can cause the installation not to be redone without clearing the failed installation. Unfortunately a failed installation can often not be undone, which means you are stuck with a chicken and egg situation.
Another common situation is when you installed a trial of a software product and after expiration you need to uninstall it before you can install a registered version. In case the uninstall process is not complete, chances are the software will keep on indicating the expired status.
If the standard uninstaller for the program does not work, you can try to manually remove the software. This means that the related files need to be removed from disk and all related configuration data needs to be removed. Some (older) software uses local configuration files that reside with the program in the installation directory, but most software will use the Windows registry to store configuration information. Read More»
Posted in Software, Windows Vista, Windows XP | No Comments »
As I am sure you know I have been waffling on for years about how your PC monitors your web surfing activities and logs every website youâve ever visited, from the day you switched it on, in a hidden and protected file called index.dat. Regular readers may also recall a couple of utilities Iâve been recommending to wipe these files. Back n the days of Widows 98 my cleaner of choice was Spider, sadly it was never updated for XP but then along came Crap Cleaner CCleaner, as it is now known which does a brilliant job. Now we have a new utility that works with CCleaner, called Click&Clean, Basically it lets you put a quick-launch icon appropriately enough a toilet roll on your Internet Explorer or Firefox toolbar. You need to have CCleaner installed on your PC first, and the new icon has to be added manually, so donât forget to read the instructions. One click and it launches CCleaner and your tracks are covered. Read More»
Posted in Software | No Comments »
We all know that when you use a PC you leave a trail, half a mile long, in âlogâ and âdatâ files and Registry entries detailing everything youâve been doing, from the files and programs youâve opened, to the websites youâve visited. Itâs no small concern as it can include sensitive and personal information, like passwords and PINs for example. Itâs not too difficult to keep your own PCâs record keeping in check, with a free utility like CrapCleaner (see Software section) but what happens when youâve been using someone elseâs computer?
This little program, called CleanAfterMe is what you need to tidy up after you. Itâs a small freeware application that you can keep handy on a USB memory stick and when you run it you have the option to delete all of the data and changes you may have left behind during the session. If you are a regular user of other peopleâs computers and value you privacy and security then donât leave home without this really handy utility.
Posted in Computer, Software | 1 Comment »
No matter how fast or shiny computers might be when they are new, they all seem to get slower over time. That state-of-the-art PC you bought last year might not feel like such a screamer after you install a dozen programs, load it with antispyware and antivirus tools, and download untold amounts of junk from the Internet. The slowdown might happen so gradually you hardly notice it, until one day youâre trying to open a program or file and wonder, “What happened to my poor PC?”
Whatever the cause, there are a lot of ways to help speed up Windows and make your PC work better even without upgrading your hardware. Here are some tips to help you optimize Windows Vista for faster performance. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | 1 Comment »
Slow computer getting you down? Wish you could speed up your system so that games wonât crawl by like a slide show permanently set to slow? Well look no further! I shall share five easy steps that you can take to improve your systemâs speed! Most of them are free of charge, and all of them should have some effect on your system. So without further ado, we begin with:
1. Remove spyware and adware from your system. Have you noticed recently that ads seem to pop up whenever you go to a Web page? Or that Internet speeds are about that of diseased livestock? Your systemâs probably chock full of spyware. What to do? Well, thankfully there are several things you can do. First, download either Spybot-S&D or Lavasoftâs Ad-Aware, and run it. This should remove most if not all of the spyware and adware on your system. Neither of these are particularly robust, however, so we move on to: Read More»
Posted in Computer | 3 Comments »
The first step is to decide which programs you no longer need. Try to keep only the programs you use regularly as it’s easy to become a digital packrat. If it helps, make a list of programs you want to keep and others you can do away with.
Has it been a year since your child touched that action game? Chances are you still have the original CDs anyway (should you want to reinstall it in the future), so perhaps it’s time to wipe it off the hard drive.
Have your music tastes changed since you went through that Country & Western “stage”? You can easily delete downloaded MP3 filesâor at least burn them to a CD to free up space on your PC.
If you’re unsure about a program that’s on your hard drive, you can always do a search at your favorite search engine (e.g., Live Search) to see what it is. For example, if you don’t plan on buying a camcorder, remove any preinstalled video-editing software that may have come bundled on your PC. Read More»
Posted in Computer, Software | No Comments »