PCTips Box

Slow computer getting you down? Wish you could speed up your system so that games won’t 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 system’s 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 system’s probably chock full of spyware. What to do? Well, thankfully there are several things you can do. First, download either Spybot-S&D or Lavasoft’s 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: (more…)

You can add a lot of value to an old computer by installing and configuring software that its new owner could really use, and by resetting the operating system to as close to factory fresh as possible.

No one should be without at least a word processor (if not a whole office suite) and an antivirus program. If you’re removing such software for licensing reasons, at least install some free alternatives. OpenOffice ( www.openoffice.org ) is an excellent substitute for Microsoft Office (and Microsoft Word). Grisoft’s AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition ( http://free.grisoft.com ) is a fine alternative to any commercial antivirus product, and your beneficiary won’t have to pay for annual virus-definition subscriptions. (more…)

Step 1 – Download and install Ad Aware
First download the free Ad Aware SE Personal from here:
http://www.lavasoft.de/support/download/
Install A-A after closing as many running programs as possible.

Step 2a – Updating Ad Aware to the current reference file
You will need to run the Web-update Feature before each scan to make sure you have the current reference file installed. It is imperative that you always have the current Build and Reference File in use to ensure the proper detection and removal of objects.
On the start screen:
Click on the “Check for updates now” hotlink. (The globe at the upper right also opens the web-update feature)
Click “Connect”.
If you see that a new reference file is available, click “OK”, and it will download and install automatically.
Click “Finish”.

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