PCTips Box

A picture is worth a thousand words. It’s also much easier for someone trying to help you solve a computer problem if they have access to your computer. They can see the problem and figure it out much faster if they can access your computer rather than taking shots in the dark by asking you all kinds of questions.

This guide shows you how to ask for remote assistance which enables someone to view or control your computer remotely.

Warning: Only give people you trust access to your computer with Remote Assistance. (more…)

We all know that when you use a PC you leave a trail, half a mile long, in ‘log’ and ‘dat’ files and Registry entries detailing everything you’ve been doing, from the files and programs you’ve opened, to the websites you’ve visited. It’s no small concern as it can include sensitive and personal information, like passwords and PINs for example. It’s not too difficult to keep your own PC’s record keeping in check, with a free utility like CrapCleaner (see Software section) but what happens when you’ve been using someone else’s computer?

This little program, called CleanAfterMe is what you need to tidy up after you. It’s 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 people’s computers and value you privacy and security then don’t leave home without this really handy utility.

Microsoft has made available for download the Windows SteadyState for the 32-bit editions of Windows XP and Windows Vista. SteadyState is a Windows management tool designed for scenarios in which access to machines is completely unrestricted. The evolution of the Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit for Windows XP, Windows SteadyState has been designed for the specific purpose of managing shared computers, safeguarding system resourced against changes made by untrusted users, and making irrelevant unwanted software installations. (more…)

Although I’m a very big fan of Jeff Dunham, this is not an article dedicated to Jose Jalapeno. Its purpose is a bit, let’s say, dorkier, but very useful. Using your computer actually means using applications installed on that computer: browsers, messengers, office suites, audio/video players, graphic viewers etc. But what happens when you go to another computer? You have another person’s applications personalized by that person. What happens when you have to reinstall your Windows? All those applications must be reinstalled and customized again. How can you go from any Windows to another and still have your same applications customized as you like? How to avoid reinstalling software when working on a brand-new Windows? Easy: Use portable applications! All you need is a memory stick; I’ll provide all the information you need in this article. (more…)

We have been receiving many mails from our readers these days with a problem that when ever they start up windows they see the error messages like as follows:

* Windows cannot find ‘C:\windows\svchost.exe.’
* Could not load or run ‘C:\windows\svchost.exe.’ specified in the registry
* Windows cannot find ‘C:\Windows\System32\amvo.exe’
* “Windows cannot find ‘copy.exe’

These type of messages appear at windows startup, when windows tries to load the virus files like amvo.exe, copy.exe etc. These error messages appear, because these files were removed by your anti-virus programs but still the registry entries for them exist.

Different types of viruses create some files which got executed at the windows startup so that they can come in action as windows load itself. In order to run the primary virus files required, they create run entries in windows registry. (more…)

Shidewin is a simple program that allows you to reclaim all of your wayward windows, applications or otherwise.

Tell us if this has happened to you before: In a dual display setup, you need to unplug the second monitor for some reason, only to find that the programs that were displaying on the second monitor decided not to move back over to the primary one. Where are they?

Why, on the second monitor, of course. You know, the one that’s now unplugged.

To rectify this situation in the past, you would have to plug in the second monitor again, then drag your programs back over to the primary monitor. (more…)

Even though Microsoft has promised to drop the prices associated with some of the retail standalone versions of Windows Vista (specifically the Home Premium and Ultimate editions), the fact of the matter is that the SKUs of the latest Windows client will still be far from cheap. In this context, you have to take advantage as best you can of the ecosystem of software solutions built around the operating system. And there are plenty of free offerings that are worth a whole lot more than what you didn’t pay for them. The Sysinternals brand dates back to 1996, and was associated with the Windows operating system from the get-go. The brainchild of developers Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell Sysinternals has become synonymous with a collection of advanced system utilities. (more…)

I tend to be wary of programs that purport to make computers go faster, fix problems and so on. The vast majority of them are worthless snake oil. I’m also a bit suspicious of Russian software – they’ve still got a reputation for dodgy programs and scams and anything that comes from a company called Loonies is bound to set the alarm bells ringing so Actual Booster doesn’t get off to a very promising start.

Nevertheless, after giving it a fairly thorough road test I can tell you that Actual Booster really does liven things up a bit. It’s also free, and as far as I can see there’s no iffy content and it doesn’t try to phone home. (more…)

There are lots of process in windows which keeps on running in the background using some share of windows resources all the time.

These process are most of the time are not use full to all of us, one of those process is wmpnscfg.exe

What is wmpnscfg.exe?

wmpnscfg.exe is used to alert users when a new media device is found on the network. When wmpnscfg is notified that a new media device is available on the network, it displays a popup in the system tray that informs the user about the availability of the new device. (more…)

If the number of emails and letters I receive on accidental deletion of files is anything to go by we’re in suffering an epidemic of ‘butter fingers’… Picture files on memory cards are by far the most popular files to get zapped by mistake but it affects everything, from Word documents to album tracks, and I can’t deny that I haven’t done it myself, but when it happens the worst thing you can do is panic. If you do the chances are you make the situation even worse, so when you’ve erased a file, and you want it back the first thing to do is check the Recycle Bin. If it’s not there then there is still a very good chance all or part of it is still on the drive, and this little freeware program, called Restoration could get it back for you. The program is small and runs from any file location, even a memory card, so it doesn’t mess around with Windows. (more…)