Registry Cleaners etc.
Registry cleaners, PC utilities, and more!
Is your computer stuck in 1st gear? Can’t get up to top speed? Does your coffee get cold while you wait for programs to start? Time to rev that sucker up!
There are quite a few causes for your PC to gradually slow down, but some are more common than others. These problems are not a death sentence for your PC – you can check these five steps to revitalize your system.
- Scan with a registry cleaner. One of the most important parts of your computer is the Windows registry. The registry is a massive record of all your computer preferences, settings, and options. In time, your registry entries can grow overgrown, full of errors, and precarious. From here, your PC grows unstable, and errors and performance problems occur. Use a registry cleaner to sweep up the registry, and remove these errors.
- Be sure to always use security software. Anti-virus and anti-spyware programs are absolutely crucial. Now more than ever, the Internet is full of viruses, Trojans, spyware and other malware. These nasty programs can spy on your computer activities and try to steal private information. Other varieties can take control of your computer to send out thousands of spam emails. Not only that, but these malware programs are typically thrown together, with no attention to proper programming. As a result, they drain even more memory, and cause even more errors.
- Defragment your hard drive. Your computer doesn’t save items in a sensible way. It may put information from a file all across your hard drive. As time goes on, these files can become so scattered that access slows down. Defragmenting (or defragging) your hard drive will reunite the bits of information. This should be a regular maintenance task, so try to defrag every few weeks.
- Clean house! Get rid of programs that you don’t need anymore. The dozens of programs on your PC take up a whole lot of room on your computer. Have a look at your installed programs, and use a judicious eye. If you don’t use the programs any more, give them the heave ho!
- Update your Drivers. Your hardware devices (like printers, scanners, camera, speakers, video card, etc.) all need their own unique driver. Drivers let your hardware talk to your computer. So when you click Print, your printer…prints! Old and corrupt drivers can delay this performance, and lead to slower response times. Ensure that your drivers are up to date, and you may find that your hardware behaves better too.
My recommended solution to fix these slow PC problems and boost your speed is SpeedyPC Pro. Read more about it in my SpeedyPC Pro Review.
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What’s your RAM? What’s your version of Windows? How’s your CPU speed? If you don’t know the answers to these questions, try these steps.
RAM (Random Access Memory):
RAM can always be upgraded and added to, to improve your PCs performance. But how much RAM have you got? To check, click Start, right-click “My Computer” and then click “Properties.” This screen will tell you how much RAM you currently have. Plus, you can find out your version of Windows from this screen.
Hard Disk Drive:
Are you running out of room? Getting a little crowded on your PC? You can find out by opening “My Computer” and right-clicking on the C: drive. Then choose “Properties.” From here, you get a colorful little pie-chart that will show you how much space you have remaining on your computer.
Screen Resolution:
Depending what you use your computer for, you may never need to worry about your resolution. However, many games, and some programs, require a certain level of resolution. To check yours, right-click anywhere on your desktop and click Properties. Then click the Settings tab. From here, you can see your resolution and color depth.
Startup Programs:
Many programs launch automatically when you load your computer. Do you know what these are? If you want to find out, SpeedyPC Pro lets you find out for free. Simply download the program and click ”Manage Startup.” With a click or two, you can disable startup items you don’t need.
Ta-da! Now you know a little more about the guts of your PC!
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In choosing a computer, you might want to check the operating system if it is running under a 32-bit or a 64-bit platform. This article will help you understand the difference between the two and the importance of each and how it will fit your computing life. Since there are various computer components and parts that users just don’t take time to know, like “data buss”. The “data buss” is not a kind of vehicle but its functionality is just like transportation. It connects memory throughout the computer system especially the processor, which is the computer’s brain.
This “data buss” is a tool to move the data around inside the system. In a 32-bit computer, the “data buss” is 32-bits wide. And twice is the size of the “data buss” in 64-bit systems thus they can carry half as much data around and about inside the computer. Manufacturers of computer processors are constantly looking for ways to tailor fit the 64-bit versions of the Windows operating system and provide 64-bit processors that are high performing and cooler. Since the 32-bit versions were released first, they are the most common and affordable kinds of version nowadays. You just cannot find a good bargain of computer when it is running under 64-bit processor. In one way, it is good news because the prices of computers under 32-bit is now dropping to make way for the 64-bit version. However, the 64-bit is still not much updated and critical updates are often released to compensate and fight upcoming computer issues.
So then, the term 32 and 64-bit refers to the way the CPU or processor handles the computer’s information. The 64-bit version of Windows operating system can handle large amounts of random access memory or RAM compared to the 32-bit versions. The main difference between the two versions relates mostly to the computer’s memory accessibility, management and the enhancement of security features. Also, 64-bit versions have more security features in comparison to the 32-bit operating systems. One of the outstanding features of having a 64-bit version of Windows is that it can access RAM that is more than 4-gigabyte range. This is not just possible in 32-Bit operating systems. But since the 64-bit version of the Windows operating system is still unstable while the previous version’s price on the market is dropping, it is wise to choose the 32-bit version of the system.
So who are the people that are best to use the 64-bit version? The answer would be universities, big businesses and businessmen, the groups that work on research and scientific studies and the government. If your line of work requires you to make and edit videos, computer art or intensive program or website developer, then the 64-bit system would be the smarter choice but if you are an average computer user or buying just for home use, save money by choosing the 32-bit version of the operating system. The speed and performance between the two versions cannot be felt if it is intended for office use and typing. Instead of choosing a higher version, try choosing a bigger RAM instead for faster computer.
For both 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems, you’ll always have to ensure that your PC is kept clean and error free. For key maintenance and error fixing, I always point to PC Health Advisor. Check out our page on PC Health Advisor, or click below to download and try it out.
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Have you had difficulty going from one opened program to another? Finding out that using mouse to navigate is harder for you? Do you feel much inclined to use a keyboard than a mouse? Or are you using a laptop and you’re getting tired of the touchpad and just wanted to find any solution on how to move throughout the computer without much use of a mouse? Navigating your computer has never been much easier when you’re using essential hotkeys.
Hotkeys are a set of keys designed to perform an action that can be used to replicate the function of a mouse or touchpad. There are various sets of keys that have been recorded and listed online that can be used on Windows operating systems but some of those hotkeys are hard to remember and their importance is not much of value. Therefore, here is a list of essential hotkeys to use your computer more effectively. These are easy to memorize and you will find these very useful once you started on using them.
Windows + F
Windows key is the one key that has the Microsoft Windows logo in it. So pressing that key down plus the f key will pull up the search dialog box to let you search for any file in the computer.
Alt + Tab
Pressing both the keys down will let you navigate from one currently opened program to the next and also can let you go to the desktop. To transfer from one program to the other, if for instance you have opened more than two applications, just hold the Alt key down and press the Tab key again and again until you get to the desired program.
Windows + D
It will let you go to the desktop directly while minimizing all the windows currently running on your computer.
Windows + E
It will open the Windows Explorer right in the My Computer or Computer folder.
Alt + F4
Pressing both the keys down will let you close the opened window that you are currently working on.
Windows key or Ctrl + Esc
It will pull up the start menu that is located on the bottom left part of the screen.
Ctrl + C are to copy files.
Ctrl + V are the hotkeys for Paste.
Ctrl + X are the essential hotkeys for Cut.
Ctrl + Z are used to undo an action.
Ctrl + Y are the keys used to redo the action performed.
F5 is the hotkey to use to reload a browser.
Alt + P
This combination is used to preview a file or photo that is located in a folder. You must be in the Windows Explorer dialog box like My Documents or Computer to be able to use this combination. This will also work in browsers like Firefox and Internet Explorer if you want to preview some files before downloading.
Windows + T
This set of keys will let you navigate on the programs pinned on your taskbar.
There are still plenty of hotkey combinations that are widely used but these sets could help you start on how to move about your computer faster than just using a mouse or touchpad. Have fun utilizing these!
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When dealing with computers, performance is one of the top issues. People tend to think about amount of RAM, processor speed, and the graphics or video card as the major items to mark up a computer’s speed and performance. Yes, it is true that these components play a huge role in computer performance. But there is also one item that plays same role and can impact the computer’s performance yet is not much known. It is the Page File. Page file is just like the physical RAM that is installed in your computer and its goal is to extend the number of physical RAM and make it accessible to the system. The computer’s services and installed programs can greatly benefit from this extended RAM even though it is not physically inserted into the motherboard as it is in the computer system already. To enhance performance, you must put the paging file into a different partition of your hard drive, not together with your program files, so the Windows can simultaneously handle multiple tasks thus making your computer faster.
Another way to make your computer perform and run smoothly is to use automatic updates. These updates from Microsoft Windows help boost your system to perform well. These updates are usually security updates and newer version for your firewall to protect your computer and other important updates as well. When you turn your automatic updates on from your control panel, you don’t have to worry and search for new updates as the computer will be the one to do it for you. Windows will search updates for you and it will automatically update your system without having you click anything. Only sometimes, it needs your input about installing a program to know if you agree to install another kind of antivirus or something. So it’s completely safe, as it’s from Microsoft itself.
Setting your computer to hibernate instead of shutting down is also one good way of saving power down while keeping your work going on by itself. Having your computer hibernate allows you to let the current state of the computer to be saved on the hard disk and the computer shuts down. In turning the computer back on, the computer restores the state where it was saved before it was hibernated, thus the user didn’t need to pull up programs and run them again after waiting for the computer to reboot.
One wonderful way of fine-tuning your Windows to maximize computer speed is to perform disk cleanup often. Disk Cleanup is a windows operating system utility that helps free up space in the hard disks. You have the option to delete some or all files using the disk cleanup. This utility searches for unnecessary and unimportant files that are saved in your computer system and removes them. Aside from removing the files, the user has the option to compress files that are not much used over a period of time to be able to have larger free space in the computer for further use.
This option, along with the others mentioned above can greatly improve the computer’s speed and performance even with long use. Want to make it easier? Get a program to do it for you. I recommend PC Health Advisor for all kinds of PC maintenance and cleaning tasks. Not only that, but it also brings together a lot of the best Windows settings and tweaks in one place. To top it all off, the program is simply enough to use that anyone can use it to speed up their PC. Click our page on PC Health Advisor, or download the program now!
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You might be using the Microsoft’s personal email manager tool to manage and keep up with your emails and file shares at one go. Although it is mainly used for the email and communication feature, it also serves as calendar, task manager, journal and more. The Microsoft Outlook is a wonderful tool for computer users everywhere. This program also features the archiving tool which is a nice thing because you get to save your old files in your account and access it any time.
In Microsoft Outlook, archiving is one way to delete files or back them up for future references. Files that can be saved in archive include but not limited to emails, notes, journal entries, documents and tasks. The program also allows users to set the Outlook to manually archive each specific file or automatically archive the files in it, which is also known as Auto Archive. The inbox of your Outlook grows as files are added and created in it the same way as the files in your desk pile up after a few days. In the piles on your desk, you can sometimes shuffle though the documents and save the files you think are important compared to the other files based on how old the document was. You can also do the same manner in your Outlook. You can transfer files you think are still important even if it’s not new entry into a storage file by just clicking the Archive option on the File menu.
Documents are considered old and are archived based on the age you specified on your Outlook settings. You can manually send a document to archive or you can set the Outlook to archive documents automatically after a certain age is reached by using the Auto Archive feature. When your Outlook is run, the auto archive is also running and moves your items to the archive based on the date. Files that are transferred to the Deleted Items are permanently lost. To access items saved in the Outlook’s archive, just go to File and click Archive. Select the folder you want to access from there. Also notice that the archive folder of the Outlook is like this: archivefoldername.pst. The PST stands for Personal Storage Table and it is an open file format used to save copies of messages, events, journals and other items within the Microsoft software.
The Microsoft Archive has different methods in different versions of the program. Version 2003 and 2007 is almost the same but the version 2007 and 2010 has some different and new features. The 2010 version has this Ignore and Clean up commands together with other new and cool features. The Auto Archiving feature is the 2010 version already has limits when using the Outlook with groups and for group file sharing. Also the 2010 version is designed for two kind of operating system which it the 32 and the 64 bit. One should always know what kind of version they have and it should be compatible to the computer so there will be no problems.
If you experience any errors or difficulties when opening archived Outlook messages, try cleaning your PC of registry errors and other problems. To do this, download PC Health Advisor (click below.)
PC Health Advisor is simply the best all-in-one PC repair program. Plus, it’s so easy that anyone can use it. See our PC Health Advisor review for more.
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Does your room seem as if a bomb has been dropped – causing all the things to be splayed everywhere? Do you let your computer run even if you’re cleaning the carpet of dust and dirt? Is your computer placed in a table near an open window where it can get huge amount of dust from the air, or wet during a rainy day? Has the room where your computer is placed not been dusted for weeks already? If so, then your computer is in for a big trouble.
The computer is a multitasking machine that lets you command specific jobs and it will do them simultaneously. Because of that, the computer itself, the monitor, CPU, mouse, keyboard and sound boxes need to be clean dust free for plenty of reasons. Inside a computer’s CPU, where the thinking and controlling commands happen, are plenty of different chips and things that need to be ventilated properly. That is the purpose of mini fans inside your computer’s box. They are the cooling system of your computer. As the computer performs and thinks, heat energy is produced in the motherboard which leads to overheating when not ventilated.
A computer fan is any fan inside your computer’s CPU. They are strategically placed inside the computer to vent off warm air and give cool air from outside. As the processors of the computer increase the speed and consumption of electricity, heat is produced which also goes higher the longer a computer stays on. Heat can cause side-effects on a computer’s performance if the amount of heat is higher than what is supposed to be. It can cause instability, overheating and may lead to short life span of your computer.
When your computer is turned on, automatically the fan inside is also turned on expelling warm air and replacing it with cool air from the outside. However, if the air outside is full of dust and tiny things like hair or threads, the fan can suck it into itself and eventually become blocked and dirty without your knowledge. Over time, these dust and flecks that have stuck in your computer fan prevents the cool air from coming through and will not cool the system anymore even though it still works. In no time, the computer will be affected by overhearing because air cannot pass through the debris clogging the fans. Also, some devices won’t perform properly as their card, like video card and sound card, is covered with dust.
To prevent this from ever happening, you must always clean your room or place your computer in a cleaner and cool place in your house. Always turn your computer off when you are cleaning your home or even when you are just dusting or cleaning the carpet. A good CPU cleanup once in a while can also help your computer to lessen the risk of hardware failure due to overheating too. A little brush can make a difference in your computer’s life. Taking care of your computer saves you money and technical disaster in the future.
While you are cleaning the dust and dirt from your PC, be sure to clean it digitally too. PC Health Advisor is the best way to scan your PC to fix errors and improve performance.
Check out our page on PC Health Advisor.
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How many tracks are you leaving behind you online? Are you leaving your history exposed for anyone to read?
Sure, a trained computer snoop can dig up a little dirt on anyone – but the average computer user can find all kind of your hidden history too, without even meaning to. Anyone could find your Google search history, a list of previously downloaded files, a record of previously viewed files or web pages, and much more.
To defend your privacy, you have to take an active role to clear history and search files.
Delete Internet History
When you work to delete your Internet history, there are a lot of different areas that you’ll have to clean. There’s not only the history of the pages your web browser (like Internet Explorer, Mozilla, or Chrome) has visited, there’s also:
- A history of items you’ve searched in Google (search keywords that you typed in the past)
- Temporary files and cache files saved from visited pages (these can be data files, images, and so on)
- Items you’ve entered on other web pages (such as login details, financial details, or search terms on individual websites)
- Files previously downloaded and saved (and their file names)
- Cookies (tiny identification files left by many websites)
- A history within items that you used online (for example, flash videos)
Clear Computer History
What about the history of things you’ve done on your PC itself? Yes, you can delete individual files (don’t forget to empty the recycle bin!), but is that enough? Your system will record:
- A history of recently opened files
- Individual programs, such as Windows Media Player, QuickTime, VLC media player, and more, have their own records of viewed clips
- Chat logs from Instant Messaging
- History of items downloaded via BitTorrent and other P2P file transfer applications
- Almost every action you commit on your PC may be recorded in some way
As if that wasn’t enough, even deleting files might not be enough: if someone really wanted to find out what you deleted, they could use special data recovery software to bring it back.
If you want your private history to stay private, then you’ll need to get help to delete and completely clear your history. If you really want a spotless history with no trace of any of your activities, you’ll need cleaning software. I recommend PC Health Advisor.
Along with its other functions, PC Health Advisor scans your PC for all of the history files listed above, and permanently deletes them. You don’t need to remember everywhere you’ve been and clean manually – Privacy Controls provides automated history deletion.
After you’ve scanned with PC Health Advisor, your PC will be as clean as it was the day it was made. All private and personal history files that you don’t want seen will be gone. It will forget anything it ever recorded, and any other computer users will be completely unable to access any history.
Download PC Health Advisor now, and see for yourself what’s hiding in your computer. The program is available with a free download and scan, so you can find out how vulnerable your history really is.
PC Health Advisor is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, and XP.
Finally, don’t worry about additional files on your PC that you want to keep. PC Health Advisor is specifically designed to only destroy history files – your own documents that you want to keep will be entirely safe. As an added precaution, you can preview all files before getting rid of them for good.
Download PC Health Advisor now and clear your history – or risk having it exposed.
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As discussed in previous articles, bloatware and unwanted startup items can cause a slow startup speed. But what else is going on when you PC starts up?
First, it’s important to differentiate between the boot up process of your computer, and the startup process of Windows. These are two different things, and each involve different aspects of your PC.
The boot up process it what begins immediately after you power on your computer. This does not involve Windows at all. Instead, it starts with your computer’s BIOS, which is the ground level firmware of your PC.
BIOS, Boot up, Loading Processes – just what goes on when you start your PC?
As soon as it loads, the BIOS takes the time to check your hardware devices – your video card, sound card, hard disk, and so on. So, a computer with more hardware devices attached will have a marginally longer startup time.
Plus, the BIOS will also check to see which device it will boot from. Usually, the computer will boot from the hard drive (where Windows is installed), but occasionally it can boot from the DVD drive, CD drive, or USB port. This is the case when using advanced system tweakers, or when installing a new operating system.
The boot up process then checks and initializes the memory of the PC. The details of this are fairly advanced, and this Wikipedia article can be seen for more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booting
All of these boot up processes are influenced by the speed of the computer’s processor, and the amount of RAM memory. Sometimes, a hardware upgrade is required to improve bootup speeds.
The second step is the starting of Windows – the startup. This loads the various processes and applications that Windows needs in order to run. This includes loading files from the registry loading system settings, loading device drivers, loading DLL files, (and so on) and culminates in the Windows logon screen. Problems with drivers, DLL files, or corruptions within the Windows registry and settings can cause errors and delays here.
After you log in to Windows (this may be automatic, depending on your settings) the Windows startup items are launched. For more information, check out our post on how to fix a slow startup.
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Slow speed on brand new computers is typically caused by one thing: bloatware.
This odd term is used to describe software programs on your computer which are unnecessary and bloat its size and memory usage. These are applications that are not really necessary and rarely used, but make your computer unwieldy and slow, just the same.
Why would a brand new computer have bloatware? The computer manufacturer installs it.
When you buy a brand name PC (Compaq, Lenovo, Asus, etc.) the computer manufacturer includes a wide range of bundled software. For one, the computer manufacturer want to help you out – basic software is included to get you started and accomplish basic tasks. For another, computer companies have contracts and agreements with software manufacturers to include their programs. Why bother asking you to get their program if it came pre-installed on your PC?
Regardless of the reasoning, most users will find that not all of the programs pre-installed on their PC are necessary. In fact, most of them aren’t used at all.
These bloatware programs are often configured to launch on startup. When a program launches on startup, it doesn’t necessarily open a window – instead, it might just sit in the background, ready to open quickly. Nevertheless, the fact that it causes a process to launch during startup leads to more use of your system’s memory. When you add up all the bloatware programs, this can be quite substantial. As a result, your PC slows down.
There are two possible solutions to boost your PC’s speed.
The first, uninstall all the pre-installed programs that you think you won’t use. You can either do this through the Control Panel, or through the uninstall feature of each program.
The second is to simply disable them from launching at startup. This may be preferable for many users because it does not permanently delete the program. You never know, you might want the software a few months from now – if you disable the startup launch, you can improve your speed, but still have the program when you need it.
Disabling startup items is fairly easy. You can do so from your Control Panel, under the Scheduled Tasks icon. You can also Click Start> Run> type MSCONFIG, select the startup tab, and disable unwanted items.
Another option, which may save you some time, is to make the whole process automatic. There are some programs, which allow you to control all your startup items from a single menu. Our recommended software is PC Health Advisor. The program is quite user friendly, and would be a good choice for computer novices. Not sure which items to keep, and which to get rid of? Check out our post on Which Startup Programs to Disable.
Whatever option you choose, new computer users don’t have to suffer with slow speed. Cut the bloatware, and get a faster computer!
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