Tips Guides

Keeping a PC running smoothly is something that seems to elude a lot of people. Too many times I’ve seen people running their PC to a crawl and then wondering what the problem is and why everything seems to be running so slowly. Inexperienced users seem to pick up a huge amount of spyware and viruses, as well as a plethora of programs designed to eradicate such things. All things combined can turn even the fastest of machines into something resembling a computer built in 1990. Hopefully I can give a few words of advice that’ll help keep your PC fast and healthy.

Most mistakes that people make when using PCs are made browsing the Internet. Bad surfing habits can seriously affect your PC and load it with junk and spyware. These range from small programs that run in the background relaying data about your Internet use to full-blown viruses. Obviously a PC that is infected with either isn’t going to run so well. Too many background processes and it’ll start to put too much load on your RAM when performing intensive tasks, such as gaming or photo manipulation. Your computer will eventually have to use portions of the hard disk as overflow memory and you’ll notice a big slowdown.

To ensure that you don’t pick up malicious programs I would recommend using Firefox to browse the web. As Internet Explorer is by far the most widely used browser it is the one that the most viruses are written for. Using Firefox will cut out a lot of the attacks that you can be affected by. However, Firefox is second to Microsoft’s program and you’ll still need to be aware. Try not to visit less-than-reputable sites with a lot of low budget flash adverts and pop-ups. Never click yes to anything that does pop up, and ignore any messages that try to alert you about the condition of your PC. These are scare tactics to get inexperienced users to download unnecessary software, clogging up your PC.

Many people swear by their virus protection software, claiming that it helps keep their PC clean. I’ve kept my PC virus-free for over seven years without a single piece of virus protection software. I found that having it constantly running in the background and checking everything slowed my PC down. Constant update and checking popups started to get annoying as well and in the end I decided I could do without it. So long as you’re careful while online you can do just fine without any virus protection software. Without it, your PC will run much faster and smoother.

A lot of people seem to get infected with spyware when opening malicious emails. The key here is to have a decent spam filter on whatever email client that you’re using, and having a good eye for what to open and what to delete. My general rule is that if I don’t know who the sender is then I just delete the mail without reading it. Avoid emails from friends that seem suspicious as well, as often a virus will send itself to everyone in the infected person’s address book. Don’t follow any links or open any files. Above all else, never ever download or run a .exe file. It’s almost guaranteed to be a virus.

Make sure you defragment your hard disk around once a month. If the data becomes to fragmented then it’ll take a long time for the head to read the data from the platters, slowing the PC again. By defragmenting you’re keeping the files arranged more orderly on your disk and therefore making it easier to read. Many people never even bother doing this and then find that their PC takes ages to read files and get going.

Make sure that you don’t install too many useless programs. Many programs will launch on startup and sit in the background, not really doing anything until prompted. Although they feel like they’re not there they’re still using up valuable system resources. Allow this to build up and you’ll end up with a slow PC. A good way to tell if you’ve got a lot of these programs is by checking the number of icons in the bottom right of the screen, try to have as few as possible.

Keep Windows up to date. This is vital as often in updates there are crucial security updates that can make a world of difference. The same applies to browsers and any anti-virus software you have installed. By making sure everything is fully up to date you’re far less likely to encounter problems later on.

Keeping a PC running well isn’t a difficult thing to do, it just requires a little care. Making sure you get things right to start with will help you with the headaches that occur with virus infections and computers slowing to a crawl. Hopefully in the future you’ll look after your PC well and have a fast machine that runs smoothly.

Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in Birmingham airport parking, Airparks Birmingham and Gatwick parking.

For anyone moving across from Windows to using a Mac the first few days can feel a little strange. The interface is superficially the same but fundamentally different. The Mac operating system, OS X has a number of really useful features and shortcuts that Windows lacks that can make working on a Mac really easy. While Windows has many functions not present on Apple’s operating system this article will focus on a few tips to help transitioning over to a Mac a little easier.

The first thing to note is that Macs are far more shortcut driven with the user able to do a lot more things more easily through cunning use of the keyboard. On a Mac the Apple key replaces the functionality of the Ctrl key on a Windows keyboard. Notice that is where the Alt key is on a PC keyboard, so start using your thumb rather than your little finger to start using the keyboard shortcuts. There is no Windows key and in its place is the Alt button, with Ctrl and shift remaining in the same places.

A lot of the most widely used Windows shortcuts are replicated on a Mac, so Apple+C is for copy, Apple+V is for paste and Apple+X is for cut. Learning these keys and making full use of them is an excellent time saving tool when doing long, boring repetitive tasks that don’t require much thought but a lot of clicks. In a similar fashion Apple+F is useful for finding and searching through documents and web pages, much like the Windows variant.

What is much easier on a Mac than a PC is taking screenshots of areas on your desktop. Simply hit the key Apple+Shift+4 and your cursor will change to a crosshair that you can use to drag a box. When you’re done dragging, a screenshot will be created of the area inside the box that you made, creating an image on your desktop. Very simple and easy and something that Windows lacks in such an easy format.

So if you need to see your desktop you’ll notice how easy it is in Windows, you can simply click the show desktop button on the taskbar. OS X does not have this button as the taskbar works differently. However they have what I consider to be the best feature of the Mac operating system, and that is hot corners. To see the desktop just drag your mouse cursor into the bottom right or bottom left hand corners of your screen. You’ll notice all your windows are minimised and you can view the desktop to open up any files that you need.

Another great feature of hot corners is the ability to move the cursor into one of the top corners of the screen to be able to see every window you have open at the time. You can then just click the window you want and it’s brought to the front. This feature is a really great addition if you tend to work with a lot of windows open at one time and need to switch between them a lot. This one feature is what Windows is really lacking and is the only thing that I miss from OS X when working on a PC.

Hopefully these tips will help you a little when changing to using a Mac for the first time as it can be a little unsettling at first. In time you’ll come to appreciate the different features of each operating system and only wish that someone would bring together the best features of both into one system that you could use.

Patrick is an expert Research and Travel consultant. His current interest is in Gatwick parking NCP, Gatwick hotels and Hilton Gatwick.

It’s really great to buy a new computer! With it you can do all the things you were unable to do on the old one. All your former limitations are left behind you. You have the resources to do any computer operation now. The sky’s the limit. Get any program you want, your computer can deal with it. You’re up to date and then some!

This was pretty much the attitude, and logically so, of a customer of mine who told me about his PC that had become very slow in a very short time. He had a good virus/spyware cleaner and had been using it regularly. Still, the computer acted like it was being dragged down; like something was eating its resources.

We’re talking about a fast computer here! This guy didn’t make the mistake many people do when they buy too much based on price instead of quality. This computer has 2Gig RAM!

Onboard memory is critical, but…

Several times I ran into the problem where a new computer was slow simply because, even though it was brand new, it had Windows Vista and only 512MB RAM. This is not the case with this computer. It is P4 Humming around at 3.3 MHZ and even has a dedicated gamer video card!

When I told this fellow he ought to get a good registry cleaner because he probably has some corrupt registry files, he became sort of indignant! “The computer’s new!” he pleaded, “we just got it two months ago!”

I understand how he felt. The computer was new and it wasn’t cheap. He thought he had left old his old lack of speed problems behind, but unfortunately, the fact a computer is new doesn’t make it maintenance free.

Why is there corruption?

The nature of Windows operating systems is the registry becomes corrupt during what is considered normal use. This is not only true of Windows Vista but also of Windows XP and all the other Microsoft Windows platforms as well.

The problem is, as these operating systems have evolved, they have become more and more complicated and use more and more memory just to be functional. There was a time, the Windows 95 era for instance, when registry corruption could go on a long time without being noticed because a few more kilobytes of memory would push the O.S. to work around this corruption.

XP and Vista use a lot of resources

Now, with Windows XP and Vista, it takes a lot more memory to push corruption aside and get the computer to slog through it. Also, the fact drivers are so much bigger, the programs new computers run are so much more resource dependent and newer microprocessors are required to perform so many more functions, this corruption can’t be very effectively worked around any more.

Bring back the 486!

So, does this mean you should convert to an Intel 486SD with Windows 3.11? No not at all! However, like your brand new car still needs to have its oil changed once in a while, your new computer still needs to be scanned for viruses and spyware and it needs to regularly have its registry scanned for and repaired of corruption.

This is not a monumental task, nor is it cost prohibited. There are many spyware and registry programs on the market today. Just remember, like you wouldn’t put used crankcase oil in your new Lexus, you wouldn’t get some non-guaranteed freeware program to deal with your registry corruption; would you?

It’s just regular maintenance

These days, you need to scan for viruses and spyware regularly, and you need to scan for and repair registry corruption regularly, as well. Normally, this requires two separate programs, a virus/spyware program and a registry cleaner. Scan for viruses/ spyware first, then do a registry scan and clean because if you have any spyware removed, this will leave registry corruption.

So, the happy ending to the story is; our friend is back up to 100% speed because he had a ton of registry corruption repaired. In a short amount of time, he, his wife, their two teenage daughters and their boyfriends had flown around the Net almost endlessly. As you might have predicted, there was some registry file corruption left behind. Still, everything is fine since the registry cleaning.

New computers are absolutely wonderful. I am a big fan of the biggest and fastest in the world of computing, but their maintenance is more critical than ever. This is just a way of life.

The author, Ed Lathrop is an comp TIA A+/Network+ certified computer technician . His site, Registry Cleaner Review, rates the latest registry repair programs and gives you an analysis of what is effective and what might actually be dangerous to your computer. Then, why new Windows registries need to be free of corruption at Windows Registry Cleaners

The concept of software configuration management can be mind boggling unless you are given a tentative and informed introduction to it. If you are dumped at a computer terminal with the open source code data configuration software Subversion in front of you then you might just stare blankly. The initial prerequisite for working in software configuration management is fluency in C-plus-plus or Java and a basic working knowledge of Linux or Unix.

If those names mean nothing to you then you really need to ask for your money back from the people who supplied the IT training. Otherwise you should be able to follow the basic principals from configuration management to the use of Subversion. Configuration management literally means managing change. So if two users are trying to access the same Word doc in a local network they will usually be unable to edit the doc at the same time.

This might generally be done for security reasons as the network cannot accommodate the two sets of changes, hence a message is sent to the user exclaiming a read only version of the doc is available. Without any configuration management system there is the potential for two users to open the document, do separate work then for the last one to save to overwrite the work already done and CMS is designer to avoid the aforementioned scenarios.

The example is a very basic one and with CMS both users can check out their copy of the file, while the system keeps a record of every version saved and merges the changes to the document. The Word doc example is not where CMS is most important as the real value of CMS is in software development. If you have scores of software developers working on the same source code files then a software configuration management system is essential.

SCM systems work on the basis of a central database of all files where users can check out the files, make alterations then check them back in again. The system then checks the changes against the original files and updates them keeping an archive of every generation. There are certain features that any SCM system must possess, concurrency management, versioning and synchronisation.

Concurrent management is the feature that allows multiple users to edit the same file and merges the changes by checking the updated files against the route files in the database by running a series of algorithms. Dependent on the system configuration the SCM system will either use complex algorithms to minimise the users work by automatically merging any conflicting changes intelligently, or it will notify the user to do so manually.

Versioning is the feature that stores archive copies of every file in the database so that users can recall previous versions of a file. They also can track the history of files to establish who checked what files out and when. Synchronisation is the process of a user submitting their file to the database so that the SCM system can update the file as to other changes that have been made to that particular file.

Dominic Donaldson is an expert on subversion and is a regular publisher of open source white papers.

In order to appreciate the importance of registry cleaning, the computer user must develop an understanding of a computer’s configuration. That configuration is shaped by the database on the computer, and that database reflects the extent of information on the computer.

When the computer user installs a software program, the information in the registry is created, changed or deleted. When the computer user uninstalls a program, information in the registry is created, changed or deleted. When the computer user calls-up an installed program, information in the registry is created, changed or deleted.

In the absence of registry cleaning, the amount of information in the computer’s configuration grows larger and larger, each time that the computer is used. There are bound to be times when a computer is used for tasks of only slight importance. The information from those tasks adds “clutter” to the computer registry.

A large and fragmented registry can slow the operation of a computer. It can cause the computer to have all sorts of strange software problems. Registry cleaning prevents the appearance of such problems.

During registry cleaning, a software program is used to scan the windows registry. During that scanning procedure, the registry cleaner (the software) locates the incorrect or outdated information. The cleaner gets rid of error-prone or obsolete information. It thus provides the computer user with a much faster computer.

Some computer users hesitate to employ registry cleaning tools, because they fear the loss total loss of information that might later appear of value. A good registry cleaner has a restore/backup function. That functions gives the computer user the ability to restore a computer’s registry to its original configuration.

The computer’s registry reflects the skills and preferences of the computer user. Should a software program be installed incorrectly, and then replaced, the information entered during the improper installation remains in the registry.

Removal of a registry from a computer does not lead to removal of the registry entries. Those entries, which became part of the registry during an earlier application, remain a part of the total database. Even registry entries associated with a deleted computer file remain in the configuration of a computer system that has not been cleaned.

Over time, the registry in a computer fills with all manner of “orphan” files. In addition, it acquires a good deal of superfluous and false information. All of that unnecessary information slows the operation of the computer.

A slow computer is often an error filled computer. Moreover, the computer’s lack of speed can wear on the computer user, leading to the creation of even more incorrect information. That forces the computer to store an even larger amount of incorrect facts and figures.

Since a computer user normally relies on the speed with which a computer normally carries-out operations, the average computer user does not want a slow computer. A computer user can not go out and buy a newer and faster computer. The computer user must purchase a registry cleaner.

The registry cleaning process gives the computer user the fast computer that he or she needs.

Check out the best registry cleaner to see the benefits you get by using this software on your computer. Visit his website at: http://www.registryheal.com/

Windows Indexing service and the registry cleaner are related very closely. Windows indexing allows the system to locate and run files and programs quickly and efficiently. Windows Registry also stores the various users’ preferences such as the desktop settings and what programs the user wants to startup with the operating system during boot up.

This registry is constantly changing along with the use of the system. These changes are a stumbling block for the system as the registry continues to grow and expand. Eventually the system will slow down so much that the use of a registry cleaner will be inevitable to fine tune and cleanup the system. Here are a couple of ways to make sure your getting a good one. Is your computer slowing down without your knowledge? Are you having errors that are not distinguished by your anti-virus program? Your PC might be affected by applications that are running without your knowledge.

It should be able to remove potential harmful internet explorer plugins. More registry cleaner reviews are biased, however, you will find that the following registry cleaners reviewed are by independent parties. When it comes to registry repair one of the biggest questions is “how often should I clean my Window’s Vista registry?” Generally speaking at least once per week. You must make it a point to read all the registry cleaner reviews before attempting to buy your own registry cleaner. Only attempt to buy registry cleaners after you have read their reviews.

Be careful but also be excited because you will be amazed at the difference that a little maintenance registry clean will change the operating performance of your pc. First of all in order to know what whether or not you need a registry clean you have to know what kind of registry I am talking about. You also have to know what that particular kind of registry does, and what kinds of things happen when your registry is dirty In the next several paragraphs I want to tell you about each of these things and in so doing hopefully answer the title question.. Keeping your computer in top form is the reason why everyone should have their own registry cleaners installed. Remember that your computer speed can only be determined by how good your registry cleaners are.

Registry cleaners are a must! Your PC might be inflicted by Adwares Spywares and Spambots. Do not buy registry cleaners blindly, only get one when you are satisfied with the registry scans. I trusted him he had been my go to guy for some time so I tried it out. There are many reasons why one would need registry cleaners installed onto their computers.

Some registry cleaners can also detect viruses and spyware as many of such malicious intruders are either inserted into or modify the registry. Some of these packages have options to tweak your computer even more by letting you modify the startup sequences of the operating system search for broken links delete temporary files and search for duplicate files on the hard drive.

Getting the Right Registry Cleaner:
How The Registry Gets Clogged. It is during the process of downloading programs or files from the Internet that the registry gets filled with redundant information such as ActiveX controls and stuff. Some hardware such as plug and play peripherals also have to be registered in the registry. But when these programs and peripherals are removed the registry entries still remain. This takes up space on the drives as well as slows the system down.

A good registry cleaner such as the windows XP registry cleaner or the free PC registry cleaner can remove this stagnant information from the registry and make the system more efficient and faster.. Getting the right registry cleaner is very critical to your computer speed and performance. If you own a computer, you must have your very own registry cleaners installed. Registry cleaners plays an integral part in our lives.

So, get your computer registry cleaned. One can run a search on any search engine by typing in ‘power registry cleaner’ ‘free registry software cleaner’ ‘free registry XP cleaner’ or just ‘registry cleaner’.

See registry cleaner reviews at Registry Sweep to find out which registry cleaner would make your computer work at top speed again!