There is a brand new program out that will help you clean up your computer and get rid of all the junk that clutters up your pc and makes it slow down.  PC Cleaner will help you cleanup your PC quick and easy.  Just select the parts of your computer you want to clean and let it go to work for you.

Best of all, PC Cleaner is totally free!  That’s right, there is no charge and no upsell to a paid version.  It’s just free and you get to use it all you want.

You can really cleanup your computer for free and clear up all the junk that is dragging down the speed of your computer.

Click Here to Download PC Cleaner

We recently posted a new review of regcure, a popular computer repair tool.  This regcure review is extensive and a good read so I thought I would post a link to it on the blog here for you folks to read.

If you are experiencing problems with your computer or if it’s just a little slower than it should be then read our new review here.  Let us know what you think in the comment section below or drop us an email.

We are adding more program reviews every couple of days and will soon be launching a brand new design as well.  Have a great day!

 Windows Vista by default installs services and configures several applications which may not suite your needs. If you are a home user rather than in a business environment there are many things you can change to give your computer that little extra oomph for applications and process you use.

 I have put together a few items which when set correctly can help you control how resources are used on your system. Some of these items listed will simply uninstall certain features or change a program configuration. Others listed can be used to actually designate what resources are dedicate to individual programs. If used properly this can make specific programs operate faster and more efficiently.

You may or may not wish to implement some or all of these changes as it will be a matter of preference. Please remember you should document any changes made to your system. This well help you reverse any changes made if for any reason you experience adverse effects. 

Uninstalling remote differential compression

The remote differential compression feature is designed to streamline file transfers to and from remote directories by keeping track of file changes and only transferring the changed information.

To disable this feature:

Go to “start/control panel/programs/uninstall a program”.

On the sidebar select “turn windows features on and off”.

Uncheck “remote differential compression” and select “ok.”

Designating which CPU (if using multiple processors) runs a specific process

Windows Vista allows you the ability to assign an application to run only on a specific CPU. This is called processor affinity. This is a good way of balancing the load on a multi-core CPU.

Assigning processor affinity to an application:

Launch the desired application.

Press CTRL+ALT+DEL and choose the “task manager”.

In the “applications” tab locate the desired program and right click it. Choose “go to process”.

This will bring you to the “processes” tab with the process used by the application application highlighted. Right click the process and select “set affinity”.

The processor affinity window will open. Using the check box select which processor(s) you want to run that application.

Note: All settings will reset to default when a restart of the computer is performed.

Assigning priority to an application

All recent Microsoft operating systems have contained the concept of priority, meaning in this case, which process gets the most attention from the CPU. In Vista, you can customize these priority settings so that your hardware is concentrating most on what you want it to.

Vista has a range of available settings ranging from “low” to “real time”.

Note: Any full screen application automatically is assigned high priority by Windows Vista.The best way to optimize such applications is to tweak the commonly used windowed applications.

Assigning a custom priority to an application:

Launch the desired application.

Press CTRL+ALT+DEL and choose the “task manager”.

In the “applications” tab locate the desired program and right click it. Choose “go to process”.

This will open the “processes” tab with the process highlighted.

Right click the process and choose “set priority”. The priority list will openand you may designate your desired level.

Note: that choosing “realtime” is not wise as this will designate all processing being alloted to this one specific process. All settings will be reset to default when you restart the computer.

Configuring Windows Defender

Windows Defender by default runs a scan daily. Even though this scan runs in the background it can impact system performance. You may wish to disable the automatic scanning and perform only occasional manual system scans.

Disable Windows Defender automated scans:

Open the “start” menu and in the search field type “defender.”

select the “tools” icon at the top of the window and then “options”.

Uncheck “automatically scan my computer” and select “save”.

This will be the first in a line of articles dedicated to improving performance on Windows Vista. If you have a suggestion of your own that you have implemented and you feel may be beneficial to others please comment on this article. We would be happy to include any viable tips in our next article.

 We have all read hundreds of articles on how to make our computers run faster, how to tweak the operating system, or how to secure them. The one thing you don’t see many of are articles on simply keeping your computer stored and cleaned properly.

We all seem to know how to clean our homes, and we can recognize the dust layer on the table or dust bunnies under the couch. Well you must understand that if you have to clean your house once a week to keep the dust and dust bunnies out then you must do the same for your computer. Your computer is even more at risk down there….in that little computer desk cubby hole….underneath everything!

The easiest way to make sure your computer collects as little dust as possible is to insure it is in a well ventilated area. Air circulation as well keeps your computer from over heating. Even with ventilation any computer will require cleaning internally. Over heating can cause a computer to lock up unexpectedly, shutdown intermittently and even cause slow performance.

Cleaning your computer is not as complicated as most people might fear. All computers have an access panel. Some OEM manufacturers hide them as well as they can to prevent users from accessing internal components, but don’t worry…..it is there.

All you will need is a can of compressed air (Which you can pick up at your local computer store) and ten minutes of your time. Please remember to unplug your computer when doing this, because if for any reason you dropped a screw or anything metallic on the system board while it was plugged in or turned on it could be catastrophic.

There are a couple of areas you will really want to focus on. Not that you should ignore the rest of the computer.

The CPU heat sink and fan- Very important to clean as this component keeps your CPU cooled.

Fans- Any system fans should be blown out as they draw in cold air or push out warm air.

The power supply- The power supply may or may not contain a fan internally that needs to be cleaned, but it should still be blown out regardless.

A good overall spraying of the system board and any other hardware is a good idea as well.

Now that your computer is cleaned (And it cost you all of what? three or four dollars for the can of air.) you will have the peace of mind that it wont over heat.

So how often should you do this? Well that depends on many things that I cannot address here, but in general take a look at your computer at least every 30 to 45 days to see if it might need your attention.

If you are experiencing slow performance aside from heat issues it as well can be due problems internal to the Windows registry. The fastest and easiest way to scan the registry for invalid, incomplete or missing data would be to use the PC Registry Cleaner. Not only will it remove these types of errors from the registry, but it also has embedded registry optimization entries which will improve the overall performance of a PC.

Lets not forget the fact that the manufacturer offers free support for any ongoing issue. You can download the trial program using the following link.

 http://www.pcregistrycleaner.com/download/PCRegistryCleaner_setup.exe

According to some recent benchmarks the Mac hardware out performs PC based systems when running Windows. Consider they use almost identical hardware it makes you wonder why this is.

Well for starters the Mac does not have the x86 memory limitations. In a Mac when you have 2gigs of memory that is exactly what it sees; whereas a PC has the 640k limit in which it must break up the 2gigs worth of memory. Thats not to say Mac’s dont have their issues with memory.

The main benefit I believe comes from a standard hardware set. If you have a set type of hardware then you can test that hardware for a more efficient design of the overall computer. Unfortunately with the typical PC based OEM system hardware is not picked by best performance, but rather the lowest bidder. This is where you can run into trouble. I know I have experienced issues with PC based systems having compatibility issues between hardware devices.

PC based systems might reap the benefits of atleast somewhat standardizing the equipment (atleast between models), and before you say it; yes I understand the impact it would have on the hardware industry, but maybe performance is atleast one cause for the increase in market share that Apple is enjoying.

Although xp has been proven to be one of the better operating systems written by Microsoft there of course are updates and changes which still need to be addressed.

Some of the changes included in xp sp3 have been implemented in there own individual update packages previously, but are now included in the encompassing sp3 pack. This will provide a one time update solution for those who are like me on many of Microsofts’ patches.. a little weary.

I most curious to test the latest service pack to see how performance compares with Vista sp1; which at least with xpsp2 the xp operating system has proven to out perform Vista.

The service pack has been released on TechNet and made available in an admin pack, but has yet to be released on the Windows Update site.

Of course many of you know my feelings on jumping out there and immediately grabbing the latest updates. This isn’t to say I will not grab it for testing. I’m just always the cautious one when implementing in a production environment. This does include you individual users……at least those who consider their data valuable.

Considering this I have as well fallen into a comfort zone when it comes to the xp operating system and my confidence in it, even still I will muster the strength to be patient.

Of course right now the big buzz is being generated by all the sites guessing when the service pack will be made available to the update service. I will not even venture to even guess. Besides I am more interested in the buzz it will create after the release. Yes that was me chuckling in the background!

You may or may not have read my previous article over Vista sp1, but as a quick refresher I will outline a few entries.

The below portion is pulled from my previous post on the Sp1 subject. I just wanted to keep this information fresh in your mind if you are thinking of downloading Sp1 before other people have had a chance to feel the pinch (Beta testing). 

The word on the street (and in other articles) is the fact that Windows xp is faster at more operations than Vista sp1. According to Principled Technologies Inc. (Whom performed the testing at the request of Microsoft) Windows xp is faster than Vista sp1 at 61% of the operations grouped in a consumer test suite and in 46% of the operations in the business-oriented in a head-to-head competition on duplicate computers.

Aside from the performance factors another issue to consider is Microsofts’ service pack track record. Once again any admins will understand where I am coming from. It is not often Microsoft puts an extensive service pack out that doesn’t cuase issues with compatability.

Let it ride for a while! What I mean is you should allow others to install it first: then watch the forums for issues that have been discovered by other people after implementing Sp1. I can gurantee you feel a whole lot better knowing you weren’t effected. I’m not saying that you should never install Sp1, I am just saying you should wait a while. As with many service packs and patches provided by Microsoft they are there to plug holes that intruders may use to gain access to your computer.

If I could I would wait, unfortunately I have to endure the pain to find out if there are any compatability issues that need to be reported to clients. Thank goodness for my test bed of computers.

According to the buzz Windows Vista sp1 is soon to be released. This may be a blessing or a curse only time will tell.

I am a little apprehensive to say the least. I know what your thinking “Oh come on can it really be that bad?”. Well that really depends on Microsoft does it not? I’m sure we have all had our experiences whether good or bad with service packs. If you are an IT admin you know exactly where I am coming from.

Maybe just maybe Microsft has learned from past experience with the release of service packs how simple mistakes can effect users and they wont leave anything to chance.

The word on the street (and in other articles) is the fact that Windows xp is faster at more operations than Vista sp1. According to Principled Technologies Inc. (Whom performed the testing at the request of Microsoft) Windows xp is faster than Vista sp1 at 61% of the operations grouped in a consumer test suite and in 46% of the operations in the business-oriented in a head-to-head competition on duplicate computers.

These facts do not deliver much hope for improved performance for Vista when it comes to the sp1 update. The best bet will be to let everyone else test it first. Once most of the issues have been resolved….Well then it will be my turn.

You can learn to use Windows Vista by watching some very cool Vista training videos at MyVistaTutor.com

If your computer is configured with a SATA disk drive you have the ability to tweak the performance of the hard drive.  This can easily be done by enhancing write caching. Of course for stability and to prevent the loss of critical information please note your computer should be connected to a battery backup in case you have a power loss. Of course this is ideal for a laptop configuration since your laptop battery is a form of battery backup.

This option makes Windows Vista bypass the cache which in turn changes the functionality to where the operating system reads and writes directly to your hard drive. This is a buffer to protect your hard drive from sudden losses of power that might corrupt or lose data. This is why it is best to only enable this option for systems with a battery backup.
To perform the following performance enhancement please follow the instructions below:

1. Browse to the Device Manager

2. Select and expand the “Disk Drives”

3. Right click on SATA hard drive and select Properties

4. Choose the “Policies” tab and check “Enable advanced performance”
 
5. Select OK and close Device Manager

Windows Vista has the ability built in to check for memory problems. Issues with RAM can cause your system to become unstable, lose data and fail randomly. Checking the memory should be the first step in any diagnostic process.

To access the Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool, you can go to desktop search box and type memory. You may also access them by using the Admin Tools area of the control panel or by booting off of the Vista DVD and using the Recovery Environment. 

If using the utility from inside Windows you will be prompted with the option to restart your computer to begin the test or begin the test the next time you boot your PC. When your PC restarts, the diagnostic tool will begin and present you with a few test options: Basic, Standard and Extended. The Standard test is selected by default. Simply designate which option you wish to run.

These tests can take a while to complete so you may want to find something else to do with your time. The computer will report the results the next time you login. If you have a bad memory stick you should replace or remove the faulty module immediately. Memory errors can impact your Windows installation and/or performance.