Cleaning the registry of your computer is vital to its health and reliability. Manually going through and cleaning out your computer’s registry can be a nightmare! Deleting one listing in your registry can disrupt and even remove several other things on your computer. This is just one of the reasons you should get a registry cleaning software. The choices are endless when it comes to locating such a program, but finding the one for you might be easier than you thought. A popular, helpful and easy-to-use program to consider is Registry Mechanic.

Download Registry Mechanic

Registry Mechanic is a PC Tools product and the most recent version is Registry Mechanic 8. This version is compatible with Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista 32-bit versions and Windows Vista 64-bit version. They also have a separate downloadable version of it for Windows 98.

Registry Mechanic’s download runs quick and very easily for even those new to computer using. You simply click the download button, select Run, pick the options you want installed with the program and follow the wizard to get it installed and running.

This is a well designed program for registry cleaning. I cannot stress enough how great it is for beginners and experts alike. Like other PC Tools programs, once Registry Mechanic has completed installation it will run an update to insure you have the latest version installed. Once you get that taken care of you are free to run the registry scan and repair anything found with a click of the mouse!

Registry Mechanic runs a thorough scan of your computer’s registry locating anything that could be harmful or suspicious. Along with locating these errors, Registry Mechanic locates missing or invalid references in your registry. Everything this program finds is listed on the results page with details and the option to view manually for further details. I trust this program because it is from PC Tools so I go ahead and use the Repair All button every time. This saves a great deal of time and effort.

Download Registry Mechanic

Registry Mechanic is an award winning program for several reasons. I give it 2 thumbs up and recommend it highly.

Download Registry Mechanic

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One very important thing I have come to learn through years of computer experience is that every single computer should have a good registry cleaning program installed and in use. When it comes to finding a registry cleaning program there are a ton of choices! But weeding through all of these to find the valuable cleaners isn’t as easy as you might think. There are a few great registry error removing programs out there, and the rest are just cheap imitations! One of my most loved registry cleaning programs is Registry Mechanic.

Registry Mechanic is a program of the famous PC Tools company. I have just upgraded to their latest version, Registry Mechanic 8. I am using a Windows Vista Home Premium, 32-bit version computer and their upgrade of Registry Mechanic works PERFECT on my system. Not a flaw to be found.

The installation of Registry Mechanic 8 is really easy for any computer user to follow. You select Run, and then you pick what you what to install with the Registry Mechanic, whether you want the Quick Launch button, Desktop icon and more. After that you will see how quick and thorough installation is.

That’s only the beginning of how well this program was designed for the public. As soon as Registry Mechanic 8 is finished downloading, it will run an automatic update to make sure that you got all the latest increments of the program. Then you’re on to the good stuff. You can now run a full scan and repair of your computer’s registry with the click of a button.

Registry Mechanic runs a intensive scan through your computer’s registry locating and alerting you of anything suspicious. Each error and missing or invalid reference will be listed by name and with details for you to review manually if you wish to do so. I trust the Registry Mechanic and its never done harm to my computer in any way so I click the Repair button and watch as Registry Mechanic works wonders for my computer!

Registry Mechanic has won many awards that it definitely deserved! Just visit their website to see their awards and honorable mentions to see what I’m talking about! Registry Mechanic knows you’ll love the program so they offer a 100% money back guarantee to back that! You might be surprised to learn that if you take your computer into the repair shop that they run a registry scan & repair program to locate the errors in your computer. Some even use this very program! So, skip the middle man and repair your computer’s registry yourself with Registry Mechanic.

Below is from their website in reference to the latest version of Registry Mechanic.

Download the latest version of Registry Mechanic

Registry Mechanic Information

I’ve been through many registry cleaning programs but this one is most definitely one of my top 3 favorites! It is great from start to finish. The best part is how easy it is to use but how effectively it will work for you!

Download the latest version of Registry Mechanic

Leave us a comment below on your experiences with Registry Mechanic

How can I speed up my pc?

There are many things that can be done to improve your computer’s speed and keep it running like new. All the things in this article can be done by YOU! Yes, you being the computer user. These tasks can be completed by any user from a beginner to an expert to get your computer in tip-top shape!

3 Things we highly recommend:

1.  Install PC Updater – Make sure all your drivers are up to date.
2.  Grab a copy of PC Cleaner – It’s 100% Free!
3.  Purchase the full version of PC Power Suite

There are a lot of different things slowing down your computer. Think about it, every time you download a program, receive an e-mail or visit a website, a trace is left on your computer’s hard drive. The more the hard drive fills up, the slower it runs. This is similar to a person running, the more things you load them up with, the slower they move. Follow each of the tasks below to improve your computer now!

1.) Backup Your Computer

This step may be the most important of all. It is definitely the step you should perform FIRST. If, for any reason, your hard drive crashes, the backup will be your saving point that you can go back to. Backing up your hard drive is fairly easy. Just go to your Start Menu -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Backup. This opens the Backup Wizard from Windows. Just follow the steps of the wizard including what to back up and where to back it up to. Personally, I think backing up to a CD in one of the disk drives or to a USB is the best way to go.

2.) Clear Out the Recycle Bin

Once you’ve backed up your hard drive, one of the easiest things that you can do to make a difference in your computer’s speed is to empty your Recycle Bin. When you right-click an icon on your Desktop and select Delete, delete a photo or file it really just moves into the Recycle Bin. The Recycle Bin holds on to these things for you in case you delete something by mistake and want to retrieve it. If you want to fully delete everything in the Recycle Bin you can right-click it and select Empty Recycle Bin. If you think you may want to keep certain things in there, you can open the bin and completely delete individual items.

3.) Clear Internet Cache

The Internet Cache is where information from each website you visit it stored. This is true for IE and Firefox both. Clearing the cache improves the speed of web browsing and the loading of pages. To clear the cache, just open your web browser and select the Tools menu then click Internet Options. In the General Department click Delete under Browsing History. If you’re using Firefox select the Tools menu and then Clear Private Data -> click Cache -> Clear Private Data Now.

4.) Delete Junk E-mails

You may already know that any time you receive e-mails it creates a spot stored in your hard drive until that e-mail is deleted. The Spam, Junk or Deleted folders of your e-mail inbox are often overlooked. Because of this, there are many junk e-mails being stored and taking up unnecessary space on your hard drive. To fix this, just open your e-mail inbox, select the junk folder and delete all the e-mails. With AOL, MSN and some others, there is also a Deleted Folder. This is so you can go back through and re-open a deleted folder if you accidentally deleted it. Be sure to check through these folders as well to permanently delete any e-mails you do not wish to keep.

5.) Delete Temporary System Files

Windows created a folder in your hard drive that saves and stores any temporary system files loaded. These files may be loaded when using a Microsoft Office program that uses the AutoSave feature, when you open an attachment from an e-mail and from the history from Internet Explorer searches and websites. Storing these temporary files may come in use if you need to go back in and view something, but most often you never need these things. You can use Windows Explorer to search your computer for the Temporary Folder on your hard drive and delete the files you wish to.

6.) Use Disk Cleanup

There is a Disk Cleanup tool built-in to your computer by Microsoft that helps you manage things on the hard disk. This tool is good to use after completing the steps above to insure those things are fully removed from each area of your computer. You can access the Disk Cleanup by going to the Start Menu -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Disk Cleanup. Follow the prompts of the wizard to complete the process.

7.) Use a Malware/Spyware Scanning Program

There are a thousand different choices for a program to get malware and spyware off your computer. Many of these scanning programs will locate and remove anything harmful to your computer’s hard drive. And nothing is slower than an infected computer. Take precaution and repair possible issues before they attack.

8.) Clean the Registry

A thorough search of your registry can be done by PC Registry Cleaner V2, one of my personal favorites. There are many different error-scanning and repairing programs but this one sticks to your registry and cleans any errors that may have entered through a temporary file or download. Removing the bugs and errors makes more room on your computer for the good stuff.

There are several top notch registry cleaners on the market but our favorite 2 are PC Registry Cleaner and Registry Mechanic.  Using either of those will help you clean out your registry safely and help you speed up your pc.

9.) Run chkdsk

Chkdsk is another great feature that Windows has built-in to help you manage your computer. It searches through and lets you know the reliability of the files stored on your computer. Any bad files or folders can go and that makes yet more space on your computer. To run this feature, go to your Start Menu -> Run -> type cmd and press Enter -> type chkdsk and press Enter.

10.) Check Drivers

Go through Windows and check your computer’s drivers. You should check for updates and new security features. You can do this online and it makes a world of difference if you get your computer up to date.

11.) Uninstall Unused Programs

As we’ve gone over again and again, anything you can get off your computer increases room and, thus, increases speed. So, it would only make sense to go through your computer and uninstall any programs that are no longer being used. This includes games you installed but no longer play, programs installed that are no longer used and probably some things that Microsoft included on your computer for you but that you don’t use.

Just go to your Start Menu -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs. A list of all the programs installed on your computer will appear. Do a detailed check of the list and remove anything you no longer use. Newer Windows systems will tell you how often the program is used and the last date you used it when you select a program on the list. This may help you decide what can go.

12.) Remove Programs from Startup

This step is specific to your computer’s startup speed but is just as important as the previous steps. There are many programs, whether you set them to or not, that automatically start running when your computer boots up. You can easily go through and choose which programs you would like to run upon startup. Obviously, the more you choose, the longer startup takes. You can use MSCONFIG to sort through the mess. Do NOT uncheck your anti-virus programs from the list of startup programs.

13.) Delete Old & Unused Files

Remember that report in Word you did last year? You saved it, printed it, and turned it in… and it’s still saved on your computer. Go through your old documents and delete the stuff you know you’ll never need again. Quick, easy and effective. Don’t forget to go through your Recycle Bin after wards to fully delete them. *Refer to step 2.

Doing all these steps for the first time is likely to drastically speed up your computer and make it more reliable. This isn’t something you do today and then forget about forever, you should do these steps at least once a month. I do many of these steps weekly to prevent a slowdown in my computer, you should try to do the same.

As for the error scanning steps, I suggest Maximum Software’s line of programs. I use them because they not only locate and repair the errors on your computer but their company offers technical assistance if you own a license like PC Registry Cleaner or Bug Doctor. These scans are a couple of the things I perform weekly to keep my computer going.

Download PCCleaner

I believe you will notice a difference in your computer almost immediately after performing all the steps above! The easiest way to tell? Restart your computer. You should see the difference in the boot up time and then the time it takes your computer to run the programs you open.

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.

 The buzz here lately around the tech shop deals with whether in fact Microsoft is giving up on Windows Vista and all it’s problems.

No definite answer has been given, but as Reuters reports Bill Gates was touting Windows 7 which he stated is slated for release in the next year or so.

As with my earlier blogs we already know according to reports that Windows xp sp1 and sp2 out perform Windows Vista in a side by side comparison. Not to mention how users feel about all of the headaches…I mean changes such as the User Account Control.

The only thing I would like to know is how Microsoft is going to compensate the million or so users that have sunk two to four hundred dollars into an operating system that may end of life before it ever got going?

No wait! That isn’t the only question I have. What about all us admins and technicians that have sunk thousands of dollars into Microsoft’s training and MSITPRO certification for Vista? This will undoubtedly be very frustrating if we receive the typical Microsoft response.

No wonder Microsoft is losing market share to Linux and Apple…I know I’m not going to stand for being treated like that. Not only as a customer but as an admin and technician.

Hmmm! Maybe I will just get my Mac certification rather then spending thousands of my hard earned money on Microsoft products and training just to have them decide they made a mistake.

Despite all my ranting you can bet my ear will be to the ground on this one. Lets see how it plays out.

On Monday Intel announced the release of the new Intel Dual Core note book chip. The new chip was released to better compete with AMD in the fast growing notebook market.

Intel has released the new Core 2 Extreme X7800 processor to PC manufacturers. It should be available for purchase within two weeks. The new chip will boost performance for gamers and power users alike.

Demand for notebooks is increasing. Global notebook shipments have increased ove the past few years and are estimated to increase this year to 25.3 percent.

This has prompted Intel to regain its competitive edge by boosting performance of the notebook platform CPU. In an effort to increase sales of the notebook platform CPU Intel made another effort to push sales by launching the Santa Rosa bundle of mobile processors and chipsets which is an upgrade to the popular Centrino platform.

Intel hopes to regain it’s edge by expanding the Core 2 Extreme brand from high-end desktops to high-end notebooks. The 2.6 GHz Core 2 Extreme X7800 notebook chip for is slated to sell for around $851 initially. Of course demand versus production could dictate a change in the initial price at least for the first few months of sales.

Typically with new processors you will see a decline in price as new and faster versions are made available for purchase. Before purchasing your new processor you may want to wait at least a little while until the initial price comes down.

Does anyone else find it hard to pick up work after vacationing? Having completed a weeks worth of vacation I am back to the grind….well….sort of.

I am using this day to read up on new stories and technologies for new content on the site. Please bare with me while I compose myself and get my head out of the vacation cloud. Of course this is not easily done…

As you can see from the last post we are now taking posted questions to better serve our users. As well I would like to add if there is a new technology or concern you would like for me to address please post a comment to this blog. I would be happy to research and address topics for our users.

After all….It is you the end user for which we create the content.

If you have purchased your copy of Windows Vista you have experienced this unique Vista feature. The sidebar can be used to add different features that are easily viewable.

For me the CPU and network activity monitor are very handy. If you have not previously experienced this feature or would like to re-enable the item simply visit the control panel and select the”Windows Sidebar” icon to configure it for start up.

You can view everything from the time, network traffic, CPU usage and much more. Many software vendors are developing applications to work with the Windows sidebar. If the feature or utility you might be looking for isn’t currently available then you might give it just a little more time as I’m sure someone will develop it.

If you would like to review available “gadgets” for the windows sidebar you can simply click here.

I recently attempted installation of the Vista Home Premium operating system. I first attempted this operation to see how well it performed with the minimum system requirements. Of course it wasn’t as crisp and quick as I had hoped it would be.

After testing for quite some time I turned off all the fancy shadows and features of the operating system and of course it ran better. As I added my third party applications performance began to lag once again.

Ok… time to try the installation with the recommended requirements. Just to review what the recommended requirements are I have them listed here.

1 Ghz 32 or 64-bit processor
1 GB of system memory
40 GB hard drive with 15 GB available space
128 MB graphics memory card that supports directx 9.0

Even after updating the system configuration with the new hardware… performance did improve. Of course being a tech head I do desire the as fast as possible scenario.

After reviewing my options I decided to attempt using Windows Ready Boost to see if I could boost performance. I added a compatible USB 2.0 drive with 2 GB of capacity and configured ready boost to use the device.

After testing I would have to say I would recommend to anyone that uses Vista (which does seem to be a resource hog) and needs peak performance you may want to consider using the ready boost option. Even though you cannot monitor the ready boost device performance while installed it does appear to have benefits.

As well as the performance benefits it is as well much cheaper to add a USB drive than internal system memory. I guess Microsoft knew we might need some other option to boost performance of their new os. I’m glad they decided to add this option to the operating system.

Finally Microsoft added a feature that is much easier to use than previous utilities to help parents monitor youth activities.

Although features such as this have previously been embedded into the Windows operating system it is not until now that they have been so easy to use. If you have ever configured the Internet Explorer content adviser you know what I am talking about. Another aspect to these utilities that were previously not available are the reporting features.

Microsoft has embedded all the previously available utilities into an easy to use interface and added some new unique features.

With the release of Vista you now have the following abilities to monitor and control how your children interact with the computer and the Internet.

Web restrictions.

 You can restrict the websites that children can visit, make sure children only visit age-appropriate websites, indicate whether you want to allow file downloads, and set up which content you want the content filters to block and allow. You can also block or allow specific websites.

Time limits.

You can set time limits to control when children are allowed to log on to the computer. Time limits prevent children from logging on during the specified hours and, if they are already logged on, they will be automatically logged off. You can set different logon hours for every day of the week.

Games.

You can control access to games, choose an age rating level, choose the types of content you want to block, and decide whether you want to allow or block unrated or specific games.

Allow or block specific programs.

You can prevent children from running programs that you don’t want them to run.

Finally you don’t have to purchase a third party application to monitor and control access to content. Being a father myself I can definitely say I will be interested in learning more about how well parental controls work. I hope Microsoft continues to develope this new utility.