We all know that when you use a PC you leave a trail, half a mile long, in ‘log’ and ‘dat’ files and Registry entries detailing everything you’ve been doing, from the files and programs you’ve opened, to the websites you’ve visited. It’s no small concern as it can include sensitive and personal information, like passwords and PINs for example. It’s not too difficult to keep your own PC’s record keeping in check, with a free utility like CrapCleaner (see Software section) but what happens when you’ve been using someone else’s computer?
This little program, called CleanAfterMe is what you need to tidy up after you. It’s a small freeware application that you can keep handy on a USB memory stick and when you run it you have the option to delete all of the data and changes you may have left behind during the session. If you are a regular user of other people’s computers and value you privacy and security then don’t leave home without this really handy utility.
Tags:application,
Clean,
CleanAfterMe,
Computer,
CrapCleaner,
freeware,
freeware application,
memory,
privacy,
program,
registry,
Security,
Software,
usb,
usb memory stick,
utility
Related posts
Written by Jason on June 21st, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 1340 and 1354 and 1426 and 1429 and 1673 and 169 and 2065 and 2157 and 401 and 544 and Contributors and Security and Software and USB and Utility and application and computer and freeware and memory and program and registry.
Microsoft has made available for download the Windows SteadyState for the 32-bit editions of Windows XP and Windows Vista. SteadyState is a Windows management tool designed for scenarios in which access to machines is completely unrestricted. The evolution of the Microsoft Shared Computer Toolkit for Windows XP, Windows SteadyState has been designed for the specific purpose of managing shared computers, safeguarding system resourced against changes made by untrusted users, and making irrelevant unwanted software installations.
“Windows SteadyState includes many new features and enhanced capabilities. Windows SteadyState is not simply a redesign of the Shared Computer Toolkit; we listened to you, our customers, to better understand how we could provide a solution that could really help you manage and maintain your shared computer environments”, Microsoft revealed.
SteadyState indeed comes with an overhauled installation and a new redesigned graphical user interface tailored on the Windows Aero in Vista. Still, the redesign does highlight the tasks and options of the tool streamlining access for the end users. At the same time, the Redmond company also simplified the settings associated with introducing restrictions to user accounts on a certain operating system and those related to handling updates.
On top of the management capabilities included in SteadyState Microsoft has also integrated the Windows Genuine Advantage anti-piracy mechanism. The company stressed the need to ensure that Windows machines with SteadyState have access to official downloads and the updates restricted by WGA validation. On top of this, SteadyState features Windows Disk Protection which makes all changes to the platform temporary.
“Help protect the Windows partition, which contains the Windows operating system and other programs, from being modified without administrator approval. Windows Disk Protection helps protect the Windows operating system and all files on the computer from permanent change. Any changes made by shared users when they are logged on to the computer are removed when the computer is restarted. Windows SteadyState allows you to set Windows Disk Protection to remove all changes upon restart, to remove changes at a certain date and time, or to not remove changes at all”, Microsoft added.
Windows SteadyState is available for download here.
Tags:32-bit,
access,
administrator,
aero,
Computer,
download,
genuine,
installation,
Management,
opera,
partition,
program,
Protection,
remove,
restart,
Software,
temporary help,
toolkit,
wga,
Windows,
windows machines,
windows vista,
Windows Vista,
windows xp
Related posts
Written by Jason on June 12th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 1340 and 1354 and 1426 and 1429 and 1673 and 169 and 2065 and 2157 and 32-bit and 401 and 544 and Contributors and Installation and Software and WGA and Windows Vista and Windows XP and access and administrator and aero and computer and download and genuine and management and opera and partition and program and protection and remove and restart and windows.
Although I’m a very big fan of Jeff Dunham, this is not an article dedicated to Jose Jalapeno. Its purpose is a bit, let’s say, dorkier, but very useful. Using your computer actually means using applications installed on that computer: browsers, messengers, office suites, audio/video players, graphic viewers etc. But what happens when you go to another computer? You have another person’s applications personalized by that person. What happens when you have to reinstall your Windows? All those applications must be reinstalled and customized again. How can you go from any Windows to another and still have your same applications customized as you like? How to avoid reinstalling software when working on a brand-new Windows? Easy: Use portable applications! All you need is a memory stick; I’ll provide all the information you need in this article.
The majority of portable applications will run from any type of memory stick (even from an iPod or MP3 player), but some of them are specially created for a specific type of flash drive: an U3. Nowadays they’re really easy to find and buy, so if you decide to use software that specifically requires an U3 drive, don’t hesitate to go to your nearest IT shop or buy one online.
Installing portable applications is so easy, even a kid can do it. In most cases all you have to do is extract the files from an archive to your memory stick and you’re ready to go. Some portable applications use installers that only ask for a location where to extract the files. That’s all! You don’t have to worry about shortcuts, services, toolbars, registry entries or any other useless crap.
Let’s start with the basics: Since we’re on the internet, you’ll need a browser. If you’re a fan of Microsoft’s Internet Explorer you can choose from a variety of much more advanced web browsers, such as Maxthon, GreenBrowser and Avant. But of course, world-renown browsers like Firefox and Opera are also portable.
Chatting with your online friends is easier than ever: there really is no need to install Yahoo! Messenger, MSN Messenger, ICQ and who knows how many other instant messaging programs. You can use only one program that will replace all of them and you even have a choice. You can either use 100% free and clean application like Pidgin or Miranda, or you can use Trillian, which is free for non-commercial use only.
Checking your e-mail using Outlook or Outlook Express may be very handy, but it also forces you to run those programs only from the computer they’re installed on. Using a portable e-mail client, this will no longer be a problem. Here are some of our suggestions that really deserve a try: Thunderbird, Voyager and DreamMail.
When you’re on another person’s computer, you’ll be able to listen to your music from your playlist in your favorite music player, without changing a thing in that person’s audio player. All you need is a portable audio player: you can use one of the ‘classics’, Winamp or Foobar, or you can give Xion, Spider Player or TPlayer a try. Of course that’s also true in the case of video players; pctipsbox provides portable versions of popular players like VLC, Mplayer or MV2 Player. You can even record videos with CamStudio and AviScreen or process them with VirtaulDub, MediaCoder or Avidemux.
If you’ll need an image viewer or processor, we’ll give you a wide variety of software from where to choose. Graphic viewers like FastStone Image Viewer, FastStone MaxView, IrfanView or Xnview are free to use, but also portable, so you can view pictures with your favorite program, no matter where you are. If you wish to process them, feel free to choose from the portable versions of Gimp, PhotoFiltre, PhotoScape, PaintStar, i.Mage, PhotoBackPack.
Microsoft Office is far from free or portable, but here are some freeware alternatives that can be easily installed on a flash drive. If all you need is to edit a document or text file, you should try a smaller program, like Abiword, Scribus, EditPad Lite, AkelPad, GVim, Notepad++ or the trial version of Atlantis Word Processor. But if you’re searching for an office suite, OpenOffice is the answer or maybe even the trial version of ThinkFree Office.
Viewing a PDF file is now easier than ever. Until now you had to download, install and wait until Adobe Reader started. Not anymore! Here are some free portable PDF viewers that will surely make you forget all about Adobe: PDF-XChange Viewer, Foxit Reader for U3 and Sumatra PDF. Moreover, now you’ll be able to create or edit PDF on the fly with small portable application like Swift PDF and PDFTK Builder.
Like all computers and drives, your memory stick will need some kind of protection against malware. So, the safest way to ensure your protection is, of course, using an antivirus. You can try freeware products like Portable Antivirus or Clamwin or you can give a try to Avast (60 days trial) and McAfee VirusScan USB (30 days trial).
These are the must-have portable applications for any PC user and, if you didn’t notice yet, most of them are free and do not require an U3 flash drive. In part two of this article, we’ll go through other types of portable software, not necessarily needed by all Windows users.
Tags:application,
Computer,
Firefox,
flash drive,
freeware,
Internet,
internet explorer,
memory,
memory stick,
Microsoft,
msn,
notepad,
Office,
Outlook,
program,
reinstall,
u3 drive,
Windows
Related posts
Written by Jason on June 5th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on 1426 and 1429 and 1673 and 169 and 2065 and 2157 and 401 and Contributors and Firefox and Internet and Internet Explorer and MSN and Memory Stick and Office and Outlook and Software and application and computer and flash drive and freeware and memory and microsoft and notepad and program and reinstall and windows.
We have been receiving many mails from our readers these days with a problem that when ever they start up windows they see the error messages like as follows:
* Windows cannot find ‘C:\windows\svchost.exe.’
* Could not load or run ‘C:\windows\svchost.exe.’ specified in the registry
* Windows cannot find ‘C:\Windows\System32\amvo.exe’
* “Windows cannot find ‘copy.exe’
These type of messages appear at windows startup, when windows tries to load the virus files like amvo.exe, copy.exe etc. These error messages appear, because these files were removed by your anti-virus programs but still the registry entries for them exist.
Different types of viruses create some files which got executed at the windows startup so that they can come in action as windows load itself. In order to run the primary virus files required, they create run entries in windows registry.
Let’s see how can you remove these entries.
In order to fix it you would have to remove all the startup entries created by the virus.
Manual Removal
1. Open Start >> Run. This will open run window.
2. Type “regedit” (without quotes) and press enter. This will launch registry editor.
( If you are not able to launch Registry by the command above, you can refer to this post to know how can you enable regedit again.)
3. Navigate to the following registry path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
4. Search for the keys here who have the data field set to any of the path specified above:
For Example: A Virus related entry will have
Name: Amvo
Type:
Data: C:\Windows\System32\amvo.exe
5.Delete these type of entries.
Note: Make sure you delete the virus related keys only
Automatic Removal
1. Download a program called CCleaner from here.
2. Install and Run it and Scan the registry scan
3. Once the scan is complete it will show you the Fix Selected Issues button, click it to removes all the incorrect entries including the virus files registry keys.
Tags:ccleaner,
command,
download,
error,
fix,
install,
Microsoft,
problem,
program,
registry editor,
registry windows,
Run,
Software,
svchost,
system,
system32,
type regedit,
virus files,
virus programs,
Windows,
windows registry,
windows startup
Related posts
Written by Jason on April 14th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Contributors and Install and SVCHOST and Software and Windows Vista and Windows XP and command and computer and download and error and fix and microsoft and problem and program and registry editor and run and system and system32 and windows and windows registry.
Shidewin is a simple program that allows you to reclaim all of your wayward windows, applications or otherwise.
Tell us if this has happened to you before: In a dual display setup, you need to unplug the second monitor for some reason, only to find that the programs that were displaying on the second monitor decided not to move back over to the primary one. Where are they?
Why, on the second monitor, of course. You know, the one that’s now unplugged.
To rectify this situation in the past, you would have to plug in the second monitor again, then drag your programs back over to the primary monitor.
Shidewin will take care of this problem and more. Once launched, it will show you all open windows, including applications. To make a window appear (or, in the above case, reappear), simply click on its name. Voila!
Shidewin is also useful when your multiple virtual desktop software crashes, or if a window is only accessible via the system tray and the icon disappeared (when explorer.exe is killed, for example).
Shidewin is free, and Windows only.
Tags:application,
dual display,
monitor,
program,
system,
virtual desktop software,
Windows,
windows applications
Related posts
Written by Jason on April 6th, 2008 with no comments.
Read more articles on Contributors and Software and Windows Vista and Windows XP and application and computer and program and system and windows and windows applications.
Even though Microsoft has promised to drop the prices associated with some of the retail standalone versions of Windows Vista (specifically the Home Premium and Ultimate editions), the fact of the matter is that the SKUs of the latest Windows client will still be far from cheap. In this context, you have to take advantage as best you can of the ecosystem of software solutions built around the operating system. And there are plenty of free offerings that are worth a whole lot more than what you didn’t pay for them. The Sysinternals brand dates back to 1996, and was associated with the Windows operating system from the get-go. The brainchild of developers Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell Sysinternals has become synonymous with a collection of advanced system utilities. (more…)
Tags:
configuration,
defrag,
disk utilities,
networking,
networking tools,
program,
resource security,
Security,
security utilities,
system,
TCP,
Troubleshoot,
Windows,
windows vista
Related posts
Written by Jason on March 1st, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Networking and Security and TCP and Troubleshoot and Windows Vista and configuration and defrag and disk utilities and networking tools and program and resource security and security utilities and system and windows.
I tend to be wary of programs that purport to make computers go faster, fix problems and so on. The vast majority of them are worthless snake oil. I’m also a bit suspicious of Russian software – they’ve still got a reputation for dodgy programs and scams and anything that comes from a company called Loonies is bound to set the alarm bells ringing so Actual Booster doesn’t get off to a very promising start.
Nevertheless, after giving it a fairly thorough road test I can tell you that Actual Booster really does liven things up a bit. It’s also free, and as far as I can see there’s no iffy content and it doesn’t try to phone home. (more…)
Tags:
alarm,
boost,
Computer,
CPU,
Desktop,
download,
excel,
faster,
magic,
memory,
priority,
problems,
program,
RAM,
reputation,
russian software,
speed,
start,
word
Related posts
Written by Jason on February 29th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on CPU and Desktop and Ram and Software and alarm and boost and computer and download and excel and faster and magic and memory and priority and problems and program and reputation and russian software and speed and start and word.
There are lots of process in windows which keeps on running in the background using some share of windows resources all the time.
These process are most of the time are not use full to all of us, one of those process is wmpnscfg.exe
What is wmpnscfg.exe?
wmpnscfg.exe is used to alert users when a new media device is found on the network. When wmpnscfg is notified that a new media device is available on the network, it displays a popup in the system tray that informs the user about the availability of the new device. (more…)
Tags:
availability,
how to,
media,
Microsoft,
Network,
program,
startup,
system,
task manager,
Windows,
windows media player,
windows resources,
windows vista,
windows xp,
WMPNCFG
Related posts
Written by Jason on February 17th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Media and Network and WMPNCFG and Windows Vista and Windows XP and availability and how to and microsoft and program and startup and system and task manager and windows and windows media player and windows resources.
If the number of emails and letters I receive on accidental deletion of files is anything to go by we’re in suffering an epidemic of ‘butter fingers’… Picture files on memory cards are by far the most popular files to get zapped by mistake but it affects everything, from Word documents to album tracks, and I can’t deny that I haven’t done it myself, but when it happens the worst thing you can do is panic. If you do the chances are you make the situation even worse, so when you’ve erased a file, and you want it back the first thing to do is check the Recycle Bin. If it’s not there then there is still a very good chance all or part of it is still on the drive, and this little freeware program, called Restoration could get it back for you. The program is small and runs from any file location, even a memory card, so it doesn’t mess around with Windows. (more…)
Written by Jason on January 24th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on File and Internet and Office and computer and confidence and email and folder and program and recycle bin and windows.
A keylogger, as you probably know, is a type of spyware program that infects your PC and sits quietly in the background, recording every keystroke you make. The idea is sooner or later you’ll type in login and passwords, and these will be sent back, via your Internet connection, to fraudsters, who will use the information to raid your bank account.
Before you get too worried, provided your PC’s security is kept up to date, you use decent AV and firewall programs, and avoid dodgy porn and file sharing websites, the chances of getting caught are quite small, but it doesn’t hurt to take extra precautions. A freeware program called Keyscrambler should make it (more…)
Written by Jason on January 20th, 2008 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on Internet and Keylogger and PC and Software and Spyware and computer and program.
« Older articles
No newer articles