system

Infopackets Reader Brandon L. writes: " Dear Dennis, My computer has this really serious problem. I don't know what is causing the problem, but it only started happening recently. The whole day yesterday, my computer was frozen with a black screen ... at startup. You know: the first screen that says 'Press DEL to enter Setup'? I tried restarting my machine and left it there thinking that the problem would go away, but after a few hours, nothing changed. I decided to go into the computer BIOS and selected 'Load optimized defaults', and like magic, my system appeared OK. I don't understand why ... (view more)

Update 02 / 23 / 2005: Registry Mechanic 4.0 has just been released. Click here to read the newest review of Registry Mechanic 4.0 (including screenshots), or continue below to read Jake Ludington's review of Registry Mechanic version 2.0. -- The ... most common cause for system instability, crashes, and performance degradation is a poorly configured or un-optimized Windows Registry. Maintaining the Windows Registry using WinGuide's Registry Mechanic can avoid erratic system behavior, while improving overall PC performance. Let's start with the basics: What is the Windows Registry? The Windows ... (view more)

Candice W. writes: " Dear Dennis, I was hoping that maybe you could help me: I found your website though a search. Lately, I've been getting a bunch of returned emails from people I don't even know, and most of these emails contain viruses ... I ... have written to Hotmail's tech support, but all I get is automated responses telling me that it doesn't pertain to my hotmail account. But, I beg to differ because it is my account, and it's a huge problem! Can you tell me what I can do to get this to stop? " My Response: The problem Candice is experiencing is due to a Virus called SoBig, ... (view more)

If told you that 9 out of 10 PC's are infected with some form of Spyware, would you be concerned? According to Webroot Software, you should be! In general, Spyware is software which records information about you or your computer usage -- without ... your knowledge -- and then relays this information to a third party (quite often, for marketing purposes). Spyware has the ability to trace your every keystroke, and may record things such as passwords, credit card numbers, email addresses, and other personal information. All of this makes Spyware a serious threat to privacy and the protection of your ... (view more)

A while back, I was asked to review and critique a new program from Li Utilities: the same company who created WinTasks Professional and WinBackup. For the purpose of this article, I will explain basic tweaking terminology and how it applies to ... SpeedUpMyPC: all in Simple English. If you really want to learn about computer hardware and how tweaking can make a world difference -- you will definitely find this article an interesting read! OK, so what is SpeedUpMyPC? SpeedUpMyPC is a utility which runs quietly in the system Tray Bar. It monitors system resources, optimizes Internet connections, ... (view more)

In light of our recent discussions on PC Privacy and Security, I've decided to write a review on Webroot's Windows Washer after receiving a few emails from Readers who recommended the program. What is Webroot's Window Washer? With web browsers and ... other applications constantly recording personal tidbits of information -- such as documents and pictures you've viewed, plus web sites recently visited -- maintaining privacy while using your PC can be a daunting task. Webroot's award-winning Window Washer is a comprehensive, simple-to-use utility which protects user privacy and maintains system ... (view more)

In yesterday's issue of the Infopackets Gazette, Jerry D. asked if there was a way to erase the history which contains the names of all previously loaded files in Windows Media Player. The feature is also known as the "Most Recently Used", or MRU ... file history. Unfortunately, there is a downside to the MRU feature. Although MRU saves time by allowing users access to recently used data, it also compromises privacy: anyone who can gain access to a shared PC can also see what files have been accessed recently. I personally did not know the answer to Jerry's dilemma, so I used searched ... (view more)

Last week's article about tweaking spurred a few comments from our Readers. Wait a sec -- what is tweaking? In techy-terms, the word "tweak" means to optimize. With respect to PCs, tweaking may refer to one of three things: a hardware tweak (the PC ... itself), a software tweak (an application, or the operating system), or both. On the weekend, Bob T. from Wisconsin sent me an email: " Hi Dennis! Great article [last week] on tweaking. I really enjoyed reading it. I'm sure you've probably about this already, but your readers may also want to know about a program called WinGuides ... (view more)

Today, David M. sent me an email asking me how to go about Repairing Internet Explorer: " Hello Dennis! The May 20, 2003 issue of the Gazette mentioned the very useful Internet Explorer Repair Tool, accessed from Add/Remove Programs in Control ... Panel. In the past, this method has worked for me when using Win98 and IE5. However, I now run Win2K and IE6 and the IE Repair Tool isn't listed in the Add/Remove Programs, so I can't repair it. Do you or any of your learned readers have any ideas, please? " My Response: I get asked this question a lot from readers, so I've decided to provide ... (view more)

Last week, Ben M. from Australia wrote about a problem he was having with his 40x CD burner not being able to write at maximum speed under Windows XP. Ben's main problem: both Roxio Easy CD Creator and Nero Burning ROM (CD burning software) only ... allow the burner to write at 16x instead of 40x write speed. Ben's computer is running Windows XP with 256 meg RAM on a 1.7 GHz machine and a 40 gig [7200 RPM] hard drive. In short, here's what Ben has already tried: Replaced the burner with another (same model / brand); Changed the buffer size for CDFS (CD File System) under Windows XP; Updated both ... (view more)