If you are using Windows and your computer is taking longer than normal to start-up, then you may have a virus/spyware issue or you may just need to run a registry repair to clean out some of the unneeded entries. Overall, registry repair tools can fix Windows errors, crashes, and improve performance. Here are some completely free registry repair programs designed for Windows.
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Categories: Performance, desktop, utilities Tags: anti-spyware, anti-virus, clean, crash, free, registry, repair, tools, windows
As you may all know, Windows XP SP2/SP3 and Windows Vista come with a built in firewall. While the firewall may work well in a corporate environment and allow for seamless integration with policies, it may not be the best option for home use should you want total control over your security with a two-way firewall. A two-way firewall simply means you are protected against both incoming as well as outgoing threats. Windows, up until Vista, which has a “hidden” feature that I am not going to talk about here, includes generally a one-way incoming firewall. Overall, a two-way firewall will help to ensure your data or private information is not leaving your computer without you knowing.
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Categories: security Tags: email, firewall, free, hack, hacker, internet, mcafee, norton, protection, secure, security, threats, windows
When dealing with many Windows computers/servers and multiple license keys, you may need a quick and easy way to determine what key you have used on a particular system. Windows Product key Viewer, a free utility by RJL Software, will allow you to do just that and without installing anything.
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As a home user, do you really need to pay for anti-virus/anti-spyware protection? Thanks to Avast and AVG, the answer is no. For years now one of the most frequent questions I get from home users is related to anti-virus software – like which one to buy. Unfortunately, they usually ask this question after being infected with a destructive virus or realize that the anti-virus software that was shipped with their new computer was only a demo version and has long expired.
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Categories: anti-spyware, anti-virus, desktop, security Tags: anti-spyware, anti-virus, avast, avg, free, home, mcafee, norton, personal, secure, security, virus, windows
If you already know all about Firefox, then please ignore this blog post however, I am surprised to find that many do not know there is a free alternative to Internet Explorer. Firefox is an Open Source Web Browser provided by Mozilla and is very easy to install and use. Back to the title of this post, if you are in fact looking for an alternative to Internet Explorer due to issues, then instead of wasting time troubleshooting the dozens of potential fixes, just try Firefox. Here is how you can be up and running in minutes.
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Categories: desktop Tags: alternative, browser, explorer, firefox, help, internet, microsoft, mozilla, online safety, open source, secure, site, web, windows, www
Since I do a decent amount of work with Linux, I often find that I need to work with various types of compressed files, such as TAR and RPM, on Windows computers. 7-Zip is a great free Open Source program that can easily zip/unzip almost any type of compressed file with a simple right-click of the mouse and is also a very good add-on for Windows. The more you begin to work with Linux, the greater this need becomes as almost everyone is using a Windows computer somewhere in the mix. For example, if you were using a Windows machine with Putty (a free Open Source SSH client) to administer a Linux server, you could easily work with Linux compressed files for back and forth transfer.
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Categories: desktop, utilities Tags: compress, exe, gz, gzip, linux, rpm, save money, small office home office, soho, tar, unzip, windows, winzip, zip
Although I have touched on this particular Open Source software package in my Free Linux Desktop article, I thought it would be worth mentioning that this product is also available to Windows users as well. If you are are in need of an easy to use yet fully featured office software suite and you don’t want to spend money on one of the other commercial products out there, then follow these steps to download and install OpenOffice and begin creating documents, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, and more.
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Categories: desktop Tags: access, database, diagram, doc, document, draw, excel, free, kids, linux, non-profit, office, open, powerpoint, ppt, presentation, save money, schools, small office home office, soho, spreadsheet, windows, word, xls
Over the years, I have always had a copy of the Ultimate Boot CD (UBCD) available to me in the event that I needed a useful set of tools to perform various computer/server tasks. For example, to clone a hard drive that is about to kick it, to recover a lost Windows password, to setup a desktop for dual boot with multiple operating systems, and even to securely format a computer that is about to be recycled. In short, the UBCD is a bootable CD that contains a number of free Open Source software utilities that can be directly compared to a toolbox complete with a handful of carefully selected tools.
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