Simple Tips to Reduce Disk Usage in Windows 7

Friendly Computers found this article useful for Windows 7 users and would like to share it with you.

If you’re wondering what have been taking up space on your hard disk, then you have come to the right place. In today’s article, we’ll show you how to get rid of unneeded files from your computer.

First of all let’s find out what’s hogging your hard disk. We recommend that you download SpaceSniffer. Once you start it up, it will map your hard drive,  and shows big files and folder in your system. SpaceSniffer comes with a user manual that shows you every neat stuff that you can do with SpaceSniffer.

some of our favourite ones are: filtering temporary files …

… or finding files that we have not touched for more than a year; they are usually good candidates for removal.

Among all the files,  Pagefile.sys and hiberfil.sys stood out in SpaceSniffer; They occupied six GB of our hard disk.

In a default installation, Windows creates a page file (pagefile.sys) that Windows uses to hold part of a program or memory that does not fit the memory. Microsoft recommends us not to remove this file – even when you have lots of memory. However, we can remove hiberfil.sys from our system.

Cleaning Restore Points

Installing programs or drivers can make Windows run slowly or unpredictably. Windows maintain restore points, and use them to return your PC’s system files and programs to a time when everything works fine. However, restore points do take up a lot of space in our hard disk. We can use disk clean up to remove restore points, but if you decide to do this you won’t be able to roll back your system. Look up Disk Clean up from your start menu and run it as administrator.

Disk Cleanup reduces the number of unnecessary files. It allows you to remove temporary files, empties your recycle bin, and remove a variety of system files and other items that you no longer need.

Open the “More Options” tab and click the clean up button.

You might want to consider scheduling disk clean up to remove old and temporary files from your PC from time to time.

Use CCleaner to Get More Space

While Disk Cleanup is a great tool to delete junk files, CCleaner gives you more options to clean your computer. CCleaner default setting lets you clean IE Junk files, Windows Explorer cache, and system dumps.

Head over to the applications tab and  you will find that you can remove unneeded files from each application selectively. For example, you can choose to clean Firefox cookies, but not Chrome’s.

Windows maintain a set of registry files that stores settings for your PC, for instance, what background that you use for your desktop. Whenever we uninstall program, some unused file association may remain dangling in the registry, and overtime your registry may become bloated and slows down your PC. CCleaner gives you an easy way to clean your registry. Click the registry icon, perform a scan for issues, and click the “fix selected issues button” to clean your registry.

CCleaner gives you a set of tools to remove unneeded files. It’s uninstall loads up files way faster than Windows uninstall “add remove programs”.

System Restore in CCleaner gives more option to remove system restore points than Disk Cleanup. It greys out your  last system restore point, so that you can’t remove it, for safety reason.

Windows will not delete the actual data that you deleted, it simply remove there reference to that file, and overwrite it when you save new data. This pose a risk; some clever geek may sneak into your computer, and reconstruct your data before Windows over write it. If you’re worried, you can instruct CCleaner to clean these kind of data using the “Drive Wiper”.

There are two type of wipe, free space and entire drive. You should select free space only, unless you want to erase every file in the drive.

CCleaner gives you some security options, but simple overwrite will be enough for most occasions.

Head over to the options’ Advance settings and make sure that you select “Save all settings to INI File”. You can also  schedule it to clean your computer on a regular basis.

We hope that our tips help you get back your hard disk space. Feel free to share any other tips with the other fellow readers in the comments section.

Source: http://www.howtogeek.com/62946/beginner-geek-simple-tips-to-reduce-disk-usage-in-windows-7/

6 Registry Hacks to Make Your PC Faster

Friendly Computers would like to share with you these 6 tips to make your Windows 7 PC faster.

The Windows Registry is a database that holds your operating system's configurations and settings. This includes everything from how long your mouse must hover over a taskbar icon before the preview pops up (in Windows Vista and Windows 7) to performance settings.

Windows 7 (and Vista) have more eye-candy features built into the operating system, but a number of Registry hacks and tweaks can speed up--or, at least, appear to speed up--the performance of your computer. Before we start mucking around with your PC's guts, however, we're going to make sure that you have a reliable backup of your Registry in case something goes sour.

Though editing the Windows Registry is not nearly as scary as it sounds, making an incorrect change can cripple your system. To ensure that this doesn't happen, it's important to take the precaution of backing up part, or all, of the Registry before you proceed.

Back Up the Entire Registry

To back up your Registry, you can use the free Registry-specific backup tool ERUNT (Emergency Recovery Utility NT). ERUNT is simple to use, more reliable than System Restore, and works with Windows XP, Vista, and 7 (even 64-bit versions). ERUNT also saves each restore point independently of the other points, unlike System Restore (in System Restore, all restore points are dependent on other points).

Download ERUNT here.

Back Up Part of the Registry

If you're changing just one part of the Windows Registry, and you know which part that is, you don't have to back up the entire Registry. Instead, you can back up the part you plan on changing using the Registry's export feature.

First, go to Start, Run, type regedit, and press Yes. This will open the Registry Editor.

Next, find the part of the Registry you're going to change. Right-click on the Registry key you plan on changing, and click "Export." The Registry Editor will prompt you to save a .reg file to your hard drive.

To undo Registry changes, just find your .reg file and double-click it. The .reg file will reset your Registry values to their existing values (but will not remove values that you've added).

Hack Your Registry

Using the built-in Registry Editor.Now that you've backed up your Registry--perhaps more than once--it's time to start hacking away. To get to the Windows Registry, go to Start > Run (in Windows Vista/7 you will have to type run into the Start menu search bar and press Enter). Type regedit, click Yes, and the Registry Editor will open.

Hack 1: Speed Up Aero Peek

A quick tweak to speed up Aero Peek. (Click for larger image.)Windows 7's Aero Peek lets you see the desktop when you move your mouse cursor over to the "show desktop" button at the end of the taskbar. The standard delay time for the Aero Peek preview is 500 milliseconds, or half a second. Here's how to speed it up:

1. Open the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Explorer > Advanced.

2. Right-click on the right pane and click New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name the new DWORD "DesktopLivePreviewHoverTime."

3. Double-click on DesktopLivePreviewHoverTime to open it. Under "Base," click Decimal and then enter the delay time (in milliseconds) in the "Value data" field. Click OK, and your Aero Peek time will be set. You can set the value to higher (a longer delay time) if you're activating it too often by accident, or to lower (a shorter delay time) if half a second is just too long.

4. Log off and log back on for the change to take effect.

Hack 2: Speed Up Taskbar Previews

You can speed up (or slow down) taskbar previews here. (Click for larger image.)When you roll over taskbar icons in Windows Vista and in Windows 7, little previews appear. The standard delay time for these previews is 400 milliseconds, or just under half a second. If this is too slow (or too fast) for you, you can adjust the delay time with an easy Registry hack.

1. Open the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Explorer > Advanced.

2. Right-click on the right pane and click New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name the new DWORD "ExtendedUIHoverTime."

3. Double-click on ExtendedUIHoverTime to open it. Under "Base," click Decimal and then enter in the delay time (in milliseconds) in the "Value data" field. Click OK to set the time (default is 400 milliseconds).

4. Log off and then log back in for the change to take effect.

Hack 3: Speed Up Menus

Ditch the menu display delay. (Click for larger image.)If you'd like to speed up the menus in Windows Vista or Windows 7, try this easy Registry tweak:

1. Open the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Control Panel > Desktop.

2. Find MenuShowDelay and double-click to open. Adjust the value in milliseconds (the default is 400 milliseconds, or just under half a second).

3. Log off and then log back on for the change to take effect.

Hack 4: Prevent Reboots

Tired of losing work to Windows Update reboots? Fix that here. (Click for larger image.)If you have a habit of leaving your computer on all the time (as do I), you'll occasionally run into the problem of automatic system reboots. These usually happen after Windows downloads some sort of important update, and will usually be preceded by a notification (that gives you about 10 to 15 minutes warning, unless you click it away). If you're not around to see said notification, and you have a lot of windows or important documents open on your computer, these reboots can be a hassle.

So here's how to keep your computer from automatically rebooting with an easy Registry hack. This hack works for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.

1. Open the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Policies > Microsoft > Windows.

2. Right-click in the right pane and select New > Key. This will create a new folder. Name the new folder "WindowsUpdate."

3. Open WindowsUpdate and right-click in the right pane (there will be a value already in the pane called "Default"). Select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name this DWORD "NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers."

4. Open NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers and change the Value data to 1. Do not change the Base button to "Decimal"; instead, keep it at "Hexadecimal." Click OK.

5. Exit the Registry Editor and log off and log back in for the settings to take effect. Your system will now never force a reboot without your explicit permission.

Hack 5: Disable Notification Balloons

Your notification area is constantly flashing with balloon pop-ups. Cut them out here. (Click for larger image.)If you hate pop-up notification balloons on your Windows Vista or Windows 7 taskbar, you can disable them using a simple Registry hack:

1. Open the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER > Software > Microsoft > Windows > CurrentVersion > Explorer > Advanced.

2. Right-click on the right pane and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name your new DWORD "EnableBalloonTips."

3. Double-click on EnableBalloonTips and set the Value data to 0. It doesn't matter if you have Decimal or Hexadecimal clicked under "Base," because 0 is 0 in both decimal and hexadecimal.

4. Log off and log back on for the change to take effect. You'll no longer see any annoying notification balloons from the taskbar.

Hack 6: Boot XP Faster

Is Windows XP booting too slowly? Here's how to speed up your boot-time with a quick Registry tweak.

1. Open the Registry Editor and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Control > ContentIndex.

2. In the right pane will be a value called "StartupDelay." Double-click on StartupDelay to open it. Change the "Base" from Hexadecimal to Decimal, and enter 40,000 (the default setting is 480,000).

3. Exit the Registry Editor and restart your computer. Your computer should boot up considerably faster--while this worked for me on my Windows XP laptop, values lower than 40,000 didn't produce a noticeable difference.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/228071/6_registry_hacks_to_make_your_pc_faster.html#tk.hp_fv

Microsoft Launches Free On-Demand Virus/Malware Scanner

Friendly Computers found this article useful and would like to share it with you.

Microsoft has launched a new, free virus/malware scanner, that's designed to be used if you think your computer might be infected.

The program is called the Microsoft Safety Scanner.  To use it, download the file from http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner/en-us/default.aspx and then run it on your PC.  The app is portable, so doesn't need an installer.  When you run it, it will analyze your computer and detect, and remove, many of the most prevalent viruses.

Microsoft points out that this on-demand tool is not a substitute for a proper on-access antivirus product.  It's simply designed to be used in emergencies, such as if you think your computer may have a problem that has managed to sneak past your existing defences.  Also, note that the program automatically expires after 10 days, so if you want to run it regularly you'll need to keep downloading the latest version.

At first glance, Safety Scanner is a welcome addition to Microsoft's range of free security tools, of which its Security Essentials suite is probably the best known.  But at 67 MB for the download, for a program that expires after 10 days, we can't work out why it needs to be so huge.  McAfee offers a similar product, which is also free, called Stinger.  It doesn't expire after 10 days, can be downloaded from http://www.mcafee.com/us/downloads/free-tools/how-to-use-stinger.aspx, and runs to just a 7.7 MB download.

Source: http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/microsoft-launches-free-demand-virusmalware-scanner.htm

Six Windows 7 Nightmares (and How to Fix Them)

Friendly Computers would like to help you to fix these Windows 7 nightmares.

You sit up suddenly in a cold sweat, and scream. But you're in bed, and it was just a bad dream. Sighing with relief, you get up, get dressed, go to work, and turn on your PC.

Then you sit up suddenly in a cold sweat, and scream--but this time, it's not a dream. It's a Windows nightmare.

Compared with its predecessors, Windows 7 is remarkably secure and dependable. It's far from perfect, though: An unbootable PC, a nasty piece of malware, or a single but important file gone missing can make you lose days or even months of work. And you can't solve every nightmare by waking up.

Here are ways out of six common Windows 7 disasters. I'll tell you how to fix a PC that won't boot, retrieve files from an inaccessible hard drive, stop frequent Blue Screens of Death, restore a forgotten administrator password, remove malware, and find a missing file.

1. Your PC Won't Boot

If turning on your PC doesn't bring you into Windows, try booting from a Windows 7 DVD or a recovery disc.

Boot from a Windows 7 System Repair Disc, and you'll find tools to heal an unbootable PC.

You may already have the DVD. If Windows 7 didn't come with your computer but you installed it yourself, you have the disc. If you don't have it, you can borrow someone else's disc.

Alternatively you can borrow someone else's Windows 7 computer and use it to create a System Repair Disc (you can also do this on your own PC before it has a problem). To create the disc, clickStart, type system repair, select Create a System Repair Disc, and follow the prompts.

If your computer won't boot from the CD, go into its setup screen and change the boot order so that the optical or CD/DVD drive comes before the hard drive. I can't tell you exactly how to do this since it differs from one PC to another. When you first turn on the computer, look for an on-screen message telling you to press a particular key 'for setup'.

If your PC fails before you can enter setup or boot from a CD, you have a hardware problem. If you're not comfortable working inside a PC, take it to a professional.

But let's assume that the CD boots. When it does, follow the prompts. Likely the utility will tell you very soon that there's a problem, and it will ask if you want to fix the problem. You do.

If it doesn't ask you, or if the disc can't fix the issue, you'll see a menu with various options.Startup Repair and System Restore are both worth trying.

2. You Can't Access the Hard Drive

If Windows can't boot because the PC can't read the hard drive, none of the solutions above will work. But that's not the worst of it: Unless you have a very up-to-date backup (and shame on you if you don't), all of your files are locked away on a possibly dead hard drive. Secondary drives you don't boot off of, both internal and external, also can die with important data locked away on them.

If you can't access your hard drive, Recover My Files might be able to do what its name implies.

If the drive is making noises that you've never heard before, shut off the PC immediately. In that case you have only one possible solution, and it's expensive: Send the drive to a data-retrieval service. Drivesavers and Kroll Ontrack are the best known, although they're not necessarily better than smaller, cheaper companies. Expect to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars. If your drive sounds okay, however, you may be able to recover the files for only $70 with GetData's Recover My Files.

If the sick drive is the one you use to boot Windows, you'll have to remove it from the PC and access it on another computer. You can do so by making it a secondary drive in a desktop PC, or by using a SATA-USB adapter such as the Bytecc USB 2.0 to IDE/SATA Adapter Kit.

The free, demo version of Recover My Files will show you which files can be recovered (almost all of them, when I tested it) and even display their contents. Once you've paid the $70 license fee, the program can copy the files to another drive. If that doesn't work, you'll need to use a retrieval service.

3. Blue Screens of Death Attack Your PC Regularly

BlueScreenView can show what Windows was doing before disaster struck.

One second you're working productively, the next you're staring at a blue screen filled with meaningless white text. If it happens occasionally, you curse, reboot, and get on with your work. If it happens regularly, you have a problem that needs fixing.

Windows 7 keeps logs of these "Stop Errors." (That's Microsoft's term; everyone else calls them "Blue Screens of Death," or BSoDs.) To view the logs and make sense of them, download and run BlueScreenView, a free, portable program by NirSoft (portablemeans you don't have to install it). The program shows you what drivers were running at the time of the crash, and highlights the likeliest suspects. If the same drivers come up from multiple crashes, you should definitely update them.

Speaking of updating drivers, you should make sure that all of them are current. SlimWare Utilities' free SlimDrivers makes this chore remarkably easy, as it scans Windows and lists which drivers need to be updated. If you register (that's free, too), it will find the drivers and run the update for you. It even offers to create a restore point before each update. Don't update all of your drivers at once, however; if you do, and one of them makes things worse, you'll have a tough time figuring out which one.

Frequent BSoDs can also be a sign of hardware problems, especially bad RAM. Although Windows 7 has its own memory-diagnostics program, I prefer the free Memtest86+, which you have to boot separately. You can download the program either as an .iso file--from which you can create a bootable CD--or as an .exe file that will install the program and its bootable operating system onto a flash drive.

4. No One Has the PC's Administrator Password

If the wrong person leaves your company in a huff, one or more PCs could be left stranded. With no one in the company knowing the password to an administrator-level account, you can't install software, change important settings, or possibly access encrypted data.

Fortunately, you can remove the password, letting you log on to that account. You do that with the Offline NT Password & Registry Editor, a bootable, text-based free program that you download as an .iso file. Double-click that file, and Windows 7 will start the process of burning it to a CD.

Sure your drivers are up-to-date? SlimDrivers can automate this otherwise time-consuming job.

Boot the CD and follow these instructions. I've put the on-screen prompts in italics. After you type your answer, press Enter.

boot: Just press Enter.

Select: [1]: Above the prompt you'll see a list of hard-drive partitions. Select the right one by typing that number.

What is the path to the registry directory?...: The default is probably correct. Just press Enter.

[1]: 1

What to do? [1] ->: 1

or simply enter the username...: Type the name of the administrator account. If you're not sure what it is, all of the account names are listed above the prompt.

Select: [q] >: 1

Select: ! - quit...: !

What to do [1]: q

About to write file(s) back...: y

New run? [n]: n

# Remove the CD and reboot.

You should now be able to log on to the administrator account without a password. For security purposes, don't forget to create a new password for the account. Just be sure to remember what it is.

5. You Think Your PC Is Infected

Malwarebytes Anti-Malware might catch malicious software that your regular antivirus program missed.

Is your computer behaving oddly, slowing down at the wrong time, or refusing to run certain programs? It could be infected with malware. What can you do about that?

If your regular antivirus program--the one you already have up and running--hasn't stopped the questionable software, it probably can't. What you need is a second opinion--and possibly a third and a fourth.

Start with the free version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, a utility with an exceptional record of finding and removing malware. Download it, install it, launch it, update the database, and then perform a full scan.

Since installing and updating a cleaning utility are tasks that the infection may interfere with, it's a good idea to follow your Malwarebytes scan with other scans that don't require an installation or even an update.

On someone else's PC, download SuperAntiSpyware Portable and copy it to a flash drive. Boot the infected PC into Safe Mode, plug in the flash drive, and run the program. Since SuperAntiSpyware.com updates the portable program every day or two, you don't need to update it before the scan.

For a fourth opinion, try the F-Secure Rescue CD. This is another .iso file from which you can burn a bootable CD. Just boot from the CD and run the scan. The program will try to update its database over the Internet. If it can't, you can download an update on another PC, put it on a flash drive, and keep that plugged in while running F-Secure on the infected PC.

6. An Important File Disappears

You've been working on a report for six weeks. You have to give the speech tomorrow. The PowerPoint presentation is beautiful. It's perfect. It's...where is it?

Maybe you just moved it to another folder. Click the Start menu, type the file's name, and see what turns up.

Can't find a file? Make sure it didn't wind up in the Recycle Bin.

Nothing? Maybe you've renamed it accidentally. Click Start, type a word that's in the presentation but not in many other files, and see if that gets better results. If it pulls up a lot of results, click See more results so that you can sort the found files by date.

No luck? Try the Recycle Bin. Maybe you deleted the file.

Dead end? Don't panic. You can always restore the file from the backup you made yesterday.

You don't back up? I bet you will now. As for the file you desperately need to find today, you'll have to use file-recovery software. Before I discuss specific programs, I need to lay down one absolute rule about using them: Until you've either recovered the file or given up, do not write to your hard drive. Every time you do so, you lower the odds of successfully retrieving the lost file.

Following this rule requires you to use portable file-recovery software. Download the utility on another PC and save it to a flash drive. Plug that drive into your PC, and launch the program from there.

The rule also means that you shouldn't restore your file to its original location. Save it to the flash drive, as well.

With luck, either of the following two utilities will be able to find and recover your missing file. First, try the free Recuva Portable. It's fast and simple, it can preview image formats, and it works reliably most of the time.

If that doesn't work, try Software Shelf's File-Rescue Plus. It costs $40, but you can recover up to five files with the free demo version. Strictly speaking, File-Rescue Plus isn't portable, but you have a work-around. Install it onto another computer, and then copy the program file, FileRescuePlus.exe, to your flash drive. After you pay the $40, use Notepad to create a file called key.ini containing nothing but the license key that Software Shelf sent you after you bought the program. Place key.ini on the flash drive, in the same folder as the program file.

Lost files and other disasters happen. You can take all the proper precautions, and something could still go horribly wrong, plunging you into a Windows nightmare. But follow these tips, and you should enjoy some sweet dreams.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/224952-1/six_windows_7_nightmares_and_how_to_fix_them.html

Windows 7 (Finally) Beats Windows XP's U.S. Desktop Share

Friendly Computers would like to share this article with you.

Someone get the party balloons and slap a big "7" on them, for Windows 7 has finally overtaken its younger brother, Windows XP, in desktop market share. For those keeping score at home or running an office betting pool, the milestone comes just under two years since the release of Windows 7, and a bit over one year since Windows 7 passed Windows Vista's desktop market share.

According to new statistics from Statcounter, Windows 7 now commands 31.71 percent of all U.S. desktops—that's based on the aggregated visitor statistics tracked across approximately three million websites during the month of April. Windows XP now takes up second place in the U.S. desktop market at 31.56 percent, with Vista trailing third at 19.07 percent. And for Apple fans only, OS X currently hovers at a desktop market share of around 14.87 percent.

Looking at the stats over the past year, Windows 7 has been eating away at the desktop share of Windows Vista and Windows XP in equal measure. The desktop share of Apple's OS X has risen slightly from April 2010's 13.24 percent, but its overall growth hasn't experience nearly the same rise of fall as its Microsoft-based brethren.

Windows XP commanded 42.51 percent of the U.S. desktop market in April 2010, and Windows Vista, 27.45 percent. Windows 7 saw half the market penetration of its present-day totals, eating up only 14.7 percent of all U.S. desktops in April of 2010.

As far as worldwide statistics go, however, Windows XP is still the operating system to beat. Although it has lost a bit of its base since the same time period last year, when the OS captured 58.56 percent of the worldwide market, Windows XP is still the most popular operating system on Earth with a total market penetration of 47.19 percent.

Windows 7's growth over the past year has been steady, but the OS still only captures 31.22 percent of the market as of April 2011's figures. Windows Vista is down to 13.24 percent, but still edging out Apple's OS X and its market share of 6.45 percent.

So how long until Windows 7 overtakes all other versions of its operating system to become top dog? Judging by its current trajectory, we can expect to see the swap-on-top to happen sometime within the next year—due to the cannibalization of Windows Vista and Windows XP by Windows 7.

Pingdom has crunched the numbers to find that Windows, in total, isn't much growing in overall market share—rather, you can think of Windows kind of like a hurricane, and the different versions of the operating system are recirculating eyewalls. That's good news for Microsoft upgrade-wise, but bad news for the company's ambitions to increase its overall Windows presence in the desktop space. Then again, since Windows captures more than 90 percent of the desktop market share to begin with, just how much higher can Microsoft realistically go?

Source: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2383347,00.asp

How to Remove Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011 (Fake Anti-Virus Infections)

Friendly Computers found this article useful and would like to share it with you.

If your PC is infected with the Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011 malware or something similar, you’ve come to the right place, because we’re going to show you how to get rid of it, and free your PC from the awful clutches of this insidious malware (and many others)

Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011 is just one of many fake antivirus applications like Antivirus Live, Advanced Virus Remover, Internet Security 2010, Security Tool, and others that hold your computer hostage until you pay their ransom money. They tell you that your PC is infected with fake viruses, and prevent you from doing anything to remove them.

This particular virus goes by a lot of names, including XP Antispyware, Win 7 Antispyware, Win 7 Internet Security 2011, Win 7 Guard, Win 7 Security, Vista Internet Security 2011, and many, many others. It’s all the same virus, but renames itself depending on your system and which strain you get infected with.

The What Now?

If you aren’t familiar with this one, it’s time to take a look at the face of an awful scam. If you are infected, scroll down to the section where we explain how to remove it.

Once a PC is infected, it’ll display this very official-looking window, which pretends to scan your PC and find things that are infected, but of course, it’s all a lie.

The really crazy thing is that it pops up a very realistic looking Action Center window, but it’s actually the virus.

Removing Rogue Fake Antivirus Infections (General Guide)

There’s a couple of steps that you can generally follow to get rid of the majority of rogue antivirus infections, and actually most malware or spyware infections of any type. Here’s the quick steps:

• Try to use the free, portable version of SUPERAntiSpyware to remove the viruses.
• If that doesn’t work, reboot your PC into safe mode with networking (use F8 right before Windows starts to load)
• Try to use the free, portable version of SUPERAntiSpyware to remove the viruses.
• Reboot your PC and go back into safe mode with networking.
• If that doesn’t work, and safe mode is blocked, try running ComboFix. Note that I’ve not yet had to resort to this, but some of our readers have.
• Install MalwareBytes and run it, doing a full system scan.
• Reboot your PC again, and run a full scan using your normal Antivirus application (we recommend Microsoft Security Essentials).
• At this point your PC is usually clean.

Those are the rules that normally work. Note that there are some malware infections that not only block safe mode, but also prevent you from doing anything at all. We’ll cover those in another article soon, so make sure to subscribe to How-To Geek for updates (top of the page).

Removing Win 7 Anti-Spyware 2011

Download a free copy of MalwareBytes, copy it to a thumb drive, and then install it on the infected PC and run through a scan. You might have better luck doing this in Safe Mode.

You may have better luck installing MalwareBytes first, if the virus will let you. In my case, it did not. When I scanned through the first time using SUPERAntiSpyware, it detected the viruses and removed the files just fine.

At this point, you should hopefully have a clean system. Make sure to install Microsoft Security Essentials, and don’t be fooled by these viruses again.

Can’t Open Any Applications After Deleting the Virus?

The next problem was that once the virus was removed, you couldn’t open anything—in fact, I still wasn’t even able to install MalwareBytes. Hopefully you have better luck.

Why couldn’t I open anything? Because the virus had rewritten the registry to force all applications to open the virus instead—which meant you couldn’t even open the registry editor to fix the problem. This problem might have been avoided had I properly completed the scan, but I interrupted it before it was done.

On a normal PC, there’s a registry key under HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT that specifies what happens when you double-click on an executable file (*.exe) – but on a virus-infected system, this value is rewritten with the virus executable. That’s how it prevents you from opening anything.

To fix the problem, I exported a clean registry file from another PC, and did a little extra hacking to it, and problem solved! All you have to do is download, extract, copy the .reg file to the infected PC, and double-click it to add the information into the registry.

Download the Fixing Malware Appliction Won’t Open Registry Hack

Source: http://www.howtogeek.com/57837/how-to-remove-win-7-anti-spyware-2011-fake-anti-malware-infections/

Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Tips

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Service pack 1 (SP1) for Windows 7 has been out for a bit now and perhaps you have installed it. If you are happy with it, I have a tip for you. But then again maybe you are not so happy with it.  In that case, I also have a tip for you.

Free up some space by removing Windows 7 SP1 backup files

When you install Windows 7 SP1, backup files are created to be used in case you have problems with the update and want to get rid of it. These files may take up as much as several GB of space and eventually you may want to delete them. It may not make much difference if you have a terabyte drive but these days many operating system volumes are fairly small. If you have been using SP1 for a while and everything seems to be working properly, here is how to remove the backup files.

Note that once these files are removed, you won’t be able to uninstall SP1. As a matter of good practice, make an image of your system before installing service packs so that you can have an alternate way to return to your original setup.

Use the system tool Disk Cleanup to remove backups

One way to remove the backup files is to use the Windows Disk Cleanup accessory. There are various ways to open Disk Cleanup in Windows 7 but an easy path is to enter “clean” (without quotes) in the Start menu Search bar and select “Disk Cleanup” from the list. You’ll have to go through several steps (see this link for pictures).

1. Open Disk Cleanup
2. Click the Button “Clean up system files”
3. If necessary, select the drive or volume where your operating system is located (normally C:)
4. In the dialog box, click the tab “Disk Cleanup”
5. In the list that opens, find “Service pack backup files’ and put a check by it
6. Click “OK”
7. Click “Delete files”

Use the command line to remove the backups

If you are a command-line aficionado, there is a quicker way to delete the backup files. Open a command prompt with administrator privileges and enter

   DISM /online /cleanup-Image /spsuperseded

How to uninstall Windows 7 service pack 1 from the Control Panel

If SP1 makes you unhappy for one reason or the other, you can uninstall it (assuming you didn’t apply the tip above first).

1. Go to Control Panel-Programs-Programs and Features. The easy way to get there is to enter “uninstall” in theStart- Search bar and choose ”Uninstall a program” from the Control Panel list
2. Click “View installed updates”
3. Click "Service Pack for Microsoft Windows (KB 976932)"
4. Click “Uninstall”

How to uninstall Windows 7 SP1 from the command line

Open a command prompt with administrator privileges and enter

   wusa /uninstall /kb:976932

Don’t you just love how simple the command line makes things?

Source: http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/windows-7-service-pack-1-tips.htm

How to Attach Sticky-Note Reminders to Windows and Applications

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Some applications come with a boatload of keyboard shortcuts; these can make you very fast, but can be difficult to remember, especially if you customized some of them. What if you could have your own little cheat sheet that would pop up next to the application every time your ran it? Read on to see how you can make one.

We’re going to be using an excellent (and free) application called Stickies. If you don’t have it yet, go to the Stickies homepage, download it, and install it.

Creating Your First Cheat Sheet

The first thing we’re going to do is create the sticky note containing whatever info you want to have on hand. With Stickies running, hit Win+S. You should see a blank sticky note, much like the one below.

Yours may not have the current date and time in the caption – that’s a setting you can toggle, but we don’t need it for now.

Next, set the title for your sticky by clicking it and pressing Ctrl+Shift+T. You can also right-click the caption and select Set Title from the context menu.

Now that you’ve set the title (say, Total Commander Tips), fill in the text with whatever you’d like to remember. Use Ctrl + and Ctrl – to increase or decrease the font size, Ctrl+B for bold, Ctrl+I for italics. You can also select just a portion of the text to make it larger (think subheadings).

With your sticky note all ready, it’s now time to attach it to the window. Make sure the “target application” is running, so we’d have a window to attach the note to. Then, right-click the note’s caption and select Attach.

In the Attach Sticky window, locate your application in the list and click it. You can also toggle the box that says “Only if visible” to have the note visible only when the application window isn’t minimized.

The sticky note you created will now appear whenever you run your application, and disappear when you close the app. If you’d like to make the note always on top, click it and hit Ctrl+T. This way no other windows would cover it. That’s it – you now have a handy application-specific cheat-sheet.

Source: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/45189/how-to-attach-sticky-note-reminders-to-windows-and-applications/

Five Tips to Clean Up and Organize Your PC

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Tomorrow is National Organize Your Home Office Day for 2011. While many will be focused on finally filing that growing pile of documents and receipts on their desk, actually implementing a filing system that has some logic behind it, or tweaking the feng shui of the physical office environment in some way, it is just as important to take some time out to clean up your digital office--the PC.

The PC is the centerpiece of office productivity. It is the heart and soul of the office, and when it is in cluttered disarray everything else suffers. With some help from iolo--makers of System Mechanic, here are five tips to help you clean and organize your PC.

1. Uninstall. Uninstall programs that you no longer need or use. They take up space on your hard drive, may be loading in memory and wasting system resources, and represent a possible security risk since you are unlikely to patch or update software you aren't even using. Some software applications include an uninstall option in the Start Menu folder. The best place to start, though, is the Programs and Features option in the Windows Control Panel.

2. Delete. Delete unused, old or duplicate files, e-mails, e-mail addresses, bookmarks and favorites. The average American adult has more than 1,800 digital files, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. That number goes up dramatically, once you factor in all the duplicate, unused or old files that unnecessarily take up your hard drive's space and make searching for the files you need more time-consuming, and grinding on your processor and hard drive. The Disk Cleanup utility in Windows is one good way to identify and remove unnecessary bits from your hard drive.

3. Clean. Once you've uninstalled unused programs, make sure to clean out your registry as well. Invalid or out-of-date registry settings can slow down your computer's boot time and cause weird hesitations and freezes during its operation. Messing with the Windows registry can have catastrophic consequences if done wrong and identifying and removing unnecessary registry entries is easier said than done. This is one area where using a third-party tool like System Mechanic makes sense.

4. Organize. Organize your files. Once unneeded programs are uninstalled, unused or duplicate files deleted and registry cleaned out, make sure the rest of your files are well-organized. Use a logical file naming system and put files into folders that make sense and are easy to remember and access. You can group files chronologically, or by customer, or by project--it is up to you to determine a system that makes the most sense for you and keeping your digital office functional and tidy.

5. Personalize. Personalize your computer. More personalizing helps you remember things and be better organized. Moreover, with a computer that's configured to suit your needs, you are more likely to remain better organized following Organize Your Home Office Day and throughout the year. Explore things and do not hesitate to right click on different tools. The Control Panel is the best place to begin.

Follow these five tips to declutter and organize your PC. It can be tough, tedious work depending on the state of your PC, but the effort will be worth it when you are able to work more efficiently and more effectively.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/221477/five_tips_to_clean_up_and_organize_your_pc.html#tk.hp_new

Windows 7 GodMode: Tips, Tricks, Tweaks

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Microsoft has strived to develop Windows into an intuitive, user-friendly operating system. For some, though, "user friendly" is just another way of saying "dumbed down" in an attempt to force all users into a limited, cookie-cutter system. Power users and IT administrators need to be able to go behind the curtain of the friendly user interface and get down to the business of tweaking and customizing the operating system to meet their needs. That is where Windows 7's "GodMode" comes in.

A more apropriate name than "GodMode" for an Easter egg feature that gives you ultimate control over the operating system would be hard to come up with. That said, you don't really need GodMode to be the god of your domain--the tweaks available with GodMode already exist independently of it, but these tricks make them far more accessible. Let's take a look at what the Windows 7 GodMode is, how to access it, and what playing god with Windows 7 can do for you.

What Is GodMode?

GodMode is actually a hidden (or, at least it used to be hidden) developer shortcut in Windows 7 that provides more direct access to features and functions of the operating system. To be clear, GodMode doesn't add functionality. But it helps administrators work more efficiently by collecting all these tweaks and controls in one place.

Accessing GodMode in Windows 7

Follow these steps to access GodMode:

• Create a new folder wherever you want the GodMode folder to be. Right-click in Windows Explorer, select New, then click Folder.

• Next, rename the folder. You can name the folder anything you like as long as you add a period followed by this exact text string: {ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

• The folder icon should be replaced by the Control Panel icon, and the folder should now be filled with a variety of tweaks and tools (see figure at lower right).

But, wait. There's more! The truth is, there isn't just one "GodMode." Windows 7 has an entire pantheon of GodModes, with a variety of hidden folders you can set up using different, unique text strings, including special folders for biometric settings, printers, credentials and logins, the firewall and security, and many other features and functions of Windows 7.

A post in a Microsoft forum by Auri Rahimzadeh provides a short script that will quickly create the GodMode folders. Copy and paste the following text (immediately below this paragraph) into Notepad. Name the file "godmodes.bat" and save it on your hard drive in the location where you would like the folders to be. Running this script will create a new folder called Special Folders that will contain all of the developer shortcut folders (as shown in the clickable thumbnail figure below). Also, by changing the text where it says "Special Folders" in the first two lines of the script, you could rename the new folder anything you'd like.

mkdir "Special Folders
cd ".\Special Folders
mkdir "God Mode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}
mkdir "Location Settings.{00C6D95F-329C-409a-81D7-C46C66EA7F33}
mkdir "Biometric Settings.{0142e4d0-fb7a-11dc-ba4a-000ffe7ab428}
mkdir "Power Settings.{025A5937-A6BE-4686-A844-36FE4BEC8B6D}
mkdir "Icons And Notifications.{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}
mkdir "Credentials and Logins.{1206F5F1-0569-412C-8FEC-3204630DFB70}
mkdir "Programs and Features.{15eae92e-f17a-4431-9f28-805e482dafd4}
mkdir "Default Programs.{17cd9488-1228-4b2f-88ce-4298e93e0966}
mkdir "All NET Frameworks and COM Libraries.{1D2680C9-0E2A-469d-B787-065558BC7D43}
mkdir "All Networks For Current Connection.{1FA9085F-25A2-489B-85D4-86326EEDCD87}
mkdir "Network.{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7-08002B30309D}
mkdir "My Computer.{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D}
mkdir "Printers.{2227A280-3AEA-1069-A2DE-08002B30309D}
mkdir "Application Connections.{241D7C96-F8BF-4F85-B01F-E2B043341A4B}
mkdir "Firewall and Security.{4026492F-2F69-46B8-B9BF-5654FC07E423}
mkdir "Performance.{78F3955E-3B90-4184-BD14-5397C15F1EFC}

Putting GodMode to Use

Okay, so now you have a bunch of folders filled with tools and tweaks that you already had access to. Congratulations. The question to consider is whether or not these GodMode folders serve any purpose. Do they make it easier to work with and configure Windows 7? Do they make your life as an IT administrator easier? Well, let's see.

Let's say you want to defragment a hard drive. You could go through the normal steps of clicking on Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defrgamenter. However, that is a fair amount of clicking, and it assumes that you remember where the Disk Defragmenter tool is located. Or, you can open the GodMode folder, go to the Administrative Tools section, and click on Defragment your hard drive.

Another example is adjusting the display settings--perhaps to mirror or extend the display landscape onto a second monitor. You can click Start, Control Panel, Display, and then selectChange display settings from the panel on the left. Or you can go into the GodMode folder and just click on Change display settings under the Display section.

In both examples, you don't have to enable the GodMode folder to accomplish the task. The tools exist already, and GodMode is really nothing more than a regrouping of those tools.

But it is a convenient regrouping. IT admins and power users can also make effective use of the Windows Search function to navigate to tools more efficiently. However, that requires knowing up front what tool you are looking for, and making sure you enter the right keyword or phrase for Windows to locate it for you.

What GodMode does--aside from conveniently regrouping common tools that are already available--is list the tools in logical categories based on the types of tasks an IT admin might need to perform. And the tools are named for the way that IT admins think when they want to perform those tasks. For instance, you can get to BitLocker Drive Encryption through the Control Panel, but in the GodMode folder it is listed in the form of a task that makes sense: "Protect your computer by encrypting data on your disk."

There you have it. It is not quite as magical or all-powerful as the name implies. But GodMode--in all of its forms and folders--can be a valuable tool and make your life simpler.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/220753/windows_7_godmode_tips_tricks_tweaks.html#tk.hp_fv

What You Need To Know Upgrading To Windows 7 SP1

Computer Renaissance would like to help you to upgrade to Windows 7 SP1.

The very first service pack for Windows 7 will be available to the public starting from February 22nd as confirmed by Microsoft just over a week ago. It’s already been delivered to OEM partners and to subscribers of the MSDN or Technet service as of February 16th.

Is there anything that the average PC user will have to do to get the service pack? Not really, it’s a fairly straightforward process for most. Microsoft will be making it available from the Windows Update and the Microsoft Download Center. Microsoft recommend that single PC and home PC Users should be using Windows Update instead of the standalone installer from the Microsoft Download Center. Mainly because it’s much easier to do with very little input from the user, but also because of the disk space requirements.

The disk space requirements vary dramatically. Users who update the operating system via the recommended Windows Update method need 750 Megabytes for 32-bit systems and 1050 Megabytes for 64-bit systems. However a stand alone installation by downloading the service pack via Microsoft’s Download Center, requires 4.1 Gigabytes of memory for 32-bit systems and a whooping 7.4 Gigabytes for a 64-bit system. So do what’s recommended and update via the Windows Update method.

Only admins who are working with multiple computers may consider download the service pack from the Download Center for distribution purposes.

There are a couple of things that should be done prior to updating to SP1

• Just do a quick scan to make sure your free from malware and viruses
• Microsoft recommend turning off your antivirus temporarily as it may interfere with the installation
• Make sure your drivers are up to date
• Be sure to have a constant power source, plug in your laptop or netbook to it’s charger
• Make sure you have enough free disk space
• Back up any important data in the unlikely case something goes wrong

And finally for those of you who don’t want to upgrade to the first service pack just yet, you can download the Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Blocker Tool from Microsoft. The toolkit blocks the installation of the service pack for 12 months.

Source: http://www.windows7news.com/2011/02/20/upgrading-windows-7-sp1/

Manage Autorun Processes and More With SysInternals AutoRuns

Friendly Computers found this article useful for Windows users and would like to share it with you.

SysInternals AutoRuns is a great little tool which allows you to manage every single autorun process and application on your Windows 7 machine from a single easy to use window. Yes it’s true that you can manage processes and services from Windows 7 with a combination of the Task Manager and Services manager, but using this little program makes things that bit easier.

AutoRuns allows you to manage all processes on your Windows system associated with the following

• Logon
• Explorer shell extensions
• Internet Explorer
• Schedule tasks
• Services
• Drivers
• Winlogon notifications
• KnownDLLs
• AppInit
• Image Hijacks
• Boot Execute
• Codecs
• Sidebar Gadgets
• Network Providers
• LSA Providers
• Print Monitors
• Winsock Providers

All of these can be managed from just one simple program, but you can also look up more information about them online, stop them and see their location on you system.

The most useful purpose of this tool is that it allows you to see third-party processes that haven’t been signed by Microsoft, helping you to quickly spot rogue processes which could be infecting your system.

It’s simple and straightforward to install, in fact it’s a portable app so all you have to do is download it from here and then run the executable file. Try and make sure you’re running it as the administrator as well because you will get much more control this way.

When it first starts up you will be at the “Everything” tab which shows you every single process that’s running on your system.

To determine what’s not a Windows or Microsoft process go to Options->Hide Microsoft and Windows Entries and then refresh. This new list is everything that’s running on your system which hasn’t been signed by Microsoft so you will have to decide for yourself if you trust these processes.

If you’re unsure about any process, simply right click on it and you can look up information online  and to disable the process simply uncheck the box beside it, no need to safe anything either.

You can also verify code signatures by going to Options-> Verify Code Signatures and then hit refresh. It will then scan through each process that’s selected and determine whether or not they’ve been verified. Don’t be alarmed if some are not verified. Try and see where they’re coming from and determine if they’re meant to be running on your system or not.

SysInternals AutRuns certainly makes it not only easier to manage your system and processes, but also allows you to quickly see if any rogue or malicious processes are running on your machine.

Download here

Source: http://www.windows7news.com/2011/02/09/manage-autorun-processes-sysinternals-autoruns/

Manage Autorun Processes and More With SysInternals AutoRuns

Friendly Computers would like to share this article with you.

SysInternals AutoRuns is a great little tool which allows you to manage every single autorun process and application on your Windows 7 machine from a single easy to use window. Yes it’s true that you can manage processes and services from Windows 7 with a combination of the Task Manager and Services manager, but using this little program makes things that bit easier.

AutoRuns allows you to manage all processes on your Windows system associated with the following

• Logon
• Explorer shell extensions
• Internet Explorer
• Schedule tasks
• Services
• Drivers
• Winlogon notifications
• KnownDLLs
• AppInit
• Image Hijacks
• Boot Execute
• Codecs
• Sidebar Gadgets
• Network Providers
• LSA Providers
• Print Monitors
• Winsock Providers

All of these can be managed from just one simple program, but you can also look up more information about them online, stop them and see their location on you system.

The most useful purpose of this tool is that it allows you to see third-party processes that haven’t been signed by Microsoft, helping you to quickly spot rogue processes which could be infecting your system.

It’s simple and straightforward to install, in fact it’s a portable app so all you have to do is download it from here and then run the executable file. Try and make sure you’re running it as the administrator as well because you will get much more control this way.

When it first starts up you will be at the “Everything” tab which shows you every single process that’s running on your system.

To determine what’s not a Windows or Microsoft process go to Options->Hide Microsoft and Windows Entries and then refresh. This new list is everything that’s running on your system which hasn’t been signed by Microsoft so you will have to decide for yourself if you trust these processes.

If you’re unsure about any process, simply right click on it and you can look up information online  and to disable the process simply uncheck the box beside it, no need to safe anything either.

You can also verify code signatures by going to Options-> Verify Code Signatures and then hit refresh. It will then scan through each process that’s selected and determine whether or not they’ve been verified. Don’t be alarmed if some are not verified. Try and see where they’re coming from and determine if they’re meant to be running on your system or not.

SysInternals AutRuns certainly makes it not only easier to manage your system and processes, but also allows you to quickly see if any rogue or malicious processes are running on your machine.

Download here

Source: http://www.windows7news.com/2011/02/09/manage-autorun-processes-sysinternals-autoruns/

Add Romance to Your Desktop with These Two Valentine’s Day Themes for Windows 7

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Are you wanting to add some romance to your Windows 7 desktop? Then all you need are these two beautiful Valentine’s Day themes from Microsoft.

The Lovebirds Theme is pictured above…

We have also included the Valentine (Lacey Hearts) Theme that Microsoft released last year so that you can have double the Valentine’s goodness this year.

Not satisfied with using the default Microsoft icons for these two beautiful themes? Then be sure to look through our Desktop Fun: Valentine’s Day Icon Packs collection.

Download Links

Lovebirds Theme [Windows 7 Personalization Gallery]

Valentine (Lacey Hearts) Theme [Windows 7 Personalization Gallery]

Source: http://www.howtogeek.com/news/add-romance-to-your-desktop-with-these-two-valentines-day-themes-for-windows-7/3321/