Archive for March 2010
Have you ever noticed that the longer you on your PC, the slower it seems to get? Have you ever noticed that your system may lockup for a few seconds now and then for no apparent reason? Does your PC crash every now and again, without warning?
Then chances are you have a problem, or more likely dozens of problems, with your system registry.
What is the registry?
To explain things simply, the system registry is a special file, which contains all of the information about your operating system install and software suite. When Windows starts, it is loaded entirely, and stays resident in memory, to be queried when necessary.
Why does the registry have problems?
Every software package you install will make entries into the system registry. Unfortunately, most uninstall routines fail to remove every registry entry properly.
So the registry naturally grows over time, as you try out new software. Windows update also tends to add errors to the registry from time to time.
As the registry grows and becomes fragmented, the system slows down, and instabilities can creep in.
Uniblue Registry Booster to the rescue
These kinds of system registry errors can be fixed, but it is one heck of a task to do this manually. Instead we use a registry checker to automate the task.
Uniblue Registry Booster is one such application, and one of the best. Simply run the simple wizard, and your registry will be automatically repaired, defragmented and generally streamlined.
This leads to faster boot times, and a more responsive system.
So next time your PC is acting strangely, or running somewhat slowly, don’t take it into the store to be fixed, instead give Uniblue Registry Booster a try, it may well solve all of your problems, saving you money and time.
To get more information about Uniblue Registry Booster click here…
If you are the kind of computer user, who like me, knows they are at very little risk of actually getting a virus infection, then it can be annoying having to allocate large chunks for system resources to bloated security applications. In the last 10 years I have had one virus infection, so I know that my current AV software is over the top for my needs.
They get fat!
Several years ago, anti-virus software simply did what it said on the tin, it protected a PC from virus infections.
However, most of the big players have moved into the “security suite” arena, which supply not only AV utilities, but email scanning, instant messenger scanning, website security checks, keeping an eye on local network traffic, and monitoring P2P applications amongst other things.
Now I personally don’t need all of this protection thank you, and I really do not want to allocate system resources to this, I simply do not need them.
ClamWin to the rescue
So lately I have been looking around for a simple, reliable anti-virus application which does nothing else, just checks for virus infections, and I came across ClamWin. This is a very simple to use AV application, which keeps its own virus databases updated on-line, just like the big boys, but uses far less in the way of system resources.
Is there a downside?
Unfortunately there is a slight downside, although I personally am happy to live with it. ClamWin offers no real-time anti-virus protection.
Instead, it needs to be run regularly (and the task can be scheduled) to check the PC for viruses. This means you will not get those familiar AV alerts, when you download or access a file that has an infection, you will not know about the infection until you run the ClamWin scan.
Overall, ClamWin is perfect for me, as I know I am at a very low risk of actually coming across a virus anyway, so I simply schedule a weekly scan and carry on as normal. Other users such as me may find ClamWin to their liking also.
To get more information about ClamWin click here…
Computer hardware is not infallible, even the best specified RAID units can and do lose data now and then, despite their high price tag.
Most people who have used a PC for a period of time will have experienced some form of data loss, either through hardware failure or accidental deletion.
If you can relate to this, then read on, maybe Acronis True Image Home Edition can help you in the future.
Large corporations have known the value of disk imaging for a long while. A simple concept which can save a lot of time.
Disk imaging involves taking a complete snapshot of a hard drive (usually the operating system drive) and storing it elsewhere, to be reloaded intact if needed. This is far quicker than re-installing a PC and a full application suite.
Acronis True Image Home Edition contains a full range of disk imaging tools, to create an image and reload it if the worst should happen.
Acronis True Image Home Edition also comes with a full backup suite. The software is able to automatically backup files, folders, system areas and user settings, all set up using a very simple wizard, great backup software with a simple interface.
However, even the most complete backup is only as good as the last time it was run. If you forget to backup regularly, you can still lose significant amounts of data.
Acronis True Image Home Edition gets around this by running its continuous real time backup system. Every few minutes Acronis True Image Home Edition will create a snapshot image, which allows the user to roll back their system should something go missing.
Overall, Acronis True Image Home Edition is something that everybody can benefit from installing, providing significant levels of data integrity, and that all important peace of mind.
To get more information about Acronis True Image Home click here…
There are 4 web browsers that almost everybody has heard of. These are Internet Explorer (in its various versions), Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome and Opera. However, there is one major player missing from this list, and one which Apple Mac users have been aware of for quite some time, and this is Apple Safari.
The reason it is less known is due to the fact that until recently, there was not an up to date version available for the PC, this has now changed with the launch of Apple Safari 4.0, a mighty PC browser.
Initial performance benchmarks put Apple Safari in second place to Google Chrome (no surprise there, Chrome is renowned for its performance), although not far behind in second place. This has been a major surprise for some people.
Where Apple Safari does win over other browsers, is in its interface. Safari uses an intelligent startup screen, which learns which sites you visit frequently, creating thumbnails and shortcuts to them.
You can easily flip between these sites using keyboard shortcuts or mouse gestures. This works much the same way as Google Chrome does, but it is implemented better in Safari. Safari also has a native Windows look and feel, so it generally looks nicer than Chrome in most ways.
Safari is also built around the award winning Nitro Engine, the blisteringly fast rendering engine, which has claimed “Fastest Browser in the World” more than once. The Nitro Engine has long been an Apple Mac only tool, not so now, the PC is now gifted with this incredible piece of coding.
If you are on the lookout for a new browser for your PC, then it could be worth checking out Apple Safari 4.0. Safari is fast, robust and secure, as well as being stylish and fun to use.
To get more information about Safari click here…
How many times have you saved data, including pictures, documents and spreadsheets to “My Documents” and then needed to set up as regular backup schedule to make sure that if something goes wrong with your hard disk, then you can restore (almost) everything?
Almost anybody who uses a PC seriously will have done this, set up their save locations, and then automated a backup. Well help is at hand, and you may not need to do this any longer!
Throw it all into your DropBox
How would you feel if I told you that you never have to backup your personal files again? Most people would never believe me, but it is entirely true thanks to a service known as DropBox.
How DropBox works is to allocate you an amount of on-line storage place, and then use an operating system integrated service to synchronise a local folder (you DropBox) with your online storage. This is done in real time, and changes will be mimicked across multiple PCs linked to the same DropBox, so if you change a file on your laptop, your desktop PC gets the same change! So simply save all your data to your DropBox and forget about backups, it’s all taken care of on the fly.
Is there a downside to using DropBox
Unfortunately yes there is a slight downside to using the free version of DropBox. The free version only allows for the storage of 2GB of data, although you can get a little more free space by referring friends.
This is not really enough to store documents, photographs and music all in one place. DropBox do offer two premium plans, one which offers 50GB of space for $99 per year, and another which offers 100GB of space for $199 per year. Personally I subscribe to the larger package, and have found this to be plenty, I no longer worry about backing up my data, I simply let DropBox take care of it in the background.
To get more information about DropBox click here…
Some software packages have weird names (Windows Vista anyone?), and it can be hard to understand what each one does exactly just by the name. Snagit is no exception to this, a strange name for a very useful piece of software. If you are not sure what Snagit is, then read on and we will tell you.
Snagit, now in version 10, is a screen capture program, but one with some extremely advanced features. A screen capture program is used to grab an image of the computer screen, or a selected area, specific window or some other selection.
There are plenty of software packages which do this, some free and some commercial, but Snagit is possibly the best of them, and for good reason.
Snagit has some very useful advanced options, not available with other screen capture utilities. Possibly the best of these is the large window capture.
Imagine opening a website, and the entire site does not display on a single screen, instead the site needs to be scrolled down in the browser. Think about it, how would you capture this? You can’t even see it! Simple, Snagit 9 will automatically scroll and capture the entire window, very cool!
Another area in which Snagit beats the competition, is in the way it stores and organises captures. Most of the free screen capture utilities simply prompt you to save the image somewhere.
Snagit 9 goes much further, by incorporating an image browser into the software, which automatically thumbnails all captures, making them a snap to find.
Snagit 9 also enables collaboration, screen captures can be instantly sent via messaging services such as MSN and Skype, they can also be posted straight to sites such as Flickr.
So there we have it, Snagit is a screen capture utility on steroids, and a valuable tool in its own right. We will be running a series of Snagit 9 Tricks and Tips in the future, so check back soon.
To get more information about Snagit click here…
No you did not read the title of this blog post wrong, IE8 has indeed passed Acid3, with flying colours! However, there is a slight caveat to the test being passed. It required the installation of Google Chrome Frame. OK so this means the IE8 rendering engine didn’t actually pass Acid3, the Google Chrome rendering engine, working within an IE8 window actually passed it. So I guess we can’t really count this as a triumph for Microsoft, but it is a good way of introducing Google Chrome Frame!
Google Chrome Frame is basically a version of the Chrome rendering engine, being forced to run inside a frame within IE8.
Google have explained that they have released this application to enable IE8 users to use Google Wave when it is finally made available to the public.
Google Chrome Frame is quite cleverly coded, it requires special code within a web page to switch it on, without this code being present the frame is not loaded and the standard IE8 rendering engine is used.
Whilst testing this clever little application, I discovered that it was possible, via a registry entry, to enable Google Chrome Frame at all times.
This I quickly tried, as I still use IE8 due to its superior operating system integration, but I loathe its performance, I thought this would be the ultimate fix.
Unfortunately this was not to be so, as loading Google Chrome Frame also changes all the right click menu options to the standard Google Chrome ones, replacing the IE8 ones that I find so useful.
Yet the fact remains that for those people who do not want to switch to a new browser, yet still wish to use advanced application such as Google Wave, then Google Chrome Frame is going to be a godsend.
Nobody can dispute the fact that the spell checking options found within IE8 (Internet Explorer Version 
are pretty bad.
Well they are worse than bad actually, they are non-existent! It’s true; this mainstream browser lacks any form of spellchecking capability out of the box. However, help is at hand in the form of an excellent plug-in named ieSpell.
Why is ieSpell so special?
ieSpell is special for two reasons. The first reason is simply the fact that it does such a good job, in an easy to understand way. No feature bloat, just an efficient and dependable spellchecker.
The second thing which makes ieSpell so special is the price; this is because it is entirely free! This is a must have plug-in for every Internet Explorer user.
Is ieSpell easy to install?
Yes, very easy, could not be simpler. A short download followed by a quick install routine has the plug-in up and running.
Simply select the default spell-check dictionary, and add any extra ones you may need, many are available in the ieSpell archives.
How does ieSpell work?
ieSpell functions quite simply. Once you have finished filling in form data on a web page, simply right click inside one of the fields, and select “check spelling” from the context menu. ieSpell will then highlight all of the words it thinks are spelled wrong, and pop open a window allowing you to select alternate words, replace all occurrences of the bad spelling, and all of the other kinds of options we are used to with word processor spell-checkers.
Anybody who still uses IE in any of its versions really should grab themselves a copy of this excellent plug-in, there is no reason not to, it does not cost a penny, all it does is add excellent spell-checking functions to a browser that has none to start with.
One of the most useful features of Firefox is the fact it can be extended using plug-ins. This is not to say that Firefox is the only browser to support this kind of extension. However, the sheer number of excellent plug-ins available for Firefox makes it arguably the most flexible browser ever.
Below we will take a look at five essential Firefox plug-ins that everybody should consider installing.
- XMarks – The worlds coolest bookmark manager, available as a plug-in for not only Firefox but Internet Explorer and Safari as well. XMarks will use a cloud to keep bookmarks, or the user can optionally choose to store their bookmarks locally.
- Greasemonkey – On its own this plug-in does very little out of the box. What it does do is add an incredibly powerful scripting language to Firefox, which is then used to write browser applications. Without Greasemonkey many of the excellent Firefox extensions we see today could not exist.
- Adblock Plus – A plain and simple advertisement blocker, easy to configure and exceptionally effective, a must have for every Firefox user.
- Tab Mix Plus – An amazingly useful plug-in, which adds extensive tabbed browsing control to Firefox. It allows the browser user to decide which kinds of links open in new tabs instead of new windows, and allows tabs to be renamed and highlighted.
- Down Them All – A batch downloader, very cool for those times you want to grab every image on a page, or kick off a download of an entire list of .MP3 files. Once you use this plug-in you will wonder how you ever did without it.
So there we have it, five of the top plug-ins available for Mozilla Firefox, which help to extend and enhance the browsing experience, whilst keeping Firefox lightweight and stable.
There are two longstanding phrases within the Internet Marketing and Webmaster circles. The first of these is that “Content is King”, meaning fresh, organic content brings traffic. The second is that “The money is in the list”, and it is this second phrase, which pertains to extracting maximum value from a mailing list, that GroupMail can help with.
There are many types of mass mailing solutions to be found, from simple PHP scripts that can be run upon a web server, to expensive subscription services, which are designed to manage mailings for you. GroupMail is an entirely different option, a local client application, which is run on the user’s PC to manage mass mailing.
The advantages of running something like GroupMail locally are quite clear. Firstly, you incur a single one off cost to procure the software, no more expensive monthly subscriptions to an autoresponder service. Secondly, your contact information is entirely secure, as it is stored locally upon your own PC. Thirdly, you have the flexibility to manage your mailing list the way you want to, and not how your autoresponder or mailing provider forces you too. This last point is quite a major one, as email policies imposed by autoresponder services can be heavy and harsh.
The great thing about GroupMail is it is free to try. The free version has limited features, but it does allow you to evaluate the software and decide in a client based solution for managing your mailing list is right for you.
If you decide that GroupMail works for you, simply upgrade to the personal, business or marketing version. One thing to note, only the marketing version provides analytics, and if you are serious about your email marketing you will need this, as without it you cannot split test or perform performance comparisons. We will be running a series of posts giving tips and tricks on how to use GroupMail effectively, so check back soon.
To get more information about GroupMail click here…
