Windows Tools, Help & Guides

Windows Forums member Uvais, who is always on the lookout for other users’ safety on their PCs shares a tool recently released by Microsoft:  Microsoft Safety Scanner, which is designed to work with your current anti-virus software to detect threats and infections on your PC. From the download page:

The Microsoft Safety Scanner is a free downloadable security tool that provides on-demand scanning and helps remove viruses, spyware, and other malicious software. It works with your existing antivirus software.

The software is designed to be downloaded for one-time use and expires after 10 days–requiring you to go back to the site and download the latest version with current virus-checking definitions.

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We talk a lot about Windows 32 and 64-bit around here. If you’ve purchased a PC from the shelf, there’s every chance you don’t know whether it’s running 32 or 64-bit Windows. Most computers sold today come with 64-bit Windows installed (needed to utilize >3GB RAM, which is now commonplace in standard PCs); here’s how you can check for yourself:

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Device drivers act as an interface (or communication channel) between your operating system and your hardware. To learn more about drivers, read computer drivers: the basics.

It’s important to keep your drivers updated to take advantage of code fixes, reliability improvements, and security; Intel have made it even easier to keep your drivers up to date with the Intel Driver Update Utility.

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While Windows updates can be a pain and dealing with issues can be even more painful, Windows updates are essential to running a secure and reliable PC. Due to the vast popularity of Windows, there are many people trying to find vulnerabilities all the time. When you purchase your copy of Windows, you’re not just getting what’s stored on the disc or OEM PC you just purchased; you’re signed up for many years of support from Microsoft via Windows Update.

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Mac|Life has put together a guide for Mac users that helps you install Windows on your Mac (either as a boot option or virtually) for those times that a Mac doesn’t have exactly what you need to get a task done. The guide details the two different ways in which you can put Windows on your Mac: through Boot Camp or with virtualization.

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Back in the day, when Windows XP was brand new and shiny, one of the New Features was the Desktop Cleanup Wizard. The idea was to help you keep your desktop tidy and un-cluttered.

Personally I never used it. I pride myself in maintaining a strict Desktop Clutter Policy and rarely allow any programs I install to take occupation on my desktop. Therefore I never needed the DCW, and could remove that annoying popup reminder all together.

Here’s how you do it

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