Windows Tools, Help & Guides

Operating systems have become more complex over time. For an every-day user, it’s really a hard task to find what programs are slowing down their machine and for what reasons.

The most common performance problems are related with physical memory.

As I wrote in a comment answering a reader, Ben, in another post:

5 Things You Should Know About Microsoft Security Essentials

Programs use more RAM (another name for physical memory) if there is more available. Thus, you cannot associate high memory usage with bad memory usage. If your machine has resources (one of these resources is RAM), there is no problem using them if they’re available for use. But what about when you hit the limits of your physical memory?

What can an every-day user do to find out if their machine is using all of it’s current physical memory and, therefore, needs more RAM?

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It’s no secret — I really don’t like gadgets on my desktop; however, I frequently see people using them. So, I thought I’d give some  a try (I tried at least 100) and here are the 10 most useful gadgets I found.

Have any gadgets you can’t live without? Let us know about them in the comments.

Here’s a list I put together for Windows Vista

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Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) is becoming a good alternative for those who prefer to have a free security solution.

How to get the Latest MSE Definitions

If your system cannot connect to the internet, due to a virus infection, this is your only way to be updated.  If you are experiencing problems updating your antivirus you can use this method.

The following links download the utilities, different for 32 and 64 bit operating systems,  that install the latest definitions:

Definition updates for Microsoft Security Essentials on computers running x64- based versions of Windows

Definition updates for Microsoft Security Essentials on computers running x32- based versions of Windows

Hint: Am I running Windows 32 or 64-bit?

When installing on Windows 7 and Vista you need to run as administrator. Right click mpam-fe.exe, click Run as administrator, and then click Run.

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The problems you must face using an Antivirus are not always obvious. By not properly uninstalling an antivirus programs, you can experience system instabilities.

It is not unusual that you find problems when installing a new antivirus program due to traces of the older one.

The first choice you should use is the uninstaller that comes with the software. But if something happens on the process the following list can solve your problems:

Panda

Panda has created an uninstall program for every product, so select the proper one:

Panda Antivirus, Firewall 2007 Uninstall Utility

Panda Antivirus, Firewall 2008 Uninstall Utility

Panda Antivirus, Firewall 2009 Uninstall Utility

Panda Antivirus, Firewall 2010 Uninstall Utility

Kaspersky

Removal Tool for Kaspersky Lab Products

This removal tool can uninstall all versions of Kaspersky Antivirus and Internet Security but under 64 bit operating systems versions 6 and 7 of the products.

Norton

For reasons that I don’t understand, Norton Antivirus leaves a lot of  traces even if you uninstall it using the default uninstaller.

Norton Removal Tool

F-secure

F-secure has created an extensive page about how to removal its antivirus:

Advanced F-Secure product removal

There is an uninstaller tool but F-secure only recommends it as a last resort.

Bitdefender

Bitdefender Uninstall Tool

Avg

Avg Remover

Avast

Avast Uninstall Utility

McAffe

How to uninstall or reinstall supported McAfee consumer products using the McAfee Consumer Products Removal tool

Which program did we miss? Now you’ve removed your bloated AV software, check out the free Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE).

Do you think your girlfriend/boyfriend is cheating on you? Are your children visiting webs and you don’t know anything about?

Many features we find in modern software are very useful, but sometimes, is complicated to know what they actually do.

InPrivate Browsing is of this kind. The name itself drives to confusion. If you haven’t read about it, you might think is a sort of protection over your privacy on Internet.

To complicate the things a bit, the browser even comes with two new modes with similar names, InPrivate Browsing and InPrivate Filtering.

This is what Microsoft tell us about InPrivate Browsing:

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Imagine that you have a shared folder but you want to know if someone changes something. You, for sure, have heard about auditing files before and may never had a chance to take advantage of this feature. Here you will find a way to do it.

With Windows 7 we can control when a folder has changed and show a message to us.

I know this post can be a little complex, but believe me, the best way to control your computer is knowing how works.

So, why not start from the beginning?

Press WinKey + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.

Go to Local Computer Policy, Computer Configuration, Windows Settings, Security Settings, Local policies, Audit Policy.

Double click over Audit object access. Read the rest of this entry »