Installing Programs

There are plenty of anti-virus software and other programs that you can try before you buy and trying the product means installing it into your system. Installing is the process of setting up a program by extracting files and adding new registry entries to properly configure the application. Once everything is all set, you can use the program and see if it meets your needs.

Uninstalling Programs

Just about all installers  have their own uninstallers in case you do not like the program or if the trial has expired and you don’t want to buy them. Uninstallers can remove from 90% to 100% of the application and when the process is finished, you won’t find many traces of it which is generally fine. But if you install too many programs and then try to uninstall a lot of them to clear free space and improve performance, you may find your system still being slow. The reason why some uninstallers leave traces is to make reinstallation easier in case people change their mind or want to give the program a 2nd chance. Most virus scanners like Norton and AVG often times leave lots of traces even when they are uninstalled.

Uninstalling Programs Completely

In order to completely get rid of annoying programs like Norton and AVG you will need the best uninstaller software program. Uninstall tools like Perfect Uninstaller have more options in removing programs. They do not rely on the uninstallers that are provided by the developer, but instead tries to remove any files associated with the program and delete any registry entries included.

Perfect Uninstaller has a unique feature called “Special Uninstall” which makes the uninstallation of a number of popular programs much easier. Without depending on any other applications, Perfect Uninstaller can easily fish out all of the related files and make sure the uninstallation is safe and complete.

Perfect Uninstaller is clearly the best uninstaller software program, but there are some other free programs to try out in case you are not yet willing to pay for commercial software. The prime advantage of using tools like these is that uninstallations are faster and more complete. This should result to better computer performance and reduced chances of program conflicts.

What Is Spyware?

Spyware is a program that gets installed on your computer without your knowledge or permission.  It runs silently in the background of your computer, unnoticed but malicious.

What Does Spyware Do?

Spyware programs collect information about you from your computer, and then sends that information over the internet to a third party.  Spyware basically comes in two varieties.

The less harmful spyware collects personal information about your internet usage—what websites you visit and how often, what you buy online, etc.  It then sends it over the internet to a specific company.  The company uses this information about you to create marketing campaign targeted specifically at you, spamming you with unsolicited email and popup advertisements for various products.  Other spyware will hijack your web browser and change the settings, such as your home page and search page.  Although all these things are more annoying and irritating than actually harmful, many people consider it an invasion of their privacy.

The more malicious spyware tries to collect confidential information about you, such as user names and passwords, addresses and phone numbers, order and account numbers, and even bank account and credit card numbers.  It then transmits this information over the internet to a person who will use it for identity theft.

How To Tell if You Have Spyware on Your Computer?

Some signs of a spyware infection are more obvious than others.  If you get spontaneous pop-up advertisements seemingly at random, if you suddenly have a home page and don’t remember changing it, or new toolbars appear in your browser that you didn’t install, you may have a marketing spyware infection.

More subtle and malicious spyware programs try as hard as they can to not be noticed.  Spyware programs, however, use up your computer’s system resources, such as memory and processing power, leading to computer instability and performance problems.  If your computer suddenly runs slower than usual, starts hanging up or freezing, or randomly reboots, you may have a stealth spyware infection.

How To Protect Your Computer From Spyware

First, install a pop-up blocker to prevent spyware pop-up windows from appearing.  The latest versions of both Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox have built-in pop-up blockers, and it is free for you to upgrade to the latest versions.

Next, if a software installation box appears unexpectedly, asking if you want to install a program, say no.  If you are purposefully installing a program that you know and trust, then it’s okay.  But if you aren’t trying to install a program and an installation box appears anyway, and don’t know what the program is or what it does, always say no.

Finally, the best protection is to download and install an anti-spyware software program.  These programs prevent new spyware from installing on your computer, and search for and remove existing spyware.  The next article in this series will take a closer look at anti-spyware programs, and let you know what to look for in a good protective program.

Whenever you install a program, it will automatically add a number of entries in the computer registry to record all files which are needed to make that particular program work. Now, if you try to uninstall that program using the standard method, all the entries that were added on the computer registry should also be removed. Unfortunately, it rarely happens. There are still few related files and registry keys left in the system that could eventually cause damage to your computer. But, if you use Perfect Uninstaller you will be able to prevent any types of damages. It will thoroughly check your hard drives and registry to make sure that related files and keys were completely removed from your computer.

System Requirements

- Must have Windows Vista, XP, 2003, 2000, ME, NT, or 98

- It requires you to have at least 1.93MB of free space in your hard drive

Key Features and Its Benefits:

- Swiftly uninstall unwanted programs.

- It shows the details of all programs presently installed in your computer.

- Its simple interface makes it easier to use.

- Verify the details of a particular program added in your computer in order to determine if it is needed to be removed or not.

- It quickly finds the folder where the unwanted program was saved.

- Can make a deep scan and forcibly delete all hidden files and programs installed in your PC.

- Improves the performance of your computer by keeping your registry safe from being damaged by corrupted and blank entries

- Fully removes the corrupted and blank registry entries that were left when a certain program was uninstalled.

- Provides an option where you can restore the setting of your registry and return all the files that were transferred to the recycle bin during the removal of the program.

How to uninstall programs using Perfect Uninstaller

1. Open Perfect Uninstaller.

2. From the list, select the program you want uninstall.

3. Click the Uninstall button on the menu bar.

4. Just continue following the instructions until it shows you a dialog box that says Uninstall complete.

If you will use the Force Uninstall

1. Open Perfect Uninstaller.

2. Choose the program you want to force remove.

3. Click the Force Uninstall button located at the menu bar. Since the program can’t be uninstalled in the usual way, you must provide the name of the program you want to remove and the location of the files.

4. Once you were able to enter the necessary data, you can continue with the Force Uninstall Process by clicking the Next button.

5. Once the scan procedure is complete, you will see the list of files that were deleted. If you still want to continue with the process, just click Next button.

6. Lastly, the Finish dialog box will appear, and the program, together with its related files and registry keys were successfully removed from your PC.

Software Pros:

- Interface is not complicated making it very easy to use.

- Completely removes a program and all related files, and cleans the registry by removing errors.

- The official website provides tutorials on how to remove certain softwares that is known to be difficult to uninstall.

- Provides numerous benefits to registered users.

Software Cons:

- The free demo gives you the idea of how the process of uninstalling a program looks like but it won’t actually allow you to remove a program until you register and pay for the full version.

- Have issues with some anti-virus software.

Customer Service:

As of the moment, you can only contact them through their official email support and their affiliates email support. Both are open for the whole day, everyday.

Conclusion:

If you are looking for a software that can uninstall a program and completely removes all its files and folders, that also has the ability to clean your registry, you may want to purchase a copy of the Perfect Uninstaller. However, you can still find other softwares that do the same job which doesn’t have any issues with your Anti-Virus software.

McAfee has been known for its problems in installing the software and while users that have it preinstalled do not need to worry, not all are willing to keep it in their system for different reasons. Some uninstall and remove McAfee because they are not impressed with the product while others do not want to extend their subscription and find a better Internet Security solution.

There are several ways to completely uninstall McAfee Security Center and depending on the configuration, some of the methods have a chance of not working. The easiest methods often do not succeed and the extra steps in getting it fully uninstalled is well worth the effort especially if you plan on replacing it with another security suite.

The Easy Method – Control Panel

You should be able to uninstall and remove McAfee Security Center the same way you uninstall most of your other applications. If you are using Windows Vista, head to the “Programs and Features” control panel item or the familiar “Add/Remove Programs” item if you are using Windows XP. From there, look for “McAfee Security Center”, and click Uninstall.

The only drawback of this method is that not everything is fully taken out. Check the “mcafee.com” folder inside your “Program Files” folder of your root drive and clear out any leftover files that are there. If you are successful with this method, you do not need to try the other methods anymore.

The Reliable Method – McAfee Consumer Products Removal tool

This method takes a little bit more effort because you need to be connected to the Internet and you must download an application that helps uninstall a variety of different McAfee products including older versions of McAfee Security Center. The application isn’t very large and weighs less than a megabyte so this step should be a breeze. You can download the tool at http://download.mcafee.com/products/licensed/cust_support_patches/MCPR.exe. Be careful in handling this program because once you run it, all components are uninstalled without any confirmation.

The Beneficial Method – Perfect Uninstaller

You can also uninstall McAfee by using a good 3rd party uninstaller like Perfect Uninstaller. Once you purchased Perfect Uninstaller, you can easily uninstall McAfee by closing all instances of McAfee including the system tray icons and select the McAfee application in the Perfect Uninstaller program. The wizard should guide you in making a clean removal. The main benefit of getting this is that it can be used to fully uninstall other security suites and applications.

All of these methods should remove all traces of McAfee, but using Perfect Uninstaller is clearly the best solution. With Perfect Uninstaller, you can remove any future applications with very little steps.

Things to Do when Your Windows Task Manager Disabled Unexpectedly:

If you have a virus scanner already installed in your computer, try to update it first to ensure that your virus scanner is capable of detecting the latest viruses. Then perform a full scan and see if anything turns up. There will most likely be a virus running in the background that is preventing the task manager from running.

If the virus caught you off guard and you don’t have a virus scanning solution available, don’t bother installing one because most likely the virus will also prevent you from installing an anti-virus solution. Some viruses may even hinder your internet connection as well so to be safe, boot into safe mode with networking and obtain a free virus scanner. You can try the free version of AVG and have your computer fully scanned.

Whether or not a virus is found, the task manager may still be broken, but what is important is that you get rid of the virus or trojan that keeps disabling your task manager. Now that you have gotten that out of the way, you should now focus on repairing your task manager.

This can easily be done if you install a registry cleaning solution such as RegCure. Disabling the task manager requires some tampering with the Windows registry and most of the best registry cleaning software know how to restore the bad entries to enable your task manager once again. Most of these registry programs cost money to fully use so if you are not ready to buy a registry cleaning solution, you can search for registry tweaks that fix the task manager. This is safe as long as you download these tweaks from trusted sources. Overall it is better to use a registry cleaning solution because it also backs up any registry entries before changes are made.

After your task manager is finally restored, continue to tighten your security by leaving your anti-virus running with live protection to ensure the problem doesn’t happen again. A firewall solution will make things even better and leaving your registry cleaner installed ensures that you are prepared for any attacks on the task manager.

Adobe software can eat up a lot of your hard disk space especially if you have an entire “Creative Suite” installed. Many of the Adobe applications are designed for special purposes so it is practical to uninstall them if they are not needed so free space can be made.

In general, uninstalling Adobe software is a breeze and there are several uninstallation methods to try and vary in speed and efficiency. Here is the rundown of the different ways on how to uninstall and remove Adobe software.

Using the Control Panel

Your Windows XP control panel should include an “Add/Remove Programs” item or a “Programs and Features” item for Windows Vista users. After opening the item, look around for any Adobe software that you wish to remove. The rest should be safe to uninstall and should free up a lot of disk space. The only problem with this method is that the uninstallation process can be quite lengthy and some files can still be left behind.

The same process can be performed in removing programs like Adobe Flash, Adobe Reader, and Adobe Shockwave. Take note that when uninstalling these, you lose the ability of playing flash files in your browser and opening PDF files so you might want to reinstall these applications afterward.

Using Perfect Uninstaller

If you are not very satisfied with the long wait just to have all the Adobe files deleted, you can opt for a faster method by purchasing Perfect Uninstaller. This program expands the uninstallation options in case problems arise with the standard methods or when not all files are removed. Perfect Uninstaller has a unique feature called “Special Uninstall”. This option allows quick and full removal of some of the popular applications including a lot of the Adobe programs that are too time-consuming to uninstall. If the application isn’t listed, you can also submit a request so they can make a special script to uninstall.

This type of removal method is much faster because it doesn’t rely on any special setup tool to deal with the uninstalling. Perfect Uninstaller knows exactly what files and registry entries to remove leaving no trace of the application. You can also try the “Force Uninstall” method where you find the location of the folder inside your “Program Files” and Perfect Uninstaller will try to uninstall it.

Perfect Uninstaller is the best alternative to using the control panel because of its speed and efficiency advantages. It is the tool of choice when uninstalling any Adobe products.

The maker of the program claims that is can solve all related problems with your PC’s registry. When you use your PC regularly, it is always possible that it can become a victim of invalid entries and some of could prove to be harmful for your PC. This situation makes your PC a bit slow in performing tasks. It also promises to improve your Internet connection and shields your privacy. You can scan and fix your PC in a matter for minutes for a faster PC performance.

Why should you download RegTool?

Here are the best features of RegTool and surely the best reasons for you to choose this.

Scanning on Command

Its detailed scanning on your commen will give your PC an automatic scan and evaluation of the full registry of the computer in just a matter of seconds.  By choosing the category that you want, RegTool will search and at the same time list all the detected harms in your PC. Go and visit regtool.com for a free computer scan.

Simple Registry Repair

RegTool is user-friendly and is extremely helpful for most new users. It provides an effective and healthy repairing solution other than its easy interface. It allows the user to restore his system to the best possible state by just a few clicks.

Back up Mechanism is Protected

When you rum RegTool for scanning or repair purposes, there will be an automatic back up file. This will help the user to recover the registry with potent back ups.

Lots of Built In Utilities

The software includes a collection of built in toolkits for maximizing the performance of your system like you have never done before.

Evidence Cleaner

The evidence cleaner provided by RegTool will safely remove all traces of your surfing activities while keeping all vital information while improving the performance of your PC.

Its junk file cleaner removes and scans all the junk files from your PC to free usable storage memory at your PC hard drives and it enables your applications to work rapidly and effectively.

If you are browsing with Internet Explorer, its application for your Internet Explorer browser guarantees a more improved and a superior browsing experience.

There are more additional good utilities like system optimizer uninstall manager, startup manager and duplicate file cleaner for an effective improvement of your PC’s overall performance.

Those above are the main things to watch out for in RegTool. What’s more is that the software makes use of a performance-rich detection algorithm which enables it to identify missing and invalid references at your registry. With just a few steps, RegTool automatically scans your Windows registry to detect old, invalid references. It will then generate a list of the registry errors found. RegTool also allows you to select which items to fix automatically.
If you somehow deleted some important files while cleaning your PC, you can always restore it with its backup mechanism.

If you are interested in downloading RegTool, you can always check the reviews found for this program on their website. By this, you will be able to know about the benefits of RegTool. Some of these are data backup, scan and fix errors, error reports, startup manager and add and remove programs. There are also other benefits that come with the program like its system optimizer and technical support. When you want your PC to be clean and safe, remember to check this program out at regtool.com.

What Are Cookies?

Cookies are files stored on your computer by the different web sites you visit.  Cookies are simple text files, not programs, viruses, spyware, or malware.  They do not cause pop-ups when web surfing, and do not make your computer run slower.

What Do Cookies Do?

Cookies are intended to enhance your web surfing experience.  They enable web page to “recognize” you as an exclusive user of that web site.  When you return to a site you have already visited, the cookie for that site allows your browser to “remember” your personal settings and preferences for that particular web site.

For example, let’s say you visit Amazon.com, put a book in your shopping cart, and then leave the site without checking out.  That book in your shopping cart is saved in the Amazon.com cookie.  That way, when you return to Amazon, you’ll find that book still in your shopping cart, waiting to be purchased.

Why Are Cookies Considered Bad?

There are two reasons.

First, although most cookies are not harmful—and in some cases, quite helpful—they do store sensitive personal data.  User names, passwords, addresses, account and order numbers, and even credit card and bank account numbers can be stored in cookies.  Although harmless in and of themselves, they can be accessed by hackers and spyware to get this sensitive, private information and use it for identity theft.

Second, some cookies also track your internet usage.  For example, they may record how often you have visited that site, what other site you have visited, or what you have purchased.  This is mainly used for marketing, such as Amazon being able to recommend other books based on what you have bought in the past.  Although some people don’t mind this, other people are uncomfortable with this and consider it an invasion of privacy.

For you are uncomfortable with either of these potential problems of cookies, you may want to know how to delete cookies from your computer.

How Do You Delete Cookies?

The process differs slightly depending on which web browser you use.  This article will explain how to delete cookies from your computer for the two most common web browsers, Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox.  For maximum privacy and security, you’ll want to do this after each web surfing session.

Internet Explorer

1.    In Internet Explorer, click on “Tools” on the Menu bar at the top
2.    A menu will appear.  Click on “Internet Options.”
3.    The Internet Options box will appear.  Click on the “General” tab.
4.    Click on the “Delete Cookies” button.

Mozilla Firefox

1.    In Firefox, click on “Tools” on the Menu bar at the top.
2.    A menu will appear.  Click on “Options.”
3.    The Options box will appear.  Click on the “Privacy” tab.
4.    Click on the “Show Cookies” button.
5.    The Cookies box will appear.  Click on the “Remove All Cookies” button.

Your computer probably has lots of drivers installed in it, and if it is not updated, you will be having a hard time using computer programs and devices. But, if you use Driver Checker, your computer’s system will always be in perfect condition, you will have more control to your computer and you will be able to fix any driver problems at once.

System Requirements

- Driver Checker can run in Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/2003/2008/XP/Vista

- Requires at least 4.24MB free space.

Key Features and Its Benefits

1. Have access to almost 1.6 Million device drivers. That includes USB Drivers, VGA Drivers, Graphic Drivers, Webcam Drivers, Keyboard and Mouse Drivers, Printer Drivers, Sound Drivers and Video Drivers.

2. Quickly search for outdated drivers. In case you forgotten to manually update a certain driver, there’s no need to worry because Driver Checker automatically does all the work for you. Using its advanced scan algorithm it will be able to find the outdated driver and show you the complete details in no time.

3. You will be able to install, update and fix drivers simultaneously with its single-click feature.

4. You can back-up all your drivers so that you can easily restore them if needed.

5. With its new tool, you’ll be able to remove unnecessary drivers and unwanted files when you experienced an unsuccessful installation of a program.

6. Shows the in-depth information about the drivers installed giving you more control of your computer.

How to use Driver Checker

Using Driver Checker is very much similar to all kinds of softwares that you commonly use. It is very easy to install and uninstall. When you open the software, you will see a list of drivers that are currently installed in your computer and some basic information about your computer, like the Operating System, processor and the memory size. You can begin to scan your computer by clicking the blue Start Scan button. Wait until it is finished. Once finished, it will then give you the list of the detected software problems and critical drivers. If you want to fix and update all errors, you have to click the Next button. Finally, it will tell you that the drivers were successfully updated. In case something came up and you needed to restore your driver’s settings, you can simply click the Restore button.

Software Pros

- Allows users to restore system drivers as well as uninstall drivers.

- Received numerous awards from respectable product review sites.

- Can work in HP, Gateway, Acer, Lenovo and Dell laptops.

- You can submit your personal driver problems online, and it will be handled by the professional.

- Can optimize the visual effects of your monitor making it more enjoyable to play your favorite computer games.

Software Cons

- The unregistered version doesn’t allow you to use all the functions of the software. This means that there’s no way for you to check if it’s working without paying for the registered version.

- Very attractive interface but not user-friendly.

- No money back guarantee.

Customer Service

As of the moment, they don’t have phone support. You can find the answers to your questions by accessing the FAQ page or by sending a message to their email support. You will also see a form wherein you can attach the screenshots of the driver errors you get that needed to be solved right away.

Conclusion

It is safe to say that Driver Checker can truly update and repair your drivers. It saves you more time than updating your drivers one by one. However, even if it was able to detect more errors than its similar softwares to other computers there’s no assurance that it could also work to your computer. It would be better to try other softwares that give you a customer satisfaction guarantee.

This kind of protection, however, comes with a price and most of the good virus scanners require a subscription fee so you can get real-time protection from the latest viruses through automatic updates. If you aren’t ready to install a virus scanner because of cost-related reasons, follow these techniques on how to protect your computer from viruses until you finally get a fully-featured anti-virus solution.

Disable the Autoplay Function on Removable Drives

When other computers are infected with viruses, the infection secretly spreads to any removable disks like flash disks and external drives that are currently connected to the system. This gives the chance for the virus to spread to other computers if executed. Viruses inside removable drives usually execute themselves by taking advantage of Windows’ Autoplay feature. The Autoplay feature is supposed to be for CDs and DVDs, but it can also be possible to use it on flash disks by instructing the computer to run the virus as soon as it’s plugged in.

Depending on your settings, this might not always occur, but the virus can still be executed just by double clicking the drive’s icon, which normally activates the Autoplay program. Fortunately, this can be disabled so you can “skip” the virus by applying a small registry tweak that disables Autoplay only for removable drives.

Activate your Firewall

Windows XP and greater versions have their own built-in firewall that restricts certain data from going in and out of the system. Many of the viruses rely on the Internet to spread or send critical data to the attacker. A firewall can disable this functionality and it may even prevent suspicious programs from entering your system. This isn’t always reliable depending on the virus, but it does add a decent layer of security without affecting your productivity.

Update your Windows and Other Applications

Microsoft and possibly other developers of your other favorite applications occasionally release updates to patch security holes and fix vulnerabilities that viruses and trojans take advantage of. By keeping your system and other applications updated at all times, you have better defense against the older forms of viruses that may still be spreading around. Enable “Automatic Updates” in your “Microsoft Update” and let it do the job in updating your computer.

After you have done these three layers of protection, concentrate on getting a virus scanner as soon as possible or use a freeware solution for the meantime. The more layers of protection you have, the better you can prevent viruses from infecting your system.