Microsoft has released information on the upgrade path to Windows 7. XP will have no direct upgrade path and requires a hard drive wipe and installation of Windows 7. Some versions of Vista may be upgraded directly.

Windows Upgrade Chart

Do registry cleaners work or are they just a scam?

Registry Cleaners – Rip Off?
By Rowland C O’Connor

Do Registry Cleaners offer value for money or are they just another scam?

Type “Registry” into a search engine and you will find countless testimonials, reviews and recommendations for “Registry Cleaners”. This article is different. We challenge the wide spread conception that “Registry Cleaners” are beneficial for Windows based operating systems.

Background

There are many web sites that promote registry cleaner software and the benefits. Almost all have a commercial interest in doing so (e.g. software manufacturers or affiliate marketers). Search engines are flooded with sites and advertisements trying to persuade people to buy these products.

It is very difficult to find objective and substantiated information on-line regarding the true technical benefits or registry cleaners. The lack of technical data concerned me, and prompted further investigation.

In this article I offer an alternative view (based on my preliminary research) on the real implications of buying and running registry cleaner software for Microsoft Windows.

About the registry

The registry is a large file in Microsoft Windows that is responsible for keeping track of your installed software and internal operations of Windows. It is a mystery (being totally invisible!) to a non-technical Windows user but it has attracted a reputation over the years as being responsible for computer crashes and slow downs.

Promotion & the financial opportunities

To better understand why there is heavy promotion of these products, let’s look at a typical affiliate based commission structure as follows:

A typical affiliate commission for a successful sale of one of the popular on-line products is around $31. Sell 10 (quite possible in a day!), and you make $310. Not bad!

Anyone can set up a website, apply to an affiliate program and start promoting and selling these products on-line. No technical knowledge of Windows or of the registry is needed to start promotion & selling.

Marketing product claims

There are generally two benefits used to generate customer interest in these products:

1) “Fix” (e.g. error message boxes or pop-ups)

and

2) “Speed up” your computer

Assessment of the claims

As a Microsoft Certified Professional, here are my high level views on the benefits used to sell Registry Cleaners:

Do Registry Cleaners “Fix” your computer?

It depends what you mean by “Fix”. If you mean, for example, remove error pop-ups, then the answer is probably “Yes”. If you mean “Fix” where there is an underlying hardware problem such as a failing Hard Disk Drive (HDD), then the answer is probably “No”.

Do Registry Cleaners “Speed up” your computer?

I would suggest that the performance benefits of cleaning the registry are insignificant and would not be perceivable to an average user.

Slight performance gains may be possible by removing redundant registry keys or by defragmenting the registry file itself. However, any gains would be small particularly when comparing to other options for improving Windows performance such as optimizing virtual memory or by defragmenting the HDD.

Furthermore, there is more than anecdotal evidence available on-line that the frequent use of registry cleaner software can cause problems with Windows such as boot up problems (e.g. constant blue/black screens) and other corruption of the underlying operating system.

Conclusion – Too many question marks, dubious messages and conflicts of interest

Testing and independent validation is needed to establish the marketing benefit claims of registry cleaners. Until that time, could it be that, in many cases, these products simply don’t deliver what they promise to customers? As a “Windows Professional”, I have some specific technical questions around the area of the suggested performance gains with registry cleaners. If registry cleaners don’t deliver what they say, this opens up a whole other can of worms around the legalities of selling products that do not solve the problems that they claim to fix. Has anyone complained of not seeing performance gains from registry cleaners? (interesting..)

Selling and promoting of registry cleaner software is unregulated (i.e. anyone can do it) and so, it seems, are the marketing claims used to secure software sales.

I have put my findings so far on the Registry Cleaner market into the public domain as I believe, ethically, that customers should always have the opportunity to make informed decisions before buying. I would suggest that customers ask questions, do research and have a data backup strategy in place before running registry cleaners.

About the author

Rowland C O’Connor has worked as a Microsoft Certified Professional for over 12 years and has over 20 years of experience with Windows. Rowland is the editor at Windows Performance.com – a resource with helpful tips, articles and videos showing you how to speed up your Windows computer.

Sign up for instant notifications of new articles, videos and tips by subscribing to our newsletter http://www.windows-performance.com.

(c) Copyright – Windows-Performance.com. All rights reserved worldwide.

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http://EzineArticles.com/?Registry-Cleaners—Rip-Off?&id=2706347

If you have any direct experience (good or bad) with registry cleaners, let us know in the comments box below. We’re especially interested if you can prove performance increases by using a before/after test using a recognised performance measuring tool (e.g. SiSoft Sandra).

For results, post your:

• hardware configuration summary
• operating system
• speed/system test results

before and after using the registry cleaner of your choice.

Please note: Posts with affiliate based Registry Cleaner url links will be deleted - we are looking for the truth about the technical claims made by Registry Cleaners, not posts fuelling the affiliate feeding frenzy for these products:)

Lot’s of things are changing with Windows in version 7. A radical change is that Microsoft will not be shipping a mail client with the new operating system.

Windows 7 Mail
By Douglas Samuel

Is it missing?

It seems unbelievable that Microsoft would no longer ship an operating system without including some sort of mail client.

Outlook Express was included with Windows 98. Outlook Express also worked with Windows 95. It was updated over the years and was still included with Windows XP.

Windows Vista shipped with a new email client: Windows Mail.

It would seem safe to assume that Windows 7 would, of course, have some sort of an email programas well.

This turns out to be incorrect. Windows 7 does not ship with any kind of bundled email client.

Is this a bad thing?

For the less tech-savvy, perhaps. There is no icon on the desktop that puts a connection your email just a few clicks away.

On the other hand, it allows users to consider the choices.

One of the choices is Windows Live Mail, a free download.

You have many other choices, including Mozilla Thunderbird (free) and Microsoft Outlook (included with Microsoft Office), to name just a few.

So how much of a problem is it that Microsoft has dropped any kind of an email program in Windows 7?

I suggest that this should rate pretty low on your list of concerns.

Microsoft still provides a free email client, you just have to take the extra step of downloading it (easy for most people with a high-speed connection).

You do have many other choices of email program, free for the downloading.

Many users, especially in the corporate world, end up using Microsoft Outlook, for compatibility with the corporate server, and more importantly, to share the calendar and appointment/meeting request systems with others.

The lack of a bundled email client is not a major loss for Windows 7.

============================================================

Doug Samuel writes the Windows 7 Journal, a site about

Windows 7.

Get a Free Windows 7 report.

Copyright 2009 Douglas Samuel. May be republished providing above author

information is included, and live links are used without the rel=nofollow attribute.

============================================================

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http://EzineArticles.com/?Windows-7-Mail&id=2616323

Will this affect anyone signifficantly? Did anyone ever use Windows Mail (or Live Mail) anyway?

If Vista won’t start for you, you might think that all of your data and programs are lost and/or that you need to perform a fresh installation of Windows.

STOP!

Before you go rushing ahead to blow away you existing Windows Vista installation, why not give “repair” a try?

Windows Vista Repair
By Jacob Erdei

Now that just about everyone knows how to use the XP Recovery Console Microsoft’s newest OS does not contain one. Not to worry we have a detailed article that will walk you through how to use these great new features in Vista.

The Purpose of this article is to teach you how to make vista repairs if you are having startup issues or you can’t seem to use the vista system restore option. There are two ways to use these options and they depend on if you have a Windows Vista install disk or if Vista was pre-installed on your OS you will have a ghost image on your hard drive.

If you have the windows vista repair disk: (This should be your backup copy of Vista if you made one)
PLEASE NOTE: This Vista install CD can be run from within Vista. Just insert the CD once Vista has loaded up and go to install, go > Install Now > Upgrade.

1. Boot up with the Vista install disc

2. You should see a screen that says “Windows is loading files”

3. After a few minutes you will get a language option. Select your language and hit next.

4. On the install screen select “Repair your computer”

5. Windows will find your copy of Vista on the machine

6. Select your copy of Vista and click next

7. You will now see the following options.

* Startup repair – This automatically fixes problems that are preventing Windows from starting

* System Restore – This will Restore Windows to an earlier point in time

* Windows Complete PC Restore – This will completely restore your entire PC – programs, system settings and files – from a back up that you have previously created (Available in Windows Vista Business, Enterprise and Ultimate editions only)

* Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool – This checks your computer’s memory hardware for errors

* Command Prompt

8. Assuming you are using this option because you were unable to boot to Windows Vista select the system Restore option and then select the date you would like to go back to. If your OS is fine you can always use the startup repair option.

Pre-Installed and OEM versions: (please check with your manufacturer fist. They may have replaced these tools with their own.

1. Turn your computer on and start pressing the F8 key. If you see the Windows Vista Logo you have gone too far and need to reboot and try again

2. You will get an advanced options screen. Select the “Repair your computer option” and hit enter.

3. Select your language and hit next.

4. Enter your user name and password and then next.

5. The recovery options should now appear.

6. In most cases just using the system restore to set your computer back will solve your issue. If this is not the case try the Startup repair option.

For all your computer repair needs please go to windows Vista repair. If you would like to just have your computer fixed for you right now online and at a great price then you should consider online computer repair

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jacob_Erdei
http://EzineArticles.com/?Windows-Vista-Repair&id=485947

Have you tried this? Did it work and were you able to recover your files? Tell us in the comments box below.

Windows 7 logo

Windows 7 is the next release of Windows from Microsoft and is scheduled for release on October 22^nd 2009. It will replace Vista which has had problems with performance, device compatibility and annoying /invasive pop-ups, alerts and notifications.

We’ve been looking at the Release Candidate (RC) and so far, Windows 7 looks a vast improvement on Vista. Here is a quick tour of some of the features of Windows 7 that we like.

1) Better performance

Microsoft appear to have worked hard to sort out the performance problems that Vista had. It seems that Windows 7 does appear to be faster and more responsive than its predecessor (Vista).

2) Enhanced taskbar

• Icons are larger & clearer and easier to work with. Rearrange icons, new “Jump Lists” and full Aero enabled previews of open windows make it a lot easier to work with lots of open windows.
• The “Show desktop” button is now more prominent and easier to use. Quickly minimize all windows with the touch of a button.

3) Desktop improvements

• No more sidebar. Add “Gadgets” quickly and easily directly to your desktop.
• New themes. Good looking new themes contain several high quality backgrounds that periodically rotate (similar to the Mac).
• “Snap” feature allows you to easily compare windows side by side.

4) Less annoyance & interruption from pop-ups and alerts

• All alerts are now contained in one place in the notification area. You can customize the notifications (pop ups) that you receive.
• Less alerts from User Account Control (UAC). Generally, you should notice a reduction in alerts from Windows 7 compared to Vista. UAC level can be set to one of four possible levels.

5) Parental control – New to Windows 7

• Easily set what programs (e.g. games) your kids can use and when (i.e. schedule).

So far, we are impressed with Windows 7. Although we are only running the Release Candidate at this time, it does seem pretty fast and stable.  The changes and improvements go a long way towards addressing the criticisms levelled at Vista. We believe that this could be the best operating system that Microsoft has released since XP.

Secure your PC

Computer security is one of those subjects that many people are simply not interested in.

Not interested that is until they have problems with viruses, malware or spyware for themselves. Just a little awareness of the external threats to your computer will help you avoid the problems of security breaches before they happen.

This article is a great introduction to computer security and is pitched particularly for Windows.

Basic Computer Security
By Colin Richards

Basic computer security is essential as the internet is constantly expanding and as it does so do the threats from malware, viruses and rogue programs. There are many ways that hackers and well organised criminal gangs will try to infiltrate your system so you need to take a pro-active role in defending your computer against such threats.

Whether you use a dial up connection or high speed, you need a good firewall which will monitor inbound traffic as well as outbound. The built in firewall offers little protection but it is better than no firewall at all and if you have a wireless router, many of these have a built in hardware firewall which can be configured to add another layer of security to your system.

Some advocate that with a router you don’t need a software firewall, but the advantage of a software firewall is that you can easily monitor inbound and outbound traffic. If you use a router, how often do you check your router logs?

You need a reliable antivirus program. The majority of computers come with pre-installed trial versions of Norton or McAfee but these can be a resource drain. There are many free firewalls and antivirus programs which offer excellent protection as well as the option to upgrade to the pro version.

Check your firewall at Gibson Research. This will check your firewall for vulnerabilities, open ports, file sharing and messenger spam, not to be confused with Live Messenger but the inbuilt Windows Messenger service.

Also direct your browser to pcflank where you can run several tests, scroll to the bottom of the page and look at the options recommended based upon your level of experience.

Anti-Virus

Many users have their own preferences and stick with what they know, this is not necessarily the best that is available. AVG has been the most popular for some time, but it has also encountered many problems and has become more bloated but there are many alternatives.

Essentials:

On your Desktop, create a New Folder and rename it ‘Downloads’ so that ALL program downloads are in one easy to find location.

One Firewall, One Antivirus, generally TWO Anti-Malware programs.

Bear in mind that each PC is configured differently, and there is no ‘one size fits all’. What works for one user may not work as well for another, because they have different programs and configurations, so you need to play around to find out what works best on your system.

Tweaking programs allows you to create a balance between the best protection against the minimal intrusion which constantly asks for permissions . It may take a few days for you to get the settings to your liking, but it will be worth it.

Prevention and taking a pro-active role in protecting your PC is the best way to deal with many of the threats from spyware and malicious downloads. Stopping it is much easier than removing it once it has installed itself.

DO NOT click unknown links on websites or in emails and DO NOT be fooled by the promises of programs that can scan and clean your computer or clean your registry, many contain malware and do more damage.

Also ensure you back up your registry in the event you need to restore from a good working copy. Go to Start > Run and type in regedit which will open the Editor, click on ‘File’ and then ‘Export’.

Whatever programs you use, they should prevent spyware installation and virus infections. If they fail to do so, then change programs to ones that will protect your system. Once malware gets installed, eradication can become time consuming and difficult and prevention is much easier than cure.

http://freepcsecurity.co.uk/2009/05/05/basic-computer-security

Colin Richards

Free PC Security

http://freepcsecurity.co.uk

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Colin_Richards
http://EzineArticles.com/?Basic-Computer-Security&id=2341647

Feel free to post your thought, comments or questions on this article below.

Here is another useful article on one of the recent (2009) computer viruses.

The key messages here are:

• Be careful of malicious web sites
• Don’t just blindly follow instructions to download software from popup windows
• Use a security tool (e.g. antispyware) to regularly scan and shield your computer

Google Redirect Virus Fix – How to Get Rid of Google Virus
By A. Wood

Infecting users via internet exposure and nooks and crannies found in unsecured browsers are the main causes of the redirect virus. So where does one inject the use of Google redirect virus fix? In order to properly employ its use first it is essential to understand what this threat is and what it does. The redirect malware lives up to its name, the infection causes a hijacking of any search or website visit a user plans to make. Instead of finding their site of choice the virus redirects them to fake websites containing ads and even corrupted pages.

The following fake errors are displayed by the virus

• Internet explorer cannot open web page
• filename.exe is not a valid win32 application
• Setup files are corrupted Please obtain new copy of program

Being a browser hijacking utility it manages to infect browsers like IE and Firefox and then redirects internet users to the following malicious sites.

• clearask.com
• brittaniasearch.com
• go.Google.com
• web-analytics.Google.com

The redirect threat is capable of disabling activated firewalls and security software which can then lead to a remotely accessible system. This allows hackers to have access over personal information such as login names, passwords, financial records etc.

What are the symptoms to consider when one wants to implement a Google redirect virus fix?

• An unknown change of desktop background
• Changes homepage
• Browsers such as IE and Firefox slows down noticeably
• Corruption of registry files thus resulting to the dreaded “Blue Screen of Death”
• Contamination of messengers, freeware and email attachments are also sure signs.

How does Google redirect virus fix work?

1. Select Show Hidden Devices under Hardware Device Manager in your Windows Control Panel.

2. Search for “TDSSserv.sys” right click Disable. Do not select Uninstall otherwise the infection will reappear once the computer is restarted.

3. Reboot the pc.

4. Immediately update antivirus software and the Google redirect virus will cease to exist in your workstation.

It pays to be vigilant and alert when using the internet. Avoid malicious sites and constantly scan your system and update your security tool to avoid contaminations. It is also best not to rely on one antivirus software alone having another reliable application can help sift through the threats that the other was incapable of detecting.

Tired of viruses infecting your computer and slowing down PC performance? Do you want to do Google redirect virus fix in safe and fast way? You can scan your computer for free and fix them with the best spyware removal the market. After scanning and fixing your PC, you will be surprise how fast your computer is.

http://expert-product-reviews.net/spyware-removal.html

About the Author

Ally Wood is a professional software reviewer and has worked in CNET. Now she is working for her own review software company to give feedback to the software creator and has done deep test in spyware removal software. After reviewing the most popular and efficient antispyware softwares, she has written complete review on a review site for you that can be accessed for free.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=A._Wood
http://EzineArticles.com/?Google-Redirect-Virus-Fix—How-to-Get-Rid-of-Google-Virus&id=2450094

Have you had experience of this virus? If so, please leave your thoughts / comments below to help other people who may be having trouble with this virus.

Every now and then a really nasty virus comes along. The following is an useful write up on the recent “System Security Virus”.

Read on for more info..

How to Remove the System Security Virus
By Sean Cash

Imagine that your on the internet surfing, checking out some good web pages. You click around, and an advertisement comes up. Not so bad huh? The inter-site pop-up says “click here to continue” so you click it to continue browsing. You’ve done this a thousand times with no problem but this time is different. Your computer becomes unusable. A program called System Security 2009 pops up and warns you you have a virus. You cannot close it. You cannot click off of it. Your computer has been completely hijacked.

This weekend I ran into this very issue. The System Security 2009 virus is not one to play with. It’s probably the worst virus I’ve ever had on my system. I couldn’t open any programs, couldn’t open the task manager, couldn’t open control panel, or regedit. Nothing worked against this beast! I looked all over the net for help. Nothing worked because the virus rendered .EXE files on my system useless. Yes that includes and and all virus scanners!

Luckily I did not give up and I found a solution. If you have this virus you have to do one of two things depending on the situation. The first is auto cleaning with your virus scanner. That’s easy. Download a good virus program and run it. If it finds the virus clean it, then disable system restore and boot your computer in safe mode (F8 at startup) and run the virus scanner again.

If you are like me and cannot use the open any applications you have to do something far more drastic. It’s called a manual removal. You need to boot your system in safe mode and go in and search for all the applications on your computer. Delete any ones that look suspicious. Do the same for your registry keys and .dll files. If you do not know how to do this I recommend you don’t mess with it unless you can afford to replace your PC in case you delete the wrong stuff.

If you’d like to discover the steps I used to remove system security 2009 check out my blog at http://systemsecurityvirus.blogspot.com There you can find out the best products to use, read the steps I took in detail, and everything else you need to know before making your decision on how to clean your system.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sean_Cash
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Remove-the-System-Security-Virus&id=2358857

Have you been affected by this virus? Can you help with other readers of this with your own hints and tips? Leave your comments below.

Windows can be slow to startup (or boot) if your computer has a lot of programs that run in the background.

In this article we show how you can eliminate unnecessary programs from slowing down your Windows computer.

Applies to Windows versions

The steps in this article relate to:

• XP
• Vista
• Server 2003, 2008
• Version 7

Why is my Windows slower from programs?

Anti-virus, firewall, iTunes and other media player software automatically load into memory when you start Windows. You may not be aware of what is being loaded into memory each time you start Windows.

The more programs that you have installed on your computer, the more likely it is that you have programs loading into memory on startup and therefore slowing down your computer.

Uninvited programs that run on startup

When you install many programs, the installer or documentation does not explain that the program will automatically load into memory every time you start Windows.

Improving Windows startup performance – turn off unnecessary programs and services

You probably don’t need or use some of the programs or services that load into Windows. Disable these for these benefits:

• Faster Windows startup
• Improved general Windows performance

How to identify and disable unnecessary Windows programs or services

1) Log in to Windows as an Administrator

2) Press the “Windows key” and “R” simultaneously

3) Type “MSCONFIG” and press “OK”

4) Choose the “Startup” tab

5) Take a look at each “Startup Item”. Look for items that you don’t recognise.

6) If you find an item that you don’t recognise, use Google to do some more research on what it is.

7) Once you have identified each “Startup Item” and if you need it or not, Uncheck (disable) items that are of no use to you.

8) Reboot your computer.

If you were able to disable some “Startup Items”, you should notice that your Windows startup is now noticeably faster.

One of the best ways to increase Windows performance is to optimize the configuration of the Virtual Memory.

In this article, we show you how to optimize virtual memory in Windows Vista.

What is “Virtual Memory” and why should I care?

Windows uses memory Random Access Memory (RAM) to load and run its Operating System (OS) and your programs.

When the RAM is full, Windows will use your Hard Disk Drive (HDD) to “extend” it’s available memory.  This area of the HDD is known as “Virtual Memory” (VM).

HDD is a lot slower than RAM. Therefore, the less RAM that you have the more Windows needs to use your VM.

Excessive use of VM (e.g. if you have lots of programs running at the same time) can result in dramatic slowdowns for your computer. Also, if your PC has incorrect settings, you might see the popup message “insufficient virtual memory”.

What you will need

Windows Vista is automatically optimized for the best settings if you are running a “standard” hardware platform. Specifically, if your PC has a single hard drive, STOP! You will not be able to optimize your VM settings to gain any performance benefits.

You are going to need another physical HDD (a partition on the same disk as Windows won’t do). The HDD needs to be fast and preferably internal to your PC although a fast external USB2.0 drive might work too.

Steps to configure and optimize Virtual Memory

1) Right click “Computer”, select “Properties”

2) In “Tasks”(left side bar)  Click “Advanced system settings”

3) Click “Advanced” tab

4) Find the “Performance” box and click the “Settings…” button

5) Click the “Advanced” tab

6) Find the Virtual memory box and click the “Change…” button

7) Uncheck the “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives” check box

8) Find the box labelled “Paging file size for each drive”

9) Select C: and then click the option “Custom size:”. The settings that you need are “Initial size (MB):” = 500, “Maximum size (MB):” = 500

10) Select the drive letter associated with your other physical HDD (see “What you will need” above) then click the option “Custom size:” The settings that you need are “Initial size (MB):” = 1.5 x the amount of RAM in your computer. For example, if you have 4GB, you would set this to 6144 (i.e. 1.5 x 4096MB), “Maximum size (MB):” = 6144

11) Click “OK” several times. A reboot might be necessary.

The benefits

You should immediately start to see some improvement in performance. When Windows needs access to virtual memory, it has a completely separate (and fast) HDD to use.

You will particularly notice the performance improvement if you use any video or image editing applications (e.g. Adobe Photoshop or Windows Movie Maker) or a game player.