How much memory is in your PC? What type is it? What processor is on the motherboard? Which type of graphics is used? Who made the motherboard and what is the model number? All these questions and more can be answered by special utilities that analyse the hardware inside the PC and reveal the… Read More
I have looked at a lot of privacy and clean-up tools for Windows computers and some of them are pretty good. However, they are all very similar and they usually offer the same features. Apart from ease of use and a nice interface, there is little to choose from. However, PrivaZer is genuinely surprising… Read More
Hardly a day seems to pass by without another security issue hitting the headlines and we have to update Windows or the software on our computers to patch it. With all the software on a typical PC, it can be difficult keeping up with the latest versions of everything. The solution is a utility… Read More
There are many security tools that protect your from malware infections like viruses and Trojans, and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware is a popular choice. Can you name two other security tools from the same company though? One protects web browsers from website exploits and the other cleans up infections.
If you regularly copy files between the computer and an external USB disk drive, a networked drive like NAS, or another PC on the network, you may find that it slow and occasionally problematic. Instead of using Explorer in Windows to copy files from one place to another, you might want to take a… Read More
When computers are working hard, such as when playing games, video editing and other processor-intensive activities, you may have noticed that it gets quite hot. You can feel the heat through the computer’s case, the fan blows out hot air like a hairdryer, and laptops start to burn your legs. Is it too much… Read More
As the computer is used, temporary disk files are created, log files are written to, thumbnail caches grow, Windows updates are added and so on. None of these is essential and it just amounts to disk clutter. Too much can affect the performance of a PC and cause it to run more slowly. There… Read More
From Windows 95 through 98, ME, XP, Vista and 7, we had a Start menu that enabled access to all the software installed on the PC and system functions like shutting down, restarting and so on. Windows 8 threw out this feature, leaving people with no easy way to access programs from the desktop.… Read More
Uninstallers have been provided with software for 15 years or more, but even though it is old technology and you might expect programmers to have mastered it, some uninstallers still don’t fully remove software. It is odd that this happens, but fortunately there are utilities that can thoroughly remove all traces of a program.
The Google Drive app can be installed on a Windows PC or Apple Mac and this creates a folder on the local disk drive that is a mirror image of your online storage space. It saves having to up and download files through the browser. Just drag one or more files or folders to… Read More
Would an extra disk drive be useful for storing photos, videos, music and documents? How about installing an extra operating system, such as a different version of Windows or even Linux? This is possible using a free tool called MiniTool Partition Wizard.
Everyone has problems with their computer from time to time and as they become more complicated, they become harder to fix. Windows is looks very simple on the surface and is easy to use, but underneath it is actually very complicated and hard to understand. When something goes wrong, what can you do? Simple.… Read More
Many people buy a laptop, install their favourite software and then just assume everything else is set up right, but is it? Perhaps not. One issue of interest to laptop users is the battery life and there are different power plans that can extend the time the battery will last or boost performance, whichever… Read More
When you double click an audio file on the computer in an Explorer window, which program opens and plays it? When you double click a JPEG photo, which program is used to display it or edit it? What about PDFs? Does the right program always open or would you prefer another one was used?… Read More
A useful feature in all web browsers is the ability to zoom in an out of a web page. In other words, to shrink the contents or to magnify them. Chrome remembers the zoom setting for every website you use zoom with, so how do you reset Chrome and make it forget the zoom… Read More
There are many security programs, but most people tend to stick with the ones they know. Popular programs include AVG Antivirus, Avira, Bitdefender, Norton, Kaspersky, and Panda. There are a few dodgy programs that masquerade as security software, so it is wise to be suspicious of unknown ones. What about Qihu 360 Internet Security?… Read More
Back in the days of Windows 7, we had desktop gadgets. These were mini applications that had floating windows on the desktop, and they provided useful information or tools. Microsoft abandoned gadgets with Windows 8 and I was disappointed to lose some useful tools. However, now I have found a replacement for a couple… Read More
Windows Explorer seems to have a problem with certain types of photo or video files and it can crash when certain folders or files are accessed. This can happen when opening a folder in an Explorer window and it may be related to a problem that some people have with Windows Media Player constantly… Read More
Everyone that has Windows 8 has access to a collection of useful apps that run from the Start screen. One of these is the Photos app and it enables you to browse your photos and view them on the screen, and also to apply special effects to them. In this article we will look… Read More
When Windows is going about its business of running software, downloading and installing updates, and so on, it creates temporary files. When programs are run, they can also create temporary files. These are not permanent files like the program, documents or Windows files and they contain information that needed to be remembered for a… Read More