In This Issue...

Newbies Nook - Information, Tips, and Instruction for Computer Users

Forum Favorites - Popular Questions and Threads from the Forum

Security Corner - The 14 Golden Rules of Computer Security Preface

Carol's Corner Office - Microsoft Office and OpenOffice How-To's and Tips

Dave's Recommended Software - Our Picks of the Best Software Available

Digital Photography - Learn How to Take Better Pictures

Freeware Focus - A Spotlight on Freeware programs

Useful Websites - Useful Websites Found on the Net and Recommended by Readers

The Lighter Side - Funny, Interesting, and Thought Provoking Items Found on the Net

 

Create a Bootable Windows 7 USB drive

You may be asking why you would want the ability to install Windows 7 from a USB flash drive. Here are a few reasons:

• A flash drive is less likely to be damaged (scratched, broken, etc).
• A flash drive is less likely to be lost in the growing pile of computer CD's and DVD's that you've amassed over the years.
• A flash drive is less likely to be physically lost because they cost more than a CD/DVD and more care will be used.
• Many smaller and/or cheaper computers do not come with a CD/DVD drive.
• Installation from a flash drive will usually be quicker that from a CD/DVD drive.

All you need is a 4GB USB flash drive ($11 online), Windows 7 ISO image or DVD, WinRar, and a few minutes of your time.

Gather up the items needed before you start

Before we start let's make sure we have our needed supplies!

1. If you don't have one already 4GB USB flash drives are available in a wide variety of styles. Any flash drive with a capacity of 4GB or more will work. You can find them at almost any chain store, but will find more choices at specialty stores. Here are some examples from Newegg:
• CENTON DataStick Pro 4GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive - $9.99 shipped
• Crucial Gizmo! 4GB Flash Drive (USB2.0 Portable) - $10.99 shipped
• A-DATA Classic Series 4GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive - $12.99 shipped
2. You will a need Windows 7 DVD or ISO image. If you followed the instructions in the last newsletter you will already have a Edition Unlocked Windows 7 ISO image. If you do not have a DVD or ISO image you can download one from the following locations. Choose either 32 bit or 64 bit. Once downloaded follow the instructions in the January 15th newsletter to unlock.
• Windows 7 Professional 32-bit download
• Windows 7 Professional 64-bit download
3. Those who created the ISO previously, or just downloaded the ISO and followed the instructions from last issue, will need to extract the ISO to their hard drive. This may seem like an extra step, but working with the files on your hard drive will be much faster. It will also create a final unlocked USB drive that contains all editions of Windows 7.

   We will use WinRar to extract the ISO because it follows the ISO standard and respects the steps completed earlier to unlock the Windows 7 Editions. There are other programs that will extract ISO images, but they will undo any changes done when we created the edition unlocked ISO. Download WinRar. Click the Download Demo button on the right side (no need to purchase unless you want a great utility). On the next page skip the area labeled Step 1 or 2 (no need to enter your email address) and proceed directly to the Step 2 or 2 area on the web page. Click the blue download button. Choose to save or run the program. If you save the file install the program when the download is complete. The default settings should be sufficient for our needs.

Create a bootable Windows 7 USB flash drive

Now that everything is in place let's get to it!

Extract the ISO files

1. Locate your unlocked Windows 7 ISO and double click. This should cause WinRar to open and show the contents of the ISO. If it does not you will need to manually open WinRar and use File | Open Archive to navigate to the ISO and select it to open. WinRar will display the contents of the ISO file
   
2. Click the Extract To icon and the following window will open.
   

   Notice that WinRar will extract the files to my desktop in a folder with the same name you gave your ISO image. Make sure yours shows a similar, easy to find, location. If it does not use the folder tree on the right to select a location where you can easily find the extracted files. Click OK at the bottom of the window.

3. WinRar will open a window to show the progress as it extracts the contents of the zip file. Once it is finished the progress window will close. You can close WinRar. You should now have a new folder on your desktop containing the files!
   

The following instructions may seem complicated, but if you follow along it is pretty easy! As always - some of these commands can have dire consequences if entered incorrectly. Backup your computer beforehand if you have doubts.

Format the USB drive

4. Insert your 4GB or larger USB flash drive into a USB slot on your computer. Windows will install drivers for the device. You should hear a tone and see a message indicating the USB drive is ready to use.
5. Open My Computer (or Computer in Win 7) and note the drive letter of your flash drive. You will need this later so you may wish to write it down. In my case it is F.
6. Right click on your flash drive and select Format.
   
7. A new window will open. Change the highlighted areas to match the picture below then click Start.
   
8. You will receive a warning that all data on the device will be lost. If you right clicked on the correct drive above click OK. If you are unsure click Cancel and return to step 6.
   

   Windows will begin formatting the USB drive. This will take a few minutes, so be patient.

Use the Disk Partition tool

NOTE: the diskpart utility is only available in Vista and Windows 7. XP users would need a third party tool such as MBRWizard and that method is not covered in this article.

9. Next we need to open a command prompt with administrator privileges. Click the Start Orb in Vista or Windows 7. Type cmd in the search box. "cmd.exe" should be the top result. Right click on "cmd.exe" in the results and select Run as Administrator.
   

10. A Command Prompt window will open with a flashing cursor. Type diskpart at the cursor followed by the Enter key. This starts the disk partition utility and displays DISKPART followed by a flashing cursor. Type list disk at the cursor followed by the Enter key.
    

    A list of disks will be displayed. As you can see above my flash drive is disk 2. Depending on how many drives you have in your computer this number will probably be "1", but it could be different. It will be the smallest drive and probably listed in MB instead of GB. Note this number as you will need it later!

11. At the flashing cursor type select disk followed by a space and the drive number from above. Press the Enter key.
    

    You will receive a confirmation message - Disk 2 is now the selected disk, however your number will be the number of your flash drive from above.

12. At the flashing cursor type list partition followed by the Enter key. This will return a list of all partitions on the drive. There should only be 1 unless you have previously partitioned the drive.
    
13. At the flashing cursor type select partition followed by a space and the number from above. In my case it is "1". Press the Enter key.
    

    You will receive a confirmation - Partition 1 is now the selected partition. Type active followed by the Enter key. You will receive another confirmation - DiskPart has marked the current partition as active. Congratulations! You have just created an active boot partition on your flash drive.

14. Type exit followed by the Enter key. This will exit the disk partition utility, but keep the command prompt open
    

Make the USB drive bootable

Next we need to make the folder containing the extracted Windows 7 files the working directory. If you look at the command prompt on your computer you will notice the cursor is flashing in front of "C:\Windows\system32>" making the system 32 folder inside the Windows folder the working directory. The easiest way to accomplish this is with the "cd" command.

15. At the flashing cursor type cd.. (letter c - letter d - period - period) followed by the Enter key. You will see the working directory change to "C:\Windows>". Once more type cd.. followed by the Enter key. The working directory will change to "C:\>".
    
16. Type cd followed by a space and the location of the folder containing the extracted Windows 7 files followed by the Enter key. Since you are currently at the "C:\>" prompt you do not need to enter that part. You can see an example on the third line in the above picture. If you are having problems use explorer to navigate to the folder containing the extracted Windows 7 files and use the address bar as a guide to show you what to type. My command was "cd users\david\desktop\win7 pro 64bit".
    
17. Type cd boot followed by the Enter key. This will change the working directory to the boot folder within the Windows 7 files.
18. Type bootsect /nt60 followed by a space, the drive letter of the USB drive, and a colon. Use the drive letter you noted earlier when formatting. In my example I typed "bootsect /nt60 F:". This command uses the files in the windows 7 folder to make the USB drive bootable.
19. Since you have an explorer window open with the Windows 7 file go ahead and open another and navigate to the USB drive. Select all files in the Windows 7 folder and copy them (drag and drop or copy/paste) to the USB drive.
    

You now have a bootable USB flash drive that will install any edition of Windows 7! I know it seems like a lot of work, but the fruits of your labor are worth it!. When you use this tool to install Windows 7 remember the BIOS of the computer needs to be changed so that USB is the primary boot device.

The Daves Computer Tips Forum needs your help (OK I need your help)! The forum has over 385 members and over 3540 total posts. We desperately need your participation for the forum to thrive! The forum is not only a great place to get and give computer advice, but a wonderful place to meet like minded individuals from around the world!

What is that disk that came with my motherboard? - Read this thread to find out!

Why is my USB external drive not functioning correctly? - Data corruption. Wanna know more?

Wireless connection drops - Is it a classic Nvidia issue or drivers? What is your oppinion?

Looking for a new graphics card - Here is some interesting discussion on the topic. Do you have anything to add?

Come join us in the forum. Join. Jump in. Ask. Help. Learn. Chat.

Preface to New Series: 14 Golden Rules of Computer Security

It isn’t getting any better on the Wild, Wild Web, despite state and federal government attempts to arrest and prosecute those responsible for electronically-perpetrated criminal acts. Spyware and malware of all kinds are increasingly more stealthy and difficult to remove thanks to rootkit technology. With the advent of Web 2.0 and its emphasis on sharing and collaboration through such social networking websites and services as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and the like, web-based attacks are more prevalent than ever. These sites are based on active, dynamic content and rely on special programs that run in your web browser to perform their magic. These programs can be modified by malicious hackers to steal your passwords, bank account information and virtually anything stored on your computer.

New laws have done little to deter or eliminate spammers, largely because many of them aren't located in the United States. Despite the few high profile cases in the news, the truth is that few spammers are ever caught. Considering studies that show some spam campaigns can produce as much as $3.5 million in a year, it's easy to see why today the spam problem is worse than ever--some estimates place the amount of spam email at 80% to 90% of all emails sent.

These days, everyone is at risk of falling victim to cybercrime, even those of us who know and practice computer security on a daily basis. The average person who goes to the local big box electronics store and buys a PC or laptop for use at home is often lulled into a false sense of security because their purchase is bundled with some “security suite” by some big-name company. They go home, take everything out of the box, plug it all in and usually end up getting infected with all kinds of nasty things in very short order.

I wrote these "14 Golden Rules of Computer Security" in hopes that I can make a difference, however small, in how people look at computing and the Internet. Maybe it will save someone from the hardships of financial loss caused by using a compromised PC to access their bank and credit card accounts. Maybe it will save someone from having to pay a big bill to a technician to clean up a severely infected computer. Maybe, just maybe, it will help take some of the profit out of spam and malware. One can always hope.

At the very least, I hope that you, Dear Reader, find this information useful and that it helps make your computing experience more enjoyable.

With that in mind, here is the first installment.

Golden Rule #1: Don't Invite Attackers into Your PCs or Networks

Having worked in IT in various capacities since the early 1980’s, I’ve seen the need for security evolve from simple protection against viruses to the need for complex security policies designed to combat multiple attack vectors. These days, it takes constant vigilance to stay ahead of criminal hackers, to say nothing of terrorists; moreover, clueless users are often unwitting accomplices in security breaches. (See my article "Will You Be Used As a Weapon Against Your Own Country?")

Today’s Internet is reminiscent of the Wild, Wild, West, only now it’s the Wild, Wild Web. Make a mistake, and you could be virtually dead before sundown, your identity stolen, your financial resources drained, your reputation ruined. Protecting yourself online seems like a daunting task, especially for the average home computer user; however, it’s not as hard as it seems, given some common sense and an understanding of basic security principles.

My goal for this series is to provide simple, sound advice and tips that will help you be more secure in your computing both at home and at the office. The first piece of advice I’ll give you is one I consider the most basic principle of computer security, the first Golden Rule of Computer Security: The best security measures are completely useless if you invite attackers into your PCs or networks.

Ken Harthun is the Security Editor for Daves Computer Tips. He also writes about security issues for IT Knowledge Exchange and blogs on general Geek things at Ask the Geek. You can read more about Ken here.

Create a Password Policy in Adobe Acrobat

In my last article I covered securing your .pdf documents.

Today I will cover creating a password policy, which is a bit different. But the point of creating a policy is that it will save you time. Once you have a policy in place you will not have to go through the steps covered in my last article to secure your document.

To learn how to create a password policy, follow the steps below:

1. Launch Adobe Acrobat, if it is not already open.
2. Click on Advanced | Security | Manage Security Policies.

3. Click New.
4. Select Use Passwords.

5. Click Next.
6. Key in a name and description for the policy.
7. Do one of the following:
• To specify passwords and restrictions whenever you apply this policy to a document, clear the Save Passwords With The Policy option.
• To save passwords and restriction settings with the policy, select Save Passwords With The Policy.

8. Click Next.
9. Specify a compatibility setting and password options. If you selected Save Passwords With The Policy, specify the password and restrictions.

10. Click OK.
11. When you are certain you have set up your policy to your liking, click Finish.
12. Click Close.

I'll see you next issue!

Carol Bratt is the Office Applications Editor at Daves Computer Tips. She has authored several informative Microsoft Office books and writes the monthly Word Bytes Newsletter with more tips and tricks in each issue. Visit Carol's website for more great Microsoft Office tips and tricks! Click here to see her latest books! You can read more about Carol here.

Anti-spyware and Anti-malware

Webroot SpySweeper - Daves Computer Tips Seal of Approval Winner! See the test results HERE. Spysweeper provides the best protection of the seven anti-spyware programs tested! Great detection and removal rates with a small real-time protection memory footprint. This is the one you want! SpySweeper includes the ASK toolbar. Be sure to uncheck this option during installation. Free 14 day trial.

CounterSpy - Runner-up in my Anti-Spyware test. Not only does CounterSpy scan and remove spyware, it also uses real time protection. Real-time protection prevents spyware infection. Free 15 day trial. Winner of Computer Shopper Magazine's Best Buy Award!

Antivirus and Firewall

ESET Smart Security - New from the maker's of NOD32. Antivirus, Antispyware, Antispam, and Firewall all wrapped into one effective, swift, and low resource package. It is what I use to protect each of my computers!

Kaspersky Antivirus - Kaspersky is my second choice for antivirus software. A good program that is very close in performance to NOD32. Free trial.

Online Armor Firewall - You shouldn't be on the internet without a software firewall that offers inbound and outbound protection. Online Armor is the Best of the Best for those needing a firewall. Online Armor's easy to navigate interface and the protection level can't be beat!

Audio and Video

Acoustica Audio Converter Pro - This program converts audio formats and bitrates. Perfect for those with portable audio players or large music collections. 30 day trial.

Adobe Premier Elements 8 - Elements is the home version of Adobe Premiere, the best professional video editing suite today. Premier Elements costs 1/6th the price of the professional version, but is very capable of making videos that will impress everyone.

DVDFab is my favorite DVD software. I tried over 30 different programs before settling on DVDFab. It offers every function of the other programs and more! Copy, burn, shrink, convert for mobile devices, or convert for streaming. Almost all of the other programs I've tried did not function as advertised, were extremely slow, or did not have features that worked as advertised. DVDFab works, and works as advertised! It's easy to use, has a pleasant user interface, and it updated often.

Computer Hardware

Crucial Memory - Memory (RAM) is the upgrade that gives any computer the best bang for the buck. If you want to speed things up with more memory, why not purchase it from the leading source of quality RAM memory. Great selection, good prices, excellent support, and a lifetime warranty! A real winner!

CyberGuys - The place to get those hard to find cables and accessories for your computer!

HP Computers - My current pick for new laptops and desktops. In the current market I don't think you can beat HP's combination of price and performance. Their laptop line is very cost effective and the design is absolutely beautiful!

Newegg - Newegg.com is known for great service and awesome pricing on computers, upgrades, and electronics. If you're looking for computers, computer parts, or electronics you owe it to yourself to start here! Great Products. Great Prices. Great Customer Service!

Computer Maintenance

Diskeeper 2010 - My current favorite defrag program. As files are written and erased from the hard drive they begin to leave "spaces" behind. When the drive is written to again files are broken up to fill in these spaces. This causes the drive to go to several different locations to read an entire file, which slows performance greatly. Diskeeper has several advanced features such as; automatic defrag, scheduled defrag, and the ability to defrag the MFT (Master File Table) and paging file. 30 day trial.

Registry Mechanic - A very thorough and efficient registry cleaner and defragmenter. A definite must to maintain peak performance and stabile operation. 30 day trial.

Computer Utility

Acronis True Image 2010 - Do you value the data on your computer? Do you value your time? How much time will you spend recovering data and returning your computer to its original state after a hardware failure or software glitch? True Image is my #1 choice in backup tools. Whether you choose file or image based backups (you should use both!) True Image will perform better than any other application I've used. Disk images created with True Image are generally 10-20% smaller than those from comparable programs. If your time and files are as important to you as mine are to me this is a must have.

Acronis Disk Director - My favorite tool to partition, format, and resize hard drives.

Roboform - This program is the next best thing since sliced bread in my book! This program integrates into Internet Explorer and firefox. It generates very secure passwords at the click of a button. How do I remember these complex passwords? Roboform allows you to save passwords and personal data in an encrypted format. A master password (yes only one password to remember!) allows access. Roboform in IE and FireFox works like a super powered bookmark. You click the site you want to go to and Roboform opens the site, enters your username and password for the site (if required) and as if by magic clicks the submit button. If you shop online Roboform can enter your personal information and credit card information, which is also stored in a secure encrypted file, in one click. A real time saver with great security thrown in to boot! 30 day trial.

WinRar - What is commonly called a zip utility, similar to the more widely known WinZip. WinRar is faster and works with more formats for about 1/2 the price of WinZip. 30 day trial.

Desktop Utility

LogonStudio - Change the screen that appears when you log into Windows (where you enter your password). Hundreds of skins available online. It's free.

CursorFX Plus - Change the cursors on your computer, add interesting effects. Hundreds of cursor packs are available online for free.

IconPackager 5 - Icon Packager puts you in control to change every icon with the click of a button. Tired of the plain icons built into Windows? There are hundreds of Icon Packs available online for free, which will add a truly personal feel to your computer.

WindowBlinds 7 - WindowBlinds changes the look and feel of Windows. By changing the appearance of the task bar, start menu, and any other window or program you open. It adds transparency, shadows, alpha blending, and animations. Hundreds of themes are available online for free.

Internet and Email

1&1 hosting - If you want to start your own website, blog, photo gallery, or have a personalized email address then 1&1 is for you. 1&1 can not be beat for reliability, features, support, and price. 90 day guarantee.

Google Gmail - The best internet based email (webmail) available. Each mailbox has a 6.5GB limit. The interface is superb, and the spam filter is top notch. You will never need to delete an email again! It has a great search function and a feature called thread view, which makes finding emails easy. A webmail account offers several advantages including not being required to change your email address if you change service providers. Gmail requires an invitation from a current member. If you are interested shoot me an email and I'll send you an invite.

Microsoft Outlook 2007 - Outlook is the current email client of choice for corporate America. I get well over 200 emails a day. Outlook has a few features I really need such as a plug in for automatic backups, office sounds which offers me some audible feedback, and the ability to change headers. I've used Mozilla Thunderbird and liked it a lot. With the amount of mail I go through I really need the features of Outlook. If you aren't a heavy user, or don't need the features I do then Thunderbird is a great alternative.

Firefox 3 - An amazing, free, web browser. If you aren't using it you should be! Highly customizable through addins called extensions. There are thousands of extensions which can allow FireFox to do just about anything you can imagine. More importantly, Firefox is not subject to ActiveX, which is a large part of Internet Explorer, AOL, and MSN. No ActiveX means much less chance of getting spyware! Firefox also conforms to web standards more closely than Internet Explorer, which means you will see what the authors intended, not Microsoft.

Mozilla Thunderbird - A great free email client, from the same folks that brought us FireFox. Easy to use and highly customizable through extensions.

Photo and Picture

Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 - Photoshop Elements is the home version of Adobe Photoshop. If you are serious about digital photos you will find Photoshop Elements a great program to have at your disposal. Elements provides all the functionality most will need at 1/6th the price of the full Photoshop version.

Picasa - A great (FREE) way to organize, edit, and share your digital photos.

How Much Camera Is Enough?

From pocket point-and-shoots, to professional DSLRs, digital cameras are available in a wide range of options for shooting. Most users are happy with a digital that is perfect for general photography – family events, trips, and the stuff of everyday life. There are other users with a desire to take photographs that stretch beyond the limits of the pocket camera. For those users, the cameras fall into a classification generally known as prosumer.

Prosumer Cameras

Prosumer cameras fall into two general categories designed to appeal to a wide range of users. They start with more flexible versions of the point-and-shoot and proceed to the mega-zooms and entry-level DSLRs. Each has its’ advantages in terms of flexibility. The true megazoom cameras are too large to be considered pocket cameras.

In the higher-end pocket camera group, typically they have many more shooting options than less expensive cameras. These include anti-shake, higher resolution, sometimes the ability to shoot in RAW, and make adjustments for different types of lighting. Look for a camera that’s easy to hold and has controls that are clear and self-explanatory. A flash hot shoe allows for dedicated flash units to increase the area lighted in flash situations. Larger viewing screens make composing a shot easier. ISO and EV dials on the body, along with external access to important controls, are a plus when shooting. Long battery life is essential.

Cameras in this category include the Canon Powershot G10. Cameras like this perform best at ISO 100-400. Higher ranges introduce digital “noise” in the same way underexposing film caused undesirable grain. This sort of camera has a limited macro mode and maximum apertures in the 2.8-4.5 range, depending on the zoom.

(click the image for a larger view)

Image stabilization is another feature of these better prosumer cameras.

Megazoom cameras have features similar to that style already discussed, except for one important difference. They look more like a DSLR and have an integrated (not interchangeable) zoom lens. These are not pocket cameras, unless you have really roomy pockets!

Features to look for in a typical megazoom include the following:

• A lens that produces good results from wide-angle to long telephoto.
• Well-built, with a good grip and port doors that have good hinges.
• Power switch instead of a button, and reasonably fast start-up times.
• Good image stabilization.
• Good AWB (auto white balance) for shooting indoors.
• Good low light performance.
• RAW file support.
• Ability to shoot movies in HD.
• Good battery life.

Depending on your preferences, there may be other features you may want. When it all comes to a decision, it’s important to remember that if the camera isn’t comfortable to use, you won’t like it. That’s true no matter what else it can do.

In the megazoom category, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-Z35 is a good example of the genre.

(click the image for a larger view)

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good:
These are cameras that can produce very good prints up to 8”x10” without much difficulty. Ranging from 9MP to 14MP, the images have plenty of information for post-processing with an editor or editor/viewer combo software. They’re generally well-built and will last quite a long time. They range in price from $200 to just over $400US.

The Bad:
They offer a great deal of flexibility, but for the aspiring enthusiast, the inability to change lenses is a big drawback.

The Ugly:
These cameras are in competition with true DSLRs. When entry-level interchangeable lens SLRs first appeared, they were far more expensive than the prosumer camera. Since $400US DSLRs with a kit lens became widely available, more users are choosing them. Camera manufacturers are not insensitive to market demands. They will continue to produce digital cameras in every price range, but the real innovations seem to be focused on the interchangeable lens group.

Conclusion:
Make up your own mind about what you want to shoot and what you plan to do with your pictures. Having the biggest, baddest, most expensive camera isn’t required to get good images in the digital age.

Next time: Top of the line cameras and image viewers.

Photography Terms Used

ISO/EV - Refers to exposure ratings that digital camera manufacturer’s use to the light falling on a sensor for proper exposure. EV can be controlled to provide over-and-underexposure within the ISO range.

RAW - Uncompressed image file data originally developed by Adobe as .DNG files. It consists of the image’s data that requires a certain amount of processing to be used for printing, etc. As such, it allows for great flexibility in adjusting images before working with an editor. Most camera manufacturers use a proprietary form of RAW.

DSLR - Digital single lens reflex camera. Similar to film SLRs, they offer the most options for shooting, as a rule.

AWB - Auto White Balance is used by the camera to correct the colors of the light falling on the sensor to a desired lighting effect.

Ron Moore is the Digital Photography Editor at Daves Computer Tips. A retired professional photographer living in California, Ron starting with Windows 3.11 in the early 90's. He's a computer geek who manages his home network and several off-site machines for friends. Currently, using XP and Windows 7, he has extensive knowledge of Photoshop and many other, more consumer friendly, editing and enhancement programs. You can read more about Ron here.

To clean or not to clean, that is the question!

I’ve been reading a fair bit lately on the subject of using 3rd party software to perform regular cleaning of both hard drive and the registry. Many ‘experts’ seem to be of the opinion that neither is necessary and both can do more harm than good. They are saying that this type of software is dangerous in the wrong hands, by which they mean in the hands of novices rather than ‘experts’, such as themselves.

I do agree to a certain extent but do not support the theory entirely. Let’s start off with the hard drive cleaners.

Yes, some cleaners are a little too aggressive and although very thorough they can occasionally throw some crucial files into the mix, somewhat akin to false positives from security software. However, there is freeware available which has been tried and tested over a long period of time and found to be reliable and trustworthy. The most notable, of course, is CCleaner from Piriform. I like to think that, although some of our readers may not be ‘experts’, they do possess enough nous to recognize their own degree of proficiency and stick with the proven products, rather than experimenting with lesser known or more aggressive software. On that basis I do recommend the regular use of hard disk cleaning software such as CCleaner.

As for it making very little or no difference, well I disagree with that entirely. Many of the ‘experts’ are backing their claims by stating that during their time as a computer maintenance man they have come across more issues caused by disk cleaning software than any other culprit. I find that extremely difficult to believe. Obviously I don’t know who they have been dealing with but I can tell you this, during my time as a computer maintenance man I have found quite the opposite. Not regularly cleaning the hard drive has been the number 2 cause of the computer problems I have had to deal with, second only to malware infections. I can still remember many occasions when CCleaner has removed in excess of 10GB of unnecessary temp files and data. Extreme slow downs and sluggishness are the major symptoms and, in my opinion, trusted software such as CCleaner, used regularly, is a great assistance with prevention.

Okay, now on to the registry cleaners. Again I do agree with the ‘experts’ in principle. Let’s face it, having thousands of orphaned/leftover entries in the registry is not going to do anywhere near as much harm as just one missing essential item.

Registry cleaners come in many flavors ranging from not very aggressive to extremely aggressive and the risk factor rises exponentially with the level of aggression. Again, false positives/items which have been wrongly identified are the main issue. Even if one had the time to thoroughly sift through the results I seriously doubt there would be many with the necessary level of expertise to correctly identify them all, let alone discern which could possibly be false positives. So the key word here is ‘trust’ and the most important ingredient for this type of software is the ability to create a back up of the registry or any changes made for easy restoration.

Whether or not cleaning the registry offers any real benefits is another much discussed bone of contention. I have to admit I am much less convinced of the overall usefulness of registry cleaners than I am of the hard disk cleaners. Plus, messing with the registry always carries with it an element of risk. That said, I do use them myself but then I am a tidiness freak...paranoid even.

As with the hard disk cleaners, there are tried and true freeware products out there. They are not terribly aggressive so are not particularly thorough but they have been proven to be very safe to use. CCleaner gets another mention because its registry cleaning component fits neatly into this genre. Another I trust and can highly recommend is Eusing Free Registry Cleaner. It is dedicated software with a great track record. It’s free, simple, fast and also includes the indispensable option to back up the registry. Visit the product page and download here.

Last but not least I am going to discuss the suites, which include basic cleaning tools plus other maintenance utilities and tweaking options.

I have been a great fan of IObit’s Advanced WindowsCare and, more recently, Advanced SystemCare and have used them regularly for some years. However I recently discovered IObit has been accused of what appears to be some extremely underhanded activities. The injured party is none other than Malwarebytes and they have put forward a very viable and believable case, you can read all about it here.

The upshot of that was I decided to dump IObit on principle and look for an alternative. The one I finally settled on was Tweak Now Power Pack 2009 (free). I haven’t been using it long enough yet for a full appraisal but it hasn’t caused any issues to date and I don’t expect it to either. One of the main reasons I chose the Power Pack is because I have used Tweak Now software before and always found them to be high quality products. Tweak Now Power Pack fits the mould nicely; it is simple and easy to use with an extremely intuitive GUI and includes lots of goodies. As with many of these jack of all trades and master of none suites, it probably doesn’t perform any one task brilliantly but will get you by with passable results for most things. Plus I have generally found, upon further investigation, these apps often include a little gem here and there.
Read more about Tweak Now Power Pack 2009 (Free) and download here.

If you have a favorite cleaning program or similar suite (freeware of course), why not pop over to the DCT Freeware forum and tell us all about it. You will be most welcome.

Until next time, happy downloading.
Jim

New Freeware

Some exciting news on the new freeware front this issue. SuperAntiSpyware have recently released a portable version of their excellent free scanner/remover.

Here is an excerpt from an email I received from SuperAntiSpyware’s Mike Duncan:

We’re proud to introduce new SUPERAntiSpyware Portable Scanner. While it’s not intended to replace the outstanding scanning abilities of the SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition or the protection of the Professional Edition, many new infections render software installation impossible and often block Internet access altogether. In these circumstances, the new Portable Scanner may be just the tool for the job because it can be installed on a USB drive and will scan without software installation.

This is a really selfless act from the SuperAntiSpyware people; it’s so refreshing to see a major publisher release much needed software for free, rather than chasing the almighty dollar. Well done Mike and well done SuperAntiSpyware!!

Full details and download information can be found here.

 

IE Download Helper - Is an add-on for Internet Explorer which provides a tool to easily retrieve video and audio from web pages. It will even convert the media for you to a preferred format. The application places an icon in Internet Explorer’s status bar. Simply right click on the icon to access the menu, including items to download.

 

FotoSketcher - Is one for the budding artist, or frustrated artist. If you are like me and do not have an artistic bone in your body you may find this very helpful. This from the site:

FotoSketcher is a 100% free program which can help you convert your digital photos into art, automatically. If you want to turn a portrait, the photograph of your house or a beautiful landscape into a painting, a sketch or a drawing then look no further, FotoSketcher will do the job in just a few seconds.

Thanks to FotoSketcher you can create stunning images to make original gifts for your friends or relatives. Create birthday cards, season's greetings stationary or simply print your work of art and hang it on the wall. Different styles are available: pencil sketch, pen and ink drawing, various painting renderings.

NOTE: McAfee Site Advisor rates this site Red. After some investigating I am of the firm opinion the site and the software are perfectly safe.

 

MP3 Organizer PRO – Is a small, free and powerful MP3 organizing tool with over 100 different functions. Far too many features and functions to enumerate here; visit the site and check it out. Sounds good!

 

Dns jumper v1.0.2 – Provides a quick and very easy way to change DNS settings. There are quite a few free DNS services available now and this software allows you to quickly swap between the major providers.

I have never found changing DNS settings to be a particularly difficult chore but I do realize there are many who would. Besides which, this little app is portable (doesn’t require installation) and provides such an easy method for performing the task……why not!!

 

Jim Hillier is the Freeware Editor at Daves Computer Tips. A computer user with over 25 years of experience, his love of freeware is expressed through his Freeware Focus column in each issue of the Daves Computer Tips Newsletter. You can join Jim at the Daves Computer Tips Forum for other discussions on Freeware. You can read more about Jim here.

Flash cookie viewer - Ads, videos, and sites that use Adobe Flash store cookies in a non-text format. Use this freeware app to view or delete them.

Vlad Studios - Interesting and free wallpaper for your computer.

Google toolbar tracks users even when disabled - This is an interesting read and a cautionary tale for those who worry about privacy.

Darwin Awards - If you laugh at the crazy things humans often do this site is for you! ~ Thanks to Jim

Plane Crash Animation - you may have heard of the recent plane crash in the Hudson river where all passengers survived unharmed. This is a wonderfully done animation showing the plane's flight along with relevant flight information and audio. A must watch! ~ Thanks to Don

Lebron James magic shot - Lebron shoots a poetic, if almost impossible behind the backboard, shot mid-game. He makes it!

Using Lego's for your computer needs - Luke took an old Linksys router and rebuilt it using Lego's. Very neat!