What to Look For in a Registry Cleaner

The registry plays a crucial role in the functioning of your Windows computer. Therefore, it is vital for you to perform regular registry maintenance. The simplest and most efficient way to perform registry maintenance is by using a registry cleaner utility. In this article, we will list a few things to look for before buying a registry cleaner utility.

Scanning Technique Used

You might get attracted toward registry cleaners that boast of finding hundreds of errors from the registry. But, as a vigilant user, you must check the scanning technique they use before opting for one of them. Primarily, registry cleaners either use the Bulk and Deep technique or the Smart and Safe technique to perform a registry scan.

The Bulk and Deep technique runs a thorough scan of the registry and displays all errors on the screen. The main drawback of this technique is that it displays even the unknown entries as errors. However, not all unknown entries are errors. Many of these entries might be added by programs that you use that your registry cleaner is not aware of. Deleting these entries might lead to more problems on your system instead of reducing them. Therefore, registry cleaners using this technique are not a safe bet.

The Scan and Safe technique runs by using complex algorithms and works toward finding only genuine errors. If the system registry cleaner program using this technique finds an entry which it is not sure about, then the program will take additional measures to find out the importance of this entry. Although registry cleaners using this technique may display fewer results, each reported error is well analyzed and genuine. The registry cleaner programs using this technique are efficient and they effectively optimize your registry by removing all junk from it.

Advanced Backup and Restore Features

9 out of 10 registry cleaner programs available today offer registry backup utilities that enable you to make a full backup of the registry. Although useful, the main drawback of a full registry backup is that when you restore a full registry backup, you lose all changes made to the registry since the backup was taken.

To take care of this issue, you can choose from one of the advanced registry cleaners available that enable you to perform selective backups and restores. Selective backups enable you to make a backup of only that part of the registry that you are going to edit. This way, if you make a mistake, you just need to undo that specific change without affecting any other part of the registry.

The second thing that you must look for in your Registry Cleaner program is whether or not it provides both full and selective backup/restore features.

Defragmentation Feature

Most of the unwanted registry entries and registry errors are removed from your system when you run a registry scan and repair the errors. But, this is not enough. Large amounts of data in the registry can fragment its files, and many registry entries when removed leave behind vacant spaces, called registry holes, in their place.

To remove the registry holes and to re-index the registry files to make them contiguous, you need to defragment the registry. Defragmenting the registry is a very important aspect of registry maintenance. And you must ensure that the registry cleaner you opt for provides this feature.

Other System Maintenance Features

The first three features take care of most of your registry issues. However, there are certain other activities and programs on your computer that may tax the registry and your system. Startup programs—applications that load at system startup, Internet Browser Help Objects (BHOs)—Internet Explorer add-ons, such as Google toolbar, and Internet Explorer files—Temporary Internet Files, Cookies, and History are some of the examples of these files and programs.

Many registry cleaners come equipped with additional features that enable you to manage these programs and files to help you keep both your system and registry healthy. Therefore, to assure yourself all-around maintenance of your computer, it is a good idea to go in for the registry cleaner program that provides you with these additional PC maintenance features.

Most of the registry cleaners available today offer trial versions. Therefore, prior to putting your money on a registry cleaner, download its trial version first, and test it for some time to ensure it meets your requirements. Also, always buy a registry cleaner that is compatible with your operating system. For instance, if you use Windows XP, then the registry cleaner you buy should support XP, otherwise, you may end up with more problems than before. Additionally, try to go through user reviews and feedbacks to ensure the credibility of the software you are going to buy. Remember, buying a good registry cleaner program can help you in optimizing the performance of your computer. However, dubious software may increase the number of problems instead of reducing them.

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Easy Fixes For Software Errors

With so many software programs installed on your Windows computer, the occurrence of software errors is not uncommon. Many software errors are circumstantial and usually disappear when you restart your PC. However, there are a few errors that are caused due to missing or corrupt files and other issues on the system that you may need to resolve.

For instance, the application error 126 given below may occur when the client side ODBC driver for SQL Server is not installed, or is corrupt or missing from your PC.

“Specified driver could not be loaded due to system error 126 (SQL Server)”

You can easily resolve this issue by downloading and installing the latest Microsoft Data Access Components from the Microsoft Support Website.

Application errors such as error 126 are common on computers that:

* Are not updated regularly.
* Are not well-protected against malware programs.
* Have a large, fragmented, and corrupt Windows registry.
* Cluttered, fragmented and slow hard disk.

Let us see how you can take care of these problems and prevent these troublesome software errors.

Software manufacturers such as Microsoft, Hewlitt Packard, and Symantec release regular updates for their software programs and device drivers. Many of these products also come with built-in, automatic update features that you must enable to ensure that your computer is up-to-date with these releases. Installing these updates not only helps you prevent software errors that may occur due to obsolete files, but also helps you make your computer more secure, and maintains a high performance level.

If software errors start appearing suddenly and your PC also slows down, it usually indicates that your system is infected by some type of malware infection such as virus, Trojan, spyware or adware infection. This is the reason why, in order to fix and prevent software errors, you must perform regular full system scans using reliable, efficient, and updated antivirus and antispyware tools. It is recommended that you use tools that come with a real-time protection feature. Enabling this feature helps you ensure that your system is protected against viruses at all times.

Registry problems occur due to the accumulation of a large amount of unwanted, invalid, and obsolete data in the registry that causes registry bloating and eventually corrupts and fragments its files. Some of the common causes of registry bloating are:

* Frequent installation of software programs,especially freeware tools, games and programs on the system.
* Incorrect or incomplete removal of programs.
* System crashes.
* Malware infections
* Software updates that fail to remove old registry entries.

In order to prevent registry bloating and prevent software errors, it is recommended that you use a reliable and efficient registry cleaner tool to perform the following registry maintenance activities:

* Automatically perform a deep and thorough scan of the registry to detect and remove all unwanted information from it.
* Perform customized registry scans to repair specific software errors, such as DLL errors and driver errors.
* Defrag the registry to compress and reindex its files
* Backup the registry regularly to ensure that you can restore it if an irreversible error occurs.

In the end, use the Disk Cleanup tool to remove unwanted junk files from the hard disk. For instance, you can use this tool to remove unwanted Internet Explorer and Program setup files, empty the Recycle Bin, uninstall unwanted programs and Windows components, and remove outdated system restore points. After cleaning the disk, run the Disk Defragmenter tool to analyze and consolidate the fragmented data stored on the disk. This not only helps you speed up your computer, but also helps you prevent several software errors.

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What You Should Know About EXE Errors

A recent survey by a computer magazine found out that 56% of computer owners are using their computers daily to store critical information regarding their business and personal life. This signifies that computer users are relying on their computers more than ever before.

This is the reason why any problem in your computer may lead to loss of both information and productivity. There may also be financial implications involved in case you require the services of a computer maintenance expert. Also, due to this increase in dependency on computers, computer errors are fast becoming a major cause of frustration.

Computer and software manufacturers are also not doing much when it comes to educating computer owners in dealing with errors. In this article, we are going to throw light on one particular type of computer error, known as EXE errors.

EXE errors are associated with the program executable files that have the filename extension .exe. The purpose of these files is to either run an entire application or perform a particular task or action for an application. Exe errors occur when the exe files of one or more programs on your computer are corrupt, missing, or conflicting with some other program running on your computer.

Some of the common causes of exe errors are outdated files, incorrect updates, malware infections and registry problems. For example, you may encounter high CPU usage on your computer by ccsvchst.exe if your Norton 2007 product is not updated, and by pcscnsrv.exe if you have updated to PC-Cillin 2007. Also, aolload.exe corrupt file issue may occur if there is some problem with the AOL software on your computer.

The following are some of the methods that you can use to prevent and fix exe errors:

* You must scan your computer for viruses and spyware on a regular basis. To do this, you need to use efficient antivirus and antispyware programs. To ensure that you use these tools to the fullest, keep them updated with the latest definitions and schedule regular automatic full system scans.
* Remember to update your operating system, applications and device drivers periodically. Failure to do so may result in several computer problems such as computer slow down due to high usage of system resources by exe services running on your computer and occurrence of frequent exe and other errors.
* You must maintain an error-free and compact registry. This is essential because the Windows registry, which stores all configuration data of your Windows computer, can bloat up to a very large size because over time, it gets filled up with large amount of unwanted entries. A bloated Windows registry can corrupt and fragment easily. As a result the system slows down and starts generating errors. To prevent registry errors and to speed up data access time, you need to regularly clean up and compress the registry. A good registry tool enables you to both clean up and defrag the registry which reduces the registry size. The best thing about a registry tool is that these maintenance tasks can be done easily in just a few mouse clicks.


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Google Chrome Operating System Is Coming Our Way, Finally!

Did you see it coming? I would say this is the most anticipated product that I have been waiting for in these few years. This piece of exciting news just arrived after 10 months since Google Chrome Web Browser was released last year.

Most of the Operating System (OS) we are using today were designed and development prior to the Internet
era. Google Development Team realizes this and is aiming to produce an OS for people who are relying on the web.

Besides, they are also smart enough to sense that netbook is the new trend right now. Therefore, Google Chrome Operating System is designed for the web and will be initially used on netbook.

Below are some highlights of Google Chrome Operating System :-

* Open source – Like many of the Unix-based OS, it offers accessibility to its source code
* Lightweight – Less complicated, fast and easy to use
* Runs on x86 Computer Architecture – Meaning it runs on the same PC you are running Windows, Mac, Linux, etc, as well
* Secure – The security architecture of the OS was completely redesigned so that it’s virus, malware and security update free

The OS is scheduled to be available for consumers in the second half of 2010. I just can’t wait to see it!

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What is cloud computing ?

Cloud computing is a recent development of Internet. Cloud computing uses the computer technology. It is a concept of complex internet infrastructure. In this type of computing, IT related capability is provided as a mode of service. Technology enabled services can be accessed in cloud computing over the Internet. It does not require expertise, knowledge or control over the supported technology infrastructure. Cloud computing is a prototype of permanent storage of data over the Internet. Cloud computing can be seen as software as a service(SAS), Web 2.0, well known technology trends. It is basically reliability over the Internet to satisfy user needs related to computing.

A basic definition of cloud computing is the use of the Internet for the tasks you perform on your computer. The "cloud" represents the Internet.
Cloud Computing is a Service

The simplest thing that a computer does is allow us to store and retrieve information. We can store our family photographs, our favorite songs, or even save movies on it. This is also the most basic service offered by cloud computing.

Flickr is a great example of cloud computing as a service. While Flickr started with an emphasis on sharing photos and images, it has emerged as a great place to store those images. In many ways, it is superior to storing the images on your computer.

First, Flickr allows you to easily access your images no matter where you are or what type of device you are using. While you might upload the photos of your vacation to Greece from your home computer, you can easily access them from your laptop while on the road or even from your iPhone while sitting in your local coffee house.

Second, Flickr lets you share the images. There's no need to burn them to a compact disc or save them on a flash drive. You can just send someone your Flickr address.

Third, Flickr provides data security. If you keep your photos on your local computer, what happens if your hard drive crashes? You'd better hope you backed them up to a CD or a flash drive! By uploading the images to Flickr, you are providing yourself with data security by creating a backup on the web. And while it is always best to keep a local copy -- either on your computer, a compact disc or a flash drive -- the truth is that you are far more likely to lose the images you store locally than Flickr is of losing your images.

This is also where grid computing comes into play. Beyond just being used as a place to store and share information, cloud computing can be used to manipulate information. For example, instead of using a local database, businesses could rent CPU time on a web-based database.

The downside? It is not all clear skies and violin music. The major drawback to using cloud computing as a service is that it requires an Internet connection. So, while there are many benefits, you'll lose them off if you are cut off from the Web.
Cloud Computing is a Platform

The web is the operating system of the future. While not exactly true -- we'll always need a local operating system -- this popular saying really means that the web is the next great platform.

What's a platform? It is the basic structure on which applications stand. In other words, it is what runs our apps. Windows is a platform. The Mac OS is a platform. But a platform doesn't have to be an operating system. Java is a platform even though it is not an operating system.

Through cloud computing, the web is becoming a platform. With trends such as Office 2.0, we are seeing more and more applications that were once the province of desktop computers being converted into web applications. Word processors like Buzzword and office suites like Google Docs are slowly becoming as functional as their desktop counterparts and could easily replace software such as Microsoft Office in many homes or small offices.

But cloud computing transcends Office 2.0 to deliver applications of all shapes and sizes from web mashups to Facebook applications to web-based massively multiplayer online role-playing games. With new technologies that help web applications store some information locally -- which allows an online word processor to be used offline as well -- and a new browser called Chrome to push the envelope, Google is a major player in turning cloud computing into a platform.
Cloud Computing and Interoperability

A major barrier to cloud computing is the interoperability of applications. While it is possible to insert an Adobe Acrobat file into a Microsoft Word document, things get a little bit stickier when we talk about web-based applications.

This is where some of the most attractive elements to cloud computing -- storing the information on the web and allowing the web to do most of the 'computing' -- becomes a barrier to getting things done. While we might one day be able to insert our Google Docs word processor document into our Google Docs spreadsheet, things are a little stickier when it comes to inserting a Buzzword document into our Google Docs spreadsheet.

Ignoring for a moment that Google probably doesn't want you to have the ability to insert a competitor's document into their spreadsheet, this creates a ton of data security issues. So not only would we need a standard for web 'documents' to become web 'objects' capable of being generically inserted into any other web document, we'll also need a system to maintain a certain level of security when it comes to this type of data sharing.

Possible? Certainly, but it isn't anything that will happen overnight.
What is Cloud Computing?

This brings us back to the initial question. What is cloud computing? It is the process of taking the services and tasks performed by our computers and bringing them to the web.

What does this mean to us?

With the "cloud" doing most of the work, this frees us up to access the "cloud" however we choose. It could be a super-charged desktop PC designed for high-end gaming, or a "thin client" laptop running the Linux operating system with an 8 gig flash drive instead of a conventional hard drive, or even an iPhone or a Blackberry.

We can also get at the same information and perform the same tasks whether we are at work, at home, or even a friend's house. Not that you would want to take a break between rounds of Texas Hold'em to do some work for the office -- but the prospect of being able to do it is pretty cool.

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Different Ways of Conference Calling

By: Daiv Russell

You have probably heard of conference calls, and may wonder what services are available and how they can help your company. Organizations from small businesses to global enterprises have been trying out conference calling. This article presents in context the different services available to businesses today, and explains what to look for as well as what to look out for.

Firms function very differently now that conference calls are possible. The existence of this service means that a chief executive can run his corporation from whatever country he happens to be in. Customers, colleagues, and co-owners can converse without having to meet in a single location, and travel and meeting expenses are notably reduced.

Today's available conference calling types are audio conference calling, web conferencing and video conferencing.

The most widely used variety of these is called audio conferencing. This type of teleconference is widely used because of its familiarity and this helps save the company money. Since this requires only a telephone, this is the easiest form. The only hitch in this type of service that companies find is that they are neither able to see the person they are taking to nor are able to receive any images or data during the conference.

Of the three, web conferencing is the newest innovation. In a modern web conference a webcam, a camera connected to a computer, allows the conferees to see and hear each other as voice and picture are transmitted over the internet. The participants have both visual and spoken communication, and can transmit files and data so they may be made available to everyone in real time. This audio and video interaction, together with the ease of sharing data, is the compelling advantage to web conferencing.

Video conferencing is the third type of conference service. This type is the most expensive of the listed conferencing forms. Infrastructure costs cause this increase in price because of the limitations it puts on usage of such type to large business facilities. The cost of using video conferencing has decreased due to advances in technology. This decrease has allowed smaller establishments to utilize this service. Although there has been an increase in small business use, not everyone takes advantage of this teleconferencing tool because of the need for a television and camera for all parties participating in conferences. This tool would be cost effective only for those who hold frequent meetings, and can perform regular maintenance on the infrastructure.

Author Resource:-> Daiv Russell is a management and marketing consultant with Envision Consulting in Tampa, Florida. To learn more about disadvantages and advantages of conference calls, or to learn How to Set Up a Teleconference - check out audio-conference-calling.info or Business Management Articles at ConsultingMentor.com

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