Windows Tips

It stands to reason: the less software you have on your system, the lower the risk of software conflicts.

Windows 7 is complete enough to not need any added helper programs. The Windows Firewall, Security Essentials, Windows Update, and other components of Windows 7 are sufficient to keep your machine running smoothly and virus-free.

(Technically, Security Essentials is freeware supplied separately by Microsoft, but I consider it part of the operating system.)

In the past, I have recommended free file-management programs for Windows Vista and XP to replace or enhance Windows Explorer. Windows 7 Explorer is not a big departure … Read more

In a perfect world, you wouldn't be concerned about safety when you use your computer. Short of that, you just want to feel confident your PC is virus-free, protected from the prospect of future infections, and easy to recover if something goes wrong. Three things that will help ease your mind are a manual malware scan, an easy-to-restore copy of your hard drive, and a sandbox for your browser to run in.

Run your system through a second-opinion virus scanner Even the best real-time antivirus scanners miss a small percentage of malware. A second scan with a different virus … Read more

A day like any other: you're ready to get your compute on, but when you press the power button on your machine, nothing happens. Maybe the screen stays blank, or maybe it shows a blinking cursor and nothing else. Nightmare scenarios race through your mind: big repair bill? Lost data? New PC? (Gasp!)

Don't panic. Put away the sledgehammer. All is probably not lost--at least not yet.

A reader contacted me the other day to ask how she could revive her PC, which she had configured to dual-boot Windows XP and Vista. It seems she ran a popular … Read more

Many PC users love to tinker with the hardware and software on their machines. Other people consider any time they spend using Windows' built-in system tools a total waste. In between are those of us who understand the value of a little preventive maintenance--as long as it doesn't take all day.

Windows 7's arsenal of maintenance and system-tweaking utilities has been enhanced through the addition of new tools and improvements to existing programs. Unfortunately, one of my favorite Windows utilities isn't available in the Home Premium version of Windows 7: the Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) is … Read more

It's easy to assume the important programs on our systems update automatically, but not all do. Some outdated apps can be security risks. I compared three free scanners that promise to identify programs in need of an update: Secunia's Personal Software Inspector (PSI), CNET's TechTracker, and KC Softwares' Software Updates Monitor (Sumo).

I'm not linking to Sumo because when I tested the program, it installed the Relevant Knowledge spyware along with the scanner even though I purposely chose what the company claimed was the spyware-free installation file.

PSI IDs more apps, provides plenty of update info … Read more

This week I cleared Vista out of my home office by upgrading a 6-year-old PC to Windows 7. The machine was in dire need of a tune-up. I figured the money spent on a Win 7 upgrade would extend the desktop PC's life span and save me hours of system maintenance time.

When I ran the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, the program warned me that the machine's ATI Radeon Xpress 200 display driver and Realtek Audio Manager utility were out-of-date. The PC was otherwise good to go, which was a pleasant surprise considering it shipped in 2005 with … Read more

One of the best ways to maximize your PC's storage capacity is to create drive partitions that separate Windows system files from your data and programs. Partitioning makes backups faster and simpler. It can also improve overall system performance on machines with little unused storage space.

A serious limitation to the disk-partitioning utility built into Windows 7 is that you can't extend whichever partition is the farthest right. For some reason, partitions can only be extended to the right. Unfortunately, the … Read more

For some PC tasks, nothing but a mouse will do. But when you need to get a load of work done in a short time, the key is to keep your hands on the keys.

Easier said than done, considering the world of actions--other than typing--you're likely to perform on your PC in the course of a workday. If only it were easier to remember those hundreds of keyboard shortcuts that let you park your mouse in long-term storage.

Several years ago I described how to create an easy-to-access list of keyboard shortcuts. I followed that post with key combinations for moving and resizing on-screen windows.… Read more

Some of the folks at Microsoft were perplexed by last week's post on the spacing problem affecting some documents traveling between Office 2010 and Office 2007. I can't say that I blame them. Anyone who set his or her copy of Office to update automatically had the fix for the problem delivered more than two years ago.

The Microsoft Office Sustained Engineering Team addressed the issue in a TechNet blog post that followed last week's report. That post suggests that Office users enable automatic updates of all Microsoft software.

The problem is, some past updates for Windows, … Read more