Windows 8

Windows 7 isn't even a year old yet and already Microsoft is talking about a Windows 8. From what Microsoft is saying Windows 8 is more revolutionary than evolutionary. What does that mean? When the next version of a software package is evolutionary, that means the next version is just an improvement over the previous release. For example, Windows XP was Windows 2000 at its core, but with some performance tweaks and usability enhancements. Windows 2000, in turn, was Windows NT at its core, but with expanded capabilities. Windows 7 is really nothing more than Windows Vista optimized plus a few extra features. These are examples of something that is evolutionary. When the next version of a software package is revolutionary, that means it has major changes. For example, the core of Windows NT was revolutionary because it was so much different than the Windows 95/98/ME core. The Windows NT core was so good, that it was used until Windows XP; it was revolutionary. But the Windows XP core had major security holes. To fix that, Microsoft started from scratch and made the Windows Vista core; that also was revolutionary. Microsoft is proclaiming Windows 8 to be revolutionary.

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Posted by Wade Burchette at 8:10 PM - Categories: News | Windows

The Truth About Registry Cleaners

We've all seen them, claims of cleaning up your registry to increase performance. The truth is registry cleaners are a waste of money. Don't waste your money or your time with these registry cleaners. Especially when you can get something that does the exact same job for free. Registry cleaner programs play off ignorance. Do you know what the registry really is? Probably not. It sure does sound important and complex.

So what really is the registry? It is an efficient database that has everything about everything for the operating system currently running. The registry concept is not limited to Windows. The fact is the registry is already very efficient. You are not going to speed it up. In fact, if you are not careful, messing with the registry can cause problems so severe, you may have to re-install Windows. Some poor registry cleaners can also cause severe problems to your operating system.

What registry cleaners do is remove entries in it that are accidently left behind and entries that are automatically generated by the operating system based on your actions. For example, recently used programs are put in the registry automatically by Windows. In every instance like that, the operating system is doing something to try and make your life easier. A bad registry cleaner will remove entries it thinks are left behind but really are not causing severe problems.

A problem with registry cleaners is they lack the ability to get rid of certain registry entries that are purposefully left behind. For example, you install a trial program. This program creates an entry in the registry saying when the trial was installed and other information, such as data required for the program to work and personal preference and so on. When you uninstall this program, it purposefully leaves behind that data. Then if you want to re-install the trial, it knows right away when you first installed the program. A registry cleaner cannot get rid of entries like these because it cannot know which entry is related to programs currently installed or programs that have been uninstalled.

Don't waste your money. A free program called CCleaner can do the exact same thing as these pay registry cleaners. CCleaner removes temporary files freeing up hard drive space. It also has the ability to remove obsolete registry entries too. And it is free. Now that your know, don't waste your money.

Posted by Wade Burchette at 8:39 AM - Categories: Annoyances | Hints and Tips | Windows

Windows 7 Released Today

Windows 7 is finally released. Although it has been available to some businesses for about two months now, today is the official retail release.

I've been using Windows 7 for about 5 months now. And I've been using the final version, the one you can purcahse today, for about 2 months. It is very stable. Only the oldest hardware will have problems. The only modern hardware I've seen that does not work well with Windows 7 is any HD DVD drive, even if it is a Blu-Ray/HD DVD drive. Beyond that, expect Windows 7 to work well. This is because Windows 7 is basically Windows Vista optimized. Windows Vista was drastically different than Windows XP, so many hardware makers dragged their feet on support assuming (incorrectly) that the drivers would just work. Not so anymore. Furthermore, computers are no longer being sold that are too weak for the version of Windows installed like they were with Windows Vista.

Which version should you get? Most people should just get Home Premium. Companies or individuals that need Windows XP support should get Professional or Ultimate. Certain modern CPU's support a feature called virtualization, this allows two operating systems to run at the same time. Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate include a virtual Windows XP.

Windows 7 is perhaps the best consumer version of Windows ever and is one of the best operating systems ever made. Very few people will have problems, although it is inevitable that some will considering how complex an OS really is. If you can afford the upgrade, I recommend you do. It isn't a giant step forward like Vista, but it is a giant improvement over Vista.

Posted by Wade Burchette at 1:00 AM - Categories: News | Windows

Fixing an Internet Explorer Internet Address Issue

Some time ago, I came upon a computer which had a problem when you attempted to enter an web address into Internet Explorer. At first, when you attempted to go to another webpage, Internet Explorer would pop-up an error message with some message. I don't remember exactly what it said, but I do remember it had "(null)" in it, just like that. My first instinct was to try FireFox to see if it was malware causing the issue. This computer already had FireFox installed, but it was not working for some reason. Fortunately, I had a copy of FireFox on one of my CD's. So I installed that copy of FireFox onto the computer. FireFox began to work again, but Internet Explorer was still causing problems. Now, everytime I tried to go to another webpage in Internet Explorer, IE always opened up FireFox and to open the webpage. FireFox was not the default browser, but everything was sent to it.

Fortunately, I found this blog post from Microsoft. Although officially it is an IE7 Beta 1 bug, it manifests itself in non-beta versions of IE7 and IE8. The fix is very simple, a restart isn't required. Simply delete the registry key: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{c90250f3-4d7d-4991-9b69-a5c5bc1c2ae6}. Make sure you select the right one.

On a similar note, this problem may also be caused by having two versions of Internet Explorer installed on your computer. I would never do that.

If you are still having issues with Internet Explorer not working, then perhaps you need to do an in-place upgrade. 9 times out of 10, that will fix most problems.

Posted by Wade Burchette at 1:12 PM - Categories: Computer Repair Notes | Windows

Determing Errors With the svchost.exe File

Recently, I cleaned a computer that was infected with two rootkits, one in the Master Boot Record (MBR) and the other that dread UAC rootkit. These rootkits were modifying files as they were executed or when the file performed some action it did not like. For example, on this person's computer, the rootkits corrupted McAfee files and would corrupt anti-malware scanners like HijackThis when it tried to scan. The MBR rootkit was very nasty. I actually had to use virtual Windows XP in my Windows 7 computer because RootRepeal was not fully compatible with Windows 7, which is all I have right now. After I successfully remove the rootkit, I had to do an in-place upgrade (commonly called a repair installation) of Windows XP to repair the damaged system files.

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Posted by Wade Burchette at 12:00 PM - Categories: Computer Repair Notes | Windows

Making Your Windows 7 Disc Compatible With All Editions

It is a common Microsoft practice to limit what editions of Windows can be used with each disc. For example, with Windows XP, the Home edition and the Pro edition each required their own disc. Not only that, there are different discs for retail discs and OEM discs. The result is that someone who may need to re-install Windows XP now needs 4 different discs. This is very annoying because the only difference between each disc is one file which tells the installer which edition and being used. Every other file was the exact same and found on all the discs. Windows Vista did away with this requirement. So it was hoped that Windows 7 would as well. As it turns out, this is not the case.

But there is good news. You can make your Windows 7 discs universal. All you then need are 2 discs, one for the 32-bit version and one for the 64-bit version. This tutorial will show you how to make a master Windows 7 disc. You still an appropriate product key for each edition. This will not allow you to get Windows 7 for free.

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Posted by Wade Burchette at 4:00 PM - Categories: Annoyances | Windows

Windows 7 Ready To Go

Microsoft released the final build of Windows 7. Of course, Windows 7 will not be available to the public until October 22. What Microsoft is doing is what is called Release To Manufacturing, or RTM. When a product reaches RTM stage, it is ready to go for the public but is being released earlier to a select few so that it can be tested against their hardware and software. This give companies some time to work out any bugs or problems in their software or hardware drivers.

Whether or not these companies use that time is different. For Windows Vista, even it was RTM 2 months before the initial release, companies just assumed everything would work as normal; it did not. The result was a botched Vista launch: computers too weak for Vista were being sold, poorly written programs were not updated, and drivers were incomplete. Microsoft received the blame.

Windows 7 RTM is a little earlier than Windows Vista RTM. Whereas Windows Vista was very different than Windows XP, Windows 7 is just Windows Vista optimized with some enhacements. The launch of Windows 7 should go smoothly. Still, hardware and software companies also learned their lesson and will not be unprepared for the Windows 7 launch. On newer computers, Windows 7 is actually faster than Windows XP.

Techs-on-Call does already have the final build of Windows 7. We will be ready for the launch.

For more information about Windows 7, see our Windows 7 general overview and our blog post about a specific Windows 7 feature called UAC.

Posted by Wade Burchette at 4:00 PM - Categories: General | Windows