programs

Great news! Just this past Wednesday, I received wind that Ashampoo has released their flagship tweak utility, "Powerup XP Platinum", version 2. Reminder: What is Ashampoo PowerUp XP Platinum? PowerUp XP Platinum takes the hassle out of optimizing ... and fine-tuning a Windows PC and combines everything into one easy to use, tidy package. Rated 5/5 by the editor's at Download.com, PowerUp XP Platinum 2 includes all the powerful features that made its predecessor the favorite tuning tool of many Windows users -- plus it adds many new terrific and unique features that yield even more ... (view more)

Synopsis: Run your programs faster and make your PC become more stable than ever before! CacheBoost optimizes the Windows Cache Management System by monitoring and controlling all the processes that run in memory. The built-in Memory Zipper engine ... and Data Safe Technology enhances the available system memory, thereby ensuring complete reliability and safety of data. CacheBoost's integrated suite of programs can not only recover memory leaks, but also prevent Windows crashes! Systweak CacheBoost: Screenshots Click to view: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5 | Page 6 | Page 7. Systweak ... (view more)

Malware Malware , or "malicious software" is a generic term used to describe various types of malevolent programs. Below are some of the most common forms of malware. Virus Viruses have used many sorts of hosts. When computer viruses first ... originated, common targets were executable files that are part of application programs and the boot sectors of floppy disks. More recently, most viruses have embedded themselves in e-mail as Email attachments, depending on a curious user opening the viral attachment. In the case of executable files, the infection routine of the virus arranges that ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Faskia' writes: " Dear Dennis, One of my PCs is now failing to connect to the Internet, and is showing a Security Warning screen on a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). The blue background reads, 'A fatal error in IE has occured at ... 0028.C0011E36 in VXD VMM(01)+00010E36. Error was caused by Trojan-Spy.HTML.Smitfraud.c.' Would you please give me some simple steps to remove Smitfraud from my PC? " My response: The problem is that your computer has been infected with Spyware. According to the F-Secure web site, Trojan-Spy.HTML.Smithfraud.c is a phishing scam where "a ... (view more)

Spyware is a broad category of malicious software intended to intercept or take partial control of a computer's operation without the user's informed consent. While the term taken literally suggests software that surreptitiously monitors the user, ... it has come to refer more broadly to software that subverts the computer's operation for the benefit of a third party. Spyware differs from viruses and worms in that it does not usually self-replicate. Like many recent viruses, spyware is designed to exploit infected computers for commercial gain. Typical tactics furthering this goal include ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Faskia' writes: " Dear Dennis, One of my PCs is now failing to connect to the Internet, and is showing a Security Warning screen on a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). The blue background reads, 'A fatal error in IE has occured at ... 0028.C0011E36 in VXD VMM(01)+00010E36. Error was caused by Trojan-Spy.HTML.Smitfraud.c.' Would you please give me some simple steps to remove Smitfraud from my PC? " My response: The problem is that your computer has been infected with Spyware. According to the F-Secure web site, Trojan-Spy.HTML.Smithfraud.c is a phishing scam where "a ... (view more)

Synopsis: Looking for a way to optimize Windows without a lot of technical know-how? Look no further! Advanced System Optimizer v2 (ASO) is the most comprehensive system-tweaking utility ever created! ASO includes more than 30 tools for ... supercharging your PC's performance, plus more than 200 tweaks for customizing Windows and improving its performance! New features in version 2 include a Spyware detective, an email checker, icon manager, an ultra-fast emailer, and a comprehensive backup tool for Outlook and for files and folders. You can back up the registry and restore it if it's damaged by ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader B.R. Hudgens writes: " Dear Dennis, I just read your article regarding the Registry Mechanic v4 release, as well as the article on WinOptimizer Platinum Suite . I have not yet tried either of these utilities on my system, but plan ... to do so very shortly because my PC has become very sluggish. I was wondering if you would give your opinion on the comparison of Registry Mechanic to WinOptimizer Platinum? I'm a bit confused because your article on WinOptimizer states that it cleans the System Registry (as does Registry Mechanic). And, both programs, as far as I understand ... (view more)

Synopsis: Have trouble remembering all your passwords? Darn! Passwords! Pro keeps track of all those pesky passwords you need for the Internet, online services, financial sites, and other secure programs. All you need to do is remember one 'Master' ... password, and Darn! Passwords! remembers all the rest! It remembers web site addresses of password-protected web sites -- just pick the password, and drag it into the program or web site that requires a password. It's that simple; no retyping is necessary. For those programs that do not accept the drag and drop feature, you can just paste the ... (view more)

Synopsis: Is your PC becoming increasingly slow and unstable? MemOptimizer monitors your system in the background and frees resources when these are required. The result is that your programs will run faster and be more stable than ever before! ... MemOptimizer: Screenshots Click to view: Page 1 | Page 2 | Page 3 | Page 4 | Page 5. MemOptimizer: Why Optimal Memory equals Better Computing Almost all software programs contain "memory leaks". Over time, memory leaks cause less and less memory to be available on your PC, resulting in slow system performance, slow web browsing, slow startup speed, ... (view more)