system

Infopackets Reader Jeff S. writes: " Dear Dennis, This is not so much a question, but a comment. Several weeks ago I picked up a 120GB Maxtor Hard Drive at Best Buy. I decided to use this drive for backing up my digital pics, MP3's, downloads, etc. ... I also wanted to use the new drive to backup my operating system, but totally sure which one was right for me. I borrowed a copy of Norton Ghost from a friend, installed it on my system, but wasn't too impressed with the interface (I found it difficult to understand); I also thought the price was a little too high (at $69.99 retail). It was at ... (view more)

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)

A modem (a portmanteau word constructed from modulator and demodulator) is a device that modulates an analog carrier signal (sound) to encode digital information, and also demodulates such a carrier signal to decode the transmitted information. The ... goal is to produce a signal that can be transmitted easily and decoded to reproduce the original digital data. The most familiar example of a modem turns the digital '1s and 0s' of a personal computer into sounds that can be transmitted over the telephone lines of Plain Old Telephone System (POTS), and once received on the other side, converts ... (view more)

Synopsis: Worried that you can't leave your computer unattended because of frequent crashes and spontanous shutdowns? Introducing Memory Zipper Plus -- a comprehensive and easy-to-use memory management and optimization utility designed to smooth the ... performance of any Windows machine! Memory Zipper Plus works by recovering unused memory and lets you improve your computer speed. The built-in Data Safe Technology ensures complete reliability and safety of data; plus, it comes with a CPU Cooler program to save CPU power! Systweak Memory Zipper Plus: Screenshots Click to view: Page 1 | Page 2 | ... (view more)

The Control Panel is part of the Microsoft Windows graphical user interface (GUI) menu. It is accessible from the Start Menu, which allows users to view and manipulate basic system settings and controls, such as: adding hardware, adding/removing ... software, controlling user accounts, changing accessibility options, and more. The Control Panel is accessed by going into Start -> Settings -> Control Panel on Windows 95, 98, and Me and directly from Windows XP. Control Panel Categories in Windows XP In Windows XP, the following Control Panel options are present: Accessibility Options: allows ... (view more)

On many computer operating systems, " SuperUser " is the term used for the special user account that is controlled by the system administrator. SuperUser: Unix and Unix-like In Unix-style computer operating systems, root is the conventional name of ... the user who has all rights or permissions in all modes (single- or multi-user). The user root can do many things an ordinary user cannot, such as changing the ownership of files and binding to ports numbered below 1024. Generally, it is not good practice for anyone to use root as their normal user account, because simple typographical ... (view more)

Synopsis: Is your system running a little sluggish? Want to squeeze a little more juice out of it -- all the while customize and clean it at the same time? In that case, try BoostXP2! BoostXP2 is a comprehensive and easy-to-use Windows utility suite ... that lets you fine-tune Windows and Internet Explorer and makes your computer run faster. Whether you want to tweak your Windows Registry, clean up your hard drive, erase tracks, or increase your multimedia and game performance, BoostXP2's integrated suite of programs can get your system running at peak performance levels. BoostXP2 gives you ... (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)

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)

In today's world of Spyware threats and other Internet nasties, not knowing what is running silently in the background of your computer can be a serious problem. Unfortunately, Task Manager [CTRL + ALT + DEL] isn't helpful in reporting which ... processes are critical to your system, which ones can be terminated safely, and is horrible at troubleshooting problematic and suspect tasks. So how do you know "what's what"? Introducing WinTasks 5 Professional: the Ultimate Task Manager WinTasks 5 Professional is a state-of-the-art Task Manager replacement designed to enhance your computer's ... (view more)