How To Clean Up Your Computer Registry Effortlessly

Are you having issues with the performance of your computer? Is your computer running slow, are applications that you are trying to open making the computer freeze up? One of the most likely reasons is that your Windows registry is cluttered with too many junk files, temp files or DLL files.

Simply cleaning up the registry could solve your problems. But, the majority of computer users do not have a firm grasp of the registry. If you are looking for ways how to clean up your computer registry, then you have come to the right place.

This article will help guide you through what needs to be done to clean up your computer registry..

Some Words of Caution

The Windows registry can be compared to a large file cabinet. If you want to run a program, the operating system will refer to a specific file in the registry to execute your commands. If the registry is clogged up with old dead files or used temp files, your main operating system will have a hard time locating the correct files to load a program. Causing your computer to run slow or freeze up.

To fix the problem, you have to clean up the registry file cabinet of all those dead files or old broken link files. Having a clean registry makes your computer run cleaner, smoother and cooler. But cleaning up the registry however requires deleting unwanted files. Now, this is the tricky part that makes most people run and go hide.

If you accidentally delete a good registry file, then one or more of your programs may fail to open. In worst case scenario, your entire operating system will crash and you may get the blue screen of death. You will not lose all the data stored on your hard drive but it may take you reloading the operating system back on your computer. So if you do not want to damage your system, you must not attempt to clean it manually. This is particularly true if you do not know how to properly delete unwanted registry files.

The Safest Way to Clean Up the Registry

The big question now is how to clean up your computer registry effortlessly without running the risk of crashing your system? The answer is, use a registry cleaning software. This is the safest and the most effective approach to fix the mess in your Windows registry.

Using a free registry cleaning software is easy and it can produce faster and better results of your computer system. Even if you are a person that is computer illiterate, you will never experience any problem with registry cleaning software.

The thing you need to do is install a computer registry program. The one that I use is called Ccleaner. I have used this program for many years and have never had any sort of issue with it. I install this program on ever computer that I repair. Some nice features about this software is that it is totally free. It will clean your computer of unwanted temp files, cookies and etc.

Next the software will go through your complete registry cabinet and take out all the broken links, corrupted files, and bad file extensions that slow down your computer. Before it totally eliminates these files it will ask if you would like to back them up just in case something does not work correctly. I would highly recommend that you do the back up. I have never had to use the backup, but it does give you peace of mind.

10 Valuable Computer Tips for New Users

10 Valuable Computer Tips for New Users
By Valeria Stephens

Using your computer the right way is the best way to ensure that it continues to operate reliably, safely, and efficiently for as long as you own it. By following the ten tips provided here and also searching out your own resources, you can get the most out of your computer and keep it functioning at peak performance at the same time.
Despite the benefits and advantages of having and using a computer, you do need to be mindful of the activities you engage in, especially online, that could leave you vulnerable to data thieves, spyware, or viruses. Also, your computer does require some TLC occasionally to keep it operating at a peak level. Here are several tips for new computer users to protect yourself, your data, and your computer when you are using it on or off the internet.

1. Back-up important data to prevent loss in case you experience a hard drive failure.


2. Protect your computer with a surge protector (very helpful in the event of an electrical outage).


3. Update the core programs on your computer regularly, either through automatic or manual updating, to keep the software up-to-date.


4. Make sure you have anti-virus software installed. You can also use anti-spyware programs or other malware detection software to decrease your exposure to harmful attacks.


5. Do not click on YES, ACCEPT, or OK for any window that pops up on your computer until you've thoroughly read the accompanying message and understand what you are allowing or agreeing to.


6. Use system maintenance options regularly, such as disk defrag and ScanDisk. These programs reallocate data where it needs to be, remove unused or unnecessary data, and keep your computer's performance optimized.


7. Don't pay for something you can get for free. Many programs that people use like word processors, anti-virus, and others, have free alternatives that work just as well as their costly counterparts.


8. Use the help files to understand the various features and functions of your computer.


9. Install only the programs and software that you really need or will use frequently. One of the most common causes of poor computer performance is when the hard drive gets so overloaded with software that it creates a data traffic jam and slows down operations.


10. Restart your computer on a regular basis to clear any temporary files, data caches, and other data storage locations. Often an issue with computer performance can be traced back to the fact that the user did not reboot after installing a new program.

If you want to learn more about using your computer and don't have hours to spend searching for information on the internet that may or may not be helpful, consider taking computer courses. You can often find basic computer use classes available at a variety of places such as a library, community center, or computer college, and they are usually fairly inexpensive.

Visit Oulton College for more information on other career paths like web design courses.

Valeria Stephens is a Copywriter at Higher Education Marketing, a leading Web marketing firm specializing in Google Analytics, Education Lead Generation, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Mobile SMS Alerts, Social Media Marketing and Pay Per Click Marketing, among other web marketing services and tools.
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Do We Really Need Surge Protection in Our Homes?

Do We Really Need Surge Protection in Our Homes?
By David W Christie

Is surge protection really a necessity in our homes and small businesses, or is it merely hype by manufacturers to sell their products? Some of us have probably never used any surge suppression products in our homes and never had any problems with damaged electronics equipment, and of course there are those that have. I personally think it is worth the small investment with 4 and 6 way economy surge strips retailing at $5-15.00. If you can find power strips without surge protection they probably wouldn't cost much less.

If you have expensive audio and video equipment permanently connected to the mains power supply then you might want to invest a little more money on better quality surge protection equipment, after all you may have invested many hundreds or thousands in the audio and video equipment, so a small investment to protect that equipment is surely worth it.
What are we actually protecting against? Well, nothing is perfect in this World and your electricity supply is no exception. With the best will in the world your electricity supplier cannot guarantee a perfectly smooth power supply and the system is very complicated. So we do get short voltage spikes from time to time, which are a momentary increase in voltage which sometimes can be significant. It is not just protection against surges in voltage but also reduction in voltage or a short dropout of the supply, which we refer to as brownouts. These could cause equipment to fail, or maybe even data to be lost, particularly on computer systems that don't have any kind of battery backup like most desktop computers. Fortunately most notebook computers do have a battery backup and the battery will immediately continue to supply power during brownouts and even longer periods of power loss. This will however not protect against potentially damaging voltage spikes. This is where surge limiting or surge protection devices come into their own.

So what does the surge protector actually do? The device is normally placed in the line between the electricity wall outlet and the electronic device it is designed to protect. It is even possible to protect such things as telephone or data lines with some of the devices simultaneously. Many things can be a cause of electrical fluctuation including Short Circuits, Complete power outages, Lightning strikes, tripping circuit breakers and unexpected fluctuations in the supply from your electricity supplier.

Even surge protection would probably not save equipment connected directly to the power supply, but residual surges from nearby strikes would normally be protected against. Power surges cause by problems within the electricity suppliers network are often in the order of several hundred volts, which should be comfortably dealt with by a quality surge protection device.

You will normally see a rating on the packaging of any device designed to protect against voltage spikes. This rating is usually quoted in Joules, where a Joule is a unit of energy. It describes how much energy can be absorbed when the surge protection device is brought into operation.
better the protection and typical ratings for surge suppression devices designed for the home should have ratings in the order of 200-600 Joules. Any device should have a rating of at least several hundred Joules, if not several thousand.

It is worth noting that surge protectors have a limited lifespan depending on how many times they have had to deal with a voltage spike, the peak voltage and the duration of spikes. It is not easy to gauge how long this will be, it depends on how reliable your electricity supply is. There are some devices that have a visual indication in the form of an LED that lets you know that your consumer or business devices are still fully protected. If you fail to see this indication then it is time to replace the unit.

So, are you fully protected? Do you think you really need it? Are you willing to take a chance. I suggest you make sure you have at least the basic protection just for that eventuality that you may need the protection.
This article on Surge Suppression was written by David Christie, MD at NSTUK Ltd, Website http://www.ipexpress.co.uk.
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