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System Restore

Microsoft® Windows XP has a very useful feature called System Restore. It backups all the data in the drives of the hard disk periodically. Then, whenever the drives crashes or develops a severe problem, System Restore reverts the drive back to a previous date when the drive was working. Hence, it is a very useful tool. But, it takes its toll on the hard drive space . And if you have low disk space, (ie. less than 20 GB) then System Restore can decrease your PC's performance. So, if you have low disk space, then its recommended to turn off System Restore. (Note : If you do not have backups of your data or if your data is very important, do NOT turn off System Restore or decrease the disk space alloted to it!) To turn off System Restore follow the following steps :

1) Click on Start.
2) Right-click on 'My Computer' & click on Properties.


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3) Click on the System Restore tab.
4) Put a Check alongside 'Turn off System Restore on all drives'.


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This will turn off System Restore. To reduce the disk space alloted to System Restore, follow the first three steps given above. Then, click on a drive & click on Settings . You can then reduce the alloted disk space for that particular drive.


Note : Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.


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Protect your PC from Spywares

Spywares are little tools which spy over the activities of the user on the PC & send this information to various third-party sites & companies. Through this, they can collect important confidential information like passwords & credit card information too. They can also disrupt the PC performance. Therefore, one has to maintain adequate security for the removal of spywares & shielding the PC from them.

In addition to maintaining the internet security, it is essential to have a powerful spyware removal tool too. Spybot Search & Destroy is a very good spyware removal tool. Download it from the given link. After installation, open the program. It has a very simple user interface. To scan the computer for spyware :

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1) Click on the 'Check for Problems' button.

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2) Spybot will then start scanning your computer for spyware.

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3) After the scan finishes, click on 'Fix selected Problems' to remove all the problems.
Note : All the problems will be checked by default. If you don't wish to remove a particular problem, uncheck it. You can also click on any problem to see its details.

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And, To immunize the computer from many bad products, click on the Immunize tab on the left hand side. Then, click on Immunize.

Alternatively, you can also use Ad-Aware to remove spyware from your computer.


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Browse the Internet safely

Use a Firewall : A firewall is a software that forbids unauthorized access to & from your computer through the Internet. It is one of the first security precautions that you should follow. I would recommend you to use ZoneAlarm which is a free, powerful yet simple tool (Download it from here) It is a very popular & effective firewall. It automatically blocks unauthorized access to your computer by outsiders. Also, whenever a software tries to access the Internet, ZoneAlarm asks us whether or to allow it to use the Internet or not.

Use Mozilla Firefox : One of the most important precaution while browsing the net is to use a secure internet browser. Mozilla Firefox is a quick, free & powerful internet browser. It is considered as one of the most secure browsers on the Internet.

Use the NoScript extension with Mozilla Firefox : Install the NoScript extension for Firefox from the link. Whenever a website is visited, it blocks all Flash & Java files (which can contain spyware) from running through Firefox & a 'Scripts currently disabled' message appears. We can also specify certain sites to be allowed Flash & Java content. For this, visit the particular site. Then, click on Options on the right hand side of the 'Scripts currently disabled' message, & then click on Allow 'Website name' .

Use McAfee Site Advisor : McAfee Site Advisor is a very good free software through which we can know whether the site that we are visiting is safe or not. Download it from the given link. Whenever a site is visited, the McAfee Site Advisor tab at the bottom of the screen shows either a red, yellow or green colour representing a dangerous, neutral or safe site respectively. On clicking on the tab, a webpage from the Site Advisor website loads showing the safety details of the site. Thus, it is a very useful tool.


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Useful link : PC Pitstop

The modern computer is a wonderful tool that is immensely useful to the human society. But, being complex, there can be a number of problems associated with it too. It is very difficult for the PC beginner to find out the exact reasons for decreased PC performance. That's where PC diagnostic softwares come in.

PC Pitstop is a popular PC diagnostic website which provides a comprehensive PC diagnosis. It is advisable to carry out the 'Full PC Tune-up' test from the website (Note : This will only work in Internet Explorer). It will take some time, depending on the type of computer used. After the test finishes, you will be provided with a detailed report with a list of the problems present on the PC, along with the magnitude of risk associated with each of them. To know the exact steps to solve a particular problem, click on the concerned problem & a detailed technique will be given to you to solve the problem.


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RSS

Given below are the articles written on RSS :

Meaning of RSS
Adding an RSS feed in Mozilla Firefox


Subscribe to PC Beginners by E-mail

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How do I sign-up for this service?

1. Enter your email address in the above form & click on Subscribe.

2. A pop-up window will open & you will be asked to verify your Subscription request. Type in the letters of the picture that will be given to you & click on 'Complete Subscription request'.

3. You will then be sent an e-mail to the e-mail ID that you have entered to complete your subscription. Follow the instructions in the e-mail.

4. This is the way by which you can subscribe to PC Beginners by e-mail.


Information


File Formats :



Basics :

● Basic must-know keyboard shortcuts



Internet





Interesting Web-sites :


Security

With the rapid increases in the usage of the Internet, the number of hackers, spammers, etc. on the Internet are on a rise too. Such unscrupulous people can extract information related to your credit card, passwords, Internet usage, etc. from your computer, thus harming your privacy to a big extent. Therefore, securing your PC from Internet threats becomes very essential. Also, there are spywares & viruses which can enter your PC from various sources like the Internet, CDs, etc. Your PC must be well-secured against these too.

So, here are the various articles posted on this blog regarding Security :

Beware of unsolicited e-mails

Analyze the EULA of softwares to make sure that the software is secure

Protect your PC from Spywares

Browse the Internet safely

Protect your Keystrokes


File Extensions

Due to the increasing number of companies in the IT sectors & the use of different kinds of data, a lot of file formats, with different extensions have been invented. Remembering all the file extensions can be perplexing for the PC Beginner. So, these are the articles explaining the file formats generally used :




Cut, Copy & Paste

The articles on the basic feature of Cut, Copy & Paste are listed below :


Using Softwares

Given below are the articles on using various softwares for different purposes :

Eulalyzer
Analyze an EULA

Spybot Search & Destroy
Scanning the PC for spywares

AusLogics Disk Defrag
De-fragmenting a disk drive

AusLogics Registry Defrag
De-fragmenting the registry

Fire Tune
Optimizing Mozilla Firefox

Windows Task Manager
Using the Windows Task Manager

Flashgot
Associating Flashget with Mozilla Firefox


Do more with your Windows






Need of Disk defragmentation

The PCs of the current age are very quick & flexible. They can perform various functions efficiently. But after using the PC for a long time, its performance gradually starts declining. One of the many reasons of it is fragmentation of data.

Fragments of data are pieces of data that are scattered in different areas of the hard drive. The processor takes a much longer time while dealing with fragmented data as compared to defragmented data. Fragmentation of data is caused due to the adding/deleting of files from your hard drive. It is thus, unavoidable.

So, defragmentation of data is essential to maintain the performance of your PC. There are many applications available on the Internet for this purpose. One of the most powerful & simple tools for disk defragmentation is >Auslogics Disk Defrag (which is free). To learn how to use it, visit the Using AusLogics Disk Defrag page.


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Disclaimer

By reading or viewing this blog, you agree that this is an information-based blog. The author of this blog does not guarantee the accuracy of this blog. The opinions given here are solely that of the author which may or may not be true. The author should not be held liable for any damage done to you or your PC, either directly or indirectly, by following the information given in this blog. Any links given to external websites are not related with the author of this blog in any way. You will use the external websites at your own risk. The content of this page may change without notice.


Privacy Policy

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We collect such information to improve the quality of the blog posts, customize the layout, etc to suit the needs of the visitors. This information is not viewed by anyone other than the author of this blog & will not be shared to anyone else. The content of this page may change without notice.

Copyright Infringement :

I always take utmost care in making sure that no copyright is infringed in my blogs. However, if any copyright is infringed, then please contact me immediately. Thanks!


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These third-party ad servers or ad networks use technology to send the advertisements and links that appear on PC Beginners (http://pcbeginners.blogspot.com) directly to your browsers. They automatically receive your IP address when this occurs. Other technologies (such as cookies, JavaScript, or Web Beacons) may also be used by the third-party ad networks to measure the effectiveness of their advertisements and / or to personalize the advertising content that you see.

PC Beginners (http://pcbeginners.blogspot.com) uses third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our website. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address, or telephone number) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.

In particular, Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on this blog. Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and other sites on the Internet. Users may opt out of the use of the DART cookie by visiting the Google ad and content network privacy policy.

PC Beginners (http://pcbeginners.blogspot.com) has no access to or control over these cookies that are used by third-party advertisers.
To try and bring you offers that are of interest to you, we have relationships with other companies that we allow to place ads on our Web pages. As a result of your visit to our site, ad server companies may collect information such as your domain type, your IP address and clickstream information. For further information, you should consult the respective privacy policies of these third-party ad servers for more detailed information on their practices as well as for instructions about how to opt-out of certain practices. PC Beginner 's privacy policy does not apply to, and we cannot control the activities of, such other advertisers or web sites.

If you wish to disable cookies, you may do so through your individual browser options. More detailed information about cookie management with specific web browsers can be found at the browsers' respective websites.


Welcome!

Hello! Welcome to my blog. Here, I will publish some useful tips for your PC from time to time. This blog is meant for everyone, but it is mainly for those people who have little experience with computers. I am sure that your stay on this site will be a pleasant one! All comments & suggestions for this blog are welcome at pcbeginners@rediffmail.com


Speeding up your PC

The PCs of the current age are very quick & flexible. They can perform various functions efficiently. But after using the PC for a long time, its performance gradually starts declining. There are several causes of such a change. It can be difficult to know the exact causes of it. But there are some causes which are generally common with all the PC users. So, here are some tips on improving the speed of your PC., along with the causes of speed reduction.

Note : Click on a tip to view its details, like how & why the tip should be followed.

Keep the disk drives defragmented

Keep your registry defragmented

Turn off visual effects to boost your PC performance

Decrease the number of applications on the Startup List

Turn off System Restore

Optimize the Registry


Contact Me


Playing Videos

With the increasing storage spaces & the introduction of YouTube, Videos have become increasingly popular with the current generation. But, the extensions & codecs of videos have become increasingly diversified as well. So, playing videos can become slightly tricky. Here is a list of the articles posted for help in playing Videos :



Download a good video codec pack.
List of Video Extensions/Formats.


Search Results




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Hello! Welcome to PC Beginners. Here, some useful tips for your PC will be given. This blog is meant for everyone, but it is mainly for those people who have little experience with computers. I am sure that your stay on this site will be a pleasant one!



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