Windows Tools, Help & Guides

We like using Sysinternals tools here at Windows Guides; these tools bring core Windows functions together and help you administer to your systems more easily.

In this guide, we’ll cover the basics:

1. What are the Sysinternals tools?
2. How to download and run these tools on your PC
3. Where can I learn more about these tools?

We have all done it, from time to time; accidentally deleted a file we thought we didn’t need, or a file that ended up as collateral damage in a file deleting frenzy. The good news when you delete a file is that it is not actually lost forever, it’s just marked as “over-write-able”. And even if Windows should happen to overwrite your file it may be recovered.

There are literally hundreds of programs out there, promising to UNdelete or recover your lost files, some of which actually work. Usually its the ones you have to buy that gets it right. There is however a free option if you are using Windows 7 (and Vista).

Previous Version Tool

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If you’re making a change to your PC like installing new software, theming your desktop, or making registry and other software edits, you should create a system restore point. This will help you roll back any changes you’ve made if it all goes wrong or if you decide you don’t like the changes you’ve made and want a quick fix.

This guide will show you how to create a restore point in Windows 7. Here are guides for Windows XP and Vista:

• Create a System Restore Point in Windows XP
• Create a System Restore Point in Windows Vista

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Device drivers act as an interface (or communication channel) between your operating system and your hardware. To learn more about drivers, read computer drivers: the basics.

It’s important to keep your drivers updated to take advantage of code fixes, reliability improvements, and security; Intel have made it even easier to keep your drivers up to date with the Intel Driver Update Utility.

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While Windows updates can be a pain and dealing with issues can be even more painful, Windows updates are essential to running a secure and reliable PC. Due to the vast popularity of Windows, there are many people trying to find vulnerabilities all the time. When you purchase your copy of Windows, you’re not just getting what’s stored on the disc or OEM PC you just purchased; you’re signed up for many years of support from Microsoft via Windows Update.

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In this guest post, James Ricketts discusses how deal with computer uninstall errors. Find out more about James at the end of this post.

Uninstalling applications is never as seamless a process as installing them. Although Windows PCs come with a built-in utility, the Add or Remove Programs utility, that allows users to easily uninstall various applications and software, it usually fails to do the required job when you need to uninstall certain applications, such as McAfee Antivirus suite or DirectX.

Incomplete uninstallation may cause errors and complications on the system. Leftover processes of a previously installed program may interfere with other running processes and cause application errors, as well as performance related issues, such as frequent software crashes and system slow downs. This is why it is absolutely essential that when you remove a program you ensure that all its associated processes, files, and registry entries are also permanently deleted.

With the help of two examples, McAfee antivirus suite and DirectX we discuss how to uninstall programs that may not get completely removed using the Add or Remove Programs utility.

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