Windows Tools, Help & Guides

It being summer and all I thought I’d come up with something fun to be working on, while I sit indoors, waiting for the sun to come back on(line). A while back I was working on a design for some company diplomas, and I wanted a special font to use when typing the participant name(s), making it look handwritten.

I found a site that offers to convert your own handwritten letters to a usable TrueType Font. This site used to be free, but now they charge you $10 to actually download the finished font ($14,95 if you create a 200 character font). But if you really like to have your own unique typeface it might be worth the price. So if you’re an aspiring font creator or simply want a special font unlike any other, here’s how…

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Hardware is by far the ugliest part of a computer because information on this subject is obscure and difficult to find.

For example, imagine you need to know what kind of RAM is installed or whether or not you have free slots on your motherboard: you’ll have a hard time finding an upgrade. You need a free slot to install new RAM, and you may need to use the same type of RAM on all slots.

Windows has an information tool, to see it press WinKey + R, type msinfo32.exe and press Enter. But the information is not exactly what you are looking for.

The device manager also has a lot of good information but sometimes you may need something more sophisticated.

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The problems you must face using an Antivirus are not always obvious. By not properly uninstalling an antivirus programs, you can experience system instabilities.

It is not unusual that you find problems when installing a new antivirus program due to traces of the older one.

The first choice you should use is the uninstaller that comes with the software. But if something happens on the process the following list can solve your problems:

Panda

Panda has created an uninstall program for every product, so select the proper one:

Panda Antivirus, Firewall 2007 Uninstall Utility

Panda Antivirus, Firewall 2008 Uninstall Utility

Panda Antivirus, Firewall 2009 Uninstall Utility

Panda Antivirus, Firewall 2010 Uninstall Utility

Kaspersky

Removal Tool for Kaspersky Lab Products

This removal tool can uninstall all versions of Kaspersky Antivirus and Internet Security but under 64 bit operating systems versions 6 and 7 of the products.

Norton

For reasons that I don’t understand, Norton Antivirus leaves a lot of  traces even if you uninstall it using the default uninstaller.

Norton Removal Tool

F-secure

F-secure has created an extensive page about how to removal its antivirus:

Advanced F-Secure product removal

There is an uninstaller tool but F-secure only recommends it as a last resort.

Bitdefender

Bitdefender Uninstall Tool

Avg

Avg Remover

Avast

Avast Uninstall Utility

McAffe

How to uninstall or reinstall supported McAfee consumer products using the McAfee Consumer Products Removal tool

Which program did we miss? Now you’ve removed your bloated AV software, check out the free Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE).

You are lucky, you know that right ? You got us over here telling you about all kinds of wonderful software that can brighten your day, or help you out in some manner. Most of which are free of charge. It can be tough remembering all the great software you’ve read about in the last 6 months and if you’re new to this place – you may have missed out on something. As you know we also host competitions on our site. Competitions that let you talk directly to software developers. Giving them your ideas and suggestions. But do they follow through ? Are they actually listening and are they implementing your ideas in their work ?

I decided to contact some of the developers we’ve reviewed in the last 6 months, asking them. Here is what they told me

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When you get to that point in time, when you decide to upgrade or re-install Windows.  Are you sure you have all the old Drivers or install disks lying around still ? Windows does recognize most devices available today, but not always. What do you do when it fails, and your driver installation disks are nowhere to be found ? Another issue to consider is that your device driver may have been outdated, making the old installers disk obsolete. This does by all means not only apply to older systems but may also apply to your brand new hardware.

If you want to stay ahead of this possible future problem, there is a great solution available:

Driver Magician v.3.5

Driver Magician offers a professional solution for device drivers backup, restoration, update and removal in Windows operating system.

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Personally, I don’t see the point in upgrading your hardware if your computer does everything you need it to. However, sometimes it’s nice to improve what you already have. In this guide we will learn how to make the most out of the hardware you have and make Windows Vista run faster. (Here’s a similar list for Windows XP and for Windows 7.)

I highly recommend you create  a system restore point before you follow this guide.

Note: There is a lot of crossover with this guide and the guide to extend laptop battery life; some of the procedures, listed below, will help save power.

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