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Filed under: Security, Utilities, Windows, Freeware

Winpatrol Puts You in Control of System Processes


Knowing what's going on inside your OS is critical to keeping it running smoothly. Sure, task manager and msconfig are built-in to Windows, but they're pretty minimalistic. For something with a little more punch, give Winpatrol a shot - we first looked at it in 2005, and it's bigger and better than ever.

Winpatrol offers a software "Swiss-army knife" of features for protecting and tuning your Windows system. Scotty (the app's mascot) keeps a watchful eye on process, services, startup programs, IE helpers, lmhosts, and a slew of others. It'll even lock your file associations and alert you to attempted changes to your hosts file. If you're interested in paying for the plus version, you'll get more detailed information on processes and tasks via a connection to an online database.

You can also use Winpatrol to help speed your Windows boot time a la msconfig - but not just by enabling and removing unwated startups. You can move and startup item to a delayed group, which allows apps that you want to give priority a little more elbow room when you boot your rig.

Anyone who's looking for tighter control over Windows performance or who wants a little extra virus or malware protection would do well to download Winpatrol. Scotty's definitely a nice addition to any Windows (32 and 64-bit) perimeter defense.

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

MSConfig Cleanup cleans the cobwebs out of Windows startup

MSConfig Cleanup
If you've ever used the Windows utility MSConfig to remove your Windows startup menus, you've probably noticed that the applications aren't really gone. They're just disabled. You could go and delete them using a registry editor or a more powerful tool like AutoRuns. Or you could permanently delete entries using MSConfig Cleanup.

Here's how it works. You bring up MSConfig by clicking on "Run" in your Windows Start Menu. Navigate to the "Startup" tab and unselect any applications you don't want to run when Windows loads.

Then fire up MSConfig Cleanup and you should see a list of disabled programs. Check the boxes next to the ones you want to permanently remove, and click "Clean Up Selected." Honestly, we're not 100% certain why you'd want to use MSConfig and MSConfig Cleanup instead of AutoRuns, but if you've already disabled a bunch of programs using MSConfig, this free utility could provide a fast way to make your changes permanent.

[via gHacks]

Filed under: Business, Internet, Security, Utilities, Windows, Microsoft, Freeware

Hijack This jacks up browser hijackers

Hijack This
You may have heard of Hijack This circulating the net, and no it isn't the song where Madonna is screaming expletives at listeners for "illegally" downloading her latest single. Hijack This is a browser-hijacker-killing app that is Windows MSCONFIG on steroids, with lots of espresso and a case of Mountain Dew. Hijack This will x-nay any listing in the group of registry keys that run when your computer starts, with a special emphasis on the browser Hijacking apps that hide there. This registry key section, "RunOnce" is also what feeds the MSCONFIG app (part of Windows XP) but Hijack This digs a bit deeper, and gives a lot more info than MSCONFIG does, not to mention searched in other areas that MSCONFIG does not cover. Hijack This will promptly handle anything you can't and won't find in MSCONFIG. IT techies and system admins use this, and for good reasons. Beware though, Hijack This will trash anything you tell it to, but it cares not for things you actually need to start your PC, so be careful. I wouldn't leave this program lying around where the newbies lurk, it could be dangerous. That's my kind of software.

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The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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