Wednesday, May 9, 2007

Fine Tune Windows Registry

Version reviewed: 5.0

Sammsoft Advanced Registry Optimizer - clean and fix your computer registry problems now for top PC performance.

Some features:

Active X OLE COM Sections
User Software Settings
System Software Settings
Shared DLLs Section
Fonts Section
Invalid File Associations
Run Sections
Sound and Applets
Uninstall Section
Virtual Device Drivers and Services
Application Paths Section
Backup and Undo Functionality
Detailed date and time log for tracking what changes were made to the registry

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Nobody wants to have computer problems, especially when these can be avoided. The registry is the main cause for such problems as it stores all the system settings, the softwares that are installed, it retains the files and folders links. It practically is the core of your Windows and the better you take care of it, the smoother your operating system will run.

I read somewhere that taking care of your computer is just like taking care of your car. The comparison is pretty good, as both of them need constant care or they will fail to assist you to your tasks. The difference is that the computer is less costing to maintain in tip top shape if you buy the appropriate tools.

Manual cleaning your registry not knowing what you are doing is a really bad combination. Making the process automatic is a safer and quicker method. And nowadays, as everyone has a stronger knowledge about the registry and the detection engines are improved, embracing the automatic solution seems like a better idea.

The applications able to clean the registry of the invalid entries, obsolete data, leftovers from incomplete software uninstallation are growing in number and the only problem of the user is choosing the right one.

Advance Registry Optimizer is a $29.95 solution for the job. The demo version allows cleaning a limited number of 20 errors.

At the first launch of the application, it will take a snaphot of your registry. This is in fact a backup for your registry. In case something goes wrong (not necessarily because of the software) you can revert to that state and resume your work.

The interface, just like the entire application, is Vista ready and the soothing looks labels it as an eye-candy product. All the options are neatly arranged in the upper part of the application window leaving the user with nothing confusing and difficult to comprehend.

The Home page of the application contains one option and some information on the state of the scans performed on your PC. The option is One Click Optimization and it is designed to take care of your registry from head to toe. The actions taken by the software in this sense are scanning for errors, removing the invalid entries, optimizing and compacting your registry. But before all these are performed Advanced Registry optimizer will make a complete backup of the registry so that, just in case something does not go as it should, you can restore it to the original state.

Regarding the information presented
in this screen, the software will show the last registry scan time and date, the moment when the last backup of the registry has been performed (and its type – partial or complete) and the time and date of the last optimization.

Right before proceeding to the registry optimization process the application will warn you that the process will end with a computer restart for the changes to take effect. This way you will have time enough to save all your work before the restart.

Scan Registry menu does exactly what it sounds like it’s supposed to do: scans the registry part of your Windows. The process does not take long and just like in the case of One Click Optimization your computer will slug a little. During the scan, at the bottom of the window, there are the sections of the registry going to be checked and the number of errors found in each of them.

Advanced Registry Optimizer verifies ActiveX, application paths, file types associations, fonts area, help files, history lists, Start menu, invalid shortcuts, the Startup section etc. In case you want one of them to be skipped for various reasons, all you have to do is go to straight to the last tab in the menu bar (Settings) and check only the boxes for the areas you want to be scanned.

The optimization of the registry consists actually in defragmenting it. The more "gathered" the files, the better your system will work. The response times will get shorter and the general state of the PC will be improved. The free blocks between the hundreds of values and keys stored there do nothing but slow down your computer. The optimization process ends inevitably with an automatic computer restart.

In Backup Registry menu things are as simple as can be: you can instantly make a complete registry backup or restore it to a previous state. The operation takes very little time to complete. The application will backup your registry just as if you were exporting it directly from Windows' Registry Editor, so there is nothing to worry about regarding the reliability of the backup.

Settings menu, besides letting you choose the areas to be scanned, also provides the means to schedule an automatic cleaning process. The operation can be run once, every day at a user-defined time or every week at the user's choice of day(s) and time.

Regarding the accuracy of the scan and the elimination of the errors from the registry, the application does quite a job. The invalid entries detected did not conflict with valid software installed on the computer and in a couple of scans there were no errors reported on display.

The Good

Advanced Registry optimizer looks great and the interface fits perfectly with Vista environment. The scan was as accurate as the scan engine permitted and after a few scans, the registry was clean, the application no longer detecting errors and invalid entries.

The built in scheduler allows you to program the software to scan and clean the computer at a later time defined by the user.

One Click Optimization feature will do it all for you.

The Bad

Asking for a restart of the computer comes as a downside. There are applications that fulfill their job without requiring a restart.

The Truth

The software will not detect all the errors and registry invalids, but this is perfectly normal as there isn't yet an engine capable of dealing with all the areas of the registry and leaving it clean as a whistle.

My suggestion is to use several registry cleaners in the process just to eliminate as many errors and obsolete entries as possible.

Here are some snapshots of the application in action:

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BitTorrent Acceleration Patch 4.6.5.0

BitTorrent Acceleration Patch is an innovative plug-in for BitTorrent. Architecture of the program is designed to permit you downloads of MP3s, movies and other desired files at highest speed.

Bandwidth of your Internet connection is managed as efficiently as possible and BitTorrent Acceleration Patch will help you find more sources to download.BitTorrent Acceleration Patch is a BitTorrent plug-in that allows you to download MP3s and movies.

Here are some key features of "BitTorrent Acceleration Patch":

· Automatically resumes paused downloads;
· Configuration from last run is saved and auto loads on start-up;
· Clean and free, without any adware or spyware;
· Finished and wrong files are cleaned automatically;
· Finds more sources at user-specified intervals;
· Interface is easy to use and good-looking;
· Interface is easy operable by a system tray icon.

Requirements:

· BitTorrent installed;
· Internet connection.

This is the free standard version of the program which can be upgraded to the feature-rich version by pressing the Buy now button.

What's New in This Release:

· Performance enhancements and some bug fixes.... [ read full changelog ]

Softpedia guarantees that BitTorrent Acceleration Patch 4.6.5.0 is 100% CLEAN, which means it does not contain any form of malware, including but not limited to: spyware, viruses, trojans and backdoors.

This software product was tested thoroughly and was found absolutely clean, therefore it can be installed with no concern by any computer user.However, it should be noted that this product will be retested periodically and the award may be withdrawn, so you should check back on this page from time to time.

BitTorrent Acceleration Patch Download
BitTorrent Acceleration Patch Screenshots

PowerISO 3.7


PowerISO is a software that helps you to convert, encrypt and mount DVD image files.

PowerISO is a powerful CD image file processing and file compression tool, which allows you to create, extract, compress, edit and convert ISO/BIN image files, and mount these files with internal virtual drive.

And most of all, the compressed files can be used directly without decompressing.

PowerISO supports shell integration, such as context menu, Drag and Drop, clipboard...

With PowerISO you can:
· Open and extract ISO File.
· Create ISO file from hard disk files or CD/DVD-ROM.
· Edit an existing ISO file directly.
· Convert image files between ISO/BIN and other formats. PowerISO can convert almost all image file formats to a standard ISO format file.
· Make bootable ISO file, get boot information from bootable ISO file.
· Make floppy disk image file.
· Optimize files to save disk space while saving ISO file.
· Mount ISO file with internal virtual drive. You don't need install any other virtual drive software.
· Compress, encrypt or split image file. DAA(Direct-Access-Archive) is an advanced format for image file, which supports some advanced features, such as compression, password protection, and splitting to multiple volumes

Here are some key features of "PowerISO":

· Process ISO/BIN image files, make bootable CD image file.
· Mount image file with internal virtual drive, and then use the file without extracting it.
· Compress files and folders to a compressed archive. PowerISO will scan and optimize the files during compression, and thus can have better compression ratio and faster compression speed.
· Split the compressed archive into multiple volumes.
· Protect the compressed archive with a password.
· Use the compressed archive directly without decompressing. PowerISO virtual drive can mount the compressed archive directly.


Requirements:

· Note: The internal virtual drive needs Windows2000/XP/2003 or above.
· Intel Pentium 166MHz or above.
· 64MB memory.
· At least 10MB hard disk space.

Limitations:

· Can only create or edit the image file which does not exceed the size of 300M

What's New in This Release:

· Supports on-the-fly burning.
· Can edit and burn Audio CD image file.
· Supports multiple languages.
· Supports command-line parameters.
· Supports Windows XP 64-bit Edition and Vista(32-bit).... [ read full changelog ]

Softpedia guarantees that PowerISO 3.7 is 100% CLEAN, which means it does not contain any form of malware, including but not limited to: spyware, viruses, trojans and backdoors.

This software product was tested thoroughly and was found absolutely clean, therefore it can be installed with no concern by any computer user.However, it should be noted that this product will be retested periodically and the award may be withdrawn, so you should check back on this page from time to time.

PowerISO Download
PowerISO Screenshots
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Yahoo to Migrate Photos Users to Flickr


Yahoo is planning to shut down its photos site in favor of Flickr, the popular photo sharing site the company bought in March 2005, News.com and Techcrunch reported on Friday.
The move is likely aimed at consolidating the Internet company's web properties, something senior vice president Brad Garlinghouse has made a priority for the company to address after he clamed Yahoo was "spread too thin last year."
Users of the original site will gradually be migrated to Flickr over the next several months, and will have the option to transfer their pictures to that site or choose to export them to either Shutterfly or the Kodak Gallery. Yahoo Photos is the largest photo-sharing site on the net, with about 2 billion photos. This is four times the size of Flickr, although the social photo site has been growing much faster than Yahoo Photos in recent months.
Some Comments: 1/ The new and improved yahoo photo's is pretty nice actually. After all the development time and effort I can't believe they are going to ditch it just like that. I tried flickr and I personally don't care for it, I did like yahoo photos though. I guess the storage network to maintain a unlimited quota for pictures is just not worth it to them. Not when they are losing their shirt against google. Gotta save money somewhere right. 2/ Interesting. I'm not sure that the userbase of Flickr is quite the same as it would be for Yahoo! Photos. But I do agree with what was said last year that Yahoo! is spread too thin.

YouTube Starts Paying a Few Contributors!


Some of the site's most popular content creators can start earning revenue from videos they post.Nancy Gohring, IDG News ServiceYouTube is allowing some of its most popular content creators to start earning revenue from videos they post on the site.
"Up until now there's been a distinction between the content you create and the content created by YouTube's professional content partners," reads a May 3 post on the YouTube blog. The site, owned by Google, has deals with content producers such as the National Basketball Association and the British Broadcasting Corporation in which the site shares advertising revenue with those content providers. By contrast, individuals who upload videos on the site don't share ad revenue with YouTube.
To remove that distinction, YouTube chose some popular contributors to the video sharing site--including individuals who go by the names LisaNova, renetto, HappySlip, smosh, and valsartdiary--to become YouTube partners, sharing in the same revenue and promotional opportunities that are available to its professional content partners.
YouTube chose the participants based on their popularity and said that because they consistently draw viewers, their content has become attractive to advertisers.
The content creators will be able to select videos that they want to monetize. Once they've made a selection, YouTube will place advertisements next to the content "so participating user-partners can reap the rewards from their work," according to the post.
YouTube did not say what percentage of the revenue it will share with the content producers.
The deal is available only to the producers that YouTube chooses, but other content creators can contact YouTube to express interest in the program. YouTube didn't indicate how many participants it has chosen or if it plans to expand the program.
Some YouTube fans who added comments to the blog posting complained that only a limited number of content creators were invited to participate. Other commenters, however, said they were excited about the change. Many also asked how to find the partnership lead form, referenced in the post, where they could indicate their interest in the program.
In a video posted on YouTube in January, Chad Hurley, one of the site's founders, said the company was working on a way to share revenue with content makers. He said the site wanted to build a solid user base before doing so, because otherwise users would flock to other companies that might offer more money.