registry

Five state attorneys general have joined the opposition to Google's settlement with book authors and publishers, objecting to the way the settlement distributes unclaimed funds.

The attorneys general for Connecticut, Missouri, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Washington joined the chorus of opposition to the settlement this week, filing briefs with Judge Denny Chin of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York before the October 7 hearing to determine whether the settlement should be approved. The states involved are not pleased with the way the Books Rights Registry set up as part of the deal appears to … Read more

The just-signed Illinois law banning sex offenders from social-networking sites might seem like a good idea to protect children, but it will have virtually no impact on their safety and could wind up making things worse.

The law, which was signed Thursday by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, would prevent registered sex offenders in Illinois from using a social-networking service defined as an "Internet Web site containing profile Web pages...that include the names or nicknames of such members, photographs...or any other personal or personally identifying information."

The definition also includes "the ability to leave messages or … Read more

LogonExpert allows users to log on and off of their computers automatically at set times of day. The program is simple to use and features a high level of security versus other similar programs.

The program's interface is simple, consisting of four tabs: one to enter log-on information, one to set the schedule, one for security options, and one with information about the publisher (this is where we would expect to find the Help file, but there isn't one). Setting up the program is as simple as entering your Windows password and scheduling when you would like to … Read more

Free Window Registry Repair is a refreshingly simple tool for cleaning up your Windows Registry. It lacks the bells and whistles offered by some programs--such as special features for uninstalling programs or managing the Start menu--but thankfully so. This is a program that does something well and doesn't stray from that success.

The application's straightforward presentation and clear menu make this program appropriate for most users. The program opens to a window with very simple, step-by-step instructions. You can perform a full scan or select areas to examine. Scanning is quick, and the results list shows the data … Read more

Free Registry Cleaner has too many problems to be a good choice for anyone except those who prefer to clean their own registries key by key.

Visually, the interface is clean, if unexciting. The program offers a few other functions as well, but nothing that isn't already possible through the Control Panel, Task Manager, or other integrated Windows utilities. It defaults to a wizard interface that not easy to use. Initially, we thought the unpickable picklist was the worst it offered; when asked to select the areas to scan, we found that Ctrl-click did not work. Instead, we could … Read more

I split my work time about evenly between Windows XP and Vista. Let me tell you, I'll take Vista 99 days out of 100. Vista's safer than XP, it looks better than its predecessor, and it runs at least as fast as XP.

Performance has been a knock on Vista since the operating system was released, but there are some relatively simple ways to give Vista a little goose so it performs some common operations a tad faster. These five tips should shorten your workday:

Put an encrypt/decrypt option on your context menu If you frequently encrypt … Read more

Dealing with registry errors is never fun, but this back up and restore program helps you make sure you can quickly recover when things go wrong. Even if you wouldn't attempt to modify the registry, Mz Registry Backup makes it a snap to quickly restore your registry to an earlier backup if things go wrong when you install or uninstall a program.

Mz Registry Backup has a very simple interface that looks clean and professionally designed. Unlike some registry programs that overcomplicate the process, or those geared towards the expert user, this program makes the process easy enough for … Read more

Although its scans are effective, this bug cleaner is a real let down. Any problems found will have to be removed manually or with another program.

PC Bug Cleaner has a simple, functional interface that's easy for anyone to understand. Three action tabs offer all the options you'll need. The scan tab lets users choose which sections of the Registry to check for errors. A quick visit to the "select all" button is the easiest and safest option. Although it's not as fast as other scanners, this program is effective in its search. Users are … Read more

This comprehensive system utility keeps your computer at peak performance by offering tools to manage processes, hard-disk space, and even Registry entries. When put to the test, it gave a solid performance, but we found inconsistencies with its trial period and in the overall design.

Innovative SysPack's main user interface is very easy to navigate. The main window has six prominent buttons for managing different tasks. There is a system optimizer, task manager, disk cleaner, start-up firewall, and tools to manage drives and to uninstall programs. But we found that each feature contained a different user interface. Granted, each … Read more