The first thing I saw when I booted my PC yesterday evening was a notice that Google had prevented my default search setting from being changed. I certainly didn't want to switch from searching via Google by default. I hadn't even been considering a search change, regardless of Bing's pretty wallpaper.
The Google Toolbar prevented Windows Search from changing my default search setting without my permission.
(Credit: Google)To find out what program was trying to change my search default, I opened Vista's Event Viewer by pressing the Windows key, typing event viewer, and pressing Enter. I clicked Application in the left pane and scrolled to the approximate time the warning popped up. It took all of about two seconds to realize that Windows Search Service attempted to change my search default.
Vista's Event Viewer identified the Windows Search Service as the likely source of the attempt to change my search default.
(Credit: Microsoft)Well, I can't prove it based solely on the Event Viewer logs, but it's safe to say the search service is the prime suspect. I was relieved that Google prevented the change, but I couldn't recall asking the company to do so. I found the alert setting in the options of the Google Toolbar in Internet Explorer.
The Search tab in the Google Toolbar options lets you generate an alert whenever a program attempts to change your default search setting.
(Credit: Google)Ironically, I couldn't find a comparable setting in the latest version (5.0.20090324) of the Google Toolbar for Firefox, which is my default browser.
The Google Toolbar for Firefox lacks a setting that generates an alert and prevents programs when they attempt to change your default search setting.
(Credit: Google)Should you find your search default has been changed unexpectedly, resetting it is a breeze. In Firefox, type about:config in the address bar and press Enter. Browse to and double-click browser.search.defaultenginename. Type the name of any search service listed on the search drop-down menu and press OK.
To add a search engine to the list, click Manage Search Engines and then Get more search engines. Download your engine of choice and restart Firefox to see it among the search options on the menu.
To make the same change in Internet Explorer 8, click the down arrow to the right of the search box and choose Manage Search Providers. Make your selection and choose Set as default. Or choose Find More Providers, pick a search service, and click Add to Internet Explorer to broaden your IE search options.
To change your search default in Google's Chrome browser, click the wrench icon in the top-right corner, choose Options, and make your selection in the "Default search" drop-down menu near the bottom of the Basics tab. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to add search providers to Chrome's list, though you may see more options by clicking Manage, choosing one of the services listed, and clicking Add.
"I am elated with the results of the Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services' Fix it. Have you ever run across this service? After 8+ months without a CD/DVD player—and weekly efforts to remedy the situation—I googled my problem once again and this time came up with a link to MATS.
"After several tries (not compatible with Firefox, open Internet Explorer, won't download, try again later) finally it loaded onto my computer and gave me some options to check off. Within 5 minutes, my CD/DVD was humming again."
Microsoft announced MATS last month. The service requires the PowerShell utility and uses an ActiveX control that it downloads to your system, so as my friend John noted, it works only with Internet Explorer. On the Operations Manager Support Team blog, Microsoft Manageability Knowledge Engineer J.C. Hornbeck outlines the troubleshooting steps MATS takes.
At present, there are only six automatic fixes offered by the service in three categories: "Appearance and personalization," "Hardware and sound," and "Print." You might think that's pretty slim pickings when you consider the range of PC problems, but if your PC's malady has been as thorny as my friend John's balky CD/DVD drive, MATS is worth a try.
Recently, my Vista notebook has been popping up an error message about not finding a Bluetooth driver when it boots. I don't use any Bluetooth devices, so I haven't worried about it. But I thought that was a good enough excuse to take MATS out for a test drive.
It took several minutes for the PowerShell and ActiveX control to download and install, after which I was presented with two options: identify and fix problems automatically, or detect them and let me decide what to fix.
The Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services' Fix it feature lets you find and repair Vista problems.
(Credit: Microsoft)I chose to detect but don't fix because I wasn't convinced there was really a problem. The only thing the scan came up with was the possibility that recent hardware changes hadn't been detected.
Review fixes MATS detects before beginning the repair.
(Credit: Microsoft)The resulting "Troubleshooting is complete" screen was ambiguous in this instance. It indicated that the issue of hardware changes not being detected was "Detected," according to the "Fix status." I assume that means the issue was detected, not the hardware changes themselves, but I'm not sure.
The result shown in the "Troubleshooting is complete" screen is ambiguous for this test.
(Credit: Microsoft)Before the troubleshooter closed, it offered three resources for further research into my problem: search Microsoft Answers communities, search Microsoft Help and Support, or open a Microsoft support request, which would send the test results to a "support professional." I chose to leave well enough alone.
MATS gives you three options for further research into your problem before closing.
(Credit: Microsoft)I wouldn't hazard a guess at the odds of your particular Vista problem being addressed by one of MATS' automatic fixes, but running MATS beats a call to a "support professional" by a country mile.
One of the knocks against Google's online applications is that your personal data is stored unencrypted on the company's servers. For the many users of Google apps who are unconcerned about somebody snooping around their files, this won't matter. But those servers are no place to store sensitive personal or business information.
You can store your financial and other confidential information online for free by using a service such as Mozy or IDrive that encrypts the data on their servers, usually in a way that prevents the service's own employees from decrypting it. I looked at three services that include encrypted online storage along with other security services.
SpiderOak gives you up to 2GB of secure online storage for free but requires that you download a big client program, though you can access your data via a browser. The free storage offered by CryptoHeaven and SwissDisk top out at 50MB, but both of these services have more to offer, and SwissDisk doesn't even require a client download.
Free encrypted storage with room to spare
Secure online storage is only one of the features of the SpiderOak service, but the site's 2GB of encrypted-file capacity is difficult to ignore. You can also sync and share folders between multiple Windows, Mac, and Linux PCs. The service is designed primarily for backup but also lets you access your online files from any Internet-connected system.
SpiderOak claims to provide fault-tolerant servers to guard against data loss and also keeps old versions of your files to assist in recovery. The service uses a combination of 2048-byte RSA and 256-bit AES encryption. It also encrypts the keys you use to access the data so the company itself can't access your data.
The SpiderOak client program lets you view and access your online files.
(Credit: SpiderOak)The SpiderOak client program crashed when I attempted to transfer a single 1MB JPEG file. The software is a real throwback, and the reason I prefer an online service. In testing, I was prompted to download a 12MB update of the SpiderOak app. When I restarted, the program automatically updated the 257MB of data I had backed up previously.
It took more than an hour to transfer 257MB of data to the SpiderOak server. Subsequent syncs and single-file transfers went much quicker, but using the program feels like you're plodding through the settings and folder tree. If 2GB of storage space isn't enough, you can buy 100GB increments for $10 a month or $100 a year.
Secure more than files
Online file encryption is only one component of the security services CryptoHeaven offers a workgroup. You can also send and receive e-mail and IM securely by inviting people to communicate with you; for an added fee, the company will also host your domain to give your encrypted communications a personal touch.
The free service lets you store up to only 40MB, but that's expandable up to 50GB for prices starting at $7.99 a month or $66 a year for 200MB. Personal accounts come with up to five e-mail addresses, and business accounts offer up to 12 addresses.
Passwords are optional for the CryptoHeaven secure online file storage, e-mail, and IM service.
(Credit: CryptoHeaven)After you download the 8.4MB CryptoHeaven client program, the installation routine asks whether you want to password-protect the account and use a password hint. Business plans let you create and manage accounts, including assigning passphrases and setting permissions.
The company promises that no one can access your data but you via its "AES encryption with 256-bit symmetric key as well as public-key cryptography with 2048-4096-bit keys." Sounds secure enough for my needs.
The quick-and-easy approach to secure online storage
There's something to be said for the multifunction approaches taken by such security services as SpiderOak and CryptoHeaven. But there's a time and place for specialists as well. The SwissDisk service offers 50MB of secure online storage as a "gift" but charges from $3 a month for a Mobility service to $12 a month for a personal account that includes access to your data from Windows Explorer or Mac Finder.
After you sign up for your free account, you simply log in the SwissDisk site, browse to the files or folders you want to upload, and click Upload. My test 1MB JPEG file uploaded in about five seconds. You can download, delete, rename, or create a temporary URL for your online files. Simple and straightforward.
Storing files securely online couldn't be simpler than with the free SwissDisk service.
(Credit: SwissDisk)The only downside of the SwissDisk service is that you have to provide a telephone number and mailing address in addition to an e-mail address to sign up for a free account. Considering that the data and transmission lines are protected by 256-bit AES encryption and the SwissDisk servers "certified Hacker Safe," I'd say my files are safer online than they are on my own PC.
A reader named Eric found himself locked out of his Vista administrator accounts:
"Somehow, my account and my son's accounts were downgraded to standard user on his new computer using Vista Home 32-bit. I cannot seem to log in to make any changes to the accounts now. It prompts me to enter a password but no password box is available to type it in. How can I log in to change my account back to administrator?"
In a post last year, I described how to enable Vista's hidden administrator account and password-protect XP's default administrator account. Of course, this tip works only if you use it before you actually need it because it requires administrator privileges.
I found another approach described by Microsoft MVP Ronnie Vernon on the Soft32 forum. Here it is in a nutshell:
• Restart your PC and press F8 repeatedly before Windows loads to open Vista's Advanced Boot Options screen.
• Use the arrow keys to select Safe Mode and press Enter.
• On the low-res Windows Welcome screen, choose the Administrator account, which by default has no password.
• click Start > Control Panel > User Accounts and either change your standard account to an administrator one or create a new administrator account.
Choose Safe Mode on the Vista Advanced Boot Options menu to restore or create an administrator account.
(Credit: Bert Kinney)When you restart the machine normally, you'll have access to the administrator account you just restored or created. (Note that I wasn't able to verify this tip because I'm not willing to risk losing the administrator accounts on my Vista PC just to test it.)
Gmail encrypts transmissions, not messages
Another reader named Ian contacted me about some misinformation in a post from last month entitled "Five simple PC security tips":
"In this article, you refer to 'encrypting Gmail' where you urge people to turn on the https: feature when using Gmail. Technically, while any e-mail read/written is encrypted in transit between your browser and Gmail's server, the e-mail is nevertheless still stored in the clear.
"Perhaps you could clarify the wording somewhat so people might potentially avoid interpreting your remarks so as to conclude that their stored e-mail is somehow encrypted on Gmail's servers."
Right you are, Ian, which is why you want to think twice about storing confidential information on Google's servers or any other Web servers that don't support encryption. Google is reportedly considering changing Gmail to default to encrypted sign-ins, as explained by Brian Krebs on his security blog earlier this week.
This doesn't affect your stored messages, however, nor the files you share via Google Docs & Spreadsheets, nor any of your other personal data accessible through Google free services. That's the best reason I know not to keep any sensitive information in Gmail or any other Google app.
In a future post, I'll describe secure online services. You can bet none of them will have "Google" in their name.
The motherboard on my HP laptop fried 18 months after I bought it—and six months after its warranty expired. Even though it uses the same overheating NVidia chip that convinced HP and several other notebook vendors to extend the warranty for machines using the faulty GPU, my make and model isn't covered.
When I asked the HP case manager to confirm or deny that my dead notebook shipped with the faulty part—the documentation that shipped with the machine indicates that it does—he said I had "no right" to that information because it was an "engineering decision." HP Way, my butt!
Well, bad PC tech-support experiences are nothing new, especially among HP customers, as I found out recently. But when you've bought as many PCs as I have over the years, you have to expect one or two to be duds. Live and learn; move on.
What I wish I had done before I bought a lemon HP Pavilion TX1100
Many days late and many dollars short, I visited several sites that rate the reliability of laptop manufacturers. I wasn't surprised to see Apple's name at the top of nearly every list. Unfortunately, it was also not a surprise to find HP's name at the bottom of most of the reliability ratings.
Nor was I surprised to find forum after forum at which people in my very same situation were griping about their burned-out HP laptops. My favorite thread of such posts was begun just a few weeks ago on a forum at SierraSnowboard, of all places.
Several of the posters noted that they would simply junk the old machine and buy a replacement. Even though I recycle my old PCs, I can't help but think these premature disposals are bad for everybody except PC vendors. (They certainly aren't good from an environmental perspective.)
Here are some ways to improve the chances that your laptop will last longer than the average network sitcom.
Buy from a reliable vendor.
Apple continues to score the highest reliability ratings of all major notebook manufacturers. Some people balk at the price-performance ratio of MacBooks, but there's no denying the quality of the support that you buy along with the hardware. Among Windows laptop vendors, Lenovo tends to rate highest for reliability and service.
I would usually link to the reliability ratings themselves, but the ones I rely on require a subscription. You'll find some useful advice in the CNET Laptop Forum and Laptop Buying Guide.
The cheaper the machine, the more you need an extended warranty.
Most notebook buying guides recommend against purchasing an extended warranty. (The same goes for accidental-damage protection.) I usually agree because the price of the extended warranty is often comparable to the cost of the average repair. However, if you're serious about getting all the mileage you can out of a low-cost laptop, the extended warranty can stretch your mean time between notebook purchases.
Several years ago, James A. Martin's Mobile Computing blog took at look at the extended warranties offered by various notebook vendors. Some of the information in the post is outdated, but most of James' tips still apply. Also a bit dated but still useful is NotebookReview.com's Notebook Warranty Guide.
Handle your laptop PC with kid gloves.
Just a few weeks after I bought it I noticed that my now-defunct HP notebook ran hot. I placed the machine on a cooling pad whenever I used it for an extended period. To show how mainstream laptop cooling pads have become, even Microsoft now sells one for $30. I've been using an Antec model, but you'll find several laptop cooling products among the CNET reviews by searching the site for "laptop cooling pads."
I always transported the bum HP notebook in a padded case, though I admit the device took a lot of bumpy plane rides with me. CNET Senior Editor Dan Ackerman provides a review of several laptop cases. Notebook.Review.com also offers a buyers' guide to notebook cases, although the information focuses more on the various bags' style than on their ability to protect your machine from damage. (Remember to deter thieves by using a laptop bag that doesn't look too much like a laptop bag.)
Don't give up on tech support entirely (just because I have).
Some people know exactly what to say—and how to say it—to get even the most hardened, cantankerous support-line staffer to do whatever they want the rep to do. Unfortunately, that's a skill I have yet to develop. I can't remember the last time I found my time spent on a tech-support line worthwhile. In fact, before my recent encounter with the HP case manager from hell, I couldn't recall the last time I called a tech-support line, period.
But that's me. I hear that many, many people actually come away from their laptop tech-support experience completely satisfied with the outcome. And some people win millions of dollars in the lottery. Regrettably, I'm not a member of either group. You can improve your chances of a positive tech-support result by following the advice in two articles I found on the Associated Content site: How to Deal with Customer Service and Technical Support by Ryan Christopher DeVault and 10 Rules of Thumb to Deal with Technical Support by Ray H.
I certainly can't vouch for all the advice these articles offer—"Be Assertive" hasn't worked well for me to date—but maybe you'll have better results.
Chrome has quickly earned a reputation for being lightweight and fast. It can't offer anything like Firefox's useful extensions—yet. Still, there are plenty of ways to tweak Chrome's default settings to make it work more like you do.
Open to your home page
I never could get used to Chrome's New Tab page, which is the browser's default start page. It shows big thumbnails of several of the sites you've recently visited. Some people will like starting with this minihistory, but I've grown accustomed to seeing my home page when the browser opens.
To change this setting, click the Tools menu (the wrench icon in the top-right corner) and choose Options. Under the Basics tab, select Open this page and enter the URL of your preferred start page.
Set Chrome to open to your preferred start page rather than the New Tab page by changing this setting.
(Credit: Google)You can also set Chrome to start where it left off by choosing Restore the pages that were open last in the "On startup" section of this dialog box.
Put a Home shortcut on the toolbar
I return to my start page frequently during the day, so I like having a shortcut to that page on the toolbar. Chrome lacks this option by default, but you can return the familiar Home icon to the right of the address bar by selecting Show Home button on the toolbar under the Basics tab of the Toolbar Options dialog box.
Add bookmarks, history, passwords, and search settings from Firefox and IE
Some people have folders and subfolders full of bookmarks, many of which are gathering dust; I've got about a half dozen I return to all the time. Moving them from Firefox and Internet Explorer to Chrome took all of about a second and a half. You can also import your search-engine settings, saved passwords, and browsing history.
Move your bookmarks/favorites, search settings, passwords, and history from Firefox and IE to Chrome.
(Credit: Google)
Open certain downloaded file types automatically
It's probably safer not to let most types of the files you download to run automatically, especially when it comes to EXE files, PDFs, and nearly all media files. But I frequently download Word documents and Excel files from Google Docs and Spreadsheets, among other Web applications, and I prefer that they open without having to be double-clicked.
To set Chrome to open specific types of files automatically after they download, simply click the arrow to the right of the file in the download bar at the bottom of the screen and choose Always open files of this type.
Set specific file types to open automatically after you download them by selecting this option on Chrome's download bar.
(Credit: Google)
Bonus tip: Keep Chrome up-to-date
Chrome updates are pushed to your browser automatically, but there may be an update available that you can apply manually. Click the Tools icon and select About Google Chrome. If you see an Update button, click it to download the latest version. Restart the browser to apply the update.
Microsoft has made great strides in educating Windows users about the need to keep their systems secure by downloading and installing the most recent updates. (I still recommend that you set Windows' Automatic Updates to download but don't install, as I described in a blog post from last July.)
The irony of the heightened awareness of Windows updates is that malware is less likely to target vulnerabilities in Windows--or other PC operating systems, for that matter. These days, most viruses and Trojans use holes in your browsers, media players, or Web applications to breach your system's security. That's why it's imperative to keep these programs up-to-date, which is a subject I covered in a post from last April.
Google pushes updates to its Chrome browser automatically--without bothering to let you know about it (the current version is 2.0.172.30). You may think I'm a hypocrite for preventing Microsoft from loading its updates automatically and applauding Google for doing the same thing with its browser. Here's the difference: if a Chrome update causes the program to malfunction, I can simply use another browser, but if a Windows update screws up, my entire system's hosed until I fix it.
If you want to use Chrome to browse without leaving any tracks on your system, press Ctrl-Shift-N to open a new browser window in Chrome's incognito mode. The sites you visit subsequently will not appear in your browser history nor will terms you search for stay in your search history. You won't pick up any new cookies, either.
You'll find plenty of add-ons in the Privacy & Security section of the Firefox Add-ons page that give Firefox a similar stealth mode. You can also choose Tools > Clear Private Data to wipe your tracks in Firefox, but this setting erases all your history in the various categories. Chrome's incognito mode lets you retain the history you want and delete the history you don't want.
Google's Chrome browser lets you surf without leaving tracks on your system via its incognito mode.
(Credit: Google)I've been spending a lot more time browsing with Chrome lately, and not just because of its incognito mode. Chrome seems faster to me than Firefox or Internet Explorer, and I'm getting used to Chrome's streamlined interface. Firefox remains my default browser, however. The one Firefox security add-on I won't browse without is InformAction's NoScript (donationware), which lets you block JavaScript, Flash, and other scripts on a site-by-site and source-by-source basis.
The best way to enhance your privacy while using Firefox is to set the browser to delete cookies each time you close the program. To do so, click Tools > Options > Privacy, select "Always clear my private data when I close Firefox," and click OK.
Check "Always clear my private data when I close Firefox" in the browser's Privacy settings to maintain your Web privacy.
(Credit: Mozilla Foundation)So what about Internet Explorer? IE 8 is said to be more secure than IE 7, which in turn was said to be more secure than IE 6. Two facts remain: Internet Explorer uses ActiveX, which in my opinion is inherently insecure; and IE 8's security options are way too complicated. What do those slider controls mean, really? (Press Alt, click Tools > Internet Options, and choose either the Security or Privacy tab to see what I mean.)
Bonus tip: Encrypt Gmail
I've been using Gmail as my primary e-mail service for several years, but it wasn't until a couple of months ago that I started encrypting my Gmail correspondences. (In fact, encryption wasn't available in Gmail until a couple of months ago.) To use encryption in Gmail, click Settings in the top-right corner of the main window, scroll to the bottom of the General tab, select "Always use https," and click Save Changes. Note that this setting prevents the iGoogle Gmail widget from working, but that's a small price to pay for the added security.
Web privacy resources
For more information on the privacy options in Google services, visit the Google Privacy Center. Along with an FAQ and overview, you'll find privacy videos and specific privacy options for YouTube, Orkut, Blogger, Docs, and other Google services.
The SANS Institute's Internet Storm Center offers a daily Internet threat level (green, the last time I checked) as well as information on the sources of recent Internet-based attacks and extensive links to other Internet security sources.
For a soup-to-nuts look at browser security, read the United States Computer Emergency Response Team's article Securing Your Web Browser. The information was last updated more than a year ago but remains relevant. Some of US-CERT's browser-setting recommendations are overkill for regular, everyday browsing, so take the advice with the proverbial grain of salt.
I'll save us both some time by getting right to the descriptions of three Firefox add-ons that shave minutes off my workday. Hey, they add up!
Navigate Web pages using only your keyboard.
When it comes to speed, I'll take a keyboard over a mouse any day of the week. A post from April 2008 explains how to create a keyboard-shortcut list you can access quickly. I also wrote about using your keyboard to move and resize windows and shortcuts for Word and Excel.
Now I can park the mouse when I surf. Instead of clicking, I enter the number Rudolf Noe's Mouseless Browsing add-on places next to each link. If I want to put the cursor in the address bar, I enter 0, while pressing 00 puts the cursor in the search field. Each open tab gets a number, each text box on the page gets a number, each drop-down menu gets a number. (I just wish the bookmark toolbar options and the reload, stop, and home buttons did.)
The Mouseless Browsing Firefox add-on assigns a number to each link and option on a Web page so you get there from the keyboard.
(Credit: Rudolf Noe)The program is loaded with options, including the ability to use only the numeric keypad to enter the numbers, so the top-row number keys aren't used to enter shortcuts. You can also require pressing the Enter key before the action occurs or change the delay between entering the numbers and taking the action.
Granted, the numbers can play havoc with a page's layout, but I can't count the number of times I've struggled to get the mouse pointer over just the right tiny link in a sea of tiny links. Being able to enter a number instead of clicking is a joy for this keyboard aficionado. (Warning: the add-on also slows your page-load speeds a bit.)
Finally! Copy Web text without the formatting.
I know how to create a keyboard shortcut that pastes plain text, but I didn't have the ability to copy and paste text from Web pages without the formatting until I downloaded Jeremy Gillick's aptly named Copy Plain Text add-on for Firefox. Just download the extension, restart Firefox, and when you copy text from a page, you'll see a Copy as Plain Text option just under the Edit menu's regular Copy option.
Copy Plain Text lets you do just that from Web pages in Firefox.
(Credit: Jeremy Gillick)You also get the Ctrl-Shift-C keyboard shortcut to copy the text without formatting. You can say what you want about one-trick ponies, but I only wish all software was this straightforward. Of course, Firefox could have this feature built in, but I'm not complaining.
The latest scores are a right-click away.
OK, I admit it. If I'm working late and missing a big game, I visit a sports site to check the scores. Now I save myself time by right-clicking Vinny 2020's SportsFox add-on, choose the sport, and see that yes, the Tigers dropped another one to the Bosox, and even worse, the Red Wings lost their second game of the Stanley Cup finals the the Penguins. (Might as well keep on working.)
Get up-to-the-minute sports scores inside your browser with the SportsFox add-on.
(Credit: Vinny 2020)Now I'm going to enjoy some of the time these add-ons have saved me. Go Wings!
If you followed the steps in my post from August on merging your Outlook and Gmail contacts, you may have ended up with duplicates in your contact lists. Microsoft's advice for deleting duplicate contacts is to sort them by the date modified, Ctrl-select the ones you want to remove, and press delete.
The problem is, the duplicate entries probably aren't identical, so you're almost certain to delete some data along with the dupe. What you need is a way to merge the information in the duplicate contacts. There's no such feature in Outlook, but if you're willing to spend $30, you can make short work of your extraneous Outlook entries by running 4Team's Duplicate Killer for Outlook.
The program deletes or merges duplicate e-mail messages, calendar entries, tasks, and notes in addition to contacts. I tested the program with Outlook 2007 but, according to the vendor, it works with Outlook 2000, XP, and 2003 as well. The new version, 3, is said to work with "Microsoft Exchange type folders including public folders," according to the vendor's Web site, but I ran it on a standalone Outlook installation.
... Read more
PC users don't agree on much, but they're close to unanimous in their low opinion of Vista's performance. There are plenty of manual tweaks you can make to grease Vista's skids--I ran down five of them a couple of weeks ago. You can also use one of the many Vista utilities to optimize the operating system. I described the free Ultimate Windows Tweaker and $29.95 Vista Smoker Pro in a post last week.
Two other commercial Vista system tools are Stardock's $19.95 TweakVista and System Mechanic from Iolo Technologies, which costs $39.95 for the first year as part of a limited-time promotion ($49.95 is the regular price) and $29.95 per year thereafter. Unfortunately, TweakVista does little to automate Vista system-tuning, and while System Mechanic provides a range of Vista tune-up and customization options, casual PC users may find the program's price tough to justify.
Vista tweaker's trial version is pretty worthless
Several years ago, I discovered Stardock's $19.95 WindowBlinds utility that customizes the appearance of Windows XP (there's also a version for Vista). Based on my experience with that program, I had high hopes for the company's TweakVista utility, but using TweakVista was a big letdown.
The first unpleasant surprise was that many--if not most--of the program's features are unavailable in the trial version. My impression of TweakVista didn't improve much once I got the full-function release. The program displays plenty of system information, but it lacks the one-click performance and maintenance tools found in similar utilities.
For example, the Assessment Overview screen shows the same information as Vista's Performance and Information Tools applet in Control Panel. Likewise, the start-up screen's Programs tab merely lists your start-up apps. I expected to see more information about each entry when I clicked its question-mark icon, but instead I saw a pop-up indicating that no information about the program was available.
The Profile tab on TweakVista's Services screen lets you select from a handful of preconfigured user types, including games, media center, or server. However, the various options don't give you any information about the configuration beyond one descriptive phrase.
TweakVista's Services screen lists options for tweaking system performance but lacks details on what each choice does.
(Credit: Stardock)
You get more customization options under the Features tab of TweakVista's Services window.
(Credit: Stardock)While TweakVista puts plenty of system information in one place, the shortage of information about the program's options and the lack of clearly defined one-click fixes limit the utility's usefulness. Vista Smoker Pro does a much better job in both areas for just $10 more.
A wealth of system tools at a high price
System Mechanic's lineup of performance and maintenance helpers is impressive, and the program's single-click tuneup options are real time-savers. Even with these useful tools, the program's big price tag makes it difficult to recommend for your average, everyday Vista user. Still, anyone looking for the full complement of system tools in a single package will be pleased with this utility's breadth and depth.
I started by using System Mechanic's one-click repair option, which reported that my Registry had 221 "problems." Since I had recently tuned up my test system, the high number of Registry orphans surprised me. The scan also pointed out 14 security vulnerabilities, multimegabytes of system clutter, and three unnecessary start-up items.
System Mechanic's one-click repair tool identified security, Registry, start-up, and other problems.
(Credit: Iolo Technologies)You get more granular control over the program's cleanup tools by choosing one of the Automated Tasks in the ActiveCare section. These include disk cleanup, Registry scrubbing, start-up optimization, disk defragging, and Internet-connection tweaks. I was particularly impressed with System Mechanic's disk defragger, which completed the defrag in just a few minutes and shows its progress in a multicolored graph.
You get plenty of feedback via the graph used by System Mechanic's disk defragmenter.
(Credit: Iolo Technologies)Browsing the tools and system information offered by System Mechanic made me wish Vista had the same fast and easy-to-use system tools. As helpful and informative as the program can be, its initial license--even with the $10 discount--and the subsequent $30-per-year fee make System Mechanic an extravagance for most PC users.
