Fix Windows 7 Blue Screen - How to Repair Windows 7 BSOD

Probably the worst thing that can happen to a Windows 7 user is to get a BSOD or blue screen of death. This is when your computer suddenly flashes a blue screen and displays some text then either reboots, hangs up or shuts down. You will not get to save any of your work and anything you have been doing goes up in smoke.

In reality, the Windows 7 blue screen is an essential safety measure. It acts as protection against further damage to your computer by halting error-prone software and hardware and restarting it before the issue gets worse. Here are a few quick things you can do to fix your Windows blue screen blues.

• Cool down your computer. BSODs are often due to heating issues inside your computer. For desktops, try investing in a better cooling and fan system. For laptops, a cooling pad will do wonders in reducing the temperature of your system.

• Add some RAM. Some programs need more memory space to run so adding RAM not only gives your computer a much needed boost, it also helps keep the dreaded blue screen at bay. For certain Windows 7 machines, you can also use the system's ReadyBoost and add memory by just plugging in a USB 2.0 flash drive.

• Fixing the Registry. The registry is essentially your operating system's index for your PC. One wrong entry in it will cascade into catastrophic failure. There are some readily available registry cleaners on the market and some even have robust scheduling and automated repair features that will help keep your registry clean at all times.

Again, we cannot stress enough that fixing your registry manually is both dangerous and difficult. Any mistake in editing it by yourself can cause some of your programs to stop running or worse, it can permanently render your computer inoperable.

Your best bet is to use a reliable and trusted registry cleaner to do the job for you. Not only will it automatically fix the Windows 7 blue screen, it will also speed up your computer considerably.

Need to fix a blue screen error? Want to turbocharge your system while you are at it? Get an easy fix and scan your computer for free with the best registry clean up software on the internet today. Jim Marshall is a computer technician expert with over 15 years in the industry. He has an intimate knowledge of the windows registry and various register repair software. After testing some of the top registry cleaners on the market, he has created a comprehensive review site that details his findings. http://www.registry-clean-up.net Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Marshall

Alternatives to Microsoft Windows

Weren't computer supposed to make our lives easier? Shouldn't your computer do what YOU say, and not vice-versa? Why should you have to spend your hard earned cash on a computer that doesn't do what you want, when you want it to? You probably shopped around before buying most of your other household appliances, why not look at some alternatives to Microsoft Windows?

Whether you're looking for simplicity, security, or just peace of mind, something brought you here. Operating systems aren't only developed behind closed doors of Redmond. There exist quite a few alternatives to Windows and some of them you've probably heard of. Before getting into the specific alternatives it's necessary to give a little background information - mainly on Unix and Open Source Software.

Unix was an Operating system originally created by AT&T's employee's in the 1960's. It was meant for portability, security, and clarity. The Unix philosophy splits tasks up to be accomplished (and accomplished well) by groups of smaller programs rather then a large complex kernel. There's a familiar filing system for Unix based Operating systems; files that configure your computer are editable in plain text. Unix was made to be simple, and usable. The Open Group that sets the standards for computing defines Unix with the Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) standards.

When software is free, it can be free as in "FREE BEER!" or free as in "Free to distribute, edit, reproduce, and use" (Open Source). Microsoft Windows is not free in either sense of the word. Much of Windows is closed source and they take great pains to insure their software is not pirated. Some Versions of Linux are Open Source - but you have to purchase the software.

Windows Vista - Security at Work

This article looks into the improved security features of Windows Vista, the most secure Windows ever. Most of these features are new to Windows; however, there are some features included in the previous version of Windows, with some modifications.

1.User Account Control (UAC)

This new feature of Windows Vista tracks the user activities, and prompts when a significant system level activity is about to be performed. Vista allows no free user intervention to tasks that require administrative privileges, such as new software or hardware installation, uninstallation, editing system settings, etc. Vista presents a dialog with information as to the impact of the task in the offing, asking user credentials to proceed. Limited users have to enter administrator password, and administrators have to click on the ‘continue’ button presented.

This feature is great since it doesn’t allow any accidental modification to the system due to ignorance or inexperience of the user. Also, the system can be fully managed securely from a standard limited account (tasks requiring elevation may be done by entering the administrator password). It can however be a nuisance since the prompts may come for even very simple tasks, such as changing desktop background, resolution, etc.

2.Bitlocker Drive Encryption

This security feature is used to encrypt the entire system drive (usually the C:\ drive). This is in effect similar to the EFS (Encrypted File System) in XP, but here the entire drive is encrypted. Vista always checks if the system is starting safely and that any of the system files has not been modified. If any malpractice is detected, it will lock the entire system drive and require an encryption password from the user.

3.Address Space Layout Randomizer (ASLR)

In the older versions of Windows, the system files were loaded to a designated memory segment. This actually facilitated the attacks of such systems, since the attackers always knew where the system files reside in the memory. ASLR randomizes the memory location where system files are loaded every time Vista boots up, thus minimizing the possibility of such an attack.

4.Windows Security Center

The first time we saw the Windows Security Center was with XP SP2. In Vista, the Security Center not only monitors the firewall, Auto updates, and antivirus as in XP, it can monitor and control almost all the security features of Vista, such as the UAC, Windows Defender, etc. It works from the tray and pops up whenever a user intervention is required.

5.Windows Defender

Windows Defender, renamed from Windows Antispyware, is not just an antispyware application. It has deeper coverage than that. Windows Defender detects changes to IE settings, installation of add-ons, ActiveX controls, auto-start programs, or system configuration that may be caused by spywares. Defender, however, currently doesn’t give any protection against viruses, Trojans, or worms.

6.Windows Firewall

Windows Firewall, first shipped with XP SP2, incorporates major changes with Vista. The firewall mainly gives the inbound protection and a limited outbound protection, supporting packet filtering, IPv6 connection filtering, and configuration rules.

7.IE7 Protected Mode

Internet Explorer, with the brand new looks and tabbed browsing, which may be an afterthought of Mozilla Firefox’s success, is one of the best browsers out there.

The protected mode of IE7 lets it run with limited control, and thus prevents advanced tasks when browsing the Internet. Any malicious software trying to exploit IE to attack the system will not be successful due to its limited privileges. However, this feature is not available for the standalone IE7 browser supplied for the XP systems.

The protected mode, just like UAC mentioned above, may be an annoyance in the long term, since it blocks you from tasks, such as saving cookies from the sites you trust.

8.Phishing Filter

Phishing is a form of attack in which the attacker presents you a website that masquerades a genuine one. The phishing websites, which look exactly like the original website, might ask you to provide such information as user login, password, email address, credit card numbers, etc. If you provide any such information, the attacker gets them. Such attacks usually start with an email, claiming to be from the genuine party, with a link to the phishing website.

Vista phishing filter links to online database of millions of phishing websites. The feature checks the site status and warns the user if the site is found to be a phishing website.

9.Parental Controls

Parental Controls, which is introduced for the first time in Windows, lets the users control their children’s activities on the system. The parent can specify which of the programs, websites, or games the child has access to, and set time limit for using the system.

10.USB Device Lock Down

Using this feature, administrators can block the users from connecting USB devices, such as iPods, handhelds, cameras, storage devices, etc., to Vista. The corporate customers take advantage of this feature, as the company system administrators can restrict employees, access to the USB devices. This will make the company systems a lot more secure.

11.x64 Features

These features, available only on the 64-bit versions of Vista, are these: PatchGuard (protection from the modifications to the Vista kernel) protects kernel modifications. Digitally Signed Drivers ensures all the drivers in Vista are digitally signed. The removal of 16-bit subsystem (DOS) makes the system simpler and more user friendly, since all the tasks will now be completed through Windows GUI; however, this will reduce the compatibility of older applications in Vista.

How to Speed Up Windows Vista

Microsoft Windows Vista is an Operating system par excellence, the most visually stunning OS from the Windows family so far. Microsoft Vista has a wonderful graphical interface (GUI), Microsoft AERO. However, Vista is very resource-thirsty. It needs more than 1 GB of system memory (RAM) and high processor power. Everything about the new Windows is superlative (Windows AERO itself takes up 128 MB of RAM). Hence, it warrants doing some system tweaking to get high performance out of Vista. Here are some tips to increase the speed of MS Vista PCs.

1. Disable Unnecessary Features

Windows AERO interface is a great and visually stunning feature that makes Vista look wonderful. The AERO glass, flip 3D, live thumbnails, etc., make Microsoft Vista a very beautiful OS. But this all are at a price. A very hefty system is required to run AERO alone, which takes up as much system memory as required to run the whole of Microsoft Windows XP. This is why Vista is too heavy to run on ordinary systems. You don’t need AERO if you are not using the system just for visual appeal. Vista’s graphics is stunning even without AERO, and all your programs will run just fine. So you can get rid of Windows AERO. For this, right click desktop and choose Personalize. Click on Window Color and Appearance, and then Open classic appearance properties for more options. Here you can turn off AERO by choosing Windows Vista Basic under color options. Vista AERO is available only in four editions of Vista, Vista Home Premium, Vista Business, Vista Enterprise, and Vista Ultimate; it is not shipped with Vista Home Basic.

Every time Windows starts, Vista gives a welcome screen, Windows Welcome Center. This feature helps the novice Windows users tweak their systems for the first time use. If you are familiar with Vista and want to get rid of the Microsoft Welcome Center, then you can follow this simple Windows registry tweak. Open registry (type ‘regedit’ in Start->Run); search for “Windows Welcome Center” from registry’s Edit->Find menu option; remove the key when you find that under Windows->CurrentVersion->Run.

Another feature that may be turned off for performance boost is UAC (User Account Control). This feature can be turned off from Control Panel. However, this is a great security feature of Vista, and it is not recommended to turn it off completely.

Vista has a Sidebar, which houses some useful widgets on the side of the desktop. These small applications like clock, calendar, currency converter, and more you can download from Microsoft website (Windows Support Website) may be removed safely for a better performance of the system.

You can get a list of all the programs installed with Vista in Control Panel->Uninstall a Program->Turn Windows Features On or Off. In this window, you can view all the applications currently installed in the system. If there is any new feature that you wish to remove, just uncheck it.

2. Disable Unwanted Startup Programs

This is the same with Windows XP Operating System. All Windows versions have some built-in startup programs that are loaded when the OS loads (Windows Live Messenger for instance). These startup programs can be disabled. You can use Windows Defender for this. Windows Defender in Vista is an antispyware application that monitors more than spywares. It monitors Internet Explorer settings, startup programs, system configuration changes, etc. So, make use of Defender for disabling the startup programs that may be running in the background. This can be done from the system tray icon of Defender. Retain only the applications that you need to run Windows effectively.

3. Readyboost

Readyboost and Superfetch are two brand new Microsoft applications supplied with Vista. They are Windows tools, which boost the system performance by optimizing the system memory. This is done with the help of additional storage media like USB Flash drives. Readyboost can use the Flash storage devices and SD cards as system memory, and Superfetch will make the applications more optimized for this memory cache. If you can get a fast Flash drive, you have two uses with that in Vista. One is normal use of data transfer and storage. The second is it can be used as an external RAM cache to supplement the memory capacity of the system. So, get hold on the fastest Flash drive out there, and get it to working.

4. Enable Advanced Disk Performance

Advanced Disk Performance feature, accessible from Disk Management in Device Manager, is a disk write optimizing tool, which enables hard disk write caching. The contents to be written to hard disk are not written directly; instead, it is stored into a cache first. The data are transferred to the hard drive only at the end. This can dramatically improve the performance when applications accessing HDD a lot are being run. However, there is a risk of data loss in cases of power failure. So, this warrants the use of good power supply in the background for the hard disk drive.

This feature can be enabled from Device Manager->Disk Manager->Disk Properties, and then in policies, you can click Advanced Disk Performance option.

These performance tweaking options, when worked along with the other normal performance options for generally all versions of Windows should give you great performance boost in Windows Vista.