Computers perform best when they receive regular, professional maintenance. The installation and un-installation of fonts, software, hardware, and drivers often leave remnants behind in your registry, resulting in a tangle of unused applications, broken drivers, and incomplete and empty command signals. This mass of confusion slows down your computer and if not addressed promptly can lead to serious problems such as computer freezing, programs not responding, and system crashes.

You made the investment in your PC so that you could enjoy the benefits of a fast, easy machine that would make your life easier and more enjoyable. Unfortunately, after continued use, all PC’s suffer the effects of a corrupt and ineffective Windows Registry, causing error messages to appear, slow loading, and system crashes. Eventually, that machine that was supposed to make your life easier is now the source of your greatest frustration.

Registry Scan & Repair Software (such as RegCure) offers you the ability to safely perform a full scan your your computer's Windows' Registry, and then automatically repair any detected items after a scan. With these tools, you can usually configure the settings so that a repair of detected items occurs after each scan.

Important note:  Be SURE your perform a full Registry Backup before making any repairs or changes to your Windows Registry.  So you should use registry repair tools that perform an automatic backup every time you use it (which RegCure does). That way, you can restore the registry any time should you have the need.

We all know about viruses, worms, trojans, spam, and other forms of Malware.  However, you may also have heard about something called a "bot".  Bots are basically software - automated programs - that perform tasks on the web.  Some bots are good - like FrontPage bots.  Other bots are bad - bad - bad bot!  The bad bots make our lives absolute misery at times.  If you have a website with a contact form, you probably have experienced bot attacks on your forms, sending unlimited spam through the form.  But a more insidious kind of bot exists. These are bots that reside ON your computer.  They are like a virus, in that they use your computer, but they are almost undetectable by most anti-virus software.  You may notice that your system will slow way way way down at times, with a lot of unexplained drive and internet activity in the middle of the night (or other times) - this can be an indication of a bot infestation, that could be using your PC to send millions of spam emails or worse.  If your system becomes bot infested, you are responsible for what happens.  Usually, your internet service provider will simply turn off your connection without notice, which can be quite traumatic if your business depends on the internet.

Here are some tips to help prevent this: First, it is generally a bad idea to leave your computer on over night - this creates an unlimited opportunity for attacks from the web.  Continuous systems are an attractive target.  Second, make sure you have your operating system fully updated, with tight security settings.  Third, make sure you have the latest antivirus software installed, with automatic updates - CA's antivirus product is recommended (and available for free download).  Forth, you may want to turn on an IP monitor, to see what you system is doing from the outside.  One such free service is www.ProjectHoneyPot.org, which will monitor your IP address (which would be all of your home/office PCs if you run through a wireless router), and send you email reports of any unusual activity.  After all, knowing is half the battle!  Once you know that there is unauthorized activity, you can seek help to resolve it, before your ISP blocks you!