“I have 3 additional tool bars on my computer screen when I go on the Internet. One is Yahoo, one is Google and one is Ask. I don’t know how they got there, but they take up too much of my screen. How do I get rid of them?”

This is a common frustration and the answer depends on what you mean by “get rid of them”. It also depends on the specific toolbar.

Yahoo & Google’s toolbars have been around for ages and are pretty mild mannered. Ask Toolbar is from a lesser known search-engine and is thought to contribute to the efforts of adware (advertisement generating software).

If you just want them to vanish with the swipe of your mouse, with the option of restoring them later on, you can just hide the toolbars.

Right-click anywhere in the general area of your toolbar and you should get a pop-up list of all the different toolbars. You’ll see check marks next to ones being displayed. Uncheck the ones don’t want. You may need to uncheck “Lock the Toolbars” first so you can make changes.

These toolbars will still be available for later; if you feel bringing them back, you can simply enable them again.

If you want them gone completely and permanently, then you’ll need to uninstall them.

The Control Panel has the Add or Remove Programs or Uninstall a Program areas in which you can take a look at a list of all the software installed on your PC, and remove the toolbar entirely here.

All toolbars in your web-browser whether its Internet Explorer or Firefox are totally optional and voluntary to have. The Google & Yahoo toolbars are ‘mild mannered’ because they’re typically installed at the user’s request. Both, also makes it pretty painless to remove the toolbar if you get tired of it at any point.

On the other hand, there are a lot of toolbars that do not. Some of these other toolbars are classified as spyware or adware, and some are just flat-out malicious. They are known to get be very difficult to remove and even get installed without your permission.

Be careful while you’re browsing the internet. If a website urges you to download their latest toolbar on your PC in order to access the content of their site, it may not be in your best interest.

Windows 7: Microsoft’s long awaited seventh operating system

Windows 7 is going to be the next update to the Microsoft Windows operating system line of software. Windows 7 couldn’t come soon enough after Windows Vista in the opinion of many. It is being developed with the goal of being compatible with the hardware and applications with which Vista and XP are compatible with. Some new features are being added to it to the many popular features of Vista and XP. On the other hand some of the current features are being removed. Microsoft’s broadest goal is to make Windows 7 faster, more secure and reliable. Windows 7 has completed beta testing and the release candidate has been available to hundreds of thousands of testers nearly 2 month ago.

Completion of Windows 7 was such a high priority; Microsoft has even released the newest version of Windows to manufacturing already. The slated date of release for the long awaited ‘XP replacement’ has been released and is scheduled for October 22^nd. However, you may start seeing many manufacturers and resellers selling current Vista model PCs, with a “Free Upgrade to 7” offer included. These users will have to mail into Microsoft and pay shipping and handling to retain their copy of the Windows 7 Upgrade version. Seven has been boasted for quicker start-up times than both Window XP and Vista and improved performance for a whole host of typical functions.

New Improved Features in Windows 7

Advanced Taskbar with full screen previews: Windows 7 gives you the ability to set the order of your taskbar at the bottom according to your preferences. Users can also see a full screen preview of the window, making program hopping even easier.

JumpList: Another attractive feature of Windows 7 is known as jump list. It improves the efficiency of the operation system by giving the user an easy interface listing all the most commonly viewed file directories, allowing for quick navigating to common files and folders.

Ease of Use: Windows 7 gives users a more intuitive graphical user interface and less menus and submenus. The simplified desktop customization is one example of how Windows customization will be more accessible for even beginner PC users.

More built-in applications: Windows 7 is equipped with a lot of the latest programs such as Internet explorer 8, Windows Live Messenger, Photo Gallery, Mail, Writer, Movie Maker, and more. These applications are in place to make sure you have full functionality of all today’s most common computer functions as soon as you turn on your computer for the first time.

Advanced Device Management: Windows 7 gives users an advanced device management method by providing a feature called Device Staging. Device stage allows the ability to interact with your devices and perform common tasks on any device within a single window.

Networking: Windows 7 has made creating a home group or small business network as less intimidating endeavor as compared to the complications and quirks of the process in previous versions of Windows.

Windows 7 will be released for sale at all retailers October 22^nd 2009

Our view: Windows 7 should be a much more popular operating system than Windows Vista right off jump street. More importantly I think, it will be a much more user friendly and more stable operating system than its predecessor. It surprisingly has more features than expected. Users that are currently using Windows Vista will flock to Seven in droves and rightfully so. Seven will prove more responsive, more aesthetically pleasing and more stable than Vista without much convincing. Seven’s start up time and even it’s installation process will be much improved and streamlined even further.

South Lake Computers has the most personalized computer repair & service experience in Clermont.Florida . South Lake Computers performs all service work fast and efficiently so that our customers don’t have to be without their computers for very long.

Disk Defragmenter is a Windows program which rearranges the files stored on your hard-disk in such a way that these can be stored in a contiguous sequence. This new, ordered sequence of files increases the speed of reading and writing files to and from the hard-drive by decreasing the travel time of the internal components within the drive. This in turn, increases the transfer rate of data and also helps in improving the startup and shutdown time of your system.

How often should I use Disk Defragmenter?

The time interval between two Disk Defragmentation sessions depends on the nature of computer usage. If you install/uninstall software very frequently or download a lot of small files, like pictures, documents and music, you likely have lots of data on your hard drive and you should defragment your computer at least once a month. For computers with less intensive hard-drive usage, Disk Defragmentation should be used every 3 months or so.

How to use Disk Defragmenter:

You can use this step-by-step guide to use Disk Defragmenter easily.

1. START > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter.

2. Click Analyze to determine if a defragment is suggested. If so, click Defragment.

The time required by the defragmentation process depends on the size of disk you have and how much data it contains .

South Lake Computers offers the highest quality & most personal computer repair & service experience in Clermont, Florida. South Lake Computers performs all service work fast and efficiently.

“We work on computers. We work with People.”

The most recent and prevalent threat to everyday computer users is Rogue programs that force their way onto your computer. This malicious software or malware usually poses as a trial version of an anti-virus or ‘system cleaner’ program. The trial (malware) program typically find its way onto your system with help of Trojan backdoor viruses.

Once installed, this type of malware has one prominent goal: getting the user to pay for the full version. Systems infected will be adversely effected immediately. These programs will notify you repeatedly of false-positive infections or system errors. Various functions of normal Windows operation will no longer work. Many times internet access will be limited or disabled, the desktop background may be changed to some form of colorful warning. Some more severe infections will only allow you to purchase the software, halting your system entirely. This is the result of additional malware being downloaded and installed by the Rogue program.

If the Rogue has progressed to this point, the user will certainly know it. Unfortunately, standard ways of scanning and removing the infection with Anti-Virus software will not be successful or even possible.

Contact Us immediately if you believe your system is infected!

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Below is a list of all the Rogue malware that we have encountered and removed at South Lake Computers to date: