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Last month’s poll asked our readers…’Which TWO Microsoft Office Applications do you use the most?’  The diagram to the right (click to enlarge) shows how our readers voted.  As you can see Microsoft Office Word, Excel and Outlook were the three applications to receive the most votes, which to us isn’t surprising as the applications are commonly used worldwide due to the overall quality, simplicity and flexibilty of the software.

PowerPoint and Publisher again are commonly used pieces of software but it is rare that the ‘typical’ home user requires them for their general computer usage.  Whereas Access is a far more specialist application for those who need to create/manage a database system.

Office 2010 is set to be released in June (2010).  Many companies are doing a deal whereby you purchase Office 2007 and can download 2010 for free when it comes out so have a look around on the internet for such deals! For example…Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student from Amazon (PC)

Microsoft SharedView is one of those quality pieces of free software which is fantastic but not very well-known.  So here’s a bit about it and what it has to offer…

As described on their website…Microsoft SharedView is a fast, easy way to share documents and screen views with small groups of friends or coworkers; anytime, anywhere. Use SharedView to put your heads together and collaborate – create, convey and communicate…across physical boundaries, through firewalls, and down to the smallest details.

The program can be used by any individual who has a Windows Live ID which are free to obtain. Click to get yourself an ID.

The software however is only compatible with some of Microsoft’s latest operating

• Windows Vista – 32-bit Versions
• Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (32bit)
• Windows 2003 Server SP1 (32bit)
• Windows 7

You can use the software to have discussions (see above/click to enlarge) and share documents/handouts between friends and colleagues.

Want to find out more and download about this program? Check out the Microsoft SharedView website.

Ever been infected with a virus but not known what to do?  Well have no fear…PCToolbox is here…with a tutorial to help you remove the virus!

1. Firstly download the free version of Malwarebytes
2. Now you need to turn off System Restore. Use the following tutorials to aid you:
   For Windows 7
   For Vista
   For XP
3. Boot your machine into ‘Safe Mode’. This is done by restarting your computer and immediately when it starts to come on keep tapping F8 until you get a menu on the screen to choose Safe Mode.
4. Now install and run Malwarebytes. Remove whatever the software finds.
5. You may have to repeat step 4 a few times!
6. Now reboot your machine normally and run Malwarebytes 1 more time assuming it finds nothing
7. Turn ‘System Restore’ back on. Use the following tutorials to help you:
   For Windows
   For Vista
   For XP

Please Note – This tutorial is designed for those who are competent computer users. All PCToolbox advice is produced in the best interest of the reader to help maintain a healthy working machine and therefore cannot be held responsible for any problems that may occur. If you’re unsure about any of the above advice please contact your local IT Technician.

On the odd but very rare occasion you may have to turn off System Restore. System Restore is a component on Microsoft Windows operating systems which allows for the rolling back of system files, registry keys, installed programs, etc., to a previous state in the event of malfunctioning or failure. This tutorial will show you how to switch it on and off if you’re using Windows 7.

Turn Off System Restore in Windows 7

• Firstly, click the windows start orb and right-click on Computer. Then select ‘Properties’
  
• Select ‘System Protection’
  
• Click ‘Configure’
  
• Then select to turn-off system protection
  
• Finally Click OK, read the message and then click ‘Yes’ to continue
  

Turn System Restore On – Windows 7

• Firstly, click the windows start orb and right-click on Computer. Then select ‘Properties’
  
• Select ‘System Protection’
  
• Select ‘Restore system setting and previous versions of files’ and click OK
  

On the odd but very rare occasion you may have to turn off System Restore. System Restore is a component on Microsoft Windows operating systems which allows for the rolling back of system files, registry keys, installed programs, etc., to a previous state in the event of malfunctioning or failure. This tutorial will show you how to switch it on and off if you’re using Windows Vista.

Turn Off System Restore in Vista

• Firstly, click the windows start orb and right-click on Computer. Then select ‘Properties’
  
• Select ‘System Protection’
  
• Uncheck the drives and then to confirm click the “Turn System Restore Off” button.
  
  
• To finish click OK
  

Turn System Restore On – Vista

• Firstly, click the windows start orb and right-click on Computer. Then select ‘Properties
  
• Select ‘System Protection’
  
• Click in the box next to the drives to ensure it has a tick
  
• Click OK to confirm
  

On the odd but very rare occasion you may have to turn off System Restore. System Restore is a component on Microsoft Windows operating systems which allows for the rolling back of system files, registry keys, installed programs, etc., to a previous state in the event of malfunctioning or failure. This tutorial will show you how to switch it on and off if you’re using XP.

Turn Off System Restore in XP

• Click ‘Start’, then right-click ‘My Computer’ and select ‘Properties’
  
• Click the ‘System Restore’ tab. Then click in the box next to ‘Turn off System Restore’ so it does have a tick in it and click ‘OK’
  
• Read the message and click ‘Yes’ to continue
  

Turn System Restore On – XP

• Click ‘Start’, then right-click ‘My Computer’ and select ‘Properties’
• Click the ‘System Restore’ tab. Then click in the box next to ‘Turn off System Restore’ so it doesn’t have a tick in it and click ‘OK’
  

Our most recent poll was ‘Will you upgrade to Windows 7 straight away?’  50% of voters said yes they would compared to the 29% saying no and the 21% saying maybe.

To those who said no or maybe we want to urge you to upgrade to Windows 7.  Here at PCToolbox and Brandstar we’re huge fans of the new operating system.

If you’re not sure about the upgrade and you’d like to find out more check out our Windows 7 posts on PCToolbox and Brandstar!  Over the next few weeks we’ll continue to add to our range of Windows 7 posts!

So to conclude…buy Windows 7!

We recently wrote a post about performing a ‘Disk Cleanup’ on XP and we thought it would be a good idea to do one for Vista too! Disk Cleanup is a computer maintenance application included in Microsoft Windows operating systems. It’s designed to free up disk space on your computers hard drive. Therefore, it’s worth performing a cleanup every so often. The feature searches and reviews your hard drive for files which are no longer necessary. It will then, after you’ve made some selections, remove any files that are not needed on your machine.

Here is how to perform Disk Cleanup on Vista:

1. Firstly click on the start Orb and type ‘Disk Cleanup’ in the box.  Then click on the ‘Disk Cleanup’ option under programs (Click on image to enlarge)
   
2. Secondly, select whether you’d like to perform the task for just your account or every account on the system.
   
3. Next choose which drive you would like the cleanup to be performed on.  For this example we’ll use option (C:).  You can choose the drive from the drop down list.  Once you’ve chosen click ‘OK’
   
4. The computer will then scan your selected drive
   
5. Next you should make selections regarding which files you would like to be removed.  Simply click on the option, read the description and if you’d like this to be removed click in the box next to the option so it has a tick in it. (Click on image to enlarge)
   
6. To confirm your selections click ‘delete files’
   
7. Your computer will now perform a Disk Cleanup
   

We hope this has been helpful. Running Disk Cleanup can be a great way to increase the performance of your computer.  If you have any questions comment below!

Disk Cleanup is a computer maintenance application included in Microsoft Windows operating systems.  It’s designed to free up disk space on your computers hard drive.  Therefore, it’s worth performing a cleanup every so often.  The feature searches and reviews your hard drive for files which are no longer necessary.  It will then, after you’ve made some selections, remove any files that are not needed on your machine.

Here is how to run a Disk Cleanup on XP:

1. Firstly click ‘Start’ and select ‘All Programs’
   
2. Then Select ‘Accessories’, followed by ‘System Tools’ and finally ‘Disk Cleanup’ (Click on image to enlarge)
   
3. Your computer will now run a scan to locate files that could be removed or compressed.
   
4. Next you should make selections regarding which files you would like to be removed.  Simply click on the option, read the description and if you’d like this to be removed click in the box next to the option so it has a tick in it.   We recommend that you don’t select to compress files as it will slow down your computer considerably (Click on image to enlarge)
   
5. Your computer will now perform the Disk Cleanup.
   

Hopefully this tutorial has been helpful and will encourage you to run a Disk Cleanup.  It’s a free way to improve the speed of your computer!

We will post about Disk Cleanup on Vista next week!

See Also:
Defrag for XP
ScanDisk for XP

Below are a variety of formulas that people often use to create passwords which are easy to guess and therefore easy to hack!

• Sequences – Try not to use sequences of letters or numbers as they are very easy to guess.  E.g, ’123456789′ or ‘abcdefg’ or ‘ddddddd’
• Look-alike – It is always good to use look-alike symbols instead of letters, e.g. ‘a’ is ‘@’.  However, we only recommend doing this when you combine them with a variation of letter cases.  No professional account hacker will be fooled by ‘i’ as ’1′.
• Personal Details – Don’t use your personal or family member details as your password.  E.g, name, date of birth, address, username/login name.  Hackers will try this information first.
• Dictionary – Hackers are now using some top quality software that can guess passwords from dictionary’s in all type’s of languages, even if the word is spelt backwards, misspelt and includes substitutions.
• Variation – We recommend that you have a few passwords instead of using just one for everything.  If one system is hacked into, and you use the same password for everything you may as well consider every account that you have on the Internet as hacked.
• Storage – many people are beginning to use online storage.  We would heavily discourage this.  If your online storage is hacked into you may have personal documents saved.  Consequently they will all be accessed by the criminal.

Finally, don’t forget to check the strength of your password with the Microsoft Password Checker!