Speed up Your PC with ReadyBoost

March 2, 2017 by Andy Thompson

All PC users have likely experienced the frustration related to slow performance. There’s something just not right about having to wait for your PC to switch from one application to another. We want to multi-task and we want a PC system that does not suffer any delays. And, we ask, why not? It’s an extension of what we are capable of. So what are the choices in dealing with slow performing systems? We can keep our original PC just as it is with very few applications (not taking full advantage of its capabilities and not much fun). We can live with frustration and wait for the PC to respond when it is slow. We can look at the costs associated with adding more RAM or increasing other hardware. Instead of these options, we suggest a fast, easy, free alternative offered by Microsoft called ReadyBoost.

In our previous article we provided information about USB technology including USB flash drives. With that information in hand you are ready to speed up your PC with ReadyBoost. Let’s start with an overview of the technology.

Who Will Benefit?

Using this technology is best for users with 8 GB of RAM or lower, using a traditional spinning platter hard drive (HDD), and an operating system of Windows Vista or higher.

How to determine how much RAM you have:
Do one of the following:

Open up your Computer window (Windows / File Explorer), locate: Computer (or “This PC”), right-click and select Properties.
Open up the Control Panel and select: System and Security and in the “System” section select View amount of RAM and processor speed.

In the window that appears you can now view the specific operating system, the amount of physical memory (RAM), and other system information.

ReadyBoost will have little performance improvement or will be irrelevant if:

You already have a lot of RAM (> 16 GB) on your system
You are using a SSD drive.

The Technology:

From the many articles we have passed on to you in the past, you likely have a good idea that CompuClever programs such as PC TuneUp Maestro and PC Clean Maestro can regain performance that has been lost due to: defragmentation; clutter of junk files and unwanted applications (leading to the reduction of available space). These tools can also assist you when faced with a bogged down Internet connectivity as well as using functions related to improving browser speed and startup speed.

Now we can shine some light on a technology that can take your PC as it is, and can extend its performance abilities. Keep in mind we still recommend that you enhance your performance through regular clean up and maintenance.

The basics of the technology involve being able to cache data to a device. In this case, the device is a USB flash drive. You can also use CompactFlash and SD cards. How it works is that data is temporarily stored on the flash drive so that it can be retrieved faster than using the internal hard drive and available memory (RAM or “Random Access Memory”). Flash memory, such as a USB drive or SSD (Solid State Drive), benefit from faster seek times than standard magnetic hard disk drives. The only limitation is that USB flash drives will wear out in time. By some estimates^[1] this won’t be for approximately 10 years.

Here’s How To:

You can begin by using a USB flash card that has at least 1 gigabyte (GB) of available space. For best results, use a flash drive or flash memory card with at least double the amount of available space as the amount of memory (RAM) in your computer.^[2]

Flash memory card specifications:

You can use a maximum of 32 GB of available space on any single removable storage device.
The USB flash drive must support USB 2.0 or higher and your computer must have at least one free USB 2.0 port to plug in the drive. Note: ReadyBoost works best if you plug the flash drive into a USB port directly rather than an external USB hub shared with other USB devices.
Most memory cards work with ReadyBoost. Different kinds of flash memory cards include CompactFlash and Secure Digital (SD). Note: Some SD memory cards don’t work well with ReadyBoost due to issues with the SD card interface. ReadyBoost displays a warning message in these cases.

To enable or disable ReadyBoost:

Plug a USB flash drive or flash memory card into an available port.
The Autoplay dialog box appears. Under the General options, you can click Speed up my system.
The Properties dialog box opens. Note: You can also access this dialog any time by opening the Computer window (Windows / File Explorer), right-clicking the drive, and selecting Properties.Next, click the tab: ReadyBoost.You can then do one of the following (as seen in the image here):
- To turn ReadyBoost off, click: Do not use this device.
- To use the maximum available space, click: Dedicate this device to ReadyBoost. Windows will leave any files already stored on the device, but it’ll use the rest of the space to enhance system performance.
- To use less than the maximum available space on the device, click Use this device, and then move the slider to choose the amount of available space on the device you want to use.
Click OK.

Windows displays the recommended space to use for optimal performance. If there isn’t enough space for ReadyBoost, a message is displayed telling you to free some space on the device.

The Benefits:

Our CompuClever team members have used ReadyBoost on a few systems that were so slow we faced having to replace them. We noted significant gains in performance of these computers. For systems that have only 2 or 4 GBs of RAM, the performance gains are significant.

We researched test results for ReadyBoost and found a very good site. Here is a list of improvements as well as situations where there are no performance gains.

When enabling ReadyBoost on a system with low amounts of RAM, you can experience:

Opening media files like photos, music or video is slightly faster (approximately by 2%).
The loading of web pages and the use of Office applications is slightly faster (approximately by 2%).
Your system’s boot timings are improved (up to 7%).
Your most used applications start faster (by 10 to 15%).

This same site states:

You will not notice any difference with ReadyBoost enabled when you play games or you run applications that are CPU or GPU intensive. Also the improvements get smaller when you add more RAM. On a system with more than 4GB of RAM you will not notice anything getting better. Also, adding an SSD drive to your computer means that there is no point in using ReadyBoost. We’ve done some very quick tests after adding an SSD and we quickly noticed that ReadyBoost becomes irrelevant.

Ejecting Flash Drives:

It is good practice to eject flash drives that are in use. This means closing windows and applications using the device and then using the Safely Remove Hardware icon. In doing so, you eliminate the risk of losing data or experiencing data corruption – especially when files are being transferred.

To properly eject a drive:
Use the Safely Remove Hardware icon and eject your device before pulling it out of the USB port.

You can also locate the drive in the Computer window (Windows / File Explorer) right-click it, and select Eject. Windows will tell you when it’s safe to remove the device thereby eliminating any chances of data corruption.

The exception:

In our research we found that:

Microsoft does not require ReadyBoost devices to be ejected before being removed. The ReadyBoost files are simply a cache for the real files being written to disk and removing the drive without ejecting does not harm the system.^[3]

In fact, you can leave your ReadyBoost enabled drive inserted in the port and shutdown your system. In this way, when you start up your PC you can also enhance startup time performance.

Summary:

There are few disadvantages to this free technology. You need to dedicate a USB port for your drive (using a USB hub is possible but not preferred). Also, your flash drive will eventually need to be replaced… but before that happens you’ll likely have purchased a new system entirely. Cost is not really a factor though. Flash memory drives are fairly inexpensive and certainly not as much as installing new hardware or buying a new system altogether.

Given all this, we strongly feel that ReadyBoost can extend the life of older PCs that are lacking the necessary RAM and are not able to keep up in a fast computing world. We hope you enjoy the benefits as we have.

We will continue to provide story lines like this that benefit all of us and we will describe them in a manner that is within reach of everyday computer users. If you have some ideas of topics you would like us to cover, email us at: newsletter@compuclever.com

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadyBoost
[2] http://windows.microsoft.com
[3] http://www.howtogeek.com/

How to Identify Your Windows Version and Edition

February 15, 2017 by Andy Thompson

Can you guess what version of Windows is the most popular among all PC users? Is it Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, or even Windows XP?

Answer: Windows 7. According to NetMarketShare.com, Windows 7 dominates over 45% of the entire desktop market.

Do you know how to identify the version and edition of your Windows Operating System (OS)? Sometimes, it is critical that you have all the necessary version and edition information, including the type of system, whether it is 32-bit or 64-bit. For instance, when you need to refresh, repair, or even reinstall your Windows OS, you must have all this data ready. This article instructs you how obtain it.

The System Properties Dialog Box

It turns out that you can find the complete set of Windows version and edition information from the System Properties dialog box. It provides an overview of your PC’s hardware and OS information including Windows OS version, edition, and system type.

For instance, the System Properties dialog box shown above provides us with the following information:

Windows OS version: Windows 7 (Windows Edition section)
Windows 7 edition: Windows 7 Professional (Windows Edition section)
System type: 64-bit OS (System | System type section)

To summarize this and to use the most technically correct format, we can say this PC is running: Windows 7 Professional (64-bit). As you can see, once you have the System Properties dialog open, it’s not too hard to identify this key information. But how do you open the System Property dialog box?

Use a keyboard combination

If you are feeling “geeky”, try this keyboard combination: Windows + Pause/Break, that is

Press and hold down the Windows key, and then
Press the Pause/Break key (usually located in the top-right corner of your keyboard)

This trick works for Windows 10, 8, and Windows 7 on most keyboards.

If this doesn’t work for you, don’t panic! There are other ways to access the System Property dialog box.

Windows 7

Click the Start button.
Click Control Panel from the list in the right margin.
In the Control Panel, select System and Security From the list of categories on the left pane.
From the Systems section on the right, select either the section title System or View amount of RAM and processor speed.

This opens the System Properties dialog box.

Windows 8

Method One – The Quick Link Menu

This method takes advantage of the Windows Quick Link menu.

Hold down the Windows key and press X at the same time to open the Quick Link menu as shown above.
Select System from the list of commands.

Method Two – Access the Control Panel

You can always access the System Properties dialog box from the Control Panel.

Click the Start button.
Click Control Panel from the right menu.
Select System from the list of items.

Windows 10

Method One – The Quick Link Menu

This method uses the Windows Quick Link menu which is almost identical to the one used in Windows 8.

Hold down the Windows key and press X at the same time to open the Quick Link menu as shown above.
Select System from the list of commands.

Method Two – Search for System Properties

Click the Start button.
Type the word “system“.
Windows 10 will display the System Properties tool under “Best match” as shown above.
Click System.

Did You Get It?

By now, you should be able to:

Master at least one method of opening the System Properties dialog box, and…
Know how to extract your Windows version, edition, and system type information.

We hope this blog helps you become more familiar with your PC. Should it require some kind of repair, refresh, or even reinstall, you know exactly what you will be dealing with.

Last but not the least, you can impress or even help your friends and family by applying what you’ve learned in times of need!

CompuClever Antivirus PLUS – VB100 Award!

January 31, 2017 by Andy Thompson

CompuClever is pleased to release the latest VB100 test results for CompuClever Antivirus PLUS. We will present these results and help you to understand them as part of our ongoing testimony to the effectiveness of our AV product. As is evident with these results… CompuClever Antivirus PLUS offers outstanding protection without slowing down your PC!

The Test Results

We’ve had four positive test results from the VB100 test lab, one of the few independently operated testing facilities focused on providing comprehensive examination of security software and solutions. Let’s start with an overview of these four tests that are available for online viewing. These tests were conducted between August 2015 and October 2016 on various Windows platforms.

Overview & Breakdown

The specific results of each test are based on test markers which you can get an idea of when you mouse over the column title (RAP Score, Performance impact %, etc.) We define them here:

Platform: This is the selected operating system that VB100 performs its test on. VB100 tries to cover a spectrum of the most popular Windows OS with their tests focusing on one version at a time. Note: CompuClever Antivirus PLUS supports Windows 10, Windows 8, 7, Vista, & XP.
Result: This is the overall result; simply put, it reveals if the antivirus software passed or failed the test.
RAP Overview: “Chart shows RAP scores with weighted average overlaid.” Note: The difference in scores is explained below.
RAP Score: “Weighted average detection rate over recent malware samples, including retrospective coverage of new malware (Reactive and Proactive).” Basically, this means the ability for the AV product to detect and react to malware threats. This is the most important measure of how effective any AV product is; the higher the score, the more effective the product.
Performance impact (%): “Increase in time taken to complete a set of common tasks.” This is the impact to system performance by the AV product when in operation. A lower score is better here.
Stability Rating: “Rated on a five-level scale from Solid (no problems) to Flaky (severe issues).” This is the rating given by VB100 based on the test results. This tells you the quality of the AV software apart from the previously mentioned effectiveness or performance impact measurements.

What is evident in these results is a consistent pattern of high RAP Score – detection of AV threats – and a low performance impact. Once again this means that CompuClever antivirus PLUS works to protect your PC from online malware threats all the while operating in the background.

In this way, you won’t notice it and it won’t have an impact to overall system performance – something CompuClever dedicates itself to accomplishing!

Overall Conclusions

Based on analysis of detailed test data, we are very pleased with the results of the tests. These results are in line with our original goals:

Total protection against any form of online threats: CompuClever Antivirus’s high RAP score is among the list of top security solution providers, like ESET, Kaspersky, Bitdefender, and AVG.
Minimum impact to PC performance: CompuClever Antivirus’s extremely low % in Performance Impact to PC performance outperforms most of our top competitors.
A solid and well-built antivirus product: It is easy to install without reboot, has an intuitive user interface, and is extremely intelligent and quiet. CompuClever Antivirus is regarded as a “solid” antivirus solution.

This is what VB100 lab says about us in one of its test remarks:

The design is slick and attractive, with a good range of options available and intuitive deployment of controls.

Stability was perfect throughout testing, with not the slightest shake even under heavy stress. Performance impact was decent too…

Detection was as excellent as one would expect, with good scores everywhere.^[1]

Check Your AV Product

We invite you to examine the results for your AV product. You can trust VB100 as it a free service that performs regular independent reviews of malware solutions and provides test results for AV software that handle both known (reactive) and unknown (proactive) virus samples. You can see the latest test results for any product or you can use the Search field to quickly find test results.

CompuClever Antivirus PLUS

CompuClever Antivirus PLUS offers unparalleled security technology against malware threats. It is designed to deliver the best performance for your PC and it is built on the most advanced antivirus technology available today. Exceptional in its ease of use, it allows you to handle security with a single click. The intuitive technology also guards your online privacy and digital identity with specific protection when doing online banking and online shopping.

Browse the following topics to learn more about Antivirus PLUS:

[1]https://www.virusbulletin.com/

Refresh Your PC with Device Driver Update

December 30, 2016 by Andy Thompson

As stated in my recently updated book – “5 Tips for a Fast PC”, I am often the “go-to” guy for solving computer problems amongst my families and friends. One of our primary intentions in writing the book was to inform ordinary PC users how to master the basics of computer optimization and maintenance. I have to admit that I purposely left one specific trick out of the book – updating Windows device drivers – for a reason. This is because updating device drivers can be tricky if you don’t have the proper software tool. Although, we want to emphasize here that keeping your PC’s device drivers updated will enhance your PC’s stability and performance.

Today, I am going to explain what device drivers are, why you should update your PC’s device drivers, and how to do it safely and effectively.

What device drivers are

Your Windows PC is made of the following “building blocks”: the hardware, the Operating System (also known as Windows OS), and application software. But have you ever wondered how your OS and application software interact with hardware?

This is where a device driver comes into play. A device driver, commonly known as a driver, is a computer program that controls or drives a particular set of hardware. It serves as an interface between the OS and the hardware device. For instance, your mouse is controlled by a mouse device driver and your keyboard is controlled by a keyboard driver. And this pretty much applies to any hardware that’s in, or attached to, your PC. This includes the monitor, hard drive, CPU, web camera, printer, scanner, speaker, and more.

When should you update drivers

As we have pointed out, drivers are an essential component of the Windows OS as they ensure your PC runs smoothly. Similarly to the Windows OS and software programs, drivers can become outdated or even obsolete. There are three primary reasons that can cause your drivers to become outdated or even damaged.

Windows update: when you perform a major Windows update, like upgrading to Windows 10, some of your existing (“legacy”) hardware devices may not be properly detected by the new OS.
Hardware update: when you add new hardware, such as a mouse, keyboard, web cam, or printer, your Windows OS may not necessarily carry the latest driver for that specific piece of hardware.
Malware attack or invalid operations: when your PC has been attacked by malware or a third-party software that performs invalid operations, it can damage device drivers and cause issues beyond what is strictly security-related.

If your PC experiences one of the following symptoms commonly related to drivers, you definitely need to consider checking the status of your device drivers:

Your PC or software freezes or crashes frequently or even occasionally, but obviously enough to cause you concern.
Your hardware simply stops working or malfunctions. For instance, your speakers produce no sound or your printer doesn’t work.
Your PC or laptop generates unusual noise or heat, which can indicate issues originating with how hardware is being used.
You encounter general PC performance issues that can’t be addressed with the steps suggested in the “5 Tips for a Fast PC”.

Based on my experience, a majority of the mysterious PC performance or stability issues can be explained and addressed by performing a device driver check.

How to update device drivers

There are two ways to update devices drivers: manually and automatically.

You can manually update device drivers by accessing the Control Panel, opening the Device Manager, right-mouse click a specific hardware, and select Update Driver Software. You then have the option of letting Windows find the most updated driver for you, or installing the latest driver software that you download from the hardware manufacture’s website.

Although the manual process works in theory, it depends on two important factors. Number one, you know which hardware requires a driver update, and secondly, you trust Microsoft has the latest and best driver for you to download. Nevertheless, we found the second condition to be particularly unreliable for those who already perform Windows update on a regular basis. If Microsoft has the right device drivers for a piece of hardware you suspect is causing issues, then it stands to reason you would have automatically received a Windows update already.

Using device update software

Some advanced users are able to manually update drivers by searching the Internet for the correct version of drivers. However, we suggest using reliable driver update software to perform this task safely and effectively. The advantages of using a professional driver update program are:

It’s automated: a driver update application scans all hardware on your PC and identifies associated drivers that are updated or damaged.
It’s efficient: an effective and accredited driver application would take advantage of cloud-based resources and thereby have access to a comprehensive collection of device drivers for almost any hardware devices, for any PC brand.
It’s safe: a reputable device driver software would be digitally signed and approved by Microsoft to operate on your PC and thus be free from any security concern or threat.

Our test and recommendation

Building an effective driver update software program and maintaining a comprehensive driver database requires very specific knowledge and experience. We here at CompuClever evaluated three top driver software programs available on the market based on the criteria of coverage, effectiveness, and ease-of-use. These are the top three:

Of these three, our final recommendation is Driver Finder for the following three reasons:

Driver Finder offers a massive coverage of 400,000+ hardware devices from over 5,000 different companies.
Diver Finder is digitally signed by Norton and is Microsoft Windows logo certified.
Driver Finder supports Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10, making it easy for any PC users.

Click here to learn more about Driver Finder, we recommend you download a free scan to conduct a quick and complete assessment of your PC’s device drivers.

We hope you have better understanding about device drivers and how to update them. Let us know if you have any questions about how to keep your PC clean, optimized, and updated.

Breaking News – Yahoo Admits Breach of 500 Million Accounts

September 22, 2016 by Andy Thompson

My heart dropped when I was alerted by CNN that Yahoo admitted today that 500 million user accounts have been compromised. As a seasoned IT professional who has been involved with the security industry for the past decade, this is probably THE worse security breach that’s occurred since the inception of the Internet.

Here are the key facts that you should be aware of regarding this breach:

In August 2016, a person codenamed “Peace” attempted to sell what he claimed to be 200 million Yahoo user information.
Back then, Yahoo only said they were investigating the legitimacy of the claim.
On Sept. 22^nd2016, Yahoo issued a statement acknowledging the legitimacy of the claim. Furthermore, Yahoo confirmed the scale of the breach is actually 500 million accounts.
Yahoo also confirmed that the information stolen contains name, username, lightly encrypted passwords, date of birth, and for some accounts, security questions and answers.

Nevertheless, till this moment, Yahoo hasn’t issued a notice to all of its users advising them to reset their passwords.

Here at CompuClever, we felt it is necessary to inform you about this event because there is a high possibility that either you or someone you know might be impacted by this incident.

Yahoo is currently working with law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, to deal with this breach. Nevertheless, we recommend you immediately take the following measures to protect your online security and personal privacy:

Immediately change your Yahoo email password.
If you happen to be using the same combination of username and password across multiple (non-Yahoo) online accounts, change all of the passwords. Make sure that you use a different password for every account.
Ensure you have a legit and reputable antivirus protection with active subscription to protect your PC from any forms of cyberattack.