CompuClever Blog

Spring PC Cleaning

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It’s spring time. What a wonderful time of the year. We tend to feel energized from a restful winter season and it’s time to take on chores that were neglected or “to do” items that set the stage for our busy endeavors ahead. One of these tasks is cleaning your PC so that it runs efficiently. Believe it or not this process does not have to be equivalent to tearing one’s hair out and it can be very fast using the right tools. In the end you may have two important chores accomplished – a better organization of personal files and dead weight that we can refer to as “clutter” is removed.

We’re going to start off with some information on clutter and how to assess how much free space you may have on your PC. Keep in mind that you may have plenty of free space and still have plenty of clutter on your PC. Assessing the situation can help in determining how your PC is performing and how well it responds to some clean up!

Clutter – Time to Clean

By “cleaning” we are not talking about throwing away things that may have some importance. We are referring to removing what can be considered clutter and organizing files we want to keep. Continue reading...

Looking back and moving forward

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During the year 2013 we covered a wide range of topics and moving forward we think there are many suggestions and recommendations that can be used in dealing with PC issues you may be facing right now.  So, we embark on a two-part adventure: to review the best of our articles and to highlight what PC tips and tricks you can take advantage of immediately.  What better way to step up to the plate when asked: What is your New Year’s resolution?  We hope it’s to take charge of your computing needs so that your PC works for you! This summary of our top PC stories for us is a celebration of a year’s correspondences to you our readership.

The following topics include our top stories that we find will give you an upper edge on PC good practices and regular use:

Security & Privacy

Digital security – updates and trends
Edward Snowden hit the news this past year and opened up a whole can of worms in relation to surveillance and the reams of digital information that is readily available.  Our information article broached the subject of the digital universe and our level of exposure to surveillance.  We have become participants and are increasingly more involved in the creation of digital information that can be accessed from online means.  Continue reading...

Foistware – Remove and Restore

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Synopsis: In our companion article we introduced foistware and focused on detection and prevention. Here we look at how to remove these items and restore your browser settings. We will cover removal of foistware from Browser toolbars and uninstalling unwanted items using the Uninstaller tool available with PC Clean Maestro. After this we will cover the basics of restoring your browser to its previous condition.

To reverse the impact of foistware on your PC, you need to do the following:

1. Remove foistware items.
2. Restore changes to your PC made by foistware items, especially to your web browsers.

Removal

One of the most noticeable effects of foistware is having one or more applications installed. Most of these applications nag you to acquire and/or pay for extra software or services. For example, the 24×7 PC support foistware installs itself to your PC, nags you by attaching itself to every active Window, and shows signs of reluctance when you go to uninstall it.

 

The first step is to remove any application installed by a foistware. To do this we will focus on using the Uninstaller, one of the major tools available with PC Clean Maestro which is free to use. Our previous article covers in detail how to use the Uninstaller. Continue reading...

Privacy – Don’t Give It Away

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Synopsis:  We have founded a nation established on individual freedoms and rights.  Our right to privacy is fundamental.  But what about data that we make available in some manner such as with social media services like Facebook or Twitter?  Are we entering into a fuzzy area when we submit and share our content?  What is at risk when we open ourselves to digital communications?  We’re going to take a look at these questions and attempt some solutions for keeping our digital information from being used in ways we do not intend.  In part, we have to take responsibility for making good choices with data that is available to others and can be used for unethical or malicious purpose.

Privacy:

We begin with answering the question: What is privacy?  David Banisar of the Electronic Privacy Information Center and Simon Davies of Privacy International authored a report on privacy.  They begin with:

Privacy is a fundamental human right recognized in the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the International (Covenant) on Civil and Political Rights and in many other international and regional treaties.  Privacy underpins human dignity and other key values such as freedom of association and freedom of speech. It has become one of the most important human rights issues of the modern age.
Continue reading...

Secure Computing Practices

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Synopsis:  This blog article focuses on the privacy and personal security functionality of PC Clean Maestro– the removal of personal and private files.  There are numerous examples of cybercrime and online hacking which exemplify damages that can be lost in terms of financial wealth, private data, and personal information that can be used against your will.  In this article we will offer some examples of how you can prevent falling into malicious traps.  For more detail of cybercrime examples refer to our newsletter.  While encryption and firewall techniques are available, experts agree that there are always vulnerable points of entry.  We emphasize eliminating the risk by removal of data where possible.

Introducing – PC Clean Maestro:

The CompuClever application PC Clean Maestro has more than one major function.  It is used to remove junk files, to uninstall programs, and for removal of data for purposes of security and retaining PC privacy. Removing private data that is sensitive or can be stolen is done in the same manner as removing junk files with minor differences.  We will outline the procedure here in step-by-step fashion.  Before we begin, let’s start with a best practice tip.

Best Practices: 1. BackUp Data

As we stated in our previous article… backup your data!  Continue reading...