• How to Clean
  Your Scanner
  
  
• How to Clean
  Your Laptop
  
  
• How to Clean
  Your Hard Drive
  
  
• How to Clean
  Unused Programs
  
  
• How to Clean
  Startup Programs and
  Network Drives
  
  
• Featured Discussions
  Website autocomplete
      login
  viewing images in a
      forwarded email
  Large Fonts on
      Website
  Odd start-up page
  Link in Email to IE
      doesn't work!
  
  
• Questions on our
  Discussion Board
  
  

How to Clean your Scanner

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        It is of utmost importance that a scanner is clean. If it is not, the quality of its scans will show it. Below are cleaning instructions to keep your scans good and clear.
        These instructions are for flatbed scanners (in other words, the kind of scanner that looks like a copier with a glass surface to put the original on), flatbed faxes, and copiers.
        The most important part that needs to be cleaned is the glass on which you lay the original. It may look clean, but if you take a closer look at it, you will probably see that it is not. Any dirt or speck on the glass will show up in the scan. Fingerprints can even show up. These tiny, unnoticed marks and smudges become huge and obvious when scanned pictures are enlarged (like, when you try to get a better look at Uncle Joe's face in that family reunion photo and there is a blob covering half of his face).
        One way to keep from having to clean the glass so often is not to touch it with your fingers. But no matter how careful you are, marks and smudges still accumulate there. Because of this, the glass should be cleaned on a regular basis.
        You will need a cleaning solution (water, rubbing alcohol, or window cleaner) and a clean, soft cloth. The official advice is to apply the solution to the cloth and never spray it directly on the glass. However, if you are careful and do not spray the solution on the sides of the glass where it could seep down into the inside, there will not be a problem.
        As you wipe the glass, use your two senses of touch and sight. If your hand feels a little bump or roughness while it is wiping the glass, that is dirt that should not be there. Rub it a few more times. If it does not come up, take a closer look. You may need to take your fingernail to it (do not scrape with a hard object that could scratch the glass). Also use your eyes to look closely at the glass from different angles to makes sure you are not missing any marks.
        Another way to find marks is to scan a clean, blank piece of paper and then examine the image close up. Any marks in the scan are marks on the glass. Search them out and desroy them.
        After the glass is clean, use the wettened cloth to wipe down the outside of the machine.
        If any marks on the glass do not come off, it is possible that they are on the underneath side of the glass. The area underneath the glass is a closed off and somewhat sealed area, so there should not be marks there, but they do occur. Because the lens is also in this closed off area, it also should not get dirty, but sometimes it does. If either of these happen, you will need to remove the glass (it is usually held in by screws or a cover with screws in it). Before you remove the glass, be sure that you are in a clean environment because once you open it, whatever is in the air will enter the enclosed area.
        To prevent breaking the glass, keep it over a table where it will not have far to fall if you happen to drop it. Use plenty of clean rags to handle and clean the glass. If you touch it with your bare fingers, you will leave a mark.
        When cleaning the lens, use a different cloth than you have been using which is clean. Apply cleaning solution to it that does not leave residue, like water, rubbing alcohol, or window cleaner.
        While the glass is off, blow out and wipe the inside out.
        As you reassemble it, be careful that you do not leave any marks or fingerprints on the underside of the glass.
        Scanners do not have rollers, but fax machines, copiers, and all-in-one machines do. If your machine has dirty rollers, follow the directions in our article on how to clean printers.
        If you keep your scanner clean, the quality of your scans will be impeccable.


How to Clean your Laptop

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        Even though, a laptop is a computer, laptops require a different procedure for cleaning. The procedure is actually simpler.
        Laptops are not meant to be disassembled. The parts that are replaceable usually have their own specialized access panels. Disassembly is difficult and sometimes not even possible. There is no real benefit in taking it apart. So when you clean your laptop, do not disassemble it.
        Turn off and unplug the laptop before cleaning.
        You only need two tools: a wet, clean cloth and a vacuum or compressed air.
        Start with a vacuum or a can of compressed air purchased from a computer store. Blow out or vacuum out the fan in the back of the laptop and any air vents. Then move to the keys blowing out any debris caught in-between or under the keys. It may help to stand the laptop on its side or upside down while doing this.
        Next use the wet cloth to clean the screen. There are some special don'ts for cleaning a laptop screen. Don't use a paper towel or any rough cloth that could scratch the screen. Don't use ordinary glass cleaner (ammonia based liquids, like Windex). And don't press hard on the screen. Pressing hard anywhere on the screen could damage it. Don't get the rag so wet that the liquid runs down the screen.
        Next wipe off the keys. Run the cloth along all of the grooves between the keys. Then wipe off the rest of the outside.
        That is all there is to it.


How to Clean your Hard Drive

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        Put away the rags and vaccum. You will not need them to clean the hard drive. The hard drive is manufactured in a sterile, clean room and sealed in a metal container. Dirt cannot get in it and so it will not get dirty. But even though physical dirt is not a problem, digital trash and fragmentation is.
        Windows is the biggest litter bug. Each new edition of Windows gets more careless. It is not unusual for Windows to pile several gigabytes of trash throughout your hard drive and leave it there. Other programs also like to use your hard drive as an open dumping ground. This trash can quickly comsume your free space and slow your computer down. If it gets bad enough, it can cause problems, errors, and even crashes.
        Regularly cleaning your computer of digital trash gives it more room to work and avoids problems.
        If you know where Windows and the other programs keep all of their trash, you can spend hours everyday finding it and deleting it by hand. An easier and better option is to use our software, A1Click Ultra PC Cleaner. The Clean PC button in A1Click draws on 45 processes to safely hunt down and remove clutter. It does this by not only emptying out the trash pockets in Windows, but by scouring every folder for trash files, empty files, bad shortcuts, and unneccessary file types. The first time that most people use Clean PC, it finds over a gigabyte of trash.
        A1Click is periodically updated to provide better and better cleaning. All updates are free.
        Novice users should only use the Clean PC part. It is extensive and safe. I use it everyday.
        But there are additional sections for experienced users, such as, Cleaner Settings, Remove Tracks, Duplicate File Finder, Font Remover, Recent List Cleaner, Uninstaller, Registry Cleaner, Favorite List Cleaner, and the PreFetch Cleaner. Please be aware that some of these sections may not have the expected results, so know what the section does before you use it.
        You can find out how much junk is on your computer today for free. Just download a demo of A1Click Ultra PC Cleaner from http://regvac.com/a1cleanz.exe and give it a try. For more information and/or to purchase A1Click go to http://regvac.com/a1clean.htm.
        In addition to cleaning the digital trash off your hard drive, you should also run a defragmenter about once a year. Some reveiwers insist that the free Windows defragmenter should not be used and instead recommend other costly defragmenters, but contrary to what they say, the Windows defragmenter works just fine. To use it, click on the Start button in Windows, go to All Programs, Accessories, and click on the Disk Defragmenter icon.
        Have a clean PC today and everyday with A1Click Ultra PC Cleaner and Windows Defragmenter.


How to Clean Unused Programs

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        That digital thingamajiggy that looked so good when you downloaded and installed it, turned out to be nothing. You have not used it for a year and it is highly unlikely you will ever use it in the future. So, why is it still on your computer taking up space? There are probably many more programs that sit there never to be used again. Now is the time to find them and get rid of them.
        Start by clicking on the Start button in Windows, opening the Control Panel, and running Add/Remove Programs (also called Add or Remove Programs). Go to the Change or Remove Programs section and if you have WinXP, wait.. It may take a while for it to load.
        Once loaded, it shows a list of programs installed on your computer. Go through the list and find the programs that you do not use. In Windows XP, when you click on an item, it reveals a button and more information, like how often it is used and when it was last used.
        When you find a program that you will never use again, click on the Remove button. This will run the program's uninstall program. The uninstall program removes registry settings and files that were added when you installed the program. If you delete the program without using the uninstall program, it will leave behind files and registry settings. So always use the uninstall program when removing a program.
        Having said all of that, unfortunately, uninstall programs may not remove everything. To make sure that all registry settings are removed, use RegVac's Software Vac and remove the entire branch of any uninstalled program that it finds.
        If you get an error when you click on the Remove button, you can remove that item from the Add/Remove Programs list by using RegVac's Add/Remove Editor.
        Next, go to the All Programs section of the Start menu (do this by clicking on the Start button, and expanding the All Programs item). Look for any folders or icons of programs which you do not and will not ever use. When you find them, remove them. Please do not overdo this and remove items that you or your computer will later want or need. Be 100% sure of the items you remove. If in doubt, don't.
        To remove an item, right click on it and select Delete from the popup menu. Before deleting a folder, look in it for an uninstall icon. If you find one, run it instead.
        The last place to go is to Windows Explorer (one way to open Windows Explorer is to right click on the Start button and select Explore from the popup menu). Expand each drive and look at the folder names. Also expand the Program Files folder. If you see any programs which you do not use, delete those folders. Please make sure about what you delete. Think three times about it before deleting it. It also helps to have a backup of everything before you start deleting, because if you are not careful, you will delete things that later you find out you need.
        Here are some things to look for, do, and consider before deleting.
        Do not delete any folders of items that are still in Add/Remove Programs (in other words, programs that you decided not to remove). Those should first be removed from the Add/Remove Programs list by clicking on the Remove button in the Add/Remove Programs list.
        It is possible that programs which you removed from Add/Remove Programs will still have near empty folders in Windows Explorer. If this is the case, you may go ahead and delete the empty or near empty folders.
        With the folders that do not have an uninstall item in Add/Remove Programs, look and see if there is an uninstall link in the folder. If not, delete the folder and everything in it.
        That is all there is to it. Now with all of those unused programs removed from your computer, it is time to go out and celebrate at www.download.com.


How to Clean Startup Programs and Network Drives

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        As your computer starts, before you see the familiar Windows desktop, dozens of programs start (many without your knowledge or permission) and hide in the background. Many are unneeded and only consume resources slowing down your system. Others are downright evil consisting of spyware and viruses. Cleanning out the startup lists will give you back control of your computer and just may speed things up.
        To see what programs are run at startup, go to the Start menu and click on the Run item. In the Run dialog textbox type "msconfig" and click on the OK button. This opens the System Configuration Utility of Windows. The Startup tab has a list of startup items from the most common startup lists in Windows. This list is in no way exhaustive. Windows has many more hidden startup lists. Our program, Speed Startup, checks 41 startup lists in Windows.
        Once you have a list of startup items, you need to figure out what each one does and whether you should remove them or not. There is a list of thousands of startup items on the internet at http://www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php. Start with the first item. Enter its filename in the Search box. If it is found, it will tell you its name, danger ranking (Status), and description.
        Many times it shows many listings for a single startup item with some of them ranked bad and some good, so be sure to check and read the descriptions of all of them. Our program, Speed Startup, does this automatically and displays all of the results together. With this information, you can decide which items to remove and which to keep.
        Speed Startup has several other tools to help you with the startup items. To download a free trial of Speed Startup go to http://regvac.com/speedstartz.exe. For more information and/or to purchase Speed Startup go to http://regvac.com/speedstartup.htm.
        Once you have cleaned up the startup programs, look to see if there are any unused network drives. The problem with unused network drives is that Windows attempts to connect to them everytime that it starts. If the network drive is not there, Windows will take some time trying to find it. This also happens when you browse for files and folders from a program.
        To disconnect unused network drives open Windows Explorer (right click on the Start button and select Explore from the popup menu). Click on the Tools menu at the top and then click on Disconnect Network Drive.... If there are no drives, a message will appear that says, "You have no network drives to disconnect." Otherwise, it will show the network drives. Select the drives that you do not use and click OK.
        Keep the startup items to a minimum and the unused network connections cleared out and your computer will start as fast as possible.


Featured Discussions

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Website autocomplete login

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1156105100/

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galleychief - I have several favorite sites that require login. In the past when I checked the block which would save login information, I could return to the page and not have to re-enter login and password info to gain access. Lately, when I select the "save login info" box it doesn't save and I have to enter login and password. Somewhere something changed. . . how can I get Windows XP to save the site login info?

dlwolff0 - When you save your login info, what the site does is put a cookie on your computer that contains that info.
        If you are running a program that deletes cookies, that is where you are losing the info. If you are running such a program, you need to exempt the cookies from those sites from being deleted.


viewing images in a forwarded email

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1156340747/

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jcm3008 - i have a friend that will send or forward emails that have images in them but i cannot view them. there will be a small box with red square, a green and a red triangle. how do i fix this?

dlwolff0 - It is most likely your friend's problem. If the image is not embedded or attached correctly it won't be displayed in his email.
        The small box is a place holder for an image that your email program can not find.

Ray - The other possibility is that you have your email program set up to not display pictures. If this were the case, other emails also would not show their pictures too unless the picture is embeded in the email. You can correct this in your email program's settings.
        The reason why an email program would disable the display of pictures (especially those which are links to the internet) is because mass mailed emails often use a picture to track whether you have opened their email or not.


Large Fonts on Website

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1156689875/

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weleibow - When I open some web sites I get an encoding that is in large fonts and I change enciodng to user defined and it appears normal Iss there a way to permannently set this.

dlwolff0 - There is also a setting under "view" in your browser for "text size", perhaps that is what you are looking for?


Odd start-up page

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1156105314/

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drmaze - When I reboot my Win2K Pro desktop each morning, everything loads fine, except the C:\WINNT\system32 folder is diplayed on the desktop. No error msgs, nothing out of the ordinary, don't know why. I run a nightly differential backup, with a normal each month. I have not made any "known" system or application changes. It really affects nothing, just puzzeling. Any ideas??

Ray - I assume that what you mean by "C:\WINNT\system32 folder is diplayed on the desktop" is that Windows Explorer is open with the system32 folder in it.
        I would look in the startup items to see what is causing that. Either use Speed Startup to see the startup items or go to Start (in Windows) then to Run. Type msconfig in the textbox and then click on the OK button. This will start the System Configuration Utility. Go to the Startup tab and the startup items will be listed there.
        One of startup items should be what is displaying that folder on the desktop.


Link in Email to IE doesn't work!

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Find this on our board at http://www.regvac.com/forum/m-1154195206/

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7jr237 - I've recently found that when I receive email with a link, clicking it takes me to Docs & Settings, rather than OE! I'm using OE 6 and IE 7. I can work around it by right clicking tyhe link and pasting it, but that's not the way it should work.
        Links on Thunderbird work just fine.
        Got any good ideas?
        Oh yes, I'm using XP, w/ lots of memory!

ropperm - My problem is very similar, - the only difference is that I am using Outlook 2000 for my mail and clicking on any link takes me to a folder "C/Prog/Common Files/System/Mapi/1031/nt". I find this particularly annoying as "copy and paste" cannot be used for such hints as "click here" or "choose .."
        Any help would be gratly appreciated.

dajolef - If clicking a hyperlink in Outlook Express appears to do nothing at all, there are likely one or more registered file associations that are configured incorrectly. To repair the associations:

1. Open My Computer and click Folder Options on the Tools menu.
2. Click the File Types tab.
3. Select URL:Hypertext Transfer Protocol in the list of registered file types.
4. Click the Advanced button (Windows XP), or the Edit button (other versions).
5. In the list of Actions, select open and then click the Edit button.
6. The Application used to perform action box should contain this, including quotation marks: "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" -nohome
7. If instead it contains a short name version of that path, or an incorrect path, change it to the above.
8. Click OK, click OK.
9. Repeat steps 3-7 for the file type URL:Hypertext Transfer Protocol with Privacy.
10. Click OK to close the Folder Options window.

New Questions on our Discussion Board

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Proxy server

Delete or Do Not Delete Automatic Updates

slow computer

two operating systems

Removing multiple windws option during booting

How do I turn on the number keys

cd drive disappeared

Run Daily Registry Clean Up On Automatic

Spyware and Adware

hard drive is locked

Old grayed out drivers

Really Delete Old Files

Compress Old Files in Windows Disk Cleanup

Computer Fails to Boot

Format & Partition HDD

New XP install missing drivers

ez keylogger

computer delay

Adding more memory

TV Shows too big on screen

Windows Update (MS VM) won't install

Access Denied of XP SP2 Install

RAM for dual channel

Why is Office 2007 slower?

Modem Code Speed Up

I have to click on o.s choice at start up !

changing bootskin

laptop memory issues

New Computer and APC Back-UPS

fresh install xp with sata drive

shutting down and re-booting

installing Larger hard drives

New RAM, different speed

Motherboard Battery

IE 7 shuts down after about two hours

Printer continually printing test page

Non-Working CD/R-W

Desktop icon font colors

Registry Defrag vs Regirtry Compact

Where can I get Netscape 7.1?

How to display computer name on the desktop

SATA Hard Drives

Will Win Rescue save my goofs after Reg Vac

REGVAC License

start up win xp problem unable to locate this app

Web browsing content issues, please help!

changing partition size

RegVac v 4.02.36 & 37

which startup programs are bad?

Memory upgrade not working

Corrupt file

Reinstall of Win Xp Sp2

All In One Fax problem

searching word documents


Thanks for reading,
Ray Geide