Ira Wilsker's archive

Microsoft’s free Fix it Center fixes many Windows problems

Some time ago, I wrote about an early beta (pre-release) version of Microsoft’s free Mr. Fixit utility. With the early beta test now closed, I am happy to report that Mr. Fixit is alive and well and offering many times more free fixes than it did when I first reviewed it. Mr.

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Hard drive cleaners remove junk files, free up space

It never amazes me anymore when I try and help people having computer problems, often performance related, and find that their hard drives are so badly cluttered with useless garbage that hard drive performance is seriously degraded. While there are many potential causes of poor computer performance, one of the easiest problems to detect and remedy is hard drive clutter.

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Free utility to test and monitor your hard drive

Many times before, in this column and regularly on my radio show, I have repeated the three most important words in computing: “Backup! Backup! Backup!” Hopefully by now, most of you are maintaining current backup copies of all of your critical data, and an image of your hard drive for the inevitable failure of your primary hard drive. I have published numerous reviews on good quality free and commercial software and online services that can be used to back up your hard drive.

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