Willy2

I DO like boiled eggs !!! I must confess the latest Defraggler version does an amazing job finding files. (I stopped using this feature MANY versions ago). Whereas Locate32 finds e.g. deleted files as well !! And it's this "finding too much" is the reason why I don't like the program. Too much confusion.

I see. I tried the Search function in Defraggler and "wasn't impressed". I've dumped both Locate32 and Everything. Even a simple MSDOS command "Dir ....." was better, found more. I switched to "SearchMyfiles". Much better, IMO. http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/search_my_files.html

@Alan: How do you know for sure that these are hard links and not the real stuff (files) ? It looks to me that MS simply updates a file and places a copy in WinSXS. Sure, this is an "Evil MS Conspiracy", right ? More info: http://windows7theme...-windows-7.html http://windows7theme...olic-links.html

New program out at www.Tweaking.com: Registry Compressor IMO, a good succesor to NTREGOPT. http://www.tweaking....compressor.html Windows Repair has advanced to Version v1.9.12. In order to function properly, WR needs to (temporarily) change the state of a number of Window Services. Now at the exit of WR, the user can put those Services back to the user's favourite state. E.g. with: "SC config ....... start= ......" http://www.tweaking.com/ Post your comments on the Tweaking.com forum and NOT here.

@Keatah: I agree for about 80 to 90%. E.g. I am on Win 7 but use Word 2003 as well. Why bother to switch to new a word processor when the old one still suffices. (Small) Businesses are struggling financially and then MS expects them to switch to Win 8 with all the costs and learning involved ? When they're doing fine with XP or Win 7 ? MS should focus on their XP and Win 7 customer base. With Win 8 being a flop and 40% of users still on XP I wouldn't be surprised to see support for XP extended. And then they can focus on fixing more bugs in Win 7 as well.

For those who make every now and then an image of their harddisk: http://www.jeroentie...r-in-windows-7/ Seesm it only applies when the user has installed one or more Service Packs. More info: http://blogs.technet...t-so-large.aspx http://technet.micro...e/dd490958.aspx Windows Vista has similar tool: Compcln.exe http://myitforum.com...ompcln-exe.aspx Don't quite get it. Does this "Winsxs" folder constitute the OS itself or does it contain the archived files only. If the content of this folder constitutes the OS itself then why bother to put all those files in e.g. the "system32" or "syswow64" folders ? And one should think (AT LEAST) twice before doing something that can't be reversed.

I was also surprised to see that XP still holds a 40% marketshare. I moved from XP to Win 7 about 10 months ago because I wanted to "go wireless" and my XP laptop didn't have a wireless internet hardware build into it. My new laptop came with Win 7, had the luck I skipped the buggy Vista. Wish I could get Win XP's Explorer for Win 7. That's the one thing I REALLY miss. And I wish MS would focus more on fixing a number of annoying and (at least) two blatant bugs in Win 7. It seems MS puts an emphasis on fixing security issues.

More bad news for Microsoft: http://globaleconomi...standstill.html Win 8 isn't selling and now MS is slashing prices. Surprise, surprise.

Found a solution for the problem in post #16. According to this article http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/15788/how-to-uninstall-disable-and-remove-windows-defender.-also-how-turn-it-off/ Windows Defender is (highly) integrated with e.g. Win 7. The solution is simple. Set the Service "WDefend" to "Disabled".

There's a program called "Windows Repair" (www.tweaking.com) that can help you to solve this WMI problem. Run the program and make sure that you - at least - tick the box "Repair WMI". It will reset WMI.

Still not fixed in v3.27

Windows 9 = Windows Blue ??? For the time being I'll keep Windows 7. Seems I was lucky to buy a laptop at the right time (i.e. not with Vista or Win 8 installed). I agree. MS needs to watch its step VERY carefully. They simply can't afford any to make (too many) mistakes any more. Too much competition and MS has been too complacent in recent years.

Bill Gates is not happy with the innovation at Microsoft. Change in management at MS coming ? http://techbeat.com/...n-at-microsoft/ http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57569944-75/bill-gates-not-satisfied-with-microsofts-innovations/

New "Windows Repair" version (v1.9.8) available. It now allows the user to set the Services to his/her favourite state. (Hazelnut ?). www.tweaking.com

This is weird. I ditched MSE (using the official un-installer) but Windows Update still reminds me every now and then of new definitions being available. Do I need to remove one or more programs/services ? Clean the registry ? Perhaps I'll ditch Avast and go back to MSE. MSE has one advantage over Avast: It allows the user to switch off "Real time" protection and that allows me to run "Windows Repair". (Yes, then the user must "switch off" the intenet connection as well.)

@Keatah: that article http://lifehacker.com/5033518/debunking-common-windows-performance-tweaking-myths is - in one regard - wrong. They say that one API http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms682606.aspx pushes info from the computer memory to the pagefile. And that's incorrect. The API gives Windows the task to release any memory currently not in use by programs/processes. There's actually a program that's specifically build to make optimimum use of this API: CleanMem. http://www.pcwintech.com/cleanmem http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=28918&st=20 http://forum.piriform.com/index.php?showtopic=28918 Prefetch (and Super Fetch ??) are useful to speed up the Windows start up process. http://www.autoitconsulting.com/site/performance/windows-7-self-optimizing-boot-process/ And they work "hand in glove" with "Recent Folders" in Windows.

http://helgeklein.com/blog/2012/01/new-file-system-refs-in-windows-8-quick-facts/ Article is already a year old. Check out the rest as well. It contains IMO some interesting stuff. http://helgeklein.com/blog/blog-archive/

Agree. This is another sign Microsoft has been "sleeping at the wheel" in the last years. When will we see the first announcement of Microsoft laying off employees ?

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57567430-94/android-malware-uses-your-pcs-own-mic-to-record-you/ And I thought this was limited to Windows. When is the first Android only virus/malware going to be discovered ?

MSE fails to pass its own security tests. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Microsoft-Security-Essentials-Fails-One-More-Anti-Virus-Test-327627.shtml In the review I read MSE was rated worst of 6 AV programs.

Microsoft is bringing out 57 patches. Predominantly for Internet Explorer. http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2013/02/08/monster-patch/ When are they going to fix the bug in Task Scheduler (TS) ? One or more tasks don't show in TS but when I use CCleaner those tasks do show up.

O.M.G. I just installed Avast and ditched MS Security Essentials. I read that Avast was better that MSE.

@Keatah: And that's why RIMM's QNX Operating System is such a good idea. It's an attempt to start from scratch. The problem is that RIMM should come up this years ago. Now, I fear, it could be/is D.O.A. Pity, because QNX was/is - IMO - a sound idea.

It seems Android, iTunes and Windows Mobile will have to deal with some very serious competition. http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=217190 http://n4bb.com/rim-didnt-rewrite-qnx-operating-blackberry-10/

New version of "Windows Repair" (v1.9.7) released. www.tweaking.com