Reviews | WindowsTalk.org

Jun

Reimage PC Repair Software

Back in February of this year, I published a review of Reimage, which is an online PC repair tool that impressed me with its professional appearance, ease of use and most importantly, good results! Some have emailed me asking me about the difference between Reimage and other PC tools as well as just how it works and is it safe?

What separates Reimage from registry cleaners, anti-spyware and anti-virus software??
Reimage is a 2^nd generation revolutionary online PC repair tool used by technicians worldwide. The Reimage technology uses an advanced in-depth scan technique making sure that only damaged files are deleted, while leaving healthy user data intact*. Reimage is the only software that actually repairs damage done to the operating system that was caused by a virus, malware, or Trojan. The virus is detected, deleted, and all corrupted files are replaced with clean, healthy files. Reimage is the only product in the world that can correct the damage a virus has caused (as opposed to anti-virus software that simply removes viruses).

Categories General, Reviews, Software
Comments (22)

Feb

Review: Reimage PC Repair Software

by James M. Fisher

Computer problems are frustrating, whether you are a new or inexperienced user or a Windows IT pro. However, if you are an IT pro, there’s a good chance you know how to fix your Windows problems already. What about the other 98% of us? Where do we turn when we need Windows help? A co-worker? A relative? Chances are they may not be as much help as we hoped; possibly causing even more problems!

What if you had access to a professional online service that provided you with a free tool that thoroughly scans your Windows PC for errors, missing or corrupted files and security problems then gives you a complete diagnosis? That is what the Reimage PC Repair service does. And it does it very well!

I have just finished scanning my fairly new Lenovo ThinkPad T510 (running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit) and while I wasn’t experiencing any major problems, it reported some areas of concern and ended up replacing approximtely 3% of my Windows files (2% were damaged or incomplete and 1% were missing. See below).

How it Works

First, you download and install the free scanning software, then run it. The scan may take some time as it compiles data about yor Windows PC, its hardware profile, stability and security settings:

Then, once your Reimage report is ready, you can decide whether or not to fix your issues. It is at this point that a license key needs to be purchased to register Reimage and access the repair portion of the Reimage service. Reimage maintains a huge repository of Windows files and compares your Windows installation with an optimal one; replacing any files as necessary, scanning the registry and other areas for stability and security threats:

Depending on your PC and Internet connection, the actual repair/restore process may take an hour or more. Mine took approx. one hour from start to finish, so be sure you have the time before you start the repair process. Once the process is complete, you will be prompted to reboot your PC to apply any changes to locked files.

I must admit that Windows felt “fresh” after running Reimage! The only things missing were some icons that I had pinned to the taskbar, and my favorites in Internet Explorer were arranged alphabetically. However, I was pleased to see that “Sticky Notes” was back in the Start menu, since it had gone missing about a week ago and I use them on my desktop for reminders of things I need to do. Somehow that particular Windows program had been removed or corrupted, since a search failed to find the program anywhere on my drive. Thanks, Reimage!

What Reimage Will Not Do

Reimage only repairs & restores Windows files, not any third-party software such as Microsoft Office, Antivirus programs and so on. Reimage does not fix any hardware issues, such as your hard drive, CPU or RAM. It may make recommendations on replacing or upgrading these items, however.

Concluding Thoughts

I really like Reimage; it has a very professional feel about it, and while you do not always know exactly what it is doing in the background, I never felt I could not trust this software to do its job right. In fact, if you so choose, you can reverse all the changes it made with the click of a mouse. Once it does replace any files, it runs another thorough scan just be sure everything is as it should be. Still, it is always a good idea to back up your data before running any software that will make changes to your system. Try the free scan today; I am sure you will be suitably impressed by Reimage.

Click here to start the free scan and get 10% off your Reimage license.

Categories Reviews, Software
Comments (10)

Dec

Book Review: Windows 7 In Depth

by James M. Fisher

While Windows 7 has been released for some time now (October 2009 for the retail version), many would have or are going to purchase a new PC since then with windows 7 pre-installed. I’ll go out on a limb and say that if you are familiar with Windows Vista, then Windows 7 will not be that much of a stretch for you to learn; the interface is very similar. However, if you are making the leap from Windows XP to Windows 7, then you have a lot to learn!

Previously, WindowsTalk reviewed the Windows 7 books Windows 7 Unleashed and Windows 7: The Missing Manual; now we take a closer look at “Microsoft Windows 7 In Depth” by Robert Cowart and Brian Knittel.

The Que “IN Depth” series has as it’s motto: “Beyond the Basics…Beneath the Surface…In Depth.” This is a book for those familiar with the basics of Windows, but want to get more familiar with the new features of Windows 7 and learn how to take advantage of them to be more productive. This is not to say that the average ‘home’ user of Windows 7 could not use this book; on the contrary, the book is not too ‘techy’ and is very accessible in my opinion. You can pick it up and start reading anywhere, or use it as a reference for when you forget how to do something, for instance.

Categories General, Microsoft, Reviews

Dec

Review: KineticD Online Backup Service

by James M. Fisher

(Thanks to the good folks at KineticD for supplying me with a test account for the purposes of this review)
An online backup is probably one of the safest, if not the safest backup option. Your files are stored offsite, so if anything should happen to your computer(s) at home or place of business your files are still safe and with online continuous backup, the most recent version is available via an Internet connection.

The KineticD service (formerly Data Deposit Box) primarily targeted at SMBs and consumers.

An account is easy to setup: simply use the activation link in the email you will receive, set a password, and then download the KineticSecure client-side software. There is also a Mac version. During setup, you are asked which files you want to backup, such as documents, Outlook email, and other standard user folders. You can uncheck the ones you do not want to have backed up, and you can always change these settings later.

Categories Reviews, Software, The Desktop Experience

Dec

Review: Lenovo ThinkPad T510

by James M. Fisher

If you read “Searching for a New Laptop (Part 1)” then you know that I have been looking for a new laptop for some time. Well the search ended with an online purchase of a Lenovo T510 ThinkPad (pictured) which arrived less than a week later. It was a “Black Friday” special that Lenovo was featuring with up to 35% off, so how could I refuse?

My love affair with ThinkPads goes back a number of years now. My first one I purchased used off of eBay and it ran Windows 3.1, but I managed to get Windows 95 to run acceptably on it.

My first brand new ThinkPad was purchased in 2005, an R51 that was ‘Vista-ready’ but came preloaded with Windows XP. My wife now happily uses it since I had replaced it with a Dell Inspiron in 2006. I liked the Dell well enough, but I just had to take one more look at Lenovo before I decided on any other brand. Thank goodness for Black Friday, is all I can say!

Categories Hardware, Reviews

Nov

IBM Lenovo Thinkpad T410 Review

by James M. Fisher

Contributed by Joey Pomerenke
The IBM Thinkpad, now produced by Lenovo, has continued to enjoy its status as a standard notebook choice among corporations and businesses worldwide. At the recent Consumer Electronics Show, Lenovo indicated it had no intention of letting up the slack in its efforts to stay current with the latest notebook technologies. It has continued to roll out updates to its flagship Thinkpad line, and in recent months, the Thinkpad T410 received several significant upgrades, including addition of the latest Core i5 and Core i7 processors by processing giant Intel. As a result, the Thinkpad line, known for its ruggedness, reliability, and unassuming black exterior, has received significant speed and power boosts to keep it in the competition among the latest offerings by other business laptop manufacturers. The T410 looks and feels like a Thinkpad. It comes in matte black styling, it feels rugged and resilient, but it has numerous and notable changes under the hood. Essentially, the outside looks old, but the inside feels new. The specifications of those insides will be discussed below.

Categories Hardware, Reviews

Aug

HP Envy 17 Review – See This Laptop’s Great Features

by James M. Fisher

By Nadav Snir

HP has introduced HP Envy 17 and HP Envy 14 almost simultaneously. These two laptops have features that are revolutionary in the laptop market and the Envy 17 could be the laptop to beat.

For people who are fond of big screens, the Envy 17 would be ideal. The screen is 17″ and the laptop is packed with a host of powerful features. For starters, the laptop’s configurations use HP’s core i3 and i5 processors. In addition, this laptop has a DVD burner and an HDMI port and allows for the expansion of RAM up to 8GB.

Categories Hardware, Reviews

Aug

Book Review: Access 2010 The Missing Manual

by James M. Fisher

An in-depth tutorial. Highly readable.
A review by Bill Coan, Microsoft Word MVP

Some people think there’s only one Matthew MacDonald who writes books about Access, but I know better: I’ve read “Access 2010 The Missing Manual,” and I’ve seen for myself that there are two Matthew MacDonalds.

The first Matthew MacDonald is a good one, the one who rejected the too-easy idea of merely writing a survey of database concepts or merely writing a survey of the Access user interface. This Matthew MacDonald insisted on writing an integrated presentation of database concepts and associated Access procedures–a presentation perfectly suited to readers building their first serious business database in Access.

Categories General, Reviews, Software

Jul

Review: PC Pitstop’s PC Matic

by James M. Fisher

It seems that ever since Microsoft Windows appeared, there has been Windows-based utility programs claiming to do what Windows doesn’t and to improve your computer’s speed. As Windows evolved over the years, Microsoft incorporated utilities in the OS itself, such as Disk Cleanup and an improved defragmenter, just to name two. What third-party utility suites, such as the original Norton Utilities, did was to go beyond these rudimentary tools (and the missing ones) to provide an arsenal of tools to keep your PC running fast and clean. Often, though these large suites of utilities would bog down the system, so rather than speed up your PC, they had the opposite effect.

Now, the PC Pitstop company has been around for about a decade and all that time they have been producing PC utilities to optimize your PC. In fact, “Optimize” is the name of their best-selling product. Click here to learn about Optimize 3.0.

Recently, PC Pitstop released their comprehensive utility suite, PC Matic, which is the collection of all of PC Pitstop’s technologies under one hood and integrated into an easy to use interface. This is a utility suite that is definitely not overwhelming to the new PC user and is robust enough for the most experienced Windows geek.

Let’s take a closer look. Read More→

Categories Reviews, Software

Jul

Review: FruitfulTime Bookmark Manager Software

by James M. Fisher

How many bookmarks (or Favorites) have you acquired over the years? Would you like to have them all neatly organized, categorized and safely backed-up? What if you use multiple browsers, such as Internet Explorer, FireFox, Chrome or Opera? Do you have different bookmarks stored in all of them? What would be nice to have is a browser-independent program that you could save all bookmarks to, yet have them handy in a fully search-able place.

This is where FruitfulTime’s Bookmark Manager comes in. Bookmark Manager works independent of any browser by employing a global ‘Hotkey’, such as CTRL+Shift+B. This opens the Add New Bookmark window where you can edit the name and assign a category for the bookmark. Now, no matter what browser you are using, the bookmark is available through Bookmark Manager.

To download a free copy of Bookmark Manager just click here.

The first task for me, however, was getting all my bookmarks together so that I could get them organized. To begin, you should use your browser to export your current bookmarks/favorites to an HTML file. In Internet Explorer, hit the ALT key to get the menu bar to display. Then click File>Import and Export…and click Export to a file. Check ‘favorites’ then click next and next again to choose the location of the file to be created. Choose a location you will remember! In FireFox, you need to go to ‘Organize Bookmarks’ under the Bookmark label in the file menu, choose Import and Backup and then Export HTML.

Now, you can use Bookmark Manager to import these HTML files so that you can begin organizing your bookmarks. depending on the amount of bookmarks you have, importing may take some time. I have over 1300 bookmarks and I would say it took about 3 to 5 minutes to get them imported:

Once the importing is completed, you can start organizing. You will note that the folders you had set up in your browser are now categories in Bookmark Manager. This makes it easy to assign/unassign a category to a particular bookmark or a bunch of bookmarks at once.

It would be nice if Bookmark Manager had a drag and drop feature (within the categories) to make the initial organizing go a bit faster, but this is a minor annoyance at best. I like the fact that you can assign multiple categories to a single bookmark. For instance, you likely have some bookmarks you visit often. You could store them in a category such as ‘Faves’, but also have the bookmark categorized under ‘technology’, ‘news’ or some other heading of your invention. Now you are beginning to see the real strength of Bookmark Manager!

You can also install Bookmark Manager on a USB stick to carry with you to work, or another location so you have your bookmarks with you. Alternatively, a USB stick is a good place to backup your bookmarks to and Bookmark Manager will assist you to do this easily with the options under the File menu:

Here are some of Bookmark Manager’s other features:

Bookmark your documents and folders simply by dragging and dropping them into Bookmark Manager.

Instant search as you type to find the best matching bookmarks.

Access the most frequently and recently used bookmarks from the notification area.

Share bookmarks with friends and colleagues by sending email through Bookmark Manager.

Works on Windows XP/Vista/7 (32 and 64-bit)

Conclusion:

FruitufTime’s Bookmark Manageris a must for those that have collected may bookmarks over the years and want a good, safe way to organize them and most importantly, back them up. There are a few features that I would have liked to see such as a broken link checker and a favicon fetcher, but perhaps a future version may incorporate these extras.

To download a free copy of Bookmark Manager just click here.