STFU && RTFM

A while back, I was tipped off about an application called Glary Utilities, billed as “The #1 free, powerful and all-in-one utility in the world market!” This piqued my interest, and I installed it, deciding to try it out, as it has received favorable reviews from several places, including CNet.
 
The installation is just as simple as it should be, the only annoyance is that it offers to install the Ask.com toolbar, as well as set ask.com as the default search provider. While I harbor no antipathies towards ask.com, I don’t particularly like toolbars that don’t add any new functionality.
 
According to GlarySoft, Glary Utilities offer a wide array of functionality, from system optimization to spyware removal. The main window looks like this:
 

 
It looks to me like they might be trying to do too many things in one utility, but all in all, it looks like a decent tool, and can be found here.

Note: The comment-function for this post has been disabled due to 200+ spam comments over the last 24 hours Lately, I’ve been annoyed that a few of the computers I’ve set up have had NumLock on after each and every boot. The problem lies somewhere in the installation scripts, I’m sure, but as I have no power over those scripts, all I can do, is fix the problem whenever I spot it.
 

1. Open the “run” dialog box, enter regedit, and click ok
2. Find the following key: HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Keyboard\InitialKeyboardIndicators
3. Set the value of the key in accordance with the following table

UAC, or User Acount Control, is a great step forward for computer security. However, alot of people complain about it being a hassle, slowing them down and so forth. What UAC does, is basically treat all users, without regard for their access level, as standard users. When you attempt to perform an administrative action, you get a prompt, either asking you to supply user credentials for a user that has the needed access, or to say “yes, I want to do that”.
 
To disable it, you need to do the following:
 

1. Open the Registry Editor
2. Navigate through the registry editor to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System
3. Change the value of the ConcentPromptBehaviorAdmin key to 00000000

Normally, if you want to encrypt or decrypt a file in Windows XP Pro or Vista, you simply right-click on the file or folder, then choose the Properties command from the shortcut menu. You click the “Advanced” button on the General tab, which gives you access to the Encrypt or the Decrypt option.
 
If you, like me, think that’s a bit much to do, you can add those options to the shortcut menu displayed when you right-clikc the file:
 

1. Open the Registry Editor
2. Navigate through the Registry Editor to HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
3. Create a new DWORD called EncryptionContextMenu and assign it a value of 1

Autoplay is one of the most wildly annoying features I know. I just dislike inserting, let’s say, a TechNet CD, and have Windows open Internet Explorer and display a lot of useless information that I don’t care about.I would much rather browse through the file system of the disc, and go directly to what I need. Luckily, you can create a registry key to disable Autoplay:
 

1. Open the Registry Editor
2. Navigate through the Registry Editor to HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
3. Create a DWORD named NoDriveTypeAutoRun
4. Set the value to 000000FF

One of a few things I do on my spare time is review software. The last piece of software I reviewed is called PCTuner, marketed by a company called QuickHeal. Marketed as a simple solution to the classic problem of a computer getting slower with time, it is said to “…cleans and optimizes your PC safely and automatically. It also protects your privacy by cleaning various common application traces.”
 
Installing it is now hassle, a simple “next”, “next”, “accept” and “install” routine is implemented as with most other software installs. Similarly, it is simple to use, with at most three clicks to perform any task. Here is what the main window looks like:
 

 
Features
Here are the features, as presented by QuickHeal:

• Auto Cleanup
  • Cleans the Windows junk items automatically. Auto Cleanup finds invalid, unwanted files and registry entries and automatically takes backup and removes them from the system. It is an easy way to optimize and maintain your PC in a single click.
• Traces Cleanup
  • Cleans all history logs and activity trails. Traces Cleanup removes history and recently opened files list of various applications.
• Disk Cleanup
  • Cleans all the unwanted junk files and temporary files. Disk Cleanup finds invalid and unwanted files from the system. The user selected files on cleaning, are backed-up and removed.
• Registry Cleanup
  • Cleans invalid registry items. Registry Cleanup finds invalid registry entries from the system. The selected entries on cleaning, are backed-up and removed.
• Restore
  • Restores previously cleaned items. Restore can undo the changes done earlier by restoring the backup.

 
In spite of all the features QuickHeal claim to have packed into the software, PCTuner is a really disappointing piece of software. The only features that does what it claims to do is the Restore and Registry Cleanup features. When it comes to the Registry Cleanup, well frankly, there are better alternatives out there, many of them free.
 
The biggest disappointment in all of this is the Traces Cleanup feature. Now, while it does clean up the history of some programs, such as Internet Explorer, Microsoft Paint and Adobe Reader. Disappointingly, there seem to be many more programs that it is unable of cleaning than there are programs that it does clean. To mention a few programs that it does not handle; Mozilla Firefox, Paint .Net, Opera, Notepad++, FileZilla or even OpenOffice.org.
 
QuickHeal boasts many awards for their antivirus and security solutions. While they may indeed have received many prizes and awards for that part of their business, this piece of software feels like left hand work. Not only does it not do what it claims to do well, it also lacks functions that should be obvious parts of this kind of a program, such as malware/spyware/greyware scans.
 
On top of it all, they charge $25 for this program. My recommendation is clear and simple: stay away!

I’m often annoyed by this dialog box when I open unassociated filetypes:
 

 
Luckily, the annoyance is simply removed thus:
 

• Startmenu > Run
• Type regedit and press enter
• Find the folder HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Policies/Explorer
• Create a new DWORD value called NoInternetOpenWith, with a value of 1

 
Update: I’ve tried this on Windows 7, and it works there as well