Hmmmm. You seem to be right, Martin. When I click on some of the "awards," I also find strange things: The ZDnet award, for example, brings you to a neutral publisher's description of the product and two reader votes, totaling a one star rating out of a possible five stars. Not much of an "award." Maybe there once were other awards; or awards for other versions; who knows?

What I said about "Registry First Aid" was: "Alas, the second and third runs showed a real problem, reporting 123 and 109 problems, respectively; higher than the number found in the original run! I don't know what's going on here, and it's not worthwhile spending time to find out when there are other, better tools available."

But that comment brought this mail from one Paul Mayer Vice President, Software Development at InfiniSource/Rose City Software, who wrote:

To answer to the "problem" that you thought you had above which is NOT a problem, is in this reply from RFA support: "Fixing some errors has uncovered others..." Some registry entries depend on others. If RFA finds errors in the "others" entries, it can't exactly detect that the dependent entries are invalid. Only after the first correction it can validate the dependent entries. Also, there are some entries that consist of several parts, like a list of file paths. If one or more parts are invalid, RFA can show only one. After correction, on the second scan it will find next invalid part, then next and so on until all invalid parts of every complex entry is corrected. So it is suggested to do several registry scans and corrections one after one.

If you look at our website at http://registry-repair-software.com/ you'd see that we' won the 2005 People's Choice Award from votes cast at the major Shareware websites and if you click on the small group of awards to open the awards page you'd see we've won just about every award possible for RFA. Look at the User's Comments to see what our users have to say. Each one has their email too as these are real comments sent in by users, not like you see on may sites where that have a name and then a city made up....

Your simply writing off what you perceived as a problem was a great disservice to what is truly the best of the best and what has started the registry cleaning revelation. Unfortunately some of our past affiliates are now our greatest competition as they had off shore developers create clones of RFA and at last count, I counted over 80 registry repair tools.

I can understand software dependencies--- where removing one entry might affect others. But  "Registry First Aid" was still digging them out by the hundreds on its third run. How many passes does it take? How many should it take? I dunno; maybe it really is the greatest Reg cleaner on earth, but its initial behavior didn't inspire me with confidence.

But that's me, dear readers, and you may feel differently. You now have both sides: As always, it's best to call the shot for yourself!

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4) Tweaking Software Boot Order

Fred, I always learn something from each letter. Thanks for putting together a top quality tech sheet.

Over time, my system takes longer to boot because of the many additional programs and routines that have been added. That set me to wondering whether everything needs to load automatically at boot time, which routines are best to boot first (firewalls, network, auto updates, etc.), and is there a way to adjust the order in which routines load?

I ask because, though I like and use a lot of the features of MSN Toolbar Search, the search components seem to stall the system during boot time. Since the indexing runs in the background anyway, I'd to make this one of the last things to load. All the best, Russell Meyer

For some items, yes, you can fairly easily change the boot order. In the System Configuration Utility (Start/Run/MSconfig), anything in the three initialization lists--- Boot.ini, Win.ini, System.ini--- can have its run-order tweaked: Click on any item of interest, and then use the "move up" or "move down" buttons to place that item earlier or later in the startup sequence.

For other items, it can be harder. One trick that traces its roots all the way back to the days of DOS is to remove any self-launching item that's causing trouble (eg: use the "Disable" button in the MSconfig's Startup list) and then manually launch the item later in the boot process; or use Task Scheduler to launch the item at boot. ( http://www.google.com/search?q=task+scheduler ) Items you launch manually or via Task Scheduler won't run until the GUI is present, and so will come to life towards the end of the boot process. Alas, this doesn't work for all kinds of software.

Beyond those tweaks, the waters get very deep very fast; some run-at-boot software is simply not amenable to easy tweaking. You may be able to fake it, however: For example, if you uninstall a problematic tool or application, clean up your system (including a thorough Registry cleaning), reboot, and then reinstall the same software, it may--- may--- end up tacked on to the boot process *after* the other software you didn't remove: a brute-force way to try to move something to the end of the boot process. It could be worth a short, anyway.

See the next item for a related issue.

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5) Boot Time Analyzers

In my second year as a "Plus" subscriber, I have to take a moment to thank you for all you do for the PC community!  I learn something new every issue.

Regarding your recent "House Call" to tune-up JS' slow computer ( http://langa.com/newsletters/2005/2005-10-06.htm ), I have a tool that may be of use to you when trying to discover slow boot times. I don't recall you mentioning it before, but it has worked for me. Incidentally, I have the same Dell xps r450 that JS has, and it's been a real good computer, kept running smoothly via your newsletter. The program I'm referring to is called BLA. "Boot Log Analyzer". The version I have "for W98" is v1.23. It's free and available from [dead URL]. Basically, on start-up, you hit F8 to get the startup menu, and select a logged startup. After Windows is up and running, you have BLA check your bootlog.txt file and it reports the load time each item took to load, and even lists errors, etc. I hope you find this tool helpful, trying to give something back for having received so much!  Keep up the good work! All the best, Steve

Thanks for trying, Steve. Alas, Vision4 seems to have moved around a bit, and both its most-recent addresses are defunct as of this writing.

But no matter: There are other free tools that do the same thing. XP even has a startup analysis/optimization routine built in: It runs on its own, but you also can trigger it manually by typing

Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks

on the Start/Run line.

Microsoft's "BootVis" (free and widely available, e.g. http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=664 ) further lets you VISualize the BOOT sequence on your PC, seeing where the time goes; but despite the claims on many web sites, it doesn't do any optimization on its own. In fact, Microsoft says:

Please note that Bootvis.exe is not a tool that will improve boot/resume performance for end users. Contrary to some published reports, Bootvis.exe cannot reduce or alter a system's boot or resume performance. The boot optimization routines invoked by Bootvis.exe are built into Windows XP. These routines run automatically at pre-determined times as part of the normal operation of the operating system.

BootVis can show you what's going on, but for actual optimization, use the Start/Run trick shown above.

There are many other boot analysis/optimization tools, too, if the above doesn't work for you: http://www.google.com/search?q=boot+log+analyzer

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6) PR Budget = $0.00

Long-time readers know this newsletter is a one-person private project of mine: It's not part of some publishing empire's stable of publications. It's just me here! <g> There's no budget, staff or facility to handle outreach and promotions: The newsletter depends on word of mouth to grow.

And that's where you come in: Each issue, I try to offer you useful, interesting and amusing factoids to help you with your hardware, software, and time online. Can you take just a minute to help me out in return?

If you think the LangaList is a worthwhile read, just use the following link to recommend the LangaList to a friend. Your friend just may find a new source of useful information and you just may win one of three FREE ONE-YEAR SUBSCRIPTIONS to the Plus! Edition that I award each month.

Full info and "Recommend" form: http://langa.com/recommend.htm . Thank you for helping to spread the word about the LangaList!

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7) One Letter, Several Questions

Fred: I know you must get thousands of website recommendations and suggestions, but here are mine anyway.
 
http://oldversion.com could be an alternative to the freeware site you recommend, in extenuating circumstances, or if http://www.321download.com/LastFreeware/ just doesn't have it.
 
Also, http://googlestore.com/product.asp?catid=4&code=GO0116 is a wireless detector, relatively cheap, and by a name that you can (still?) trust.
 
I also noted that you mentioned ZA'a "OS-level firewall" as a negative. I happen to agree. In the pro version, going to the "Alerts & Logs" tab, clicking "advanced" and then unchecking the bottom entry of the first tab on the window that opens up, you can turn off that feature.
 
I also wanted to know your position on .torrent files, and their usefulness in general. Regards, Will

Thanks, Will. Oldversion.com can be good indeed; we'd mentioned it several times previously. ( http://tinyurl.com/7jrqz )

And yes, you can turn off the annoying parts of ZAPro--- but they're part of what you're paying for in the Pro version. It seems to undermine the justification for springing for the Pro version if you end up having to ditch some of its key features.

BitTorrent:
http://langa.com/newsletters/2004/2004-04-19.htm#9

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8) Code Load Success Story

After his site was listed in a "Load The Code" section, code-loader John Carson wrote:

Hi Fred, Just a quick Load the Code success story. My site appeared in your e-newsletter; my visitors jumped [twentyfold]! Many thanks, John Carson

Do you have a home page or website? (It doesn't matter what size.) Please click over to http://langa.com/code.htm , and maybe you can join the thousands of LangaList readers who have "Loaded the Code!" (If you've already "Loaded The Code" and are wondering if your site will appear here or on the Langa.Com web site, please see http://langa.com/link.txt )

Speaking of which: Here's another eclectic sample of reader sites--- some professional, some very personal:

View A Randomly-Chosen Reader Site
http://langa.com/randomlink.htm

Manually Browse All Posted-to-Date Sites Starting At
http://langa.com/readersites.htm

malware help
http://www.malwarehelp.org/

yurz-n-mine
http://www.yurz-n-mine.com/ENTER%20LINKS.html

The Other Casualty Of War
http://home.comcast.net/~paulbylin/index.html

Memory Technique
http://www.doyletics.com

Web2K
http://web2k.ca/

Online Drug Price Comparison
http://www.drugsnapper.com/

Poole Patch
http://thepoolepatch.com/index.html

Format Queen
http://www.format-queen.com/

buckleysvariety
http://www.buckleysvariety.com/

Santacruz notary
http://www.santacruznotary.com/

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9) .Net?

Fred, Microsoft currently is asking whether I want to download .NET Framework Version 1.1. It is a 23 MB download, a bit much for my dial up Win98SE machine. Microsoft further "explains" that "You need to install .NET Framework only if you have software that requires it." I'd appreciate any comments you can make on whether I ought to do this download. Thanks and keep up the terrific work! ---Marv Abrams (long time Plus user)

We discussed this a while back in the context of disk imaging software that required .Net to run:

.Net is a Microsoft initiative that so far offers almost nothing at all for end users, except the hassle of a huge, 40MB install. Even Microsoft's own .Net propaganda pages stress its value is mainly to developers--- and mostly corporate developers, at that. For example, at http://msdn.microsoft.com/netframework/productinfo/features/default.aspx , Microsoft lists .Net benefits such as "Realize New Business Opportunities, Reduce Time-to-Market, Write Less Code...."

Even Microsoft's own WindowsUpdate lists .Net as an *optional* install--- nothing from Microsoft yet requires .Net, and not even Microsoft considers it an essential or critical update. But the day probably will come.

For now, unless you have software that (1) you want to use and that (2) requires .Net, you can skip it.

I've managed to avoid .Net so far, but I think it's only a matter of time before it's foisted on us all.

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10) Just For Grins

Hi Fred, Your series on registry cleaners was very timely for me.  After using "Clean My PC" for over a year successfully, it crashed my PC twice in a weeks time.  My fault for letting it the second time.
 
I like your example of  Registry Bloat in your current newsletter.  Using   **.foo files and Bar.exe is a not so subtle reference to the PC world as in FUBAR.  That one put a grin on my face. Thanks for all you do, Joe Pickett

I wondered how many would recognize that old chestnut. <g> Previously mentioned/explained:
http://langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-03-18.htm#10
http://langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-03-21.htm#10

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11) Plus! Edition Highlights:

Today's LangaList Plus! Edition contains all ten items above, plus about 40% more content including:

• New Version Of Archives En Route
     (coming soon: all the LangaLists ever published, at your fingertips!)
• More on "Zeroing Out" A Large File
    (a faster way via a free tool)
• APC "PowerChute" And Hibernation
    (work with, or sidestep, the powerful software)
• Resuming Interrupted Downloads
    (you don't have to start from scratch each time...)