I like to call myself a reluctant Windows user, at best. Microsoft Windows is something I use only when I have to and even then I make sure I don’t touch Internet Explorer even with a 10 ft pole.

Needless to say, whenever I login to my Windows desktop, every couple of weeks, I usually have a slew of updates waiting for me to install them, which I always dutifully install. That’s what updates are for, right ?

Well, this is where the sad part of the story begins. I haven’t really had a problem with any MS updates till now but when Microsoft, in a recent update, pushed Internet Explorer 8 on my computer, all hell broke loose. A lot of web based applications I rely on daily started acting weird. Active-X Add-ons that I need for my work stopped working. IE 8 crashed a lot more and was much more buggy than IE 7 and that is saying something, considering that I hardly used IE 7 also .

Which is why I decided to get rid of IE 8 once and for all and write this post so that it may benefit others who are in a similar situation. I use Windows Vista so some of the instructions might be Vista specific.

Think you know your Windows well? Wait till you have tried out Ultimate Windows Tweaker, then you will know how much more things that you never know exist can now be tweaked and configured.

Ultimate Windows Tweaker is a freeware Tweak UI Utility for tweaking and optimizing Windows Vista and 7, 32-bit & 64-bit. There is no installation required and it can simply be downloaded and used as a portable application. With a few mouse clicks, you will be able to tweak your system and make it runs more faster, stable and more secure.

If you have previously dualboot your Windows 7 and Vista and now you wanted to remove it, either because you don’t like it or you are running out of hard disk space, here is the way to do it:

If you’re not familiar with everyone’s favourite system cleaner, CCleaner, it’s a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool.  This application does a very nice job at cleaning up after you, assuming that you actually remember to run it. In today’s fast-paced world, many of us don’t have the time or capacity it takes to remember all of the little things that have to get done.  System maintenance is no exception.

In this tutorial, I’m going to walk you through setting up CCleaner to automatically run on a schedule in Windows Vista so that you can simply set it and forget it.

If you have downloaded and try out Windows 7 beta on your computer, you will know that it comes with plenty of useful features and an improved usability over its previous version. If you like the features very much and would like to implement them to your existing version of Windows (XP or Vista), here are some applications that you can use to make your Windows XP/Vista functions the same as Windows 7.

For those of you who have waited long for the beta release of Windows 7, Micosoft has finally released the link for you to download a copy to test. In case you have not downloaded, here is the link:

• Windows 7 beta 32-bit version
• Windows 7 beta 64-bit version (the download is no longer available)

The file size is about 2.4GB in size, so make sure you are on a broadband connection and have several hours to spare. You will have to burn it into a DVD to use it.

Once you have downloaded it, you will have to install it on a working machine in order to access the full functionality. As this is still a beta release and not suitable for daily production use, it is not wise to erase or upgrade your existing Vista to Windows 7. A good way is to create a dual boot system where you can choose to boot into Vista or Win 7. Here’s how it’s done:

If you’re like me, you’ve probably expanded the storage on your computer by adding an external hard drive or two.  I’m not talking about one of those USB thumb drives.  I’m referring to the USB connected 80GB+ drives that often require a separate power source.

In my system I store backups and archived data to the external drive, mostly items that I don’t plan to access frequently.  That being said, there is no reason why it couldn’t be a little quicker when I am using it.  Windows Vista has a little known tweak that will speed up your external USB hard drives and I’m going to show you how to do it.

If you read our earlier article about tuning up your PC with CCleaner, then you already know about the high calibre of software that is developed by Piriform.  I’m definitely a big fan of the CCleaner product.  I’m sure you can guess that it was a no brainer that when Piriform released their next masterpiece, I just had to try it out!

Enter Defraggler, a powerful and easy-to-use defragmentation tool for your Windows managed hard drives.  This defrag tool really sets itself apart from it’s competitors by being a quality product with the perfect price tag – free.  This tutorial will give you a nice overview of the Defraggler tool, as well as provide you with the necessary knowledge to use it effectively on your home computer.

Even though Windows Vista has been around for close to two years, there are still many people who can’t bear to get rid of Win XP due to its stability and better hardware support. Luckily you can get the best of both world by creating a dual boot between Vista and XP.

Here is the tutorial to create a dual boot Vista/XP system. It is divided into 3 scenarios: Installing XP/Vista on a blank unformatted hard disk, installing Vista with XP pre-installed, installing XP with Vista preinstalled.  You will find yourself in one of these scenarios.

No doubt the Vista User Account Control (UAC) is the single biggest irritation in the whole operating system, but if you are thinking of turning it off altogether, you better think twice. UAC is a security feature that can help prevent unauthorized changes to your computer. By turning it off, you will lose all protection and put yourself in great risk of virus and malware attack. Hopefully, you have not forgotten that Windows has the most number of virus attack in the World.

A better way to deal with the UAC is to tweak it such that it continues to run in the background without popping out the annoying prompt every few seconds. Here are four software that you can use to make your UAC less annoying without compromising your security.