I want to cancel the AOL
computer checkup. How do I get it off my computer and the $4.99 a month charges
stopped?

What Is AOL Computer
Checkup?

AOL Computer Checkup is designed to monitor a computer in
order to identify potential problems. The application's primary purpose is to
enhance a computer system's performance through the identification of software
or hardware problems that exist. AOL Computer Checkup runs regular scans in
order to identify any problematic issues.

Cancellation of AOL
Computer Checkup

In order to stop the recurring $4.99 monthly subscription
fee for AOL's Computer Checkup, you must contact AOL and submit your
cancellation request. The easiest way to do so is to cancel this application
online using the following set of instructions. You can also make the
cancellation by phone.

How to Cancel AOL
Computer Checkup

1)      Sign
onto your AOL account using your username and password.

2)      Enter
your security question's answer in the proper box.

3)      Select
continue.

4)      Look
for the tab labeled "Service Options."

5)      Select
"Manage my subscriptions" under "Service Options."

6)      Select
the option to "Cancel" next to "AOL Computer Checkup." At this point, you
should see a list of all the benefits that you will miss out on if you cancel.
Look it over if you have the slightest doubt that you want to cancel the
subscription.

7)      Choose
a reason for your cancellation from the choices in the drop-down menu.

8)      Select
the button for "Cancel."

9)      Wait
until the notification that you have successfully cancelled your AOL Computer
Checkup subscription appears.

You should also see a cancellation email show up in your
inbox within the next hour or so. However, the full cancellation process may
take a bit longer to become finalized.

Cancellation of AOL
Computer Checkup by Phone

If you want to cancel your AOL Computer Checkup subscription
by phone, simply call 1-866-485-9217 during the hours of 8:00 am and 1:00 am
(Eastern time) during weekdays. You can also call between the hours of 8:00 am
and 10:00 pm (Eastern Time) on Saturdays.

My computer has just had a health check and I now have Piriform CCleaner installed. Can you tell me how often I should use this program please?

What is Piriform CCleaner?

A form of freeware, Piriform CCleaner is designed to clean your computer system, enabling it to run more smoothly by removing unused files, cleaning up registry entries, and erasing Internet history. It is designed to optimize your operating system, allowing it to run faster and with fewer problems. This application is a privacy-and-cleaning tool as well as a registry cleaner. As such, it is designed to free up space on your hard drive.

How Often Should You Run Piriform CCleaner?

How often you run Piriform CCleaner depends on a lot of variables. In general, you should run this application a minimum of once a week in order to keep your system running smoothly.

However, the general rule of thumb is the more you use your computer, the more frequently you should run a privacy-and-cleaning utility. If any of the following situations exist, you should run Piriform CCleaner more frequently:

• The computer is shared by other individuals.
• You browse numerous websites.
• You've downloaded software.
• You've uninstalled software.
• You've noticed suspicious activity on the computer (running slowly, pop up windows, etc).

If the computer is shared by other individuals, running Piriform CCleaner prevents them from seeing which websites you have visited, helping to keep your personal data private. If you browse numerous websites each day, the likelihood that your computer will become infected with spyware or a virus increases. Therefore, you should run this application to remove traces of your personal passwords and log ins.

What You Need to Know about Running Piriform CCleaner?

While you can run this application even if you are signed on as a restricted user, it is best to sign on as the administrator for the best results. When Piriform CCleaner runs, it removes all of the following data, depending on the web browser that you use:

• Temporary files
• Download history
• Browsing history
• Cookies
• Auto-complete form history
• Form history
• Temporary log files
• Recent documents

I have been observing my OS pretty closely over the last year. Problems gradually arising due to lack of robustness or integrity of system files, although getting mixed results with well known registry cleaning software,have in may cases been resolvable by recently installing Uniblue's Registry Booster, in particular through their defrag routine, which is a great idea. I am now trying to find a program (maybe doesn't exist?) that not only deals with registry refs to dll files and fixes those, but is able to actually scan every dll file in the system32 folder and compare them with a standard Microsoft database for currency and integrity, and then to download any that are missing or corrupted. Do you know of such a program? Lots of reg cleaners out there, but they only touch the dll references, not the dll files themselves. And I believe that not all dll corruptions are signaled by error messages - just the main ones like rundll and shell - so they can be hard to locate and fix without doing a complete OS re-install. Any ideas you could impart on this topic will be appreciated.

Keep your computer system in prime condition

It is a regular occurrence for personal computers to slow down over time. As I'm sure you know, frequent program use can result in file corruption, left over bits of data and other system slow-downs. Running a registry booster is a great way to clean up your system and optimize your computer's performance.

Using Microsoft system optimization tools

I think that one of the easiest - and most convenient ways to optimize your system and make sure that your DLL files are in prime operating condition is to run the scans that are built into your operating system. Microsoft includes a number of scans and checks in its systems that are developed to keep your computer in the best working condition. According to a Microsoft Help webpage, the File Checker application "scans the integrity of all protected Windows 7 system files and replaces incorrect, corrupted, changed or damaged versions with the correct versions if possible". If you are running a version of earlier than Windows 7, there are similar steps to follow for the same feature.

Run the Windows SCANNOW tool

To run the SCANNOW file checker, follow these directions:

• 1. First, open an elevated command prompt by clicking the Start button and selecting All Programs and Accessories
• 2. Right click on Command Prompt, then choose Run as Administrator
• 3. In the elevated command prompt, type in sfc /scannow and then click Enter
• 4. This procedure will take a while to run. Be patient and let the application scan all the files on your system
• 5. If all is well, you will see an OK message letting you know that the system is stable and any found issues have been resolved

Try a PC health tool

Other than the internal Windows scans for your registry and system32 files, there are some commercial products on the market that offer advanced system optimization support and are often available for free trials, like the PC Health Advisor by Paretologic. This kind of program includes a range of different scans to keep your computer clean, healthy and secure. You can download a trial version of this the PC Health Advisor program, as well as read a much more in-depth description of its features at ParetoLogic.com.

Windows registry repairs can be a headache for anyone to encounter. If you are unfortunate enough to be in a situation where you need to repair your windows registry, there are a few things that you should know that will help you along the way.

What causes registry errors?

Registry errors can arise from several different factors. The most common cause of corruption occurs when the user does a complete uninstall of the operating system, hardware and associated drivers. Often, the uninstallation process deletes all programs, files and folders, along with the core file structure and registry. The remaining orphaned files are usually the ones that cause conflicts with existing software and any new software that comes with the new installation. Viruses and spyware can also be causes of registry corruption.

How can you repair a broken Windows registry?

The easiest way to fix a corrupt registry is usually to run a registry cleaner.

This software program is specially designed to scan through your Windows registry, find obsolete and damaged files that have been left behind, and repair them. The program will allow you to remove these files with a single click. The program will make this process relatively simple, normally taking around 15-30 minutes from start to finish.

It's important to note that registry files should not be tampered with manually if at all possible. If you don't know exactly what you're doing, you can permanently damage the software of your computer. This is due to the core functionality that the registry plays in the operation of your computer system.

What are some symptoms and steps that can be followed for a clean registry?

Slow performance, error messages, a frozen screen, frequent crashes, a static blue screen and slow bootups are all symptoms of a damaged registry.

Fortunately it doesn't take a certified computer technician to repair these problems. The following few steps should get you on your way to a hassle-free computer that works like it was brand-new:
First, before you make any repairs in Windows, you will need to create a fresh restore point in Windows. This way, if you damage anything in the process of the registry repair, you can return back to where you started. You do this by going to
Start>All Programs>Accessories>System Tools>System Restore.
Create a new restore point, name it, and then click create.

Next, go to Start>Run and then type REGEDIT. This will open the registry editor (don't touch anything here!).

Open File>Export, and select a location to save it. Name your file and click save.

This will create a file of all the necessary information we need to restore the system if we damage files in the repair process.

Now that we've created a backup point we can continue with the registry repair itself. Here is where we can use the registry repair software mentioned earlier -  either for free or at an affordable price online.

The right Windows registry repair software will scan your operating system, find the broken and empty files within your hard drive and delete them for good.

The Best Registry Cleaner you ask...

"The best registry cleaner isnt a registry cleaner at all."

Most Registry Cleaners are gotcha applications, You download it, scan with it and then gotcha cause you gotta buy it if you want to fix everything.

"Most Registry Cleaners are like a broom in a Kalahari dust storm"

Most of these scan and gotcha registry cleaners only clean the Registry and not the drive as a defrag tool would do. The Windows registry is kinda like your closet, cleaning it feels warm and fuzzy and you become satisfied that you didnt waste your whole day on the couch again, thing is though cleaning your closet and aka your Registry does little for improving your life or the life of your computer. In rare cases you may get a microsec boost in say the Windows bootup process. But thats it folks.

PCHealth Advisor is not a Registry Cleaner..

But it does clean your registry. Ponder that for a while... if you need to.

Download Paretologic PC Health Advisor instead - it does a lot, fixes drivers, fixes files, defrags the hard-disk, cleans the Registry sure, optimizes Windows processes, cleans out malicious running processes and all associated spyware/adware/malware files and programs. Also you can optimize and manage all the apps that run on startup. In particular these last 2 features will really make a difference in your computers speed.

PC Health Advisor is definetely the Best Registry Cleaner in my opinion. Why? (havent you read this from the top?) because dodo it doesnt 'just' clean the Registry.

Do you have a blog and an article or post on registry cleaners? Link to this page please and lets help inform the world what a Registy Cleaner can and cannot (mostly cannot) do...

A registry cleaner appeared on my PC, but I never downloaded or asked for it. I initially presumed it was one of the programs which always ask me to register my PC or one of its components. I accepted it but when I realized it was running a scan of my system, I stopped it. It already had detected two registry errors and wanted to go on to delete them. I don't trust this program and I fear it may harm my PC because it wouldn't leave even after all my efforts to remove it. Please how reliable is this program and how do I make it quit?

Rogue Registry Cleaners and Programs

It sounds like your computer may have been infected with a rogue program. Fake computer alerts are common ploys used by malware developers and unscrupulous software developers. For example, pop-up windows that look surprisingly like traditional Windows security alerts are often used to tell a computer user that a problem has been detected and needs to be fixed. Once clicked, an executable program is launched that installs a fake computer security program onto the user's computer. This fake program then lists all kinds of discovered problems such as viruses and spyware and then prompts the user to purchase the program in order to remove the malware. Many of these programs block access to computer security websites, making it difficult to remove the unwanted program.

Rogue Registry Cleaners background

Just as fake antivirus programs are proliferating, so are rogue registry cleaners. They use similar tactics. Oftentimes, the rogue registry cleaner arrives with the help of Trojans. A fake scan appears, displaying fake results. Other tactics include the use of fake computer security alerts and prompts to purchase a program designed to remove the errors.

Removing Rogue Registry Cleaners

Whether you're dealing with a rogue antivirus program, rogue registry cleaner, or other software in this category, removing it could be difficult, especially if the program blocks access to legitimate computer security websites.

If you currently have a legitimate computer security product installed on your system, update it and run a full system scan. If you can't update the software because the malware is blocking it, use a different computer to download the latest antivirus and antispyware definitions to a disc and update the software manually from disc. Hopefully, your computer security product will recognize the rogue software and remove it for you.

Another option is to search sites such as Symantec or Trend Micro for information about the exact rogue product installed on your system as they will often list manual removal instructions.