For those users running Mac OS X there is a little known, but very useful utility called the System Profiler. This will show you all kinds of information about the hardware and software on your Mac-based computer. The System Profiler is accessible by going to the “Go” menu in the Finder > “Utilities” and opening “System Profiler”. Alternatively, you can type “System Profiler” into Spotlight.

On occasion my computer crashes with a blue screen of death (BSOD) with a notice that it is creating a minidump. From my understanding these minidumps should tell me what is causing the BSOD. I have been able to find these minidumps alright but am having trouble reading the files as whenever I attempt to open the minidump file an “Access Denied” message appears. How can I open these files? The computer is running Windows XP. (more…)

The Calculator in Windows 7 does not seem at first glance to really showcase anything different. However, there are plenty of new functions in this latest version of Calculator. In particular, in the “View” menu there are two new modes – programmer and statistics, offering new functions for these purposes. There are even custom operations you can perform, such as unit and date conversions (also available on the “View” menu).

After many years of reasonable performance our computer has significantly slowed-down. Removing cookies and other internet “build-up” using CC Cleaner, and the regular scan with Spybot to remove any adware or malware, has not made any difference. As I prefer not to reload Windows can you recommend a tool to optimise the performance of the computer? (more…)

Recently I have been receiving a lot of unwanted (spam) email messages. These messages are not just unwanted, but they are also not addressed to my email address! Looking in the “To” field on the email message these are addressed to other people, but I am still receiving the messages. Is there any way that I can stop or divert these email messages? The computer is running Windows XP Home Edition and AVG Antivirus Free 8.0. (more…)