Microsoft provides a computer protection software, Windows Defender, to prevent malicious programs from entering your computer. The application scans for possible infections and protects your hard drive in real time. This program was not included with Windows XP but is available for a free download.

Computers running Windows XP require a boot disc CD to boot to the operating system in case any of the boot files corrupt. The Windows XP installation CD is a boot disc, but you can create a boot disc if the installation disc corrupts or you accidentally lose the CD. You can copy the necessary boot

The Runtime Error 6 occurs in the Visual Basic program. It is an overflow issue that can occur when the Visual Basic program attempts to store too much data in the temporary folders area. Runtime files help Windows translate a program's language into Windows language so the program runs faster. You

VIM is a version of the common "vi" (Visual Editor) text editor found on Unix-based systems and in Linux. This text editor provides basic functionality of raw text files, allowing you to open text files and add, remove, and navigate the file all using keyboard shortcuts. The VIM keyboard shortcuts c

Windows 64-bit operating systems offer users access to more RAM and faster program speeds for software that can use the 64-bit features of the processor. While you can't perform an upgrade from a 32-bit operating system to a 64-bit one in the traditional sense, you can back up the data on your 32-bi

The "My Music" folder icon in your "Start" menu will take you to a specific location on your computer by default. If you do not wish to store your music files in this location, however, the "My Music" folder icon becomes worthless. That is, unless you change the location of the folder yourself and m

Disk Quota management is a Windows feature that works with the Windows NT file system (NTFS) to provide a specifically limited amount of disk space per user. Exceeding the disk quota level, when disk quotas are enabled, will trigger a pre-defined action (deleting the files, transferring ownership of

The Google Toolbar is a useful tool for some computer users, but some may find that the Google Toolbar bloats the browser, slows the browser down, or adds no benefit to Internet surfing. It's easy to uninstall it in that case.

All editions of the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system include a basic screen reading utility called Narrator. When enabled, this program reads the text that appears on your screen, describes the position of scroll bars and other interface elements and explains error messages. Turning Narrator

The Windows 2000 operating system is an older Microsoft application still used on home or small office computers. Like with any Windows operating system, the Windows 2000 registry is an integral part of the operating system functions. If it corrupts, you receive errors each time you boot the machine

The Asp.net DataGrid control transforms data sent from a database into a JavaScript-enhanced HTML table suitable for display on a web page. Programmers typically use the DataGrid to specify the appearance and behavior of their data. For advanced scenarios, programmers work with the "Select" command

Spyware is a big threat, and one that everyone who uses a computer must take seriously. No computer owner can afford to be without at least one--and preferably two or more--spyware protection packages. For maximum protection it is also important to make sure that those programs run in the background

The Windows operating system assigns a letter to all drives, partitions, logical drives and volumes. The letter is used to uniquely identify the drive when referenced by programs and different actions of the computer. All 26 letters of the alphabet may be used. By default, the internal hard drive is

Virtual graphics memory became available with the Windows XP operating system. This allots a certain amount of virtual memory to your computer's graphics system. Your computer examines your RAM and finds areas that have not been recently accessed or used. It uses these empty areas of RAM as virtual

Converting existing FAT32 partitions to NTFS on the hard drives of your Windows PC allows you to benefit from increased security features and faster drive performance. You can use the command line "Convert" command to complete this operation.

Thousands of TrueType fonts are available on the Internet, a huge portion of which are Windows TTF files. This may be frustrating for Macintosh users who want to use them. In addition, if you routinely exchange documents with a Windows user, you need to install Windows fonts in order to view your do

Chkdsk is a Windows utility that scans a disk for errors and bad sectors and attempts to fix any problems it finds. If you're having computer problems, Windows might automatically attempt to run chkdsk when you restart your computer. If you want to prevent problems from getting out of control, you c

The SLAX live CD enables users to experience the Linux operating system in a friendly graphical user interface by booting and running the computer from a CD without requiring Linux installation to the computer hard drive. However, if you want to install SLAX directly on the computer hard drive, ther

Windows Vista uses the Windows Installer service to install and uninstall applications. Microsoft releases updates for Windows Installer that include bug fixes and stability improvements. These updates are normally installed with Windows Update, but you can also download the latest Windows Installer