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All it takes it a single visit to a compromised Web site to snare a nasty piece of malware or to pick up cookies that track your every browsing move. And there's nothing worse than a computer that is bogged down so much that it impedes your ability to work or play games. Advanced Systemcare aims to remedy whatever ails your computer by not only cleaning up junk files, malware, and invalid registry entries, but by giving your computer a boost to optimize your PC experience.
Advanced Systemcare's interface is broken down into four maintenance categories so as to not overwhelm you: Quick Care, Deep Care, Toolbox, and Turbo Boost. We started with Quick Care and with the Quick Malware Removal feature. We clicked Scan and the program quickly went to work and came back with no issues. (In all fairness, we regularly run full PC scans using our own security software, so we didn't expect the program to find anything here.) Next up to bat was the Registry Fix, which came back with a whopping 597 problems. We found this a little fishy since we had just tested a very reputable registry cleaner that had found and fixed all of our registry issues. Still, we went through the process of checking and unchecking which files we wanted the program to fix. Once we clicked the Repair Now option, the program went to work and the problem registry entries were remedied in a matter of seconds. The Deep Care feature takes it all a step further by offering deeper scans, as well as a Registry Defrag option, which we successfully used to tidy up our registry. We were a little miffed that the program didn't ask us if we wanted to back up our registry before making any changes. However, we'll give it a slight pass because the program does include a Rescue feature that lets you undo any registry changes, and offers the ability to create a restore point, which we recommend you do before you touch your registry. Our final stop on the tour was the Turbo Boost feature. From there, we selected Work Mode, which let us manually disable unnecessary services and background applications. We were skeptical of it actually doing anything to speed up our computer, but we have to admit that we did notice a slight difference in our computer's speed, and for the better. The program does include an online help guide, though we don't think you'll need it for handling basic cleaning tasks.
Pay close attention while installing Advanced Systemcare because it'll install an IObit toolbar if you don't decline. The program also leaves a folder behind after uninstallation. Still, we recommend it as a worthwhile program for keeping your system running on all cylinders.
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Windows System Restore has got me and I suspect a lot of you out of trouble following a major crash or messed up installation but in Windows 7 it goes even further. A little known feature in Win 7 System Restore (and Windows Backup), called Previous Versions, can recover just about any file stored on your PC. However, in order for it to work System Restore, and this facility must be enabled, so if you are not sure press Winkey + Break, select System Protection then click the Configure button and make sure Restore system settings and previous versions of files is checked. Click OK and if System Restore wasn’t on click the Create button to set a new Restore Point (RP). Follow the prompts to give it a name, close the dialogue boxes and you are all set. If something unfortunate happens and you need to recover a lost or corrupted file all you have to do is open Windows Explorer, right click on the folder where it is/was kept and select Restore Previous Versions. After a few moments it should list by date all of the saved versions of the file you are after.
The Windows Start button has always been fiendishly difficult to change manually, involving a lot of messing around with image files and Registry settings. It’s still quite tricky to do it by hand in Windows 7 but help is at hand in the shape of a freeware utility called 
