Chances are, those of you who are buying a brand new computer in the next year will be getting your hands on something running a 64-bit operating system. x64 has its pros and cons, but it is the future. Not even the strongest personal complaint about software incompatibility is going to be enough to bring technology to a halt!

Windows has managed to do a pretty good job of putting together the x64 version’s emulation mode (WoW64) and I’ve had no experiences where 32-bit software wouldn’t run as expected. Device drivers though, is a big one. Don’t you dare go putting x86 device drivers on your x64 machine. However, x86 64-bit systems often lack alternative software to those that are written specifically for 32-bit architectures. So here I am with three solutions that ought to put you on to some brand new, 64-bit compatible freeware goodies.

Just a note before jumping in: All three of these websites are very trustworthy and I have experiences with them all. Feel free to check their WoT ratings if you’d like a third-party opinion. However, I do not personally support downloading software from anywhere but the software’s original website. Too many websites wrap their downloads with garbage, and though these don’t I’d still recommend that you search up and navigate to the author’s site and download the programs from there. Just a safety practice!

Start64!

Start64! is one of the most trusted repositories for updated software compatible with 64-bit systems. Those of you who have been really laying it on me about now posting much about OSX will be pleased as Start64! has a whole section set aside for Apple fans.

The site is very easy to navigate, which is something I’ll always be a fan of. The listings are clear, large, and include a short summary of the software.

Each and every listing includes live screenshots and an easy-to-read recap of the program’s features. They make it very clear in just about every specific software’s listing that the software is 64-bit compatible and go as far as to list OS compatibilities overall. If you read my warning earlier (which I hope you did) then you don’t have to worry about Start64! because they send you directly to the website the software originates from for downloads instead of making you jump through hoops.

64x Software

64x Software is for both users and developers, so if any 64-bit coders have managed to slip upon this post then there’s a little added bonus for you.

This website can be a little confusing at first and I’m not crazy over the design and listing layout, but it’ll get the job done. The site is used best when checking their top software listings, or their categorical ones:

• CD/DVD
• Communication Software
• Developer Tools
• File Management
• Graphic Software
• Internet and Network Software
• Security Software

Software display pages are a little bit “meh” but again, gets the job done. Never been a fan of websites that allow open comments and a bleak rating system, but 64x Software does have a vast range of 64-bit compatible software.

X 64-bit Download

X 64-bit Download has that Download.com feel to it and I’d suggest it for the more novice user. My recommended landing pages would be at their featured and top pages (though I’m unsure of the difference). I’ve used both to find some of the better software listed here.

The site has a lot of information per software, and just as many ads. Gets a little annoying, but this is a safe website.

They’ve got software separated by category and from my experiences I do believe this is a website that features only Windows software. Sorry guys. Downloads are hosted on their servers so consider my warning earlier. Again, safe site but don’t mind me trying to condition you to be a paranoid downloader!

You can find some of the 64-bit architecture’s best software using these websites, but remember that dabbling in the world of 32-bit applications isn’t going to harm your system either. We’ve got a whole lot of articles that can help you find the software you’re looking for.

Leave a comment and let me know some of your favorite 64-bit compatible programs to use!

View full post on MakeUseOf

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/iOS5-300.jpg" alt="ios operating system" />Learn all about iOS 5, the latest operating system for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. If you’ve upgraded but aren’t sure what’s new, or are considering upgrading but want to know what you’re getting into, this manual from Lachlan Roy is what you looking for: “Using iOS: Your Guide to the Latest and Greatest Mobile Operating System.”

When Apple released the iPhone back in 2007, it was different to anything else on the market. It wasn’t the first touchscreen phone, but it was the first one to be so pretty. But as gorgeous as the hardware was, that wasn’t what made the iPhone so great, or what shook the cellphone industry. It was the software which made the iPhone what it was.

Now iOS 5 has been released, providing updates, tweaks and brand new features to make the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad even better and easier to use than before. Want to know what it brings to the table? Download this manual to find out.

style="text-align: center;"> href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/using-ios-your-guide-to-the-latest-and-greatest-mobile-operating-system">DOWNLOAD Using iOS: Your Guide to the Latest and Greatest Mobile Operating System

style="text-align: center;">The guide is free but password-protected. Gain access to the guide by:

style="text-align: center;">1- subscribing to our newsletter (you may do this on the download page itself, link above). Existing subscribers will receive the password via email in the next couple of hours.

style="text-align: center;">OR

style="text-align: center;">2. Simply share the guide on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ on the download page. Quick and easy.

 

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/iOS5-3page.jpg" alt="ios operating system" width="580" height="270" />

Download this free MakeUseOf guide to learn:

• What iOS 5 is, and which devices you can use it on.
• New features in iOS 5, from reminders to Twitter integration.
• Mastering the new, Android-style dashboard.
• Using the new messaging to send texts for free over WiFi, even from an iPod touch.
• Device-specific features, such as Siri.
• iCloud: what it is and what it does.

style="text-align: center;"> href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/using-ios-your-guide-to-the-latest-and-greatest-mobile-operating-system">DOWNLOAD Using iOS: Your Guide to the Latest and Greatest Mobile Operating System

style="text-align: center;">The guide is free but password-protected. Gain access to the guide by:

style="text-align: center;">1- subscribing to our newsletter (you may do this on the download page itself, link above). Existing subscribers will receive the password via email in the next couple of hours.

style="text-align: center;">OR

style="text-align: center;">2. Simply share the guide on Facebook, Twitter or Google+ on the download page. Quick and easy.

View full post on MakeUseOf

Last week we asked how many backups you make of your important data. Most of you answered that you think 1-2 backups of your important data is plenty enough.

From the 297 votes collected, the breakdown was: 52% people make 1-2 backups; 34% people make 3-5 backups; 9% make no backups at all; 3% make 6-10 backups and fewer than 1% make either 10-19 or 20+ backups.

So, you can see 1-2 backups is the most popular amount for important data, followed by 3-5 backups.

This week’s poll question is: Which Operating System is Better? Linux Vs Mac?

We know full well that Mac is based on Unix and that there’s dozens of other amazing Unix flavours, Windows operating systems and numerous other operating systems out there to choose from. But if your choice were narrowed down to your favourite Linux or Mac OS, would you pick Linux or Mac?

Obviously, your answers could vary when considering the purpose of the computer – and some of you might really prefer neither. Have a rant in the comments and let us know what your choice is based on!

More articles about: operating system, os x, Reader Polls

View full post on MakeUseOf

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/poll2.png"/>Last week we tried to work out href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/computers-house-makeuseof-poll/">how many computers resided in the average MakeUseOf household. Most of us seem to have 3-5 computers per house, although there were nearly as many people with 5-10 computers.

Out of the 1067 votes collected, here’s the split: 46% have 3-5 computers in the house; 32% have 5-10 computers in their house; 11% have 2 computers; 6% have 10-20 computers; 4% have one computer and less than 1% has more than 20 computers. Just one voter had no computers in their house.

Full results and this week’s poll follows below.

If you have 3-10 computers in your house, you can consider yourself normal for a MakeUseOf reader.

href="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/How-Many-Computers-Do-You-Have-In-Your-House.png"> class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-71927" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/How-Many-Computers-Do-You-Have-In-Your-House.png" alt="" />

This week’s href="http://www.makeuseof.com/service/polls/">poll question is: How Many Operating Systems Do You Use?

Consider all the different computers and smartphones you use at home and for work and let us know how many different operating systems you use in a normal week. Consider the various major versions to be different operating systems (eg. Windows 7 versus Windows NT or Linux versus FreeBSD) but leave out minor version differences like Windows NT Home versus Windows NT Professional.

Now that you’re thinking about it, let us know which operating systems you use. Are they mainly all Windows/Mac/UNIX or some combination of different tools for different purposes? />
/>Need Assistance? Ask questions to MakeUseOf staff and thousands of other readers on href="http://www.makeuseof.dev/answers/" target="_blank" >MakeUseOf Answers!

/>

 

href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/operating-systems-makeuseof-poll/"> src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/operating-systems-makeuseof-poll/"> href="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis/login?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/operating-systems-makeuseof-poll/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/diggme.png"> href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/operating-systems-makeuseof-poll/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/fb.jpg"> href="http://www.google.com/reader/link?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/operating-systems-makeuseof-poll/&title=How Many Operating Systems Do You Use? [MakeUseOf Poll]&srcTitle=MakeUseOf.com"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/gbuzz-feed.png"> href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/operating-systems-makeuseof-poll/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/stumble.png">

 

More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/operating-system/" title="operating system" rel="tag">operating system, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/polls/" title="Reader Polls" rel="tag">Reader Polls />

View full post on MakeUseOf

class="align-right" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/SplashtopOS.jpg" alt="free netbook operating system" /> class="vt-p" href="http://www.splashtop.com">SplashTop, the company behind the instant-on operating system features of many current netbooks has recently released their Chromium-based complementary netbook OS for anyone to install. It’s lightweight, with Chrome built-in, and is pretty darned fast.

If you’re already running Windows, perhaps it’s worth taking a look as it’s designed to run alongside and get you booted into an Internet-ready session in seconds. You’ll also get the power of class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/6-chrome-web-apps-check">Chrome web apps.

Download & Install

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/splashtop-os-install-1.png" alt="free netbook operating system" width="570" height="410" />

Head over to class="vt-p" href="http://www.splashtop.com">SplashTop and down the latest SplashTop OS. It’s a small 2MB installation file, but once you launch the application it’ll download a further 312MB over your Internet connection.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/splashtop-os-download.png" alt="netbook operating systems" width="500" height="63" />

When THAT installation has finished, you’ll be given the option to import either IE or Firefox favourites as well as your Wi-fi settings, which is a nice touch. Restart the machine, and your boot menu will now show you a SplashTop OS option too. The boot-up is hardly instant, but it’s certainly faster than Windows.

class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/splashtop-os-select.png" alt="free netbook operating system" width="580" height="155" />

Features At A Glance

• The Internet, with Google Chrome.
• Chrome Apps.
• A sandboxed environment.

That’s it, basically. It’s not designed to replace Windows. It’s a simple no-frills approach to using the Internet. So why would you use it then?

Faster Boot Time

So you don’t have to wait for the bulk of Windows to load. It’s not just the time taken to show you a desktop either – once you’ve loaded the desktop, you often still have to wait for various drivers, anti-virus software, automatic update checks – all of which prevents you from doing your simple 2 second Internet search. If 90% of your netbook use is using a browser, then you really don’t need all the bloat of Windows. SplashTop provides a simple alternative.

Snappier Response

If you are running lots of background apps in Windows when you really just need the Internet, it’s a pain to close them all after a Windows restart just to get a quick speed up. On limited netbook machines, every ounce of computing power that you can squeeze out is important.

Sandboxes Security

You can’t download files to your hard drive, only to USB drives. While this might be annoying, it does provide a great deal of security by preventing browser based attacks – of which there are none for Chrome anyway.

Easy Reset

For security reasons or anonymity, there is a Restore Defaults option under the Enviromental Settings -> General screen. It will wipe everything, and restore the initial OS image.

Making Use Of An Old Computer

Okay, so you need to install Windows first, but then you can install the lightweight SplashTop OS for daily use as a basic Internet station.

Although I wasn’t able to make screenshots within the OS, here’s a short video from SplashTop to tempt you.

width="580" height="430"> name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ryrBGjRx7v8&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" /> name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /> type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="580" height="430" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ryrBGjRx7v8&hl=en_US&feature=player_embedded&version=3" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always">

If you’re worried about trying this out on your main machine then bear in mind it unfortunately won’t work on a virtual machine (at least it wouldn’t for me). Don’t worry though, an uninstall option is added to your Windows installed programs list so it’s easy to get rid of if you don’t like it.

Conclusion

Despite apparently being powered by Bing, all my test searches using the browser bar defaulted to Google, so don’t let the Bing branding scare you off. It’s simple, lightweight, perfect for a quick browsing session on a netbook. It’s not going to replace your main Windows installation, and it’s not supposed to – it’s complementary. If you’re living in the cloud though, it’s a great way to simplify your computing experience.

Let us know in the comments what you think of it. />
/>Do you like MakeUseOf articles? Don’t forget to target="_blank" href="http://www.makeuseof.dev/tag/share-share-share-spread-word/">share our articles with others! It’s really important to us. />
/>

href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/splashtop-free-operating-system-quick-internet-browsing/"> src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/splashtop-free-operating-system-quick-internet-browsing/"> href="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis/login?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/splashtop-free-operating-system-quick-internet-browsing/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/diggme.png"> href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/splashtop-free-operating-system-quick-internet-browsing/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/fb.jpg"> href="http://www.google.com/reader/link?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/splashtop-free-operating-system-quick-internet-browsing/&title=SplashTop – A Free Operating System For Quick Internet Browsing&srcTitle=MakeUseOf.com"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/gbuzz-feed.png"> href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/splashtop-free-operating-system-quick-internet-browsing/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/stumble.png">

More articles about: href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/browsing/" title="browsing" rel="tag">browsing, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/chrome-os/" title="chrome os" rel="tag">chrome os, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/internet/" title="internet" rel="tag">internet, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/netbook/" title="netbook" rel="tag">netbook, href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tags/operating-system/" title="operating system" rel="tag">operating system />

View full post on MakeUseOf

You know the situation. You’re at work and you’re in the middle of a project that’s due within hours.

Your pc starts freezing, showing pop ups, or just processing every request you have slow-too slow. Or maybe you’re at home, and you need to do some research or get an email out; and your computer just won’t cooperate all of a sudden.
Frantic and blood pressure rising, you wait it out, and hope that it doesn’t take hours-or maybe even require that you begin the whole process again.

It’s a more common situation than you might think. It happens all the time, even; and most people have no idea at all why. So, they automatically turn to a tech specialist at a ridiculous per hour fee or toss the computer altogether for a new one. Should you? NO!

The first step should always be to understand what might make your computer act this way, and
second, to try basic maintenance solutions before a drastic or expensive solution.

What are common reasons, then, you may wonder?

Often, a computer with use takes on use characteristics, such as: deteriorated RAM speed, decreased disk space, junk files, unnecessarily ran programs, registry errors, and related problems. These common computer issues can most often be fixed, erased, and optimized with the right tool.

What is this tool?

LightspeedPC™ analyzes, fixes, cleans out unnecessary files, and optimizes the speed and efficiency of your computer in one fell swoop-to get your computer back to its best potential. Yes! Often, all you need is a simple, yet effective quality cleanup-not an expensive tech repair, not a new computer-and LightspeedPC™ does just this, affordably and quickly.

All you need is one simple click and a free download-and all of a sudden, you will be back on track-communicating and conducting all sorts of personal and professional business online with ease, convenience, and lightning speed.

Download it today!

class="align-left" style="border: 0px none; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px; float: right;" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/intro4.jpg" alt="computer operating systems" />Your operating system is undoubtedly the most important bit of software you will ever install. Without one, that expensive box of microchips and silicon in the corner is pretty much useless. Most of us can’t do without a copy of Windows or class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/download-free-mac-manual">Mac OS, but there are countless users worldwide who make do with a free option.

Even if you’re firmly based in the Microsoft or Apple camp, taking a walk on the wild side and class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-safely-dual-boot-windows-and-linux-with-wubi-installer/">installing a secondary computer operating system can still be worth the effort. After all, variety is the spice of life.

Here are just a few of the lesser-known free options that might just be worth a go, if you’re that way inclined.

id="more-51793">

class="vt-p" href="http://www.freespire.org/">Freespire

Another Linux-based operating system, Freespire uses the popular class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ubuntu-1004-extremely-simple-operating-system-linux/">Ubuntu (version 7.04) at its core and stamps its own mark on the class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-beauty-of-open-source-and-free-web-apps/">open source OS. With the popular class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/accessing-kde-applications-from-your-windows/">KDE suite at hand, users of Windows and Mac OS will feel right at home finding their way around.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/freespire.jpg" alt="computer operating systems" width="580" height="435" />

Freespire adds the power of the CNR Plugin, allowing fast and easy one-click installs of popular software suites including some commercial ventures. There are enhanced “modified” versions of programs you’re probably already using (like class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/4-cool-firefox-tools-that-are-not-addons/">Firefox and class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-must-have-thunderbird-addons-25-more/">Thunderbird) to make life on the free side that little bit sweeter.

This freeware open source effort also comes complete with on-demand proprietary class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/an-introduction-to-codecs-converters-and-rippers/">codecs (including one for Windows Media files) and a whole host of proprietary drivers for your wireless, graphics card and more.

For a powerful, ready-to-go Linux distribution with a difference Freespire does the job quite nicely.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.chromium.org/chromium-os">Google’s Chromium

If you only use your netbook for the net (which probably makes sense) then Google’s Chromium might be just what you need. The lightning fast startup time means you’ll be checking email, social media and wasting time online before Windows has even reached its login screen.

Best of all you can run it straight from a USB stick, making it ultra-portable between PCs. We’ve shown you how, class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/download-google-chrome-os-and-run-on-a-real-computer/">right here.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/chromium.jpg" alt="computer operating systems" width="580" height="435" />

The current official builds can be a bit of a hassle to get going on a lot of computers, but a nice guy by the name of class="vt-p" href="chromeos.hexxeh.net">Hexxeh has compiled his own build called Flow which adds vastly improved hardware support. Check out class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/googles-chromium-os-laptop-netbook-flow/">our how-to for a complete set of instructions.

That old laptop sitting in a cupboard might find a new lease of life with the help of Chromium and its class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/play-chrome-web-apps-stay-top-chrome-features/">web apps.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.pcbsd.org/">PC-BSD

Many of you will have heard of BSD, one of the many UNIX-based operating systems floating around the web. Often favoured for its secure and reliable nature, the team at PC-BSD have aimed high and developed a user-friendly version aimed at the “casual” user.

The idea behind PC-BSD is to provide users with a complete desktop operating system that doesn’t require resource-intensive protection against viruses and spyware. In today’s computing world, many of us dream of such a charm.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/pcbsd.jpg" alt="free operating systems" width="580" height="435" />

The release runs class="vt-p" href="http://www.freebsd.org">FreeBSD at its core, and expands on this with unparalleled ease-of-use. Self-installing software packages make adding extras a breeze, and the desktop can be sexed-up with fancy 3D effects and transitions.

The team behind this OS just wants you to enjoy more of the time you spend at your PC, and less time worrying about it.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.haiku-os.org">Haiku

Inspired by BeOS (and implementing certain features and bits of code from the old operating system) Haiku is an open source operating system aimed at personal computing. This makes it extremely user-friendly, as the primary audience are average users like you or me, looking for a way to get our daily computer needs tended to.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/haiku.jpg" alt="free operating systems" width="580" height="435" />

What makes Haiku different to other UNIX-based operating systems (specifically class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/pages/getting-started-guide-linux">Linux) is its vision to provide a unified experience, rather than using multiple layers of software that can often over-complicate the computer operating system.

Haiku does not use the Linux class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/learning-linux-lingo/">kernel but a custom-built one which has been designed for responsiveness. Couple this with a threaded design for increased performance on multi-core processors, and the whole package begins to look quite appealing.

class="vt-p" href="http://www.jolicloud.com/">Jolicloud

class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-killer-apps-to-maximize-your-netbooks-potential/">Netbook owners listen up! This might be the one you’ve been waiting for. A simple operating system, aimed at armchair surfers who live for the web.

style="text-align: center;"> class="aligncenter" src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/jolicloud.jpg" alt="computer operating systems" width="580" height="340" />

Incorporating a quick and easy one-click-install method for over 700 of the web’s most popular services, Jolicloud enables you to surf, chat, listen, watch and connect from a clean and attractive interface. Plus with Jolicloud’s Stream feature staying in contact and sharing fascinating finds with your class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/20-tips-to-manage-your-online-social-life-part-1/">social networks is easy.

You can synchronize your Jolicloud across as many devices as you like, and if you’ve not got your netbook with you simply log in with a HTML5-compliant browser to manage your account. Jolicloud might just be what your netbook’s been missing, check out our class="vt-p" href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/jolicloud-operating-system-download-for-netbook/">full article here.

Conclusion

You’re not going to get the compatibility of a Windows or Mac OS install with many of the above, but if you don’t really need everything under the sun running on your machine then one of these (or even a few of these) might be for you. Even if you do use another primary OS, try partitioning or one of the many Live CD/USB releases. You might be surprised! />
/>Hey Facebookers, make sure to check out href="http://www.facebook.com/makeuseof">MakeUseOf page on Facebook. Over 24,000 fans already! />
/>

href="http://www.facebook.com/makeuseof"> src="http://main.makeuseoflimited.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/fbfeedfooter.png" />

 

href="http://api.tweetmeme.com/share?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-free-operating-systems-realized-existed/"> src="http://api.tweetmeme.com/imagebutton.gif?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-free-operating-systems-realized-existed/"> href="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis/login?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-free-operating-systems-realized-existed/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/diggme.png"> href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-free-operating-systems-realized-existed/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/fb.jpg"> href="http://www.google.com/reader/link?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-free-operating-systems-realized-existed/&title=5 Free Operating Systems You Maybe Never Realized Existed&srcTitle=MakeUseOf.com"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/gbuzz-feed.png"> href="http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/5-free-operating-systems-realized-existed/"> src="http://www.makeuseof.com/images/rss-buttons/stumble.png">

 

Similar MakeUseOf Articles

class="st-related-posts">

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/winhack-speed-up-your-computer-part-1/" title="WinHack – Speed Up Your Windows XP Computer (Part 1)">WinHack – Speed Up Your Windows XP Computer (Part 1) (22 comments)

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/whats-this-linux-thing-and-why-should-i-try-it/" title="What’s This “Linux” Thing and Why Should I Try It?">What’s This “Linux” Thing and Why Should I Try It? (129 comments)

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/difference-32-bit-64-bit-windows/" title="What Is The Difference Between 32-bit & 64-bit Windows?">What Is The Difference Between 32-bit & 64-bit Windows? (29 comments)

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/virtualboxs-seamless-mode-combine-operating-systems-desktop/" title="VirtualBox’s Seamless Mode: Combine Two Operating Systems Into One Desktop">VirtualBox’s Seamless Mode: Combine Two Operating Systems Into One Desktop (19 comments)

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/upgrading-your-mac-to-snow-leopard-using-your-usb-drive/" title="Upgrading Mac To Snow Leopard Using USB drive">Upgrading Mac To Snow Leopard Using USB drive (19 comments)

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/windows-7-requirements-installation-tips/" title="Upgrade To Windows 7: Requirements & Installation Tips">Upgrade To Windows 7: Requirements & Installation Tips (14 comments)

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ubuntu-1004-extremely-simple-operating-system-linux/" title="Ubuntu 10.04 – An Extremely Simple Operating System [Linux]">Ubuntu 10.04 – An Extremely Simple Operating System [Linux] (46 comments)

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/tweak-windows-with-portable-ultimate-windows-tweaker/" title="Tweak Your Windows OS With Portable Ultimate Windows Tweaker">Tweak Your Windows OS With Portable Ultimate Windows Tweaker (20 comments)

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/googles-chromium-os-laptop-netbook-flow/" title="Try Out Google’s Chromium OS On Your Laptop Or Netbook With Flow">Try Out Google’s Chromium OS On Your Laptop Or Netbook With Flow (14 comments)

href="http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/try-linux-live-cds-without-burning-or-restarting-the-computer/" title="Try Linux Live CDs from Windows Without Using any CDs">Try Linux Live CDs from Windows Without Using any CDs (10 comments)

View full post on MakeUseOf.com

A STOP error message during the booting time primarily occurs afterwards installing an adverse accessory driver on your machine. A driver disciplinarian is a software programs that is primarily used for comminuting amid the Hardware and higher-level computer programs. In a lot of cases, unmountable harder drive and data inaccessibility are the two aloft hazards that you appointment afterwards a STOP error message comes. To successfully come out from affected these hazards, a data backup helps you to restore the lost data. But, in cases area you accept not maintained any advancement or advancement fails to restore the adapted data, an able Data Recover Tool comes to rescue.

Consider an applied scenario, area you receive accept the below error message if you are going to boot your system afterwards installing a new accessory driver:

“STOP: 0×00000042 (parameter, parameter, parameter, parameter) ATDISK_DRIVER_INTERNAL”

The four parameters in the aloft error message alter with machine configuration.

Once the aloft error message comes, all the files and folders saved in your harder drive become inaccessible. In addition, you got same STOP error message every time you attack to begin your machine.

Cause:

The aloft STOP error message primarily indicates a harder drive accessory centralized error.

Resolution:

To resolve the aloft error message and admission the data, you will charge to chase the beneath measures:

• Remove the hardware and reboot your system.
• If the problem persists, select Last Known Good Configuration option while rebooting.
• If the error message still appears, use Emergency Repair Disk.

But, if all the aloft measures fall short to boldness your issue, again you will charge to windows Xp installation. A clean reinstall of Windows will remove all the data saved on the formatted harder drive partition. To balance your data under such situations, you charge to opt for avant-garde Data Recovery Tool These data recovery tools are congenital with avant-garde techniques and are simple to accept due to their awful graphical user-interface. Such applications use top end scanning methods to browse and balance data from your harder drive.  You can also have lots of Windows Xp Tech Support.

If you are using Windows XP operating system in your PC, it is important that you use a Window XP registry cleaner to keep your PC registry free from outdated entries, adware and spyware. Since Windows 95, Microsoft adopted a new way of keeping the system information. They introduced the concept of Windows registry. Registry file is created and maintained by the Windows operating system to store information about the hardware and software configuration and other settings of your computer system. Before Windows 95 version this was done by storing the information in the INI files. These INI files were scattered through out the hard disks, making the system slower and vulnerable to frequent problems. With the introduction of registry, the process of storing the system information became much more organized and effective. It made the system more efficient and faster as it took less time to access the vital resources.

Different versions of Windows operating system have different methods of keeping the Windows registry. So, if you want to clean the registry you need specific Windows registry cleaner built for the operating system you are using. Therefore it is important to have the Window XP registry cleaner if you are running a Windows XP operating system in your computer. You can download registry cleaner from the internet, but for that you need some good research. A Microsoft registry cleaner checks the registry file of your computer and removes all the outdated entries that are stored in the registry.

A Windows registry keeps the log of all the system setting. So whenever you install or uninstall any software, make any changes to the system settings or the hardware configuration an entry is added to the Windows registry. As you keep using your computer these entries get piled up in the registry file making it unnecessarily heavier with outdated and unimportant entries. With a Window XP registry cleaner you can avoid these problems and get hassles free computing.

With a bulkier registry file with so many entries the system becomes prone to frequent failures and it takes usually more time to respond. A heavier PC registry is one of the most encountered problems for slow functioning of the computer. So, it is better to use a Window XP registry cleaner to clean the registry of your Windows XP based PC for problem free and faster computing. The registry cleaner checks the registry and removes entries that are no longer important.

あのWindows95を再現した動画です。あのHDDの音と共に懐古しませんか？ニコニコ動画より転載させて頂きました。 ↓オリジナルのFlashはこちら butterfly.s53.xrea.com

Your Windows XP supporting PC is getting slowed day by day and it is also featuring a tendency of getting crashed all of the sudden. If you have observed your PC closely, you would be finding that this problem is combined with many more issues such as blue screen errors, popping up of error messages, etc. This is convincing about some issues in your operating system. Here are few Windows XP support tips, which can help you in increasing your computer speed.

Scan your PC completely – If your PC is running slow, the first step you can do is to scan your PC thoroughly. Sometimes, slow speed of computer is reasoned by spyware infiltration in it. Such tools are very deceptive which not only reduces speed of your PC but also steals your crucial personal information.

By scanning your PC you can detect such malware and permanently delete them. This will save you from all the stealing threat and also boost speed of your PC. This step is recommended by almost every Windows XP support expert.

Disable service at Windows startup menu – Many services are run automatically when Windows XP starts up. This can eat up a big amount of system resources and considerably slows down Windows XP. If you want to accelerate Windows XP, you can utilize Windows Task Manager to put out of action the additional ones.

Fixing registry errors – Windows XP support experts also recommend registry error fixing. Fixing registry errors increase speed of PC all of the sudden. Since, registry errors leads to serious pc issues, such as, system errors, spyware and virus attack, application removal failure, its fixing up corrects computers speed with a pace.

These are some of the important Windows XP support tips that can help you in increasing speed of your operating system and enjoy a better computing experience.

After running Windows XP for so many years, I finally decided to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional 64 bit along with installing a fresh new hard drive. This is the phase of upgrading my desktop computer. The first phase was back in September when I upgraded to a new mother board and processor. Now it’s time to upgrade the rest of the machine with a new hard drive and operating system. All is working great and I’m truly happy with the results. April 19, 2010.

See our entire index of CompTIA A+ videos: www.FreeAPlus.com The operating system is the fundamental software component of any computer. In this video, youll learn the fundamentals of operating systems and the requirements for Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows 2000.

If you are thinking to install Microsoft Windows Vista then you need to run setup from the current version of windows. However, if you’re planning make a clean install then you must take a back up of all the data stored on your system first and then boot from the Windows Vista disk. As the hard drive has free memory, the setup creates a 100MB boot partition for holding boot files and for preparing the system for other software.

It is recommended that you make a clean install only if you are sure that you have saved all data before you install Windows Vista. Also, you should not use this technique, if your hard disk contains recovery or diagnostic partitions that you might want to use later. However, if you want to completely erase the disk and make a clean install of Microsoft Windows Vista then you need to boot from the Vista disk and follow the steps to choose a Custom (advanced) installation. Now click ‘Next’ to get to this screen.

But, if you want to upgrade it from the current version of Windows then you can upgrade to Windows Vista. You cannot run x64 Setup on a system running an x86 build of Windows, or vice-versa. Be sure that you are upgrading from Windows XP to Windows Vista because migrating from Windows 2000 or 98 to Vista is not possible. In order to upgrade, you cannot make any changes to the layout of a disk; you must use existing partitions.

In addition, there’s a little but significant difference between the screens that you will see in the Windows Vista installation process, depending on how you start Microsoft Windows Vista Setup. If you launch Setup from within the Windows, you can run a compatibility check.

Select Typical Network settings when asked by the setup and then Windows setup will finish the installation. Windows Vista will detect most of your hardware but you will still need most of your hardware installation disks to make ensure a smooth install.

I’ve recently been having more problems with my OS than usual and it inspired this video.. Twitter me! twitter.com Thank you for watching over the last three years!! Music is from the Royalty-free collection at incompetech.com The track is called ‘Background vibes’.

It’s been a long time coming. Microsoft hasn’t released a new consumer operating system since Windows XP came out in October, 2001. Now, nearly six years later, Windows has once again been polished, modernized and buffed to a glossy sheen for a newer consumer era. Windows Vista is here.

Windows XP was a big deal for the Windows family. Although Microsoft continued to release consumer operating systems built upon the Windows 95 kernel (including Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, and Windows Me), it targeted only businesses and power users with its NT kernel offerings such as Windows NT and Windows 2000.

There was a difference. For backward compatibility to the days of MS-DOS and Windows 3.1 computing, Microsoft stuck with the 9x kernel for consumers. That kernel was an intricate meshwork of 16-bit (DOS) and 32-bit (NT) code that never truly abandoned the DOS conventions and never fully took advantage of the pure 32-bit power. The NT kernel, however, was built to be a 32-bit monster from the start, without the ambition to run 16-bit Windows 3.1 software or the thousands of games released for DOS. In 2001, Windows XP brought the parallel lines of Windows business and consumer operating systems together at last. With its Compatibility Modes, it was able to run some DOS and Windows 3.1 software, but because the computing world had started its move to 32-bit in 1995, there wasn’t as much demand for backward compatibility. Windows XP proved to be far more stable than any of the 9x flavors (especially the justifiably hated Windows Me), and it was multimedia-friendly and an excellent platform for gaming.

And aren’t multimedia and gaming what computers are all about?