Identify and Remove Un-needed Programs from your PC or Mac!

Ever wonder how to clean out your computer? Many people do, because it’s not unusual to have your PC filled with adware, toolbars and other programs you no longer need or probably never intended to install in the first place. But like most people, what programs should you remove is the tough question. 

Well we have your answer!

For PC users, you just simply need to visit and download "Should I Remove It?"! "Should I Remove It?" is a tiny, lightweight program designed to show you what programs you have installed on your computer and quickly determine what programs you can safely remove.

For an even deeper clean, we can't recommend CCleaner enough! CCleaner can help restore your system speed by removing unnecessary files taking up room on your hard drive as well as clear out errors and broken settings to improve stability. CCleaner can also help boost your browser speed and help protect your privacy by securely erasing tracking cookies and history!

Now, for the Apple Computers, there is CleanMyMac.com. CleanMyMac finds the junk that got installed on your Mac and full system cleaning. It helps you figure out if your system has extra/unneeded add-ons installed and even left over junk files from old programs and software/system upgrades. When everything on your Mac works twice as fast, you accomplish more every day. All you need is the right tool to make your Mac clean and fast again. CleanMyMac is perfect for the job: it removes the clutter from hard drive and speeds up your system. Plus, it’s super easy to use!

Should I Remove It? ~ www.shouldiremoveit.com <-- clean-up="" div="" program="" windows="">

CCleaner ~ www.ccleaner.com <-- cleaning="" deep="" div="" program="" windows="">

CleanMyMac ~ www.cleanmymac.com <-- app="" clean-up="" div="" macintosh="">

Pacific Northwest Computers

www.pnwcomputers.com

Winning Against Windows 10: Fight Microsoft and Win!

Ever since the release of Microsoft’s “Free Upgrade” to WIndows 10 (which came to and end August 1st 2016), I have fixed dozens of computers for people which had system damage or issues stemming from an unwarranted upgrade of their computer to Windows 10. The upgrade to Windows 10 was free for Windows Vista and Windows 7 users for almost a year, but was supposed to be an optional decision. The end user was supposed to decide on whether or not, or when, to install Microsoft’s “latest and greatest operating system”.

As well all know from either the news, friends, family, or even personal experience, Windows was tricky with this OS upgrade and many people were automatically upgraded without direct and clear consent or without any knowledge until it was too late. If they did agree, some users had major issues with system stability, hardware, and software following the upgrade to Windows 10. Not the smooth process Microsoft said it to was to be... This means repair costs for folks as well as the inconvenience of downtown, as well as lost work and income for business.

Well recently I had a customer whose business computer went down due to a non-user initiated Windows 10 upgrade. The upgrade actually didn't complete correctly, killing the Windows OS upgrade installation (mid-install) requiring the system to be brought into the shop, have Windows 7 re-installed and onsite service to get everything set back up again. Well my client did some research and found a ebook on Amazon called "Winning against Windows 10".

"Winning against Windows 10" is the story of a woman named Teri Goldstein and specifically lays out how Teri fought back against Microsoft (due to a Windows 10 upgrade that messed up her system) and she actually was able to win; forcing Microsoft to reimburse her $10,000!!

Using the book (which gives you the specifics on her court case), my client was able to fight back against Microsoft themselves and was able to get Microsoft to reimburse them for all of the repair costs; onsites and all!

So if you have had any issues with Windows 10 "damaging" your computer and you had to get it fixed and/or can prove lost income from downtime, etc you could get Microsoft to pay you back!!

https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Against-Windows…/…/B01IU0A2N6

Any questions or comments?? Feel free to get in touch!
www.pnwcomputers.com

PNW Computers' Favorite Mac Apps

PNW Computers' Favorite FREE Mac Apps

VideoLan ~ VLC for Mac

VLC is a free and open source cross-platform multimedia player and framework that plays most multimedia files as well as DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs, and various streaming protocols.

Titanium Software ~ OnyX
OnyX is a multifunction utility for OS X which you can use to verify the start up disk and the structure of its system files, to run miscellaneous tasks of cleaning and system maintenance, to configure some hidden parameters of many of Apple’s applications, and more.

Titanium Software ~ Maintenance
Maintenance is a system maintenance and cleaning utility for OS X which you can use to run miscellaneous tasks of system maintenance: repair permissions, run periodic scripts, rebuild the databases, delete Application, Font and System cache, and more.

Derlien Software ~ Disk Inventory X
Disk Inventory X is a disk usage utility for Mac OS X 10.3 (and later). It shows the sizes of files and folders in a special graphical way called "treemaps".
If you've ever wondered where all your disk space has gone, Disk Inventory X will help you to answer this question.

smcFanControl
smcFanControl is MUST HAVE for keeping your Mac running cool. smcFanControl lets the user set the minimum speed of the built in fans; so you can increase your minimum fan speed to make your Intel Mac run cooler. However in order not to damage your machines smcFanControl doesn't let you set a minimum speed to a value below Apple's defaults.

ClamXav
ClamXav is a free malware scanner for Mac OS X. It uses the very popular ClamAV open source antivirus engine as a back end and has the ability to detect both Windows and Mac threats.
ClamXav can be setup up as passive or active: scan only the files you tell it to or your entire hard drive, whichever you prefer; you can also choose to activate Sentry to monitor your hard drive and scan new files as they arrive.

CCleaner

CCleaner is the number-one tool for cleaning your Mac. It protects your privacy online and makes your computer faster and more secure. Easy to use and a small fast download.

FreeMacSoft ~ AppCleaner
AppCleaner is a small application which allows you to thoroughly uninstall unwanted apps.
Installing an application distributes many files throughout your System using space of your Hard Drive unnecessarily.
AppCleaner finds all these small files and safely deletes them.
Simply drop an application onto the AppCleaner window. It will find for the related files and you can delete them by clicking the delete button.

CoconutBattery

With coconutBattery you are always aware of your current battery health. It shows you live information about the battery in your Mac and iOS device (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch) including:

• Age of your Mac, iOS device and battery
• How often the battery was charged
• Your battery health (capacity in relation to the original capacity your battery had when it left the factory) and much more...

gfxCardStatus
gfxCardStatus is an unobtrusive menu bar app for OS X that allows MacBook Pro users to see which apps are affecting their battery life by using the more power-hungry graphics.

Unarchiver

The Unarchiver is a much more capable replacement for "Archive Utility.app", the built-in archive unpacker program on Mac OS X. The Unarchiver is designed to handle many more formats than Archive Utility, and to better fit in with the design of the Finder. It can also handle file names in foreign character sets, created with non-English versions of other operating systems. I personally find it useful for opening Japanese archives, but it should handle many other languages just as well.

Monolingual

Monolingual is a program for removing unnecessary language resources from OS X, in order to reclaim several hundred megabytes of disk space. It requires a 64-bit capable Intel-based Mac and at least OS X 10.10 (Yosemite).

Hanynet ~ NoobProof (or WaterRoof) Firewall Software

NoobProof is a very easy tool. When you start it the first time you have a service list and you can choose to "allow" or "deny" connections to those services. So you have only to decide which service to allow, and then check "Activate NoobProof". You can also add selective "allow" and "deny", and you can delete or add new custom services in service list.

WaterRoof is a very complex and powerful tool, which allows you to configure almost every aspect and option of "ipfw". And more, you can list/manage active connections or network files, do graphics log analysis, configure your mac as a router with bandwidth management with tasteful rules and tons of other options. You need a good knowledge of "what a firewall is", and you should also have at least a basic ipfw knowledge.

TeamViewer - QuickSupport Remote Access Software
*What PNW Computers uses for remote support!

TeamViewer is the All-In-One Software for Remote Support and Online Meetings.
Remote control any computer or Mac over the Internet within seconds or use TeamViewer for online meetings. 

If you have any questions or comments please don't hesitate to get in touch!

Jon Pienkowski
Pacific NorthWest Computers
www.pnwcomputers.com
360-624-7379