Fix-it guide

User’s Guide

3132 Dwight Road Suite 500Elk Grove CA 95758-6469

USAwww.avanquestusa.com

http://www.avanquestusa.com

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Copyright ©1998–2007 Avanquest Publishing USA, Inc.

All Rights Reserved.

PowerDesk is a registered trademark and Fix-It Utilities, JETDefrag, PCDiagnostics, SMARTDiskCheck, InteliCluster, NetDefense, WebDefense, System Explorers, SystemMonitors, and VirusScanner are trademarks of Avanquest Publishing USA, Inc. Fix-It is used under license from Musick International, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

The information in this document is subject to change without notice. Companies, names, and data used in examples herein are fictitious unless otherwise noted. No part of this document may be reproduced, transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into a language or computer language, in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, optical, chemical, manual, or otherwise, for any purpose, without the express written permission of Avanquest Publishing USA, Inc.

Documentation by D. Leatherman and L. Bridgeman.

SW8002 Document Number 120-1660-8.0

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional End User’s License Agreement • 3

AVANQUEST END USER’S LICENSE AGREEMENT

The software that is subject to this End User’s License Agreement (EULA) is licensed, not sold, to the Licensee by Avanquest USA.

IF LICENSEE DOES NOT AGREE TO ALL OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS EULA, THEN WITHIN 30 CALENDAR DAYS AFTER ACQUIRING THE LICENSED SOFTWARE, LICENSEE MAY RETURN IT TO THE PLACE WHERE LICENSEE OBTAINED IT FOR A FULL REFUND (LESS, IF APPLICABLE, SHIPPING, HANDLING, AND ANY TAXES), BUT ONLY IF LICENSEE HAS NOT INSTALLED, ACCESSED, OR USED THE LICENSED SOFTWARE.

Installing, copying, accessing, or using the Licensed Software constitutes Licensee's acceptance of, and promise to comply with, all of the terms and conditions of this EULA.

LICENSE TERMS

CONTENTS.The “Licensed Software” includes all of the contents of the files, disk(s), CD-ROM(s), DVDs, or other media for which this EULA is provided, including:

(1) third party computer information or software that Avanquest USA has licensed for inclusion in the Licensed Software;

(2) written materials or files relating to the Licensed Software (“Documentation”);

(3) fonts; and

(4) upgrades, modified versions, updates, additions, and copies of the Licensed Software, if any (collectively, “Updates”).

INSTALLATION.Licensee may install one copy of the Licensed Software on a single computer. If Licensed Software includes multiple licenses, Licensee may install the number of copies licensed to Licensee by Avanquest. Licensee shall be solely responsible for all expenses incurred in Licensee’s installation of the Licensed Software.

ACTIVATION.The Licensed Software contains technological measures that are designed to prevent its unlicensed or illegal use. The Licensed Software may contain enforcement technology that limits Licensee's ability to install and uninstall the Licensed Software on a machine to no more than a finite number of times, and for a finite number of machines.

The Licensed Software may require activation as explained during installation and in the Documentation. If any such applicable activation procedure(s) is not followed, then the Licensed Software may only operate for a finite period of time. If activation is required, and not completed within the finite period of time set forth in the Documentation and explained during installation, then the Licensed Software will cease to function until activation has been completed, at which time functionality will be restored. If Licensee has any problem with the activation process, Licensee should contact Avanquest USA customer support.

COPIES.Licensee may make one copy of the Licensed Software for backup or archival purposes only, except that the Documentation may not be duplicated.

TRANSFER.Licensee may not sell, assign, or transfer the Licensed Software or the License granted by this EULA without prior written consent of Avanquest USA.

4 • End User’s License Agreement Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

USE.The License granted by this EULA is non-exclusive.

PROHIBITED USES.(1) Licensee may not modify, adapt, translate, sublicense, rent, lease, or loan all or any portion of the Licensed

Software or Documentation;

(2) Licensee may not create any derivative works from all or any portion of the Licensed Software or Documentation;

(3) Licensee may not reverse engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to discover the source code of the License Software the Licensed Software except, and then: only to the extent expressly permitted by applicable law; after notification to Avanquest USA; upon payment of a reasonable fee; and execution of a confidentiality agreement to protect the code from disclosure to any third parties;

(4) Licensee may not use a previous version of the Licensed Software after receiving a media replacement or upgraded version as a replacement to a prior version (in such case you must destroy the prior version);

(5) Licensee may not use the Licensed Software in the operation of aircraft, ship, nuclear facilities, life support machines, communication systems, or any other equipment in which the failure of the software could lead to personal injury, death, or environmental damage;

(6) Licensee may not remove or obscure Avanquest USA's copyright or trademark notices, or the copyright and trademark notices of third parties that Avanquest USA has included in the Licensed Software or Documentation; and

(7) Licensee may not use the Licensed Software to host applications for third parties, as part of a facility management, timesharing, service provider, or service bureau arrangement; and

(8) Licensee may not use the Licensed Software in any manner not authorized by this EULA.

CONTENT.Licensee may use any clip art, photographs, icons, fonts, shapes, animations, sounds, music, video clips, and all other graphic content (collectively, “Content”) included with the Licensed Software, if any, only as stated in the Documentation. If the Documentation does not permit Licensee to use the Content, then Licensee may not display, modify, reproduce, or distribute any of the Content; and even if the Documentation permits Licensee to use the Content, Licensee may not distribute the Content on a stand-alone basis such as where the Content constitutes the primary value of whatever Licensee is distributing.

Certain portions of the Content may consist of the copyrights, trademarks, service marks, trade names, or other intellectual property of third parties. Avanquest USA has provided these portions of the Content for Licensees' convenience in using the Licensed Software, pursuant to authorization of their owners. Except for this limited use, Licensee may not use any third-party intellectual property identified as belonging to others without the owners' express authorization. Furthermore:

(1) Licensee may not sell, license, distribute (commercially or otherwise), or make available the Content as stand-alone images or sounds, or in catalogs, design books, compilations, collections, templates, designs, stock engravings, products, services, or the like;

(2) Licensee may not sell, license, distribute (commercially or otherwise), or make available electronic copies of the Content to third parties in any manner, including without limitation, via the Internet, on any tangible media or by broadcast, that is intended or designed to enable a third party to copy the Content for its own use;


(3) Licensee may not sell, license, distribute (commercially or otherwise), or make available electronic copies of the Content that includes representations of identifiable individuals, governments, logos, initials, emblems, trademarks, or entities that expresses or implies any endorsement or association with any product, service, entity, or activity; and

(4) Under no circumstances may the Content be used in the production of defamatory, fraudulent, infringing, lewd, obscene, or pornographic material, or in any otherwise illegal manner.

Licensee is solely responsible for Licensee's use of the Content. Licensee may only use the Content responsibly, in a manner consistent with the exercise of good judgment. If Licensee is having difficulty deciding whether Licensee's intended use is appropriate, or whether Licensee needs written permission, or whether other legal issues should be considered, Avanquest USA strongly encourages Licensee to seek competent legal counsel. Avanquest USA will not assist Licensee in making this determination, nor can Avanquest USA provide Licensee with legal advice as to intellectual property rights.

If Licensee or Licensee's attorney determines that Licensee is required by law to obtain written permission to use portions of the Content, Licensee must request permission for reproduction, redistribution, or modification of the Content from the appropriate owner of the subject materials (as may be cited in the Licensed Software). If, on the other hand, Licensee or Licensee's attorney determines it is permissible to proceed and include Content from the Licensed Software, Avanquest USA asks Licensee to correctly designate Avanquest USA's trademark(s) when referring to the Licensed software in the notice or copyright portion of Licensee's paper, project, or product.

Licensee shall indemnity, hold harmless, and defend Avanquest USA and Avanquest USA's suppliers from all claims, damages, attorneys' fees, costs, and lawsuits that arise from, or result from, Licensee's use or distribution of Content.

SOFTWARE UPDATES.If the Licensed Software is an Update to a previous version, Licensee must possess a valid License to the previous version. Any Update provided to Licensee is made on a License exchange basis such that Licensee agrees, as a condition for receiving an Update, that Licensee will terminate all of Licensee's rights to use any previous version of the Licensed Software. However, Licensee may continue to use the previous version only to assist in transitioning to the Updated version. Once an Update has been released, Avanquest USA may cease support for prior versions, without any notice to Licensee.

CONTENT UPDATES.Avanquest USA provides updates to the content of some of its software from time to time, including but not limited to, virus definitions, URL lists, rules, and updated vulnerability data. These types of updates are collectively referred to as “Content Updates.” Licensee may obtain any such Content Updates during the initial period provided for by the applicable software without additional charge. Licensee may purchase a separate subscription for a specified period of time to continue to receive Content Updates after the initial period expires. Avanquest USA reserves the right to designate specified Content Updates as requiring purchase of a separate subscription at any time, and without prior notice to Licensee, except that any such change will only become effective at the earlier of the expiration of the initial period provided for by the applicable software, or the expiration of the term of a separately paid for subscription.

SUPPORT.Avanquest USA is not obligated by this EULA to provide Licensee with any technical support services relating to the Licensed Software; however, Licensee may order additional support services for an additional charge as Avanquest USA may offer from time to time during the term of this EULA.


LIMITED WARRANTY ON MEDIA.Avanquest USA warrants that the media on which the Licensed Software is distributed will be free from defects for a period of 30 days from the date the Licensed Software is delivered to Licensee. If Licensee discovers a defect in the media during this 30-day period, Licensee must then return the defective media to Avanquest USA within 10 calendar days of discovering the defect, and Licensee's sole remedy is to have either the defective media replaced, or at Avanquest USA's sole option, a refund of the money that Licensee paid for the Licensed Software.

NO WARRANTY ON LICENSED SOFTWARE.The Licensed Software is provided to Licensee “AS IS.” Avanquest USA, and Avanquest USA's suppliers, make no warranty as to its use or performance. AVANQUEST USA, AND AVANQUEST USA'S SUPPLIERS, MAKE NO WARRANTIES, CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS, OR TERMS (EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WHETHER BY STATUTE, COMMON LAW, CUSTOM, USAGE, OR OTHERWISE) AS TO ANY MATTER INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS, MERCHANTABILITY, INTEGRATION, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, OR FITNESS FOR ANY PARTICULAR PURPOSE, EXCEPT FOR, AND TO THE EXTENT, THAT A WARRANTY MAY NOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED BY APPLICABLE LAW IN LICENSEE'S JURISDICTION.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.IN NO EVENT WILL AVANQUEST USA, OR AVANQUEST USA'S SUPPLIERS, BE LIABLE TO LICENSEE FOR ANY DAMAGES, CLAIMS, OR COSTS WHATSOEVER, OR FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, OR ANY LOST PROFITS OR LOST SAVINGS, EVEN IF A REPRESENTATIVE OF AVANQUEST USA OR ONE OF AVANQUEST USA'S SUPPLIERS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH LOSS, DAMAGES, CLAIMS, OR COSTS, OR FOR ANY CLAIM BY ANY THIRD PARTY. THESE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS APPLY TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW IN LICENSEE'S JURISDICTION. THE AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF AVANQUEST USA, AND AVANQUEST USA'S SUPPLIERS, UNDER OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS EULA, SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID FOR THE LICENSED SOFTWARE, IF ANY.

ADDITIONAL TERMS FOR BETA SOFTWARE.If the Licensed Software that Licensee receives with this EULA is pre-commercial release or “BETA” software (“Pre-release Software”), then, to the extent that any provision in this section is in conflict with any other term or condition in this EULA, this section supersedes such conflicting term(s) and condition(s) as to the Pre-release Software, but only to the extent necessary to resolve the conflict.

Licensee acknowledges that the Pre-release Software does not represent the final product from Avanquest USA, and may contain bugs, errors, and other problems that could cause system or other failures and data loss. Consequently, Avanquest USA disclaims any warranty or liability obligations to Licensee of any kind whatsoever.

IN APPLICABLE JURISDICTIONS WHERE LIABILITY CANNOT BE SO EXCLUDED FOR PRE-RELEASE SOFTWARE, BUT MAY BE LIMITED, AVANQUEST USA'S LIABILITY, AND THAT OF ITS SUPPLIERS, SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE TOTAL OF FIFTY DOLLARS (U.S. $50.00).

Licensee acknowledges that Avanquest USA has not promised or guaranteed to Licensee that the Pre-release Software will be announced or made available to anyone in the future, and that Avanquest USA has no express or implied obligation to Licensee to announce or introduce the Pre-release Software. Avanquest USA may decide not to introduce a product similar to, or compatible with, the Pre-release Software. Accordingly, Licensee acknowledges that any research or development that Licensee performs regarding the Pre-release Software, or any product associated with the Pre-release Software, is done entirely at Licensee's own risk.

During the term of this EULA, if requested by Avanquest USA, Licensee will provide feedback to Avanquest USA regarding testing and use of the Pre-release Software, including error or bug reports.


If Licensee has been provided the Pre-release Software pursuant to a separate written agreement, then Licensee's use of the Pre-release Software is also governed by that agreement. Notwithstanding anything in this EULA to the contrary, if Licensee is located outside the United States, Licensee will return or destroy all unreleased versions of the Pre-release Software within 30 days of the completion of Licensee's testing of the Pre-release Software if that date is earlier than the date scheduled for Avanquest USA's first commercial shipment of the publicly released (commercial) Software.

SURVIVAL OF DISCLAIMERS.The exclusions of warranties and liability limitations shall survive the termination of this EULA, howsoever caused; but this survival shall not imply or create any continued right to use the Licensed Software after termination of this EULA.

EXPORT RULES.Licensee shall not ship, transfer, or export Licensed Software into any country or use Licensed Software in any manner prohibited by the United States Export Administration Act or any other export laws, restrictions, or regulations (collectively the “Export Laws.”) If the Licensed Software is identified as export controlled items under the Export Laws, Licensee represents and warrants that Licensee, and Licensee's employees who will use the Licensed Software are not a citizen, or otherwise located within, an nation embargoed by the United States (including without limitation: Iran, Syria, Sudan, Cuba, and North Korea), and that Licensee, and Licensee's employees who will use the Licensed Software, are not otherwise prohibited under the Export Laws from receiving the Software. All rights to use the Licensed Software are granted on condition that Licensee complies with the Export Laws, and all such rights are forfeited if Licensee fails to comply with the Export Laws.

GOVERNING LAW.This EULA is subject to, and will be governed by and construed in accordance with the substantive laws in force of:

(1) the State of California, if the Licensed Software is obtained when the Licensee is in the United States, Canada, Mexico, or Chile; or

(2) the applicable law of any other jurisdiction if the Licensed Software is obtained in any location not described in (1), but only to the extent the law of the other jurisdiction conflicts with California Law.

Unless prohibited by law of an applicable jurisdiction, the courts of the State of California shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all disputes relating to this EULA. This EULA will not be governed by the conflict of law rules of any jurisdiction, or the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods, the application of which is expressly excluded.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OWNERSHIP.The Licensed Software and any authorized copies that Licensee makes are the intellectual property of, and are owned by, Avanquest USA, and by third parties whose intellectual property has been licensed by Avanquest USA. The structure, organization, and code of the Licensed Software are the valuable trade secrets and confidential information of Avanquest USA and such third parties. The Licensed Software is protected by law, including without limitation, the copyright laws of the United States and other countries, and by international treaty provisions. Except as expressly provided in this EULA, Licensee is not granted any intellectual property rights in the Licensed Software.

RESERVATION OF RIGHTS.Avanquest USA reserves all rights not expressly granted to Licensee by this EULA. The rights granted to Licensee are limited to Avanquest USA's intellectual property rights, and to the intellectual property rights of third parties licensed by Avanquest USA, and do not include any intellectual property rights.


COMPLETE AGREEMENT.This EULA constitutes the entire agreement between the Licensee and Avanquest USA relating to the Licensed Software, and it supersedes all prior or contemporaneous representations, discussions, undertakings, communications, agreements, arrangements, advertisements, and understandings regulating to the Licensed Software.

MODIFICATION.This EULA may only be modified or amended by a writing signed by an authorized officer of Avanquest USA.

SEVERABILITY.If any provision of this EULA is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be contrary to law, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible, and the remaining provisions of this EULA will remain in full force and effect.

WAIVER.No failure or delay by Avanquest USA in exercising its rights or remedies shall operate as a waiver unless made by specific written notice. No single or partial exercise of any right or remedy of Avanquest USA shall operate as a waiver or preclude any other, or further, exercise of that, or any other right, or remedy.

U.S. GOVERNMENT USERS.The Licensed Software and Documentation are “Commercial Items,” as that term is defined at 48 CFR §2.101, consisting of “Commercial Computer Software” and “Commercial Computer Software Documentation,” as such terms are used in 48 CFR §12.212 or 48 CFR §227.7202, as applicable. Consistent with 48 CFR §12.212 or 48 CFR §§227.7202-1 through 227.7202-4, as applicable, the Commercial Computer Software and Commercial Computer Software Documentation are being licensed to U.S. Government end users:

(1) only as Commercial Items; and

(2) with only those rights as are granted to all other end users pursuant to the terms and conditions herein.

Unpublished-rights reserved under the copyright laws of the United States. Avanquest Publishing USA, Inc.; 3132 Dwight Road, Suite 500; Elk Grove, CA 95758-6469, USA.

For U.S. Government End Users, Avanquest USA agrees to comply with all applicable equal opportunity laws including, if appropriate, the provisions of Executive Order 11246, as amended, Section 402 of the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (38 USC 4212), and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended, and the regulations at 41 CFR Parts 60-1 through 60-60, 60-250, and 60-741. The affirmative action clause and regulations contained in the preceding sentence shall be incorporated by reference in this EULA.

PROOF OF COMPLIANCE.Within 30 calendar days after request from Avanquest USA, or Avanquest USA's authorized representative, Licensee will provide full documentation, and certify under penalty of perjury, that Licensee's use of any and all Licensed Software is in conformity with this EULA.

TERMINATION.If Licensee breaches this EULA, and fails to cure any breach within 30 calendar days after request from Avanquest USA, or Avanquest USA's authorized representative, Avanquest USA may terminate this EULA, whereupon all rights granted to Licensee shall immediately cease. Furthermore, upon termination, Licensee shall return to Avanquest USA all copies of the Licensed Software, or verify in writing that all copies of the Licensed Software have been destroyed.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Contents • 9

Contents

Getting Started

Getting Started with Fix-It Utilities 21Introduction ................................................................................................................21Why Maintain Your Computer? .................................................................................22System Requirements .................................................................................................22Installing Fix-It Utilities .............................................................................................22Updating Your Software .............................................................................................24Installing Other Bonus Products.................................................................................24

Starting the Program 25Overview ....................................................................................................................25Viewing the QuickStatus Screen ................................................................................25The Fix-It Utilities Home Window ............................................................................28The First Time You Start Fix-It Utilities ....................................................................30Changing the Fix-It Utilities Program Settings ..........................................................31Learning About System Reports ................................................................................33Updating Your Software Using EasyUpdate ..............................................................36

A Quick Tour 39Overview ....................................................................................................................39 One-Click Solutions ..................................................................................................40Protection....................................................................................................................40Maintenance ...............................................................................................................41SystemMonitors..........................................................................................................46Keyboard Shortcuts ....................................................................................................47


One-Click Solutions Wizards 49Overview.....................................................................................................................49Running the One-Click Solutions Wizards.................................................................50Changing the Fix Wizard Tools ..................................................................................51

Getting Help 55Overview.....................................................................................................................55Viewing and Printing the Online User’s Guide ..........................................................55Using Online Help ......................................................................................................56Emergency Response Manual.....................................................................................56

Anti-Virus

Fighting Viruses 59Overview.....................................................................................................................59How Does VirusScanner Work? .................................................................................60

Running VirusScanner 61Overview.....................................................................................................................61Starting the VirusScanner Wizards .............................................................................61Running VirusScanner On Demand............................................................................64One-Time Scanning ....................................................................................................64Running VirusScanner on Single Files and Folders ...................................................67Scheduling VirusScanner............................................................................................68

Automatic File Scanning 69Overview.....................................................................................................................69Running AutoFileScan ...............................................................................................69Running AutoEmailScan ............................................................................................72

Viewing the VirusScanner Results 73Overview.....................................................................................................................73Types of Viruses .........................................................................................................74


Changing VirusScanner Settings 77Overview ....................................................................................................................77AutoFileScan Settings ................................................................................................78AutoEmailScan Settings.............................................................................................79Custom Scan Settings .................................................................................................81Context Menu Settings ...............................................................................................82

Quarantining Viruses 83Overview ....................................................................................................................83Restoring Files to Your Computer..............................................................................84Cleaning Files.............................................................................................................85Deleting Files..............................................................................................................86Adding Files ...............................................................................................................86

Anti-Spyware

Stopping Spies and Ads 89Overview ....................................................................................................................89Running Anti-Spyware Tools .....................................................................................90Viewing the Spyware Scan Results ............................................................................91

Quarantining Spyware 93Overview ....................................................................................................................93Removing Items from Quarantine ..............................................................................93Deleting Spyware Items .............................................................................................94

Diagnose

Diagnosing Your Computer 97Overview ....................................................................................................................97Diagnosing Hardware with PCDiagnostics ................................................................98Running PCDiagnostics..............................................................................................98Diagnostics Needing Loopback Connectors ............................................................101About the Video Diagnostics....................................................................................102About Interactive Diagnostics ..................................................................................102Changing PCDiagnostics Settings ............................................................................102


Keeping Track of Error Messages 103Overview...................................................................................................................103Viewing the Error Messages.....................................................................................104Changing the ErrorTracker Settings .........................................................................104

Viewing System Information 105Overview...................................................................................................................105Starting System Explorer ..........................................................................................106Making Reports with System Explorer.....................................................................106

Validating Removable Media 107Overview...................................................................................................................107Running MediaVerifier .............................................................................................108

Monitoring Your Hard Drive 109Overview...................................................................................................................109Running SMARTDiskCheck ....................................................................................110

Monitoring Your Computer 111Overview...................................................................................................................111Learning About the SystemMonitors........................................................................112Starting SystemMonitors ..........................................................................................113Modifying the SystemMonitors................................................................................115Changing SystemMonitors Settings .........................................................................117

Viewing Program Log Files 125Overview...................................................................................................................125Viewing the SystemLog............................................................................................125

Fix & Maintain

Repairing the Registry 129Overview...................................................................................................................129Running RegistryFixer .............................................................................................129Viewing the RegistryFixer Scan Results ..................................................................132Changing RegistryFixer Settings..............................................................................135


Editing the Registry 137Overview ..................................................................................................................137Learning About the System Registry .......................................................................138Learning About Registry Keys.................................................................................139Using RegistryMagic................................................................................................139

Maintaining Your Hard Drive 143Overview ..................................................................................................................143Using DiskFixer........................................................................................................143

Scheduling Maintenance 149Overview ..................................................................................................................149Opening the SystemScheduler..................................................................................150Scheduling a Utility..................................................................................................151Viewing SystemScheduler Results ...........................................................................152

Updating Your Operating System 153Overview ..................................................................................................................153Updating with WindowsUpdate ...............................................................................154

Synchronizing Your Clock 155Overview ..................................................................................................................155Connecting to a Time Server ....................................................................................156Adding a New Time Server ......................................................................................157Updating Your Computer Clock...............................................................................158

Optimize

Using SystemOptimizer 161Overview ..................................................................................................................161Selecting a Performance Profile ...............................................................................162Selecting Performance Options ................................................................................163


Using Startup Commander 165Overview...................................................................................................................165Viewing the Startup Commander Window...............................................................166Learning About the Options Pane.............................................................................168Managing Your Startup Programs ............................................................................170Changing the Startup Commander Settings..............................................................173

Defragmenting the Registry 177Overview...................................................................................................................177Closing All Running Programs.................................................................................177Running RegistryDefrag...........................................................................................178

Defragmenting Your Hard Disk 179Overview...................................................................................................................179Learning about Fragmentation..................................................................................180Running JETDefrag ..................................................................................................181Changing JETDefrag Settings ..................................................................................184

Cleanup

Cleaning Your Hard Drive 187Overview...................................................................................................................187Recovering Disk Space Using DiskCleaner .............................................................187

Cleaning the System Registry 197Overview...................................................................................................................197Using RegistryCleaner..............................................................................................197Setting the Advanced Options for RegistryCleaner..................................................199Viewing the RegistryCleaner Results .......................................................................200

Shredding Files and Folders 201Overview...................................................................................................................201Permanently Deleting Files and Folders...................................................................202Changing the File Shredder Settings ........................................................................203


Recovery

Recovering Lost Data 207Overview ..................................................................................................................207Undeleting Files with FileUndeleter ........................................................................208About the Deleted Files Bin .....................................................................................211

Creating a Checkpoint 215Overview ..................................................................................................................215Creating Checkpoints Manually ...............................................................................215Activating Recovery Commander ............................................................................216Scheduling Checkpoint Creation..............................................................................216Changing Checkpoint Settings .................................................................................217

Restoring a Checkpoint 221Overview ..................................................................................................................221Running RestoreCheckpoint.....................................................................................221Undoing a Checkpoint Restore.................................................................................222

Managing Checkpoints 223Overview ..................................................................................................................223Managing Recovery Commander Checkpoints........................................................223Managing System Restore Checkpoints...................................................................224

Making a Rescue CD 225Overview ..................................................................................................................225Creating a Rescue Disk CD......................................................................................226Viewing the Rescue Disk Results.............................................................................226

Backing Up Critical Information 227Overview ..................................................................................................................227Running DiskSnapshot .............................................................................................228Changing the DiskSnapshot Settings........................................................................229Viewing the DiskSnapshot Results Dialog...............................................................230

Undoing Changes 231Overview ..................................................................................................................231Running UndoIt ........................................................................................................231


Recovery Commander

Recovery Commander Overview 235Overview...................................................................................................................235Key Benefits .............................................................................................................235Technical Highlights .................................................................................................236

Recovering a Non-Starting Computer 237Overview...................................................................................................................237Starting from the Rescue CD....................................................................................237Viewing the Rescue Disk Wizard .............................................................................238Choosing Tasks from the Start Menu .......................................................................239Choosing the Windows Directory.............................................................................240

Restoring Computer Functionality 241Overview...................................................................................................................241Restoring Checkpoints..............................................................................................241Fixing the Boot File ..................................................................................................245

Managing Files and Folders 247Overview...................................................................................................................247Exploring Your Files.................................................................................................248Backing Up Folder Contents ....................................................................................249Restoring Folder Contents ........................................................................................250

Manual Partitioning

Manually Partitioning Your Disks 253Overview...................................................................................................................253Viewing Your Partitions............................................................................................254Creating Partitions ....................................................................................................255Deleting Partitions ....................................................................................................256Using the Advanced Tools........................................................................................257


Changing Manual Partition Settings 259Overview ..................................................................................................................259Accessing the Settings..............................................................................................259

Emergency Manual

Your Computer is in Trouble 263Overview ..................................................................................................................263Getting Started if Your Computer is in Trouble .......................................................263Getting Started in Windows 2000/XP/Vista .............................................................265

Dealing with Other Common Problems 269Overview ..................................................................................................................269Stability Issues..........................................................................................................269Performance Issues...................................................................................................271

Troubleshooting 275Overview ..................................................................................................................275

Booting from a Rescue Disk 277Overview ..................................................................................................................277Booting from the Rescue Disk .................................................................................278Viewing the Rescue Disk Menu ...............................................................................278Learning about the Start Menu Commands..............................................................279

Recovering From a Data Disaster 281Overview ..................................................................................................................281What if There is Serious Physical Damage? ............................................................282Help, My Disk is Dead .............................................................................................283Recovering Data Remotely.......................................................................................284In-Lab Data Recovery ..............................................................................................285Disaster Recovery.....................................................................................................285


Reference

Hints and Other Issues 291Overview...................................................................................................................291Updating Fix-It Utilities Manually ...........................................................................291Uninstalling Fix-It Utilities ......................................................................................292Known Issues and Problems.....................................................................................293

Glossary of Terms 297

Index 305

Complimentary Technical Support 311

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Getting Started • 19

GETTING STARTED

Getting Started with Fix-It Utilities 21

Starting the Program 25

A Quick Tour 39

One-Click Solutions Wizards 49

Getting Help 55

20 • Getting Started Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Getting Started with Fix-It Utilities • 21

Getting Started with Fix-It Utilities

IntroductionWelcome to Fix-It Utilities® 8 Professional (Fix-It Utilities for short). You have purchased the best set of computer utilities for Windows on the market. Fix-It Utilities is a revolutionary program for protecting, maintaining, tweaking, and optimizing your Windows system. With Fix-It Utilities installed, you can do the following:• Protect, detect, and eliminate viruses and spyware• Clean and optimize your hard drive• Repair and optimize your registry files• Check the status of your hard drive and be warned if it is about to fail• Use the Fix-It Utilities bootable Rescue Disk• Keep track of your computer’s resources, and be warned when there

is a problem• Optimize your system performance for specific tasks• Manage the programs that start when your computer starts up• Recover deleted files• Diagnose your hardware• Gather information about your computer• Synchronize your computer clock with an ultra-accurate atomic clock...and more.

22 • Getting Started with Fix-It Utilities Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Why Maintain Your Computer?If everything always worked as it should, you would never need to worry about computer maintenance or about what to do if your computer crashes. Unfortunately, computers do crash. They also freeze up for no apparent reason, develop hard drive and software problems, and generally become difficult. Sometimes it seems like deadlines, critical projects, and noticeable stress on your part inspire a computer to develop problems.Fix-It Utilities is designed to detect and even eliminate many potential problems on a computer. It also tunes your computer for optimum performance, and keeps an eye on system resources for you. Furthermore, you can diagnose computer hardware, protect yourself against infection by damaging viruses and spyware, and tune the Windows registry.

System RequirementsTo install Fix-It Utilities, you need the following:• A Pentium processor or better• Windows 2000 SP4, XP SP2, or Vista (32-bit)• CD/DVD-drive (to install Fix-It Utilities or run Rescue CD)

• At least 105 megabytes of free space on your hard drive for Fix-It Utilities.Additional space is required for Deleted Files Bin and other utilities.

Installing Fix-It UtilitiesWhether or not your computer is working perfectly, you can install Fix-It Utilities to help repair, maintain, and optimize your computer.

NOTE: If you are having problems starting your computer, you can Rescue Disk to start your computer to help repair other problems. For more information, see “Recovery Commander” on page 233.

• Video adapter and monitor with 800x600 resolution or better.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Getting Started with Fix-It Utilities • 23

Running the Installation WizardBefore installing Fix-It Utilities, make sure that no other programs are running.

NOTE: If you downloaded the program, locate the file using Windows Explorer and then double-click the file to start the Installation Wizard.

1. Turn off any disk utilities or anti-virus program running in the background.

2. Insert the Fix-It Utilities CD into your CD/DVD-drive. The installation program should start automatically. If it doesn’t start automatically, see “To Start the Installation Manually” on page 23.

3. Follow the on-screen instructions to install Fix-It Utilities.

TIP: If you purchased and downloaded the program from our website, you will receive an email order confirmation and the product’s serial number. If you purchased the physical product, the serial number is located on the CD’s sleeve.

4. Select the Typical install to load all the tools, or choose Custom to choose which utilities to load.If you choose the Custom install, a list of key utilities appear in a tree format. Click the plus sign (+) next to each branch to see the specific tools associated with each group. Uncheck the box for any tool you don’t want installed.

5. After the Installation Wizard completes, you might need to restart your computer to finish the installation.

To Start the Installation ManuallyIf the Install program doesn’t start automatically, follow the steps below:1. Click the Windows Start button and choose Run.2. Click Browse to locate and select the setup.exe file on the

program CD.If you purchased your program electronically, browse to the location where you saved the EXE file.

3. Click Open.4. Click OK and follow the on-screen instructions.

24 • Getting Started with Fix-It Utilities Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Updating Your SoftwareImprovement and updates are regularly made to Fix-It Utilities. by adding features, making changes based on customer requests, fixing problems. and updating the virus and spyware information databases.We recommend running EasyUpdate™ as soon as you purchase and install Fix-It Utilities to ensure that you have the latest updates and patches (see “Updating Your Software Using EasyUpdate” on page 36).

Installing Other Bonus ProductsFix-It Utilities includes additional bonus products that can also be selected for installation. User’s guides for these bonus products are provided in PDF format.To view these PDF files, you need a PDF reader program. If you don't have a reader installed, a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader is included on the installation CD, or you can download a free copy at www.adobe.com.

http://www.adobe.com

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Starting the Program • 25

Starting the Program

OverviewThe installation adds Fix-It Utilities to your Windows Start menu and places an icon in the taskbar.To start Fix-It Utilities, open the Windows Start menu and choose Programs > Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional or right-click the icon in the taskbar and choose Fix-It Utilities from the context menu.

Viewing the QuickStatus ScreenEach time you start Fix-It Utilities, or click the Home button, the QuickStatus screen appears showing the status of your computer and of important tools. To start a tool, click its link.

From the main Fix-It Utilities window, you can click any of the menu buttons on the left side to access groups of related tools.

26 • Starting the Program Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

System ProtectionThe System Protection section contains a status meter indicating the current level of protection of your computer. To the right of the status meter is a list of protection utilities with a status icon and additional information for each one (see “Understanding Status Icons” on page 27).To change the status of a utility, click the utility name.

One-Click ProtectThe One-Click Protect button starts the QuickStatus One-Click Protect Wizard, which scans your computer for any traces of virus or spyware infection, cleans your computer of these files, and enables anti-virus email and file scanning.• If you don’t want to run all of the utilities included in the wizard,

cancel the wizard and then select the items individually by clicking the item’s name on the QuickStatus screen located to the right of the System Protection status meter. For more information, see “Viewing the QuickStatus Screen” on page 25.

• If you make changes to the System Protection Items section on the QuickStatus settings, the One-Click Protection wizard won’t run of enable those items not selected for display (see “QuickStatus Tab” on page 31).

System HealthThe System Health section contain a status meter indicating the current level of health of your computer. To the right of the status meter, is a list of health utilities with a status icon and additional information for each one (see “Understanding Status Icons” on page 27).To change the status of a utility, click the utility name.


One-Click OptimizeThe One-Click Optimize button starts the QuickStatus One-Click Optimize wizard, which speeds up your computer by cleaning the registry, checking the hard drive integrity, defragmenting the hard disk, and enables automatic updates for the program.• If you don’t want to run all of the utilities included in the wizard,

cancel the wizard and then select the items individually by clicking the item’s name on the QuickStatus screen located to the right of the System Health status meter. For more information, see “Viewing the QuickStatus Screen” on page 25.

• If you make changes to the System Health Items section on the QuickStatus settings, the One-Click Optimize wizard won’t run of enable those items not selected for display (see “QuickStatus Tab” on page 31).

Event StatusThe Event Status section displays a list of processed events and their results. This is a dynamic list, which changes as additional items are scanned, blocked, and cleaned from your computer.

Understanding Status IconsThe Status icons for System Health and System Protection are used as a quick visual reference to the current health and protection of your computer. As you run or change the status of various utilities, these icons change in relation to the levels set in the Quick Status Settings window (see “Changing the Fix-It Utilities Program Settings” on page 31).

This symbol means that the process has been run or doesn’t need attention at this time.

This symbol means that attention is required because a process hasn’t been run for a while, or might have reached a limit.

This symbol means that the process has never been run, or a maximum limit has been reached.

This symbol means that the process is disabled.


The Fix-It Utilities Home WindowThe Fix-It Utilities Home window appears each time you start Fix-It Utilities, or when you click the Home button. The Home window contains the QuickStatus screen (see “Viewing the QuickStatus Screen” on page 25), as well as the main parts to the window:• The Menu Bar• The Category Buttons• The Tool Buttons

The Menu BarFrom the menu bar you can perform several actions:

• The Home button returns you to the QuickStatus main screen.• The Settings button displays the properties for all customizable

features of Fix-It Utilities.• The Help menu allows you to view the Online Help, open program

manuals, update your program, or view the “About” dialog.• The EasyUpdate button starts the EasyUpdate tool to update your

version of Fix-It Utilities, as well as your anti-virus and anti-spyware database files.

The Category ButtonsSince Fix-It Utilities contains a large number of utilities, these tools are all grouped into related categories. Click a category button to see the utilities for that category. When you move the cursor over a button, it sort of pops a little, and a description about the button appears above the category buttons. When you click a category, it becomes “selected,” and the arrow indicator moves to that button.


The Tool ButtonsWhen you click a category button on the left, the associated list of Tool buttons appear in the main window on the right.

Click the tool you want to run, or select a different category of tools.


The First Time You Start Fix-It UtilitiesThe best way to protect yourself from a potential disaster is to prepare for it. Below is list of some things you should do as soon as you install and start Fix-It Utilities, so if your computer develops problems, you’re as prepared as possible:• Run EasyUpdate to update your Fix-It Utilities software, spyware

database, and virus information database. New virus information, spyware database, and program patches are often available even if you have just bought Fix-It Utilities (see “Updating Your Software Using EasyUpdate” on page 36).

• Create a Rescue CD to help you repair your computer if it doesn’t start property. If you downloaded your software, create a Rescue CD as soon as you install Fix-It Utilities. The installation CD that comes in the boxed version of Fix-It Utilities is a Rescue CD (see “Making a Rescue CD” on page 225).

• Set up AutoFileScan to monitor accessed files and programs, checking for viruses as you access those files. To make sure it’s running whenever Windows is running, follow the instructions in “Running AutoFileScan” on page 69.

• Set up DiskSnapshot so that it starts when you turn on your computer or restart Windows (see “Changing the Fix-It Utilities Program Settings” on page 31).

• Set up a regular system maintenance schedule to schedule running many of the Fix-It Utilities tools automatically using the SystemScheduler (see “Scheduling Maintenance” on page 149).

• Back up important data regularly to ensure that you have a backup of your important files in the event of data loss. We can’t stress how important it is to back up your data, particularly files you’re currently working on. This means at least once a week. Back up new data daily, so that even in the worst situation you never lose more than a day’s worth of work. “Backing up” means copying data to another medium such as a DVD-R, CD-R, USB flash drive, USB hard disk, or a separate network drive. It also implies that you store backup media somewhere safe. Don’t leave it sitting in the drive.


Changing the Fix-It Utilities Program SettingsSettings define how a tool runs. Most Fix-It Utilities properties are initially set to standard or default settings. By changing the settings, you can customize Fix-It Utilities for your own needs. When you click the Settings button, the general program settings appear.

Wizards TabThe Wizards tab is used to make changes in how the Fix Wizards operate. For information, see “Changing the Fix Wizard Tools” on page 51.

QuickStatus TabThe QuickStatus tab allows you choose what information appears on the QuickStatus screen and how it appears. Select an item to display by checking the box next to the item.

NOTE: If you disable items on this page, the One-Click Protect Wizard won’t run or enable those items (see “System Protection” on page 26).

The Thresholds allow you to set the Yellow (needs attention) and Red (urgent) levels for each item. To set all the values to the default program values, click the Show Default Thresholds option.


Global Settings Tab• Background and Startup Tasks: These options determine whether

their associated programs are started every time you start Windows.• DiskSnapshot takes a “picture” of critical start files and stores

them in another area of your disk drive. The FileUndeleter uses the DiskSnapshot data.

• IntelliCluster data collection (Pre-XP Systems Only) tracks the programs you run most often, as well as the files those programs load. That information is given to JETDefrag, which uses it to optimize your disk drive and place the files you use most often in the “fast access” zones of your hard drive. Check this box to turn it on, uncheck it to turn it off. IntelliCluster isn't available in Windows XP, since Windows XP includes built-in program-launch optimization.

NOTE: Follow the instruction in “IntelliCluster for Pre-XP Systems Only” on page 180. Whenever you install new software that you plan to use a lot, you should clear out the IntelliCluster data (see “Changing JETDefrag Settings” on page 184) and go through this process.

• Tray Icon: These options dictate whether the Fix-It Utilities icon shows up in your system tray (usually located on the bottom right of your screen). Depending on your operating system, you might have to restart your computer for changes to these settings to take effect. Fix-It Utilities has its own icon, which by default is shown only when you are running one of the Fix-It Utilities programs in the background. These include the Deleted Files Bin, the VirusScanner AutoFileScan, IntelliCluster, and Scheduler. You can also start Fix-It Utilities by double-clicking the tray icon.• Always show tray icon: When enabled, the tray icon appears

whether you’re running Fix-It Utilities programs or not.• Only show tray icon when a task is running: If you check this

box, the icon appears only if a Fix-It Utilities program is running.


System Health Monitoring The System Health Monitoring section of the Global Settings allows you to set how often the Periodic Health Report appears and the status of your hard drive.• Periodic Health Report Message: These options allow you to set the

display frequency of the report. The Show Now button next to the choices allows you to view the current health and protection status of your computer.

• Critical Condition Warming: These options allow you to choose what information appears in the message. The Show Now button next to the choices allows you to view the current status of your hard drive. To disable this message, uncheck all of the options.

For more information about these messages, see “Learning About System Reports” on page 33.

EasyUpdate TabThe EasyUpdate tab is used to change how Fix-It Utilities handles updates when they become available. For more information, see “Changing the EasyUpdate Settings” on page 37.

Learning About System ReportsThe System Reports appear in the lower-right corner of your desktop. These reports give you a quick overview on the condition of your computer and hard drives. Links within the reports also allows you to run tools to improve the condition, as well as view details information and more options.


Viewing the System Health ReportThe System Health Report displays the current protection and health status of your computer. This report appears according to the frequency set in the Global Settings (see “Global Settings Tab” on page 32). You can manually view this report my clicking the Show Now button on the Global Settings tab or by left-clicking the Fix-It Utilities tray icon.

You can click any of the links to perform additional tasks.• One-Click Protect starts the QuickStatus One-Click Protect Wizard,

which scans your computer for any traces of virus or spyware infection, cleans your computer of these files, and enables anti-virus email and file scanning (see “System Protection” on page 26).

• One-Click Optimize starts the QuickStatus One-Click Optimize wizard, which speeds up your computer by cleaning the registry, checking the hard drive integrity, defragmenting the hard disk, and enables automatic updates for the program (see “System Health” on page 26).

• View Details opens the Fix-It Utilities Home window to view the QuickStatus information (see “Viewing the QuickStatus Screen” on page 25).

• Options opens the Global Settings tab allowing you to make changes to the System Health Monitoring options (see “Global Settings Tab” on page 32).


Viewing the System Critical Condition WarningThe System Critical Condition Warning displays the current condition of your hard drives. This report appears only if one of the two conditions is bad:• Hard Drive Condition is Poor • Available Disk Space is None or Very Low These options are set in the Global Settings (see “Global Settings Tab” on page 32). You can manually view this report my clicking the Show Now button on the Global Settings tab.

You can click any of the links to perform additional tasks.• Run Tests starts the SMARTDiskCheck tool (see “Running

SMARTDiskCheck” on page 110).• Free Disk Space starts the DiskCleaner tool (see “Recovering Disk

Space Using DiskCleaner” on page 187).• View Details opens the Fix-It Utilities Home window to view the

QuickStatus information (see “Viewing the QuickStatus Screen” on page 25).

• Options opens the Global Settings tab allowing you to make changes to the System Health Monitoring options (see “Global Settings Tab” on page 32).


Updating Your Software Using EasyUpdatePeriodically, improvement are made to Fix-It Utilities. by adding features, making changes based on customer requests, and fixing problems. We also frequently update the virus and spyware information databases. When these updates (also known as patches) become available, EasyUpdate allows you to download and install these updates and program patches in minutes.We recommend running EasyUpdate as soon as you purchase and install Fix-It Utilities to ensure that you have the latest updates and patches.If there are multiple components for updating, EasyUpdate provides you with a list of options, allowing you to update everything, or select only the options you want.

NOTE: It‘s important to run EasyUpdate on a regular basis to ensure you have the most recent virus and spyware definition files.

Running EasyUpdateBefore running EasyUpdate, make sure you’re connected to the Internet. If you access the Internet using a dial-up modem, you should already be dialed in, or your browser should be set up to automatically dial in.1. Start Fix-It Utilities.2. Click the EasyUpdate button from the tool bar, or click the Help

menu and choose EasyUpdate to open the EasyUpdate window.


3. Click Next to continue and connect to the Avanquest server.EasyUpdate connects to the Avanquest server and determines which updates you need. Check all the items you want to update. A list of available updates appears that includes virus updates, spyware updates, and program patches. Checked items are downloaded to your computer.

NOTE: If you have other Avanquest programs installed on your computer, updates to those programs also appear.

4. Continue following the instructions to download and then install the new data and software.

5. After the updates have completed, click Done to exit EasyUpdate. You might be asked to restart Windows.

The changes will appear the next time you start Fix-It Utilities. You might be required to restart Windows to apply some updates.

Changing the EasyUpdate SettingsThe EasyUpdate settings allow you to change how Fix-It Utilities handles updates when they become available.

To Access the EasyUpdate Settings1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Settings button to view the Settings window.3. Click the Easy Update tab, and then choose the option you want from

the list.• Automatic Updates: download updates and install them

automatically • Download updates automatically, but ask me before installing

them • Tell me when updates are available, but don’t download or

install them without my permission • Manual Updates: only checks for updates at my request

(when I run EasyUpdate) 4. Click OK to confirm the changes and return to the QuickStatus screen.


Checking for Updates AutomaticallyYou can set Fix-It Utilities to check for updates automatically when you’re connected to the Internet. If an update is available, Fix-It Utilities notifies you and asks if you want to run EasyUpdate.1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Settings button to view the Settings window. 3. Click the Easy Update tab.4. Check the Automatic Updates: download updates and install them

automatically option.The next time you connect to the Internet, EasyUpdate will automatically check for program updates and new virus definitions once per day.• Click Yes to get the update.• Click No if you want to wait a day.If several weeks go by without you making an Internet connection, the automatic update feature appears, advising you to connect and check for new updates.

NOTE: It‘s important to regularly update your virus definitions. Fix-It Utilities generally updates virus definitions on a weekly basis.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional A Quick Tour • 39

A Quick Tour

OverviewFix-It Utilities contains the following categories of tools.

• One-Click Solutions (see page 40)• Anti-Virus (see page 40)• Anti-Spyware (see page 41)• Diagnose (see page 42)• Fix & Maintain (see page 43)• Optimize (see page 44)• Cleanup (see page 44)• Recovery (see page 45)

40 • A Quick Tour Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

One-Click SolutionsThe five Fix Wizards clean up your computer, scan and defragment the hard disk(s), and perform other maintenance tasks that can speed up your computer and lengthen its life. Running these wizards regularly is a simple way to perform optimization and maintenance routines to keep your computer running as smoothly as possible. • Comprehensive cleans up, protects up, fixes up, and optimizes your

computer all at once. In addition, it looks at files for possible viruses and spyware. On average-speed systems with a large registry and badly defragmented drives, this operation can take several hours to complete. You can cancel this operation at any time.

• Protect checks your computer for viruses and spyware that can slow down or harm your computer.

• Optimize defragments your hard drive in one easy step and improves your computer’s performance.

• CleanUp gets rid of unnecessary files, registry entries, and frees up disk space to improve your computer’s stability.

• FixUp checks your hardware for problems, scans and repairs your hard drive and system registry, protects your data, and improves computer performance and stability.

ProtectionThe Protection group of tools help detect and clean-up both viruses and spyware that might have found their way onto your computer.

Anti-Virus

Anti-Virus contains all the tools you need to safeguards your computer from computer viruses. You can select different types of scans to perform or change the modes to continually monitor the incoming files, email, and programs being run. • QuickScan scans only the boot sector and memory (see “Running

QuickScan” on page 61)• DeepScan scans everything on your computer (see “Running

DeepScan” on page 62).• BasicScan scans your computer’s memory and programs for

common virus infections (see “Running BasicScan” on page 62).


• CustomScan scans individual files and folders (see “Running CustomScan” on page 63).

• FileScan scans only the selected file(s) (see “Running FileScan” on page 62).

• MediaScan scans removable media for viruses (see “Running MediaScan” on page 62).

• QuarantineManager is used to manage all quarantined files (see “Quarantining Viruses” on page 83).

• UpdateCheck displays a list of your currently installed components and allows you to check for new updates using EasyUpdate (see “Running UpdateCheck” on page 63).

Anti-Spyware

Spyware is the newest threat to your computer. Many of these programs get into your computer without you even knowing. These threats have been placed into a group of potential internet threats known as “Gray Area” threats: Spyware, Adware, Dialers, Joke Programs, Hacker Tools, Remote Access Tools, Password Cracking Programs, and Others. • SpywareQuickScan scans the system registry for traces of spyware

(see “Scanning Your System Registry for Spyware” on page 90).• SpywareDeepScan scans everything on your computer for a

maximum security sweep (see “Scanning Your Computer for Spyware” on page 90).

• QuarantineManager is used to manage all quarantined files (see “Quarantining Spyware” on page 93).

• UpdateCheck displays a list of your currently installed components and allows you to check for new updates using EasyUpdate (see “Checking for Updates” on page 91).

MaintenanceThe Maintenance group of categories contains tools to help you diagnose problems, fix them, optimize the performance of your computer, and other tools to help you recover from an unfortunate computer accident.


Diagnose

The Diagnose tools help you find problems and potential problems with your computer. Even if your computer seems to be running smoothly, it’s a good idea to run these diagnostic tools occasionally. • PCDiagnostics™ pinpoints errors in your hardware (see

“Diagnosing Your Computer” on page 97).• ErrorTracker captures Windows error messages and logs them to a

separate file. When something goes wrong with your computer, Windows delivers an often-cryptic message. If you try troubleshooting a persistent problem with a technical support representative, it’s important to know exactly what that message says. You can use the log to get that much closer to a solution (see “Keeping Track of Error Messages” on page 103).

• System Explorer™ examines your computer and displays your computer’s hardware and software information (see “Viewing System Information” on page 105).

• MediaVerifier verifies that every file on the media is readable. This handy utility is for diskette disks, zip disks, and CDs. This tool is very useful if you are sending a critical disk out for someone else to use (see “Validating Removable Media” on page 107).

• SMARTDiskCheck gives you notice if your disk is about to fail, allowing you to preserve your data before it fails (see “Monitoring Your Hard Drive” on page 109).

• SystemMonitors constantly monitors your computer’s resources. This special, stand-alone program warns you when monitored resources reach critical levels. This program can be configured to automatically start when you start your computer (see “Monitoring Your Computer” on page 111).

• SystemLog keeps track of many Fix-It Utilities results, whether the utilities are run manually, via SystemScheduler, or from the One-Click Solution wizards (see “Viewing Program Log Files” on page 125).


Fix & Maintain

The Fix & Maintain tools are used to diagnose and fix registry errors and disk problems, as well as updating your version of Windows and your computer clock. • RegistryFixer™ fixes system registry errors (see “Repairing the

Registry” on page 129).• RegistryEditor opens RegistryMagic™, an enhanced registry editor,

so that you can make changes to the registry directly (see “Editing the Registry” on page 137).

• DiskFixer repairs disks, both hard disks and removable disks. It also checks that your file allocation table is correct (see “Maintaining Your Hard Drive” on page 143).

• SystemScheduler schedules Fix-It Utilities tools to run once at a particular time, or on a regular basis. It runs in the background, checking periodically to see if it’s time to run a tool (see “Scheduling Maintenance” on page 149).

• WindowsUpdate launches Internet Explorer® and goes to the Microsoft Windows Update website to search for the latest updates for your computer’s operating system (see “Updating Your Operating System” on page 153).

• ClockSync connects with an atomic clock on the Internet to keep your computer’s time ultra-accurate (see “Synchronizing Your Clock” on page 155).


Optimize

The Optimize tools allow you to set which programs open when you start Windows, and for defragmenting your hard drives and registry. • SystemOptimizer allows you to optimize your computer’s

performance by selecting a performance profile and choosing from additional performance options.

• StartupCommander launches the Fix-It Utilities Startup Commander allowing you to fine-tune the programs that automatically open when you start Windows (see “Using Startup Commander” on page 165).

• JETDefrag™ defragments and optimizes your hard drives. It uses the proprietary IntelliCluster technology, which tracks program use and determines how to arrange the files on your drive most efficiently according to the way you use your computer (see “Defragmenting Your Hard Disk” on page 179).

• RegistryDefrag defragments your System Registry, making registry access faster and more efficient (see “Defragmenting the Registry” on page 177).

Cleanup

The Cleanup tools are used to recover lost disk space by deleting temporary files, removing extra non-essential files commonly installed with Windows operating systems, and permanently deleted files you no longer want.• DiskCleaner creates more disk space by removing unused or

temporary files, such as *.tmp files or *.bak files (see “Cleaning Your Hard Drive” on page 187).

• RegistryCleaner removes unnecessary file references and options from your registry, such as the Documents Find list, or unwanted world time zones (see “Cleaning the System Registry” on page 197).

• Shredder removes files and folders from your computer by “shredding” them (see “Shredding Files and Folders” on page 201).


Recovery

The Recovery tools can help you retrieve lost or deleted data and reverse changes you’ve made to your computer. • FileUndeleter: FileUndeleter recovers files you have deleted, if they

are still on your disk (see “Recovering Lost Data” on page 207).• CreateCheckpoint allows you to create a checkpoint for computer

recovery (see “Restoring a Checkpoint” on page 221).• RestoreCheckpoint allows you to restore a previously created

checkpoint (see “Creating a Checkpoint” on page 215).• ManageCheckpoints allows you to view and delete checkpoints (see

“Managing Checkpoints” on page 223).• RescueDisk creates a Rescue CD for users that downloaded their

software. This Rescue CD helps you start your computer and restore your hard drive if the worst should happen. The installation CD also acts as your Rescue CD (see “Making a Rescue CD” on page 225).

• DiskSnapshot takes a snapshot of computer data, such as the File Allocation Table and boot sector. This snapshot is used for computer recovery and file recovery (see “Backing Up Critical Information” on page 227).

• EmergencyManual opens the Emergency Response Manual to help solve starting problems (see “Emergency Manual” on page 261). You must have Adobe Acrobat installed to view the manual. You can install Adobe Acrobat from the program CD or download it online at www.adobe.com.

• UndoIt allows you to “undo” or reverse changes made to your computer by Fix-It Utilities (see “Undoing Changes” on page 231).

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SystemMonitorsSystemMonitors sensors continuously track and display your system resources, including disk space, RAM usage, virtual memory, page faulting, network resources, etc., while your computer is running. Although the SystemMonitors utility is first displayed with some default resources, it can be fully customized. The SystemMonitors utility displays the current resource levels, and can warn you if resources reach or exceed critical levels.

You can configure the SystemMonitors utility so that it automatically starts when you start your computer, or you can run it manually.


Keyboard ShortcutsBelow is a list of commonly used shortcuts to functions.

General Function Keyboard ShortcutDisplay Help Information F1

Open the Print dialog CTRL-P

Copy selection to clipboard CTRL-INSERT or CTRL-CPaste copied item(s) SHIFT-INSERT or CTRL-VClose the active window ALT-F4

Open the Program Menu ALT-SPACEBAR

Activate an item when it has focus ENTER or SPACEBAR

Menu Function Keyboard ShortcutHome ALT-H

Settings ALT-T

Help F1 or ALT-EUpdate ALT-U

Exit ALT-F4

Category Function Keyboard ShortcutOne-Click Solutions ALT-S

Anti-Virus ALT-V

Anti-Spyware ALT-A

Optimize ALT-O

Diagnose ALT-D

Home Window ALT-H

Fix & Maintain ALT-I

Recovery ALT-R

Cleanup ALT-C

Back Button ALT-LEFT ARROW

Next Button ALT-RIGHT ARROW


Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional One-Click Solutions Wizards • 49

One-Click Solutions Wizards

OverviewIf computers are a mystery to you, and you’d like to have Fix-It Utilities maintain and fix your computer without worrying about the details, the One-Click Solutions Wizards are for you. These wizards can perform a complete check-up, cleaning, and optimization all in one step. You can keep your computer clean and functional by running the One-Click Solutions wizards regularly. Running the wizards once a week is usually adequate for frequent users. The Comprehensive Wizard does everything the other wizards do.The CleanUp Wizard

• Backs up critical files (including the registry)• Cleans up unused and unnecessary files• Cleans the system registryThe FixUp Wizard

• Backs up critical files (including the registry)• Examines your hardware for problems• Checks the status of your hard drive and warns you if it is about to fail• Scans for errors on the hard drive• Fixes broken registry entriesThe Protect Wizard checks your computer for viruses and spyware that can slow down or harm your computer.The Optimize Wizard speeds up your computer by defragmenting the hard disk so that programs run faster.After you have configured the One-Click Solutions wizards to run the way you want them to, you might never need or want to do anything else.

50 • One-Click Solutions Wizards Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Running the One-Click Solutions WizardsAll of the One-Click Wizards run in a similar way. Follow the steps below for running one of the wizards.1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the One-Click Solutions category button. 3. Choose the wizard you want to run by clicking the appropriate tool

button on the right side of the One-Click Solutions window to open an information window with information about the wizard.If you want to skip the display of the information window, you can check the Skip One-Click introductions in the future box. You can also set this option in the Wizard Settings (see “Changing the Fix Wizard Tools” on page 51).

4. Click Next to start the wizard.Then, sit back and wait for the wizard to do its job.At any time during the process you can click the Stop button to halt the wizard.When the Wizard is finished, a final report appears showing any errors found, and how they were fixed.If you elected to scan for viruses in the All-in-One Wizard and the scanner locates a virus, it suspends further activities until you respond as to how to handle the virus.

NOTE: To allow JETDefrag to do its best job, you need to disable all third-party anti-virus software programs before running this tool. Running other anti-virus programs, while using JETDefrag, can result in slow running or locking of the file, preventing JETDefrag from optimizing the drive properly.


Changing the Fix Wizard ToolsThe One-Click Solutions Wizards are designed to need little or no adjusting. Run each one to complete the task. Inevitably, though, there might be something in the way a wizard performs that you want to change. In that case, click the Settings button from the Fix-It Utilities home window to make changes in how the wizards operate.

One Click-Solutions Wizard SettingsChoose the One-Click Solutions category button from the list on the left to display the settings organized in a tree format. Some of these options have a plus sign (+) next to them which means that there is setup information you can modify for those options. Click the plus sign to expand the options list.Often, expanded options also have plus signs (+). Click the plus signs to expand the list of options under the categories:

If you check an item with a plus sign (+), then all of the items contained within that item are also automatically checked. This way you can check and uncheck items in groups.

NOTE: Any settings changed in this dialog will affect all the wizards, including the Comprehensive Wizard.

Using Wizard Settings for the First TimeThe first time you open the settings, some of the boxes are already checked. These are the default options.


Changing SpeedUp Wizard SettingsThe SpeedUp Wizard defragments your hard drive(s). You can choose what drive(s) are defragmented. By default, all hard drives and partitions are selected. Removable media rarely need defragmenting.

Choose the fixed drive(s) that you want to defragment.

1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the One-Click Solutions category button.3. Click the Settings button to view the Settings window.4. Click the plus sign (+) next to Defragment Drives.5. Check the box to add a drive, or uncheck a drive/partition to have the

SpeedUp (and Comprehensive) Wizard skip defragmenting that partition.

For more information on how JETDefrag works to speed up your computer, see “Defragmenting Your Hard Disk” on page 179.

Changing the CleanUp Wizard SettingsThe CleanUp Wizard backs up your critical files and runs a version of DiskCleaner and RegistryCleaner.1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the One-Click Solutions category button.3. Click the Settings button to see the settings dialog.4. Uncheck the Remove unnecessary registry items box to turn off

the RegistryCleaner in the wizards.5. Click the plus sign (+) next to Remove unused files to expand the

lsit.


6. Click the plus sign (+) next to Drives to Check to change the drives and partitions DiskCleaner scans. Check the appropriate box to add a drive, or uncheck a drive/partition to have the CleanUp (and Comprehensive) Wizard skip scanning that partition.

7. Click the plus sign (+) next to File categories to clean up to change the categories DiskCleaner deletes from your computer.• Files in temp folders• Files in web cache folders • Files with BAK extensions• Files with GID extensions of zero length• Temporary files• Broken shortcut files • Empty the Recycle Bin

The CleanUp Wizard version of RegistryCleaner uses the standard settings only. None of the Advanced Options (which could damage your computer if run unattended) are included in this wizard.The CleanUp Wizard version of DiskCleaner cleans only “safe” files from your computer. If you would like to have more categories, or you would like to create your own categories, run DiskCleaner manually from Cleanup, see “Cleaning Your Hard Drive” on page 187

Choose the categories for DiskCleaner to search.

NOTE: DiskCleaner only allows the delete option. You can’t move or archive when you run DiskCleaner from the CleanUp Wizard.


Changing the FixUp Wizard SettingsThe FixUp Wizard runs RegistryFixer, the SMARTDiskCheck hard drive warning system, and DiskFixer.The FixUp Wizard version of RegistryFixer repairs only “safe” items; if you want to view and fix items that are flagged as “caution,” run RegistryFixer manually from the Fix & Maintain tools (see “Repairing the Registry” on page 129).1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the One-Click Solutions category button.3. Click the Settings button to see the settings dialog.

• To have the FixUp and Comprehensive wizards skip the SMARTDiskCheck hard drive test, uncheck the Check SMART status of hard drives box.

• To turn off RegistryFixer in the wizards, uncheck the Fix broken registry links box. To change the registry areas that the wizard scans, click the + sign next to this item and uncheck the boxes noting the section you don’t want to scan.

• To have the FixUp and Comprehensive Wizards scan your fixed hard drive(s), expand the Disk Fixer item and then check the desired Scan for errors on drive box.

Changing the Comprehensive Wizard SettingsThe Comprehensive Wizard combines the SpeedUp, CleanUp, and FixUp wizards as well as versions of the On-Demand VirusScanner and Avanquest’s Anti-Spyware.1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the One-Click Solutions category button.3. Click the Settings button to see the settings dialog.To modify any of the wizard settings, click the plus sign (+) next to the tool you want to change to expand the list. Then, check or uncheck the appropriate boxes to make the changes you want.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Getting Help • 55

Getting Help

OverviewHelp for Fix-It Utilities is installed with the program. The Fix-It Utilities Help offers many features to help you in find the information you need. The program also includes an Emergency Response Manual to help you diagnose problems you might have with your computer and provides specific instructions to get you up and running again.If you want to help us improve this product by giving us your comments and suggestions, open the Help menu and choose Send Comments & Suggestions to open the Fix-It Utilities Feedback webpage

Viewing and Printing the Online User’s GuideTo view or print the online user’s guide, open the Help menu and select Product Manual.If there wasn’t enough room on your computer to install the user’s guide, you can open the Fix-It Utilities.pdf file on the program CD.After the user’s guide opens in Acrobat Reader, you can view it on-screen, print the entire document, or print just the pages you need. For complete information about using Acrobat Reader, see the Acrobat Reader online help or contact Adobe technical support.

To Print the Online User’s GuideOpen the Acrobat Reader File menu and choose Print to open the Print dialog.The name of the selected printer appears at the top of the Print dialog. If this isn’t the printer you want to use, click the Setup button in the dialog and then choose another printer.Choose the pages you want to print from the Print Range area and then click OK to begin printing the user’s guide.

56 • Getting Help Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Using Online HelpThe Online Help opens when you click the Help button in the Tool Bar and select Help Topics from the menu. Topic-specific help is also available whenever you see a Help button.

• To view a help topic, click a topic in the Contents tab on the left side of the help window.

• To view an alphabetical index, click the Index tab.• To search for a topic, click the Search tab and type the text you want

to find.• To browse through the topics, click the Browse buttons located to the right

of the tabs. • To navigate to recently viewed topics, click the Navigation buttons

located in the upper-left corner above the tabs..

Emergency Response ManualFix-It Utilities works best as preventative maintenance. You’ll find that running the Fix-It Utilities tools regularly can keep you out of most trouble that computer users find themselves getting into.Not everyone has the luxury of buying software to fix something that might not even happen. Sometimes your computer goes down, and you panic and look for something that will get you out of trouble. The good news is that Fix-It Utilities can, in many cases, get you out of your temporary jam—and then help keep you out of trouble for years.The Fix-It Utilities help and user’s guide contain an Emergency Response section that can walk you through getting your computer up and running again. For more information, see “Emergency Manual” on page 261.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Anti-Virus • 57

ANTI-VIRUS

Fighting Viruses 59

Running VirusScanner 61

Automatic File Scanning 69

Viewing the VirusScanner Results 73

Changing VirusScanner Settings 77

Quarantining Viruses 83

58 • Anti-Virus Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Fighting Viruses • 59

Fighting Viruses

OverviewViruses are the bane of the computer world. People with few scruples and far too much free time write programs that are designed to hurt you. Viruses can destroy or corrupt files, wipe off hard drives, slow your computer down, and do other really obnoxious and destructive things. Most viruses won’t even tell you they are on your computer. They arrive hidden on CDs or in legitimate files, such as word processing or spreadsheet files, waiting to infect your computer and propagate themselves. After your computer is infected, the best way to remove a virus is with a good anti-virus program.VirusScanner™ has “signatures” (definitions) for all viruses we know in the world, and we frequently add to these signatures every time you download a new virus pattern file via EasyUpdate. Since new viruses are discovered all the time (some estimates say that there are 200 new viruses every month), you should run EasyUpdate regularly to get the latest virus pattern file, so that VirusScanner has the most up-to-date anti-virus information possible (see “Updating Your Software Using EasyUpdate” on page 36).VirusScanner can perform the following functions to detect and exterminate viruses, depending on how you have the options configured:• Scans compressed files and self-extracting executables before the

files inside are extracted.• Automatically removes a virus.• Allows you to configure the VirusScanner software so it runs the way

you want it to.

60 • Fighting Viruses Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

How Does VirusScanner Work?VirusScanner has several modes:• On Demand allows you to run VirusScanner at any time to check the

files on a disk. You can run VirusScanner on demand using any of the following methods:• The Anti-Virus Wizards run the type of scan you want, without

spending time trying to fiddle with or customize the scanner (see “Running VirusScanner On Demand” on page 64).

• Scheduled runs VirusScanner regularly, so that you don’t have to worry about remembering to do it yourself (see “Scheduling VirusScanner” on page 68).

• Comprehensive Wizard runs VirusScanner for you (see “One-Click Solutions Wizards” on page 49).

• AutoFileScan can be setup to open every time you start your computer. This is a guardian of your computer, checking files automatically as they are accessed, and warning you if it detects a virus (see “Automatic File Scanning” on page 69).

• AutoEmailScan works with nearly all POP3 email programs to find infected email attachments. It also works with Outlook and Outlook Express on Exchange servers (see “Running AutoEmailScan” on page 72).

• Context Menu lets you choose the VirusScanner from the context menu (the right-click menu) while in Windows Explorer or in PowerDesk®. This is similar to the On Demand scanner, but only scans selected files, folders, and subfolders (see “Running VirusScanner on Single Files and Folders” on page 67).

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Running VirusScanner • 61

Running VirusScanner

OverviewYou can run the VirusScanner using the Wizards, or by manually scanning files and folders using the VirusScanner option from the context menu.

Starting the VirusScanner WizardsThe Anti-Virus wizard buttons allow you to perform any type of virus scan on files that you want. If viruses are found, the scanners notify you immediately, and you can choose what to do with the infected file(s).There are six different tools used for scanning for viruses. The option you choose depends on your needs.• FileScan, MediaScan, and CustomScan allow you to choose what

and where to scan.• QuickScan, BasicScan, and DeepScan run automatically when you

choose them from the main display of tools.

NOTE: It is important that you exit any web browsers you might have open before scanning for viruses.

Running QuickScanQuickScan first scans the boot sector and memory of your computer. It then scans program and macro files in the critical areas of your hard drive.Click QuickScan to start the scan immediately.When the scan is complete, click Next to view the final report (see “Viewing the VirusScanner Results” on page 73).

62 • Running VirusScanner Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Running BasicScanBasicScan first checks memory and boot sector for viruses, and then scans all fixed drives for macro and program viruses. It doesn’t scan data files or scan into archives (compressed files).To start the scan immediately, click the BasicScan button.When the scan is complete, click Next to view the final report (see “Viewing the VirusScanner Results” on page 73).

Running FileScanFileScan first checks memory and boot sector for viruses, and then allows you to choose certain folders to scan. This is useful if you know you have a clean disk and have just copied some questionable files to it. FileScan will scan any executable file for viruses, and scan documents for macro viruses.1. Click the FileScan button to browse to the folder where the files are.2. Click Next to continue.3. Click the FileScan button to start the scan immediately.4. When the scan is complete, click Next to view the final report (see

“Viewing the VirusScanner Results” on page 73).

Running MediaScanThe MediaScan first checks memory and boot sector for viruses, and then scans selected removable media for known viruses. It checks all files, including data files and files inside archives.1. Click the MediaScan button to display the list of removable media

drives on your computer. 2. Check the boxes next to the drive(s) you want to scan.3. Click Next to scan the selected drives.4. When the scan is complete, click Next to view the final report (see

“Viewing the VirusScanner Results” on page 73).

Running DeepScanDeepScan first scans the boot sector and memory of your computer. It then checks all files on all fixed hard drives. This is a lengthy, but very thorough process.Click DeepScan to start the scan immediately.When the scan is complete, click Next to view the final report (see “Viewing the VirusScanner Results” on page 73).


Running CustomScanCustom scan allows you to choose what files and types of viruses to scan for. It always checks memory first, and then scans according to the selected options.1. Click the CustomScan button.2. Choose which disk(s) to scan by checking the appropriate box.3. Click Next to start the scan.4. When the scan is complete, click Next to view the final report (see

“Viewing the VirusScanner Results” on page 73).To customize the scan, click the Settings button. (see “Custom Scan Settings” on page 81).

Learning About the Anti-Virus QuarantineManagerThe Anti-Virus QuarantineManager is used to manage the files that have been stored in a quarantine folder. Your options allow you to leave them, restore them to their original locations, permanently delete them, or attempt to clean any viruses from the infected files. Files can be added from any location on your computer to the quarantine folder (see “Quarantining Viruses” on page 83).

Running UpdateCheckUpdating the virus definition files ensures that you have the most up-to-date protection from the ever-increasing and mutating strains of viruses. Updated files not only search for the most recent types of viruses, but also contain information on cleaning infected files. By keeping these files updated, you might also be able to remove a previously infected file from quarantine after it has been cleaned.Click the UpdateCheck tool button to open a dialog displaying your currently installed files, version, and date. Then, click the Check For New Updates button to check for updates (see “Running EasyUpdate” on page 36).


Running VirusScanner On DemandRun this option when you want to perform a one-time check of all files and folders on your hard drive or any disk for viruses.Click the Home button to view the Home window. Then, click the Anti-Virus category button and choose the appropriate Wizard:• QuickScan • BasicScan • FileScan• MediaScan• DeepScan• CustomScanEach Wizard guides you through the scanning process. From the CustomScan Wizard, you can also update your virus definitions, make an AVRescue Disk set, and click links to the Virus Encyclopedia and the VCOM Anti-Virus Center on the Web.

One-Time ScanningTo run VirusScanner once, click the Anti-Virus category button from the Home window and choose a wizard button. You might be required to choose the folder(s), file(s), or drive(s) depending on the type of scan.

To Run VirusScanner Once1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Anti-Virus category button.3. Click one of the Wizard buttons, depending on your needs.4. You might need to choose the folder(s) or file(s) to scan, depending

on the wizard.• When you click the FileScan button, you must browse to any

location you choose. You can scan any executable file for viruses or scan documents for macro viruses.

• When you click the DeepScan button, a list of the drives the scanner will check appears. You can choose the drive(s) to be scanned by checking the boxes next to the drive name.


• For MediaScan and CustomScan, choose the drive(s) to be scanned.

Checked box indicates which drive is selected.

If you want to change CustomScan’s settings, click the Settings button and then click CustomScan.

5. Click Next to continue.

NOTE: DeepScan is an extremely thorough virus scan, but there are some files that even DeepScan can’t check. These include email databases like Microsoft Outlook mailbox (.pst) files. If you suspect that an email attachment is infected with a virus, it’s best to save the file to your hard drive first, and then scan it with the On-demand or Context Menu scanner (and/or activate AutoEmailScan).

VirusScanner then scans the selected drive(s) for viruses. If it finds a virus, it notifies you about the virus and offers to fix the virus if it can.

6. Click Done when it is finished to return to the Home window.You might want to change the scan options to specify different file types to be scanned. To do this, click the Settings button to display the VirusScanner Settings dialog (see “Changing VirusScanner Settings” on page 77).

NOTE: VirusScanner can’t remove an infected file from inside a compressed archive (with a .zip or similar extension). You can only delete the entire archive using this dialog. You can get additional information on cleaning the virus manually by choosing the Manual Clean Information option.


The VirusScanner AlertWhen a virus has been detected on your computer, a dialog appears. DO NOT PANIC. A virus is merely a program, and VirusScanner offers the latest technology for finding and removing viruses with minimal fuss.Although Fix-It Utilities makes a recommendation as to what to do about the virus in the Recommended Action, you still have several choices.• Delete file containing virus deletes the file completely, effectively

removing the virus from your computer. This option is only available if the virus is infecting a file that isn’t a critical system file. Boot sector files, for example, won’t have this option.

• Quarantine file containing virus allows you to move the file to a quarantine location. This allows you to keep important files in the hope that future updates to your VirusScanner are able to clean and return this file to its original location.

• Remove virus from file cleans the virus from the file without actually deleting the file. This option is only available if it’s possible for VirusScanner to clean the file.

• Leave file alone won’t do anything with the file or the virus. Choosing this option can allow a virus to infect your computer.


VirusScanner Real-Time AlertThis dialog indicates that a virus has been found by the Real-Time VirusScanner. DO NOT PANIC. You should follow the instructions on the dialog, and click the Clean Now button to perform an on-demand scan on the disk where the virus was found.To be safe, you should perform an On Demand Virus Scan (see “Running VirusScanner On Demand” on page 64) of your entire computer. Checking all file types ensures that the virus hasn’t propagated.



Running VirusScanner on Single Files and FoldersWhen this option in enabled, you can right-click on a file or folder and scan it for viruses. This is also referred to this as the Context Menu VirusScanner.

To Start VirusScanner from the Context Menu1. Using either the Windows Explorer or PowerDesk, choose the file(s)

or folder(s) on which you want to run VirusScanner.2. Right-click one of the selected items to view the context menu.3. Choose Fix-It > VirusScanner from the context menu.

VirusScanner from the Windows Context menu

Depending on its settings, VirusScanner will scan immediately for viruses.• If you selected a folder, it scans all files in the folder.• If you selected a single or multiple files, it scans the selected files.


When the scan is finished, the Fix-It Utilities VirusScanner Results dialog appears, showing you the results of your scan. Besides showing the results of the scan, this dialog allows you to change the settings for the next context-menu scan (see “Viewing the VirusScanner Results” on page 73).For more information see, “Context Menu Settings” on page 82.• The Start scan immediately checkbox defines whether to begin

scanning as soon as you click the VirusScanner item, or to wait until you click a Start button.

• The Scan into subfolders checkbox defines whether to scan sub-folders (and their sub-folders and so on) if you have elected to scan a folder.

Scheduling VirusScannerWith the SystemScheduler, you can schedule automatic virus scans of your drive(s) For more information on how to do this, see “Opening the SystemScheduler” on page 150.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Automatic File Scanning • 69

Automatic File Scanning

OverviewRather than waiting for a virus to infect your computer, it’s a good idea to have AutoFileScan always running, so that it checks every file you access. If it detects a virus in a file you are attempting to open, it warns you, and then offers to fix the file and get rid of the virus if it can.

Running AutoFileScanAutoFileScan “real-time” mode means that VirusScanner runs in the background, checking files as they are accessed.

NOTE: If you already have another anti-virus program running in the background, you should uninstall that real-time component before installing AutoFileScan. Having two anti-virus programs running in the background at the same time is more likely to lead to computer crashes and won’t enhance security against viruses. (There is no harm in running the on-demand portion of another anti-virus program while normally using AutoFileScan—though you should disable VirusScanner while you do that.)

AutoFileScan also scans the boot sector and memory for viruses as your computer boots up. It displays a warning message if it finds a virus. If you have a network or computer login, the warning appears before you log in. You can start AutoFileScan manually, but after it is set up, it will start every time you start your computer. You can temporarily disable AutoFileScan from the Fix-It Utilities tray icon. You can uninstall AutoFileScan from the VirusScanner Settings.

70 • Automatic File Scanning Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Starting AutoFileScan1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Anti-Virus category button.3. Click the Settings button to view the Settings window.4. Click the AutoFileScan button.The AutoFileScan settings allow you to install and activate the real-time scanner. For detailed information, see “Changing VirusScanner Settings” on page 77.

Checking if AutoFileScan is RunningThe Avanquest Fix-It Utilities icon in the system tray appears if any of the Avanquest Fix-It Utilities tools are running in the background (this might be SystemScheduler, VirusScanner, etc.). To check if AutoFileScan is running, right-click the tray icon to display the context menu. If the VirusScanner item is checked, then AutoFileScan is running:

AutoFileScan is running

Because AutoFileScan can interfere with a new program installation, it is a good idea to turn off (disable) AutoFileScan temporarily before installing new software.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Automatic File Scanning • 71

Disabling AutoFileScanIf you want to temporarily turn off the automatic scanning of files, you can disable this option following the steps listed below.

To Disable Automatic Scanning1. Right-click the system tray icon. 2. Choose VirusScanner from the menu.

3. Check the Disable AutoFileScan box and then click OK.To reactivate AutoFileScan, repeat the steps listed above, but check the Enable option. Restarting your computer also automatically reactivates the scanner.

72 • Automatic File Scanning Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Removing AutoFileScanIf you want to remove the automatic scanning feature, you can uninstall this feature.

To Uninstall AutoFileScan1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Anti-Virus category button.3. Click the Settings button to view the AutoFileScan settings.

4. Check the Uninstall checkbox to remove AutoFileScan completely. To reinstall it, you can return to this Settings dialog.

You can reinstall this feature by repeating the steps listed above, but selecting the Install option.

Running AutoEmailScanBecause so many viruses get around by way of infecting email attachments, it is a very good idea to have AutoEmailScan check your email for infection as it is downloading. You can set up and run AutoEmailScan via the VirusScanner settings. For detailed information, see “Changing VirusScanner Settings” on page 77.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Viewing the VirusScanner Results • 73

Viewing the VirusScanner Results

OverviewThe VirusScanner Results dialog displays the results of your virus scan. If there had been any viruses, you would see each virus by name, and the action taken to remove it.

Click Done when finished. You can also Print the results or Save them to a separate file.

74 • Viewing the VirusScanner Results Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Types of VirusesBelow is a list of terms used to describe various types of viruses and how they behave inside your computer.

Common, widespread virusThis virus is well-known in the anti-virus community. It has also propagated far and wide, infecting a large number of computers.

Destructive virusThis type of virus schedules the destruction of data for a specific date or event. When activated, these viruses destroy data in files on floppy or hard drives.

Encrypted/Polymorphic virusThis is often a mutation of another virus. It has been either encrypted so it isn’t as recognizable, or it can change shape “on the fly,” making it harder to recognize.

Infects COM programsThis type of virus is carried in on .com programs, and when the .com program runs it infects other .com programs.

Infects DOS boot sectorThis type of virus infects the DOS boot sectors of both floppy disks and hard drives. If you want to be completely sure that the virus has been removed, you should boot from a clean System Rescue Disk, and then run VirusScanner from the Rescue Disk menu.

Infects EXE programsThis virus type comes buried in legitimate programs (with the .exe extension). The program works as expected, but as soon as it’s started the virus can start as well.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Viewing the VirusScanner Results • 75

MacrosThis type of virus typically infects and damages files created by MS Word and MS Excel using the program’s own macro programming language. They can be transmitted within Word or Excel files that contain macros, and they propagate when the file is edited and the macro runs. Macro viruses infect at different points during a file’s use, for example, when it is opened, saved, closed, or deleted.

Memory resident virusA virus that is memory resident is much more virulent than other viruses, as it has access to your whole computer after it is running in memory. Although many anti-virus programs claim they can remove this virus, the safest way to remove it is to restart your computer from a clean System Rescue Disk. Then, run VirusScanner from the Rescue Disk menu.

Non-cleanable virusThis type of virus can’t be removed from the infected file without destroying or corrupting the file. Your only choice is to remove the file completely from your disk.

Removable virusThis type of virus can be removed from the infected file, keeping the file intact.

Stealth virusA stealth virus tries to disguise itself. It avoids any of the common “signatures,” instead trying to look as much like a normal file or normal code as possible.

Trojan Horse virusThis is a program that pretends to perform a certain function, but instead causes severe damage when started. The name of the program is generally deceptive. You might think you are downloading an update to some shareware or some other program you already have on your computer, when you are really installing a virulent virus.

76 • Viewing the VirusScanner Results Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Infects hard disk Master Boot RecordThe Master Boot Record is the first physical section on the hard disk, and is started when the computer starts up. Master boot sector viruses infect the computer when it is started from a disk containing the virus. The Master Boot Sector is a common hiding place for viruses.

Infects MacrosThis type of virus typically infects and damages files created by MS Word and MS Excel. They can be transmitted within Word or Excel files that contain macros, and they propagate when the file is edited and the macro runs.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Changing VirusScanner Settings • 77

Changing VirusScanner Settings

OverviewYou edit the settings for the on-demand scanner, the real-time scanner, and the context menu scanner differently.1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Anti-Virus category button.3. Click the Settings button.4. Choose the scanner to adjust settings by clicking on the associated

button.

NOTE: If you already have another anti-virus program running in the background, you should uninstall that real-time component before installing AutoFileScan. Having two anti-virus programs running in the background at the same time is more likely to lead to computer crashes and doesn’t enhance security against viruses.

78 • Changing VirusScanner Settings Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

AutoFileScan SettingsThe AutoFileScan virus scanner isn’t automatically installed when you install Fix-It Utilities, but you can choose to install AutoFileScan during the installation of Fix-It Utilities. When you first display the settings, the following dialog appears:

Status• Active appears when the AutoFileScan is currently installed and

active.• Disabled appears when the AutoFileScan is currently installed, but

not currently active.• Not Installed appears when the AutoFileScan isn’t installed.

Options• Uninstall removes the AutoFileScan scanner and asks you to restart

your computer. To uninstall the AutoFileScan scanner, check the Uninstall box.

• Install installs the AutoFileScan scanner. To install and start the AutoFileScan scanner, check the Install box. It then installs AutoFileScan, and asks you to restart your computer.

• Disable turns off the AutoFileScan feature. To disable the AutoFileScan scanner, check the Disable box and click OK.

• Activate turns on the AutoFileScan feature. To Activate the scanner, check the Activate box and click OK.

The Scan for spyware during AV scan option includes the anti-spyware scan as part of the anti-virus scan.


AutoEmailScan SettingsThe AutoEmailScan virus scanner isn’t automatically installed when you install Fix-It Utilities, but you can choose to install AutoEmailScan during the installation of Fix-It Utilities.

Status• Active appears when the AutoEmailScan is currently installed and

active.• Disabled appears when the AutoEmailScan is currently installed, but

not currently active.• Not Installed appears when the AutoEmailScan isn’t installed.

Options• Uninstall is used to remove the AutoFileScan scanner and asks you to

restart your computer. To uninstall the AutoFileScan scanner, check the Uninstall box. It then removes AutoFileScan,

• Install is used to install the AutoFileScan scanner. To install and start the AutoFileScan scanner, check the Install box. It then installs AutoFileScan, and asks you to restart your computer.



AdvancedThe Advanced button in the AutoEmailScan settings, offers you several settings for dealing with email scanning and what to do with an infected file.

POP3 EMail Scanner settings• Monitor POP3 communications enables monitoring of POP3 email

accounts.• Monitor POP3 communications to the follow server ports:

Add allows you to add a server port to the list.Delete allows you to remove the selected server port from the list.Reset resets the values back to the default settings.

Microsoft Exchange Scanner settings• Monitor Exchange communications with Outlook 98 or later

allows you to set the AutoEmailScan to scan files transferred through Outlook 98 or later versions.

General Settings• When a virus is found has a drop-down list with options for you to

choose what to do with infected files.• Ask me what to do• Always remove potential threat from item• Always delete item containing potential threat• Always quarantine item containing potential threat


Custom Scan SettingsThe Custom Scan settings allow you to fine tune the virus scanner to your needs.

Custom Scan Control• Prompt when a virus is found VirusScanner displays a warning and

asks you what to do with any viruses located, if checked. If not checked, it automatically removes the virus. The results, including any viruses found and removed, appear in the results window.

Custom Scan Settings• Scan Drives allows you to choose the file types you want to scan.

Nearly all viruses infect executable files, macros (scripts that automate tasks in Word, Excel, and other programs), and the boot sector. If you want to scan all files on the disk, check the All Files box (this option takes the most time), or leave it blank and check the other categories to selectively scan.



Context Menu SettingsThe context menu is used to set options for scanning files and folders in Explorer, PowerDesk, and other places.

Explorer Context Menu Settings• Show in Context Menu displays the VirusScanner option in the

context menu if checked.• Start scan immediately starts the scan as soon as you choose

VirusScanner from the context menu, when this option is checked.• Scan into subfolders includes scanning subfolders of any selected

folders, if checked. If not checked, the scan checks the files in selected folders, but nothing in subfolders.


Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Quarantining Viruses • 83

Quarantining Viruses

OverviewAfter a file is in the quarantine folder it can no longer cause harm to your computer. However, files don’t have to stay in this folder. The QuarantineManager has several features that allow you to decide what to do with files that have been sent to the quarantine folder, either automatically or by you.

84 • Quarantining Viruses Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Restoring Files to Your ComputerFiles placed in the quarantine folder don’t have to stay there permanently. After a file has been cleaned, or you need the file restored, the Restore feature returns the file back to the original location on your computer

CAUTION: Restoring an infected file could re-infect your computer.

To Restore Your Files1. Click the Home button to view the Home window2. Click the Anti-Virus category button.3. Click the QuarantineManager tool button to open the

QuarantineManager dialog displaying all quarantined files and buttons with options for dealing with the files.

4. Choose the file(s) to restore by checking the box next to the file name.It you want to choose all files, click the Select All button.

5. Click the Restore buttonThe file is then returned back to the original location on your computer.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Quarantining Viruses • 85

Cleaning FilesFiles located in the quarantine folder are either infected, or suspected of being infected. You can attempt to recover these files by using the Clean option. This option essentially strips the virus from the files allowing you to Restore the file to the original location.

To Clean Quarantined Files1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Anti-Virus category button.3. Click the QuarantineManager tool button to open the


4. Choose the file(s) to restore by checking the box to the left of the file name.You can also use the Select All button to choose all the files in the folder.

5. Click the Clean button.The cleaned file can then be restored using the Restore option. If a file isn’t able to be cleaned, you can either leave it in the quarantine folder and check if future updates to the program allow you to clean it or Delete the file if it is safe to do so.

86 • Quarantining Viruses Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Deleting FilesBefore deleting files, it is always a good idea to try to clean the files first, especially when dealing with system files or those containing other important data.

CAUTION: Using the Delete option permanently removes the file from your computer.

To Delete Quarantined Files1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Anti-Virus category button.3. Click the QuarantineManager tool button to open the


4. Choose the file(s) to delete by checking the box to the left of the file name.You can also click the Select All button to choose all the files in the folder.

5. Click the Delete button to permanently remove the selected files from your computer.

Adding FilesThe Add feature allows you to add files to the quarantine folder. These might be files you suspect of being infected, or a file you restored and want to put back in the quarantine folder.

To Add Files to the Quarantine Folder1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Anti-Virus category button.3. Click the QuarantineManager too button to open the


4. Click the Add button to display the Select One or More Files to Quarantine dialog.

5. Browse to the desired folder and choose the file(s) to add.6. Click the Open button to add the file to the quarantine folder.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Anti-Spyware • 87

ANTI-SPYWARE

Stopping Spies and Ads 89

Quarantining Spyware 93

88 • Anti-Spyware Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Stopping Spies and Ads • 89

Stopping Spies and Ads

OverviewSpyware is another threat to your computer. Many of these programs get installed on your computer without your knowledge. Not only can these programs significantly slow down the performance of even the fastest computer, they can threaten your security. These potential internet threats have been placed into a group known as “Gray Area” threats: Spyware, Adware, Dialers, Joke Programs, Hacker Tools, Remote Access Tools, Password Cracking Programs, and Others.Not all spyware is installed without your knowledge. There are many “free” share-ware programs today that include Adware associated with their installation. Some of these programs give you the option of installing “bonus software,” while others like some P2P file-sharing programs, don’t operate without these Adware files. You can, however, take precautions when installing programs that contain spyware. You can choose not to install them, or have the ability to prevent programs with associated Adware to start at Windows startup.The Fix-It Utilities Anti-Spyware utility contains the following tools to help your protect you computer from these threats:• SpywareQuickScan (see“Scanning Your System Registry for

Spyware” on page 90)• SpywareDeepScan (see “Scanning Your Computer for Spyware” on

page 90)• QuarantineManager (see “Managing Quarantined Items” on page

90)• UpdateCheck (see “Checking for Updates” on page 91)

90 • Stopping Spies and Ads Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Running Anti-Spyware ToolsThe Anti-Spyware tools can help eliminate internet threats. Automatic scanning can catch these threats before they can do damage.

NOTE: It is important that you exit any web browsers you might have open before scanning for spyware.

Scanning Your System Registry for SpywareThe SpywareQuickScan tool quickly scans only suspicious system registry entries for traces of spyware and other unwanted software.

To Quickly Scan Your Computer1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Anti-Spyware category button.3. Click the SpywareQuickScan tool button.4. Click Next to start the scan immediately.When the scan completes, the result dialog appears indicating what was found and the actions taken.

Scanning Your Computer for SpywareThe SpywareDeepScan tool scans everything on your computer for a maximum security sweep of spyware traces and other unwanted software. This extensive search can take longer than the SpywareQuickScan (see “Scanning Your System Registry for Spyware” on page 90).

To Perform a Deep Scan1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Anti-Spyware category button.3. Click the SpywareDeepScan tool button.4. Click Next to start the scan immediately.The results dialog appears when the scan completes indicating what was found and the actions taken.

Managing Quarantined ItemsThe QuarantineManager tool is used to manage the spyware and other unwanted software items that have been stored in a quarantine backup. Your options allow you to leave them, restore them to their original locations, or permanently delete them. For more information, see “Quarantining Spyware” on page 93.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Stopping Spies and Ads • 91

Checking for UpdatesThe UpdateCheck tool allows you to quickly view the version numbers of the currently installed Anti-Virus pattern file, Anti-Virus engine, Damage Cleanup Engine (DCE), Malware pattern file, and Spyware pattern files. To check for updates, click the UpdateCheck button, and then click the Check for New Updates button (see “Updating Your Software Using EasyUpdate” on page 36).

Viewing the Spyware Scan ResultsIf a scan finds something that it considers to be a potential threat on your computer, a window appears showing the suspect files. You can choose what to do with the files in this list.

• To remove an item, check the box next to the item and click the Apply button to delete it.

• To ignore an item, leave the box unchecked next to the item to ignore. Cancel ignores all items. Apply ignores only those unchecked items.

• To back up cleaned items, check the Backup items when they are cleaned option to place all checked items into the quarantine folder.If you selected to back up spyware when cleaned from the computer, the names of those spyware groups will appear in the QuarantineManager, allowing you to view a list of quarantined spyware groups. For more information, see “Quarantining Spyware” on page 93.

92 • Stopping Spies and Ads Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Results DialogAfter a course of action has been taken, the results dialog displays what was found, the action taken, and the results of those actions.

You can chose to Print or Save the results. Clicking the Done button closes the dialog.

NOTE: If there are any items that where unable to be removed, they might be in use or otherwise locked. We recommend you restart your computer and try unlocking these items. After restarting, you should run SpywareDeepScan to remove any remaining items.

Changing Anti-Spyware SettingsThe Anti-Spyware settings has a listbox with the names of spyware programs that have been selected to exclude from the scan. All items are checked by default. You can uncheck any of the items and click OK if you want to remove them from the exclusion list. To add checked items to the exclude list, click the Exclude Selected button.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Quarantining Spyware • 93

Quarantining Spyware

OverviewAfter spyware and other unwanted software items have been placed in the quarantine backup they can no longer cause harm to your computer. You can restore items of your choice, or you can delete all of the backed up items to the Windows Recycle Bin.

Removing Items from QuarantineSpyware and other unwanted software items can be restored from the QuarantineManager. The Restore option returns selected items back to their original locations on your computer

94 • Quarantining Spyware Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

To Restore Quarantined Items.

CAUTION: Restoring quarantined files can make your computer vulnerable to spyware threats.

1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Anti-Spyware category button.3. Click the QuarantineManager tool button to open the

QuarantineManager dialog displaying all quarantined spyware and other unwanted software items, and buttons with options for dealing with the items.

4. Choose the item(s) to restore by checking the box to the left of the name. You can also use the Select All button to choose all the items in the backup.

5. Click the Restore button.The spyware or other unwanted software items are then returned back to their original locations on your computer.

Deleting Spyware ItemsUnlike files infected with a virus, spyware items aren’t files that can be cleaned. Generally, the only way to get rid of these threats permanently is to delete them.

NOTE: You can’t delete selected spyware items from the backup. You can only delete all of the backed up spyware at once to the Windows Recycle Bin.

1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Anti-Spyware category button.3. Click the QuarantineManager tool button to open the

QuarantineManager dialog displaying all quarantined spyware and other unwanted software items, and buttons with options for dealing with the items.

4. Click the Select All button to choose all the items in the backup.5. Click the Delete All button.All of the backed-up spyware items are then deleted to the Windows Recycle Bin.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Diagnose • 95

DIAGNOSE

Diagnosing Your Computer 97

Keeping Track of Error Messages 103

Viewing System Information 105

Validating Removable Media 107

Monitoring Your Hard Drive 109

Monitoring Your Computer 111

Viewing Program Log Files 125

96 • Diagnose Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Diagnosing Your Computer • 97

Diagnosing Your Computer

OverviewIt’s easier to get “under the hood” of your computer than your automobile these days. Windows constantly monitors the condition of your computer —what is running, how much of an impact any particular program or process is having on your computer as a whole, what exactly is happening when something goes wrong, etc. What Windows doesn’t do is give you easy access to the information it collects. The Diagnose tools help you learn more about your computer and let you deal with problems before they become catastrophes.Like any machine, your computer can develop problems. The System Diagnostics tools help you find the problem as quickly as possible.• To check your installed hardware for problems, see “Diagnosing

Hardware with PCDiagnostics” on page 98.• To look through your computer and return a complete list of computer

statistics, see “Viewing System Information” on page 105.• For warnings if your hard drive is about to fail, see “Monitoring Your

Hard Drive” on page 109.• To keep track of all the tasks performed and messages Fix-It Utilities

generates, see “Viewing Program Log Files” on page 125.• To capture all Windows error messages and place them in a separate

file to help you troubleshoot computer and program problems, see “Keeping Track of Error Messages” on page 103.

• To read every directory and file on a disk to make sure that all the data on the disk is accessible, see “Validating Removable Media” on page 107.

• To keep watch of your system resources and receive notices on problems or potential problems, see “Monitoring Your Computer” on page 111.

98 • Diagnosing Your Computer Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Diagnosing Hardware with PCDiagnosticsPCDiagnostics tells you how (and whether) your computer’s hardware is working. If you run the diagnostics regularly, you begin to see when your computer performs well versus when it doesn’t, and you can also track changes in performance over time. If PCDiagnostics locates a hardware problem, it offers one or more possible causes.PCDiagnostics checks and reports on any or all of the following:• Computer memory (RAM)• Hard drive(s)• Diskette and other removable media drive(s)• CD and DVD drives• Serial, parallel, and USB ports (including your printer’s LPT port)• Video (display)• Keyboard• Mouse• Modem• Network card• Sound card• Multimedia capabilities• Computer (mother) board and central processing unit (CPU)You can set up your own “test groups.” A test group is a recorded combination of hardware diagnostics, which you create, name, and can run any time. Fix-It Utilities comes with some default test groups, and you can also create your own.You can specify exactly which hardware shows up in the PCDiagnostics window. For more information see “Changing PCDiagnostics Settings” on page 102.

Running PCDiagnosticsFrom the Fix-It Utilities home window, click the Diagnose category button, and then click PCDiagnostics. The program quickly scans your computer.At the PCDiagnostics window, you can select or create a test group and select diagnostics individually.


Selecting Test GroupsTest groups are PCDiagnostics test configurations that have been saved and named. Fix-It Utilities comes with some default test groups, and you can also create your own test groups.To create a new test group, check the tests you want to run, and then click the Save As button. After you give the new test group a unique name, you have a new test group.You can also click the Remove button to remove a test group, and you can click the Save button to make changes to an existing test group.

• Select/create a test group: You can either select an existing test group or you can create a new test group with the diagnostics you want to run. Click Save to save the new changes to the old test group, or click Save As to create a new test group.

Choose a test group from the drop-down list.

You can make changes to the test group and Save them, or click the Save As button to create a new test group.

• Select your own diagnostics individually. You can select the diagnostics to run, and then run them without using a test group.

Check only the options you want to run this time.


Viewing the PCDiagnostics DialogAfter the program goes through its setup routine and displays the different components of your computer that the PCDiagnostics can evaluate, you can select the hardware you want to diagnose.

A gray checked box indicates that this is a category that contains sub-categories, some of which are checked.

A white blank box is a non-selected test. If there is a plus sign (+) next to it, it is a category with no checked sub-items.

A white checked box is a selected test. If there is a plus sign (+) next to it, it is a category within which all sub-items are checked.

To uncheck all component tests, uncheck the Diagnostics box at the top of the list.For specific information on each test, click that component to see a test description.You can use Test Groups to save and run test configurations.

Selecting the Test DepthThe test depth is the level of thoroughness of the group of tests.

1. Select the Test Depth:

• Shallow tests perform a quick, cursory check of each device. • Average tests are more complete and thorough tests. • Deep tests are extremely thorough and take much more time.

2. After you have selected the tests and depth, click Next to have PCDiagnostics run.

3. When it is finished, click Next to display the summary report.The summary report describes the test results. Successful results have a green heading; Tests that failed or had mixed results have a red heading.

NOTE: You can also run PCDiagnostics from the FixUp and Comprehensive Wizards. It will run non-loopback and non-interactive tests.


Viewing the PCDiagnostics ResultsThe PCDiagnostics Results dialog shows the details of the test results.• Green headers indicate successful tests• Red headers indicate failed testsYou can use the drop-down menu to show Passed tests.Just because a component of your computer didn’t pass a test doesn’t necessarily mean there is a serious problem. Be sure to evaluate the results (especially for interactive tests).Did you enter responses appropriately? Was the loopback connector attached correctly? Tests can sometimes have problems because the user interaction was incorrect or the test wasn’t set up properly.Clicking the Save button allows you to save the test results as an RTF (Rich Text Format) file. Microsoft Word, WordPad, and many other text editors can read RTF files. When you’ve finished looking at the results, click Done to return to the Diagnostics screen.

Diagnostics Needing Loopback ConnectorsSome diagnostics require a loopback connector to run. These include the sound card test and some of the COM port and printer tests. A loopback connector is a connector that you plug into the serial and/or parallel ports in the back of your computer. The wiring inside the loopback connector allows the diagnostic to send and receive signals, verifying that the port is working.The diagram below shows the required loopback connector wiring connections for doing loopback testing for COM and LPT loopback connectors, should you plan to use them.

SERIAL LOOPBACK CONNECTOR

Connector Types: DB25S & DB9S (Female)Interface Standard: CentronicsLoopback: Status to Commands

DB25S DB9S

GNDRXTX

RTSCTSDSR

Sig GndDCD

DTR

DCDRXTX

DTRGNDDSRRTSCTSRI

123456789

12345678

20

PARALLEL LOOPBACK CONNECTOR

Connector Type: DB25P (Male)Interface Standard: CentronicsLoopback: Status to Commands

DB25P

-AUTO FD-ERROR-INIT-SLCT INGNDGNDGNDGNDGNDGNDGNDGND

141516171819202122232425

12345678910111213

-STROBED0D1D2D3D4D5D6D7

-ACKBUSY

PESLCT

If you want to run a standard series of tests, but don’t have a loopback connector, select the Non-Loopback Tests Test Group instead of the Normal Tests.Loopback connectors can be found at a variety of electronic parts stores.


About the Video DiagnosticsThe video diagnostics might surprise you by the way they display patterns, colors and images on the screen. Several of the video diagnostics are interactive—they request you to respond each time one is complete. For example, the Red diagnostic test displays only red pixels on the screen, and then asks you to press one key if the test is successful, and another key if not. In this case, if the screen is entirely red, the test was successful.

About Interactive DiagnosticsYou can run most of the diagnostics tests without having to sit and wait for the results. However, several of the PCDiagnostics tests require some interaction by you. The CD-ROM test requires you to load a CD, and then eject and reload it; the diskette drive test is similar. The video test asks you to verify each of the display tests by pressing a key. If a test is interactive, the text describing it in the right pane of the window will tell you it is interactive. To skip all interactive tests, select the Non-Interactive Tests group from the Test Group menu.

Changing PCDiagnostics SettingsYou can define which diagnostic modules appear when you run PCDiagnostics. Click the Settings button from the Diagnose screen to display a list of the current modules.

Any checked items appear on the PCDiagnostics list of modules to evaluate; unchecked items don’t appear on the list. Any checked items that don’t exist on your computer don’t load the diagnostic module for the item. If you make any changes in this dialog, close PCDiagnostics (if it is running) and restart it for those changes to take effect.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Keeping Track of Error Messages • 103

Keeping Track of Error Messages

OverviewWhen you have a problem with a particular program, and ask a friend or call technical support to see what’s going on, the first question they ask is “What did the error message say?” You respond: “Well, there was something about an illegal operation. I clicked OK and it went away.”The Fix-It Utilities ErrorTracker gives you a record of error messages produced by Windows and other programs. ErrorTracker works in the background, watching for dialogs with certain words (warning, illegal, etc.). When it sees this type of message, it copies the contents of the message to a file (Errcap.log) stored in the Fix-It Utilities installation folder (C:\Program Files\Avanquest\Fix-It Utilities is the default). You can change the name and path for this folder in the ErrorTracker settings.ErrorTracker can help you find out how long you’ve had a particular problem, how often it happens, and (frequently) important clues toward solving the problem.

104 • Keeping Track of Error Messages Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Viewing the Error MessagesTo view the error messages ErrorTracker has logged, click Diagnose from the Fix-It Utilities home window, and then ErrorTracker.The top window shows what time the error occurred, the program that delivered the message, and what module in the program had the problem. The window under it shows detailed information, including the text in the message box. You can print each message or save it to a separate text file.When your log file gets large, you can clear the log by opening ErrorTracker and clicking Clear Log to remove all items from the log.

NOTE: ErrorTracker doesn’t record blue-screen errors. These blue-screen failures usually indicate an unstable computer. Writing to the log file might worsen the situation at that point. If you are getting blue-screen errors, write them down before shutting your computer down.

Changing the ErrorTracker SettingsThis dialog lets you turn ErrorTracker on and off, and change the name and location of the ErrorTracker log file. 1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Diagnose category button.3. Click the Settings button to view the Settings window.4. Click the ErrorTracker tab.5. Check the Enable ErrorTracker box to turn ErrorTracker on.If you want to change the name or location of the log file, type the new path and/or name in the appropriate box. Click the Browse button to locate the appropriate folder.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Viewing System Information • 105

Viewing System Information

OverviewSystem Explorer™ provides a tremendous amount of essential information about your computer at the time that you run it.

Besides the standard information that you can get from Device Manager and other Windows tools, System Explorer can display and give you a hard copy of the following:• Contents of basic configuration files, like Autoexec.bat, Config.sys,

System.ini, and Win.ini

• Detailed information on every window and icon on your Desktop• A list of all hardware and software drivers running on your computer• Data on all your physical hard drives and logical partitions• Information on your version of DirectX, which is very useful in

diagnosing problems with games and multimedia programs• A list of all running programs, with the amount of RAM each 32-bit

Windows program uses

106 • Viewing System Information Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Starting System Explorer1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Diagnose category button.3. Click the System Explorer button to open System Explorer.

To view information, click the plus sign (+) next to the category in the left pane.If necessary, continue to click the plus signs until you reach the category you want to view.

4. Click the device or category name to display the system information in the right pane.You can print this information or save it to a text file.• To print the text displayed in the right pane, click the Print

button.• To export the displayed description to either a text file or rich text

format (RTF) file, click the Save button. Microsoft Word, WordPad, and many other text editors can read RTF files.

• If you want more detailed information on the category, click the Create Report button (see “Making Reports with System Explorer” on page 106) to include all the data in the subcategories.

5. Click Done to return to the home window.

Making Reports with System ExplorerThe Create Report button expands descriptions you see on the right side of the window. If you click an item that has “child” items under it, and then click the Create Report button, information for that item and all of the items under it appears.For example, if you click Printers, you see information about the print queues. If you then click Create Report, you see detailed report information about each printer.You can’t use the Create Report option for the Desktop Windows category. This category is so large that the resulting text would be too unwieldy. You can create a report based on the System Information category (that is, everything System Explorer can describe). Be aware that printing this report would also result in hundreds of pages of data.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Validating Removable Media • 107

Validating Removable Media

OverviewIf you ever need to send out a disk or CD and want to be sure that the files you are sending are readable, MediaVerifier can help you. MediaVerifier is especially designed for removable media such as diskettes, CD-RWs, flash drives, and Zip disks.MediaVerifier reads every directory and file to make sure that all data on the disk is accessible. This is especially useful if you have a critical project and are sending a disk out for someone else to use. There are few things more frustrating than having the media prove to be unreadable when the recipient tries to retrieve the data.

108 • Validating Removable Media Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Running MediaVerifier1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Diagnose category button.3. Make sure that the disk to be verified is in the drive. 4. Click the MediaVerifier tool button.5. Check the box next to the drive to be examined and then click Next.

NOTE: Only removable media drives appear here.

MediaVerifier then reads every directory and file on the selected drive and ensures that it can be read into memory without any errors. You can track the progress of the operation with the progress bar at the bottom of the screen. You can stop the process at any time by clicking the Stop button. When it’s complete, a results report showing whether it succeeded or failed appears. You can print this report or save it to a text file by clicking the appropriate button.

6. Click the Back button to verify another disk, or click Done to return to the Diagnose window.If MediaVerifier can’t read a file or directory, it attempts to explain the cause of the problem in the Results dialog. However, you should recreate the data on another disk.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Monitoring Your Hard Drive • 109

Monitoring Your Hard Drive

OverviewWhile the vast majority of hard drives will preserve your data for as long as you own your computer, occasionally a drive will fail. Fix-It Utilities can help you identify if your drive is about to fail in time for you to preserve your data.Modern disk drives use Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (SMART), a standard procedure for checking on the physical health of the drive and report potential problems. The Fix-It Utilities Hard Disk Failure Warning System uses this technology to tell you if your drive is in trouble.

NOTE: Be aware of strange noises coming from your hard drive. If you hear a strange noise or grinding sound, turn off your computer immediately. Further operation might damage your hard drive beyond repair or cause irretrievable data loss.

If you have mission critical data on a drive with hardware damage we recommend using in-lab data recovery services rather than any software.

110 • Monitoring Your Hard Drive Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Running SMARTDiskCheck1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Diagnose category button.3. Click the SMARTDiskCheck tool button.4. Select the drive(s) you want to test. 5. Select the level of test you want to run.

• Return SMART Status checks with the drive(s) to see if any SMART limits are being exceeded.

• Short SMART Test briefly tests for problems.• Extended SMART Test is recommended if you have been seeing

serious problems running programs, opening data files, etc.6. Click Next to test your drive.

You’ll receive a report on the status of your drive. If the results are anything but OK, your drive is in serious trouble. You should back up your data immediately before the drive fails.

7. Click Done to return to the System Diagnostics menu.You can run the SMARTDiskCheck short test as part of the FixUp or Comprehensive wizards, or use the Scheduler to periodically check your computer.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Monitoring Your Computer • 111

Monitoring Your Computer

OverviewThe SystemMonitors constantly monitor your computer, keeping a watchful eye on your system resources and warning you if one of the monitored resources reaches or exceeds a specified limit.The SystemMonitors can be completely customized. You can decide how often you want the SystemMonitors utility to update the displayed information, what resources to display, what the “exceed” alarm levels are, and more. You can even choose the type of alarm that appears when resource levels are exceeded—an indicator diode light, or a more intrusive and noticeable pop-up message.

112 • Monitoring Your Computer Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Learning About the SystemMonitorsThe SystemMonitors run separately from the rest of Fix-It Utilities.

Label

Monitors

Main SystemMonitors Bar

Panels

Below is a list of the parts of the SystemMonitors and a brief description.• Label is part of the Main SystemMonitors bar, you can customize the

label. Click the label to roll the panels up or down.• Panel is a holder for the monitors. You can roll them up or down by

clicking on the label.• Monitors display current information about a resource. You can

display monitors as either metered date, or as a moving average, sometimes called a histogram.

• Main SystemMonitors Bar is the part of the monitor that shows when all of the panels are rolled up. The symbols on the right side of the SystemMonitor Bar are used to:• Change the display from horizontal to vertical and back again.• Minimize the SystemMonitors display.• Close the SystemMonitors.• Drag and Move the SystemMonitors.

With the panels rolled up, SystemMonitors is a slim bar that takes up a minimum of desktop space.

If you are really in need of desktop space, you can “dock” or “edge snap” the SystemMonitors to the edge of the screen. You can also put it on Auto-Hide, which makes it “slide off” the edge of the screen when you’re not looking at it, leaving only a slim line to show its location. It reappears when you move your cursor to the screen edge. For more information, see “Changing SystemMonitors Settings” on page 117.


Starting SystemMonitorsThe SystemMonitors can be started from the Fix-It Utilities window or automatically when you start your computer (see “Auto-Starting SystemMonitors” on page 118).

Starting the SystemMonitors Manually1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Diagnose category button. 3. Click the SystemMonitors button.4. Click the Launch SystemMonitors button.With the panels rolled up, SystemMonitors is a slim bar that takes up a minimum of Desktop space.You can “dock” or “edge snap” SystemMonitors to the edge of the screen, and you can also put it on Auto-Hide, which makes it “slide off” the edge of the screen when not being actively viewed. It reappears when you move your cursor to the screen edge.

NOTE: If you are running more than one program of this type, the programs might clash with each other, showing inaccurate information.

Reading the DisplayThe SystemMonitors feature information about available system resources in two formats:• Meter displays the current resource level. The display shows a visual

graph of the current resource level, as well as the exact number.

• Moving Average displays a history of the resource levels over some period of time. The extent of time shown in a Moving Average varies depending on the resources.


Rolling the Panels Up or DownTo roll up the panels, click the panel label. To roll down a panel, click the label again.

Switching Between Horizontal and Vertical DisplayYou can change SystemMonitors from a horizontal display to a vertical display.

To change the display, click the curved arrow in the SystemMonitors Main Bar. To change it back, click the curved arrow again.


Moving SystemMonitorsTo move SystemMonitors to another area of the screen, click anywhere on the SystemMonitors bar and drag it into place. Release the left mouse button when SystemMonitors is in the correct place.

Click and drag to move the System Monitors display.

Closing SystemMonitorsTo exit SystemMonitors, click the X.

Modifying the SystemMonitorsIf you want to change the way SystemMonitors looks, you can modify the appearance by moving monitors and panels, or by adding and removing monitors and panels.

Rearranging the MonitorsYou can change the order of the monitors within a panel or move monitors from one panel to another by clicking on each monitor and dragging it to the desired location.

Adding New PanelsYou can add new panels following the steps listed below.1. Right-click SystemMonitors.2. Select Add Panel from the context menu.3. Enter a label (Name of Panel) and click OK.The new panel with its label will show up as part of the main bar. After you have created the new panel, you can add monitors to it. (see “Adding Monitors” on page 116)

Changing a LabelThe panel labels can be changed by following the steps listed below.1. Right-click the panel label or a blank area of the panel.2. Select Rename Panel from the context menu.3. Enter the new label in the dialog, and click OK.


Removing PanelsIf you need to remove panels from the display, follow the steps listed below. Removing a panel also removes the monitors in the panel.Right-click the panel to be removed, and then click Remove Panel from the menu.If there are monitors in the panel, a dialog appears asking if you really want to remove the panel. Click Yes to confirm, and No if you changed your mind.The panel will then be removed from the display.

Adding MonitorsIf you want to add monitors to an existing panel, follow the steps list below.1. Right-click the panel label or a blank area of the panel.2. Select Add Monitor to Panel from the context menu.

To select multiple monitors, hold down the CTRL or SHIFT key as you select them.

3. Click OK.

After you have added a new monitor, you might want to view and modify its settings (see “Changing Individual Monitor Settings” on page 120).

NOTE: To get data for the Performance Data/Logical Disk and Performance Data/Physical Disk monitors, type: diskperf -y at the command prompt and restart your computer.

Removing MonitorsIf you want to remove a monitor from a panel, right-click the monitor that you want to remove, and then select Remove Monitor from the context menu. The monitor will disappear from the display.


Changing SystemMonitors SettingsSystemMonitors initially sets up a default group of devices and resources to monitor, depending on your system configuration. However, you can change these so that SystemMonitors tracks only the resources you want, and monitors the thresholds you specify. You can also change the labels on the main bar, add new panels, or remove panels.There are two levels of settings:• General SystemMonitors settings (see “Adjusting the General

Settings” on page 117)• Individual monitor settings (see “Changing Individual Monitor

Settings” on page 120)

Adjusting the General SettingsThe General SystemMonitors settings allows you to add, remove, and rename panels, as well as changing the display of the utility.

To Access the General SystemMonitors SettingsRight-click any part of the SystemMonitors, and then select SystemMonitors Settings from the context menu.

The settings dialog displays the panel names, as well as the properties that govern its behavior.


PanelsThe panel setting lists the current panel titles. To make a change to the number of panels, you can click the Add Panel or Remove Panel buttons. You can also rename panels by clicking on the Rename Panel button.

Options• EdgeSnap causes the SystemMonitors to “snap to” or dock at the

edge of the screen. This way, when you drag the monitors near the edge, they automatically move to the very edge of your screen. See also “Docking SystemMonitors with EdgeSnap” on page 119.

• Always on Top forces the SystemMonitors display to always appear in front of any other windows on the screen.

• Auto Hide causes the monitors to slide off the edge of the screen when the SystemMonitors are not being actively viewed and there are no warnings. You should have the EdgeSnap feature turned on to use Auto Hide, because the Monitors have to be positioned exactly at the edge of the screen for it to work.

• Load at Startup loads the SystemMonitors display every time your computer starts.

Visual Effects• Show Tab Text displays the name of the panel down the side of the

panel if there is enough room.• Show Grip Glow, if the SystemMonitor display has been shrunk

down, causes the left and right grips to glow green instead of grey.• Full Window Drag allows you to click and “drag” the

SystemMonitors display to another location on the screen.Make any changes you want, and then click OK to exit and save your changes.

Auto-Starting SystemMonitorsYou can change the SystemMonitors properties to start automatically at start-up. To do this, follow these steps:1. Right-click anywhere on the SystemMonitors display.2. Select SystemMonitors Settings from the context menu.3. Make sure the checkbox labeled Load at Startup is checked.4. Click OK to save your change.The SystemMonitors should now start up every time you start your computer.


Docking SystemMonitors with EdgeSnapYou might want SystemMonitors to “snap to” or dock at the top or side edge of the screen whenever you move it close to the edge.1. Right-click the SystemMonitors main bar.2. Select SystemMonitors Settings from the context menu to open the

COnfigure System Monitors dialog.3. Make sure that EdgeSnap box is checked.4. Click OK to save the change.Drag SystemMonitors close to an edge of the screen and release it. It should immediately snap to the edge.

NOTE: If Auto Hide is also checked, the monitors will slide off the edge of the screen after a short time of inactivity, leaving only a thin line to show where it is. If it doesn’t edge-snap, try moving SystemMonitors a little closer to the edge.

Auto-Hiding SystemMonitorsYou can set up SystemMonitors so that when it isn’t being actively viewed and there are no warnings, it slides off the edge of the screen. This feature works best if you also have the Docking (EdgeSnap) feature turned on, because the monitor has to be lined up perfectly with the edge of the display or it won’t auto-hide. With EdgeSnap turned on, you can move the Monitors close to the edge, and it will snap to the edge and then auto-hide.When it auto-hides, only a thin line at the edge appears to show its location. To view SystemMonitors, move the cursor to the edge and the SystemMonitors will reappear.


To Auto-Hide the SystemMonitorsIn the Configure SystemMonitors dialog, make sure that the Auto Hide box is checked.

TIP: For best results, make sure that the EdgeSnap box is also checked.

Click OK to save the change.Now, when you move SystemMonitors to the edge, it slides off, leaving a thin line showing its location.

Changing the Visual EffectsThese options affect how SystemMonitors appears:Show Tab Text displays the name of the panel down the side of the panel if there is enough room.Show Grip Glow, if the SystemMonitors display has been shrunk down, the left and right grips glow green instead of grey.Full Window Drag allows you to click and drag the SystemMonitors display to another location on the screen.

Changing Individual Monitor SettingsIndividual monitor settings can be made by placing the cursor over the desired monitor, clicking the right-mouse button, and selecting Monitor Settings from the menu.


To Change the Individual Monitor Settings1. Right-click the monitor you want to change.

2. Select Monitor Settings from the context menu.

The Monitor Settings dialog appears, where you can make the changes you need.

3. Make the changes you want and click OK to finish.The following sections explain how to modify settings for individual monitors.


Setting AlarmsSystem Monitor Alarms provide you with a warning system when computer resources reach a certain threshold. You can create one to three alarms for each monitor.You can choose the type of alarm you want to see when any given resource level has been exceeded—a red diode light on the System Monitor, or a more intrusive and noticeable pop-up message.1. Right-click the monitor and select Monitor Setting from the context

menu to open the Monitor Settings dialog.2. Click New Alarm.

To modify an existing alarm, click the alarm to select it. After you do that, the other fields in the dialog become active.

3. Select If Over or If Under from the Threshold drop-down list.4. Enter the threshold level in the box to the right.

The units are always the same as the monitor display. For example, if the monitor displays units as a percentage, then you can assume that the threshold is also a percentage.

5. Select the priority (Low, Medium, or High) from the drop-down list.6. Select the action to take:

• The Diode alert only action turns the diode display red. • The Pop up window warning action displays a message with the

warning information if the resource exceeds the specified level. • If you select Launch corrective measure, you’re asked for a

program name. This would be used if you have previously installed a program to run. For example, if the level of available disk space becomes low, you might want to run a DiskCleaner program that deletes unneeded files.

7. Click OK to save your changes.SystemMonitors will now display its warnings based on the new threshold information.


Keeping Track of Two Thresholds for One ResourceYou might want to keep track of two thresholds, or alarm levels, for one resource. For example, you might want to receive a medium-level warning when available disk space is at 20%, and a high-level warning when available disk space is at 10%.1. Create a new monitor for c:\% free.2. Right-click the new monitor and select Monitor Settings.3. Click New Alarm.4. Change the new alarm threshold information to if under and enter 20

for the amount.5. Set the alarm level to Medium.6. Set the Action as Diode alert only, and then click Apply.7. Click New Alarm again.8. Set up the new alarm with the next level of threshold information.

For example, change the threshold to say if under, and change the amount to 10.

9. Set the Priority to High Priority.10. Set the action as Pop up window warning.11. Click OK to save the new monitor information.


Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Viewing Program Log Files • 125

Viewing Program Log Files

OverviewThe SystemLog keeps track of many Fix-It Utilities results, whether the utilities are run manually, via the SystemScheduler, or from the FixUp Wizard.

Viewing the SystemLogAll of the utilities are automatically logged. There are individual log items for both the start of the utility and for the finish, whether or not it finished normally.

126 • Viewing Program Log Files Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

To View the SystemLog1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Diagnose category button.3. Click the SystemLog tool button.

At the Log window, you can review any of the logged items by selecting it. The description of that item appears in the bottom pane.You can clear all items from the log by clicking the Clear log button. The location of the Log file can be changed in the Settings.

4. When you have finished reviewing the log, click Done to return to the Fix-It Utilities home window.

Viewing the SystemLog SettingsYou can change the name and location of the Log file in the SystemLog Settings. Click the Settings button from either the Fix-It Utilities home window or the SystemLog screen to make this change.You can also specify that the warnings and errors be recorded in the NT Event Log.• Log File Name is the name and location of the log file. You can

change this or leave the default.• Echo messages, when checked, this option echoes the warning and

error messages in the Windows NT Event Log into the Fix-It Utilities Log.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Fix & Maintain • 127

FIX & MAINTAIN

Repairing the Registry 129

Editing the Registry 137

Maintaining Your Hard Drive 143

Scheduling Maintenance 149

Updating Your Operating System 153

Synchronizing Your Clock 155

128 • Fix & Maintain Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Repairing the Registry • 129

Repairing the Registry

OverviewRegistryFixer searches the registry for invalid links and can either repair or remove them.Changes made to the registry can be undone in Windows using UndoIt.

Running RegistryFixerThe first step of running RegistryFixer only scans the registry. It doesn’t actually modify the registry.1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Fix & Maintain category button.3. Click the RegistryFixer tool button.4. Select the sections of the registry that you would like RegistryFixer to

scan, and click Next to continue.By default, all sections are scanned. This is the best way to ensure that all registry problems are fixed.

130 • Repairing the Registry Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Learning About the System RegistryThe System Registry consists of several different sections and settings. Below are descriptions of the different parts of the system registry.

User Software SettingsThis section of the registry holds software settings for your computer. These entries often contain lists of programs last run and documents opened by each user, as well as the Sound section of the registry.

Machine Software SettingsThis section of the registry holds computer-specific settings for programs. This section contains all of the other registry sections, except the User Software Settings section and the Sound section. When searching this section, RegistryFixer looks only for entries not in any other sections.

ActiveX and COM SettingsThis section contains information about the programs that Windows uses to work with known file types and the components that extend the functionality of Windows. ActiveX and COM programs are generic programs called and used by other software. The Windows operating system comes with hundreds of these programs already installed in the registry. This is why this section often takes the longest to process. Programs you install might also add more ActiveX and COM programs.

Fonts SectionThis section of the registry stores a list of the fonts available for use in Windows. These entries usually point to files stored in the Windows/Fonts folder. The same font name might be installed by multiple programs, creating duplicate registry entries. Font entries might also become invalid if the font files are deleted or moved. RegistryFixer locates invalid entries.

Sound SectionThis is a sub-section of the User Software Settings section of the registry. This section associates Windows “events” with sound files. For example, you might hear a beep signaling an error. There are also sound “themes,” which set up a group of sounds attached to specific events. This is in the User Software Settings section because sounds can be customized for each user on a computer. If sound files are manually deleted or moved, their registry entries become invalid. RegistryFixer checks the registry for invalid sound schemes.


Run SectionThis registry section lists the programs to be run automatically at startup (and are not in the Windows Startup list). Often these programs are meant to be run early in the boot process rather than when Windows starts up.

Uninstall SectionThis section of the registry lists the programs that Windows knows how to uninstall. Any program you install on your computer is supposed to make an entry in this section that tells Windows how to uninstall it. Occasionally programs put invalid uninstall entries into the registry; or a manually-deleted uninstall program might leave an invalid uninstall entry behind.

Services and Device Drivers SectionThis section of the registry lists the services and device drivers for Windows. This might be the most critical part of your system registry. It tells the computer how to communicate with every device—the monitor, the mouse, the hard drive, floppy drives, etc. Without this section, your computer wouldn’t run.Invalid entries might occur during the replacing and exchanging of hardware. For example, if you replace your video card with a newer, better card, there might be two video card entries in the registry. Or if you remove a piece of hardware, such as a network card, there might be an invalid entry. RegistryFixer locates and resolves conflicts and invalid entries. All invalid entries located in this section are flagged with either the yellow or red icons. You should always verify these before deleting them.

Application PathsThis section of the registry lists the default paths to find programs if they have been moved. If a program looking for another program can’t find it in the current directory, it checks this section of the registry looking for an entry that will tell it the location. Uninstalled programs often leave these links behind. If RegistryFixer locates what it thinks is the same file, it tries to determine whether the located file is really the correct program. You then have a choice of re-linking to the located program(s), or deleting the link.


Shared FilesThis section of the registry lists files that are shared between several programs. Each file has a counter attached to it that indicates the number of programs using that file.RegistryFixer ensures that, for each shared file entry in the registry, the shared file exists and there is a valid counter for the file. If the file has been moved or deleted, breaking the link, RegistryFixer attempts to find it.

Help FilesThis section of the registry associates help files with their install directory. Usually help files are located in the same directory as their programs, but sometimes they are installed in a different location. The registry contains an entry pointing to the help file location, and Windows uses this to find help files that are not in the current directory.

Viewing the RegistryFixer Scan ResultsThe RegistryFixer Scan result displays all invalid registry entries located during the scan. By default, a list of each problem identified in a list format appears, showing you the problems identified regardless of the section of the registry where it was found. To see the list in a “tree” format, showing which section(s) of the registry had problems, click the Show as Tree button in the lower right corner. In the tree view, click a plus sign (+) to expand a category, and click again on the minus sign (-) sign to contract it. Fix-It Utilities automatically checks the boxes of all entries considered safe to remove.Select the entries you want to have repaired and click Apply when ready.

CAUTION: Any entries that are marked with a yellow or red icon are potentially harmful to remove. If you are not sure, don’t select these entries.

The Show Key button opens the Windows Registry Editor and displays that entry in the Registry for the selected entry.The Select All button checks only entries flagged green or yellow. It is potentially hazardous to select red-flagged entries. You should look at the description of each red-flagged entry and be certain it refers to a file that is no longer on your computer before tagging it for removal.


Applying the RegistryFixer RepairsEach individual registry entry has two important pieces of information:• A safe-to-fix icon indicates how safe it is to allow RegistryFixer to

remove the entry.• A brief description of the registry entry and a recommendation as to

what to do with it.

Notice the green, yellow, and red icons next to each item.• A green icon indicates that the registry entry is safe to remove.• A yellow or red icon denotes varying degrees of warning and danger,

and removing one of these entries could cause computer problems.If you want to view the list in tree-form, click the Show as Tree button.If you are not sure, don’t remove the entry. Green-marked entries are automatically selected for removal. If you click the Select All button, yellow-marked entries are added to the total. Red-marked entries must be selected individually. You can also protect certain keys by clicking the Protect Keys button (see “Protecting Registry Keys” on page 134).

CAUTION: It is safe to remove any items with a green icon, but you should be familiar with the registry before deleting yellow or red items. If there is any uncertainty, it is safer to leave the item in the registry.

NOTE: Deleted registry keys can be restored using the Fix-It Utilities UndoIt tool (see “Undoing Changes” on page 231).


To Apply the Changes1. Click the Apply button and RegistryFixer fixes the selected items, and

then displays a summary report.Because the registry is a heavily cross-referenced file, removing some registry entries often makes other entries invalid as well. We recommend running RegistryFixer a second time, or until the number of automatically selected items reaches zero.

2. To repeat the process, click the Back button.3. Click Done when you’re finished.

NOTE: You can also run RegistryFixer from the FixUp and Comprehensive Wizards. It will remove only safe items from the registry.

Protecting Registry KeysBefore you apply the repairs to the registry keys, you can protect individual or groups of keys from being changed. This is handy if you encounter specific keys you want to lock from modification or deletion by the Registry Fixer. To protect keys, while on the screen showing all the problems found, highlight the key and click the Protect button. A tree view of the keys appears with the highlighted key.

Click the key name to display a red lock on the selected group or item.You can select other items to lock, or type in a specific key in the Add dialog. The next time you scan the Registry, any locked keys will not be checked and will not appear in the list of problems.


Blocking Registry KeysWhen registry items can’t be repaired, you have the option to block these items from being scanned again. Click Block Items to add keys to an ignore list, so the next time RegistryFixer is used these keys are not examined.

About the RegistryFixer DisplayThe Show as Tree/Show as List button switches between display types. This allows you to display the registry items either as a non-hierarchical list, or as a tree structure. The tree structure shows you in which section of the registry the particular problem was located. If you display the items in the tree structure, you can click the plus and minus.

Changing RegistryFixer SettingsThe RegistryFixer Settings allow you to select the drives you would like examined and determine if moderate and high level danger files are displayed in the scan.

To Change the RegistryFixer Settings1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Fix & Maintain category button.3. Click the Settings button.4. Click the Registry Fixer tab to view the available settings.


5. Choose the drives to examine by checking the box next to the drive.6. Choose to scan Fixed and/or Network drives to verify that all links

are valid.7. If you want see yellow or red items, choose to Show yellow items or

Show red items by checking the box next to the option.Click the Protect Keys button to lock registry keys preventing their modification. You can Lock All keys, Unlock All, Expand All, and Add a registry key to the list to protect (see “Protecting Registry Keys” on page 134).

8. Click OK to close the dialog.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Editing the Registry • 137

Editing the Registry

OverviewRegistryMagic lets you edit specific parts of the Windows system registry. You should be an advanced user with a complete knowledge of the registry (or working with a support technician) before using RegistryMagic. Modifications to the system registry can potentially damage or negatively affect your computer. If in doubt, don’t delete or modify items in the system registry.Similar to when you run the Windows registry editor (REGEDIT), you can use RegistryMagic to create, delete, rename, and modify Keys or Values. You can also copy a key name to the clipboard and paste it into another program.In addition to the basic REGEDIT functions, the RegistryMagic tool also has an advanced find feature, an easy-to-use toolbar, features to copy and paste entire keys, and the ability to display value names, their data, and the size of the data.

138 • Editing the Registry Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Learning About the System RegistryThe registry is a database used by Windows to store configuration information. The registry has a hierarchical structure, similar to the directories or folders on your hard disk. The registry contents pane displays the following rows and columns:• Value. Each horizontal row is referred to as a value. The contents

pane displays the Value Name, Value Data, and Value Size. • Data Type Icon. In each row, the icon to the left of the Name column

indicates the format of the information in the Data column: String, Binary, and DWORD.• String is any data enclosed in quotation marks, with the

exception of the (value not set) data and other parenthetical remarks that indicate an empty data block or null value.

• Binary is any data that appears in hexadecimal format. This format can be recognized by the distinctive xx space yy space zz space format, where xx, yy, and zz are hexadecimal numbers. Example:Name Data

Settings 60 00 00 00 00 01... 04... ff ff ff... 00 00

• DWORD is any hexadecimal data that appears as double-word format, also know as a 4-byte sequence. The dword format is recognizable by 0x, followed by an unspaced 4-byte hexadecimal sequence, followed by a space and then followed by its decimal equivalent in parentheses. Example:Name Data

Height 0x00000240 (576)


Learning About Registry KeysEach branch in the registry is indicated by a folder called a Key. Each key can contain other keys, as well as Values. Each value contains the actual information stored in the Registry. The Registry has six main branches, each containing specific information: • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT: File associations and OLE information. • HKEY_CURRENT_USER: All preferences set for current user.• HKEY_USERS: All the current user information for each user. • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE: Settings for hardware, operating

system, and installed programs. • HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG. Settings for the display and printers. • HKEY_DYN_DATA. Performance data for use with the Windows

Plug-&-Play feature.

Using RegistryMagicOnly advanced users with expert knowledge of the system registry should make modifications to the system registry. Don’t edit your registry unless it is absolutely necessary. If there is an error in your registry, your computer might stop working. If this happens, you might want to restore the registry to its state when you last successfully started your computer using “Restoring Computer Functionality” on page 241.

Adding a Key1. Expand the registry list to the folder where you want to add the new

key. 2. Right-click the folder. 3. Open the Edit menu and choose New > Key to display the new key

with a temporary name. 4. Type a name for the new key, and then press ENTER. If you make a mistake that results in your computer not starting properly, you can restore the registry.


Adding a Value1. Expand the registry list to the location where you want to add the new

value. 2. Right-click where you want to add the new value. 3. Open the Edit menu and choose New.4. Select the type of value you want to add: String Value, Binary Value,

or DWORD Value.The new value appears with a temporary name.

5. Type a name for the new value, and then press ENTER. If you make a mistake that results in your computer not starting properly, you can restore the registry.

Changing a ValueOpen the Edit menu and choose Modify, or you can double-click the value you want to change. In the Value data box, type the new data for the value. If you make a mistake that results in your computer not starting properly, you can restore the registry.

Deleting a Key or ValueIn the registry list, locate the key or value you want to delete. Right-click the key or value, and then choose Delete. If you make a mistake that results in your computer not starting properly, you can restore the registry.

Renaming a Key or Value1. Locate the key or value you want to rename.

You don’t need to open it. 2. Right-click the key or value you want to rename, and then choose

Rename from the context menu. 3. Type the new name, and then press ENTER. If you make a mistake that results in your computer not starting properly, you can restore the registry.

Copying a KeySelect the key you want to copy. Then, open the Edit menu and choose Copy Key.

Pasting a KeyCopy the key you want to paste. Then, select the location where you want to paste the key. Open the Edit menu and choose Paste Key.


Finding a String, Value, or Key1. Choose the item you want to search.

If you want to search the whole registry, then make sure the My Computer item is selected.

2. Open the Edit menu and choose Find. 3. In the Search for text box, type the text you want searched.4. Choose the Search criteria you want searched.5. You can search for Keys, Value Name, and/or Data.

• If you want the search to consider the capitalization of the text, check the Case Sensitive box.

• If you want to match the text string exactly, check the Match full string box.

6. Click the Start button.When the search is completed, you can double-click an item to open it in the registry.

Refreshing the RegistryYou might want to refresh the registry after making changes. Refreshing the registry will resort the contents in the view.To refresh the registry, open the View menu and choose Refresh.

Using the Bookmark ListRegistryMagic can save registry key names into a Bookmark List so you can revisit the keys quickly later.

To Save a Registry Key in the Bookmark ListChoose the item you want to bookmark. Then, open the View menu and choose Add Bookmark.

To Revisit a Registry Key1. Open the View menu and choose Bookmarks, or click the View

Bookmarks button on the toolbar.If the View Bookmarks button is gray, the Bookmarks feature is already selected.

2. Choose the down arrow on the right of the drop-down list below the toolbar to view a list of bookmarks.

3. Choose the bookmark you want to view.


To Edit the Bookmark List1. Open the Edit menu and choose Edit Bookmarks.2. Choose the bookmarks you want to remove from the list and click

Remove. To remove all bookmarks from the list, click Clear All.

3. Click the Close button.

Using the History ListRegistryMagic saves registry key names you have visited in a History List.

To Visit a Registry Key Saved in the History List1. Open the View menu and choose History, or click the View History

button on the toolbar.If the View History button is gray, the History feature is already selected.

2. Click the down arrow on the right of the drop-down list to view a list of registry key names you have visited.

3. Choose the bookmark you want to see.

To Edit the History List1. Open the Edit menu and choose Edit History to view the History List.2. Choose the registry key names you want to remove from the History

List and click Remove.To remove all registry key names from the list, click Clear All.

3. Click Close.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Maintaining Your Hard Drive • 143

Maintaining Your Hard Drive

OverviewDiskFixer is a great maintenance tool for your hard drive. It can perform Tests, AutoFixes, and Surface Scans. Running the disk surface test can often move the data to a normal sector, solving the problem. Running the disk surface test monthly on a healthy computer is also a good maintenance policy and can prevent more serious crashes down the road.

Using DiskFixerThe most common data damage problems can usually be resolved by running the default tests. DiskFixer can perform a complete check of the entire disk surface, reading each sector to verify its quality. This check will identify any physical damage to your hard drive, but takes considerably longer to run. If the computer crashes whenever you open a particular file, has any program crash, or gives you a blue-screen error, a likely explanation is that part of the file is sitting on a damaged sector. DiskFixer supports NTFS, FAT32, and FAT16 partitions, and performs many of the same functions as the Microsoft product ScanDisk in older versions. However, it goes several steps further:• DiskFixer is faster than ScanDisk.• DiskFixer does a more complete and thorough analysis of partition

tables and boot sectors.• DiskFixer catches and fixes many minor file errors.• DiskFixer can fix multiple drives; not only one at a time.• DiskFixer can notify you each time it finds a problem, allowing you

to address each problem or issue individually.

144 • Maintaining Your Hard Drive Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

To Run DiskFixer1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Fix & Maintain category button.3. Click the DiskFixer tool button.4. Select the drive(s) to repair by checking the box next to the disk.

The checked box indicates which drive is selected.

If you are checking a drive with removable media, place the media in the drive.

5. Choose from the following options:• Automatically fix errors fixes errors without asking. If you don’t

check this box, DiskFixer will ask before fixing any problems it finds.

• Save Undo Information gives you the ability to undo any DiskFixer changes.

• Scan disk surface for read/write errors makes sure that each cluster on the hard drive is readable and writable, by checking the option at the bottom of the window. Bad clusters are set aside so they can’t be used again. This is a lengthy scan.


6. Click Next to continue.DiskFixer checks and repairs the disk, displaying progress on a disk map. • If you choose not to have DiskFixer automatically fix problems,

it displays a dialog when it finds a problem. You have a choice to fix or ignore each one. You can also cancel the operation and return to the home window.

• If you asked for the disk surface scan, DiskFixer goes through the complete scan, verifying that each sector of the disk is readable and writable. This process takes some time to complete.

When DiskFixer is finished, you will get a report on what DiskFixer found. You can print this report or save it to a text file.

7. Click Done to return to the Home window.

NOTE: You can also run DiskFixer from the FixUp or Comprehensive Wizards. It will run all the tests, except for the surface scan, and will automatically fix any problems.

DiskFixer DifficultiesIf the process keeps restarting with the message: “Disk volume modified…restarting”This means that there is at least one process running on your computer that is writing or modifying data on the disk. Every time this happens, DiskFixer has to restart the drive mapping process. To get DiskFixer to continue without restarting, stop the program that is causing the disk access. If you’re not sure which one it is, close each running program one by one until DiskFixer is able to continue.

Physical Disk DamagePhysical damage to a disk might be a piece of dust or a tiny scratch on the disk. Physical damage is reported as bad clusters on the disk. Although no repair program can retrieve the data that was originally in the bad clusters, DiskFixer can set those clusters aside and ensure they are never used again.


Changing DiskFixer SettingsThe DiskFixer settings allow you to change which tests are run, what files are fixed automatically, and what areas are scanned.1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Fix & Maintain category button.3. Click the Settings button from the main menu bar.4. Choose the Disk Fixer tab to display the available settings.

Tests• Partition tables check checks the individual partition boot records

and header data structures against the master boot record.• Boot records checks boot records for valid information and structure.• File allocation tables looks for invalid entries in the FAT (FAT/

FAT32 systems only) and, if possible, fixes them.• Files verifies the directory structure, looking for invalid directory

contents and file sizes. Also, makes sure that the entries refer to valid data and checks that two files don’t both refer to the same data (crosslinked files).

• Dates and times verifies that every file is stamped with a valid date and time. Any files with invalid information are given the current date and time.

• File names verifies that every file has a valid file name. Occasionally a corrupted file might contain invalid characters in its name, making it inaccessible to the operating system. This test locates these files and fixes them.

• Lost cluster chains locates lost clusters and either recycles them as free space or makes them into files so you can review the data.

By default, DiskFixer runs all of these options. To customize these options, change the DiskFixer settings by clicking the Settings button from the Fix-It Utilities home window, and then clicking the Fix & Maintain category button. You can also have DiskFixer automatically fix all of the problems it finds, or notify you about each problem individually so you decide what to do on a problem-by-problem basis.


AutoFix• Cross-linked files allows DiskFixer to separate two different files

that point to the same area on the disk. On very rare occasions, the File Allocation Table (FAT) can have two entries pointing to the same area of the disk. This creates the situation where two different files contain data on the same area of the disk. Since the computer can’t determine which file has the correct data and which has a corrupted link, DiskFixer can separate the two files so you can examine them at your leisure to determine which has correct data and which is corrupted.When DiskFixer finds cross-linked files, this setting tells DiskFixer how to handle it. The default Duplicate option creates a copy of one of the cross-linked files so you can examine each one to determine which is the good file. The Ignore option ignores the cross-linked files but does report them as a problem. The Delete option removes the cross-linked file.

• Lost Clusters gives you two options:The default Delete option deletes lost cluster chains, restoring the free space.The Save as Files option saves lost clusters as files so you can check the contents for data.

Surface ScanDiskFixer can perform a complete (and lengthy) check of the entire disk surface, reading and writing each sector to verify its quality. You can choose the areas to scan. This test should be run monthly for good maintenance. You can use this setting to only scan portions of the surface, if you want.• Scan System Areas: These are boot sectors, reserved sectors, and

FATs.• Scan File Areas: These are clusters that are in use for storage of files

and folders. If you are having problems with individual files crashing, this scan will determine if part of the problem file is sitting on a bad cluster. While the data on the bad cluster is lost, DiskFixer allows you to access the remainder of the file.

• Scan Unused Areas: Areas of the drive not currently in use. Scanning these areas periodically will help identify bad clusters before data is stored on them.


Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Scheduling Maintenance • 149

Scheduling Maintenance

OverviewThe SystemScheduler lets you automatically schedule Fix-It Utilities tools to maintain and tune your computer, either on a regular basis or one time only.You schedule each tool individually. For example, you can schedule the RegistryCleaner to run at 4:00 am on Tuesdays. • You don’t have to be running the main Fix-It Utilities program for the

SystemScheduler to run programs at their appointed times. The scheduler runs in the background, separate from Fix-It Utilities.

• After starting, the SystemScheduler runs in the background, checking every now and then to see if it needs to run something.

• You can view the results of the tools run by clicking on the View Scheduler Results button.

If you schedule items to run at the same time, Scheduler actually runs them sequentially, in an order it picks. If you would rather choose the order of events, you should vary the times. To be on the safe side, you should also give each utility plenty of time to run before the next scheduled event occurs.

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Opening the SystemScheduler1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Fix & Maintain category button.3. Click the SystemScheduler tool button.

The utilities shown in this window are the only ones you can schedule. You can’t add any others. At the Scheduler window, choose the first tool to schedule.

NOTE: To allow JETDefrag to do its best job, you need to disable all third-party anti-virus software programs before running this tool. Running other anti-virus programs, while using JETDefrag, can result in slow running or locking the file preventing JETDefrag from optimizing the drive properly.

4. Click the Schedule button or double-click the scheduled item.Clicking the View scheduler results button shows the results of all scheduled utilities that have run (see “Viewing SystemScheduler Results” on page 152).

NOTE: If you run ClockSync through SystemScheduler, your scheduled events might change if your computer date or clock are drastically different than the actual time and date.

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Scheduling a UtilityYou can adjust the scheduler settings for the selected tool in the Settings window. The settings allow you to check or uncheck individual tools and adjust their settings for the frequency, time, and start date of when and how often the tools run.1. Click the down-arrow of the frequency menu and choose a frequency.

2. Choose the Start Time. To change the time, select the hour first and then click the up or down arrows to change the hour. Then, select the minutes and then click the up or down arrows to change the minutes.You can also click the Now + 2 minutes button to run the selected tool in two minutes (if you’re finished configuring the scheduler in that time).

3. Choose the start date to begin running the tool. To change the start date, click the date and enter a new value, or click the down-arrow next to the date to open the calendar. You can click any day to make that day the start day.

The framed date indicates today’s date, while the day you choose is highlighted.

4. Click OK to return to the Scheduler window.5. Repeat this process for each item you want to schedule.6. Click Next to turn Scheduler on.

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Starting the SystemSchedulerAfter you schedule a process and click Next, a list of scheduled items appears in the main window.• If you want to start the scheduler immediately, check the Load Now

option.• If you want to wait and start scheduler the next time you restart

Windows, check the Unload Now option.• If you want a warning dialog to appear before scheduler runs a tool,

check the Show dialog when starting a component box.SystemScheduler doesn’t have to be running to run scheduled modules. However, if SystemScheduler is running, you can right-click the tray icon to display a summary dialog showing scheduler information without having to open Fix-It Utilities (see “Viewing SystemScheduler from the Tray Icon” on page 152).After you have scheduled an item, SystemScheduler automatically starts every time you start your computer.

Viewing SystemScheduler from the Tray IconThe SystemScheduler dialog summarizes Scheduler information without having to run Fix-It Utilities first. It shows all scheduled modules, their frequency, when they were last run, and when they are next scheduled to run. To view the SystemScheduler dialog, right-click the Fix-It Utilities tray icon and choose Scheduler from the context menu.Click OK when finished with this dialog.

Viewing SystemScheduler ResultsThe Scheduler saves the results of all processes in a special Results Log (this is different from the Fix-It Utilities log). The Results Log is available from the Scheduler. Click the View scheduler results button, and choose the item you want to view in the top pane. The details of that item are displayed in the bottom pane.• To print out the details, click the Print button. • To save the results as a text file, click the Save button.• To delete an entry, select the item from the list and click the Delete

button.• To delete all entries, click the Delete All button.Click Done when you have finished viewing results.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Updating Your Operating System • 153

Updating Your Operating System

OverviewSoftware developers are constantly finding and fixing problems that inevitably appear when programs are used in the “real world.” Anti-virus programs update their definitions weekly to try to keep up with the 200 new viruses that appear every month. Someone else discovers a security hole in another program. New versions of existing products come out every year. Keeping up with all these changes can be hard on the average user. WindowsUpdate makes it easier.

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Updating with WindowsUpdateWindowsUpdate connects you with Microsoft’s Windows Update service. This will keep your Windows operating system updated with the latest fixes and security improvements from Microsoft.

Running WindowsUpdate1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Fix & Maintain category button.3. Click the WindowsUpdate tool button.

Your computer connects to the Internet and checks if your version of Windows is up to date. If updates are available, follow the onscreen instructions for downloading and installing the updates.

NOTE: If you haven’t updated before, or it’s been a long time since you last updated your computer, you might get a message that you need to install new software for updating. If you get this message, click the Install Now button. The program then installs the update software.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Synchronizing Your Clock • 155

Synchronizing Your Clock

OverviewMost of us live our lives by the clock. We have clocks on the wall, clocks on our wrists, clocks in our telephones, and a clock in our computer. The problem with most clocks is that time is somewhat subjective; it depends in part on where you are on the earth, and what you’re using to keep time. There are other environmental factors too. For most of us, the level of subjectivity isn’t important.For scientists, though, nanoseconds matter. So it came to be that scientists found out that a particular cesium atom pulsated at an extremely dependable rate. In 1967, an international standards body declared that a second of time would be equal to one spin around the block for this atom.Across the planet, thousands of these “atomic clocks” have been set up. Many of them are connected to computers called time servers. These time servers are accessible to other computers across the Internet. ClockSync lets you connect to a public Internet time server to keep your computer’s clock accurate. It uses the Day Time Protocol to keep your computer within a second of the atomic time.

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Connecting to a Time Server1. Connect to the Internet.2. Click the Home button to view the Home window.3. Click the Fix & Maintain category button.4. Click the ClockSync tool button.

The first time you run ClockSync, you should choose a time server closest to your location, and in your time zone. The closer the server, the faster the results come back.

5. Click the Settings button to choose a server.

By default, ClockSync selects the nist1.aol-va.truetime.com server. You’ll see a list sorted by country names first. If there are multiple servers in your country, view the Location column to find a server closest to you.

6. Click the Test Selected Server button to check if your selected server is responsive before continuing.If the server doesn’t respond, choose another server and repeat the test.

NOTE: Some Internet time servers might not always accept a connection request from ClockSync. If this should happen, choose another time server in your time zone before synchronizing.

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Adding a New Time ServerIf you are aware of a time server that isn’t on the list, and know it’s URL information, you can add the time server to the list.1. Connect to the Internet.2. Click the Home button to view the Home window.3. Click the Fix & Maintain category button.4. Click the ClockSync tool button to view the ClockSync window.5. Click the Add New Server button to view the Time Server dialog.

6. Entering the following time server information:• Private server URL• Port number• Timeout interval.

7. Click OK to place the new time server on the list.8. Choose the new time server from the list.9. Click OK to confirm the selection and return to the main ClockSync

window.

NOTE: You can schedule ClockSync to run at regular intervals (see “Opening the SystemScheduler” on page 150).

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Updating Your Computer ClockClockSync allows you to connect to a public Internet time server using the Day Time Protocol to keep your computer’s clock accurate within a second of the atomic time.

NOTE: Before you update your computer clock, you need to connect to a time server (see “Connecting to a Time Server” on page 156).

To Update Your Computer Clock1. Connect to the Internet.2. Click the Home button to view the Home window.3. Click the Fix & Maintain category button.4. Click the ClockSync tool button to view the ClockSync window.

The main ClockSync window displays the time registered on the time server (Atomic Time) and the clock on your computer (System Time). The status line tells you if your computer clock is running slow.

5. Click the Synchronize button to connect to the time server and update your computer clock.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Optimize • 159

OPTIMIZE

Using SystemOptimizer 161

Using Startup Commander 165

Defragmenting the Registry 177

Defragmenting Your Hard Disk 179

160 • Optimize Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Using SystemOptimizer • 161

Using SystemOptimizer

OverviewSystemOptimizer provides a simple interface that allows you to select a specific profile to optimize your computer’s performance for a specific task.

In addition to the profiles, you can also choose from additional performance options to modify and improve the performance of your computer.

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Selecting a Performance ProfileThe first time you start the SystemOptimizer, the No Profile option is selected. You can change the performace profile by selecting one of the following profiles:• The Office profile optimizes the performance of your computer for

running office programs, such as word processing and email, and for collaborating with other employees.

• The Security profile optimizes the performance of your computer to improve security and minimize the chances of being infected by a virus or spyware.

• The Multimedia profile optimizes the performance of your computer to improve processor-intensive programs, such as digital media editing, video compression, and high-definition video playback.

• The Gamer profile optimizes the performance of your computer for running graphic-intensive gaming applications.

NOTE: If you choose a profile that doesn't provide the performance improvements you expected, you can select another profile or disable the optimization at any time by selecting the No Profile option.

To Choose a Profile1. Choose one of the profile options.2. Click Next to apply your changes and view a report of the changes.

Your changes take affect the next time you reboot your computer. If you close the window without first clicking Next, your changes are cancelled.

3. Click Done in the Final Report dialog to close the window.If you don’t want to be asked to reboot your computer after clicking Done, you can uncheck the Reboot the system option at the bottom of the Final Report dialog.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Using SystemOptimizer • 163

Selecting Performance OptionsYou can check any of the performance options to enable them. These options are not linked to the profile options and don’t change as you select different profiles. Regardless of the profile selected, even if no profile is selected, you can still enable additional options. These options can vary depending on your operating system.

To Set Performance Options1. Choose one of the profile options from the list.2. Click Apply to apply your changes and view a report of the changes.3. Click Done in the Final Report dialog to close the window.You might be required to restart your computer before the changes take effect. It you close the window without first applying your changes, your changes are cancelled.

164 • Using SystemOptimizer Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Using Startup Commander • 165

Using Startup Commander

OverviewWhenever you start or restart your computer, certain programs start automatically. Many of these programs are helper programs that allow other programs to start more quickly, or look for program updates on the internet. Generally, these startup programs don’t noticeably slow down your computer. However, if you have a lot of programs that start when you start Windows, your computer that might start slower than you want. In addition, Windows loads a number of drivers and services, many which run necessary services as part of Windows, while others items can be excess baggage slowing the system down. StartupCommander allows you to choose which programs, services, and drivers start automatically when you startup your computer. This allows you to optimize your startup and shutdown times as well as improve the overall system performance by disabling or removing unnecessary startup items.

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Viewing the Startup Commander WindowStartup Commander is divided into five main parts:• The Menu Bar (see page 166)• The Tool Bar (see page 166)• The Options Pane (see page 166)• The File Pane (see page 167)• The Details Pane (see page 167)

The Menu Bar

The Menu Bar is located at the top of the screen. It contains drop-down menus with commands and keyboard shortcuts. These commands are also available in the Tool Bar.

The Tool Bar

The Tool Bar is located at the top of the screen just below the Menu Bar and contains short-cut buttons to items found in the Menu Bar. In addition, the Enable and Disable buttons have drop-down menus that allow you to enable or disable all items in the File Pane.

The Options PaneThe Options Pane is located on the left-side of the window and contains three sections for viewing the content displayed in the File Pane (see “The File Pane” on page 167).For more information, see “Learning About the Options Pane” on page 168.


The File Pane

The information in the File Pane is separated in the following columns of information:• Name is the display name of the program.• Filename is the full path to the program.• Startup location is the location of the startup program.

For example, LM Startup folder means the program starts from the Local Machine in the Startup folder. For more information, see “Startup Areas” on page 168.

• Rating is the safety rating assigned to the item by the Startup Commander (see “Understanding Rating Types” on page 170)

• Memory is the amount of memory being used by the program.• Description is any additional comments about the startup item.

The Details Pane

The Details Pane displays the type, filename, description, and a source for the information for the selected startup item from our database of items. Some items also have links for more information about the item.For information on rating types, see “Understanding Rating Types” on page 170.


To Find More InformationIf you want to find out more information about a startup item, select the item from the File Pane, then click the Find info button in the Tool Bar. Your default web browser opens and searches the web for information about the item.For information on changing the search settings, see “Changing the Startup Commander Settings” on page 173.

Learning About the Options PaneThe Options Pane containing three main sections:• Startup Areas (see page 168)• Include Ratings (see page 169)• Documentation (see page 169)

Startup AreasThe Startup Areas contains four sections used to display the programs that start automatically when you start your computer and login in.

FolderThe Startup option displays all the programs that are in your Startup folder in the Windows Start menu.

RegistryThe Registry stores information about the Windows setup, including file types and their associated programs. In Windows XP, this file basically replaces the win.ini file used in Windows 3.x, 95, or 98 systems.• The Run option displays programs that run each time you start your

computer.• The Run Once option displays programs that process after your

computer has restarted due to software installation, allowing for the registration of DLL or OCX files. This item might also exist for cleaning up temporary files from an install or an uninstall. RunOnce items are removed from the registry after they have completed.


• Run Once Execute options displays programs that process after your computer has restarted. This entry is typically used for a process that can’t use the RunOnce option, or requires that your computer be fully operational. RunOnceExecute items are removed from the registry after they have completed.

• The Services option displays computer services that start before you login. This option is unchecked by default.

• The Drivers option displays a list of all the drivers currently installed on your computer.

Win.iniThe win.ini file loads various initialization settings each time a Windows 3.x, 95, or 98 system starts. This files is still used in Windows NT 4.0, 2000, XP, and Vista, primarily for compatibility with Windows 3.x programs. • The Startup section option displays a list of entries in the Startup

section of the file.• The Load section option displays a list of entries in the Load section

of the file.

CoverageWhen you install a program, you are often given the option of installing for All Users or for the Current User Only. The options below allow you to choose which program you want to display, based on how the software was installed.• Local Machine lists the programs that where installed for all users.• Current User list only those programs that where installed for, and

by, the actively logged in use.

Include RatingsThe Include Ratings section includes a list of options for displaying items with the selected rating type. Only the items with the selected rates will appear in the list. The ratings for startup items are assigned by Startup Commander based on their safeness to disable and remove.To choose the rating types to display, check the appropriate box next the rating type. For more information, see “Understanding Rating Types” on page 170.

Documentation• Help opens Help for this program (see “Getting Help” on page 55).• About opens the About dialog with program version information.


Managing Your Startup ProgramsStartup Commander allows you to manage how your computer starts by allowing you to choose which programs run automatically, as well as adding and removing items to the list.

Understanding Rating TypesThe ratings for startup items are assigned by Startup Commander based on their safeness to disable and remove. Any item that the program isn’t sure about are assigned an Unknown rating.

OK/Required are items that are required or usually needed for your computer to operate properly. Disabling these items might stop programs from functioning, or might be critical to the stability of Windows.

Not required are items you can safely disable and aren’t required for most users.

User choice are items that you can safely choose to enable or disable without harming your computer‘s functionality. However, these items might effect the related specific program.

Not recommended are items that should be disabled or removed. They can reduce your computer performance and create security risks. In some cases, they are signs of a virus infection or malware. You should run your Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware deep scan to remove the offending program and related links.

Unknown are items that are not cataloged in our database. Often the filename path can give you a clue to the program that owns the item. You can also use the Find Info feature to research more information about the selected item. While we maintain an extensive database of over 12,000 items, it is impossible to list every item, so you might have quite a few items shown as unknown.

NOTE: Our ratings come from a number of sources, and are believed to be accurate. Be aware that some viruses and malware use similar names or even overlay valid program names. Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware should be used to ensure your computer is clean.


Enabling and Disabling Startup ItemsChanging the startup status of programs on your computer gives you the ability to fine-tune how your computer starts. This ability can help you decrease start time, start only the programs you want, and even locate spyware, adware, or other malicious programs.You can also disable items as an alternative to removing them. This gives you the added flexibility of restoring these items in the event that the item turns out to be essential to the operation of your computer, or other required programs.

To Enable or Disable Items1. Select the item you want to change from the list in the File Pane.2. Check or uncheck the box to the left of the item to change the status.

• A checked box is enabled.• An unchecked box is disabled.You can also click the Enable or Disable buttons on the Tool Bar to change the status.

3. Click the Apply button to finalize the change.

NOTE: If you quit Startup Commander before applying your changes, they won’t take affect.


Adding Items to the RegistryIf you want a program to start automatically, or you want to have the choice enabling or disabling an item, the item must be in your startup registry.In unusual cases, expert users can add an item to the registry using this dialog, or a registry editor, such as RegistryMagic (see “Using RegistryMagic” on page 139) or Windows RegEdit.

To Add an Item to the List1. Click the Insert button on the Tool Bar. 2. Enter a name for the item and the path to the file, including the file to

run.

You can also click the Browse button to locate the file.3. Click the Section drop-down list and choose where to add the item.

• LM Run adds the item to the local computer.• CU Run adds the item to the Current User only.For more information, see “Startup Areas” on page 168.

4. Click OK to add the file to your registry.5. Click the Apply button to finalize the change.



Removing Items from the Registry

CAUTION: After you remove an item from the registry and apply the change, it can’t be undone. We recommend disabling an item first to ensure that its removal won’t have an adverse effects on your computer.

To Remove and Item1. Select the item to remove from the list in the File Pane.2. Click the Remove button, or open the Edit menu and choose

Remove. 3. Click the Apply button to finalize the change.


Changing the Startup Commander SettingsThe settings in Startup Commander allow you to choose the internet search engine used for researching startup items, changing the display of the startup item filenames, and setting the program warnings.


Choosing Your Search EngineStartup Commander has several search engine options for you to choose from. It uses the selected search engine when you want to find more information about a selected file (see “To Find More Information” on page 168).

To Choose a Different Search Engine1. Click the Options button on the Tool Bar, or open the Edit menu and

choose Options to display the Options window. 2. Click the drop-down list and choose a search engine from the list.

• If you want to use a different search engine, choose Other from the drop-down list (see “Adding a New Search Engine” on page 174).

• If you want to restore the default settings, click the Defaults button.

3. Click OK to apply your change and close the window.

Adding a New Search EngineIf your favorite search engine isn’t on the list of default search engines, you can select the Other option and assign a search engine to it.

To Assign a Search Engine1. Click the Options button on the Tool Bar, or click the Edit menu and

choose Options to display the Options window. 2. Click the drop-down list and choose Other from the list.3. Enter the website search address and the search key argument for the

new search engine (see “To Find the Search Key Argument” on page 175).



To Find the Search Key Argument1. Open your internet browser and go to the search engine main page.2. Type in a search term, such as mobsync.exe, and run a search.3. After the search completes, copy all the text that appears in the web

address location box.http://www.ask.com/web?q=mobsync.exe&qsrc=0&o=0&l=dir

4. Click the Options button to open the Startup Commander Options window.

5. Open the Search drop-down list and select Other from the list.6. Paste the text from the web address location box here.7. Delete all the text after the equals sign (=).

http://www.ask.com/web?q= Startup Commander automatically fills in the rest of the search text after the equals sign when it performs a search.


NOTE: Since different search engines use different argument keys, it’s important that you perform an actual search to acquire the correct search engine argument key.

Changing the Filename Display LengthBy default, filenames are displayed as long filenames. You can change the display of filenames to display as 8.3-character filenames, like those of DOS and versions of Microsoft Windows prior to Windows 95 and Windows NT.

To Change the Filename Display1. Click the Options button on the Tool Bar, or open the Edit menu and

choose Options to display the Options window. 2. Uncheck the Show long filename option.3. Click OK to apply your change and close the window.You can repeat this process and check the Show long filename option to turn the long filenames back on.


Setting the Program WarningsThe Options window has additional options that allow you to set when warning messages appear and permit the disabling of drivers and services.• To turn off the confirmation message that appears when you apply

your changes, check the Skip information notice after apply option.• To permit the disabling of drivers and services, check the Expert

Mode - Allow drivers and services to be disabled option.

CAUTION: Disabling drivers or services can have adverse effects on your computer. This should be done only by expert users.

• To turn off the confirmation message that appears when a driver or service is disabled, check the Skip recommended warning when item is changed to disabled option. This option is only available when the previous options is checked.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Defragmenting the Registry • 177

Defragmenting the Registry

OverviewThe system registry is a complex and sophisticated part of the Windows operating system, and your computer accesses it constantly, updating, adding, and changing data. After a while, the registry becomes fragmented, with empty gaps and randomly-placed registry entries. Standard disk defragmenting programs don’t defragment the registry files. RegistryDefrag reorganizes the system registry to remove the gaps and reorganize the entries. This tool can also be used with Windows 2000/XP to defragment the registry, though it isn’t required as these operating system have a built-in method of defragmenting.

Closing All Running ProgramsWhen you first start the RegistryDefrag tool, a message appears with a warning that you must exit from all programs, including those running in the background, except Fix-It Utilities, before defragmenting your system registry.

To Close Programs Running in the BackgroundPress CTRL-ALT-DELETE to access the Task Manager. Then, choose End Task on every item listed there, except Explorer, Fix-It Utilities, and SysTray.It is important to follow the instructions, as registry defragmenting with open programs might create invalid links and possibly crash your program.

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Running RegistryDefragBefore running RegistryDefrag, it is important to exit all programs, including those running in the background. Defragmenting the registry while programs are open could create invalid links and possibly crash your program.

To Defragment Your System Registry1. Close all running programs (including those running in the

background) except Explorer, Fix-It Utilities, and SysTray (see “Closing All Running Programs” on page 177).

2. Click the Home button to view the Home window.3. Click the Optimize category button.4. Click the RegistryDefrag tool button.5. Make sure all programs have been closed and then click Apply to

continue.6. Click Yes at the message to re-verify that all programs have been

closed.

Analyzing the RegistryDefragThe first thing RegistryDefrag does is analyze the fragmentation of your registry. RegistryDefrag will then make a copy of your existing registry and defragment it.If you want to cancel the process, click the Cancel button.

NOTE: Stopping the registry defragmentation process before if completes doesn’t harm your working registry because RegistryDefrag defragments a copy of your current registry.

After RegistryDefrag has completed, a finish message appears.Click OK to restart your computer. Restarting allows your defragmented registry to replace the old, fragmented one.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Defragmenting Your Hard Disk • 179

Defragmenting Your Hard Disk

OverviewAs you read from the hard drive and write to it, your computer has built-in processes that allocate and de-allocate hard drive space as needed. When you write a new file to the disk, space is allocated for the new file. If there isn’t a chunk of space big enough, the file might use several non-contiguous smaller chunks of space. When you delete a file, the space the file used is returned as free space.When you add and delete files from your hard drive, the available disk space becomes more and more fragmented. Files can become scattered across the disk. This makes the reading and writing of files take longer, potentially shortening the life of the hard drive motor.

NOTE: To allow JETDefrag to do its best job, you need to disable all third-party anti-virus software programs before running this tool. Running anti-virus programs simultaneously can in slow-down JETDefrag or lock files, preventing it from optimizing the drive properly. You don’t need to disable the Fix-It Utilities Virus Scanner. It turns off automatically and then restores after JetDefrag completes.

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Learning about FragmentationThe following fragmentation diagram shows a simplified concept of a fragmented disk, and what it looks like after being defragmented. The dark area represents data and the light area represents free space.

A fragmented disk A defragmented disk

JETDefrag defragments the hard disk, combining the chunks and fragments of available space into one contiguous free space area, and moving files and other data into another area of the disk. When it runs, it first scans the disk to make sure that the file tables are indexed into the disk correctly and that there are no broken indices (Pre-XP Windows systems only).JETDefrag significantly improves the overall storage system performance. It shortens the time it takes for software programs to load from the hard drive.

NOTE: The first time you run JETDefrag, the process might take a long time, particularly if your disk has never been defragmented before. Be patient—it will be much faster the next time you use it.

IntelliCluster for Pre-XP Systems OnlyIntelliCluster is a Avanquest technology that can further improve computer performance and operates in a similar manner to the Windows defragmenter. IntelliCluster isn’t available on XP systems, since XP has its own built-in program optimizer.If you enable IntelliCluster, it keeps track of the programs you run, how often you run them, and all of the associated files that programs call while launching or running (the exact cluster loading sequence). This information is then used during the defragmentation, and clusters are aligned according to the loading sequence, thereby dramatically improving I/O throughput and reducing random disk access.


Recommended Method of Using IntelliCluster1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Settings button.3. Check the IntelliCluster data collection box to enable IntelliCluster. 4. Start up the programs that you use the most, open the largest or most

common files, and then shut everything down.5. Uncheck the IntelliCluster data collection box to turn it off.This ensures that JETDefrag has the most critical information without running an extra process in the background.Our goal is to increase the performance of your computer drastically. The programs you run most often should start up more quickly, and the computer should be more responsive than before the defragmentation.

Running JETDefragWhile you can run other programs while JETDefrag is defragmenting your computer, any files you have open will not be defragmented. This is to preserve any changes you make to a file, and to make sure a running program doesn’t crash during the defragmentation. In general, we recommend closing all running programs before running JETDefrag

CAUTION: DO NOT restart your computer or turn off the power during JETDefrag. If you want to stop the defrag, click the Stop button.

To Start JETDefrag1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Optimize category button.3. Click the JETDefrag button.

A dialog appears asking to run DiskFixer before using JETDefrag. We recommended that you run DiskFixer.

4. Click Yes to run DiskFixer, or No to skip running it. For more information, see “Using DiskFixer” on page 143).


Viewing the Disk Selection DialogChoose the drive(s) you want to defragment by checking the appropriate box.If you want to see a disk map and a Drive Analysis Details window showing the current disk fragmentation, check the box labeled Analyze Drive. This displays a disk map similar to the following:

Learning about the Defragmenting Dialog• Blocks Legend is the legend of colors you might see on the disk map

as JETDefrag is defragmenting your drive. • The Disk Map displays the current state of your disk during the

defragmentation.


Viewing the Analysis ResultsWhen the analysis is complete, you’ll see a graphic describing the level of fragmentation on your drive. It also lists any problems that JETDefrag might have encountered. You can click the Details button again to view the Analysis Results window.1. Click the Fragmentation Details tab to view a graphical

representation of the selected hard disk. 2. Click the Volume Information tab to check the total size of your

drive, the cluster size, the number of files and folders on the drive, amount of free space and the largest block of continuous free space.

3. Click the Fragmented Files tab to see a detailed list of the files to be defragmented.This tab also lets you see how many separate pieces each file is in.

4. Click the Legend button to show a legend of the colors in the disk map.

5. Click Boot Defrag to schedule a defragmentation of the paging files and registry files during the next computer restart.These can’t be defragmented while the operating system is running.

6. Click Next to start the defragmentation process.

Defragmenting the Hard DriveAfter you analyze the hard drive(s), click Next to start defragmenting your hard drive(s). If you selected more than one drive, it defragments the drives one at a time, in the order in which they appear on the screen. Move the Process Priority slider to adjust the processing priority during the defrag process compared with other tasks running on the computer.• The High setting gives the defrag process a higher priority than any

other programs, but will probably slow your other programs.• The Low setting makes the defragmentation process slower if other

programs are running, but your other programs will have better response.

When it is finished, click Done to return to the Optimize window.

TIP: You can also run JETDefrag from the SpeedUp and Comprehensive Wizards.


Changing JETDefrag SettingsYou can configure JETDefrag in several ways. To change JETDefrag settings, click the Settings button from the home window or the first JETDefrag screen.

JETDefrag Drive AnalysisJETDefrag analyzes the selected disk drive, the Analysis Results dialog appears and displays a complete list of drive details.• The Fragmentation Details tab displays information about the

fragmentation of the selected drive. • The Volume Information tab displays all the data about the disk that

JETDefrag could gather. This information will vary slightly, depending on your operating system.

• The Fragmented Files tab lists the files on the disk that are in at least two non-contiguous areas of the disk. The Clusters heading shows the number of clusters on disk the file takes up. The Fragments heading shows the number of non-contiguous chunks.

If you don’t want this dialog to appear automatically, you can uncheck the Show details after analysis option. You can also set up this dialog from the JETDefrag Settings.

Scheduling Defragmentation on RestartThe Boot Defrag button on the JETDefrag dialog allows you to schedule a special defrag the next time you restart your computer. Since system files and the paging file can’t be defragmented while Windows is running, Fix-It Utilities allows you to perform this special defragmentation in the early stages of the start process.The list of files shows which system files and paging files will be defragmented. If you have more than one local drive, a paging file listed for each drive appears.

To Schedule the Boot DefragCheck the box labeled Defragment paging files and registry log files at next boot. This schedules the boot defrag for the next computer restart only.

NOTE: The Boot Defrag flag is deactivated after your computer has been restarted, so you must set it each time you want it to occur.

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CLEANUP

Cleaning Your Hard Drive 187

Cleaning the System Registry 197

Shredding Files and Folders 201

186 • Cleanup Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Cleaning Your Hard Drive • 187

Cleaning Your Hard Drive

OverviewUnused files often remain on your hard drive when software is uninstalled, programs crash, or from normal daily use. These files usually don’t do direct harm to your hard drive, but they can take up a lot of extra space on the disk and slow computer performance. The Fix-It Utilities file-cleaning tools search your hard disks for unnecessary files, and then deletes them.

Recovering Disk Space Using DiskCleanerDiskCleaner allows you to search the entire disk for unused files, and then gives you choices of what to do with them. You can select the type of files to clean out, edit the file types, and add new categories to the list. You should run DiskCleaner when you need more space on your hard drive.After the files are found, you can then delete them, move them, zip (compress) them into a single archive file, or leave them where they are. You can also run DiskCleaner as part of the CleanUp and Comprehensive Wizards (see “One-Click Solutions Wizards” on page 49). It will remove only files that are completely safe to remove.

CAUTION: DiskCleaner tries to determine which files are safe to remove and which are not, but the choice is really up to you. DiskCleaner can’t determine which files won’t cause computer problems if removed. Since one person’s junk file might be another person’s valuable data, you should be careful to review any files to be deleted and not just accept the DiskCleaner’s evaluation that a file is safe to remove.

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Cleaning Up Your Disk1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Cleanup category button.3. Click the DiskCleaner button.

NOTE: You can also run DiskCleaner from the CleanUp and Comprehensive Wizards (see “One-Click Solutions Wizards” on page 49).

The list of drives shows any fixed or removable drive that Windows knows about. Normally, you will only need to clean a fixed disk.

4. Select the drive(s) to clean by putting a check in the box next to it.

You can select the diskette drive after inserting a disk.

The hard drive is selected.

5. Click the Next button to continue.6. Select the categories to use as criteria for locating unused files.

Selected

Not Selected

7. Check any of the category boxes that apply.• If the categories listed don’t meet your needs, you can create your

own by choosing the Add button (see “Adding Categories to the List” on page 193).

• If you want to change the configuration for a category, select the category and click the Edit button. You can change the name, action taken, and the parameters (see “Editing the Category Configuration” on page 194).


8. Click Next to start scanning the selected drive(s) for files that match these criteria.

9. After the scan completes, choose what to do with the selected files, and then click Next to continue.

10. Review the Results screen for a summary of the files and the actions performed on them.

DiskCleaner Search ResultsAfter DiskCleaner runs, it then display a list of files matching the criteria you specified to search for. You can then select the files to remove. If you are uncertain about whether a file is safe to remove, then you should probably leave it.The list of files is similar to the Windows Explorer. Click the plus (+) sign next to the category name to display the list of files in that category.

A checked category means that all files in that category are initially selected.

Check a file you want to remove or otherwise deal with.

Uncheck a file you want to leave alone.

DiskCleaner pre-checks files it is certain you can safely delete.• A check next to the file name means that you intend to do something

with the file.• No check means that the file isn’t selected. You can select the category (such as Backup Files) to select everything within that category, or you can deselect the category to deselect everything within that category. Select or deselect the files until you are satisfied with the results. When ready, click Next to continue.


DiskCleaner Safety CriteriaFiles found in the DiskCleaner searches are marked with one of the following icons:

This icon means that the file is probably safe to remove. Removing it won’t do damage to the computer, and it is most likely not a file that you are currently using or editing.

This icon means that the file might not be safe to remove. Removing it could cause damage. You should be careful about deleting these files.

This icon means that the file is locked by another program and can’t be deleted at this time.

DiskCleaner uses the following criteria for marking files as Safe to Remove:• The file can’t be in the Windows folder or a subfolder (usually this

means C:\Windows or C:\WinNT), with the exception of Internet Explorer folders.

• The file can’t have a modify date newer than 3 months.• The file can’t have an extension of .dll, .exe, .com, .sys, .386, .vxd, or

.ocx. These are all potentially important system or program files.• The file can’t be a system file, hidden file, or read-only file.If you are uncertain about whether a file is safe to remove, then you should probably leave it. After you have selected the files to remove, choose Next to go to the next dialog.


DiskCleaner ActionsAfter DiskCleaner searches, you tell DiskCleaner what to do with the files you have selected. You can delete the files, send them to the Recycle Bin, zip the files, or move the files.Select the action to take:

• To delete the files and bypass the Windows Recycle Bin, select the Delete option.

• To move the checked files to the Windows Recycle Bin, select the Delete to Recycle Bin option.

• To move the checked files to a different location, select the Move option. DiskCleaner displays a field for you to enter the location where you want to move the selected files.

Enter the path to where you want the files moved, and click Next. When files are moved to the new location, they are given a new, synthetic name. You can see the old names in the Undo-It log (see “Running UndoIt” on page 231).

• To archive the selected files, select the Zip option. DiskCleaner displays a field for you to enter the name and location for the zip archive:

Choose the desired option and click Next.


Delete the Files PermanentlyThe Delete option bypasses the Recycle Bin and frees up the space immediately. You would need FileUndeleter to recover these files (see “Undeleting Files with FileUndeleter” on page 208.

Delete to the Windows Recycle BinThe Delete to Recycle Bin option removes the files, but makes them easily retrievable until you empty the Recycle Bin.

Zip the FilesZip the files into an archive file, to be stored where you specify. The Zip option keeps the files around, but taking up less disk space. DiskCleaner displays a field for you to enter the location to move the selected files.Enter the path where you want the files moved, and click Next.The current path for the files is included in their new location, so if a file is located in c:\mydir, its new location for the example above would be c:\windows\temp\mydir.DiskCleaner also displays a drop-down list with options so you can choose whether you’d like to overwrite any previous zip file you have created.

Move the Selected FilesMove the files to a new location so you can quickly determine what they are. If you select the Move option, DiskCleaner displays a field for you to enter the location to move the selected files.Enter the path where you want the files moved, and click Next. The current path for the files is included into their new location, so if a file is located in c:\mydir, its new location, for the example above, would be c:\windows\temp\mydir.


Viewing the DiskCleaner ResultsDiskCleaner performs and displays a report with the results of the actions you requested.• To print this information, click the Print button. Be aware, though,

that this could be a substantial amount of information if you deleted a lot of files.

• To restore any zipped, deleted, or moved files, use the UndoIt tool (see “Undoing Changes” on page 231). If you want to restore deleted files, you should do that as soon as possible before they are overwritten with new data.

Click Done to return to the home window.

Adding Categories to the ListIf you would like to remove some files and there isn’t a category for them, you can create your own category in DiskCleaner. 1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Cleanup category button.3. Click DiskCleaner tool button.4. Select the drive and choose Next.5. Click the Add button to display the Category Configuration window.

Category Name: Enter a descriptive name, such as “Really Old Files” or “Old Documents.”Action: Select an action from the drop-down list in the dialog. Notice that the Parameters category changes depending on the action you take (see “Choosing What to Do With Files” on page 195).Initial file selection: This field determines whether some “safe” files are pre-selected when DiskCleaner has finished searching.Other Parameters: These are different depending on the Action.

6. Enter the new category information and then click OK to add the category.


Editing the Category ConfigurationIf you would like to change the parameters of an existing category in DiskCleaner, you can the category configuration to change the name, action taken, and other parameters.1. Start up the DiskCleaner utility (click Cleanup and then choose

DiskCleaner).2. Select the drive and choose Next.3. Select a category from the list.4. Click the Edit button or double-click the category name to display the

Category Configuration window.

Category Name: Enter a descriptive name, such as “Really Old Files” or “Old Documents”Action: Select an action from the drop-down list in the dialog. Notice that the Parameters category changes depending on the action you take (see “Choosing What to Do With Files” on page 195).Initial file selection: This field determines whether some “safe” files are pre-selected when DiskCleaner has finished searching.Other Parameters: These are different depending on the Action.

5. Change any category information you want, and then click OK to apply the changes.


Choosing What to Do With FilesBelow is a list of the options that might appear under the Action drop-down list when choosing how to handle files flagged by DiskCleaner.• Empty FileUndeleter Bin: Choose this action to permanently remove

the files from your computer.• Empty Recycle Bin: Choose this action to empty the recycle bin.

There are no special parameters for this option.• Find broken shortcuts: Choose this action to locate any shortcut

files that no longer point to valid files on disk. Since shortcut files are only “pointers” to “real files”, deleting them doesn’t affect the “real” files. There are no special parameters for this option.

• Find by date: This action searches for files that have been last accessed or modified either before or after a specified date. You’ve accessed a file when you open it; you modify a file when you make changes to it.Parameters: • Older than: Select only files that haven’t been accessed or

modified (depending on how you have the first box set) after the specified date.

• Newer than: Select only files that have been accessed or modified (depending on how you have the first box set) since the specified date.

• Find by name: This action locates files based on their names.Parameters:

• Semicolon separated list of wildcard names: Enter the names or partial names of files you are searching for. Use the asterisk (*) as a wild card, and separate entries with semicolons. Examples:*.doc - All files with the extension .doc.*.doc;*.tmp - All files with the extensions .doc or .tmp.vac*.* - All files beginning with the letters “vac.”

• Find by size: This action locates files based on their size. Parameters:

• Greater than: With this option, you can enter a size in the MB field. Disk cleaner will then locate all files that are larger than the size you specify.

• Zero: With this option, you don’t enter anything in the MB field. DiskCleaner will locate all zero-size files.


• Find duplicate files: Since files of the same name are not necessarily duplicates, and files with duplicate contents might not always have the same name, there are several ways to search for duplicate files. DiskCleaner displays all file names when it finds two or more duplicate files.Parameters:

• Matching names: Checks for duplicate file names only. • Matching names and sizes: Checks both the file names and file

sizes.• Matching names, sizes and contents: Checks file names and

files sizes. If these are the same, DiskCleaner performs a binary compare of the files to see if the contents are the same as well.

NOTE: The binary compare takes a long time to run.

• Matching sizes and contents: Checks for duplicate file sizes. It then compares the contents of files with duplicate sizes using a binary compare method.

• Find empty folders: Locates any folders containing no files. There are no special parameters for this option.

• Find files in folders: Locates and displays all files in any folder(s) you specify. Disk cleaner locates all occurrences of the folder(s) you specify, no matter how deep in the directory structure. Parameter:

Semicolon separated list of wildcard names: You can enter the whole folder name, or use asterisks as wild card characters. Some examples are:• TEMP;MY DOCUMENTS

Display files in c:\temp, c:\window\temp, and c:\my documents.• P*

Displays file in all folders beginning with the letter “p” or “P”• Find Web cache folders: This feature is essentially the same as the

“Find files in folders” action. However, choosing the Find Web Caches button inserts the current web cache folder name in the names field. You can append file names to the web cache folder name.For example: C:\WINDOWS\temporary internet files\*.htm

If you don’t specify any files, DiskCleaner lists all files in that directory.

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Cleaning the System Registry

OverviewThe Windows registry contains information about settings and options for software, hardware, and preferences. Over time, the registry can be cluttered with leftover information. The RegistryCleaner can remove unnecessary items from your Windows registry.

Using RegistryCleanerCleaning out registry reduces the size of your registry and potentially increases responsiveness of your computer.The Advanced mode provides access to more items in the registry; however, you should not remove any items in the Advanced options unless you are an experienced user and absolutely know what you are doing.

NOTE: You can also run RegistryCleaner from the CleanUp and Comprehensive Wizards (see “One-Click Solutions Wizards” on page 49).

198 • Cleaning the System Registry Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

To Run RegistryCleaner1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Cleanup category button.3. Click the RegistryCleaner tool button.4. Select the items you want removed from your registry.

If you have already removed a particular item, the box is grayed-out:• Recent Documents List: Windows keeps a list of recently

opened documents for easy access. You can see this list on your Windows Start menu. The list rebuilds again as you open more documents, so you might want to select this option to clear this list periodically.

• Tip of the Day: The Windows Tip of the Day file is installed with Windows 2000 and XP, and is controlled by the registry. It displays a tip when you start your computer. Many people turn this tip off soon after installing, but the file is still there. Choose this option to eliminate the Windows Tip of the Day. This option is not available in Windows Vista.

• Find Computer List: Select this option (for networks) to remove the list of computers you have recently searched for on your network. To see this list, open the Start menu, select Find > Computer, and then choose the down arrow in the Named box. This list rebuilds again as you continue to search for computers, so you might want to clean this list periodically.

• Run List: Select this option to remove the list of programs you have recently run from the Windows Run command dialog. To see this list, open the Start Menu, select Run, and choose the down-arrow in the Open box. This option cleans that list. This list rebuilds itself again when you use the Run command, so you might want to clean this list periodically.

• Documents Find List: Select this option to remove the list of files that you have recently searched for. To see this list, open the Start menu, select Search > Files and Folder, and choose the down arrow in the Named box. This option cleans that list. The list rebuilds again, so you might want to clean this list periodically.

A “grayed-out” option means it is unavailable and that there are no items to remove, or you have already cleaned it.

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5. If you want to run more advanced options, choose the Advanced button.The Advanced options should be used with care, because you can potentially cause harm to your computer. For more information, see “Setting the Advanced Options for RegistryCleaner” on page 199.

6. After you have selected your options, choose Apply to continue.RegistryCleaner cleans out the items you have specified, and then produces a summary report.• To save the report as a text file, click the Save button.• To print the results, click the Print button.

7. When you are finished, choose Done to close the wizard.

NOTE: You will not see the effects of RegistryCleaner until you restart your computer. If you don’t like the results of your selected registry clean, you can undo the actions (see “Undoing Changes” on page 231).

Setting the Advanced Options for RegistryCleanerEach option in the Advanced RegistryCleaner tool has a color-coded icon next to it. Green indicates that you can select the option with no negative consequences, while yellow or red indicates that you should be careful—you could potentially do harm to your computer.

Advanced options include the following:• Remove unnecessary registry items: This option is the same as the

standard CleanRegistry tool. It cleans out the Recent Documents list, the Find Computer history list, the Run history list, and the Find Files & Folders history list.

• Clean out unused Desktop Schemes: This option cleans out the group of colors and background patterns that Windows 2000 and XP use to display your desktop. Desktop schemes can be changed from the Display icon in the Control Panel. You might want to eliminate some schemes you know you will never need; be sure not to delete all of them. This option is not available in Windows Vista.

200 • Cleaning the System Registry Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

• Clean out unused International Keyboard Settings: This option removes the settings that allow you to map your keyboard to other countries’ standard settings. Be sure not to delete your settings.

• Clean out unused Time Zones: Windows contains a list of every time zone around the world. If you are reasonably certain that you or your computer will never be in Astana, Yakutsk, or Nuku’Alofa, you can remove those time zones. Be sure not to delete your own time zone, or any time zone you might access with your computer.

• Clean out invalid Add or Remove Programs and Microsoft Installer entries: This option allows you to remove items from the registry that haven’t been properly uninstalled or deleted. Be sure not to delete any items for currently installed programs, or you might not ba able to access those programs.

CAUTION: The Advanced options can seriously affect your computer’s operation by removing the wrong items from the registry. Skipping the Advanced options will ensure that you remove only safe items.

Viewing the RegistryCleaner ResultsThis dialog displays the success level of the RegistryCleaner. If there is a problem, Fix-It Utilities attempts to determine the problem and recommend a solution.The results of RegistryCleaner can be printed by clicking the Print button. Click Done when finished.

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Shredding Files and Folders

OverviewThe data saved to your hard drive is left on the drive after deleting or sending the data to the Recycle Bin. Deletion only means that the operating system no longer has access to the data, not that the actual information has been removed. It’s like removing the specific entry in a book’s table of contents without going out to the chapter area to rip out the associated pages. All operating systems currently employ this timesaving method of deletion.File Shredder is a permanent means to remove unwanted files from your hard drive.

CAUTION: After you shred a file or folder, there is NO WAY to retrieve the data. We recommend backing up any important files before shredding any files or folders.

202 • Shredding Files and Folders Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Permanently Deleting Files and Folders If you want to remove permanently delete files and folders from your hard drive, click the Cleanup category and choose the Shreder button to view information about using Shredder, or follow the steps listed below.

To Shred Files and Folders1. Open Windows Explorer and locate the files or folders to shred.2. Right-click to view the context menu.3. Choose Fit-It > Shred Files from the menu.

A dialog appears listing all the files you’ve selected to shred.

4. Click OK to shred them, or Cancel to abort.

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Changing the File Shredder SettingsThe Shredder settings allow you to change the level of shredding to perform each time to shred files or folders. By default, the shredding level is set to 1 pass. However, if you need to shred files even more sercurly, you can choose the 3-pass option.

To View the Shredder Settings1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Cleanup category button.3. Click the Shredder tool button.4. Click the Settings button at the bottom of the window.

NOTE: You can also access the Shredder settings from the Home window by clicking the Cleanup catagory and then clicking the Settings button.

5. Choose the level of shredding.• Normal Shredding (1 pass, quickest) • Enhanced DoD Shredding (3 passes)

6. Click OK to apply the changes.

204 • Shredding Files and Folders Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Recovery • 205

RECOVERY

Recovering Lost Data 207

Creating a Checkpoint 215

Restoring a Checkpoint 221

Managing Checkpoints 223

Making a Rescue CD 225

Backing Up Critical Information 227

Emergency Manual 261

Undoing Changes 231

206 • Recovery Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Recovering Lost Data • 207

Recovering Lost Data

OverviewAfter you delete a file, you might realize that you want it back. If you want to recover a file you have deleted, FileUndeleter might be able to restore it for you. This is possible because deleted files are not actually removed from your drive. The disk area occupied by that file becomes available to be overwritten, but until that happens, the old data is still there. You should run FileUndeleter as soon as you know you want to recover a file, because the deleted data could be overwritten at any time.When you delete a file through Windows, it is first moved to the Windows Recycle Bin. When you empty the Recycle Bin, or delete files in other ways, the deleted files can be moved to the Fix-It Utilities Deleted Files Bin. This is a small “cache” or receptacle that is a last-chance place for deleted files. After they have been removed from the Deleted Files Bin, the space those files occupy on disk can be overwritten by other data any time. For more information, see “About the Deleted Files Bin” on page 211.

208 • Recovering Lost Data Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Undeleting Files with FileUndeleterDeleted files might be in any of the following locations:• The Windows Recycle bin are 100% recoverable.• The Fix-It Utilities Deleted Files bin are also 100% recoverable.

Except for certain temporary files, files are moved to the Fix-It Utilities Deleted Files Bin when you do any of the following:• Empty the Windows Recycle Bin• Delete files manually using the command prompt• Delete files using a program• Delete files in any way that bypasses the Windows Recycle Bin

• Marked as available space might or might not be recoverable depending on whether they have been overwritten.

To Start Searching for Files1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Recovery category button.3. Click the FileUndeleter tool button.4. Select the drive from which to recover the file, and click Next.

A checked box indicates which drive is selected.

The next window shows you all of the files in the Windows Recycle Bin and the Fix-It Utilities Deleted Files Bin. Look for your file here first; if it is in this list, it’s 100% recoverable.

5. Choose the file(s) you want to recover, and then click the Recover Files button.You can also use this window to empty both bins if you prefer.

6. If the file you want to recover isn’t on this list, click Next to narrow your search.


Narrowing the SearchThe FileUndeleter Search window gives you another chance to look for the files. If you know anything about the file name, enter a pattern for which FileUndeleter will search. The more you know about the file, the better. If you know the entire file name, enter that. Since deleted files are renamed when they are moved from the Windows Recycle Bin to the Deleted Files Bin, you might also want to further define your search by entering a “wild card” name, such as *.bmp. You can enter multiple patterns, separated by semi-colons. File Name Match Pattern allows you to enter search parameters. The more you can narrow the search, the more likely you are to locate the correct file quickly. If you don’t enter anything into this field, FileUndeleter searches for and reports on all deleted files it can find.

t* All file names beginning with t or T.*.doc All file names with the extension .doc.*atm* Any files with the characters “atm” anywhere in the

file name.m*;p*;*.bmp All files beginning with m, M, p, or P, and all files with

the extension .bmp.

Report Zero-Length Files enables files with a zero-length to be included in the search. By default, FileUndeleter doesn’t report on files of zero length even if the file names match the search criteria. If you check this option, FileUndeleter will report all files, even zero-length files

NOTE: Windows automatically renames files that are emptied from the Windows Recycle Bin to the Fix-It Utilities Deleted Files Bin, although it usually keeps the same extension (.doc, .bmp, etc.). Keep this in mind when searching for deleted files.

Click Next to scan using your search criteria.


Viewing the Recovery ListWhen FileUndeleter completes searching using your defined search criteria, a list of potentially recoverable files matching in the Windows Recycle Bin, the Fix-It Utilities Deleted Files Bin, plus any deleted files that are still on the disk. If your file is in either the Recycle Bin or the Deleted Files Bin, they are 100% recoverable. If they are on the disk, but not in either of the bins, they might not be completely recoverable. The list can be sorted by any category by clicking the column heading to change the sort.• Name is the current name of the file. In some cases, file names are

changed by the Windows operating system, so your file might begin with different characters.

• Confidence is the level of assurance that FileUndeleter has that it can completely recover the file. Levels are: poor, fair, good, very good, and excellent.

• Size is the current size of the file.• Date is the date the file was deleted.• Time is the time the file was deleted.• Path is the original directory path of the file. If the file being recovered has new characters in the name, you might see a message like the following:The first character of this file’s name cannot be determined. Please enter a new first character for the file’s name.

This is the result of the computer changing the file name when it was deleted. Enter any character (be sure to remember which one), and FileUndeleter will try to restore the file with the new name.


Restoring the Deleted FilesBe aware that the FileUndeleter program can only recover data that is still on the disk. If it has been overwritten, then a file might not be recoverable.

To Restore a Deleted FileSelect the file to be recovered, and click the Recover File button. In this step, you can recover only one file at a time.

Fix-It Utilities then recovers all of the data it can, and puts recovered files into their original locations.If you want to select more files to recover, you can return to the FileUndeleter window, click another file to be recovered, and then click the Recover button.Click Done when you are finished.

NOTE: The best way to help FileUndeleter recover files is to run DiskSnapshot regularly and use the Deleted Files Bin. You can run DiskSnapshot every time you start Windows (see “Changing the DiskSnapshot Settings” on page 229).

About the Deleted Files BinAlthough there is no menu item that refers to the Deleted Files Bin, this is a feature that temporarily stores your deleted files once you have emptied the Windows Recycle Bin and increases the chances of recovering deleted files. To use this feature, you must enable it in the FileUndeleter Settings window.


Viewing the FileUndeleter SettingsThe FileUndeleter Settings dialog allows you to set aside a certain portion of your disk for the Deleted Files Bin. Any files that are in either the Windows Recycle Bin or the Deleted Files Bin are 100% recoverable, so if you accidentally delete a file, your chances of recovering it are much higher than if you didn’t enable the Deleted Files Bin.To activate the Deleted Files bin and change the maximum size, click the Settings button from either the Recovery home window or the first FileUndeleter screen.

At the Settings window, click the File Undeleter tab.When you enable the Deleted Files Bin on a particular drive, files on that drive are moved to this bin when you do any of the following:• Empty the Windows Recycle Bin• Delete files from DOS• Delete files from a program• Delete files in any way that bypasses the Windows Recycle Bin.

NOTE: Windows automatically renames files that are emptied from the Windows Recycle Bin to the Fix-It Utilities Deleted Files Bin, although it usually keeps the same extension (.doc, .bmp, etc.). When searching for deleted files, you should keep this in mind.


Drive SettingsSelect the drive(s) you want to have the Deleted Files Bin active on.The Maximum % of drive to use for preserved files slider allows you to allocate the percentage of your drive to be reserved for deleted files. When the bin fills up, the oldest files in the Deleted Files Bin are removed as other files are added. If you don’t want to activate the Deleted Files Bin at all, uncheck all drives.Max preserved file count: You can change the maximum number of preserved files. The deleted files kept in the Deleted Files Bin will never exceed the percentage of the drive allocated for that purpose, but you can also limit the total number of files in case there are a lot of very small or zero-length files deleted.The File Types button allows you to see and modify the list of file types that don’t go into the Deleted Files Bin when they are deleted. It displays a list of current file extensions (such as TMP or BAK) for those saved in the Deleted Files Bin when they are deleted

• To add more file extension types, click the Add button.• To remove extensions from the list, select the item and click the

Remove button.When you’re done, click OK to close the window.


Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Creating a Checkpoint • 215

Creating a Checkpoint

OverviewCheckpoints are markers that store information about your computer at the time they are created. These checkpoints contain information that allows you to return to a past configuration by restoring the checkpoint (see “Restoring a Checkpoint” on page 221).

Creating Checkpoints ManuallyUse the CreateCheckpoint tool to manually create a checkpoint. You might use this option if you have turned off scheduled checkpoints or have the checkpoints scheduled infrequently. 1. Click the Recovery category button.2. Type a name for the checkpoint and choose OK to create it.3. Use the Create a System Restore Checkpoint if you would like to

create a System Restore checkpoint as well as a Recovery Commander checkpoint.

4. Click the Next button.The program starts creating the checkpoint. Making a checkpoint typically takes less than 30 seconds.When completed, a report appears indicating the results of the tool.

5. You can Save or Print this report using the associated buttons at the bottom of the screen.

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Activating Recovery CommanderTo activate Recovery Commander, place the cursor over the Fix-It Utilities tray icon and right-click to display the context menu to display the Recovery Commander Settings window.

A check next to Checkpoint Monitor in the context menu indicates that it is currently active. To deactivate Recovery Commander, choose the option again from the menu to view the settings for Recovery Commander and change the settings as needed (see “Changing Checkpoint Settings” on page 217).

Scheduling Checkpoint CreationCheckpoints can be scheduled for creation using SystemScheduler in the Fix & Maintain tool group. For more information, see “Opening the SystemScheduler” on page 150.


Changing Checkpoint SettingsThe settings options for creating checkpoint are accessed by clicking Recovery category button and then clicking the Settings button. Click the Recovery Commander tab.You can also access the settings by right-clicking the tray icon and choosing Checkpoint Monitor from the context menu.

The following options are available from within the settings:• Run Recovery Commander monitor• Detect when a setup program is launched and offer to create a

checkpoint• If a setup program is launched, create a checkpoint automatically• Show warnings when the disk layout has changed or there are no

checkpoints• Create a System Restore checkpoint every time Recovery

Commander creates a checkpoint


Adding Custom Directories and FilesAlong with the standard files stored with the checkpoints, you can also add custom directories and files to be placed in every checkpoint.1. Click the Add button.

2. Browse to the desired folder and select the folder or file to include.3. Click OK to add the folder or file.

The selected item appears in the list at the bottom of the Recovery Commander settings tab.

Setting the Checkpoint Storage PolicyClick the Storage Policies button to make changes to how checkpoints are stored on your computer. When you click this button, the following options are available to you:• Limit number of checkpoints stored to:• Limit percentage of system drive space used for storing

checkpoints to:• Set amount of system drive space to remain available to:• Limit length of time checkpoints are stored to:

Check the box next to each option you want to modify, and then enter a value in the box. Click OK to apply the changes.


Creating Checkpoints When Installing New ProgramsIf you have enabled the Detect when a startup program is launched and offer to create a checkpoint in the Checkpoint Settings, a dialog appears each time you attempt to install any new programs asking you if you want to create a new checkpoint.

The Setup and Checkpoint Description boxes give you information about the program you are about to install. In this dialog, you are also given the options to:• Automatically create a checkpoint next time• Do not detect installation launches

To create a new checkpoint, click the Create button.To save changes, but not create a checkpoint, click the Close button.To not save changes or create a checkpoint, click the (x) in the upper-right corner.

Creating Checkpoints After Hard Drive ConfigurationIf you’ve made configuration changes to your hard disks on your computer since the last checkpoint was created, the next time Fix-It Utilities starts, a dialog appears asking you to create a new checkpoint.For example, yesterday you created a Recovery Commander checkpoint, and today you added another hard drive and restarted your computer.


Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Restoring a Checkpoint • 221

Restoring a Checkpoint

OverviewIf you want to return your computer to a previous state, you can use one of the checkpoints you’ve create. These markers store critical Windows files, system registry data, and disk information about your computer at the time they are created, which allow you to return to a past configuration.

NOTE: Fix-It Utilities also has the ability to restore Windows System Restore checkpoints. For more information, see “Managing System Restore Checkpoints” on page 224.

Running RestoreCheckpointThe RestoreCheckpoint tool is used to restore the computer data stored in a checkpoint. When you select this tool, it scans your computer for available checkpoints and displays a list with the checkpoint name, and the date and time is was created.

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To Run RestoreCheckpoint1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Recovery category button.3. Click the RestoreCheckpoint tool button.4. Choose the desired checkpoint from the list.5. Click the Next button to display the following message:

Do you want to create an Undo checkpoint before the checkpoint you selected is restored?

• Click Yes to create an Undo checkpoint that allows you to undo the restore feature.

• Click No to not create this undo checkpoint.

NOTE: After the checkpoint is restored, you must restart the computer to complete the restore. If a ScanDisk starts when you restart your computer, we recommend that you allow it to finish

Undoing a Checkpoint RestoreUndoing a checkpoint restore is just like doing a regular checkpoint restore. The only difference is that when you list the checkpoints, select the one with the name Undo checkpoint and with the correct date.

To Undo a Restored Checkpoint1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Recovery category button.3. Click the RestoreCheckpoint tool button.4. Choose the desired undo checkpoint from the list.5. Click the Next button to display the following message:

Do you want to create an Undo checkpoint before the checkpoint you selected is restored?

• Click Yes to create an Undo checkpoint that allows you to undo the restore feature.

• Click No to not create this undo checkpoint.After the undo checkpoint is restored, you must restart the computer to complete the restore.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Managing Checkpoints • 223

Managing Checkpoints

OverviewThe ManageCheckpoints tool is used to view, restore, and delete checkpoint created on your computer. There is an option to view either Recovery Commander or System Restore checkpoints, and the ability to restore a checkpoint from the manager.

Managing Recovery Commander CheckpointsWhen you start ManageCheckpoint, it scans your computer for available checkpoints created using Fix-It Utilities. It then displays a list with the checkpoint name, and the date and time is was created. From this list, you can restore or delete Recovery Commander checkpoints.

To Work with Recovery Commander Checkpoints1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Recovery category button.3. Click the ManageCheckpoint tool button.4. Choose the desired checkpoint from the list.

• Click Go To Restore Checkpoint to restore the checkpoint. You are directed to the RestoreCheckpoint tool page to restore the checkpoint you selected (see Restoring a Checkpoint (see page 221).

• Click Delete to delete the checkpoint and display the following message:Are you sure you want to delete the checkpoint you selected?Click Yes to delete the checkpoint or No to cancel the delete operation.

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Managing System Restore CheckpointsOn Windows XP sand Vista systems, you can also use the ManageCheckpoints tool to review the list of System Restore checkpoints on your computer. From this list, you can restore or delete System Restore checkpoints.

To Work with System Restore Checkpoints1. Click Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Recovery category button.3. Click the ManageCheckpoint tool button.4. Click the System Restore Checkpoints button.

The tool scans your computer for System Restore checkpoints and displays a list with the System Restore checkpoint name and the date and time is was created.

5. Choose the desired System Restore checkpoint.• Click Restore to restore the checkpoint.

After the System Restore checkpoint is restored, you must restart the computer to complete the System Restore.

• Click Delete to delete the System Restore checkpoint.A message appears with a question: Are you sure you want to delete the System Restore checkpoint you selected?

Click Yes to delete the System Restore checkpoint or No to cancel the delete operation.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Making a Rescue CD • 225

Making a Rescue CD

OverviewThe Rescue Disk is a bootable CD that contains tools and information to help you repair your computer if it doesn’t start property.The following are some of the problems that a Rescue CD can help repair.• Damaged Configuration Files• Deleted System Files• Corrupted RegistryTo determine if you need to create a Rescue CD, check below to see which category you fall into:• If you purchased your copy of Fix-It Utilities as a boxed program, the

installation CD also acts as your Rescue CD. Even if you are having problems with your Windows system before you install Fix-It Utilities, you might be able to start from this CD if your computer won’t otherwise start up.

• If you don’t have an installation CD, you can create a Rescue CD for yourself. You must have either a CD or DVD burner, or access to one, to create the Rescue CD. You should create your own Rescue CD as soon as you install Fix-It Utilities.

In addition, you can use the Rescue Disk to perform basic partitioning operations such as Create, Delete, Format, and Verify; correct a defective BOOT.INI file; and securely erase drives or partitions.After you have a Rescue CD (or Installation CD), see “Getting Started if Your Computer is in Trouble” on page 263 and “Starting from a Rescue Disk” on page 264.

NOTE: The Rescue Disk file is encrypted in the program folder. When you click OK on the RescueDisk window, the file is decrypted and placed in the Fix-It Utilities folder.

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Creating a Rescue Disk CDTo create a Rescue Disk CD, you need a blank CD or DVD and a CD or DVD-drive.

TIP: If you don’t have a CD/DVD ready, the encrypted Rescue Disk file can still be decrypted by clicking OK. You can locate the RescuDisk.iso file later in the Fix-It Utilities program folder to create the Rescue Disk.

1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Recovery category button.3. Click the RescueDisk tool button.

A window displays some detailed information about Rescue Disk. 4. Click OK to load our Rescue Disk ISO image into your computer’s

CD or DVD burning software.

Rescue Disk Selection DialogBefore creating the Rescue Disk, you must prepare the drive and disk.1. Insert a recordable disc into your CD/DVD burner.

The Rescue Disk ISO file image file accesses your CD/DVD burning software to write the file to the disc.

2. Click OK to create the Rescue Disk. The Rescue Disk file will then be copied to the disk. You’ll get a report when it’s complete.

3. Click Done to return to the home window.If the file doesn’t load automatically, you can locate the Rescue Disk ISO image in the Fix-It Utilities install folder. Its filename is:Rescue_Disk.iso After you locate it, you should burn a CD or DVD using this image file.

Viewing the Rescue Disk ResultsAnother screen appears after the Rescue Disk has been burned.• If you have some blank disk labels in your printer, click Print to make

a label. Otherwise clearly label your Rescue Disk yourself and keep in in a safe place.

• Some of the saved information is specific to your computer, so you can also label the computer it was created on.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Backing Up Critical Information • 227

Backing Up Critical Information

OverviewDiskSnapshot grabs an image (a type of copy) of the File Allocation Table (FAT), boot sectors, and other critical disk structure information on your computer. Running DiskSnapshot regularly ensures that if you have to rescue your computer after a crash, the recovery will be as easy as possible. It also increases the likelihood of success when recovering files with FileUndeleter.

Data DamageMost programs don’t cause problems. However, there is a chance that a badly designed program might overwrite critical files such as the boot sector, the system registry, or the File Allocation Table (FAT). If this happens, your computer might not start up without the Fix-It Utilities Rescue Disk. It might also crash before you can realize what happened.

228 • Backing Up Critical Information Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Running DiskSnapshotYou can run DiskSnapshot manually, or have Fix-It Utilities run it whenever you start your computer. For more information, see “Changing the DiskSnapshot Settings” on page 229.1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Recovery category button.3. Click the DiskSnapshot tool button.4. Select the disk(s) to be imaged (typically your main hard drive) and

click Next.

Fix-It Utilities saves the disk files to its own default folder for safekeeping (C:\_Backup\IMAGES\ by default). The image file is always stored on the same drive that is being imaged. For example, if you are imaging drive F:, the image is saved to F:\_Backup\|IMAGES\.

NOTE: The _Backup folder is a hidden folder. By default, Windows doesn’t display hidden files or folders to protect them from accidental deletion. If you need see this folder in Explorer, you must select the Show hidden files and folders option in the folder view options. For more information, see the documentation for your operating system.

5. Click Done to return to the home window.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Backing Up Critical Information • 229

Changing the DiskSnapshot SettingsThe DiskSnapShot settings let you select what drive(s) you want to take a snapshot of, and whether to take a DiskSnapShot each time you start your computer.

To Open the DiskSnapshot Settings1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Recovery category button.3. Click the Settings button to display the settings window.

The Create snapshots on startup option creates a new snapshot of the disk structure every time Windows starts. Checking this option gives FileUndeleter a higher likelihood of success at recovering deleted files.Be sure that the drive(s) containing system files are checked in the Drives to Snapshot window

NOTE: If you have only NTFS-formatted partitions, you don’t need to use DiskSnapshot at startup.

.

230 • Backing Up Critical Information Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Viewing the DiskSnapshot Results DialogThe DiskSnapshot Results Dialog shows the results of taking a snapshot of critical system files. It also gives you the location of the snapshot file.

• To print the results, click the Print button.• To save the results as an RTF or TXT file, click the Save button.Click Done to return to the main Recovery window.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Undoing Changes • 231

Undoing Changes

OverviewThe UndoIt feature allows you to undo the results of some Fix-It Utilities programs, but not all. It looks at the Fix-It Utilities log, determines which actions you have run that can be reversed, and displays a list of those actions.After you select which actions to reverse, you can undo them.

Running UndoItWhen you start Undo-It, you are given the choice of which utility you want to reverse the changes for. Follow the steps below for running UndoIt.

232 • Undoing Changes Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

To Undo Change by Fix-It Utilities1. Click the Home button to view the Home window.2. Click the Recovery category button.3. Click the UndoIt tool button to display the undo list.

4. Click one of the buttons on the left to select the utility you want to undo.A tree-view of log files appears for each time the utility was run.

5. Check the box next to the items to be backed out.6. Click Apply to continue.

When UndoIt completes, the results report appears (see “Viewing the UndoIt Results” on page 232).

Viewing the UndoIt ResultsThe results of the UndoIt feature appear in the window with the date of the action and a list of the items that were undone. These results can be printed or saved.Click the Done button to close this dialog.

Saving UndoIt Log FIlesThe log file can be saved after completing the UndoIt utility.1. Click the Save button.2. Enter a new name for the file, or use the default name.3. Select the type of file to save the report as:

• Rich Text Format (*.rtf)• Plain Text (*.txt)

4. Select the location to save the file.5. Click the Save button to save the file.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Recovery Commander • 233

RECOVERY COMMANDER

Recovery Commander Overview 235

Recovering a Non-Starting Computer 237

Restoring Computer Functionality 241

Managing Files and Folders 247

234 • Recovery Commander Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Recovery Commander Overview • 235

Recovery Commander Overview

OverviewRecovery Commander helps you repair your computer if Windows becomes unstable or unable to start. It works by saving checkpoints automatically both on a periodic basis and before you install new software (see “Creating a Checkpoint” on page 215). These checkpoints save critical computer information, important system files, and boot record information. In the event Windows becomes corrupted and fails to start, you can start from the Rescue CD and select which checkpoint you want to restore. In only a couple of minutes, you can be up and running.

Key BenefitsRecovery Commander provides a number of unique capabilities:• Automatic periodic saves of critical system information• Recovery from failures such as:

• Corrupt or damaged registry• Damaged boot record• Missing system files• BOOT.INI and BCD (Vista) configuration errors

• Works with all Windows file systems• Fixes Windows when it can’t start.• Automatically creates checkpoints for new program installations

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Technical Highlights• Supports the latest Windows operating systems.• Supports all Windows file systems.• Enhances Windows Recovery Console features.• Creates multiple checkpoints.• Features BootFixer to correct configuration problems in Boot.ini and

Vista’s BCD.• Compares checkpoints to current working environment.• Restores checkpoints from within Windows or from Rescue CD.• Views, Restores, and Deletes System Restore checkpoints.• Selectively restores parts of a checkpoint.• Logs all actions in an internal log file.• Creates manual and automatic (when a new program is installed)

checkpoints.• Supports viewing and editing files in Text mode.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Recovering a Non-Starting Computer • 237

Recovering a Non-Starting Computer

OverviewWhen you recover from a computer failure using a checkpoint, any programs installed after the checkpoint date will need to be reinstalled. Your data isn’t affected by a restoration.

Starting from the Rescue CDThe Rescue CD is a bootable CD that contains the tools you need to repair your computer and return to a state in which your computer was operating properly.

To Start the Rescue CDInsert the Rescue CD and restart your computer.• If you haven’t made the Rescue CD, see “Making a Rescue CD” on

page 225.• If you have the Fix-It Utilities installation CD, you can also use it as a

Rescue CD.Restarting the computer can take 15-30 seconds to start up.When the program first starts, it does a general scan to analyze your hard drives and partitions before displaying the Rescue Disk Wizard.

NOTE: If the computer doesn’t start from the Rescue CD, check that the System BIOS is set to boot from a CD. For more information, refer to the documentation that came with your computer.

238 • Recovering a Non-Starting Computer Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Viewing the Rescue Disk WizardThe Rescue Disk functions and appearance is similar to a Windows operating system. When Rescue Disk starts, it displays a group of tools in the Rescue Wizard.

• Recovery Commander is a group of tools that allows you make full or partial restore from checkpoints, as well as manage your files and folders (see “Restoring Computer Functionality” on page 241 and “Managing Files and Folders” on page 247).

• BootFixer - Fixes BCD/BOOT.INI attempts to repair problems with the Windows boot configuration files (for more information, see “Fixing the Boot File” on page 245).

• Manual Partitioning creates and deletes partitions on your hard drive (see “Manually Partitioning Your Disks” on page 253).

NOTE: Be sure to remove any bootable media before restarting your computer.

Select one of these options, or close the Recovery Commander Wizard. You can also access the tools listed in the Wizard from the Start Menu (see “Choosing Tasks from the Start Menu” on page 239).

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Recovering a Non-Starting Computer • 239

Choosing Tasks from the Start MenuThe Rescue Disk Start Menu looks and functions much like the Windows Start menu.

The Start Menu contains the following options:• Partitioning opens the Manual Partitioning tool. (see “Manually

Partitioning Your Disks” on page 253).• Recovery Commander opens the Recovery Commander Wizard to

select the Windows installation you want to use (see “Choosing the Windows Directory” on page 240).

• Rescue Disk Wizard opens the main Rescue Disk Wizard. (see “Viewing the Rescue Disk Wizard” on page 238).

• The Settings option contains two choices:• Settings opens the Settings dialog to make changes in the way

Manual Partitioning functions (see “Manually Partitioning Your Disks” on page 253).

• Regional Settings allows you to select the time zone and the language of your operating system.

• Help displays help and version information about Rescue Disk.• Exit restarts your computer.

NOTE: Be sure to remove any bootable media before restarting your computer.

When your computer restarts, it might start ScanDisk or CheckDisk. Let the program finish to ensure the restoration is completed properly. Canceling it might make Windows unable to start.

240 • Recovering a Non-Starting Computer Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Choosing the Windows DirectoryWhen you select the Recovery Commander option from the Rescue Disk Wizard, the program scans your computer to detect existing Windows installations and their versions, including service packs. A window appears with a list of all available installations.1. Select the Windows directory you want to use Recovery Commander

for.The different operating system installed on your computer display the Partition, Directory, and Windows Version.

2. Click the Next button to continue.3. Click Yes to create an Undo checkpoint.

An Undo checkpoint allows you to undo any restore changes you make to the computer. If you don’t want to create the Undo checkpoint, click No.

4. Choose from the following options:• Restore the functionality of the system (see “Restoring

Computer Functionality” on page 241)• View, edit, or copy files/folders (see “Managing Files and

Folders” on page 247)

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Restoring Computer Functionality • 241

Restoring Computer Functionality

OverviewWhen you select the Restore the functionality of the computer option, from Recovery Commander, you are given the following options:• Restoring a Recovery Commander Checkpoint (see page 242)• Restoring a System Restore Checkpoint (see page 243)• Restoring with Windows File Protection (see page 243)• Undo a Previous Restore (see page 245)

Restoring CheckpointsThe Restore the functionality of the system option allows you to restore Recovery Commander and Windows System Restore checkpoint. These checkpoints contain vital system information. A Recovery Commander checkpoint can be fully or partially restored.

NOTE: Restarting your computer is required after restoring a checkpoint or undoing a checkpoint restore.

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Restoring a Recovery Commander CheckpointA Recovery Commander checkpoint is created by Recovery Commander in Windows. These can be created automatically or manually from within Fix-It Utilities. For more information, see “Creating a Checkpoint” on page 215.Select the Restore Recovery Commander checkpoint option to view a list of available checkpoints.

Choose the desired checkpoint from the list and then click Next.

NOTE: You can choose the Identify Differences option to compare the information in the checkpoint to that currently on your computer.

To Perform a Full RestoreIf you don’t check the Identify Differences option, clicking Next automatically restores all information from the selected checkpoint.

To Identify DifferencesIf you check the Identify Differences option and click Next, a window appears listing the contents of the checkpoint compared to that currently on your computer. A status of either Same or Different appears with each line item.• To select only the files you want restored, hold down the CTRL button

and click the files.• To restore the selected files, click the Restore Selected button.• To restore all the files, click the Restore All button.Click Finish to complete the restore.


Restoring a System Restore CheckpointSystem Restore Checkpoints are those create by Windows. Recovery Commander can read these checkpoints as well, and use them to restore your computer. System Restore Checkpoints don’t contain as much information about your computer as Recovery Commander Checkpoints.1. Select the Restore a System Restore Checkpoint option to view a

list of available System Restore checkpoints.

2. Select the desired checkpoint from the list.3. Click the Restore Selected button.4. Click Finish to complete the restore.

Restoring with Windows File ProtectionRestoring your computer using Windows File Protection compares all the system files currently on your computer to those of the Windows Cache. The initial scan can take a considerably long time, depending on how many system files it must compare.


To Restore Using File ProtectionChoose the Restore the System Using Windows File Protection option to view a list of available System Restore checkpoints and the status of each file.

In this dialog you can choose to do the following:• Choose to not hide valid files.• Select only the files you want restored by holding down the CTRL

button and clicking the files.• Restore the selected files using the Fix Selected button.• Restore all the files using the Fix All button.Click Finish to complete the restore.


Undo a Previous RestoreEach time you start Recovery Commander, you are given the option to create an Undo checkpoint. These checkpoints allow you to undo a restore operation if you decide that the files you restored where not the correct ones.

To Undo a Previous Restore1. Select the Undo A Previous Restore option to display a list of all

available Undo checkpoints.

2. Select the checkpoint you want to undo from the list.3. Click the Next button.4. Click Finish to complete the restore.

Fixing the Boot FileThe BootFixer™ utility allows you to automatically correct problems in Windows boot.ini file.To fix the boot file, choose BootFixer from the Rescue Disk Wizard. The tool starts automatically scanning the boot.ini file for problems. If you’ve closed the Rescue Disk, click the Start menu and choose Rescue Disk Wizard.When BootFixer completes, a status window displays indicating actions taken by BootFixer. Click Close to close the window.


Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Managing Files and Folders • 247

Managing Files and Folders

OverviewWhen you choose the View, Edit, or Copy files/folders options from Recovery Commander, there are three options available to choose from:

• File Explorer - View, edit, delete files/folders (see “Exploring Your Files” on page 248)

• Backup the contents of a folder (see “Backing Up Folder Contents” on page 249)

• Restore the contents of a folder (see “Restoring Folder Contents” on page 250)

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Exploring Your FilesFile Explorer looks very similar to Windows Explorer. The pane on the left displays your available partitions and drives. The pane on the right displays the the contents of the selected partition or drive.

File Explorer allows you to do the following:• To delete files and folders, select the file(s) or folder(s) and

then click the Delete button at the top of the dialog.• To browse the files and folder of your computer, click the

Move Back button to move up the directory, or double-click a folder to move down the directory.

• To creating a new folder, browse to the desired directory and then click the New Folder button.

• To copy files and folders to another partition, hard drive, or USB drive, select the file or folder and then drag a copy of it to the new location.

• To edit text files, browse to their location and then double-click the text file to open it in the text editor.

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Backing Up Folder ContentsBacking up the contents of a folder allows you to make a copy of a directory and place it in a different location. When this option is selected, a dialog appears with four Source options:

• All file on the system drive backs up all files on the local drive where Windows is installed.

• All files in the Windows directory backs up all files in the Windows directory.

• All files in user profiles backs up all the files in the Documents and Settings folder.

• Custom Directory allows you to browse to a new location and choose the folder to backup. You can click the Browse button or type in the known path in the text box.

Select a source directory, and then browse or type in the path for the Destination backup. The typed path can be either an existing or a new directory.

TIP: You can also backup files and folder to an external USB drive.

NOTE: The Overwrite only if source is newer option only overwrites a file in the Destination directory, if the file is older than the files in the Source directory.

Click Next to start backing up the selected files.

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Restoring Folder ContentsRestoring the contents of a folder allows you to copy files from a Source directory to a Destination directory. This tool is a reverse function of backing up files (see “Backing Up Folder Contents” on page 249). When you select this option, the Restore Folder window appears.

Browse or enter the path for the Source restore folder, and then choose from one of the following Destination options:• All files in user profiles restores all the files to the Documents and

Settings folder.• All files in the Windows directory restores all files to the Windows

directory.• All files on the system drive restores all files on the local drive

where Windows is installed.• Custom directory allows you to browse to a new location and choose

the folder restore destination. You can click the Browse button or type the path for an existing or a new directory.

NOTE: The Overwrite only if source is newer option will only overwrite a file in the Destination directory if the file is older than the files in the Source directory.

TIP: You can also restore files and folder from an external USB drive.

Click Next to start restoring the files.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Manual Partitioning • 251

MANUAL PARTITIONING

Manually Partitioning Your Disks 253

Changing Manual Partition Settings 259

252 • Manual Partitioning Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Manually Partitioning Your Disks • 253

Manually Partitioning Your Disks

OverviewThere might be times when you want to create, delete, format, or validate a partition manually. For example, you might want to format a partition for data or delete a partition that is no longer useful to you. The Rescue CD allows you to access these features when you start directly from the Rescue CD.

CAUTION: It is important that you make a backup of all essential files prior to deleting or formatting partitions. Formatting a partition deletes any data on that partition.

254 • Manually Partitioning Your Disks Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Viewing Your PartitionsThe Partitioning tool doesn’t have all of the functionality associated with the full version of Partition Commander. The Rescue CD version allows you to only format, delete, set the active partition, and make repairs or property changes to existing partitions. For more information on Partition Commander, please visit http://www.avanquestusa.com on the internet.1. Turn on your computer and insert the Rescue CD.

You might need to restart the computer to start from the CD. If your computer doesn’t start from the CD, you must change the System BIOS to boot from the CD. For information about changing your System BIOS, see the documentation that came with your computer.

2. Select Manual Partitioning at the Rescue Disk Wizard screen, or click the Start menu and choose Partitioning.

The Partitioning window always opens displaying the first physical drive, labeled as Drive 0 in the graphical display. The legend in the lower-right uses colors to indicate the type of file system installed on the partition. Both FAT12 and FAT16 partitions are displayed as FAT. • The Select Disk toolbar section shows the selected drive

information.• The General tab shows the selected drive, partition information,

and used disk space.• The Details tab shows the same information, but shows cluster

and sector information for the selected drive.The Main Window shows the entire drive divided into partitions. The primary partitions are all on the left and logical partitions (partitions within a partition) if any, shown on the right. The logical partitions are contained inside of the extended partition.

http://www.avanquestusa.com


3. Click the desired partition in the graphical display to select it. An arrow appears to the left of the selected partition.

4. Select the drive from the drive drop-down list to change drives (if you have multiple hard-drives).If you have more than three hard drives, you can select one of the first three drives by clicking the buttons labeled, 0, 1, and 2 on the Select Disk toolbar. Open the drop-down list to select from additional drives.From the selected drive you can:• Delete existing partitions.• Create new partition from Free space.• Use the Advanced Tools to perform a variety of tasks.

Creating PartitionsTo create a partition on the drive, you must first have free space available. Free space for partitioning is space on the hard drive that hasn’t been put into a partition. This isn’t the same as unused space within an existing partition. Free space is identified by the word Free in the drive diagram.1. Click the Free area on the diskmap.

White bars appear on each side when it is selected.2. Click the Create button and a dialog opens indicating the maximum

size allowed.3. Specify the size of the partition you want to create.

The program automatically double-checks to make sure that you haven’t entered an invalid value. The partition can’t be made any larger than the maximum size indicated.

4. Enter a volume label for the partition. 5. Check the Enable surface scan option, if you want to check for

errors in the partition area.6. Check the Custom Partition Type option, if you want to select a

specific file system for the partition.• FAT is usually automatically selected for Windows and DOS

partitions.• FAT32 is usually chosen for Windows partitions over 2 GB.• NTFS is usually chosen for Windows 2000/XP/2003 partitions.

7. After you have entered the necessary information, click Next to create and format the partition.


Deleting PartitionsIf you have a partition on your hard drive that you no longer need, you can delete it and gain some extra storage space. Deleting a partition removes references to the partition from the Partition Table, causing the information from the deleted partition to become inaccessible. This results in disk space that can be used to create new partitions.Contents of the deleted partition don’t immediately disappear from the disk, but are merely unavailable for the operating system. This enables you to undo an accidentally deleted partition prior to reformatting the deleted partition.

To Delete a Partitions1. Select the partition to delete on the diskmap.

White bars appear on each side when it is selected.2. Click the Delete button.

A message appears with bold warnings and other information about the partition, such as its size, type, and volume label.

CAUTION: After a partition is deleted, all data in the partition is no longer accessible. Make sure important data is backed up in another location before deleting a partition.

3. Enter the current volume label exactly as it appears and then click Next.If the label names don’t match, an error message appears and no changes are made to the partition.

4. If you are ready to delete the selected partition, click the Proceed button. Otherwise, click Cancel to abort the deletion.

TIP: If you’ve accidentally deleted a partition, and haven’t reformatted it, you can recover it by opening the Undo menu and selecting Undo Delete.

A deleted partition is converted to Free space on the diskmap and automatically combined with other free space. Free space can be used to create new partitions (see “Creating Partitions” on page 255).


Using the Advanced ToolsThe Advanced Tools allow you to make changes to the partitions, such as determining which partition is used for starting, hiding partitions from other operating systems, fixing the Boot File, and assigning SIDs.

Setting the Active PartitionThe Set/Toggle active/bootable option allows you to assign a bootable active status to a single partition. An active bootable partition is one that the computer uses to start your computer from and start the Operating System.

To Activate a Partition1. Click the desired partition in the graphical display to select it. An

arrow appears to the left of the selected partition.2. Chose Set/Toggle active/bootable from the Advanced menu.

A window pops up and tells you that the selected partition’s active/boot status has been changed. Repeating this process switches back to the previous status.

Hiding and Unhiding PartitionsA hidden partition’s data is still on the hard drive, but no Operating System (OS) can see it. This feature is useful when you have more than one OS on your computer and as you select a different OS, the other partitions are hidden.

To Hide a PartitionClick the desired partition in the graphical display to select it. An arrow appears to the left of the selected partition. Then, open the Advanced menu and chose Hide.A message appears and tells you that the selected partition is marked hidden.

To Unhide a PartitionClick the desired partition in the graphical display to select it. An arrow appears to the left of the selected partition. Then, open the Advanced menu and choose Unhide.A window appears with a message that the selected partition is now visible.


Changing the Security IdentifierThe Change SID option allows you to update the security identifier (SID) for the selected partition, all partitions on a drive, or all drives and partitions. A unique SID is required in every Windows partition. If you perform a partition copy, the SID should be updated so the computer can recognize the new one as a different partition.

To Change the SIDOpen the Advanced menu and select Change SID. Then, choose from the two available options:• All Drives and Partitions

• All Partitions on this Drive

After an option is selected, the tool starts automatically and changes the SID for the selected partitions.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Changing Manual Partition Settings • 259

Changing Manual Partition Settings

OverviewThe Manual Partition settings are used to change how partitions are created and to set the various processes that run as a result of partitioning operations.

Accessing the SettingsOpen the Start menu and select Settings. You can also open the Advanced menu and select Settings to displays the settings dialog.

General Options:

• Auto Format on create allows you to automatically format newly created partitions.

• Enable Surface-tests allows you to perform error checking on a partition. It is similar to the ScanDisk program in Windows.

• Disable auto-save allows you to make these option settings apply only to the current session—they are not saved.

260 • Changing Manual Partition Settings Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

• Auto BootFixer automatically runs the BootFixer tool after major partitioning operations.

• Confirm NTFS time-zone settings allows you to receive questions about the local settings each time this information is used, such as converting from NTFS to FAT or back. If the local settings don’t match your operating system, file date/times and file names might change during the conversion.

• Allow multi-undo formatting allows you to save the information about undoing formatting for the BackStep Wizard. This has no effect in this version.

• Always change SID after copy allows you to update the 2000/XP/2003 SID (Security Identifier) after a copy operation. This insures the copy doesn’t have the same SID as the original.

• Enable Restart checkpoint allows you to recover during the middle of a critical partitioning operation in the event of a power failure or computer reset.

• Enable USB support allows Rescue Disk to access external hard drives, mice, and keyboards connected to a USB port. If you experience problems with your USB devices, you can disable this option.

NOTE: We recommend that you wait to attach any USB hard drives until after your computer reboots. Even if you disable this option, your system BIOS might still detect your USB hard drives. However, the BIOS emulation is extremely slow and can cause long delays when starting the OS Wizard or Partitioning.

Video Mode Options allow you to select your screen resolution, or use the Auto-detect option to detect it automatically.Mouse Speed allows you to adjust the on-screen speed of your mouse.Reset to defaults button allows you to return the settings to default values.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Emergency Manual • 261

EMERGENCY MANUAL

Your Computer is in Trouble 263

Dealing with Other Common Problems 269

Troubleshooting 275

Booting from a Rescue Disk 277

Recovering From a Data Disaster 281

262 • Emergency Manual Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Your Computer is in Trouble • 263

Your Computer is in Trouble

OverviewFix-It Utilities works best as preventive maintenance. That is, you’ll find that running the tools regularly on your computer keeps you out of most trouble that computer users find themselves getting into.That said, not everyone has the luxury of buying “just in case” software. Sometimes your computer goes down, you panic and look for something that will get you out of whatever trouble you’re in. Fix-It Utilities can, in many cases, get you out of your temporary jam—and then help keep you out of trouble for years to come.If you can’t start Windows, but don’t have Fix-It Utilities installed, there is information here to help you use this product and the tools included with your operating system to diagnose the problem with specific instructions for your Windows version.We can’t fix every problem known to keep you from starting, such as hardware failures. If your hard drive has suffered serious damage, see “Recovering From a Data Disaster” on page 281 for help in recovering data that might otherwise be lost.

Getting Started if Your Computer is in TroubleIf you have a computer that has crashed and won’t start up, or if you suspect a virus has infected it, you can’t install Fix-It Utilities on your computer until the problem has been fixed.Your most important priority at this point is probably to clean your computer (if there is a virus), to get back up and running as quickly as possible, and to make sure you haven’t lost any data. You might want to save data to a diskette or other removable media. Then, you need to make sure your computer is able to start.

264 • Your Computer is in Trouble Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Starting from a Rescue DiskTurn on your computer and insert the bootable Rescue CD (either the installation CD or a Rescue CD).For full instructions on how to make a Rescue CD, see “Making a Rescue CD” on page 225.Restart your computer so the computer can start from the Rescue CD.

NOTE: Eject all removable media from other drives to ensure that only the Rescue CD is accessed during restart.

If your system won’t start from the CD, refer to instructions that came with your computer to change the System BIOS. Your computer uses the Rescue CD (or installation CD) as its boot disk. A graphical menu appears after the computer starts, with a number of options. The Rescue Disk Help can assist you with the various Rescue Disk options.If your mouse doesn’t work: The Rescue CD installs a generic mouse driver that allows most users access to their mouse. If your mouse doesn’t seem to be working, it might be that the driver is incompatible with it. In this case, you will have to use only keyboard commands. Notice that each button also has its keyboard option on the button label.• Consult “Troubleshooting” on page 275 and “Dealing with Other

Common Problems” on page 269 for advice on how to resolve your problem. Use the available options to recover your data and diagnose your computer. See “Booting from a Rescue Disk” on page 277 for detailed information about the Rescue Disk tools.

• Some problems can’t be fixed by even the best rescue programs. If the problem is caused by a hardware malfunction, you might need to have the computer serviced by a technician. If your computer remains unable to start, go to “Recovering From a Data Disaster” on page 281 for information on other options.Install Fix-It Utilities after the computer starts normally.


Getting Started in Windows 2000/XP/Vista

Recovery CommanderAvanquest’s Recovery Commander, included with Fix-It Utilities, will often be the quickest and easiest way to recover from startup problems. Best yet, Recovery Commander can even restore a Windows restore checkpoint, even if you never installed the Windows Recovery Console or Recovery Commander Recovery Commander’s saved checkpoints can also recover from a number of serious problems that Windows’ Recovery Console can’t solve. Unlike the Windows Recovery Console that drops you to a command line interface, Recovery Commander will quickly walk you through restoring a checkpoint.For more information, see “Recovery Commander Overview” on page 235.

Windows Recovery ConsoleYou can start into Safe Mode and use the Recovery Console to repair some problems if you had previously installed it. It’s not installed as part of the default Windows installation.For Windows XP, you will use the Windows installation CD to access the recovery console if it hasn’t been installed. Using the CD is the safest way to use this tool, since none of the files can be tampered with, such as by a virus.To create or update an Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) in Windows 2000, use the Backup utility:Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Backup

The Emergency Repair Disk isn’t bootable. To use the ERD to repair your computer, you must first start using Disk 1 of the 4-disk Windows 2000 Setup set. You might be prompted to change to Disk 2 before seeing the Setup menu. Select Repair from the Setup menu. Select to use either the Recovery Console or ERD to handle the repair.


Starting in Safe ModeIf you’ve just installed a new program or hardware driver and now can’t start, getting into Safe Mode can be your lifesaver. Safe Mode loads a basic version of Windows with only the hardware drivers the operating system needs to run.

NOTE: You must be able to log in as Administrator to successfully start Windows 2000/XP Safe Mode. You will be asked for the Administrator password at the end of the start process.

As the start process begins (before the Windows startup screen appears), press and hold the F8 key to get to the startup menu. If you are dual-booting, press F8 when the boot menu appears. There are several choices: Safe Mode is the standard option. Safe Mode with Networking gives you access to your network volumes (and possibly your system-state backup). Safe Mode with Command Prompt doesn’t load your desktop, but gives you a command prompt instead. You can also use this menu to start to the Last Known Good Configuration. Be aware that starting in Safe Mode takes longer to start than normal. When the process is ready (and after you have logged in as Administrator), Windows will put up a message briefly explaining what Safe Mode is. Click OK to clear this message and begin working. You can use the Add/Remove Programs utility in Control Panel to uninstall the program or driver that caused the problem.

Using the Windows Emergency Repair DiskIf you are not an advanced user, you can should choose the Fast Repair option from the Emergency Repair Disk (ERD) menu. This option will work by itself, automatically checking and, if possible, repairing problems with the registry, system files, the partition boot sector, and startup environment. If the problem was in the registry, Fast Repair will restore the section from the backup registry created at setup. If you want to restore from a later backup, you should use the Recovery Console instead. See the next section for information on the Recovery Console.The Manual Repair option should be used by advanced users and administrators. This functions much like the Windows ERD, but doesn’t give you access to the registry. Use the Recovery Console to repair registry files.


Using the Recovery ConsoleThe Windows Recovery Console offers advanced users command-prompt access to their computer, with a number of commands available to fix startup problems. You can use Recovery Console to perform many tasks without starting Windows, including: starting and stopping services, reading and writing information on a local disk drive (including NTFS file system drives), formatting drives, etc. Recovery Console is particularly useful if you need to repair your computer by copying a file from a diskette or CD to your hard drive, or if you need to modify a service that prevents your computer from starting properly.If you haven’t already installed Recovery Console as a startup option, you should start your computer from your Windows 2000/XP installation CD or Windows 2000 setup disk. To use the Recovery Console to repair your computer. Be aware this process is quite slow, often taking 2-5 minutes to get to the Welcome screen.

To Start Using Recovery Console1. At the Welcome to Setup, press F10, or press R to repair, and then C to

start the Recovery Console.You are asked to identify the Windows installation to logon to.

2. Enter the Administrator password for the correct installation to enter the Recovery Console.

3. Recovery Console offers access to only these folders:• The root folder (C:\)• The SystemRoot folder (usually C:\WINNT) of the installation

you are logged into, and its subfolders• The Cmdcons folder• Removable media (CD, DVD, Zip, etc.) drives

4. Type help to see all the commands available to you.In addition to many standard DOS commands, some of the more useful Recovery Console Commands are:• Enable/Disable services: type listsvc to get a list of all

services and drivers. The enable and disable (servicename) commands turn services on and off, respectively.


• Disk partitioning: Diskpart is similar to the FDisk command in DOS. Get information on your existing partitions, delete damaged partitions and add new ones.

CAUTION: Changing hard drive partitions with this tool will destroy all data on your disk. This is only to be used on new hard drives that haven’t been formatted, and on older drives that have completely failed and can’t be fixed any other way.

• Repair boot sectors: Fixboot writes a new Windows boot sector. Fixmbr is similar to the fdisk /mbr DOS command and rewrites the master boot record on the disk. If these sectors have been infected by a virus, or otherwise corrupted, these commands will help. They don’t change the partitioning of the drive.

A list of all Recovery Console commands and switches can be found in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Article Q229716.When you have completed your repairs, type exit to quit the Recovery Console and restart your computer.

Using the Vista System Recovery OptionsWindows Vista has several tools located in the System Recovery Options menu. This menu is also on the Vista installation disc. The menu might also be located on your hard disk, if the manufacturer of your computer installed the recovery options.You can use these tools to repair startup problems, restore your system files from a time the system was working correctly and run memory tests. Some versions of Vista also allow you to restore your computer and system files from a backup. For more information, see the documentation that came with your system or contact the computer manufacturer.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Dealing with Other Common Problems • 269

Dealing with Other Common Problems

OverviewNot every emergency is catastrophic. You might be able to start up fine. Yet there can be panic-stricken moments when things seem to be going wrong at all times. Fix-It Utilities can handle these problems most effectively, but there are occasionally other ways to solve these problems. This chapter will help you sort out some of these more common and aggravating problems.

Stability IssuesDoes your computer crash frequently? Does the “Blue Screen of Death” rear its ugly head a lot? Does Windows freeze or hang up? Do you restart the computer several times a day to get things back to normal? These are the stability issues many computer users have to deal with. However, there are ways to resolve these problems.

270 • Dealing with Other Common Problems Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

General PracticesRun Windows Update. Microsoft releases updates to Windows regularly. These updates can be fixes to security and stability problems to the latest Media Player version. You can even set up your computer to check for “critical updates” when you sign on to the Internet. If stability is your concern, however, don’t download any software labeled “beta.” By definition, these pieces are not ready for prime time. They are likely to promote instability, not lessen it.Keep multimedia and other hardware drivers current. If you install a new game or other software and your sound or graphics start going haywire, it might be time to update your video-display or sound card driver. Contact your computer manufacturer, or the maker of your card (if you bought it elsewhere). Drivers are software that allows your operating system to communicate with the other pieces of hardware on your computer). They are generally available (at no charge) on the manufacturer’s website. New drivers are usually written to resolve a particular problem, often interactions with a changed operating system or widely used program. While new drivers can often bring new features, the old rule of thumb “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” applies here. Have enough random access memory (RAM) to do what you want with your computer. If you like to run a lot of different programs at the same time, pay attention to the system requirements of those common programs. If you regularly work in your word processor while connected to the Internet, with your web browser, email program open, and your anti-virus program is running in the background, this uses up a lot of RAM. Windows itself will be using a lot of that memory as well. It adds up. If the above describes your typical computing behavior, you want at least 128 MB of RAM on your computer, 256 MB or more is even better.If you have Fix-It Utilities, the SystemMonitors can track your RAM usage. If you find yourself running out of resources frequently, an upgrade might be in your future.Maintain your File Allocation Table. Running Windows 2000/XP/Vista ChkDsk or DiskFixer in Fix-It Utilities regularly will help keep your disk structure in shape. These tools make sure your computer can find the files it needs, and protect you against data loss from bad clusters.


Crashing and Blue ScreensKeep applications updated. Software developers are constantly finding and fixing problems that inevitably occur with use in the “real world.” Many software bugs are fixed in free updates from the software developer. Watch for interactions between programs that lead to trouble. If your computer becomes problematic whenever Program A and Program B are running at the same time, contact technical support for both programs. There might already be a fix or a work-around available. When you get a crash, or illegal operation, message from Windows, click the Details button. You will usually see a message that “Program A caused a general protection fault in Module B,” or something similar. This can help you identify software conflicts. Regularly remove temporary files. Programs often create temporary files on your computer. These are usually files with a .tmp extension that help the program run. When you exit the program normally, these files disappear, not to be heard from again. If a program crashes, or otherwise doesn’t close properly, these temporary files stay on your computer. One day, the program will try to create a temporary file with the same name as a file that is already present, and suddenly the program crashes again.The Fix-It Utilities DiskCleaner can be scheduled to remove all these types of files on a frequency you decide (see “Cleaning Your Hard Drive” in the online help or in the user’s guide on the CD). Using Windows’ file finder to locate and remove *.tmp files can also help remove some of these temporary files.

Performance IssuesComputers are not like people. They don’t get tired and they don’t need sleep. Yet, sometimes it can seem to take forever for Windows to start up, or for a program to load. There are a couple of general causes for slow performance: a lack of system optimization or a lack of disk space.


OptimizationKeep your hard drive defragmented. As you read from the hard drive and write to it, your computer has built-in processes that allocate and de-allocate hard drive space as needed. When you write a new file to the disk, space is allocated for the new file. If there isn’t a chunk of space big enough, the file might use several non-contiguous smaller chunks of space. When you delete a file, the space the file used is returned to the computer as free space.As time goes by and you add and delete files from the hard drive, the available disk space becomes more and more fragmented. Files can become scattered across the disk. This makes the reading and writing of files take longer, potentially shortening the life of the hard drive motor. Running JETDefrag can keep your drive organized in the best way possible.Install and maintain an anti-virus and anti-spam program. If you suddenly begin to get strange and erratic behavior from your computer, you could be infected with a virus. VirusScanner can give you solid protection against these undesirables.If you think you already have a virus, but don’t have an anti-virus program on your computer, there is hope. Trend Micro’s HouseCall service (housecall.com) will scan your computer over the Internet free of charge.Have enough random access memory (RAM) to do what you want with your computer. As mentioned in “Stability Issues” on page 269, things can slow down tremendously if Windows regularly has to dip into “virtual memory” to keep the computer up. Virtual memory, also called the swap file, is hard drive space reserved by the operating system to be used if too much RAM is being used.


Low Disk SpaceKeep at least 20 percent of your C: drive free at all times. Windows needs a lot of breathing space to operate properly. It creates temporary files, stores the Internet Explorer cache and history files and maintains the swap file (virtual memory) all on its install drive. If Windows or some other program has to search high and low for empty sectors on the drive, it will slow the computer down. You can use the Fix-It Utilities Cleanup tools to remove unnecessary files from your drive. Use the best file system for your operating system. Users of Windows 2000/XP users can choose between FAT32 and NTFS. Avanquest’s Partition Commander (an optional purchase) can safely convert partitions between the various formats and back.Watch out for multiple software installations. Sometimes when you upgrade a program from an earlier version, the new one installs to a new folder. This leaves the old version intact and taking up space on your drive. If, for example, you open Windows Explorer and find folders labeled AOL70, AOL80 and AOL90 on your hard drive, you can safely uninstall the earlier versions and delete all the files in those folders.These tips and resources should help you recover from your emergency, and keep you out of trouble in the future.


Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Troubleshooting • 275

Troubleshooting

OverviewCheck this chart for tips to common computer problems and solutions.

Problem/Symptoms Possible Causes What to DoThe computer won’t start up. Missing or corrupted system

file(s).Crash during software or driver install.Corrupted registry.Potential hardware problem.

See “Your Computer is in Trouble” on page 263. Check the section for your operating system for troubleshooting hints.

Data recovery experts might be able to help if you can’t retrieve your important data.

Computer seems slow, sluggish.

The hard drive is either very fragmented, or getting full.The program you were running needs more RAM than your computer has.

See “Optimization” on page 272.

Run SpeedUp, CleanUp, or Comprehensive Wizard to clean and optimize. You might also want to run DiskFixer to locate and fix any problems on the hard disk.Run JETDefrag to optimize the hard drive.

Check to see that you aren’t trying to start up too many programs when you start your computer.

The computer is exhibiting erratic, unpredictable behavior.

Possible virus. Possible corrupted file allocation table.

Run Comprehensive Wizard with all options. This will fix system files and check for viruses.

Computer freezes or hangs. No mouse or keyboard control.

The program you were running encountered an internal error.The program you were running needs more RAM than your computer has.

See “Crashing and Blue Screens” on page 271.

Press CTRL-ALT-DEL to bring up the Task Manager. Select the Applications tab and close End Task on the problem program.If you have an older computer, you might need to install more RAM.

276 • Troubleshooting Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

The “blue screen of death” appears, with the message that your program crashed.

Usually caused by a fault in a driver file.

See “Stability Issues” on page 269.

This is a Windows crash, which you usually have to restart your computer.

Your disk drive is making an unusual grinding noise.

The drive bearings or other part of the drive might be going bad.

Run SMARTDiskCheck. Back up everything important to removable media NOW, and then turn off the computer. Get the computer checked out by a good hardware technician. You might have to replace the hard drive.

Your Word files are being saved as .dot files.

This is a known virus. Run VirusScanner.

Your program crashes frequently, especially when trying to use a particular feature.

Program might be trying to create a temporary file leftover on your computer from an earlier crash.

See “Crashing and Blue Screens” on page 271.

Run DiskCleaner to remove all *.tmp files.

Your program crashes a lot, especially when certain graphics are displayed.

You might have the wrong driver for your video card. You might have the right driver, but the wrong settings for the type of monitor.

See “General Practices” on page 270.

Contact your computer (or video card) manufacturer and get the latest video driver (these are usually downloadable from the Web). Make sure your settings are correct.

You try running a program that you have run before, but the computer can’t find it.

Did you move the program to a new location? Possible invalid registry link.

Run RegistryFixer. You might need to delete program files and reinstall the program.

Not enough room to install new software

Low disk space. See “Low Disk Space” on page 273.Run Fix-It Utilities DiskCleaner.

Not enough room for programs that write to temp files to run successfully

Low disk space. See “Low Disk Space” on page 273.Run Fix-It Utilities DiskCleaner.

Files left over on disk after uninstalling a program

The program’s uninstall program didn’t completely remove all files.

Run Fix-It Utilities DiskCleaner to remove unused/temporary files.

Unwanted files in the cache after a web browsing session

normal operation Run Fix-It Utilities DiskCleaner to remove unused/temporary files.

Old files, especially intermediate files, left over when changing to a new directory or project.


Old files that are no longer needed or wanted accumulate because they are forgotten, buried in non-accessed folders


Duplicate files accumulated when programs are moved or reinstalled

normal operation See “Low Disk Space” on page 273.

Run Fix-It Utilities DiskCleaner to remove unused/temporary files.

Problem/Symptoms Possible Causes What to Do

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Booting from a Rescue Disk • 277

Booting from a Rescue Disk

OverviewThe Rescue CD is primarily intended for use if you can’t start your computer into Windows Safe mode.If your computer refuses to start up, it might have any of a number of problems. The Rescue Disk can fix some of these; others might require the services of a computer technician. In any case, the Rescue Disk might help you recover important files and restore system files.The Rescue Disk program is designed to do everything possible to help you restore your computer so you can start it up normally again.

NOTE: If you haven’t made a Rescue Disk, you might be able to access the tools directly from the Fix-It Utilities CD. You must have your system BIOS configured to allow you to start from the CD, however. Check with your computer manufacturer to see how to do this.

For more information, see “Recovery Commander” on page 233.

278 • Booting from a Rescue Disk Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Booting from the Rescue DiskThe Rescue Disk installs a generic mouse driver that allows most users access to their mouse. If your mouse doesn’t seem to be working, it might be that the driver is incompatible with it. In this case, you will have to use only keyboard commands.1. Turn on the computer and the monitor.2. Insert the Rescue CD (or installation CD) into the drive.

NOTE: You might be need to restart your computer to start from the CD

A graphical menu with several options appears.3. Click the Help button to view a complete document describing the

features of the Rescue Disk.Each button also has its keyboard option on the button label.

Viewing the Rescue Disk MenuWhen starting from the Rescue CD, the Rescue Disk Wizard first displays with the following options:• Recovery Commander• BootFixer - Fixes BCD/BOOT.INI• Manual Partitioning

Recovery CommanderRecovery Commander allows you to restore functionality to your computer by restoring both Recovery Commander and System Restore checkpoints.

BootFixerThe BootFixer utility scans your computer’s installation for updating/repairing the BOOT.INI file.

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Booting from a Rescue Disk • 279

Manual PartitioningThis program lets you create or delete partitions on your hard drive.

CAUTION: Deleting or Formatting Partitions will destroy all data within the partition. This is only to be used on new hard drives that haven’t been formatted, and on older drives that have completely failed and can’t be fixed any other way.

For more information, see “Manually Partitioning Your Disks” on page 253.

Learning about the Start Menu CommandsRescue Disk, much like Windows, has a Start menu. A list of the commands located on the Start menu is explained below.• Partitioning opens the Manual Partitioning tool (see “Manually

Partitioning Your Disks” on page 253).• Recovery Commander opens the main Recovery Commander

Wizard (see “Restoring Computer Functionality” on page 241).• Rescue Disk Wizard opens the main Rescue Disk Wizard (see

“Viewing the Rescue Disk Wizard” on page 238).• The Settings option contains two choices:

• Settings opens the Settings dialog to make changes in the way Manual Partitioning functions (see “Changing Manual Partition Settings” on page 259).

• Regional Settings allows you to select the time zone and the language of your operating system.

• View allows you to view the computer boot files.• Help opens a dialog for information about using the Rescue Disk.• Exit restarts your computer.

280 • Booting from a Rescue Disk Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Recovering From a Data Disaster • 281

Recovering From a Data Disaster

OverviewEven if you’ve had the worst possible disaster happen to your computer, you might still be able to get the data from it. There area companies with experience recovering data resulting from severe software corruption, hard drive failures, viruses, user error, and natural disasters including floods, fires, and earthquakes. So if you’re reading this chapter because your computer is in real trouble, the first thing to remember is Don’t panic. Even in the worst of circumstances, data can often be recovered from a damaged disk.Of course, making regular backups of your critical data is very important. Even with JETDefrag, DiskCleaner, and the other tools that clean, optimize, and reorganize your disk, a computer can be subjected to unforeseen and uncontrollable events. If you back up your data regularly, you might lose only a few hours to a few days’ worth of work, in the worst case. However, even if the worst should happen, there are tools and services that can help you recover from your data loss situation.

282 • Recovering From a Data Disaster Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Levels of RecoveryThere are two levels of data rescue and recovery: • Level 1: Recovery Commander™. This advanced recovery tool can

restore critical system files from a prior saved checkpoint. It support all Windows file systems including NTFS.

• Level 2: Data Recovery Services. There are several companies that office data recovery services both Remotely and In-Lab.• Remote Services: Many software-related data loss situations

can be solved remotely. This includes situations where the computer’s operating system doesn’t even start. Through an Internet or modem connection, a professional data recovery engineer will diagnose and repair severe data loss corruption.

• Lab Services. This service is the right choice for the toughest, most intensive data recovery problems, including hard drives that have suffered from mechanical failure. This also includes severe software corruption, water damage, and fire damage.

What if There is Serious Physical Damage?If you ever find your computer’s hard drive making unusual noises, submerged in water, buried under rubble (say from an earthquake), sitting amongst the wreckage of a fire, or otherwise physically compromised, the first course of action should be to contact a professional data recovery service. Never assume that lost data is unrecoverable, because in most cases it can be retrieved.


Help, My Disk is Dead“Now what do I do? I can’t afford to have my computer down, or worse yet, lose all the information on my computer.”You might be surprised to learn that when a hard drive isn’t working or your computer won’t start, you still have a good chance of at least recovering your data. This chapter, is a tutorial on data recovery and how to go about it. Your data might still be recoverable, and we’ll step you through the various data recovery methods.

Evaluate the level of damageThere are varying levels of data recovery situations, from accidentally deleting an important file, to losing critical disk information, such as a NTFS Master File Table, all the way to severe physical disk damage. If you seem to have lost data or even your operating system, but the disk itself seems to be spinning correctly (no strange noises when the computer is running), the chances of recovering data at a minimum of cost are very good.On the other hand, if your disk has obvious physical damage, then you must send the disk into a data recovery service that has cleanroom facilities to clean the disk and can recover as much data as possible.

Create a Plan of ActionYou should have some viable options. We suggest that if you have a choice, you begin with the least expensive option that meets your needs.


Recovering Data RemotelyFor critical situations the expertise of an engineer is required. Recovering Data Remotely allows specialized engineers to perform data recovery services modem-to-modem or over your Internet connection. The cost of this type of service depends on the nature and severity of your data loss situation. With remote services, users often get their data back within a few hours.

When Would I use a Remote Recovery Service?The following is a list of situations in which you might consider a Remote Recovery Service. Don’t forget that Avanquest’s Recovery Commander and the Fix-It Utilities Rescue Disk can also recover lost data in some of these situations.• Unbootable operating system• Deleted files• Reformats/repartitions• Invalid boot sectors• Invalid volume tables/definitions• Deleted partitions• Virus damage• FDISKed drives• Damaged file tables (File Allocation Table, Master File Table)• Drives damaged by software

How Does it Work?Armed with a suite of advanced tools and techniques, a Remote Service engineer can repair damaged data on your disk drive through a modem or Internet connection. You can use this service even if you can’t start your computer. The only requirement is that the computer and hard disk drive are not damaged or malfunctioning.


In-Lab Data RecoveryIn the most serious of data loss situations, you might need to send the hard drive into a data recovery lab. Hard drives that are malfunctioning, physically damaged, or have been exposed to a disaster (flood, fire, power surges/spikes) would require this level of service. Severe software damage that can’t be solved using other levels of service would also qualify for in-lab data recovery.After the hard drive has been sent in for a data recovery, engineers will use the most advanced software and hardware tools available to recover the data.

NOTE: You can take your computer to a standard computer repair shop, which can probably fix the hardware; however, repair shops generally don’t guarantee the safety of your data. If the data is critical, you should use a data recovery service before having the computer repaired.

Disaster RecoveryCatastrophes happen—no doubt about it. When they happen to you, one of your priorities is probably to get back to normal as soon as possible.Whether it’s a serious data loss situation, or physical damage from flood, fire, or earthquake, we can help recover your important data.

Flood DamageComputer data storage media submerged in water suffers not as much from the water itself as from all of the impurities found in the water. If it is suspected that computer equipment has been contaminated with water, the data must be recovered in a clean room, where the contaminants can be removed by a data recovery professional in a particle-free environment. After the media is completely cleaned the data recovery process can begin.If your data has been damaged by water, it is important to get your media into the hands of professionals as quickly as possible.


Fire and Smoke DamageFire damages data storage media when the internal components are contaminated with airborne smoke particles. Storage media can be further damaged by the water used to extinguish the fire.If it is suspected that computer equipment has been contaminated, the data must be recovered in a clean room, where the contaminants can be removed by a data recovery professional in a particle-free environment. After the media is completely cleaned the data recovery process begins.

Earthquake DamageEarthquakes can not only shake computer data storage media components out of alignment, they can trigger additional disasters as well, including fire and water-related damage. When water or smoke particles find their way into data storage devices and contaminate the surface the data is stored on, data integrity can be compromised.If it is suspected that computer equipment has been contaminated, the data must be recovered in a clean room, where the contaminants can be removed by a data recovery professional in a particle-free environment. After the media is completely cleaned the data recovery process begins.

Lightning/Electrical DamageElectrical storms can cause considerable damage when lightning strikes result in electrical surge. If the electrical surge reaches a computer terminal, it can wipe out the internal electronics of the computer data storage media. If this happens, and the computer is subsequently powered up, the media can malfunction and render data inaccessible. Lightning can also trigger other catastrophic events such as fire, the smoke particles from which can reach the inside of a computer and contaminate the area where the data is stored. If it is suspected that computer equipment has been contaminated the data must be recovered in a clean room, where the contaminants can be removed by a data recovery professional in a particle-free environment. After the media is completely cleaned the data recovery process begins.


Cleanup TipsThe following tips have been put together by data recovery professionals to assist you in the recovery of damaged media:• Never assume the data is unrecoverable, no matter what it has been

through.• Send the media to a professional data recovery facility as soon as

possible.• Don’t attempt to power up your computer if you suspect there was an

electrical surge, as internal or external electronic failures could result in data storage device malfunction.

• Don’t use storage media that might have been exposed to heat, moisture or soot. The media might be irreversibly damaged if not treated and recovered in an air- and static-controlled room by data recovery professionals.

• Don’t shake the media, or in the case of hard disk drives, remove the cover of the assembly.

• Don’t attempt to dry water-damaged media by opening it or exposing it to heat.

• Don’t attempt to freeze dry media.• Don’t attempt to operate visibly damaged media, or media that has

been exposed to water. Caution: waiting for the media to dry out and then operating it on your own can cause irreversible damage.

• Don’t attempt to clean the media yourself without using proper solutions applied in a clean room environment. Contaminated media requires immediate and thorough cleaning. In fact, professionals prefer to receive media in the clean room before it has had a chance to dry out.

• Don’t attempt to recover severely damaged data with commonly available software utility programs.

• Hard drives flooded in salt water require special treatment. Because data can be damaged quicker due to salt oxidizing on the media, the drive should be express-shipped in an airtight container to a professional data recovery facility. To reduce the risk of further damage, drives can be “bathed” in distilled or fresh water, although they should not be agitated.


Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Reference • 289

REFERENCE

Hints and Other Issues 291

Glossary of Terms 297

Index 305

Complimentary Technical Support 311

290 • Reference Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Hints and Other Issues • 291

Hints and Other Issues

OverviewThis section deals with hints and other issues with Fix-It Utilities. For more information see the following topics:• Updating Fix-It Utilities Manually (see page 291)• Uninstalling Fix-It Utilities (see page 292)• Known Issues and Problems (see page 293)

Updating Fix-It Utilities ManuallyIf you are not able to use EasyUpdate to update Fix-It Utilities, you can download the latest update EXE files manually from the Avanquest website.http://www.v-com.com/virusinfo/index.php3

To Install the Updates1. Click the file from the list and save it to your disk.2. Browse to the location of the saved EXE file.3. Double-click the EXE file to start the installation process.4. Click Next and follow the on-screen instructions.5. Click Finish to complete the update.

http://www.v-com.com/virusinfo/index.php3

292 • Hints and Other Issues Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

Uninstalling Fix-It UtilitiesIf you want to uninstall Fix-It Utilities from your computer, follow the steps listed below for your operating system.

NOTE: After the program is uninstalled, a few data files created while you used Fix-It Utilities might remain. These include log files, lists created for cleanup, DiskSnapshot images, etc. You can leave these if you plan to reinstall, or can go ahead and delete these files.

To Uninstall Fix-It Utilities in Vista1. Make sure the program is closed, and the Fix-It Utilities tray icon

isn’t showing.2. Open the Windows Start menu and choose Control Panel.3. Under the Programs heading, click the Uninstall a program link.4. Select Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional from the list.5. Click the Uninstall button at the top of the list.

To Uninstall Fix-It Utilities in XP1. Make sure the program is closed, and the Fix-It Utilities tray icon

isn’t showing.2. Open the Windows Start menu and choose

Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs.3. Choose Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional from the list.4. Click Remove and follow the instructions to uninstall Fix-It Utilities.


Known Issues and ProblemsTypically, if the User’s Guide and Online Help differ, the Online Help file is correct as the Online Help is updated when new updates to the software are created. Printed documentation might not be updated as frequently as the software.

BrowsersMost features work with all browsers. A few features, such as Windows Update, only work with Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.01 or later installed on your computer. You can download a current version of Internet Explorer from the Microsoft web site at www.microsoft.com.

ErrorTracker SettingsIf you typed a new path for the ErrorTracker log directly into the location box without using the Browse button, you might get an error message. You must type in an existing directory and a name for the log file. The Browse button allows you to make a new directory. If you get this error, you must re-open the ErrorTracker settings dialog to enter the proper path and file name.

PCDiagnosticsIf you are having difficulty with some of the diagnostics, we encourage you to get updated drivers from your computer vendor.It is possible that a diagnostic test will appear in the descriptive text for the diagnostics, and not be available on your computer. Diagnostic tests might be disabled on a computer for one of the following reasons:• A device is being used (such as a COM port), and the Diagnostics

doesn’t attempt to test a device which is currently in use,• A diagnostic test might require a newer version of a driver than is

present (for example, some video tests require DirectX 3.0b or later),• A diagnostic test might require a specific type of hardware (for

example, the Joystick Tests doesn’t appear on your computer unless you have a joystick installed)

Loopback connectors are required for some COM and LPT tests. These are inexpensive connectors, which can be put together or purchased (see “Diagnostics Needing Loopback Connectors” on page 101). Without these connectors, those tests requiring loopback connectors will fail.During the keyboard tests you will need to press all the keys on your keyboard. When you are done with the test, you might want to press the NUMLOCK, SCROLLLOCK, and CAPSLOCK keys again to return them to their original state.

http://www.microsoft.com


No SoundIf you have speakers and a sound card in your computer, but are unable to hear sounds from your speakers, we suggest you check the following:• Verify that the speakers have power (battery or AC) and that the

speakers are turned on.• Verify that the speaker cables are connected from the speakers to the

correct jack on your sound card. This is one of the most common problems encountered.

• Set the volume and balance controls on the speakers to the middle of their range.

Choose Start > Settings > Control Panel > Multimedia and then verify that your audio settings are approximately midrange and not muted.

DiskCleanerThis tool can be very dangerous if misunderstood—it doesn’t have the ability to determine if a file is truly safe to delete. It finds files according to the rules defined in the categories and gives them a rating of ‘probably safe’ or ‘use caution’ based on some simple criteria, like location and last modified date. Most categories will find files that should NOT be deleted, but it is up to you to recognize which ones are safe and which ones are not. See “DiskCleaner Safety Criteria” on page 190 for more information.When zipping or moving selected items, zero length files and empty folders are not preserved.

SystemSchedulerThe status display in the main Fix-It Utilities program doesn’t update dynamically as the scheduler runs programs. To refresh it, close the Scheduler tool and reopen it.Programs that are scheduled, but not run, because the Scheduler was unloaded, might appear to have been run in the Scheduler status window. Use the View Results dialog to determine which programs actually ran.The results files accumulate over time and must be deleted manually. There is no automatic deletion.

SMARTDiskCheckSMARTDiskCheck won’t work in all versions of all supported operating systems. If you are having trouble running SMARTDiskCheck, you should update to the most current version of your operating system. Run Windows Update or go to the Microsoft web site for more information on updating your computer at www.microsoft.com.

http://www.microsoft.com


JETDefragTo allow JETDefrag to do its best job, you need to disable all third-party anti-virus software programs before running this tool. Running other anti-virus programs while using JETDefrag can cause the following conditions:• JETDefrag to run slow.• If a virus is found, the third-party anti-virus software might lock the

file causing JETDefrag the inability to optimize the drive properly.This occurs when JETDefrag is run alone, or through the Fix-It Utilities wizards, and SystemScheduler.

Using Fix-It Utilities with Multiple UsersWindows 2000, XP, and Vista are operating systems designed for multiple users, with the System Administrator responsible for making sure the computer is running properly.In this environment, Administrators are the only users able to install and configure Fix-It Utilities and its specific tools. If you are logged into your computer as a restricted user, there are only a few Fix-It Utilities tools you can use. These are:• Anti-Virus: the on-demand and context menu VirusScanner.• Anti-Spyware: QuickScan DeepScan • Diagnose: MediaVerifier• Cleanup: DiskCleanerAdministrators can run all the tools and set up these tools to run in the background for all users:• AutoFileScan and AutoEmailScan real-time virus protection• ErrorTracker• The Deleted Files Bin

EasyUpdate/Automatic UpdatesOnly Administrators can update Fix-It Utilities and the VirusScanner signature file. AutoUpdate will also only check the Avanquest server for updates when the Administrator is logged in. We recommend that Administrators log in regularly to get the current virus files. Typically, VirusScanner signature files are updated once a week, and usually more often.


Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Glossary of Terms • 297

Glossary of Terms

Atomic ClockThis is an extremely accurate electronic clock regulated by the frequency of cesium atoms.

BIOS ClockThe BIOS clock interacts between the hardware and the operating system.

BootBoot means to start up your computer.

Boot RecordThe boot record’s main operate is the loader routine, which initially starts the computer into operation and then loads the larger operating system.

Boot SectorThe Boot Sector is the first track of a hard or diskette drive. This track tells the computer what to load at the start of the boot process, and can be infected by a virus.

ClickWhen the instructions in the user’s guide or online help say to “click” a certain on-screen button, that means to move the mouse pointer over the button and press the primary mouse button (the left button if you’re right-handed) down quickly. As soon as you let the mouse button up, the desired action should take place.

298 • Glossary of Terms Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

ClusterWindows allocates space to files in units called clusters. Each cluster contains from two to eight sectors, depending on the type and size of the disk. A cluster is the smallest unit of disk space that can be allocated for use.

Context MenuA context menu is the menu that appears when you right-click. The Windows desktop has several context menus depending on whether the mouse pointer is on an icon or on a blank area of the desktop. Many programs have context menus, sometimes several different context menus. Programs can also customize the Windows context menus, so you might see your context menus change over time as you add and remove software. Windows Explorer and PowerDesk both have context menus, which are customized by Avanquest software.

NOTE: The context menus you can run VirusScanner from are in Windows Explorer and in PowerDesk.

Crash Crashing is when a program terminates, sometimes with error messages. Programs can crash for any number of reasons: data conflicts, memory problems, bugs in the software, problems with the hardware or hardware drivers, and more.

Cross-Linked FilesOn very rare occasions, the File Allocation Table (FAT) can have two entries pointing to the same area of the disk. This creates the situation where two different files contain data on the same area of the disk. Since the computer can’t determine which file has the correct data and which has a corrupted link, DiskFixer can separate the two files so you can examine them at your leisure to determine which has correct data and which is corrupted.


Deleted Files BinThis is a Fix-It Utilities feature. It is an area of your disk reserved for deleted files. Any files you delete are moved into this area. As the area fills up, the oldest files are overwritten.Except for certain temporary files, files are moved to the Deleted Files Bin when you do any of the following:• Empty the Windows Recycle Bin• Delete files from DOS• Delete files via a program• Delete files in any way that bypasses the Windows Recycle Bin

DesktopYour desktop is the entire background area of your screen, including the icons.

DirectoryThis is an index into the files on your disk. It acts as a hierarchy, and you see them represented in Windows looking like manila folders.

DiskmapThe Diskmap is a graphical representation of the disk allocation for the selected drive or partition when using the Recovery CD. It displays each of your partitions by size, disk location, and type.

DOSDisk Operating System (DOS) is a microcomputer operating system developed by Microsoft.

FATThis is a table on your hard drive that keeps a complete index of all of the known files on disk. Windows can’t run without this table. Also see the File Allocation Table.

FAT32This is a table on your hard drive that keeps a complete index of all of the known files on disk. Windows can’t run without this table. Also see the File Allocation Table for 32-bit Windows.

FileThis is a collection of data grouped into one unit on disk.


File Allocation Table(FAT or FAT32) Windows uses the FAT to manage the disk data area. The FAT tells DOS which portions of the disk belong to each file. The FAT links together all of the clusters belonging to each file, no matter where they are on disk.

Hang (or freeze)When a program hangs or freezes up, you suddenly you have no keyboard or mouse control, and no control whatsoever over the computer and/or the program. Often the CTRL-ALT-DEL keys don’t work.

ImageCreating an image is essentially the same thing as making a copy. A disk image is similar to a disk copy.

Invalid links (System Registry)An invalid link in the system registry is an entry that should point to a file on disk, but doesn’t. It is pointing to a location where there was a file, but the file is no longer there. Often invalid links occur because uninstalled programs don’t completely remove their registry entries, programs were not correctly uninstalled, a user views a file attached to email without saving them to disk first, and programs have been moved without uninstalling and reinstalling them.Invalid links are common in system registries, and it is always a good idea to clean them out regularly.

Lost Cluster ChainLost clusters (or cluster chains) are clusters on the disk that are represented in the FAT as belonging to a file, but are not actually attached to any file. These are essentially wasted space on the disk, since the FAT will never reallocate them to a file until a program such as DiskFixer finds them and reallocates them as free space.

My ComputerThe My Computer folder is a Windows special folder that contains, among other things, the control panel, printer information, and the drives configured on your computer. If you double-click the My Computer icon, you can traverse directories by opening up successive folders.


“New” SubmenuWhen you right-click a blank area of the desktop, you see a context menu that contains a number of options, including New. This option gives you a list of different types of files—documents, graphics, spreadsheets, and others—to create.

NTFSThe name given to file systems for Windows NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista.

Paging FileThe paging file (in Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista) is a special file that your computer uses as an extension of your RAM. If the RAM fills up, the computer offloads some of the RAM data into a swap file on disk.This file can’t be defragmented or optimized while Windows is running. JETDefrag allows Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista users to set a flag to defragment the paging files and other system files during the next restart.

PartitionThis is a section of a physical hard drive that has its own drive letter and looks as if it were separate from the original physical drive. High-capacity hard drives often have multiple partitions.

Partition TableThe partition table tells the operating system how the hard disk is divided. Each partition on a disk has a corresponding entry in the partition table.

PathThe location of a file. The path consists of directory or folder names, beginning with the highest-level directory or disk name and ending with the lowest-level directory name. Example: c:\My Documents\Company\photos

PowerDeskPowerDesk is the ultimate desktop enhancement utility for Windows.There is a Portable Document Format (PDF) version of the PowerDesk User Guide included with the PowerDesk program. You will need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader (also included on the CD) to read the guide.To see the help for PowerDesk, install it and then select the online help from the Help menu.


Right-ClickWhen you see an instruction to “right-click” on something, that means to move the mouse pointer over that area on the screen and press the right mouse button (if you’re right-handed).

RTC ClockThe Real Time Clock (RTC) maintains accurate time even when the computer is turned off. When the computer starts, the other clocks initially get their time from the RTC.

Safe ModeIf there is a problem starting Windows that can’t otherwise be solved, you can start to Safe Mode. This loads Windows with a generic video driver and no other programs at startup. You can frequently diagnose and solve start problems in Safe Mode and then restart normally. If you can’t start to Safe Mode, use the Fix-It Utilities Rescue Disk to troubleshoot the problem.

SectorThis term refers to the divided tracks on a disk.

ShortcutOften the icons you see on your desktop, Windows Explorer, or PowerDesk are shortcuts rather than the actual programs. This means that they are really a very small file that points to the real program. Usually the way you can tell it’s a shortcut is if it has a shortcut overlay graphic, which resemble a folded-over edge on the lower left corner.Shortcuts are a great way to save space. The shortcut is a file, but all it contains is the location of the real program. If you double-click it to run the program, it actually tells Windows where the real program resides. A shortcut file typically takes up only 1K.

Special FoldersSpecial folders are Windows directories that are created and maintained by Windows to contain specific types of files. Normally you can’t move them or change their contents manually.


SpywareSpyware are programs that can significantly slow down the performance of even the fastest computer and threaten your security. They have been placed into a group of potential internet threats known as “Gray Area” threats: Spyware, Adware, Dialers, Joke Programs, Hacker Tools, Remote Access Tools, Password Cracking Programs, and Others.

Start MenuThe Start menu appears when you click the Start button on the Windows desktop. You can run most programs from the Start menu.

System RegistryThis is a database that contains and maintains information about the hardware, software, network, and general computer details. The registry updates every time you add new hardware or a new program to your computer. When the registry becomes “broken,” it can cause serious computer problems.

System TrayThe System Tray is the area in the lower-right corner of the Windows display, to the left of the computer clock. Fix-It Utilities and many other programs place icons there for ready-access to tools.

Time ServerA Time Server is a computer server on the Internet that is connected to an atomic clock.

VirusA virus is a program written to cause mischief or damage to a computer. A mild virus might only be a slight nuisance. However, most viruses do damage to your files, your registry, or even your hardware. Viruses are hard to detect, easy to propagate, and difficult to remove. Your computer can pick up a virus when you copy a seemingly normal file from removable media such as a CD or download it from the Internet.

Windows ClockThe Windows clock gets its time from the BIOS clock. Most Windows programs get the date and time from the Windows clock. The clock on your desktop also gets its time from the Windows clock.


Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Index • 305

Index

Aabout the program 21Acrobat Reader 24Add/Remove Tools 31AutoEmailScan 72

settings 79AutoFileScan 69

disabling 70, 70settings 78

automatic checking for updates 38

Bboot record 143boot sector

image 227BootFixer 245

Ccategories, in DiskCleaner 188CD-ROM diagnostics 98CD-RW 107checkpoint

settings 217checkpoints

creating 215restoring 221, 241undo 222

CleanUp wizard 49running 50settings 51

clock 155ClockSync 155Comprehensive wizard 49

running 50settings 51

CPU diagnostics 98crashed computer 263Crisis Center 281Custom Scan

settings 81

Ddamage to a hard drive 282data recovery 287

FileUndeleter 207in-lab 285

defragmentinghard drive 179registry 177

Deleted Files Bin 207, 211settings 212

deleting files 94desktop schemes

removing 199diagnosing problems 275diagnostics 97disaster cleanup 287

306 • Index Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional

disaster recovery 285disk damage 282disk space

recovering 187disk, rescue

see system rescue disk 263DiskCleaner 187

categories 188, 193diskettes

verifying contents 107DiskFixer 143

FixUp wizard 49running 144

diskmap 254DiskSnapshot 227

settings 229DVD diagnostics 98

Eearthquake damage 286EasyUpdate 24, 24, 36, 36

automatic checking 38Emergency Repair Disk

Windows 2000/XP 266Windows 2000/XP/Vista 265

ErrorTracker 103settings 104

event status 25

FFast Repair

Windows 2000/XP ERD 266file allocation table (FAT) 143, 227File Shredder 201

settings 203files

temporary 187undeleting 207unused 187

FileUndeleter 207, 213and DiskSnapshot 227running 208settings 212

Find Computer listremoving 198

Find list, removing 198

fire damage 286Fix Wizards 49

settings 51FixUp wizard 49


flood damage 285floppy drive diagnostics 98

Ggeneric system rescue disk 225getting started 263glossary 297

Hhard drive

defragmenting 179diagnostics 98failure warning 109fragmentation 179, 181

hardware diagnostics 98header data structures 143help 55HouseCall 272

Iimage, of the disk 227in-lab data recovery 285installation 263installing bonus products 24installing the program 22IntelliCluster

see JETDefrag 180turning on and off 31

internationalremoving keyboard settings 200removing time zones 200

JJETDefrag 179, 184

in SpeedUp wizard 49running 181settings 184


Kkeyboard

diagnostics 98removing international settings 200

Llightning damage 286Log 125

settings 126loopback connectors 101

Mmaintenance

PCs 22maintenance, of PCs

scheduling 149manual partitioning 253, 253

settings 259master boot record 143MediaVerifier 107memory 270, 272memory diagnostics 98modem diagnostics 98motherboard diagnostics 98mouse diagnostics 98

Nnetwork

diagnostics 98removing Find Computer list 198

Oonline help 56

Pparallel ports diagnostics 98partition

tools on system rescue disk 279partition table 143

partitionscreating 255deleting 256hiding and showing 257security identifier 258setting active for booting 257viewing 254

PCDiagnostics 98FixUp wizard 49loopback connectors 101running 98settings 102test groups 98tests 102

PCsdiagnosing 275maintaining 22preventing problems 30problems 22, 275troubleshooting 275

preventing problems 30printer port diagnostics 98problems

PCs 22program tray icon 31programming patches 24, 24, 36, 36programs

tracking usage 180Protect wizard 49

QQuarantineManager

deleting files 94restoring files 93

QuickStatus 25

RRAM 270, 272RAM diagnostics 98real-time virus scanner

see VirusScanner 69recent documents list

removing 198recently searched files

removing 198recovering data 207


recovering disk space 187recovering from disaster 285Recovery Commander 235, 265

creating a checkpoint 215restoring a checkpoint 221, 241settings 217undoing a restore 222

Recycle Bin 207, 211registry

defragmenting 177editing 137invalid links in 129

Registry Editor 137RegistryCleaner 197, 200

advanced options 199RegistryDefrag 177RegistryFixer 129

display 135FixUp wizard 49

RegistryMagic 137Remote Data Recovery 284removing

recently searched files 198repairing a registry 129Rescue Disk 238

BootFixer 245rescue disk 225, 253

creating 226system rescue disk 263

restoringfiles 93

Run listremoving 198

running the program 25

Ssafe mode

Windows 2000/XP 266ScanDisk (see DiskFixer) 143Scheduler

running 150viewing results 152

scheduling maintenance 149scheduling tools 149sensors 111serial ports diagnostics 98

settingsAutoEmailScan 79AutoFileScan 78checkpoints 217CleanUp Wizard 52Comprehensive Wizard 54Custom Scan 81DiskSnapshot 229EasyUpdate 37ErrorTracker 104File Shredder 203FileUndeleter 212FixUp Wizard 54JETDefrag 184Log 126manual partitioning 259One-Click Solutions 51PCDiagnostics 102Recovery Commander 217SpeedUp Wizard 52Startup Commander 173SystemMonitors 117, 121VirusScanner 77

setup program 22Shredder 201shredding files 201SMARTDiskCheck 109

FixUp wizard 49sound card diagnostics 98SpeedUp wizard 49


spyware 41, 89spyware scan results 91starting the program 25Startup Commander 165

settings 173support, technical 311system board diagnostics 98System Diagnostics 97, 104System Explorer 105

reports 106system health 25system memory diagnostics 98system protection 25, 226


system registry 178defragmenting 177editing 137invalid links in 129removing unwanted items 197

system requirements 22system rescue disk 225, 226, 263, 277

creating 226system tray icon 31SystemMonitors 111, 123

adding monitors 116adding panels 115alarms 122auto-hide 119changing labels 115closing 115display 113, 114, 120docking 119moving 115removing monitors 116removing panels 116reordering monitors 115running at startup 118scrolling 114settings 117, 121, 123starting 113unscrolling 114

SystemScheduler 149

Ttechnical support 311temporary files 187, 271test groups

PCDiagnostics 98time server 155time zones

removing 200tip of the day

removing 198tools description 39tray icon 31Trend Micro HouseCall 272troubleshooting 275

Uundeleting files 207

undoing changes 231UndoIt 231uninstalling 292universal serial bus (USB) diagnostics 98unused files 187updating 24, 36updating the program 24, 36

Vvideo diagnostics 98, 102viewing

partitions 254virus information (pattern files)

updates 24, 36VirusScanner 59, 272

AutoEmailScan 72AutoFileScan 69context menu 67disabling AutoFileScan 70, 70real-time 69running in background 69settings 77wizards 61, 65

Wwelcome 21Windows tip of the day

removing 198Windows Update 270Windows 2000/XP

Emergency Repair Disk 266safe mode 266

Windows 2000/XP/VistaEmergency Repair Disk 265

Zzip disks

verifying contents 107


Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional Complimentary Technical Support • 311

Complimentary Technical Support

Before contacting Avanquest technical support, please review the User’s Guide or the Online Help from the Help menu within the program. We are also pleased to offer you 24/7 access to our complimentary web support at:support.avanquestusa.com Here you can access the latest product updates, extensive FAQs, and other information about your product. The FAQs might have information and helpful hints that are more current than the user’s guide and Online Help.If the FAQs don’t help, you can submit a free email incident from the FAQ page.When reporting a difficulty, please include any information that might help us diagnose the problem. The following details are often the most helpful:• The version of the software you are using (check Help > About).• The version of Windows that you are running.• The circumstances and sequence of steps that led to the problem.• The text of the exact error messages (if any appeared).• A list of other Windows programs that you were running when the

error occurred.Avanquest is dedicated to quality and fast support. Most email incidents are handled within one business day.

NOTE: This technical support policy is subject to change without notice. Support services are provided according to the prices, terms, and conditions in place at the time the services are used.

http://support.avanquestusa.com

312 • Complimentary Technical Support Fix-It Utilities 8 Professional