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Craplets & Bloatware

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What's New at PC Pitstop, June 2005

IN THIS ISSUE

• New Tests and Site Navigation
• PC Pitstop Punts Popups
• P2P and Spyware
• Live Tech Support Available
• No Relation to MyPCTuneup.com!
• Performance Tip: Prune Your Prefetch

New Tests and Site Navigation

We've rearranged the site and navigation system a bit to make it easier to find more of our tests. Take a look at the left navigation bar and you may see some tests you didn't know we even had. Our full tests are still the most comprehensive. Our updated spyware scan lets you quickly see what's running, tells you what it does, and lets you know whether you want it. Our new privacy scan reveals what your PC knows about you.
http://pcpitstop.com/

PC Pitstop Punts Popups

As of June 1, PC Pitstop is a popup-free zone. Some of you may be cheering, and some may be saying "What took you so long?" It's putting a dent in our pocketbook, but the popup ads we had been receiving lately didn't meet our standards for honesty. Plus, our ad service just started serving popup ads that get around the XP SP2 popup blocker. Now *that* is annoying.
http://pcpitstop.com/news/rob/rcheng0506.asp

P2P and Spyware

A lot of people still trade files through peer-to-peer (P2P) software, but there are a lot of dangers lurking in P2P networks. Some P2P clients are bundled with adware and spyware, bringing your system to a crawl before you've shared your first file. The files you download can harbor nasty surprises as well.
http://pcpitstop.com/spycheck/p2p.asp
http://pcpitstop.com/spycheck/badtorrent.asp

Live Tech Support Available

If you've got an urgent need for computer help, PC Pitstop now offers a live tech support option. The rates are reasonable and we think it rounds out our support options. There is plenty of tech help available through our automated tests, and we still offer free support through our forums. If you try the support, please do let us know how you like it by posting a message in the Site Feedback section of our forums!
http://pcpitstop.com/tinylink.asp?LiveHelp

No Relation to MyPCTuneup.com!

Every few days, someone stumbles onto the PC Pitstop site thinking that we are related to Direct Revenue and the clingy ABI Network adware that displays endless advertising. Direct Revenue only lets you remove its "product" by visiting the mypctuneup.com site, and it turns out that PC Pitstop owns the pctuneup.com domain which redirects to pcpitstop.com. People are typing in the wrong domain and ending up on our site. We hope that our new page clears up the confusion.
http://pctuneup.com

Performance Tip: Prune Your Prefetch

Windows XP speeds up boot time using information that it keeps in the Prefetch folder under the Windows folder (usually this is C:\Windows\Prefetch on most PCs). Over time as many programs are installed and removed, the prefetch information can actually hurt performance. If your startup times are lagging, you can delete the .pf files in the Prefetch folder and Windows XP will rebuild them as needed. While you're cleaning, it's a good time to empty the Recycle Bin, clear your IE cache, and defrag the drive for best performance.

About PC Pitstop

PC Pitstop, LLC (http://www.pcpitstop.com) was formed in February 2000, and offers users a unique way to make sure their PCs are running fast, stable and secure--all through a free, Web-based interface.

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