remove

The caps lock key is a blessing and a curse built into the same button. More often than not, it finds itself active in situations it shouldn't be. If you're looking for a permanent solution to eliminating thiS KIND OF PROBLEM, follow these five steps:

Editors' note: This How To involves editing your computer's registry. The registry plays an important role in how your computer operates, and messing around haphazardly can lead to severe problems in the future. Tread carefully.

Step 1: Open the Registry Editor from the Start Menu by typing "regedit" from the … Read more

Windows 7 provides users with several libraries that consolidate different types of files, such as music or video, into one easily accessible location. But what if you want to add your own folders to these libraries or remove them? Follow these four steps to find out how!

Step 1: Launch Computer from the Start menu.

Step 2: In the pane to the left, expand the Libraries folder by clicking the small triangle next to it if the list is not already visible.

Step 3: Right-click on the Library you want to modify and select "Properties" from the menu … Read more

As the saying goes, "online is forever."

Once material has been uploaded to a Web server, it begins to propagate to other servers and to the PCs of Web browsers. Removing all traces of an image, video, post, or other information on a Web site becomes more difficult the longer the data resides on a public server.

Even if you sign up for a service such as Reputation.com that promises to excise inaccurate, unflattering, or other private data from public sites, there's a chance the material will resurface somewhere. (I described Reputation.com's privacy-protection services … Read more

It turns out that in the Age of Sharing, a picture is worth a thousand data points--but you can strip out some or all of those identifying bits before posting or otherwise sharing your pics online. Maybe you don't want strangers to know the GPS coordinates of your home pics, or maybe you'd rather the boss not know that you used that sick day to prepare for (or recover from) a big pub crawl. In any case, it's almost absurdly easy to remove that info using Windows Explorer. Here's how: 

The bottom line: One of the first applications built to find and remove malware and spyware, Ad-Aware 9 Pro's reputation is well-justified. The latest version continues the publisher's tradition of adroitly addressing user concerns, yet some annoyances remain.

Review:

Editors' note: Portions of this review are based on CNET's review for Ad-Aware 9 Free.

Ad-Aware 9 Pro continues the development progress that publisher Lavasoft began in the previous version. No longer content with offering only malware protection, Ad-Aware now includes antivirus protections licensed from Sunbelt, the makers of Vipre, as well as interesting in-house improvements.

Lavasoft first … Read more

Data brokers, data harvesters, people finders: whatever you call them, they roll up a huge amount of real and deduced information about you to create a dossier on your life that anyone can buy or even browse for free. While the nuggets of information about you are already out there, the way these sites aggregate it makes a lot of people feel very invaded. Watch this video to see how you can opt out, to a degree, then use the links below to start taking back your privacy.

Opt-out tools:

Spokeo PeopleSmart Pipl Peek You (e-mail link): Include the PeekYou.… Read more

With a multiday, multiregion storm impacting 100 million people over the next couple of days, solar roads that melt snow and ice seem less like a far-fetched pipe dream and more like an obvious investment. Engineers on opposite sides of the country are working to make that happen.

Solar Roadways in Boise, Idaho, received a contract from the Federal Highway Administration to build a solar road panel prototype, which was completed early last year. The 12x12-square-foot road designed by engineer and CEO Scott Brusaw is made out of panels encased in strong and durable glass with the traction of asphalt and that won't cause glare.

Each encased panel generates 7.6 kilowatt hours of electricity per day, and can be connected to smart grids to power homes and business. Wireless LED lights embedded in the glass create road signs and weight-sensitive crosswalks. They also contain heating elements that can melt snow and ice.

The technology to make snow plowing obsolete is similar to what's already used in automobile windshields. Heating elements in the glass melt existing snow or ice and prevent accumulation from developing. By preventing snow-related auto accidents and improving road access for emergency responders, the technology would save a lot of lives.

It could also save cities a lot of money. … Read more

Mz StartUp Manager makes it easy enough for beginners to tell Windows which programs to load on boot, which isn't quite the same thing as pinning and unpinning programs to the Start Menu. These are programs that the system loads when booting up, sometimes unnecessarily. This free tool not only removes unneeded startup entries but also adds new ones, such as apps you use every day and are just plain tired of launching. It also helps users learn about their programs.

Mz StartUp Manager's simple, efficient interface offers numerous optional skins. The program's left-hand Tasks panel replicates … Read more

Time management software has exploded in popularity over the last few years, and some people may argue that it's become too complex for its own good; you end up spending more time managing your tasks than actually completing them. My Checklist is an extremely simple task manager that has only slightly more features than a pen-and-paper to-do list. For some people, that might be a welcome change.

The program's interface is plain and intuitive, with buttons for adding and removing items, checking off items that are complete, reordering items, and printing the list of tasks. That is the … Read more