February 2010

10 Years of Making PCs Faster and Live Longer

PC Pitstop is 10 years old. Can you believe it? That’s right, PC Pitstop officially opened its doors in March 2000, exactly 10 years ago. As a former SVP at Gateway Computers, I had noticed that support costs were growing faster than revenue. “There had to be a way to automate the process of diagnosing and fixing common computer ailments”, I thought. And voilà, PC Pitstop was born.

Our tests were revolutionary for its time using principles of cloud computing that would become popular close to a half decade later. As millions of computers came to our web site for PC help, we were also able to collect the world’s largest database of PC statistics.

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Ten years later, look what’s changed!

Microsoft screwed up, and they know it. The last version of Windows was a turkey stuffed with some pretty dumb features. I’ve spent some time with the latest version of Windows, though, and it looks like it could be a winner.

You thought I was talking about Vista and Windows 7? Nope, this is a look at ten years of system optimization at PC Pitstop, and I started at the beginning. The decade opened with a Microsoft disaster called Windows Me, followed by a decade-long success called Windows XP that still rules today. But it just goes to show a big company like Microsoft doesn’t always learn from its mistakes.

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Killing Your Virtual Self

Now that you’re looking at divorce, do you regret tweeting about all those expensive watches you bought last year? What about those party pictures that seemed so fun and innocent? Are they looking a little “much” now that you’ve become a Circuit Court Judge?

My Virtual Me is all over the internet. There for everyone to see. Employers, attorneys, insurance companies have all realized the wealth of information floating around on places like Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace. Checking the Internet before hiring or insuring has become standard practice.

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Ask Leo: Where is Windows Mail & Outlook Express in Windows 7?

askleo

By Leo Notenboom

I did not realize Windows Mail is not included in Windows 7 Professional. Is there a way to add Windows mail?

It’s true – Outlook Express was replaced by Windows Mail in Windows Vista, but with the release of Windows 7 even that has disappeared, along with Windows Messenger and a few other items.

To be honest, that’s good news for those of us who never used these tools.

But for those who did, it means an extra step or three.

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PC Pitstop Member Interviews

It is funny how life just happens to you. Ten years ago my wife and I sold my custom aquarium shop, bought our first “new” house together, and I purchased my very first computer.

During this time PC Pitstop has grown and developed the best diagnostic and optimization software available anywhere. It is used by schools, businesses and people like you and me. Maybe I have become bigger and slower in the last 10 years but PC Pitstop has become a lean and mean optimization machine. PC Matic makes your computer smarter and FASTER.

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