October 2004 Newsletter

What’s New at PC Pitstop, October 2004

IN THIS ISSUE

• PC Pitstop Optimize – Our First Product
• New Home for “The Pit”
• What’s That Running Program? We Know!
• The PC Pitstop Site Gets A New Look
• Windows XP Service Pack 2: Do it Now!
• Dell Recalls Millions of Power Supplies
• Join the PC Pitstop Folding or SETI Team

PC Pitstop Optimize – Our First Product

We’ve taken the most common PC problems and built a product that takes care of them: PC Pitstop Optimize. It includes four great functions (Internet optimizer, disk space cleaner, registry cleaner, and performance tweaker) in an easy-to-use wizard. Optimize can simplify PC tuning and maintenance, plus it’s a great way to show your support for PC Pitstop. But don’t worry, the PC Pitstop site, our tests, and all our advice is still free!
Free Scan

New Home for “The Pit”

Our online forums have become so popular that we’ve outgrown the shared-server setup we’ve been using. Now we have moved to a dedicated server that provides much better response times. Drop by The Pit to get answers to those tough computer problems, help in cleaning spyware, or just to hang out with us.
The Pit

What’s That Running Program? We Know!

If you’ve run PC Pitstop’s full tests, you’ve probably seen the color-coded list of programs that we found running on your PC. Now we’ve made that database available for searching, so you can research the source and purpose of programs even when you aren’t able to test the system. Our list even includes important data such as the percentage of systems that were running the software, and whether the program is associated with a high CPU load. We’re constantly adding entries and improving the information to make it the best source of running program data on the Internet.

List

Full Test

The PC Pitstop Site Gets A New Look

After three years of the same old look, we’ve freshened up the site and made some design changes that let our pages load faster. Don’t worry, all your favorite features are still there and we haven’t rearranged the furniture too much. If you can’t find what you need, just ask on our forums.
The Pit

Windows XP Service Pack 2: Do it Now!

In August, Microsoft released Windows XP Service Pack 2. This is a major update, and includes many critical security improvements. It adds a popup blocker to Internet Explorer and prevents the use of drive-by downloads that might install spyware. Broadband users can easily download the 200-plus megabyte update, but dialup users should take advantage of the free update CD that Microsoft offers:
XP SP2
Before installing SP2, make sure your system is free of spyware and viruses. Also turn off real-time virus checkers and programs like GoBack that may interfere with the installer. SP2 has an uninstall option you can use if you encounter problems.

Dell Recalls Millions of Power Supplies

Dell Computer and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission have announced a recall of nearly one million AC power adapters that have been reported to overheat and could cause fires or injuries. Dozens of models of Dell Inspiron, Latitude, and Precision notebooks sold between September 1998 and February 2002 are potentially affected. If you have a Dell notebook you should check if your power adapter needs replacing:
Check Dell

Join the PC Pitstop Folding or SETI Team

Can a PC cure cancer? The Folding@Home project uses your spare CPU time to find proteins that might be useful in the fight against diseases. SETI@Home puts your computing power to work searching for messages in the signals we receive from space. Learn more and join the team at the Distributed Computing section of our forums! Forums

About PC Pitstop

PC Pitstop, LLC (https://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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