What is Bit Rot?

Imagine if you will a library filled with over a million books. In the inventory are a mix of old and new books. Now a majority of the books are read more often than others. Some only get read occasionally. Others still have sadly been forgotten and have reached a point where decay had already started or set in. Imagine as well that when some of these books are removed from the shelves they leave behind small bit and pieces or whole pages.

Windows operating systems are like book libraries. In fact, they had what as Dynamic Link Libraries or DLL's. Whenever you click on something or open a program, these libraries are called to perform the sequence of activities to complete the task or function you want. Say, clicking on an icon on the desktop will start the program and the Windows operating system files that help that program do it's work. Now over time, if not properly maintained, neglected files will cause your computer to slow down. A few would be links to uninstalled programs, unused DLL files left over from uninstalled programs and duplicate files. Much like a real libraries, anthing unused just wastes precious space and makes it harder to find the books you really need. And just like real libraries, any left over material will eventually build up and cause further waste of space.

These broken and unused extra files eventually snowball and can cause everything from slow system performance to system lock ups. It's like the gunk building up on your drain, really. In computing, this is what's known as Bit Rot. So how do you prevent Bit Rot. You need to clean your DLL's and get rid of any unused files left over from installing, uninstalling, updating. You'll also need to clean up temporary files for stuff you won't need anymore. Fortunately, there are a lot of tools out there that can help. One tool that I use is CCleaner.

It has a Cleaner that will scan for and get rid of temporary files that are unnecessarily taking up space:

It's got a Registry Cleaner that automatically detects and cleans unused DLL's, files, shorcuts and help files:

It has tools to thoroughly uninstall programs, clean up startup items and securely wipe hard drives:

You can even run CCleaner to clear out your recycle bin automatically:

If that isnt enough for you, then maybe you need a swiss army knife kind of solution, a toolkit that will have it all in one small package. WinZip System Utilities might be the thing you're looking for.

WinZip System Utilities has got Registry Optimizers that scans for and cleans registry errors, and organizes your registry for better faster performance. It's got Disk Cleaners & Optimizers that frees up disk space, defrags your hard disk and checks your hard drives for file system and disk errors. It's got a Memory Optimizer, a Driver Updater and a Game Optimizer to tweak your Windows settings to peak performance for the use you intend it for. It's got Security & Privacy Tools to help you clean hidden privacy-exposing traces, ermanently delete confidential data so that it cannot be retrieved. It's got a built in Encryptor to protect your personal files from unauthorized access. It's got Backup & Recovery Tools that allow you to recover accidently deleted data, automatically backup your important files and restore from saved backups. It even has a duplicate file remover. And to top it all off, all of what I just said can be scheduled to run regularly and automatically.

It's easy to use, it can do all the work for you when you want it to. I don't think there's a sweeter deal out there right now.  So go on over to WinZip's site and run a free scan to try it out.

HowTo Install Dropbox in Windows

Dropbox is software that makes it easy to save, share and sync files between different computers and devices. I posted about it here: Dropbox - Save, Share, Sync Files Between Computers. When you install Dropbox, you get a dedicated folder on your computer that is automatically backed up. The nice thing about it is if you have multiple computers and each one has it, Dropbox syncs the files on each. Your files are available everywhere. You get the same file version on each computer updated automatically. What's more, you can go back to previous versions from the last 30 days should you need to. Here's how to install it:

1. Go to  http://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTEwMjA1MzQyOQ and sign up for an account:

2. After signing up, you'll be directed to the downloads page:

3. Click Run when prompted:

4. The download may take a while. Go get yourself a cup of coffee:

5. When the download finishes and after you've had a few sips of your coffee, click on Run:

6. Click on Install:

7. Finish your coffee while it installs:

8. Since you signed up using my link **hint, hint**, choose I Already Have a Dropbox Account:

9. Type in the email and password you signed up with and edit the computer's name if you want to, then click Next:

10. Choose the 2GB Free option and click Next:

11. I'd recommend reading the info on the 4 slides, to get a little more background on how to use it. Click on Next to move to each one:

12. Finish the install by ticking either on Add a Shortcut on My Desktop or I Want to Choose Where to Put My Dropbox Folder, then Finish (i personally prefer the Desktop, it makes it easier to find):

13. You should have a link on you desktop after clicking on Finish in the previous step:

14.  Click on the icon to access you Dropbox and start drag-dropping your files:

If you want to keep it free, you only have 2GB to work with. But you can increase your free storage if you invite friends. For every person who signs up using your link, you and that person get 250MB each. You can get up to 8GB free! That's 10 GB total, for free. So if you want to try it out, use click my link (http://www.dropbox.com/referrals/NTEwMjA1MzQyOQ) and we'll both get 250MB free ;-)