Many, many years ago, Microsoft created a tool to help clean the Windows registry. It was a good tool. It was a fine tool. It was a useful tool.

It was a tool that spurred the development of many commercial equivalents ranging from great to downright deceptive.

That tool is gone now. You know why? Because tools like this are no longer neccessary. Yet the snake-oil salesmen would have you believe otherwise.

Also this week:

Whole-disk encryption is pretty cool, I use it myself. You don't need to worry about performance, but you definitely should worry about something else.

Failed login after failed login. Perhaps you've seen em yourself: someone's trying to access your account. As long as they're "failed", that's the system working as it should.

You know you typed in the right password. You know it beyond any shadow of a doubt. And yet it results in "invalid password". There are lots of possible reasons, one of which is it may not be your password anymore.

And on that note, have a safe, and great, week!

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What's the Best Registry Cleaner?

What would be the best software to buy to fix and clean the Windows registry?

There is no “best” registry cleaner.

There are a wide variety of opinions on registry cleaners and PC cleaning tools. Many people believe they're valuable and important tools to keep your system running smoothly.

I disagree. Most of the time, they're simply so much snake oil.

Continue Reading: What's the Best Registry Cleaner?
https://askleo.com/2710

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This Week's Articles

Does Whole-disk Encryption Impact Computer Performance?

Does whole-disk encryption only affect performance while the computer is starting or does it have constant effect on the computer's overall performance?

Neither and both, actually.

Encryption in general, and whole-disk encryption specifically, has come a long way since it was first introduced many years ago. One of the most striking changes is its impact on performance.

I'll put it this way: I wouldn't let performance concerns hold you back from using whole-disk encryption.

Continue Reading: Does Whole-disk Encryption Impact Computer Performance?
https://askleo.com/97268

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Why Do I See Lots of Failed Login Attempts on My Account?

I was changing my password tonight on Hotmail and went into a section I never noticed before called Recent Activity. I was shocked to see that in the past two weeks there were a ton of failed attempts from nearly every country on the map that had tried to log in to my Hotmail account. Is this normal? Should I be scared? Should I close the account? I've had this account since 1997 so it has lots of information about me in different folders. Thanks.

Honestly, what you're seeing doesn't surprise me. What most people don't realize is that we are all under constant attack. Every account, every server, every machine connected to the internet. It's slow and unrelenting.

But it's also normal.

I have some suggestions for what you should do, but closing your account isn't one of them.

Continue Reading: Why Do I See Lots of Failed Login Attempts on My Account?
https://askleo.com/14543

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Why Am I Getting "Invalid Password"?

Why can't I sign into my mail? I get the message ‘invalid password.'

Because you entered the wrong password.

I know that seems obvious — it's what the message says, after all — but I get so much pushback. “No, it's not! I typed it in correctly!”

No, you didn't. Whatever it is you typed in isn't the password.

Clearly, we need to dive deeper and understand exactly why it's possible the password you think is correct isn't.

Continue Reading: Why Am I Getting "Invalid Password"?
https://askleo.com/97289

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