CCleaner has been one of my favorite tools to maintain PCs. It is simple to use and offers powerful tools. It has a small footprint and it can be installed on a USB drive to clean up PCs on the go. CCleaner can clean up files that are left behind from uninstalled apps, fix the registry, and uninstall apps but it is by no means the last word in PC maintenance. There's no defragmentation or optimization option within CCleaner. Enter Mz 7 Optimizer, an app specifically designed to tune up your Windows 7 PC. Can it replace CCleaner as our PC maintenance app of choice? Let's find out.

PC games almost always have a DirectX requirement - it's often 'DirectX 9.0C'. If you're not sure which version you have installed, there's an easy way to check! These instructions will work on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. Read on to find out how.

File hosting sites are convenient when you need to share files with others. But when you need to download multiple files from different file hosting sites, it takes a long time to separately access them.

jDownloader lets you add the URL to files so they can be downloaded without sitting and waiting. The program supports many of the most popular file hosting sites and is easy to use, but at first glance it does look a little overwhelming.

jDownloader is simple once you understand the basic functions.

Using jDownloader doesn’t require much technical knowledge. All you need is the URL of the link and jDownloader handles the rest.

Have you wondered how to get Android apps onto your Kindle Fire that are missing from the Amazon store?

The Kindle Fire is a great Android tablet. It’s a device for casual users who read e-books and buy content from Amazon. Kindle Fire's customized Android 2.3 operating system also allows you to have more options with apps and other content.

But the Kindle Fire doesn’t support the Google Play Store and you have to buy your apps from Amazon’s app store. A lot of popular apps aren't available on Amazon's store, like the official Facebook for Android app.

There also isn’t any native support for Google’s services like Google Play Music.  Amazon has locked access to the Google Play Store from the Kindle Fire forcing you to purchase apps from Amazon.

Here’s a simple work around:

1. Read more »

Massive multiplayer role playing games (MMORPGs) aren’t games that usually play. The interface always feels too complicated. My demo of TERA at Game Developers Conference showed me that using a controller to perform actions can make the experience a lot more friendly for the console player.

En Masse Entertainment plans on releasing TERA on May 1, 2012 and, for once, I might take a chance on a MMORPG.

Tales from Space: Mutant Blobs Attack is one of the first downloadable PlayStation Vita titles. Drinkbox Studios is now in the process of porting their game to PC on Steam.

CEO Ryan MacLean demoed the game showing what looks like a fairly complete build of the game. He told me that while the original release was designed for the PS Vita, all the development of the game was on PC. Most early builds were tested on PC before PS Vita.

Internet Explorer 9 is a great improvement over its predecessors, as well as boasting a sleek look that really makes it stand out.

Its new look has also changed the location of important settings and features. If privacy is important to you, you'll want to know how to do things like view or delete temporary internet files and manage cookies.

These are easy to do - if you know where to look. With a few simple steps, we'll show you how to get your browser cleaned to your liking and keep it that way!

Making personal movies is fun and gratifying after you’ve finished taking raw footage and editing it into a personal story.  Windows Live Movie Maker allows you to create movies from footage with a simple interface that is mostly easy to learn.

All movies need a soundtrack and when you import your files, they already have audio recorded. What happens when you just want to mute existing audio to add your own music?

Here’s the simple solution:

If you've always wanted to learn the piano but don't want to invest in a real keyboard, you can always turn your PC keyboard into a Piano! It's not ideal, but also not a bad way of playing simple melodies on your PC. MidiPiano is the neatest Windows app I've found for this.

MidiPiano has two windows, the keyboard with controls, and a piano roll into which you can upload midi files. When you record yourself playing, it's recorded here too, in midi format.

How to use MidiPiano

I've played a real piano a couple of times, and using a qwerty keyboard is a bit awkward in comparison! The layout runs the white keys along four rows: starting at the bottom with the Z to M keys, then continuing with A to L, Q to P and then 1 to 0.

The cursor keys, and numpad also let you run further up the keyboard, but it's much more comfortable sticking to the four first rows. Black keys can be found by using Ctrl plus any other key. Holding shift allows you to play one note with the octave above at the same time. The record feature helpfully starts when you play your first note, and the midi file will finish with your last.

MidiPiano is free, and doesn't require installation. Check out my review and download MidiPiano here.

I was testing a few new Windows 7 themes on my computer, when I suddenly wondered whether it would be possible to extract the wallpapers included in any of those themes. My idea was to grab only the images used as desktop background and share them with a friend who doesn't use Windows 7. After a bit of Googling, I found the solution: yes, you can extract wallpapers from a Windows 7 theme, and it's easier than you think.

Actually, there are two ways to extract desktop background images from a Windows 7 theme. If you already have the theme installed, first of all you need to make hidden folders and files visible in the Tools > Folder options menu in Windows Explorer (we explained how to do that in this post).

Once you've done that, then go to C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Themes and choose the theme you want to extract the wallpapers from. Inside the theme folder you'll see another folder called DesktopBackground, with all the images used as wallpapers.

If you don't have the theme installed (or if you don't even have Windows 7) you can still extract those images and enjoy them as your wallpapers. All you need to do is download the themepack file and open it with any archiving utility like WinRAR or IZArc, and you'll get access to the theme's folder structure. Just open the DesktopBackground folder and extract the files.

Got a new Windows 7 PC? Here are our top five free applications that no self respecting PC user should be without!

VLC: If you want to play a video file, this killer application can take almost any format you care to throw at it. As well as being flexible, it's surprisingly powerful, allowing you to use subtitles, re-sync audio tracks and more. If that wasn't enough, VLC is also incredibly lightweight when compared to Windows Media Player or iTunes. Check out our full review here.

Photoscape: Digital photo editing and polishing needn't be as complex as Adobe Photoshop. As Elena says in her review, Photoscape is a really excellent photo editing tool that includes just about everything you need to view, optimize, edit, print and have fun with your photos, all for free. It's a great way to get started with digital image editing.

Chrome: Are you reading this from Internet Explorer? Stop right there and download Google's Chrome. Cleaner, faster, more lightweight and modern, Chrome has become the best all-round browser out there. As it's open source, there are also some great Chrome-based browsers out there, like my personal favorite Rockmelt.

OpenOffice: If you're looking for a free alternative to Microsoft Office, this is it. You'll be able to edit and save files in Microsoft-compatible formats, so there is no need to worry about not being able to open or use documents. With everything you'll need from spreadsheets to word processing, it's one of the most impressive free downloads you'll find.

CCleaner: There's no escaping chores, even on PCs in 2011! Luckily, tiny toolbox CCleaner can make the experience pretty painless. With little set up, you'll be able to clean your browser history, space wasting temporary files and lots of recent file lists.

Christmas is just around the corner, which means you've probably started decorating your home: a Christmas wreath on your door, the Christmas tree in the living-room, and Santa figures, candles and tinsel all over the house. And what about your PC? Computers are already a very important part of our lives, so they also deserve to be part of the celebration. Take note of these tips and decorate your PC for Christmas in a few easy steps!

Holiday Lights Windows 7 Theme - This is the official Windows 7 theme released by Microsoft to celebrate the Holiday season. It includes 17 gorgeous images and also adds a frosted effect to Windows. Though it doesn't feature accompanying icons or screensavers, the beauty of the wallpapers makes up for it.

Windows 7 Christmas Theme - Another Windows 7 Christmas theme, though not officially released by Microsoft. This one includes eleven high-quality wallpapers, plus a set of system icons and mouse cursors. All you need to install it is double click the .theme file inside the ZIP.

Judging by the user comments I've read in the program's review and blog post, I'd say Windows Live Messenger 2011 hasn't been very successful among users. Whether the problem is the integration with Facebook or the new "social" interface, I can't tell. What I know for sure is that many people want to get rid of it and go back to a previous, lighter and more friendly version of Live Messenger. So here's a short tutorial I wrote on how to downgrade to Windows Live Messenger 2009 in just a few easy steps.

1. First of all, you need to remove Windows Live Messenger from your computer. Go to Control Panel > Programs and Features, scroll down to Windows Live Essentials 2011, right click on it and start the uninstalling wizard.

2. In the first screen of the wizard, select the "Remove one or more Windows Live programs".

Microsoft are hoping that come November, Windows Phone 7 will take the smartphone battle to Android and iOS, and their new ads are certainly taking an unusual point of view:

What's wrong with smartphones? According to Microsoft, it's that we're glued to them, and keep falling down stairs. Windows Phone 7's interface will allow us to get all the info we need with just a quick look, or as they put it, 'glance and go'. Check out the ad below. Does it make you want one, or will you stick with your Android or iPhone?

Do you want to give your creaky old Vista system a makeover, but aren't ready to make the move to Windows 7? Here's how to apply a theme that will give you that shiny 7 look!

1: Download and install VistaGlazz. This app will apply the patches necessary to allow you to use custom themes in Vista, and it's extremely easy to use. So, open VistaGlazz and click the central icon. This will tell you that you need to apply two system changes, and then allow you to make both together, after which your PC will restart.

2: For now, Vista will look just the same, so download the Windows 7 theme from here. Unpack the file, and drag the folder to C:\WINDOWS\Resources\Themes:

3: Now all you need to do is apply the Windows 7 theme. Right click on your desktop, and choose Personalize. A menu will pop up, and you should click on Themes. 

If you don't see the Windows 7 theme, click Browse, and select it from C:\WINDOWS\Resources\Themes. To finish, click Apply, and after a few seconds, your Vista desktop will be transformed into a Windows 7 lookalike!