Top 10 Downloads for the Past 10 Years...AND a Cool Tekkie Tip!

I've always been interested in what people download from the Internet and thanks to Gary Mills of RollaNet/Pine Online, I get a copy of CNET's Top 10 Download list every Wednesday. I also get the Top 10 Downloads from PC World. CNET measures the Top 10 by the number of downloads people get from download.com. PC World tallies the downloads from, of course, pcworld.com. It's always interesting to compare the two lists. Although they're not the same, there are usually programs that appear on both lists. I decided to share CNET's Top 10 for the past 10 years with Steve and Marty on Tuesday. Needless to say, there were a few that are no longer on the list at all (like Napster) but there are also a few that have been pretty consistently on the list (like ICQ). If you'd like to see all of them, just visit cnet.com!

On another note, I had the opportunity over the weekend to work on a PC that had lost everything on the desktop, including the Start button. I figured doing a system restore to rollback some system setting changes would do the trick but the dilemma was...how could I get there since all I had was a desktop with nothing on it but the user's chosen wallpaper? Relying on my trusty Google to find an answer for me, I stumbled across a short, simple method for accessing System Restore from the command line in Safe Mode. (NOTE: You must be logged on as an Administrator to perform this task):

1. Restart your computer system


2. When the system first boots (before the Windows screen comes up), tap the F8 key to bring up the boot menu


3. Select the Safe Mode with Command Prompt option


4. At the command prompt, type %systemroot%\system32\restore\rstrui.exe


5. Press the Enter key to open the System Restore Wizard


6. Choose a date before the problem started and restore your computer!

Always one to give credit where credit is due, I found this helpful tidbit on Tech-Recipes.com. Never underestimate the power of Google when you're looking for a solution to a computer problem!!