Author: Raymond

I am Raymond Oglesby, an Information Technology (IT) specialist with 30 years in the field. I have taught Microsoft Applications and troubleshot computers in 15 countries and many States. My career was focused on mainframes and desktops from application development to implementation. I have written hundreds of programs for various architectures. I decided to start a blog to share my knowledge and experiences with you. I plan on updating this blog at least twice a week about smart phone apps to Windows. Please feel free to leave a Comment or Tweet. I would love to hear from you. Do you have a computer tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

How to Delete Junk Files on a PC

This is the first post in a series on “cleaning” your machine. The instructions are for a PC using the program CCleaner. There is a Mac version of CCleaner.

Your desktop and/or laptop needs a regular cleaning, like washing your car. When your system crashes, programs crash, your Internet browser fails to work properly, you perform lots of searches on the Internet; these issues leave junk files and traces of information on your Solid State Device (SSD) or hard drive(s). The more of these situations you experience, the slower your PC.

CCleaner can delete temporary files for Microsoft Edge, Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Firefox. Some of the major options are built into Windows 10 latest update; you just have to find them. Some experts say that CCleaner is no longer needed. But I still find it useful. The details on how to use Windows 10 features similar to CCleaner will be available in a later post.

This tip explains how to get rid of these Junk files. You can do this manually or setup a schedule (Professional version only). I recommend you run this program for your PC desktop and/or laptop at least once a month.

The basic steps are to install the CCleaner program. The program is free or you can upgrade to a professional version for a price. Once installed (you only have to do this once), you can let the program Analyze your PC. Then you can Clean your machine.

I have used this program in many countries on all types of PCs. CCleaner has been in existence since 2004. By running this program at least once a month, your PC will be faster and smoother.

This is for Windows based operating systems

Install the program CCleaner (you only have to do this once).

Close all running programs
Empty your Recycle Bin
Click here for CCleaner Download at from Piriform
For the Mac version, click here
Scroll down till you see the Download button (this is the Free version)
Click on Download
Follow the download instructions. Below is an image of what to expect:

On your initial install you can immediately run the program. You are doing the Easy Clean option of CCleaner.

After downloading, click the Install button
Click the Run CCleaner button
Click the Start button
CCleaner may want you to close some programs. If so, click on the Close All button
The program analyzes your machine and presents you with the following screen:

Do not be surprised if you see tens of thousands of Junk files.

Now you are ready to click the Clean All button. When the program has finished you will be presented with the following screen:

Now close CCleaner and restart your machine.

That’s it. You are done! CCleaner will add a shortcut to your desktop.

There are other options available:

Custom Clean for a more robust cleaning by changing the settings. I do not recommend changing any of these settings. If you do change them, they will remain set for subsequent runs of CCleaner or until you download a new version.
Registry allows you to find and fix Registry issues (always backup the registry first). I do not recommend you use this feature.
Tools has many sub options. The most useful for me is the Uninstall option which allows you to uninstall a program. If you highlight and right-click on a program name, you are presented with other options. I recommend only using the Uninstall option or click on the Uninstall button.
Options has many sub options as well. Sadly the Scheduling option is only available in the Professional version. I use none of these options.
Upgrade option is for updating the Free version to the Professional version.

On any screen you can Check for Updates. Just click to check.

My next post with be a will cover the topic of disk fragmentation; how to check and resolve the issue.

I Would Like to Hear from You

Please feel free to leave a comment. I would love hearing from you. Do you have a computer tech question? I will do my best to answer your inquiry. Please mention the app and version that you are using. To help me out, you can send screenshots of your data related to your question.

Defrag Hard Drive(s) and Partitions
Wise Disk Cleaner

Introduce Yourself

I am Raymond Oglesby with 30 years in Information Technology (IT). I have taught Microsoft Applications and troubleshot computers in 15 countries as well as many States. Half of my IT career has been on mainframe computing in a dozen computer languages; the other half in the Personal Computer (PC) client server environment.

I am starting my first blog on using technology at home or work. I plan on updating the blog twice a week. Stay tuned and hope you enjoy my blog.

How to Login to Windows With a Legal Message

This post is for a PC Windows 10 Operating System having multiple users or several PCs in a small business environment. We are going to change the Windows Registry to provide a Legal Message at login. I am using a lot of screenshots to ensure you are successful.

First and foremost, lets backup your PC Registry. This is extremely important in case you update the wrong key or your registry has problems. I want you to have a safe experience. Changing the Registry is tricky and not for the “faint of heart”.

Starting in Windows 10 Version 1803, the Windows Registry is no longer automatically backed up. You can change this behavior by following these instructions. This requires editing the Registry. Instead, I recommend using a software program to backup the Registry.

This is for Windows based operating systems

The RegBak Software Utility

The program I recommend is called RegBak, a freeware program. You can download the program here. Click the Download button for RegBak then click the regbak.exe file at the bottom of the screen and follow the install instructions. Once installed, you should see a screen like the one below:

RegBak Install — After installing RegBak

To backup your Windows registry:

Click the New Backup button
Enter a Description (this is optional)
Click Start

Below is a screenshot:

Click Close

Your screen will look like the below image:

RegBak Results — Results of running RegBak

Click Close to exit

Your screen should look like the below image:

To Restore from a backup: Note! only do this if your Registry is corrupt.

Highlight a backup entry
Click the Restore button
Click Close

You can also delete a backup by highlighting an entry and clicking on Delete. Feel free to check out the Options button. I would just leave the default options as is.

Setting up the Legal Message

Now lets edit the Registry for our Legal Message at Windows login:

Type “regedit” (without quotes) into the Cortana search box to open the Registry Editor
Expand the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and keep expanding until you reach HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE_SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

Your screen should look like the below image:

Registry screenshot for editing legal caption and legal text

In the right hand pane, find these two listings: legalnoticecaption and legalnoticetext.

The value of legalnoticecaption acts as the heading of your legal message.

Double click on legalnoticecaption and change its value to something like “Important Notice!” (without quotes).

Your screen should look like the below image:

Legal Caption — Adding a legal message caption

Click OK

Now we will do the same for the Legal Message text.

Double click on legalnoticetext and enter something like “Remember to keep all passwords private!” (without quotes).

Your screen should look like the image below:

Click OK

What if you wanted more than one line of text for your Legal Message? This requires hexadecimal editing and is not recommended. However, if you need this:

Complete the text field first
Right click the legalnoticetext key
Select Modify binary data

Your screen should look like the below image:

Binary Data — Before modifying the binary data for the legal message

Find the appropriate spot for a paragraph break. Click the space just after the last character in the message where you want to put the carriage return.
Enter this four digit code for a carriage return, 0D00. Finding the right spot to insert a carriage return can be tricky.

In my example I am entering a carriage return just after the word “passwords”.

Below is a screen shot:

When the changes are complete click File>Exit to save your work and close the Registry. The next time a user logs into the Windows 10 PC they will have to acknowledge the Legal Message by clicking the OK button before they can move on to the normal login screen.

If you applied a carriage return in the binary data and it doesn’t work, try entering the 0D00 in a different spot for the Legal Message text. To do this, remove your text message and reenter, then insert the carriage return key.

Important Note

Its important to understand, that the Legal Message will appear each and every time the Windows 10 PC is booted. At some point, you may wish to cancel the Legal Message. In that case, repeat the above steps for editing the Registry and remove the text in legalnoticecaption and legalnoticetext keys to cancel the message. This will resume the typical login sequence.