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How to Disable Windows Messenger

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In today’s computing world, any program that you use for online communication can be a potential source for computer virus attack or infection of your computer. Instant messaging programs such as Windows Messenger and the newer Windows Live Messenger are no exception. Some computer users may have the need or desire to disable Windows Messenger on their computer’s due to the potential security vulnerability and distracting nature of the application when you are not a regular IM user.

What is Windows Messenger?

Windows Messenger is the Microsoft produced Instant Messaging or chat program that was bundled with the Windows XP operating system. It is used at the home and work. The Windows Live Messenger is the successor to the Windows Messenger program that is further incorporated into the .NET and Office communictor frameworks.

How Do You Disable Windows Live Messenger

Step 1 – Select your computer’s “Start” menu followed by the “Run” menu option if you are using Windows XP. If you are using Vista or Windows 7, you will need to use your quick search box to find the “Run” or “Command” program to open your computer’s DOS command prompt.

Step 2 – Enter “services.msc” at the DOS prompt followed by the “enter” key. You can also enter the command directly in the “Run” menu if you have not opened the DOS prompt.

Step 3 – Choose the “Ok” menu button.

Step 4 - Find the “Windows Messenger” or “Windows Live Messenger” service on the subsequent listing of services that appears and double click the program.

Step 5 – Choose the “Disabled” option when the application prompts you to change the Startup Type for Windows Messenger.

Step 6 – Choose “Stop” and exit the start up service utility. Windows Messenger (and Windows Live Messenger) will now be disabled.

If you decide you want to turn Windows Messenger back on, simply repeat these directions and enable the program at computer start up.

How to Send a Free Fax Online Safely

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You have to be careful when making use of free online services today. Many times, free services are a guise for malicious websites, or Internet profiteers trying that fail to deliver on the promise of free services. Many home and business users have a legitimate need to send a free fax online. Some have this need monthly, others daily. The following is a summary of some of the top free online fax services that also have premium services available if you are using for work at a charge.

Free Fax Online Services

#1 Free Fax Online Service – GotFreeFax
GotFreeFax is a free fax service that lets you send a maximum of two free faxes a day at a maximum size of 3 pages per fax. You upload a word doc or docx file, PDF, or image file for the contents of your fax or enter text directly. You then put in the recipients name, fax number, phone number, and the same information for yourself to include an email address and click the “Send Free Fax Now” menu button. The website will then email a delivery confirmation to the email address that you enter. They will include an ad on the cover page of your fax for the free service. Alternatively, you can pay $1.99 USD via PayPal to send a fax up to 15 pages in length with no advertisement on the coverpage. There is a 10MB size limitation on the file sizes that you can fax.

#2 Free Fax Onilne Service – Fax Zero

This site has the same front-end as GotFreeFax with the same limitations on outgoing free faxes as well as the $1.99 USD premium service. There is an added limitation on only U.S. and Canada users being allowed to use the system. Fax Zero also has an iGoogle Gadget and MacOS X Dashboard Widget that you can use on your computer to more quickly use the service.

#3 Free Fax Online Service – PopFax

PopFax has an online trial for you to use and then shifts to a paid service model. It is one of the cheaper services if you need to send faxes internationally or more than 5 a month. PopFax will also keep your documents online for up to 30 days in case you need to use them again.

Online Fax Tips

Once you have found a safe, online fax service to use, some tips to consider before sending faxes online are:
- Always using a page with a plain white background and black text when possible
- Try to use font size 12 or larger. Arial and Verdana font faces also work better.
- Letter size pages work better than non-standard page sizes
- Always use a cover page
- Use the portrait page layout for your fax pages when possible.
- Scan your fax documents in black and white halftone mode when you can at a minimum resolution of 200 DPI.
- Attempt to increase the scan contrast to remove backgrounds from documents.
- Faxes (whether online or via the phone) only have a maximum resolution of 200 DPI where your printer’s resolution is commonly 600 DPI or greater.
- Consider scan to email when you can if image quality is important to you.

What is the JQS.exe Program and Should I Disable It?

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If you have poked around your computer’s task manager listed of processes, then you have likely come across the Jqs.exe program that is running. JQS.exe is not computer malware. It is a computer process called the Java Quick Starter helper application that is designed to help Java applets and web applications to run and load faster by pre-loading or fetching Java Runtime Environment files to load into memory. Depending on the version of Java and Operating System you have, the JQS.exe process will use roughly 1.5 megs of regular computer memory and up to 2 mb’s of virtual memory.

How Can the Java Quick Starter (JQS.exe) Help Your Computer’s Performance?

The JQS process will make the initial startup or load time for Java Applets and applications happen faster. It was incorporated into the Java SE 6 update 10 version of Java and was included in subsequent releases. JQS.exe is enabled by Java on Windows machines running Windows XP and Windows 2000. It is not turned on by default on Windows Vista since Vista embeds separate pre-loading functionality. JQS quits running if you are using a laptop that is on battery power on its own and restarts itself once your power cable is plugged in. It helps achieve an improvement in overall Java performance by pre-fetching commonly used Java class files that are used in we applications with a limit of 20 MB of total RAM usage. When JQS is enabled, Java performance is significantly improved. If you like to keep more of your RAM free or just don’t use web pages that run Java much, you will see a slight performance improvement by disabling JQS.exe.

Disable JQS.exe

Disable JQS.exe

How to Disable Java Quick Starter (JQS.exe)

Step 1 – Choose or Click your computer’s Start menu.
Step 2 – Select the Control Panel Icon (You may need to choose the “Settings” menu option first depending on your version of Windows).
Step 3 – Double click the Java Control Panel icon and choose the “Advance” tab on the subsequent menu.
Step 4 – Expand the Miscellaneous menu option.
Step 5 – Uncheck the Java Quick Start check box followed by the “Ok” menu button.

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