The storyline of Prototype is rather simplistic though the cut scenes and flashbacks tend to make it unnecessarily difficult to follow. You’re dropped into the shoes of Alex Mercer just as he’s about to get sliced and dice on the autopsy table. You wake up, scare the pants off the shady biohazard-suited monkeys about to fillet you, and discover that you been given some seriously cool powers: absorbing bullets, running up the sides of buildings, and leaping 30 feet in the air without breaking a sweat. Unfortunately, you’ve lost your memory (how convenient) and don’t know who you are or how you got there. As the story unfolds you learn Mercer was infected with a new virus that is turning the rest of the city into mutant freaks and there’s a shady Blackwater-style organization trying to crush you under its boot with the help of the U.S. Marines.

Gameplay & Graphics

As you play, you earn points with which you can choose to use in order to evolve Alex into a more efficient killing machine. Want to grow sword blades out of your arms? How about turning your fists into giant tank-slaying hammers? Or maybe you want to coat your entire body in bulletproof armor Spawn-style. You can do all of that and much more. You’ll also develop the ability to heal yourself by consuming others, an ability you eventually use to acquire new skills and access to previously inaccessible areas. Also, once you’ve consumed someone, you can use their likeness as a disguise which is great when you’re being perused by half an armored battalion. Just slip around a corner and morph into an overweight policeman or a suited Wall Street type and the heat is off, instantly.

All of those abilities come in handy as you discover new and more gruesome ways to turn your enemies into paste. Not only will you have military units to deal with (which grow progressively more difficult to defeat as the commanders order out the big guns – tanks, attack helicopters, and super-soldiers — but you’ll also have to wade through hordes of infected which hide their own monstrosities – huge hunters and super-hunters determined to turn you into lunch. Slice and dice, pound and smash, or grab and toss all of your foes around like rag dolls and you’ll find yourself chuckling even as you feel bad about it. It’s great fun. You’ll also earn the ability to control those tanks and helicopters yourself but doing so feels boring compared to using your own super human mutant powers.

Some of those powers can be upgraded to near god-like levels including Mercer’s critical mass attacks. These attacks require you to consume enough people to overfill your health bar. Mercer can then convert that excess life energy into amazingly devastating area attacks including a tentacle spike attack and tentacle swarm attacks that destroy most everything within a large radius around him. These work great when you find yourself in a tight spot, unfortunately, to launch the attacks you need a small amount of “preparation” time and during this you’re vulnerable.
Chances are, for the first few hours of gameplay you’ll be so engrossed in gaining new abilities and discovering just how many pieces you can chop that grenade launcher toting spec-ops soldier into to see the flaws in Prototype. That’s a good thing because once you notice them the game gets old quick.

Chief among my complaints about the game are the graphics. Granted, you would need a serious machine running some heavy duty hardware to render the vast amounts of NPCs, vehicles, and buildings in Prototype’s version of New York City but the character models are all bland with almost no variation among them, and even the cut scenes are sort of last-gen. In that respect, the game very much reminds me of Crackdown but in this case the vanilla visuals feel less like a stylistic choice and more like a product of undisclosed limitations.

The other huge issue is the inconsistent AI. Sometimes you can pluck an enemy soldier out of a crowd and consume him with only one or two people noticing. At other times, if you merely bump into a soldier while walking past him, he’ll raise an alarm and call for backup. This is also reflected on a large scale in the city itself. As the infectious outbreak rages on, parts of Manhattan become festering pits of decay and disease clouded by thousands of zombie-like walking corpses yet just down the street a ways life goes on as if nothing at all is out of place.

Also, as the game progresses Alex must combat more and more types of enemies, each more deadly than the last, but none of them ever get any smarter (in fact, the military super soldiers are really some of the dumbest of the bunch.) To compensate, in the latter missions of the single player story, Prototype throws increasing numbers of enemies at you leaving you overwhelmed. It’s a cheap way to increase the level of difficulty and can really get to be annoying as four tanks, six helicopters, two dozen soldiers, and a handful of hunters are all coming at you at once and you don’t even have to pull yourself off the ground before getting slammed by the next rocket or pummeled by a super-hunter’s lightning fast attack.

Sound

The soundtrack and voice work mimic the graphics and are quite poor and really don’t add much of anything to the game. Alex’s voice in particular sounds cheesy and over-the-top in his cut scenes and the bad guys are so cartoony it’s not even funny.

Value

Taking a cue from (and stealing the map system of) Spiderman, the playable area is huge. In that area you find a ton of collectibles (200 “geography” nodes plus 50 tutorial nodes) as well as a host of mini-game type challenges. Some of these challenges are fun, requiring you glide through the air and land at the center of a bull’s-eye. Some are frustratingly difficult (many of the checkpoint races require precision navigation that Alex’s parkour system just can’t manage.) However, there is no multiplayer version of the game. In this instance, it actually makes sense not to include multiplayer. Competing against similarly powerful mutants wouldn’t be as much fun as cutting paths through weaker enemies.

Final Verdict

In the end, Prototype feels like two separate games smashed into one. You have the excellent freedom and killer destructive abilities of a first-class sandbox title combined with the mediocre graphics and poor scripting and abysmal dialog of a third-rate action title. However, the fun you’ll have totally destroying New York City as a big, brutish jerk with a bad attitude makes Prototype at least worth a play through.

Pros: Incredibly fun superpowers, freedom to create tons of chaos, massive playable area.

Cons: Poor graphics, Annoying AI, clunky storyline and script.

Overall Score: 7/10

Windows computers come with a built-in utility called the Add or Remove Programs that you must use to uninstall various applications. The following illustration shows you how to use this utility.

Uninstall Office 2007 using Add or Remove Programs

To achieve this, perform the following steps:

1. Click Start and then click Control Panel.
2. In the Control Panel window, double-click Add or Remove Programs.
3. Locate and select Office 2007.
4. Click the Remove button.

Add or Remove Programs is a very effective and easy-to-use utility but has certain limitations. You may not be able to remove certain software or programs using this utility. For instance, the Add or Remove Programs utility is often found to be wanting when used for uninstalling antivirus software.

So, how should one uninstall such software? Well, most antivirus software manufacturers provide free uninstaller tools for their line of products that you can use to uninstall such programs. Alternatively, you may seek the services of a reliable third-party uninstaller software to remove programs that cannot be completely removed using the default method. Again, with the help of an example we illustrate how you can effectively uninstall antivirus software from your Windows computer.

Uninstall McAfee Antivirus Suite

To achieve this, perform the following two tasks:

Task 1 – Remove McAfee using Add or Remove Programs

By using the steps illustrated in the previous example, first remove McAfee antivirus suite using the Add or Remove Programs utility.

Task 2 – Run the MCPR.exe tool

Next, install and run MCPR.exe, an uninstaller tool for various McAfee products that is available for free download from McAfee’s official website. Install the MCPR.exe tool on your desktop, double-click it to run it and complete the removal process.

Now that we have seen how to use the Add or Remove programs, as well as software uninstaller tools, there is one more question that needs to be addressed – what should one do to remove components, such as DirectX that don’t appear in the installed programs list and don’t come with an uninstaller tool?

To perform a directx uninstall, complete the following steps:

Important: The steps discussed below require you to edit the registry. Make sure that you make a registry backup using a reliable registry maintenance software before altering its contents. This way you can restore the registry to its last working state in case a complication error.

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit in the Open box, and press Enter.
2. Locate the following registry key.

        HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\DirectX

1. Remove all DirectX keys and delete the DirectX folder.
2. If prompted, restart Windows.

But does that mean it is impossible to figure out the various error codes? Of course not, and in fact, it is very easy to avoid most of these errors by knowing the common source of error codes. Here’s a very short list of common error codes:

• nsis error – This error is related to the NSIS system installer and is generated when there is a wrong operation performed during an installation process.
• mmc.exe error – This type of error is known as Microsoft Management Console, which occurs when something is wrong with the various plug-ins in the Control Panel of your Windows PC system.
• kernel32.dll errors – The kernel is the heart of any operating system, and if you are facing this error, chances are something has gone wrong at the fundamental level, perhaps the memory management.

Dealing With Common Computer Errors

Now that you have an idea about these error codes, you can at least be sure that you are searching a solution in the right direction when the next time you encounter this problem. Now we come to the next part: dealing with these errors. In the past, you may have spent a lot of money in maintenance and system checks by experts, but chances are your system has never been free from errors.

Well, the bad news is that errors can never be avoided, but the good news is that you certainly don’t need computer experts to deal with most of these errors. Here are some of the things you can do to make sure that the system is performing at an optimal level:

• Registry cleanup – The registry is a very important part of your Windows system and should not be ignored at any cost. It is responsible for all the settings in the system, therefore should be taken good care of. You should invest in a good registry cleaner from a reliable software website, which will make it very easy for you.
• Driver update – Another area you need to constantly look at is updating system drivers regularly. If this sounds too complicated to you, you can purchase a good piece of third-party software, which will automatically keep an eye on new updates and will install them when required. But do make sure to install a reliable piece of software only.
• Anti-virus – On the same note, it is very important that your antivirus be regularly updated on the Internet. Also, schedule regular scans and check for any residual viruses.

As you have seen in this article, it is really not that hard to take care of your system on your own. All you need is the right advice and the right tools for the job.

Listed below are tips that can help you repair common exe errors, such as cdac11be.exe, cthelper.exe, or spoolsv.exe errors and enhance your PC’s performance.

Clean your registry

The Windows registry stores reference points related to all exe files, such the spoolsv.exe file. In case these reference points are invalid, corrupt, or missing you may receive recurring exe errors. To prevent exe errors, occurring due to registry issues, regularly perform registry scans using a reliable registry cleaning tool to flush out unwanted and incorrect information.

Perform a malware scan

Malware programs, such as viruses, worms and trojans are often found to be the root cause behind common exe errors, such as cthelper.exe and spoolsv.exe errors. To fix exe errors occurring due to malware infections, perform a malware scan on your entire system using reliable antivirus and antispyware tools.

Further keep your protective software up-to-date with the latest security updates and malware definitions to ensure that your computer’s security is not breached in the future.

Update your Windows, software, and driver files

Running outdated software or using outdated drivers may adversely affect the functionality of your computer and also cause errors, including exe errors. This is why it is important that you regularly update your software, driver and Windows files with the latest updates that are released be their manufacturers.

Terminate the process that is causing issues

If a particular process is causing recurring problems on your computer and you do not use the application or software with which the process is associated, you can safely and permanently remove the process. For instance, the cdac11ba.exe process that is associated with the MacroVision SafeCast copy protection software is known to frequently hog nearly 100% of CPU resources and cause system slow downs.

If you are facing slow system issues due to the cdac11ba.exe process and you do not use any products that use this copy protection software, you can safely remove the cdac11ba.exe process.

Reinstall the application that is generating the exe error

If the above steps fail to rectify the exe error, first uninstall and then reinstall the application that is generating the exe error on your computer. Incorrect or incomplete installation of programs may cause various issues, including exe errors. Reinstalling will replace corrupt and damaged files, thus resolving the issues caused by them.

Check your hardware components

At times, exe errors are a direct result of hardware failure, such as bad memory modules or corrupt disk sectors. You may use the help of reliable diagnostic memory and disk management tools to ensure that there is no problem with your RAM and hard disk.

If the diagnostic results show a problem with your hardware, replace the defected component.

To begin editing Vista’s Power Management Options, left click the battery icon typically found on the bottom right of your toolbar.

In the Power Management pop-up, you are able to choose between 3 separate power plans, we will explain these further on. For now, click “More Power Options” to display the full Vista Power Management window:

The Power Management window allows you to switch between 3 different power plans, change the plans settings and also to create your own.

To change the settings of a currently existing plan, click on “Change Plan Settings” underneath the respected plan. In this example, I have chosen to edit the power management settings of the “High Performance” plan:

The “Edit Plan Settings” window allows us edit the display sleep time, computer sleep time and to adjust the screen brightness both whilst your laptop plugged in and unplugged. If you want to revert back to the default settings for a plan that you have accidentaly edited, just click “Restore Default Settings For This Plan” towards the bottom of the window.

Clicking “Change Advanced Power Settings” will bring up the following window which allows you to control how your laptop reacts when its lid is closed, whether a password is required after the laptop has been in sleep mode and many more settings.

Be sure to check out our Free PC Support service for free support regarding this article or any other computer problems!

1. Go to the Start menu > Control Panel
2. Click System and Maintenance
3. Click Problem Reports and Solutions
4. On the left hand panel, click Change Settings then Advanced Settings
5. Under “For my programs, problem reporting is:” select Off
6. Click OK on both screens then exit the Control Panel

You may also be interested in our article on Disabling Vista’s User Account Control and Disabling Vista’s Sidebar.

Step One:

Download and install WinDirStat

Step Two:

Choose the drive(s) you would like to analyse and click OK

Step Three:

Wait for WinDirStat to finish scanning your drive(s), there is a percentage in the header of the program. This may take several minutes. After it has finished scanning, you will see a screen similar to this:

The multi coloured squares/rectangles on the bottom half of the screen are a visual representation of the files on your hard drive. By clicking on a shape, the top half of the program will display the files in an explorer style view which enables you to delete, copy and edit selected files. The size of the files are represented by the size of the shape, and the file type is represented by the colour of the shape. For example, the large rectangle in the top left of my diagram is a collection of Call of Duty 4 files packed into a .7z format.

Step Four:

Wipe your hard drive clean of any unwanted files and folders. Or alternatively, roam around your hard drive discovering thousands of lost mp3 files (that’s what I did anyway) and enjoy your new clean hard drive. You can go as far as you like with this quick and easy program that will quickly make your PC faster and more spacious!

To disable the Sidebar:

1. Right click on the Sidebar and select Properties

2. Uncheck the “Start Sidebar when Windows starts” box

3. Click Ok and Restart

You may also be interested in our article on Disabling Vista’s User Account Control

User Account Control scans through every single file of a program you want to run, imagine how long this takes for an 11GB game like Modern Warfare 2. Disabling User Account Control will save you tonnes of time on your PC.

1. Click on Run in the start menu and type in MSCONFIG, then click OK.

2. On the Tools tab, find “Disable UAP” (same thing as UAC)

3. Click the Launch button

4. A CMD window will run, let it finish what its doing before closing it down.

5. Close MSCONFIG and reboot your PC

You may also be interested in our article on Removing Startup Programs to boost your PC’s performance or Disabling Vista’s Sidebar.