Technology World

2011-08-06T21:36:00.000-07:00

Windows 7 finally made its official appearance last couple months
ago, it is proving itself as a worthy successor to the long serving
Windows XP.
   My opinion is that Windows 7 is a solid, well-performing
operating system, free of many of the glitches that bedeviled the
launch of Windows Vista. Speed improvements, interface enhancements
and easier ways to manage your documents makethis a new operating system
in its own right and one that’s well worth the upgrade.

Quick, what is the most reviled feature of Windows Vista? As far
as I can tell it’s User ccount ontrol (U ) Microsoft’s method for
keeping your computer safe. Unfortunately, many users felt that
UAC was so inconvenient that they turned it off entirely. In
Windows 7, UAC finally gets out of your way and strikes the right
balance between security and usability. Fewer pop up appear only
for good reason.
Still if you’re Vista user you’ll do well to upgrade to Windows 7
it’s a superior operating system What if you use XP? irst check if
your hardware can handle it. If it can, and if you’re not wedded to
XP for the remainder of your time on
upgrade.

1.    Change the Theme

Right-click on the desktop, click on Customize. Then, select one of
the default themes available to you. You can change the system
sounds, and the way the menus and the bars look. The new feature in
Windows 7 is that a theme can have a set of images that cycle
automatically after a particular amount of time. The second ease of
access theme is a throwback to good old Windows 95.

2. Use the search bar as a run bar

There is no run bar by default. However, when you click on start,
the search field can be used for running programs. This process is 7,

’

type in the complete name of a file or program to open or run it.

3.    Windows Media Player

The first time you use Windows Media Player, instead of the
default settings, go to the custom settings. Here, disallow Windows
Media Player from updating the information on a file from the
internet. This is because an unpatched Windows Media
Player provided with Windows 7 changes the file when it retrieves
this information from the internet. For example, the audio
information from the first few seconds of an mp3 file may be lost.

4.Cutting down the size of the taskbar

A significant difference is made by the size of the icons in the
taskbar. By the standards of XP or Vista, they are huge. To change
this, right-click on the taskbar, go to Properties > Taskbar and check
use small icons.

5.Right-Click Mania

In Windows 7, right-clicking may just be your secret friend. There
are many ways the right-click can simplify your computing
experience. Here are just a few:
a. Right-click any empty spot in your Desktop, and you have the
control to change the screen resolution.

b. Right-
program from the

”

“

c. Last but not least, right-click the Taskbar Explorer icon to access
your most frequently used folders.

6.Grouping of active applications

Vista already had this feature — multiple instances of applications
were grouped into a single icon to save taskbar space. In Windows 7,
the icons are more distinguishable. You no longer have to click; you
can simply move your mouse over the icon and a real-time preview of
each of the instances will appear. The window can be closed by
middle-clicking on the preview. If you like to have the application
name appear along with the icon, right-click on the taskbar and click
on Properties. Choose the Never combine option from the menu.

7.Using window actions for managing windows

Click and drag the title-bar of any window to the top of the screen
to maximize it. Click and drag the top bar away from the top edge to
restore the window. Click and drag the titlebar of any window to
either side of the screen to make that window fit half the screen on
the side to which you drag it. You can also use the [Windows] and
the arrow keys to arrange the window. [Windows     ] + [Left] or
[Windows     ] + [Right] will place the window on either side,
[Windows     ]+Up will maximize and [Windows     ] + Down will
minimize the window.

8.Shake the rest away!

If you have many windows open and for some reason, you want
them all minimised except for the one you are currently using, you
can do this by clicking on the title bar of the application and moving it
around quickly. All the other windows immediately minimise.

9.Change network settings

The age old two computer icon for network connections has been
replaced with a monitor and a cable icon. This will be one of the few
icons on the system tray by default. Click on this icon, and then click
on Open network and Sharing center. This view will seem a little
complicated. To get direct access to your connections for changing IP
settings and the like, click on Change Adapter settings.

10.    Use Sticky Notes

A great new feature in Windows 7 is the Sticky Notes. Start > Sticky
Notes, and a small square appears on the screen exactly like a post it.
Click on the plus sign to add a note, and drag the bottom right corner
to resize the note. Click on the cross to close and delete the note.
Note that the text stored in the sticky notes cannot be saved, but the
notes will survive restarts as long as you do not close them.

The Sticky notes feature helps the user keep track of tasks that he

needs to do. The Sticky Notes application is hidden away under the
Accessories sub-menu. Notes are left on your desktop. Notes are
added by clicking the + icon on the top left of the stick note window
and closed using the close icon.

11.Use libraries

Libraries are a great way to navigate files on your computer. Say
you have music stored across different hard drive partitions, and an
external hard drive that is not always connected to the computer.
Placing all the folders with music in them in the music library, will let
you access the music files from essentially one folder. The files are
not stored in the library, but the directory structure indexes the files
and makes it accessible in this manner. You can also store the same
files in different libraries using different library structures.
Just right click on any folder, select Include in library and select
category for it

12.    Moving order of applications in the taskbar

There are more changes done to the taskbar in Windows 7 than
just the thickness. It lets you change the sequence of applications
running in the taskbar. Changing the order is as simple as moving
tabs in browsers such as Firefox and Opera. Simply left-click and drag
the icon in the taskbar, and watch it slide into place. Another
interesting feature is when you try moving the icon upwards, it opens
the rightclick menu.

13.    Shortcuts for window operations

Managing windows is also much simpler with Windows 7. You no
longer have to use the window controls such as minimize or
maximize on the top right. Windows can be minimized using the
Windows key     + Down arrow and maximized by pressing Windows
key      + Up arrow. Windows key     + left/right arrow keys fit the
expanded window to the left or right side of the screen. This is
particularly useful for widescreen users. It lets you fit two windows
side by side accurately without having to use the Tile horizontally
features from the taskbar. If you try resizing a window using the
corner right up to the bottom of the screen, Window 7 lets you scale
it vertically by drawing a faint outline. Dragging the window by the
titlebar and moving it towards either end of the screen will
automatically resize to take up half the screen and leave the other
half for another application.

14.Adding additional sources into Documents, Music, etc

Initially, Windows only allowed a single My Documents folder, so
users would have to move all of their music and pictures into the
specified folders. The other way was to move the target destination
of the specific folder to the location on your hard drive. Windows 7
lets you add as many paths as you want for either of the predefined
folders. Simply click on the Start button and right-click on one of the
folders — Documents, Pictures, Music and then click on Properties.
Click on the Include a folder button and add the paths you want and

15.Pinning applications to the taskbar

The Windows 7 taskbar has become a very powerful part of the OS.
You can now pin applications to the taskbar just like you could to the
Start menu. Even after applications are closed, the icon still remains.
as well as run multiple instances of it. Many pinned applications also act like a Quick Launch
menu. Active applications are displayed in this same menu, but
differently.

What is a PDF SPam ?

2009-09-18T10:12:00.000-07:00

What is PDF Spam?
First there was email, then came spam - unsolicited commercial email - hawking pharmaceuticals, stock trades, sex, and more. Spam filtering became smarter with keyword and bayesian filtering, and the spam was minimized for awhile. Then image spam began, the emails with little more than a link to an image on a server. When the email is opened with an HTML email reader the spam appears a few seconds after viewing the email. Since there weren't keywords to analyze, most image spam slipped through spam filters with ease. However, now spam filtering tools have added OCR capabilities to "read" an image and search for keywords and phrases just like text emails. So what's next for the spammers to try...PDF Spam.
google_protectAndRun("render_ads.js::google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad);
Spammers have now resorted to attaching PDFs to emails to entice users to open the PDFs and read their ads. Very annoying, since almost all spam including a PDF is much larger in size than a normal email. At first, I wondered if a virus writer had been able to inject a PDF file with a virus and was infecting computers. I received literally hundreds of these types of emails a few weeks ago. Luckily it does not appear that way. Although many of the newest viruses are hijacking computers and sending these PDF spams from these drone machines.

Spammers have now resorted to attaching PDFs to emails to entice users to open the PDFs and read their ads. Very annoying, since almost all spam including a PDF is much larger in size than a normal email. At first, I wondered if a virus writer had been able to inject a PDF file with a virus and was infecting computers. I received literally hundreds of these types of emails a few weeks ago. Luckily it does not appear that way. Although many of the newest viruses are hijacking computers and sending these PDF spams from these drone machines.

What Does a PDF Spam look like?
Most common PDF spam has very little in the body of the message, just a subject and the PDF file. You can see a copy of this type of spam below:

Can A PDF File Contain a Virus?
Well, yes and no. Back in 2001, a virus named Peachy was created that distributed via PDF. Fortunately, it could not be activated by someone viewing it with Acrobat Reader, only users with the full version of Adobe Acrobat were susceptible to this virus. Peachy exploited the fact that PDF files could contain executable files, in this case a VBScript file, that users
of Adobe Acrobat could actually open. Virus scanners were updated and the virus didnt have a huge effect on the internet
.
Luckily, up to this point there has not been a way for a virus writer to infect a PDF file so that a person viewing it with Adobe Reader would be harmed. Although its still best to scan ANY file including a PDF file with an up-to-date virus scanner before attempting to open it.

Can PDF Spam Be Stopped?
Although PDF Spam is a huge problem currently, spam filtering programs will catch up and start to filter this garbage email out. Unfortunately, the attachment spam will morph into other types of files, and I've already seen Excel files (.xls) being used for spam as well. Using a reliable spam filter from your ISP or business and being careful not to open ANY attachment you are not sure of will keep you the safest. Although PDF spam may not contain a virus, the best advice is to not open it and just delete it.

What About Greeting Card Spams?
A new round of electronic greeting Card
contains viruses are making the rounds as well. These ecards want you to download a file called msdataaccess.exe to view the card.

Remove the Shared Documents folders from My Computer

2009-09-15T10:41:00.000-07:00

One of the most annoying things about the new Windows XP user interface is that Microsoft saw fit to provide links to all of the Shared Documents folders on your system, right at the top of the My Computer window. I can't imagine why this would be the default, even in a shared PC environment at home, but what's even more annoying is that you cannot change this behavior through the sh*ll
: Those icons are stuck there and you have to live with it.
Until now, that is.

Simply fire up the Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ My Computer \ NameSpace \ DelegateFolders

You'll see a sub-key named {59031a47-3f72-44a7-89c5-5595fe6b30ee}. If you delete this, all of the Shared Documents folders (which are normally under the group called "Other Files Stored on This Computer" will be gone.

You do not need to reboot your system to see the change.

Before: A cluttered mess with icons no one will ever use (especially that orphaned one). After: Simplicity itself, and the way it should be by default.

Add a Map Drive Button to the Toolbar

2009-09-15T10:34:00.000-07:00

Add a Map Drive Button to the Toolbar
=====================================

Do you want to quickly map a drive, but can?t find the toolbar button? If you map drives often, use one of these options to add a Map Drive button to the folder toolbar.

Option One (Long Term Fix)

Click Start, click My Computer, right-click the toolbar, then unlock the toolbars, if necessary.

Right-click the toolbar again, and then click Customize.

Under Available toolbar buttons, locate Map Drive, and drag it into the position you want on the right under Current toolbar buttons.

Click Close, click OK, and then click OK again.

You now have drive mapping buttons on your toolbar, so you can map drives from any folder window. To unmap drives, follow the above procedure, selecting Disconnect under Available toolbar buttons. To quickly map a drive, try this option.

Option Two (Quick Fix)

Click Start, and right-click My Computer.
Click Map Network Drive.

If you place your My Computer icon directly on the desktop, you can make this move in only two clicks!

Desktop Disappearing?

2009-09-11T23:28:00.001-07:00

Although Windows 2000 is more stable than previous versions of NT, in some situations, strange things can happen. If, for example, Explorer crashes, most of your desktop, including the "Start" button, disappears. To bring back Explorer without rebooting your machine, press CONTROL-ALT-DELETE. When the "Windows Security" dialog box appears, click the "Task Manager" button. If the "Windows Task Manager' dialog box appears as it should, select the "File" menu and then "New Task (Run)". When the "Create New Task" dialog box appears, just type in "Explorer" and press the "OK" button. Windows Explorer should then reappear, complete with the "Start" button.

Hoe to change Process Priority ?

2009-09-11T23:26:00.000-07:00

Is a particular program or process running too fast or too slow? Is a program or process taking too much of your CPU time or can you allow a process or program to take more of your computing power? To change these settings for a particular process, just right-click on an empty area of your taskbar and choose "Task Manager..." On the "Windows Task Manager" dialog box that follows, select a process and right-click it. On the popup menu that appears, select "Set Priority" and choose one of the following priorities: "Realtime", "High", "Above Normal", "Normal", "Below Normal", or "Low". The lower the priority is on the popup menu, the lower percentage of CPU time will be delegated to said priority.

Note that depending on the process and your administrative rights to your machine, you may not be able to change a particular process's priority.

How to put the Desktop in your Taskbar ?

2009-09-11T23:24:00.000-07:00

Do you frequently multitask? If so, all of the windows created by running applications can quickly cover your desktop. If you'd like, you can make the desktop icons immediately accessible from your taskbar. Just right-click an empty area of your taskbar, choose "Toolbars", and check "Desktop". Your desktop icons will then be immediately accessible without having to minimize your current windows. If you have a lot of desktop icons, click on the two greater-than arrows (">>") to the right of your desktop icons and a popup menu will appear allowing you to select from any of the available desktop icons not immediately visible on your taskbar.

CSU/DSU - Connectivity in Detail

2009-09-09T10:57:00.000-07:00

Point-to-Point Serial Links

In the network at your job, most likely the serial interfaces on your

Cisco routers are not connected to each other directly. They connect

to a CSU/DSU, which supplies a clock rate to the router, allowing the

line protocol to stay up.

In the world of Cisco exams, and in your practice lab, there are

generally routers that have directly connected serial interfaces. These

routers are connected to each other by a DCE/DTE cable; the DCE end

of the cable will connect to the router that is acting as the CSU.

What’s The Line Protocol?

You’ll see a lot of discussion in CCNA and CCNP texts, but rarely does

anyone actually say what the line protocol is. The Cisco IOS Command

Reference defines the line protocol as "indicating whether the software

processes that handle the line protocol consider the line usable (that

is, keepalives are successful) or whether it has been taken down by an

administrator."

Translation: When the line protocol is down, there’s a problem with

the keepalives or the encapsulation type.

To tell the DTE end from the DCE end before connecting it, look for a

small label wrapped around one or both of the cable ends. That label

will indicate whether that is the DCE or DTE end. If there is no label,

the connector itself may have DTE or DCE imprinted on it.

After connecting the cable to the respective routers, use show

controller to ensure the router sees the cable as a DCE or DTE.

R1#show controller serial 1

HD unit 1, idb = 0x107114, driver structure at 0x10C590

buffer size 1524 HD unit 1, V.35 DTE cable

R3#show controller serial 1

HD unit 1, idb = 0xC7D1C, driver structure at 0xCCAA0

buffer size 1524 HD unit 1, V.35 DCE cable

The routers will not be able to communicate at this point, however.

Remember that when a serial interface connects to a CSU/DSU, the

interface receives clocking from that device. There is no CSU/DSU

involved when two serial interfaces are directly connected; therefore,

one of the devices must supply a clock rate to the other. The DCE

interface must supply the clock rate to the DTE.

R3(config)#int serial 1

R3(config-if)#clockrate 56000

%LINEPROTO-5-UPDOWN: Line protocol on Interface Serial1, changed state to up

R3#ping 172.12.13.1

Type escape sequence to abort.

Sending 5, 100-byte ICMP Echos to 172.12.13.1, timeout is 2 seconds:

!!!!!

In The REAL World…

For exam purposes, you need to memorize the fact that the DCE is the

interface that needs to have the clock rate configured. When you’re at

your practice rack, you’ll find out that you can’t put the clockrate on

the DTE, because the router won’t let you!

Steps to Uninstall Internet Explorer 7

2009-09-07T12:45:00.000-07:00

How to Uninstall Internet Explorer 7

Microsoft has finally released Internet Explorer 7. It has some nice features including a revised interface, tabbed browsing, improved printing features, and a phishing filter. However, during the time between the releases of IE6 and IE7, other companies have produced browsers that have similar or better features and many customers have started using these browsers like Firefox, Opera, Avant and others.

Unfortunately instead of just offering Internet Explorer 7 as an optional download, they are pushing it to customers via the Automatic Windows Update. Which means you may wake up one day soon, after leaving your computer on, and have a brand new browser replacing Internet Explorer 6.0. This may seem fine for most people, however many people are simply resistant to much change and will find using IE7 more difficult than just using their current browser to surf the web. In these cases, you'll want to know how to uninstall Internet Explorer 7 and keep it off your computer.

Beyond the basic resistance to change issues, there have been other issues that I have experienced on several computers that make me want to wait before upgrading to Internet Explorer 7. Among these issues are conflicts with some third party applications, most noteably Norton Antivirus and Norton Internet Security. I have seen several instances of systems freezing when trying to open a browser window after installing IE7. Usually this can be fixed by simply uninstalling IE7, however on one instance even this did not correct the problem. A combination of registry cleaners and other software had to be used to correct the issues.

Uninstalling Internet Explorer 7

Follow the steps below to uninstall Internet Explorer 7

Close Internet Explorer and any open windows
Click on Start, click on control panel
Double-click on Add/Remove Programs
Find the Internet Explorer 7 program - it should appear similar to the picture below
Click the Remove button and complete the removal. Your browser will revert to the last version of Internet Explorer you had installed on your computer, in most cases this will be Internet Explorer 6.0

If you cannot find Internet Explorer 7 listed in the Add/Remove Programs window, click the Show Updates checkbox at the top of the window to reveal it and then proceed with the removal.

Stopping Automatic Updates from downloading Internet Explorer 7 (IE7)

If IE7 was downloaded through the Windows Automatic Updates, you'll want to modify the updates so it doesnt download again. Follow the instructions below to do this.

Open Internet Explorer and go to the following site

http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
When the Update page opens, click on Custom
Uncheck the box for Windows Internet Explorer 7.0 for windows.
Check the box for Don't show this update again
Check the boxes for any other updates you wish to download and install them

Now IE7 wont show in your update list and you can continue to use Internet Explorer 6, Firefox, Opera, Avant or any other browser you wish to use.

Solve Registry Problem With Ease

2009-09-04T12:13:00.000-07:00

Click Here!

Now that you've determined that a faulty registry is the culprit of your increasingly frustrating and dysfunctional computer, what do you do next? Here's a rundown of the various things you could do to try to bring your computer back to its old self.

The first thing you'll want to try is a system restore. Here's the easiest way to do that, assuming you're running Windows 2000, 2003, XP or Vista:

First, go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Backup (or "System Restore" in Vista ).

Then you're going to want to choose a restore point prior to when you started experiencing registry related problems.

Follow the prompts in order to complete the restoration process. Keep your fingers crossed that this solves your problems. If your computer is still not working properly (or there were no available restore points), then you might have to try to remove the invalid registry entries yourself.

Do not do anything to your registry without making a backup first.

The next step is to actually edit your registry, which can be done manually, or automatically with a safer and simpler option like RegCure.

If you choose to do it manually,it is crucial that you are 100% sure that you know what you're doing . One small modification to your registry, if done incorrectly, can be enough to render your computer completely unable to function, and essentially useless.

And that usually means the loss of all your files, and of course, the use of your PC.

Every Windows computer has a default registry editor that can be used to manually edit your registry. (It goes without saying that if you don't know what or where that is, you probably shouldn't be tampering with your registry yourself.)

The quickest, simplest and safest thing to do is to use a registry repair program like RegCure, which automatically:

-Backs up your registry

-Scans your registry, and identifies errors

-Corrects the problems safely & properly

-Restores your PC's full functionality and improves performance

Click Here!

By,

Networksavvy

Driver Genius

2009-09-02T13:32:00.000-07:00

Driver Genius Professional manage your PC to get 100% up to date Drivers and optimize PC performance. Driver Genius Professional is a powerful driver manager for Windows that can backup, restore ,search and update your drivers automatically in several mouse clicks.

Download :

http://www.4shared.com/file/129582601/ad1da820/Driver_Genius_Professional_EditionKey.html

Windows Vista: Windows Cannot Connect To The Printer. Access is Denied

2009-09-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

One of the more interesting errors in Windows Vista happens when you try to connect to a shared network printer. Most of the time you'll receive an "Access is Denied" error when trying to connect even though you can see the printer on the network and everything else is working properly. Everything else on the network appears to work properly, shared files, internet access, etc. However, you just cannot access the ahared printer and print.The solution is to add the printer as a local printer and then try printing. Follow the directions below to accomplish Print.

1.Go into Control Panel
2.Underneath the Hardware and Sound category, click on Printer
3.Click on Add a printer from the top menu
4.Click on Add a Local Printer
5.Choose Create a New Port with type of port remaining Local Port, then click Next
6.In the Port Name box type the path to the printer you wish to connect to and Click Ok

Ex. file://mycomputer/myprinter

If the computer you wish to connect to is named Bob and the printer is called HP then the path would be file://Bob/HP

7.In the Install Printer Driver screen, select your printer from the list or choose Have Disk and find the location of the printer drivers on the computer then click Next and then click Finish.
8.You should now see the printer installed in the Printers window.
9.Right-click on the printer and click Properties

10.On the General tab, click Print Test Page to test the printer.

You should now be able to printer from Windows Vista to this networked printer with any problems.

How to Speed Up Windows Boot Time

2009-08-31T11:30:00.000-07:00

Major Windows Performance Tips

Reduce the Number of Fonts installed

Every font that is installed in Windows has to load when Windows starts. The more fonts you have installed, the slower Windows loads. Although you can safely have around 1000 fonts loaded in Windows, I like to keep my font list closer to 300-500 or fewer if possible. There are certain fonts that are definitely required by Windows, so be careful in removing any fonts from your computer unless you know they are not needed. Fonts such as Verdana,Arial,Trebuchet, Tahoma, Tahoma, Times New Roman, MS Sans Serif, and Courier New should be left on your system. Follow the directions below to remove extra fonts from Windows XP.

1) Open My Computer
2) Double-click on Drive C
3) Click on File, New Folder and title it Fonts Backup
4) Double-click on the Windows folder to open it
5) Double-click on the Fonts folder
6) Highlight the fonts you wish to remove, click on Edit and choose COPY
7) Navigate back to the C:\Fonts Backup folder and PASTE these fonts into your backup folder
8) Return to the Fonts Folder and right-click on any fonts you previously copied to the backup folder, then choose Delete.

If you accidentally removed a font, simply reverse the procedure by copying and pasting the font back into the Windows\Fonts folder.

Disk Cleanup, Scandisk, and Defrag

Performing regular hard drive maintenance on your computer every few months will not only catch problems before they cause serious damage but also make your hard drive run at its optimal level. Follow these instructions to clean up the drive and defrag it.

1) Open My Computer
2) Right-click on the hard drive usually Drive C
3) Click on the Tools tab
4) Under Error Checking, click on Check Now. Optionally, you may want to check the boxes to "Automatically Fix File Errors" and "Scan For and Attempt Recovery for Bad Sectors"
5) Next, click on the General tab and click on Disk Cleanup. After the computer calculates the amount of files to remove, place a checkmark next to the type of files you wish to remove and click Ok. Read the descriptions for each type of file to determine if you should delete it.
6) Finally, click on the Tools tab again and under Defragmentation click Defragment Now
7) Click on the hard drive you wish to defrag, click on Analyze and then click on Defragment. This process may take some time to complete.

Virus/Spyware Scans

Finally, you'll want to complete a thorough virus and spyware scan of your system. I recommend running an online virus scan first, then a check for spyware. You can click on the following links to check your system for viruses.

Online Virus Scanners
Trend Micro Housecall
BitDefender Scan Online
Ewido Online Scanner
Jotti's Online Malware Scan
Kaspersky Online Scanner
Panda Activescan
McAfee FreeScan
eTrust Antivirus Web Scanner
Symantec Security Check
Dr.Web Online Check

Trojan Scanner
TrojanScan by WindowsSecurity.com

Spyware Scanners

Lavasoft Ad-Aware SE 1.06
Spybot Search and Destroy 1.4
Microsoft Windows Defender

Using a Different Antivirus, Firewall, or AntiSpyware Program

If your computer is still running slow after changing and checking all of these options, it might be time to use a different program for antivirus, firewall, or antispyware security. A blog on the net called The PC Spy has a graph displaying the boot delay time from most of the popular products on the market including Symantec, McAfee, Trend Micro, ZoneAlarm, and more.

Not surprisingly, Symantec's Internet Security products top the list with a 40+ % boot delay, followed by Panda Antivirus, and Zone Alarm. So, while these products may help prevent infections and attacks, they also are contributing greatly to the slowdown your computer is experiencing. Avast, AVG, NOD32, and others perform much better according to this chart.

Microsoft Outlook Program not working- How to fix it.

2009-08-29T18:45:00.000-07:00

One of the most common errors while using Outlook 2000/2002 is the problem of Outlook not opening when you click on the icon, or it takes a long time to open (30 seconds or more). Other issues with Outlook such as Out of Memory errors, Microsoft Error reports and other oddities can also be traced to this same issue. Luckily there is a simple fix that works most of the time.

Generally the problem can be traced to a corrupted OUTCMD.DAT file in your Outlook program. Outcmd.dat stores any custom changes that you make to your toolbar buttons. If the problem is resolved after you rename this file, you must make the custom toolbar button changes again. This seems like a minor file since its supposed to only monitor changes to your toolbars, however with the amount of spyware and adware that add toolbars, change toolbars, etc. it's understandable that this file could become corrupted quite easily and cause your Outlook program not to boot.

To remove the OUTCMD.DAT file, simply search your computer for the file and delete it. When Microsoft Outlook opens again, it will recreate the file.

1.Make sure Microsoft Outlook is completely closed.
2.Click Start, click on Find or Search, and then click Files or Folders.
3.Make sure that "Look in" is set to (C:\).
4.In the "Named" or "Search for..." box, type the following filename and click dll filename and click Search or Find Now

OUTCMD.DAT

5.Delete any instances of OUTCMD.DAT and close the Search box.
6.Generally this file is found in the Application Data/Microsoft/Outlook folder
7.Reopen Microsoft Outlook and it should behave normally

Export MSN Favorites to Internet Explorer

2009-08-28T19:23:00.000-07:00

How to Export MSN Favorites to Internet Explorer

MSN Explorer is a popular all-in-one browser and email setup for MSN.com email users. Customers that have MSN as their ISP usually install it when they are setting up their Internet access. However, its difficult to export the favorites from MSN Explorer to another browser if you decide to change ISPs or no longer use MSN Explorer.

The steps in this article will show you how to use a third-party utilities to export the favorites to Internet Explorer.

Show Hidden Files and Folders

1.Open My Computer
2.Click on Tools, Folder Options
3.Click on the View tab
4.Under the Hidden Files and Folders section, select "Show Hidden Files and Folders"
5.Uncheck the box for "Hide Protected Operating System Files (recommended)"
6.Click Ok

Find the MSN Favorites File

1.Open My Computer
2.Double-click on Drive C
3.Double-click on Documents and Settings
4.Double-click on the Logged in User folder
5.Double-click on Application Data
6.Double-click on the MSN folder (usually called MSN6 or something similar)
6.Double-click on the UserData folder
7.Double-click on the Identity folder containing a long string of characters in a pattern like this {xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxx}
8.Right-click on Favorites.XML file and choose Copy
9.Return back to your Windows Desktop
10.Right-click on a blank area of the desktop and click on New, then click on Folder
11.Name the folder something like MSN Favorites
12.Open the folder you just named by double-clicking it
13.Right-click in the folder and choose Paste to copy the favorites file to this folder
14.Download the MSN Favorites Export Toolkit

Click on the following link to go to the Mainsoft Download page

http://www.mainsoft.fr/en/downloads.htm

1.Download the MSN Favorites Export Toolkit zip file to the MSN Favorites folder you 2.created on the desktop.
3.Open the MSN Favorites folder on your desktop
4.If you have Windows XP or a zip program installed, double-click on the MsnFav.zip file and unzip the files to the MSN Favorites folder. There should be 4 files contained in the zip file.

Run the MSN Favorite Export Program

1.Once you have both the Favorites.XML file and the MSN Favorites Export toolkit in the same folder, double-click on the Msnfav.vbs file to start the export process.
2.When the process is complete, there should be a new file called bookmark.htm in the folder

Import Bookmark.htm into Internet Explorer

1.Open Internet Explorer
2.Click on File
3.Click on Import and Export, then click Next
4.Click on Import Favorites and click Next
5.Select "Import from a file or address", then click Browse
6.Find the bookmarks.htm file in the MSN Favorites folder on your desktop and select it and click Save
7.Click Next after selecting the file and allow the import to begin
8.Check the list of favorites in Internet Explorer from the imported MSN favorites

How to Stop Most Computer Crashes

2009-08-28T04:56:00.000-07:00

Computer errors and crashes are incredibly annoying and frustrating, preventing you from being able to do even the most simple of things on your PC. Problems such as crashes and errors are extremely common... but there is a solution which can stop most of them immediately.

If your computer is crashing all the time, there's likely one cause which can easily be fixed. Not many people know about this, but there's a part of your system called the 'registry' which stores all sorts of settings and information about the software and hardware of your computer. Everything from your latest emails to how much hard drive space you have left is all kept in this database, making it one of the most important and frequently used parts of Windows. Although this database is important and is a critical part of your system... it's still the biggest causes of computer errors and crashes.

The problem is that Windows *needs* to use the registry for everything on your PC. Each time you use your computer, 100's of registry files are being opened and edited to help Windows to do various tasks on your PC. This is okay, but unfortunately, Windows is constantly getting confused, leading it to save many of the files in completely the wrong way. This makes them corrupt and extremely difficult for your computer to read, slowing it down a lot. However, these damaged files also cause another problem - errors.

You see, your computer doesn't know which registry files are broken and which are okay, meaning that it will just try and read them until it can understand what they say. In most cases, this just slows your system down because it takes your PC longer to read the files, but in some cases, the registry files can be so corrupted that they will prevent your computer from being able to load them at all, causing errors or even crashes. When a computer crashes, it's simply hit a dead end which it can't recover from. This is what happens when you have registry files which your computer needs, but can't read. And because the registry database is hidden from us most of the time, hardly anyone knows about this problem.

Luckily, it's very easy to fix. You see, computer crashes are caused by registry files which are so damaged they can't be read by your computer any more. Well, there's actually a software tool which goes through the registry and fixes all the problematic files that are in there. These tools are known as 'registry cleaners' and work by scanning every registry file and then fixing any of the ones that it finds are broken. Registry cleaners are very effective at stopping computer crashes because they allow your computer to read all the files it needs, when it needs them, making it run like new again!

We've found the best registry cleaner to stop computer crashes, is a tool called Registry Fix.
Click Here for free scan!

by :James_Henry_Johnson

How to Remove Your Windows Vista Logon Password

2009-08-28T04:41:00.000-07:00

How to Remove Your Windows Vista Logon Password

When Windows Vista first installs, it asks you for a password for your account. Then each time you log onto the computer you have to type the password in before you can access Windows Vista.

This security feature is nice to keep your information separate and private from the other users on the computer. However if you are the only user on your PC and the password prompt is annoying, you may want to consider removing the password and bypassing the logon process altogether.

Listed below you'll find the simple and quick procedure for removing your Vista password.

1) Click on Start, then Click on Control Panel

2) Click on the User Accounts and Family Safety link

NOTE: if you are in the Classic View of Control Panel, you won't see this link, continue on to step 3

3) Click on the User Accounts option

4) In the "Make changes to your user account" section, click the Remove your Password link for the user.

5) On the next screen, enter your current password

6) Click the Remove Password button to confirm that you would like to remove your account password.

7) Close the User Accounts window

8) Restart your computer and test the system.

Now that your Windows Vista user password has been removed, you will no longer need to log inot Windows Vista. Instead when your computer starts, it will now continue loading through to your desktop automatically.

After Updating or Installing Wordpress 2.8

2009-08-28T03:46:00.000-07:00

What Error Do You Receive When Trying to Install Plugin?

I setup a new site this weekend, MyMinisiteMall.com, and decided to use Wordpress 2.8 as the front end for the site. The site consists of a bunch of minisites so I needed a way to connect them all together on the home page of the site. Wordpress seemed like the logical choice for this sort of thing.

So I used the Fantastico control panel to install the latest version of Wordpress 2.8. Everything went smooth and in a few minutes the blog was installed.

Then I proceed to customize the settings in Wordpress 2.8 and proceeded to install a plugin or two. One of the first plugins I always install is the All in One SEO Pack. I went into the plugins section, choose Add New, and found the plugin. When I clicked on Install the following error message appeared:

"Incompatible archive PCLZIP_ERR_BAD_FORMAT (-10) : Invalid archive structure"

Thinking that this was a problem with this plugin, I found 3 more to install and was greeted by the same or a similar message each time I tried to install them. There appeared to be a problem with the installation of Wordpress 2.8. In fact, after some research I discovered the problem was with a file called http.php.

Steps to Correct Plugin Upload Problem in Wordpress 2.8

Follow the steps below to fix the problem with not being able to install plugins.

1) Download the following file to your desktop. Just right-click on the link below and choose Save As to save to your desktop

New Version of http.php for Wordpress 2.8

click on this link and download :-

http://core.trac.wordpress.org/export/11450/trunk/wp-includes/http.php

2) Once the file has been saved, open your FTP program and log into your site

3) Transfer the file http.php into your WP-Includes subdirectory in Wordpress. I used a free ftp program called FTP Commander to transfer the file into the wp-includes subdirectory. Then I closed the FTP program

4) Now log back into your Wordpress Control Panel and try to install a new plugin. This simple fix worked for me.

NOTE: Not all Wordpress 2.8 installations are experiencing this problem, however for the ones that do have an issue, this fix worked and the ability to download and install plugins was restored

File Splitter - Latest one

2008-11-03T02:54:00.000-08:00

This software allows us to split any type of files into small fragments according to the size we mention. This method of splitting comes to handy when we require to updload larger size of file which may not be accepted by certain mail server and file sharing server.It is best to split and upload.It can be merged in the similar manner. The software is very user friendly and just needs a click to complete the task.

Download File SPlitter and joiner- Click here !

Love Your {Ctrl} Key-for three reasons in Excel

2008-11-01T21:30:00.000-07:00

Love your [Ctrl] key—for three reasons
This three-fer will show why you should love and use your [Ctrl] key:

Reason 1—Fast navigation.
When you press [Ctrl] and any arrow key (north, east,
south, or west), you jump to the last populated cell in that direction. Think of using
the [Ctrl]-arrow key shortcut as an alternative to pressing [Page Down] to find the
bottom row of a data set or pressing [Tab] to find the last column. Bonus tip: Hold
down the [Shift] key while you press any [Ctrl]-arrow key shortcut to select all the
cells between where you are and where you jump with the [Ctrl] key.

Reason 2—You can make noncontiguous selections.
That's a fancy way ofsaying you can select any cells you want, regardless of whether they'recontiguous—next to each other in a row or column. Hold down the [Ctrl] key while
you click on a cell or click and drag through a range of cells. As long as you hold
down the [Ctrl] key, you can click and select to your heart's content.
Combine this tip with tip #7, and you can use the
AutoCalculate tool to analyze any combination of individual
cells or blocks of cells. Figure O shows our screen when
we used AutoCalculate to sum the cells we selected while
holding down the [Ctrl] key.

Reason 3—Fast data entry.
Suppose you want to put the
same string, number, or formula into two or more cells.
Figure O: When you hold down
the [Ctrl] key, you can select
any cell or block of cells, and
AutoCalculate will calculate
results based on those
noncontiguous selections.

Using the old-fashioned approach, you’d type the string,
number, or formula into the first cell and then copy and
paste that entry into the destination cells. But there’s a
little-known time-saving tip that makes short work of
placing the same entry in multiple cells. First, select all the
cells you want to populate. Type the entry, but don’t press
[Enter]. Instead, press [Ctrl][Enter]. When you do, Excel will
copy what you typed into all of the selected cells.

PDF to WORD converter

2008-11-01T20:46:00.000-07:00

If you want to convert any PDF file to Doc file you can use this software. It is very user friendly and does the job efficiently. If you have any issues in handling the application then feel free to ask.

Download PDF to WORD converter

Click here !

CAUSES OF POOR PC PERFORMANCE

2008-11-01T10:34:00.000-07:00

CAUSES OF POOR PC
PERFORMANCE

This chapter discusses the major causes of poor
PC performance, such as “junk ﬁles” and other
not so obvious contributors. In later chapters,
after learning this background information, you’ll
be shown exactly how to overcome these types of
problems.

Temporary Files
Computers naturally create many different temporary
ﬁles, which are typically stored for your advantage.
However, these temporary ﬁles on your computer (as
the following sections discuss) can stack up, which can
contribute to poor PC performance.

Internet Cache
Web browsers (for example Internet Explorer) typi-
cally create temporary ﬁles, often referred to as
Internet Cache, during web browsing. These tempo-
rary ﬁles usually aren’t needed after you are ﬁnished
surﬁng the web, and can take up large amounts of
space on your hard drive. Therefore these ﬁles, if not
removed periodically, may contribute to poor PC
performance.

If you are curious, you can view Internet Explorer’s
cache:

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Open Internet Options from the Tools menu
3. Click Settings... under the Temporary Internet Files sec-
tion
Accessing the temporary Internet ﬁles settings

4. Click View Files..., as seen in Figure 1-3.
The Temporary Internet Files window will appear, as
Figure 1-3 shows.

Figure 1-3: Viewing temporary Internet ﬁles

Recycle Bin
Remember, ﬁles are not actually removed from the hard drive when you delete them the ﬁrst time. For instance, deleting ﬁles for the ﬁrst
time actually sends them to the Recycle Bin. Then from there you
can either permanently remove them from your computer, or in case
you ﬁgured out that they should not have been deleted, you can
restore them.

You can easily view the content of your Recycle Bin:

1. Go to your desktop.
2.Double-click the Recycle Bin, as shown in Figure 1-4.

Figure 1-4: Opening the Recycle Bin

3. The Recycle Bin will appear, as shown in Figure 1-5.

Windows Temporary Files
The Windows operating system and other applications create tempo-
rary ﬁles for various reasons, such as during software installations.

These temporary ﬁles, however, are typically not needed after the
application exits or when Windows is shut down. In many cases, the
applications do not always clean up after themselves and leave
behind a stack of ﬁles, which will use up some of your computer’s
valuable disk space.

Getting Out of Date
Microsoft releases periodic updates for Windows to ensure your PC
is protected from the latest known security holes and programming
bugs or errors. In addition, many of these updates will help increase
your PC’s performance.

Therefore you shouldn’t let Windows get out of date; otherwise
you’ll compromise the security and performance of your PC.

Unused Files and Programs
Unused programs and ﬁles are one of the biggest contributors to
wasted disk space and can cause a reduction in your PC’s perform-
ance. As a general rule of thumb, the less disk space you use of your
hard drive, the better overall PC performance you’ll experience.

Therefore, it’s best to remove software programs that aren’t used
and ﬁles that you don’t need anymore.

Unnecessary Startup Programs
Many software programs may add themselves (with or without your
knowledge) to your Startup folder, which may cause your PC to take
longer to start up.

Chapter 1: Causes of Poor PC Performance

Additionally, these programs running in the background will steal
computing power from other applications you are using and will
overall bog down your PC.

Invalid Registry Entries

ences during operation, such as proﬁles for each user, the applications
installed on the computer and the types of documents that each can
create, property sheet settings for folders and application icons, what
hardware exists on the system, and the ports that are being used.

There are many speciﬁc registry keys that can slow a computer’s per-
formance. These are typically invalid keys containing information
about COM and ActiveX objects. These objects are parts of pro-
grams, and when you remove the programs, these keys sometimes
still exist. However, if these registry keys aren’t removed they can
contribute to slower PC performance.

Here are some common areas of the registry that may contain invalid
keys:

• Invalid Class IDs (CLSID)
• Invalid Program Identiﬁers (ProgID)
• Invalid Type Libraries (TypeLib)
• Invalid Interfaces

Hard Drive Errors
Data in hard drives can become corrupt and contain errors, such as
from the following situations:

• Improper shutdown from power outage
• Power surges
• PC suddenly resets (bad power connection or supply)
• PC crashes or locks up, so that shutdown is impossible

When there are errors in a hard drive, it can’t work at its optimum
performance. Typically, hard drive errors won’t be noticeable to the
PC user, which makes the situation even worse.

Part I • Understand the Issues and Solutions

Fragmentation
Fragmentation is the condition in which ﬁles are divided into pieces
scattered around a hard drive and can have a signiﬁcant impact on
PC performance. This is because it takes more time to access ﬁles on
a hard drive if they are fragmented.

The following are causes of fragmentation:

• Installing software
• Uninstalling software
• Moving ﬁles
• Deleting ﬁles

Even though fragmentation is common and occurs naturally, there
are ways to help the problem, which are discussed in a later chapter.

How To Speed Up A Slow Computer

2008-11-01T00:16:00.000-07:00

Follow these tips.
In the bottom right hand corner of your computer if you see lot of icons start up when you first start your computer, then this the major cause for the slowdown of your PC. Try to get rid of unwanted icons from there.

Press your Start Button (bottom left) and go to "run"
now type in: msconfig
now you will get a box that pops up and will tell you bunch of stuff dont mess with anything else other than what I tell you now.
Now go to your "startup" tab on the top right of the screen where it usually place and click it.

Now you will have a closed in box with bunch of filenames and addresses and more boxes with checks in them. Now if you do not like anything startin up when you start your computer up then you have disable those programs. But other than that uncheck every box and then hit apply and ok. Then window will close and ask you if you want to restart or wait till later to restart.

Either way when you shut it off and then turn it back on the settins will kick in. Here you are.......your PC will be more faster now.

Nokia Universal Codes- Try this

2008-10-31T03:47:00.000-07:00

NOKIA
Nokia Universal Codes
Code Description :
These Nokia codes will work on most Nokia Mobile Phones

(1) *3370# Activate Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR) - Your phone uses the best sound quality but talk time is

reduced my approx. 5%

(2) #3370# Deactivate Enhanced Full Rate Codec (EFR) OR *3370#

(3) *#4720# Activate Half Rate Codec - Your phone uses a lower quality sound but you should gain approx 30%

more Talk Time.

(4) *#4720# Deactivate Half Rate Codec.

(5) *#0000# Displays your phones software version, 1st Line : Software Version, 2nd Line : Software Release

Date, 3rd Line : Compression Type.

(6) *#9999# Phones software version if *#0000# does not work.

(7) *#06# For checking the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI Number).

(Cool #pw+1234567890+1# Provider Lock Status. (use the "*" button to obtain the "p,w"
and "+" symbols).

(9) #pw+1234567890+2# Network Lock Status. (use the "*" button to obtain the "p,w"
and "+" symbols).

(10) #pw+1234567890+3# Country Lock Status. (use the "*" button to obtain the "p,w"
and "+" symbols).

(11) #pw+1234567890+4# SIM Card Lock Status. (use the "*" button to obtain the "p,w" Go to Top
and "+" symbols).

(12) *#147# (vodafone) this lets you know who called you last.

(13) *#1471# Last call (Only vodofone).

(14) *#21# Allows you to check the number that "All Calls" are diverted to

(15) *#2640# Displays security code in use.

(16) *#30# Lets you see the private number.

(17) *#43# Allows you to check the "Call Waiting" status of your phone.

(18) *#61# Allows you to check the number that "On No Reply" calls are diverted to.

(19) *#62# Allows you to check the number that "Divert If Unreachable (no service)" calls
are diverted to.

(20) *#67# Allows you to check the number that "On Busy Calls" are diverted to.

(21) *#67705646# Removes operator logo on 3310 & 3330.

(22) *#73# Reset phone timers and game scores.

(23) *#746025625# Displays the SIM Clock status, if your phone supports this power saving feature "SIM Clock Stop

Allowed", it means you will get the best standby time possible.

(24) *#7760# Manufactures code.

(25) *#7780# Restore factory settings.

(26) *#8110# Software version for the nokia 8110.

Hiding the Windows Version on the Desktop

2008-10-15T21:49:00.000-07:00

If your version of WindowsXP is displaying on the desktop and
you would like to remove it:

Start Regedit

Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop

Edit or Create the DWORD entry PaintDesktopVersion

A value of 0 will hide the version from the desktop

Logoff or reboot

Download reg file

To make this change for all future users, edit
HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop in the same manner.

WinXP's setupp.ini - Unlock It

2008-08-26T07:03:00.000-07:00

Unlocking WinXP's setupp.ini
============================

WinXP's setupp.ini controls how the CD acts. IE is it an OEM version or retail? First, find your setupp.ini file in the i386 directory on your WinXP CD. Open it up, it'll look something like this:

ExtraData=707A667567736F696F697911AE7E05
Pid=55034000

The Pid value is what we're interested in. What's there now looks like a standard default. There are special numbers that determine if it's a retail, oem, or volume license edition. First, we break down that number into two parts. The first five digits determines how the CD will behave, ie is it a retail CD that lets you clean install or upgrade, or an oem CD that only lets you perform a clean install? The last three digits determines what CD key it will accept. You are able to mix and match these values. For example you could make a WinXP CD that acted like a retail CD, yet accepted OEM keys.

Now, for the actual values. Remember the first and last values are interchangeable, but usually you'd keep them as a pair:

Retail = 51882 335
Volume License = 51883 270
OEM = 82503 OEM

So if you wanted a retail CD that took retail keys, the last line of your setupp.ini file would read:

Pid=51882335

And if you wanted a retail CD that took OEM keys, you'd use:

Pid=51882OEM

Create a Shortcut to Lock Your Computer

2008-07-10T23:34:00.000-07:00

Leaving your computer in a hurry but you don?t want to log off? You can double-click a shortcut on your desktop to quickly lock the keyboard and display without using CTRL+ALT+DEL or a screen saver.

To create a shortcut on your desktop to lock your computer:

Right-click the desktop.Point to New, and then click Shortcut.
The Create Shortcut Wizard opens. In the text box, type the following:rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation
Click Next.
Enter a name for the shortcut. You can call it "Lock Workstation" or choose any name you like.
Click Finish.
You can also change the shortcut's icon (my personal favorite is the padlock icon in shell32.dll).
To change the icon:
Right click the shortcut and then select Properties.Click the Shortcut tab, and then click the Change Icon button.
In the Look for icons in this file text box, type:Shell32.dll.
Click OK.
Select one of the icons from the list and then click OK
You could also give it a shortcut keystroke such CTRL+ALT+L. This would save you only one keystroke from the normal command, but it could be more convenient.

Instantly Activate a Screen saver

2008-06-06T08:46:00.000-07:00

Turn on a screen saver without having to wait by adding a shortcut to your desktop:
Click the Start button, and then click Search.In the Search Companion window, click All file types.
In the file name box, type *.scr
In the Look in box, choose Local Hard Drives (C or the drive where you have system files stored on your computer.
Click Search.
You will see a list of screen savers in the results. Pick a screen saver you want. You can preview it by double-clicking it.
Right click on the file, choose Send To, and then click Desktop (create shortcut).
To activate the screen saver, double-click the icon on your desktop

HOW TO KEEP YOUR LAPTOP FREE FROM COMPUTER VIRUSES, SPYWARE AND MALWARE

2008-03-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

If you're not going to play smart with your computer, I'm at least going to teach you how to play safe. If you're going to do something stupid, do it smart.

The fact of the matter is that the internet is not safe for your computer. It can be, and with some education, you can have a spyware and virus free computer like I do and many other people do. Most people don't apply common sense to computing because they assume that anything out there is safe, and that's bad. By not thinking, you can do real damage to your machine, and it can be both costly and time-consuming to repair it. And unless you're someone like me or one of the other computer junkies on the NotebookReview.com forums, messing with things you don't understand is a bad idea.

I'm not totally trying to instill fear into you as a reader and as a user. Your computer is a wonderful tool and for most users is perfectly safe. I'm also not telling you to go out and spend money on expensive subscription-based software to keep your computer safe. I AM going to tell you how to save potentially hundreds of dollars in service. There are some very simple things you can do to protect yourself.

This guide is principally for Windows users, although most of it is just good computing sense. Macintosh and Linux users aren't going to run into these problems with anywhere near the kind of frequency Windows users are. While you aren't bulletproof and should still practice sound computing, you're also not at as great a risk.

Macintosh users aren't at as great a risk because Mac OS X has excellent security built into it, and because the percentage of Mac users on the market just quite honestly isn't profitable to attack. That's subject to change if Apple Boot Camp has a major effect on the market, however, and please note that if you're running Windows on your Mac - and even Apple warns you about this - you're at the same risk as if you were running it on a regular PC.

Linux users aren't at much risk because Linux tends to be very secure, and because its market share for regular consumers is at least as minor at Mac OS X's. Honestly, Linux is too complicated to get running for the average user; the people who run it can usually either serve as their own tech support or know someone who can (usually the same person that got them into Linux).

MALWARE AND VIRUSES
Spyware and malware are software that gets installed on your system without your consent or even your knowledge, and costs precious computing cycles and resources. While these are almost never fundamentally harmful to the computer itself (outside of dragging its performance to a woeful crawl), they're more of a threat to you, the user. Spyware can log your actions on your machine, including the sites you visit, the e-mail you send, and send it to unscrupulous parties. While most of it is harmless, or at least however harmless you think meticulously tracking someone's internet usage is and reporting it to advertisers can be, it can be an ongoing nuisance and can severely hamper your enjoyment of your computer.

Viruses take care of anything that spyware and malware don't, and it can damage your system, possibly even irreparably. They can corrupt your operating system installation, corrupt your data, and damage your hardware.

These two classes of software are responsible for 90% (arbitrary figure) of the computing problems most users have. In my personal work and in my work at Best Buy, these were the culprits of most problems; as much so that many shops don't even have to actually do anything in particular to fix computers infected with these, they can run software and scripts that remove the harmful software from an afflicted machine. Note, however, that the damage done by that software can have a permanent effect on your operating system that can really only be fixed by reformatting the drive - erasing everything on it and reinstalling the operating system. Note that if you don't know what reformatting is and don't understand EXACTLY the procedure for doing it, don't mess with it. I'll talk more about it in a bit.

NECESSARY SOFTWARE
I'm going to tell you something that's probably going to blow your mind: you don't NEED subscription based spyware/malware software.
I'm going to go further and blow your mind again: you don't NEED to spend money to protect yourself.
The guys at the computer store are going to try and sell you on software packages you don't need. Your computer is going to come with antivirus and antispyware software you don't need. There are just three things you do need to keep your system safe.

Ingredient #1 for keeping your computer safe:
Using a basic, free anti-virus program that runs in the background is a good way to keep your system safe from any virus. While trying to instill a sense of the damage that a virus can do to your system, it's important you understand that antiviral software is less an active protector than it is an insurance policy. We don't keep home insurance because we expect the house to burst into flames; we keep it just in case it does. Here is a list of three popular free antivirus programs for your PC:
* Avast! Home Edition. Free Antivirus Software, for home users, probably the most popular on the web, download and information link: http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html * AVG Free -- Another good free virus software, you don't have to register to use this like you do with Avast, download and information link: http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1 * AntiVir Personal Edition Classic - Offers the effective protection against computer viruses for the individual and private use on a single PC-workstation. It detects and removes more than 50,000 viruses, download and information link: http://www.snapfiles.com/get/antivir.html
To protect your system from spyware and malware, you'll want to periodically run a combination of free anti-spyware programs. I recommend running Ad Aware AND Spybot; one program can miss spyware the other will detect. Note that these don't need to run on startup; just run scans with them periodically to make sure your system is safe.

Ingredient #2 for keeping your computer safe:
Use Opera or Firefox as a web browser. Either of these two programs will immediately remove most spyware and malware from the equation. A lot of it gets into your system through Internet Explorer. Because IE is so closely integrated with Windows, it leaves plenty of easy ways for these things to get into your system. By not running IE, you've removed yourself from the spyware eating majority. And they're both free. I personally prefer Opera, but actually recommend Firefox to newer users. While Opera is nice, it doesn't have the compatibility of Firefox. Still, try them both and see which one you like better.
Running these two pieces of software is an excellent plan to keep yourself safe on the internet. I want to stress that you do NOT want to buy commercial software. I know it seems logical because a large, money-making, reputable corporation is behind them, but the subscription fees are ridiculous, and the software tends to be bloated and difficult to use.

Ingredient #3 for keeping your computer safe:
Make sure you have Windows XP Service Pack 2 installed. Assuming you're all Windows users, Service Pack 2 substantially bolsters the security of Windows XP. Granted, that isn't saying much, but it says enough. Some of what I'm talking about in this article is going to assume you have Service Pack 2 installed. If you don't, install it by running Windows Update. You may have to install several critical updates from Windows Update before Service Pack 2 appears. Note also that you may want to back up your important data before installing Service Pack 2. While most of the time it's a non-issue, every so often, Service Pack 2 has been known to hose an existing Windows installation.

Schedule a restart operation

2008-03-21T05:45:00.000-07:00

Schedule a restart operation with Windows XP's Shutdown utility

Note: This tip applies to both Windows XP Home and Professional editions.
Wouldn't it be nice if each morning your Windows XP machine restarted before you got to work so you had a fresh
system to work on each day?
To help you automate this type of operation, Windows XP comes with a command-line utility called
Shutdown.exe, which can restart your system. To make this happen automatically, you can configure it to run at a
specified time with the Scheduled Tasks tool. Here's how:

1. Go to Control Panel Scheduled Tasks.
2. Double-click Add Scheduled Task to launch the Scheduled Task Wizard.
3. Click Next and then click the Browse button.
4. Access the Windows\System32 folder, select Shutdown.exe, and click Open.
5. Follow the wizard through the next two screens to give the task a name and choose a schedule.
6. Enter your user account name and password and click Next.
7. Select the Open Advanced Properties check box and click Finish.
8. In the task's Properties dialog box, add the /r parameter to the end of the command line in the Run text
box and click OK. (Be sure to include a space between the last character in the command name and the
first character in the parameter list.)
9. Enter your user account name and password and click OK.

When the Shutdown utility runs, you'll momentarily see a small dialog box on your screen before the system
restarts.

Make XP Boot Faster

2008-03-21T04:19:00.000-07:00

Stopping Unneeded Startup Services and Making XP boot faster !

Along with the core operating system and programs that Windows XP runs when it
starts, there is also a host of services involved. Many of these services are necessary
for Windows XP to operate correctly. However, many of them are for features in
Windows XP that you may not use at all. You can peruse the services and disable any
service that you do not want to run. The fewer services that run, the more quickly
Windows XP will boot.

To reduce the number of services that start on bootup, you can access two different
areas of Windows XP.

o The first is the System Configuration Utility. You can do that by entering the
command “msconfig” in the run menu.

Start Run “msconfig” (without quotes) Hit Enter

The Services tab shows you the services that start when the computer
boots. You can stop a service from starting by simply clearing the check box
next to the service and clicking OK.

o However, before you do so, there is another way to disable services that you
may prefer because the interface gives you more information about the service
in question.
Open Control Panel Administrative Tools Services or

Start Run “services.msc” Hit Enter

Take a quick look at common services you may want to live without:

Automatic Updates: This service enables Windows XP to check the Web
automatically for updates. If you don't want to use Automatic Updates, you can
disable the service.

Computer Browser: If your computer is not on a network, you don't need this service.
If you are on a network, leave it alone.

DHCP Client: If you are not on a network, you do not need this service. If you are on
a small workgroup, you can still increase boot time by configuring manual IP.

DNS Client: If you are not on a network, you do not need this service.

Error Reporting and Event Log: You don't have to use these services but they can be
very helpful, so I would leave them configured as automatic.

Fax: If you don't use your computer for fax services, you can disable this one.

Help and Support: Disable if you never use the Windows XP Help and Support
Center.

IMAPI CD-Burning COM: This service enables you to burn CDs on your computer.
If you never burn CDs, you can disable the service without any second thoughts.

Indexing Service: Your computer keeps an index of all the files. But if you rarely
search for files, the service is just a resource hog. You can stop it

Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing: If you do not use these features, plz
disable.

Infrared Monitor: If you do not use infrared devices, you can disable this service.

Messenger: This service sends alert messages on a local area network (it is not the
same as Windows Messenger). If you are not on a network, you can disable this
service.

Print Spooler: If you do not do any printing from the computer, you can disable this
service. If you print, make sure you leave it as automatic.

Remote Registry: This service allows remote users to modify the Registry on your

computer. If you are not on a network, you can disable this service.

System Restore Service: This service allows you to use System Restore. If you have
turned off System Restore anyway, you do not need to turn off the service.

Themes: If you do not use themes, you can disable this service.

Windows Image Acquisition: If you do not use scanners or digital cameras, you can
disable.

Wireless Zero Configuration: If do not use wireless networking devices, you can
disable.

Ergonomic Tips for Computer Users

2008-03-21T03:02:00.000-07:00

Download Ergonomic Tips for Computer Users_PPS.zip

Download-Click here !