Can you upgrade an old XP PC to Windows 7? Should you?

How old is too old? I had a chance to think about this question twice over the weekend. Once while pondering my fifty-somethingth birthday (as of today, I am the same age as Saturday Night Live and The Simpsons combined), and the other while deciding whether to upgrade my friend Lisa’s four-year-old Sony notebook to Windows 7.

The birthday will happen whether I want it or not. But as for that Sony? That took a little more thought. It would have been a no-brainer had this been a two-year-old PC that Lisa had downgraded to XP to avoid the tribulations of Vista. But this machine, once a triumph of Sony hardware engineering, could easily be deemed ready to retire.

After careful consideration, I finally decided to go ahead with the upgrade, taking careful notes and snapping lots of screen shots along the way. The XP-to-7 odyssey was an interesting one, with surprising results and several lessons I can share with anyone contemplating a similar adventure. Along the way I also tried out a new edition of Laplink’s PCmover software, which is specifically designed to ease this sort of migration. I found some surprises there as well.

Microsoft Windows Users and iYogi Predict a Surge in Tech Support for Windows 7 Upgrades

Survey Shows That Nearly Half of Consumers Think Upgrading to a New Operating System Will Require Technical Assistance

New York, NY (PRWEB) September 16, 2009 -- iYogi, the on-demand tech services company with a unique global delivery model, announced today the results of a consumer poll regarding support concerns and predictions for the upcoming launch of the new Microsoft Windows 7 operating system. Based on responses from more than 1,000 Windows XP and Windows Vista users, 52 percent think that moving to a new operating system and moving their data is a hassle, suggesting some real frustrations on the near horizon. Nearly half (47 percent) think upgrading to Microsoft Windows 7 may require a call to technical support - potentially causing a huge backlog of support needs, as up to 40 million copies of Windows 7 are expected to be sold in 2009, according to IDC.

"We predict that more than 40 percent of XP users will generate support calls and inquiries globally this year and even more in 2010 as mass adoption kicks in and people face the prospect of dealing with an entirely new interface," said Vishal Dhar, President Marketing & Co-founder of iYogi. "We estimate twice as many support calls for current Windows XP users than Windows Vista users, since Microsoft Windows XP users will require a 'clean' install including migrating applications, settings and drivers--a potentially arduous, time-intensive task."

Additional survey findings reveal:

58 percent of users think they will or may upgrade to Windows 7, an encouraging number considering some of the backlash surrounding Vista

Only 39 percent of users are aware that Windows 7 is launching soon, suggesting an increased flurry of help questions in the coming months as more people become aware of the upgrade options

iYogi has more has more than 90,000 annual subscribers and provides thousands of single incident sessions every day on a 24/7 basis. Its Global Delivery Platform delivers on the highest customer satisfaction benchmarks in the industry and gets smarter with every customer interaction, building a powerful knowledge base that provides unique customer insights on predictive needs to tech support.

ABOUT IYOGI
iYogi is a global on-demand services company that provides personalized computer support for consumers and small businesses in United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. iYogi's unique model, including proprietary technology iMantra and highly qualified technicians, is designed to eliminate computer-related stress and keep millions of digitally dependent consumers and small businesses always protected and productive. Only iYogi -- with its proven global expertise delivery model, intelligent customer insight systems, easy-to-use self-help tools and automated PC optimization and computer support services - offers users a simple yet comprehensive path to digital serenity. iYogi has perfected the remote technical support model to overcome the current limitations of in-store, on-site, or call center services to become the fastest growing provider of support in the industry. Major resellers and technology companies are increasingly turning to iYogi to improve customer satisfaction, reduce return rates, and deliver a compelling new-value added offering to customers. For more information on iYogi and a detailed list of technologies supported, visit: www.iyogi.net.

How to Optimize Your Windows Vista

Did you just buy a PC, maybe a laptop or a desktop computer and recently noticed that his high-tech, state of the art in a year (or maybe months) the computer system seems to get slower than passing day. The truth is that his team will not remain the same after being charged with dozens of tools and programs such as antivirus software (both anti-malware and spyware removal), and many other Internet downloads. The slowdown tends to occur gradually and may not notice, until it becomes virtually impossible to open a file or document, then finally dawn on his team needs a little service.

But relax, do not worry! no matter what the cause may be, the good news is that there is a solution for that, because there are many ways to help speed up your Windows Vista and also make a better performance of your PC without having to upgrade the computer hardware. Here are some tips to help you optimize your Windows Vista to perform better and faster.

Run a virus check

By the time you notice that your PC is running slowly, the first thing to do is check that viruses and spy-wares. Viruses have a way to slow down a computer and makes it run slower than it used to.

Defragmentation can be defined as a process that helps reduce the amount of fragmentation in a file system. The fragmentation makes the hard drive to work more than necessary and this can slow down your computer. Disk Defragmenter is what you need.

Disk Defragmenter rearranges fragmented data and put them together so that the hard disk can have more space and better results. Disk Defragmenter can be found on the PC with Windows Vista, go to the icon "Start" on your computer, click "All Programs" open "Accessories" then "System Tools" and finally click "Disk Defragmenter".

Boosting memory of your computer

Using Windows Ready Boost to boost your computer memory. The Windows Ready Boost lets you use the storage space on removable devices such as flash drives, to increase the speed of your computer. This is a preferable way to increase the memory in your PC, that opening up the computer hardware.

Uninstall the software and programs you never use

Do you know that most of the test versions of the limited editions of programs you find on your computer when you bought it can slow down your computer? These tests use the software valuable disk space and memory, so if you do not intend to upgrade to a full version of the program or software is recommended to uninstall from your computer to save disk space, memory, and even processing power .

Clean your hard drive

If you want to help your computer run faster, you can also delete unimportant files on the hard drive and empty the Recycle Bin by using the Disk Cleanup. Here is a step by step instructions on how to do this.

1. First start by clicking the icon "Start", click "All Programs" then "Accessories", open "System Tools", click and then "Disk Cleanup".

2. You have the option to choose if you want to clean up your personal files only or all files on your computer.

3. In the Options dialog box Disk Cleanup If the box mounts, select the hard drive to be cleaned, and then click OK.

4. Select the tab Disk Cleanup and click the boxes of files to delete and click OK.

5. Finally, click "Delete Files" to confirm the complete elimination of unwanted files.

Reduce the implementation of programs

When you put on your computer, you notice that some programs load automatically at startup, these programs take up disk space and memory waste and also reduces the power load on your PC. Most of these programs are designed by software vendors to load automatically when Windows starts, some of them even run in the background, where you can not see, and are only designated by their icons in the notification area of the taskbar of your computer screen. So to help his team Windows Vista faster and more efficient, eliminate those that do not use often.

Manual Solution To Enable RUN Command In Windows Vista

Open My Computer –> C drive –> Windows –> System32 –> Locate gpedit.msc file and run it. See the figure below

While you have opened Group Policy see in the left pane and in the User Configuration Expand Administrative Templates and select Start Menu and Taskbar now in the right pane locate Remove Run Menu from Start Menu and double click it. See the figures

Select Disabled in the properties dialogue and press apply then OK

Now close all open Windows you will see the Run has been restored in Start Menu. See the figure now

Kodak extends line of midrange multifunction printers

This morning, Kodak introduced two new models to its collection of all-in-one printers. The ESP 325O and ESP 525O both take aim at consumers who need a printer also need printer support for the home for light-duty snapshot and document printing, but don't necessarily need extra features (like an auto-document feeder or a duplexer) that typically push printers past the $200 threshold. As such, the new models are essentially stripped-down versions of the ESP 3 and ESP 5 printers we reviewed last year, but with a few updates:

Kodak ESP 3250

Kodak ESP 3250 - $130

• 1.5-inch LCD Display
• Manual duplexing for double-sided printing
• Low Power Standby Mode saves energy during downtime
• Built-in memory card reader

Kodak ESP 5250

Kodak ESP 5250 - $170

• 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi enabled (802.11n not supported)
• 2.4-inch LCD Display
• Intelligent paper tray (included with 3250 as well)

The Kodak ESP 3250 and ESP 5250 are available now on the Kodak

Monitor your PC

Once you’ve cleaned up your PC, reboot and take a closer look at what’s using your RAM right now.

Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to launch Task Manager, select the Processes tab, click View > Select Columns and make sure ‘Memory (Private Working Set)’ is checked). Click OK, select the ‘Show processes from all users’ button, then click the ‘Memory (Private Working Set)’ column header.

You’ll now see every process on your system, in the order in which they’re using memory. Browse down the list – are you running any background programs that you really don’t need? Turn them off if so. If you discover some memory hogs you don’t recognise, then enter their process names at Google to find out more.

If you really want to drill down into your PC’s activities, then there are two free Sysinternals tools that will prove invaluable. Autoruns will show you everything that loads when your Windows starts up, while Process Explorerdisplays running programs in great detail and shows you the resources they’re using. Go download them, they’re some of the best PC troubleshooting tools around.

Basic Troubleshooting For Computers

Troubleshooting is a basic input to the information technology field. At one point or another you’ll be asked to resolve a computer problem that does not have a clear-cut source/cause/resolution. They key to successful and quick troubleshooting is following the following process:

1. Dont’t assume you understand the Microsoft windows upgrade problem based on the users description. However document and attempt to understand what they are saying:
1. Document the symptom(s)
2. Document when did it first occur, has it occured before, who does it affect, what is all affected, what have you already tried to resolve it, can you make it occur again?
2. Watch the user make the problem happen (this will help you reproduce the problem to test your resolution, it also provides the opportunity to observe operator error)
3. From a reboot state, you try to reproduce the problem
4. Collect auxillary data from the system:
1. Application error messages, error logs, window event viewer, etc.
2. Check for application/vendor logs, as well as hidden logs
3. Evaluate other external sources which may be interfeering
5. Attempt to determine the cause of the problem.
6. Document newly discovered, relevant information, including source and symptoms
7. Consult resources – technet, web, other staff, vendor resources
8. Plan to isolate problem using the half-way method
9. Make one change at a time. Be sure to reboot systems as necessary. Many appliciations do not appear to need this step, but many times in troubleshooting this will help.
10. Determine a reasonable amount of time an issue should be resolved in, and then escalate as necessary

The last step is perhaps the most critical step, and while all are very important, failure to realize when you’re in over your head is essential. And while the inner “geek” in most IT people push them to figure it out on their own, many times the right choice is to escalate the issue. This may be escalating to a higher skilled technician, contacting the vendors fee-based technical support, or contacting a third party IT firm. Of course, it would be in your best interet to try and glean as much information from the next person in line and advance your own skills.

Related Search
How to Install Windows 7 Beta on an Acer Aspire

Free Photo Editors for Windows

1. PhotoScape
On first glimpse, I thought Photoscape was going to be a dud, but I dug in deeper and realized why so many readers of this site have recommended it as a favorite free photo editor. It is jam-packed with features, while remaining very easy to use. Photoscape provides several modules including a viewer, editor, batch processor, Raw converter, file renamer, print layout tool, screen capture tool, color picker, and more. I'm very impressed overall at what has been packed into this free photo editor without sacrificing ease of use.

GIMP for Windows
GIMP is a popular open-source image editor originally developed for Unix/Linux. It does have an interface and features parallel to Photoshop, but with a steep learning curve to match. Because it's volunteer-developed beta software, stability and frequency of updates could be an issue; however, many happy users report using GIMP for Windows without significant troubles.

Paint.NET
Paint.NET is a free image and photo manipulation software for Windows 2000, XP, Vista, or Server 2003. Paint.NET started development at Washington State University with additional help from Microsoft, and continues to be updated and maintained by some of the alumni that originally worked on it. Paint.NET features layers, painting and drawing tools, special effects, unlimited undo history, and levels adjustments. Paint.NET is completely free, and the source code is also available for free.

Windows Aero

One of the features of Windows Vista is Windows Aero, a new user interface and visual style.

Microsoft product screen shot reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation

Windows Aero is the new interface and visual style used in Windows Vista when the computer meets certain hardware requirements

Windows Aero is the new user interface and visual style used in Windows Vista. With Aero, Windows is intended to be both easier to use and more pleasant to look at.

Some of the interesting visual uneffects of Windows Arrow are semi-transparent windows, Flip Three D, and live thumbnails. The semi-transparent windows allow you to see what’s behind the active window. Flip Three D is similar to tabbing through open windows, but it displays images of the open programs in a Three D-like view. Live thumbnails let you see the contents of a file without opening it.

Windows Aero is available in all but the most expensive of the Windows Vista support editions, Home Basic. However, Windows Vista delivers a user interface and style appropriate to the computer’s hardware, as the advanced effects in Windows Aero would overwhelm some computers. As a result, not all computers in use today can support Windows Aero. Only Vista Premium Ready PCs, not Capable PCs, can display Windows Aero.

See Also
Disable useless Vista Features
How To locate files and folders In Windows Vista
How to Install Windows 7 Beta on an Acer Aspire

Test Your Computer and See if you are Infected with Conficker

You can safely click on the link below, to test and see if you have the conficker worm on your computer. A working group has been assembled in to collaborate efforts with technology industry leaders and academia to implement a coordinated, global approach to combating the Conficker worm.

How does this work?

This works by trying to load several pictures from Security Websites. If the top pictures do not load, you may have the virus. That is one of the traits of the conficker, is that it will block you from going to these type of sites. The bottom 3 pictures are from non-security sites, so they should always load.

If you only see some of the pictures, check below the chart for an explantion. Also try hitting F5 to refresh your broswer to see if they load, as you know the browser sometimes does not get all the pictures when you go to a site the first time.

See Also
Spyware Master Sentenced
Bad Information For Hackers
Detect and Prevent Spyware Infection

Optimize Your Computer for Faster Start-Up Times

Check for viruses, spyware, and adware:
Hidden malicious or annoying programs often load at system start-up, slowing down the process. Get rid of them by scanning for viruses and pests regularly.
Don't have antivirus and spyware utilities? You're living dangerously! At Trend Micro, you can find a free online virus check. Ad-aware can help you remove spyware and adware from your system, or you can try at PestScan's free online detector.

Eliminate unneeded start-up programs:
In Windows 98, Me, and XP, you can see what programs load at start-up by going to Start, Run, typing msconfig, and clicking OK. (Msconfig isn't in Windows 2000, but programs like Startup Control Panel can fill in for it.)

Click the Startup tab to see a list of programs that launch at start-up. You'll need to experiment to see what you can do without. Just uncheck the boxes on the left-hand side of the Msconfig window to keep them from loading. The name and location of each file can help you figure out what it does.

In Windows XP, Msconfig has a Services tab that shows other application and OS components. Some can be unchecked so they won't load at start-up; others are essential to Windows. For more on services in XP and 2000, see "Supercharge Windows by Paring Unneeded Services."

Tune up the Registry:
Programs like RegClean can sweep out defunct hardware and software settings that can clog up your Registry. RegClean works for older versions of Windows. For XP, commercial programs, such as Symantec's Norton SystemWorks (pictured below) and V Communications' SystemSuite, and shareware like Registry First Aid can do the job.

Defragment your hard drive:
Your hard drive doesn't always save a file in one place. Instead, it tucks parts of the file wherever there's free space. Use Disk Defragmenter on each of your drives to make those files contiguous, improving both start-up and overall Windows performance. Select Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Defragmenter, select a drive, and click Start.

iYogi Re-Defines Technical Support – BizTech2.com

Remote managed services are gaining a lot of attraction these days. Companies are looking to outsource the maintenance and monitoring of their IT infrastructure to a third party to improve efficiency and save costs. BizTech2.com caught up with Uday Challu, founding partner and CEO, iYogi, to see what the company has to offer in this space.

As far as Enterprise and SME customers are concerned, which verticals are you focusing on?

Our focus will mostly be on small companies with around five to 100 users and also firms that have multiple small branch offices like travel agencies, retail stores etc.

What kind of support services do you provide to your customers? What is the Green PC service?

iYogi provides the next generation of remote computer support services for consumers and businesses. For consumers, our live 24/7 support extends to technologies we use everyday, including hardware, software applications, devices, peripherals and networking equipment. iYogi also offers a full range of business IT solutions including managed monitoring, managed services, set-up and installation services, and incident-based services.

Green PC Service

With the current state of the global climate and increasing dependency on the computer, iYogi helps PC users reduce their carbon footprint and save money at the same time. iYogi’s Green PC service is the first in the independent computer support industry to offer customers a way to save money, conserve energy and protect the environment by optimising their PC’s efficiency. Consumers and businesses can save up to $200 per year, per desktop, in energy costs with iYogi’s Green PC application. This green application makes the computer environmentally friendly by reducing power consumption by almost 50 percent.

Our Green PC dashboard helps customise power settings and calculate power savings in kWh (kilowatt hour). The Green PC dashboard also gives a status on the reduction of CO2 and how responsible usage will benefit the environment by saving trees. A customised service that increases the energy efficiency of computers, undertakes the below-mentioned three primary initiatives:

- Computer assessment, analysing settings and PC energy use
- Customised efficiency planning geared specifically to the individual’s usage patterns
- Implementing setting changes to maximise the computer’s energy use

What are the technologies that allow you to offer 24/7 support and ensure there is no downtime at the client site?

We have invested significantly in developing a comprehensive monitoring and management tools stack. This enables us to manage and monitor all devices in the office network as well as for branch offices and mobile users. Our tools continuously monitor the customer’s network and notify our NOC (Network Operations Centre) in case of problems. Based on the set of events, tickets are automatically generated and escalated to corresponding teams. Over and above our proactive approach, the customer always has an option to call our 24X7 support line for issues that are not identified via the monitoring tools.

Please throw some light on your proprietary iMantra technology.

iMantra is a CRM system, which is tailor-made to suit the emerging business needs at iYogi. It allows for the formation of individualised customer relationships with the aim of providing personalised services to each subscriber. This tool is built on the latest java technology with a layered architecture that makes it scalable and secure. This architecture provides a seamless workflow and independent channels for various business needs: sales, support, quality and customer service. The entire system can be exposed in the form of secure APIs and Web services, which makes it a re-usable entity.

Your business model is similar to BPOs in India providing technical support to offshore customers. What unique values do you bring to this ecosystem that would help a potential client choose you over a competitor?

iYogi’s business model is different from traditional BPOs. Some key factors that differentiate iYogi include:

- Direct-to-consumer and -small business: iYogi delivers technical support services directly to consumers and small businesses and is a global technical support brand based out of India. Unlike traditional BPOs in India, iYogi does not provide any private label support and/ or work on behalf of large OEMs or software publishers.

- Optimised Processes: iYogi has developed proprietary processes for consistently delivering on a resolution rate of 87 percent, which is among the highest published benchmarks in the support industry, where averages hover in the range of 50 percent.

- Comprehensive technology platform: iYogi’s global delivery platform, iMantra, gets smarter with every customer interaction. It documents every problem, the solution and relevant hardware and software aspects, while capturing each customer’s demographic information and creating a behavioural profile. All of this information is at the fingertips of iYogi’s Global Tech Experts. This set-up combines a knowledge base with a comprehensive set of tools and technology expertise. iYogi offers a range of tools that complement its remote support services for helping customers maintain technology at peak performance levels. iYogi’s products include iYogi Smart PC Scan, iYogi Support Dock, iYogi Green PC and iYogi PC Optimisation.

How do you plan to move up the value chain in the times to come?

The growing use and penetration of the Internet and new Web-based applications has consequently opened the door to threats and vulnerabilities, which affect the system performance and ultimately lead to degrading performance. If the threats are diagnosed early on, the impact on efficiency can be minimised considerably. Currently, a user only realizes that he needs technical support once the damage has occurred and reactive methods of support are used to recover from the loss.

At iYogi, we are developing our capabilities to not only provide support when demanded, but to also monitor, pre-empt and fix threats before they can cause any damage to the computer. This will be possible only by combining technology with processes that are capable of re-defining the way technical support is delivered today.

What is your India strategy?

Technically, we are capable of servicing any geography including India. At this stage, we are looking for the right kind of partners to find access to potential customers and provide them a consolidated, 360-degree solution and services for issues relating to hardware, software, network etc. We aim to launch our India services in the coming six to eight months. Our services will offer clients a one-stop solution for all their business needs.

Source : BizTech2.com

Increase computer speed through virtual memory

Memory on your hard drive is much less costly then RAM, so optimizing your virtual memory settings is a good choice to make your PC run as fast as possible. These days hard drives are filling up faster then ever, and all the time programs are leaving massive chunks of files behind, that even tried and true cleaning programs like ccleaner can not get rid of.

For virtual memory to make your PC as fast as possible you must have the extra space on your harddrive to allocate away from the storage of files and for the use of extra RAM. This is where a visual hard drive program called Tree Pie, Visdir or Disk Explorer saves the day. These programs show a graphical view of your hard drive allowing you to to see exactly what folders are taking up the most space and organize your machine better. in the Windows 95/98 era, conventional wisdom held that you should manually set your virtual memory, (ie., pagefile) size to at least 1.5 times the amount of RAM to optimize performance.

This still holds true but particularly for older machines, with less RAM, a very new and high end machine with a lot of RAM may see little to no performace increase while an older machine may see large benefits. for example on an old machine i tested this on i got around a 10 percent jump after upping the original pagefile size to two times the amount of RAM. Allocating any more virtual memory then this will make no difference to the speed of your computer and may have adverse effects.

To make sure you have enough space to set for virtual memory, lets get into a visual hard drive application, download either Tree Pie or Visual Directory Explorer. Check to see where you may have duplicate files, or junk files taking up unnecessary space. Many applications after they are deleted leave behind large files, using these programs as well as ccleaner, can greatly increase performance and extra space. Ccleaner can be used to quickly uninstall programs then delete the leftover registry entries for these programs, ccleaner can also delete, shady Active X registry entries and other registry entries that point to dead ends. Ccleaner will also do the standard clearing out your temp folders, cookies and recycling bin. Here is an episode of Hack5 that covers Tree Pie.

Right click on my computer and go to properties –> advanced –> settings
Then you will be in performance options, click change and roughly double your ammount of Virtual memory then you must click set, then OK out of all th windows. To do this in Vista click “Advanced system settings” in the System Control Panel and do the above instructions.”

Testing the parallel port

Diagnostic software such as CheckIt or Norton Utilities can test the integrity of your port by using a loop-back plug attached to your parallal port. This type of test can also be performed on your serial portes. Be sure that you use a loop-back plug compatible with the testing software. This is because manufacturers utilize different loop-back wiring schemes in their products.

The loop-back plug test may not find every parallel port problem, but if it does indicate a printer troubleshooting, it’s probably accurate.

If you find a bad parallel port on a motherboard with integrated peripherals, you can disable the port in the CMOS Setup and install an add-on parallel port if you have an unused ISA slot. But check prices before you do this. You may be able to replace your motherboard with a new one for very little more than the cost of a new parallel port card.

Source:
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10878_11-5032833.html

How To Print Pictures in Windows XP

Unlike previous versions of windows XP has simplified the process of printing color photos. Whether you took the picture yourself or received it via email, printing pictures has never been so easy.

Find the Pictures you want to print
When you save a picture from an email, or from your digital camera, XP should automatically save them into your My Pictures folder. To find the pictures you want to print, click on the start button, and then click on the My Pictures menu item, which is usually near the top on the right hand side of the menu.

Using the Photo Printing Wizard to Select your Photos
Once the wizard appears, click on the next button, to move to the photo selection stage. You should now see your thumbnails of your pictures. If you have a lot of pictures, then use the scrollbar on the right hand side to scroll through them all.

In the top right hand corner of each thumbnail there should be a small box with a tick in it. This means that the wizard has selected that picture for printing. Usually the wizard starts off selecting every available picture for printing. Now select the individual pictures you want to print by clicking on the empty tick box in the top corner of the picture.
Please note, that the tick won't appear on the picture when you print it out.

Selecting a layout
Once you have picked all of the pictures you want to print, click on the next button a the bottom of the wizard. Most people only have one printer installed so you should just see your usual printer listed on this next page. If not, select the printer you want to use from the list provided, then click next.

Once you have the layout you want, just click the next button and windows XP will start printing your pictures.

Source:
http://windows.gumph.org/content/printing/printing-pictures-in-windows-xp.html

A Browser Is a Search Engine according to most of people

Apparently, many users don't know what's a browser and they think it's the same thing as a search engine. users didn't like Chrome and they thought that the previous search engine was better. "I want the old Google search engine, not Google Chrome. How do I go back to regular old Google? I want to change my default search engine from Chrome to Google this Is what one of my friend was saying james"

Scott Suiter, a former Google intern, asked 50 passersby from New York what is a browser and the responses were almost unanimous: a browser is a search engine. Some even said that their browser is Google.

According to Wikipedia, "a web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web." But search engines are the applications that help you find web pages and they're so important that they became synonymous with web browsers. It's an involuntary synecdoche, a figure of speech in which a part of an object is used to refer to the entire object.

Source:
http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2009/06/browser-is-search-engine.html

All about the wireless network setup in Windows XP

Development is base of the life, people started with simple computer, after some time they started using laptops, same was the case with networking, started with wired networks, but now we have moved forward to using wireless networks.

Microsoft also understands the need of wireless networks, so Microsoft added the feature of wireless network in the Windows XP , but the most important thing in wireless network is computer security
.

Now the question arises how to create wireless network.
There are four steps to set up a wireless network
1 Choose your wireless equipment.
2 Connect your wireless router
.
3 Configure your wireless network.
4 Connect to the computer.


1 Choosing the wireless equipment is the one major issue , as the strength of the wireless network is totally dependent on the wireless equipment . So select a good wireless router for creating the wireless network.

2 Second step is connecting the wireless network.
For this step we need to have Internet connections to the wireless router.

3 Now the third and the most important one is configuring the wireless router
For configuring the wireless router using network cable connect the router cable with the network port of the computer temporally. Open the Internet explorer, and type the IP address of that router. With default user name and password. After that Internet explorer will open a router configuration page on the IE with the fields detailing
Wireless network name, called as WEP
Wireless encryption key (WEP)
Your administrative password.

Save the settings and click OK.

4 Connect to the computer.

And last but not the least, connect to the computer is the most important factor.
If you do not have computer support for the wireless network in that case we need to have network adapter. Having its antenna, when we connect that adapter to the computer USB windows XP SP2 will automatically detects the wireless network. It will prompt antenna like icon on the task bar
Once that icon start prompting

Right click that (wireless network) icon > click the View available wireless network.
Once Network connection appears, then wireless network connection is connected. > Click Refresh network list and after that click on the Connect. After that Windows XP will ask to enter a WEP key and that only those are able to connect to the wireless net work

Finally remove the wire which we have connected between the router and computer.
Thus the wireless network is mainly used for the laptops, it remove all the hurdles faced during the wired network.

Source:
http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/all-about-the-wireless-network-setup-in-windows-xp-961478.html

PC Optimization Services

Pc optimization is a new buzzword gaining popularity because of its abilities to keep your PC error free. It provides tune up to your precious computer to help it stay in top performance. The procedure is much of like PC upgradation, without which, your PC will soon suffer from faults like slow speed, crashes, hanging applications and get exposed to spyware and hackers.

Optimizing a computer is not a difficult task. With the right knowledge, it only takes a few minutes and a single click of a computer mouse. Following are some of the benefits that you get on tuning your PC:

* Enhanced PC security
* Fast PC startup and shutdown
* Applications will not hang or crash
* Faster switching between applications
* Easy and Fast Internet Browsing
* Watching video and playing audio will be smoother and faster
* Faster downloads

Large stuff gets accumulated on your PC’s hard disk thereby creating mess. It needs to be cleaned on regular basis. A proper PC optimization includes deleting Internet cookies, removing temporary files, rearranging data; automate Microsoft update, cleaning disk errors, and installation of Antivirus and Antispyware programs. It can be a little difficult for any non technical person to perform all these tasks. These services should better be performed by expert computer technicians to avoid any kind of errors in operations.

Nowadays, you will get thousands of resources offering PC optimization services online. This saves you from hauling your computer to any computer repair showroom and you get everything at the convenience of your home. These resources have technicians to help you set your system correctly. Within the net minute your PC is optimized, you will see dramatic increase in your system’s speed while opening applications, browsing the Internet, starting up and shutting down.

These computer repair technicians are highly proficient in their work and hold vast years of expertise. You can contact them instantly simply by dialing on their toll free number. The only thing you need is to subscribe yourself with your chosen computer support company. You can call them anytime as they are 24x7 available.

Source
http://www.articlesbase.com/computers-articles/pc-optimization-services-917055.html

How to adjust the Font size of Web page

You can change the color and font size of text and images according to you need in every browser to adjust the size of text in internet explorer please follow the below steps.

• To increase or decrease your font size and color of webpage in Internet Explorer, select the Tools option from the top of your Explorer window and go to the Internet options.

• Here go the General option and then click on Accessibility button on right lower of the dialog box.

• Now change the status of checkbox marked "Ignore font sizes specified on Web pages" and next Ignore Colors specified on Web pages", end with Ok.

• For change the font size select to View option from the top menu and go to Text size option to change it.

See Also
pc optimize
top spyware
cookies in ie
How Windows Files and Folders Work In Computer
printer is not working after replacing ink cartridges

How Windows Files and Folders Work In Computer

Without a fundamental understanding of how OS and their files work, you will not be able to understand the impact viruses and malicious code can have on a system.

A computer’s 0S and the programs that run on it are made up of files, most of which reside in directories or folders much like a filing cabinet. For example, most of the files associated with the Windows operating system might be found in a folder logically called Windows. Within the Windows folder are several sub folders (many of which also have subfolders) that help further categorize the files they contain. Files that don't reside in a folder or subfolder are said to be 0n the root 0f the drive.

The actual name of the Windows folder can vary from system to system. For example, someone installing the Windows XP operating system might choose a folder name such as WinXP. Because of this, %windir% is often used in technical writing to imply the name of the Windows folder, regardless of what that actual name might be.

Think of your home filing cabinet. Perhaps you have a file folder named ‘Bills' and inside that folder you have copies 0f individual bills you’ve paid. Perhaps you’ve even organized them using sub-dividers, so that the Bills folder is actually broken down into months or type of bills. Comparing that to a computer, the individual bills would be the files, the sub-dividers would be the subfolders, and the main folder ‘Bills’ would be a directory or folder found on the computer.

See Also
remote computer repair
top ten spyware
pc performance with windows registry
Optimizing Your PC's System Performance

What to do if your printer is not working after replacing ink cartridges

This issue can be caused by several different methods. Below are general suggestions that can be done to help resolve this issue or determine the cause.

1. First, verify the tab protecting the ink from dispersing is not still on the cartridge.
2. Verify the the ink cartridges have been inserted properly.
3. If a lever has been changed from its original position allowing the ink cartridges to be added / removed, ensure it is back into its original position.
4. Perform a head cleaning on printer if available.
5. Verify no software errors are occurring and/or print a test page.
6. If you are installing non manufacturer authorized ink, attempt to use the manufacturer's ink instead.
7. If any indication lights are flashing or are different, refer to your printer documentation or printer manufacturer's web page for additional information on what the lights are indicating.

If the above recommendations do not resolve the issue it is recommend that you contact your printer manufacturer.

See Also
printer technical support
Ten common printer problems

iYogi Acquires Clean Machine Inc.

Larry Gordon, Founder of Clean Machine appointed as President Global Channel Sales at iYogi

New York, NY, May 11th, 2009 : iYogi, a global direct to consumer and small business remote technical support provider, today announced it’s acquisition of Clean Machine Inc, a provider of remotely administered PC security and performance management services. Clean Machine will operate as a separate brand under the iYogi services umbrella along with the recently lunched Support Dock (www.supportdock.com) and its comprehensive range of 24/7 technical support services for computers, printers, MP3 players, digital camera, routers, servers and more than 100 software applications. Larry Gordon, Founder of Clean Machine is appointed as the President of Global Channel Sales for iYogi. iYogi will integrate technology and innovation that Clean Machine Inc. has developed for delivering an enhanced service experience by proactively managing the health and security for PC's and Apple Computers. This acquisition also broadens iYogi's access to key markets through Clean Machine's existing partnerships. Larry Gordon's past experience and successful track record will accelerate iYogi's expansion through his focus on global alliances. Commenting on the acquisition of Clean Machine Inc., Uday Challu, CEO & Co-founder of iYogi, said, "This acquisition will help iYogi to enhance our customer experience and extend our market reach to the millions of consumers that are challenged by the increasingly complex technology environment. Clean Machine's proactive maintenance and management of PCs in home and small business environment will be our launch platform for building the next generation of managed services for consumers." "We are delighted to have Larry spearheading partnerships and global alliances for iYogi. His incredible experience in marketing, sales and building global alliances will help forge partnerships with retailers, multiple service operators, software publishers, original equipment manufacturers (OEM) and other such companies that are at the frontlines for managing tech support issues for consumers and small businesses", added Challu. With more than 20 years of experience, Larry Gordon has played a variety of strategic roles in marketing, sales and building alliances. Larry was the Executive Vice President at Capgemini and Kanbay. He was also VP of Global Marketing for Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH), a leader in global IT services and Director of Marketing for New York based Information Builders. "I am excited to join a company that shares a common mission to Clean Machine in creating a global brand for delivering the best technical support to consumers and small businesses. We also share a common approach of utilizing highly skilled talent with leading edge tools, thereby delivering services at incredible price-points, with high margins for our partners", said Larry Gordon, the newly appointed President of Global Channel Sales at iYogi. ABOUT IYOGI Headquartered in Gurgaon, India with offices in New York, USA, iYogi provides personalized computer support for consumers and small businesses in United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. IYogi's 24/7 phone and remote technical assistance, spans across a comprehensive range of technologies we use every day from a wide range of vendors. Utilizing its proprietary technology iMantra , and highly qualified technicians, iYogi delivers amongst the highest benchmarks for resolution and customer satisfaction. iYogi is privately held and funded by SAP Ventures, Canaan Partners, and SVB India Capital Partners. iYogi was recently awarded the Red Herring Global 100 Award, recognizing it as one of the 100 most innovative private companies driving the future of technology. For more information on iYogi and a detailed list of technologies supported, visit: www.iyogi.co.uk. ABOUT CLEAN MACHINE Clean Machine Inc. is a NJ-based and incorporated company that helps consumers and small business owners easily manage and protect their computing environments safely and cost effectively. The company is has a unique, powerful and inexpensive PC concierge service. Specifically, each customer is assigned a highly-trained tech concierge who remotely examines their computer system on a scheduled and very secure basis. The PC concierge will immediately fix software-based problems and prevent new threats to the customer's computing environment including offensive pop-ups, browser redirects and slow performance, and then provides a detailed report. Clean Machine's proprietary Radar(TM) technology (Remote Access Detection Audit and Repair) allows its expert technicians to remotely resolve any problems, eliminating the need for customers to go through the frustrating process of speaking with a tech support expert, and still having to do the work themselves. In other words, the Clean Machine PC concierges do it all. For more information on Clean Machine please visit www.pccleanmachine.com. CONTACT: iYogi Contact Vishal Dhar President Marketing iYogi Inc. Phone: 212 229 0901 Email: vishal@iyogi.net

The Press Release is available at its source: iYogi acquires Clean Machine Inc.

How to add the Items in Start Menu

The best method to edit the windows registry keys, always backup the whole windows registry keys on backup drive before editing. Because any error in Registry can cause serious problem in your computer to run properly.

Follow the given steps to change the Start button setting.

• First click on Start button then type Regedit in Run option.

• In Registry Editor go to left hand panel, and find HKey_Classes_Root / Directory / Shell

• Here Right click on Shell folder option and add any new key with descriptive name and Press Enter.

• Now Right click on that key and give the full path of that program you are interested to add in start button. For example if you want to add MS excel, then full path may be C:\program file\msoffice\msexcel.EXE.

• Now close all open programs and check the changes in your computer Start button.

See Also
computer optimization
pc performance with windows registry
Pc Hard Drives And The Virus Removal Issues
Optimizing Your PC's System Performance

Windows 7 Retains Windows Explorer Security Risk

Mikko H. Hypponeen, chief research officer at F-Secure, points out that Windows 7 retains a characteristic in Windows Explorer, the operating system's file management application, that has allowed attackers to deceive Windows users since the Windows NT era.

Specifically, Windows Explorer provides a way to hide a file's extension. Virus writers use this feature to disguise executable files as something more innocuous, such as text files, Hypponeen explains in a blog post.

By also changing the appearance of a malicious executable's icon, malware authors have a much easier time convincing users to run malicious software using social engineering techniques.
Such an oversight might be less noteworthy were Microsoft not pushing its End-to-End Trust vision to enhance computer security. Last year at the 2008 RSA Conference, Microsoft chief research and strategy officer Craig Mundiee said that it was "important that we give people the tools to empower them to make good trust choices."

Having accurate information about the nature of the files on one's computer could be said to be equally important.

At the same time, Microsoft deserves some credit for hardening Windows 7 against another attack vector, the automatic execution of files stored on removable media. Last month, Microsoft said that it had changed Windows AutoPlay so that it would no longer automatically run applications on external devices other than CD/DVD players. This will help prevent the propagation of malware like the Conficker worm through USB thumb drives.

See Also
microsoft computer support
windows firewall security
Online Computer Support
Windows Live One Care Help You
Top five steps to stay secure on Internet

How to identify and troubleshoot Graphic Card problems

The graphic card is one of the most vital pieces of hardware in your PC. Without it, your super monitor with all the bells and whistles is just a junk box.

Make Directional Input
Most video cards come with simple frame capture programs, but you'll have to do some programming if you plan to join together video capture with other operations on your computer, such as adding text data as an overlay or changing video-in channels on the fly. In this case you'll need good programming libraries in a language with which you are familiar for the video card. Some companies include libraries with their cards, but most charge extra. Most often libraries, when available, are for C or BASIC, and sometimes Pascal.

Choose Between 24 bit and 32 bit
For True Color mode, some graphic cards offer 24 bit while some offer 32 bit. Which is the best? When True Colour mode was first suggested, it utilizes 32 bit which was very pleasing to the eye, they realize that 24 (with less coolers) won't look much different since the human eye can only take about a certain amount of colors. On the other hand, 24 bit will run faster compared to 32 bit because it uses less colors. So if your card utilizes 24 bit, don't worry, it isn't bad.

Always Use The Latest Drivers
Yes, it is important to make sure you always have the latest drivers. The latest drivers will offer you better performance, more utilities and more compatibility (usually for DirectX or Direct3D). Take the effort to check you card manufacturer's site to look for the latest driver updates.

See Also
windows technical support
Preview Internet Explorer 8
Boost Your Computer Speed
Top five steps to stay secure on Internet
Top 5 steps to optimize your web browser experience

Protect Microsoft Office Document with Password

You can protect your document by applying password so that illegal person can not display as well as modify your document. You can apply two types of passwords:

Password to open the document:
Use correct password to open the document, otherwise you cannot open the document.

Password to modify the document:
use correct password to modify the document, otherwise your document is opened but you cannot modify the document. It means that your document becomes read-only.

To apply a password to document, follow these steps.
* Open Save As dialog box by selecting "Save As" command from File menu.

* Click "Tools" button of Save As dialog box and choose "General Options" from drop down menu, "Save" dialog box appears as shown in figure below.

* Enter first password in "Password to open" text box and second password in "Password to modify" text box (if required) and click "Ok" button of dialog box. Microsoft Word will open "Confirm Password" dialog box for the confirmation of passwords. The maximum length of password is 15 characters.

* Re-enter the password to open and password to modify and click "Ok" button of Confirm Password dialog boxes one by one.

* Click "Save" button of Save As dialog box.

See Also
microsoft computer support
How to enable and disable Hibernate
Windows Live One Care Help You
windows firewall security
Online Computer Support

How to enable and disable the Hibernation feature in windows XP

The hibernation is a built-in attribute used to increases your work performance and also minimizes the windows startup time. For example, if you have to keep open a lot of files and windows applications then you can leave you system in hibernate mode without closing the open programs. When you restart computer after hibernation, all the running files and applications will be restore as you have left them. Windows store the all hibernated information in the Hiberfil.sys file using system root folder. The size of this file is roughly equal to the RAM of your system.

Follow the given steps to activate the hibernation in windows XP:
To use this feature, you will need to be logged into your computer with administrative rights.
First click on Start button> Control Panel, click on Performance and Maintenance then click on Power Options.
A new "Power Options Properties" dialog box will appear, select Hibernate tab and then select the "Enable hibernation" check box to enable the hibernate feature.
If you system does not support the hibernation feature then the hibernation tab will not available there.

Now click on Apply button to implement the changes then click on Ok button to end the configuration process.

After enabling the hibernation feature click on Start button then click on "Turn off Computer". In the "Turn off Computer" dialog box, press the "Shift" for some time and click on Hibernate button. Your system will take some time to complete the hibernation process.

See also
optimize pc
optimize your web browser
technical support for small businesses
Will Your Device Work with Windows 7
Fix Windows Registry To Speed Up Your Comuter

10 Tips For Computer Optimization

Since you work and do a lot of browsing on the Internet, the first thing you need to learn is pc optimization techniques. It is much better that you take a little extra effort to look after your computer regularly, rather than have it freeze, lock up, or crash when you lose everything on it, at which time you'll have to pay out a lot to have it fixed. Not to mention you have now lost all of the information, or data, you were working on. Follow these pc optimization tips and you will be much safer.

1. Set your anti-virus software checker to update itself automatically. This way, it is always updated with the latest protection.
2. If you download any files through email or just from browsing the internet, scan this item before you open it with your anti-virus software.
3. Use your registry repair software to scan your computer once a week.
4. Never open any attachments in emails from people you do not know. Especially if the file is a .exe file. This is an executable file, and can launch all sorts of viruses.
5. Do not open any attachments even from people you do know, if you are not expecting anything from them..
6. Do not download free music on the Internet - these free sites are always infected. If you do, run a virus scan, as well as your registry repair, and even the anti-spyware software.
7. As with the above statement, do not download any free games from the Internet.
8. Steer clear from adult sites, as they are particularly prone to viruses. .
9. Even though you get statements and fill forms out electronically, print out contracts, payment forms, agreements and all legal documents and file them away in a ring-binder.
10. Be extremely careful if you do anything with your finances, payment details, payment processor passwords, credit card details, etc. on your computer. A hacker could easily access all these details, if they are anywhere on your computer.

If you can follow the 14 tips for pc optimization listed above, you will be better off than probably 99% of the population. Just by using your anti-virus software, your anti-spyware software, and your registry repair software, you can keep your computer running at optimal speed, and keep the errors and problems to a minimum.

See Also
Optimizing Your PC's System Performance
pc performance with windows registry
optimize pc performance with windows

How to Repair Your Computer After Freezing Up?

When you experience a computer freeze, press Control-Alt-Delete all at the same time. This will bring up your Windows Task Manager box and you'll see a list of programs that are in operation at that present time. Next to each application you'll see a status column. There will be a sign as to whether certain programs are responding or not responding. Highlight the program’s that are not responding and click End Task.

If you still cannot get your computer to respond then simply touch Control-Alt-Delete again and shut the computer down

Computer freezes or computers locking up happen sometimes when too many software programs are running at the same time. You may want to limit to two or three programs or Internet Windows at one time.

If your computer is only freezing on a certain website, try to not visit that website or use a different browser. If a certain web browser continuously freezes, you could try to uninstall and reinstall it. Try to use a web browser that has more quality and speed.

One of the main reasons your computer is freezing up is not performing proper maintenance 0n a regular basis. A computer could be compared to a car. A car, of course, runs at its peak performance 0nly if you perform routine maintenance on them right? The same holds true here on your computer. Two of the most important steps you could perform for your computer is to defrag your hard drive and clean up your computer registry.

As you add data to your pc, it's all store on your hard drive. As time goes on, these data files get moved around and are often spread out from each other, which makes your program operate more slowly because it has to piece all these files back together again. By defragmenting your hard drive, it cleans up the drive and rearranges these files.

Also, when your computer registry contains too many files 0r unnecessary files, it'll take longer for your requests to get through and get fulfilled. This problem can lead to these freeze ups.
Maintaining both these problems can be performed in just a few minutes with an easy to use registry cleaner that can be found online.

A good registry cleaner will fix and repair all errors on your computer that may be causing your computer to run slow, freeze up, not allow you to open up certain applications and so forth. By finding and repairing these errors you can have your computer running like new.

Related Search
onine pc repair help and support
pc performance with windows registry
Pc Hard Drives And The Virus Removal Issues
Optimizing Your PC's System Performance

Windows 7 Gains Market Share

Summer 2009 may look a lot brighter for Microsoft executives after seeing Net Applications’ latest market share numbers and how they compare to the competition. Windows Visa gains market share at a faster pace than Windows XP drops. Windows 7 has posted strong gains already; however, they are not quite enough to put Microsoft in the black, yet.

Key trends in March reveal that the decline of Windows XP is accelerating, as the operating system lost 0.681 percentage points, as opposed to only 0.231 points in February. Windows XP remains the dominant operating system with an estimated share of 62.851%. Windows Vista continues to play the role of the fastest growing operating system in absolute numbers and gained 0.94 points over the past three months and 0.511 points between February and March alone. Vista now stands at 23.421%.

Windows 7 now has a greater market (0.211%) share than the remaining copies of Windows 98 still in use (0.191%), Net Applications said. Windows 2000, NT, Me and 98 gave up a combined 0.17 points over the past three months. The combined Windows market share was 88.141% in March, according to the market research firm.

Apple came in at 9.771%, up from 9.61% in the prior month. Mac OS X 10.5 was the driving force behind this trend, showing a gain of 0.56 points in March, from 5.641% to 6.01% market share. Linux also showed improved share, which climbed from 0.88% to 0.901%.

Probably the most impressive market share number in the entire listing is Apple’s iPhone OS, which is estimated at 0.491%, which is more than half of the entire Linux market share. It is more than twice the market share of Windows 7. In comparison, Google’s Android holds only 0.061%, which is, by the way, twice the market share of the Playstation 3 (0.031%), according to Net Applications.

Related Search
onilne microsoft windows tech support
windows updates
windows vista help

Optimize PC Performance With Windows Registry

Would you like to speed up pc performance, but you are not perfectly sure how to do it? There may be a easy answer, and that is to utilize registry repair software on a regular basis. Registry repair software is easy to use, and when used often, it helps to remove data on your Windows registry that slows it down, which can optimize pc performance.

Here's how it works: Your windows registry holds the data that comes from the control panel on your computer. All of the hardware and software on your computer has data that is stored on the registry. If you make changes on your control panel, this alters the information stored on the Windows registry. This can be important, especially if you often uninstall software from your computer. If a software program is not entirely removed, bits of data will be left on the Windows registry. These little bits of unneeded data can hinder your computer, slowing it down when you ask it to perform simple tasks such as retrieve and open your e-mail or open and run a software application. A slow computer adds a lot of wasted time to your already busy day, so it makes sense that you will want to improve pc speed.

You can speed up Windows XP and optimize pc performance when you install and use a Windows registry cleaner. This cleaner is a software application that will examine your registry, search for unused bits of data, and upon your authorization, remove them from your Windows registry. When these pieces of unneeded information are removed regularly from the computer, the computer is unimpeded as it sorts through data on the registry and in this way it will improve pc performance.

The trick to optimize pc performance is to find a registry fix that will remove only the items that you want removed. Doing otherwise can lead to devastating results to your computer. It is best to not leave to chance your selection of registry cleaning software, but instead read a registry cleaner review. Reviews can guide you in your selection of cleaning software, helping to ensure that you improve pc performance.

Reviews also give helpful information about how user friendly is the software, and how quickly it will remove unnecessary data from your registry in order to improve pc performance. This is good to know, especially before you spend money on a registry cleaner to increase pc performance.

Related Search
Optimizing Your PC's System Performance

Speed Up Boot Time With Windows XP and Vista

When you start your computer, you might get irritated because of a slow boot up time. If you simply hate to wait for your computer to boot up, then here are some tips on how to speed up boot time Windows Vista and XP. When you Speed up Boot Time Windows Vista and XP, you will no longer have to wait for a few minutes for your PC to boot up. Here are the tips on speed up boot time Windows Vista and XP.

Windows Vista
In Windows Vista, the computer boots up using a single core of your processor. If you are using a dual-core or a quad-core processor, you can easily speed up your boot up time in Windows Vista. To -do this, click the start menu, type ‘msconfig’ on the text box and press enter. The Systems Configuration Window will pop up. Choose the Booot tab and click on the advanced options button. Then, click the check box with the name “Number of Processors” and choose two if you have a dual-core processor or 4 if you have a quad-core processor. Click 0k to apply the changes.

Windows XP
On Windows XP, some programs start automatically at boot up. You can try stopping unwanted programs to run at boot up to speed up the boot up time. To do this, press start, select run and type ‘msconfig’. Go to the Startup tab and you will see a list of programs that run on startup. Uncheck the programs that you do not want to start at boot up.

Related Topic
pc optimize
Optimizing Your PC's System Performance

Tips to identify spyware and remove

Spyware is software installed on your computer without your consent to monitor or control your computer use. Clues that spyware(spyware removal) is on a computer include a salvo of pop-up ads, a browser that takes you to sites you don't want, unexpected toolbars or icons on your computer screen, keys that don't work, random error messages, and sluggish performance when opening programs or saving files.

Many experienced Web users have learned how to identify spyware, avoid it, and delete it. All laptop ,pc ,computer, users should get wise to the signs that spyware has been installed on their machines, and then take the appropriate steps to delete it.

The clues that spyware is on a computer include:

1. • Barrage of pop-up ads;
2. • Hijacked browser,that is, a browser that takes you to sites other than those you type into the address box;
3. • A sudden or repeated change in your computer's Internet home page;
4. • New and unexpected toolbars;
5. • New and unexpected icons on the system tray at the bottom of your computer screen;
6. • Keys that don't work (for example, the "Tab" key that might not work when you try to move to the next field in a Web form);
7. • Random error messages;
8. • Sluggish or downright slow performance when opening programs or saving files;

You can take steps to lower their risk of spyware infections:

1. • Update your o s and Web browser. Your operating system (like Windows or Linux) may offer free software "patches" to close holes in the system that spyware could exploit.
2. • Download software only from sites you know and trust. It can be appealing to download free software like games, peer-to-peer file-sharing programs, customized toolbars, or other programs that may change or customize the functioning of your computer. Be aware, however, that some of these free software applications bundle other software, including spyware.
3. • Don't install any software without knowing exactly what it is. Take the time to read the end-user license agreement (EULA) before downloading any software. If the EULA is hard to find,or difficult to understand,think twice about installing the software.
4. • Minimize "drive-by" downloads. Make sure your browser security setting is high enough to detect unauthorized downloads, for example, at least the "Medium" setting for Internet Explorer. Keep your browser updated.
5. • Don't click on any links within pop-up windows. If you do, you may install spyware on your computer. Instead, close pop-up windows by clicking on the "X" icon in the title bar.
6. • Install firewall to stop hackers from accessing your computer. A firewall blocks unauthorized access to your computer and will alert you if spyware already on your computer is sending information out. If you think your computer might have spyware on it, expert’s advice that you take three steps: Get an anti-spyware program from a vendor you know and trust. Set it to scan on a regular basis, at least once a week, and every time you start your computer, if possible. And, delete any software programs the anti-spyware program detects that you don't want on your computer.

Related Search
Free anti-spyware
Spyware Master Sentenced
Do Free Anti Spyware Softwares Provide A Real Online Protection

Warnings about Bin Ladin e-mail virus

Although it's been almost five years since its surfacing onto the World Wide Web, an Osama Bin Laden (Terrorist) -themed computer virus continues to find its way into e-mail inboxes.
So far there have been no reports of an infection in the area, but a few people have received e-mails warning them not to open anything with a subject line saying "Osama Bin Laden (Terrorist) Captured"

"A couple of guys around here have heard of it," said Aaron Williams, assistant manager at EC Computers. "One said they received an e-mail saying not to open it. Hopefully we won't have anyone coming in with the virus problem."

The virus began in 2004, according to Snopes.com, when e-mails referring to the terrorist leader's capture or suicide began circulating on the Internet. With such a tempting e-mail subject, many would open the e-mail and download the attachment which claimed to be a video or picture, but was actually a file for the Backdoor.Hacarmy.D Trojan horse.

In 2005, a similar e-mail made the rounds again, but with a version of the Psyme Trojan.
A hoax virus followed in mid-2006, with subject such as "Invitation," "Merry Christmas" or "Olympic Torch," said the site.

Another e-mail has been passed around the Internet as well, warning computer users of the legit and bogus e-mails.
"E-mails with pictures of Osama Bin Laden hanged are being sent and the moment that you open these e-mails your computer will crash and you will not be able to fix it," said one such message.

In 2006, the site said both Trojan viruses easily can be found and removed from a computer with updated virus removal software, but computer technicians said it's better to avoid opening e-mails with the suspect subject lines.

"We try to educate people not to open attachments and things like that," said Williams. "We haven't had a problem yet, and even though repairs are a big part of our business, we want people to be safe on the Net and not get into trouble."

Related Search
Computer Virus In City
Pc Hard Drives And The Virus Removal Issues

Is Linux Cheaper Than Windows?

No, this isn't another rant about how you should convert to Linux because it's free, although it is free. Free is a four-letter word among those who mock at the mere mention of Linux. Yes, Linux is free, but that doesn't give it an unfair advantage on the desktop because most computers arrive preloaded with Windows — so to the buyer it appears Windows is also free.

How much did your computer cost? $600? $999? $1,999 How much has it cost you since you bought it? The price of a computer is not a one-time expense — it is rather, an ongoing one. How much you pay for your computer over a year's time, or the entire lifetime of the computer, depends greatly on your choice of operating system. Hard to believe? Do the calculations for yourself.

Let's look at the costs beyond the purchase price of the computer. The following list outlines additional ownership costs.

• Desktop-level Tech Support
• Hardware Upgrades
• Software Upgrades
• Hardware Failure
• Viruses, Spyware, and Other Malware
• Training

You use desktop support, through either an outside tech support company or an in-house person or group. These are the people whom you call to show up at your desk, wave you out of your chair so they can "drive" and commence to fix whatever problem it is that you caused yourself. Their services aren't cheap, and in-house support technicians cost a bundle as well. For their cost, calculate the amount of money you spend on support divided by the number of computers, printers and major peripherals you own.

How much will you save on Desktop support by using Linux? You won't save much because it isn't necessarily the operating system as much as it is "user error" that costs you so much in support. It's true, user error accounts for a majority of desktop support calls. The answer to this dilemma is training — more on that later.

When you converted to Vista from Windows XP, how much did you spend? Assuming again that the operating system is free, how much did you spend on hardware upgrades so your current systems would support Vista? Add in the cost of complete replacement computers that you bought because your current ones wouldn't support Vista.

The Linux factor is significant here. Your current hardware (before the Vista upgrade) is sufficient to run any desktop Linux distribution. The shock and awe you'd experience breathing new life into these systems with Linux is worth every penny you didn't spend.
Do you ever tire of software upgrade madness? Every two years or so, you have to upgrade your major applications because — well, just because. Software upgrades are often accompanied by hardware upgrades (see previous section) when you find out that the latest version of an application needs twice the amount of memory that your current computer has. Software costs can send your budget into cardiac arrest, but there's hope in using free applications; even on Windows, you can enjoy the freedom of free software. That dirty word, free, is a factor when tallying up the price tag for a new version of Microsoft Office for everyone in your company. OpenOffice.org starts to look pretty good compared to at least $200 a pop for a Microsoft Office upgrade.

Hardware failures occur because you're using hardware. The operating system doesn't matter. Unless you use thin-client hardware with no moving parts (and those fail too), you'll have to factor in hardware failures to your overall budget. It happens. Get over it.
And now we tread into the financial minefield of viruses, spyware and assorted malware that awaits the click of your mouse or the typo into the URL address bar of your browser. Windows and Internet Explorer are the most popular targets among purveyors of fine Internet garbage that serves them well in costing you hours of downtime, repair and productivity loss. No, Linux is not immune, but it does have built-in safeguards against most malware intrusions. FireFox is a safer browser than Internet Explorer and has built-in malware detection and prevention algorithms. The costs and loss associated with such maladies is greatly diminished with a Linux-based desktop.

The Linux factor is significant here. Your current hardware (before the Vista upgrade) is sufficient to run any desktop Linux distribution. The shock and awe you'd experience breathing new life into these systems with Linux is worth every penny you didn't spend.
Do you ever tire of software upgrade madness? Every two years or so, you have to upgrade your major applications because — well, just because. Software upgrades are often accompanied by hardware upgrades (see previous section) when you find out that the latest version of an application needs twice the amount of memory that your current computer has. Software costs can send your budget into cardiac arrest, but there's hope in using free applications; even on Windows, you can enjoy the freedom of free software. That dirty word, free, is a factor when tallying up the price tag for a new version of Microsoft Office for everyone in your company. OpenOffice.org starts to look pretty good compared to at least $200 a pop for a Microsoft Office upgrade.

Hardware failures occur because you're using hardware. The operating system doesn't matter. Unless you use thin-client hardware with no moving parts (and those fail too), you'll have to factor in hardware failures to your overall budget. It happens. Get over it.

And now we tread into the financial minefield of viruses, spyware and assorted malware that awaits the click of your mouse or the typo into the URL address bar of your browser. Windows and Internet Explorer are the most popular targets among purveyors of fine Internet garbage that serves them well in costing you hours of downtime, repair and productivity loss. No, Linux is not immune, but it does have built-in safeguards against most malware intrusions. FireFox is a safer browser than Internet Explorer and has built-in malware detection and prevention algorithms. The costs and loss associated with such maladies is greatly diminished with a Linux-based desktop.

Related Topics
online microsoft technical services
windows updates
windows vista help

Computer Virus In City

Internet access has been turned off to most computers. The IT department is dealing with a computer virus that uses the Internet to spread itself. The city says it's affecting a "significant amount" of computer work stations.

The City is currently dealing with a computer virus that is affecting a significant amount of computer work stations within the City system.

The ability to provide essential services such as 9ll, Police, Fire, traffic services and building permits are not affected at this time. However, because the virus appears to be using the Internet to spread itself, Web access has been shut off for most City computers. Outside users should be able to access the City's Web site at this time, however, some intermittent outages have occurred. If users are having trouble accessing www.springfieldmo.gov and still need to contact the City, they can call 864-1010 to reach the Department of Public Information.

The Information Systems Department is working continuously with the City's virus removal provider, McAfee, Inc., to resolve the issue. The virus does not appear to have affected City servers, and there does not appear to be any issue of lost data or information at this time. The virus appears to be spreading via Windows executable files, not through e-mails or e-mail attachments. The City's e-mail system is operating normally.

Optimizing Your PC's System Performance

Are you on the never ending pursuit for more performance? Well if you're a gamer or just playing nuts about Computer optimization this article will put you in good sted because I'm going show you one of the best and not to mention easiest ways to squeeze some extra performance from your beloved PC.

So what is the System Configuration? Well it serves more than one task so it's quite hard to narrow down. But one of the main functions is where you can have easy access to all your programs running on Windows. But like I said, the System Configuration does give you access to other options as well.

So you know a little about the System Configuration, lets start tuning it up for faster PC performance.

First of all you want to go to Start or the Start orb for Vista owners and type MSconfig This will bring up the System Configuration panel.
From the System Configuration you'll want to start on the General tab and make sure that you have "Selective startup" Selected. This will give you full control and allow you to tinker to your heart's content.

Once you've done that you'll want to go to the "Startup" tab. What the startup tab shows is all the third party programs that automatically start running when you boot up your PC. So simply untick the ones you don't want running in the background at start up and this will free up more of your PC's resources like the CPU and Ram to focus on the programs that matter to you.
You can turn them all off for best performance but I would recommend keeping your anti virus running to protect your PC. And if you've got an third party fire wall I would recommend to keep that running as well. But everything else can get the chop.

Once you've done that click "Apply" and move on to the "Services" tab.
The Services section works in the same way as the "Startup" tab but this is where all your Windows programs are running. Now I wouldn't recommend turning them off in the System Configuration as it's better to turn them off in another section of Windows.
So instead go to the bottom of the panel and tick the "Hide all Microsoft services" This will hide all the Microsoft services and leave the third party programs. Once again I would recommend turning everything of barring your anti virus and click apply.

Now moving on to the "Boot" tab. You want to look for the "No GUI boot" and tick it. What does GUI stand for? I haven't got the foggiest but what I do know is when you turn it on it deactivates the Windows loading screen when your booting up your PC. What this does is give you a slightly faster boot times. It's nothing recording braking but if your PC is taking ages to boot up I guess ever second counts eh.

The next thing you want to do within the "Boot" tab is click on the "Advanced options..." A new Window will open and from in there you want to tick the "Number of processor" box. This will allow you to select the number of cores you want your PC to boot up with. For example if you've got a duel core you would select 2 but if you've got a quad core CPU you would select 4 and so on.
What this does is tells you computer how many CPUs to use when booting so instead of booting up using one core, your PC will now boot up using the maximum amount of CPU cores which will result in quicker boot times again. Once you made the changes click "OK"