Hot PC Tips

Prevet kids from downloading spyware

2007-09-05T03:45:00.000-07:00

If your kids surf the Internet, chances are they're going to want to download free games, free music, animated toolbars and other programs that may expose your computer to spyware or other unwanted software.

Spyware is a general term used for software that performs certain behaviors such as advertising, collecting personal information, or changing the configuration of your computer, generally without appropriately obtaining your consent.

Here are a few steps you can take to help your kids download and install software more safely.

Step 1: Talk with your kids

Depending on the ages of your children, you may be able to teach them not to download software from unknown sources on the Internet. If you can convince them to ask your permission before they download anything, you will go a long way toward keeping unwanted software off of your computer.

If you're not sure if the program they want to download contains spyware or other unwanted software, ask a knowledgeable friend or enter the name of the program into your favorite search engine and see if anyone else has reported that it contains spyware.

Consider adding Web sites that you feel are safe to your Favorites list and only allowing your children to download software from those sites.

Tip

Tip: As soon as your kids are old enough to go online, it's a good idea to establish rules that clearly state where they can go and what they can do on the Internet. For more help with guiding kids as they go online, visit our Child Safety section.

Step 2: Use Windows Defender to help protect your computer

Windows Defender helps you detect, disable, or remove spyware and other potentially unwanted software. Windows Defender comes with Windows Vista. If you use Windows XP SP2, you can download Windows Defender for no charge.

Step 3: Monitor your children's activity on the Internet

Keep the computer in a place in your home where it can be easily monitored and limit the length of time your child can spend on the computer. If your children are under 10 years old, you may want to be online with them at all times.

Sometimes your children may accidentally infect your computer with spyware or other unwanted software without even knowing they've downloaded anything. Some popular sites for kids may try to download programs without your kids even asking for them. Your children may see a warning notifying them that a Web site wants to download a program. They may click random buttons on the window just to get it to disappear. What they click on might just be "I agree."

Although it's not intended as a substitute for parental involvement, consider a service that allows you to keep track of your child's online activities. Microsoft offers family safety settings in Windows Live and the upcoming Windows Vista. To learn more, see Windows Live Family Safety Settings and Windows Vista: What makes it the most secure version of Windows yet Look for the Help protect your family section. Other companies also offer software products that can help you monitor and guide your child's use of the Internet.

Step 4: Give your child a limited user account

Windows XP allows you to create multiple user accounts for your computer. Each user can log on separately and has a unique profile with his or her own Desktop and My Documents folder. As a parent, you can give yourself an Administrator account with full control over the computer, and give your children Limited User accounts, with restricted controls that will help prevent them from downloading programs that may contain spyware or other unwanted software.
For help on adjusting user accounts in Windows XP, read Share your PC: Get started. To learn more about spyware, common signs of an infection, and how to get rid of spyware and other unwanted software, visit Windows Defender.

Fix Screen Glare

2007-08-25T03:13:00.000-07:00

Introduction

Glare on your computer monitor is more than just an annoyance. It can leave you with eyestrain and a headache. Taking the shine off your screen should be an ergonomic priority.

Steps

Step One
Evaluate your computer setup to determine whether the monitor is optimally positioned. You don't want the screen to be facing a window, nor do you want to be facing a window yourself--a position that can cause eyestrain from too much light contrast. The ideal screen-to-window angle is 90 degrees.

Step Two
Reduce the amount of bright sunlight in your workplace. Shades, blinds and draperies all help block sunlight. Even switching to a flat rather than glossy wall paint can help.

Step Three
If you have a bright light source directly above your screen--the worst possible place and typical of many offices--try turning it off and placing a small desk lamp to one side of your computer instead.

Step Four
If you can't avoid overhead light, you can construct an anti-glare hood for your monitor by taping together several sheets of black cardboard and using them to frame your monitor screen.

Step Five
If you can't avoid bright light from a window (or if you think a hood looks too goofy), purchase an anti-glare screen to place over your monitor. Generally, the best ones are polarized or have a purplish optical coating.

Overall Tips & Warnings

* Sometimes just adjusting the brightness and contrast on your monitor is enough to make the display more comfortable to view.
* Polarized screens are not effective when used over a monitor with frosted or etched glass.

Overall Things You'll Need

* Window Covering
* Desk Lamp
* Cellophane Or Masking Tape
* Flat Wall Paint
* Anti-glare Screen
* Black Cardboard

Change the Number of Colors Shown on a Monitor

2007-08-25T03:09:00.000-07:00

Introduction

Some programs require specific color settings to work properly. You might also prefer your screen's appearance with more or fewer possible colors. These instructions are for Windows 98.

Steps

Step One
From the Start menu, click Settings and then Control Panel.

Step Two
Double-click Display.

Step Three
Click the Settings tab.

Step Four
Open the Color menu and select the number of colors that you want to display. Click OK.

Tips & Warnings

* The number of colors that you can display is determined by the capabilities of your monitor and your display adapter.
* The number of colors is also called "bit depth" or "color depth." The "bit" refers to the number of memory locations that the computer allots to color information. 4-bit color means the computer can display 16 colors. 8-bit color means the computer can display 256 colors. 16-bit color means the computer can display thousands of colors. And 32-bit color means the computer can display millions of colors.

Overall Things You'll Need

* Computer Monitors
* Microsoft Windows

Fix Monitor Resolution on PC

2007-08-25T03:07:00.000-07:00

Introduction

The monitor is your window on the virtual world. Make sure you've got the best view possible in Windows. Your eyes will thank you.

Steps

Step One
Go to Start, Settings, then Control Panel.

Step Two
In the Control Panel window, double-click on the Display icon.

Step Three
Click on the Settings tab.

Step Four
In the Desktop or Screen Area, adjust the slider control higher or lower with your mouse to reach the setting you want. Then click on Apply.

Step Five
The Display Properties dialog box will appear and explain that your monitor might flicker. Some combinations of video cards and Windows versions will require that the computer reboot and will ask if you wish to do so. In either case, click on OK to proceed.

Step Six
If you're happy with the new settings, click on Yes to keep them. If not, click on No and your old settings will return, or click on Cancel to readjust the settings.

Overall Tips & Warnings

* Higher resolutions are usually easier on the eyes because images appear sharper and more finely detailed.

Clean Up Computer Monitor

2007-08-25T02:54:00.000-07:00

Introduction

Keep your desktop computer's screen free from dust and streaks.

Steps

Step One

Gather supplies: an anti-static rag or other soft cloth (scraps of old cotton clothing are good for this purpose), as well as an electrical appliance cleaner (such as Endust for Electronics), eyeglass cleaner, or fluid specially made for cleaning monitors.

Step Two
Check your owner's manual for specific instructions.

Step Three
Turn off the monitor.

Step Four

If using an aerosol product, follow the instructions on the can. Otherwise, spray a small amount of fluid onto the rag. Don't spray fluids anywhere near the ventilation holes on the monitor.

Step Five

Wipe the entire screen.

Step Six

Wipe the screen dry immediately with a dry portion of the rag or with a second rag.

Step Seven
Repeat if necessary.

Step Eight
Clean the monitor frame with the same product or with another product suitable for cleaning plastic.

Tips & Warnings

* Typical glass cleaning products will leave streaks. Paper towels might leave dust.
* Ignore advice to use anti-static sheets used to soften laundry, as they'll scratch the monitor.
* Do not use any type of abrasive pad, cleanser or alcohol-based product.
* Laptop displays, unlike desktop monitors, are not made of glass. Laptop screens are easily damaged and costly to replace. Follow the manual's instructions, which vary depending on the type of display. Dell laptop displays can be cleaned by using a very soft cloth just slightly dampened with water.

Overall Things You'll Need

* Soft Rags
* Endust For Electronics
* Eyeglass Cleaner

Manage Keyboard Spills

2007-08-25T02:46:00.000-07:00

Introduction

Science can't explain it, but soft drinks and coffee are undeniably attracted to computer keyboards. Put them in proximity and they're bound to interact messily sooner or later.

Steps

1. Unplug the keyboard.

2. If you spilled water, turn the keyboard over and let it drain and dry out for at least 24 hours.

3. If you spilled something sticky, try prying the small key caps off of the keyboard with a flathead screwdriver to get better access to the mess. Don't remove the spacebar, the Enter key or other large key caps. (Take a picture of the keyboard layout, or make a quick sketch of it, before you remove any keys so you can put them back where you found them.)

4. Gently clean the keyboard with a wet cotton swab.

5. Replace the key caps after rinsing them and letting them dry.

6. Let everything dry for at least 24 hours before plugging the keyboard back in.

Overall Tips & Warnings

* Keyboards are not expensive. If you've had a bad spill, it might be easier to buy a new one than take the time to clean one.

Overall Things You'll Need

* Flathead Screwdriver
* Cotton Swabs

Manage Laptop Spills

2007-08-25T02:41:00.000-07:00

Introduction

Spilling coffee on your laptop will not only ruin your morning, it can ruin your computer. Act quickly if this happens, because it only takes seconds for liquids to destroy the hard drive of a laptop computer.

Steps

1. Shut down the computer immediately.

2. Wipe up any liquid. Tilt the computer to the side to drain any liquids.

3. Remove any removable parts from the laptop, including the power cord, printer and mouse cables, the floppy drive, CD drive, modem cards and battery. Do not disassemble the laptop body to remove internal parts.

4. Once the parts are removed, gently lift the computer and turn it to the side and upside down to drain any liquid. Tilt the computer in a variety of directions to verify that there are no pools of liquid lurking, but be careful not to shake it or handle it roughly.

5. Repeat with the floppy drive and other removable parts.

6. Use a hair dryer on a cool setting to dry the laptop and its parts if you can.

7. Allow the computer and its removable parts to dry for 24 hours before you reassemble it and turn it back on. (If you are under a tight deadline, let the laptop dry for at least an hour before you reassemble it.)

8. If the computer does not work properly or does not turn on, bring it to a computer repair professional, although the damage might be irreparable. Spills are one of the leading causes of laptop deaths.

Overall Tips & Warnings

* Back up any files you have on a laptop as a precaution. Accidents do happen.

* Do not attempt to remove key caps from a laptop unless the owner's manual provides instructions on how to do so.

Overall Things You'll Need

* Paper towels
* Hair Dryer

Clean and Fix a Mouse

2007-08-20T00:31:00.000-07:00

Introduction
Computer mice have been around longer than personal computers, and the basic design doesn't look like it's going away anytime soon. When your mouse starts acting up or stops working altogether, it may just need some simple maintenance.

Instructions
Cleaning the mouse
Steps

Step One
Unplug your mouse and flip it over to see what kind it is. The most common type is mechanical; it has a small rubber ball on its underside that rolls on the desk or mouse pad. These kind of mice are notorious for attracting and retaining crud. If your mouse has no ball but a small light, it's optical, so you can skip ahead to step 6.

Step Two

If your mouse has a rubber ball, you can probably release it by rotating a locking ring that holds it in place. Look for an arrow telling you which way to push or twist the locking ring (see A).

Step Three
Remove the ball and carefully clean it with a lint-free cloth or soap and water. Dry it carefully.

Step Four

If you find crud in the mouse case too, scrape it off with a toothpick (see B) or, if you're desperate, a fingernail.

Step Five
Put the mouse back together.

Step Six
Clean your optical mouse occasionally with distilled rubbing alcohol and a paper towel. This type of mouse stays clean longer.

Other possible mouse problems

Steps

Step One
Check the mouse connection at the back of the PC. Is the cable plugged firmly into the correct port? Most newer PCs have a port labeled for the mouse.

Step Two
If the mouse cable looks damaged, borrow a mouse from someone else's computer and see if it works with yours. If it does, then your mouse needs to be replaced.

Clean a Computer Keyboard

2007-08-20T00:16:00.000-07:00

Introduction:

A grimy appearance is just one reason to clean your computer keyboard. If dust gets stuck underneath the keys, they might not work properly. And spilled liquids can be your keyboard's death knell if not taken care of.

Step One
Purchase any supplies you need: compressed air (in an aerosol can); a soft rag; Endust for Electronics, or any nonabrasive household cleaning fluid suitable for cleaning plastic; and a dust mask if you're allergic to dust.

Step Two
Check your owner's manual. If the manufacturer has provided specific instructions, follow them.

Step Three
Shut down the computer.

Step Four

Disconnect the keyboard.

Step Five

Use compressed air to clean between the keys. Spray at an angle to dislodge dust and grime.

Step Six

Shake loose dust gently out of the keyboard.

Step Seven
If using Endust for Electronics or another aerosol cleaning fluid, follow the manufacturer's instructions. Otherwise, spray a small amount of fluid onto a rag.

Step Eight

Wipe the keys and chassis.

Step Nine
Wait until the keyboard is dry before reconnecting it to the computer.

Step Ten
Reconnect the keyboard and restart the computer.

Tips & Warnings

* In industrial or other high-dust environments, use a plastic keyboard cover to protect the keyboard.
* If you've spilled a large amount of liquid, or if the liquid is sticky, it's likely that the keyboard won't be repairable, although you can certainly try. To be safest, though, keep drinks far away from your computer.
* If you've spilled liquid on the keyboard, turn it upside down after you disconnect it to let the liquid drain out. If there's a lot of liquid, or if the liquid is sticky, wash out the spill with running water. (Do not immerse the keyboard.) Let the keyboard drain for 72 hours.
* Do not spray fluids directly onto the keyboard.

Clean Dust in CPU

2007-08-20T00:11:00.000-07:00

Introduction:

Computer fans pull a lot of dust inside the chassis. If undisturbed, the dust can interfere with ventilation, eventually causing parts to fail. If you have a service contract that covers maintenance, have your computer taken apart and professionally cleaned. Otherwise, follow these steps.

Steps:

1. Check your owner's manual. If the manufacturer has provided specific instructions, follow them.

2. Get any supplies you might need: a can of compressed air, Endust for Electronics or any household plastic or metal cleaning fluid, a soft brush (such as a paintbrush) and an anti-static rag, plus a dust mask if you're allergic to dust.

3. Shut down the computer.

4. Leave the computer plugged into the surge suppressor.

5. Disconnect all peripherals from the computer.

6. Remove the computer cover (see your owner's manual for instructions).

7. Ground yourself to the computer with any professional grounding equipment you have. Otherwise, ground yourself by touching a metal part of the chassis.

8. Spray compressed air on the fan blades, power supply chassis, drive chassis and circuit boards.

9. Gently brush off dust that the forced air didn't dislodge.

10. Brush any remaining dust out from the bottom of the chassis.

11. Spray Endust for Electronics or another cleaning fluid onto an anti-static rag.

12. Wipe the inside and outside of the cover thoroughly.

13. Replace the cover and reconnect the peripherals.

Tips & Warnings

* If possible, work in an uncarpeted area.
* Be careful not to touch any chips. Touch as little as possible inside your machine. Static damage (and even oil damage) may cause a failure months after the incident.
* Some sources recommend using a regular or specialty electronics vacuum cleaner. These appliances could cause magnetic damage or static electricity, or dislodge or inhale poorly secured chips or components.

Memorize Password Easily

2007-08-18T19:13:00.000-07:00

* Try the diceware method.
* Change numbers into Roman numerals for more security (i.e. iamcool2 becomes iamcoolii). You can even mix normal numbers and Roman numerals. 1i = 11; 1ii = 12; and so on.
* When coming up with a mnemonic sentence, try and make the sentence funny or relevant to yourself. That way you will find it easier to remember the sentence, so you can remember the password.
* The more complex and longer the password, the less likely it is to be cracked but it is often proportionately harder to remember.
* Mixing letters and numbers is always safer than just using numbers or just using letters.
* Try thinking of a name (BOB). Now use only every second letter, being BB. Then go back and plug any other letter you did not type. Your password would be BBO.
* Take the the first four letters of your name (ex: lydi) and the first four letters of the site/program you are using the password for (ex: wiki) and alternate between using the letters in your name and the company (lwyidkii). Optional: add a set of numbers you have memorized to the end.
* You might combine several of these methods and still come up with a truly memorable yet very strong passphrase. You might use a favorite quotation, song lyric, or the advertising slogan you despise most (preferably six words long or more) and create an acronym by using the first letter of each word (Where Would You Like To Go Today = wwyltgt). You can introduce character-word substitutions, like replacing the 'y' (for the word 'you') with a 'u' or 'U', which would give us wwUltgt. Maybe you would substitute some numbers for characters (as in 'leet' = '1337'). Now your passphrase might resemble wwU17g7 or wwU1797. Add standard rules for your personal method such as always capitalizing the first character (or the second, the third, the seventh, whichever tickles you), or inserting an exclamation point after the second character (left out for those sites that do not allow punctuation). Now, you would have Ww!U17g7 or WwU1797, or some such, as a very secure, yet personally memorable passphrase. Using such a method, "Rock on with your bad self" might be transformed into R0!wy85, r0_wY8$, r0Wy_8$, or any number of others.
* If you prefer to have a word that has no symbols or numbers in it, the best thing is for it not to be a word in the dictionary, like 'wazzup'. Also, you can simply substitute letters so it still can sound the same, like this: Crazy = Kraizee. This is not too challenging.
* The most secure passwords contain lowercase letters, capital letters, numbers, AND symbols. This sounds like a bit of a chore but there is an easy way to make all of your passwords fully mixed and more secure: use one of the above methods to create a password with both letters and numbers, and then hold down the shift key while typing part of it. Make a standard of holding down shift for the first four characters, or characters three through seven, or whatever you like. You won't have to stop and remember where you inserted that pesky exclamation point or whether you replaced the 's' with '5' or '$' this time.
* If you say the letters or numbers to yourself as you type them you will begin to get a rhythm this will help to memorize it.
* If you are so inclined, references from a faith text can make good passwords. Choose a passage you can remember, and use the reference for your password.

Defragment Hard Drive

2007-08-18T19:03:00.000-07:00

What is "fragmenting" and why do I need to "defragment" my hard drive?

Imagine a large library of books arranged in volumes. Also imagine that the librarian for this particular library re-shelves the books in a way which moves the individual books in the volumes further apart from each other. As more books are added to library, the further apart and more mixed up the books in the volumes become. Now imagine that you come to the library and want to check out an entire volume of books. You would have to search all over the library to find each individual book in the volume that you want. In computer terms, what is happening when the individual books are re-shelved in this way is called fragmenting, and this is what happens to your computer as you install programs, download files, or just use your computer in general.

When running programs that contains hundreds of files, fragmenting can degrade the performance of your computer. As the clusters of files on your hard drive become fragmented, they grow further apart and it takes longer for your computer to find and assemble all the pieces necessary to run the programs. This is where defragmenting comes in. It rearranges the files on your hard drive so they are back in order, which cuts down on access latency (the time it takes to access your files). It is as if the library has hired a new librarian who goes through and arranges the books so that the volumes are intact and contiguous. This would greatly reduce the time it takes to find whole volumes or individual books in those volumes.

Defragmenting your Windows XP hard drive

1. To defragment your hard drive in Windows XP, open My Computer and right-click on the C: drive. Select Properties, then click on the Tools tab and select Defragment Now...

2. The Windows Disk Defragmenter program will open and all drives are listed in the top window pane. Since the program is going to be arranging files on your hard drive, it is important that no files are being accessed during the process, or the program won't be able to move them. Close all open programs.

3. The C: drive is where operating system files and programs are installed by default, so make sure that it is selected, then click Defragment. While the program is running, it is recommend that you not use your computer. The time is takes to run the defragmenting process is dependent on the size of your hard drive and amount of fragmentation.

While the program is running you will see a graphical representation of the blocks of files on your hard drive being moved and the fragmented segments joined together. Usually the less gaps of free space between the contiguous segments the better, but as long as the fragmented files are put together into contiguous segments, it will help your computer's performance.

4. Once the process is complete, the graphic should display most of the contiguous files on the left and the majority of the free space on the right. Close the Disk Defragmenter window and resume using your computer.

Mp3 Resizer 1.8.4

2007-08-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

Do you need more space in your mp3 player? Would you like to have more songs in your mobile phone?

MP3Resizer is the solution. It will compress your mp3 files, so you can store more files in your portable devices.

Thanks to Mp3Resizer you will not need to change your mp3 player when the capacity seems to have reached the limit. Mp3Resizer can compress the files up to a third part of the original size.

And to do it, it uses Lame compressor, so the final quality is guaranteed.

In addition, Mp3Resizer also includes a small player which shows us the information of both two files, the original and the compressed one.

Kaspersky Definition Update 10-23-2006

2007-08-18T18:51:00.000-07:00

Thanks to this extension, your Kaspersky antivirus will be able to attack the most recent adwares. This is very important because new viruses arise everyday and your antivirus must be up to date to fight them.

This database includes all the viruses known up today, including the most dangerous torjans, E-mail worms and more.

When you download the product it is reccomended that you select automatic integration, and it will integrate itself with your Kaspersky antivirus automatically.

How to Maximize Windows Performance

2007-08-18T08:17:00.000-07:00

Tip:

Is your computer running slower? Let’s say you’ve even added lots of memory and it’s still slow. What can you do to increase the speed and performance of your Windows computer?

Cache Setting: Set your cache to its optimum size to free more memory.

RAM: Add more RAM instead of upgrading your CPU. If you have enough RAM, but the memory doesn’t seem to be using all the RAM available, then use RamBooster.

Clear the startup programs: As soon as you start up Windows, you may have several programs that automatically start and get loaded into memory. Remove the settings provided with each program. If you cannot figure out how to do that then download Startup Control Panel to remove programs from starting up automatically.

Check programs in memory : Use programs like TaskInfo to detect which programs are running in memory and remove those that you do not need.

Close Programs: Press Ctrl - Alt - Delete once to bring up the Close Program dialog box. When all programs are closed, the taskbar is empty. Three programs will show in the Close box - explorer, system tray, and your antivirus program. All other programs can be closed if not needed by using Startup Control Panel or using msconfig from the Run dialog box.

Check Hard Disk : Go to the Start menu and click My Computer. Right-click the hard drive (usually C:), choose Properties, then tab over to Tools to Error Checking and click Check Now. Then choose the options to automatically fix errors and try to recover any bad sectors. Even if you don’t find any bad sectors, defragment the drive.

Defragment : Go to Start menu to Programs to Accessories to System Tools. Follow the directions on defragmenting your drive.

Remove Viruses or Spyware : Run an antivirus program such as Avast 4 Home and an anti-spyware program such as Spybot Search and Destroy ( tp://www.safer-networking.org/) . Both free.

Plain desktop : Remove the desktop background image and set it None.

Screen resolution : Set your screen resolution to 15 or 16 bit. Set a higher level only when playing games and when using graphics or other programs that require better resolutions.

Clean the Desktop : Remove all unwanted icons from the desktop and shortcuts from the desktop and the quick launch bar. If you have shortcuts for CD drives, windows will check for their contents every time it loads up.

Active Desktop : Unless you run stock market price tickers on your desktop, deactivate Active Desktop to save memory. If you have enabled Active Desktop just to enable a GIF or JPEG file as the background, then convert the file to a BMP file and set that as the wallpaper without Active Desktop.

Remove Sound : If you remove sound events when you don’t need it, your computer will run faster. Go to Control Panel to Sounds and Multimedia to Schemes and choose No Sounds.

The Five Most Famous Computer Viruses

2007-08-17T23:47:00.000-07:00

Historians trace the roots of the computer virus back to the 1940s when John von Neuman published a paper titled "Theory and Organization of Complicated Automata." The paper discussed the possibility of self-replicating computer programs, which is pretty much what a virus is. The term "virus" wasn't used to describe self-replicating programs until 1983, when Frederick Cohen used it in his doctoral thesis after he and his thesis advisor, Len Alderman, noticed a similarity between the way self-replicating programs and biological viruses propagate. But it wasn't until 1986 that viruses started replicating from one computer to the next on a mass scale.

Most historians agree that the first virus to replicate from PC to PC was Brain. (Viruses had been passing between other computer platforms such as VAXs and Apple IIs for years.) The story goes that Basit and Amjaad Farooq Alvi, owners of a store called Brain Computer Services, wrote the boot sector virus to stealthily leave their contact information on infected computers. Basit and Amjaad claimed they wrote the code to ascertain the extent of software piracy in Pakistan (they were, after all, software vendors). But Brain soon leaked through the Pakistani borders and quite harmlessly infected computers worldwide. Despite the intention of its author, the infamous Internet Worm wasn't as benign as Brain. Written by Cornell University Ph.D. student Robert Morris in 1988, the Internet Worm quickly writhed its way onto VAX and Sun systems throughout the country. Though Morris had intended for his creation to spread from computer to computer without causing any damage or leaving a trace, his code was flawed. The Internet Worm replicated so many times and sucked up so many CPU cycles that it rendered its computer hosts useless, effectively bringing the Internet to its knees. Though the worm left no scars on its hosts after it was removed, the United States General Accounting Office predicted that somewhere between $100,000 and $10,000,000 was lost in terms of cumulative productivity between all of the 6,000 systems infected nationwide.

When Morris realized how much havoc his worm was wreaking, he tried to send anonymous messages on how to disinfect the beast over the same network on which he unleashed the worm. Unfortunately, machines were so catatonic that the remedy never went anywhere. The Internet Worm attracted a great deal of media attention and Morris was eventually sentenced to three years of probation and 400 hours of community service, and fined $10,050. (By the way, Morris was the son of the chief scientist at the National Security Center -- part of the NSA.) n 1992, hysteria swept over the planet as newspapers, magazines, and television networks proclaimed that on March 6, the birth date of Renaissance artist Michelangelo, up to one quarter of American hard drives would be completely erased.

The media frenzy started through a coincidence. In January of 1992 one computer manufacturer claimed it had inadvertently distributed 500 PCs carrying the virus while another computer company issued a press release stating that from that point on it would bundle antivirus software with every PC it sold. The two events were completely unrelated, but apparently it was a slow news day and reporters tried to make a story out of it. By the time March 5 rolled around, the fever pitch had reached Y2K proportions. Even the respectable Wall Street Journal carried the headline "Deadly Virus Set to Wreak Havoc Tomorrow."

Why did the media go nuts? For one thing, John McAfee, the man behind McAfee Anti-Virus, told reporters that an estimated five million computers worldwide could lose their hard drives on account of the Michelangelo virus. (Take note that there were a lot of other ballooned predictions from other people.) As you can imagine, McAfee's prediction boosted his company's sales significantly.

When March 6 came, the virus struck only about 10,000 computers. Many members of the media claimed it would have affected far more if not for their reporting.

Another virus that fired up the media was Melissa, a Word macro virus. When people received the host Word document via email and opened it, the virus sent a copy of itself to the first 50 people in the victim's address book.

Named after a topless dancer in Florida, the Melissa virus crashed the email servers of corporations and governments in different spots around the world. The Computer Emergency Response Team, set up after Robert Morris mucked up the Internet with his worm in 1988, estimated that the virus hit 100,000 computers in its first weekend.

David L. Smith posted the infected file to an alt.sex usenet group using a stolen AOL account. Initially he entered a plea of innocence, but after being confronted with a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, he eventually pled guilty and received a much-reduced sentence.

By almost any measure, the so-called Love Bug was the most damaging and costly virus ever. I don't know who comes up with these whack figures, but according to Reuters the bug cost the world $15 billion in lost productivity.

The Love Bug spread far faster than Melissa. Unlike Melissa, it would mail itself to everyone in your Outlook address book -- most of whom would probably be delighted to read about how you love them -- not just the first fifty. Moreover, it would gobble up certain media files stored on your hard drive. One German newspaper tragically lost 2,000 pictures from its archive.

The perpetrator turned out to be a 23-year-old Filipino computer science student who more or less plagiarized all of his code. Because of a lack of laws in the Philippines covering computer crimes, he pretty much got away with his crime.

How to detect virus in your computer without anti virus software

2007-08-17T23:37:00.000-07:00

Virus computer from time to time has improved its ability to abuse infected PC. Almost 99,9% now virus has been infected via internet as well known as worldwide network.

Before the year 1998, many virus was created to destruct file and system and many user lost their files but after 1998,when internet was grew so fast, virus use internet as media which extremely infect most PC in the world.

Now not just virus, there are worm and spyware that very annoying and disturb the user’s activity. The trend is moving, virus has been used to attack some site, flooding with data until the site is collaps but worm and spyware has been used to gain money with their pop-ups viewing advertising.

At this moment, this article will help you to detect virus,spyware without anti virus and anti spyware software.

Why do I write this article? How about re-installing antivirus and the virus will be gone? I don’t think so, mostly when you re-install your antivirus, the virus will infect again and
Like a night mare chain.

* Do nothing and watch your Network Connection.
Virus, Spyware and Worm always do their activity in silent by themselves or perfect crime as much as possible. But their activities can be detected with simple way, if you connect to the internet or in a network that connected to the internet, just do nothing with your computer and watch the network connection. If network connection show sending and receiving data all the time, it could be your computer have some of them. But makesure do not do any activity on your computer.

If you cannot see the network connection, click Start -> Setting -> Control Panel -> Network Connection, there are icon with two monitors and keep blinking whenever there’s sending and receiving data.

* So what’s next?, Check the Speed and Compare. Maybe on number 1 you still cannot makesure your pc has been infected but you know your PC’s speed. Is it much slower or a bit slower? If your PC’s speed much slower than before, you can add more possibility that your PC has been infected.
* Check your Anti Virus Status.
Most of smart Viruses, they able to shut down the Anti virus’s process and freely take over your pc, installing and duplicate themselves or calling their buddy on it. No wonder if they will make your PC suffer loaded by virus and spyware also their buddy. So if your anti virus is not active, be aware of their visit. Shutting down anti virus, usually done by virus, not worm or spyware.
* Check your MSCONFIG
When virus, worm and spyware was infected, they will put themselves to be run automatically when windows start. You can check what kind of application that run in your PC. Clik start> on run type “msconfig” then enter. New window come up and open Startup Tab, check all applications one by one, usually their name is similar with name of application example, quick time with qt.exe,etc. If you suspect one of them as a virus, Uncheck the file and reboot. If your computer fell better, that file maybe the virus or spyware and rename the file become *.bak. But virus is smart, after you restart the computer, that file has been checked again. That’s mean you have to think over against them and war haven’t not over yet.
* Remember the history.
“Please help, my computer go wild since two days ago”, for me that helpful statement to find virus. That statement could be refer to date when virus was infected. That means on that day, a new file contain virus was created. So let’s search and destroy, click start -> search -> for files or folder.

On Search area, you will find unchecked Date and do check it. Choose file created on below and fill in the date your computer start not good.

This way quite good enough to detect a virus, you will find lists of file that created on that day, not much on the list,that’s why it is easy. And next is to classified the executable file which have *.exe, *.bat, *.pif. Usually the same file is appear in startup tab (no.5).

Suspect a file with above condition and makesure that’s not belong to your application such as MS WORD,EXCEL, etc. you can rename it into *.bak and restart.

* Ask to Mr. Google what file is this.
If you are not sure with that, open the internet, type name of file in google.com or yahoo.com on keyword and added “virus” on the back. If on the result said that file is a virus, you can delete or rename it.

How to split long audio tracks

2007-08-17T03:24:00.000-07:00

Like to listen to audio books on your MP3 player, but your player lacks a bookmark function? If you have long audio files that haven't already been split into chapters, it can be a pain to fast-forward to the desired point in the track. This tutorial can help you split audio books into shorter tracks on your own.

1. Download and install Audacity - http://www.download.com/3001-2170_4-10606824.html

2. Download and install lame-3.96.1 - http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~raa110/audacity/lame.html (Any of them is fine.)

3. From the LAME .zip file, extract only the file lame_enc.dll. Save it some place that's easy to find on your hard drive, such as the desktop. (When you export your files as MP3, Audacity will ask you to locate it.)

4. Open Audacity, go to File > Open, then select the audio file you wish to split from wherever it is stored on your hard drive.

5. In the upper-right corner of the window, ensure that the selection tool (it looks like an uppercase "I") button is highlighted.

6. Starting at the very beginning of the audio file, click and drag the selector so that it highlights a selection of the file. (You can use the keyboard arrows to zero in on "0" if necessary.)

7. Using the cursor counter at the very bottom of the window to determine where in the elapsed time of the file you are, continue to highlight until you get to the point where you want to split (0:00:0 -- 30:00:0 for 30 minutes, for example; then 30:00:0 -- 60:00:0 for the next one, and so on).

8. With the selection highlighted, go to Edit > Copy.

9. Then select File > New.

10. In the new window, select Edit > Paste.

11. Then select File > Export as MP3. (You will be asked to locate the LAME file from earlier. You need to do this only once.)

12. Choose a location to store your files--I suggest a folder with the book's name--and then name the file. For example: "Chapter1," "Chapter2," and so on.

13. You will then be given an option to edit the ID3 tags. It's not required, but I recommend that you do because it will help to keep things organized on the MP3 player. Title will be what you named the file in the previous step, Artist will be the author, and Album will be the book title.

14. Repeat as necessary.

Free WinRAR - an archiver and archive manager

2007-08-17T03:16:00.000-07:00

WinRAR is a 32-bit Windows version of RAR Archiver, an archiver and archive manager. RAR files can usually compress content by 8 percent to 15 percent more than ZIP files can. WinRAR's main features include strong general and multimedia compression, the ability to process non-RAR archive formats, ZIP compression and decompression, support for long filenames, programmable self-extracting archives (SFX), repair of damaged archives, authenticity verification, embedded file comments, and encryption. Unicode is supported in archive filenames, allowing non-English filenames to be handled painlessly. You can manipulate the parameters of many archives at once and view a volume sequence as a single archive. WinRAR can convert other archive formats to RAR and search for specified text and files in archives.

Version 3.7 ncludes numerous Windows Vista compatibility changes. New CHM help format. Support of UDF file format frequently used in DVD ISO images. Unicode support for CD ISO images. More space for file names in progress windows. New command line options for self-extracting modules.

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How to download YouTube Videos ?

2007-08-17T02:53:00.000-07:00

Save YouTube Videos and download YouTube videos with this tool

http://www.youtubex.com/

Free LimeWire Download Software

2007-08-17T02:49:00.000-07:00

The Fastest File Sharing Program on the Planet

* Bittorrent Support Built-In
* Fast Downloads
* No Spyware or Adware
* Works behind Firewalls
* Runs on Windows, Mac & Linux

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Free ARES P2P - Share any digital files

2007-08-17T02:42:00.000-07:00

Ares is a free open source file sharing program that enables users to share any digital file including images, audio, video, software, documents, etc.
You may now easily publish your files through the Ares decentralized network. As a member of the virtual community, you can search and download just about any file shared by other users. Latest versions support BitTorrent protocol and Shoutcast radio stations.
With Ares you can also join chat rooms or host your channel and meet new friends.

BearShare - Free Music Downloads

2007-08-17T02:34:00.000-07:00

File Sharing just got a whole new meaning:

* Share, Discover and Download music and videos.
* View other users' profiles, photos and music library.
* Make new friends and connect with old ones.
* Leave comments about your friends and favorite artists.
* Send messages and instant messages to other users, while listening together to the same music.
* Connect with users that share a passion for the same artists.
* Supports hundreds of MP3 players.
With BearShare you get:

* 100% clean install, no bundled software.
* Brand new interface.
* Fastest downloads, ever.
* Instant "search suggest" technology.
* Parental controls block access to offensive files.
* Automatic Virus protection.
* Full featured media player with smart organization feature.
* The easiest BearShare ever, with all new bubbles that hint at cool things you can do.
* Instant searches across the entire BearShare network.

Free BitComet - Fasten downloading

2007-08-17T02:30:00.000-07:00

Introduction
What is BitComet?
BitComet is a BitTorrent/HTTP/FTP download management software, which is powerful, fast, very easy-to-use, and completely free. It contains many advanced features for BitTorrent download and extends its leading BitTorrent technology to HTTP/FTP to accelerate downloading up to 5 - 10 times faster, or more.
Highlights:

* BitTorrent Download - fast and powerful
o Preview while Downloading: Preview of MP3, rmvb, wmv, and qt is available during downloading process.
o Intelligent Connection Optimization: Configuration is automatically set to match your connection type.
o Intelligent Disk Cache: Memory cache is used to reduce the read/write frequency of your hard drive, therefore increasing service life.
o Quick Resume: The torrents can be seeded or resumed immediately without time consuming scans.
o NAT Traversal: Users behind NAT can now connect with each other by UDP.
o Auto Config ICF (Internet Connection Firewall) and ICS (Internet Connection Sharing) in Windows XP
o Auto Config UPNP port mapping in router (UPnP support is required in router, Windows XP is required).
o Option of Disabling and Setting Priority of Files in any torrent: Files can be disabled, so they are not downloaded, or set to higher or lower priority, allowing you to select which files finish first.
o Trackerless support (Mainline DHT): Torrents can be downloaded when tracker is offline using DHT.
o Support for Multi-tracker, and utf-8 extension, UDP tracker Protocol v2.

* HTTP/FTP Download - Innovative P2P Technology
o Preview while Downloading: Preview of mp3, rmvb, wmv, and qt is available during downloading process.
o Ability of Multi-Section Download: Files are split into several sections which are downloaded at the same time to increase the download speed up to 500% or more.
o Ability of Multi-Mirror download: Mirror servers are automatically found for the file being downloaded. Data from these servers are downloaded at the same time to increase download speed 300% or more.
o Ability of Multi-Peer download: BitTorrent technology is integrated into HTTP/FTP protocol, with which BitComet automatically finds other peers and gets data from them to increase your download speed，without additional bandwidth usage of the HTTP server.
o Support for Unicode: Multi-language web pages and encoded URLs can be correctly handled.
o Quick Resume: Stopped download tasks can be resumed from where they left off from both HTTP and FTP servers.

* Download Management - Customization Available
o Global and Per-Task Speed Limit, for Both Upload and Download.
o Bandwidth Scheduler
o Custom-built Categories Management.

* Easy to Use and Free!
o User-friendly and very easy-to-use, we try to hide every complicated terms behind the interface
o BitComet does not contain any adware or spyware.

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Free FlashGet Download Manager

2007-08-17T02:24:00.000-07:00

What's FlashGet
　100% Clean, Free, Fast!

FlashGet is a leading download manager and has the highest amount of users on the internet. It uses MHT(Multi-server Hyper-threading Transportation) technique, supports various protocols and has excellent document management features. FlashGet is a freeware without any adware or spyware.

Free Download Accelerator Plus

2007-08-17T02:16:00.000-07:00

Full Speed AND Security! Only with Download Accelerator Plus 8.5

Get DAP 8.5 Free

* New security check by ZoneAlarm for
every site & application you download!

* New Tabbed downloading!

* Up to 400% faster downloads.

* Resume broken downloads
Resume broken downloads!

- Preview files while you download.

- NEW and improved interface!

Free Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0.0.125 Antivirus

2007-08-16T04:12:00.000-07:00

Simply click below:

http://dnl-us4.kaspersky-labs.com/trial/registered/3NKDGRXIM7FJ5ZTSIAFW/kis7.0.0.125en.exe

GalleryPlayer HD Images : Images

2007-08-16T04:10:00.001-07:00

GalleryPlayer HD Images : Images . High-quality artwork and photos. Perfect for your screensaver or desktop.

RealPlayer : Media player

2007-08-16T04:09:00.001-07:00

RealPlayer : Media player. Play popular media formats, organise music and videos. Transfer music to iPod and other portable media players.

Spyware Doctor Starter Edition : Antispyware utility

2007-08-16T04:08:00.001-07:00

Spyware Doctor Starter Edition : Antispyware utility. Detects and removes spyware, adware, trojans and keyloggers. Includes Smart Updates and scheduling to protect your PC.

Google Desktop : Desktop companion

2007-08-16T04:07:00.000-07:00

Google Desktop : Desktop companion. Find all your email, files, web history and more. Get all your personalised info in one place with Sidebar

Picasa : Photo organiser

2007-08-16T04:06:00.000-07:00

Picasa : Photo organiser. Find, edit and share your photos in seconds. Easily remove red eye and fix photos.

Adobe Reader : PDF reader

2007-08-16T04:05:00.000-07:00

Adobe Reader : PDF reader. View, print and search PDF files via a redesigned interface. Secure your documents and collaborate via online, real-time meetings.

Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer : Search with Google from any web page

2007-08-16T04:04:00.000-07:00

Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer : Search with Google from any web page. Block annoying pop-ups

Google Photos Screensaver : Photo screensaver

2007-08-16T04:03:00.000-07:00

Google Photos Screensaver : Photo screensaver. Display photos from your PC and photo sharing sites. Watch cinematic slideshows.

Google Talk : Voice and IM application

2007-08-16T03:58:00.000-07:00

Google Talk : Voice and IM application. Connect with your friends via IM or free voice calls. Send and receive files and voice messages easily and quickly

Google Earth : 3D Earth browser

2007-08-16T03:57:00.001-07:00

Google Earth : 3D Earth browser. Zoom from space to street level — tour the world. Find maps, driving directions, hotels, restaurants, and more.

Mozilla Firefox with Google Toolbar : Web browser

2007-08-16T02:39:00.000-07:00

Mozilla Corporation. Browse the web quickly and securely. Switch between pages quickly with tabbed browsing." border="0" width="35" height="35">
Mozilla Firefox with Google Toolbar : Web browser
Mozilla Corporation. Browse the web quickly and securely. Switch between pages quickly with tabbed browsing.

How To Keep Your Kids Safe on the Internet

2007-08-15T01:33:00.000-07:00

The internet is a great learning tool and resource for finding information. But, there is a lot of harmful material readily available. Follow these simple steps to help prevent your children from stumbling across objectionable sites.

Here's How:

1. Warn your children of the dangers.
2. Install a filtering or blocking program on your computer or activate the feature provided on your browser or ISP.
3. Keep the computer screen in plain view.
4. Keep the logs available, don't allow them to be erased.
5. If the logs are erased, investigate why.
6. Keep your children accountable to you or someone else.
7. Be careful if using chat rooms.
8. Don't allow personal information to be given out.

4 Ways to Speed Up Your PC's Performance

2007-08-14T23:32:00.000-07:00

There are a few guidelines that you can follow to maintain your computer and keep it running smoothly.

This article discusses how to use the tools available in Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) to more efficiently maintain your computer and safeguard your privacy when you're online.

Free Up Disk Space

By freeing disk space, you can improve the performance of your computer. The Disk Cleanup tool helps you free up space on your hard disk. The utility identifies files that you can safely delete, and then enables you to choose whether you want to delete some or all of the identified files.

Use Disk Cleanup to:

•	Remove temporary Internet files.
•	Remove downloaded program files (such as Microsoft ActiveX controls and Java applets).
•	Empty the Recycle Bin.
•	Remove Windows temporary files.
•	Remove optional Windows components that you don't use.
•	Remove installed programs that you no longer use.

Tip: Typically, temporary Internet files take the most amount of space because the browser caches each page you visit for faster access later.

To use Disk Cleanup

1.	Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup. If several drives are available, you might be prompted to specify which drive you want to clean. Disk Cleanup calculates the amount of space you will be able to free.
2.	In the Disk Cleanup for dialog box, scroll through the content of the Files to delete list. Choose the files that you want to delete.
3.	Clear the check boxes for files that you don't want to delete, and then click OK.
4.	When prompted to confirm that you want to delete the specified files, click Yes.

After a few minutes, the process completes and the Disk Cleanup dialog box closes, leaving your computer cleaner and performing better.

Speed Up Access to Data

Disk fragmentation slows the overall performance of your system. When files are fragmented, the computer must search the hard disk when the file is opened to piece it back together. The response time can be significantly longer.

Disk Defragmenter is a Windows utility that consolidates fragmented files and folders on your computer's hard disk so that each occupies a single space on the disk. With your files stored neatly end-to-end, without fragmentation, reading and writing to the disk speeds up.

When to Run Disk Defragmenter

In addition to running Disk Defragmenter at regular intervals, optimally monthly, certain events warrant running the utility outside of the monthly rule of thumb.

You should run Disk Defragmenter under the following circumstances:

•	You add a large number of files.
•	Your free disk space nears 15 percent.
•	You install new programs or a new version of Windows.

To use Disk Defragmenter:

1.	Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Defragmenter. Click Analyze to start the Disk Defragmenter.
2.	In the Disk Defragmenter dialog box, click the drives that you want to defragment, and then click the Analyze button. After the disk is analyzed, a dialog box appears, letting you know whether you should defragment the analyzed drives. Tip: You should analyze a volume before defragmenting it to get an estimate of how long the defragmentation process will take.
3.	To defragment the selected drive or drives, click the Defragment button. After the defragmentation is complete, Disk Defragmenter displays the results.
4.	To display detailed information about the defragmented disk or partition, click View Report.
5.	To close the View Report dialog box, click Close.
6.	To close the Disk Defragmenter utility, click the Close button on the title bar of the window.

Detect and Repair Disk Errors

In addition to running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter to optimize the performance of your computer, you can check the integrity of the files stored on your hard disk by running the Error Checking utility.

As you use your hard drive, it can develop bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down hard disk performance and sometimes make data writing (such as file saving) difficult, or even impossible. The Error Checking utility scans the hard drive for bad sectors, and scans for file system errors to see whether certain files or folders are misplaced.

If you use your computer daily, you should try to run this utility weekly to help prevent data loss.

To run the Error Checking utility:

Important: Be sure to close all files before running the Error-Checking utility.

1.	Click Start, and then click My Computer.
2.	In the My Computer window, right-click the hard disk you want to search for bad sectors, and then click Properties.
3.	In the Properties dialog box, click the Tools tab.
4.	Click the Check Now button.
5.	In the Check Disk dialog box, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box, and then click Start. In most circumstances, select Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors.
6.	If bad sectors are found, choose to fix them.

Tip: Only select the Automatically fix file system errors check box if you think that your disk contains bad sectors.

Protect Your Computer Against Spyware

Spyware collects personal information without letting you know and without asking for permission. The information that spyware collects ranges from a list of Web sites that you visit to usernames and passwords. In addition to privacy concerns, spyware can hamper your computer's performance.

Tips for Faster Browsing

2007-08-14T23:25:00.000-07:00

To make your browsing experience through this site more enjoyable and to speed up movement between pages or when clicking on hyperlinks to jump around a compilation, you may wish to activate the caching capability of your browser. Each browser is different, so experiment around.

Internet Explorer 5.0, 5.5 and 6.0:

Go to the Tools pull down menu, and select Internet Options. Select the General tab and then the Settings button:

On the Settings dialog, select the Never button. Click OK and then OK again to apply your changes.

Don't forget to periodically press the Refresh button to check for later versions of a page. Alternatively, switch to using the Every time you start Internet Explorer option. This option loads a new version of a page every time you start Internet Explorer.

How to speed up your PC

2007-08-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

Here 10 tips to speed up your pc from slowing down :

Let your PC boot up completely before opening any applications.
Refresh the desktop after closing any application.
This will remove any unused files from the RAM.
Do not set very large file size images as your wallpaper.
Do not keep a wallpaper at all if your PC is low on RAM (less than 64 MB).
Do not clutter your Desktop with a lot of shortcuts.
Each shortcut on the desktop uses up to 500 bytes of RAM
Empty the recycle bin regularly.
The files are not really deleted from your hard drive until you empty the recycle bin.
Delete the temporary internet files regularly.
Defragment your hard drive once every two months.
This will free up a lot of space on your hard drive and rearrange the files so that your applications run faster.
Always make two partitions in your hard drive.
Install all large Softwares (like PSP, Photoshop, 3DS Max etc) in the second partition. Windows uses all the available empty space in C drive as virtual memory when your Computer RAM is full. Keep the C Drive as empty as possible.
When installing new Softwares disable the option of having a tray icon.
The tray icons use up available RAM, and also slow down the booting of your PC. Also disable the option of starting the application automatically when the PC boots. You can disable these options later on also from the Tools or preferences menu in your application.
Protect your PC from dust. Dust causes the CPU cooling fan to jam and slow down thereby gradually heating your CPU and affecting the processing speed. Use compressed air to blow out any dust from the CPU. Never use vacuum.

RAM is the working area (Desktop) of the CPU, Keep it as empty and uncluttered as possible!