Tag: problem
November 09, 2008 by
Jason
Worms, Trojans, adware, spyware, key loggers and viruses are all types of malicious code that may invade your computer, seriously harming your system and data while also hogging system resources or reducing PC performance and Internet bandwidth. Here are seven ways to protect yourself against malware.
1. Update your operating system regularly
The first step in protecting your PC, and your valuable data, is to ensure that the operating system (OS) is updated with the latest security patches. This is critical as OS manufacturers, such as Microsoft Windows, update the security features of their products continuously to cover any potential and actual loopholes.
2. Buy good anti-virus software
Secondly you should have updated anti-virus software running on your system. This software must be able to scan email and files, as they are downloaded from the Internet, to help prevent malware reaching your system. It is also important to make sure that this anti-virus software is updated frequently, with fixes to the actual engine and to the database files, ensuring they contain the latest cures against new viruses, worms and Trojans. Read More»
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November 08, 2008 by
Jason For most users, Firefox doesn’t use an abnormally large amount of memory. For others, however, Firefox’s memory consumption is a major problem. Typical Firefox memory usage reported by Windows is around 50-100 MB, with virtual memory usage at 100-150 MB. These numbers will vary because Firefox is configured by default to use more memory on systems that have more memory available and less on systems with less.
1. System Extensions
WindowBlinds can dramatically increase memory use. To continue using WindowBlinds and Firefox without memory issues, add Firefox to WindowBlind’s exclusion list.
2. Download History
Firefox can slow down or hang if the download history is allowed to accumulate. Clear the download history (you may need to exit Firefox and delete the file “downloads.rdf” from the profile folder in some cases) and change this setting to solve the problem: Read More»
Posted in Firefox | 2 Comments »
November 06, 2008 by
Jason Just thought I should give the community my top five list for computer troubleshooting!
1. Your computer isn’t turning on? “Oh, no!” You think, “I’d better get a new one!” STOP right there. Before you get too frustrated, be sure you have checked that the power cord is actually plugged into your wall socket properly. You may think it sounds silly, but believe me, it’s more common than you think even for the computer savvy. If your computer is connected through a power board, you should try plugging it directly into the wall (note for the safety conscious: by plugging the power cable
directly into the wall, you lessen the chance of power failure and damage to your machine). Another reason that your PC may not start is if you have made any repairs or modification to your machine. You may have unwittingly pulled out a connect plug; check all connections.
2. If your computer is starting but is spitting error messages at you, then you might need to take out any memory modules such as RAM and then reset them by plugging them back into different RAM slots.If you get an error such as ‘Unexpected Interrupt in Protected Mode,’ then there is a problem with the settings you have entered in BIOS. To fix it go into BIOS and set it to default settings. If the problem still won’t go away, then you must remove the CMOS chip on your motherboard then put it back in to clean BIOS completely. Read More»
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October 27, 2008 by
Jason Welcome back to the registry optimization saga! If you’re just joining us, please start by reading at least our first episode, which describes a few rules that must be followed in order for the optimization process to take place successfully…
So, now that you’ve opened your tweak.reg file and you’ve written ‘Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00’ at its beginning, let’s head on to some serious business: in today’s episode we’ll cover several important optimizations that you would usually access using Folder Options.
Folder Options is one of the key-windows of any Windows optimization process. You can easily find it by clicking on the Tools menu in Windows Explorer. From the View tab you have access to a variety of essential XP settings regarding the looks and behavior of your Windows Explorer. Therefore if you want to make some of these changes permanent on a regular basis (each time you install your Windows) or apply them on another computer too, just copy the tweaks you’re interested in to your tweak.reg file. Read More»
Posted in Windows XP | 3 Comments »
October 05, 2008 by
Jason
Are you experiencing problems with your computer network? Are these error messages appearing?:
- Unable to clear the DNS cache
- Unable to renew your IP address
- An operation was performed on something that is not a socket
- Unable to clear the ARP cache
If so, here are some potential solutions for Windows XP/Vista.
1. Check to make sure your computer is on and is connected to a network.
2. Be aware that Windows has a built in function to repair a network connection. This function can give valuable information in the form of an error message if you know what you are looking for. Some common error messages given are:
- Unable to clear the DNS cache
- Unable to renew your IP address
- Unable to clear the ARP cache Read More»
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September 21, 2008 by
Jason Normally, the blue screen of death contains a driver name, and some addresses; if you’re lucky, removing that driver will do the trick. But what if there is no driver name on the BSoD? And what if you don’t have all the skills to play with crashdumps and debuggers?
In this case, Autoruns comes to the rescue. This is a graphical tool that allows you to disable/enable drivers in a very easy way.
The strategy:
1. Boot into safe mode (since the system is crashing when you attempt to boot normally);
2. Start Autoruns, and switch to the Drivers tab;
3. Go through the list, and uncheck the drivers that are suspicious;
4. Close the program, restart and boot normally
The steps above will be repeated until the system is able to boot correctly.
When that happens, remember what were the last changes you applied, and try to enable some drivers back – until you figure out which one of them was causing the issue. Read More»
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September 04, 2008 by
Jason A lot of folks who use computers aren’t experts and don’t want to be. Does this sound like you? You don’t adjust the timing belt or change the spark plugs in your car you take it to a mechanic. Why should your PC be any different, you wonder? You think you’ll spend five minutes on a computer problem, and three hours later, you still aren’t any closer to fixing the problem. You might not even know what the problem is yet!
Rather than trying to become a PC mechanic overnight, there’s a simpler way to fix the engine and get back on the road one that can save both your time and your sanity. Better yet, it’s one of the easiest tools to use and is already included in Windows Vista it’s called System Restore.
Get back
System Restore is like a big “Undo” button for Windows. It lets you undo changes to your computer’s operating system and programs without affecting personal files such as documents or photos. It’s a great solution if a program you downloaded or installed doesn’t work right, and you can’t seem to uninstall it or get back to where you were before. Read More»
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Some users are experiencing problems with their USB flash drive even when they have been guaranteed that they are compatible with Windows Vista. This is usually due to the wrong software drivers being installed. When you plug in your USB flash drive for the first time you may be required to install the drivers for it, however most USB flash drives do not come with a CD containing their drivers. The majority of drivers for USB flash drives will already have been installed with Windows Vista, so when you are asked to install the driver software for your USB flash drive select Locate and install driver software and then on the next screen choose I don’t have the disc. Show me other options, unless you do have a disc with the driver software on it, in which case allow Windows Vista to search the CD for the correct driver. Assuming that you do not have a CD with the software on it, choose Browse my computer for driver software and then instruct Windows Vista to look for the driver software on the hard drive where you installed Windows Vista. Make sure that the Include subfolders checkbox has been checked and then press Next to search your hard drive for the driver software. Once the software has been found a window may appear telling you that Windows cannot verify the publisher of the software, and as long as you are confident that the drivers are correct, select Install this driver software anyway. You may need to repeat these steps two or three times as new USB devices are found and it is important that you complete these steps for every device, otherwise your USB flash drive will continue to not be recognised. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | No Comments »
Windows Vista, both the RTM and Service Pack 1 versions, can lose installed drivers in scenarios in which the computer is started via the Last Known Good Configuration feature. According to Microsoft not only Vista RTM/SP1 is affected, but also Windows Server 2008 RTM/SP1. Machines booted with the Last Known Good Configuration feature can have some .inf files removed from the %windir%\inf folder. In this context, the operating systems will also lose the installed drivers associated with the .inf files.
“These .inf files correspond to the drivers that are included with Windows. If you try to install a new device that uses an .inf file that has been deleted, you may receive an error message that resembles the following: “Driver not found.” If you try to reinstall the same version of driver that was originally serviced, the devices that use that .inf file may not work correctly,” Microsoft informed.
The Redmond company is offering no less than five updates designed to tackle these specific issues. The releases have been available for download since the end of the past week, and are tailored to both the 32-bit and 64-bit editions of Vista RTM/SP1, but also to the x86, x64 and Itanium-based Systems variants of Windows Server 2008. The updates will bring the platforms out of the inconsistent status generated by starting the computer with the Last Known Good Configuration feature. Read More»
Posted in Windows Vista | No Comments »
Whenever you play computer games that utilizes 3D graphics, a decent frame rate of about 25-30 frames per second is a prerequisite to make the games run smoothly and be at all enjoyable. If you play on a desktop PC, you always have the option to put in a more powerful graphics card, but that’s not an option with laptop computers. Another problem with laptops – but one that can be avoided – is the lack of updated graphics card drivers. Using updated drivers can provide better performance in new games thanks to game-specific fixes and improvements.
The Problem with OEM Drivers
Although both of the leading graphics card manufacturers (ATI/AMD and Nvidia) provide generic driver updates regularly that are designed to work with all of the respective manufacturer’s chips – even the laptop versions – most OEMs (laptop manufacturers) do not allow these to be installed on your laptop, since they prefer to use proprietary solutions for all their driver updates. As a result, you may be forced to use drivers that are as old as your laptop if the OEM doesn’t update their drivers on a regular basis, which is unfortunately often the case. Read More»
Posted in Hardware | 1 Comment »
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