My Computer Girl's Tips & Tricks

Removal of Spyware, Malware, Adware, Viruses

2008-06-26T10:36:00.001-04:00

You will find your best results in SafeMode.


Information about malware:  
http://arstechnica.com/articles/paedia/malware.ars

Thes will assist you in checking your system for parasites:  

http://aumha.org/a/noads.htm 

http://inetexplorer.mvps.org/tshoot.html


*LSPfix
Please note that some malware may kill the internet connection when it is removed,
the program on the link below will enable you to regain the internet connection.
Download this before you remove and keep on hand for future occurances.
http://www.cexx.org/lspfix.htm


Unexplained computer behavior may be caused by third-party software:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;827315

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/default.mspx



Spyware Programs links: 

Ad-Aware  
www.lavasoftusa.com 

Spybot  
www.security.kolla.de

CWShredder
http://www.intermute.com/products/cwshredder.html

SpywareBlaster
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

Dealing with Unwanted Spyware, Parasites, Toolbars and Search Engines
http://mvps.org/winhelp2002/unwanted.htm

Home Page Setting Changes Unexpectedly, or You Cannot Change Your Home Page Setting
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=320159

Downloadable McAfee AVERT Stinger
http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/
Temporary, stand-alone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses.
Stinger utilizes next generation scan engine technology, including process scanning,
digitally signed DAT files, and scan performance optimizations.


Online security/virus checks:

Symantec
http://security.norton.com/sscv6/default.asp?langid=ie&venid=sym

Trend Micro House Call
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Panda ActiveScan
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm

McAfee FreeScan
http://us.mcafee.com/root/mfs/default.asp

Kaspersky Labs On-line Virus Checker
http://www.kaspersky.com/remoteviruschk.html

BitDefender Online Scan
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/licence.php


Contact a professional to help you:  www.MyComputerGirl.com

Windows Update [Error number: 0x8007043C]

2008-06-26T10:13:00.002-04:00

I have had this error many times and thought
I should put on my blog for if anything, quick retrival of the info when I need
it. It also may help you.

Open the command prompt or run box and execute the following commands:

regsvr32 wuapi.dll
regsvr32 wuaueng.dll
regsvr32 wuaueng1.dll
regsvr32 wucltui.dll
regsvr32 wups.dll
regsvr32 wuweb.dll

Contact a professional to help you: www.MyComputerGirl.com

Access or Uninstall TrendMicro; When You Have Forgotten the Password

2008-06-17T22:02:00.010-04:00

I recently had to uninstall the Trend OfficeScan for SBS & Security Server for SMB, and wouldn't you know it, they didn't have the password for the software that they installed and setup.

Need to reset the TrendMicro password to access or
uninstall it and force the change on all your client PC's?

1. Edit the file Ofcscan.ini under the folder \PCCSRV of your Officescan Server directory.

2. Search for the Master_Pwd under the [INI_SERVER_SECTION].

3. Then change the equivalent value into 70. This would give you a password of 1.

4. Make sure that you save the Ofcscan.ini file after changing the value of the Master Password.

Ofcscan.ini, most likely located in the default location: "C:\Program Files\Trend Micro\OfficeScan Client". If not just do a search for it.

Save the ini file and begin. Now enter 1 as the password.

Need to reset the TrendMicro Security Server for SMB password?

1. Go to the c:\Program Files\Trend Micro\Security server\PCCSRV\Private directory or where ever you have installed the program. Note: You may need to stop the TrendMicro services. If you can’t find this directory then just do a search for the file.

2. Open the ofcserver.ini file.

3. Look for the MasterPwd= parameter under the [INI_SERVER_SECTION] section.

4. Replace the MasterPwd= value with 70 .

5. Save and close the ofcserver.ini file.

6. Restart TM Security server Master Service if you need to get into the console itself, or just start your uninstaller.

7. Log into the Security dashboard and type 1 as the password or start your uninstaller and type the password 1.

Contact a professional to help you: www.MyComputerGirl.com

Quickbooks fatal exception error

2008-06-13T20:14:00.003-04:00

I recently had a client who couldn't get his quickbooks to open and stay open without throwing up an error before crashing and closing. Couldn't find anything on the error but realized that after opeing the program that it was hanging open for a good minute or 2 before giving the error. I noticed on the 3rd try that to the left in the open windows view there where HUNDREDS(not sure how many) of windows opening, so I quickly started closing them as fast as I could click. I clicked until the program stayed open and then realized the where all reports he had run and never closed. After I that I opened and closed a couple times to make sure and go the updates for QB as well.

The error he was getting was:
qbw32.exe fatal application error (m=1188, l=3476 c=315, v=0(0x0))
Instructions @ 0x00401223 reterned memory at 0x048c073c memory could not be read.
Who knows this may just be your fix for this same error, if not you should post so otheres will know what to do.

Contact a professional to help you: www.MyComputerGirl.com

Five services that you may want to disable

2008-06-11T22:34:00.003-04:00

Five services that you may want to disable:

1. Simple File Sharing

2. SSDP Discovery Service

3. Universal Plug and Play Device Host

4. Telnet

5. Windows Messenger Service

Contact a professional to help you:
www.MyComputerGirl.com

Windows login dialog boxes are Black and can't see to log in.

2008-05-06T23:41:00.001-04:00

I thought it was some freaky video card glitch and tried several things before I decided to look up my issues and low and behold, I wasn't the only one....Go Figure.

Anyway, I have posted the info that helped me below. Thank you Todd J Heron!

Newsgroups: microsoft.public.windows.server.general

From: "Todd J Heron" ...@hotmail.com>

Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2005 13:03:38 -0500

Local: Tues, Mar 1 2005 1:03 pm

Subject: Re: Windows 2k3 Server shows black login screen

   Reply to author   |   Forward   | Print   | Individual message   | Show original   | Find messages by this author   

The color schemes in the computer's default profile may have been set to
black for every scheme element. Please review the below steps for this may
resolve your issue:
On the Windows 2003 Server this can be verified by navigating to the
following registry key:

HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Colors
If this is the issue all colors scheme element registry values will be set
to 0. Compare this with a known good copy below:

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Colors]
"ActiveBorder"="212 208 200"
"ActiveTitle"="0 84 227"
"AppWorkSpace"="128 128 128"
"Background"="0 78 152"
"ButtonAlternateFace"="181 181 181"
"ButtonDkShadow"="113 111 100"
"ButtonFace"="236 233 216"
"ButtonHilight"="255 255 255"
"ButtonLight"="241 239 226"
"ButtonShadow"="172 168 153"
"ButtonText"="0 0 0"
"GradientActiveTitle"="61 149 255"
"GradientInactiveTitle"="157 185 235"
"GrayText"="172 168 153"
"Hilight"="49 106 197"
"HilightText"="255 255 255"
"HotTrackingColor"="0 0 128"
"InactiveBorder"="212 208 200"
"InactiveTitle"="122 150 223"
"InactiveTitleText"="216 228 248"
"InfoText"="0 0 0"
"InfoWindow"="255 255 225"
"Menu"="255 255 255"
"MenuText"="0 0 0"
"Scrollbar"="212 208 200"
"TitleText"="255 255 255"
"Window"="255 255 255"
"WindowFrame"="0 0 0"
"WindowText"="0 0 0"
"MenuHilight"="49 106 197"
"MenuBar"="236 233 216"

There is two ways to fix this problem:

1. Export the registry key from a known good machine into a .REG file.
Import the .REG file into the new machine.

2. You can also construct/copy-paste the following information into a text
file and give it a file name with a .REG extension.

DON'T FORGET TO BACKUP THE REG BEFORE YOU START.
This posting is provided "as is" with no warranties and confers no rights.

Contact a professional to help you:
www.MyComputerGirl.com

How to PROPERLY forward e-mails

2008-02-17T16:34:00.003-05:00

I know I have written an article on this before,
but here is one that is better.
Author unknown:

HOW TO FORWARD E-MAIL APPROPRIATELY

A friend who is a computer expert received the following message directly from a system administrator for a large corporation. It is an excellent message that ABSOLUTELY applies to ALL of us who send e-mails. Please read the short letter below, even if you're sure you already follow proper procedures.. Do you really know how to forward e-mails? 10% of us do; 90% DO NOT. Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail? Do you hate it?

Every time you forward an e-mail there is information left over from the people who got the message before you, namely their e-mail addresses & names. As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds, and builds, and builds, and all it takes is for some poor sap to get a virus, and his or her computer can send that virus to every e-mail address that has come across his computer. Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and he will make five cents for each hit. That's right, all of that inconvenience over a nickel!

How do you stop it? Well, there are several easy steps:

(1) When you forward an e-mail DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message (at the top ). That's right, DELETE them. Highlight them and delete them, backspace them, cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It only takes a second. You MUST click the 'Forward' button first and then you will have full editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message. If you don't click on 'Forward' first , you won't be able to edit the message at all.

(2) Whenever you send an e-mail to more than one person, do NOT use the To: or Cc: fields for adding e-mail addresses.Always use the BCC : (blind carbon copy) field for listing the e-mail addresses. This is the way the people you send to will only see their own e-mail address. If you don't see your Bcc: option click on where it says To: and your address list will appear. Highlight the address and choose Bcc: and that's it, it's that easy! When you send to Bcc: your message will automatically say 'Undisclosed Recipients' in the 'To:' field of the people who receive it.

(3) Remove any 'FW :' in the subject line. You can re-name the subject if you wish, or even fix spelling.

(4) ALWAYS hit your Forward button from the actual e-mail you are reading. Ever get those e-mails that you have to open 10 pages to read the one page with the information on it? By forwarding from the actual page you wish someone to view, you stop them from having to open many e-mails just to see what you sent. I know if I discover I must open umpteen paper clips or emails, I get frustrated and just delete before I ever get to the one I'm supposed to read!

(5) Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition? It states a position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10 or 15 people or your entire address book. The email can be forwarded on and on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses. A FACT: The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and email addresses contained therein. If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient. Your position may carry more might as a personal letter than a laundry list of names and email address on a petition.(Actually, if you think about it, who's actually supposed to send the petition in to whatever cause it supports? And don 't believe the ones that say that the email is being traced, it just isn't so!)

(6) One of the main ones I hate is the one that says that like, 'Send this email to 10 people and you'll see something great run across your screen.' Or, sometimes they'll just tease you by saying something really cute will happen IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN!!!!! (Trust me, I'm still seeing some of the same ones that I waited on 10 years ago!) I don't let the bad luck ones scare me either, they get trashed. (Could be why I haven won the lottery??)
Something really cute: http://tubevube.com/user.php

(7) Before you forward an Amber Alert, or a Virus Alert, or some of the other ones floating around nowadays, check them outbefore you forward them. Most of them are junk mail that's been circling the net for YEARS! Just bout everything you receive in an email that is in question can be checked out at Snopes. Just go to http://www.snopes.com/

It's really easy to find out if it's real or not. If it's not, please don't pass it on. So please, in the future, let's stop the junk mail and the viruses.

Finally, here's an idea!!! Let's send this to everyone we know (but strip my address off first, please). This information is something that SHOULD be forwarded.

www.mycomputergirl.com

res://C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SHDOCLC.DLL/dnserror.htm#

2008-02-14T17:43:00.001-05:00

If you get this error it could be possible that you have gotten into something that has corrupted your. You can either run a tool, which is much easier or go through the command prompt and do it manually. If you can't get access to the tool then you will have no other choice than to manually recover from winsock corruption.

Download winsock fix utility

If you can't get the utility try these instructions or visit microsoft for more instructions and info.
*This fix is for XP with SPK2 installed. See Microsoft for other instructions.

1.	Log on to the Microsoft Windows XP workstation as an administrator.
2.	Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.
3.	At the command prompt, type the following, and then press ENTER: netsh Winsock reset When the program is finished, you will receive the following message: Successfully reset the Winsock Catalog. You must restart the machine in order to complete the reset. If you receive this message, go to step 4. If you are not logged in as an administrator, you will receive the following error message: Unable to reset the Winsock Catalog. Access is denied. If you receive this message, log off the computer, and then log back on by using an account with Administrator access. Typically, the first user account that was created has Administrator access. Then, repeat steps 2 and 3.
4. 5.	Restart your computer. Test your browser. Easiest web page to display is www.google.com www.MyComputerGirl.com

Windows Installer Cleanup Utility

2008-01-31T19:28:00.002-05:00

Download the Windows Installer Cleanup Utility package now.

***Read all the details and directions on Microsofts support page here.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/290301

Having issues with a program not installing properly and won't un-install? Give this a whirl. Read the details and warnings that Microsoft give you on this support page.

*Microsoft Warning
Warning The Windows Installer CleanUp Utility is provided "as is" to help resolve installation problems for programs that use Microsoft Windows Installer. If you use this utility, you may have to reinstall other programs. Caution is advised. We recommend that you do not use this utility with 2007 Office system products.

*Warning, we are not responsible for your actions, so seek professional help when attempting computer repair.

www.MyComputerGirl.com

Ports you need to open for Exchange, Email & RDP

2008-01-17T18:53:00.002-05:00

80 HTTP
25 SMTP
21 FTP
53 DNS
153 DNS-RCP
443 SSL
3389 RDP

www.MyComputerGirl.com

Removing Saved Passwords & Network Credentials

2007-12-28T12:08:00.001-05:00

Need to remove cached credentials or saved passwords? Easy enough, just go to start/run/rundll32.exe keymgr.dll, KRShowKeyMgr and hit the enter key, the stored user names and passwords box will appear.

Windows can store your logon information for network locations and web sites. To add an entry. click add. to edit an existing entry, select it and then click properties. To removed select all items that you wish to remove and click remove.

www.MyComputerGirl.com

Hide Your Files and Folders with Phantom Folders

2007-11-04T09:17:00.001-05:00

Phantom Folders is a great way to secure and hide your files and folders.

Check out Phantom Folders at PCMagazine
for more details on how it all works.

Or you can just download the program by following this link.
Download Now: FolderPhantomSetup.zip

www.MyComputerGirl.com

Windows Keyboard Shortcuts

2007-06-06T15:49:00.001-04:00

List of Windows Keyboard Shortcuts

These shortcuts help you
select text to cut, copy, or Paste,

if you don't feel like using your mouse. Try the shortcuts on the text you
see here.

To extend a selection...
Press these keys

One character right
SHIFT+RIGHT ARROW

One character left
SHIFT+LEFT ARROW

To end of a word
CTRL+SHIFT+RIGHT ARROW

To beginning of a word
CTRL+SHIFT+LEFT ARROW

To end of a line
SHIFT+END

To beginning of a line
SHIFT+HOME

One line down
SHIFT+DOWN ARROW

One line up
SHIFT+UP ARROW

To the end of a paragraph
CTRL+SHIFT+DOWN ARROW

To the beginning of a paragraph
CTRL+SHIFT+UP ARROW

One screen down
SHIFT+PAGE DOWN

One screen up
SHIFT+PAGE UP

To the end of a window
ALT+CTRL+PAGE DOWN

To the beginning of a document
CTRL+SHIFT+HOME

To include the entire document
CTRL+A

www.MyComputerGirl.com

Installing more than one operating system (MULTIBOOT)

2007-06-05T09:56:00.001-04:00

When you install the new version of Windows, you can keep an older version of Windows on your computer. This is often called a multiboot or dual-boot configuration.

See Microsoft for more details on this.
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/8572be9b-8580-49f7-9719-b3a4c42749fe1033.mspx

www.MyComputerGirl.com

5-Star Competitive Upgrade - Now For All Antispyware

2007-06-04T11:21:00.001-04:00

This is only till the end of June. You can't beat this deal. I am going to give this a whirl myself.

CounterSpy™ V2 Competitive Upgrade
Half Price (50%) Competitive Upgrade OfferSunbelt Software is pleased to offer a Competitive Upgrade Discount of 50% when you switch from a competitor's product.We realize that you may have invested time and/or money in similar software from other vendors. If you would like to upgrade to CounterSpy and get a 5-Star product, we are offering an excellent competitive upgrade discount.In order to get your competitive upgrade discount, you must submit the following information before the discount can be provided. Once we have this information, we will send you directly to our webstore with a coupon which entitles you to a 50% discount on a single license for your purchase of CounterSpy, now only $9.95! (US)

CounterSpy 2 is tough on spyware, adware, rootkits, and other malware, but is light on system resources and memory. Advantages of CounterSpy 2: Heavy-duty antispyware protection treads lightly on system resources. Kernel-level Active Protection defends 24-7. Hybrid design combines antimalware technology with our award-winning spyware detection and removal. Deep-rooted malware is exterminated at boot time, before Windows loads. Incremental definition updates greatly reduce update downloading time. Vista compatible: Integrates seamlessly with the Vista Windows Security Center.
Version 2.1.946 may include unspecified updates, enhancements, or bug fixes.

Hurry before the sale ends.

www.MyComputerGirl.com

Bad Motherboard, Bad Capasitors

2007-06-04T09:45:00.001-04:00

If you are suffering from 1 or all then you may have a bad motherboard.

Symptoms:
Motherboard fails to POST.
Memory Test Fails.
System randomly and/or constantly reboots itself.
Fails to fully boot (or even install) Operating System.
System randomly and frequently freezes.
Random & frequent 'Blue Screens of Death'
BSoD or hard freeze under heavy drive activity (Either RAID, SCSI, or standard ATA) CPU temps abnormally higher than usual under typical or less load.
CPU VCORE & other system voltages are erratic or far out of tolerances. Resetting the system after a freeze and the system will not repost. (You have to completely power down then power back up.)
You have reinstalled the OS a few times when no physical capacitor failure was visible

One way to knock it out quick is to do a physical exam. Power down the machine and in good lighting, look at the capacitors. If they are bulging, leaking or burst then stop what you are doing for the only way to fix that is replace the board. If it is a fairly new machine, research the model and order the same one or call a technician to fix it for you.

Capacitors look okay. Sometimes it takes time for a faulty capacitor to reveal itself.

What is a capacitor? They look like pills with silver caps all over the board. They have an X across them. The X is for easy determining bulges.

What causes this to happened? Could have been a faulty board or capacitor to begin with, static electrical shock, surges, or a bad power supply, especially one registering lower than normal volts.

"Capacitor Plague is when a flawed electrolytic capacitor prematurely deteriorates and dries up. Once this happens the gas in the capacitor will expand with heat and build up a great pressure inside the capacitor. When the pressure builds up, the capacitor will expand (bulge), leak, burst or explode. During this time the capacitance will vary widely and may even short out"

"ASTi Application Note 65: "Capacitor Plague" Remediation." Advanced Simulation Technology, inc.. ASTi. 4 Jun 2007 .

Check out these sites for more details and pictures of blown capacitors.
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=195
http://www.badcaps.net/ident/

www.MyComputerGirl.com

Vista Transformation Pack 6 Final

2007-05-24T16:31:00.004-04:00

Vista Transformation Pack description

I’m pretty sure you must know and have seen Windows Vista before. It looks really nice for major GUI updates. Many people who have seen it wish to get Vista-style looks for their operating system.
This program will transform your Windows user interface to ultimate Windows Vista look-alike, no one will ever notice it’s the same old Windows XP.
You can upgrade your look without upgrading your OS or machine. Gives you the look and feel of Vista.

Things you should know before installing.
http://www.jcxp.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=14801

For Help or Support.
JCXP - Vista Transformation Pack Help and Support / FAQ

As always, you are responsible for any changes you make or problems that may occur with this program. WE are not responsible for any issues or problems that may arrise from you downloading and running this program. Always backup your data before making changes.

www.MyComputerGirl.com

How to get SUED by Microsoft

2007-05-14T15:40:00.002-04:00

Check out this article by: Ed Bott
How to get sued by Microsoft.

You otta' know article.

www.MyComputerGirl.com

Super Spammers

2007-05-14T15:00:00.001-04:00

They are like cockroaches these people. They have become much more sophisticated in their tactics. As spam filters get smarter they have to find new tricks to get around them. One of the ways they can get by the filters is with a string of words that make no sense. This overwhelms the spam filters making it harder for them to determine if a message is spam.

“Nonsense messages”
Also called “Selfless Spam” or “Word Salad”. This is an email that is usually babble, which leads to nothing. The purpose is to confuse spam filters, which makes them less effective and a way to slip in like a cockroach. It doesn’t benefit them directly, but all spammers, by messing with the filtering of spam itself.

“Web Bugs or Beacons”
Then we have those that aren’t selfless at all. HTML formatted spam may contain "web beacons" or "web bugs" embedded in them. These tiny transparent images are about (1 pixel). They can also be the same color as the background. These tiny images are linked to content on the spammer's server, so when you view the email, your computer sends a request back to that server letting the spammer know that he has a "live" email address along with your IP address, & the exact time you viewed the content.

Two ways to protect yourself:

Configure your email client not to download images whose URLs are embedded in HTML messages or using a text-based mail client. Newer email programs are set to block these images by default. That's why you find that you get messages with the images missing.

Turn off the preview pane in each folder view that you set up. You can do this by going to View in Outlook, then reading pane, click off.

As usual, only open emails from people you know of and if it looks funny then delete it.
There are many spam programs you can use, most internet security antivirus packages come with a spam filter built in but you may have to configure it. Also, there are a some, 3rd party anti-spam programs out there as well.

www.MyComputerGirl.com

QuickBook Update Errors & Digital Signatures

2007-05-04T14:59:00.001-04:00

First you need to scout out any expired Intuit certificates. Go to
Internet Properties, click on the Content tab, then Certificates and then follow
the visual aids that I have supplied you for the rest.

Then search for the Intuit certificate and delete it.

After this try your install again. When you see this screen below you will
want to click on the link Publisher: Intuit, Inc.

Follow the visuals that I have supplied for you below.

Hit OK and continue with your update. If this does not work for you
then research any error codes that it is giving you on the Intuit site or call
for support.

Sometimes just resetting the update in QuickBooks update section itself and
re-downloading the whole thing will fix you issue as well.

Remember, as always we are not responsible for any damages you may cause or
incur by anything you do from the help files in this site.

www.MyComputerGirl.com

Early DST May Bring Your PC Some Grief

2007-02-19T22:50:00.001-05:00

Daylight Saving Time is 3 weeks early this year and will end 1 week later when we fall back.

This is okay for us to adjust to but not all PC's will feel the same. Unless certain updates are applied to your computer, you may have find that time synchronized programs may disruptive and calendars will be off for up to 4 weeks, untill it catches up at the usual time. So to avoid any issues before hand it is a good idea to make sure both your Windows operating system and calendar programs have been patched.

See Microsoft for more details and run the daylight savings time guide.
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst

Home users: If you use Windows Vista or have Automatic Updates turned on, you may not be affected by the change in daylight saving time. But is better to be safe than sorry.

www.MyComputerGirl.com

CD-ROM access is missing and messages cite error code.

2007-02-07T21:39:00.000-05:00

CD-Rom stops working. After checking device manager you find an exclamation mark on the drive. It doesn't mean the drive is dead. It could be an upperfilter or lowerfilter registry issue that is keeping you from accessing the cd drive.

This fix worked for my client:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/XP_CD-DVD-Fix.zip

Also, try this fix from microsoft.

CD-ROM access is missing and messages cite error code 31, code 32, code 19, code 39, or code 41.

Try this before replacing the drive and remember that you may have to reinstall some burning software.

Backup registry before attempting any changes.

Microsoft Office 2007 schedules for release, Jan. 30th

2007-01-10T17:25:00.003-05:00

Microsoft did a bang up job, totally overhauling and improving their Office programs. It has been well worth the wait. Not only is it better, but it has tons of new features and a brighter sharper image.
Check out pricing:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/products/FX101754511033.aspx

I have been Beta testing for 2months now, and I REALLY like it, now that they have fixed the issues I had in the beginning. I think you will like it too.

www.MyComputerGirl.com

Delay when opening "My Computer" or "Explorer"

2006-12-12T18:39:00.002-05:00

When opening "My Computer" or "Explorer" you wait for several seconds and watch the little flashlight roll back and forth before finally opening. Annoying but not critical. I have seen this problem only twice and found that this fix worked for me.

Open REGEDIT, back it up, and then go to the appropriate keys and make the changes as seen below.

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\stisvc]
"Start"=dword:00000004

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersionPolicies\Explorer] "NoSaveSettings"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersionExplorer\Advanced]"NoNetCrawling"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersionPolicies\Explorer]"NoRemoteRecursiveEvents"=dword:00000001

Reboot your PC and then open My Computer, it should snap open. If not you may have other issues that are more serious.

If you are unfamiliar with modifying the registry I recommend you call a professional. And remember that we are not responsible for any damages that could occur from YOU changing the registry.

http://www.mycomputergirl.com/

TCO of your computer & how to look at it.

2006-11-12T17:32:00.001-05:00

I had a call from a couple, giving several symptoms of their problems with their computer. With one or many things that it could be, but I needed to see it and gave them my rate and some ideas of what it could be. To MY SURPRISE, the woman snatches the phone and starts hollering that SHE knew what I was up to that I was just trying to make money. I had to remind her that she called ME and was free to call anyone, and that computers came at a cost with ownership.

So with that little anecdote out of the way, I will tell you why I told you this story. I want to make you aware of the TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) of a personal computer.

It is estimated that the TCO is 3 to 4 times GREATER than that of the purchase price. With computer prices SO LOW, so is the quality and therefore the life span.

The best comparison I can give you is that of a 99 cent pack of chicken hotdogs to that of a prime steak. If you ate a cheap hotdogs everyday you would pay more for it in the long run with your health or life. The same goes with these cheap computers now days. They ARE more affordable but they just don't last as long as they used to, which can be good for they go out of date SO FAST anyway. I also like to look at it like cheap shoes, they wear out faster but hey, you get to buy a NEW BETTER PAIR when they do. LOL, yes "I AM WOMAN!"

Another thing to remind you of when owning a computer, user error is inevitable. Computer USERS tend to cause most of there own headaches. Although this is NOT on purpose, it still is. Like RONCO says, "You can't set it and forget it." With all that said, I hope you have a better understanding of TCO when buying or when you own a computer. It is not the technicians fault nor is it a conspiracy.

P-)
Hope this has helped

www.MyComputerGirl.com