Computer Help – How to Repair a Slow Computer

One of the biggest frustrations when you are trying to work is a slow computer. Help desk personnel everywhere will tell you that this is by far the number one problem most users report. Even the newest and speediest machine can slow to a crawl if it is experiencing the top PC problem today: invalid registry entries.

Slow computer help is hard to find, but it’s something that you need to look into if your computer is running slow. There are many potential solutions to a slow computer, so be sure to know your options before pursuing any solution in particular.

Is your computer running too slowly, or does it constantly give you the blue screen of death? This happens to the majority of users, but fortunately there are a few things you can do that can help you solve the problem:

1. Get rid of useless programs: the average user has installed many programs that do nothing more than taking up valuable memory. You need to locate any program that you have no use for anymore and delete it. This will increase you PC’s speed significantly.
2. Remove all spyware and adware: most computers that are connected to the internet have spyware and adware on them. Every time you surf the net a few websites will drop some adware into you PC. You need to download a spyware cleaner in order to get rid of this problem, which considerably slows down your system.
3. Repair the registry: 90% of the time you see slow computers, registry errors are to blame. The registry is like a large repository that over time becomes bloated with useless files. After it gets corrupted, it becomes very difficult to locate any data and this causes a significant slow down in the operation of the system. In this case you will need to remove all the unnecessary entries, so as to free up some space. You must really know what you are doing, because if you remove the wrong entry your PC may crash.

Source: ezine

How do I make my PC run faster?

Free up hard drive space. Delete any unused files. Clear out your temporary internet files, recycle bin, et cetera. The best way to do this is to use Windows’ Disk Cleanup. Go to Start > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup. You may have to several minutes for Disk Cleanup to read your hard drive. You can check all of the boxes if you wish (recommended), but if there’s anything you want to save, keep it unchecked.

Uninstall any unused programs. Many new computers come loaded with unnecessary or — in some cases, even useless — programs that do nothing but to clog up your computer. Go to Start > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs (Windows XP) or Programs and Features (Windows Vista).

Change your Display settings to Windows Classic. Go to Start > Control Panel > Display (Windows XP) or Personalization (Windows Vista). If you are using Windows XP, click the appearance tab; if you are using Vista, click on Window Color and Appearance. Change the color scheme to Windows Classic and click OK.

Disable start-up programs. Go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > Run and type “msconfig”. Hit enter. Click on the Startup tab. Uncheck any start-up items you are not using or do not need. Some start-up items are necessary for the proper functioning of Windows, so do not disable anything if you are not 100% you do not need it.

Disable any unused or unnecessary services. Go to Start > Accessories > Run and type “services.msc”. Hit enter. You can disable any services you do not need or are not necessary for the proper functioning of your windows operating system. Do not make any changes unless you know precisely what you are doing. You can find out whether or not certain processes are necessary by looking up the service name online.

Use a registry repair program such as CCleaner to clear out any registry errors.

Use ReadyBoost. If you’re a Windows Vista user, you can use Readyboost by using a USB flash drive or a memory card to speed up your PC without having to add extra memory. Windows will automatically detect whether or not your flash drive or memory card can be used with ReadyBoost.

Source: examiner.com

Delay Outlook E-mail

Why would you want that? (Delay Outlook E-Mail)

Well, how many times have you sent a message then immediately thought “Darn, I also should have added…” or, the ever popular, “Man… I shouldn’t have said it that way”?

Yeah – I hear you. We’ve all done it way too many times for our liking.

So, with that in mind, may I suggest that we set Outlook to delay the message a few minutes after we hit the Send button?

Sound likes a good idea to me, so let’s get on with the “how to” of the solution to these types of problems.

First, you need to go to Outlook’s Tool menu, Rules and Alerts choice.

Once in the Rules and Alerts dialog box click the Create New Rule button. (My Outlook 2007 button was labeled simply as New Rule.)

At this point you should be looking at the first step of the Rules Wizard dialog box.

In the bottom section, Start from a blank rule, click “Check messages after sending”.

Now we’re ready to click the Next button.

Since we want to delay all messages that we send, simply click Next again to bypass setting any conditions for our rule.

Outlook may warn you that your rule will apply to all messages, click Yes to accept that information and move on.

This next step is where we select what actions Outlook should take with all of our outgoing messages.

Locate and select the “defer delivery by a number of minutes” choice.

Once this is selected and added to the syntax of the rule (bottom pane of the dialog box) you’ll find that the phrase “a number of” is a link. Click it.

You’ll now be presented with a dialog box where you set your time delay.

Obviously the choice is yours… how much time do you want added? Obviously enough to allow you to catch most problems but not so much that the extra time becomes an issue with someone.

Anyway, set a time and click OK.

After clicking OK you should find that the number of minutes you selected is now actually written in the email setup rule – but is still a link – so you can click the number and change it later if necessary.

Click the Next button.

The next step is to set any exceptions you want Outlook to make. If you really want all messages delayed then you leave all of this unselected and click the Next button.

Otherwise, set your exceptions then click the Next button.

In our last step you have an opportunity to name your new rule.

Enter a name that make sense to you and click the Finish button.

All your messages will go to the Outbox and be delayed before actually being sent.

Source:- http://www.worldstart.com/tips/tips.php/delay-outlook-email

How do you go back to a single boot from dual boot

1. If you want to return to windows XP after removing Vista or Win 7 and XP was installed on its own initially, you have to reinstate boot.ini, as follows:
- Boot from the XP CD and select the first repair option (R) which will take you to the Recovery Console.
- Type fixmbr and press Enter.
- Type fixboot and press Enter.
- Restart the computer.

If asked, type Y to the continue message.

2. If you want to return to Vista after removing another version of Vista or Windows 7 and the one you want to keep is the one that was first installed:
- It is much easier than returning to XP. Download EasyBCD, scroll down click here and get the instructions click here Just go to the Add/Remove Tab.

3. If you want to keep an operating system that was installed as a second system, it’s more complicated and you will have to post here which systems you have and what partitions you have.

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/forums/index.cfm?action=showthread&threadid=360591&forumid=23

4 ways to block spams from your Gmail Inbox

While Gmail doesn’t filter all spam messages that could reach your inbox, it still does a better job as compared to other webmails such as Yahoo Mail or Hotmail. Apart from consistent improvements being done on Gmail’s filters, the utmost ingredient that contribute to the overall effectiveness is the use of community signals. Whenever you click on the “Mark as spam” button, Gmail uses that information to block similar future messages not only for you, but for all Gmail users.

As a matter of fact, regardless of how good a system is, there’s always a small fraction of spams that manage to sneak up on our mailbox. So, here are few things that we can do to further eliminate spams attempt.

1. Block Image Spam

As the webmail filters get better, spam also evolves and becomes harder to block. This is particularly true when it uses images and literary texts. Here’s a simple Gmail trick to divert spam messages (contain images) to the Trash folder (or any folder you specify) automatically.

Step 1: Firstly you need to go to ‘Settings > Filters‘ and choose “Create a Filter”.

Step 2: Type ‘multipart/related .gif’ in the ‘Has the Words’ field and also check the ‘Has Attachment’ box.

Step 3: Click next and select “Delete It” to move the spam message directly to the GMail Trash folder.

Note: There’s a small chance of GMail filter triggering false positive and move few important emails from real senders to the Trash folder. To make sure this thing doesn’t happen, create a new folder (label) in gmail and change the instruction to redirect all related mails to the new folder. You can sort out the mails later on during your free time.

2. The Plus Hack
If you like to sign up for internet freebies or buy things online, this tip will definitely come handy. Creating alias emails for aforementioned activities which are very likely to spam you, is an effective way to completely reduce number of spams in your Gmail mailbox. Not only you can track who is the culprit and you can also accurately learn with whom your email is shared with.
To do this, simply put a ‘+’ after your account name and add words.

Example: I can do ‘eches+online_deal@gmail’ or ‘eches+spammer@gmail.com’. All these mails will come into your mailbox anyway, but they can easily be filtered to a folder and even to trash them.

3. The Googlemail Hack

When you registered with Gmail account, you are actually given two email addresses

yourusername @gmail.com
yourusername @googlemail.com

You can use both without having fear the later might not reach your mailbox. Like the above trick, you can take advantage of these two domains so that less spam reaches your Gmail Inbox via filtering system.
For example you distribute ‘yourusername @googlemail.com’ address to your close contacts while keeping the ‘yourusername @gmail.com’ address for public. Set filter such that all ‘yourusername @googlemail.com’ to be delivered to a special folder. This is a definitive way to ensure important messages not to be diverted to Trash folder by mistake.

4. The Dot Hack
Gmail doesn’t acknowledge dots (.) in your account name. So I can use ‘eches.net@gmail.com’ or without any dots at all. Either way will return to ‘echesnet@gmail.com’.

Again you can use the power of filter system to divert certain aliases to specific folders or directly to Trash folder.
I hope you can you use some of the tips above to reduce spams in your Gmail Inbox.

Again, these tips are not definitive ways to completely eliminate spams but they can effectively reduce the spam numbers.

Source:-  http://blog.eches.net/tips/4-ways-to-block-spams-from-your-gmail-inbox/

Windows vs Vista vs XP Entertainment

WINDOWS 7 VS WINDOWS VISTA VS WINDOWS XP ENTERTAINMENT

If you’re looking to create a specialist entertainment PC, Windows XP could be a reasonable choice. It demands little in the way of memory or CPU power, for example, so it will run well on the majority of older systems. Yet it’s still highly compatible with all the hardware you might need: TV tuner, wireless networking adaptor, memory card reader and so on.

There’s surprisingly little software support within XP, though, probably because Microsoft hived off most entertainment features into Windows Media Center (WMC). So if you want WMC-like functionality – such as the ability to watch and record TV, manage your music collection or browse your digital photos – then you’ll have to opt for a third-party tool. We recommend the free MediaPortal. It’s a remarkably powerful program, but be aware that it does occasionally throw up glitches.

Opt for Windows Vista instead and you’ll get Windows Media Center thrown in (with the Home Premium or Ultimate editions, anyway), and that makes a huge difference. Hardware manufacturers know that Media Center is the biggest player in the entertainment PC world right now, so they take a lot of care to ensure that their products are compatible. This means that you’re less likely to have codec problems. Vista extras such as improved networking connectivity, Windows DVD Maker and HD support in Movie Maker are welcome, too.

MEDIA MOGUL: Windows Media Center is essential for home entertainment PCs, but it's only available on Windows Vista or Windows 7

MEDIA MOGUL: Windows Media Center is essential for home entertainment PCs,but it’s only available on Windows Vista or Windows 7.

Windows 7 takes this a step further with improved support for HD displays, including the ability to calibrate a screen to ensure it’s accurately reproducing colours. It’s easier to share your media files around a home network, and the touch interface support makes sure that everything is easy to use (for those with touchscreen hardware, anyway). However, we’d bet that your budget for an entertainment PC is limited and that you won’t want to experience the driver-related issues that Windows 7 is bound to throw up in its first few months. So, while Windows 7 is bound to be a future winner, it’s overkill at the moment.

Our entertainment pick right now, then, is Windows Vista. It runs reasonably well on budget PCs, any performance issues it has won’t be a big deal for an entertainment system (with the possible exception of network transfers) and there’s plenty of compatible software and hardware available.

Meanwhile, Windows 7 is the best pick if you’ve got lots of money to spend or an HD touchscreen to hand and don’t mind the occasional delay when you discover that your TV tuner (or some other piece of kit) doesn’t work quite as it should on the new system. If your budget is limited, opt for XP instead. Shop around and you can put together an excellent entertainment system for just a few pounds.

Blaster Worm Virus

What is the Blaster Virus and How to Remove It

If your computer has been infected with the Blaster Worm Virus? Have you been cursing your machine wondering -

What is the Blaster Worm Virus

The Blaster Virus is one of the latest types of malware wreaking havoc across the internet at a record pace. The virus is aimed at Windows users (MAC users once again get a pass) and can cause potentially devastating effects if left on your system.

Unlike other viruses which are spread through email, the Blaster Worm Virus exploits a hole in the Remove Procedure Call (RPC) process. Once installed on your system you may notice your system repeatedly crashing when it attempts to connect to a network.

In order to protect yourself against the Blaster Worm Virus you need to install the latest Windows patch. This will not remove Blaster Virus but simply protect you against future attacks. The patch will close the security loophole in the RPC process.

Blaster Virus Fix

In order to remove the blaster worm virus you need the absolute latest in antivirus protection. Because the virus moves and changes itself so quickly the only programs that can remove it are the ones that stay on top of the viruses and have huge threat databases.

I use a program that not only has frequent updates but also the highest threat database (250,000 and counting) of any antivirus programs on the web. It will fix the blaster virus and remove any other unwanted types of malware on your computer. Scan your computer for free below.

Tired of viruses infecting your computer? Want to surf the web with the peace of mind that your computer is safe and secure? Get your free scan from the top virus protection at Spyware Fix.

Drive has Died

Hello !

today we want to talk about a common problem that can drive you mad
when it happends.

You open your “my computer” folder and your CD/DVD drives are gone !

Where did they do ?!

There are two possible causes:-

1. A physical issue, where the drive has died or a power or IDE cable
has somehow come unplugged. Do you see that the drives light is on?
Did someone open the computer lately for some reason?

2. A problem with the registry. This is not an uncommon problem. If
you have ruled out a problem with the drive itself, you should be
able to fix this issue by removing a couple registry keys.
Since working with the registry is dangerous**, you will want to
create a System Restore point before you begin:

Click on  Start >Programs > Accessories >System Tools >System Restore.

Editing the Registry
——————–

Make sure you are logged in as Administrator.

- Go to the Start >> Run and type regedit and press Enter to proceed. You will now
be in the system registry. Navigate down through the menus to
this point:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\
{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}.
You will see entries for UpperFilters and LowerFilters in the
right side of the screen. Highlight them one at a time and
click Edit, then Delete.
You might see an entry for UpperFilters.bak. It is not necessary
to remove it.
If you do not see entries for these filters, you will have to
do a system restore(***) to a point when you knew the drives were
working.

- Once both UpperFilter and LowerFilters have been deleted, exit
out of the registry editor and restart the PC. When Windows
reboots, it should find the drive again and install any basic
drivers automatically.

If you still have problems finding your CD or DVD drives, you should
use Reimage to a complete fix to your PC.

** If you feel the technical procedure is too much for you, or you
don’t want to take chances, use IYogi Technical Services and it will do all of it
(and more) automatically.

*** If you don’t have a restore point or don’t want/know how to use
is, Reimage will do all of it for you.

Definition – of Secure Socket L ayer (SSL)

SSL, or Secure Socket Layers, is what makes secure sites secure.

Here is the process that it works to keep sites secure. See the following:-

When we try to log onto a secure server it communicates with our browser for a few seconds. During this communication, it sends our browser encryption information that only it and our browser can read.

Once this encryption is set, it acts like a normal web page, except that all info coming or going is encrypted. This encryption makes it extremely difficult for any third party who would intercept the transaction to decipher it. (All this extra protection is why secure servers seem to run slower than their unsecure counterparts.)

Secure connections only protect the information as its coming and going, not when it’s just sitting on the server or we can say not active in Stand by mode.

That being said, we probably have a better chance of getting ripped off by a sales clerk copying your credit card number at a department store than getting your information stolen over the Internet.

You can tell a secure site by the first part of its web address. If it starts with https:// rather than http://  it is a secure site.

Source:- http://www.worldstart.com/tips/tips.php/definition-ssl

5 things I wish some people wouldn’t install on their PCs

Some of the 5 things are as given.

1. A second (or third…or fourth) antivirus program. Despite what we tell them, some people think “more is always better” when it comes to PC protection. Inevitably, those people end up bringing their computers in for service saying “it just slowed right down” and – here’s the kicker – “maybe it has a virus.”

So wait…You installed Norton, AVG, Spyware Doctor, and Ad-Aware because you thought it would keep out all the badness and you still think it’s a virus slowing down your machine? /facepalm

2. Just…one…more…toolbar (thank you J-Walk blog for the image). Apparently a lot of people love to search. So much, in fact, that they need dedicated toolbars for Google, Yahoo, Ask, Live, MyWebSearch, and a handful of others. They wind up with less browser real estate than an iPhone on their 22″ LCD.

3. Applications with annoying avatars.
Bonzi Buddy is dead, and for a good reason. Isn’t an AOL-style “You’ve Got Mail!” alert good enough? Apparently not for some people. No, they need to have some snooty butler announce the arrival of every message like he’s Alfred bringing Bruce Wayne a phone call from the mayor.

4. P2P Applications. Don’t get me wrong – it’s not apps like Frostwire, uTorrent, and eMule that I have a problem with. But if you’re not going to take the time to learn how to configure these things, don’t use them. And don’t call and get uppity when your internet connection slows to a crawl and tell me I screwed things up.

5. Piggybacked programs. I’m shocked how much software people wind up with on their PCs that they never use and claim to not know how it got there.

Checkboxes are there for a reason, folks. You don’t have to install Safari. You don’t have to install Adobe Media Player. Remember that Ask toolbar? You probably could have opted out of that, too – if you would take a second to read before you click. If I put food in front of you, you wouldn’t just grab it and eat it without looking, right?