Bring out yer dead. Mark your calendars of doom in ominous blood-red scrawl, for today is the day that American software beast Microsoft Corp. chopped the retail head off its stalwart XP operating system and held aloft (the still unpopular) Windows Vista as its now unavoidable successor.
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Hi Folks!

Windows vista is also causing lots of boot problems, so I often get questions like this:

I have a Dell Dimension, which won’t boot to Windows (Vista), and none the repair options work:

Startup repair: Reports fix fail due to problem with registry

System Restore: Reports no restore points available

Windows Complete PC Restore: Reports no backups available

Windows Memory Diagnostic Tool: No memory problems

Command Prompt.
Can’t think of any appropriate command to use here.

So I booted with the system DVD (as one would with XP) but the upgrade
option has been greyed don’t want to do a new setup. I want to restore existing
installation.

What should I do?

------------------------------------------------------------

So here is the answer:

You can't do a 'repair install' because you need to launch the Vista DVD
from within Windows, not, as you have been doing, booting straight from the
DVD; that is why the 'upgrade' is greyed out.

If you cannot launch Vista and none of the fix variants will work a clean
install is the only other option.

To save problems in future it is actually a good idea to image the hard
drive, using program like True Image. What I do is install operating system, download all updates, check system I working okay for a day or two, activate system, then create image of the whole drive/partition. Any time I get a problem I can re-image the drive/partition quickly and be up and running without much trouble. And minor repairs are done by using any registry repair software, there are plenty of them on the market today.

Regards,
Carl

Note that this is for Intel based systems only (mainly laptops) and you would be well advised to image your disk BEFORE YOU TRY THIS just in case something happens and you cannot boot your system (IMAGE, IMAGE, IMAGE!!!)

Once you have your disk images precede with the following:

Backup your registry or make a restore point just in case.

Under search: regedit
Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\

Locate: folder "iaStor"
Under "iaStor" you will find a folder named "Parameter" > delete this folder

Locate: folder "iaStorv"
Under "iaStorv" you will find a folder named "Parameter" > delete this folder

Reboot


Cheers,
Carl

Lets discuss quick way to fix slow working or moderately bugged Windows here.

First I would like to tell that there is crowd of windows fixing utilities available on the market today, free and shareware. But the truth is most of them are dangerous to your PC and can bug it even more. I've used many of it, mostly free ones. And then did complete re-install of Windows since it was locked completely. So my final solution is to use 2-4 programs that proved themselves in most cases. Here is my list of such Windows repair tools:

#1 RegistryEasy
#2 RegistryCure
#3 RegistryMechanic
#4 RegistrySmart

First 2 programs available at http://repair.repairandsecure.com .

And you can find other 2 at Download.com do not wish to post multiple links here.

Cheers,
Carl

Hi Folks!

This post opens set of articles devoted to computer security.

At first, I would like to give some basic definitions for variety of modern computer threats. All these threats are currently known as Malware.

Malware ("malicious software") is any program or file that is harmful to a computer or computer user. This would include, computer worms, viruses, Trojan horses, spyware, adware, keyloggers, web-page hijackers, driveby downloads, and any programming that gathers info about a computer user without their expressed permission.

6 years ago, the most security threats that most people came across were Viruses.

This is no longer the case!

There are new threats out; and they take no prisoners, no longer is an anti-virus application sufficient to stop the invaders, the web is a complex place and the technology is getting so advanced that you need to act now to protect your machine and your private\personal data.

A quick overview of some of the more common malware that you might find, sorted by level of threat:

SPYWARE

Spyware is any technology that aids in gathering info about a person or organisation without their knowledge. On the Internet (where it is sometimes called a spybot or tracking software), spyware is programming that is put in someone's computer to secretly gather information about the user and relay it to advertisers or other interested parties.

TROJAN

Trojans are malicious programs often used by hackers to attack target computers, usually to provide a backdoor into the system but sometimes just to cause destruction. Remote Access Trojans (RATs) are the most famous class of trojans and they usually come in two parts - a server that is sent to infect the victim, and a client that the hacker uses to connect to the server after the victim is infected. There are many ways that hackers can use to infect a target with a trojan, and careful security measures aren't always enough - a strong anti-trojan program can easily detect tens of thousands of trojans that would otherwise be near-impossible for a human to find.

VIRUS

An application or piece of code that is loaded onto your computer without your knowledge and runs against your wishes. Viruses can also replicate themselves. All computer viruses are manmade. A simple virus that can make a copy of itself over and over again is relatively easy to produce. Even such a simple virus is dangerous because it will quickly use all available memory and crash the system. An even more dangerous type of virus is one capable of transmitting itself across networks and bypassing security systems.

WORMS

Worms are in a similar category to viruses. Usually spread by email and containing their own email engine, they attempt to spread themselves to all the people in your address books, impacting greatly on network traffic on the web. Sometimes you will find viruses also contain Worm code so the virus is able to mail multiple people using its email engine, whilst infecting the machine with a specific virus, making the sender of the virus hard to find as it looks like it has come from someone you know.

KEYLOGGERS

A keylogger is an application that has been dropped onto a PC that actively monitors all your keystrokes and mouse clicks to try to capture both personal data, passwords, and browser habits, it will also capture any data entered on any web site including secure sites like online bank sites. This data is then stored in an encrypted text file either on the machine or sent to a pre-defined server for the sender of the keylogger to access at his discretion.

ADWARE

Adware is any software application in which advertising banners are displayed while the program is running. The authors of these applications include additional code that delivers the ads, which can be viewed through pop-up windows or through a bar that appears on a computer screen. The justification for adware is that it helps recover programming development cost and helps to hold down the cost for the user.

HIJACKERS

A hijacker is a expression used to explain a registry entry on your machine that has been placed there to re-direct your browser to another site, usually ad-purposed. These are not normally harmful for the machine, other that the fact that it will stop you from getting to the web site you wish to visit. It is more of a frustration than a security risk; however, some Hijackers will attempt to redirect you from Hijack deleting sites.

Hope you like this article. Next time I will write about tools used to prevent of/remove particular threat types listed here.

Regards,
Carl

Hi Folks!

Lets talk about how to remove and avoid spyware. Bad news are if some spyware is already at your PC it will be very hard to remove it even using multiple antispyware programs. Especially when spyware is something like "Antivirus2009" or Vundo. So my solution is:

1. Use Internet in wise manner. Around 98% of all computer threats is coming from the Internet. So please: Don't install any "Free" games or screen-savers from untrusted sites. How to find whether the site can be trusted? Install Google Toolbar with PageRank enabled. If PageRank (level of site popularity) is 5 or more then you can trust the site.

Don't click on the e-mail attachments from the unknown "friends".


2. Use spyware/virus blocking software, since it is much more easier to block new spywares then remove ones that already on your PC. Internet security suite must be installed on your PC. This is software that includes Firewall + Spyware\Virus Blocking, Email Filter in one box. There are plenty of such suites, I found the top ones on this site, check quality ratings: http://www.internetsecurity2.com .

Internet security suites provide solid protection and are able to stop around 80% of the threats. However, most of these suites have one lack: weak anti-spyware module. That's why I'm using additional anti-spyware preventing software from company that specializes in this specific sphere. Spybot, Spy Sweeper, products from ParetoLogic with large spyware database: http://antispamantispy.repairandsecure.com .


Use these advices and you will never be spywared again.

Cheers,
Carl