Sunday, March 22, 2009

Vista Computer Freezing - Windows Vista Keeps Freezing, How Do I Fix It?

Tired of your Vista computer freezing? Want to know how to fix Vista freezing problems? Well you have come to the right place. Computer freezing can be a real pest to deal with. Especially if you had been working on an important document, playing a game, or had saved information you needed. Sometimes whatever you were working on can be lost forever. And this can happen at random times, often completely out of the blue. When Windows Vista keeps freezing you may get the following symptoms:

• Vista completely freezes, not allowing you to do anything. This forces you to have to manually restart your system, causing further damage due to improperly shutting down your computer.

• Windows Vista locks up and shows a blue screen of death. This causes the system to reboot, performing a physical memory dump.

• Whatever program you are using stops working while the mouse seems frozen on the hour glass symbol. This forces you to hit alt/control/delete to fix it.

The #1 cause of Vista computer freezing is running too many programs at once. If this problems occurs when having too many things open then there are really only 2 solutions. Do not run so many programs or purchase additional RAM to meet specific requirements.

If Windows Vista keeps freezing and the problem is not running too many programs, then the issue lies in the registry. The Windows Vista registry controls information to run all software programs and hardware devices.

Often times the registry becomes congested with corrupt files and errors which inhibits your computers ability to communicate effectively. When your system cannot communicate it freezes up.

The only way to fix Vista freezing in this case is to scan your computer for registry errors. I recommend download top flight software that can automate the process for you. This way you will not only stop Vista computer freezing, but also prevent it from happening in the future.

By Jim Marshall

Sick of your computer freezing up? Want to repair computer errors the easy way? Scan your computer for free and fix corrupt registry problems with the #1 registry cleaner on the internet. After scanning your computer, I promise you will be quite surprised by all the errors on your system

http://www.registry-clean-up.net

Jim Marshall is a computer technician expert with over 15 years in the industry. He has an intimate knowledge of the windows registry and various register repair software. After testing some of the top registry cleaners on the market, he has created a comprehensive review site that details his findings

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jim_Marshall

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Best Remote Access Software

Let me tell you my own story that led me to do my own search for the best remote access software out there. About three years ago my wife gave birth to our second child. I work from home, and the only extra room in the house happened to be my home office.

So as you can probably guess, the new baby kind of took over my office space, and by extension, also took over my main desktop computer. Now normally this would not have been a problem, since we also have two laptops in the house. But what happened was is I basically found that it was becoming more and more of a waste of time to have to keep transferring files back and forth between the two computers.

What I needed, at least until we worked out a solution that would let my new son get the sleep he needed while still giving me access to my computer during the evening, was a way to access the main computer even when I couldn't necessarily access my office.

Enter remote access software. I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical that it would even work at first. You know how things are with computers -- there's ALWAYS something that gets screwed up and requires some calls to a support line. (And if you're lucky, whoever is on the other end of the line will actually speak the same language as you.)

So it was with that in mind that I downloaded and installed some of the remote access packages that I found online. I'll get to the ones that I think are the absolute best in the second, but first I just wanted to give you an idea of how these things work.

So, like I said, here I was all ready to be completely frustrated because this plug-in or that update or the other pre-requisite software wasn't installed properly and the installation of my remote access software wasn't going to work as it should.

I could not have been more wrong. I am not kidding when I tell you that this was one of the first times I had ever truly been blown away by what a piece of software could do.

I would say it took probably about 10 minutes before I was completely set up, logged in, and -- I am NOT kidding you -- controlling my desktop computer from my laptop. Now, I want to be clear about this -- I'm not talking about "sort of" or "virtually" being able to get to files on my main computer. I'm talking about literally controlling that computer, and everything about it, remotely.

I'm pretty lucky because, as I said, I do get to work from home, so in a true emergency if I really ever needed to get back into my office to get to my computer I certainly could (my son would have just had to miss a few minutes of sleep that night). But for people who don't have it as good as I do -- who live 15 minutes or half an hour or a full hour away from their office -- I can see how this kind of program could be an absolute lifesaver. Not to mention a relationship saver if your significant other doesn't like your workaholic tendencies.

All in all I do have to say that remote access software in general is some of the most impressive stuff I've come across in recent years (the other being voice-recognition dictation software -- but that's for another article; you wouldn't believe this stuff!) and it definitely does work as advertised, as long as you get a quality package.

By Harry J. Andersohn

I tried out a bunch of remote access software and narrowed the list of programs you should try down to only two. And here's the best part -- you can get the one I think is the absolute best for free. Go right here now: Best Remote Access Software to watch my video review of the package I recommend (and to get the link where you can download it for free.)

There's also this video I found on YouTube that also covers the Best Remote Access Software

Hope this helps and good luck as always!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Harry_J._Andersohn

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Accessing Your Data Remotely

Remote access: The ability to log onto a network from a distant location. Generally, this implies a computer, a modem, and some remote access software to connect to the network.

We live in and increasingly mobile society. We travel more for work, personal pleasure and in some cases we even have jobs where we are expected to work from home. Obviously there are heaps of advantages to this kind of mobile lifestyle, but there are also some challenges. The challenge we want to discuss here is maintaining consistent, secure access to your information.

There are a few ways that you can get access to information from remote servers and personal computers. All of them have their advantages and disadvantages. What we all want to accomplish is access to information where and when we need it. Here are some ways you can get access to your information remotely;

· Put the information into your own website that has a secure log-in

· Get access through a VPN (virtual private network) on the Internet

· Get some Remote access software that hooks you up to your personal PC

· Use remote control software for managing a PC from another PC

· Keep your data on a secure third party server

There are pro's and con's to all of the different methods above. Here are some of the considerations;

· Is your data secure?

· Is the software you are using to get to your data quick to install on a remote PC?

· Is the PC where the data is stored always hooked to the internet?

· Does your PC have firewall protection to prevent unwanted access?

· Is your PC always powered up and ready to go?

· Does anyone else have access to your PC that could turn it off and cause you to loose access?

· Is your PC or server reliable and always working?

· Is there someone available to reboot your PC or server if it goes down?

· Do you know how to set up and maintain your own VPN?

The above information is not meant to be comprehensive, but rather to give you an idea of some of the issues you face when trying to maintain reliable remote access to your information. As you can see there are a variety of problems that can occur. The biggest single issue is the availability and condition of the PC that stores the data. The challenge is to find a method that assures your access to your information, no matter what!

Lots of things can cause your PC to be offline. Your PC may crash and no one is there to re-boot it. Your internet access could go down and you have no way to get the link going again remotely. Someone with physical access to your PC could interfere with it and then not be available to fix it. You could make administrator changes to your PC that could cause your remote access to fail. You can probably add to this list without too much trouble.

There are lots of reasons for needing to have mobile access to information. The key thing is that when you need it, you need it. You really want to be able to rely on your information being at your fingertips. If you need to do a presentation and your presentation is not available it can be devastating. If you are working to a deadline and you can't get access to critical documents or data, what do you do?

What makes telecommuting and mobile work possible is secure, reliable and efficient access to the people you work with and the data you require to do your job. If your access is sporadic, then your results are as well, aren't they? So how do you assure access and avoid problems?

An ideal solution is to store your information on a hosted, secure, robust server that is looked after by professionals that are operating from a business strength facility with redundant services and 24 hour care. In this scenario there are many added advantages;

· Your data is always online

· Data is consistently and frequently backed-up.

· You are using a powerful business strength server

· You don't need your own servers, firewalls, etc.

· The links to the Internet are normally redundant and therefore seldom down.

· You are not as reliant on technical people.

· You don't face resource problems from lack of disk space or processing power.

· Such facilities generally have good virus protection.

· Normally you can get a copy of your data back-up at any time.

· The facility is typically 'on the fly' scalable to your requirements.

· The cost and risk is generally much less than buying and operating your own infrastructure.

Particularly where a small organization or an individual is involved, the simplest solution is always the best. Why take on the risk of operating your own facilities when you can easily outsource the service for less money and far less hassle? It leaves you time to do what you do best!

By Ron Hughes

Ron Hughes is CEO of Adapt Information Technology, one of the longest standing Internet businesses in the world. He is also a public and seminar speaker and frequent contributor of articles on business subjects. In addition, Ron is a founder and director of Ozecover (http://www.ozecover.com.au), a free public service that allows the Australian public to compare every health insurance company and product to assure the best health cover for themselves and their families

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ron_Hughes

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How to Manually Remove the Vundo Trojan ?

Vundo Description:

Vundo is a widely-spread trojan that shows large amount of unsolicited pop-up advertisements. The spyware also silently downloads from the Internet and runs arbitrary potentially harmful files, mostly adware components. Vundo is distributed by e-mail in messages containing links to insecure web sites, which exploit certain security vulnerabilities of the Internet Explorer web browser. Once the user clicks on such a link, Internet Explorer opens a dangerous site that automatically installs the trojan into the computer without user knowledge and consent. Vundo is responsible for the severe decrease of the amount of computer virtual memory available. This results in noticeable PC performance slowdowns. Vundo secretly runs on every Windows startup.

Vundo Manual Removal Instructions:

Step 1 : Use Windows File Search Tool to Find Vundo Path

1. Go to Start > Search > All Files or Folders.

2. In the "All or part of the the file name" section, type in "Vundo" file name(s).

3. To get better results, select "Look in: Local Hard Drives" or "Look in: My Computer" and then click "Search" button.

4. When Windows finishes your search, hover over the "In Folder" of "Vundo", highlight the file and copy/paste the path into the address bar. Save the file's path on your clipboard because you'll need the file path to delete Vundo in the following manual removal steps.

Step 2 : Use Registry Editor to Remove Vundo Registry Values

1. To open the Registry Editor, go to Start > Run > type regedit and then press the "OK" button.

2. Locate and delete the entry or entries whose data value (in the rightmost column) is the spyware file(s) detected earlier.

3. To delete "Vundo" value, right-click on it and select the "Delete" option.

4. Locate and delete "Vundo" registry entries:

* HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftInternetExplorerMainActiveState 02F96FB7-8AF6-439B-B7BA-2F952F9E4800

* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesATLEvents.ATLEvents.1

* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREClassesATLEvents.ATLEvents 8109AF33-6949-4833-8881-43DCC232B7B2 2316230A-C89C-4BCC-95C2-66659AC7A775

* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRunOnce*[filename]

* HKEY_CURRENT_USER SoftwareMicrosoftInternet ExplorerMainActive State

* HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionRunOnce*WinLogon

* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows CurrentVersionExplorerBrowser Helper Objects{8109AF33-6949-4833-8881-43DCC232B7B2}

* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows CurrentVersionExplorerBrowser Helper Objects{2316230A-C89C-4BCC-95C2-66659AC7A775}

* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows CurrentVersionExplorerBrowser Helper Objects{02F96FB7-8AF6-439B-B7BA-2F952F9E4800}

* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWAREClassesCLSID{02F96FB7-8AF6-439B-B7BA-2F952F9E4800}

* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWAREClassesATLEvents.ATLEvents.1

* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWAREClassesATLEvents.ATLEvents

* HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{8109AF33-6949-4833-8881-43DCC232B7B2}

* HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID{2316230A-C89C-4BCC-95C2-66659AC7A775}

* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SoftwareMicrosoftWindows CurrentVersionRunOnce*[filename]

* HKEY_CURRENT_USER SoftwareMicrosoftWindows CurrentVersionRunOnce*WinLogon

Step 3 : Use Windows Command Prompt to Unregister Vundo DLL Files

1. To open the Windows Command Prompt, go to Start > Run > type cmd and then click the "OK" button.

2. Type "cd" in order to change the current directory, press the "space" button, enter the full path to where you believe the Vundo DLL file is located and press the "Enter" button on your keyboard. If you don't know where Vundo DLL file is located, use the "dir" command to display the directory's contents.

3. To unregister "Vundo" DLL file, type in the exact directory path + "regsvr32 /u" + [DLL_NAME] (for example, :CSpyware-folder> regsvr32 /u Vundo.dll) and press the "Enter" button. A message will pop up that says you successfully unregistered the file.

4. Search and unregister "Vundo" DLL files: vzbb.dll

Step 4 : Detect and Delete Other Vundo Files

1. To open the Windows Command Prompt, go to Start > Run > type cmd and then press the "OK" button.

2. Type in "dir /A name_of_the_folder" (for example, C:Spyware-folder), which will display the folder's content even the hidden files.

3. To change directory, type in "cd name_of_the_folder".

4. Once you have the file you're looking for type in "del name_of_the_file".

5. To delete a file in folder, type in "del name_of_the_file".

6. To delete the entire folder, type in "rmdir /S name_of_the_folder".

7. Select the "Vundo" process and click on the "End Process" button to kill it.

8. Remove the "Vundo" processes files: vzbb.dll

more... at Computer Virus Remover

By Alena Jane

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alena_Jane

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Various Types of Apple iPod

If there is one thing Apple is known for, it is constant product releases. Each of their products has several different sub-types, and the iPod is a prime example of this practice. The various types of Apple iPod can be hard to keep straight for someone who doesn't read multiple technical blogs every single day. Let's take a look at some of the different types in more detail.

The iPod Touch

This is Apple's latest version of the iPod, and it is basically the iPhone without the cellular and camera capabilities. It also comes with more memory standard than the iPhone, with 8GB, 16GB and 32GB models to choose from. Going beyond the capabilities of a normal MP3 player, the iPod touch has full internet access through its wi-fi connection, a completely touchscreen interface, and allows you to play games, movies, and TV shows as well as listen to MP3's.

The iPod Classic

Of the various types of Apple iPod, this is perhaps the most recognizable. This is the signature style that has been around for years. The features are nowhere near those of the iPod touch, but for what it lacks in "wow factor", it makes up for with storage. Up to 120GB of songs, audio books, pictures, movies, and music videos can be stored right on its hard drive.

The iPod Nano

This slim MP3 player is called the Nano for a reason. It weighs around an ounce and a half, and is only 1/4 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches wide. It doesn't have near the memory of the classic iPod, but its small form factor makes up for it.

The iPod Shuffle

The iPod Shuffle is by far the most inexpensive of all the options. It doesn't offer a ton of storage or a flashy screen, but it is a small, practical MP3 player that can suite the basic user's needs just fine.

By Victor Thomas

Read iPod Nano Reviews, shuffle, Classic, iPod Touch Reviews from some exclusvie website for Apple iPod products. You can read reviews, compare cheapest prices

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Victor_Thomas

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Audio Tape Transfer - How to Transfer Cassette Tapes to Computer, CD and MP3 Using Audacity

To transfer a cassette tape to computer you will need the following:

  • Working Cassette Deck

  • Cable to connect the cassette deck to your computer

  • Computer with a sound card

  • Software application that lets you record stereo audio

The most important factor in a good transfer is the quality of the analogue playback machine, i.e. the tape deck you're using. Try to find or use the best quality and best sounding one to your ears that you can. If you have or can borrow a 3 head machine especially a Nakamichi and it's working well that should give you excellent sound on playback. It's a good idea to clean the heads, capstans and pinch rollers with isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and a q-tip.

They often become dirty with tape oxide that can muffle the high frequencies and give you a dull sounding recording. Gently rub the heads with the wetted cotton bud until no more brown gunk comes off. Most computers and laptops have sound cards with 3.5mm, minijack connectors on them.

If you have a more specialised sound card it may have larger 1/4" jacks or even XLR connectors but you probably won't need this article if you have one of those! You will need a cable with two phono connectors at one end, for the tape deck, and a single 3.5mm mini stereo jack and the other. These cables can be bought very cheaply and are often used to connect media players to stereos. Plug you cable in and get ready to record! There is a wealth of recording software for Windows, Macintosh and GNU/Linux to choose from, some of it expensive, some cheap and some free!

We're going to use the free software, which is actually very good. Point your web browser to the Audacity website and download and install the version suitable for your operating system. Once you've got Audacity installed and working you'll need to check in the Preferences Audio I/O menu that you have the correct playback and recording inputs selected. If that's ok then press the big round, red record button and then start your tape running. If you see the meters moving up and down and a waveform being drawn across the screen, well done it's recording your tape! It might be a good idea though to stop and check it sounds ok as very low or very loud recordings will not sound good. You will need to be very careful of what's called clipping. Digital recorders can't record 'into the red' like your old tape deck could.

Once they go over 0dB you'll get clipping. This sounds terrible so it's best to check your levels and give yourself a bit of breathing space and record lower. This breathing space is called headroom. If the recording has gone ok, it's safest to save the file first before you do anything to it, using the File Save As menu. Now you can play it back, edit it, burn it to a CD or convert it to an OGG or MP3 file for your media player. If you've any large gaps at the beginning or end, it's a good idea to trim these. Just use the 'I' beam tool and select the flat looking bits of waveform at the start and end of your recording, then press backspace just like you would to delete a word or paragraph in a wordprocessor.

If your recording is over 80 minutes and is destined for a CD you will have to split the file by cutting the section for side 2 maybe and pasting this into a new stereo Audacity document as 80 minutes is the most you can burn on a CD. If you want a CD with track points you will need to create 'markers' in Audacity speak at each gap between tracks. If your recording has neat gaps between the tracks then it's pretty easy as your can use Audacity's Find Silence command which will place a marker at every point in the file that the volume falls to a certain level for a certain length of time. This may need a bit of trial and error to get right but it's worth persevering as it saves much time over the manual method of listening to the whole recording an inserting markers at the point between songs or tracks. If everything's fine, you're almost there.

The last stage before putting your recording on CD or converting it to a compressed format for your media player is to Normalize the file. This looks at the whole file, finds the loudest section and then increased the volume of everything in proportion until the loudest part is just as loud as it can be before it clips. I usually Normalize to 98% or -0.3 dB. Now it's time to make a CD or file. From the File Export menu choose the type of destination file you need. For CD choose, WAV, AIFF and for your media player choose Ogg Vorbis, FLAC or MP3. Now sit back and let it create the final file.. If you have created markers for track points in your CD, you'll need to use the File Export Multiple command which will export each track as a separate file. If you need to make a CD use the WAV file or files in your favourite CD burning application and it should burn one perfectly and you can sit and listen to your recording safe in the knowledge you can make as many digital copies now and play it back forever with no fear of the tape wearing out or getting 'chewed'!Auda

By Adrian Finn

Adrian Finn is the founder and proprietor of greatbear, a UK business that specialises in helping individuals and organisations adapt and make the best use of the Digital Age. This includes web design and development, computer support and audio and video transfer services to CD and DVD

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Adrian_Finn

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7 Ways to Speed Up Windows Vista

There are many ways to speed up Windows Vista. Some methods are more straight forward than the other and some will help you see huge improvements to the performance of Windows while others offer less noticeable results. Here we will look at 7 most effective ways to speed up Windows Vista from my personal experience.

Turn off unnecessary Windows features.

By default, Vista comes with tons of features that are enabled based on assumptions which may or may not apply to you. Hence you get a system that is running lots of background processes, most of which you do not need at all. So one of the great ways to speed up Windows Vista is to disable them. To see the list of Windows features and turn them on or off, go to Control Panel, change to "Classic View", click on "Program Features" and then select "Turn Windows Features On And Off". Some examples of features you may want to disable are:

- Remote Differential Compression

- Windows Meeting Space

- Tablet PC optional components

- And so on.

Graphical features.

One of the better ways to speed up Windows Vista is to turn off fanciful graphical features if you are not too much into aesthetics. One example is the Aero feature. Open your start menu, go to run, and type in 'systempropertiesperformance'. At the Visual Effects tab, uncheck 'Animate windows when minimizing and maximizing'. This will do the job. There are many graphical features that you can take out from here. This can give you more immediate results as compared to other ways to speed up Windows Vista.

Turn off Windows Indexing.

The Windows Indexing service was initially designed to be one of the ways to speed up Windows Vista by shortening the search time for files. However, as the volume of hard disk increases exponentially, the service has proven to be a resource intensive program causing massive slowdowns when Windows start to index the millions of files in the system. Select Start then choose Computer, right click on your C Drive and select properties. Under the General Tab, uncheck "Index this drive for faster searching". On the next dialog box, choose "Include subfolders and files". Do the same for the other Drives.

Remove Spyware and Trojans and protect your system against future attacks.

Out of the many ways to speed up Windows Vista, this has to be one of the most crucial things you need to do. This is because not only your system performance is at stake, the security and confidentiality of your data is too. Use free tools such as Avast for anti-virus protection, Spybot for spyware removal and protection as well as Zonealarm for firewall protection. There are other good tools around but make sure they are not spywares themselves!

Remove unnecessary start up programs.

When Vista boots up, many programs run at the start up either in the background or as pop up Windows. Many of these you do not need. You need to take control and eliminate these memory suckers that are lurking in the background. Open your start menu, go to run, and type in 'msconfig', choose the Startup tab and uncheck any items that you do not want to auto-load and click OK.

Defrag your hard disk.

This may not be new to you but if you are thinking of using the Windows Defragmentation Tool in Vista, you can forget about it. Instead, use a free 3rd party tool known as Defraggler (Google it for the download link). It is still quite effective in comparison to other ways to speed up Windows Vista.

Clean your registry.

One of the often neglected portions of Windows is the registry itself. Many do not realized that one of the best ways to speed up Windows Vista is to make sure the registry is clear of invalid entries that causes Windows to perform unnecessary tasks. Cleaning the registry has other advantages too. In certain cases you can remove Windows errors that pop up during boot up.

George Tho is an IT support specialist. One of the best ways to speed up Windows Vista is using registry cleaners. Read his review on the top 3 Registry Cleaners that come with free scanning features to help you improve your system's performance and remove errors.

By George Tho

Author's review website on clickbank products: http://www.clickbankproductreview.com
Disclaimer: The content of this article is provided for the purpose of education and illustration only. This article may be freely reprinted or distributed in its entirety in any ezine, newsletter, blog or website. The author's name, bio and website links must remain intact and be included with every reproduction

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=George_Tho

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