5 Common Problems That Slow Down PCs

Remember how fast your PC was when it was brand new? Back then it would start up within seconds and programs would load almost instantaneously. But how is it these days? Is it taking several minutes to start up and programs you load seem slow and unresponsive? This is a very common scenario and one that can be avoided with a little care and attention to these five common causes of a slow PC.

1. Not Enough Memory - It's important to have enough memory on your computer to keep programs running smoothly, especially if you have large programs like Microsoft Office, or play a lot of PC games. If you are using Windows XP it is recommended that you have at least 512Mb RAM, although at this point, 1Gb seems to be the sweet spot, more again if you are using Vista. The amount of RAM your PC has can be checked by right-clicking 'My Computer' and choosing 'Properties'. If you need to upgrade your RAM be sure it's the right type for your PC. Fitting the wrong type of RAM can cause the PC to slow down even more, crash inexplicably or stop working altogether.

2. Full Hard Drive - It's possible that your hard drive could be too full of data to function efficiently. If you use a digital camera or store video or music on your PC you can soon run out of disk space if you are not careful. As a rule of thumb it is best to keep 10% of the disk space free for programs to run smoothly. If you don't have this much free space, you can delete unused programs on the C: drive. Check your C: drive to see how much space you have on your computer. You can do this by going to 'Start' then 'My Computer' then 'C: drive'. Click on the C: drive and it will tell you how much free space you have under 'Details' on the left bar.

3. A Cluttered Registry - The 'Registry' is a collection of files that keep a record of all the many and complex file locations and configuration settings required by all the devices, applications and users of the PC. The longer you use Windows, the more cluttered your registry can grow, especially if you regularly install and uninstall software. Some applications, known as "orphan" registry entries, don't remove all traces of themselves when uninstalled, causing problems such as sluggish performance, system lockups, or a bloated registry that takes longer to load. It's worth considering registry cleaning software to make sure your registry is clean and uncorrupted.

4. Too Many Start-Up Programs - When you boot your computer, there are several programs that automatically start behind the scenes. These programs eat up your computer's available processing capacity and slow it down dramatically. Most likely, you don't need all of these programs to automatically start when you boot your computer.

5. Spyware and Malicious Programs - If you have ever experienced annoyances such as a new toolbar in your Internet browser, or a new start-up page that you did not set, you are likely plagued with spyware. Every PC should be protected using security software that includes anti-virus, anti-spyware and a firewall.

By Tim Maguire

Tim Maguire holds a Masters degree in Computer Science and is a full-time computer consultant. For further help in protecting your PC against spyware, computer virus, hacking, spam, phishing and general PC security you should visit his website http://www.keepyourpcsafe.co.uk

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

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Virusheat - How To Get Rid Of Virusheat

This manual removal method is for techie computer users. VirusHeat manual removal may be difficult and time consuming to remove. There's no guarantee that VirusHeat will be removed completely, so read the VirusHeat removal steps carefully and good luck.

Before you start: Close all programs and Internet browsers. Also back up your computer in case you make a mistake and your computer stops working.

1. Uninstall VirusHeat Program

   Click on Start > Settings > Control Panel > Double-click on Add/Remove Programs. Search for and uninstall VirusHeat if found.

2. To stop VirusHeat processes

   Go to Start > Run > type taskmgr. The click the Processes tab and you' ll see a list of running processes.

   Search and stop these VirusHeat processes:

   VirusHeat 3.9.exe

   VirusHeat 3.9For each unwanted process, right-click on it and then select "End task".

3. To Unregister VirusHeat DLLs

   Search and unregister these VirusHeat DLLs:

   iinqyl.dll

   wuuawkz.dll

   eeioq.dllTo locate the VirusHeat DLL path, go to Start > Search > All Files or Folders. Type VirusHeat and in the Look in: select either My Computer or Local Hard Drives. Click the Search button.

   Once you have the VirusHeat DLL path, go to Start and then click on Run. In the Run command box, type cmd, and then click on OK.

   To locate the exact DLL path, type cd in order to change the current directory. To display the contents of the directory, use the dir command. To remove the DLL file type regsvr32 /u FILENAME.dll (FILENAME is the name of the file that you want to unregister).

4. To unregister VirusHeat registry keys

   Go to Start > Run > type regedit > press OK.

   Edit the value (on the right pane) by right-clicking on it and selecting the Modify option. Select the Delete option.

   Search and delete these VirusHeat registry keys: HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{E94EB13E-D78F-0857-7734-5E67A49FFFF1}

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{0979850F-6C3E-4294-B225-B3D3C4A6F2A1}

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{1BB2DA5F-B78F-44EA-BDA1-771CBE1DEC68}

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{2A4E73C5-BA3C-4391-B7E5-FFE8D3BD6245}

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{44A923CA-F430-4F85-9F84-5153ECDB882E}

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{4E6E21EC-9D72-4164-8A53-74786A467872}

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{631E9E48-B066-43DA-92AC-6DADF61B173B}

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{65C1361C-E696-4AF0-9E21-81910193F352}

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{77DCE805-C8CE-48AA-A47F-BFA6CC7704B3}

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{8D42769F-07D8-494D-AAB4-AA1652C541FA}

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{A1922071-390C-418D-916D-91209E95D286}

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{A1F8CD95-CFB3-43D1-A956-63441CC058C1}

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{A63B46AD-96A7-4A2C-BD8F-8CD097E1593A}

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{A65F98DD-2360-468C-B76E-B1B84C0D547C}

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{AE2AEED0-BE1B-4BA2-826E-20D1991081B8}

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{D7F73787-6206-4BBA-BDC0-7CFA9940DBCB}

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Interface\{E770F739-2968-4ED9-A63C-DC1938DC82A2}

   HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\TypeLib\{CFAFA83C-855B-4E3D-92B9-A587995B675A}

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\App Paths\VirusHeat 3.9.exe 3.9

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\VirusHeat 3.9

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VirusHeat 3.9

5. If your homepage has been changed, go to Start > Control Panel > Internet Options > click on the General > click Use Default under Home Page. Add the your desired default homepage, then click Apply > click OK. Open a new web browser to check that you have your desired default homepage.

6. Remove VirusHeat Directories.

   To find VirusHeat directories, go to Start > My Computer > Local Disk (C:) > Program Files > Show the contents of this folder.

   Search and delete the following VirusHeat directories:

   %ProgramFiles%\VirusHeat 3.9\Lang

   %ProgramFiles%\VirusHeat 3.9\Logs

   %ProgramFiles%\VirusHeat 3.9\Quarantine

   Right-click on the VirusHeat folder and select Delete.

   A message will appear saying "Are you sure you want to remove the folder [NAME OF FOLDER] and move all its contents to the Recycle Bin?", click Yes.

   Another message will appear saying "Renaming, moving or deleting [FOLDERNAME] could make some programs not work. Are you sure you want to do this?", click Yes.

7. To remove VirusHeat icons on your Desktop, drag and drop them to the Recycle Bin.

You' ve completed the VirusHeat manual removal instructions!

By Kafka Hui

Too difficult to follow? Still cannot remove VirusHeat completely? Check out How to get rid of VirusHeat Automatically (http://www.yanany.com/how-to-get-rid-of-virusheat/)- Free Scan

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

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Learning About What Is Blue Ray Technology

It seems like every couple of years there are new advances made and our technology springs forward. Sometimes it can be difficult to keep up with all of the incredibly fast paced advances made. Currently, blue ray technology has been brought into the mainstream and learning what is blue ray technology can keep consumers up to date with the latest inventions in home entertainment.

Discovering What Is Blue Ray Technology

For many, home movies were originally played on the classic vcr tape. Then, the technology moved onto DVD players, and the look of the movies was sharper and of a much better quality. Now the next evolution has started with blue ray technology.

Finding out about what is blue ray technology includes learning about the differences between blue ray technology and the current mass marketed DVD systems. Blue ray technology has been developing for years, since the mid 1990's when HDTV's were becoming more common for consumers to buy. A technology was needed that could record and play back the high definition recordings. Blue ray technology was created to fill that void.

So what is blue ray technology and how is it different from the standard DVD? Blue ray technology can store far more information that the traditional DVD, almost 5 times more storage is available on a blue ray disc. The blue ray discs use a blue ray laser to read the information where other DVD's use a red laser.

With a blue laser the wave length is shorter allowing for more storage to be used. This did cause some problems originally, as the discs were much easier to scratch. The case that held the disc had to be made more durable and was somewhat bulky. Advances in polymer coatings have advanced allowing for a better protective coating to be placed on the disc, alleviating the need for the bigger containers.

There are many companies that have a stake in the development of the next cutting edge technology and these companies are looking into both blue ray technology and a HD DVD. Some of the big companies are fighting over which technology should be used and this has caused a split in which companies support which format. Even companies that produce movies are split over which type of technology to use, which means depending on what movie a consumer wishes to purchase; they may need two different types of players.

Both he blue ray and the hddvd players are continuing to improve. In the end, consumers may discover that they enjoy both types of players and they both may be successful with consumers. Learning about what is blue ray technology can help a consumer get a good idea of basic information in regards to this new technology.

By Thomas Martinez

http://www.techjukebox.com/blue-ray has other well-written and helpful articles not only related to the best purchase with blue ray player reviews, but also other information and resources related to blue ray.

This article may be used only in its entirety with all links included.

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

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How To Choose The Best PDA

Looking for a good Pocket PC PDA phone but stumbled upon to choose which one over the vast models out there in the market or want to know how to choose the best PDA or Pocket PC Phone? Read on then..

PDA is an old term which was widely used for devices that had a touch screen and basic features of holding Contacts, Appointments, Notes and other simple data. Now Windows Mobile Devices have replaced them or at least most of them.

The history of Windows Mobile begins with Windows Mobile 2002 editions and then came 2003 editions with built-in phone capabilities. On the onset of Windows Mobile 5, Microsoft had introduced whole lot of power and features to the devices. And the competing market bought out varitey of devices with ultimate features to keep you connected always. Recently Windows Mobile 6 has been introduced with a little bit of extra eye candy and improved security and other features too.

Hope you've got an overview of the Windows Mobile devices. Now if you plan to go for a Windows Mobile Pocket PC, make sure you opt for Windows Mobile 6 device. Most Windows Mobile 5 devices have official or un-official upgrades to Windows Mobile 6 edition. So in case if you're buying an old Pocket PC, make sure an upgrade is available over the internet. In case if you require assistance, our Exper's Help section is always open for your request.

Which version to go for?

Windows Mobile 6 devices are of three varieties. A Classic version without phone capabilities. Never opt for this. There is a Standard version without a touch screen but with a phone capability, commonly refered to as a smartphone. Smartphones are close to Pocket PC devices and the lack of touch screen will limit your flexibility and possibilities. Go for this only if you cant be without a number keypad just in case if you give priority for calls and need Email and othe Office outlook support. There is a Profesional version which has a touch screen and commmonly refered as a Pocket PC. This is the most powered device. Even some Pocket PC devices come with a qwerty keyboard or normal number keypad. If you need complete flexibilty of having the power close to a Desktop PC in hand, then Windows Mobile 6 Professional device will be your right choice! They are not expensive as well!

Decided the version. Then?

Classic and Standard version are basically for beginners and they don't have much varities over there or at least, they don't vary much as a Pocket PC. So we are going to focus on choosing a best Pocket PC over here!

Microsoft says there are over 60 different manufacturers or companies making and selling Windows Mobile devices. The top ones who fly in the market are HTC, O2, iMate, Eten, Asus, HP and some more.. Dell was here quite a while ago but they have dropped their plans for manufacturing future devices. HTC - High Tech Computer Corporation is steady in the market by releasing new models every year more than once! Their devices are re-branded and sold in various hybrid names by other companies and carriers/mobile operators as well. So it is really a tough time to choose the best Pocket PC for you.

To narow the choice, you need to first focus on your need! A business user or a fancy life style user or a rugged user. Rugged Pocket PC devices are too heavy and ruggedised really. These rugged Pocket PCs are mainly for those who go on trekking and high-terrains and also in some industries. These Pocket PCs will not be your choice as the Industrial management will decide their choice. So leave them out and come to the normal ones. Some devices have a very pleasing look while others are more suited for the business class.

QWERTY or not?

QWERTY keybpard is a slide-out keyboard with all buttons of a basic keyboard aligned tightly! When you slide-out the keyboard, the device can be tilted to horizontal or landscape orientation. This is very useful if you type a lot for the sms or text documents mainly. Various third-party virtual keyboards are available in the market and so you can really manage or get used to it rather than having a qwerty keyboarded Pocket PC. So if you need it, the choice of device is further narrowed down.

Size and Dimensions

Different Pocket PCs are made with different dimension aspects. Some with curvy edges and others with smooth and sharp edges too. So as per your taste, narrow down the choices further.

Screen Size

Just two! VGA and qVGA. VGA Pocket PC will have a resolution of 640x480 and so provide much screen clearity than the qVGA or quater VGA Pocket PC which has only 240x320 resolution. But the VGA Pocket PC is usually a slight bigger and heavy than the qVGA. Very few Pocket PC, like the ones made by Eten offer a VGA resolution on a smaller screen size! So choosing for a VGA or qVGA should narrow your choices further down!

Camera a must?

Since Nokia or some other company introduced the Camera in a Mobile device for marketing, there is a good race between them ending up in having a digital camera with phone rather than phone with camera! Yes, the normal phones are now coming up with real high Mega Pixels of Camera. But the race has not started yet in Windows Mobile Pocket PC devices. They come with a standard 1.9 or 2 Megapixel with a little more than poor picture quality. So if you need a very good camera, carry a digital camera in your Pocket along with a Pocket PC or go for a normal phone itself!

Processors, RAM matter?

Very few variations are here, Intel PXA, Texas Instruments OMAP, and few. Intel PXA with 416 Mhz works the same speed of 200 Mhz OMAP. Really there wont be much noticable difference here. Instead, if there is a device with much higher RAM memory, go for it. At least they help you running many applications than others!

Connectivity issues!

Well.. WiFi, Bluetooh 2.0, Tri/Quad Band GSM has become a basic feature of a Pocket PC. Anyway it is better to verify if the final narrowed down choices of Pocket PC has them. Additionally 3G, HSDPA, UMTS are recent advancements allowing better speeds in browsing and downloads but for a quite high price. So wisely make your option if you need them really!

So by now we guess have covered almost the important criteria by which the right Pocket PC for you can be chosen. Any thoughts or suggestion on this guide is welcomed.

By Nick Carty

This article is written by NiCK Carty from http://www.PocketPC-Live.com For PocketPC softwares, news and reviews, please visit http://www.PocketPC-Live.com

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

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How to Backup Your Computer if You Are Using Vista

With each version of the Windows operating systems the backup process has improved. In prior versions I relied on third party backup solutions. With the Vista operating system I found that the Backup program that comes with Vista is dependable, and there is no need to buy another backup program.

The above statements are true if you are backing up your data to a USB external drive. I have a 250Gb external drive and I backup my computer at least once a month. You can use DVDs, but you would need multiple DVDs.

If you have a home network you can also backup one computer to another. If you only have a wireless network I would not recommend it because it will be a very slow process.

To start the backup process click on the Start menu and select the All Programs button, then select the Accessories folder, then Systems Tools folder and click on Backup Status and Configuration menu option. You have three options here:

· Backup Files

· Restore Files

· Complete PC Backup

Backup Files is when you want to backup your data only. No programs or operating files will be backed up. This would be good if you have the Vista DVD and CDs for all of your application. You would then just have to re-install the operating system and the applications, then restore your data.

You can also set this for automatic and as long as the device that you back up to is connected, it will perform the backup automatically.

Restore Files if you needed to restore the files from step one discussed above. Restore Files will allow you to recover an individual file, or a backup made on another computer, or restore files made from this computer.

The Complete PC Backup will copy the entire contents of your hard drive. I usually backup my computer once a month using the data as the file name. You basically select the Complete PC Backup and click on Create a backup now. Make sure the hard drive you are backing up to is attached. It will take some time to backup your entire system, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Advanced Restore will allow you to transfer the entire contents of your backup to a new hard drive or computer. This is done through the Advanced Restore option after you click on the Restore Files button.

Backing up to another computer running Vista may cause problems with Windows authentication. If it is only the hard drive that is different, you will need to re-authenticate the computer, but it can be done in about ten minutes.

Everyone thinks that they are safe until their computer stops working. Hard drives fail on 35% of the computers within the first year. Why take a chance. Make sure you backup your computer today.

There are also on-line backup locations offered on the Internet. Some are inexpensive. If something happened to the backup device, you are still out of luck. Having an online backup might be the right solution because these companies have a lot of redundancy. Go to the newsletter section of my site where I recommend a vendor for backups.

By John Gontowic

Your Computer Connection

By John Gontowicz

Sign Up For A Free Weekly Email Newsletter To Learn More Computer Tips For The Beginner: http://www.yourpcguide.com or send an email to computers@sendfree.com

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

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Laptops Battery Life

The battery life and the laptop battery care is another most important topic which one must have to care so as to have longer battery life. Normally the batteries which the manufacturers provide with the Laptops are Li-Ion or Li-Polymer these are rechargeable batteries and can give you optimum backup even you are working on battery packs. But the main thing is tat how to optimize it to make it work more efficiently.

The common term when we talk about Battery in Laptops is the Depth of Discharge (DOD). Depth of Discharge (DOD) is the amount that a battery is run down to before it is put back on charge. For a notebook this can vary enormously. Many machines are only run down to 70% battery during short stints of battery power (known as a shallow DOD), others are discharged completely to 10% or 5% (known as deep DOD), this is when the notebook switches off or warns about low battery.

Now another technical aspect is the charge cycle. A charge cycle is a cycle of running the battery down and then charging it up again. One charge cycle is classified as when the battery is run down to 70% or less and then charged again to 90% or more. A battery does not have to be discharged until it is flat before a charge cycle is used.

The other main factor that affects battery life is temperature, the hotter the battery the less charge cycles it will run for, the industry suggestions are that a battery is run at between 10 and 30 degrees centigrade. It should be noted that it may be hotter inside the notebook where the battery is than in the room where it is being used.

The battery life and rechargeable ability of a particular type of batteries like Li-Ion varies but these are more than enough for you before going for its replacement. Always try to have a look at your battery packs how much backup they provide and time of full charge. This is done so as to check if the batteries are becoming old or demanding for the replacement or what. If possible always try to use Power Supply while working on Laptops.

Always carry with you an extra battery pack so as to use it when you are traveling and where it is not possible to lug in to the Power Supply. If you have found that the batteries has gone old then immediately replace it with new one and never keep the old batteries in the Laptop thinking of buying the new one. This will damage your internal circuit.

By Victor Pradel

Victor Pradel is the administrator of The Laptop Support Community, where you can find many useful content about laptop help , troubleshooting and repairing.

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

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Home Network File Sharing On Windows Vista, XP And 2000

Recently, I got a laptop with Windows Vista installed. On my home network file sharing is enabled on each computer. I share a couple of folders on each computer in order to easily access and transfer files between computers.

For security reasons, it's important to share a certain folder especially intended for filesharing, instead of just your C:\ drive for example. This way you can control which files are accessible from another computer. This way you have total control which files on your computer are exposed to the outside world.

At home I make use of a workgroup with the following name: home. It's important that each computer is also a member of the workgroup home, otherwise you can't share files between all of your computers in your home network.

With my Windows Vista laptop I had some trouble sharing files, because Windows Vista's file sharing security is better than on Windows XP or Windows 2000. On my Windows Vista I was able to 'see' the shares on my XP and 2000 machines, however I was not able to see my Windows Vista shares on my Windows XP and Windows 2000 computers.

On my Windows Vista laptop I granted user 'Richard' with administrator rights access to these shares. This is an essential step when you share a folder. Also I gave the user 'Everyone' and 'Guest' and 'Anonymous Logon' rights to these shares (but this was really not necessary, as I realised later on). Still, on my XP and 2000 machines I was not able to access Vista's shared folders.

In Windows Vista's networking center all settings were correct: my network had local and internet access, networking detection was enabled, file sharing was enabled, sharing public folders was enabled (this is actually only necessary when you want to share your public folders), printer sharing was enabled (this is not really necessary for file sharing) and sharing with password protection was also enabled.

The Windows firewall on my Vista laptop was also enabled (which is no problem in case in the Windows firewall settings on the tabpage 'Exceptions' the file- and printersharing setting is 'checked', because then the Windows firewall is not blocking file- and printersharing).

The cause of the problem of not being able to access my Windows Vista's shares was because in Windows Vista's networking center, sharing with password protection was enabled. I quickly found out that when this setting was disabled, I was able to access my Vista shares on my XP and 2000 machines. However, I rather have a good security, that's why I turned it on again and I quickly found out that the user 'Richard' on my Vista laptop must also exist as a user with the same name and same password on my XP and 2000 machines.

After having user 'Richard' on both my Windows Vista and Windows XP and Windows 2000 machines, I was still not able to access my Vista shares. I wondered how this can be. The reason was that my user 'Richard' didn't have a password. After setting a real, non-empty password for user 'Richard' on all my machines, Vista's shares became visible on my XP machine (after logging of from Windows and logging on again on my Vista and XP computers).

Unfortunately, on one of my Windows 2000 computers, I still was not able to see Windows Vista's shares. I suspected that I needed to install the latest Windows 2000 service pack 4. Indeed, after installing this service pack on my Windows 2000 machine, Vista's shares also became available on my Windows 2000 machine.

On my Windows XP and Windows 2000 machines, I run ZoneAlarm as a firewall. My experience is that this is a great firewall. It's important that ZoneAlarm is not blocking traffic to and from ip numbers in your home networking range (which is in my case the ip range between ip numbers 10.0.0.150 and 10.0.0.153). I added this ip range to the trusted zone in ZoneAlarm. In case you suspect your firewall is blocking filesharing, try shutting down all of your firewalls in your home network and figure out which firewall is blocking the filesharing in your home network.

By Richard Zwinkels

Author is a professional software engineer and has over 10 years of software development experience.

For more information visit his site http://www.software-secrets.com.

Free online computer training - Software Secrets - Your Software Guide. Computer Training, Microsoft Excel Tutorial, Microsoft Word Tutorial, Microsoft Software Explained. Be more productive and save time and money.

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

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5 Tips On How To Avoid Viruses

This is a fairly well known subject but there are a few things that still infect people on a regular basis. One of my clients has about 65 users and 90 computers. I am constantly cleaning viruses and spybots because the users download them unknowingly and can't figure out why. Here is a basic list of virus hot spots and how to avoid them. These are all from personal experience and how I have been infected in the past.

1. The number one place I have seen viruses downloaded are FREE mouse cursors, and screensavers. I'm not sure why this is the case, but 90% of the viruses I deal with are from these downloads. It's an easy way to drop a virus in the registry because of the installer needed for the cursors and screensavers. You may end up with the content you like but run a scan afterwards and you will more than likely find some type of virus or spybot.

2. The next way and sure fire way of infecting your computer very badly is using P2P networking. These are better known as sites like; Limewire, Kazaa, Bearshare, etc.. Although they are great places to find free music, movies, games, programs, etc. (which are illegal to download) many of the files are packed full of viruses. An easy way to spot most of the viruses is to look at what you want to download, and then look at the size of the file. For example, if you are downloading music in MP3 form, one minute equals 1MB give or take. If the song you want is four minutes long and the file size is only 53kb, there is a very good chance that it contains a virus package. Basically if the file size seems way too small for what you want, it's probably infected.

3. Another way to download viruses unknowingly is to look for free pornography. This is a sensitive subject for some so I won't expand too much. A lot of so called free sites like to plant viruses in pictures and "ActiveX" content which you have to download to view the site. NEVER download this content if you have a choice. Also if a site asks you to click OK to view the site, it is more than likely a cleverly disguised installer that once you hit OK will download and install a virus or virus package for you.

4. Also, you can get viruses not only from the internet, but also from e-mail. This subject is hopefully well known but I can't stress enough how important it is to know how to filter these "spam" e-mails. If you set up your online e-mail in Microsoft outlook, there is a fairly good junk e-mail filter. Beware that sometimes legitimate e-mails are dropped into this folder so check it regularly. Only open e-mails from people or businesses you recognize. If you have to read an e-mail that you do not recognize, please don't download the attachments. Finally, the internet is full of get rich quick, lose weight fast, and free offers "too good to pass up" and most of them are scams. If it looks good it's probably not. Research the site in google and put either "reviews" or "scam" after the subject in question.

5. Finally, where I have caught the worst and most malicious viruses is while surfing the web and a pop-up comes up with "your computer is infected" or something along those lines. I made the mistake of downloading one of the so called tools just to find that it was a nice little virus package with something around 100 viruses included. Long story short I ended up having to rebuild my computer and spend a lot of time on trying to clean it. This virus was one that after it was removed it left a small batch file that would connect to the host site and download the package every time you restarted. So if you do catch one of these, disconnect from the internet immediately. Run all the tools you can get your hands on and remove anything that looks suspect. If you are lucky enough to get rid of it completely, never under any circumstances repeat what got you there in the first place.

I hope that these five subjects will help you become a more knowledgeable internet browser and e-mail reader and help keep you free of viruses. One thing I didn't mention is that spybots are the same if not worse than viruses and a lot of them nowadays will steal your information and are aimed at taking your identity. Bottom line is, be careful, do not open yourself up to be easily influenced, and be sure to research anything that you are interested in.

By Branden Dilorenzo

Branden DiLorenzo

http://www.ccissolutions.com
http://speedupmycomputernow.blogspot.com/

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

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Ways To Speed Up My Computer

Whenever we purchase a new product, we expect it to last for a lifetime and that is no different especially when the product you are buying is a computer. However, that ideal situation seems to never come through as you would find out in months to come. As the days past, you will realize that your computer not only does not maintain its efficiency but will decline in performance as you use it more and more.

There are several factors leading to the decline in your computer's performance and also different methods to stop them or to slow down that process.

Clean out your Registry

The registry of the computer is often overlooked by users as they have no idea that its there! Being one of the most important parts of your window's system, it records and makes entries to every installation or every thing you do in your computer. The only problem is, it only knows how to add new entries and not delete the old. As such, when you delete certain programs or applications, the entries remain and are useless and clog up the system. This slows the computer down as it has to go past all these useless junk entries in order to process the right one. With time, the files in your registry can also become missing or corrupted. This will no doubt hinder the performance of your computer as well.

Check for Viruses and Spyware

Once of the most problematic things you can ever encounter while having a computer is with spywares and viruses. Viruses are made by people who have nothing better to do than to want to hurt your computer and sometimes they even delete and corrupt precious information or data in your computer that you have been working on for months! Spywares are not uncommon nowadays and they are almost impossible to be prevented. As we surf the web, it is almost certain that websites would plant little programs, spyware, into your system without even you knowing and its sole purpose is to spy on your surfing patterns and etc. With all these little programs working behind your back in the computer, it is no doubt that your computer would be processing so slowly. Thus, search the web for a good anti-virus program or spyware remover and get rid of all these pesky programs from your computer today!

To maintain your computer can be an easy task to do, but it takes discipline and patience. Do not be hasty in wanting to get a new computer when your old one seems to be working at an unsatisfactory rate. Sometimes, you just have to search for the root of the problem and you will realize that you can save so much money just by downloading free softwares from the net to solve the problems your computer is facing. That beats burning a hole in your pocket just to buy a new computer. So choose today, whether you want to regularly check up on your computer or you would rather fork out a larger sum of money to but a new computer when it is spoilt.

By Logan Albright

Logan Albright is an authority on troubleshooting computer problems at http://www.pcaholic.com. Where he helps thousands how to optimize their computers through a proper computer check up. Click Here to speed up your computer for free.

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

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Data Loss Prevention Options

It's inevitable. Everyone faces hard drive failure at least once in their life. Whether its a stolen computer, a natural disaster, or simply a faulty drive, everyone will live this nightmare in real life. So what are the options for keeping your precious data in a safe place?

There are so many options for keeping your data safe because hard drive failure is such a common and life-shattering event. Options range from localized to off-site back-up solutions. Every option ranges in cost, the amount of control you have to recover data, and the convenience factor of the recovery and backup processes.

If you don't feel like throwing down cash on hardware, you can go the off-site backup route. The obvious benefit to online backup is not needing to pay for a device to store your data. Also, even if you do have your own device it is still not immune to failure and disasters. Online backup companies own ultra-secure servers with enormous amounts of available space to store your precious data. The drawbacks include having to download a program and/or run your system's resources in order to continually backup your data, the need to have constant internet access, trusting your data to a third party, and a monthly payment. Some of the big players in the online backup community include Carbonite, X-Drive, Box.net, Mozy, Connected.com, Novastor, and I-Backup.

The other option you could go with is local backup, or in other words, your own hardware. There is a big variety of hard drives you can buy and some are even designed exclusively for backing up your data conveniently. If you are in the market for a low cost solution that allows you to backup data instantly, look for the drives with a physical button on the enclosure that will back up your entire hard drive or specified sections. These are relatively inexpensive depending on the amount of space you need, but the main drawback is that these, like all hard drives, are fallible. If this drive dies, you're in trouble.

There are more higher-end back up solutions that uses a technology called RAID (Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks). These systems use two or more drives that mirror the data you are backing up. In other words, every time you drag and drop a file onto this external storage system, it writes an exact copy of both files onto two seperate drives. This way, if one hard drive fails, you know you'll always have a healthy drive with all of your precious data. One popular RAID module is the Buffalo DriveStation Duo, providing two SATA drives for space in the 1.5 terabyte neighborhood (that's around 1500 gigs).

Backing up data that is worth more than the hardware that is storing it will help avoid catastrophes that can end up in costly data recovery services, or even unrecoverable losses.

By Cameron Postelwait

Cameron Postelwait works in content development at Sewell Direct, proud carriers of the Buffalo DriveStation Duo, and DriveStation Quattro.

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

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How To Fix The Automatic Restart Problem In Windows XP

Windows XP was introduced as the most stable operating system for home users, since it was the first version of Windows for personal usage, that was based on the Windows NT kernel. The Windows NT kernel which was first developed for usage on servers and company environments, where high stability was important, is much more difficult to crash than the old Windows 98 core.

Although the kernel of Windows XP is much more stable than previous versions of the operating system, there are still some rare cases where it may stop responding or it may end itself for security reasons. In this case the user should see an error displayed with white letters in blue background mentioning that the operation of Windows has been ended to protect the user from unwanted results due to software or hardware problems. This type of error messages are also known as "Blue Screens Of Death" abbreviated to BSOD.

With its default settings, Windows XP does not display these error messages, but if a critical system error occurs, it automatically restarts the computer without any warning and without displaying a BSOD. This makes for the average user, very difficult the process of fixing any system failure.

In this article we will explain how this automatic restart feature can be disabled, in order to see a detailed error message with the reason of the system failure. Given this error message, the user can search the Microsoft Knowledge Base or other web sites, to define which software or hardware incompatibilities are responsible for the system crash.

The first step is to right click on the "My Computer" icon on your desktop and then select the "Properties" option. Then select the tab named "Advanced" and click "Settings" in the "Startup and Recovery" fieldset. In the window that opens there is an option "Automatically restart" which should be disabled. Then click OK on all open windows and dialog boxes. After following these steps, the operating system will never automatically restart again if a system failure occurs, but it will display a BSOD instead. In this Blue Screen error message there will be displayed an error code or file name in the first 5 lines. This error code or file name must be entered in the search fields of Microsoft Knowledge Base at http://support.microsoft.com or search engines, in order to narrow down the reason that causes the system crash and find a solution.

Microsoft Knowledge Base usually gives detailed instructions for each type of blue screen error message, so the user must always begin searching there, before looking somewhere else.

By Nick G Gars

Nick Gars writes technical articles for NGI Technology Site where you can find guides and troubleshooting instructions for Windows and most programs we use every day.

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

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