Posted by kglee | Filed under Software Fixes
Hassle-Free PC: Ten Sure-Fire Fixes for a Problem PC
Treatments include six free tools, a CMOS repair, and an unfreezing trick.
Steve Bass
Monday, July 24, 2006 01:00 AM PDT
Illustration: Jason Schneider
Is your PC troubled? Maybe it has the blues (it wants to be a Mac). More likely, it’s suffering from any of a dozen things, such as a corrupt file, a bad app, or even a moribund CMOS battery. Read on for PC therapy.
The Hassle: My PC freezes periodically. How do I unfreeze it without losing my work or having to reboot?
The Fix: In Task Manager, select the Processes
tab, choose Explorer.exe
, and click End Process
. (Just ignore the scary message.) Select File, New Task (Run…)
, type explorer, and click OK
.
The Hassle: Your advice helped me unfreeze my system–but it keeps happening, and I can’t go on like this. What now?
The Fixes: Start with the usual suspects: Scrub your Temp and Internet cache folders. First, use CleanCache 3.0 (see Tool of the Month on the next page of this article). Then run Windows’ Check Disk utility with Automatically fix file system errors
and Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors
checked. (Open My Computer, right-click the drive, select Properties
, choose the Tools
tab, and click the Check Now
button under ‘Error-checking’.) Also, send your antispyware and antivirus tools into action.
No luck? Try getting rid of damaged ActiveX programs. From Control Panel, choose Internet Options
, the General
tab, Settings
, and View Objects
. Right-click to delete any items marked ‘Damaged’ in the Status column. You might have a corrupted file, so run System File Checker to verify (and, if necessary, reinstall) those files on your system: Click Start, Run
, and then type CMD. In the command window, type sfc /scannow and wait awhile; the scan seems to take forever to complete.
If your PC is still having problems, they may be more deep-rooted. You’ll have to try a few techniques to figure out which program or process is causing the freezing. Sysinternals has three superb free diagnostic tools. FileMon gives you a real-time view of every running program and lets you know what it’s doing, recording and time-stamping each action an app takes; watch for a specific program’s behavior just before a freeze. RegMon does the same for the Registry, while Process Explorer does the dirty work on Windows processes.
The Hassle: Periodically, my PC boots to a black screen with a message saying that my hard drive doesn’t exist. When I reboot, Windows loads and everything’s fine. Well, almost–the clock is always wrong. Help!
The Fix: You have a dying CMOS battery on your motherboard. You’ll first need to record the system’s existing CMOS settings, which you can find in the PC Setup program. When you boot up the machine, you should see on-screen PC Setup access instructions before Windows starts. Use a digital camera to snap an image of each page, or record the details with pencil and paper. For another option, read “Make a Backup of Your CMOS” in the June 2005 Answer Line. Then buy a fresh battery at Radio Shack (about $5) and follow the steps at LiveRepair.
Posted by kglee | Filed under Software Fixes
July 28, 2006
Malware Removal and Prevention: Overview
With the basic understanding of why you have decided to undertake this procedure (as explained in the Introduction), we have designed the following Malware Removal and Prevention procedure. This procedure consists of several malware steps that should be performed in sequence, followed by instructions how to post a HJT log should it be required. It concludes with prevention measures you can implement to properly maintain a secure system.
Please follow the instructions listed below. If you find you are still experiencing computer problems after these steps are completed, you may then post a HJT log and receive expert assistance in cleaning any infections which remain.
Please print out a copy of this overview and use it to ch%c+ off each step as it is completed.
Save this ‘checklist’ of removal programs you have run, because we will be asking you to provide us with that information when it comes time to post a HijackThis log. Good Luck!
Symantec has developed a detection and removal tool for the Blackworm aka Kama Sutra worm. For more information and removal links, please visit here . Then return to complete the remainder of Malware Removal.
Perform a reference (preliminary) HijackThis scan
Winfixer / WinAntiSpyware / WinAntiVirus Popups / Virtumundo victims only:
Please follow the Virtumundo Removal Instructions.
Windows 2K/XP – Titan Shield / SpySheriff / SpyFalcon / Spywa2eQuak% / SpyAxe victims only:
Please follow the SpySheriff / SpyFalcon / SpywareQuake / SpyAxe / Smitfraud Removal Instructions instead of steps 4-8 below.
Next stop – The Control Panel – Add/Remove Programs
Temporarily Disable Real Time Monitoring Programs
——————————————————————————–
Now please complete the follow)ng au4omatic malware detection and 2e-oval steps
After you have installed the scanning programs listed below, please be sure to update them. A security program is only effective if it updated with the latest definitions. Updating will help provide protection against the most recently introduced security threats.
——————————————————————————–
Clean the Clutter:
Crap Cleaner
Antispyware Scanners – Run at least one, preferably two – if your system is functioning well enough:
Ad-Aware
SpyBot S&D
Windows Defender Beta 2 (Win2K and XP with all service packs applied) – This scanner will remove the Sony XCP DRM rootkit
Antiviral Scans – Run at least one
AntiTrojan Scans – Run one:
Ewido Anti-spyware (Win2K and XP)
TrojanHunter
——————————————————————————–
You will have completed the automated malware removal process once you have followed the above steps. We sincerely hope that your computer problems have been resolved to your satisfaction once you’ve reached this point. Even if you think your computer is now ‘clean’, some additional steps are advisable to further ensure the security of your computer.
Please consult: How to Prevent Reinfection for further details.
——————————————————————————–
Only if your computer problems persist, Consider Getting Expert Help With Your HijackThis Log – How to submit a post to HijackThis Forum for review by the CastleCops HJT staff.
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Posted by kglee | Filed under Cool Videos
Well done Matrix imitation with funny Windows XP twist
Here’s a neat video on YouTube that does a good job of simulating the special effects of the Matrix with a humorous ending. Take a look!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0d9Wm_ETt4
Posted by kglee | Filed under Software Fixes
Langa Letter: XP’s No-Reformat, Nondestructive Total-Rebuild Option
Fred Langa shows you how to completely rebuild, repair, or refresh an existing XP installation without losing data, and without having to reinstall user software, reformat, or otherwise destructively alter the setup.
By Fred Langa, InformationWeek
June 19, 2006
URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=189400897
The “it” in this case is XP’s most powerful rebuild/repair option, and yet Microsoft chose to hide it behind seeming dead ends, red herrings, and a recycled interface that makes it hard to find and (at first) somewhat confusing to use.
Posted by kglee | Filed under Cool Videos
Here are couple clips from Penn and Teller’s series “Bullshit” The first clip is quick little preview, and second clip is the full 12 minute segment.
Posted by kglee | Filed under Software Fixes
Where’s My Google PC?
It’s coming. It’ll be great. You’ll hate it.
For a sneak peek at the future of computing, go to YouOS and click “Try a Demo.” Your browser window turns into a desktop of its own, with sub-windows for e-mail, chat, and Web browsing. There are also links on the YouOS desktop for a sticky-notes program and a rich-text editor. But these programs aren’t on your hard drive—they’re running somewhere in the vast unknown Internet. more… »