Recommended downloads to fight adware and spyware

Have you ever encountered irritating ads that always pop up no matter which websites you access or is your web browser always redirected to a different website other than your customized homepage whenever you start it? If you answer yes to any of the questions, your web browser is likely to be infected with adwares and spywares.

No doubt, the Internet has played a vital role in the advert of the present Information Age. This is so as it has made communications around the world much easier. Given the widespread usage of it for varying purposes, it is no wonder some may exploited the Internet for their selfish usage, resulting in abuse such as adware and spyware. Below are the comprehensive list of recommended downloads to fight adwares and spywares, which you definitely will want to have in your computer:

These programs below scan your hard drive for adwares and spywares ranging from viscous malwares to oblivious surf-tracking cookies, and then recommend action for deleting them. Just like anti-virus programs, remember to set it to automatically update itself with the latest adware and spyware definitions.

-Lavasoft Ad-Aware: http://www.lavasoftusa.com/
-Spybot Search and Destroy: http://www.safer-networking.or g/en/
-CWShredder: http://www.spywareinfo.com/~me rijn/downloads.html

The last freeware, CWShredder, is one of the most recent spyware used specially for removing variants of the difficult-to-remove "CoolWebSearch" spyware

More information about adwares or spywares and troubleshooting can be found at http://www.spywareguide.com

Tip: You can try out alternative free web browsers which are less targeted by current adwares and spywares. A highly-recommended one is Mozilla Firefox, which can be found at http://www.mozilla.org

A firewall act as a control barrier between your computer and the cyberworld by ensuring only traffic permitted by you can pass through. Most operating systems offer firewall protection but for more control these are the more popular programs you can consider. The first two are freewares but the last two are trialwares, which means the software is free to try for a limited period of time.

-Comodo Firewall: http://www.comodo.com/

-Kerio Personal Firewall: http://www.kerio.com

-Sygate Personal Firewall: http://www.sygate.com

-ZoneAlarm: http://www.zonealarm.com

Upon installing a firewall, you might want to run the below two tests to see if the firewall is working effectively

1) Port-scan tests check if your computer is invisible to unauthorized users like hackers and blocks incoming attacks. Below are recommended port-scans that scan for holes in your firewalls:

-Shields Up: www.grc.com

-Quick Test: www.pcflank.com

-Firewall test: www.auditmypc.com

2) Leak Test check if undesirable data, for example passwords or personal details, are coming out from your computer lest a hacker wants to steal such information. Check out this site which bring together all the current different leak tests: www.firewallleaktester.com

They act just like the white blood cells of your body to keep your computer away from both harmful and harmless unwanted programs. Also, the best thing about them is you can get these great programs for free, without much worries as they are recommended by most computer users.

By : Barnaby Meins.

How to enhance your PC's speed

There are many ways to help increase the speed of your computer without buying new hardware. With minimal computer skills, you can follow the checklist below and reduce your boot time, speed up application loading, and generally make your PC more snappy.
1. Uninstall old software.
2. Defragment your harddrive.
3. Change your Virtual Memory Settings.
4. Remove spyware and malware.
5. Remove startup programs you no longer use.

Once you have completed one or more of these steps, it is a good idea to restart your computer. For details on how to perform these steps, see the sections below. Be sure you consult your computer manuals or online help before performing any of these tasks if you do not know what you are doing.

UNINSTALL OLD SOFTWARE (Intermediate)
+ In the Control Panel, click "Add/Remove Programs"
+ Remove any programs you no longer use.

DEFRAGMENT YOUR HARDDRIVE (Beginner-Intermediate)
+ Hold down the Windows key on your keyboard and press "r". This will bring up the Run dialog.
+ Type "defrag" into the textbox and press "Enter". The Defrag program will pop up.
+ Follow the steps to defragment EVERY drive on your system.

CHANGE YOUR VIRTUAL MEMORY SETTINGS (Advanced)
Virtual memory is used when your computer runs out of physical memory. Depending on how much RAM you have, this can happen quickly or not at all. Once the programs running on your computer take up all the RAM, Windows will begin accessing the hard drive to store program data. Since the hard drive is MUCH slower than physical RAM, we want to optimize the virtual memory usage in a few ways.

1. If you have another hard drive (not your main c: drive), tell Windows to use that drive for virtual memory instead of your main c: drive.
2. Make your minimum virtual memory size AND maximum virtual memory size the SAME. This will prevent the hard drive from spending time resizing it.
3. Make your virtual memory size 2.5 times the amount of RAM you have. For example, if you have 1GB RAM, make your virtual memory min and max 2.5GB.

You can do all of this through the Windows "System Properties" dialog.
+ First, hold down the Windows key on your keyboard and press the "Pause/Break" key. This will pop up the System Properties dialog.
+ Next, go to the "Advanced" tab, and click "Settings" under the Performance group. This will pop up the Performance Options dialog.
+ Then, click on the "Advanced tab in the Performance Options dialog, and click "Change..." under the Virtual memory group. All of the settings you need to tweak based on 1-3 above are in this dialog.

REMOVE SPYWARE AND MALWARE (Beginner-Intermediate)
This is as simple as downloading a spyware/malware remover from the Internet. Most of these programs are free. Do an Internet search for "spyware remover" to find some free programs that will get the job done, install and run it. I've had good luck with Ad-Aware by Lavasoft and Microsoft Windows Defender.

REMOVE STARTUP PROGRAMS YOU NO LONGER USE (Beginner-Advanced)
Using either the basic or advanced steps listed below, you can ensure the program doesn't start up by removing it completely from your system. Follow the steps under UNINSTALL OLD SOFTWARE listed above.

(Beginner)
+ Look in your programs folder by clicking "Start" then "Programs".
+ Inside, there should be a folder called "Startup".
+ Delete any files you no longer use by right-clicking on the file and selecting "Delete".

(Advanced)
+ Hold down the Windows key on your keyboard and press "r". This should bring up the "Run" dialog.
+ Type "msconfig" in the box and press "Enter".
+ Under the "Startup" tab, unselect any programs you don't wish to start when you reboot your computer.

By : Michael Mehlberg.

Electronics review: Sennheiser wireless headphones

If you're a music lover, then you have probably considered purchasing some wireless headphones. But with so many wireless headphones to choose from, which one should - or should not - pick? In this article, I will review the Sennheiser wireless headphones.

The Nice Features -

Of course, the main draw to the Sennheiser headphones is the fact that they are wireless. You're now free to walk away from your computer and still be able to listen to your music. The fact that it's wireless also means that there are a few less wires that you have to deal with. All you have to do is plug the the wireless headphone charger into an outlet and attach one cable to the computer, television, or whatever your audio source is. Simplicity is nice.

Another benefit to owning these wireless headphones is the fact that the batteries are rechargeable. You simply place the batteries in the headphones and place them on the charger. These headphones actually rest against the charger and charge at the same time.

You don't have to plug the headphones into anything to charge them, just set them against the charger. The headphones have a strip of metal that runs along the inside of them, which connects with the metal of the charger. This is how the electricity flows to the batteries.

You'll know if the batteries are charging by the little red dot that appears when you set the headphones on the charger. You should also allow the headphones to charge for about twenty four hours or so before you first use them. After that, they'll go for hours without needing to be charged.

The Not So Nice Features -

One problem with the Sennheiser wireless headphones is the fact that the audio quality isn't so great. The quality of these headphones isn't terrible, it's just that it could be better. Static or audio skipping can be a problem with these headphones, especially when the audio signal has to go through walls. Or if you're near a lot of electronics, you may have problems as well.

And the base isn't too good with these headphones either. So if you like your base then avoid purchasing these speakers. You may also find that these headphones are slightly uncomfortable. The reason for this is the earmuffs themselves.

The inventor of these headphones apparently didn't consider how hot the earmuffs would become when you wore them for long periods of time. They can become itchy and quite annoying to wear after a while. You've been warned.

As you can see, the Sennheiser wireless headphones have some nice and not so nice features. Basically, if you want to own a pair of wireless headphones that fit really comfortably and have great bass, then you may want to avoid buying these headphones. But you do as you wish.

By : Ink Slinger.

AAC explained

Advanced Audio Coding is a new audio compression standard intended to replace MP3.

AAC encodes sound in much the same way as MP3. Both methods break down sound into a set of frequencies, and encode how loud each frequency is. This breakdown into a frequency spectrum is called a Fourier transform.

This type of audio compression is very good at representing sound with a "clean" audio spectrum. They will encode flute music and violins very well because these instruments produce only a few distinct frequencies at a time. But sounds with noisier and more complicated spectra, like drum beats, human voice, and mechanical scraping will suffer audibly from this sort of compression.

AAC incorporates a solution to the noise problem in the form of Perceptual Noise Substitution (PNS). PNS comes into play when an AAC encoder encounters noise, such as the sound of wind or an "sh" in speech. Instead of trying to encode the frequency spectrum of the noise, which is difficult, AAC will encode general characteristics of the noise itself.

When you play back an AAC file (anything you buy from iTunes will be encoded with AAC), the playback device will generate sound based on the frequencies encoded in the AAC file. Where noise information is encoded, the device will generate random noise, with the appropriate characteristics, as specified in the file.

The main advantage of PNS is better voice quality at low bit rates. This makes it possible to stream audio with better voice quality over slow internet connections. Also, higher quality voice recordings will take up less disk space.

The trade off is that playing back an AAC file is more work for the playback device. Generating random noise is very computationally intensive. Playback of AAC files on portable devices has only become possible as the computing power of microchips has increased while their size has decreased, as predicted by Moore's Law, to the point that an iPod can be made smaller than a pack of playing cards.

By : Julio Johansen.

How to detect and avoid Internet scams

There are many scams that are being presented to many unaware users everyday. For many people who have not had many experiences on the Internet will have some difficulty in spotting the real programs from the ones that are Scams.

There are many ways to avoid and detect Internet scams, but it surely does need some experience too. As it works in real life too, "Experience is the best teacher". I myself have had some experiences with Scams. I once found out about an online company that promised me that I would get paid to surf, but to my disappointment I not only found that they do not pay, but I also found out that a software that I was suppossed to download in order to earn was spyware (was some kind of a trojan horse).

Now, probably I know many of you must have heard about some online schemes that promise the user really huge benefits. What I feel about this is that programs that promise too much are usually scams. What I recommend all of you to do when you have any doubts about any online scheme or program that you would like to join, is to do a google search or as some people say it "google it". Most of the time (at-least whenever I did it) it always showed me if it was trustworthy. For example, when I was first going to join helium, I did a google search and I saw that Helium is trustworthy. Just like that I have done it with many other programs that I have joined and been happy ever since I did so.

Some of the scams that are on the Internet are really obvious but some are very difficult to "grasp". The ones that really easy to grasp are the ones that clearly shows that it's too unbelievable. But the ones that are difficult to find out need to tried out. For example, I did try out a program that promised me to pay me to search but I had 30$ and I still haven't been paid. It's been two months now but I'm still waiting. I did search about this program on google but there wasn't much complaints when I joined the program. So, what I'm trying to say is that not always will the "google search method" work. But it's better than not having any way to find out something about an online program.

But that not the only way to detect scam, one more way I know is with the help of an Anti-virus software called "McAfee". I think you all would have probably heard about this Software. It's as famous as Norton but it has many more features like wireless network protection, site adviser and so on. When you install this software (unfortunately it is not free, but it's worth it) you will also have McAfee site adviser integrated with Internet Explorer (Obviously for windows XP). This is something really useful because now any scam sites or sites that are having a high risk level will be indicated by the McAfee site adviser. This is probably done by using a list of sites that the Mcafee company provides, thus, it is something that can be trusted.

From above I hope that all of you have found the above mentioned methods effective in the fight against Internet scams.

By : Gino K.

Understanding hexadecimal notation

Hexadecimal notation is a common way of viewing raw data on a computer. Understanding hexadecimal notation is an important skill for any serious computer programmer.

HOW HEXADECIMAL WORKS
The word "hexadecimal" means a number system with 16 digits. Because humans have ten fingers upon which to count, we learned to think in "decimal" notation which uses 10 numerals - 0 through 9. Thinking about how decimal notation works will make it much easier to understand hexadecimal.

In decimal notation, you write a number as powers of ten, with the higher powers to the left. The number one hundred and twenty three is written as 123. In this number, the leftmost digit is called the hundreds digit because it indicates the number of hundreds in the number. Next is the tens digit, followed by the ones digit. A hundred is 10 to the power of 2, ten is 10 to the power of 1, and one is 10 to the power of zero. Therefore, each digit in 123 has the following meaning:
1 = one hundred, or 1 times 100, or 1 times 10 to the power of 2
2 = twenty, or 2 times 10, or 2 times 10 to the power of 1
3 = three, or 3 times 1, or 3 times 10 to the power of 0

One hundred plus twenty plus three equals one hundred and twenty three.

Hexadecimal notation works the same way, but it uses 16 numerals instead of only ten. The numbers 0 through 9 are represented by the numerals 0 through 9, while the numbers 10 through 15 are represented by A through F respectively. Here are the numbers 0 through 15 in decimal form followed by their hexadecimal equivalents:
0 0
1 1
2 2
3 3
4 4
5 5
6 6
7 7
8 8
9 9
10 A
11 B
12 C
13 D
14 E
15 F

Because there are 16 numerals, numbers are written as powers of 16 rather than powers of 10. The number one hundred and twenty three written in hexadecimal notation would be 7B. It breaks down in the following way:
7 = one hundred and twelve, or 7 times 16, or 7 times 16 to the power of 1
B = eleven, or 11 times 1, or 11 times 16 to the power of 0

One hundred and twelve plus eleven equals one hundred and twenty three.

Hexadecimal notation is simply another way of writing the value of a number. While it may seem daunting at first, you will find that after some practice hexadecimal notation will begin to feel almost as natural as the decimal system you have used since kindergarten.

By : Mike Wever.

How to hide your hard disk partition from any other computer

This is actually a rather simple undertaking. The first thing to do is go to the Control Panel. To do this you start by clicking the Start button, then Control Panel. In Category view you would click Network and Internet Connections, then Network Connections. In classic view simply double-click Network Connections. Right click on the connection you want to set this for (Local or Wireless). Select Properties. Make sure the Client for Microsoft Networks and File and Printer sharing for Microsoft Networks boxes are unchecked. Click OK. Now file sharing has been disabled.

Now we can take this a step further. Go to Start > My Computer. Right Click on drive (C:). Select Properties. Select the Security Tab. Click on Users. On the bottom window pane select the box under Deny and Full Control. Click Apply then OK. Now only Administrator account have access to the Hard disk drive.

I would also definitely recommend setting a password for you Administrator account. To do this got to Start > Control Panel. From Category View, select User Accounts, then select Change an Account. From Classic View simply double-click User Accounts. Once there the first thing you should do is to disable the Guest account. Look at the Icon. It will tell you weather or not the Guest account is on. To turn it off, simply select the Guest account, then click Turn off the guest account. Viola, the guest account is now disabled. Then select your Administrator account. Click the Create a Password link. You will have to type the password in twice. Then you can create a password hint if you want. This is not necessary. This hint will be able to be viewed on the Login page.

Now you have done some basic security settings. Of course these steps can and should be augmented by a reputable third-party firewall.

Now if you would like to make your account more secure, you can change the way you login. If you are still in the User Accounts area click Home on the top bar. Otherwise navigate back to the User Accounts page. Select the Change the way users log on or off. De-select the Use Welcome Screen option. Click Apply Option. Now you will have to type in your user name and password to log into your computer.

By : Jason Psenak.

How to create a transparent gradient in Adobe Illustrator

One of the worst things about Adobe Illustrator is the fact that you can't effectively create an object with a gradient that goes from a color fading to transparency. There are so many times when you have a complex background and you'd like something to fade out, revealing that background, but there just isn't a transparency swatch that you can you use to create that type of gradient. Well, while there isn't and easy way to complete the task, not too many people know it actually can be done, it's just not as easy as it should be (you hear that Adobe). So if you've ever wondered how to create a transparent gradient in Illustrator ... here's how:

This first object represents a picture in Illustrator. Lets say you'd like to put a gradient on top of that. Here's how you'll do it.

First draw an object and fill it with the color you'd like to start with heading towards transparency.

What you'll want to do next is copy the object and paste it directly over top of your current object. This is easily accomplished by going to Edit >> Copy and then Edit >> Paste in Front.

Next, change the fill of the top Illustration to a black and white gradient. This sets the look of our transparent gradient, so just remember that the black will end up transparent and the white will be your solid color. All the Grey in between will become varying degrees of transparency.

Finally, select the two objects you created in Illustrator (the solid color object and the b/w gradient object) and open your transparency palette. From the menu in that palette, select "Make Opacity Mask" and voila, you'll see your gradient.

How it Works
The top Black and White layer acts just like a layer mask in Photoshop or Flash using the greyscale slider to achieve the varying levels of transparency. You can still edit each object independently, just click on the linked object 'layer' in the transparency palette to access that object.

So while we wait for Adobe to include the transparent option for gradients in future versions of Illustrator we can use this method to achieve the same desired result. It's just a few extra steps.

By : Johan Ross.

Managing Your Virtual Memory

Virtual Memory is a concept of using hard disk space to serve as memory. The main objective of this concept is to increase the size of computer's RAM without having to purchase the physical RAM module. This way, although a computer may only have 512MB of RAM, with another 512MB of hard disk space, the computer will work as though it has 1GB of RAM.

Sounds too good? Yes, sort of. The computer will work as if it has 1GB of RAM. But, it's important to understand that half of the 1GB actually comes from the hard disk, which is much slower than physical RAM. That's why RAM is much more expensive than hard disk, in terms of price per GB. So, as long as the computer uses only the physical RAM, it'll work faster. Once it needs to use more RAM, hence using the hard disk portion, the speed will drop significantly. Therefore, if a job needs to be done in a PC with 1GB RAM, it's still recommended to install 1GB of physical RAM module instead of relying on the cheap way: the virtual memory.

After all, virtual memory does increase the available RAM, no matter how much physical RAM is installed. And it's very easy to adjust the settings, how much virtual memory to add. The only condition is that there's enough hard disk space to convert to virtual memory.

Right click on My Computer and click on Properties. Another way to do this is from Control Panel, Systems. Both will open the same window.

Click on Advanced Tab, under Performance group, click Settings button. Click on Advanced Tab (another Advanced Tab, different to the first one), and you'll see Virtual Memory group at the bottom of the window. Click on Change button, and adjust the desired virtual memory to use.

Click OK repeatedly to close all windows opened during the proceedings. The computer may need restarting to apply the changes, and you'll have more memory available without spending a cent.

By : Artemis.

How to inactivate Microsoft Windows' Hidden Files feature

Hide your hidden files
As you know when you set a file as hidden, others can mark "show all files" and access to your hidden files. I want to reveal you how you can inactivate this choice and feel secure.
It is not difficult. Follow this direction:
Start/ Run/ Regedit/ OK
Press F3. Type "showall" and click "find next". Notice "keys" must be active at the bottom. Now double click on "checkedvalue" on the right panel and replace 1 with 0.
Now go to: my computer/ tools/ folder option/ view
Mark "don't show hidden files and folders"
You are finished. Whenever you wanted to see your hidden files you won't be able to unless to replace 0 with 1 again.
Warning: This article is extracted from one of the most popular forums and I accept no responsibilities of your loss in your machine. In fact you can search or consult regarding this tip before trying it.

By : Javad Babaee.

Firewalls and how to use them to protect your online activity

Firewalls are useful in protecting online activity by securing network access from a computer or by inserting a protective layer in between two networks. Firewalls can be either software or hardware, and they work by permitting, or passing through, pre-authorized communications as determined by the owner / operator of the system being protected.

Firewalls are deployed in one of three ways.

First, all communications between an internal network and an external network, such as the Internet, can be passed through the firewall. In this manner, the firewall is the only way for communications to pass through and it is well placed to prevent unauthorized access or communications that are indicative of viruses, spyware, and other malicious software that call home from an infected system.

Second, a firewall can be configured as a dual-homed host on a dedicated computer. In this case, the host firewall computer will perform the necessary translations to pass through authorized communications and protocols. The external and internal networks are thus separated and remain unseen from each other.

Third, a firewall can be configured as a screened subnet, meaning that only authorized access and communications are permitted to take place on specified network nodes by protecting their network addresses.

As stated before, a firewall can be either software or hardware, and the most common version is software. Free versions, including trial versions, exist for many popular software models. After installing the software version, the firewall must be activated and run before training it in what communications are permitted and prohibited. Much of this is intuitive and the firewall remembers the last settings chosen for particular communications and protocols.

In the hardware version, a "box" is installed between the external network (Internet or other type) and the internal network it is protecting. Communicating with the box to set authorized communications and protocols and communications ports are done with a maintenance or root access account from a protected computer to the box.

The interfaces for both the software and hardware versions are intuitive and simple to click through and operate. The majority of the work is actually installing and running the program with less work involved in selecting and choosing to authorize new communications events. As they are learned by the program over time, the authorizations become less frequently.

By : Raleigh Stout.

The best free anti virus software

Do a Google search and you will find over 1.4 million results for "free antivirus software."

How do you manage to find a free antivirus program without infecting your computer by unscrupulous software vendors? Most important, you want a program that will also keep your computer safe from virus attacks.

The solution is simple. Visit free.avg.com. The actual company is Grisoft, so ensure you are downloading from their site and not a copy-cat site with a similar name.

Be careful in your download; ensure you only download the free antivirus not the internet protection suite (which is not free). Many companies offer their professional and free versions. You do not want the "trial" version; you want the "free" version.

AVG is compatible with every PC computer. They make a quality virus protection program and also provide those with free versions updates.

As an AVG user for many years, I located this software after tiring of the conflicts and poor performance of Symantec products (Norton Antivirus) and the incompatibility issues I was continually experiencing with it.

In all the years of using AVG; I have never had a virus, Trojan, or other spyware type infection of my computer. I do not perform the "updates" Microsoft recommends because I firmly believe with a very good antivirus program and a top-of-the-line firewall, your computer should be protected from the security issues being raised.

Remember, a computer unseen cannot be attacked.

After having Microsoft use my system as a "beta" test whereby they neglected to fully test an update and it caused problems when released, I stopped performing the updates. I have also not had any detrimental problems based on the lack of updates. Just remember to have a good antivirus AND firewall if you go this route.

AVG not only monitors incoming emails and files being opened, it can run a variety of scheduled inspections of your system to see if anything slipped in or attempts to install from a fly-by site.

Any questionable installation activity is immediately brought to your attention for action from cleaning to quarantining. Each file opened is checked without any noticeable loss of speed ensuring a constant protective status.

I have recommended this software to many, many people and have never had any problems where there has been a system compatibility issue or other problems associated with the virus protection program. In addition, a check with all of them has verified not one single virus has infected a computer with this software installed and running.

Like many free programs the company also offers of "professional" version meaning pay license version, modifications are limited in the free version when compared to the professional one. However, most will be able to function without access to these adjustable features.

A free program is not a very good bargain if it cannot do the task it is being installed for. AVG Free functions fully in protecting your system from virus attacks. The newest version also can detect websites (when doing a Google search the trust worthy sites are indicated with a green check, questionable sites have a red "X" to warn you from visiting them) that may harm your computer merely by surfing to the page. AVG delivers the quality product for no cost to use for private use (business users should contact Grisoft for licensing information).

By : B. L. Babb.

How to remove trojans

You should delete Trojan viruses in Safe Mode. In Safe Mode the malicious virus can't move around. Print out your Anti-Virus Software Scan Results.

First clear the temporary Internet files on your computer.

Next, temporarily turn off System Restore if your computer runs Windows Me or Windows XP as System Restore may back up the malicious code on the computer if it becomes damaged.

Do 'start', 'all programs', 'accessories', 'systems tools', 'system restore', System Restore panel comes up and now click 'System Restore Settings' and tick 'Turn Off System Restore in All Drives'. Click 'OK'.

Restart in Safe Mode. Go to 'My Computer' and open the area that is infected and delete the exact corrupted file by "Left Clicking Once" with your mouse and then (pressing simultaneously the keys SHIFT and DEL). If the file is an .exe file and you left click twice, then it reinstalls the file. Ooops!

Now Restart your Computer and it will go back to Standard Mode. Run your Anti-Virus Software Scan again.

If the Trojan is in D Drive and D Drive is Protected and you therefore cannot open the folders to remove the Trojan, by either "right click - open" or "right click - explore", then you will need to change the properties on these protected files and folders in D drive in order to access them and delete the Trojan..

Follow these steps:

In Safe Mode, Open 'My Computer' and click 'Tools' menu, select 'Folder Options", select 'View' tab:
- select "Show all hidden files and folders"
- deselect "Hide Operating system protected files"
- deselect "Hide extensions for known files types".

Click "Apply to all folders", then OK.

Now you can delete the Trojan in Safe Mode

Follow these steps:

Browse in 'My Computer' looking in D Drive. If 'clicking' or right click 'Open' does not open these folders, then right click "Explore". Keep doing this until you reach the sub-folder you are looking for. Click once the infected file (not twice, as this reinstalls it) and simultaneously depress the keys SHIFT and DEL. Now it is gone.

Reboot the computer to get back into 'Standard Mode' and perform another scan.

If the Trojan is gone, then go back into System Restore and turn it back on.

Trojan Still There? - then registry editing or other treatments are needed.

If all else fails, then hopefully you created a Recovery Disk when you first brought your computer home, then you're in luck. This will restore your computer back to its factory defaults.

By : M. Bellezza.

Beginner's guide to GPS devices

First things first gps stands for global positioning satellite.It is a system that can pin point your position and can guide you to a location.It uses multiple satellites which signals are picked up by whichever gps device you are using.By comparing where the signals are coming from in relation to others the device works out where it is.Most systems can make a calculation from 3 satellites but many will use more for a more accurate result.Basic systems will work out your location to within a few meters whilst more complicated systems are more accurate still.

The more basic systems are used for cars and for walkers who want basic navigation,the more complicated systems are used in planes,boats and even missiles.When you see war footage of bombs enetring buildings through chimneys or windows then gps is often used.The advantage with the missiles is that when launched from a long distance the gps system can be used to set the route and to keep the missile on track,it even allows the missile to take a route avoiding towns and even mountains in the route.
While the basic systems are usefull they do have flaws if not used carefully.Some car systems when asked for the most direct route often include dirt tracks and routes not suitable for vehicles at all.The hand held systems walkers use are great for planning and walking a route except not all of them can work out height or depth therefore can guide you off a cliff or via a steep climb.Its a visible with walking to learn to map read accuratly and to use the gps as back up.It is a usefull gadget in emergency though as you can give very accurate information to any emergency services.
The main drawback with the system is that the unit you are using must be to connect to the signal from the satellite and therefore can be used under cover and even in bad weather.The systems despite flaws can be found in most cars these days along with the other uses i have mentioned and are often very userfull but work best along side other things as back up. Especially in cars as the system in your car wont know about road changes or new roads unless updated and can therefore try and send you up a one way street the wrong way,always watch the road for signs and warnings and don't always rely on the gps.
The future for the systems includes automatic car steering, car collosion prevention and for improved tyrack devices such as those used by secrity delivery vehicles which can be tracked if they go off route.

By : Ashley Smith.

How to create an anime music video

Anime consists of great artwork and often times loads of action. It is no surprise that the imagery has become a popular tool for usage when creating online music videos for people's favorite songs. The following is a guide to how you can prepare and create an Anime music video of your own.

The first step in planning is to pick out your song and then sifting through the anime clips you will have access to, what images do you think fit along with the music? This is going to be a fun and personal journey that may take from hours to days. In determining which Anime clips to use it is usually most professional looking if the lyrics seem to fit the pictures being shown or action in some way. If you are not sure how to get Anime clips, one can dowload them from various online sites or if you use a program called Fraps you can take them from your own DVD collection.

If you want to make this project as neat as possible then you may want to create a paper outline involving the lyrics of your song, timed with the proposed scenes you wish to incorporate. Even a quick jotted design of notes may be helpful in the ultimate task of creation, giving you a formula to base things on.

Once you have your clips saved to your computer along with the song; assuming you've provided enough space t save such things. Then it is time to slice the images together with the music, which one can do with an editing program. There are several editing programs available, one should research what one fit their needs the best, though Windows Movie Maker seems to be a well-known one.

In the editing process you may have the tools and applications to use to give the video some alterations and your own personal flair. Add your creative signature in someway perhaps via a special effect tweak.

Once you have created and saved your completed video there are endless amounts of sites popping up where you can find an audience. Some examples of course are youtube, AMVspace, and Animemusicvideos.org.

A short checklist of materials you may need is such:
DVD's and CD's
Video capturing equipment or software
Video/DVD editing software

The programs needed to make an Anime music video are fairly simple to come by and eventually simple to use. It is up to you to provide the imagination and have the patience to make the art form an original expression of yours.

By : Wes Laurie.

Tips to becoming a more efficient computer user

Using your computer efficiently isn't generic, it depends entirely on what you are supposed to do with it. For example if you are sourcing sales leads by scouring google for the terms used by the type of companies you sell to, then you would do things like setting your printer page setup to horizontal and print out the about and contact and a few key info pages from the website of each client you were going to cold call, you'd highlight the key bits, like numbers, names and products with a pen and staple the document and keep it on the desk next to the phone.

If you were an internet archivist you'd probably have linux running without any hint of a gui in sight and your life would involve a black screen, a few (minimal) occurances of white (stuff you've typed) and it'd all be jolly and cosy.

A "normal" domestic user should be more efficient simply by not putting stupid amounts of applications on their system, trying to make sure the OS is kind of balanced in favour of what you like to most use your machine for and that no application which you rarely use is doing something stupid like constantly running memory-draining processes in the background.

A business user with the same degree of skill (a lay person) should not face that sort of problem since office rules will make it illegal for them to put applications on their machine. For them efficiency is about how much time you can take the piss with, how many nice emails to people you LIK you can write, how much work you can avoid doing by having a laugh instead, sharing jokes, surfing, reading the news, even writing.

Efficient computer use means "getting the maximum" out of your machine and it is a pragmatic not technical solution you are trying to establish.

By : Evelynx.

How to use Paypal without a credit card

1. Go to the PayPal web site at www.paypal.com.
2. When the PayPal Home page appears, you'll see a box in the middle of the screen which says: Sign up for your FREE PayPal Account.
3. Click on this box and you'll be taken to the Personal Account Sign Up page. Fill in the requested information.
4. When you get to the question Would you like this to be a Premier Account?, select the answer No. The reason for this is simple: A personal account has absolutely no fees or charges associated with it; a premier account charges you 2.9% plus $ .30 for each incoming payment.
5. After you press the Sign Up button, you'll be taken to the Email Confirmation page.
6. You're then told to retrieve your email, click on the link you find there and type in your password after you're taken back to the PayPal Home page.
7. Your PayPal free personal account is now established.
8. Finally, get your new account verified in order to use it to send us half of your tutoring fees on the last day of each month. They explain how to do this.

By : Evelynx.

Pros and cons of free blog templates

The answer depends on how important blogging is to you. There are many blogs out there that only have a few posts, and because the writers can't think of anything else to write about, they leave it at that. For these people, it makes no sense to purchase a blog template.

Then there are those people who love blogging. They check their email times and times over each day checking for comments that visitors left, and checking their statistics to see where visitors came from. For these people, designer blog templates are advisable.

Also more and more businesses are starting to communicate to customers via blogs. This helps to update customers on what's new. For such businesses, designer blogs are a must to upkeep their company image.

Some designers you can check out include:
http://gussyup.blogspot.com
http://pixelforte.com
http://www.blog-togs.com

By : Apple Trenton.

Tips for improving your blog design

When seeking to improve the design of your blog, keep one key factor in mind: Simple is better. As you design, work towards a clean-but-attractive appearance.

The first thing this means is minimizing or eliminating all but your favorite gadgets. Choose a fond that is easy to read rather than one that "looks cool" - for the love of all that is holy, do not use Comic Sans.

Loud and obnoxious backgrounds should be avoided - most viewers prefer text on a white background. Nondescript, non-distracting colors such as black, gray or beige typically work best for filling additional background space.

Remember to keep helpful navigation available, such as your blog archive or a subject search.

Take a page out of Google's play book. The world's number one search engine, the Google home page consists of:

-One medium-sized image
-17 links (The majority of which are small and unobtrusive. One is actually their logo which, today, is celebrating the birthday of the late Luciano Pavarotti. No scrolling is required.)
-One text entry field
-Loads of white space.

The key here is that they are highlighting their most important work with little additional items. For Google, this is the text entry field. For your blog, it is your writing. Always keep your writing central and you can't go wrong.

By : Matthew Christopher.

How to protect RFIDs in your wallet

This article will not discuss in detail what Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) does. It will however cover how to protect/block the RFIDs that you have.

RFID are commonly found in "smart cards", and now some passports. The smart card may even be a credit card. These items contain both personal and financial information that could be read from a distance using a RFID scanner.

What can be done?

The RFID can be blocked or hindered using simple methods. Blocking the entire signal may not be possible, or needed since the range of the RFID can be significantly reduced. Many people are enclosing their cards and passports in items that absorb or reflect the RFID. This can be done using metal or water. In these cases, water is impractical.

One method is to use common foil to create a shroud your items that contain RFIDs. When stored, these items will not be able to be tracked, but can be removed from the shroud when necessary.

Another method is to buy a commercially available RFID blocking wallet. These can be found by searching on the internet.

By : Marc Rader.

The best desktop publishing software

Microsoft has dominated the desktop publishing software market for years. Most people still use it mainly because that is all they know. There are still many people who don't know that Adobe has a wonderful package that can do everything Microsoft office can do. Then there is one desktop publishing software that mainly the corporate world knows about, and it is really so much easier to use than the other two. That software is called OpenOffice.

OpenOffice can be found at their website www.openoffice.org. They are a company offering freeware software for others to have in lieu to the spending all that money on those money grabbing softwares you spend your hard earned dollars on. From a computer technician's perspective, "This software can work in conjunction with your other publishing software due to it's amazing compatibilty with it." You will find that it has many of the same thing what other publishing software has and so much more.

When I first started using OpenOffice I thought,"Well, here's another copycat of Microsoft's Office Suite." Boy! Was I wrong! This is not to say that I am a developer of any kind (that means software developer to those of you who don't know), but you can reprogram OpenOffice to fit your every need. The place where I work has a programming department that has taken this open-source software and duplicated all of the Microsoft's Office Suite to the point of making OpenOffice even better. The ease of using the new Writer, Spreadsheet, Power Presentations, etc. make it so efficient to use without all the wonder of how to make it work. I was hooked.

The only drawback, for me, to using this software is matching the size of the text made by another program. Sometimes even the same exact text can be slightly off in size and shape. Although I have not used Adobe's matching publishing software, nor Corel's, I do not see why everyone has not switched over to OpenOffice. Sure it may take you about 20 to 30 minutes to match the text for a form, but once you have it all in play it will be well worth it. There have been so many times our laminated forms were accidentally thrown away, but because I had made the new forms on the computer hidden from being deleted, we were able to print off the new form and start all over again.

After working in my current position for two years, I still did not know that OpenOffice was a freeware until my surpervisor found out what I was doing and encouraged me to go home, download the program to my computer, and learn it well. Well, I am now the coordinator for the department I have been working in because due to learning how to use OpenOffice. What I did not understand was why we had a part of the program to mimic FrontPage for a retail bisness. That just seemed rather odd.

The odd thing was that I had the software on a disk and did not know it until I finally decided to load this cheap software I had bought to learn website design. Until then I have always made a website with only notepad and MS Paint. Within Cosmi's website software was OpenOffice. The more I learned, the better I became at making a webpage. With the ease of OpenOffice, I was able to make a fantastic home page in just under an hour with text, audio, and images. This software is so easy to use.

Before you start to dismiss this program, check it out for yourself. Oh, and I have used Corel's wordperfect, which I did not like even before Corel bought them out. This is not meant to date myself, but OpenOffice is much more easy to use than WordStar ever was. Download it today to try it for your self. You will be amazed and wonder why you ever used any of the others.

By : Harold Sink.

How to tell if your PC can run Windows Vista

To make it simple, you will only truly be happy with Vista if
you have 1 GB of RAM and a CPU faster than 2.0 Ghz that is *not*
Celeron in your current computer.
Even then, consider staying with XP if your hardware is
more than six months old. You will be happier.

Vista Premium edition and above come with all the nice features that

Vista offers like Flip 3D (which
allows you a sidewards 'flipping' through open tasks onscreen by
pressing the Windows Key+Tab) and Aero Glass theme.

Keep in mind that Vista Basic edition is missing *a lot* of the cool features of the
other editions of Vista (like Flip 3D, DVD burning, etc) so don't be fooled.
Vista Basic is not worth migrating from Windows XP for.

Take a look at the comparisons here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windo ws/products/windowsvista/editi ons/choose.mspx

Now, if you are running Windows XP and still want to upgrade, really only the video card in this case would be the real hard part of things to check for Vista, specifically if there is a WDDM driver for it. The Upgrade Advisor can tell you for certain, but you'll need atleast 512 MB RAM, ability to run at 85 Mhz or higher resolution on your display, and atleast 1024x768 resolution just to be able to do the Flip 3D effect even if you have the driver. Even if you have these and only a
XDDM driver, Vista will not do the Flip 3D effect. Consider sticking with XP.

Now specifically to Vista itself, do not believe the hype about the memory checker, it has failed four times for me versus Memtest 1.68 when detecting bad ram on a system. OneLive has been voted PC Magazine's worst AV program (March, 2007) and pretty much the rest of Vista is just a pretty box with too much hype. The best parts of Vista are the Internet Search Box (ala Mac OSX) and Flip 3D in my opinion. Everything else is glitz. Really consider sticking with XP with older hardware.

A final note when it comes to upgrading Windows XP to Vista. You do forfeit
your Windows XP license if you do this. This means if you take the plunge to Vista and verify your license for Vista, you can't go back to XP or sell your old license.
There are workarounds to this claimed online, but keep this in mind.

New hardware will need it, but don't go to Vista unless you're buying a new PC.
If you are buying a new computer, use the Windows Key+Tab to make sure the system can do Flip 3D, a quick way when salesreps are hyping a computer. Also, use the Welcome Center (found under the Start Menu) to show you the ratings.
I have found that most places skimp on the RAM (512) and put in a cheap
hardrive (Hitachi or no-name) and put in a high powered video card.
This become evident when you see the ratings.

For Mac Users that wish to Bootcamp Windows Vista or run it under Parallels, it does work great. You may have an initial problem with the license key validating so you may wish to install and activate afterwards.

In sum, you can tell your PC can run Vista if it is designed for, not "Vista Compatible" which would be new hardware.

By : Dante Ranieri.

How to increase the life of a laptop's battery

Laptop battery longevity is important to users who are constantly on the move. It constantly frustrates us when a newly purchased laptop suffers a huge drop in battery performance after several months. Whilst there have been significant improvement to technologies like lithium ion batteries, we still face problems of rapid deterioration in laptop battery performance. As we wait for better solutions to emerge, here are 7 smart tips we can follow to prolong the battery life of our laptops.

Tip 1: Do not Overcharge

You should remove the power source once it is fully charged. Do not leave the battery charged for long periods of time as it might leave a burn charge' into the battery memory.

Tip 2: Discharge Frequently

Practice deep-discharging the battery every couple of weeks for optimum performance. Deep discharge occurs when your notebook is used on battery power until the charge is at 0% after which the system will automatically go into hibernation. After deep discharging, attach the AC adapter and charge to 100%. Partial charge or discharge causes a lack of uniformity of activated chemicals in the battery cell, and it may cause performance degradation over the long run.

Tip 3: Practice Cooling

Laptops are prone to overheating and hence fans are installed to remove access heat. Purchase laptop stands or place a book under your laptop to tilt it at an angle. This is so that it will cool faster without the need of powering the fan to cool the system.

Tip 4: Reduce Brightness

In a dark room, reduce the brightness of the screen to the minimal readable level where you are comfortable reading on the screen. Notebooks have keyboard buttons that allow you to do this easily.

Tip 5: Rest your Notebook

Put your computer to sleep or standby mode whenever you are not actively using it.

Tip 6: Remove Power-Hungry Peripherals

Remove peripherals when not in use. External hard drives, CD-ROMs, zip drives, modems, and other peripheral devices can draw a lot of power from your battery even when they are not in active use. Disconnect them when you have finished using them.

Tip 7: Reduce Processor Speeds

Reduce the speed of your processor. The faster your computer works, the quicker it uses up the supply of power. By cutting down on processor speed, you can extend the charge of your battery. Methods to reduce processor speed vary from model to model, but your manual should provide instructions for doing so.

By : Paul Immanuel.

How to enjoy 10 GB mailboxes

Well, first you obviously need a ten Gigabyte inbox to do this (or some other high quantity inbox for your email, Gmail is good). I will include the best ways to use this feature in your inbox, including making folders, not deleting already read items, and just using it!

Using folders in your big inbox is a great way to enjoy your email. Instead of deleting your messages or searching for hours in your fifty pages of emails, create different folders to sort them by. Some good folders are: Funny, Business, Personal, Work, Entertainment, Family, and others. You may want to create your folders before you amass ten- thousand emails, so you can just file your emails as they come along. Remember, you might want more folders than just those, because even folders can become hard to find. Also, do not make your folders very broad like Life, or have over lapping folders like Funny and Hilarious, because they may cause you to have to look in both wasting your time. So start making folders!

Not deleting items is another way to enjoy your inbox. Even if you think you do not need an email anymore, do not just put it in the trash, file it in case you need it ever again, though you may not. It may sound stupid but it is worth it, in case you need proof of something or have reference. The only thing you should ever delete is junk mail, which is advertisement mail that is unnecessary and annoying. A way to avoid getting junk mail is by not doing online surveys, signing up for random programs, and giving your email out. Some email companies automatically put junk mail in a spam folder; saving you time (hotmail and yahoo).
Don't be afraid to send lots of emails to your friends, that is what it is for! If you are hesitant to email people, what is the point of having an email account at all? Even if it is unimportant or not necessary still do it. The worst that could happen if your email is not important is that someone answers your question. Also, try to check our email often, so you do not get backed up with emails. If your are finding that you are getting mass junk mail, you might consider switching to Yahoo! Or Hotmail or putting a filter on your email account so those will not bug you anymore. Putting a filter on your email may be better than switching emails because your friends may not know that you switch.
I hope you enjoyed reading this article and it was helpful to you. Now you should now know how to enjoy your emailing even more, and with lots of space! Thank you, and please rate this good.

By : Jack Green.

Tips to make a fast loading flash animation

Flash is cool but it takes a lot of time to download. No, Flash distracts the visitors. I disagree; Flash grabs the attention of the visitors. This is what web designers and website owners argue about regarding Flash. In this article you will learn the good things and the bad things about Flash and how to overcome the bad things.

First, let me explain why Flash considered a big jump to the World Wide Web information presentation. The key is that Flash uses Vector Graphics which are small in file size. It also mixes the use of text, graphics and audio which we can call multimedia. Now since the first time Macromedia introduced Flash, it has become revolutionary because it was hard for web designers to show multimedia on the web except for videos like Real Audio.

The major advantage of Flash against video or Real Player is interaction. Now you can make use of text, animation and audio in response to the visitors' actions. As a results, Flash is used for many things online that involves interactive multimedia like games, intros and whole websites. There are more advantages of using Flash as an interactive tool online but I will concentrate on the good and bad things and how to turn bad things to your advantage.

In order to make use of Flash you must know what you want from it to do. If you want to grab the attention of the visitor with a short presentation then make your site start with a Flash intro. If you want to go straight to the point and show your information, then use a normal website. If you don't have a lot of information on your website, then use a Flash site which has the menu and contents in Flash.

Now what are the disadvantages of Flash? The major disadvantage is file size which has its reasons. Remember when I said the advantage of Flash is using Vector Graphics and they are small in size. So, what makes your Flash file large? Here is a list of the most known factors of file size and how to make them to your side:

1- Audio: Try to avoid using many audio files. When you involve audio, try to change the export settings for audio in the publish settings. I prefer mp3 but you need to test your published file in balancing quality with size. If you build a Flash intro, I highly recommend using streaming audio for the background music by placing it in a layer. This will also make your motion synchronized exactly with your sounds and you can feel that while designing.

2- Fonts: When you use fonts and choose to include the fonts to Flash so that it shows up to every visitor, you should use one font. The reason is that Flash embeds the font in the file and each font is has its size. I know that many designers like to use special fonts to the titles or the menu, but here is a trick: When you choose to embed the font, don't embed all characters. Instead, embed the characters used in your titles and menu text. This will significantly reduce the file size. To embed the characters used in your titles and menus, you can gather them all in a text file then copy and past the text in the required characters in Flash font embedding window.

3- Duplication: Avoid creating Instances and shapes many times if you are going to use them again and again. Make one circle and use it for the eyes of the face by creating a circle then putting it in a graphic then use it as the white and black circles that shape two eyes.

4- Preloaders: If you have a long Flash intro, then it is a good idea to make a preloader where visitors see "Loading, please wait" It is also recommended that you do not preload the whole movie which will increase visitors' waiting time. Instead, preload half or 70% of the movie and then let it start. The rest of the movie will be downloaded while the visitors see the beginning of it.

Finally, don't blame Flash but blame the designer. There are always some tricks to do that makes your Flash presentation full of music, action and interaction while maintaining the file size, preloading and therefore reducing the visitor's time waiting. So, grab that attention you want from your visitors using Flash the way it should be.

Happy designing.

By : Eyad Makki.

How To Make Money With Your Website

Learning how to make money with your website is a vital part of joining the work-at-home demographic. Even if you simply want to cover your costs for domain name and hosting, there are several simple ways to monetize. These same methods can explode into a true income with only a little more effort.

Make Money With Your Website - Contextual Advertising

Although Google Adsense is the largest and most popular contextual advertising network, it is not the only one. Others include Yahoo and Bidvertiser. This method of making money with your website is the easiest one by far. Simply copy and paste a bit of code onto your website and drive traffic to it. The code displays advertisments that are topically matched to your website content. Every time someone clicks on an ad, you make money. The more traffic you get, the more money you will make.

Make Money With Your Website - Affiliate Marketing

Only slightly more complicated that contextual advertising, affiliate marketing is a way to make money in which you display products or services on your website from other companies. When someone purchases or signs up, you make a commission on that sale or lead. Affiliate marketing has very high earning potentials, and there is virtually no limit to the types of products available.

Make Money With Your Website - Subscriptions

A way to make money on your website every month is to offer subscriptions to something. This can be a high quality newsletter, a special member's only area, or a particular service you offer. Whatever you offer based on a monthly or weekly subscription plan must carry some intrinsic value to people or they will never sign up.

Make Money With Your Website - Ecommerce Sales

Selling products on your website is a popular way to make money online. These can be products you create yourself, merchandise purchased for resale from a wholesaler, dropship items, or downloadable information products. Internet sales are skyrocketing and you can get in on the profits.

Make Money With Your Website - Advertising Sales

Besides hosting contextual advertising blocks, if your website has a good amount of unique daily traffic, you can sell advertising directly to other companies and website owners. This is not one of the most lucrative methods of making money with your website however. Advertising will not sell unless your traffic or reputation on the web is exceptional.

Learning how to make money with your website is an important step in building an online business, but it is not just entrepreneurs who do it. Regular people seeking to cover hosting and internet expenses are monetizing their websites too.

By : Melanie Marten.

Reasons to use wireless technology and ways to use it

Go Wireless and Be Free

I love electronics, technology and gadgets. You can imagine how happy I was to invest in "wireless anything". My internet service is wireless, my phone is wireless, (computer phone), my mouse is wireless as well as my keyboard. And don't forget how much easier it is to home network. No more two or three of everything, just network; wirelessly.

Though I haven't gotten to the wireless remote car starter yet, I plan to. It is just so much more convenient and neater that it is almost hard to believe that at one time I thought all those wires were the way to go.

There are a few pitfalls, though. If your internet should go down or out for some reason, you have no phone. A loss in the signal due to some weather conditions that interfere with the transmission can be a real headache. Other than that, I'd advise anyone to "Go Wireless".

There are some great companies that have really great wireless services. And, what makes it even more exciting is that you can correlate your cell phone, television, DVD player, CD player and almost anything that talks, plays, records, or even for home, car and computer security.

Always request the promotional offers and give yourself time to get to know your new toys. I can almost guarantee that you will love the freedom. Your choices of services as well as companies are a lot broader than they were a few years ago, or even a few months ago.

Here is a bit of information that may make you really think about this wireless thing. My electric bill has dropped quite a bit, since I went wireless. Think about this, fewer things to plug in, less power needed to run your favorite gadgets and if you get the right service, you may have only one bill for your internet, telephone and cell phone, that could be about half of what you would pay if you pay for these services separately; Made me happy.

Of course this subject can be highly debatable according to people's preferences, but wouldn't it make an interesting topic? There are those that still insist that without all those wires, nothing will work properly. But there was a time when the things we do on the computer now were totally unthinkable a while ago.

I really like the fact that I can call someone long distance, locally or internationally for the same price, and I can take my internet and phone with me when I travel. Of course there are a few drawbacks with that also; transmission signals usually, but that situation is rare and we have a more complex situation with wired service.

For me, there is nothing that can compare to the service, cost or convenience.

By : Nora Kovacs.