The Truth About Purchased And Free Antivirus

You have a computer and you installed your antivirus software, are your ready to safley hit the internet and facebook myspace and start downloading music and files? Not so fast! First lets discuss your antivirus program. Just what is a antivirus program?

Antivirus is a program that you install on your computer to ATTEMPT to protect you from virus and malware threats.

Installing antivirus software and ensuring it is kept up to date is a vital step in securing a computer.
The companies that write antivirus programs monitor the latest virus threats worldwide and provide regular updates to their users in order to keep protection up to date. Installing any anti-virus software, regardless of what program you choose, increases your level of protection.

But be careful. You can still get a virus on your computer.

Just because you have installed antivirus on to your computer will not guarantee that you are 100% protected from virus’s or malware. It is Impossible to guarantee you will not get a virus just because you have antivirus installed. Think about it, Just like in real life. You got the doctor to get a flu shot to protect you from the flu virus, but what happens next year? There is a new flu virus and you need another shot!

Well it is very similar in the computer world. You install an antivirus (give your computer a shot to prevent getting a virus) and you are protected, FOR A WHILE.

Then a new virus is created.

You are NOT protected from that new computer virus until your antivirus program is updated!
I would say that pretty much every antivirus program is automatically updated by the vendors that make the software. So what happens if you get a virus and the antivirus program has not been updated for the new virus? Well you get the virus. Just like in real life you cannot be protected from something if you are not aware of it yet.

Virus’s are created at an ALARMING rate, new virus’s come out EVERY day and even every hour!

Old virus’s are being modified as well. It will never end!

So what are things that you should be careful about when you use your computer, or what can make you more susceptible to the computer virus?

If you don’t make certain your antivirus program is installed you are not protected. I hear from so many people they say “my internet provider protects me from virus’s” NOT REALLY, they may provide you a program to Help protect your from computer virus’s. However if you do not install it you are not protected.

Believe me it happens ALL the time.

Here is another GREAT way to get computer virus’s. Do you or your family members use programs like kazza or limewire or bearshare?

Can you say VIRUS!

These programs are not virus programs, they are used to share files and download files from the internet. These programs work VERY well! But do you realize you are downloading programs, music and other files from strangers, other peoples computers that are also on the internet?

Do you know who the person is you are downloading from? NO YOU DONT.

Ok so remember when we were kids BEWARE OF STRANGERS!

These other files are from strangers, don’t accept candy from strangers! Don’t accept files from strangers!

If your going to download music get it from a reputable company like iTunes.

It may cost you a little bit of money but if you get a virus it will cost you ALOT of money and possibly loss of data.

Okay so thats just a little bit about antivirus programs, You absolutly need an antivirus program, However you also need to be carefull when using the internet!

Do not trust virus alerts that come from a website pop up, only trust alerts from your installed antivirus program, stop downloading candy (files) from stranger’s computers.

Learn more about antivirus. Stop by Rick Mitchell’s site where you can find out all about free antivirus and what it can do for you.

Internet Explorer Cannot Display The Webpage

Internet explorer cannot display the web page, Some day when your using your computer you may have a problem getting onto the internet. There are many things that can cause this to happen. It could be anything from a problem with your internet provider, or a problem with your network adapter or possibly your router if you are using one, and the problem could also be with your modem as well as your Ethernet cable.

There are a lot of different things that can go wrong with your computer, Including the possibility of a virus or spyware infecting it that may prevent you from getting on to the internet. The first thing I suggest you do before we tamper with any settings on the PC is turn off your computer, then turn off the power to your router, with most routers you simply unplug it, then also like the router unplug the power to your modem. So basically all the network items are powered off. Next in this order turn on the modem, wait aproximently 2 full minutes for the modem to be completely restarted, then if you have a router, turn it on and also wait 2 minutes for it to completely start up and establish network connections, then last turn on the computer and try to get on to the internet. If you still cannot get on the internet then we will check the proxy setting. There are other things that can be checked but we will go over those another time.

Sometimes virus removal may be required to resolve the problem. However there is something that is very basic and simple for you to check yourself. Sometimes a virus or spyware infection on your computer may screw up some of the settings on your computer that enable you to get onto the Internet.

The settings affect the networking functions of the computer. Now there are many different things that can be checked to resolve the Internet explorer error, page cannot be displayed, We will look at a very basic problem.

The problem may have to do with Internet explorer proxy setting. We get to this setting by opening internet explorer and look for the “tools” tab, click on it then you will see a list of items, look at the bottom of the list for “Internet options” click on it, A new window will open and across the top of it you will see a series of tabs. Look for the tab that says “connections”. Click on Connections, then another window will open, look near the bottom of it for a button that says “Lan Setting” Click on it, another window will open, This is the window that we are going to work in. Look for any little boxes that have check marks in them. If there are any check marks in boxes that have anything to to do with “PROXY” remove the check marks. Save the setting by clicking on a button at the bottom of the box usually ok or apply when that box closes you may se the previous box you can click on ok or apply again . Then close all propgrams and re open internet expolorer and you should be able to see the webpage,…If the problem was the proxy setting.

Another way to get to internet options instead of opening Internet explorer. You click the start button in the lower left corner of your screen (unless you have changed its default location) Then if you are using windows xp click on run, If you are using vista or win 7 you will type the command in the search box after you click the start button, you will see a box where you can type in a command. The command to type in is inetcpl.cpl this will open internet options then you can click the connections tab at the top of that box and comtinue with the instructions.

I hope this helps some people out there, keep in mind this is only one of many problems that can prevent you from getting on the internet.

cannot load bootmgr error

Cannot load bootmgr error when starting a computer, Then you try booting from CD but you get the same error.

In this case it was a Dell Inspiron 1525  laptop.

This can happen if you wipe the C partition of you computer or if the files are damaged somehow.

This was the case today when a customer brought in the dell laptop, he had tried to reload the OS.

Since I was not certain what had happened with the laptop and I was not able to boot in any mode, (safemode or normal)

I fighrued I would try my Bart PE disk (bootable CD with its own operating system)

Well I was able to boot from the Bart PE boot disk and examine the hardrive.

I could see that the recovery partition was still intact.

In the recovery partition was a Tools folder that contained PCRestore and Imagex.exe

In another location on in the recovery partition was another folder or sub folder that contained an image file neamed factory.wim

Once all this was located I wrote down the path to the Imagex.exe program and the location of the image file.

I closed the file viewing program that I was running in the Bart PE OS and opened a command prompt window.

I changed to the folder location that contained the Imagex.exe file and typed out the command, for Imagex.exe

to apply the image to the  C  partition of the hard drive, about 15 minutes later the computer was restored to factory condition.

The command was somthing like this:

imagex /apply d:dell/Image/Factory.wim 1 c:

d:dell/Image/         would be the path to the image file

Factory.wim              is the name of the image file

1                                      means the first image

c:                                     is the location to apply the image, being the boot partition for the laptop

That was all I needed to do, hope that may help others

HELP! I cannot run any programs

If you get an error message that windows needs to know what program to use to run a file with the .exe extension, it could be from a virus or corruption in the windows registry.

Basically you will not be able to run any programs that end with the extension  .exe

You can temporarily change the extension to  .com to perhaps help you get a particular programs running.

This can usually be resolved by running a quick and simple  exefix.  So if you think you have the exe virus or corruption in the registry,  click this link then click on run when you are prompted to.

That should take care of the problem, If you need help just let us know! You should then run a full scan on your system to make sure there are not any virus’s present! If you need help with virus removal then let us know

Problems getting online?

I Try using safe mode with networking to get online if you cannot get online in the normal manner.

Some older computers that use a USB mouse, keyboard and wireless may not work in safe mode, in that case this will not help you.. if you discover this is a problem with your computer then simply restart it.

If your computer is basically non responsive or will not get on the internet in regular/normal mode you can start it up in a special diagnostic mode “safemode”

If your computer is wireless you need to connect it to a your network or modem using the Ethernet cable as most wireless connections will not work in safe mode

1. Turn the computer off completely

2. Look for the F8 key in the top row of your keyboard

3. Turn on the computer and immediately start tapping the F8 key you have to be FAST

4. When you see a screen that says something to the effect of advanced options you can stop clicking the F8 key

5. Using the arrow keys on your keyboard highlight safe mode with networking and press enter on your keyboard

6. The next screen may ask you to choose your operation system.. highlight your operating system and press enter on your keyboard

7. The next screen may show a bunch of “gibberish” (technical term) ignore it, it should disappear in a minute .. be patient.

8. You should eventually see a logon screen , select your username or owner.. do not choose administrator

9. You should see your desk top it should be a black background with the words safe mode in all 4 corners, the icons may be bigger, the screen size may be different as well and you will probably need to “scroll to see things…that’s ok, you will see a message box telling you windows is running in safe mode..click yes

10. Now try getting onto the internet with your usual web browser

I Try using safe mode with networking to get online if you cannot get online in the normal manner.
Some older computers that use a USB mouse, keyboard and wireless may not work in safe mode, in that case this will not help you.. if you discover this is a problem with your computer then simply restart it.
If your computer is basically non responsive or will not get on the internet in regular/normal mode you can start it up in a special diagnostic mode “safemode”
If your computer is wireless you need to connect it to a your network or modem using the Ethernet cable as most wireless connections will not work in safe mode
1. Turn the computer off completely
2. Look for the F8 key in the top row of your keyboard
3. Turn on the computer and immediately start tapping the F8 key you have to be FAST
4. When you see a screen that says something to the effect of advanced options you can stop clicking the F8 key
5. Using the arrow keys on your keyboard highlight safe mode with networking and press enter on your keyboard
6. The next screen may ask you to choose your operation system.. highlight your operating system and press enter on your keyboard
7. The next screen may show a bunch of “gibberish” (technical term) ignore it, it should disappear in a minute .. be patient.
8. You should eventually see a logon screen , select your username or owner.. do not choose administrator
9. You should see your desk top it should be a black background with the words safe mode in all 4 corners, the icons may be bigger, the screen size may be different as well and you will probably need to “scroll to see things…that’s ok, you will see a message box telling you windows is running in safe mode..click yes
10. Now try getting onto the internet with your usual web browser if your are now online contact us to assist with virus removal

Here is a video, It has audio but it is very low volume so you will need to turn it up.

outlook wont send email?

I Had a customer call me the other day, he was not able to send email using outlook 2003.

He had tried to get help from Microsoft, Mcafee and Comcast but they were unable to resolve the problem.

The solution is to delete the email account in outlook then recreate it.

I remember having this problem a few years ago.