Biden PC's Small Business IT Blog

Most people that I know are less than thrilled about the concept of switching to Microsoft Windows Vista. Unfortunately, Microsoft, as of today, has officially killed sales of XP on prebuilt computers. This means that if you call Dell, HP, Gateway or Acer all you can get as an Operating System is a version of Windows Vista or possibly Linux.

If you are in the market for a new computer and still want XP, call Biden PC. We still have Windows XP licenses in stock. We can sell Windows XP Professional for $160 and XP Home for $110.

We will even completely remove Windows Vista from your current computer and install either Windows XP Professional or XP Home with all drivers and updates installed.

Biden PC is a computer networking, repair, and support company that is located in Pomona, California. We are central to San Dimas, Glendora, Diamond Bar, Monrovia, Chino, Chino Hills, Claremont, Montclair, Ontario, and Rancho Cucamonga.

DiggIt! Del.icio.us

So you're probably wondering why I called this post Anti-Virus instead of Virus... Well, the wrong antivirus software can slow your computer down immensely.

As you may or may not know, you have many different options for antivirus software. You of course have the big 2, Symantec (Norton) and MaAfee. Then you also have antivirus programs from

• Microsoft
• Panda
• TrustPort
• Sophos
• AVG Grisoft
• Trend Micro
• Dr Web
• ClamAV
• ZoneAlarm
• AVK (G Data)
• Avast
• Avira Antivir
  
• Kaspersky Labs
  

There are tons of antivirus programs and they all catch different viruses and different percentages of them. Yes, some are better than others.

Symantec (Norton) and MaAfee (and probably many others) have a bunch of background process happening at one time, therefore reducing the speed of your computer. They do this to provide as many services to you as is possible. They provide a firewall, active virus scanning, active spyware scanning, online child protection, online personal data protection, and others. Expect to see them protecting you from traffic accidents and the flu in future releases. (Just kidding about the traffic accident and flu protection.)

There are other AntiVirus programs that find and remove more viruses than they do and they do it faster without the large strain to your system resources. Check the most recent test results from av-test.org at Virus Bulletin.

So there is a lot of data at the above sites. You're probably wondering which ones I use or recommend. In the past I have recommended Grisoft's AVG but I've recently switched to Avira Antivir and I've been quite happy with it. It performs active scanning on every file that is written and read from any drive but doesn't slow the computer nearly as much as the big 2.

If you think you would like to try another product, I encourage you to examine the test results from av-test.org at Virus Bulletin and make your own informed decision from them. But if your subscription has not yet run out, I would recommend you keep your current anti-virus software so you can save your money until the subscription runs out.

Also Norton and Symantec can be difficult to remove and if you do so, you do it at your own risk. Click here to remove Norton and here to remove McAfee.

I hope this has been informative for you. If you have any questions or feel that this may be best left to a computer service professional, please email Biden PC here.

Happy Computing,
Tim

Labels: General PC Advice, How To, My Thoughts, Services Offered

DiggIt! Del.icio.us

How to Speed Up Your Computer - Part 2

Other things that will slow your computer down are viruses and spyware. For this blog post, we'll focus on the spyware end of things.

Spyware: what is it? Spyware has become an umbrella term that covers many different types of software that install themselves on your computer without your permission. It has many different functions such as spying on your web-browsing habits, creating pup-ups to advertise products or services, redirecting or hijacking your web browser... Spyware can be quite nasty and it should never be welcome on your computer.

So how do I get rid of it? Good question! For the sake of this blog, we are only talking about free methods of removal. As spyware writers probably know more about the inner workings of Microsoft Windows than most people do, it is quite safe to assume the software is difficult to remove. They create registry settings to call files. They create multiple files with names that change from computer system to computer system. They can have backdoor systems that reinstall the software if it is removed.

To remove spyware there are some free spyware removal programs that you must know about.

1. Shutdown the SYSTEM RESTORE because spyware attach themselves to your system’s restore files. This is an easy way for them to reinstall themselves, even after you restore Windows to a previous configuration. To disable System Restore, follow these steps.
1. Right click on ‘MY COMPUTER’, then click on ‘Properties’.
   
2. Click on the ‘System Restore’ tab at the top of the window.
   
3. Check the box that says ‘Turn off system restore on all drives’. Click ‘APPLY’, then ‘OK’.
   
4. Reboot your compuyter. That’s all there is to it.
5. Now run the following programs.
   
2. Spybot - Search and Destroy. Spybot is a free program but if you feel so inclined, you can donate to the cause. You can download spybot at the link above. I would recommend running spybot at least once a month if not once a week.
3. AdAware 2008. You have 2 options to get it free. There is the standard free version and the enhanced free version but for that you must create a TrialPay account. Once again, I would recommend running AdAware at least once a month if not once a week.
4. ComboFix. Combofix eliminates some nasty extortion-ware programs. These are the ones that create a problem saying that your computer is infected by a virus or spyware and if yu purchase their software, they'll remove it for you. That is a scam, don't fall for it! Instead, download and run ComboFix. Instructions for it can be found HERE.
5. FireFox. This is a web browser like Microsoft's Internet Explorer but it is more secure against many types of spyware. Download it, install it, and use it for all of your web browsing. Just one note...
1. When installing it, instead of choosing to import your Internet Explorer settings, choose "Don't Import Anything" so that you don't import your issues from Internet Explorer to FireFox.
6. Now you can restore the SYSTEM RESTORE because you have already deleted all of its files and removed your spyware. To enable System Restore, follow these steps.
1. Right click on ‘MY COMPUTER’, then click on ‘Properties’.
   
2. Click on the ‘System Restore’ tab at the top of the window.
   
3. Unheck the box that says ‘Turn off system restore on all drives’. Click ‘APPLY’, then ‘OK’.
   
4. Reboot your compuyter. That’s all there is to it.

Your computer should now be free from most types of spyware and therefore be running faster.

Happy Computing,
Tim

Labels: General PC Advice, How To, Services Offered

DiggIt! Del.icio.us

How to Speed Up Your Computer - Part 1

If you're like everyone else, you want your computer to be faster. I go through these steps quite often myself, just to keep things clean.

Before we move into the processes below, I want to give the disclaimer that I am giving these instructions for informational purposes. If you follow these and your computer doesn't run correctly afterwards, it is your responsibility.

Startup Programs Slow Your PC Down and Increase Boot Time
Look at the bottom right corner of your computer monitor. You'll see the open taskbar applications. This shows you what programs are running in the background. If there are more than 6, you probably could cut some fat here. I currently have 4. If you see a left-arrow or a < symbol you have even more programs running. A great program to see all the processes that are running, as well as kill them temporarily, is Process Explorer.

So if you download, uncompress and run Process Explorer, you'll see a window that looks like this.

The processes that you can more safely kill (their term, not mine) are (when organized by process) below explorer.exe. You should know recognize most of them because they will correspond to programs on your computer. This program should make no permanent changes to your computer. If you kill something that shouldn't be killed, your computer will most likely freeze or shutdown.

A great program to stop programs and processes from running when you boot up is Autoruns. Both Process Explorer and Autoruns are programs created by Sysinternals which is is owned by Microsoft.

If you download, uncompress and run Autoruns, you'll see a window that looks like this.


Autoruns can make more dangerous changes to your computer. This program edits the registry and essentially removes settings so that programs and processes don't run when you boot up your computer. If you cancel a program from running, it will not run until you start it. This is great for iTunes helper, Adobe Acrobat Speed Launcher, and anything else that you commonly run by clicking on it. This DOES NOT include your anti-virus programs. If you disable those, you will be unprotected and I do not recommend that. If your anti-virus program is slowing your computer down, email me and we can talk about it.

General rules for using Autoruns...

1. Don't disable anything that says "Microsoft Corporation" under the "Publisher" heading.
   
2. If it has to do with Norton, Symantec, McAfee, or anything else security related, Don't Disable It.
   
3. If you don't know what it is, Don't Disable It.
   

Ok, this is the first of a series on how to speed up your computer. I'll write more later.
Tim

Labels: General PC Advice, How To, Services Offered

DiggIt! Del.icio.us

Though it may seem obvious, or it may not, the more programs and services you have running at one time, the slower your computer will be. This is much like you having to get to work. If all you have to do is drive there, you might get to work in 5-20 minutes, 2 hours if you live in Los Angeles. Now let’s add on to that amount of time all the other things you may have to do on your way to work.

1. Low speed limit - 2 Minutes
2. Too many cars on the road, causing traffic - 10 Minutes
3. Drop the kids off at school - 15 Minutes out of your way
4. Traffic lanes merge together - 3 Minutes

Now your commute has increased by 30 minutes. But why?!?! Because you had other things to do and factors you couldn't control. A computer is no different. But you can have more control if you read on

A computer has a few factors that dictate its speed.

1. Processing Speed - How many GHz it runs at. (I am not going to get into the difference between different chip manufacturers and their different processes, this is general information.)
2. Bus Speed - This is how fast one component can send data to another component. (It is often the largest bottleneck in the computer.)
3. Amount of RAM - This is how much general info can be placed in a "To Do" folder for the computer. Remember, too much RAM is not possible, more than what can be used is possible.
4. Speed of RAM - This is how fast a component can send data to the RAM and later receive it back. (It is the other large bottleneck in the computer.)

So you're wondering, "What does this have to do with my computer being slow?" I'm glad you asked.

Just like you, your computer can only do a limited number of things at one time. Fortunately, if they're running right, they can do many more things at one time.

Did you notice that each list has 4 issues that slow us down? Each number correlates to the same number in the opposite list. This means the processing speed is like the speed limit.

1. Your car can only (legally) drive the speed limit. The same is true with computers. The CPU can only (supposedly) process information at (whatever your processing speed is) GHz. This speed is not easily (or safely) changed. I’m not going to tell you how to change this.
2. Though you can’t tell everyone else to get off the road when you want to drive, you can do this with computers. Close all unused software programs and startup programs. Also spyware and hard drive fragmentation problems can add to this issue and slow a PC down. I’ll tell you how to fix and repair these in my next post; How to speed up your computer for free.
3. If you can’t decrease the number of things that you have to do, increase how many things you can do at one time. This is like increasing the amount of RAM in your computer. It will allow you to do more and do it faster. (Some computers may already have the maximum amount of RAM available to the computer so this is not an option. But it can’t hurt to check it out.)
4. Find a shortcut or a route that has a higher speed limit to your kids’ school. If you can also increase the speed at which you do things, you can get them done faster. This is like increasing the processing speed of your RAM. (Some computers may already be at the fastest speed available to them so this is not an option. But it is worth a look.)

So to speed up your computer, the way we mentioned here is either adding more RAM or replacing it with a higher speed of RAM. For an easy way to see what you have and could use, go to crucial.com.

Be sure to check my next blog post: how to speed up your computer for free. I’ll tell you how to reduce the number of programs that run without your knowledge.

Happy Computing,
Tim

Labels: General PC Advice, How To, My Thoughts

DiggIt! Del.icio.us

I'm noticing a new pattern, Windows XP Service Pack 3 seems to be as messed up as Windows Vista is, just in a smaller package.

Microsoft originally released XP SP3 to manufacturing on April 21, 2008 and to end users to download on May 6, 2008. It was then recalled due to issues with "office program incompatibilities". Once re-released, it is having troubles with Norton/Symantec Antivirus, AMD hardware (which I use almost exclusively), as well as connection problems with Windows Home Server. I think I'll stay away from it for a few weeks. I really don't need to send my computer into a never-ending reboot loop.

A Toshiba laptop computer that I saw today (I should have paid more attention to the hardware configuration) has been freezing at the loading screed in Windows since loading SP3. After removing Service Pack 3, it seems to be running perfectly.

Here's an interesting take on it from Chad Weirick at Hot Hardware, "With the campaign to keep Windows XP alive, one has to wonder if glitches like this were a product of a less than complete testing cycle. If customers began viewing XP as less than rock-solid, they might be willing to take another look at Vista." Thanks, Chad!

Tim

Labels: My Thoughts, Windows Vista Irritations

DiggIt! Del.icio.us

Did you know that you can view your FTP files like a normal Windows folder? Instead of seeing things like this, you can map a network drive to your FTP account and view your files like you would a normal Windows folder.

Since CyberNet already posted excellent instructions and pictures on how to map a network drive to FTP (primarily in Vista), I'll post about how to do it in XP.

1. Important: First install this fix from Microsoft.
2. Open “My Computer”
3. In the “Tools” menu, go to “Map Network Drive…”
4. In the Setup Wizard, select the “Sign up for online storage or connect to a network server” link at the bottom.
5. Another Wizard will pop up, choose “Next”.
   
6. The new screen should have an option highlighted to “Choose another network location”. Click “Next” again.
7. Enter in "ftp://your-domain.com" as the network address.
8. Unclick "Logon Anonymously" and enter your account logon when asked for a username.
9. Now create a name for the drive, maybe something like "Work FTP" or whatever you would like.
10. To open your new network drive/FTP site, go to “My Network Places”. You will see a drive with the name you gave it in the previous step.
11. If prompted for your username and password, again account details and click "Save Password".

To access it again is simple!

1. Go to your Window "Start Menu" and click on "My Network Places".
   
2. Choose the object with the name that you entered previously in step #9 and double click on it.
3. You are now looking at your FTP account like it is a normal folder in Windows.
   

Happy Computing,
Tim

Labels: General PC Advice, How To, My Thoughts

DiggIt! Del.icio.us