BidenPC's I.T. Blog

Have you had either your Windows Vista computer or your SBS (Small Business Server) 2008 box lose their internet connection after you reboot? This recently happened to me after I installed SBS 2008 at a client’s location. It is easy to diagnose and the fix is relatively simple if you understand how to edit the registry on your computer.

Step 1: The Diagnosis:

1. Click on the “START” button and in the small box at the bottom, type “CMD” without the quotes.
2. A black box will appear with a blinking cursor. Type “ipconfig /all” and hit “Enter”.
3. You will see a lot of text that may look completely foreign to you.
4. Look the the row that says “Default Gateway”, if it is blank, then continue on to the “The Fix” section. If the “Default Gateway” is not blank, there is another problem and the fix below will not help you.

Step 2: The Fix:

1. Close out of the black box by typing “Exit” and hitting “Enter”.
2. Click on the “START” button and in the small box at the bottom, type “regedt32″ without the quotes.
3. The registry Editor will appear and you need to navigate to HKLM/System/CurrentControlSet/Services/Tcpip/Parameters/Interfaces/
4. Here you’ll need to select the CLSID of your networkadapter where you change the settings. You’ll probably recognize it by looking at the value IPAddress that will have the IP of this adapter.
5. Open the value “DefaultGateway” by double-clicking it.
6. You will see a list of all the gateways that disappeared! ( in your case it may only be one) Very likely, the first line will be empty. I’m not sure, how this little flaw can make such a big problem.
7. Manually remove this first empty line, click OK and reboot your system everything should be working fine again.

Thanks to Ilja Herlein at http://www.netsetman.com/support/viewtopic.php?pid=832#p832 for the direction on how to fix this issue. I hope it helps you as much as it helped me!

Tim

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Biden PC is a Computer Networking Company and we now offer Online Computer Support.

If you’re anything like me, you have a cell phone but no land line and occasionally forget where you put your phone.

Well, now you can call your phone (or prank call your friends) with a website. The address is simple to remember… Its exactly what you say every time you lose your cell phone, “Where’s my cell phone?” Yes, that’s right the website address is… Wait for it.  http://www.wheresmycellphone.com/. No this is not a joke.

According to the website, they do not keep records of who is called so your number is safe with them. “No records of dialed numbers are kept or shared! I have a hard enough time keeping track of my own things, let alone yours. Don’t worry, your cell number is safe here.”

Tim

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Biden PC is a Computer Networking Company and we now offer Online Computer Support.

Is there something that you have always wanted to know about computers? Would you like to know how to fix a problem, how this or that works, or even what is the best antivirus program?

I am offering you the opportunity to choose the next few Biden PC blog posts.

To request a certain topic, all you have to do it reply to this post and let me know what you are interested in. I will post the answers here and if there is something that I have to research, I will gladly do that for you.

Thank you very much,
Tim

If you found this post to be informative, consider following Biden PC on Twitter.

Biden PC is a Computer Networking Company and we now offer Online Computer Support.

In recent months, I’ve noticed a growing trend in virus removal. Parents are actually having their children (either teenagers or adult offspring living at home) pay for it. About half the time I have a virus removal job; the parents blame the infection on the kids and let me know that the cost of the job will ultimately be paid for by the kids.

I think this makes perfect sense. Having been a computer tech for a number of years, I can usually look at a computer and tell you approximately how old the children in the house are by the software and viruses on the computer.

Whether the parents are helping the children learn about responsibility and consequences or the parents just want to save their own hard-earned money in these difficult financial times, I don’t know. But this is a growing trend and I completely support it. Hopefully, by learning this lesson financially, the children will learn about computer safety and that visiting certain types of websites is going to mess up their computer and cost them money.

***EDIT*** That being said, I know that there are parents that blame their mistakes on the children. Trust me, I don’t care who caused the problem or where the problem came from. I believe it is my job to fix the PCs, not place blame.  ***END***

Way to go Parents!

Tim

If you found this post to be informative, consider following Biden PC on Twitter.

Biden PC is a Computer Networking Company and we now offer Online Computer Support.

How Much Personal Information Do You Have Online? Have you ever thought about that question? Take this story that just happened to me as an example of how personal information and data can end up online with out your knowledge or permission.

Today I received an email from, Google Alerts telling me that my name had popped up in a new web page. This happens occasionally since I am on Twitter, Facebook and I have my own blog (this one) so I didn’t think it was anything strange. However once I read the email (pictured below), I had to check it out.

A day or 2 earlier I had written a letter of recommendation for a friend and thought nothing more about it. Then I get the email that you see above and I had to see what it was talking about. Apparently the friend needed to convert the Microsoft Word file to an Adobe Acrobat file and used the website http://www.scribd.com/ to do so. No big deal, right? Well, the website made the letter public and Google had searched it and found my name. This is why I was alerted. So I called my friend to ask her about it and apparently her resume as well as 2 more letters of recommendation were posted online as well. Thanks to Google Alerts, we were spared the embarrassment of having somebody else find it.

So, how much personal data do you have online? Have you ever Googled your own name? You should. And if I were you, I would set up alerts for the different variations of your name. That way, any time something new is added, you’ll know about it.

Setting up your alerts is easy. You don’t even have to log in or create a new account.

1. Go to Google Alerts.
2. Enter the text that you want alerts for.
3. Choose comprehensive.
4. Enter your email address.
5. Click on “Create Alert”.
6. Google will send an email to the address that you enter. Open that email and click on the link under “Verify this Google Alert request”.
7. You’re done.

Keeping up to date with your information online is a great way to reduce embarrassment and credit fraud.

Thank you for reading,
Tim

If you found this post to be informative, consider following Biden PC on Twitter.

Biden PC is a Computer Networking Company and we now offer Online Computer Support.

Sometimes we all need to be reminded to go back to basics.

Many months ago, I was called out to diagnose an Internet connection problem. When I arrived onsite I went through some basic troubleshooting steps like these.

1. Attempted to reach a webpage.                            Failed.
2. Checked for an IP address.                                   Valid.
3. Released and renewed IP address.                          Succeeded.
4. Attempted Ping test to 4.2.2.2.                            Succeeded.
5. Attempted Ping test to yahoo.com.                        Succeeded.

So at this point I know that there is a valid connection to the modem, router and Internet, but not the WWW. I also know that DNS is working as that is what translates yahoo.com to the address 209.131.36.159. (Yes, that is Yahoo’s real IP Address.) Since the Internet connection works and has been proven I start looking for other reasons why the WWW might not work.

1. I look for Norton/Symantec software on the PC.          None there.
2. I look for McAfee software on the PC.                        None there.
3. I flush the DNS cache.                                              No improvement.
4. I start looking for malware and viruses.                      None there.

I start wondering what’s happening so I bring my laptop in and use the existing cable. My laptop has the same problem with the same circumstances. Of course since I know that my laptop works I start thinking about what is the same in this scenario. The items in common are the modem, router, and cable. Since the modem is owned by Verizon, I can’t just switch it out. I can switch out the Ethernet cable so I switch it for my own used cable. IT WORKS!!! So I go and get the client a new cable and it still works.

This was the first (and last) time that I had ever seen a bad Ethernet cable cause such a problem. Usually, if the cable is bad, the whole network connection is down and you can’t even get a valid IP address but in this case, it just blocked one protocol. Strange.

So this day I got my reminder that I need to get back to basics and check the cables. And that clients shouldn’t have to pay for my wasted time. I only charged for 1 hour + an Ethernet cable.

Thank you for reading,
Tim

If you found this post to be informative, consider following Biden PC on Twitter.

Biden PC is a Computer Networking Company and we now offer Online Computer Support.

If you’re having problems updating Avira Antivir Personal Edition (FREE antivirus software) it is quite probably because your computer, router, or ISP (Internet Service Provider) don’t fully support IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6) yet. If you are using Avira as your antivirus software and want a better method of updating your antivirus software automatically, follow these instructions…

1. Go to to “START” button and click on “RUN”.
2. Type “%SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\etc” and hit “OK”
3. Open the hosts file with Notepad.
4. Copy the 2 lines below and paste it to the last line at the hosts file. Save the file.
   
   2a01:138:a001:201::21 personal.avira-update.com
   2a01:138:a001:201::21 personal.avira-update.net

The contents of the Hosts file should now look like this:

# Copyright (c) 1993-1999 Microsoft Corp.
#
# This is a sample HOSTS file used by Microsoft TCP/IP for Windows.
#
# This file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. Each
# entry should be kept on an individual line. The IP address should
# be placed in the first column followed by the corresponding host name.
# The IP address and the host name should be separated by at least one
# space.
#
# Additionally, comments (such as these) may be inserted on individual
# lines or following the machine name denoted by a ‘#’ symbol.
#
# For example:
#
#      102.54.94.97     rhino.acme.com          # source server
#       38.25.63.10     x.acme.com              # x client host
127.0.0.1       localhost
2a01:138:a001:201::21 personal.avira-update.com
2a01:138:a001:201::21 personal.avira-update.net

Thank you for reading,
Tim

If you found this post to be informative, consider following Biden PC on Twitter.

Biden PC is a Computer Networking Company and we now offer Online Computer Support.

Did you know that if you get a virus, spyware or malware and remove it, it can still come back? It can. The way that viruses and malware do this is by attaching themselves to other files or your computer registry. This way, once you clean it out, it can download more virus files itself to attack you again.

Whenever Biden PC performs a virus removal we do our best to be certain that the virus can’t come back and we stand by our services. We offer a 30 day warranty on all virus removal services. So if you are reinfected within 30 days, we will remove the viruses again at no charge to you. Does your computer repair company offer that?

We So how do we ensure that the virus doesn’t come back again? We scour the registry for all places that viruses are known to hide. We perform multiple checks including checking for rootkits.

When we’re finished, we are so sure that your computer has no more viruses that we are willing to back it up with our 30-day warranty.

Disclaimer: This30-day warranty is null and void if there has been a music/file-sharing program (LimeWire, BearShare, BitTorrent) on the computer within the 30 day period.

Thank you very much,
Tim

If you found this post to be informative, consider following Biden PC on Twitter.

Biden PC is a Computer Networking Company and we now offer Online Computer Support.

For years, Biden PC has resisted the temptation to start accepting credit cards. Due to the current economic climate we have found that it would make things easier for our clients if we started accepting them.

So in addition to cash and check, we now accept Visa, MasterCard, and Discover.

Thank you very much,
Tim

If you found this post to be informative, consider following Biden PC on Twitter.

Biden PC is a Computer Networking Company and we now offer Online Computer Support.

Have you upgraded to Windows 7 yet? Do you want to? Do you have any questions about it?

Have you thought about the different options that you have to accomplish this task?

• If you currently have Vista, you can upgrade.
• If you currently have XP, you can do a clean install and move your data to the new installation.
• You can purchase a new PC that already has Windows 7 on it and copy your old data from 1 computer to another.

Do you know about the different Windows 7 versions that are available?

• There are a total of 4 versions, STARTER, HOME PREMIUM, PROFESSIONAL, and ULTIMATE.
• There are 3 upgrade versions, HOME PREMIUM, PROFESSIONAL, and ULTIMATE.

I’d like to alert you to a simple tool from Microsoft that will advice you on about your abilities of upgrading to Windows 7. The tool is called the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. To quote the Microsoft website… “It scans your hardware, devices, and installed programs for known compatibility issues, gives you guidance on how to resolve potential issues found, and recommends what to do before you upgrade.”

Though the way the software reports its findings on your system should be understandable, if you would like help in knowing which path would be best for you, Biden PC would be glad to help. And if you decide that you would like to take the leap to Windows 7, we can facilitate that in the manner that best fits your needs and budget.

I have personally been using Windows 7 since the beta version and I had the final release version 3 weeks before it was available to purchase. I can say with complete confidence that this is a solid and stable OS.

Thank you for reading,
Tim

If you found this post to be informative, consider following Biden PC on Twitter.

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company and we now offer Online Computer Support.