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.
If you would like to have Vista uninstalled on your computer and replace it with windows XP Pro, Home or Media Center Edition, please contact Biden PC. We will be glad to do that for you.
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.
Labels: Services Offered, Windows Vista Irritations
DiggIt! Del.icio.usFREE – Speed Up Your Own Computer - AntiVirus
0 Comments Published by Tim Biden on Jun 25, 2008 at 7:36 AM.
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
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.usFREE – Speed Up Your Own Computer - Spyware
0 Comments Published by Tim Biden on Jun 20, 2008 at 7:00 AM.
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.
- 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.
- Right click on ‘MY COMPUTER’, then click on ‘Properties’.
- Click on the ‘System Restore’ tab at the top of the window.
- Check the box that says ‘Turn off system restore on all drives’. Click ‘APPLY’, then ‘OK’.
- Reboot your compuyter. That’s all there is to it.
- Now run the following programs.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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...
- 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.
- 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.
- Right click on ‘MY COMPUTER’, then click on ‘Properties’.
- Click on the ‘System Restore’ tab at the top of the window.
- Unheck the box that says ‘Turn off system restore on all drives’. Click ‘APPLY’, then ‘OK’.
- Reboot your compuyter. That’s all there is to it.
Happy Computing,
Tim
Labels: General PC Advice, How To, Services Offered
DiggIt! Del.icio.usFREE – Speed Up Your Own Computer - programs
0 Comments Published by Tim Biden on Jun 16, 2008 at 2:00 PM.
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...
- Don't disable anything that says "Microsoft Corporation" under the "Publisher" heading.
- If it has to do with Norton, Symantec, McAfee, or anything else security related, Don't Disable It.
- 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 PC. I'll write more later.
Tim
Labels: General PC Advice, How To, Services Offered
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