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

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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.

If you are a first time customer, you can head over to YellowBook.com ad and click on “Coupon” to see Biden PC’s 20% off coupon. This is 20% off our service fees. It does not include any hardware or software prices.

Happy Computing,

Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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On one of my other blogs, I am testing spyware blockers. I have collected an entire list of “infected websites” and after going through quite a few pages (probably more than 50) I am noticing a theme… They all want you to download a file of some sort. So here is my recomendation and the theme of this post.

Unless you specifically trust the website that you are at, don’t download anything!!!

Keeping yourself and your computer safe online is a bit more complicated than that but just following that one rule will go miles in keeping your computer clean and safe. By reducing the number of virus and spyware infestations you have you will save yourself money on repairs and how often you have to buy a new computer.

Spyware Blockers are a legitimate and sometimes necessary product but they can’t help you if you circumvent them by downloading every Java or ActiveX plugin that you are given.You have to use your head when you’re online. A spyware blocking program will help to keep you safe but you also have to use common sense.

To quote a few cliches, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” and “Don’t believe everything you read”. Scamming websites abound and you are their target. They don’t discriminate which is why you have to.

Happy and Safe Computing,

Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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Recently I’ve had a number of clients whose Verizon DSL has been having problems. The service is extremely slow and the computers seem to have slowed down in general. They all have the MSN login software and it takes at least a minute (literally) to log in and start using the internet. These systems have been scanned for viruses as well as spyware and they are all clean. The problem is with the Verizon connection and MSN software. Though we have not yet been able to keep the login service and remove the problem, we are working on it.

If you live in the San Gabriel Valley and are having these or similar problems, please contact Biden PC to tell us about them. These problems are bigger than just your PC.

Also, if you are having a problem, with spyware, check out this blog topic about spyware blockers. A spyware blocker is a program that blocks you from going to websites that have spyware and also block spyware from entering your computer.

Happy Computing,

Tim Biden

Today I had a client who desperately needed our computer services. She said that her computer had a virus or something. What she had was a version of AntiVirus 2009 but she waited until the problem got so bad that the computer wouldn’t boot.

If your car is having problems, you take it to the mechanic before the problems get worse and more expensive, right? Why wouldn’t you do the same with a computer?

Well, to add to the issues the computer was so bad that it also wouldn’t boot up in Safe Mode so I attempted using a Boot CD that I often use to fix computers like hers but the problem had even grown beyond that. The internal hard drive wasn’t even recognized by the boot CD. I attempted fixing the MBR (Master Boot Record) to see if I could get the drive to be recognized but to no avail.

This computer is so infected that it needs to be formatted and have Windows XP reinstalled. Next time I go back, I will try another boot CD to see if I can get her files backed up because I want to do my best for her. I really want to save her pictures and data files but since she didn’t back them up, I can can only do so much to help.

So what are the lessons here? Call for computer services before the problem is beyond a simple fix. And back up your data files often. CDs are cheap.

Happy Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

Have you been having a BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) pop up on your computer? Have you seen your computer do a “Core Dump” then go to a “Logon Screen”? Has your computer screen changed resolutions or colors? If so, you have a nasty piece of spyware called Antivirus 2009.

There are many files associated with this problem including XPSecurityCenter.exe, av2009.exe, and Antivirus2009.exe. This problem is difficult to fix and neither McAffee nor Norton can remove it.

If you think you have this problem or need any other Virus or Spyware removal, call Biden PC at once. We know how to handle this problem and we will do it right the first time.

Tim Biden is currently conducting a test of different freeware and commercial spyware blockers. Go see how the tests are coming out!

Happy (and safe) Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

There is some nasty “extortion-ware” on the loose that neither SpyBot nor AdAware can get rid of. If you have it, in your taskbar (the icons at the bottom right corner of your screen), there is usually a red circle with a white “X” in the middle. It will pop up a warning that says “Warning! Potential Spyware Operation. Your computer is making unauthorized copies of your system and Internet files. Run full scan now to prevent any unauthorized access to your files. Click here to download spyware remover….”

DO NOT CLICK ON IT OR CLICK YES!!! The creators of this are trying to get you to buy their software through extortion. They create a problem, tell you that it’s there and then want you to buy their software to make the problem disappear. That is illegal and you shouldn’t have to pay them to remove the problem that they created.

What you need to do is download a program called ComboFix. Instructions for using it can be found here and the program can be downloaded here. How much does it cost? Nothing. ComboFix is a free software created for the purpose of removing spyware (software that shouldn’t be on your computer in the first place).

There is disclaimer that says approximately 1% of the computers that use this software aren’t repaired correctly. The case is similar with most malware repair software. There are always computers that are overly infected and can’t be repaired. If that is the case, your only options are to buy a new computer or have everything, including Windows, reinstalled. But before you throw your computer out the window, try the ComboFix free software.

Tim Biden is currently conducting a test of different freeware and commercial spyware blockers. Go see how the tests are coming out!

Happy Computing,
Tim

Biden PC is a Computer Network Consulting Company.

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