Archive for July, 2010
Do You Need A Windows Registry Cleaner Software
by Ralph Walker Sr. on Jul.19, 2010, under Windows XP and Vista Updates for Hardware and Software
Hello,
Today I am going to talk about windows registry cleaners, registry optimizer and registry fixers. I fix PCs for a living and I have seen a lot of these programs. I have seen them in action on my many computers. So do I recommend them.
Honestly I can not recommend any registry type repair or fixer programs. From what I have seen is that they tend to corrupt your registry even more. I definitely can not recommend any FREE ones. Never perform a FREE registry scan that tells you that you have hundreds of errors and they only way to fix your PC is to pay for the product. That is purely a Scam. Do not do it.
I have seen Reg-Cure do this to many computers. Reg-Cure does not work and in my opinion and experience it is either a scam or a virus/backdoor type program that allows your PC to become infected. If you have Reg-Cure on your PC. Remove it today. It will also install other programs that were not on your hard drive before you install Reg-Cure. If you do have Reg-Cure you are currently infected. You can take this to the bank. Every single time I notice Reg-Cure I remove it and ask the customer did they pay for it. I immediately run a virus/malware removal program. This is a sound and wise investment to get this program. I use it and it works. It less than $40.00 and will save your a $300.00 service call if you get it before you PC becomes unrepairable. Click on line below to order.
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Protection.
This Malware scanner/remover is called Malwarebytes and it will work with your existing Anti-Virus protection. If your Anti-Virus program is expired then you can order what I use below. Both programs work seamlessly no infections on my PC for over 4 years. Click on banner to order below.
So I do not recommend any registry cleaner, optimizer, fixer, etc. If your registry is corrupt and you are getting errors. The best option is to re install your operating system. Depending what type of computer you have, this may be to much for the average user to do. Stay tune to future post on how to reinstall your operating system.
How to Keep Your PC Virus Free.
by Ralph Walker Sr. on Jul.17, 2010, under Windows XP and Vista Updates for Hardware and Software
Keeping your PC virus FREE is not hard if you have the right FREE tools and know how to use them. In this post I will explain this to you.
Most PC’s are currently infected. It is estimated that 98% of all computer issues are virus related. I can tell you that this is true. I remove virus for a living and 9 out of 10 PC that I work on or in fact infected. Many if not all of my customers do not realize that their PC came with a trial version of Norton Anti-Virus or Mcafee. The trial version is only good for 60-90 days, once it is expired your PC is not currently protected. Do you recall seeing those pop-ups and reminders that your subscription is about to expire please renew? Well if you did not renew than you are currently infected. If your are using Norton look at the lower right hand corner of your screen. Is there a red x on top of a yellow icon? Is your PC running slower than normal? Have you notice your PC not booting up as fast as it use to? Does your PC hang when you tell it to shut down? Does your PC blue screen? All of these are symptoms of an infected PC. Which can be traced back to your original Anti-Virus software that was installed at the factory. Trust me I am a doctor, a virus doctor to be exact.
So you think you are infected. So here are the free tools that I use when I remove viruses at my customers.
1. Boot to safe mode with networking. To get to safe mode you need to reboot the PC and press the F8 key multiple times. Select Safe mode with networking. This is the diagnostic mode. This works with Windows XP and Windows Vista. I will add Windows 7 virus removal soon. Please subscribe to my blog by putting your email address in the subscription to the right of this blog post. You can get my RSS feed.
2. Download this Free tool Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, click here. Install, update and perform a full scan. Remove anything that is found in red. Reboot, allow the PC to boot normally. Do not press the F8 key this time.
3. Remove any old or expired Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware or any virus related removal or protection tools that your have on your PC, including AOL protection, FREE AVG, Norton, LiveUpdpate, and any Registry tools like RegCure, etc. Reboot.
4. Install Ccleaner and run this several times. This will clean your PC of any temporary and unused programs. Click here to get this free utility. Reboot
5. Now you need to get a good quality and reliable Anti-Virus/Anti-Spyware program. Did I mention that this is Free too. Click here. Install and do not forget to register. ***This is important you need to register Avast because if you do not it will expire in 30 days. Just right click on the little orange icon on the right hand side of the screen put in your name and email address after Avast is installed.***
6. If you PC is still taking to much time to startup. You need to check your startup group. All programs that are installed want to start when Windows start. Did your kids install LimeWire. If so it is in your startup group. Their is no need for this and this is another reason your PC may be slower than it use to be. Click on start, then click on All Programs, then click on Startup. Drag any programs out of that window to your desktop or you can just delete the icon. This will not erase your program and normally you will have another icon in the main program windows. Go ahead and reboot.
7. Now that your PC is virus free. You need to optimize your PC. Click here for another FREE utility that will get your hard drive working more inefficiently. Install and tell it to defrag your hard drive. This will take 1 hour or so. Depends on the status of your hard drive.
8. If you want and need more protection and don't trust these Free program. Hear or the upgrade/professional links to the programs mention in this post.
Click here for special price on Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Protection.
Click here for special price on Click Here Today
9. Congratulation you have most likely fixed your PC saving you at least $200.00 on a PC service call or a trip to a PC shop.
10. If your computer is still infected or it is not as fast as you need it to be you need a professional PC technician to look at your PC. The operating system may need to be reinstalled. Reinstalling your Windows XP or Windows Vista, requires your installation CD. Most people do not get them. If you do not have your original CD it may be on your hard drive. However if your PC is beyond recover you will not be able to access it. You will lose all your data which includes, all your music, videos, work documents, etc.
If you are in Austin, TX I would be happy to service your PC. Visit me at www.adjustservices.com.
Please leave comments, all comments are welcome.
Unemployment slows new PC sales
by Ralph Walker Sr. on Jul.16, 2010, under Windows XP and Vista Updates for Hardware and Software
The lack luster economic environment, including falling home and stock values, deteriorating credit, have hurt new PC sales this year.
Most people who are unemployed are not in the market to purchase a new computer. However you need a computer to find a job, fill out applications and also to file your unemployment benefits while you are looking for that new job.
People are holding on to their computers longer than before. That is the purpose of this post. How to extend the life of your PC without spending a lot of money or getting into more debt.
Your existing computer may be just fine. It needs to be tune-up occasionally just like your car. Over time the hard drive needs to be organize and updated. If your computer is slow or has gotten slower it may be software related, or virus related. Viruses can cause a once fast PC slow down to a crawl. It can even prevent a computer from booting, connecting to the Internet, printing, etc. You need to scan your PC with a quality Anti-Malware scanner and also protect it against future threats. I recommend Malwarebyte’s Anti-Malware. It will remove all possible threats this will get rid of any issues that may be causing your PC to slow down due to infections. Once your PC is cleaned and virus free it will also protect it from future threats. It updates and scans nightly automatically just set it and forget it. Click on the banner below for a special discounted rate or click here.
This is my first post about fixing your PC yourself, saving you money and time. Stay tune for my next post, click on the RSS feed at the right top to subscribe to my RSS feed or subscribe via email.
Thanks,
R. Walker Sr. (continue reading…)
When is to much protection bad.
by Ralph Walker Sr. on Jul.15, 2010, under Windows XP and Vista Updates for Hardware and Software
I recently worked on a Windows based notebook that was very slow and needed to be optimize and connected to the Internet. It was a Fujitsu notebook.
When I started to work on the notebook it was running Windows XP with service Pak 1. It took about 15 minutes to load and it had McAfee which was expired, AVG, Spybot Search and Destroy, Norton Anti-Virus 2005 which was also expired. All these programs were conflicting causing a lot of issues not to mention infections and the notebook was not currently protected. So I had to remove Norton Anti-Virus first which is very hard if not impossible to do manually. The best tool that I use to remove Norton actually comes from Symantec, which makes Norton Anti-Virus. You can get it here, click here for a Free Norton Anti-Virus utility. Just determine which version of Norton that you need to uninstall. Download and run it. Reboot. Go back to control panel and make sure all entries of Norton are gone. Make sure you remove any Norton Live-Update entries also. Since I mention Symantec each Anti-Virus protection software has their own uninstall utility which can help if you need to unistall them for some reason. The Windows XP add/remove program feature does not work very well.
So I deleted AVG, McAfee and Spybot Search and Destroy and rebooted. The notebook is booting faster but it still needs optimizing and I need to fix the Internet connection which was wireless using a Mac Airport router. So the next thing to do was to update the notebook to Windows XP, SP3. it is fairly huge so I had it on my portable external hard drive. I attached it to the notebook and allow the SP3 update to load.
Next it was still not connecting to the wireless network so I had to install the Mac AirPlus software from CD, I rebooted the notebook and it connected to the wireless network but it was intermittent. I checked for updates and sure enough their was an update. After the update was completely. The notebook stayed connected.
For the optimization of the notebook, I used Ccleaner.com and defraggler which can be downloaded for FREE at www.filehipp.com.
The notebook is running a lot faster but it need more memory which I suggest to the customer.
Stay tune for more posts of my virus related adventures.
R. Walker Sr.
