Free Antivirus Roundup

In this day, it is absolutely essential to have an up-to-date virus program running on your system if you are connected to the internet. Even if you do not care about protecting your PC, you could be unknowingly spreading viruses on your PC. Viruses user your Email programs to send themselves to those in your address book. A friend, relative or associate might open an Email sent from you by a virus and suddenly be infected. This can be embarrassing.

Here are some of the most popular free Antivirus programs:

AVG - One of our favorites.

Blink - Free one year subscription for personal use. Provides zero-day protection.

AntiVir - The private and individual use is completely free of charge!

avast! Home Edition - MQuick and easy free antivirus download.

Trend Micro - Free online virus scan.

There are many different types of viruses. The following includes a brief description of the most common

Boot Sector: This virus infects the System-area of a floppy or hard drive. They are activated when a user boots from an infected disk.

File Infector Viruses: Most of these viruses reside in the memory of a computer and infect a programs' .exe and .com files.

Master Boot Record Viruses: Similar to a Boot Sector viruses, these viruses infect the Master Boot Record and prevent your system from booting.

Multi-partite viruses: Infect both the Boot record and program files.

Macro viruses: Macro Viruses are prevalent in corporate environments where office suites are used. They use a program's code to infect data files.

Trojan Horses: These viruses do not replicate themselves. Instead, they usually pose as a harmless file that is downloaded from the web. These programs rely on secrecy and can result in the theft or destruction of data files. This type of virus is commonly picked up from peer to peer file sharing programs.

Worms: Worms replicate themselves without using a host file and can spread very quickly across the internet by releasing documents it has infected.

Zero-Day Attack: A zero day attack is more of an exploitation than a virus. Hackers that know of a vulnerability will attack a system that has an exploit without a patch.

Wireless Network Security

Networks have quickly evolved from the traditional Ethernet cable setup, with wires tucked under runs and tacked to ceilings and walls, to mobile setups with your valuable and personal data being broadcast throughout your neighborhood.

In this day, it is essential to protect yourself from attackers and snoopers, This article will employ simple techniques that can instantly make your wireless setup more secure.

The SSID

A Linksys Router will have a default Service Set Identifier (SSID). Everyone knows this. So one of your first steps in securing your network should be to change this to something else.

Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP)

As a minimum, you should enable this on your router. WEP encrypts the data, making it harder for intruders to snag the information flying through the air. Having since been replaced by newer protocols--the latest being IEEE 802.11i standard (also known as WPA2)--WEP is the bare minimum you should use, and is widely supported by older hardware. WEP is always better than no protection at all, but realize this is a false security and anyone with hacking knowledge can quickly compromise it.

Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA)

WPA was created to replace WEP. It is a wireless protocol with enhanced authentication and encryption. WPA's strength is that it uses the Temporal Key Integrity Protocol, which creates new keys as the system is being used. This fixes the exploits found with WEP because hacks could be used to quickly crack the key it used. If given the option, always choose WPA over WEP. Unfortunately, not all devices support this newer protocol and WEP must be settled for.

MAC Addresses

You can make your network static by physically inputting the MAC addresses of your hardware into the router table. This allows only those particular pieces of hardware to access the network. Since no two network devices share the same MAC address, this is a great way to secure your home network.

Disable DHCP

Simply put, don't allow your router to handout an IP address to anyone walking down the street with a laptop and a wireless card. You will need to physically assign each machine an IP address within the IP range you specify in the router.

By taking a moment to enable a few security protocols within your wireless network, you could prevent a hacker or snoop from gaining access to your valuable information.

Update Your D-Link Router Firmware

You should routinely check D-Link's website for router firmware upgrades. Firmware upgrades improve your D-Link router's functionality and security. Having an old firmware version can open your entire network to vulnerabilities. Before you begin, you should make sure you write down your router's model number, hardware version number, and firmware version number. You will need this information when downloading the update. This information is often located on the underside of the unit.

Critical Tips On Firmware Update

Make sure you use the correct router firmware update. Failure to do so could result in the destruction of your router. Also, do not attempt to update your router's firware through a wireless connection, as any loss of packets could harm the unit. Use a direct connection to the router via an Ethernet port.

Getting Started

Download the firmware. Once you have completed the download, login to the router by going opening your web browser and typing the router's internal IP address (usually 192.168.1.0). Login with your admin username and password.

Next, click on the TOOLS tab across the top, then the FIRMWARE button on the right side. You can now Browse to the firmware file you downloaded. Click to open the file, then click the Apply button to begin the update. Do nothing while the update is taking place.

Once the update is complete, you may need to reconfigure some parameters, but this is normally a painless process.

Your IP Address Can Change

Most home networks today will consist of a broadband modem, a router and one or more computers that share that Internet connection. The router has two IP addresses: An exterior IP address seen by the outside world and an interior IP address seen only by the computers on the local network. Your ISP assigns the router it's exterior address, which may be something like 69.x.x.x (where the Xs are numbers).

The router will then give each internal PC its own local address, usually something like 192.168.1.2. Other PCs will have an address similar to 192.168.1.3, etc. In this case the router is considered the DHCP server and the gateway to the Internet. When you boot your machine, the computer will broadcast a request for an IP address and the router will normally answer. If it does not see the DHCP server it will give up and make up an IP address for itself. This IP will often look something like 169.x.x.x. This is a local address that will not likely have any communication with other PCs on the network.

We mention the 169 IP address because people will suddenly lose Internet connectivity when it worked the previous day. An easy way to attempt to fix this is to just reboot everything—modem, router and PCs.

In XP you can check your IP address by going to the command line. Go to START>RUN and type cmd and hit Okay. Next, type ipconfig /all and hit Enter. You will be able to see a lot of information about the gateway and the IP address of the computer. The IP address should be similar to 192.168.1.2 with a subnet mask of 255.255.255.0. If you have the 169 IP address, we can try the reboot.

Follow these steps in sequence:

1. Shut all PCs down.

2. Unplug the router.

3. Unplug the modem. Wait a minute or two.

4. Plug the modem back in and wait until all lights are green.

5. Plug router back in. Wait a minute.

6. Reboot the PCs, one at a time.

Even if you have the correct IP addresses, it's not a bad idea to reboot everything occasionally. So if your Internet speeds are slow on all connections, or if you suffer from a loss of Internet connectivity, reboot the modem, router and PC for a quick fix.

Find Your Windows Product Key

You paid for Windows but you no longer have the CD key that came with the computer. Now you want to reinstall XP, so what do you do? Aside from buying a new version of Windows, you can attempt to recover the hidden product key from within your current version of Windows. It might be beneficial to do this even if you do not plan on reinstalling anytime soon. When the time comes to reinstall your Operating System, at least you'll have the CD key ready.

Programs to help you recover your hidden CD key

There are numerous programs to help you recover your product key. One of the most popular is the Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder . This program has been around a long time and is very successful in helping you recover Windows keys and Office product keys. Another good program is WinKeyFinder. Both programs do a good job of helping identify the product key for most versions of Windows and some Office applications.

Once you have the product key, be sure to write it down and keep it in a safe place. Afterall, the key is worth at least $100. If you do not have it, you will be forced to go out and buy a new version of Windows. Since product keys are usually pasted to the side of the jewel case the CD originally came in, it's not uncommon for them to get lost. Consider using an adhesive tab to affix directly to the CD and write the key code there, as well.

If you have any other questions about CD key recovery, be sure to join our free computer support message boards .

Use ReadyBoost to Speed up Your Computer

ReadyBoost is a caching technology integrated into the Windows Vista Operating System. The idea is to use a flash drive (commonly called a thumb drive) as secondary RAM for your computer. Since a computer’s performance is often dictated by the amount of physical memory installed in the computer, adding additional memory is an easy and inexpensive way to improve your PC’s speed.

Your computer uses RAM, which is volatile memory that doesn’t permanently write data, to run program and applications. When the amount of the memory you have in the computer is used up, Windows will go to a “page file” on the slower hard drive to swap out the space need to keep your computer running. Since the hard drive is so much slower than your RAM, users tend to see a temporary slowdown in speed when the swap file is used.

The theory with ReadyBoost is that a thumb drive is much faster than hard drives. So when the amount of physical memory is used up in the computer, Windows Vista will begin using the ReadyBoost flash drive as its cache.

Computers that have less than 1GB of RAM should see an immediate performance increase when adding a ReadyBoost flash drive. When purchasing a drive for the purpose of utilizing it as a ReadyBoost device, be sure to buy one that has ReadyBoost ready printed on the package, as some thumb drives will not be fast enough or large enough for Windows to use it.

When you first plug in the drive, Vista will determine if the flash drive is capable of being used for ReadyBoost. If it is, then Windows will display a message asking if you would like to “Speed up my system.” If you say “yes” Windows will show the drive and ask how much space you’d like to allocate for ReadyBoost caching; use as much as you can spare. Since these drives are so inexpensive, you may want to consider getting one for the sole purpose of using it for caching.

If you have any questions about memory or Windows Vista, be sure to join our free computer repair message board today!

Parental Controls in Windows Vista

The parental controls in Internet Explorer 7 gives you the opportunity to control when your child uses the computer, what time your child uses the computer and the type of content your child views when online. Gaming can even be blocked or controlled by using the Electronic Software Rating Boards review system. This article will explain how to enable the Parental Controls in Vista and Internet Explorer so you can feel better about allowing your child to experience the Internet without fear of being exploited or exposed to mature content.

Getting Started

To setup Parental Controls open Internet Explorer and go to Tools, Internet Options and then click the Content tab. Click the Parental Controls button. You will then see a screen which allows you to make settings for the various usernames you have setup on the computer. Once you select your child's username, you can then toggle on the Parental Controls option and begin configuring the settings.

Time Limits

You can set the hours of the day your child will be able to use the PC by blocking out restricted hours. You will see a grid with the days of the weeks and the hours. If you do not want your child to use the PC after 10 PM every night, setting the parental controls can prevent that activity. Click and drag your mouse pointer over the days and hours you want to restrict your child's usage and the blocks will become blue in color. When finished, click OK to exit this setting.

Game Restrictions

The ESRB rates games and labels them with rating tags. If you want to block violent or provocative games from your child, selecting the ESRB's game level of your child will prevent them from playing games with a mature rating. You can even check boxes that block specific games containg content such as Blood, nudity and bad language.

Viewing the Log

Probably the most important feature of Parental Controls is monitoring the types of content your children are viewing and playing. The activity log files can show you Emails, Instant Messages, top websites visited and other important facts about your childs activity on the computer. Use this information to tweak the Parental Controls so you can give your children the freedom to explore and learn in a safe, controlled environment.

Parental Controls in Windows Vista

The parental controls in Internet Explorer 7 gives you the opportunity to control when your child uses the computer, what time your child uses the computer and the type of content your child views when online. Gaming can even be blocked or controlled by using the Electronic Software Rating Boards review system. This article will explain how to enable the Parental Controls in Vista and Internet Explorer so you can feel better about allowing your child to experience the Internet without fear of being exploited or exposed to mature content.

Getting Started

To setup Parental Controls open Internet Explorer and go to Tools, Internet Options and then click the Content tab. Click the Parental Controls button. You will then see a screen which allows you to make settings for the various usernames you have setup on the computer. Once you select your child's username, you can then toggle on the Parental Controls option and begin configuring the settings.

Time Limits

You can set the hours of the day your child will be able to use the PC by blocking out restricted hours. You will see a grid with the days of the weeks and the hours. If you do not want your child to use the PC after 10 PM every night, setting the parental controls can prevent that activity. Click and drag your mouse pointer over the days and hours you want to restrict your child's usage and the blocks will become blue in color. When finished, click OK to exit this setting.

Game Restrictions

The ESRB rates games and labels them with rating tags. If you want to block violent or provocative games from your child, selecting the ESRB's game level of your child will prevent them from playing games with a mature rating. You can even check boxes that block specific games containg content such as Blood, nudity and bad language.

Viewing the Log

Probably the most important feature of Parental Controls is monitoring the types of content your children are viewing and playing. The activity log files can show you Emails, Instant Messages, top websites visited and other important facts about your childs activity on the computer. Use this information to tweak the Parental Controls so you can give your children the freedom to explore and learn in a safe, controlled environment.

Parental Controls in Windows Vista

The parental controls in Internet Explorer 7 gives you the opportunity to control when your child uses the computer, what time your child uses the computer and the type of content your child views when online. Gaming can even be blocked or controlled by using the Electronic Software Rating Boards review system. This article will explain how to enable the Parental Controls in Vista and Internet Explorer so you can feel better about allowing your child to experience the Internet without fear of being exploited or exposed to mature content.

Getting Started

To setup Parental Controls open Internet Explorer and go to Tools, Internet Options and then click the Content tab. Click the Parental Controls button. You will then see a screen which allows you to make settings for the various usernames you have setup on the computer. Once you select your child's username, you can then toggle on the Parental Controls option and begin configuring the settings.

Time Limits

You can set the hours of the day your child will be able to use the PC by blocking out restricted hours. You will see a grid with the days of the weeks and the hours. If you do not want your child to use the PC after 10 PM every night, setting the parental controls can prevent that activity. Click and drag your mouse pointer over the days and hours you want to restrict your child's usage and the blocks will become blue in color. When finished, click OK to exit this setting.

Game Restrictions

The ESRB rates games and labels them with rating tags. If you want to block violent or provocative games from your child, selecting the ESRB's game level of your child will prevent them from playing games with a mature rating. You can even check boxes that block specific games containg content such as Blood, nudity and bad language.

Viewing the Log

Probably the most important feature of Parental Controls is monitoring the types of content your children are viewing and playing. The activity log files can show you Emails, Instant Messages, top websites visited and other important facts about your childs activity on the computer. Use this information to tweak the Parental Controls so you can give your children the freedom to explore and learn in a safe, controlled environment.

Internet Explorer 7 Security

A major advancement in browsing security was released with Microsoft Vista's Internet Explorer 7. Browsing the Internet in the past was akin to walking through a minefield, where dangerous maleware threatened to take over your machine with just one click. Windows Vista has locked down Internet Explorer 7 with a default feature called Protected Mode. Protected mode is security settings in the browser that give the user just enough privileges to surf the Internet, but not enough privileges that allow changes to be made to the system.

Parental Controls

Internet Explorer also integrates a powerful parental control feature that allows you to limit your child's activity on the computer. You can access these controls from the Tools, then Internet Options, then the Content menu. Decide when and what websites your child visits, and also the types of video games your child plays on the computer, which are rated by the ESRB.

Phishing Filters

Phishing is a website that deceives a visitor into thinking the website is something other than what it is, such as a bank website or any other site that may need your username and password. Phising is a way hackers steal identities. Internet Explorer keeps an updated list of these sites and attempts to filter them from your web browser automatically.

Windows Vista has made an attempt to recover IE's tarnished past with the release of Vista and Internet Explorer 7. They have done a great job of tackling the concerns of parents and users who want to keep malicious code off of their computers. Time will tell just how successful their endeavors will be, but we suspect these features will recover some of those users who always loved Internet Explorer, but were just too afraid to use it.

Remove Microsoft Updates in Windows XP and Vista

While it’s not recommended to remove Microsoft Updates in Windows, it is possible to do so if you begin experiencing problems immediately following a patch from Microsoft. Normally, Microsoft will release scheduled updates every couple of weeks. So if you can attribute a problem immediately after an update, you may want to uninstall that patch.

Uninstall Microsoft Updates in XP
To uninstall a patch in XP, go to the Control Panel, and then click on Add / Remove Programs. You will find a checkbox here that allows you to view the installed updates. Click the update you want to remove.

Uninstall Microsoft Updates in Vista

To uninstall a patch in Vista , go to the Control Panel and click on the Programs and Features icon. Next, click View Installed Updates in the left pane. All of your program updates, as well as Microsoft updates will be listed in this location. You can click on the latest patch to remove it from your computer.

If your Windows installation is set to automatically install updates, your computer will eventually download these updates again. Also, removing updates may cause problems with your system, so be careful what you remove.

Vista Backup and Restore Center

The Vista Backup and Restore Center takes the confusion and fear out of System Restore. With Vista, you can now backup and restore your important system files with ease. In Windows XP, System Restore was a confusing system that most people ignored. Common questions were "Am I going to lose my pictures? Am I going to lose my data?" Microsoft took that uncertainty and created the Backup and Restore Center.

Backing Up Your Data

At the top of the Backup Center, you'll find a section for backing up your data. You can choose to backup individual files or the entire drive volume. The wizard will now allow you to even select the type of media you want to save the backups to, such as DVD, External Hard Drive, USB Drive and CDR. Backup existed in previous versions of Windows, but was hidden under numerous layers of confusing menus.

Using System Restore

Vista now automatically makes restore points whenever a there is a major change to your system. You no longer have to worry about going into restore to manually take a snapshot whenever you update drivers or install hardware. Vista does this for you.

You can restore your system files anytime, without fear of losing data, such as pictures and documents. The restore section is located just below the backup area in the Backup and Restore center.

Previous Versions

A related utility to the restore and backup features is Previous Versions. This is an on the fly system that allows to quickly revert a document to its previous state. For instance, if you were working on a document and accidentally deleted an entire page, you can go into the Previous Versions section and revert the document back to the time before the page was deleted. Being able to restore files in this matter is a huge innovation with Windows backup.

How to Uninstall Vista

If you upgrade to Vista from Windows XP, you may be finding it difficult to revert back to XP. There are several factors involved in uninstalling Vista and some of these make it difficult to successfully go back to XP. Whenever you do a new Operating System upgrade, you need to face the fact that reverting back to a previous version may not be an option and even if it were an option, the process of going backward is complicated and may not even work.

With that said, be sure you have made the necessary backups before upgrading to Vista or before attempting to downgrade your Windows Vista installation to XP. You can try to downgrade without losing data via the Microsoft Knowledge Base article at http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/933168.

But the best way is to use a fresh XP CD with a fresh license key. While you can try to use a previous license of XP from that computer, it may not work, as there have been issues with Vista rendering previous XP licenses useless after a Vista upgrade. This makes sense, as Microsoft does not want you to sell the upgraded XP after you are no longer using it. So be sure to get your hands on a boxed copy of XP before attempting an upgrade.

Boot to the fresh copy of XP. To do this, you may need to go into the system BIOS to change the first boot device to the CD ROM drive. When asked where you want to install XP, look for the current partition where Vista is installed and remove it. This will wipe out the Vista installation and all data will be lost. You can now install XP by choosing the free space on the hard drive.

You will also need to install drivers for all of your hardware. If you do not have a driver disk, be sure to go to the manufacturer of the hardware (motherboard manufacturer, video card manufacturer, sound card manufacturer, etc...) and have those disks ready. You should at the very least have the driver for the network card so you can get online and download the other drivers later.

If you have a major brand name computer and have purchased it with XP and then later installed Vista, call or Email their technical support to see if there is a way to successfully revert back using the recovery disks that came with your computer.

If you have any other questions about downgrading Vista, please be sure to join our free message boards today.

Repair Windows XP Installation

Repairing your Windows XP installation isn’t as straightforward as it has been in previous version of Windows. In the past, you could simply install Windows over top of it self to correct any problems with missing or corrupt files. With XP, you need to be careful or you could end up inadvertently wiping your current installation and losing all of your applications and data. When we “repair” Windows, you are installing Windows again with the intent of keeping all of our data and programs intact.

Warning: As with any major procedure, you risk losing data. Be sure to backup any important data before you proceed with the Windows XP repair.

To repair Windows XP you’ll need a genuine Windows XP CD. Because you are essentially reinstalling Windows when you repair it, you’ll need the key code on the back of the XP CD case, so have it handy. The recovery disks for major brands like HP and Dell will not be good enough unless they have actually given you a Windows disk, which isn’t likely.

Insert the CD in the drive and reboot the PC. You will see text flash on the screen that says “Boot to CD press any key.” There will be a brief delay until Windows loads. Then you will see a screen that offers you the following options:

1. To setup Windows XP now, press Enter.
2. To repair a Windows XP installation using the recovery console, press R.
3. To quit setup without installing Windows XP, press F3.

Option 2 seems like the obvious choice, but we actually want to press Enter to setup Windows. You will then be asked to accept the license agreement. Once you do that, you’ll need to select the XP installation you want to repair and then press R.

Allow XP to copy the necessary files and then reboot. You will again be asked to press any key to boot to the CD. This time do not press anything. Windows will boot to the installation screen on its own and proceed with the installation of Windows. Once done, you will need to run through the final stages of setup by inputting your Windows registration key. Then you’re finished with the repair.

Take the CD out and reboot the PC. You should find that your data and programs are still intact, but Windows has installed over itself and repaired damaged or missing files.