Fighting off Viruses: Advancements in Antivirus Software Suites

Protecting your computer from a virus is getting harder and harder each day, making it very difficult to fight off viruses attacks. While it may border on the paranoid, it goes without saying that you can’t leave your guard down for one second. Even corporate giant Microsoft has found its own systems compromised on more than one occasion.

Remember the “good old days”, before the advent of the Internet and downloadable programs? Life was simple then in terms of computer viruses. With the primary way in which a virus could be transmitted being limited to floppy disks, the ability to catch and eradicate the virus was a lot easier. By today’s standards, it used to take quite a while before a virus was able to infect a computer and slow down the system. The antivirus software of that time was typically able to identify and eradicate viruses before they caused too much damage. Additionally, computer users were pretty savvy on how to protect themselves in terms of scanning all floppy disks before copying them to our desktop.

The Internet helped change all that. The Internet provided a conduit by which viruses could move from host to host with lightening speed. No longer could a computer user just worry about floppy disks as points of entry, but they now had to worry about email, email attachments, peer-to-peer file sharing, instant messaging, and software downloads. Today’s viruses can attack through multiple entry points, spread without human intervention, and take full advantage of vulnerabilities within a system or program. With technology advancing everyday, and the convergence of computers with other mobile devices, the potential of new types of threats also increase.

Protecting Your Computer

Luckily, the advancement of antivirus software has kept pace with current virus threats. Antivirus software is essential to a computer’s ability to fend off viruses and other malicious programs. These products are designed to protect against the ability of a virus to enter a computer through email, web browsers, file servers and desktops. Additionally, these programs offer a centralized control feature that handle deployment, configuration and updating. A computer user should remain diligent and follow a few simple steps to protect against the threat of a virus:

1. Evaluate your current computer security system.

With the threat of a new generation of viruses able to attack in a multitude of ways, the approach of having just one antivirus software version has become outdated. You need to be confident that you have protected all aspects of your computer system from the desktop to the network, and from the gateway to the server. Consider a more comprehensive security system which includes several features including antivirus, firewall, content filtering, and intrusion detection. This type of system will make it more difficult for the virus to penetrate your system.

2. Only install antivirus software created by a well-known, reputable company. Because new viruses erupt daily, it is important that you regularly update your antivirus software. Become familiar with the software’s real-time scan feature and configure it to start automatically each time you boot your computer. This will protect your system by automatically checking your computer each time it is powered up.

3. Make it a habit to always scan all new programs or files no matter from where they originate.

4. Exercise caution when opening binary, Word, or Excel documents of unknown sources especially if they were received during an online chat or as an attachment to an email.

5. Perform regular backups in case your system is corrupted. It may be the only way to recover your data if infected.

Recommended Antivirus Software

There are numerous applications available to consumers. With a little research, you can pick the program that is right for you. Many programs provide a trial version which allows you to download the program and test its abilities. However, be aware that some anti-virus programs can be difficult to uninstall. As a precaution make sure to set up a System Restore point before installing.

Here are a few programs which typically receive high marks in terms of cost, effectiveness, ease of use, and customer service.

Invisus Internet Security 2006 provides best of breed technologies, using Kerio Firewall, Sophos Anti-virus, CounterSpy as well as BigFix..Virsus scans done every day with live updates scheduled scan options available, software has been known to discover virus attacks three hours to two days before its competitiors.. Invisus offers unlimited free tech services a needed addition in todays online environment.

The Shield Pro 2005™ provides virus protection and hacker security through ongoing support and updates. When a virus breaks out, The Shield Pro 2005™ promises to provide a patch within 2-3 hours and a fix for the virus within 5 hours. You can set your computer to update viruses weekly and run a complete virus scan.

BitDefender 9 Standard provides antivirus protection, as well as Peer-2-Peer Applications protection, full email protection, and heuristics in a virtual environment. This provides a new security layer that keeps the operating system safe from unknown viruses by detecting malicious pieces of code for which signatures have not been released yet.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal 5.0 program is simple to install and use. The user only needs to choose from three levels of protection. It allows updates as frequently as every hour while promising not to disrupt your computer. The program also offers a two-tier email protection feature and round-the-clock technical support.

PC-cillin Internet Security combines antivirus security and a personal firewall—for comprehensive protection against viruses, worms, Trojans, and hackers. It also detects and removes spyware and blocks spam. It even guards against identity theft by blocking phishing and pharming attacks.

AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is a free downloadable antivirus program that has received high marks for its reliability. In the past, free downloadable antivirus programs have been viewed skeptically because of issues relating to its reliability. However, AVG from Grisoft, remains one of the best-known free anti-virus programs available. While AVG can not be installed on a server operating system and there is no technical support, it still makes a good choice for many home computer users. The best part is that since it is free, you can try it with no further obligation necessary.

However, I do NOT suggest to use free anti-virus software or off the shelf security products, as you will only be getting basic security levels met and most likely outdated by the time you get them on your computer. It is best to purchase the best you can afford as in the long run it will be less expensive if something slips through your system. Also it takes only 8 seconds for a hacker, spyware, adware or any other malicious attack to enter your computer. Computers slowing down, freezing, software not working properly, emails overloaded with spam, computer starting on its own, computer crashing, these are all signs that you have been hit with a virus.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carmel_Whittle

Why Pocket PC?

The Pocket PC is a very versatile mobile device because it can not only be used for work, but also for play. The platform it runs on supports a broad range of multimedia capabilities. The Pocket PC also boasts more overall multimedia capacity, so the games made for the Pocket PC tend to be more graphically advanced than those on the Palm.

Another reason why people like the Pocket PC is because of how small and mobile it is. All of these features it offers, some you won't find in a Palm Pilot, are compacted down into a sleek, light weight device. One of the nicest benefits the Pocket PC offers its users is the ability to seamlessly browse the web. It's simple and enjoyable on a Pocket PC.

There's a lot of new programs coming out for the Pocket PC that really make the device shine. The future of applications for the Pocket PC looks bright. Expect applications that cover mobile surveillance, enhanced voice recognition applications that will enable your Pocket PC to talk (perhaps in other languages as well), PocketTV - watch television on your Pocket PC, PocketBible, and more. The list goes on and on, this is one truly versatile mobile device.

The Pocket PC also caters to many different types of professionals nicely. For example, if you have a career in the health care industry, you'll find handy software tools useful like medical encyclopedias, contact and time management tools, and more

You won't have any trouble finding extra software for your Pocket PC, either. Many of the recently released Pocket PC applications are available for download from the Internet, or at your local mobile entertainment store.

I strongly believe that the Pocket PC is the most revolutionary mobile computing device developed to-date. It's a businessman's dream, because you can easily run your business from any locale you like. Find many compatible applications to make your job easier or browse the web for access to easy information at your convenience. For reasons like these, I highly recommend the Pocket PC for any situation.

Written by Kori Smith. Find the latest portable media articles, news, and more at PocketSynch the Portable Media Gadget Blog.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kori_Smith

3 Things You Need To Know Before Installing Windows Vista

The new generation of Microsoft Windows known as Vista was released earlier this year. Most new computers bought since the end of January will come preloaded with Windows Vista, but there are many people with older computers that will want to upgrade from Windows XP. Before attempting to upgrade, there are several things you need to know.

First, make sure your computer is able to run Vista. Microsoft has a program that will scan your computer and give you a report about anything that is not compatible or not fast enough to run the new version of Windows.

This upgrade checking tool comes with Windows Vista upgrade packages, but you can also download it from the internet so you can check your computer before spending any money on Vista.

You can get more information about the Vista upgrade tool at www.microsoft.com/vista.

Second, check the report you get from Microsoft's upgrade tool closely. There are some features of Vista that won't run on all computers, even if they are able to run it.

You should pay close attention to the video card report in particular. Older video cards may not support the new "Aero" interface in Vista, which is one of the major new features.

If your video card doesn't work with Aero, you can still run Vista (in fact, the Basic version doesn't include Aero) but you'll be missing out on a lot of the new capabilities.

If your video card isn't up to the task but the rest of your computer is Vista ready, you can upgrade to a newer card that will support it without having to buy a whole new computer.

Lastly, if you're planning to install the upgrade version of Vista, keep in mind that you can't do a clean install with it.

What is a clean install, you ask? This is when you format your hard drive, wiping everything clean that's on there now and installing Windows from scratch.

With past versions of Windows, the upgrade version would allow you to do a clean install as long as you had an original disk from the previous version. It would ask you to insert the disk during the installation for verification.

This ability is no longer an option and if you start with a clean hard drive, you'll either need a full version of Vista or you'll have to install an older version of Windows first so you can upgrade.

Aaron Smith offers helpful tips for computer upgrades on the Computer Help Squad website. Get your free copy of our special report "5 Steps To Protect Your Computer On The Internet" at http://www.computer-help-squad.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Aaron_Smith

Windows XP Repair- Tweaks for WinXP 3

LuvComputers PC Repair Tweak No.3

Now moving on to the final part of this little series of Windows XP tweaks.

In this part were going to improve the computers all around start up time. The way that were going to do this is to remove the amount of programs starting up when we boot our computer. Truth be known, there are quite a few of these that just don't need to be starting up when we boot the machine.

Now the programs starting up will differ from machine to machine, depending on what programs are installed on a given computer. I'm not going to go into to much detail here. I'm just going to give you an overall idea of the sort of things that really aren't necessary to be loading up and starting.

Tweak-NO.3

1. The first thing that we need to do is to get into our run box again.

So remember, click Start, menu opens, find and click run.

2. Once we have the run box open, we're going to type into the run box the phrase "msconfig", without quotations. Then click ok. Now we are in what is known as the System Configuration Utility.

3. Now that were in the utility, the tab were going to be needing is the Startup tab. Now for the purpose of this, we are going to keep it basic, I don't want people unchecking things that shouldn't be unchecked.

4. As you can see there are many things that are starting up when you boot your computer, and frankly, up startup, many of them just aren't necessary.

There are programs such as Yahoo Messenger, MSN Messenger, etc. that really don't need to be started when you boot up, unless of course your one of those people that likes to be automatically logged in upon startup. But, any of these sorts of chat programs will start when you need them to, just by double clicking their icon or else starting them from the programs menu.

So, taking these things out during the startup process, will speed up your startup times, by quite a lot in many cases.

Does Windows Office need to be started when you boot your computer. No. Probably not.

Does your webcam software need to be started at this time. Again, probably not.

Go through these programs starting up and choose which one's you really don't need to be starting when you boot up, and it will improve your performance.

Now, there are some things that should be starting as well, and you should be leaving these alone. These are things like your antivirus protection. For the purpose of this tweak, leave the checks next to items that look more like filenames alone. These are items like isschd, ccapp, and things along this line. In future tutorials I'll get into these a little bit more. For now, let's just stick to basics.

Once your finished unchecking the programs that don't need to be starting, and are sure that these are fine. Remember what I said about your antivirus software. Anything that has to do with your Internet Security, leave these checks in place.

After your finished, click ok, after you click ok, you will be asked to restart your computer. After your computer restarts your changes will take place.

So there you go, this concludes our little LuvComputers PC Repair Tweaks for WinXP series. I hope that you enjoyed these tutorials and learned a little bit from them.

Again I kept things fairly straight forward. I didn't want people checking and unchecking things that may have an undesirable effect.

Well see you all soon, and take care of yourself!

Thanx Davin

LuvComputer's PC Repair

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Davin_Ogden

Windows XP Repair-Tweaks for Windows XP 2

LuvComputers PC Repair Tweak-NO.2

Ok, so in Tweak-No.1, we performed a couple of changes to Windows XP to improve your overall quality of your session experience a bit. In tweak No.2 we are going to expand on this a little bit, but we are also going to improve the shutdown time of your computer measurably.

This tweak is going to involve getting into the registry, so heed my warning from Tweak No.1.

Please do not perform this tweak if your at all uncomfortable about going into the registry, OK!

Tweak-No.2 Now, to get into the registry in Windows XP, we first need to access our Run box. To access the Run box: Press Start

Find Run in the first menu that opens up, and then click Run!

Now we are in the Run box, simple hey.

Ok, now that we are in the run box, we want to type in the phrase "regedit", without the apostrophes of course.

When you access the registry you will notice under the My Computer icon, the different subsections of the registry. These include:

HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT

HKEY_CURRENT_USER

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

HKEY_USERS

HKEY_CURRENT_CONFIG

In this tweak we want to click the plus sign next to HKEY_CURRENT_USER folder.

This opens up to all the different folders stored in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER parent folder.

Scroll down to the folder that is labeled, Control Panel, then click the plus sign to open the subfolders of the Control Panel folder.

Once this is finished, you'll notice many folders, Accessibility, Appearance, Colors etc. For the purpose of this tweak we are going to open the Desktop folder.

If you look to the right of your screen in the registry editor, there are many, many different things you could play around with in here. Please don't! Let's just concentrate on the few that we are going to change for the purpose of this tweak.

1. The first value we are going to change is MenuShowDisplay. Basically what this little feature does is, governs the amount of time it takes to open up your menu's on your desktop. The default value is set to 400. We can change this value, simply by double clicking the actual heading, MenuShowDisplay.

So once you have double clicked it, reset it too, 200, this will improve the speed at which your menu's open on your desktop. I usually set mine to 150, but this opens them up pretty fast. You can play around with different values here, but anything lower than 150 is usually opening up your menu's to fast.

So like I say, you can play around with the value a bit, to your liking.

2. If you scroll up from MenuShowDisplay, the value we are going to change next is AutoEndTasks. The default value for this is 0. We are going to switch this to 1. The same as we did the first one, just double click the heading, then change it, and then click OK. Basically this is like a switch, as in binary, 0 being off, and 1 means on. Changing this value to one will automatically shutdown a hungup program for you.

3. Now were going to go down the list a little bit, to HungUpAppTimeout. The default of this value is 5000. Switch this to 1000.

Note:Be a little bit careful with this one. If for some reason you might have a program that runs very slowly in WinXP, on your machine, the operating might falsely think that the program is hung up. In such a case, you can increase this value in increments of 1000, until the false hang ups stop.

4. Lastly, to finish off, we are going to change one more value. This being the value of WaitToKillAppTimeout, the default for this is 20000. Set this value to 4000. There really shouldn't be any reason to go back and switch this later on, as with HungAppTimeout. This will close your programs much faster, and great when shutting down if you haven't closed a program before trying to shutdown your computer.

A couple of things you should know about the Registry is that these changes take effect immediately, and there isn't anyway to undue the changes in the way you might be used to. The only way to change them back to default is if you remember what the defaults are. Well, actually that's not true. There is a way, but that is beyong the scope of this little tweak section were doing. If your unsure, and are worried about the effects, of some of these changes, I suggest you write them down somewhere, just in case for some reason you would like to go back to Windows XP's original settings.

One more thing, always back up the registry before making any changes such as these. I'm quite sure you will appreciate the responsiveness that these changes in the registry have on your computer.

Let's move onto the third part of LuvComputers PC Repair-Windows XP tweaks .

Davin Ogden

LuvComputer's PC Repair

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Davin_Ogden

Windows XP Repair- Tweaks for WinXP 1

LuvComputers PC Repair Tweak No.1

There are a few little things that you can do with your Windows XP installation that will improve it's performance. These include speeding up the boot time, shutdown time, and just overall general session experience.

Now a couple of these are straight forward, these Windows XP tweaks can be performed by most users, with a bit of experience. Some of the other's involve getting into the registry to make a few changes. If you don't know what a registry is, and the general outline and purpose of it, then I don't recommend that you go in there at all. Making a mistake inside the registry, in the wrong area or changing the wrong value, can have catastrophic repercussions on your operating system. So please, remember I said, "If you don't know what a registry is, it's purpose etc., DON"T GO IN THERE!!" There is my warning, I'm no longer responsible!! If perhaps you would still like to have a faster machine, and you are feeling uncomfortable with your saviness, ooh that's a cool word, saviness! I mean your not feeling as computer savvy as maybe you would like, then find somebody that does have a lot more experience with computers, and might be comfortable with places such as the registry. Here we go!

Windows XP Repair-Tweak No.1 1. To start off with, were going to start right from the desktop, no programs open. First we want to get into the properties of My Computer.

Click Start, and find the My Computer Icon in the menu. To get into the properties of My Computer, simply right click the icon, then choose properties, from the drop down menu.

In the properties box you will see a series of tabs. These are General , Computer Name, Hardware etc. The tab that were interested in here is the Advanced tab.

Open up the advanced tab. Incidentally, you will have to have administrative privileges on the computer that you are working on to make most of these changes. With that said, and with the Advanced tab opened up you will see three main categories in which you can access.

These are Performance, User Profiles and Startup and Recovery.

In the Performance area, click settings. In here we are just going to make a couple of changes.

As you can see there are four bullet points:

Let Windows choose what's best for my computer??

Adjust for best appearance

Adjust for best performance

Custom

Normally, in here I will choose Custom, and deselect everything in the list of graphic features, except for the very last two.

Use dropdown shadows for icon labels on desktop

Use visual styles on windows and buttons

Leaving the last two of these options checked still gives you a visually nice desktop, and you can still see visual styles on your windows and buttons.

Once you have made these changes go to the bottom of the Visual Effects tab and click Apply.

As for all of the one's that were left unchecked, most of these will use up memory because of the graphic nature of them, but for most users, if you didn't know what they did, you wouldn't miss them anyway. But having them unchecked will speed up your overall system performance by a smidge.

Alright, so that's the first part of Windows XP Repair-Tweak No.1.

For the next part, while we are in the properties of My Computer, on the Advanced tab, let's look down towards the bottom, and you will see the button Error Reporting.

Click Error Reporting and get into the window that opens up and disable error reporting by putting a check mark in the Disable Error Reporting box.

Error reporting is much the same as, "Your computer has performed an illegal action", from back in the Windows 98 days. Basically, your computer did something that your operating system didn't understand. Only now, Microsoft wanted you to report it to them. Frankly I don't see the point and also, this is mostly annoying more than anything, so go ahead and disable it, trust me, your not missing anything.

Davin Ogden

LuvComputer's PC Repair

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Davin_Ogden

Anti Virus Software Download - Keep Your PC Safe With Multiple Programs

It's fairly safe to say these days that most of us, (around 80%) have bought a well-known antivirus package. Personally, I favour Norton but McAfee, AVG and a few others dominate the antivirus and spyware market. There is of course a good reason for this.

Popularity is the main reason. When you buy a computer the chances are you would buy it from a high street computer shop, a well-known internet name such as Dell, or on the strength of a recommendation. You would be very cautious about handing over your hard-earned cash to a company you have never heard of, and rightly so. The same applies to an antivirus software download. Most of us would much rather spend our money on one of the big names mentioned above, (even if they are more expensive) because we know that we will be getting a high level of protection from a brand we can trust. The only time we are likely to deviate from this is if we are offered a free antivirus program / trial or if someone we trust recommends different antivirus software downloads. What most people don't realise, (also around 80%) is that we shouldn't rely solely on these programs. Why?

Once we buy and install this antivirus software we let it run and forget about it. We assume we are safe and fully protected because we bought the best there is. To a point this is true. I would always recommend buying your main antivirus package from a recognised brand. Personally I use Norton Internet Security. It not only protects against viruses but it comes with automatic updates, checks my emails for viruses and spyware, and even comes with Norton GO-Back which is a more advanced version of Microsoft's, "System Restore". This is all wonderful stuff but there is one problem. Something that affects every one of these big brands of software.

If you are familiar with computers you may have heard that using an alternative operating system or internet browser such as firefox is safer. The reason for this is that Creators of Viruses, Trojans, Spyware, Worms and all the other types of malicious bugs are very clever. They know that almost everyone uses Internet Explorer. They also know that 80% of people use one of 5-6 big software brands.

When the viruses is created it is usually intended to reach as many computers as possible. Therefore it is only logical that the first targets to overcome are the big named brands. If the virus get get past this antivirus software undetected then it stands a very good chance of infecting thousands of machines. Now this is where the problem lies. Norton, McAfee and other big names are always the first target. There is nothing they can do about this other than to be as prepared as possible.

This is where the consumer needs to get wise. As stated above I would always recommend owning one of the recognised antivirus software packages as your first line of defence. But if this was all there was to it, then nobody would ever get a Virus on their machine. We know for a fact that thousands, (maybe more) still get infected everyday. so how do we prevent this?

The answer is very simple and inexpensive. There are hundreds of lesser known antivirus downloads available on the market. These are not frequently targeted by the creators of viruses because there is less opportunity for their virus to spread. Many of these programs will run quite happily alongside your main software, or you can just use them to run a scan periodically.

So, to ensure you are as fully protected as possible here is what you should do. First, buy or keep your current recognised 'big brand' software. This is a vital step that should not be missed (the smaller cheaper antivirus downloads are unlikely to provide adequate cover on their own). Secondly, buy a lesser known spyware scanner and remover. Thirdly, Also buy a lesser known adware stopper. It is important to note that there is no need to spend vast sums of money here. You can very easily purchase both of these products for far less than half of the cost of Norton, or McAfee.

This may sound like a time-consuming effort, but once it is installed you can simply set it to run once a week and forget about it just like your current software. By buying separate programs like this you maximise your chances of spotting anything untoward on your PC. For the sake of a few $$ you could potentially save the security of your bank account or credit card details. Don't delay in taking action!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dawn_Smith

Malaysia Online : Related Link
important advice on adware removal

Windows Vista Top 10 Tips and Tricks

1. Power button default action

The default action for the Power button on the start menu in Windows Vista is Sleep, which isn’t necessarily useful for everybody. You can configure this setting easily by using the advanced power settings panel, which is a little tricky to get to normally, but we’ll take the shortcut. Open a command prompt (type cmd into the start menu search bar), and then type in the following: powercfg.cpl,1. You could also take the long route (Control Panel Power Options Change Plan Settings Change Advanced Power Settings) Once you get to this dialog, browse down as shown to “Power buttons and lid”

From here, you can change the options:

Power button action - Changes the hardware power button action
Start menu power button - Changes the power button on the Start Menu
You can change the power button to either Sleep, Hibernate or Shut Down, or even nothing for the hardware power button.

2. Hide Desktop Icon Text on Windows Vista

Some icons are just obvious enough that nobody should need text below them to tell them what the icon is for. A good example of this is the icon for Internet Explorer. We’re all really used to it by now, and the text just makes it ugly. Just right-click on the shortcut, and choose Rename. Now hold down the Alt key and type in 255 on the keypad to the right of the keyboard. You can’t use the number keys right above the keyboard, they won’t work. If you have a laptop, you can turn on numlock and then use the little number keys next to the regular letters. (You know you always wondered what they were for)

For the first shortcut on the desktop, a simple Alt+255 will do. For the next shortcut, you’ll have to enter the combination twice (Alt+255, Alt+255). For the third, 3 times… you get the idea. The way this works is that the Alt+255 character is blank, so the shortcut filename is actually just named with a character that is completely blank. Since you can’t have two shortcuts or files named the exact same thing, the second shortcut will have to be named with two blank characters.

Now we have a sweet looking icon on the desktop, with no bothersome text beneath it. If you use this tip to rename a folder, you will not be able to rename the folder back using the right-click rename. I’m not sure why this is. What you’ll have to do is open a command prompt and change directory into the containing folder (For instance, the desktop folder), and run this command: ren “Alt+255” “NewFolderName” You will need to actually type the Alt+255 characters where illustrated in the command. It will appear as a space. Note that the Recycle Bin icon won’t work this way.

3. Enable Hidden BootScreen in Windows Vista

The Windows Vista BootScreen is pointless, but Microsoft decided to hide a more visually appealing boot screen that can easily be enabled with very little trouble. I’m not sure why they didn’t make the boot screen better.

1) Press Win+R, type msconfig and press Enter.
2) If User Account Control prompts you to allow the action, click on Continue.
3) In the "System Configuration" window, click on the Boot tab.
4) Select your Windows Vista installation and under "Boot options", check "No GUI boot". Press OK.
5) In the dialog that appears, check "Don’t show this message again", and then click on Restart.
6) Your computer will now reboot, and you will see the Aurora boot screen with text that says "Starting Windows Vista".

Note: You may get a Windows Defender error on the next startup. You can enable the system config utility using the tray icon and this error will go away.

4. Fix for COM Surrogate Has Stopped Working Error in Vista

If you’ve been getting the error COM Surrogate has stopped working whenever you browse folders containing Divx avi files, it looks like the latest Divx update to codec version 6.5 fixes the issue, but it also seems to remove the thumbnails. If you want to upgrade, just use the divx update checker to grab the new version. Looks like it’s finally fixed, at least the error message is now gone, although I really wish they would have just gotten the thumbnails working instead.

If you are using Nero, you will need to update to version 7.7.5.1 to fix the problem. I think this is the source of the error for most people.
If you’ve upgraded Nero and Divx and still have the problem, you can try renaming the file C:Program FilesCommon FilesAheadDSFilterNeVideo.ax to NeVideo.ax.bak This will break Nero Showtime, however.

5. Stop an Application from Running at Startup in Windows Vista

Back in the old days, there were a lot of places an application could hook itself to run at startup. You had to check the registry in more than one place, as well as your start menu. With Windows Vista, there’s a built-in panel that handles all that for you. To quickly get to this panel, you can open Control Panel, and then type “startup” into the search box. The link for “Stop a program from running at startup” shows up immediately. You could have also opened Windows Defender and fooled around with the menus until you find the right spot, but this seems quicker to me. Now you can see the Windows Defender screen that lets you manage the startup programs. You can choose to Remove or just Disable any startup item using this panel, as well as lots of other useful information so that you can see what each item is.

6. Emptying Windows Vista Temp Files Directory

Windows Vista Disk Cleanup wizard is really not all that bad, but I did find a small problem with it… It doesn’t fully empty your temp folder. It only allows you to delete temporary files that haven’t been modified in a week. If you’ve recently done a lot of editing or something that generates large temporary files, you may want to manually clean up. Just type in %TEMP% into the start menu search box, and hit enter. You’ll immediate be taken to the temporary files folder, where you can delete whatever you feel like.

7. Disable User Account Control(UAC) For Administrators Only

If you can’t stand the User Account Control prompts, but you’d still like to retain a little bit of security, you can disable it for Administrator accounts only. What we’ll be doing is actually changing Windows Vista to automatically elevate the privilege level for administrators without prompting. The nice thing about doing it this way is that regular users as well as Internet Explorer still run as regular users, and would still use the normal security mechanisms. To configure this setting on Windows Vista Business and Ultimate, you can use the Local Security Policy configuration.

Just type in secpol.msc into the Start menu search box and hit enter.
Now browse down to Local Policies Security Options
Find the following in the list: “User Account Control: Behavior of the elevation prompt for administrators in Admin Approval Mode” and double-click on it.
Change the setting to “Elevate without prompting”. You should be all done.
This is an easier method that you can use to do the same thing from the GUI interface.
Open up Control Panel, and type in user account into the search box.
You’ll see the link for “Turn User Account Control (UAC) on or off”. Click it.
Uncheck the box, and reboot your computer. You should be done with obnoxious prompts!

8. Using Windows Vista System Restore

Windows Vista has a feature called System Restore that automatically backs up registry and system files whenever you install new software or drivers. This feature is useful when you install evil software that makes your computer run really slow. But don’t worry, System Restore won’t remove Windows Vista.

Using System Restore in Windows Vista

There are two places that you can use the system restore feature from. From within Windows, you can just type restore into the Start menu search box, and you’ll immediately see System Restore at the top of the start menu, or you can type rstrui into the search box and hit enter. Your choice. You will immediate see a screen where you can choose to roll back the system to the last restore point. You can select “Recommended restore”, and just click next, or you can choose a different restore point. If you do choose a different restore point, you will see a list of restore points that you can choose from. Click one of them, and you will have to confirm and then restart your computer to roll the system back. If your system won’t boot If you can’t even get into windows, you can boot off the installation dvd, and choose the “Repair your computer” option on the lower left hand side. Click next on the next screen. Now choose System Restore from the System Recovery dialog. It will take a few seconds to come up, and you will see the same screen that you would see in Windows. Click next, and on the next screen select the drive that your copy of Windows Vista is installed on. Click Finish, and Vista will roll back to the previous restore point. Really pretty simple stuff. I absolutely recommend keeping the system restore feature on in Vista !

9. Verify the Integrity of Windows Vista System Files Windows Vista includes a utility that will scan your system for corrupt, changed or missing system files. Running this from the command prompt is much easier than booting off the dvd into repair mode. To run this utility, you will need to open a command prompt in administrator mode. You can do that by right clicking the Command Prompt in the list and choose "Run as Administrator" Once you have an administrator command prompt open, you can run the utility by using the following syntax: SFC [/SCANNOW] [/VERIFYONLY] [/SCANFILE=] [/VERIFYFILE=] [/OFFWINDIR= /OFFBOOTDIR=] The most useful command is just to scan immediately, which will scan and attempt to repair any files that are changed or corrupted. You can run that command with this command: sfc /scannow

10. Disable Hibernation & delete the Hibernation file

Windows places a file on your hard drive that it uses when your computer goes into hibernation mode. If you do not use hibernation mode, or your computer does not properly support it, you may want to disable hibernation and clear the file off your hard drive to free up some space (the file will use as much space as you have in physical memory, so if you have 1GB of RAM, it’s going to use 1GB of your hard drive space).

Disable Hibernation:
1. Click Start, All Programs, and then right click on "Command Prompt".
2. From the context menu click on "Run as administrator".
3. If User Account Control prompts you to allow the action, click on Continue.
4. In the command prompt window, type "powercfg –h off" (without the quotes).
5. Close the Command Prompt window.

Delete the Hibernation File:
1. Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and then click "Disk Cleanup".
2. If prompted to choose a drive, select the drive in which Windows Vista is installed on to and press OK.
3. Disk Cleanup will scan the hard drive and present you with a list of options.
4. Check "Hibernation File Cleaner", and then click OK.
5. When asked "Are you sure you want to permanently delete these files?" click on the Delete Files button .

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Zoran_Petrovic

What is Computer Forensics?

It is the end of the day and it has been discovered that several critical files are missing from your file server. That alone is normally is enough to freak out most server administrators, but this specific incident also happened to be on the exact same day a particular employee was 'terminated'. As you recall that individual, had access to the missing data, but as far as you know, she didn't seem like the type of person to do something malicious. Then again, you noticed she seemed pretty upset as she was clearing out her desk that day too. You begin to wonder if there is a connection between the two, and if so, how you collect the necessary information to present to your manager.

No, you are not imagining a scene from CSI or Court TV. This situation happens daily in real life and may have happened, or could happen, at the company you work for. Remember Enron?

What is Computer Forensics?

Computer forensics, sometimes known as "Digital Forensics" or "Electronic Evidence Discovery", is often described as "the preservation, recovery and analysis of information stored on computers or other electronic media".

Computer forensics has quickly become a vital tool and source of information for criminal investigators, corporate counsel, and prosecutors. Computer forensics investigators use their skills to identify and restore formatted, corrupted, deleted or hidden files from computers or other electronic media while maintaining crucial data trails, time & date stamps and accurate chain of custody & controls. They also obtain access to protected or encrypted data by using specialized software.

In addition, with the increased usage and dependence on the Internet, for corporate and individual communication, computer forensic investigators are equip to analyze emails, Internet searches, file transfers, online account transactions and anything else a computer is used to do over the Internet.

How do they do it?

Computer forensic investigators typically focus on 4 areas when investigating a potential incident. There are other areas of attention as well, but the following are the most common. Including illicit and damaging activities that could damage your company's reputation.

Saved Files

These are files that can be viewed on the computer. This is usually a non-intrusive task to obtain these files.

Deleted Files

These files are just that...deleted. They are either in the 'trash' or require special software to 'capture and restore' the files. This is usually a non-intrusive task to obtain these files.

Temporary Files

These files are typically generated from browsing the Internet, working on a document, some types of back-up software as well as certain software installations for example. Identifying these requires specialized software and is an intrusive process.

Meta Data

This information typically is associated with the details of a file or document. Such as, the date the file was created, modified and last accessed. Additional information that could be captured could include the original creator of the file (of course that information depends on the original installation of the application) as well as anyone who has ever accessed the file. Identifying these requires specialized software and may or may not be an intrusive process.


What would Computer Forensics Service be used for?

There are several possible uses for this type of service. The most common applications of computer forensics are as follows:


Divorce Cases
Electronic Investigation
Expert Witness Service
Corporate E-mail Investigation
Litigation Support
Intellectual Property Disputes
Investigation and Discovery Litigation Programs
Insurance Fraud Cases
Corporate Investigations
Corporate Counsel Support
Electronic Records Management

There are many reasons why you, or your company, may require the service of a computer forensics investigator. If you suspect that you may have an incident requiring computer forensic service, or electronic evidence discovery & analysis, you should secure the computer from further use and contact an experienced computer forensics service company.

Jason Perry

ADR Data Recovery is available to evaluate the damage and potentially recover your lost data. For more information on ADR Data Recovery's Computer Forensics service, visit http://www.computerforensicsassociates.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_Perry

Data Recovery World Wide

IT Managers all over the world are struggling to manage the tremendous growth of data and protect it. This data comes in all forms, such as: databases, e-mail, stored files etc. These data are stored permanently and archived to meet the regulatory requirements, and for changes in business functions.

The developments in information technology help us to store huge quantities of data in magnetic, optical and solid-state storing devices. Data is stored in the most commonly used storage devices, such as: hard disks, micro drives, multiple disks, tape/digital linear tapes, CD/DVDs, portable drives, Magneto Optical storage devices, removable disks, Zip drives, diskettes, compact flash/memory cards, and USB flash drives.

In order to store the data in various formats we use certain platforms or computer programmes. Every computer will have an operating system for starting the computer, running the applications and saving them in the storage device. The operating system helps the coordination of all the inputting devices like keyboard and mouse to enter and store the input information. The commonly used operating systems to store data are Windows 95/98/ME, Windows NT/2000/XP, Apple Mac, Novel Netware and UNIX.

Some times the data stored in a computer device is lost either due to ‘Physical Damage’ or ‘Logical Damage’ to the computer. Data recovery is a method of retrieving the lost data due to physical damage to the system or due to the logical damage to the application software. Data recovery also helps to retrieve even deleted information for forensic investigation.

Data is stored in the most commonly used storage devices discussed above. Sometimes these storage devices may start malfunctioning or stop functioning completely due to physical damage. Some of the common physical damages are: scuffs in the data CD or DVD discs, head crash or failed motor in hard disks and data tapes. Physical damage may also happen due to external occurrences, such as accidentally dropping of the devices, flood, or fire. Data lost due to physical damages can be recovered either fully or partially only by experts under ideal conditions.

The exact damage to the storage device is discovered and the extent of the damage is evaluated. The techniques of recovering the data are not the same for all physical damages. It is normally decided after finding out the details about the storage device, storage space, nature of files lost, operating system used and the name of the manufacturing company.

Firstly, the extent of physical damage is assessed using customised special tools. Then the storage device is opened in a special dust free room to prevent further damage. Data stored in magnetic form is analysed in detail using special equipment. Retrievable data is collected from the device in analogue form and later this data is converted into a digital format as readable data and copied in a new device for use. The percentage of data recoverable depends upon the amount of physical damage to the device.

Most of these storage devices are not fire and water proof. In case of fire, water should not be used to extinguish the fire. If water is used the data must be recovered before the water dries up and corrodes the metal surfaces. In case of flood the storage device must be continued to be kept in a wet condition without drying for recovery of data.

A hard disk with a high storage capacity is logically partitioned as individual storage units (e.g. C:, D: and E: etc) called ‘drives’ for use by the operating system. This logical partitioning saves the trouble of having a number of hard disks in the same system. Similar partitioning is done on tape storage units or any other storage unit with a different format. Logical damage is a more common problem than a physical damage. In the case of logical damage the storage devices will remain intact and usable but the data stored inside the devices is corrupted or lost.

Most of the logical damages are caused by sudden power failures. System crash is another form of logical damage where the operating system may fail to start or malfunction. In either of these situations the data file will not get stored appropriately and left in a conflicting condition. If infected by a virus the self-generated copies of the virus will overwrite the existing programmes and cause system malfunctioning and logical damage. Sometimes data is lost or erased due to formatting the computer partitions.

Unlike physical damage, logical damage comes with an option of self repairing tools. In normal conditions these tools are sufficient to restore work and recover the lost data. When these tools fail to correct the problem professional help should be sought. Initially, a consistency check is done to check the file structure and system information. If there is more damage in the file system the running of a consistency check will fail and crash and may never find the right system file. In another method the consistency check is not done and instead the complete drive is checked for file system structure and limits. Using this technique without disturbing or repairing the file system allows the data to be recovered and stored in a different device.

Data recovery is mostly used by big business, covert army activities, police authorities and tax authorities.

Current trends in data recovery management advises more back up services with improved storage facilities including online storing of data.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rose_Davies

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A Safety and Care Guide for Notebook or Laptop Computers

Notebook computers - also known as laptop computers - have become an important part of our lives. They are more affordable than ever and as popular as cell phones. A laptop computer has a versatility that the home PC does not provide. With its smaller size it is portable and easier to carry along. This makes it convenient to use in many situations. You can take it to work and back home as well as take it on more extensive travel.

Laptop computers are not just for older working people anymore. Because of its ease of use, more young people are using them for school and college. They can access the Internet almost anywhere and provide updates for work, research, and even games.

Taking Care of Your Laptop or Notebook Computer

It is important to take care of your laptop computer and protect it from accidents. They are designed for heavy use but common sense will tell you that you need to be prudent in your treatment.

One of the first recommendations is to buy a case designed for a notebook computer. These are made with padding to protect your laptop computer from wear and tear and protection in case you drop it. It is not good to carry your notebook computer unprotected or in a purse or backpack. You can easily find a case by shopping online where you will find 1000s of products to choose from.

Another important tip for laptop computer care is to keep food and drinks away from it. Even a small amount of liquid is enough to ruin the delicate components in the laptop computer. It means almost certain replacement, and most warranties will not cover it. It is not worth the risk to lose all your data.

Protect Your Notebook Computer

When using your laptop computer you should always use a surge protector. An electrical surge may not hurt it one time, but continued surges could destroy it. If you are using a cable or dial-up modem during a storm, be sure to unplug it. Lightening can travel through phone lines and ruin the laptop computer.

You should not leave your notebook computer in a cold environment. This can cause condensation when you return it to a warm area and could cause the circuitry to short it out. If it has been in the cold, let it warm up before turning it on.

When traveling with your laptop computer, be sure to charge all your batteries before you leave. You might not know when you will be able to charge them again. On a long trip, take extra batteries to avoid this problem. By shopping online, you can find the supplies you need as well as other products such as iPods, jewelry, games, toys, sporting goods, pet supplies and cell phones - even free gifts.

Do not leave your notebook computer unattended and do not check it as baggage when flying. Keep it in your hands at all times to avoid the possibility of theft. Don't try to disassemble or repair your laptop computer; this is a job for professionals. You may inadvertently cause more damage by your lack of knowledge.

Shopping Online

When you are ready to buy a laptop computer, cell phone, iPod, or other electronics, shopping online will provide everything you need.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chris_Robertson

Important Advice On Adware Removal

Your computer is acting a little strange. It’s taking a little too long to go from page to page, even though you have high speed internet. Pages close at random for no apparent reason. You get strange little message from your computer that make no sense to you at all. Does this sound familiar to you? If it does, your computer may be bogged down by adware programs that are making your internet surfing feel more like internet sludging. You need a good adware removal program.

A simple plug in appliance can help you stop spam at its entry point. Your computer does not have to make you feel like you’re fighting your way through a swamp. An adware removal program can help you get rid of existing problems and protect you against future difficulties.

One of the biggest threats that most people are not even aware exist on their computers is tracking programs. More often than not, when you download anything on the internet, you are also downloading tracking programs. Some of these are harmful and some are less so, but many of them working together can make your computer sluggish. Mostly, tracking programs allow whoever you have downloaded it from to see what sites you are visiting and with what frequency. It helps them to make their sites and programs more appealing to the internet surfer. Sometime, tracking devices allow others to see what is in your computer, what information you are relaying across the internet, and thus target their product or service towards you. An adware removal program will help you get rid of the ones that are causing problems and quarantine the programs that are just inconvenient.

Adware removal programs can be bought online or in a computer store. You can pay to install some of the best programs available or you can download a program for free on the internet. Whatever you choose, you can research it first and find out what others have to say about it. Reading what others have to say about adware removal programs is a good way to find out which one might be best suited to your needs. Comparison shopping is always the best way to getting a program that is suited for you and not one that has way more capabilities than you need. While free downloads are good, they may not protect your computer the best when you consider your internet surfing habits. Spend some time to compare adware removal programs before you purchase or download and you’ll soon be surfing on the safest and most exciting wave of the season.

Rich Beasley works for a well known computer company in Los Angeles. You can visit his latest website concerning Spyware removal and other software resources.
http://www.software-world-online.com

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5 Tips to Avoid Needing Laptop Data Recovery

With the costs of laptops coming down and performance going up, it has become more viable for companies to equip their employees with laptops--for those who travel, work from home, or for those who just prefer them to full size computers. Individual users, from college students to self employed people, now use laptops too because they are not as expensive as they once were. And lets face it, sitting at Starbucks with a laptop is much more appealing than sitting in a 6x6 cube in an office.

Most people don't consider what they can do to protect their data should their laptop gets lost, stolen, or just have a bad hard drive that fails or corrupts the data on the disk. Below are 5 simple things users can do to safely reduce the chances of losing their important files.

Download your Email. Store a copy of your email on your company's email server. Most email software allows you to 'store a copy' on the server. Outlook does it, for example. Set this option in your settings and it will allow you to download messages to multiple computers.

Virus and Spyware Protection. Use an anti-virus software package, and protect your system with spyware software. This is a step all users should do to protect their computers. Viruses are all over the internet, from questionable websites to that cute email your Aunt Mildred just had to send. Be smart and invest in virus and spyware protection. And then get a copy of it for your Aunt. :)

CDs are Cheap! Use CDs or DVDs to quickly back-up critical files and store those CDs to a safe place. Make a weekly backup of your important files. If you get rewritable CDs, then you can use the same one a few times, though it would be best to not reuse them too much. CDs have issues too after time which may cause you to need data recovery as well...but it is a lot less expensive than recovering data from a hard disk!

Buy an External USB Hard Drive Use an external USB hard drive to do a complete back-up of your system. Now, some people use those little flash USB drives to back-up critical files, which is great (just don't loose it!). Others use the external USB hard drives which don't take up much room at all on a desk. Both are good options to consider.

Network Back-ups If you attach to a network, speak with your IT department to request that your laptop be added to a network back-up schedule. Or perhaps, give them your laptop before you go to lunch and have them back up your data. Most IT departments figure the laptop users are on their own, so by asking them for a little preventive help with your computer using your savy tech talk, you may impress them... and who knows, they may upgrade your software for you while they have your system. :)

These are all simple low cost precautions you can take to protect yourself from losing your data, spending a lot of money, and effectively becoming unproductive. After all, your laptop is nothing more than a fancy paperweight without a working hard drive.

ADR Data Recovery is available to evaluate the damage and potentially recover your lost data. For more information on ADR Data Recovery's service, visit http://www.adrdatarecovery.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jason_Perry

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Direct Repair of Corrupted DBF Databases

In today's world of virus attacks and power outages, computer crashes are not uncommon. With every crash comes the possibility of data corruption; even more so if there was a write operation in progress at the time of the crash.

Database files, by design, are among those most frequently accessed. Read and write operations happen all the time in a working database. Chances are high that the next power outage will happen just at the moment a database was updating or adding a record. In that case, after your computer reboots, you will not be able to access data in the database.

There are preventive measures that can be taken so that this never happens. You probably have a UPS, a firewall, and antivirus software, and perform regular backups. But what if your backup copy is a week or even a day old and you don't want to lose changes made during that period? Or even worse, what if you didn't have a backup at all? In that case, you might want to try to recover your database with database recovery tools.

DBF Recovery by HiBase Group recovers DBF databases exclusively. DBF Recovery supports all file formats used by popular databases, including DBase III/IV, FoxPro and Visual FoxPro. Database recovery is completely automated. The recovery engine employs newly developed artificial intelligence algorithms to carefully analyze the complete structure and all data records of the damaged files. The result is the most accurate recovery.

Many alternative tools that claim they can recover DBF files only repair database headers without actually analyzing the data. Unlike competitors, DBF Recovery makes every effort to repair the data itself as well as the headers.

Database applications rely on external drivers, such as ODBC or BDE, in order to access database files. Unfortunately, these drivers do not have built-in recovery mechanisms. Even worse, they can not even open the corrupted files, making it impossible to rescue the data that was in the database.

DBF Recovery accesses database files directly, without the use of external drivers. Direct access to database files makes it possible to carefully analyze database structures header by header and record by record, ensuring the highest accuracy of recovery.

DBF Recovery can be used by anyone. Beginners and seasoned database users will find its drag-and-drop user interface handy and simple to use, while database administrators will enjoy the powerful set of command line parameters and the batch mode that makes it possible to fix multiple DBF files with a single command.

DBF Recovery is a must-have tool for all database administrators and advanced database users. Don't wait till your computer actually crashes. It may be too late!

Sergei Ovsannikov, CEO of HiBase Group

Download the evaluation version now at http://www.dbf-recover.com/ to see what DBF Recovery can do for you!

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Should A Computer Salesman Also Be A Technician?

The job of a salesman is to sell something. Salesmen that are not skilled in the art of selling end up not making any sales. This is true whether the salesman is selling cars, white goods, or computers. Car salesmen are not required to be motor mechanics so why should we expect computer salesmen to also be skilled computer technicians?

Whenever something goes wrong with a car while it is under warranty we take it back to the car sales yard and they get their motor mechanics to fix it. A computer store often is a one or two person concern so if they were to employ a technician to fix the problems when they do arise then there are fewer people doing the selling, sales fall, and prices have to go up to compensate. Many larger computer stores do employ technicians and their prices as you would expect are often higher than the discount one and two man concerns.

With a smaller concern, the salesmen do have to double as technicians or they run into real trouble when something stops functioning properly on a computer they recently sold. Another consideration is that there are only a relatively few different models of car but every computer is unique. Even two computers of identical hardware configuration usually have some differences in the software installed on them. With computers, even the order in which various software is installed can affect the functioning of the computer. Install software product A before software product B and everything runs fine. Install software product B first and then when product A gets installed critical files get overwritten and the system totally screws up.

The real problem is that salesmen don't make good technicians. They are very different skills so if someone is good at one, they are usually lousy at the other. I (for example) make an extremely poor salesman.

Unfortunately, another effect of salesmen not being technicians is that many of them do not even understand the terminology associated with the product they are trying to sell. This is all very well for standard product ranges such as cars (which only have a few optional extras) but computers literally have millions of possible variations that you may wish to order. If the salesman doesn't understand what these are then how can he make the sale. Some stores get around this problem by selling computers like a commodity item, you either buy one of the standard variants or you go elsewhere. They lose sales that way when their standard versions don't meet your requirements.

I was at a PC show a few years ago. On one of the stands was a glass case containing three motherboards. That was the entire content of the stand. They weren't actually selling anything at the show, they were just displaying these three motherboards. I asked the guy on the stand if one of the motherboards had bus-mastering. He couldn't answer the question because he didn't know what bus-mastering was. He wasn't there to sell anything but he still managed to lose his company a potential future sale. Made me wonder what exactly he was there for.

I don't have a solution to this issue and I doubt that anyone else does. The situation hasn't resolved itself as computers have become more standardized, it has just evolved. Now there large numbers of people who buy a stock standard computer to run stock standard software to perform a few simple tasks that only use a small fraction of the capability of the cheapest available computer being talked into buying a much more expensive computer by the salesman because he and they don't know any better.

Stephen Chapman runs a computer help website at http://www.felgall.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Stephen_Chapman

Why Have A Computer Network?

What exactly is a computer network? According to Wikipedia: "A computer network is two or more computers connected together using a telecommunication system for the purpose of communicating and sharing resources." Arguably, network experts debate about this—they feel a computer network should be defined as a minimum of three or more computers connected together, not two.

Whether it's a minimum of two or three computers to constitute a computer network, clearly the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. What are some of the advantages?

Let's briefly cover the five advantages of computer networking. As Hutchinson & Sawyer brought out in Computers, Communications, & Information, the advantages of computer networks are: "sharing peripheral devices, sharing of programs and data, better communications, security of information, and access to databases."

Sharing Peripheral Devices- Print sharing (where multiple users share the same printer) can cut operational costs. For example, large and expensive laser printers are used by multiple users within company networks. Providing a business has a network, large in-house printers can affordably be leased or purchased.

Sharing of Programs and Data- File sharing in the business environment is important, because it saves space, time, and paper. Digital files on a share drive are not only cost effective and convenient, but a company's database is accessible to only authorized personnel and inaccessible to unauthorized personnel. Network-linked employees can share groupware and work together on shared projects. Purchasing network versions of software is yet another advantage of having a company network.

Better Communications- Schedules and task assignments can be easily shared and organized in a network. When emailing within a network, group settings and contact lists are easily kept up-to-date. Attaching scanned documents and emailing business communication is cheaper and easier than faxing information to another department at a different location.

Security of Information- When information is shared on a network and accidental data loss occurs, data recovery is much more likely to occur when working on a network. When shared information is stored on multiple computers and databases, it stands to reason that if a hard drive fails, others will have the shared information residing in another repository. Firewall appliances that are built for networks go far beyond what a consumer grade firewall can do.

Access to Databases- Typically, extensive databases (whether public or private) are shared on a network. Sophisticated databases have built-in parameters to protect the data from accidental overwrites or misuse by disgruntled employees.

As you can see, computer networks have many advantages and are understandably gaining popularity for small-medium sized businesses. It is no wonder why computer networks are notable for their cost-saving features and ease-of use for end-users worldwide. If you are concerned about your budget and need to set-up or improve your home or business computer network, call us at Genesis Global, Inc.: 1-800-908-9665. We can help you meet your networking equipment needs, as well as work with your financial budget in conjunction with getting you improved network communication devices.

Resource: Computers, Communications, & Information, 2000. McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Debbie Jensen, a technical writer for Genesis Global, Inc. Genesis Global, Inc. provides a wide variety of security equipment. Cisco hardware and accessories, as well as other leading network equipment manufacturers, have much to offer. Cisco's PIX Firewalls and Adaptive Security Appliances brilliantly transform traditional network management into state-of-the-art secure communication networks where worms, hackers, and other threats are proactively controlled through the combination of firewall, application security, and intrusion prevention services. Make sure to visit: http://genesisglobalinc.com

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Virus Attacks: Can You Save Your Data?

With the high tech professionals increasing day by day, chances of virus attacks have also increased. Viruses come unannounced and uninvited, stay there as an unwanted guest and cause harm to your precious data and files. Sometimes in the cases of severe virus attacks, complete data from the hard disk gets erased, hard drives get overwritten and even the physical drive media gets corrupt.

25% of the data loss is caused by virus attacks excluding the human errors and software malfunctions. Fortunately we have some preventive measures through which data loss situations caused by virus attacks can be avoided:

Good Anti-virus Software: As your first defense, you should always install good anti-virus software to safeguard data. At the time of installation, always ensure that the program provides automatic updates, so that whenever there is a virus attack, automatic updates can counteract them. Make sure that the installed anti-virus program scans all the incoming and outgoing emails as this is the easiest passage for viruses to enter your computer system.

Never Open Doubtful Attachments: Email attachments which seem doubtful to you should be deleted immediately as these may be the viruses which get activated by mere clicking on the attachment. Be careful with the suspicious file extension types as these files are nothing but virus files.

Regularly Install System Updates: All the viruses are targeted towards the popular windows operating system. As the system vulnerabilities are announced, the virus writers start creating virus to takeover the weaknesses and attack those system owners who are not upgraded with the available updates.

Always Perform Backups: And the most important way to protect your data is regular backup process. Always create backups of your important data on an external media. Backups created on regular basis help in situations when an anti-virus program may fail to protect your important data.

Conclusion:

In the end when everything fails, the performed backup of your data will prove beneficial to recover the damaged, corrupt data from virus attacks and other corruption mediums. The data recovery software also proves beneficial in the case of virus attacks. There are number of data recovery software present in the market. Choose the one which is suitable for your type of data corruptions. Many data recovery companies offer Free demo version of their data recovery software so that you can test and evaluate features of the software and then purchase Full version of the software.

Neha Gupta is a technical writer for Nucleus Data Recovery, provider of the best data recovery software and data recovery services. The Kernel recovery tools are developed for email recovery, database recovery, tape recovery, backup recovery.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nehaa_Gupta

Data Recovery Software – Are they Useful?

Have you ever heard the word data recovery? If YES, then you might be aware about the data loss situations. But if you say NO then you are one of the lucky person who have not experienced the situations of data loss, hard drive crashes which demand data recovery.

What is Data Loss?

Data Loss is a situation where you lose the data stored on your hard drive or it becomes inaccessible. This data could be the important business files, music, personal collection of pictures, emails, videos or anything. Now why this happens? This situation generally occurs when the hard drive fails or crashes, files get corrupt or damaged, there are virus attacks on your computer system, hard drive corrupts due to water-fire damages, poor usage of the hard drive, ad ware – spy ware attacks etc. Because of these reasons you might lose access to your data or it can get corrupt. But the relief is that this inaccessible data ca be recovered back. It’s possible almost in 95%of the cases. Data Recovery Software are the best means to recover the lost, deleted, inaccessible, corrupt, damaged data from the hard drive, files and folders and other storage media.

What is Data Recovery Software?

By Data Recovery Software I mean to say, software which can recover back the lost data by scanning your hard drive. Similar in the way as you see other software which have different functions and working. For instance, anti-virus software will stop, remove and protect your computer system from virus attacks, and any password recovery software will help you to restore the lost / forgotten passwords of your email id which were stored in your PC.

According to Surveys,

"Viruses: Survey finds PCs infected at a rate of more than 10% each month" -- (ICSA Labs, 2002)

"35% of all PCs sold to businesses are laptops and 1 in 5 of these laptops will suffer hardware failure in the first 3 years" -- Gartner analyst Brian Gammage, The Changing Spectrum of Mobile PC Usage, October 30, 2002

"Data Recovery is possible in 85% of all data loss cases" --Dan Pelosi, Data Recovery 911, December 2002

Thus it can be concluded that data recovery has its own importance when people loose their important data. Data recovery software is useful for file repair, file recovery, database recovery, backup recovery, email data recovery and forensic data recovery.

How to use Data Recovery Software?

The data recovery market is flooded with many data recovery software range. There are renowned companies and small manufacturers too which perform data recovery at small scale. But data recovery is not an easy task to perform. It requires determination, expertise, appropriate recovery tools, Class 100 Clean rooms, biometric environment and of course a data recovery technician who can perform the data recovery – thus resulting into data recovery services.

Data Recovery Software is developed to minimize the possibilities of data recovery services thus enabling the end user to himself perform data recovery on his PC. The do-it yourself data recovery software available in the market completely scan your damaged hard drive and retrieves the lost data. When you finalize the data recovery software, always look for the software support provided by the data recovery company on their website:

• You can view the Animated Working Demos – how the software works, provided by the company. These working demos are the best option to know and view the GUI and functions of the software.

• You can also look for any software user’s guide made available by the company on their website. The manual has the step by step procedure to perform data recovery. Follow these steps and evaluate the software.

• When you download the software, view help manual accompanied with the software. It guides you with step by step recovery procedure.


Generally, demo version of the data recovery software are available for FREE downloads. It’s free because the companies want you to test the recovery possibilities of your data and then only purchase the software. The demo versions are not enabled with saving feature for the recovered data. You can download the demo version and run it on your computer system.

Word of Caution: The point which should be noted here is that you should not run the data recovery software on the corrupt drive. As this might overwrite the original data which then gets deleted. Always perform data recovery on the copy of corrupt data and a good device.

Install demo version of the data recovery software and analyze its working, features and the amount of data which the software can recover. If the software displays the lost, deleted data then the software surely can get back your data to you and you can also purchase it. When you run the demo version always ensure;

• How much time does the software take to recover data?
• Is the software able to recover the deleted files also?
• Can it recover attachments?
• Can it recover data damaged due to virus attacks?
• Is the software provider data recovery company recognized in the market?
• What is the recovery percentage of the software?
• Is the software purchase amount refunded, if the software is unable to recover data?
• View the clients of the company, if possible contact them and gather feedback about the company.
• Read client testimonials of the company
• Consult with the support staff of the company and ask queries related to your data loss situation? Like, according to them which would be the appropriate data recovery software for your case of data corruption? As this would help in purchasing the right software.
• Compare 2-3 data recovery companies with their recovery percentage, client satisfaction percentage, data recovery techniques, range of data recovery software provided by the company.

After performing all these checks you can purchase the software and recover your data.
Please Note: While you are performing check on data recovery companies, always try to find out real data recovery figures of the company, as many companies add false figures to their websites and in the end are able to empty your pockets.

Conclusion:

It can be concluded that data recovery software are boon for such individuals and companies who lose their data due to accidental deletions, virus attacks, unexpected system shutdowns, hard drive failures, system crashes and other undefined reasons. The data recovery software is definitely useful in the hour of need and data recovery services prove themselves when the software is unable to get back data. You can also give a try to data recovery services when there is a severe damage caused to your device.

Neha Gupta is a technical writer for Nucleus Data Recovery, provider of the best data recovery software and data recovery services. The Kernel recovery tools are developed for email recovery, database recovery, tape recovery, backup recovery.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nehaa_Gupta

Will Linux Replace Microsoft Windows?

I've been working with computers since the mid-80s, initially using an Apple Macintosh and then moving to Microsoft Windows-based machines around 1991.

The first version of Windows I used was version 2.x (I can't remember the exact number), which I seem to remember didn't do anything too special. However, with the introduction of Windows 3.0, things started to improve dramatically, with Windows providing an environment in which you could 'comfortably' run applications.

Since then, like half the world I think, I've used various versions of Windows and I currently use XP. I have to say that, on the whole, I'm quite a fan of Windows. I've always found it fairly easy to use and it's always (well' almost always) enabled me to do my job without too many hickups.

A couple of years ago though, I bought a book on Linux which included a CD for Fedora Core 1.0. I wasn't sure what to expect when I installed the software, but what I got really impressed me. The user interface was nice and clean and, once you got used to it, fairly easy to use. OK, it wasn't as polished as Windows, but considering it was free, it was very good!

I couldn't get my printer to work, but I know that a lot of hardware manufacturers only provide driver software for Windows, so unless someone has written a specific Linux driver for your bit of hardware, it won't work. I think even then, some hardware just won't work with Linux. That's no big deal though, as there are loads of printers and so on that do work with Linux, so it's just a case of checking that a piece of hardware is supported before buying it.

What really surprised me though was how amazingly fast Internet access was. Opening web pages in Mozilla on Linux happened in an instant - as fast as if the page was on my hard disk! I have fast broadband access, but even so, I still have to wait sometimes while IE7 opens a page on Windows. Not long enough for it to be a problem, but there is a slight delay there. With Mozilla/Linux though it's instantaneous.

So, this brings me to me question - will Linux push Windows out of the frame? After all, the fact that it is free has got to be a big selling point (not that is has to be sold, of course). I understand that in developing markets (China, India, etc), Linux is very popular. These are massive markets, which will undoubtably influence the IT industry in lots of ways. The more people that use something, the more popular it becomes, which causes even more people to use it - the snowball effect.

I guess the question is, if I had a blank machine with nothing on it at all, would I install Linux or would I play it safe and install Windows? If it was a machine that only I was going to use then, yes, I think I would make the switch to Linux. However, if it was a machine that my wife and kids were going to use, I would probably stick with Windows. After all, my wife just wants the easiest solution available, and that's Windows.

The lack of hardware support is still the big sticking point, I think, to mass adoption of Linux. If this changes though, I think in a few years time we could see Linux becoming more mainstream as far as home and business use is concerned.

About the Author: John Dixon is a web developer and technical author. These days, John spends most of his time developing dynamic database-driven websites using PHP and MySQL.

Go to http://www.computernostalgia.net to view one of John's sites. This site contains articles and photos relating to the history of the computer.

To find out more about John's work, go to http://www.dixondevelopment.co.uk

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Dixon

Unenthusiastic about the "Un-PC"

LIKE a bad penny that keeps turning up, the idea of a thin computing client refuses to die.
Its latest reincarnation is the $100 “Un-PC” that Newsweek trumpets in its Feb. 12 issue as a replacement for the personal computer.

A company in India called Novatium has begun selling the NetPC for only $100, but here’s the catch: it has no hard disk, very little memory to speak of, and uses a cheap processor of undisclosed origin that’s more typically found on mobile phones. The software? Zip. You’ll have to subscribe to that, including the operating system, which will be rented out to you over the Internet. You can’t save your files locally, either—you’ll have to send them back to the server over the Internet.

A similar device, called NetTV, can also use a regular TV instead of a computer monitor, guaranteeing eyestrain at a tear-inducing resolution of 640 x 480 pixels.

Any takers so far?

The “magic” that will turn this pile of cheap electronics into a working computer is the network.

Programs would be bundled along with Internet access, and sold on a subscription basis—say, for $10 a month, says Rajesh Jain, Novatium founder.

Neither Jain nor the glowing Newsweek article by Jason Overdorf makes clear if this $10 a month is on top of the NetPC’s $100 price, but the concept is clear enough, if not new.

Jain acknowledges that he was inspired by the network computer touted in the 1990s by Oracle Corp. head honcho Larry Ellison, who boldly predicted at the time that thin clients would kill off PCs. That never happened, and the company Ellison set up to sell network computers went belly-up a few years after it was launched with much hoopla.

But Jain believes he can succeed where Ellison failed because Western markets already had a lot of PCs and resisted change. Jain’s home base in India, with far fewer PCs, could be more fertile ground for a radical change in personal computing.

Jain also says the NetPC will feature many of the advantages that Ellison’s network computer had--centrally managed software updates, simplicity on the desktop client and low cost.

Inevitably, Newsweek compares the NetPC to the $100 laptop being promoted by MIT’s Nicholas Negroponte. The comparison is pointless. The NetPC is aimed at companies and home users in urban areas with broadband connections. Negroponte’s laptop is aimed at poor schoolchildren in remote Third World villages that might not even have electricity.

Yet Newsweek seems to be on a hobbyhorse, implying that Novatium stands a better chance of success because its owners are motivated by profit, in contrast to Negroponte, who needs donations and subsidies to get his project off the ground.

The article points to today’s Web-hosted software and data storage—but neglects to say that most of these applications still run on full-featured PCs.

Making a string of assumptions about network computing, Newsweek’s enthusiasm goes into overdrive: “This formula could provide a long-sought bridge over the digital divide—and may just change the way the average person thinks of computing....And if the winning formula turns out to be Jain’s, or something like it, it could kill the PC altogether.”

Unfortunately, Newsweek gives us few specifics about how this will come about. In fact, it offers precious little information about the NetPC itself or how well it performs in comparison to a regular desktop computer.

Novatium’s Web site isn’t much help, either. It doesn’t say what kind of processor the NetPC uses or how much memory it has. A spec sheet says it comes with network, microphone, speaker and video ports and four USB 2.0 sockets and runs on an embedded Linux-based operating system, but no other details are available.

This paucity of information is worrying.

There are many theories about why Ellison’s network computer failed. One view is that the concept was ahead of its time because broadband access wasn’t as widely available back then. Another explanation was that PC manufacturers had cut prices so dramatically that full-featured computers didn’t cost much more than Ellison’s thin client.

These two factors are arguably less important today for the NetPC.

But even if the speed of my broadband connection suddenly doubled tomorrow, I still wouldn’t trade in my PC for a $100 NetPC and here’s why. First, I run applications that would crawl over a network. You can do word processing reasonably well over the Internet, but don’t try manipulating a 60-megabyte graphic file or editing video over a network unless you have a lot of time on your hands. And hosted applications will slow down as more users get on the network.

Second, I like local storage and I have a hunch most people do, too. This is why we save data files to the hard disk, keep backups of important files, burn digital photos onto CDs and fill up MP3 players with our favorite songs. We like having this stuff available, even when the network isn’t.

Finally, and perhaps most important, I like the freedom to run any program I want on my computer without having to get it from some centralized server. This is what drove people from dumb terminals and centralized computing in the first place, and this is what will keep thin clients out of the computing mainstream for years to come. The PC let the genie out of the bottle, and it will take more than a rehashed network computer to get it back in.

From Digital Life by Chin Wong

http://www.chinwong.com

Chin Wong has been covering the technology industry since the 1980s, starting as a reporter for Business Day, Southeast Asia’s first daily business newspaper. He is now a lecturer in journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines and associate editor for the Manila Standard Today. Before that, he also served as technology editor of the Manila Times until October 2004.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chin_Wong

Dvd Ripping Has Never Been Easy

There have been many instances or occasions when I have rented several DVDs during my holidays and was not able to watch them all. I almost wasted my money for getting these DVDs on rent until I was suggested to look at this cool software Imtoo DVD Ripper by one of my friends who suggested I should rip all my DVDs to another format which can be stored on my laptop for a later watch.

I was thrilled with the way he described this software can do as it was great to hear about all of its features. I immediately downloaded the software and installed it in very easy steps on my laptop running windows XP. All the files were installed correctly without any errors and once I opened the application interface it appeared as if I had a DVDs case sitting right inside my laptop’s monitor.

It was an amazing experience looking at the stylish looks of the application. I read through the readme.txt file which was very informative about the things this software can do. It can convert my DVD VOB formats to a VCD, SVCD, DivX, WMV, ASF, MPEG1, MPEG2, MPEG4, AVI, Xvid etc. I believed my friends verbatim and considered giving a shot at my favorite DVD movie to be converted into an AVI format.

It took me less than a minute to click on the source (that was my DVD disk) and the destination (a folder on my local computer) and hit the start button. It took a lot less time than other ripping software existing today as I was tired of experimenting with many conversion tools with dissatisfaction rate growing every time. But as a matter of fact, I loved this utility as it took 45 minutes to rip my DVD into a 615MB AVI format with DVD quality picture and sound.

I was amazed how less importance this software has got today. To me this is the best software I have ever found for ripping my DVDs into other convertible formats.

While I was experimenting with this software I learned abut many other features which include:

· An easy to use application interface which we have already learned above. · A tool for any age group as long as the interest lies in ripping the DVD into another storage format. Give it a shot and you will find a satisfactory experience every time you use it. · The software automatically performs CPU checks to make sure it gives priority to your DVD ripping than any other application without any operating system hang-ups or crashes. · A preview mode which could act as a status bar for the user to know the level of DVD ripping software has reached. You can watch the movie at the same time it is being ripped on to your local hard drive. · Another cool feature is the chapter collection process which allows the user to pick and rip the chapter they like along with the subtitles, movie menus, DTS audio, languages etc. You can also pick and choose only an audio track to be ripped as well. · An excellent batch conversion process allows users to use good multi threading CPU feature to rip more than one file at a time.

Overall a great piece of software which allows the DVDs to be ripped into various different formats with good quality audio and video. A must download program! Try it for FREE

Ted Peterson writes for CoreDownload, a shareware archive where you can find a large variety of dvd rippers and converters like Imtoo DVD Ripper.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ted_Peterson

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