Peter Hughes found a great article called “How to Rebuild your Computer and Reinstall Windows Without Headache” over at Digital Inspiration. It basically outlines how to go about reloading your computer’s operating system and reinstalling the applications with a minimal amount of trouble. It’s still a bit of an undertaking, but this outline can alleviate […]
The Microsoft System Configuration Utility (MSCONFIG) is a program that comes free with Windows XP and Vista. This tool allows you to select which items you do or do not want to load when your computer boots up. This can be very handy when trying to diagnose boot problems or software conflicts. To access this […]
AVG from Grisoft is a good anti-virus program we mention on the show quite frequently. You can pick up the free version at free.grisoft.com. Licensing allows for the free use of this software on one computer per household. You should also check out their anti-spyware tool which is also available for download from their site.
For Windows users, the CHKDSK command is a useful utility for verifying the integrity of a hard drive as well as the data it contains. To run CHKDSK simply open a command prompt and type chkdsk /f and hit enter. If you are using Windows Vista you will need to execute the command prompt as […]
We recently had a call where the caller asked about laptop battery life. Here’s an article I found on Digg about ways to extend your battery life. Lots of good advice including, defrag regularly, dim your screen and adding more RAM. Here’s to longer laptop battery life! Sláinte! –groovehouse
Microsoft has issued an alert warning of a potential security threat to the Windows operating system. Microsoft Security Bulletin MS07-017 Who Should Read this Document: Customers who use Microsoft Windows Impact of Vulnerability: Remote Code Execution Maximum Severity Rating: Critical Recommendation: Customers should apply the update immediately Apparently there are an increasing number of criminal […]
One of the readers of my Helpline column sent me this email which describes a novel solution to an age old problem: 14 year old computer “geniuses” and the problems they cause I have a 14 year old son who believes he is a computer whiz. He is constantly downloading programs from the Internet and […]
I have been talking to a lot of computer users who tell me their Windows computer clock will not stay set to the correct time since the time change this weekend. If your system clock keeps reverting to the incorrect time, here is what I have found will fix it. First, go to windowsupdate.microsoft.com and […]
Updated 08-04-2010 From the Microsoft Security Web site Spyware symptoms If your computer starts to behave strangely, you might have spyware or other unwanted software installed on your computer. * I see pop-up advertisements all the time. Some unwanted software will bombard you with pop-up ads that aren’t related to a particular Web site you’re […]
