What is the best approach to Windows Vista registry repair?

Copyright © 2008 PC Registry Repair

When an unexpected problem arises with your Microsoft Vista operating system, you're first instinct should NOT be to call a Windows Vista repair specialist. In fact, you probably shouldn't even think about professional repairs until you have taken a crack at the problem yourself. The best way to do that is by learning the basics of Windows Vista registry repair.

First off, you should know that the Windows Vista operating system, just like any other operating system, depends greatly on the functionality of the registry. This is due to the fact that the registry logs and records all actions on the computer.

This recorded information allows the PC to gather much needed information about your different systems and applications within a moments notice. When things are organized and "filed" correctly in the registry, the computer will react quickly to commands and things will progress at the normal pace. However, if the registry starts to fill with numerous errors, which can be caused by a wide variety of different things, speed and reliability pretty much go out the window.

It's important to know that virtually EVERY action on the computer is recorded by the registry -- this means applications/files being launched, installed, uninstalled, moved, changed, closed, etc. With all this activity, the registry is bound to fill up with errors at one time or another. And, if you're a person whom uses a computer daily, registry errors are practically guaranteed.

You now know some of the basics about the Microsoft Vista registry and how it works. The next step is learning what you can do to fix registry errors and return your computer back to it's normal, reliable speed. And luckily, repairing the registry is actually easier than learning how it works -- because all you really need is vista registry cleaning software.

Cleaning your registry can be unbelievably simple, and with the right software, it will only take a single click of the mouse. You can get a free registry scan online from a wide array of different websites; all of which will help you determine whether or not your registry is full of performance hindering errors. Once you find out the status of your registry -- error-plagued or error-free -- you can then make a decision about what Vista repair software you want to use.

Ignoring the health of your Windows Vista registry is a sure-fire way to damage your PC's hardware and cause your computer to become severely unresponsive. Having said that, do yourself a big favor and take registry cleaning more seriously -- you won't regret it.

Building Cheap Computers in 3 Easy Steps

by: Nicky Pilkington

Just a decade ago, the only people who put computers together were those individuals who possessed an extensive technical background. Advancements in technology have eliminated some of the complexities in how computers work. This change has resulted in average people who have a basic understanding of computers being able to build a system themselves. Whether you are interested in building computers to establish a new hobby or to start a business, you can so in only a few easy steps and on a shoestring budget.

The first step in building cheap computers is to determine the route you want to use to build systems. You basically have three choices when considering building cheap computers: build a system from scratch, expand on a bare bones computer, or upgrade an existing system. Building a system from scratch can be a rewarding experience. However, it is not for everyone. If you are impatient or are intimidated by mechanical tools, you are better to choose one of the other two options.

Regardless of the method you choose, you will follow three basic steps:

1. Plan
2. Assemble
3. Test

The planning phase of your project involves determining the specifications for the computer you want to build. Once you know this information you can start shopping for parts that meet those specifications. Your main considerations should be
hard-disk, memory, and CPU (central processing unit). The harddrive is important because it determines how much information you are able to store on the computer. While you could build a computer with a harddrive smaller than 2 GB (gigabytes), it is not recommended.

The harddrive and memory work together. The amount of memory you place in your computer will directly affect how the system is able to complete the different processes that you request when using the system. If you have no idea what size hard-drive and the amount of memory you need, you should consider the type of operating system you intend to load on the system. You can consult the manufacturer of your hard-drive or review the information on Cheap-Computer-Guy.com, which features a list of minimum harddrive and memory requirements for various operating systems, and use this information as a guide.

The equipment presented in this article includes the basics of a computer system. Of course, nowadays people want far more than the basics and you undoubtedly feel the same way. There are optional components available that you may want to add to your systems, which include CD or DVD drives, a modem or other communication component for Internet connectivity, or a video graphics card.

Once you have decided on the specifications of the computer you want to build, you are ready to assemble the system. In addition to detailed information about the parts you will need to build your computer, cheap-computer-guy.com includes step-by-step instructions for assembling a cheap do-it-yourself computer.

When you have finished assembling the computer, you will then need to test to make sure that the system boots and that all components are functioning properly. Once you have completed all these tests you will have built your own cheap computer.

About the author:
You can find detailed information about planning, assembling and testing computers at the Cheap-Computer-Guy.com website.


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COMPUTER BACKUPS

by: Jack Back

COMPUTERS AND HALLOWEEN, DO THEY MIX?

Computer backup is so important to your computer that to ignore it is to risk its damnation.

Computers require care and feeding. They require that you attend to their needs. If you don't, then they will most surely be sent to Hell.

Halloween means Hell. What! What do you mean that Halloween means Hell?

Well, if your computer is given the option of trick or treat, which will it accept? Will it accept the trick or the treat? What do you think?

Halloween is the time that computers are subject to tricks or treats. Did you know that more computers fail on Halloween than any other day of the year? That’s right. It’s true (smile). Your computer is in danger! Protect it. Do your computer backups.

Back to the Hell thing. Hell you say? Yep. Well, what do you mean by Hell?

Computer hell is the place for computers without computer backup. The failure to perform hard drive backup means that you are playing Russian Roulette with your data. Data needs your protection. Failure to protect your data may cause your home or business records to be sent to Hell.

Hell in this instance is for the records and files that cannot be resurrected. Resurrected you say, what does that mean?

It means that without computer backup as a source of salvation then the files can safely enjoy eternal oblivion. Oblivion you say, what does that mean? That means they are eternally lost from computer resurrection.

Is there any mercy for my precious files, you ask?

Why yes there is. Would like to know what the mercy for your files is? Yes! Yes! You say.

OK boys and girls listen carefully. The salvation, mercy, resurrection and redemption of your files lies in regular and consistent and persistent computer backup.

If you backup your computer consistently and persistently your files will be resurrected and saved from accidental deletion, hard drive failure and those nasty things like fire, flood, theft, earthquake, hurricanes, tornados and the like!

Computer backup is the key to your data's salvation!

Do your computer backups boys and girls.

Milk and cookies will be served in the pantry.

Trick or treat for your computer backup?

About the author:
Jack Back has been a working computer consultant company owner since 1991. He started in IT in 1983. Now get your FREE 2 part guide on how to save your precious computer data from loss at the http://www.tweakspeed.com/Computer-Backup-1.htm website.


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All About Computer Viruses

by: Kara Glover

Feel Free to reprint this article in newsletters and on websites, with resource box included. If you use this article, please send a brief message to let me know where it appeared: kara333@earthlink.net

Word Count = 1,500
Word Wrapped to 60 characters per line
URL: http://www.karathecomputertutor.com
Author photo: http://www.karathecomputertutor.com
Date of copyright: November 2004

All About Computer Viruses
by Kara Glover
kara333@earthlink.net

Your computer is as slow as molasses. Your mouse freezes every 15 minutes, and that Microsoft Word program just won’t seem to open.

You might have a virus.

Just what exactly is a virus? What kind is in your computer? How did it get there? How is it spreading and wreaking such havoc? And why is it bothering with your computer anyway?

Viruses are pieces of programming code that make copies of themselves, or replicate, inside your computer without asking your explicit written permission to do so. Forget getting your permission down on paper. Viruses don’t bother to seek your permission at all! Very invasive.

In comparison, there are pieces of code that might replicate inside your computer, say something your IT guy thinks you need. But the code spreads, perhaps throughout your office network, with your consent (or at least your IT guy’s consent). These types of replicating code are called agents, said Jimmy Kuo, a research fellow with McAfee AVERT, a research arm of anti-virus software-maker McAfee Inc.

In this article, though, we’re not talking about the good guys, or the agents. We’ll be talking about the bad guys, the viruses.

A long, long time ago in computer years, like five, most viruses were comprised of a similar breed. They entered your computer perhaps through an email attachment or a floppy disk (remember those?). Then they attached themselves to one of your files, say your Microsoft Word program.

When you opened your Microsoft Word program, the virus replicated and attached itself to other files. These could be other random files on your hard drive, the files furthest away from your Microsoft Word program, or other files, depending on how the virus writer wanted the virus to behave.

This virus code could contain hundreds or thousands of instructions. When it replicates it inserts those instructions, into the files it infects, said Carey Nachenberg, Chief Architect at Symantec Research Labs, an arm of anti-virus software-maker Symantec. Corp.

Because so many other types of viruses exist now, the kind just described is called a classic virus. Classic viruses still exist but they’re not quite as prevalent as they used to be. (Perhaps we could put classic viruses on the shelf with Hemingway and Dickens.)

These days, in the modern era, viruses are known to spread through vulnerabilities in web browsers, files shared over the internet, emails themselves, and computer networks.

As far as web browsers are concerned, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer takes most of the heat for spreading viruses because it’s used by more people for web surfing than any other browser.

Nevertheless, “Any web browser potentially has vulnerabilities,” Nachenberg said.

For instance, let’s say you go to a website in IE you have every reason to think is safe, Nachenberg said.

But unfortunately it isn’t. It has virus code hidden in its background that IE isn’t protecting you from. While you’re looking at the site, the virus is downloaded onto your computer, he said. That’s one way of catching a nasty virus.

During the past two years, another prevalent way to catch a virus has been through downloads computer users share with one another, mostly on music sharing sites, Kuo said. On Limewire or Kazaa, for instance, teenagers or other music enthusiasts might think they’re downloading that latest Justin Timberlake song, when in reality they’re downloading a virus straight into their computer. It’s easy for a virus writer to put a download with a virus on one of these sites because everyone’s sharing with everyone else anyway.

Here’s one you might not have thought of. If you use Outlook or Outlook Express to send and receive email, do you have a preview pane below your list of emails that shows the contents of the email you have highlighted? If so, you may be putting yourself at risk.

Some viruses, though a small percentage according to Nachenberg, are inserted straight into emails themselves.

Forget opening the attachment. All you have to do is view the email to potentially get a virus, Kuo added. For instance, have you ever opened or viewed an email that states it’s “loading”? Well, once everything is “loaded,” a virus in the email might just load onto your computer.

So if I were you, I’d click on View on the toolbar in your Outlook or Outlook Express and close the preview pane. (You have to click on View and then Layout in Outlook Express.)

On a network at work? You could get a virus that way. Worms are viruses that come into your computer via networks, Kuo said. They travel from machine to machine and, unlike, the classic viruses, they attack the machine itself rather than individual files.

Worms sit in your working memory, or RAM, Nachenberg said.

OK, so we’ve talked about how the viruses get into a computer. How do they cause so much damage once they’re there?

Let’s say you’ve caught a classic virus, one that replicates and attacks various files on your computer. Let’s go back to the example of the virus that initially infects your Microsoft Word program.

Well, it might eventually cause that program to crash, Nachenberg said. It also might cause damage to your computer as it looks for new targets to infect.
This process of infecting targets and looking for new ones could eventually use up your computer’s ability to function, he said.

Often the destruction a virus causes is pegged to a certain event or date and time, called a trigger. For instance, a virus could be programmed to lay dormant until January 28. When that date rolls around, though, it may be programmed to do something as innocuous but annoying as splash popups on your screen, or something as severe as reformat your computer’s hard drive, Nachenberg said.

There are other potential reasons, though, for a virus to cause your computer to be acting slow or in weird ways. And that leads us to a new segment – the reason virus writers would want to waste their time creating viruses in the first place.

The majority of viruses are still written by teenagers looking for some notoriety, Nachenberg said. But a growing segment of the virus-writing population has other intentions in mind.

For these other intentions, we first need to explain the “backdoor” concept.

The sole purpose of some viruses is to create a vulnerability in your computer. Once it creates this hole of sorts, or backdoor, it signals home to mama or dada virus writer (kind of like in E.T.). Once the virus writer receives the signal, they can use and abuse your computer to their own likings.

Trojans are sometimes used to open backdoors. In fact that is usually their sole purpose, Kuo said.

Trojans are pieces of code you might download onto your computer, say, from a newsgroup. As in the Trojan War they are named after, they are usually disguised as innocuous pieces of code. But Trojans aren’t considered viruses because they don’t replicate.

Now back to the real viruses. Let’s say we have Joe Shmo virus writer. He sends out a virus that ends up infecting a thousand machines. But he doesn’t want the feds on his case. So he instructs the viruses on the various machines to send their signals, not of course to his computer, but to a place that can’t be traced. Hotmail email happens to be an example of one such place, Kuo said.

OK, so the virus writers now control these computers. What will they use them for?
One use is to send spam. Once that backdoor is open, they bounce spam off of those computers and send it to other machines, Nachenberg said.

That’s right. Some spam you have in your email right now may have been originally sent to other innocent computers before it came to yours so that it could remain in disguise. If the authorities could track down the original senders of spam, they could crack down on spam itself. Spam senders don’t want that.

Ever heard of phishing emails? Those are the ones that purport to be from your internet service provider or bank. They typically request some information from you, like your credit card number. The problem is, they’re NOT from your internet service provider or your bank. They’re from evil people after your credit card number! Well, these emails are often sent the same way spam is sent, by sending them via innocent computers.

Of course makers of anti-virus software use a variety of methods to combat the onslaught of viruses. Norton, for instance, uses signature scanning, Nachenberg said.

Signature scanning is similar to the process of looking for DNA fingerprints, he said. Norton examines programming code to find what viruses are made of. It adds those bad instructions it finds to its large database of other bad code. Then it uses this vast database to seek out and match the code in it with similar code in your computer. When it finds such virus code, it lets you know!

©2004 by Kara Glover














About the author:
Kara Glover is a Computer Tutor and Troubleshooter.
You can find her articles and tutorials on topics such as
Microsoft Word®, Excel®, and PowerPoint® on her website: http://www.karathecomputertutor.com



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Advancement in Computer Technology

by: Saad Shamim

5 years ago we gathered around and marveled at the little specs moving at our commands, doing not much – except moving off course, we called these things games. Today the hardware in computers and other devices has changed significantly; we went from having a “spacious” 1mb hard drive to 250 GB of space. The graphics have also taken a giant leap for our computers, no longer are we confined to little dots but our 256mb graphic cards allow us to explore a virtual world in 3d. The sound has also changed from 4bit to 32 and pretty soon 64bit; we went from beeps to actually words. Finally the speed of our beloved computers has also increased from mere kilobytes to gigabytes of rams. In such a short period of time we went from what we used to call “advanced” technology to today’s much superior devices. So if you guys are like I am, there is one question that strikes our mind, what’s next? Well I would love to say that we will be able to put on our virtual glasses that will allow us to explore the virtual world as if we were in it, but this is not likely, sorry guys; however, these sorts of glasses are being constructed but its unlikely they will come out any time soon. What we can expect to see is an improvement in our Text-to-speech and vise versa programs after the 64bit sound card is released allowing the computer to understand our voices much clearly, also we should soon be seeing more “dept” in our computer as you may know that the most our computers can run on 32bit resolution, it is expected that Microsoft is like to bring out a 64bit resolution with there next version of windows. Also the speed and graphics are to increase a lot more, already some games look as they are almost real, and soon they will look real. I am not certain exactly what marvel the computer hardware’s will hold in the future, but one thing is certain it will be something to forward too, and once again the next generation will be mocking the so called advanced technology we have today.

About the author:
For more buying guide’s visit buying guides
To Learn more about computers and tips on buying a computer please visit buying a computer



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3 Summer Computer Tips

by: Sharron Senter

Written By: Sharron Senter


#1 – Summer Computer Travel
Holiday travelers should be on alert when arriving home from long weekends, such as the Fourth of July, a popular time for computer viruses to spread.

Most computer users have a tendency to turn off their computers when away on trips, which means you’re not getting newly-released anti-virus patches or anti-spyware updates; the two most common areas that cause computers problems. We recommend you update anti-virus and anti-spyware scans before opening e-mail or going online after an extended absence.

We consistently see an increase in calls for virus related problems immediately following long weekends. Avoid the problems altogether by updating your security software before using your computer. For a free listing of viruses, spyware threats and trends, visit: www.VisitingGeeks.com/downloads.htm

#2 -- Should You Leave Your Computer Running?
One question we hear frequently is, "Should I leave my desktop computer on or turn it off?"

There are 2 schools of thought…
Turning it on and off numerous times during the day subjects the microcircuits to flexing and fatigue due to change in temperatures. Over time this could lead to a break in the circuitry and result in system failure.

Leaving the computer on all the time puts excess wear on the mechanical components (the hard drive spindle motor and cooling fans).

Best compromise. First user in the morning turns it on; last user turns it off.

We leave our desktops on all the time allowing for scheduled utility tasks to run during overnight hours. We also restart the systems (to flush the RAM and reset the operating system) on a regular basis and routinely remove the case covers to clean out any dust that may have accumulated, especially around the fans and screens.

#3 -- Stop Popups!
Never click inside the window of a popup. Instead, close it by clicking on the X in the upper right corner. Many people are fooled into installing spyware applications by popups that promise to clean their system. If you receive a message saying it can help, assume it’s spyware and don’t click!




About the author:
About the Author
Sharron Senter is co-founder of http://www.VisitingGeeks.com- an on site computer repair, security and networking company serving north of Boston, Southern NH and Maine. Visiting Geeks’ technicians are crackerjacks at squashing viruses, popups and securing and making computers perform faster. Learn more about Sharron at http://www.SharronSenter.com



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Protect Your Computer And Your Personal Information From Spyware

by: Ryan Larson

Spyware is a broad term used for certain types of software that are downloaded onto your computer without your knowledge. Malware has become a phrase that is used when describing spyware and adware.

Spyware is placed on your computer in order to track your internet surfing habits. It knows every site you visit and every page on that site. Spyware also collects your personal information through software that tracks your actual keystrokes. If you fill in a form to make a purchase all your personal information, including name, address and credit card information can be tracked. The potential abuse of spyware tracking is also being discussed in some businesses that store secure information, such as credit card numbers or even medical records.

Adware is another type of spyware. It doesn't work by tracking your information as spyware does, but what it can do is actually change your browser settings without your consent. It can cause pop up ads to show on your computer. It can even place a new toolbar on your computer. Most people are unaware they even have any type of adware installed on their computer until their computer starts to slow down.

The spyware business is a billion dollar a year industry with people getting very rich selling the information they steal about you. There is a case currently in court in the State of New York against a spyware company. The outcome of this legal case will hopefully mean the end of secretly placed spyware.

In order to not fall prey to these types of malwares there are steps you can take. First, don't download freebies. A lot of services that are offered to you as "free" such as free music downloads are free per say, but the price you pay is allowing them to place spyware software or adware targeted advertisements on your computer. Read any agreements about the software very carefully before you download it.

Run an anti spyware software program often along with your virus protection software. Generally spyware and adware are designed to be difficult to remove from you computer and they leave behind "ticklers" which reinstall the software.

About the author:
This article courtesy of http://www.adware-eliminator-guide.com


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