Spyware,malware.trojans,viruses.worms and many nasty other things havebrought much grief to the majority of us at one time or the other.Clean up
and tune up should be part of your regular computer activities.If you are
going to be on the internet,you are going to be infected..it’s that simple.
This article if followed through will clean about 97% of the personal
computers out there.
The model machine for this article will be Windows XP.Windows Xp is chosen
because it is the most used operating system in use at this time.The same
principles used here can also be used for other Windows operatings systems
as well.
The Windows operating system is designed to be easy to run.This comes at
the cost of being more easily infected. Alot of things happen while we are
surfing the internet.Scripts are executed for us all in a seemless manner.
Microsoft has the right idea in making your computing experiance an easier
one. It is all the not so nice guys that are the problem. These not so nice
guys create all sorts of nasty things for your computer.
You may ask why why do these nasty people put spyware on my computer.One
word- MONEY.
Your surfing habits are tracked for one, and unwanted advertisemnets can
often be a result.
Theft,what you click on,that is an ad and ads cost money.People actually are
stealing revenues that are designed for someone else,you are only a pawn in
the game.
Its big bussiness and it is very popular and it is here to stay.
You do not have to surf for porn to be infected.Any thing from a simple
forum on cars to a site on how to make double layer cake puts you at
risk. Although there are millions of sites that do not participate in the
spyware game,there are millions that do.
Now lets get started on getting your computer to operating closer to the
performance it did when you purchased it.
We will be turning off system restore while we are doing our spyware
elimination.The reason for this is because,some spyware will simply re-
establish itself if system retsore is left on.
Here is how to turn off system restore for Windows XP.Click start–Control
panel–Classic view–System–System Restore tab–Check turn off system
restore–click ok.
Lets get on to the next step.I know you have heard it many times before.I
do not want to sound like a broken record here.UNINSTALL your unused
programs.My purpose for you here is not regain used didsk space but to
uninstall less than ideal programs,there is a big differance.
This is very important,many of these programs nail you when you install
them.Do not go to the control panel yet to uinistall these programs.First
we want to see if these programs have thier own un-installer.Click on
start,go to the programs and mouse on them,many will have un-installers
with them.In general always look for the uninstaller in the menu rather
than just jumping to control panel.
Uninstall all the garbage you can with the uninstallers.Reboot you
computer.Now go to Control panel–add remove programs–now unistall uneeded
programs.Keep your anti virus, your Utilies that come with your
machine,Adobe,java,windows updates{if listed} your drivers for printers and
sort.Do uninstall that free game crap,the toolbar items{unless it is
legitimate sush as Google toolbar or Yahoo toolbar.I am not saying that all
other toolbars are bad.I am saying that about 90 percent of other toolbars
are.They are a leading source of spyware infections. Get rid of them
now. Additionally you may be hesitant to uninstall your spyware tools that
you have on your computer now. These very tools are often spyware!Imagine
that.
NO good reputable spyware remover will ever be thrown in your face as a pop
up.a pop under,or the new ones that slide in from the side. Nor will they be
pushed in an E-mail. No legimate spyware remover will come out of the middle
of no where and say your computer is infected.What you are seeing when this
happens is the result of spyware itself.
With that said.lets now go get a quality reputable spyware removal tool.It
is called spybot search and destoy CLICK HERE to download. Click on download
here by safer networking ltd. Save the file. We will run it after it has
downloaded.It is always good practice to save a file before running it.By
doing so we can scan it first for a virus. Secondly when we go to install
it if our computer freezes up or whatever we dont need to go re-download
the file again.
Install spybot sd–during the install if the option to have protection for
internet explorer{active download blocker} or worded simular check it. There
is no need to check tea timer.Be patient during the install there are a few
steps to go through,just keep going.Be sure to get all your updates.
Note: if you are using Vista you will need to right click on the program
then run spybot as an administrator. Start up spybot and up in the upper
left hand corner you will see where it says Immunize in the shape of a
shield–click it–now after that has finished you will see where it also
says imminize toward the top with a little plus sign on it –click it–The
reason we do it in both places is some setups do not work unless done this
way. Now click— search and destroy–then click on— check for
problems. Scanning can take a while if you have an older pc so go make
something to eat or kill a little time. If you have never run Spybot before
chances are you will find all kinds of nasty spyware waiting to be removed
after the scanning is done,Go ahead and select the option to fix and remove
the objects. You have just done the single biggest favor that you can for
your computer and its free and prevents alot of nasty spyware by blocking
bad sites for you. What else is great about it is it does not use any
computer resources unless it is scanning. The exception would be tea timer
but I told you to not check that feature.
Next we will go download Ad-Aware{free} Click here. Install it. The install is
pretty straight forward just follow all the prompts. Next do a full system
scan.Clean up what it finds.Ad-aware has good help menus,it is very easy to
run.
Chances are the Ad-aware found a few issues nothing major as that is
usually found by spybot.No toolbox is complete without both. If given the
choice to have to rely on one or the other I pick spybot.
By now you have probably have removed alot of spyware,but we are not
done. The reason being is that spyware on a system makes way for more
spyware.If we are going to kill the enemy,lets don’t lets any of their
friends hang around to let some more of their buddies in.
What this means is we have to go do some more scanning. We are going to be
using another excellent free tool for this next scan. We are going to be
using what is called Housecall. Click here. This can take a while to get the
files on your system and get the scan completed.When you reach the screen
to to choose java based or to use a browser plug in,chose java based it
is faster.It is free and thorough however so be happy. When completed. Click
on clean infections automatically. Yep you have to wait some more.
You may have found another item or two with the above scan.We have one more
to go now,this is another free service this one is provided by Microsoft–
Click here–half way down the page click where it says FULL SERVICE
SCAN.This service will scan for a variety of nasty things.The drawback to
this service however is it does not tell the name of the offending spyware
or virus but does delete it for you.This is partially one of the reasons I
use this utility last.
The above methods will not clean 100 percent of spyware off all
computers.The above methods are designed to cure the majority of computers
out there with easy to use utilities. None of the utilities will do any
damage they are very safe.
There are are more powerful Utilities but this article is to cover the
majority of spyware and have the majority of people be able to use the
utilities with out the fear of doing any harm.
You should run spybot every week or two as well as ad-aware.You should use
house call every few weeks as well as the Microsoft full service scan.
Happy Computing!
How many zeros in a billion?
This is too true to be funny.The next time you hear a politician use the
word ‘billion’ in a casual manner, think about
whether you want the ‘politicians’ spending
YOUR tax money.
A billion is a difficult number to comprehend,
but one advertising agency did a good job of
putting that figure into some perspective in
one of it’s releases.
A. A billion seconds ago it was 1959.
B. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive.
C. A billion hours ago our ancestors were
living in the Stone Age.
D. A billion days ago no-one walked on the earth on two feet.
E. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate our government is spending it.
While this thought is still fresh in our brain…let’s take a look at New Orleans ..
It’s amazing what you can learn with some simple division.
Louisiana Senator,
Mary Landrieu (D)
is presently asking Congress for
250 BILLION DOLLARS
to rebuild New Orleans . Interesting number…
what does it mean?
A.
Well… if you are one of the 484,674 residents of New Orleans
(every man, woman, and child)
you each get $516,528.
B.
Or… if you have one of the 188,251 homes in
New Orleans , your home gets $1,329,787.
C.
Or… if you are a family of four…
your family gets $2,066,012.
Washington, D. C
HELLO!
Are all your calculators broken??
Accounts Receivable Tax
Building Permit Tax
CDL License Tax
Cigarette Tax
Corporate Income Tax
Dog License Tax
Federal Income Tax–Federal Unemployment Tax (FUTA)
Fishing License Tax
Food License Tax
Fuel Permit Tax Gasoline Tax
Hunting License Tax
Inheritance Tax
Inventory Tax
IRS Interest Charges (tax on top of tax)
IRS Penalties (tax on top of tax)
Liquor Tax
Luxury Tax
Marriage License Tax
Medicare Tax
Property Tax
Real Estate Tax
Service charge taxes
Social Security Tax
Road Usage Tax (Truckers) Sales Taxes
Recreational Vehicle Tax
School Tax
State Income Tax
State Unemployment Tax (SUTA)
Telephone Federal Excise Tax
Telephone Federal Universal Service Fee Tax
Telephone Federal, State and Local Surcharge Tax
Telephone Minimum Usage Surcharge Tax
Telephone Recurring and Non-recurring Charges Tax
Telephone State and Local Tax
Telephone Usage Charge Tax
Utility Tax
Vehicle License Registration Tax
Vehicle Sales Tax
Watercraft Registration Tax
Well Permit Tax
Workers Compensation Tax
These are just a taste of the taxes you pay!
STILL THINK THIS IS FUNNY?
Not one of these taxes existed 100 years ago… and our nation was the most prosperous in the world.
We had absolutely no national debt…
We had the largest middle class in the world…
and Mom stayed home to raise the kids.
What happened?
Can you spell ‘politicians!’
And I still have to
press ‘1′
for English.
Investment tips for October 2008:
With all the turmoil in the market today and the collapse of Lehman Bros and Acquisition of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America this might be some good advice. For all of you with any money left, be aware of the next expected mergers so that you can get in on the ground floor and make some BIG bucks.Watch for these consolidations in later this year:
1.) Hale Business Systems, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Fuller Brush, and W R. Grace Co. Will merge and become:
Hale, Mary, Fuller, Grace.
2.) Polygram Records, Warner Bros., and Zesta Crackers join forces and become:
Poly, Warner Cracker.
3.) 3M will merge with Goodyear and become:
MMMGood.
4. Zippo Manufacturing, Audi Motors, Dofasco, and Dakota Mining will merge and become:
ZipAudiDoDa .
5. FedEx is expected to join its competitor, UPS, and become:
FedUP.
6. Fairchild Electronics and Honeywell Computers will become:
Fairwell Honeychild.
7. Grey Poupon and Docker Pants are expected to become:
PouponPants.
8. Knotts Berry Farm and the National Organization of Women will become:
Knott NOW!
And finally…
9. Victoria ’s Secret and Smith &Wesson will merge under the new name:
TittyTittyBangBang
