PC Troubleshooting Guide

Fire Up that Firewall (Windows Vista – Part 1)

Windows Vista owners have often said that the Windows Vista Firewall….. is a dud. Yes, they say that Windows Vista firewall is usless. It may be just the Vista users having tantrums or it may true, nevertheless, this can have a tremendous effect on Window’s credibility on future products so here are the facts from http://www.toejumper.net/
“No third party software can lay claim to the fact that the Windows Firewall starts its protection once the computer is turned on. Is that important you ask? Absolutely. If a capable malware program could turn itself on at the same time that the computer starts to boot, common sense would dictate the danger of this. Now, knowing the fact that the Vista firewall ‘does’ start at boot, we need to confidently know that it is going to protect from boot.”

Defragging Windows Vista (Part 3)

To actually defrag a certain drive, type:

defrag c: -v -r

This option will also give you a detailed report and will defrag all files that are less than 64 MB in size. If you would like to force Vista to attempt to defrag ALL files no matter the size of the fragments, type:

defrag c: -v -w

Again, you will receive a detailed report and with the “-w” this will tell Vista to attempt to consolidate all files wherever possible.

In all cases, you will not receive a report of fragmented files of 64 MB or greater. Also, you still will not receive a progress bar during the defragmentation process. You at least now have greater flexibility over how Windows Vista is defragging your system files.

Defragging Windows Vista (Part 2)

Defragging manually is not possible and you will never know how much have been fragmented. You can manipulate it though. According to http://www.toejumper.net/, you can follow this step to defrag your Vista.
To open a command prompt window, click the Windows button>> All Programs>> Accessories>> Right click the Command Prompt button and select the “Run as administrator” option. A command prompt window will now appear.

To receive information about how defragmented a certain drive is, type:

defrag c: -a -v

The “defrag” lets the system know that you would like to activate the command line defragmentation utility.

The “c:” indicates the hard disk that you would like to work in.

The “-a” indicates that you would like to perform an analysis of the C: drive.

The “-v” indicates that you require a verbose (all possible information) report.

Substitute the “c:” with any other drive that you would like to analyze.

Defragging Windows Vista (Part 1)

Windows XP is way different from Windows Vista (though they may sound the same because of Windows). So if you had a Windows XP, it may take a while to get used to Windows Vista, like you got lost in a city you are known to. But when you are lost, there will always be maps available to get yourself thru the big city. As for you Windows Vista you got this to solve your problems, but particularly, on defragging. Vista system engineers made it sure that your Windows Vista’s hard disks are defragged weekly and automatically to get your system a good clean and run faster.

VirusHeat Removal Guide for the PC

VirusHeat is a rogue anti-spyware program fresh out of the market of popular rogue anti-spyware programs on the Web. VirusHeat is usually downloaded and installed via ZLOB/MediaAccess Codec installer from an adult site.

Once you’re infected, the Zlob Trojan will display misleading warning messages. VirusHeat may generate annoying popup advertisements that may cause unstable system performance. VirusHeat is known to be a clone of AntiVirGear.

The importance of patches and updates

Anti-virus software is effective as its most recent update because it is inherently reactive treating “known” threats. When you install anti-virus software, go to the vendor’s web site and update the program and virus definitions immediately and then turn on the auto update feature.
If you want to be ready for the next bad thing before your anti-virus signature can be updated, consider Zero-Day Protection.

Things to Do if Your PDA gets wet!

Lets face it, children and adult gadgets does not mix. Even grownups do stupid things like placing a softdrink right next to the keyboard, then all of a sudden, you knock it over and it pours onto the keyboard. It’s not limited to the keyboard, but pretty much any electronic gadget with spaces in between in it that liquids can seep into like remote controls, notebook/laptop computers, PDAs and mobile phones.

If by any chance one of your gadgets was spilled with liquids, switch off the device and remove the batteries if necessary, then take it apart as fast as you can. Particles in many liquids are conductive, especially softdrinks and milk. If the liquid shorts circuit something inside, then the device might be permanently damaged and you should bring it to its service center for proper diagnosis.

PC does not Boot Up

You are getting ready to work so you turn on your PC and, for some reason, it won’t boot into its operating system. One of the most scary scenarios is when you press the power button and nothing happens. Lights wont turn on, fans wont turn on, and you don’t hear the sound of the hard discs. It’s like theres no electricity at all. This situation happened many times in the past and i am pretty sure that the solution to this dilemma is very simple. This may seem like a stupid suggestion but you have to see the electrical outlet first because you may have forgotten to plug the computer.

Dust may cause your PC or Gadget to malfunction

Every gadget that has electrical contacts will always have some sort of failure sonner or later. Whether it is caused by dust, dirt, corrosion, or just plain wear and tear it will happen.

Moving on, everything from CF cards to flash memory cards, from batteries to USB peripherals can encounter this problem. I remember that the same thing happened to me with my PlayStation Portable unit. When I inserted the Memory Stick Duo, it was not recognized. I was sweating profusely and I restarted the unit and turned it on again, much to my shock that it seems it was empty. All my photos, saved games, or movies seemed lost. It was almost a year since i cleaned my memory card so i proceeded to clean the contacts using the eraser on my pencil and inserted it back to my PSP and Voila! The Memory Stick was alive again.

PC Power Source Issues

When a power supply conks out, the symptoms comes to you as both mysterious and confusing. Several scenarios start to pay inside you head like the computer hanging unexpectedly, shuts down all by itself or may suddenly restart.

Should your PC exhibit some of these annoying scenarios, you might want to check the power supply and if damaged, replace it. But before you do anything, try asking yourself first you’ve done in the past. Have you been using the CPU or chipset too long?If the answer is YES, then this kind of prolonged abuse quickly eats up wattage and harms your PSU bit by bit. Try to remove and disconnect unnecessary stuffs and observe if the computer’s performance improves.