Oct
05
2008
0

Hallmark Card Virus Fix

Many, many people are coming to this blog site looking for a fix for the Hallmark card virus. So it’s not a hoax!!! There are e-mails going out purporting to be a link to Hallmark card (see this post), and if you click that link, you’ll get a direct download of a virus.

If you already have the Hallmark Card virus, there is a fix, or several of them. Usually, normal virus software will remove it. Here are some free anti-virus software that will do the trick. Make sure your software is updated first, after you install and run it. Without virus definitions, it’s impossible to catch anything.

AVG 8 Free for Personal Use
Avast!
Dr. Web CureIt

SuperAntiSpyware

Virus software is not enough. You’ll also need an excellent anti-spyware tool. The one that is the highest-rated in reviews all over the Internet is Spyware Doctor. It will save you a lot of grief, because spyware prevention is much easier than spyware removal, although Spyware Doctor does an excellent job of removal too.

The below is a secure link to the Spyware Doctor website. Call me at 403-483-0105, if you have any questions. (Please, not in the middle of the night in Canada, however!)

Purchase Spyware Doctor

Oct
05
2008
0

Missing Screensaver Tab

If, after you’ve removed viruses or spyware, (especially after a bout of Windows XP Anti-Virus 2008 or 2009) you’re missing the Screensaver tab from the Display Properties of your computer’s Control Panel, then here is the fix. Download it here: http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/reg…

Run it and when it asks if you want to add information to the registry click Yes.

Mar
05
2008
3

How to Speed up your Computer - Part Five: Clean the Registry

This is Part Five of a five part series about how to speed up your computer. Here are the other four posts. Before you follow these suggestions, however, you should get rid of your malware. Here are the instructions to remove it.

Why should you clean the registry? The registry is a listing of all the settings and options in Windows. They are listed in the form of “keys”. When the registry gets cluttered with unfunctional and useless keys the computer still has to refer to and process them and this slows booting, running applications and going on-line. To fix this and speed things up, you can delete or edit the keys manually, which is tedious and risky, since changing the registry is a good way of messing up the computer completely, if you don’t know what you’re doing.

There is a free registry cleaner called EasyCleaner by Tony Arts. It works well. If you use it, please leave the creator/owner a donation. You should use EasyCleaner as part of your regular computer maintenance routine.

The best registry tool is jv16 PowerTools by Macecraft. The trial of 30 days is not limited but gives you access to the full version. In some computers, it is the tool that makes the most significant difference in speed. Use both the Registry Cleaner and the Registry Compacter components.

Ducktoes to the rescue!!


Feb
26
2008
0

An Excellent Spyware Reference

I’m excited!! I’ve been reading the article on Spyware in Wikipedia. It’s excellent. If you want in depth knowledge about what malware is and does, read it.

The photo on the page shows a browser overloaded with toolbars. If you have unwanted toolbars on your browser window then that is one indication you have spyware. See here how to get rid of it.
Or if you live in Calgary, Ducktoes can help.

Feb
19
2008
0

Anti-spyware Hints for Techies: Editing the Registry

Sometimes as techies, we want to keep programs from running at startup. This helps get rid of spyware that is running in memory. Once stopped, we can eliminate malware with Spybot, for instance, without running Spybot again on reboot, which is time-consuming. Also techies often are asked by clients to speed up old computers or new computers running Vista (lol!!), and stopping unwanted programs from running at startup is a good way of doing this. Using msconfig is another way, but problematic since it turns off System Restore, which is another useful tool to return to a computer to more pristine state without reformatting.

Here is a site that tells you how to stop startups by editting the registry. I have found it extremely helpful. However, only edit the registry if you make a backup first, since editing it incorrectly can cause major damage or problems.

Written by Administrator in: Computer Repair Tools, Hints for Techies, Slow Computer |
Jan
25
2008
0

Fascinating, but Sinister Spyware

This week I’m fixing an old Toshiba laptop that was loaded with spyware. It had all these spyware:

  1. Adware BHO Generic
  2. Win32 Trojan PSW Sinowal
  3. Win32 clowsd
  4. Alexa Related
  5. Microsoft Windows Security Center Virus Override
  6. Microsoft Windows Security Center Firewall Override
  7. Microsoft Windows Security Center SP2 Update Override
  8. Microsoft Security Center _disabled
  9. PWS LDPinch IE
  10. SC Keylogger
  11. Smitfraud - C.generic
  12. Win32. Alphabet.ap
  13. Win32. BHO.je

The laptop actually had more than this but I didn’t write them down before I got rid of them. I used these three anti-spyware applications to get rid of the spyware: Ad-aware SE Personal, Spybot, and Spyware Doctor (my new favorite anti-spyware, although it’s not free.)

The fascinating spyware I love to hate, is one that places a program in the Startup. Everytime I tried to run AVG anti-virus, the spyware would start this:

HKLM\…\Run:[KernelFaultCheck] %systemroot%\system32\dumprep 0 -k

And immediately a system dump would begin with a blue screen of death and, I’d have to restart the computer without being able to run a virus scan.

The client and I decided to reinstall the operating system since she didn’t need anything on her harddrive. It’s an old laptop she uses for e-mail only. But normally I would have run all my anti-spyware tools, anti-virus (I prefer AVG), plus rootkit tools (see my rootkit post.) I like to get rid of spyware without reformatting, as most computer repair services do. They immediately reformat!!! Not Ducktoes. Ducktoes does anti-spy without data-fry!! So businesses and people can lose their spyware but keep their data. That’s what Ducktoes specializes in.

Written by Administrator in: Computer Repair Tools, Free Utilities, Rootkits, Uncategorized |
Jan
11
2008
0

Google plus Microsoft: A Computer Repair Techie’s Best Tool

Okay, I might as well get it over with, alienate all my Linux and Mac Techie friends in one fell swoop. I know it is politically-incorrect to say this but yes, I love Microsoft. I adore Microsoft madly for its support pages which in combination with Google Search (the top-of the-line search engine) make a powerful reference for computer repair people and computer users. I have to give credit where credit’s due. Thanks, Microsoft and Google!!

Microsoft is generous to go to all the trouble and expense of creating and providing on-line support pages, and for free. I have fixed many, many repair problems by combining the two, Microsoft and Google. No one person can possibly remember all those repair solutions at once. Well maybe out there somewhere in Geekland is an Einstein-techie-with-photographic-memory who can remember a million and three complicated procedures, but it ain’t me.¬† In one week, I fixed Outlook on three clients’ computers, each time with a different solution, and each time I used my Microsoft plus Google solution-finding method. (One business man cried on my shoulder when he lost all his business contacts. Ducktoes to the rescue!!) This week, I fixed a problem with the Recovery Console. Windows firewall had been disabled on a client’s computer and, when I tried to enable it, got an error message every time. I followed Microsoft’s directions to fix it with the command prompt.

It is not politically incorrect to say I love Google, at least not yet, even though they are taking over the digital world. Perhaps because they seem to be doing it in a nice way. Google, like Windows, is becoming a way of life. (Just shun me forever, Linux and Mac people. Lol!!) I use both Adsense and Adwords and I like many features on iGoogle.

By hard work, I’ve been climbing my way to the top in Google Search results for the keywords Calgary Computer Repair, which has earned respect from some techie friends (how did you get on the first page? they always ask) although for some reason this month I went down a few results. You can see Ducktoes placement on Google by clicking here. My friend Mike Yaunish is anchored firmly at the top of Google and I don’t want to replace him. I’d just like to be second, since I get most of my jobs from Google (and word of mouth.) I’m still at the top of Google, however, for the keywords “Calgary spyware.”

Using Google is also a potent anti-spyware tool. Often, when prying out nasty spyware from deep within an OS, I resort to Google to find registry edits (not for Newbies) for the most stubborn malware. And I used Google to fix my Ibook G4 once, when I found a free utility to make all my applications show up again. They’d disappeared.

So, this is what I recommend, if you want to learn to fix your computer yourself, and especially if you’re a computer repair person, use Google plus Microsoft, for fixing Windows computers. It is cool and fun, and it works!!

Written by Administrator in: Computer Repair Tools |
Oct
11
2007
0

The Coolest Site EVER

Oh my gosh am I excited. I just found a site that has everything you need to defend your computer and much, much more. And all free, free, free. It’s called The 46 Best-Ever Freeware Utilities, by Gizmo. Don’t spend all day there, just bookmark and come back over and over. Or sign up for his newsletter. If you used some of these utilities, you wouldn’t need me. Actually, my goal is become obsolete, so you don’t need to reformat your harddrive every year or more to get your computer back up to speed. Ducktoes, always at your service.

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