Windows Tools, Help & Guides

If you are the one who always helps your friend to reformat/reinstall Microsoft Windows on their PC or laptop, most likely you will have their Windows equipped with at least a free anti-virus software (so they will not bug you anymore to do the reinstallation due to incurable viruses), and a couple of maintenance tools for some advanced users. However, since there are new threats and viruses appearing everyday, and the security software companies always have their product updated every week or so, you can’t really (unless you have too much free time) keep your downloaded security software installer updated. Not only that, I have actually quite a number of friends having different preferences on the anti-virus/anti-malware software, so again you can’t really satisfy them all (again, unless you have too much free time). Read the rest of this entry »

Virus, spyware and other types of malware are here to stay. Our main problem is becoming a little paranoid about the subject. One of the reasons that drives to this situation is that many people–even skilled ones–are not aware of the symptoms of having a malware infection.

This post is just a basic list, I am preparing a more advanced article about the same topic so take this one as an introduction.

The best way to know if your computer is infected by some sort of malware is by using an antivirus to detect infections. So, what is the point in this list? Sometimes, the security utilities have problems detecting some sort of virus, as happens with the more sophisticated viruses out there.

Slow performance could be seen a sign of infection, but as there are so many reasons that can drive to this behaviour is not included in the list.

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Like Windows Vista, Windows 7 comes with a suite of Parental Controls tools to help you protect your children from viewing inappropriate content on your PC or from using a computer during restricted hours. In this guide you’ll learn how to do the following:

• Create a new user account for your child.
• Set up Parental Controls for a Windows 7 user account.
  • Set time limits for account access.
  • Control games by rating, content, or title.
  • Allow and block specific programs.
• Restrict access to specific websites.

If you use Windows Vista, the settings are almost identical; however, a Windows Vista-specific series of guides can be found here: Vista User Accounts and Parental Controls Series.

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Operating systems have become more complex over time. For an every-day user, it’s really a hard task to find what programs are slowing down their machine and for what reasons.

The most common performance problems are related with physical memory.

As I wrote in a comment answering a reader, Ben, in another post:

5 Things You Should Know About Microsoft Security Essentials

Programs use more RAM (another name for physical memory) if there is more available. Thus, you cannot associate high memory usage with bad memory usage. If your machine has resources (one of these resources is RAM), there is no problem using them if they’re available for use. But what about when you hit the limits of your physical memory?

What can an every-day user do to find out if their machine is using all of it’s current physical memory and, therefore, needs more RAM?

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It’s no secret — I really don’t like gadgets on my desktop; however, I frequently see people using them. So, I thought I’d give some  a try (I tried at least 100) and here are the 10 most useful gadgets I found.

Have any gadgets you can’t live without? Let us know about them in the comments.

Here’s a list I put together for Windows Vista

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Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) is becoming a good alternative for those who prefer to have a free security solution.

How to get the Latest MSE Definitions

If your system cannot connect to the internet, due to a virus infection, this is your only way to be updated.  If you are experiencing problems updating your antivirus you can use this method.

The following links download the utilities, different for 32 and 64 bit operating systems,  that install the latest definitions:

Definition updates for Microsoft Security Essentials on computers running x64- based versions of Windows

Definition updates for Microsoft Security Essentials on computers running x32- based versions of Windows

When installing on Windows 7 and Vista you need to run as administrator. Right click mpam-fe.exe, click Run as administrator, and then click Run.

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