Windows Tools, Help & Guides

When I had Windows 7 installed, I noticed that the standard network icon in the task bar area doesn’t “light-up” when there is data throughput as I have been used to ever-since Windows 98. I suppose some people might argue that we have been spoiled a bit, but actually it gives you a sense of security when you’re busy working and you can see there is activity on the network when you expect it to be. Also, that is the quickest way you can see when something isn’t working correctly.

Taskbar with Windows 7 Network Icon

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Windows Forums member, shoby, asked the following question in our suggestion box:

I would like to see a review about Ready Boost in Windows 7.
Does it really help you out when you need some extra performance or does it just look like it helps you out ?

It surely can’t be like you actually went out and bought some RAM, but how good is Ready Boost actually.
Is it gonna help me out with the my daily tasks/multitasking.
TIA.

This guide answers these questions and offer suggestions to help you get the most out or ReadyBoost or the most out of the money you’d spend on a flash drive with which to use ReadyBoost. Specifically, we’ll cover the following:

• What is ReadyBoost?
• Does ReadyBoost really work?
• What are the requirements for ReadyBoost?
• What security risks does ReadyBoost pose?
• What alternatives are there to ReadyBoost?

If you want to learn how to use ReadyBoost, see this guide: Speed up Windows with ReadyBoost.

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One of my colleagues asked me recently if it is possible to prevent a certain group of people to use certain PC’s on our company network. If you have a domain set-up, it is quite easy, provided your set-up is done well.

My meaning of “if your set-up is done well” does not refer to how well your server software has been installed or anything of the sort. I refer to how well you have grouped your users in the active directory. We created groups for each level of user in our organisation, so it was quite easy for me to block a particular group of people from using certain workstations.

In this case, I was asked to prevent the Electrical and Instrument guys from using the PC’s allocated to the Mechanical Foremen, as the Electrical & Instrument guys has their own PC’s to work from.

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A colleague of mine recently asked me to have a look at his personal Notebook. He has a virus infection on the PC and doesn’t know how to get rid of it.

He dropped the Notebook off at my house after work one evening and I had a look. Immediately several screens popped-up at me screaming about all the infections on the machine. I found this strange as I didn’t know the program spewing out these warnings.

After a bit of research on Google I found that this was one of those programs enticing the user to download for free. Once installed, it produces false-positives so the user will be scared into purchasing it. I removed the offending program, and updated the perfectly good antivirus and firewall software on the machine, scanned the entire notebook to find no major threats.

All the user needs to do now is to purchase a new annual license and he is good to go.

My advice is to ensure you have one of the major anti-virus programs installed, preferably with a firewall built-in. It is quite easy to read-up on different antivirus software programs online by simply asking Google.

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Passwords are getting more and more a part of our daily life. With many services relying more and more on their users going online, you can get many passwords to keep in mind. Remembering them all can be a daunting task. And if your work make you change your passwords every other week, you’re in really big trouble.

Here in Norway we have become very Internet dependent in our every day tasks. We pay our bills online, we register our income tax report online, we make doctors appointments over the Internet, we are highly represented in Facebook and its equals . If we get unemployed, we have to register and fill in every personal information in secure websites. We even apply for loan, jobs etc via the net.

So the question is, how do you keep track of all the passwords? How creative are you ?

How easy (or hard) is it to guess your passwords ?

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Windows Forums member, walt1019, made the following suggestion in our suggestion box:

Tips on securing home wireless networks could be useful. So many are still using the default settings which are wide open while some just use WEP, MAC filtering or not broadcasting the SSID which offers little to no protection.

This guide will show you how to do the following:

• Access your router’s administration panel.
• Secure your wireless network.
• Secure your router.
• Disable SSID broadcasting.
• Connect to a non-broadcasting network.

Why do You Need to Secure Your Home Network?

With an unsecured network, I can get access to your router, PC, private documents, printer, peripheral devices, and can even monitor your instant messaging activity, emails, bank passwords etc. I can also use the internet you pay your hard earned cash for, without paying for it myself. It’s important to protect your home network and this guide will show you how. Read the rest of this entry »