Computer Tips, Tweaks, Reviews, Software, & Guides
Maple story Forums : Non-MS Tech Talk : Computer and tech issues NOT related to Maple Story Thread starter
Table of Contents -The Basics of Computers, Power Supply -XP/Vista/Speed Up/Tweaks -Protecting Your PC -Removing Antivirus 2008/2009 Virus -Several PC problems you will encounter -Reformatting -Downloads -Credits Choosing A Computer This is the popular question about computers: What should I get? This section should basically give you a good walk through on what you should get. All the prices listed are estimates not exact prices The Right Computer For You To help you decide on what type of computer you will get, think about whether: A. you will be moving around a lot and want a small and light computer B. you want raw power, even if it means a 2 foot tall case tower, and need the computer on at all times C. Your going to do some gaming but not heavy gaming like crysis but games like counter strike source, tf2. D. You’re a hardcore gamer, video editor, photoshopper, you need the BEST DAMN THING EVER! The next set of questions involves both the laptop and the desktop. So consider this: A. You only need a PC for work, a bit of e-mail, and some easy Web browsing. B. You are gonna listen to music, watch a few movies and videos, a bit of DVDs, play a few causal games, and burn some CDs. C. You are gonna play a bunch of games, edit music and movies, and burn a bunch of CDs and DVDs. D. You need all the power you can get - you'll be playing the most hardware-intense games on the market, scan both viruses and spyware while playing a game and defragmenting a hard drive all at the same time, and edit movies, vids, pics and more while burning discs and doing a Photoshop job. If you choose A A specify a low-end Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent AMD Athlon 64 X2 Linux: 1GB XP: 1GB, Vista Home Basic: 1GB, Vista Home Premium and above: 2GB (RAM for all classes are DDR2) Integrated audio and graphics or low-end dedicated graphic (ex. 8400GS) 120GB+ HDD DVD Reader/CD Burner Linux, Windows XP x86 (recommended), Windows Vista x86 If you chose B I'd say under $600 for desktops, Low/mid-end Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent AMD Athlon 64 X2 XP: 1GB, Vista Home Basic: 1GB, Vista Home Premium and above: 2GB Integrated audio, low/mid-end dedicated graphics card (ex. 8400GS-8500GT) 160GB+ HDD (depending on uses) Power supply depends on the system build (even though it is "low/mid-end", the wattage requirements vary) DVD Burner Windows XP x86, Windows Vista x86 (either one works good in this price range) If you chose C I would say under $800-ish for desktops, and $1100-ish for laptops Intel E8200 to E8400 or E8500 or Phenom 9850/9950, they're actually not bad. About as powerful as a Q6600, but cheaper 2GB RAM for all OS or higher Integrated audio, 9800GT/GTX260, or even a HD4850/70 200GB+ HDD space (depending on uses) Power supply determined by builder i recommend 400+ Windows XP x86 (lenient on this one, but I won't recommend one over another), Windows Vista x86 DVD Burner If you chose D High-end Intel Core 2 Duo (E8200+), mid/low-end Intel Core 2 Quad (Q6600/Q9300), would not recommend AMD here (unless you have an AM2+ motherboard already) The New I7 Processors if you don’t care about money much *intel scores the higher benchmarks in gaming* 2-4gigs of RAM 8800GT 512MB+ or higher video cards in SLI or ATI crossfire , integrated audio, or not if you want good surround sound Power supply depends on exact system configuration 500+ is recommended Windows XP, Windows Vista DVD Burner (dual layer and lightscribe if you're going to use them) Selection D: For the most powerful part, so it'll add something above $6000 if you buy at Dell and similar vendors, and something around $4000 if you buy from CyberPowerPC and similar vendors), desktop price is really anything at this price point High-end Intel Core 2 Extreme quad core processor (ex. QX9770)/Upgrade to Nehalem/ the new i7 processors 4GB+ High Performance Mushkin/Kingston HyperX/Patriot Extreme/etc. Dual/Triple/Quadruple GPU setup (obviously, you would get the best stuff, not necessarily the GTX280 though, CrossFireX or SLi) 4x Velociraptor drives in RAID 0, 2x 1TB drives in RAID 1 (not completely sure if it can be done though) Power supply depends on exact system specifications, but it's usually 800W+ High-end air cooling (Ultra 120, Big Typhoon, Tunic Tower), high-end water cooling, dry ice/liquid nitrogen for insane, record-breaking overclocks Power Supply The Most Overlooked Part When Buying/Building A Computer The Power Supply is the single most overlooked component of a computer. Everything inside your computer is connected to the Power Supply. If the Power Supply fails, or begins to show signs of failing, everything within your computer is at risk. There are many schools of thought when it comes to minimum wattage rating for Power Supplies. What I will try to do is give different examples of computer configurations and the minimum Power Supply rating that I personally would use if I were building a computer with that configuration. Some manufactured computers come with a standard 200 Watt Power Supply. I say some because depending on the specifications of that computer, the manufacturer may put a higher rated Power Supply into the computer. The first thing you should do, as a consumer, when buying a manufactured computer is look at the specifications of the computer you are going to buy. There should be some indication as to the rating of the Power Supply. It may say something like, "Peak Power Wattage" or "Total Power Output." Compare this to the things you plan do to on the computer. The higher the wattage rating, the more things you can do on that computer without concern. If you only intend on using the computer as a basic, everyday system to access the internet, listen to music, and play very basic games, the absolute bare minimum that I would recommend is a Power Supply with a rating of 200-250 Watts. Anything else is an insult to your usage. You will more than likely end up replacing the Power Supply shortly after you buy the computer. If you intend on using the computer for a little bit of gaming, burning CDs/DVDs, watching movies and television, and more advanced applications, the bare minimum I would recommend is a Power Supply with a rating no less than 450-500 Watts. If you intend on using the computer for advanced gaming and more graphic intensive applications, the bare minimum I would recommend is a Power Supply with a rating no less than 650-700 Watts. Now, once you actually have the computer in front of you there are certain signs that can tell you when you Power Supply is dying, regardless of the wattage: * You have to continuously monitor the temperature of the computer because of overheating * Your computer shuts off automatically and you have to wait a few minutes before you turn it back on * When running certain applications, like advanced game play, your computer freezes or shuts off There is a great Diagnostic Flowchart to help troubleshoot potential Power Supply issues: link To stress, the above symptoms can be attributed to many problems. For example, overheating can be caused by poor ventilation, a buildup of dust inside the computer, poorly placed processor, etc. However, all of them can be traced back to a potential Power Supply issue. One very important thing that you should investigate when purchasing a Power Supply is compatibility. Dell manufactured computers are the worst when it comes to third party Power Supplies. It is tricky, but not impossible. Dell uses a proprietary motherboard that will not accept third party Power Supplies. Does this mean that you are stuck with whatever Dell gives you, no. You would have to be more diligent when it comes to replacing that specific Power Supply but it can be done. For details on how he was able to replace his Dell Power Supply In addition to the above paragraph, you should make sure that the Power Supply you consider purchasing has the correct connections for the hardware you have. There are several connection one should look for when purchasing a Power Supply. * Main Power Connection: There are two types of Main Power Connections, a 20 Pin Connection and a 24 Pin Connection. In order to cover both bases, I always look for a Power Supply that has a split 20+4 Main Power Connection. This way, whichever type of Main Power Connection your motherboard requires, you will have the appropriate connection. * IDE Connection: This is the standard connection for all older hard drives. * SATA Connection: This is the standard connection for all newer hard drives. * Type of Power Supply: There are several types of Power Supplies. The easiest ways to find what type of Power Supply you currently have is to either A) Look at the specifications of the computer (if manufactured) or B) Look at the sticker on the Power Supply. The most common types of Power Supplies are: * ATX * BTX * AT Keep all of this information in mind when searching for a replacement Power Supply. If you would like, click on this link on newegg.com's website. This is the starting point for a Power Search for Power Supplies. In addition to the above information, a couple of our members, PhillyPA800 and Spike, have presented a calculation breakdown of how to easily determine what is the minimum wattage of a Power Supply you should buy if you are upgrading: Component Wattage Required Motherboard: 15 - 30 Low-end Single Core Processors: 20 - 50 Midrange to High-End Single Core Processors: 40 - 100 Dual Core Processors: 125 Quad Core Processors: 145 RAM: 7 per 128MB PIC Add-In Card: 5 Low to Midrange Graphics Board: 20 - 60 High-End Graphics Board 60 - 100 New Graphic Processing Unit (GPU): 140 SLI/Crossfire GPU: 200 IDE Hard Drive: 10 - 30 SATA Hard Drive: 45 - 50 (Estimation) Optical Drives: 10 - 25 So determine your total wattage usage by adding up each section that is applicable to your specific system. This is by no means the end all and be all of Power Supply information. Use this Document as a guide to better understand your own computer usage. Some final things you should do when replacing the Power Supply is look at how the original Power Supply is connected and follow suit. Also, buy an anti-electric static wrist guard. This will protect your computer from Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) when you touch the inside of the computer. These wrist guards cost no more than $10 and will save you potentially hundreds of dollars down the road. A note on processors * IF YOU HAVE A BUDGET, get an AMD processor. You won’t regret it, and the processing speed difference is unnoticeable unless you comparing to benchmarks. * If you need the power or overclock frequently, go ahead and get an Intel processor. But they're more expensive. *ONLY OVERCLOCK IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR DOING! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!* Unleashing The Power Within XP If you didn't know, XP wasn't tweaked when you first bought your PC. Now with these tips, you can take advantage of your PC, such as speeding up page loading times, and optimizing your processor efficiency. Subtopics * Tweaking XP - The Simple Way * Advanced Tweaking (ADVANCED USERS ONLY) * Tweaking Vista- The Simple Way * Increasing Boot Times* Tweaking XP - The Simple Way Easy: just download a few programs and whatnot. A free choice is Tweak UI, the free PowerToy from Microsoft. Google it up, download, and install. It allows settings not seen in Control Panel to be changed. My personal choice is TuneUp Utilities 2009, which is not free, but is a handy tool. With that program, you can do a lot, from changing your boot and login screens and formats, optimizing Internet connections, and cleaning out and fixing up the registry, to optimizing system performance values. Its a handy tool, and the trial is available at cnets Download.com. Another great tool, even though not free, is Diskeeper. It claims to defrag more files in a faster time than Microsofts included Disk Defragmenter in a shorter time, which is actually true from a test I conducted. I got 2 computers, fresh from a reformat, and all of its drivers and the same programs installed. One ran Diskeeper, the other ran the default defragmenter. Diskeeper finished the job in around an hour, while the other defragmenter finished when I finally woke up after a good night’s sleep, so... 9 hours? Big difference, huh? And the computers were the same - 10 GB formatted Macbooks on a Windows XP partition, with the same stats. So I’d recommend Diskeeper to those whom like to invest a little money into faster document loading times, leading to faster virus scans and a faster computer in general. The trial is available - check the Downloads section. TweakNow RegCleaner Standard is one of the free tools I use to maintain my PC. Its quite useful, scanning for obsolete entries that can conflict with your PC, and thus speeding up the computer. However, many Unknowns can pop up, and it be annoying to click every single one of them, since the last version I reviewed had no select all feature for the Unknowns. To make a Shutdown shortcut on your desktop, right click on your desktop, then click create New Shortcut. In the Location text box, type "shutdown -s -t 0" (without the quotation marks). Name it anything you want (Shutdown is the most common) and click OK. Now whenever you wanna shut down, just click this shortcut and watch. Type "shutdown -r -t 0" to make it a restart button. Type "shutdown -l" to make it a logoff button. Type "shutdown -s" to make it a standby button. Type "shutdown -h" to make it a hibernate button. Advanced Tweaking NOTE: I'm not sure whether these tweaks work in Vista, so if you use Vista, avoid this section until I get more information about Vista compatibility. And these tweaks proved to work in Windows XP. Another note: These tweaks can easily be triggered through Tune-Up Utilities, but if you can't afford it (or crack it lol) then check out this section. ADVANCED USERS ONLY - Registry tweaks To access the Registry, you must be an administrator. Go to Run, type in "regedit" and hit OK. Registry Editor pops out and you're ready to risk screwing up your PC big time. :P And any tweak requires a system restart, so after you're done tweaking what you need, restart to see its effect. Disable Core System Paging Why tweak: On default, Windows pages the system core to the disk to save memory space. This immensely slows down your PC as memory access is much faster than disk access. By disabling this feature, the core system will be kept in memory, speeding up system performance. DO NOT USE THIS TWEAK IF YOU HAVE LESS THAN 512 MB OF RAM. To tweak: Find the value "DisablePagingExecutive" in the key [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSession Manager]. Change the value to 1. Change the value to 0 to re-enable core system caching. Other tweaks Here is a tweak that doesn't require traveling through the Registry: Disabling the Wireless Configuration Zero service If YOU ARE CONNECTED ON A WIRELESS CONNECTION, DO NOT DISABLE THIS SERVICE. To those who are connected through Ethernet, disabling this service will speed up boot and login times. To do this, go to Control Panel, select Classic View, then go to Administrative Tools, then open Services. Look for the "Wireless Configuration Zero" service, and then double-click it. Stop the service then select "Disabled" in the Startup Type drop box. The computer should load a bit faster now. To speed up your startup Go to start>run>type msconfig>then on startup tab untick everything besides your antivirus. This applies to vista as well but run is in accessories. Speeding Up Vista/Tweaks Windows Vista is a great looking operating system with some awesome features, but it can be slow as molasses unless you've got a hugely powerful PC to run it. For most computers however, a few quick Vista tweaks can make a massive difference in the speed of Vista for everyday use. Here's a list of recommended Vista performance and speed tweaks: Heres a program link that does the tweaks simple without you searching this and that. Turn off Windows Search Indexing (Vista) Windows Vista search indexing is constantly reviewing files on your system to make their contents available for quick searching. This is handy, but can severely impact system performance. To disable this constant indexing: * Click Start then Computer * Right Click the C: Drive * On General Tab, Uncheck Index this drive for faster searching * On the subsequent dialog box, Select Include subfolders and files Turn off Remote Differential Compression(Vista) Remote Differential Compression measures the changes in files over a network to transfer them with minimal bandwidth rather than transferring an entire file that has previously been moved. By constantly checking for file changes, this service can hinder system performance. To disable this service: * Open Control Panel * Switch to Classic View * Select Program Features * Choose Turn Windows features on and off * Scroll down and uncheck Remote Differential Compression *Special Note: Windows Vista has the same tendency as XP to get bogged down with a bloated and corrupt Windows registry and file system. We strongly recommend keeping Vista running in optimum condition using an app like RegCure PC Optimizer: link (Recommended) Turn off Automatic Windows Defender Operation (Vista) Windows Defender real-time protection against malware continues to run despite having Automatic operation disabled. To disable this feature: * Open Control Panel * Select Windows Defender * Choose Tools from the top menu * Select Options * Uncheck Auto Start at the bottom of the window Turn off Automatic Disk Defragmentation (Vista) Windows Vista and its always-on defragment feature aren’t really that necessary and can cause system slow down. Just remember to run a defrag manually every week or so. To disable this: * Click Start then Computer * Right Click the C: Drive * Select the Tools Tab * Uncheck Run on a schedule *Important: Keeping your hard drive defragmented is key to great system performance, but it's very important not to neglect Vista's core files, dll structure, and file/path reference system. Add a 2GB or higher USB Flash drive to take advantage of Windows Ready Boost (Additional Memory Cache)(Vista) Ready Boost is Microsoft's name for using a USB thumb/flash drive to provide some quick access memory the operating system can use as extra RAM. The Ready Boost system can significantly improve system performance. To set this up: * Insert a USB Flash Drive (preferably 2GB or more) * Click Start then Computer * Right Click the USB Drive in My Computer * Select the Ready Boost Tab * Choose Use this device * Select as much space as you can free up for RAM usage vs. Storage Turn off Windows Hibernation (Vista) Windows hibernation background services can use a large amount of system resources. If you don't use the Hibernate feature on a regular basis you may want to disable it to give Vista a performance boost. To disable Hibernation: * Select the Control Panel then Power Options * Click Change Plan Settings * Click on Change Advanced Power Settings * Expand the Sleep selection * Expand the Hibernate after selection * Crank the selector down to zero * Click Apply Turn off System Restore(Vista) Analysis and restore point creation by Windows Vista can eat a fair amount of system resources. Disabling this service will obviously mean the system restore feature in Vista will not be available in the event of a system crash. Change this at your own risk. * Control Panel>System * Click System Protection on the left panel * Uncheck the main system drive Disable User Access Control (UAC)(Vista) This much-loathed new Vista feature attempts to protect your system from malware infection by making you manually confirm a whole host of everyday user operations. While it doesn't directly impact performance, it can be annoying and might be more hassle than good. To disable User Access Control: * Click Start then Control Panel * Select User Accounts * Select Turn User Account Control on or off * Uncheck User Account Control Box * Restart as recommended Disable excess Windows Services that Auto-Launch at Startup(Vista) Just like Windows XP, Vista ships with all kinds of services enabled that load at startup and may never be used by most users. To see what loads at startup and disable the ones you likely won't be needing (they can always be started manually later): * Click Start then Control Panel * Select Administrative Tools * Choose System Configuration * Click the Services Tab * You can safely deselect: * Offline Files (unless you're using Offline File Sync) *Tablet PC Input Service (unless you have a tablet PC) * Terminal Services * Windows Search (If you have already disabled indexing) * Fax (unless you're using a fax modem) Disable Excess Windows Features(Vista) Windows ships with other features that are listed separately in the Vista operating system from the startup services. You can view and disable these features by: * Clicking Start then Control Panel * Select Program Features * On the left panel, select Turn Windows Features on or off * You can safely deselect: * Indexing Service * Remote Differential Compression * Tablet PC Optional Components * Windows DFS Replication Service * Windows Fax & Scan (unless you use a modem for faxing) * Windows Meeting Space (unless you use the Live Meeting Service) Windows Vista Tweaks Here are some more tweaks that can be done with Vista to either increase speed, or to fit your need for speed. Remember to create a restore point if your lazy to do this and revert back. Customize the size of desktop and file icons(Vista) For some time, it has been possible to adjust font size in office documents and Web browsers simply by holding down the CTRL key while rolling your mouse wheel up and down. In Vista, the same action lets you tweak the size of your desktop icons. Just click on an empty area of the desktop, hold down CTRL, and spin your mouse wheel until the icons are the size you want. You can also adjust the size of your file or folder icons in Windows Explorer by doing the same thing. This is extremely handy for viewing thumbnails of images. Increase SATA drive performance(Vista) This tip “enhances” drive performance by allowing the drive in question to perform more write caching to system memory. The danger is if your system loses power and you do not have a backup power source (UPS), whatever data is cached to system memory will be lost. If you’re the adventurous type and want a bit more responsiveness out of your system, click Start, type Device Manager in the Search box, click the Device Manager, open up the Disk drives tree, right-click a drive, and select Properties. Go to the Policies tab and check “Enable Advanced Performance.” Click OK. Speed up Flip3D(Vista) This tip will be useful for notebook owners or anyone who’s PC is packing less than stellar graphics processing power. The Flip3D animation can bog down weaker graphics cards if it has to flip a lot of windows, so this is a tweak that lets you set the number of windows that will be rendered in 3D at one time. • Click on the Start Button, type regedit in the Search bar, and press Enter. • Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER, Software, Microsoft, Windows, and DWM. • Create a new DWORD and call it Max3DWindows. • Set the value of this to something between four and nine (“4” and “9”) depending on the performance of your card (a higher number requires more video card power). You should then feel free to experiment to find the best value for your computer. Restart your PC to finalize the change. Discover what applications are linked to certain processes The Processes tab of the Windows XP Task Manager was a confusing, barren wasteland of cryptically-named processes. If you wanted to find out which application was responsible for a certain process, all you could do was to copy down the name of the executable, and then search for it in Windows to locate it or Google it. This was an annoying process. Thankfully, Microsoft has fixed this in Vista by adding an “open file location” option when you right-click any process. Doing so opens the folder the process is running from, which can help you figure out if a certain process can be turned off or not. You can also click “View” at the top of the Task Manager and click Select Columns to select which columns to display. Turn off unneeded Windows features (Vista) This one is self-explanatory. Do you need Tablet PC components installed? Probably not, unless you are using a Tablet PC. So turn off whatever you don’t need in the name of keeping your Windows install as lean as possible. Click Start, Control Panel, then under Programs at the bottom click “Uninstall a Program.” In the left-hand pane you’ll see “Turn Windows Features on or off. Uncheck whatever you don’t need. The Internet Ah yes, the wonder of the world (of technology lol) that inspired many and opened up many opportunities. But here are some tips you probably never knew. Subtopics * A Comparison Of The Most Popular Browsers* header]A Comparison Of The Most Popular Browsers[/header] All of these browsers, compared with each other. Its ultimately your choice on what browser you want to use. What i do highly recommend is Firefox because it is safe, you can tweak it, plus many cool skins, but there are others too. Its all up to you. Now here is a comparison of a couple of them. Internet Explorer 7 I actually found it alright, but not what I expected. The new interface looked terrible, well maybe good thing is the tabbing, but thats in Firefox too, and web page load times were still the same as IE6. Security was still filled with bypasses and flaws, but Anti-Phishing is a nice addition. I'm a bit suspicious about this browser, as IE6 was included with the Alexa plugin, considered spyware, and it could be included here too. The application load times were good, ranging from 1 to 3 seconds. Mozilla Firefox 3 My favorite pick. It's secure, and versatile with the many plugins available, such as IE Tab, ForcastFox, Fasterfox, etc. Anti-Phishing is also on here. What I don't like about Firefox is that some websites are screwed up by Firefox, ex. Xanga and Googlepages. Plus it has many skins you can add to make it look cool! It also loads slowly, tests ranging in around 5 seconds. However, this is my favorite. Here's something for broadband people that will really speed Firefox up: Safari 3 It’s the best browser if you’re running Osx Leopard but for windows its average speed but still better than Internet Explorer. The interface is pretty neat looking so you should give it a try if you want. Google Chrome Beta This is one of the fastest browsers I have seen yet running on windows. Sadly it is not Mac compatible yet, so let’s hope it will be MAC compatible in the distant future. Even though this browser is still in beta I see it as having very good potential in the future for its great interface, usability and what it offers compared to some of other browsers. Excellent Free Programs That Protect Your Computer Avira Antivirus My favorite Free Anvirus which is highly efficient at scanning and removing viruses Trojan you name it. Its protection is flawless although some people say it detects maplestory as a Trojan, i cannot be 100% certain of this since i don't play maplestory. But this would rank as 1st on my free antivirus list. Avast Anti-Virus Home Edition My 2nd favorite anti-virus program in the free market, Avast provides many features programs like Norton or Kaspersky have, for a free price. Avast have 7 different real-time shields for different functions, such as E-mail. The only hassle is that the shields drain quite a bit of memory, and you have to sign up for a free yearly subscription, which, even though is free, is annoying. ZoneAlarm Basic Firewall Loads better than that Windows Firewall crap. ZoneAlarm protects both incoming and outgoing Internet traffic, and has saved me from a few extreme situations Windows Firewall wouldn’t have saved me from, such as an invasion of my computer through IE. However, it drains at least 30 MB of memory solely for the engine, and not to mention the firewall itself. It’s a good deal, however. Superantispyware FREE This is one of the top Antispyware now in modern times. It has an excellent scanning system, gets rid of the malaware, tracking cookie etc, it provides a registry scan too. It also has one of the highest detection rates for a free Antispyware program. Malwarebytes Antimalware Another one of those must have programs this small compact program is such an excellent scanner that removes malware one bit at a time and seriously its one of the best tools I’ve ever used and i seriously recommend everyone to get a combo of their antivirus combined with superantispyware and this program Malwarebytes and il guarantee you don't regret this. Paid Antivirus Nod32 My favorite paid antivirus and i would say this is the most lightweight antivirus out there that scans the fastest and by far has the greatest realtime protection ive seen. It scans in just 30minutes on my computer and it creates 0 lag at all which i love. I use this myself and this is just one of my favorite Antivirus programs out there, so if you want to buy antivirus this is the number 1 product i would recommend. Kaspersky This is my other favorite antivirus to use. Kaspersky 2009 or version 8 or whatever you want to call it has very very good detection rate and great protection, but i find it has way too much settings to config. The interface is very simple and easy to use though, and i usd this for 6 months. Reason why i switched over to Nod32 is because this antivirus delayed programs from installing, experienced waits from 3-5minutes on some programs like installing call of duty 4, so i changed to Nod32. Other than that this program deserves a good 10/10 for me. Its pretty damn light on resources too as i see it using no more than 20k memory usage on my task manager. * NOTE: Do NOT run 2 or more antivirus programs, antispyware programs, or firewalls at the same time. They will just conflict, and your PC will start to crash from them. Removing Antivirus 2008 and 2009 Since so many people have encountered this virus some way or another it usually shows fake popup system alerts saying to scan with the product or buy it its annoying and its one of those bad malware that gets infected. To remove it Download Malwarebytes link then do a full system scan and it should get rid of it. Next and last download link superantispyware to make sure everything is gone from your system. Remember to update it then run a scan. Don’t run both at same time. Why Go With Windows Firewall "I believe there are a lot of incorrect assumptions and outright myths about outbound filtering. I really like the Firewall in Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2). It is lightweight, centrally manageable, does the job well, is unobtrusive, and does something very critical: it protects the system at boot. That last one is crucial; we have seen many systems in the past get infected during boot even with a firewall turned on. Any outbound host-based firewall filtering in Windows XP is really just meaningless as a security feature in my opinion. True, it stops some malware, today, but only because current malware has not been written to circumvent it. There simply are not enough environments that implement outbound rules for the mass market malware authors to need to worry about it. In an interactive attack the attacker can circumvent outbound filters at will. To see how, consider this. Circumventing outbound host-based firewall filters can be accomplished in several ways, depending on the scenario of the actual attack. First, the vast majority of Windows XP users run as administrators, and any malware running as an administrator can disable the firewall entirely. Of course, even if the outbound filter requires interaction from the user to open a port, the malware can cause the user to be presented with a sufficiently enticing and comprehensible dialog that explains that without clicking "Yes" they will not ever get to see the "dancing pigs". See, the problem is that when the user is running as an administrator, or the evil code runs as an administrator, there is a very good chance that either the user or the code will simply disable the protection. Of course, the user does not really see that dialog, because it is utterly meaningless to users. That is problem number one with outbound filtering. Given the choice between security and sufficiently enticing rewards, like "dancing pigs", the "dancing pigs" will win every time. If the malware can either directly or indirectly turn off the protection, it will do so. The second problem is that even if the user, for some inexplicable reason clicked "No. Bug me again" or if the evil code is running in using a low-privileged account, such as Network Service, the malware can easily step right around the firewall other ways. As long as the account the code is running as can open outbound connections on any port the evil code can simply use that port. Ah, but outbound Firewalls can limit outbound traffic on a particular port to specific process. Not a problem, we just piggy back on an existing process that is allowed. Only if the recipient of the traffic filters based on both source and destination port, and extremely few services do that, is this technique for bypassing the firewall meaningful. The key problem is that most people think outbound host-based firewall filtering will keep a compromised asset from attacking other assets. This is impossible. Putting protective measures on a compromised asset and asking it not to compromise any other assets simply does not work. Protection belongs on the asset you are trying to protect, not the one you are trying to protect against! Asking the bad guys not to steal stuff after they have already broken into your house is unlikely to be nearly as effective as keeping them from breaking into the house in the first place." link by SlntDeath The Proper Way of Removing Spyware and Viruses * THIS DOES NOT INVOLVE ADWARE TRACKING COOKIES, AS THEY ARE EASILY REMOVED. IF YOU FIND A TRACE OF SPYWARE WITH A TAC RATING OF OVER 5, OR IF YOU FIND ANY VIRUSES, FOLLOW THIS SECTION.* Always boot up in Safe Mode and disconnect from the Internet. If you have scanned over and over and deleted the same thing over and over again, but it keeps coming back, that is the reason why it keeps popping up in your scan results - it automatically redownloads and reinstalls itself through code that triggers a secret Auto run program that performs the reinstallation and crap. Safe Mode disables all startup entries and only starts up vital Windows processes, so these programs won't get the chance to launch on startup. After that, run spyware and virus scans, and delete them as normal. Reboot normally and reconnect to the Internet, and scan again. Nothing should pop up now. Several PC Problems You Will Encounter The computer wont boot First, check to see that all cables are in all the way, especially the video and the power cords. Then see if the lights on the computer turn on. If they turn on, it should only be a loose video cord, a broken video card or monitor, or the video card was not installed properly. It could also be a BIOS problem. If so, jump to the BIOS step. If they don't turn on, check your power supply. Try to see whether the power supply fan starts to spin. If it does, go back to the last step. If not, you have a power supply problem. Replace it. As stated in step 2, the BIOS might not be working. Rub your hands over metal to discharge any static, unplug all cables, and open up your PC case. Look for the CMOS battery, which is a small, circular, and silver battery near the CMOS jumpers. It’s best that you look over a motherboard manual to find the CMOS jumpers. There are 2 methods to resetting - set the jumpers to another position for 30 seconds, or taking out the battery. Be careful around the jumpers, since they're easy to lose, and if you lose them, you're screwed. For example, on my motherboard, the jumpers are set on 1-2, and there are pins in the order of 1-2-3. Remember that the position of your jumper now is the default. Place the jumper into the order of 2-3, wait 30 seconds, and move it back to 1-2. If jumpers aren't available, refer to the CMOS battery. Unplug it for approximately 5 minutes, than plug it back in. Then set up the default settings, such as dates and stuff. Now if the case is that it freezes all the time at the boot screen, try booting into Safe Mode. If that works, the partition has a problem, and you will need to repair the OS with your Windows CD. If both crash, you might have to reformat your computer. - You are connected, but the Internet does not load It happens once in a while. Try resetting your DSL/cable modem and router, if you have one. If that doesn't work, move on. Check for loose cables, and reconnect them in case. Try using another computer to test the Internet. If that one works, your computer has a problem, and it can easily be resolved by opening Command Prompt (type CMD in Run/Seach Prompt) and then type in ipconfig /renew. If this doesn't work or if the other computer does not, then move on. If you're behind a router, perform factory resets on your modem and router - make sure you know what your ISP password and username are. Set them up again, and they should now work flawlessly. -You're being assaulted with loads of pop-ups. Scan your system with antispyware/antivirus -Your PC is just running plain slower than usual. Check how much hard drive space you have. Usually, when you have less than 15% remaining, your computer will lag more due to less virtual memory space. If you have a clean hard drive, try defragmenting. If these don't work, scan for viruses and spyware, and then clean out your registry, and defrag it if possible. Also, uninstall anything that you don't need any more. You'll have to move on to more drastic measures if the above don't work, such as replacing hard drive cables and updating your BIOS. Also, try replacing the hard drive, as those slow down after a period of time. At worst, sometimes a reformat will speed it back up again, and that will tell you that you downloaded some crap. If these don't work, your computer has just aged, and is running slower than usual. Thats natural, and all you have to do is replace your PC. Forgot your password? Easy - boot up in Safe Mode, log onto the Administrator account that should appear in the login screen, and reset your password. Usually that account has no password. Now if you set a password for your BIOS, reset your CMOS, as demonstrated in the My PC wont boot section. Also, try finding a trustworthy password reseter or cracker, such as Ophcrack. Otherwise, youre screwed big time, and will have to resort to a reformat. Reformatting How to reformat, posted here for easier access. I sometimes find it annoying to click links to go to other websites,. THIS SECTION WAS MADE IN REAL-TIME AS I REFORMATTED MY COUSIN'S MESSED UP COMPUTER, RUNNING WINDOWS XP. But I think Vista should be similar. Before Your Reformat Reformatting should be used ONLY AS A LAST RESORT. Mostly, people think about reformatting because their PCs are messed up. Follow this procedure to make sure whether you need a reformat or not: * Are all cables in correctly? * Do you have suspicious programs you should uninstall? * Did you Google up your problem for solutions? * Did you ask any friends experienced with computers about your problem? * Did you run virus and spyware scans in SAFE MODE? * Is your hardware and are your hardware drivers corrupted? * Did you perform CLEAN reinstallations (completely uninstalling, restarting, clearing the Registry, then installing again) of your drivers? * Did you perform System Restore to the day before your problems began, and did the problem disappear after that? * If you bought your PC, does your PC manufacturer provide PC recovery software on their website? If so, have you used it correctly?* If you followed all these guidelines and your problem persists, you're in need for a reformat. KEEP IN MIND THAT WINDOWS RECOVERY CDS ARE NOT INSTALLED LIKE THIS. FIND OUT WHAT YOUR WINDOWS INSTALLATION KEY IS. You're screwed without it. It should be on your PC case (if you bought the PC) or on your installation CD (if you bought Windows for a self-built PC) Search for the drivers for your hardware - Network card drivers are most important; in the case you can't find other drivers, the Network card driver will enable you to search the Internet for them. It saved my butt a couple times before. Back up ONLY what you NEED - work files, records, stuff like that. Get a flash drive, with at least 128 MB or higher, as drivers can be large - all my drivers total 100 MB. Back up all your drivers and necessary files onto the drive. Burning files onto a CD is also acceptable, but slower and less efficient. Now if you have a secondary hard drive, I recommend you store your music, videos, and then drivers and only programs you NEED. Double-check to make sure everything you need is on your flash drive/CD, then say goodbye to your computer for what it is now. Get out your installation CD, restart your computer, and boot up from the CD (hit the key if specified, commonly F11 or F12, otherwise at "Press any key to boot from CD" just press any key). The Proper Procedure NOTE: This procedure is also used for installing fresh copies of Windows. If you are installing Windows on a brand new PC you just built, ignore steps 2 and 3.* Step 1: Boot up from the CD, then on the main screen, hit Enter. DO NOT HIT R, AS THIS LEADS TO A RECOVERY CONSOLE INSTEAD. It's very confusing - much like running DOS back in the 80's. *shiver* Step 2: Agree to the terms and crap like that. After that, you'll be prompted to repair your partitions. This does not work all the time, even though all programs and drivers are retained. Even worse, most of the programs won't work because the Registry values for those programs are erased during the repair. So hit Esc, then select your partition (usually there is only 1, unless you set up 2 partitions to run 2 OSes) and hit D. Step 3: Confirm the partition deletion, then back at the Partition menu, select "Unpartitioned space" and hit Enter. Step 4: Select between the NTFS and FAT file systems. Here is a short comparison of the two: * FAT: More compatible with other operating systems (Windows 95/98, for example), but does not have file security features and has horrible space management. Also limits the maximum space on a partition to about 4 GB, I believe. * NTFS: It's not compatible with some operating systems, but it is more secure and allows for secure file compression, and is better at managing space. Then again, I highly recommend NTFS. Who the heck (other than me and those conducting research) uses Windows 95, and Linux? I mean, come on. xD Step 5: Wait for the unpartitioned space to finish creating a partition, and wait for the installation files to be installed. The PC will reboot automatically in 15 seconds, and direct you to the Windows installation, which takes approximately 35 minutes. Step 6: In the middle of the installation, you will be asked to provide your name and company. Fill them out, then type in your Windows key. Afterwards, you will be prompted to set a computer name. I recommend you leave it, especially if you're reformatting a PC in a company office, but if you really want to, type in a new name under 15 characters. Set the time and date and your time zone, and continue on, where you will be prompted for a Network settings installation. I recommend selecting "Typical" unless you are an advanced PC user and need something else. Step 7: Wait for the installation to complete. Once it finishes, no more wait. Yay. Recovering Your Now Lost Files All your drivers, files, programs, and stuff will be gone. Now Windows will boot up for the "first" time, and automatically adjust your display resolution. Enter any accounts you want to create. They will automatically be Admins, but you can always change them to Limited accounts. Log into your "new" account. You're not done yet. However, on a happy note, you just got through the hard part. Grab your flash drive/backup CD and reinstall all your drivers. After that, restore all your important files onto your PC, then reinstall your programs. Just be careful on what you install, though, 'cause I don't think you'll want to go through this again. Download Section Tweaking link TweakUI link Tune-Up Utilities [not free] link Diskeeper link TweakNow RegcCleane link Bootvis Protection link Avast Free Antivirus link Avira Free Antivirus link Superantispyware Free link Malwarebytes Free link NOD32 Paid link Kaspersky Paid Recovery link Ophcrack Mac link Bootcamp link HTTPMail Plugin Others link Gimp (free photo editor similar to photoshop) link Open Office (Free Alternative to Microsoft Office) link Youtube downloader (Works Great, I use it myself) link Imageshack (To Host Images) Browsers link Firefox link Internet Explorer 7 link Opera link Safari link Google Chrome Credits This document was originally created by darlord252525 I have edited the original thread and made modifications, including adding in sections Sources continue from here- link link Replies
Takeback3r said: "Wow, I'd say this rivals sltdeaths guide. Good job!" its not a competition in anyway, its just something that would benefit people Kid24 said: " its not a competition in anyway, its just something that would benefit people" Oh i know. It was simply a way of noting how useful it was since it's up there with the other extremely helpful ones. Why does everyone seem to think i'm comparing everything these days? xD
Wow, i don't even think my computer is alright enough for this stuff. I have like an 800mb hard drive and i've had this for 7 years now. It's totally screwed. I dont think ANYTHING will help it xD
Great guide. xD.
I just read most of it, and it's great. :O But yeah, I'd love to know the tweaks for vista (advanced) =P.
It's a nice guide.
andrewtse said: "Great guide. xD. I just read most of it, and it's great. :O But yeah, I'd love to know the tweaks for vista (advanced) =P." il try to see what i can do ontrix said: "Nice Guide. Anyways its TOO long xD" cuz its like all in one goes from buyin comp to maintain to tweaks to software anyway i added a vista section
Your prices are wrong. I got my laptop which is 2gb of memory and 250gb HD for $1200 and my desktop is 4gb of memory and 500gb HD and it only cost $1000 with 22" moniter.
the1234 said: "Your prices are wrong. I got my laptop which is 2gb of memory and 250gb HD for $1200 and my desktop is 4gb of memory and 500gb HD and it only cost $1000 with 22" moniter." my prices are not 100% accurate yea i know all prices are just an estimate, il make that fix
Hm.
For choice C under 'Choosing A Computer,' you should set the power supply to 500+ watts And for choice D, the power supply should be 750+watts. A high-end gaming rig really needs at least 750 watts, and a mid-range gaming one needs about 600 usually.
Since you have yet to take out the computer building part, I will point out lots of things wrong with it. First and for most, you forgot to mention compatibility, you forgot EPS12 power supplies (which are becoming the predominant power supply model). You have the wattages all wrong and you are stressing power supplies the right way. You won't need more than a 650W power supply if you are running a single video card (I have an 8800gts (320MB) on a 550W and this is with 3 harddrives (160gb, 320gb, 500gb) and an overclocked GPU and CPU). You can probably even run a 8800ultra on a 600W. If you run two video cards, you only need a 750W. I'm not sure for 3 or 4 video cards, but I doubt anyone reading this would buy one, or need to read this guide. You must buy a name brand power supply (Antec, Corsair, PC Power & Cooling, Silverstone, Thermaltake, I'm probably forgetting one or two). A bad power supply might advertise at 600W, but only be able to put out 400W. A power supply from a non-well known company might also crap out and take your whole computer with it. Also dealing with power supplies, is amperage. You must make sure that if you get a powerful video card, your power supply can provide enough amperage to that video card. Also have to check compatibility of cables.
You also need to mention memory types more as there is DDR3. Also need to mention memory speeds, as most computers run ddr2-533. Newer ones at ddr2-667, unless the memory multipliers are changed. You should also mention cooling, "major ass cooling system" doesn't tell us anything. Stock AMD and Intel coolers will suffice provided you don't overclock. The better the processor you get, the better the cooler they give you. If you processor does die due to lack of cooling, assuming it is properly used, your warranty will cover it (unless it is past warranty). You also shouldn't disable page filing unless you have 2GB+ for XP. If you read any known computer forum, 2GB is what is recommended. For Vista, I've never really heard of anyone disabling page filing with less than 8GB (which I have). I highly doubt that your computer boots in 8 seconds as most computer takes 8 seconds to fully load bios and POST from the moment the power button is pushed, unless of course your have a ram or solid state disk. Most XP boots are considered great between 25-30 seconds.
Thx for the info my vista was kinda sucky now its good and faster
 kkm557 said: "Since you have yet to take out the computer building part, I will point out lots of things wrong with it. First and for most, you forgot to mention compatibility, you forgot EPS12 power supplies (which are becoming the predominant power supply model). You have the wattages all wrong and you are stressing power supplies the right way. You won't need more than a 650W power supply if you are running a single video card (I have an 8800gts (320MB) on a 550W and this is with 3 harddrives (160gb, 320gb, 500gb) and an overclocked GPU and CPU). You can probably even run a 8800ultra on a 600W. If you run two video cards, you only need a 750W. I'm not sure for 3 or 4 video cards, but I doubt anyone reading this would buy one, or need to read this guide. You must buy a name brand power supply (Antec, Corsair, PC Power & Cooling, Silverstone, Thermaltake, I'm probably forgetting one or two). A bad power supply might advertise at 600W, but only be able to put out 400W. A power supply from a non-well known company might also crap out and take your whole computer with it. Also dealing with power supplies, is amperage. You must make sure that if you get a powerful video card, your power supply can provide enough amperage to that video card. Also have to check compatibility of cables. You also need to mention memory types more as there is DDR3. Also need to mention memory speeds, as most computers run ddr2-533. Newer ones at ddr2-667, unless the memory multipliers are changed. You should also mention cooling, "major ass cooling system" doesn't tell us anything. Stock AMD and Intel coolers will suffice provided you don't overclock. The better the processor you get, the better the cooler they give you. If you processor does die due to lack of cooling, assuming it is properly used, your warranty will cover it (unless it is past warranty). You also shouldn't disable page filing unless you have 2GB+ for XP. If you read any known computer forum, 2GB is what is recommended. For Vista, I've never really heard of anyone disabling page filing with less than 8GB (which I have). I highly doubt that your computer boots in 8 seconds as most computer takes 8 seconds to fully load bios and POST from the moment the power button is pushed, unless of course your have a ram or solid state disk. Most XP boots are considered great between 25-30 seconds." uh i didnt do the test darklord did
Also, readyboost is a lost more touchy that you make it out to be. Your flash drive must have a random access time of 1ms and certain read/write times that most drives that have the required random access time will also have. Readyboost's increase to performance is nominal at 2GB and isn't worth the money. It's most significant at 512MB and 1GB.
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