Airtel Pocket TV: Airtel's New Android App For Watching TV On The Go Discussion in 'Gadgets | Software

<div class="titleBar" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;zoom:1;color:rgb(20,20,20);font-family:'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:16px;background-color:rgb(252,252,255)"><h1 style="margin:0px;padding:0px;font-size:18pt;font-weight:normal;overflow:hidden;zoom:1"> <span style="font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:10pt;line-height:1.5">Airtel Digital TV has launched its latest mobile application called “Airtel Pocket TV” for its digital TV subscribers which allows users to watch their favorite programs or channels while on the move. The company assures to provide more than 150 live TV channels and more than 10,000 hours of video contents and can watch past episodes on 13 channels on anytime TV.</span></h1> </div><ul class="messageList messageArticle" id="messageArticle" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;color:rgb(20,20,20);font-family:'Trebuchet MS',Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:16px;background-color:rgb(252,252,255)"> <li id="post-311476" class="message " style="margin:0px;padding:10px 0px 20px;list-style:none;border-top-width:2px;border-top-style:solid;border-top-color:rgb(200,200,200);zoom:1"><div class="messageInfo primaryContent" style="margin:0px;padding:0px 10px;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:none;border-bottom-color:black;zoom:1"> <div class="messageContent" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;min-height:0px;overflow:hidden"><blockquote class="messageText ugc baseHtml" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;line-height:1.5"> <br>Currently, the Airtel Digital TV application is released only for the Android users using version 2.1 and above and is expected to come for iOS users very soon. It is available for free download on Google Play Store and is mentioned to be compatible on devices with Android 2.2 and above versions. Before this application, DishTV and TataSky have released similar apps for their consumers.<br> <br><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px;text-align:center"><img alt="Airtel." class="bbCodeImage LbImage" src="http://data.crazyengineers.com/attachments/airtel-jpg.10155/" style="border-width: 0px; max-width: 100%;" title="Click this image to show the full-size version."></div> <br>Airtel Pocket TV for Android can support all operator networks. It has a unique feature of adaptive streaming which allows automatic adjusts of the streaming bit-rate according to bandwidth on users device. Along with this, it allows users to select channels conveniently with Genre based UI. Users can also type the channel which they are looking for and can also set it as their favorite channel for easy access in future. Users get the list of program guide one week in advance and also have a facility to check the top viewed and top rated contents on the home screen so that they can set an alarm to view your favorite show or movie.<br> <br>Once you install the application in your Android device, you need to activate it by sending an SMS - 'ADD TV' to 54325 and get your number registered. To use this application you need to pay Rs. 60 per month which is an introductory price.</blockquote> </div></div></li></ul>

Airtel Pocket TV: Airtel's New Android App For Watching TV On The Go Discussion in 'Gadgets | Software

Airtel Digital TV has launched its latest mobile application called “Airtel Pocket TV” for its digital TV subscribers which allows users t...

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Intel to Pack Big Data Into Smaller Cables

<h1 class="title" style="font-family:georgia,times,verdana;font-size:18pt;margin:10px 0px 5px"><img align="left" alt="Intel to Pack Big Data Into Smaller Cables" class="story-image" height="150" src="http://www.technewsworld.com/images/rw126067/high-speed-cables.jpg" style="margin-right: 10px; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px;" width="200"></h1> <span style="color:rgb(85,85,85);font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;line-height:18px;font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica">It may never be possible to fully satiate humanity's growing hunger for data, but Intel and partners will soon make it possible to serve up a lot more -- faster and more environmentally friendly, too. Intel and US Conec are hosting a forum for companies interested in adopting MXC cable technology at the Optical Fiber Conference in San Francisco this week.</span><div class="story-intro-stop" style="clear:both;font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica;font-size:13px"> </div><p style="font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica;clear:left;padding:5px;border-top-style:solid;border-top-width:1px;border-top-color:rgb(203,203,203);border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-color:rgb(203,203,203)"> <span style="font-size:13px;line-height:1.5em">Intel is set to speed up data transmission by providing MXC cables for use in data centers and with supercomputers. The company plans to start selling the high-speed cables later this year.</span><br> </p><div id="story-body" style="height:3118px;margin-top:10px;line-height:1.5em;font-size:13px;font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica"><p>The cables are take advantage of <a href="http://www.technewsworld.com/story/70504.html" style="color:rgb(21,66,150)" target="_blank">silicon photonics technology</a>, which uses light to move large volumes of data at high speeds through thin optical fibers.</p> <p>The MXC cables require less power than copper cables to send electrical signals due at higher speeds. They are lower-costs and more energy-efficient, according to Intel.</p><p></p><div class="story-thumbnail" style="margin:10px auto;font-weight:bold;float:none;line-height:12px;width:350px"> <img alt="Mario Paniccia" border="0" height="490" src="http://www.technewsworld.com/article_images/2014/80118_350x490.jpg" style="margin: 2px;" width="350"><div style="clear:both;line-height:1.2em;color:rgb(85,85,85);font-size:12px"> Mario Paniccia with a 1.6Tbps MXC cable (green) next to a 128Gbps PCI Express copper cable. Paniccia is an Intel Fellow and general manager of the Silicon Photonics Operations Organization.</div></div><p></p><p>Silicon photonics can enable a variety of different approaches to data center designs, the company said, including rack-scale architectures.</p> <p></p><h2 class="subhead" style="font-size:10pt;margin:17px 0px">Hopes of Standardizing</h2><p>Intel worked with Corning to develop an optical connector and the fiber technology required for the cables. The companies are looking into ways to standardize MXC across the industry.</p> <p>The cables can transmit light over a distance of up to 300 meters at 25 Gbps, three times longer than many current technologies. The fibers have a tenth of the bend radius of traditional fibers, allowing the cables to navigate the sharp bends often seen in and around server racks. Corning will also make the ClearCurve LX Multimode Fiber available to other manufacturers.</p> <p>The MXC cable packs in up to 64 fibers. That means the cables can transmit up to 1.6 terabits of data per second. At that speed, one would be able to download a two-hour high-definition movie with a 4 GB file size in 2 seconds.</p> <p>With 2.5 quintillion bytes of data created every day, we need higher bandwidth in modern data centers, Intel suggested.</p><p>"There are obvious technological advantages for MXC focusing on the transmission of vaster volumes of data at far greater speeds," Charles King, principal at <a class="story-keyword-offsite" href="http://www.pund-it.com/" style="color:rgb(21,66,150)">Pund-IT</a>, told TechNewsWorld.</p> <p>"Both points resonate in a world that's becoming increasingly Big Data-happy in the sense of creating, storing and using ever-larger volumes of information. In fact, the evolving Internet of Things is likely to expand information growth exponentially, adding to the value of MXC," he observed.</p> <h2 class="subhead" style="font-size:10pt;margin:17px 0px">Other Advances Needed</h2><p>"That said, there are some potential disadvantages, too," King noted.</p><p>"For example, processing, reading and writing that data is likely to require additional advances in server, storage and networking technologies -- that's one reason the technology is initially aimed at supercomputers and high-end data center applications. Some might also note that utilizing MXC will likely require purchasing new systems capable of supporting advanced data throughput," he explained.</p> <p>"The advantage is that these cables pass through substantially more data than older fiberoptic cables with the same number of fibers," Rob Enderle, principal at the <a class="story-keyword-offsite" href="http://www.enderlegroup.com/" style="color:rgb(21,66,150)">Enderle Group</a>, told TechNewsWorld.</p> <p>"This means they can use the same conduits, as they won't be any larger, while pushing far more data. Basically this lowers the facility cost for doing a major data upgrade," he pointed out.</p><p>"From what I understand, this is a multivendor effort to develop higher-performance optical cabling," Jim McGregor, principal at <a class="story-keyword-offsite" href="http://www.tiriasresearch.com/" style="color:rgb(21,66,150)">Tirias Research</a>, told TechNewsWorld. "For Intel, it means more efficient cables for the silicon photonics efforts that the company has developed. As long as the industry identifies and adopts this as a standard, there is no downside. You get smaller cables with higher performance."</p> <p>The MXC connector uses lensed connectors to transmit light rather than physical contact with the end faces that one might see in more typical connectors. This means that the immunity to dust is increased tenfold and helps avoid the largest single cause of cable failures in data centers, according to Intel.</p> <p>Intel has spent more than a decade working on the project to ensure its viability, and Intel Labs is now pushing MXC beyond the research and development stages.</p><h2 class="subhead" style="font-size:10pt;margin:17px 0px"> Fiber Conference</h2><p>Along with Corning, Intel has partnered with US Conec (which is making parts for the connector to sell to cable companies), Molex and TE Connectivity. Intel and US Conec are hosting a forum for companies interested in adopting the technology at the Optical Fiber Conference in San Francisco this week.</p> <p>Microsoft is among the companies evaluating the cables, while Intel is collaborating with Facebook on a new rack-scale server architecture that uses silicon photonics technology.</p><p>"This kind of a performance jump in an area that is currently constrained will have a massive positive impact on computing performance," Enderle said. "Particularly as we move to higher bandwidth videos (Ultra HD) and intelligent systems, this will reduce -- if not eliminate -- one of the biggest problems the industry faces: constrained networks." Future of Silicon Photonics As for the future of silicon photonics, MXC is "a major shot in the arm," said Pund-IT's King. "Any time vendors with the heft of Intel and Microsoft join in on an endeavor, you realize that the wind is now behind you."</p> <p>Meanwhile, MXC cables are being developed primarily for data centers, though King expects "to see forms of MXC developed for everyday business and consumer use" over time.</p></div>

Intel to Pack Big Data Into Smaller Cables

It may never be possible to fully satiate humanity's growing hunger for data, but Intel and partners will soon make it possible to ser...

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Online games boost players' social lives: Study

<img alt="Online games boost players' social lives: Study" border="0" src="http://www.ianslive.in/upload/2014/March/28/online-game20140328161412_l.jpg" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; border-width: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 5px; width: 301.15625px;" title="Online games boost players' social lives: Study" width="428"><br> <div style="color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Arial,Verdana,sans-serif;font-size:12px;float:left"><div class="landingstory" id="print" style="width:301.15625px;height:auto;float:left;padding:0px;margin:0px 10px 0px 0px;border-right-style:none"> <p style="color:rgb(33,33,33);margin:10px 0px;padding:0px 0px 0px 5px;text-align:justify;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;line-height:18px">Countering recent reports that online gaming is disturbing people's social behaviour, a new research claims that online gaming is augmenting, not limiting, the social lives of players.</p> <p style="color:rgb(33,33,33);margin:10px 0px;padding:0px 0px 0px 5px;text-align:justify;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;line-height:18px"></p><p style="color:rgb(33,33,33);margin:10px 0px;padding:0px 0px 0px 5px;text-align:justify;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;line-height:18px"> </p><p class="rtejustify" style="color:rgb(33,33,33);margin:10px 0px;padding:0px 0px 0px 5px;text-align:justify;font-family:Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;line-height:18px">"Gamers are not the anti-social basement-dwellers we see in pop culture stereotypes. They are highly social people," said Nick Taylor, an assistant professor of communication at North Carolina State University.<br> This would not be a surprise to the gaming community, but it is worth telling everyone else. Loners are the outliers in gaming, not the norm, he added.<br>Researchers travelled to more than 20 public gaming events in Canada and Britain, from 2,500-player events held in convention centres to 20-player events held in bars.<br> They observed the behaviour of thousands of players and had 378 players take an in-depth survey.<br>The idea was to track the online and offline behaviour of gamers, focusing on how they communicated with each other.<br>They found that gaming was only one aspect of social behaviour at the gaming events.<br> "We found that gamers were often exhibiting many social behaviours at once: watching games, talking, drinking and chatting online. Gaming did not eliminate social interaction, it supplemented it," Taylor said.<br> This was true regardless of which games players were playing and whether a player's behaviour in the online game was altruistic.<br>For example, a player could be utterly ruthless in the game and still socialise normally offline.<br> The researchers also found that gamers did not distinguish between the time they spent playing games and the time they spent watching other people play games.<br>The paper titled Public Displays of Play: Studying Online Games in Physical Settings was published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication.</p> </div></div>

Online games boost players' social lives: Study

Countering recent reports that online gaming is disturbing people's social behaviour, a new research claims that online gaming is au...

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New Linux Office Suite Too Soft to Be King

<h1 class="title" style="font-family:georgia,times,verdana;font-size:18pt;margin:10px 0px 5px"><img align="left" alt="New Linux Office Suite Too Soft to Be King" class="story-image" height="150" src="http://www.technewsworld.com/images/rw575343/linux-office-suite.jpg" style="margin-right: 10px; font-family: verdana, arial, helvetica; font-size: 13px;" width="150"></h1> <span style="color:rgb(85,85,85);font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;line-height:18px;font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica">An awesome feature in Kingsoft Writer is how you can change paragraph formatting on the fly. Writer has a persistent floating button next to each paragraph in the left margin. Click this button to auto-select the whole paragraph. Then drag the handles of the borders that surround the paragraph to change the length and height of the block of text. This works much like resizing a photo or text box.</span><p class="story-summary" style="font-weight:bold;font-size:14px;line-height:18px;color:rgb(85,85,85);font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica"> <span style="font-size:13px;line-height:1.5em">The</span><span style="font-size:13px;line-height:1.5em"> </span><a href="http://wps-community.org/download.html" style="font-size:13px;line-height:1.5em;color:rgb(21,66,150)" target="_blank">Kingsoft Office Suite</a><span style="font-size:13px;line-height:1.5em"> </span><span style="font-size:13px;line-height:1.5em">holds the promise of bringing a near perfect clone of Microsoft Office to Linux desktop users. However, Kingsoft's developers still have some work to do on the Linux Alpha release to make it a beta deal.</span></p> <div id="story-body" style="height:4060px;margin-top:10px;line-height:1.5em;font-size:13px;font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica"><p><img border="0" height="24" src="http://www.technewsworld.com/images/article_images/linux3stars_580x24.jpg" width="580"></p> <p></p><div class="story-thumbnail" style="margin:10px auto;font-weight:bold;float:none;line-height:12px;width:500px"><a class="lightview cboxElement" href="http://www.technewsworld.com/article_images/2014/80209_990x557.jpg" style="color:rgb(21,66,150)" title=""><img alt="Kingsoft Office" src="http://www.technewsworld.com/article_images/2014/80209_500x281-small.jpg" style="margin: 2px; cursor: url(http://www.technewsworld.com/shared/zoomin.cur), default;"></a><div style="clear:both;line-height:1.2em;color:rgb(85,85,85);text-align:center"> All three Kingsoft Office modules have the same opening tab<br>that links to the developer's home page. (click to enlarge)</div></div><p></p><p>Other than <a class="story-keyword-offsite" href="http://www.openoffice.org/" style="color:rgb(21,66,150)">OpenOffice</a> and <a class="story-keyword-offsite" href="http://www.libreoffice.org/" style="color:rgb(21,66,150)">LibreOffice</a>, the Linux platform lacks any full-featured office suite. Both of these open source office suites have more in common with each other than truly distinguishing features. Both flip-flop in performance, depending on which Microsoft skill they attempt to emulate. Their user interface is strictly classic old school.</p> <p>AbiWord, part of the GNOME Office Suite, is a less functional word processor. Gnumeric is a less capable spreadsheet app in GNOME office. This suite has no slide deck application.</p><p>Perhaps the real competition for Kingsoft will be how it compares to the <a class="story-keyword-offsite" href="http://www.kde.org/" style="color:rgb(21,66,150)">KDE</a> Office counterparts. That is actually a double test when you consider the KOffice Suite and its forked cousin, Caligra. Both of these office suites have spreadsheet and slide deck apps, as well as other tools that are not part of the Kingsoft Office Suite.</p> <p>Kingsoft is close to its beta release. The Alpha 12 Patch 3 version released Dec. 4, 2013, is viable enough for me to complete real work with few problems.</p><p></p><h2 class="subhead" style="font-size:10pt;margin:17px 0px"> Sordid Software</h2><p>Kingsoft is not yet well known as a Linux application. It is more established with versions for the Windows, Mac and Android platforms.</p><p>The office suite is developed by the Beijing Kingsoft Software Co. and released under Open Source and Free Type licenses. The company's products, depending on platform, are titled "WP3" and "WPS."</p> <p>I initially learned about Kingsoft Writer about six months ago as an app download called "WPS" on my Android tablet. More recently, I found the Kingsoft Office Suite as the default offering in MakuluLinux 5.</p> <p>WPS Writer performed well in a tablet setting. The Kingsoft Office Suite was more impressive on the Linux desktop.</p><h2 class="subhead" style="font-size:10pt;margin:17px 0px">Package Deal</h2><p>Kingsoft (or WPS) Office For Linux is a threesome. It comes with Writer, Presentation and Spreadsheet. This dynamic package does a fairly satisfying job of imitating Word, Powerpoint and Excel from Microsoft.</p> <p>WPS has no equivalent database component, but in compairng the features stockpiled in the Kingsoft bundle, less does not suggest anything close to a tie in performance. The Kingsoft Office Suite has several features and user interface tweaks that go wanting in all of the other products.</p> <p>The WP3 -- yet another of its names -- software set has an impressive list of features. In fact, its <a class="story-keyword-offsite" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUI" style="color:rgb(21,66,150)">GUI</a>sports a ribbon-like interface that resembles the one used in Microsoft Word. None of the other Linux office suites has a ribbon-style interface.</p> <p>The cloning is authentic, even down the Microsoft blue skin, although that is not a default setting. A built-in skin manager loads the default choice of Ongmani, but it's easy to change the skin to a Classic or 201 Blue skin.</p> <h2 class="subhead" style="font-size:10pt;margin:17px 0px">GUI Gorgeous</h2><p>The ribbon is a key part of the look and feel of Kingsoft's suite of office apps. I left Microsoft Word behind when I migrated to Linux before the ribbon's 2007 debut, but working with it in this Linux configuration, I have to agree that it gives new meaning to "ease-of-use."</p> <p>Users are not tied to the ribbon feature. The other option is Classic. It closely resembles the dropdown menu designs and tool bar rows of Office XP or Office 2003.</p><p>Tabs do for this office suite what they do for Web browsers. The tab concept lets you open new documents and access them by clicking a labeled tab situated between the ribbon rows and the writing window.</p> <p>This is a similar approach used by high-end text editors. It is very effective compared to moving to a writing window on another screen, as most other word processors do. It works as well in the spreadsheet. However, the tab interface is akin to the use of sheets in spreadsheets. The Presentation app uses the tab feature as well, with the same ease of navigation.</p> <h2 class="subhead" style="font-size:10pt;margin:17px 0px">Feature Fest</h2><p>An awesome feature in Kingsoft Writer is how you can change paragraph formatting on the fly. Writer has a persistent floating button next to each paragraph in the left margin. Click this button to auto-select the whole paragraph. Then drag the handles of the borders that now surround the paragraph to change the length and height of the block of text.</p> <p>This works much like resizing a photo or text box in other editing tools. Two other formatting shortcuts are selecting multiple paragraphs with Ctrl+Left Mouse Button and the whole document with Ctrl+A.</p><p>Backup Management is a better AutoSave that works in all three office modules. This feature creates periodic backups of your work in a separate folder, regardless of when you last saved them. You can open the backup document at will. this is a virtual safety net to prevent data loss, should the application crash or the hardware be hit by some other malfunction.</p> <p>A cool feature in Kingsoft Spreadsheet is Text to Columns. This lets you easily modify the way data is displayed in specified cells.</p><p>For example, you can split customer lists into First Name and Last Name. You can separate each part of the list with a space, any character or line, to easily sort a list into two columns.</p> <h2 class="subhead" style="font-size:10pt;margin:17px 0px">Format Fury</h2><p>File compatibility might be a major stumbling block with Kingsoft. The developer has done a good job of reading and writing Microsoft Office file formats, but open source formats are largely ignored.</p> <p>Kingsoft needs more formats in the Save As category to make file types more convertible. It is limited to its own format and Microsoft file types for all three modules. It only offers additional choices of JPEG/PNG/TIFF for slide decks. In Writer, only RTF, HTML and TXT formats are available. For Spreadsheets, XML, Web Page and Text are the only other choices.</p> <p>Kingsoft does a good job of not messing up the on-screen rendering of original documents created in other programs, but it fails when handling common open source file types.</p><p>Kingsoft Office does not support OpenOffice or LibreOffice formats such as ODT, ODP and ODG. Instead, it has its own native file formats with the extensions WPS for Writer, DPS for Presentation and ET for Spreadsheets.</p> <h2 class="subhead" style="font-size:10pt;margin:17px 0px">Bottom Line</h2><p>Kingsoft is too young a project to be available in Linux distro repositories. The only distro distributing it so far seems to be MakuluLinux.</p> <p>You can get it from the developer's website in RPM format for Fedora, CentOS and OpenSuse. It is also available in DEB format for Debian distros such as Ubuntu, Mint and Knoppix. Tarball packages are an option.</p> <p>If you need a well-functioning alternative to other Linux office suites, Kingsoft Office could be a good choice. The Alpha 12 release is stable and works well. It is a reliable clone of Microsoft Office. It should serve you well if you do not need compatibility with open source file formats.</p> <h2 class="subhead" style="font-size:10pt;margin:17px 0px">Want to Suggest a Linux Application for Review?</h2><p>Is there a Linux software application you'd like to suggest for review? Something you love or would like to get to know?</p> </div>

New Linux Office Suite Too Soft to Be King

An awesome feature in Kingsoft Writer is how you can change paragraph formatting on the fly. Writer has a persistent floating button next ...

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How to Move the My Documents Folder

<h1 class="title" style="margin:0px 0px 12px;padding:0px 42px 0px 0px;font-size:1.833em;line-height:1.2727em;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(177,194,211);clear:left;font-family:'Myriad Pro','Myriad Web Pro Regular','Lucida Grande',Geneva,'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:rgb(253,253,253)"> <br></h1><div id="content-content" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;width:537.59375px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:20.799999237060547px;background-color:rgb(253,253,253)"> <div id="node-69" class="node odd full-node node-type-article" style="margin:0px 0px 30px;padding:0px"><div class="content" style="margin:0px;padding:20px 0px;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(177,194,211)"> <div class="g-plusone-wrapper" style="padding:0px;float:right"><div id="___plusone_0" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;background-color:transparent;border-style:none;float:none;line-height:normal;font-size:1px;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline-block;width:38px;height:24px"> </div></div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><b></b><i>Moving the "My Documents" folder to another drive or partition in Windows XP is easier than you think (Not applicable to Vista)</i><b><i><br></i> </b></div> <a href="http://c3553qul01q41-int2osk58uax.hop.clickbank.net/" target="_top">Click Here!</a> <hr style="height:1px;border-style:solid;border-color:rgb(177,194,211)"><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">Most folks use the My Documents folder to keep all their personal data. Unfortunately, this folder is by default located on the C: drive, the same drive that contains the Windows operating system.</p> <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px">Storing these two things together on the same drive is not a great idea for several reasons. Here are just two:</div><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> First, your personal data is very likely to be growing in size while Windows is not. In this era of multi megapixel digital photos you are in real danger of filling up your C: drive. This progessively degrades Windows performance. Sooner or later you'll fill up the disk and have to make more space by deleting some of your personal files or get into the complex and problem- fraught exercise of increasing the size of your primary disk partition.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">Second, it complicates backup. Your personal data is changing all the time while the Windows operating system changes much less frequently. That means your personal data needs to be backed up more frequently than Windows. With both on the same drive you'll end up making very large drive images and having to create them more frequently as well. Similar comments apply to disk defragmentation. Mixing your personal data with Windows increases the need for defragging and results in a slower defrag.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">Nope, leaving your My Documents folder on the C: drive is like storing your washing powder with your vegetables. Quite possible, but not a great idea.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">Now, many folks have only a single partition of their hard drive; that is, their only hard drive is their C: drive. These folks can't move their My Documents folder. They could of course re-partition their drive but that's a complex issue I'm not going to address here.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">If you do have two or more partitions on your hard drive, or if you have more than one hard drive, it's quite easy to move your My Documents folder to another drive or partition.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">You will, however, need enough free space on the second drive/partition to accommodate all your documents. To find out, go to My Computer and click on View/Details and make a note of the free space available on each partition or drive. Make sure you don't get confused by your CD drive. You can't move your My Documents folder there!</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">While still in My Computer, right-click on My Documents and select Properties. After a few seconds you should see the folder size shown. If two figures are shown with one in brackets, note the larger figure. That's the amount of disk space you will need.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">Now make a decision which drive you'd like to move the My Documents folder to. Make sure there is enough disk space. Let's say you selected the D: drive.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">Click on the Start button and then right-click on My Documents and select Properties. If there's no My Documents in your start menu then right click on the My Documents icon on your desktop instead.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">When you've clicked on properties, select "Move" and then navigate to your D: drive. Select the drive letter and then click "Make New Folder." Enter "My Documents" as the folder name and hit Enter and then OK. Windows will then ask you whether you want to move your documents; click Yes.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">Moving your documents make take some time. Once moved, though, you can access them normally from the "My Documents" icon on the desktop or elsewhere.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">In the process you'll free up a lot of room on your C: drive. Defrag the drive so it can be utilized by Windows in the most effective manner.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">For more information you can consult this Microsoft document: <a href="http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310147" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank">http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310147</a></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">The ideal time to relocate the My Document folder and other system folders is when you have just bought a new PC and have yet to load your data or applications. It's something to bear in mind when you get your next PC.</p> </div></div></div>

How to Move the My Documents Folder

Moving the "My Documents" folder to another drive or partition in Windows XP is easier than you think (Not applicable to V...

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How to Find Out Which Windows Process is Using a File

<h1 class="title" style="margin:0px 0px 12px;padding:0px 42px 0px 0px;font-size:1.833em;line-height:1.2727em;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(177,194,211);clear:left;font-family:'Myriad Pro','Myriad Web Pro Regular','Lucida Grande',Geneva,'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:rgb(253,253,253)"> <span style="font-size:1em;line-height:1.5;font-family:Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Ever try to delete, move, or rename a file only to get a Windows system warning with something like one of these messages?</span><br> </h1><div id="content-content" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;width:537.59375px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:20.799999237060547px;background-color:rgb(253,253,253)"> <div id="node-416" class="node odd full-node node-type-article" style="margin:0px 0px 30px;padding:0px"><div class="content" style="margin:0px;padding:20px 0px;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(177,194,211)"> <ul style="margin:6px 0px 12px;padding:0px"><li style="margin:2px 0px 2px 8px;padding:2px 0px 0px 20px;background-image:url(http://www.techsupportalert.com/themes/acquia_marina/images/sprite.png);list-style-type:none;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat"> "Cannot delete file: Access is denied"</li><li style="margin:2px 0px 2px 8px;padding:2px 0px 0px 20px;background-image:url(http://www.techsupportalert.com/themes/acquia_marina/images/sprite.png);list-style-type:none;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat"> "There has been a sharing violation"</li><li style="margin:2px 0px 2px 8px;padding:2px 0px 0px 20px;background-image:url(http://www.techsupportalert.com/themes/acquia_marina/images/sprite.png);list-style-type:none;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat"> "The source or destination file may be in use"</li><li style="margin:2px 0px 2px 8px;padding:2px 0px 0px 20px;background-image:url(http://www.techsupportalert.com/themes/acquia_marina/images/sprite.png);list-style-type:none;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat"> "The file is in use by another program or user".</li><li style="margin:2px 0px 2px 8px;padding:2px 0px 0px 20px;background-image:url(http://www.techsupportalert.com/themes/acquia_marina/images/sprite.png);list-style-type:none;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat"> "Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use"</li></ul><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">One of the best ways to handle locked files or folders is to use the free Microsoft program <em>Process Explorer</em>. The program has been described <a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/powerful-free-windows-system-tool-you-ought-have.htm" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px">in another article</a> and here is how to use it to find out what program, DLL, or handle is using a file or folder. You will need to run as administrator.</p> <h3 style="margin:0px 0px 14px;padding:0px;font-size:1.2em;line-height:1">How to find out what program is using a file</h3><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">In Windows 7 or 8, the system message may tell you what program is using the file. If it doesn’t or if you are using Windows XP, there is a simple way to find the program:</p> <ol style="margin:6px 0px 12px 10px;padding:0px"><li style="margin:0px 0px 0px 24px;padding:2px 0px">Open Process Explorer, running as administrator.</li><li style="margin:0px 0px 0px 24px;padding:2px 0px">On the toolbar, find the gunsight icon on the right (shown highlighted in the figure shown below).</li> <li style="margin:0px 0px 0px 24px;padding:2px 0px">Drag the icon and drop it on the open file or folder that is locked.</li><li style="margin:0px 0px 0px 24px;padding:2px 0px">The executable that is using the file will be highlighted in the Process Explorer main display list.</li> </ol><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"><img alt="" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/pc_freeware/techtips/process-explorer-toolbar.png" style="border-width: 0px; width: 400px; height: 111px; margin-left: 36px; margin-right: 36px;"></p> <h3 style="margin:0px 0px 14px;padding:0px;font-size:1.2em;line-height:1">How to find out which <a href="http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/F/file_handle.html" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px">handle</a> or DLL is using a file</h3> <ol style="margin:6px 0px 12px 10px;padding:0px"><li style="margin:0px 0px 0px 24px;padding:2px 0px">Open Process Explorer, running as administrator.</li><li style="margin:0px 0px 0px 24px;padding:2px 0px">Enter the keyboard shortcut <strong>Ctrl+F</strong>. Altenatively, click the “Find” menu and select “Find a Handle or DLL”.</li> <li style="margin:0px 0px 0px 24px;padding:2px 0px">A search dialog box will open.</li><li style="margin:0px 0px 0px 24px;padding:2px 0px">Type in the name of the locked file or other file of interest. Partial names are usually sufficient.</li> <li style="margin:0px 0px 0px 24px;padding:2px 0px">Click the button “Search”,</li><li style="margin:0px 0px 0px 24px;padding:2px 0px">A list will be generated. There may be a number of entries.</li><li style="margin:0px 0px 0px 24px;padding:2px 0px"> An individual handle in the list can be killed by selecting it and pressing the delete key. However, care is necessary when deleting handles, as instabilities may occur. Often, just rebooting will free a locked file.</li> </ol></div></div></div>

How to Find Out Which Windows Process is Using a File

Ever try to delete, move, or rename a file only to get a Windows system warning with something like one of these messages? "C...

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How to Know If Your Computer Is Infected

<h1 class="title" style="margin:0px 0px 12px;padding:0px 42px 0px 0px;font-size:1.833em;line-height:1.2727em;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(177,194,211);clear:left;font-family:'Myriad Pro','Myriad Web Pro Regular','Lucida Grande',Geneva,'Trebuchet MS',sans-serif;color:rgb(51,51,51);background-color:rgb(253,253,253)"> <span style="font-size:1em;line-height:1.5;font-family:Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">These days malicious software is becoming an epidemic. It seems like it’s everywhere. Also, sadly, there's been a change in the way malware acts. It used to be that it would slow down your computer, or display annoying popups, but now malware is becoming increasingly discreet. You could be infected right now and not even know it. Also, sadly, it often seems as if the only way to make sure you’re not infected is to scan your computer with numerous anti-malware programs. Doing this can be time consuming and, while scanning, may even slow your computer to a crawl. Even after that you still can’t be sure you're clean. This is because scanners cannot recognize all new malware.</span><br> </h1><div id="content-content" style="margin:0px;padding:0px;width:537.59375px;color:rgb(51,51,51);font-family:Verdana,Tahoma,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;font-size:13px;line-height:20.799999237060547px;background-color:rgb(253,253,253)"> <div id="node-4649" class="node odd full-node node-type-article" style="margin:0px 0px 30px;padding:0px"><div class="content" style="margin:0px;padding:20px 0px;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:solid;border-bottom-color:rgb(177,194,211)"> <p class="rteleft" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p class="rteleft" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">Because of these difficulties I have come up with a better method. This uses multiple programs, not to remove files, but just to analyze the computer. Each of these programs is very effective and easy to use. They are all portable applications and will not cause any conflicts on your computer because they are only running when you're using them. However, they do require an active internet connection to function properly. Don't worry, this guide will also help you to fix your internet connection in the event that it is not working. After you have already gone through the below process once, and had all files whitelisted, this approach is much faster, much more certain, and much easier than any other approach I've seen. No active malware can escape this process. However, inactive pieces of malware may not be flagged by this approach but may be found by other scanners. Rest assured that these are not direct threats to the safety of your computer and thus do not constitute a failure of this article.</p> <p class="rteleft" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p class="rteleft" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">This article is meant for those who believe it's possible, but are not sure, that malware is running on their computer. If you strongly believe that malware is running on your computer I would advise that you immediately reboot the computer into Safe Mode and follow the advice in <strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-clean-infected-computer.htm#How_To_Clean_Your_Computer_And_Make_Sure_Its_Actually_Clean" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank">this section</a></strong>of my article about How to Clean An Infected Computer. The reason I say that is that some malware will immediately start doing things such as encrypting files. Thus, the longer your computer is running in normal mode the greater the damage will be. However, if you only have fleeting suspicious that something may be amiss on your computer I recommend that you follow the below advice to find out for sure.</p> <p class="rteleft" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p class="rteleft" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">I also want to stress that in order to make sure that your computer is not infected you must follow each step. None is meant to be used independently. Each depends on the others to account for different infection scenarios. Also, if any step shows definite evidence of an infection you should move directly to the section which explains<strong> <a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#How_To_Clean_Infections_From_Computer" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px">How To Clean Infections From Computer</a></strong>. There is no reason to continue your investigation if your computer is already found to be infected.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><h2 class="rtecenter" style="margin:0px 0px 14px;padding:0px 0px 4px 4px;font-size:1.333em;text-align:center;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dotted;border-bottom-color:rgb(202,203,205);line-height:20.7947998046875px"> <strong>Index</strong></h2><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"><strong>1. <a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#What_To_Do_If_Computer_Is_Unbootable" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px">What To Do If Computer Is Unbootable</a></strong></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"><strong>2. </strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#Check-For-Rootkits" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px"><strong>Check for Rootkits</strong></a></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"><strong>3. </strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#Use-KillSwitch" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px"><strong>Use KillSwitch</strong></a></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"><strong>    </strong><strong>A) <a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#Use_KillSwitch_To_Investigate_Running_Processes" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px">Use KillSwitch To Investigate Running Processes</a></strong></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"><strong>    </strong><strong>B) <a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#Analyze_KillSwitch_Results" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px">Analyze KillSwitch Results</a></strong></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"><strong>    </strong><strong>C) <a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#Submit_Unknown_Files_Which_Are_Probably_Safe_To_Comodo_For_Whitelisting" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px">Submit Unknown Files Which Are Probably Safe To Comodo For Whitelisting</a></strong></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"><strong>4. </strong><strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#Use-Comodo-Autoruns" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px">Use Comodo Autoruns</a></strong></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"><strong>    </strong><strong>A) <a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#Use_Comodo_Autoruns_To_Investigate_Registry_Entries" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px">Use Comodo Autoruns To Investigate Registry Entries</a></strong></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"><strong>    </strong><strong>B) <a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#Analyze_Comodo_Autoruns_Results" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px">Analyze Comodo Autoruns Results</a></strong></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"><strong>    </strong><strong>C) <a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#Submit_Unknown_Files_Which_Are_Probably_Safe_To_Comodo_For_Whitelisting_2" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px">Submit Unknown Files Which Are Probably Safe To Comodo For Whitelisting</a></strong></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"><strong>5. </strong><b><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#How_To_Clean_Infections_From_Computer" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px">How To Clean Infections From Computer</a></b></p> <p class="rteleft" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><h2 class="rtecenter" style="margin:0px 0px 14px;padding:0px 0px 4px 4px;font-size:1.333em;text-align:center;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dotted;border-bottom-color:rgb(202,203,205);line-height:30.621070861816406px"> <a name="What_To_Do_If_Computer_Is_Unbootable" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px"></a>1. What To Do If Computer Is Unbootable</h2><p class="rteleft" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">  </p><p class="rteleft" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">Note that if your computer is able to boot into Windows you should skip directly to the <strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#Check-For-Rootkits" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px">next section</a></strong>. However, if your computer is not able to boot into Windows I would first advise that you follow the advice I give in <strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-fix-malware-infected-computer.htm#What_To_Do_If_Your_Computer_Cannot_Start" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank">this section</a></strong> of an article I wrote about How to Fix a Malware Infected Computer. It may be able to help make your computer bootable again. Then, once it's fixed, you can begin following the advice in the <strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#Check-For-Rootkits" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px">next section</a></strong> to see if your computer is infected.</p> <p class="rteleft" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p class="rteleft" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">Note that if the advice in that section of the other article is not able to fix your problems you should not follow part D in that article, but instead follow the advice given in <strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-clean-infected-computer.htm#Make-Bootable-Disk" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank">this section</a></strong> of an article I wrote about How to Clean An Infected Computer. It's possible that the reason that your computer cannot boot is because of malware. Thus cleaning it may be the only way to get the computer running again.</p> <p class="rteleft" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><h2 align="center" style="margin:0px 0px 14px;padding:0px 0px 4px 4px;font-size:1.333em;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dotted;border-bottom-color:rgb(202,203,205);line-height:20.7947998046875px"> <strong><a name="Check-For-Rootkits" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px"></a>2. Check for Rootkits</strong></h2><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> It's important to ensure that there are no active <strong><a href="http://searchmidmarketsecurity.techtarget.com/definition/rootkit" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank">rootkits</a></strong> on your computer. To do this first scan your computer with Kaspersky TDSSKiller. It can be downloaded from <strong><a href="http://support.kaspersky.com/us/viruses/utility" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank">this page</a></strong>. Note that if the executable version is not working correctly you should instead download the zip file containing the same scanner. At this same time download the zip file for Comodo Cleaning Essentials from <strong><a href="http://forums.comodo.com/news-announcements-feedback-cce/comodo-cleaning-essentials-25242177201-released-t85408.0.html;msg610135#msg610135" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank">this page</a></strong>.  Make sure to select the correct version for your operating system. If you're not sure if your computer is running a 32 or 64 bit operating system then please see <strong><a href="http://windows.microsoft.com/en-NZ/windows7/32-bit-and-64-bit-Windows-frequently-asked-questions" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank">this FAQ</a></strong>. Note that if neither will not download correctly, or your internet connection is not working, you should download them on another computer and transfer them to the infected one via a flash drive. Make sure there were no other files on the flash drive. Be careful with the flash drive as the malware may actually infect it when you plug it into the computer. Thus, don't plug it into any other computers after transferring these programs.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">Kaspersky TDSSKiller will scan your computer for some of the most common types of rootkits. I've found it to have relatively few false positives and a very high detection rate. By the way, some scanners, including Comodo Cleaning Essentials, may detect this file as a dangerous file. It is not. This is a safe download link. If it is flagged as dangerous you can safely ignore the detection. <strong>As with every program in this article, I recommend that you do not quarantine any files using this program. A false positive on the wrong file could destroy your computer, even if you’re not infected.</strong></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Kaspersky%20TDSSKiller_Large.jpg" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Kaspersky%20TDSSKiller_Small.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; float: right; width: 200px; height: 183px;"></a></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">To use this it open the file called TDSSKiller. Then select the option to “Start Scan”. This scan should take less than a minute. If it does find anything then it's likely that your computer is infected. However, if you believe the detected files are not dangerous you can investigate them to see if they are false positives. However, if it does appear that the files are dangerous I would suggest that you skip to the <strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#How_To_Clean_Infections_From_Computer" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px">last section</a></strong> of this article in order to deal with this infection. However, if it does not find any rootkit activity then you should next check your computer with Comodo Cleaning Essentials.</p> <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px"> </div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px">Unzip the folder for CCE. Then double click on the file called CCE. This will open the main program for Comodo Cleaning Essentials. If it refuses to open then hold down the shift key and, while still holding it down, double click on the file called CCE. After CCE has successfully opened you can let go of the shift key. However, do not let go of it until the program has fully loaded. If you let go of it even during the UAC popup it may not be able to forcefully open correctly. Holding down shift should allow it to open, even on heavily infected computers. It does this by killing most of the unnecessary processes that could be interfering with its launch. If it still will not launch then download and run a program called RKill. This can be downloaded from <strong><a href="http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/rkill/" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank">this page</a></strong>. This program will terminate known malicious processes. Thus, after running it CCE should be able to open fine. <strong>Do not remove or disable anything with CCE as it can be very dangerous if used improperly. We are only using its analytical abilities. Please do not use it to try and clean up any infections or you could inadvertently harm your computer.</strong></div> <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px"> </div><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">Now select the option to do a smart scan with CCE. It will immediately begin downloading the most recent virus database, which may take a long time to complete. Once it has completed downloading, the scan will begin immediately. This will scan your computer for all types of malware.  The scan should not take too long to complete. <strong>As before, I recommend that you do not quarantine any files using this program.</strong> One problem with this program is that I do find it to have a few false positives. Thus the best option, in order to be sure of the results from its scan, is to report any files detected as dangerous, which you believe may be safe, to Comodo for analysis.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">Sadly there is no easy way to navigate to the files detected by the scan. You will have to manually navigate to the path indicated in the scan results in order to get to them. Note that if you do not want to investigate them right now you can select the option to ignore each detection. Then allow finish and restart your computer. Next time you open CCE you can go to "Tools" and choose "Browse logs". The detections you chose to ignore, along with their file paths, should be stored in the most recent log. To report the detected files as false positives you should go to <a href="http://www.comodo.com/home/internet-security/submit.php" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank"><strong>this page</strong></a>. Then select false positive, upload the files in question, fill out the required information, and select submit. Comodo analysts will send you an email with the results of their analysis.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/CCE_Large_0.jpg" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/CCE_Small_0.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; float: right; width: 200px; height: 145px;"></a></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">This program also scans for system changes which may have been caused by malware. These will also be shown with the results. If you did not make these changes yourself then this could possibly be evidence that there is malware on your computer. I would recommend letting CCE fix these items, but not anything else, and continuing with the rest of the article to see if there is any more evidence of infection. I would not consider unwanted system modifications to be definitive evidence of an infection.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">After the scan is complete it will ask you to restart your computer. Allow it to restart. Do not open any unnecessary programs as this will make the next step simpler. <strong>Once again I will remind you to not quarantine any files with this program.</strong> Once it restarts it will pop up with the final results. If it did not find anything, and neither did any of the above methods, then you can continue on to the <strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#Use-KillSwitch" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px">next step</a></strong>. However, if it did find infections, and Comodo analysts also found them to be malicious, then I would advise that you skip to the <strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#How_To_Clean_Infections_From_Computer" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px">last section</a></strong> in order to clean the infections.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">Also, if your internet connection was not working please check again to see if it is now working. If not then you should go to <strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-fix-malware-infected-computer.htm#Use_Windows_Repair_Kit_To_Fix_Most_Problems" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank">this section</a></strong> of my guide about How to Fix a Malware Infected Computer and follow the advice given to fix your internet connection. A working internet connection is required for the remaining steps of this guide.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><h2 align="center" style="margin:0px 0px 14px;padding:0px 0px 4px 4px;font-size:1.333em;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dotted;border-bottom-color:rgb(202,203,205);line-height:20.7947998046875px"> <strong><a name="Use-KillSwitch" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px"></a>3. Use KillSwitch</strong></h2><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> <strong><a name="Use_KillSwitch_To_Investigate_Running_Processes" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px"></a>A) Use KillSwitch To Investigate Running Processes</strong></p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> If the above steps did not find any malware activity then you should again open Comodo Cleaning Essentials (CCE). However, this time you should go to "Tools" and select the option to "Open KillSwitch". KillSwitch which will immediately begin analyzing all of your running processes. This analysis should only take a minute or so. Without waiting for the analysis to complete you can go to “View” and select “Hide Safe Processes”. This will hide all processes that are verified to be safe by Comodo. The reason I asked you not to open any other programs in the above step is because malware will nearly always run on system startup, while many legitimate programs will not. Thus there will be fewer processes to examine.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/KillSwitch_Large.jpg" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/KillSwitch_Small.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; float: right; width: 171px; height: 200px;"></a></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">Once the analysis is complete all that are left are those programs which are either believed to be dangerous or are not in Comodo's whitelist. The latter type is denoted as FLS.Unknown. Be aware that unknown does not mean dangerous. It only means that the file has not yet been whitelisted by Comodo.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"><strong><a name="Analyze_KillSwitch_Results" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px"></a>B) Analyze KillSwitch Results</strong></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">If KillSwitch now shows that “There are no items to show”, then your computer passed this part of the tests. You can move on to <a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#Use-Comodo-Autoruns" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px"><strong>part 3</strong></a>. However, if there are files remaining in the list then you should investigate them. In order to do this you first need to navigate to the files. To do this right click on the process in question and select “Jump to Folder”. This will open up the folder where the associated file is located and select the file as well.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">For files which are flagged as dangerous or suspicious, but which you believe may actually be safe, I would recommend that you report them as a false positive on <a href="http://www.comodo.com/home/internet-security/submit.php" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank"><strong>this page</strong></a>. Just select false positive and fill out the required information. Comodo analysts will get back to you by email with the results of their analysis. In this way you can easily find out for sure if the files really are dangerous or not.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">However, for those files which you think may be dangerous, but are only flagged as FLS.Unknown, you can check them yourself by following the methods discussed in my article about <strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-tell-if-file-malicious.htm" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank">How to Tell if a File is Malicious</a></strong>. Also, if this verdict does in fact indicate that the files are likely safe, you can then submit them for addition to the Comodo Whitelist by following the advice given in <strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#Submit_Unknown_Files_Which_Are_Probably_Safe_To_Comodo_For_Whitelisting" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px">part C</a></strong>.</p> <div style="margin:0px;padding:0px"> </div><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px"><strong><a name="Submit_Unknown_Files_Which_Are_Probably_Safe_To_Comodo_For_Whitelisting" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px"></a>C) Submit Unknown Files Which Are Probably Safe To Comodo For Whitelisting</strong></div> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">For those files which are flagged as FLS.Unknown, but which you believe are probably safe, the most efficient way to analyze them is to submit them to Comodo for whitelisting. Instructions for how to submit programs, or individual files that belong to programs, can be found in <a href="http://forums.comodo.com/news-announcements-feedback-cis/submit-applications-here-to-be-whitelisted-2014-t100712.0.html" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank"><strong>this topic</strong></a> of the Comodo forum. Make sure you read through the first post entirely and follow all recommendations. This will ensure that your request is completed as quickly as possible. However, do note that in order to submit programs, or files, you do need to have an account on the Comodo forums. If you don't already have one then it's very easy to get one. There is an option to register on the top of any page on the Comodo forums. Also, if you cannot locate the folder indicated in the KillSwitch results that may be because some folders are hidden by default by Windows. To tell Windows to show you those folders please follow the advice on <strong><a href="http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=74220" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank">this page</a></strong>.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">These submissions will be analyzed by Comodo staff and, if appropriate, added to the whitelist. However, do note that it may take the analysts days, or even a few weeks, to complete their analysis. This all depends on how many submissions they are also trying to analyze. If you feel that you cannot wait for their analysis then you also have the option of analyzing them manually by following the advice I give in <strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-tell-if-file-malicious.htm" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank">How to Tell if a File is Malicious</a></strong>.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">That said, the greatest advantage to the whitelisting approach is that<span style="margin:0px;padding:0px"> you won't have to do any analysis of your own and the next time you check your computer the files will already be whitelisted and nothing will need to be done. In fact, </span>you submit all the safe programs on your computer for whitelisting then, once they're whitelisted, the next time you scan with KillSwitch there should not be any more unknown processes for you to examine. Thus, it becomes an incredibly easy task to ensure that your computer is still clean of infections. In fact, my computer always shows a completely blank screen after selecting the option to “Hide Safe Processes”. This allows me to ensure that my system has passed this test in less than one minute. Please note that depending on your computer, and your internet connection speed, this time may vary. Once you're done with this part you can close KillSwitch.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><h2 align="center" style="margin:0px 0px 14px;padding:0px 0px 4px 4px;font-size:1.333em;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dotted;border-bottom-color:rgb(202,203,205);line-height:20.7947998046875px"> <strong><a name="Use-Comodo-Autoruns" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px"></a>4. Use Comodo Autoruns</strong></h2><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> <strong><a name="Use_Comodo_Autoruns_To_Investigate_Registry_Entries" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px"></a>A) Use Comodo Autoruns To Investigate Registry Entries</strong></p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> Now, through CCE, which should still be open, again go to the "Tools" menu. This time select the option to "Open Autorun Analyzer". This program will analyze the registry and show you the files associated with each item. Almost all malware will write to the registry. Thus, by scanning for all files associated with registry entries, this program can identify malware and unknown files, even if they aren't running. It may even be useful in identifying rootkits, although that is not its primary purpose. The downside to using this program is that it will potentially give you more files to check than the above methods. However, if you really want to be sure that your computer is clean then this step is also necessary. <strong>As before, do </strong><strong>not delete/disable anything with this program as it can be very dangerous if used improperly. We are only using its analytical abilities. Please do not use it to try and clean up any infections or you could inadvertently harm your computer.</strong></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Autoruns_Large.jpg" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank"><img alt="" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Autoruns_Small.jpg" style="border-width: 0px; float: right; width: 190px; height: 200px;"></a></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">After Comodo Autoruns opens it will immediately begin compiling the list. This process could take a couple of minutes to complete. Without waiting for the list to finish being compiled you can go to “View” and select “Hide Safe Entries". Note that this option will now be pre-checked every subsequent time you run the program. Once the list is compiled Comodo Autoruns will automatically begin analyzing each entry. Wait until all entries have been analyzed. If this is the first time you have run this program, you should now close it and then open it again. I find that this often allows Comodo time to analyze some of the unknown files so that this time there will be less to check.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">If Autoruns now shows that “There are no items to show” your computer passed this part of the tests. If it also passed all of the above steps then there is definitely no active malware on your computer.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">If your computer passed all of the above steps, but you are experiencing problems with your computer, it's possible that the problem that you're experiencing is due to hardware or software issues. I would recommend that you first try searching online for symptoms similar to what your computer is suffering from to see if they match something other than malware. Also, an article I have written about <strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-fix-malware-infected-computer.htm" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank">How to Fix a Malware Infected Computer</a></strong> may be of use to you. It was written mainly to fix probelms due to malware, but the advice given should be able to fix many other types of software problems as well.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"><strong><a name="Analyze_Comodo_Autoruns_Results" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px"></a>B) Analyze Comodo Autoruns Results</strong></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">However, if there are still entries left over you should begin analyzing them. However, note that there is currently a minor bug with Comodo Autoruns. This sometimes causes the program to flag files which are actually known safe as FLS.Unknown. Thus, I would advise that if you see many files flagged as unknown, which you believe should be flagged as safe, that you close Comodo Autoruns and then open it again to see if the files are still unknown.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">Also, note that you can make sure the virus database is fully up to date by always running a Smart Scan with CCE just before checking with Comodo Autoruns. This makes this problem much more rare. However, if you have previuosly run a Smart Scan and let the computer restart, and nothing was found, you do not need to have it restart just to make sure the virus database is fully updated. Just let the scan finish, and then, instead of letting it restart the computer, first close the results window without selecting any actions. Then right click on the CCE icon in the taskbar and choose exit. This will close the process and not allow it to restart your computer. You can then safely re-open CCE and use it to open Comodo Autoruns.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">To get to the files which these entries are associated with, right click on an entry and select “Jump to Folder”. This will open up the folder where the associated file is located and select the file as well. Also, with this program you will find that often a single file has numerous entries, which means that often there’s not nearly as much analysis to be done as there would seem to be.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">Just as was done for KillSwitch, for files which are flagged as dangerous or suspicious, but which you believe may actually be safe, I would recommend that you report them as a false positive on <a href="http://www.comodo.com/home/internet-security/submit.php" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank"><strong>this page</strong></a>. Just select false positive and fill out the required information. Comodo analysts will get back to you by email with the results of their analysis. In this way you can easily find out for sure if the files really are dangerous or not. Also, if you cannot locate the folder indicated in the results that may be because some folders are hidden by default by Windows. To tell Windows to show you those folders please follow the advice on <strong><a href="http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=74220" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank">this page</a></strong>.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">However, for those files which you think may be dangerous, but are only flagged as FLS.Unknown, you can also check them yourself by following the methods discussed in my article about <strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-tell-if-file-malicious.htm" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank">How to Tell if a File is Malicious</a></strong>. Also, if this verdict does in fact indicate that the files are likely safe, you can then submit them for addition to the Comodo Whitelist by following the advice given in <strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-know-if-your-computer-infected.htm#Submit_Unknown_Files_Which_Are_Probably_Safe_To_Comodo_For_Whitelisting_2" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px">part C</a></strong>.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"><strong><a name="Submit_Unknown_Files_Which_Are_Probably_Safe_To_Comodo_For_Whitelisting_2" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px"></a>C) Submit Unknown Files Which Are Probably Safe To Comodo For Whitelisting</strong></p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">For those files which are flagged as FLS.Unknown, but which you believe are probably safe, the most efficient way to analyze them is to submit them to Comodo for whitelisting. Instructions for how to submit programs, or individual files that belong to programs, can be found in <a href="http://forums.comodo.com/news-announcements-feedback-cis/submit-applications-here-to-be-whitelisted-2014-t100712.0.html" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank"><strong>this topic</strong></a> of the Comodo forum. Make sure you read through the first post entirely and follow all recommendations. This will ensure that your request is completed as quickly as possible. However, do note that in order to submit programs, or files, you need to have an account on the Comodo forums. If you don't already have one then it's very easy to get one. There is an option to register on the top of any page on the Comodo forums. Also, if you cannot locate the folder indicated in the Autoruns results that may be because some folders are hidden by default by Windows. To tell Windows to show you those folders please follow the advice on <strong><a href="http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=74220" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank">this page</a></strong>.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">These submissions will be analyzed by Comodo staff and, if appropriate, added to the whitelist. However, do note that it may take the analysts days, or even a few weeks, to complete their analysis. This all depends on how many submissions they are also trying to analyze. In addition, if you feel that you cannot wait for the analysis of Comodo staff then you also have the option of analyzing them manually by following the advice I give in <strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-tell-if-file-malicious.htm" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank">How to Tell if a File is Malicious</a></strong>.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">That said, the greatest advantage to the whitelisting approach is that<span style="margin:0px;padding:0px"> you won't have to do any analysis of your own and the next time you check your computer the files will already be whitelisted and nothing will need to be done. In fact, </span>you submit all the safe programs on your computer for whitelisting then, once they're whitelisted, the next time you scan with Comodo Autoruns there should not be any more unknown processes for you to examine. Thus, it becomes an incredibly easy task to ensure that your computer is still clean of infections. In fact, my computer always shows a completely blank screen after selecting the option to “Hide Safe Entries”. This allows me to ensure that my system has passed this test in just a few minutes. Please note that depending on your computer, and your internet connection speed, this time may vary.</p> <p align="center" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><h2 align="center" style="margin:0px 0px 14px;padding:0px 0px 4px 4px;font-size:1.333em;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dotted;border-bottom-color:rgb(202,203,205);line-height:20.7947998046875px"> <strong><a name="How_To_Clean_Infections_From_Computer" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px"></a>5. How To Clean Infections From Computer</strong></h2><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">  </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">If any of these methods does show that your computer is infected you should check out my article about <strong><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/how-clean-infected-computer.htm" style="color:rgb(52,82,201);margin:0px;padding:0px" target="_blank">How to Clean An Infected Computer</a></strong>. The advice in this article will allow you to remove almost any infection and get your computer back to working order.</p> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5"> </p><p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">  </p><h2 style="margin:0px 0px 14px;padding:0px 0px 4px 4px;font-size:1.333em;border-bottom-width:1px;border-bottom-style:dotted;border-bottom-color:rgb(202,203,205);line-height:30.621070861816406px"> </h2><div style="margin:0px;padding:0px"> <p style="margin:0px 0px 10px;padding:0px;font-size:1em;line-height:1.5">If you have any problems, or are confused by my directions, please leave a comment below and I will try to help. Trust me, if you are having a problem then so are many others. I need to know this so that I can improve the article and make it usable for everyone. Also, and this is especially important, if you find a situation in which none of these methods shows evidence of an infection, but the system is definitely infected, please let me know. I have seen no evidence of this happening, but if I do receive proof of a bypass then I will need to rethink my strategy</p> </div></div></div></div>

How to Know If Your Computer Is Infected

These days malicious software is becoming an epidemic. It seems like it’s everywhere. Also, sadly, there's been a change in the way ma...

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How to get the most out of wireless network on Windows 8

<div class="timetxt" style="font-size:0.75em;line-height:12px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(111,111,111);margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 0px 10px"><br></div> <div class="photo" style="padding:10px 0px 10px 10px;font-size:0.75em;font-family:arial;color:rgb(111,111,111);line-height:14px"><img border="0" src="http://m.timesofindia.com/thumb.cms?msid=25260532&width=283&resizemode=4" style="width: 286px; height: 209px; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); float: left;"><div class="clear" style="clear:both;height:3px"> </div>Here are some tips that can help you in making the most out of wireless connectivity on Windows 8 platform.</div><div style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:14px;padding:5px"></div><div class="storycontent_outer" style="font-size:0.91em;line-height:20px;font-family:georgia;margin:0px;padding:1px 5px"> <div class="storycontent" style="font-size:16px;line-height:normal;margin:0px;padding:5px">Connecting to a wireless network in Windows 8 is far less painful than it was in Windows 7. However, a few things that should be easy and obvious are in fact a bit tricky. <br> <br>You may be having problems connecting to a wireless network in Windows 8, or find that you're regularly entering PEAP credentials each time you want to get online. You might find that your device connects to the wrong wireless network, or simply want to use it as a wireless hotspot. <br> <br>While none of these things are clear from day to day use of Windows 8, they are, however, easily done - once you know how. <br><br><strong>Connecting to a wireless network in Windows 8</strong> <br><br>We'll start with the basics - how do you connect to a wireless network in Windows 8?<br> <br>By default, most new Windows 8 computers will be set to connect to wireless networks automatically as the operating system boots. As such, you should see an alert informing you that a network has been found; an open network will be connected to, with Windows asking you how you wish to treat the connection (as a trusted, "home" network or as a less secure option, "work"). Secure networks will require authentication, of course. <br> <br>What if Wi-Fi isn't already enabled in Windows 8? <br><br>Begin by swiping in from the right to open the Charms bar and select Settings. Here you should see an icon labelled Unavailable, with a red circle and cross accompanying a typical wireless network symbol. Tap this, and switch Wi-Fi to On in order to prompt the computer to check the nearby network connections. When you're ready to go online, tap a network name and then Connect, adding any further information (such as WEP, WPA or PEAP authentication) when prompted.<br> <br>If you would rather do things the old-fashioned way, open the desktop view and browse to Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center > Setup a new connection or network > Manually connect to a wireless network. <br> <br><strong>Changing the priority of Wi-Fi networks natively</strong> <br><br>As you may have noticed, there are various things from Windows 7 that didn't make it through to Windows 8. One of these was a wireless network manager, enabling you to prioritise a particular wireless network to connect to if several were listed. In Windows 8 this isn't possible within the user interface (neither the mouse driven traditional desktop view, nor the "Modern" touch menu), so the default action is to skip tapping the Connect automatically, making the whole connection process a lot more manual. <br> <br>Fortunately, there is a way around this that doesn't rely on third party tools (although some are available).<br><br>Begin by switching to the Start screen and typing command to search for the Command Prompt tool (simpler to use than you might think); in Windows 8, this will be listed twice, Command Prompt and Command Prompt as Administrator. Choose the second option, agreeing with the user access warning. In Windows 8.1, the search results will simply list Command Prompt once - you'll need to right-click and select Run as administrator to continue. <br> <br>At the prompt, enter: netsh wlan show profiles <br><br>The resulting list will show all wireless networks detected to date by your Windows 8 machine, those you've connected to and some you have not. You'll probably also notice that your preferred network isn't at the top of the list. <br> <br>Using the interface and profile names, you can resolve this.netsh wlan set profileorder name="[WIRELESS_NETWORK_NAME]" interface="Wi-Fi" priority=1For instance, if I wanted "citadel" to be my preferred connection, I would enter: netsh wlan set profile order name="citadel" interface="Wi-Fi" priority=1Note the use of the "priority" condition, which can be used throughout the list to specify a preferred second, third and fourth connection; as many as are required. <br> <br>To confirm your change has worked, use the netsh wlan show profiles command again. You should now see that your preferred network is listed first. <br><br><strong>Use third party tools to set preferred wireless networks</strong> <br> <br>If the steps above seem too much like the dark arts to you, then you might prefer the Wi-Fi Profile Manager 8 donationware app, available free online from The Windows Club. If you're not sure what donationware is, our guide to researching free software should explain.<br> <br>Wi-Fi Profile Manager 8 offers tools that allow you to: <br><br>View the preferred network profiles, change list order, export to XML, import from XML and remove profiles.<br><br>This useful app is an executable and can be quickly run (as opposed to installed), enabling you to set a primary wireless profile by right-clicking and selecting Make Default. Other profiles can be repositioned in the list using the Move Up and Move Down options in the same menu, and older profiles discarded with Remove. <br> <br><strong>Remember PEAP authentication in Windows 8</strong> <br><br>Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol is a modern wireless networking protocol that offers improved security over WEP and WPA. It is supported in Windows 8, but unlike the more widely used WEP and WPA, connecting to a wireless network using PEAP requires you to enter your username and password and the intended domain each time you connect. <br> <br>This is, of course, inconvenient. Fortunately, Windows 8 can be configured to save your PEAP Wi-Fi connection details. <br><br>Open the Charms menu to begin, select the PEAP network connection and right-click to display the context menu; choose View connection properties to continue, displaying Wireless Network Properties. From here, open Security > Advanced Settings. <br> <br>On the 802.1x tab, put a check in the box to activate Specify authentication mode and ensure that the User authentication option is selected, followed by Replace/Save credentials. Following this, enter the network credentials, click OK and then reconnect - you won't need to update these details again! <br> <br><strong>Turn Windows 8 into a wireless hotspot</strong> <br><br>What about sharing your Windows 8 computer's Internet connection? Can you turn a Windows 8 device into a wireless hotspot? <br><br>Well, as a matter of fact, yes you can. Using Connectify - available from <a href="http://www.connectify.me/download">www.connectify.me/download</a> in free and premium ($25/year, $40/lifetime) versions - you can set up your Windows 8 computer as a wireless hotspot, sharing Ethernet, Wi-Fi or even connections from a 3G/4G dongle!<br> <br>Once installed (you'll need to reboot your PC afterwards), all you need to do is create a name for the hotspot, specify the connection you're sharing and generate a password, before clicking Start Hotspot. Anyone nearby will then be able to use your computer as a wireless hotspot to gain access to the Internet. You can also use Connectify to create ad hoc local networks for file sharing between computers! <br> <br>Note that there are other tools; however, Connectify is the best option we've found for this so far. <br><br><strong>Maximise Windows 8's wireless networking capabilities</strong> <br><br>Some of you reading this might be thinking "why doesn't Microsoft include all of these tools and features as standard within the desktop or modern user interface?" After all, mobile devices can be turned into wireless hotspots with native software, so why not PCs? <br> <br>The answer, of course, lies somewhere between "don't know" and "Microsoft provide a platform for developers to fill in the gaps." However, the fact that Windows 7 includes the ability to easily prioritise a particular wireless network over others, while the same feature in Windows 8 can only be accessed via the command line, is one that can leave you perplexed.</div> </div>

How to get the most out of wireless network on Windows 8

Here are some tips that can help you in making the most out of wireless connectivity on Windows 8 platform. Connecting to a wireless n...

Read more »

How to get the most out of wireless network on Windows 8

<div class="timetxt" style="font-size:0.75em;line-height:12px;font-family:arial;color:rgb(111,111,111);margin:0px;padding:0px 0px 0px 10px"><img border="0" src="http://images.photogallery.indiatimes.com/images/spacer.gif" width="5"></div> <div class="photo" style="padding:10px 0px 10px 10px;font-size:0.75em;font-family:arial;color:rgb(111,111,111);line-height:14px"><img border="0" src="http://m.timesofindia.com/thumb.cms?msid=25260532&width=283&resizemode=4" style="width: 286px; height: 209px; display: block; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); float: left;"><div class="clear" style="clear:both;height:3px"> </div>Here are some tips that can help you in making the most out of wireless connectivity on Windows 8 platform.</div><div style="font-family:'Times New Roman';font-size:14px;padding:5px"></div><div class="storycontent_outer" style="font-size:0.91em;line-height:20px;font-family:georgia;margin:0px;padding:1px 5px"> <div class="storycontent" style="font-size:16px;line-height:normal;margin:0px;padding:5px">Connecting to a wireless network in Windows 8 is far less painful than it was in Windows 7. However, a few things that should be easy and obvious are in fact a bit tricky. <br> <br>You may be having problems connecting to a wireless network in Windows 8, or find that you're regularly entering PEAP credentials each time you want to get online. You might find that your device connects to the wrong wireless network, or simply want to use it as a wireless hotspot. <br> <br>While none of these things are clear from day to day use of Windows 8, they are, however, easily done - once you know how. <br><br><strong>Connecting to a wireless network in Windows 8</strong> <br><br>We'll start with the basics - how do you connect to a wireless network in Windows 8?<br> <br>By default, most new Windows 8 computers will be set to connect to wireless networks automatically as the operating system boots. As such, you should see an alert informing you that a network has been found; an open network will be connected to, with Windows asking you how you wish to treat the connection (as a trusted, "home" network or as a less secure option, "work"). Secure networks will require authentication, of course. <br> <br>What if Wi-Fi isn't already enabled in Windows 8? <br><br>Begin by swiping in from the right to open the Charms bar and select Settings. Here you should see an icon labelled Unavailable, with a red circle and cross accompanying a typical wireless network symbol. Tap this, and switch Wi-Fi to On in order to prompt the computer to check the nearby network connections. When you're ready to go online, tap a network name and then Connect, adding any further information (such as WEP, WPA or PEAP authentication) when prompted.<br> <br>If you would rather do things the old-fashioned way, open the desktop view and browse to Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center > Setup a new connection or network > Manually connect to a wireless network. <br> <br><strong>Changing the priority of Wi-Fi networks natively</strong> <br><br>As you may have noticed, there are various things from Windows 7 that didn't make it through to Windows 8. One of these was a wireless network manager, enabling you to prioritise a particular wireless network to connect to if several were listed. In Windows 8 this isn't possible within the user interface (neither the mouse driven traditional desktop view, nor the "Modern" touch menu), so the default action is to skip tapping the Connect automatically, making the whole connection process a lot more manual. <br> <br>Fortunately, there is a way around this that doesn't rely on third party tools (although some are available).<br><br>Begin by switching to the Start screen and typing command to search for the Command Prompt tool (simpler to use than you might think); in Windows 8, this will be listed twice, Command Prompt and Command Prompt as Administrator. Choose the second option, agreeing with the user access warning. In Windows 8.1, the search results will simply list Command Prompt once - you'll need to right-click and select Run as administrator to continue. <br> <br>At the prompt, enter: netsh wlan show profiles <br><br>The resulting list will show all wireless networks detected to date by your Windows 8 machine, those you've connected to and some you have not. You'll probably also notice that your preferred network isn't at the top of the list. <br> <br>Using the interface and profile names, you can resolve this.netsh wlan set profileorder name="[WIRELESS_NETWORK_NAME]" interface="Wi-Fi" priority=1For instance, if I wanted "citadel" to be my preferred connection, I would enter: netsh wlan set profile order name="citadel" interface="Wi-Fi" priority=1Note the use of the "priority" condition, which can be used throughout the list to specify a preferred second, third and fourth connection; as many as are required. <br> <br>To confirm your change has worked, use the netsh wlan show profiles command again. You should now see that your preferred network is listed first. <br><br><strong>Use third party tools to set preferred wireless networks</strong> <br> <br>If the steps above seem too much like the dark arts to you, then you might prefer the Wi-Fi Profile Manager 8 donationware app, available free online from The Windows Club. If you're not sure what donationware is, our guide to researching free software should explain.<br> <br>Wi-Fi Profile Manager 8 offers tools that allow you to: <br><br>View the preferred network profiles, change list order, export to XML, import from XML and remove profiles.<br><br>This useful app is an executable and can be quickly run (as opposed to installed), enabling you to set a primary wireless profile by right-clicking and selecting Make Default. Other profiles can be repositioned in the list using the Move Up and Move Down options in the same menu, and older profiles discarded with Remove. <br> <br><strong>Remember PEAP authentication in Windows 8</strong> <br><br>Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol is a modern wireless networking protocol that offers improved security over WEP and WPA. It is supported in Windows 8, but unlike the more widely used WEP and WPA, connecting to a wireless network using PEAP requires you to enter your username and password and the intended domain each time you connect. <br> <br>This is, of course, inconvenient. Fortunately, Windows 8 can be configured to save your PEAP Wi-Fi connection details. <br><br>Open the Charms menu to begin, select the PEAP network connection and right-click to display the context menu; choose View connection properties to continue, displaying Wireless Network Properties. From here, open Security > Advanced Settings. <br> <br>On the 802.1x tab, put a check in the box to activate Specify authentication mode and ensure that the User authentication option is selected, followed by Replace/Save credentials. Following this, enter the network credentials, click OK and then reconnect - you won't need to update these details again! <br> <br><strong>Turn Windows 8 into a wireless hotspot</strong> <br><br>What about sharing your Windows 8 computer's Internet connection? Can you turn a Windows 8 device into a wireless hotspot? <br><br>Well, as a matter of fact, yes you can. Using Connectify - available from <a href="http://www.connectify.me/download">www.connectify.me/download</a> in free and premium ($25/year, $40/lifetime) versions - you can set up your Windows 8 computer as a wireless hotspot, sharing Ethernet, Wi-Fi or even connections from a 3G/4G dongle!<br> <br>Once installed (you'll need to reboot your PC afterwards), all you need to do is create a name for the hotspot, specify the connection you're sharing and generate a password, before clicking Start Hotspot. Anyone nearby will then be able to use your computer as a wireless hotspot to gain access to the Internet. You can also use Connectify to create ad hoc local networks for file sharing between computers! <br> <br>Note that there are other tools; however, Connectify is the best option we've found for this so far. <br><br><strong>Maximise Windows 8's wireless networking capabilities</strong> <br><br>Some of you reading this might be thinking "why doesn't Microsoft include all of these tools and features as standard within the desktop or modern user interface?" After all, mobile devices can be turned into wireless hotspots with native software, so why not PCs? <br> <br>The answer, of course, lies somewhere between "don't know" and "Microsoft provide a platform for developers to fill in the gaps." However, the fact that Windows 7 includes the ability to easily prioritise a particular wireless network over others, while the same feature in Windows 8 can only be accessed via the command line, is one that can leave you perplexed.</div> </div>

How to get the most out of wireless network on Windows 8

Here are some tips that can help you in making the most out of wireless connectivity on Windows 8 platform. Connecting to a wireless n...

Read more »