How to Obtain Microsoft Windows Updates

Obtaining updates for your Windows OS at regular intervals from Microsoft is a must to keep your Windows computer up-to-date and running smoothly.

Microsoft updates for your Windows system in general includes updates for your operating system, software and hardware, third-party device drivers and also bug fixes to help protect your computer frommalicious software and denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.

There are two ways to obtain Microsoft Windows updates:

1. Directly from the Microsoft Download Center, where you can choose your desired updated versions from the list of new and popular downloads.

1. By using Automatic Update feature in Windows. This is the recommended option of the two because by turning ON the automatic updates feature, Windows automatically searches and delivers all the critical and security updates to your computer and you never need to visit update web site to scan for updates. All you have to do is keep a check on an icon that appears in the notification area at the far right of your taskbar every time new updates are available for your system.

Here is how to turn ON Automatic Updates and help protect your Windows PC

1. Click Start ► Run… then type control and click OK to open Control Panel.
   

1. If your are viewing Control Panel in Classic View, click System and head on to Automatic Updates tab under system Properties windows and change settings for automatic updates.
   

   » Instead, if you are under control panel category view, click Performance and Maintenance ► click System, and then click the Automatic Updates tab to choose the update option you want. Update option Automatic is recommended as it automatically downloads and installs updates at your chosen time.

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Tips on How to Speed Up Your Computer

Computers are the most used innovation that has come up so far. It connects the bridges on people and allows us to have communication with our loved ones that are far from us. However, using our computers often can cause problems and eventually slow them down when we don’t take action on fixing them.

Listed here are tips on how to speed up computer:

• Remember to free up your disk space using disk clean-up or disk defragmenters. Unnecessary files like temporary internet files can slow down your computer so get rid of them, empty your recycle bins frequently, and make sure that your important files are placed on the external hard drive.

• Scan for viruses and worms, spyware and adware. Always check for these nasty programs because they make your computer work slowly more than anything. You need to purchase PC fixer software that can remove these programs.

• Clean up your desktop. If your desktop is flooded with files your computer will eventually function slowly.

• Uninstall unused programs. Your computer might have lots of unused programs installed on it; uninstall them because once a program is installed, it makes a connection between the program and the operating system which also make your system run slower even if you do not use them.

• Do not start up programs automatically when turning on your computer. Make sure that you close programs you do not use that open when you start up your computer.

• Defragment your hard drive. Defragmenting your hard drive places all of your information for each file in one place which will result to a faster computer experience.

These tips on how to speed up my PC might be able to solve your problems on your slow running computers. Following these tips are a big help on your troublesome computer systems.

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How-to Remove System Tool 2011 Virus Easily

Aias: System Tool 2011
Damage Level: Medium
Systems Affected: Windows 9x, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7

Image Credit – Life StreamsYou may have tried for hours trying to remove this virus just like I did in vain but finally here I found a very simple method to remove this malicious software made to look like a legitimate anti-virus program.Screen Shot Image:

1. All you have to do is enter the serial key to register “System Tool” and follow the rest of the steps.
   The key is WNDS-S0DF5-GS5E0-FG14S-2DF8G

1. After inputting this key wait for little and you PC will restart automatically and all is okay again.

1. Then you can go ahead and delete icon from desktop and remove the software from program.

Share with all your friends. Its useful…!
Thank you.

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Windows Vista tweaks to speed up your system.

Default settings that Windows Vista comes with are more meant for hardware of future than hardware of today. If you are looking for your vista to run faster and perform better, it is essential that you optimize your Vista settings. Read on to find out 4 powerful Windows Vista tweaks to speed up your system.

• Tweak 1 ► Get Rid of Unnecessary Programs from System Start Up

One of the most powerful vista tweaks is to remove all unnecessary programs from the start up menu. Start up should only contain those bare minimum programs which are really necessary to be started up when your program boots. If there are some programs which are not that essential, but still need to be there in start-up, you can reschedule them to a lower priority & attach them to one of the multi-processes.

• Tweak 2 ► Turn off TCP Auto Tuning and Remote Differential Compression

Vista uses these to augment the gigabyte network. However, these end up being too much of an overhead for normal networking. The networking speed is enhanced by up to 30 percent when you disable these options.

• Tweak 3 ► Defrag Your Hard Disk

Over time, application and files become scattered in different places on your system’s hard disk, affecting the system’s performance greatly. When you defrag your disk, it brings all these scattered pieces together, thus, improving the Windows system’s speed. You can run the disk defragmenter from
Start ► Menu Programs ► Accessories ► System Tools ► Disk Defragmenter.

• Tweak 4 ► Disable the “System Restore” Feature

It was with Windows XP that this feature was first introduced. Windows Vista enhanced it further with introducing additional document versioning. Though it does sound very good and useful, it does have a great impact on the resources. If you think your system is already not running as it should be, you surely won’t want additional duplicates on your system further downgrading your system’s performance. Thus, another of effective vista tweaks would be to disable this feature.

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3 Things to Love About Internet Explorer 9

1. Pinning and Jump Lists. Given I’ve used desktop shortcuts and IE favorites for years I was a bit skeptical when I first heard of the pinning feature. What I found was that after I tried it I quickly got to the point where I can’t imagine NOT having it. Really. If you haven’t tried this out, you really should and once you do you should show your friends too. It’s that good.

When I started using it I realized that there are some sites that I use way more often than apps that I have pinned. Pinning them lets me treat these sites like an app. My favorite example of this is Hotmail. From the Jump List I can start composing an email in exactly two clicks. Being able to see the number of new messages in my inbox is just a bonus. I actually respond to my Hotmail email much quicker than I used to when I had it saved in my IE favorites.

All that you have to do is drag the tab at the top of the IE window to your taskbar and let go. You can pin any site to the taskbar but if the site has made a few simple additions you’ll get the full experience of Jump Lists, notifications (like how many new messages in my inbox) and more. There are tons of sites that have done this and you can find many of them listed in the IE Gallery.

If you’ve got a site of your own it’s now easier than ever to enable the full pinning experience for your visitors.

2. Lower power consumption. This might seem like a small thing but it helps wring the most power out of my ‘always too small’ laptop battery and contributes to reducing overall energy use on any system. Sure I use sleep mode and make my screen dim quicker to save battery but those only work when I’m NOT doing something. Using IE9 as my browser saves some energy while I AM doing something.

Measuring this energy savings goes well beyond my efforts to use a Kill-A-Watt to get my PC’s power consumption down. The IE team has a great blog post on the specifics of how they measured this and the results.

3. Hardware acceleration. This one doesn’t get old but I have started to take it for granted. I’ve found myself using a PC that belongs to someone else and having it feel slightly ‘off’ as I browse the web until I realize it’s not running IE9. The full acceleration really contributes to the overall web experience besides creating truly amazing experiences in some specific scenarios. There are a couple great posts on the IE blog about this including a breakdown of the HTML blizzard demo and a rundown on the hardware acceleration architecture.

If you haven’t taken the time to install IE9 you really should check it out. Once you have it installed try out the pinning on your favorite sites. It’s truly one of those things that’s hard to be without after you experience it.

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How to Create a Backup for Outlook Express Account Settings?

Your entire internet emails are now can be found in one single location – the Outlook Express. This desktop mail program retrieves and saves all your mail messages. After you have setup your email account and provided all the credentials, Outlook Express keeps checking your account periodically.

This program downloads your mail messages from your account and helps you to view them from the Outlook. What will you do if you plan to change your computer system? In that case it will be wise to keep a backup of the settings and your accounts. Email backupservice providers are the best guide to take the assistance from.

Setting up Outlook Express Information

Step 1 : First of all make one backup folder in your PC. Browse the location you wish to save your folder and choose New, then Folder and finally naming it as Outlook Backup.
Step 2: Go to the Outlook Express folder either from Start or any other type of shortcut you have for accessing this folder.
Step 3: Click on Tools > select Accounts.
Step 4: Click on Mail tab and you will get an entire list. Then choosing the account setup you wish to create a backup for, click on Export.
Step 5: Go to the box of Save In and after finding your created folder, click on Save.
Step 6: When you are done with the entire process, click on Close.

If there is any issue with any of the st

How to Remove Antivirus 2009 Virus

Antivirus 2009 is known to be fake anti-spyware software that is mistakenly installed by visiting a misleading site that tries to convince you that your computer is infected. Upon installation, Antivirus 2009 claims to scan your PC, resulting in a list of fake infections that can only be removed from your computer once you purchase the software. Moreover, once Antivirus 2009 is on your system, it can hijack your browser by installing a browser helper object that displays fake messages via Internet Explorer.

Fake Antivirus 2009 Messages vary from a fake Google Tips area displayed when visiting the Google homepage saying that “Google recommends you activate Antivirus 2009“, to a simple line of text toward the top of your browser telling you that an infection was found.

How to Remove Antivirus 2009 (Automatically):

1. Download and install Malwarebytes Anti-Malware software
2. Launch the software performing a simple scan to detect and then remove the fake Antivirus 2009

Note: Although the Malwarebytes tool will remove this threat for Free, if your existing Antivirus solution let the threat through, I highly recommend Purchasing the Pro version of Malwarebytes Anti-Malware for live protection and future malware threat prevention.

Removing Antivirus 2009 (Manually):

1. Press Ctrl + Alt + Del then find and End the following processes:
   • av2009.exe
   • AV2009Install.exe
   • Antivirus2009.exe
2. Delete the following files from your PC:
   • %UserProfile%DesktopAntivirus 2009.lnk
   • %UserProfile%Application DataMicrosoftInternet ExplorerQuick LaunchAntivirus 2009.lnk
   • %UserProfile%Local SettingsTemporary Internet FilesContent.IE5S96PZM7Vwinsrc[1].dll
   • %UserProfile%Start MenuAntivirus 2009
   • %UserProfile%Start MenuAntivirus 2009Antivirus 2009.lnk
   • %UserProfile%Start MenuAntivirus 2009Uninstall Antivirus 2009.lnk
   • c:Program FilesAntivirus 2009
   • c:Program FilesAntivirus 2009av2009.exe
   • c:WINDOWSsystem32ieupdates.exe
   • c:WINDOWSsystem32scui.cpl
   • c:WINDOWSsystem32winsrc.dll
3. Click Start > Run, type regedit, Find and delete the following registry entries:
   • HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftware
     75319611769193918898704537500611
   • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTCLSID
     {037C7B8A-151A-49E6-BAED-CC05FCB50328}
   • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows
     CurrentVersionExplorerBrowser Helper Objects
     {037C7B8A-151A-49E6-BAED-CC05FCB50328}
   • HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindows
     CurrentVersionRun “75319611769193918898704537500611”
   • HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindows
     CurrentVersionRun “ieupdate”

If all goes well, this fake Antivirus 2009 software should now be removed from your computer.

Enjoy!

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4 Best Practices To Secure Your Hotmail Account

Even though we discussed a lot about Gmail, Hotmail is still the leading email service in term of users. Gmail has introduced many security functions to secure the accounts of the people. Microsoft has also been doing great with Hotmail security but the features have largely been untold and silently integrated with Hotmail. Here, we will talk about the security options that Hotmail provides for security Hotmail accounts. 1. Using strong passwords This is the first and foremost setting that a user needs to be responsible for. You should be using strong and secure passwords so that no one will be able to use brute force methods to guess your password. So what is a strong or secure password? The password which is: § Not a dictionary word (regardless of any language) § Not a variation of a dictionary word § Not a sequential or repeated word § Doesn’t include any personal information like name, birthdate, Govt. issued IDs etc. There are many random password generators but if you want to remember your password then you should follow the way to create passwords recommended by Microsoft itself. 2. Connecting With HTTPS Using HTTPS instead of HTTP means that you’re using a secure means of communication between the Hotmail servers and your computer. If a hacker intercepts the connection during the communication, the connection will simply break and the hacker will not be able to get any information about the communication. Almost all the modern browsers will display a green bar that shows the owner of the site in the address bar. Make sure that the owner of Hotmail.com when you open it is Microsoft Corporation. Here’s how it looks like in Internet Explorer: And here’s the screenshot from Firefox: To always use HTTPS, just go to the Microsoft manage SSL page and select “Use HTTPS automatically“. Please note that if you’re using a desktop client with Outlook Hotmail Connector or Windows Mobile, you’ll get some problems with HTTPS. Then you can leave the above settings to “Don’t use HTTPS automatically” and then always open Hotmail using https://www.hotmail.com in order to check your email. 3. Password Reset Information You must ensure that your password reset information in your Hotmail account is always up to date so in any case if you forget your password, you’ll always be able to reset your password using the recovery information. To reset your password information, you’ll need to go to Windows Live account page. You should always have a secondary email address that you can attach to your Hotmail account so that your password reset information is sent to your secondary account if you forget the password. You can also add your mobile number as a recovery option so that the password reset information can be sent to your mobile phone in case of emergency but this option is only available to a few selected countries right now. You can also add a Trusted PC if you use your account only on one PC. Windows Live Essentials is needed to be installed in order for this feature to work. And the last and most important is the security question. The security question is like a password. You should always specify a secure security answer in order to have your account secured and away from hackers. Please refer to the “using strong passwords” topic for more information about secure passwords. 4. Using Hotmail On A Public Computer There are times when you’ll need to check your email on a public computer when your own trusted computer is not available. You should always use HTTPS instead of simple HTTP on public computers. There is another feature “Get a single use code to sign in with” which works great if you are residing in a supported country. You can get a code for one time use on your mobile when you want to sign in to your Hotmail account on a public computer. This will ensure that you don’t have to type your real password and will use an auto generated password which will work only one time. Keeping all these points in mind when using your Hotmail account will make sure that your account will always remain safe from wrong hands and hackers.

10 Things You Need To Know About Internet Explorer 9

After lot of fanfare, Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) was finally released. It is touted as the best browser by Microsoft and comes with support for the latest technology in town. Well, that may sound a bit exaggerating, but IE9 did indeed come with several impressive features. In case you are wondering whether you should upgrade or not, here’s a breakdown of its features and all the things that you need to know about IE9.

1. Hardware acceleration

The most noticeable difference in IE9 is its speed. Not only does it seem faster than previous version of IE, it is also faster than other browsers like Chrome and Firefox. The main reason for this is due to hardware acceleration. By tapping into the power of your graphics card, it is able to render pages more quickly. The latest version of Chrome and Firefox also comes with hardware acceleration, but IE9 seems to has a better implementation. In short, IE9 is fast.

2. CSS3 and HTML5 support

Web developers hate Internet Explorer, because they never comply to web standard. Mention IE6 and you will instantly hear curses and swears from developers. That is the past. IE9 is now fully standard compliance and it support CSS3 and HTML5 fully. No, it does not support the new WebM video format yet, but you can install the addon from Google website.

3. One bar to rule them all

There is no more search bar in IE 9. All you get now is the One bar (aka the address bar, or URL bar) where you perform searches (in Bing) or type in URL.

4. Smart screen filter and tracking protection

Internet Explorer has often been critized as being insecure and is always the security loophole for the main OS. In IE9, there is an improvement in the security aspect – some is built on top of IE8 technology and other is newly added. The smart screen filter can now detect malware and phising sites and the tracking protection can protect you from being tracked on certain sites.

5. New interface – Tinier tabs

The first thing that you will notice on IE9 is its new interface. The search bar is now combined with the address bar and the tab bar is now located beside the address bar. While it may look clean and streamlined, the moment you got more than 10 tabs open, the tabs will shrink and you will have difficulty navigating around the tabs.

6. Drag tab to open in new window

Nothing new for Google Chrome user. You can now drag a tab out of the tab bar and have it open in a new window. Similarly, to combine two IE9 window, just drag the tabs from one to another.

7. Pin sites to the taskbar

IE9 is developed by Microsoft, so there is no doubt that it integrates best with Windows 7. The best example is the pinning of sites to the taskbar. Simply drag the tab to the taskbar and it will instantly pin itself to the taskbar. Accessing your favourite site from the taskbar is definitely faster than accessing it from the bookmark. In addition, you can also create jumplist item for your site.

8. New download manager

The new download manager include a malware/virus scanner and can scan the files before the downloading begin.

9. IE9 as a window update, not separate install

Unlike IE8 where you can download and install as an application, IE9 exists as a Windows Update. Like any other Windows update, you will need to restart your computer after the installation.

10. No support for XP

Still using Windows XP? You can have IE 8 instead. IE 9 is supported to run in Windows 7 or Vista only. Perhaps it is time for XP to die too?

How to install

Microsoft will be issuing a Windows Update on the 21st of March 2011 and IE9 will be included in that update. In another word, whether you like it or not, IE9 will be installed in your computer, unless you don’t intend to update your Windows forever. If you are patient enough, you can wait for the Windows update and let it upgrade itself automatically. Your IE8 will be replaced with IE 9.

For those who want it now, you can download the installer file here.

Is IE9 better than Chrome or Firefox?

If you have been using IE7 and 8, you will definitely appreciate the changes in IE 9. However, if you are already using Chrome or Firefox and you love them, it will be very difficult for Microsoft to entice you over. The functionality are almost similar, but Chrome and Firefox have the added advantage of a huge library of addons and extensions. What’s more, IE 9 only works in Windows whereas the other browsers work in (almost) all platforms.

Nevertheless, effort must be commended to Microsoft for coming up with such a great browser. It is indeed their best browser ever.

What do you think? Will you switch to IE 9?

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How To Fix The Common Problems In Internet Explorer 8

Internet Explorer may not be the favorite browser among geeks, but sadly, it is still the most widely used browser in the World. In this article, let us take a look at the common problems in Internet Explorer (IE8 specifically) and its fixes.

Some of the common problems seen in IE8 include:

• You have more toolbars that you desire. Some of them are uninstallable.
• The browser does not go to the website you want it to go. You type a web name, press Enter. It brings you to another site that is full of ads.
• Your searches doesn’t look normal. You are being redirected to another search provider.
• The home page changes without our knowledge.

If you are experiencing one of the above, don’t be alarmed. Here are the ways to fix them.

1. Remove Uninstallable Toolbars

Occasionally, when you install a new program and you didn’t read the fine print, it will automatically install toolbar(s) in your IE. These toolbars are often annoying, disruptive and take up valuable screen estate. In most cases, you can uninstall them via the Add/Remove Program panel, but there are times when they are very persistent and refuse to disappear from your browser.

In this example, we are going to uninstall the Alexa toolbar (this is only for illustration purpose. in no way did I mean that Alexa toolbar is not useful). The tool we are going to use is Autoruns.

Autoruns is a tool designed by Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell, you can download the program using this link: Autoruns for Windows

This tool can configure what programs run during startup. It can also be used to find out what plugins are installed in Internet Explorer.

To use the utility, run the application as Administrator:

Autoruns classify the objects, basically dynamic link libraries and programs, using different tabs. Just go to “Internet Explorer” tab:

In the screenshot above, we can see that the tab is split into three groups.

• First group contains the browser helper objects. They are plugins designed to provide a new functionality.
• Second group is a list of the toolbar in the browser
• Third group are extensions.

In this case, we are going to remove the Alexa toolbar. Highlight the entry, right click and select “Delete”.

Done. You have just removed an uninstallable toolbar.

2. Remove Search Providers

If you see an unwanted search provider (as shown in the image below),

Click on the button and select “Manage Search Providers“.

Internet Explorer doesn’t allow you to remove the default provider, so before you can remove it, you have to set another search provider as the default.

Now you can remove “Alexa Web Search“.

3. Reset Internet Explorer Settings

If all the tricks don’t work, the ultimatum is to reset your Internet Explorer to its default settings.

Using the search function in Windows 7, search for “internet options“. Alternatively, you can also access the Internet Options from the browser File menu.

Now go to the “Advanced Tab” and select “Reset“:

You need to quit all browser windows before using this function. You will see a popup window explaining the stuff that are going to be reseted:

This should restore your IE back to its original state.

Do you use any other ways to solve Internet Explorer 8 issues?