System File Checker - Making Windows Run Right

Windows not running as it should.

Maybe you should run the system file checker for your windows installation.

It will see whether any system files have been modified or corrected.

Click start , then run and enter cmd and a dos box will open , then type sfc\scannow

This will scan your windows installation and will ask you for your windows disk so you can repair it.

Just insert your disk when you are asked for it and let it run.

Remember follow the instructions on the screen

Here is the Microsoft Support Note on the System File Checker for Windows 7 & Windows Vista

Here is the Microsoft Support Note on the System File Checker for Windows XP

Problems With Windows Let Microsoft Fix It

If you are having problems with Windows ( 7 , Vista , XP )  and don't want to reinstall ( which should be the preferred solution ) there is a solution from Microsoft 

Microsoft have the Microsoft Fix It Center Online

After installation it will scan your computer to diagnose and repair problems then it will attempt to fix the issues it has found.

This has proved especially effective for me with Windows Update issues on clients computers.

This is well worth a look for some issues but if you are heavily infected with malware/virus then a reinstall of the operating system is your best choice.

So Here Is What I Think Is Wrong With Microsoft

This week I attended Microsoft's Big Picture in Melbourne and I think it showed what's wrong with Microsoft currently and only a bit of whats right.

Microsoft and the Windows operating system were the overall majority of peoples introduction to computers and what they could do.

You used to see roadshows where experts would show you tricks with Windows and Office to increase your knowledge and productivity and love of the operating system.

It gave you a grass roots love of the operating system.

You stuck with Windows through the good times and the not so good times ( Vista , Me) and developed an appreciation of what could be done with the personal computer.

The personal computer progressed into the business environment and as Microsoft makes the majority of it's revenue from business , it appears ,that is where they now concentrate and to the average user this preoccupation with business and enterprise is not that appealing.

There were great discussion's at the Big Picture on applications for business with knowing nodding going on from people listening to these talks , that contradicted the blank looks on others faces and when you talked to some people they had no understanding of some of the concepts presented but said we will leave it up to the IT department.

Don't get me wrong , there were demonstrations of the Xbox 360 , the Kinect , Ultrabooks ( from Asus , Samsung , Toshiba), Windows Phones , Zune software ( I will get to the Zune ), Microsoft Surface ( round the $16,000 mark ), monitors ( a really nice one from Samsung) and some Asus and Samsung tablets running Windows 7.We all love playing with technology and these proved extremely popular.

Microsoft should not forget the grass roots which made the company as it is the base that will grow the top end as you don't see Apple deserting the consumer for the business and for them it appears to be good operating system , good hardware.

Yes I am well aware that the average consumer is catered for online at their website but all I saying is that while other companies market themselves from the ground up , they appear to be going from the top down.

So lets do a quick whip round of the hardware there.

Liked the Asus Ultrabook ,well designed , brushed metal top and interior with a glass top trackpad as with the Macbook Air and even the Microsoft spokesperson compared it to the Macbook Air , its quick ( should be with the SSD), well built and well designed.

The Asus is on the left of the photo , the other 2 well , how do I say this , are just ok.

The Samsung in the middle is quick but has some plastic tabs that cover and pull down to access ports that could easily snap off and appeared to be not that well made.

The Sony on the right has the "battery wobbles" , a loose fitting battery that if tapped does move around.

This is the Asus tablet running Windows 7 ( to be honest i would have thought we should have seen Windows 8) which ran quiet well and lets not forget Microsoft did have tablets years ago.It however is quiet heavy and is no iPad.I also was able to use a Samsung tablet running Windows 7 as well (what no andriod!) , light ,quick and it ran quiet well and this was a good sign with Windows 8 on the horizon.

This is the Toshiba Ultrabook which again is quick , ( they all are as they have SSDs , solid state drives) but on this you can bend the screen and is quiet well built.

This is the new 27" Samsung monitor , nice design.

I was able to use some of the Windows Phone's and was quiet impressed with them , nice and quick with a good design with the HTC phone probably being the stand out.

While I was at the event I made a comment on twitter about Zune

Just a slight jab at the fact there is no longer a Zune player , not that it was ever available here.

I was however quickly corrected.

I knew that and if you want to know more about the Zune check out this Lifehacker Post.

Zune Pass:Microsoft Fans Only Need Apply

In conclusion upon leaving the Microsoft Big Picture event I filled in the feedback form and left with nothing .

In the past you would have recieved , a bag , maybe a usb drive , pamphlets , pens but for this event , nothing.

So I tweeted the following.

Received the following back

I think poor old Jason missed the point.

These events are all about leaving an impression and the impression that I left with is that life will go on for Microsoft , I may not agree with their marketing , I like the products from Microsoft but I also like what Apple and Google are doing and in the end the innovation from all will drive the industry to develop further.

5AA Adelaide's Techguy Spot For 17th May

I was on 5AA today with Amanda Blair.

If you would like to listen to the segment , please right click and save to your computer ( it is about 4MB )

5AA Spot For 17th May

Here are the main issues that we discussed.

Google Recipe Search

If you type in Google Recipe Search into Google you will end up Google's new search engine for recipe's

From here you enter a recipe in the search box which will enable you to further refine your search by

• Cooking Time
• Ingredients
• Calories

Adjusting your criteria will result in an alteration of the recipes that Google show you.

Listener Question

If my computer and wifi modem are turned off , can hackers still access my computer.

Answer

No , however make sure when your computer is on that you have wireless security turned on and that it is WPA2

Listener Question

I currently use AVG for my antivirus but am receiving popups telling me to click and upgrade , is this safe?

Answer

Be wary of pop ups , I would uninstall AVG and reinstall a new updated version , be extremely careful of any pop ups advertising antivirus solutions as they are usually virus's hoping you will click and install.I prefer the FREE Microsoft Security Essentials to AVG.

Listener Question

Could I use the iPhone as a substitute for a laptop?

Answer

Surfing the net , Facebook and some apps yes , serious work no , and think of your eyesight.

Listeners have also emailed me these questions

I heard you on 5AA this afternoon and you mentioned all of the junk mail associated with Viagra sites.
I made a big mistake. After receiving a couple of messages a few days in a row, I responded asking that I not be sent their rubbish, but that just started a 'bombardment' and some days I can receive over 200 messages in SPAM file.
Is there a way to stop this?

Regards

Darrel

Hi Darrel
Thanks for the email.
Yes you do have a problem as one of my big pieces of advice to people is never , ever reply or acknowledge any piece of spam and do not use the unsubscribe feature as all you are doing is telling the spammers that you are there. Hence the amount of spam you are now getting.
If this mail is with your yahoo account , you only have one choice , get a new Yahoo account / email account ( I would get a gmail account as they seem to have less spam ).
Set up the account first, then notify your email contacts over a couple of weeks , then leave that infected email address for good.
Regards
Richard

Hello Richard, I heard your segment on 5AA and hope you can help me. Recently I renewed my subscription to Trend Security installing Trend Titanium. I dont know if its a coincidence or not but ever since whenever I try to view a Youtube video or something similar my computer freezes and about 15 seconds later the screen goes blank with the "no signal" message then turns off, however the computer fans are still working, I then need to restart.
The computer still works when I play a DVD in the drive and some videos work from the AdelaideNow website. Email attachment videos still work on mediaplayer but videos from most websites do not, causing the same problem as above.
I have latest versions of flashplayer etc but nothing seems to fix the problem.
Thank you for your time
Leanne

Hi Leanne
Have a look at the settings on Trend as i think you have to adjust them down as Trend does have issues with certain sites. Do you have the parental controls on?
To see if it is the software and some people do have issues with Trend depending on their computer and setup , I would uninstall Trend from the control panel and install Microsoft Security Essentials http://www.microsoft.com/security/pc-security/mse.aspx , then see if you still have the issue.
I dont think you will.
Also make sure your Windows Updates optional and important are all done.
Let me know if i can help further
Regards
Richard

If you would like to listen to the spot please either click to listen when it loads or right click and save as an MP3 on your computer

Windows Update Stuck - 2 Solutions

Sometimes you will get the same Windows Update sitting there waiting to be installed every time you log onto Windows update or you will constantly be asked to install Windows update's every time you log on or shut down.

This could be a sign of a blocked Windows Update.

So what to do.

If you are on Windows Vista or Windows 7 try this option from Microsoft

How Do I Reset Windows Update

The next option is for those who are still on Windows XP

I recently used Dial A Fix which works on all versions of Windows from 98 - XP 

Dial A Fix unsticks the updates and restores the Windows settings to the point where updates will flow again and be able to be installed.

As usual read the instructions on the site before proceeding which in short are:

• Run disk cleanup


• Check the drive for errors and get Windows to fix them

Then you can run the software.

The two tabs to be aware of are:

 

Place a tick in these boxes and press the " flush " button

Then run the software

10 Steps For Virus Malware Prevention

How much time and money have you spent in having your computer repaired because you have become infected with spy ware and viruses?

Spyware , virus’s , malware can be avoided if you follow some simple BEHAVIORAL rules.

Remember if you get infected it is your fault not your computer's.

The first point to remember is that running antivirus software will not prevent you getting a virus.

Antivirus software is there in the hope that once you have a virus on your computer it will be able to remove it.

Here are 10 points to follow that should mean an infection free computer

NUMBER 1

Update your operating system regularly.

Turn on Automatic Updates on Windows and apply all critical updates immediately.

Check optional updates on a regular basis.

NUMBER 2

Update your software , PDF readers , Office , Flash 

Adobe are responsible for  numerous infections unless patched

NUMBER 3

Don’t open email attachments unless you know that the person sending it to you ,really sent it.

Viruses will more often than not come from someone you know.

Email attachments are the number one way that viruses , trojan horses and spyware can get onto your computer.

NUMBER 4

Make sure HTML in e-mail is turned off as just by previewing these e-mails you can be infected.

NUMBER 5

Don’t click links in e-mails.

You could be taken to a phising site or this may lead you to install malicious software.

You should copy and paste the link into your browser or type the link into your browser.

HTML e-mail can hide the actual destination of that link so this is another reason to turn off HTML in your email.

NUMBER 6

You should only download files from places you know are absolutely safe.

The use of file sharing software often means you will download spy ware and Trojans without knowing.

If you download files you should quarantine them in a folder and then scan them a few days later with an updated antivirus software.

NUMBER 7

Have a firewall.

Your broadband router is the best firewall

You should also make sure that in Windows XP , Vista and Windows 7 the firewall is turned on.

There is no need to buy a firewall solution

NUMBER 8

You should browse the Internet with the latest editions of browsers Firefox ,Internet Explorer 8 (IE9) or Google Chrome

NUMBER 9

Switch to a web based e mail program such as G Mail which will scan your emails before they arrive on your computer

NUMBER 10

Have an antivirus solution , the FREE one I recommend is the Microsoft Security Essentials program and the PAID one I recommend  is NOD32 

These are programs which run quietly in the background without taking over your computer , I do not recommend anything from Symantec , McAfee , Kaspersky as they are overkill and can and do result in slowdown of your computer.

Remember if you get infected it really is your fault.

What You Can Now Open With Google Docs

Most people would have a Google account and if you have a Google account then you have access to Google Docs which is a substitute for Office software (Microsoft Office).

Google Docs now opens another 12 file formats so that if you are emailed a file that you cannot open , upload it to your Google docs account and you will be able to open it.

So what can you open with Google docs.

• Microsoft Office Files
• Microsoft Excel (.XLS and .XLSX)
• Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 / 2010 (.PPTX)
• Apple Pages (.PAGES)
• Adobe Illustrator (.AI)
• Adobe Photoshop (.PSD)
• Autodesk AutoCAD (.DXF)
• Scalable Vector Graphics (.SVG)
• PostScript (.EPS, .PS)
• TrueType (.TTF)
• XML Paper Specification (.XPS)

Microsoft Security Essentials The Free Anti-Virus Solution

Microsoft Security Essentials has recently undergone a change and is free software which I have been running on one of my systems for a while now and during that time have not had an issue and been extremely impressed.

I also follow the golden rules for surfing the internet.

So who would switch to this and why.

Well if you run one of the alternative free software antivirus ( AVG , Comodo ) you should look at swapping because this solution should fit well within the Windows environment because let's be honest here , nobody knows Windows better than Microsoft.

Virus's are written to exploit holes in the Windows Operating system and that is why you need to update and patch your system.

Logic would then dictate that the Security Essentials Software would fit " hand in glove " with the operating system.

So lets look at the installation of this.

Go to the Security Essentials Software page and click on the " Download Now " tab

Once downloaded press "Run"

Then Click on "Next"

Accept the license terms

Choose whether to join the Customer Experience Improvement Program , then click next

Make sure the firewall is turned on

A reminder not to have any other antivirus solutions on your computer ( make sure that if you did, that it is uninstalled before proceeding) 

Then click install 

This will begin the install process

 You will need to restart your computer

Microsoft Security Essentials is now installed

 Then do either a "Quick" or a "Full " scan , I would recommend the "Full"

The update tab shows when it was last updated and if you want to manually update , press " Update"

 " History" will give you information about:

• Detected Items ( Malware , virus etc)


• Items that the software has found and placed in Quarantine


• Items that you allow to run on your computer ( executables)

Settings allows you to alter and configure the various settings that are available.

The most obvious will be scan type and when you want to run the scans.

Free Cyber Security Book From Microsoft

Microsoft have released a free book to help teenagers and parents with cyber security.

The quote from the site about the book is:

"Help teens ‘own their space’ online. Whether you are a parent, caregiver, or educator, you can keep up with the latest computer and online safety issues and help kids learn to avoid them. In partnership with security expert and author, Linda McCarthy, we offer a free downloadable version of her new book, “Own Your Space – Keep Yourself and Your Stuff Safe Online.” Written for computer and Internet savvy “tweens” and teens specifically, this book is also a useful resource for the adults they rely on."

Own Your Space – Keep Yourself and Your Stuff Safe Online