Archive for November, 2009

Be a smarter Phish

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

Don’t get caught in a scam. I have seen more volume of phishing scams over the last few weeks than ever before. I suppose the economic downturn makes it even more attractive for scammers to hit the keyboard in the quest for easy money. Add to this the low chance of getting caught and the relative low penalties it they do and you can see why this is growth industry.

Remember your bank will not ask you to update your account via email nor will paypal use unheard of portals to do business. If you are not sure if an email message is real or not, please contact the sender and find out.

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Get AVG ver 9 for Free

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

Yes that correct, AVG 9 can be installed on your computer and offer basic protection against internet nasties for free. The only restriction (more…)

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You have missed out.

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

Our supplier has told us the last laptops at this price are near an end. Untill stocks are
sold out you can get this great PC at little more than the cost of a netbook.
You can get one for each child, but don’t delay.

**** Sorry – You have missed out ****

tosh_L300_special

(more…)

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Quick guide to Win XP Install

Saturday, November 7th, 2009

This quick guide outlines a suggested sequence. It is possible to load differently however this is a proven way that works.

It is important to back up all your files before you start any maintainence on your computer. A USB drive is an ideal way to do this. You can drag and drop files to be backed up, however a good utility is Fab’s Auto Backup. This will lessen the chance of missing important files. Make sure you take care to back up the files for specialty programs such as accounting software. Some programs provide a backup option that you should already be familier with.

Make sure you have the Windows install Key. This should be attached to the case of your computer. In a rare case you may need to use a utility to reveal the key before you start.

DO NOT PROCEED IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A LEGAL AND VALID WINDOWS KEY.

Make sure you have a Windows install disk for the version on your computer.

If you do not have the driver disk that came with your computer, you need to source all the relevant drivers before you begin your install.

If your Windows disk is old you may need to obtain Service pack 1, 2 & 3 before you start.

Set your computer to boot from the CD/DVD drive and use your Windows disk to start the computer. (You will need to press a key to boot from CD.

Follow the prompts to load a fresh copy of Windows. Use the full format option if you are not using a new drive.

Do not activate automatic updates when Windows first boots

Load mainboard drivers, in this order. Chipset (if applicable eg. Intel Inf), Sound, LAN, Video then any other drivers.

Load Modem drivers if required

Load Service pack files starting with the first one above the version of Windows loaded. Service pack 3 is the latest.

Load an Antivirus program of your choice

Set Automatic updates on and ensure you are connected to the internet. Allow the updates to install as they are recieved.

Activate Windows

You can now load basic software…

Load PDF writer

Load MS powerpoint viewer

Load latest AVG version and do updates

Load your word processing software. OpenOffice is a decent free alternative but make sure you set it tosave Microsoft Office Docs

Load Acrobar reader

Load Irfan View then Load Irfan View plugins

Load Faststone image viewer

Load CD/DVD Writing software

Now you can load any other software as required

Now you can restore your own data that was saved at the start.

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