Virus/Spyware makers target popular anitvirus programs.
Antivirus applications from Symantec, McAfee or Trend Micro are far less likely to detect new viruses and Trojans than less popular brands. The skill of malware authors has greatly increased lately which means it will be harder for virus programs to clean your computer of spyware.
Malware authors are testing their Trojans and viruses against the top selling antivirus programs to make sure they can bypass them before releasing them on the internet. In a recent test the unpopular Kaspersky Antivirus blocked around 90% of new malware where Symantec and other popular brands had up to an 80% miss rate.
I’m sure there have been many time when you wanted to print something but didn't care about the quality or whether it was in color or not. Most printers will let you decide how you are going to print your document and whether you are going to print it in color or black and white.
When you go to file and then print you can click on the properties button for your printer. From there click on Printing Preferences and then the Paper Quality tab. Then you will see a screen similar to this.
From here you can select various options for your print job. The default is usually Normal quality with Color printing. If you want better than normal quality you can select Best. Keep in mind it will use more ink and take longer to print. If you want to use less ink and print much faster you would select Draft. You can also pick Black & White to avoid using your color ink if you want to conserve it. The printer settings will stay this way until you close the document and then they will revert to the default.
Microsoft reported a vulnerability in its PowerPoint presentation software that allows hackers to infiltrate computers. The attack is carried out when a user launches a PowerPoint attachment from an e-mail provided to them by the attacker. Once the user triggers the corrupt PowerPoint file, the virus installs a keystroke logging system to capture everything typed on the machine. Microsoft said it was completing development of a security update to fix the vulnerability and was on schedule to release the patch on August 8, or sooner, as part of a monthly security update. So if you are a PowerPoint user make sure to get the update and watch out for PowerPoint attachments from people you dont know.
Ever wonder how something works? Check out HowStuffWorks.com to see how your favorite gadget or appliance works. Topics include computers, cars, health, entertainment and many others.
Q. My computer was restarting fine for several days. Then it wouldn't and boot said it can't find primary drive ..and I put the recovery disc in but it won't detect the keyboard to press r etc. We have another computer but there’s no floppy just a DVD burner and I can't create a boot disc with a CD and there is a blue screen that comes up but I can't see it all. I know it said something about physical memory. Thanks for any help, I need it.
A. When you get a message that says it cant find your primary drive then your computer is not recognizing your hard drive. If it says it cant find your secondary drive then its most likely your CDROM or second hard drive if you have one. Your Windows drive will be your primary drive. You should go into the BIOS and see if your hard drive is recognized.
If its not there you can have it try and detect it. If its a newer computer it should be set to auto detect. If it cant find it open the case and make sure the power or IDE ribbon cable has not come loose. You can turn on the computer with the case off and see if you can hear the hard drive powering up. If not and its plugged in then you most likely have a bad hard drive. If you can hear it then you can try replacing the IDE cable and make sure the jumpers are set correctly.
If the message says it cant find the inaccessible boot device or operating system not found then that means your hard drive is being detected but the operating system is not. You can try and boot to your XP CD and run the recovery console or do a repair installation. Make sure you computer is set to boot to the CD in the BIOS. You don't need floppies if you can boot to the CD which most modern computers can.
Most of the time a blue screen error is hardware related. The screen may have said something about a memory dump. If your hard drive is recognized you may want to remove any unnecessary hardware to see if something else is causing your blue screen error.
America Online said it would give away e-mail accounts and software previously available only to customers who paid as much as $26 a month and put its focus on online advertising instead.
AOL figures that by making services free, it can prevent users from switching to internet/e-mail providers such as Yahoo and Google that offer free ad supported access. AOL figures its better to give access for free with advertisments than to loose its customers all together.
While customers with broadband no longer will have to pay AOL anything, AOL will still offer dial-up accounts at $26 a month for unlimited use. To compete with cheaper dialup services, AOL is creating a new $10 monthly plan with unlimited access but fewer features than the $26 plan.
The company expects to save more than $1 billion by the end of 2007 by cutting marketing, network and overhead costs.
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