Free PC Helpline | FREE Live Computer Help

November 21st, 2009

Got a Computer Problem?….. Let me fix it for FREE!

Welcome to Free-PCHelp.com – Featuring a 100% Free Live Tech Support Chat, where you can chat to a Tech live and get him to solve your computer problems for free!
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Free computer help, free live pc help
Posted in Live computer help | Comments (28)

Freeware spyware removal

March 6th, 2010

Product Review : Stopzilla Anti-Spware 5.0

Category  – Freeware spyware removal. This new version of Stopzilla Anti-spware , has a superior range of features guaranteed to impress the toughest critic.
It features real  time Anti-spyware and Adware detection and quarantine along with superior pop up ad blocking .
With real time protection, it stops  malicious “Botnet” attacks on your PC ,  stops rootkits and protects you from phishing attacks.
This award winning software is the choice for reliable dependable anti-spyware  and Adware protection.

Features :

1. Real-time Anti-spyware and Adware  protection
2. Prevents Pop-ups,Phishing and Botnet attacks
3. Stops Browser Hijacking, rookits and Trojans
4. Automatic program updates
5. Simple easy interface and quick download

Summary :  My Choice for Spyware  Removal

DETAILS

---

---

.

Licence: 1 PC Size: 285 KB Installer OS: XP/Vista/Windows 7 Our rating: 8/10 Price: $19.95 Free Trial: 60 days Developer: Stopzilla

Download

Tags: Anti-spyware and Adware Software Review, freeware spyware removal, Stopzilla Anti-spyware review
Posted in How to Articles, Product Review, Spyware Removal, Virus Removal | Comments (0)

March Update

March 3rd, 2010

March 2010 Update.

Hi All,

Thanks for visting my blog.

I hope you find the articles useful on my website and a big thanks to all my readers.

I have been very busy in my normal day job as a software developer fixing PC’s.

Like most guys I have a passion for cars, so I have started another blog called  CarsBlog.com.au

It covers cars news and reviews, if your get a moment check it out

If there is anything you want on the website or want me to write an article on any topic please ask

During March I hope to place more video into the website which I will host on Youtube.

A picture tells 1000 words and Videos are certainly a great way on quickly showing people how to fix the problem.

So stay tuned for that.

Once again thanks for visting by blog!

Regards

Steve

Tags: carsblog.com.au, March Update.
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (2)

Stop email viruses the easy way

February 27th, 2010

Every year millions of computers world wide become infected by email viruses. Computer viruses can range from mild to extreme in terms of the amount is problems they can cause.The way most people’s computers become infected by trojan’s or viruses is when somebody checks their email and discovers  an attachment in one of the files. The user will then open the attachment and bang.. your PC is infected with a nasty virus or trojan!

So, how do you protect yourself from email viruses?

Easy, switch to a  start using a free web based program. Web based email or webmail as its know, is the easiest way to stop your PC from becoming infected by viruses that arrive via email. The best choice’s for a free webmail programs are Google Gmail and Yahoo Mail.  Both of these free applications scan all incoming and outgoing emails and attachment for all known viruses and trojans.

So protect yourself from email viruses by signing up for a free Gmail or Yahoo email address today.

Happy Computing
Regards

Steve

Tags: How to stop email viruses, stop computer infected
Posted in How to Articles, Virus Removal | Comments (0)

How to recover lost or deleted files

February 26th, 2010

Have you every accidently deleted a file or folder on your computer and spent the next hour trying to get it back!
I have and believe me is not much fun. This is what I used to do right up unti I discovered file recovery utillites!.

File recovery utilities are programs that you can download and install onto your PC that scan and recover your deleteted files. One of the best ones I have came across is called Pandora Recovery. I like it because it has  a nice Wizard like interface to guide your though the steps to recovering your lost files.
Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: find deleted file, how to recover lost files
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (0)

How to find your lost XP Administrator Password

February 24th, 2010

If you have lost or forgotten your Administrator password, then here is a trick to recover your XP Admin password.

How to recover your Admin password in Windows XP Home or Professional

1.Boot up  your PC using the Windows XP CD-Rom

2. Press the space bar when you see the message “Press any key to boot from the CD”

3.When you see the “Welcome to Windows screen” appear, select the first option and press enter

4. When the Windows licencing screen  appears, press F8 if you agree to it.

5.On the next screen, highlight your current windows version and press the R (Repair) button. Do NOT press escape.

6.Windows will then install system files and reboot as part of the install

7. Monitor the status of the install,and when you  see the installation status change to “Installing Devices” press the “Shift F10″ keys

8. When a black MS-DOS window appears, type NUSRMGR.CPL and press enter

9. The select the Administrator account and change the password

10. Close the MS-DOS window down and continue with the installation of windows until it completes.

Congratulations, you  have reset the Administrator password

Note: This should only be attempted as a last resort. Please ensure you backed up any important files before you attempt this to safeguard against data loss (if possible).Only use this method on your own PC.

Did this help you?
Please leave a comment if this has happened to you.

Happy Computing

Regards

Steve

Tags: find lost xp password, recover Administrator password
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (0)

What are Windows Drivers

February 22nd, 2010

Microsoft windows drivers are an essential part of your windows operating system. Starting from Windows 3.0 right through to Windows 7.  Basically a  driver is the software interface between your computer hardware and your windows operating system.

Whenever you by a new piece of computer equipment like a printer or external hard drive, it will come with CD or flash drive that contains the drivers to enable the new piece of hardware to work . The driver CD or Driver USB flash drive often has installation software than allow the easy install of the drivers and software utilities that come bundled on the CD. One problem that I see a lot, is when people has lost the original driver CD’s and they need there PC wiped and a clean version of Windows reinstalled.

So where can you find free Windows software drivers?

1. From the manufactures website.
You can easily download software drivers for your PC from the original manufacturers website. All of the major brands  – HP,Compaq,Dell,Acer,Toshiba etc have a support link on their websites. You simply need to click on the support link and select the model or part number of your hardware. Then you select what version of windows you are using and download the driver to your hard drive.

2. Driverguide.com – This is the ultimate site for free windows drivers on the web. Simply complete the free sign up and then you can do a keyword search for any hardware driver you require.

Most most common drivers that people are always after are Video drivers, network card drivers,motherboard drivers,sound card drivers,printer drivers,modem drivers and cell phone drivers.

One you have found the software drivers you need, simply download and install them. Assuming you already have the hardware attached,  you install the software drivers  and Windows  will display a pop up window displaying that “New hardware found”.

After Windows completes its install, your new hardware will be available for use.

Happy Computing

Regards

Steve

Tags: driverguide.com, free drivers, free windows drivers
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (0)

Free Online backup and Data Storage

February 21st, 2010

“My computer has just crashed and I have lost everything!”.

Don’t let this happen to you. Too often you hear people saying, “Someday I will do a backup”, and since people live such busy lives these days, we never get around to doing regular backups of our  important emails, documents,tax records,photos etc. Not to  mention priceless family photos and documents. Work smarter and use  free online data backups!

The Top 5  FREE Online Backup and Data Storage websites

1.Mozy Home Backup - Mozzy offers 2GB of free online storage for personal use.All information is secure and no credit card is required.It has a simple and easy to use interface and there is no restriction of the type of data you can use to backup.

2.I Drive  Backup -I Drive Online storage also offers 2GB online storage which is also secure and encrypted.There is no restriction on the type of data that you can store. They also offer an added feature that you can access your online data from any computer world wide.

3.eSnips - eSnips offers 1GB of free online storage space. All data is secured and the backup software is easy to use and reliable.

4. ADrive - ADrive offer a massive 50GB of free online storage. All data is secure and you can access your data from any pc world wide.The interface is easy to use and there is no restriction on the types of files you can upload.There are no ads with the free personal 50GB  plan. Overall, this is great value, and it is my number one choice for free online storage.

5. Windows Sky Drive - Microsoft entry into the free online storage space offers  5 GB of free online storage.All data is secure and easy to access world wide.If you want a free online storage account from a trusted name then Windows Live Sky Drive is the one for you.

At the time of printing Google currently does not offer dedicated free online storage . I am sure this will change in the future as more and more people opt to use online storage and potential Adwords Ads come into play

Do you currently use online online storage?
Please share your experiences.

Happy Computing

Regard

Steve

Tags: free Data Storage, Free Online backup
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (0)

Virus removers – Free Virus Removal Tools

February 20th, 2010

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you do have anti-virus software installed on your computer, but you still get a virus?

Unfortunately, this does occur from time to time, even though your  virus removers software is up to date and you do daily virus scans.The reality is that no piece of software is perfect and sometimes anti-virus software does fail

So what do you do when your anti-virus software has let you down?
Solution you use a third party virus removers  tool.

The Ultimate or best free virus removal tools are:

1. McAfee Avert Stinger  – This a a very simple yet powerful utility for removing common viruses on infected PC’s.It has a simple interface and is easy to use. McAfee are constantly updating its virus database and currently the tool can identify and remove 897 of the most common viruses found on the web today.

2. Multi virus Cleaner 2009 – This offers an more advanced interface where you can choose quick or deep scan.   Currently it can identify and remove 6,400 of the most common viruses.It is quick to download (2.9 MB file) and easy to install.

Both of these are found at CNET Download.com

Happy Computing

Regards

Steve

Tags: Best free virus removal, free virus removal tool, virus removers
Posted in How to Articles, Virus Removal | Comments (0)

Koobface Virus – Lean how to remove it

February 19th, 2010

The Koobface worm is a virus that targets social websites users like Facebook and Myspace.It spreads by an infected PC sending emails to the users friends and then attempts to infect the reciepents computer.

How to remove the Koobface Virus for free:

1. Download and run the Microsoft Malicious Software Tool from the Microsoft website.

2.Download and run the Free Koobface removal tool  from Download.com, its is called McAfee Avert Stinger.

3. Download and run AVG Free edition or Avast Free edition and run a complete scan of your PC.

Once you have completed these steps, your PC will be Koobface virus free

Happy Computing

Regards
Steve

PS . If you are still having problems after completing the above… Please ask me for help..I always respond within 24 hours

Tags: Free Koobface removal tool, Koobface Virus
Posted in Virus Removal | Comments (0)

Downadup.b virus – How to remove it

February 19th, 2010

Downadup.b is a virus which has infected millions of home,business and government systems PC’s world wide. Downadup.b is one of five variants of the Downadup virus. Is is also known as  w32.Downadup and Conficker virus. A Downadup.b removal tool has been released by several of the major antivirus software companies with the majority of them offering a free Downadup.b revoval tool.

Software security experts has expressed concern at the relative east at which this malicious virus has infected so many computer networks so easily.The unknown makers of the downadup virus has released five different versions of the virus, so antivirus software companies are always in catchup mode to release the newest Downadup removal tool to patch infected PC’s.. it really is a cat and mouse game.

How to remove the Downadup.b virus :

1.Download  and run the free  Malicious Software removal tool from Microsoft’s website.
2.Download and run the free Symanatec W32.Downadup.B removal tool

Once you have removed the virus,please ensure that you keep your antivirus software up to date. If you are after a free antivirus software package then please read my previous blog for a list of the Top 5 Free AntiVirus Software.

So please go ahead and remove the Downadup.b virus from your system, and always ensure that you keep you computer Antivirus software up to date.

Has your PC been infected with a Virus?If so,please leave a comment and share your stories.

Happy Computing

Regards

Steve

Tags: Downadup.b, Downadup.b revoval free
Posted in How to Articles, Virus Removal | Comments (0)

Computer keeps rebooting – Learn how to fix it

February 18th, 2010

Does you PC keep restarting itself or does your computer keep rebooting itself during Windows start up?

The reason why your PC keeps restarting is due to either a Windows XP or Windows Vista file corruption issue or a hardware issue. So lets learn how to fix it!

The easy way to ascertain if it is a hardware or Windows issue, is to turn on your computer and press Del/F2/F10 key to load your system bios.
Once you are in your Bios screen, simply wait for 5->10 minutes to see if your computer reboots itself.
If your PC does reboot whilst in bios mode, then you have a hardware issue which may need  a computer tech  to look at to diagnose which component of your system may need repairing.
If it does not reboot during this time, then you have a Windows software issue that you can fix yourself.Simply boot from your Windows CD and select the Widows Repair option during the installation produre.

The Windows Repair option is great as it does not delete your personal files, it simply reinstalls some of the core windows files.

Happy Computing

Regards

Steve

Tags: Computer keeps rebooting, PC resets itself
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (0)

Computer freezing or locking up during startup?

February 15th, 2010

Have you ever had this happern to you. You turn on your PC and it keeps freezing during the bios bootup stage? Bios freezing or bios lock ups can sometimes occur on computers that otherwise seem healthy.
To solve Bios freezing during bootup try these steps
1. Turn off your computer and then turn it back on again
2.Press the Del/F2/F10 key to access your system Bios, select the System Defaults option, save and exit
3. Unplug any external hard drives or periphal devices
4. Failing this you need to take your computer to a tech as it may need a bios flash or firmware upgrade done on your mainboard. It’s kind of like installing software for your mainboard.

Please don’t attempt step 4 yourself unless you are an expert as you can potentially render your mainboard useless . As you can Bios freezing can be a major issue resulting in your computer freezing up.

Goodluck
Regards
Steve

Tags: bios freeze bootup, freezing during startup
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (0)

Create a PDF file for FREE – Learn how

February 13th, 2010

PDF documents or eBooks as they are well known are all over the internet. And they vary from very short simple PDF documents that tell you how a make a widget, to complete 100+ eBooks from websites like Google Books or Amazon.com. If you have ever wondered how to create PDF file and haven’t got a clue where to begin, let me show you how.
Several years ago, if you had a word document and you wanted to save it as PDF file your only choice was to buy a copy of Adobe Acrobat Writer for US $1,000+ dollars. This was the accepted way of creating PDF files for several years until other software vendors decided they wanted a piece of the action and released their own paid or free alternative to Acrobat Writer.

Today, just about anybody can create PDF file and it is 100% free if you know how. The easiest was to create a PDF file to download and install one of the several free PDF writer applications found on CNET Download.com
doPDF is one of the most popular free PDF writer software applications around.
To save a word document as a PDF file follow these steps:

1. Download doPDF from Download.com
2. Install the software application using the default installation options
3. Open installation is complete, you will notice that the program has created a new printer if you printers icon in Control Panel.
4. Open the word document or text file you want converted to PDF
5. Click File->Print and select the doPDF printer that was just created.
6. The doPDF will then create your PDF file it will then open the file for you to preview your new PDF document.

Congratulations, you have created your very own PDF file or eBook. You can now go ahead and email this to your friends or publish it on the web. There are several free alternatives to PDF Writer, but always check the free one you choose does not have a water mark on the output pages or other advertising on it. So know you know how to create PDF file for free.

Happy Computing
Regards
Steve

Tags: create pdf file for FREE, how create pdf
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (0)

Open PDF files the easy way

February 13th, 2010

Have you ever received an PDF document attachment in your email or downloaded a PDF document only to find that you cannot open PDF file or read it.
PDF files are very common these days and they are very popular file format for e-books and other electronic documents.
PDF stands for personal document file and the term was first coined by Adobe in the 1990’s.
So how do you open PDF files ….
Simply go to Adobe.com and download Adobe Acrobat Reader. This free program enables you to open and view PDF files, but it does not allow you edit the file. If you are seeking an alternative to Adobe Acrobat Reader, then you can go to my favourite download destination CNET Download.com.

Happy Computing

Regards
Steve

Tags: how open pdf, how to open pdf file
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (0)

Open pps email attachments the easy way

February 12th, 2010

Have you ever received an email with a .pps attachment only to find you cannot open it ?
Well here is the solution to open PPS email attachments
A pps file is a Microsoft Powerpoint file. And the person who sent you the file assumes you have Microsoft Office installed on your PC so can read it.
So how do you open it?
Easy, simply download and install the free Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer.
This is a 100% free application that enables to open PPS email attachments.
Just download it from CNET Download.com

Happy computing
Regards
Steve

Tags: how to open PPS files, open a pps email attachment
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (0)

Edit a Word Document without Office – Learn how

February 10th, 2010

Have you or a friend every been in the situation where you have received a Word attachment or Spreadsheet via email, and you have been unable to open it because you don’t have Microsoft Office?
Well, read on and I will show you how to open and read those word attachments.

1.Word Viewer 2003 – The easiest way to view word documents when you don’t have Word installed on you computer is to simply download and install the free Microsoft word viewer from CNET Download.com. This is a completely free application from Microsoft, than enables any Windows based computer to view a Word document.

2.Office Office – Is a open source or free Microsoft Office alternative. It has features with rival Office, but at a price most people can afford $0 . It features a word processor, spreadsheet, database and a presentation program.With Open Office by Oracle, you can both open and save word documents and excel spreadsheets.Open office has been around for nearly  eight years and has been download and installed by millions of  users world wide. Visit OpenOffice.org to download your free copy.

3.Google Docs – This is a set on online Word, Excel and PowerPoint  templates that are available free to all Google users.Simply sign up for a free account at Google and you will be able to access dozen’s of online templates that you can customize and modify to suit you needs. This also is a very popular choice for people who want a free alternative to Office.

If you have any feedback on these products, or perhaps you use some other program to open excel or word documents, please drop us a line.

Happy Computing.

Regards

Steve

Tags: Edit a Word Document, you don't have Microsoft Office
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (0)

Make Windows boot up faster – Learn how

February 8th, 2010

Don’t you just love sitting there every morning watching the Windows logo as you are waiting for your PC to boot up? This has to be one of the most annoying issues with Windows and as a tech, one of the most common questions people ask me is…. “How can I make my computer start up faster!”.

Well today I am going to show you how to fix  slow boot up problem!

One on the main reasons why  windows does take so long to boot up is due to the windows registry. You see all programs that are installed in you PC have entries in you registry. When a software package is uninstalled or it also gets removed from the registry. However, if the entry in not successfully removed or I’d the registry entry becomes damaged or invalid, this will cause your PC to boot up slower as windows is trying to find or access these invalid or missing entries.

The easy solution is to install and run a  free registry cleanup software application over your PC.This will “weed out” or remove these missing or invalid registry entries, so windows won’t go looking for them during bootup,resulting in a faster windows boot up process!

There are many free windows registry cleaners around, but  I recommend

“Glary Registry Repair“ and “Tweak Now Powerpack“. These are both found on CNET Download.com.

If you are after a simple registry repair and optimiser then Glary Registry Repair is the one to use.
It is easy to download and install, has a simple interface and features simple “Scan” and “Repair” buttons, which do the trick.

If you are after the ultimate on free registry repair and optimization then Tweek Now Powerpack is the one to choose.
It has many features to help optimise your PC including Quick Tuneup, Disk Cleaner,Registry Defragmentation and a Start up manager.

The are both 100% free software applications, and to get the best performance from your PC, you should run them on a monthly basis.

So download and run either of these utilities now,  get windows to boot faster today.

Note : If you want to improve your computers performance even further,  please click here read my previous article  on how to make your computer run faster

If you have any comments or feedback you would like to share, please let us know.

Happy Computing

Regards

Steve

Tags: Make Windows boot up faster, slow windows startup
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (0)

Free Firewall Software Programs

February 7th, 2010

The Internet unfortunately is  full of scammers and hackers trying to either steal or gain access to your personal information stored on your PC. eg. bank acounts details, paypal login details etc.

To help prevent this from happening to you, every computer should have a firewall installed on it.I always recommend you should have a minimum of Anti-virus,Anti-spyware and Firewall running on every PC, especially if you do any type of financial transactions online.

So here is my list of my Top 3 Free Firewall applications  :

1. Zonealarm - This has been my number one choice as a free firewall application for the past 7 years . This is a very efficient and effective firewall application that has many of the features that exist in the full paid versions of it’s competitors. It is easy to install and configure and it has a simple to use inferace.It has automatic updates and a “don’t ask me again” feature, so it doesn’t keep asking you to allow or deny access to application that is trying to access the internet. It had reports that show both inbound and outgoing attempts to breach your firewall. All in all, this a great application this I highly recommend as a free firewall application.

2.Comodo Internet Security - Comodo has also had a long history of providing a superior quality firewall applications for zero cost. In theirlatest version they have taken this one step futher and have combined their award winning firewall and their antivirus application into a single package. Thus, users now have a complete access to a powerful “Internet Security” software for $0 dollars. The install is straight forward and simple and the new desktop interface is easy to navigate and use.Overall I would recommend this a  free complete internet security package.

3.Online Armor Firewall & A-squared Spyware Package - Emsi Software, the makes of this software have done a great job of combining their popular free anti malware application with a well engineered firewall application.It is easy to install and features a slick looking interface with easy to navigate buttons. On top of keeping your PC safe from inbound and outbound  firewall attacks, it also features a “Mail Sheild”which scans your emails for any possible malware threats. The firewall behaves as expected and features a remember option so it does not keep asking you to allow or deny access past your firewall.

As usual all of these free firewall applications are available for download at CNET Download.com.

So if you don’t already have a firewall running, please make the time to download and install a firewall application for your PC today.

Don’t let yourself be the next victim you read about in the news, who’s  bank account was hacked into, simply becasue you didn’t have a firewall installed.

For a complete list of the best free anti-virus applications, please click here to read my review.

If you have any feedback or would like to share your experiences with free firewall software, please drop us a line.

So stay safe and happy computing

Regards

Steve

Tags: Free Firewall Software, free malware programs
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (0)

Free antivirus software applications

February 6th, 2010

Help my computer is infected with a virus !

I wish I had $1 for every time I heard one of my customers say that.

Computer viruses and spyware are unfortunately one downside of being part of the global Internet community.

Free antivirus software applications – Here is my list :

1. AVG free - this is my number one choice for Free anti virus software. It is simple to download and install . The program has a easy to use interface which  enables you to perform a virus scan with ease.By default it is configured to perform a daily virus scan which I recommend all Internet users should do.It has daily automatic updates to ensure it knows to scan for the latest virus or worm that has been released on the Internet. Overall it is simply a great well designed antivirus application that I  been personally using for the past 8 years without any major issues.

2. Avira  Free Antivirus – This is my second choice in the free antivirus stakes. It also is easy to download and install. It has a nice interface and includes automatic daily scheduled virus updates and scans. The simple user interface makes scanning easy if you need to do a manual virus scan. One annoying g feature is after every update it displays a sales pop up page asking you to register it. Other than this irritation, it is a great software package which I highly recommend.

3. Avast Free Antivirus – This is my third choice. With version 5.0 they have updated the interface into a slick looking easy to navigate software tool. It features a super fast real-time antivirus and antispyware scanning engine. The developers have made this version a more “light-weight” program, meaning that it uses less of your PC’s system resources. When you download it you can run it for up to 60 days, and then you need to register your free version. Overall I like this new version and the nice professional interface from a software vendor with a long history in the Anti-Virus market.

4.PC Tools ThreatFire Free – This is my 4th choice. PC tools have a very good name in Internet security products, and this free Antivirus software package is no exception. It features a nice , simple to navigate user interface and has the usual automatic updates, real-time scanning of virus and spyware. This software tool is somewhat different from more traditional antivirus software packages in that it takes a more pro-active approach to virus threat detection. Threatfire pro-actively  scans for  suspected virus activity before the virus actually strikes or infects the PC. This is a very cool feature for a antivirus program and it does this without using much of the PC’s resources. Overall, it is as good pick if you want to take a more proactive approach to virus and spyware detection

5. Panda Cloud Free Antivirus – This is my 5th choice. Panda Cloud is a relatively new software product and it designed to run mainly of Windows Netbooks and the so called “thin client” PC’s. Due to the growing popularity of netbook style laptops a free antivirus product like this is very much needed. The main problem with running traditional antivirus software on netbooks, is that due to their limited CPU and hardware performance , they can at times run a bit “sluggish”.This is where Panda Cloud comes into its own.Although it lacks some of the features of other antivirus programs, it is a good choice for the new generation on Windows Netbooks.

All of the above can be download from CNET Download.com

If you have any comments of feedback on any of the these or other free antivirus programs, please drop me  a line.

Regards

Steve

Tags: Free antivirus software, Top 5 free antivirus
Posted in How to Articles, Spyware Removal, Virus Removal | Comments (2)

Remove the confiker virus – Lean How

February 5th, 2010

The conflictor virus  is a very nasty computer virus that has infected million’s of PC’s world wide. Also know as the Downadup virus or confiker virus is can result in increased windows account lockouts,Windows defender and Windows Automatic updates being disabled. The method to remove the conflictor virus or confliker virus as it is also incorrectly spelled is to do the following

1. Download and install the Microsoft Update MS08-067 from the Microsoft website.

2. Download the confiker removal tool  “W32.Downadup Removal Tool”  from the Symantec Website.

Also please keep you antivirus software and Windows update up to date,unless the confiker virus will return back to your PC.

Regards

Steve

Tags: How to remove the conflictor virus, Remove the conflictor virus
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (0)

How to do a Free Online Virus Scan

February 4th, 2010

Hi All,

Do you think you may have a virus or spyware infection?

If so then you can remove it by downloading and running an antivirus software scan using a range of free antivirus software applications.
An alternative to download a free antivirus package, is to use a free online virus scanner.
One of the most popular free online virus scanners is Trend Micro Housecall.

To do a free online antivirus scan :

1. Simply visit CNET Download.com and search for “Trend Housecall”.
2. Click the Try now button and click Download Housecall 32 bit
3. After the small download is finished click on the “HousecallLauncher” to install the antivirus software
4. The program will then download the latest updates of the Free Housecall software
5. After this has  finished you can run a complete virus and spyware scan on your PC to remove any virus and spyware infections.

There are other free online virus scanners on the market, but I like this one primarily because as a PC Tech I have used this companies products for several years and the software does a great job of removing viruses etc.

When you are finished with the software, you can easily remove it from your PC via Start->Control Panel->Add/Remove Programs.

If you are interested in how to remove a computer virus please view my previous post

Please share your experiences with this or other online virus scanners

Regards

Steve

Tags: Free online Antivirus scanner, online virus scan
Posted in How to Articles, Spyware Removal, Virus Removal | Comments (0)

How to download YouTube Videos or movie clips

February 2nd, 2010

Hi All,

Have you every wanted to download a video clip from YouTube, so you can watch it over and over again or share it with a friend who does not have a PC or has a very slow internet connection?

If so then you need to download a free piece of software I came across in my travels, as one of my customers wanted to do download a video clip and burn it to  a DVD.

The software is simply called “YouTube Downloader”, and does exactly what that name suggests, it enables you to download any video clip and either play it from your PC, convert it to other formats including  to your iPhone or iPod.

You can download it from CNET Download .com.
Since discovering this I have downloaded lots of self help tutorials on lots of difference subjects from YouTube.

Have you already tried this or do you use another free downloader?
Let me know, so we can share it with other readers.
Regards

Steve

Tags: download video for free, free youtube download
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (0)

How to backup your computers files and photos automatically

February 2nd, 2010

Hi All,

Hands up who has lost important documents, tax records or pictures on their PC as a result of a Windows crash or a hard drive crash? If you have, its a terrible feeling (yes I have been there also)  

Backups  – You know they are important, but you just never get around to doing them. We all leave very busy lives these days and we all either simply forget or are just to plain busy to do a regular back every week!

So, it was with great pleasure that I came across a fantastic piece of free automated backup software called Syncback.
With Synback, you simply install it and you can schedule it to perform automatic backups every day/week/month.

It has a simple interface which is easy to setup and install. You can simply tell it which files and folders to backup, and then tell it where to back up (External hard drive, USB Flash Drive, CD-Rom drive etc) and how often and that’s it.

It is literally a set and forget program. And  you have the reassurance that if the worst every happens, you will have a back of all your important files.

To download it simply go to CNET download.com and do a search for Syncback.

Do you have any horror stories of  loosing all your data? or how you did loose you data and luckily you had a backup?

Please leave a comment or feedback.
Regards

Steve

Tags: free backup software, How to backup you pc
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (0)

Fix slow running computer – Let me show you how

January 30th, 2010

Fix slow running computer -  In todays post I am going to talk about how to speed up a pc, if you notice it is starting to run slow or freezing or lockingup

One of the most simplest ways to get your PC running back to its normal self, is to limit the number of applications that are set to run on start up.
One of the main reasons why PC run slow, as there are too many programs set to run on startup, and if any of these programs runs slows or does not respond, it makes your entire PC ruin slow.

By following the below steps,  you will see an improvement in the performance of your PC.

1. Click  Start Run and type “MSCONFIG” and press enter
2. Click on the startup tab and click “Disable All”
3. Scroll down the “Startup Item” column  and check the boxes that correspond to the names of your Internet Security,Anti Virus and firewall software.
4. Then continue scrolling through the list and check anything else that is “essential” to run on your Windows Start up.
5. Then click on “Apply”, “Close” and “Restart buttons when they appear.
6. When your PC reboots tick the “Don’t show this message again…”  message box which appears.

Done!

You PC will now run faster than it did before as less programs are in your startup. Thus you computer will not lockup or keep freezing as much.

This is completely safe procedure and you can still access all of your programs via the usual way of Start->All Programs.

If this does not help, then the next step is to run a Windows System File Scan.
The Windows System File Checker (SFC for short) scans all protected PC system files &  replaces the corrupted  files with the right ones, thus resulting in your PC running quicker.

To do this complete the following :

1. Insert your original Windows CD into the PC
2. Click  Start Run and type “sfc /scannow” and press enter
3. A “Windows File Protection” dialog box will appear, with a message advising “Please wait while….”
4. This process may take several minutes and at the end of this you should see an improvement in your systems performance.  :)

Any comments or feedback on how to fix slow running computer?

Happy Computing

Regards

Steve

Tags: fix slow running computer, How to speed up your PC, make pc run faster
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (2)

2010 the year ahead

January 8th, 2010

Hi All,

I am personally looking forward to the IT year ahead.For all you scifi geeks(like me) when I think of 2010 I always think of the 1980’s movie 2010: The year we made contact!
Anyway, this year looks to being some now innovations in IT and internet.Firstly, Google have just launched there Nexus One..
Also, Apple will release there iSlate  which they are hoping will be just a popular are the iPhone…. time will tell..

Tags: 2010 the year ahead, iSlate, Nexus One
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (0)

How to do a Windows System Restore

January 8th, 2010

Happy New Year 2010 everybody!

In todays post I am going to show you how to do a windows system restore.

With Windows XP and Vista your PC may start to freeze up or lock up on a regular basis. If this occurs after you have recently installed a software application, simply uninstall this application to see if your PC starts behaviing normally and there are no more lockups are freezing.

If the freezing still occurs, then a quick way to resolve this issue is try a system restore. To do a system restore complete the following steps.

1. Click Start->All Programs->Accessories->System Tools->System Restore
2. Click “Restore my Computer to an earlier time” and NEXT
3. Using the Calendar you can select a date and restore point of when you system was stable. eg last week or last month
4. Click a date in bold from the calendar and select a restore point on the right hand side
5. Click Next and Next again to start the restore process
6. This will take several and when the process is completed a window will advise if the system restore was successful or not
7. If it was successful, your PC is now functioning normally, and there will be no more frustrations of the PC freezing or locking up

The great thing about system restore is that you don’t loose any documents that you have created and it is a very quick way of fixing a PC stability issue.

Happy Computing

Tags: fix pc freezing, how to system restore
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (0)

how to test your internet speed

November 28th, 2009

Hi All,
People often say to me that there internet is running slow.
The best free place to test your broadband speed is at www.speedtest.net.
So if your internet speed is running slow or you simply want to test your speed, simple type this web address in your web browser and wait for the website to load up.
The website automatically detects your current location, and you click one of test points (triangles).
Then the speed test will begin (download and upload speeds).After the tests are finished, your internet speed test results are displayed.
If your speed tests are too slow, then give your internet provider a call and ask them why?
Regards
Steve

Tags: how to test internet speed free, test internet speed
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (0)

How to fix windows when it does not boot up

November 25th, 2009

What to do when Windows does not boot up.

When Windows does not bootup correctly, simply do the following :

1. Turn the PC on and press F8 during bootup
2. Choose “The last know good configuration” and windows should boot up normally.
3. If it still does not boot up then reboot the PC from the Windows CD
4. Then choose “Recovery console”  and select option “1″ when prompted
5. Then type “chkdsk /p” and press the enter key
6. Windows will then scan and attempt to fix your windows file system .
7. After it is complete, reboot your PC and windows should boot up normally.
8. If this does not solve the issue, then you have some serious windows issues
9. You will need to seek the advice of a PC Tech

Any comments  for questions, please ask

Regards

Steve

Tags: how to fix windows, windows does not boot
Posted in How to Articles | Comments (1)

Remove spyware – The beginners guide

November 21st, 2009

Hi All,

Today’s topic is about how to remove spyware

As a on-site computer technician, I  get a lot of work out of people who’s PC are infected with spyware or adware. The amount of spyware infections found on peoples PC varies, but thankfully spyware is usually very simple to remove. In the past I have used Spybot and Ad-aware to remove spyware on infected PC’s, but in recent times the only tool I ever use is Malwarebytes Anti-malware. It does a great job and you cannot complain about the price tag $0

Please complete the following steps to remove spyware from your PC :

1. Turn on your PC and press F8 during startup.
2. When the windows bootup menu appears, select the option “Safe mode with Networking” and press enter.
3. Please wait whilst the PC boots up into safe mode(which will take several minutes)
4. When windows displays a message advising you are in safe mode, click ok.
5. Open your favourite internet browser and type www.download.com into the address bar and press enter.
6. Once the website has opened, click on the Malwarebytes Anti-malware link and then click on the download link.
7. After the file has finished downloading, double click on the downloaded file to launch the installer.
8. When the installation is complete, you will see the Malware Anti-bytes icon on the desktop.
9. To run the scan, click on the icon to start the scan and click on the “Perform Quick Scan” button.
10. After the scan is finished, ensure all spyware infections are checked and click on the “Remove All”  button
11. Shutdown the PC and restart Windows normally , and repeat steps 9->10 again.

Done. All spyware infections are now removed.

This completes this blog post on how to remove spyware.
Please feel free to provide feedback or comments.

Regards

Steve

Tags: Remove spyware, Remove spyware free
Posted in How to Articles, Spyware Removal, Virus Removal | Comments (3)

Remove a computer virus the easy way

November 20th, 2009

As a computer technician I often get called out to fix people’s home computers problems.The majority of these issues are either virus or spyware related issues.
When I arrive at the customers house I usually find one of the two scenarios has occurred.

1. The customer does not have any anti-virus software installed at all!
2. The customer does have anti-virus software installed, but it is out of date.

So, when they keep getting all sorts of virus warning and errors, and they can’t put up with it any more, they call a computer Tech aka me

When I arrive on-site at the clients house and take a first glance at their infected PC, I often have a look of concern, which then worries the customer, as they start thinking “Oh no, the tech has a worried look on his face, it may not be a 5 minute job, I better had go and see if I have enough money to cover his hourly rate for up to two hours worth of work  :)”.
I usually say to the customer, who at this time is usually standing behind me watching nervously ,to “leave me to it and I will call out when I am done.”
When the customer hears this, they often get a depressed look on their face and they trod off to the lounge room or kitchen.

Anyways, back to topic at hand, how to removal a computer virus. As the majority of my customers are home users,and they don’t have a large amount of money to spend (why do thing they called me, I only charge $50 per hour!), I often choose to install a free anti-virus scanner to remove the viruses.

In my experience, by best place to find superior free anti virus software is www.download.com. This website is great, because it shows both the user feedback and editors review of most software packages. In the past I have tried a variety of free anti virus software packages including, Clam, AVG, Avira, Avast and  PC Tools. Remember I am only mentioning free anti virus software, so packages like Norton,McAfee,Trend etc will not be referred to in this post.

Though trial and error and customer feedback, the two weapons of choice I use to removal a virus from computers are AVG or Avira.The other free packages are good, but in my humble opinion, I (as well as my paying  customers), I think they do a fine job as a free piece of software.

So lets get down to it… how do you get rid of that nasty virus that has infected your PC? Well assuming your PC is running stable enough, you need to follow these steps.

How to removal a computer virus :

1. Turn on you PC and start pressing the F8 key to boot to the windows menu
2. Then scroll to the option which says “Safe Mode with Networking” and press enter
3. When the PC has finished booting up (which can take some time), windows will advise you are in “Safe Mode”.
4. You should click “OK” to this message box, and then proceed to open up your favourite Internet Browser.
5. Once the browser is open you should type “www.download.com”  in the address bar and press enter
6. Once Download.com has loaded up, you will see on their homepage either AVG or Avira Free Antivirus software.
7. Click on AVG and click on the download link (noting which folder the software is being downloaded to)
8. Once the download is complete (depended on the speed of your internet connection), you need open or run the installation file that you downloaded.
9. Choose the default installation options and once installation is complete, you will see an AVG square icon on your desktop.
10. Double click on this icon to launch the AVG Command line scanner which will scan your PC for viruses
11. All detected virus infections will be either be “healed” or moved to AVG Virus Vault automatically.
12. Once this is completed, shutdown and reboot your PC normally and run the virus scan again just to be sure all virus issues are resolved.

Done. That was not so painful after all

Moving forward, always ensure you have an up-to-date antivirus software package installed on all of your PC and that it does daily virus scans.

For more information, please refer to the AVG help FAQ’s

This concludes the how to remove a virus blog.
Please feel free to comment or ask an question.

Regards

Steve

Tags: delete malware, Remove a computer virus for free, Remove computer virus
Posted in Virus Removal | Comments (0)

Welcome to Free PC Help

November 19th, 2009

Welcome to my Blog!
Let me introduce myself.
My name is Stephen Tracey and I am IT Technician with 20 years experience in the industry. In my day job I work as PC technician and a software developer.

I have always wanted to setup a website that offered free computer and internet help for everyone, and thus I have finally started this blog!  (After three years of procrastinating about doing it !)

This website is all about providing free tech support to people with computer or internet problems, and is mainly aimed towards  the beginner to intermediate computer user.

Anyways, basically I am offering my 20 years of IT knowledge and expertise for free. Why, you may ask? Simple, it is because I am a self confessed IT Geek and I have a passion for everything IT. (My kids always call me a Geek/Nerd)

So, please feel free to post as question or comment on my blog about anything to do with PC’s or the internet.

PS: I also plan to add a free live chat module, do users can solve their problems in real time… pretty cool eh?

Thanks for reading a little bit about me and my life

Regards
Steve

Tags: AboutMe, Free computer help
Posted in AboutMe | Comments (2)

Live Activity Feed

Polls

• Polls Archive

Calendar

Categories

Select Category AboutMe How to Articles Live computer help Product Review Spyware Removal Virus Removal

Tags

Rss

• Freeware spyware removal

FREE Live Chat – Offline

Member Services

• Register
• Log in
• Entries RSS
• Comments RSS
• WordPress.org

Recent Comments

Who's Online

7 visitors online now
7 guests, 0 members

Powered by Visitor Maps

links

• Carsblog.com.au http://www.carsblog.com.au