Windows Tools, Help & Guides

My last post was about looking for basic signs of malware infections: 6 Signs Of Malware Infections

That post was a little introduction, about how to know if a virus and other sort of malware is on your computer.

Now, we are going to use utilities to look for that creepy software.

I am sure that many of you are thinking, why I need to know all of this stuff if I have an antivirus?

The answer is pretty simple: many times these applications cannot remove the virus, so it is very useful to know other ways to get rid of infections.

We are going to use free utilities that exists in the operating system that can reveal if any undesired program is in your computer.

Read the rest of this entry »

Have you ever run into a situation where you need to have an urgent modification on your word documents or excel sheets but found your Microsoft Office just doesn’t work for you at that particular moment? Or the Microsoft Office trial version just expired and you are looking for some similar services at zero cost?

Introduction

With the release of Microsoft Office 2010, Microsoft have started to offer a free Cloud-based Office Web Apps which consists of four main applications – Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. With Office Web Apps, you can now create, view, edit, share and collaborate on Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote documents in the cloud, and all these can be done from virtually anywhere with a supported browser (yes, even a smartphone browser.) You do not have to install any plugins of software to enjoy the service; Office Web Apps only requires you to have a Windows Live ID–that’s all. Not only that, with Office Web Apps, you can have your precious 25GB of free storage space provided by SkyDrive filled up with your documents or notes, edit and share them on the fly, isn’t that sweet? Read the rest of this entry »

Virus, spyware and other types of malware are here to stay. Our main problem is becoming a little paranoid about the subject. One of the reasons that drives to this situation is that many people–even skilled ones–are not aware of the symptoms of having a malware infection.

This post is just a basic list, I am preparing a more advanced article about the same topic so take this one as an introduction.

The best way to know if your computer is infected by some sort of malware is by using an antivirus to detect infections. So, what is the point in this list? Sometimes, the security utilities have problems detecting some sort of virus, as happens with the more sophisticated viruses out there.

Slow performance could be seen a sign of infection, but as there are so many reasons that can drive to this behaviour is not included in the list.

Read the rest of this entry »

Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) is becoming a good alternative for those who prefer to have a free security solution.

How to get the Latest MSE Definitions

If your system cannot connect to the internet, due to a virus infection, this is your only way to be updated.  If you are experiencing problems updating your antivirus you can use this method.

The following links download the utilities, different for 32 and 64 bit operating systems,  that install the latest definitions:

Definition updates for Microsoft Security Essentials on computers running x64- based versions of Windows

Definition updates for Microsoft Security Essentials on computers running x32- based versions of Windows

Hint: Am I running Windows 32 or 64-bit?

When installing on Windows 7 and Vista you need to run as administrator. Right click mpam-fe.exe, click Run as administrator, and then click Run.

Read the rest of this entry »

Do you think your girlfriend/boyfriend is cheating on you? Are your children visiting webs and you don’t know anything about?

Many features we find in modern software are very useful, but sometimes, is complicated to know what they actually do.

InPrivate Browsing is of this kind. The name itself drives to confusion. If you haven’t read about it, you might think is a sort of protection over your privacy on Internet.

To complicate the things a bit, the browser even comes with two new modes with similar names, InPrivate Browsing and InPrivate Filtering.

This is what Microsoft tell us about InPrivate Browsing:

Read the rest of this entry »

Windows 7 has come to us as a revolution: and not just for the common user. Every change is never easy–and this is a big one–especially for people coming from Windows XP. We can be overwhelmed by the many features Windows 7 has.  But what happens if you want to do more than just use it this new operating system? Continue reading and you will see how to know more about this impressive operating system.

1. Windows Guides

One good way to start is reading the book “Windows 7 The Pocket Guide”:

Instructions to Get Free Books

If you prefer to read articles online:

• Use Check Boxes & Single-Click in Windows Explorer [Quick Tip]
• Listen to your devices on Windows 7 [How To]
• Create a Bootable Windows 7 System Repair USB Drive [Netbooks]
• Set an Automatic Wallpaper Slideshow in Windows 7

The list is very impressive and I can only suggest you read every article you find in this section:

Windows Guides – Windows 7

Read the rest of this entry »