This seems to be an virus that is getting some people hit hard.   I wanted to blog about this because of the nature of Virus and Trojans.   I have read reports that this might be from Online Movies, and I have to say this is one reason why you must stay away from certain online movies.  I am going to take a guess that this virus requires a special CODEC, and you downloaded it and installed it.  It Could also be the update the Adobe Flash player idea to but still results in getting the Virus.

As I said before you take a risk when you go to sites you don’t trust or know anything about.   You also should know that if you need a “SPECIAL” codec, you should just go on to another site.  These sites that claim they need this special codec means only one thing they want to install something without your Knowledge.

So what is this Virus:

The Virut family of viruses uses polymorphism to hide from all anti-virus protection, it infects executable files. File infection makes it very hard to repair a system that has been infected. W32/Vitro injects code in running processes and hooks the following functions in ntdll.dll which transfers control to the virus every time any of these function calls are made.

* NtCreateFile
* NtCreateProcess
* NtCreateProcessEx
* NtOpenFile
* NtQueryInformationProcess

[via Avast Forums]

After you get this very bad Virus you are done for.  You would need to install the Operating system from backups or even start a new.   This seems to be building this week and there isn’t much you can do once your infected.  I do recommend a good Anti-virus and Firewall but that wouldn’t fix the problem right now.  You will need to pull your backups out and start the process.  I suggest a complete wipe and then do the Restoring the backups.  This little virus likes to infect any .EXE it can so just restoring the Windows Directory will not help.  Remember only you can prevent from getting infected.

©2010 . All Rights Reserved.

For every computer there comes a time when you have a problem with hardware or software. This is for those who want to learn the signs of possible fixes for having hard drive problems. Although if you know you’re hard drive is dieing then you better back it up as quickly as possible. You will of course need to get the back up software to protect your data.  If you have special drivers you will need to backup yours drivers.  If you have an OEM system then you will need to backup the Hidden Partition.

So what are the warning signs of a hard drive failure:

• Unexpected freezing of Windows — When Windows Locks up and you have to reboot or getting a Blue Screen of Death.   You have no choice but to restart because you can’t do anything with windows.
• Losing data files — if you seem to see files being lost or deleted without your direct input.  It might be a sign of a computer virus or it could be a damaged hard drive.
• Locking up during boot — this is most common when you have a hard drive failure, although if you can restart and not be a problem then just keep in mind that it might be the beginning.  The more frequent you have the lockup boot problems the more chance of the hard drive dieing.
• Hard drive isn’t recognized in BIOS– Although this can be a old hard drive, if the bios can’t see it then the problem might be a hard drive failure, usually this is meaning you just have to replace the hard drive.  there’s isn’t much you can do with this problem, just replace the hard drive.  Most of the time it is a problem inside the Hard drive bios and you really can’t fix this, you’d have to send it off to possibly save the hard drive data.
• Clicking, Scratching, Whirling, Grinding sounds from Hard drive — This is the most dangerous signs of hard drive failure and means you need to get your data off ASAP.  If you want to hear some of the waring sounds of a dieing hard drive click here.

Although some of these can or can not be a hard drive failure, some can be driver issure or disk defragmentation and should be check out to rule out these problems.   There can be several problems that might be easily fixed.  If you think it is a failure you might try Spinrite.  The program is made by Steve Gibson and he actually has a “Absolute Satisfaction Guarantee“.  So if it doesn’t work or your not satisfied you aren’t out any money.  I’ve used this in the past for hard drives that are dieing so I could get all the important data off before it died all together.  It is essential that if you can get it working for a short time to get a backup.

Disclaimer: Although spinrite might fix some of the problems associated with a hard drive failure, it might not fix all the problems or any problems.   So it is left up to the user to decide if it is worth it or not to buy it.   I don’t recommend this for every situation or every problem only for the off chance that it might let you get the important data off the computer before you lose it.  Use at your own risk.

©2010 . All Rights Reserved.

As much as I like Yahoo, they decide to lay off workers due to money. It’s really not un-expected due to the fact that they’ve been doing poorly.

Yahoo began laying off 1,500 workers on Wednesday as part of a plan, announced in October, to slash expenses by $400 million a year. The cost cutting, however, may have to go deeper in the coming year.

[New York Times]

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In a report from Engadget, there seems to be more Layoffs going on.   One such one is Sony.  Here is what Engadget said:

The bad news from the Japanese consumer electronics industry continues. Sony just announced plans to cut about 8,000 global jobs from its beleaguered electronics business while making unspecified reductions to its seasonal and temporary workforce. The move, as Sony explains it, comes “in response to the sudden and rapid changes in the global economic environment.” Ominously, it looks like Sony will also be raising prices in the countries where “Sony makes significant sales” (read: US and Europe) if we’re reading this statement correctly:

[Via Engadget]

• 5 ways to improve your chance of getting hired.
• Are you asking to be scammed? (Don’t get scammed while finding a job)
• Google : Job Resources
  

If you have any others you would like to suggest please leave a comment and let everyone know.   These are hard economic times and we all could use the help.

©2010 . All Rights Reserved.

Trojan-PSW:W32/Sinowal.CP drops and loads a password stealing component on the infected system and tries to steal account information from it. It also tries to steal information that is required to access certain online banks’ and online payment systems’ websites.

[via F-secure]

It seems to be a very hard virus to remove but there are ways to get rid of this virus.   Some tips and tricks to get rid are:

• Check out my Anti-Virus Page
• Computing.net
• The Geek Police
• How to Detect Sinowal

This are the beginning steps to get rid of a Virus but it will be a really hard virus because it wants to stay in your system.  You should also Restart in Safe mode and Try to remove that virus that one.   You will also want to disable your system restore due to the fact that it will be in there and might come back if you restore your system.  Just some simple tips to help keep you safe on the net.

©2010 . All Rights Reserved.

In a move that feels more like a cruel prank than a financial strategy, Six Apart has purchased Pownce–only to shut the company down. The blogging company acquired the micro-blogging site for an undisclosed sum before announcing that it would shut Pownce in a mere two weeks.

[via PcMag]

Although This is nothing to big because those who use Pownce was using just o play around with.  People who are using Pownce will have to go back to Twitter or something other like Twit Army.   If you have an account there you will need to start looking around for another social outlet.   Some of the ones I like are on my About me page and should give you some ideas on where you look.

Although if Six Apart was smart they should of tried to Monitize the service but I guess they just wasted there money in buying Pounce.   They wanted something else from the company that owned Pounce but not sure what.

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According to PC World and I’ll quote:

According to FireEye chief scientist Stuart Staniford, detection rates are so poor that, on average, only around 40 percent of security software can detect binaries during the period of greatest infectivity and danger, namely the first few days after a particular variant starts being used by botnet builders.

[via PC World]

In a recent virus storm, We have people finding my site because of a Good Firewall.   No if he didn’t have anything but Windows firewall then it would of gotten through and you would not of known about it.  So let’s talk about how to prevent botnet attacks.   This is relatively easy and if you follow some common rules.   You to could be less likely to be infected.  I will say this most people don’t do these common tips and they should do them.

Make sure you update Windows regularly.  Having seen this time and time again, if you don’t keep windows updated then you lose the battle.  If you have a system that needs updating, I suggest downloading the Clone to Autopatcher.  This little program will download the files needed to update your system without having to be online.  Although, you can have windows update automatically every month but that might not update the recommended updates only the ones that are hot.  It doesn’t matter which way you prefer to update, as long as you do to update regularly, Like every 2nd Tuesday of the Month.

One last tip you should also keep your Firewall and Anti-virus updated.  There is a little program that will do that, it’s call AppSnap.  If you follow all these recommendations you will greatly reduce your chances of getting a virus on your system.

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OK, Black Friday has officially gotten out of hand. A 34-year-old WalMart employee was trying to hold back the crowds at a Long Island store this morning at 5am, when they took the doors off their hinges and stormed the store. The man fell down and was trampled by over 200 people as he gasped for air. It’s sad and despicable, and it’s equally the fault of the dehumanized shoppers and the WalMart store it happened at.
[via Gizmodo]

This is a sad day when people are more interested in deals then someone getting stampeded by other people.   This happened in the Long Island Wal-mart.    I much prefer CyberMonday, where you don’t have to worry about someone getting killed.   I feel sorry for the people involved they now have to deal with there conscience.   I hope this teaches Wal-mart to do something different next year.  Next year they should have them enter one at a time in a line, every 2 seconds or so!!

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Good afternoon!

We found your resume at _________________ and we would like to propose you a
position of Personal Shopping Assistant.

Imagine having an exciting job with incredible salary (up to $100,000/year) that
lets you use your creativity while being paid to shop. Welcome to the world of
personal shopping!

As we know shopping is the world’s favorite leisure activity, but in our busy
society an increasing number of people need to hire someone to do their
shopping. Thus personal shoppers are more in demand than ever before.

There are absolutely NO START-UP FEES and NO FEES for being employed at this
position. As long as you live in the USA, and you have a credit card or any
other line of credit, have 1 or 2 free hours during the day – you are eligible
for this job!

This is what you will have to do in short:
• Purchase the requested goods using your credit card.
• Send us receipts.
• Wait for us to issue a credit to your credit card in the amount of purchase
plus shipping fee plus your commission which comprises 10%.
• Ship out the goods.
• You are finished, come back for a new list of goods.

If you are interested in Personal Shopping Assistant position please fill in the
form below and send it to: Open2usa.job.dep@gmail.com
Our manager will contact you within two working days.

————————————————FORM————————————-
Full name ______________________
Residence country _____________________
Age _____________________
Contact phone ______________________
Availability time _______________________
————————————————FORM————————————-

This letter confirms your resume has been duly processed and your skills
completely meet our requirements for Personal Shopping Assistant Vacancy.

Thank You,
John Walker

I wanted to bring this up because of two things that I saw first off that made this look like a scam. One is they want to “CREDIT” your credit card and two they use a GMAIL account. I am going to say this is looking more and more like a scam. If anyone else has any other ideas about this just leave your comment.  I don’t see how this can be real.   I am thinking once they have your credit card information, they’ll start using it.

©2010 . All Rights Reserved.

GE to Layoff it workers!

According to sources of friends close to me, their seems to be a consensus that there will be a major layoff coming from GE. My source is talking about it being a lot of people will be laid off and that it will start happening in the coming weeks.

According to Yahoo Finance saying this “52 week change of GE is -50.86% from last year. ”

Now I’m not a financial expert in the least.  I just see what I see with stock prices.  These could mean they are doing extremely well, or they could indicate that the company is planning on laying people off.  I’m just trying to provide a background on why they might lay people off.  We are getting to he point of becoming a Depression and no longer a Recession.  What do you think?

©2010 . All Rights Reserved.

Time to change those clocks of ours

Having been looking at one of my old clocks that would automatically change for Daylight Savings Time, I’ve had to keep reminding myself that it is an hour off. Starting tonight at 2 PM, it will be right. So I thought I would help people keep there computer clocks up to date by suggesting some good programs to us to keep your system having the right time.  So people know what dates are being affected according to the Greenwichmeantime they say  this:

Beginning in 2007, Daylight Saving Time is extended one month and the schedule for the states of the United States that adopt daylight saving time will be:

2 a.m. on the Second Sunday in March
to
2 a.m. on the First Sunday of November.

So that saying goes it “Fall back, Spring Forward“  So now here are some great programs to better help you get your computer clock up to snuff:

Worldtimeclock Atomic Clock Sync Program – It is a free program for you to use with your Windows.  Although you have to make sure your selected the right timezone once it is installed all you will need in an internet connection to sync your windows time with the atomic clock.

PC Atomic Sync – It is an atomic clock synchronizer with some useful features (time offset, synchronize periods, etc.). The main idea of the program is to synchronize your PC’s clock in the most reliable and resource-saving way.

These programs will help keep your system from having the wrong time.   Don’t forget to install the Microsoft updates(Window XP and Server 2003) to fix your operating system with the new Daylight Savings Time dates.

©2010 . All Rights Reserved.

After looking around the blogosphere, I’ve come to the realization that people are starting to get hyped up over Windows 7.   In one blog post from it.toolbox.com:

Windows 7 is due to hit beta and release in 2009, and odds are likely that if the pundits, all of us on the blogosphere and other places like PC World, Cnet, and others all agree that this works the way a computer was supposed to work will help drive sales. What is also interesting is that Microsoft is really pushing to get this puppy out. Along with the bloat are gone the five years of development.

[Via It.Toolbox.com]

I totally agree with what he is saying on the possibility to have an operating system actually do what it is told. Some things people have been looking for in there Searches in regards to Windows Vista are:

• Vista Shutdown Problems
• User Account Control
• Vista SuperFetch
• Vista and Battery Life
• What Microsoft Doesn’t want you to know!!

From what I can tell people are really having problems with Vista and Shutting down.  It always hangs for about 10 to 20 minutes.  I’ve come up with a few tricks to shutdown vista little more.    So let’s get back to why people are so interested in Windows 7, that is easy they want to have a OS that will make them have a better experience with Vista.  I also think it was the Vista and Macintosh aids that also made people not like Vista.  Microsoft is just now starting to fight back but the Damage is done and people feel Vista is just not worth using or buying.   I tend to disagree, with the flaws of this Operating system, I’ve learn so much from diving in and getting my hands dirty so to speak.

Where is the future of Window Vista, I say the next Operating system will “Windows 7″ but it will be  Vista Version 2.  It should be far better than Version 1, because of having all that time to fix the most common mistakes and programming errors.   It is likely going to create a smoother transition for people from XP to Vista V.2.   I am not going to call it Windows 7 because it is so similar to Vista and it just doesn’t seem right.  What are you going to call it when it comes out?

I will leave the specualation for WIndows 7 for some others and how they will want to hype up this new operating system because people want something better than Vista.  I can not deny them, there will always be people to find flaws in any Operating System.  I do want want to be in the Windows 7 Beta just so I can test it out and keep people up to date on what might or might not be in the system when it comes out.   I think it has a lot of potential, don’t you?

©2010 . All Rights Reserved.

As we go further into the economic death, we are faced with the most undesirable aspect of the human culture.  That is to say, scammers are going to use the chance to find people to scam.  I don’t say this lightly because scammers have become more cunning and dubious through the years.  They are actually using the internet as well as most companies.  They are going to sites like Monster.com, Careerbuilder.com, and other hiring sites to get people to apply for jobs.

<<See Previous Post – Nationwide Marketing Scam

Having said that, I recently had a problem with being tried to be scammed.  I applied to a job posted on Careerbuilder and that is how they got a hold of my home address.  I did not think about the security problems associated with applying for jobs on line, until recently.

As you can see that is how they got a hold of my information and have made myself vulnerable to scams and also, other potential problems.  I am talking about Theft ID and also spam.  Although spam is to be expected with anything we do online.  I’ve come to the conclusion that we will always have to deal with spam.   I wanted to talk about how to be careful when you apply for online jobs and  put your information out on the internet.  I’ve started taking some steps to prevent this from happening again.

• No Longer am I going to apply for any more private companies – if I can’t see who they are then they have something to hide.
  
• To prevent spam – I am going to make an email address just for my resume.  That way I don’t have to worry about spam on my main account.
• If it’s too good to be true, it is probably not –  I am going to start using that philosophy when I’m about to apply for a job.  See picture above, advertising way to much money for a Customer Service rep.
• Don’t ever put your Social on your Resume –  That is the most crucial part, if you want your identity stolen that is one sure way to get it stolen.  Even though that should be painfully obvious it is sometimes overlooked.
  

I am sure there are more but that is the basic idea of the whole thing.  I will probably come up with even more ideas later on but this was one thing that I have been thinking about all day.    I also think we have to starting asking the questions before the seriousness of the scammers come to bear.   They will never go away but until we get serious, they will always be there to taunt us and laugh us.   I am not sure how to do it,  Do you?   Are we  just supposed to sit here and take it or do we fight back and how?   These are importantquestions  for anyone to consider when you are faced with the possiblity of fraud or being scammed?  How do we deal with it in the future? Should scammers be punished serverely or moderately?

©2010 . All Rights Reserved.

So you have all this mail you want to back up in case something terrible happens to your hard drive.  So here is ways to backup your email and other programs in Vista.  I think Vista has a new way of keeping program profiles in an hierarchical setup.  So what is the HIDDEN directory it is:

C:\Users\[USER]\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles

Now as you can see your Thunderbird profile is in a hidden directory in the AppData Directory.  You can easily get to the hidden directory by typing %appdata% {enter} in the search bar of Vista.  Now How do you backup and restore.   The program I use to backup is GoodSync.  I send the data to the cloud and when I need it I can restore it back to the directory. Now what about restoring, if you have to do a complete re-install of Thunderbird you can always copy over the back up to the Thunderbird Profiles directory and install Mozilla Thunder bird and it should see it.   If by chance you load up Thunderbird and you have to re add everything you would have to delete everything in that directory and then restore from the back up.

It is also a good idea to backup all the roaming directory from time to time.  This way you have every important program needed in case of a problem with your drive.    These are just a few tips and tricks to keep your data safe from having problems in the long run.

©2010 . All Rights Reserved.

So, let’s face it, this is one of the most annoying problems there are with programs.   Programs that you think are shut down but are actually still active in the Taskmanager.  So I figured I’d talk about some of the most common fixes for these problems.    Now as you know there can be any number of programs or glitches as they say, causing the problems.  So let’s talk about the why, shall we.

Most of the time programs don’t quit because they are waiting for some kind of response from the system or the System is waiting for the program to close by itself.  It could also be a problem with a Virus or Root kit?  How do you fix it?

Fixing the problem is somewhat just trial and Error.  It isn’t always the hardest thing to do but sometimes people overlook the easiest solutions.   So here are some easy ones:

• Check to see if one of the Microsoft updates are causing the problem –  Sometimes you might not realize it, but having installed an update can cause problems like KB951748.  That one caused a major Headache for Zonealarm.  So it is wise to check each months updates when you start seeing problems, sometimes it could of been happening for a while but it can sometimes cause troubles.
• Do a Hijackthis scan – Just in case it is virus this will tell you what programs might be the virus.  You will need to go Analyze the logs so go HijackThis Log Analysis Site 1 and HijackThis Log Analysis Site 2. Check the logs to see what viruses might be on your system.   Just Remember that if you delete something important to your system you will have to install the Operating System.
• Boot into Safe Mode and Clean out your Prefetch Directory – Yes that is right, if you boot into Safe Mode and clean the cache you sometimes help fix problems.  You see most programs loaded in cache sometimes get corrupt and might cause problems.
• Uninstall any programs that you think might problem –  This one is easily overlook because most people don’t realize that a program is loading up with your knowledge and might cause a variety of problems.  You can also check the Msconfig for that programs that might not need to be loaded up when you start windows.

These are just a few ways to fix the problem and I think if you do this most of your problems will go away.  There are of course other solutions depending on your system configuration.   As with any changes to your system, please talk to your computer care specialist if you have any questions.

©2010 . All Rights Reserved.

If your have been having problems with Flash Players stoping after 2 seconds of playing.  I have a few ideas to try to get rid of the problem.  It used to happen all the time with Vista in the early days.  Here’s what I did to occasionally get the flash player to work:

• Cleaning out the Prefetch Directory! — Having seen this from time to time. If you have programs startup that might need to be refreshed this will refresh them so that they run like new. You occasionally can get programs that will load in a odd way and this will fix that also.

• You want to be more anonymous? — Cleaning out your cache on your browser can sometimes fix the problem. It’s like anything else it can sometimes be corrupted.

• Some Important programs to prevent yourself from having viruses and Malware!! — Having seen this with my own two eyes, if you have a viruses or malware on your system that too can cause problems with playback of flash media.  So just double check making sure you don’t have any viruses.
  

• Adobe Flash tips and Tricks! — Also having found this out.  Adobe actually keeps the flash video on there servers cached or sometimes somewhat buffered to help with playback.  Clean the cache out at the source sometimes fixes the problem also.

Now having used some of these tricks to get flash players to run has on occasion worked for some strange reason or another.  Although I don’t know if this will fix the 2 second playing video problem I get the feeling it should since in theory it has everything to do with cache and corruptions of the files. If you can come up with some other tips or tricks to fix the problem let me know!!

©2010 . All Rights Reserved.

Having been using Windows Vista there are some things you must remember with Vista.  You can easily delete the recycle bin or even the Compuer icon with much thought.  I recently had a problem with that.  My son wanted to play on my computer and hit the delete key and hit enter.  So there I was without a recycle bin.  Thanks to a little figuring out, I’ve come to understand that it is just as easy to put back the icon.  Unlike Ubuntu and other linux distros if you delete the recycle bin, you have to go through some hoops.  I know I have used them in the past.  So let’s start out with what vista says when you try to delete the recycle bin.

There it says you must go to the personalization menu to fix that.  Ok so I go there and then I would need to click this:

You would have to click on “Change Desktop Icons” and then you are almost home.  Here is where you have some choices.

You will need to put a check mark in the “Recycle Bin” box and you are set to go off and do other wonderful stuff.  if you are like me and you want to have network icons and computer icons on your desktop well check those off too.  The Computer icon is useful if you need to get to the hard drive.  The network is useful if you want to get out to your local network. I should also mention the control panel, that can be useful from time to time so it is all about what you want to make space be like.  You want to have it neat and spacious then you wouldn’t want to clutter your desktop if you want several programs at your fingertips then yes do what you want.  I’ve recently discovered how useful it is to have a clean desktop.  Don’t know why but I’ve begun to work on keep my screen desktop organized.

©2010 . All Rights Reserved.

Downtime

We received a letter from a lawyer represeting the CRIA, they were threatening with legal action and we need to start blocking Canadian traffic because of this.

Thanks for your understanding, and sorry for any inconvenience.

Well, the CRIA was involved. You can now go to demonoid.com without a problem. Go check it out.

©2010 . All Rights Reserved.