PreparedPC

How to Recover from the Vista blacK Screen of Death (KSOD)

PreparedPC — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 02:58:10 +0000

Some users have been experiencing the Vista “blacK Screen of Death” (as opposed to the pre-Vista “Blue Screen of Death” where after a reboot the Windows Vista PC boots up to a black screen with a white mouse cursor and nothing else ever loads (no logon screen, etc). Turns out the problem is due to the Remote [...]

Sandboxie - Laugh (Cautiously) at the Next Browser Vulnerability

PreparedPC — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 09:23:36 +0000

What’s a Windows user to do? Between the most recent zero-day exploit to affect Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox recently named as the most vulnerable application on the Windows platform, even with all Windows updates installed, virus protection and the current version of your browser, you can still end up with a nasty malware infection. That’s [...]

Has AVG AntiVirus Made Your Windows XP PC Unbootable? Here’s the Fix

PreparedPC — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 19:33:43 +0000

AVG Antivirus 8.0’s recent set of antivirus definitions broke Windows XP by quarantining XP’s user32.dll as a bad file. There are 2 ways to fix this: Windows XP CD - If you have a Windows XP installation CD handy, follow these steps. No Windows XP CD - Grisoft has created a bootable .ISO or bootable flashdrive image. Follow [...]

Patch Windows Now - Critical For Windows 2000 and XP

PreparedPC — Sun, 26 Oct 2008 03:16:07 +0000

Microsoft typically releases updates for Windows on the 2nd Tuesday of each month (aka Patch Tuesday), but this week, they released an important patch outside of their normal schedule. The security bulletin describes the details. An issue with the “server service,” part of the Windows operating system, could allow your Windows computer to be taken over [...]

What Every Computer User Must do Now - Round up your data

PreparedPC — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 11:03:05 +0000

Corporations have disaster recovery plans, and so should you. If you want to minimize your own computers’ downtime due to hard drive failure, operating system corruption (i.e. the “Blue Screen of Death”), and the like, there are a number of solutions that you can use that can help you get back up and running quickly. [...]

Adobe’s Workaround for “Clickjacking” Issue, and What You Can Do Now

PreparedPC — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 00:03:10 +0000

UPDATE: Adobe released Flash Player 10.0.12.36. Look-wise, it’s an improvement. Take a look at the 3-D effects that Flash Player 10 supports at Alternativa’s demo site. New versions usually mean new vulnerabilities. Protect yourself with Firefox + the NoScript add-on. ———————————————————————————————- Adobe recently acknowledged a critical issue with its Flash Player. Named “clickjacking,” this occurs when a user [...]

Gmail: Prevent those “Oh no!” moments with Mail Goggles

PreparedPC — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:29:29 +0000

We’ve all been there. You’ve hastily dashed off an email, then hit the “Send” button, only to feel the pangs of regret. You wrote something that you really didn’t want to say. But it’s too late–the damage is done. If only you could have a second chance to stop that email from going out… Well, [...]

LunarSoft’s Anti-Malware Toolkit: One-Click Download of Many Utilities

PreparedPC — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:16:18 +0000

If your family and friends turn to you for help, especially when their computer’s been infected, Lunarsoft can help you. Their Anti-Malware Toolkit will download the latest versions of a suite of applications, definitions and utilities. Armed with this arsenal, you can be out the door and on your way to helping your friend in just [...]

New PC? Clean up the “Extras” with PC Decrapifier

PreparedPC — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 11:24:55 +0000

Have you unboxed a brand new Windows computer and plugged it in, only to find a desktop full of “trial-ware” installed? Perhaps the browser’s home page has been hijacked redirected to the computer vendor’s website? The situation is getting better. In early 2008, Sony began offering a “Fresh Start” option when you are purchasing a computer [...]

Firefox Add-on|NoScript

PreparedPC — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:24:44 +0000

Since mid-August 2008, users have been reporting “malvertisements,” maliciously-designed Adobe Flash banner advertisements that copy text to the clipboard in Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. While this “hijacking attack” does not infect computers directly, it copies the URL of a website offering bogus “security software.” Apparently the bad guys’ hope is that you [...]