How To Remove Internet Security 2010 and other Rogue/Fake Antivirus Malware

Friendly Computers would like to help you to clean up your computer from Internet Security 2010 and we found this article very useful for that.

If you have a PC infected with Internet Security 2010, you’re probably reading this article so you can understand how to get rid of it. Thankfully we’ve got the instructions to help you get rid of this awful thing.

Internet Security 2010 is just one of many fake antivirus applications like Antivirus Live, Advanced Virus Remover, and others that hold your computer hostage until you pay their ransom money. They tell you that your PC is infected with fake viruses, and prevent you from doing anything to remove them. Note: If you just want the instructions to get rid of it, you’ll want to scroll down a bit.

Anatomy of an Infection

Normally these infections start with a popup message like this on

Moving Forward…

Once you click the popup message, you’ll be presented with a page that looks like your My Computer view, telling you that your PC is infected. Nevermind that no real antivirus looks like this, regular PC users don’t know any better. After a few seconds of this, you’ll be presented with a popup dialog in the web page that says your PC is infect, and you can click the button to Remove all. The dialog looks real, and can even be dragged around the page—in my research, this seems to be the point where most regular users get confused. Once you’ve clicked it, you’ll be prompted to run an installer—which you might note has a number of warnings. As soon as the installer is able to execute, you are infected. You won’t be able to open up any applications. And you can’t remove it from Control Panel.  Removing Rogue Fake Antivirus Infections (General Guide)

There’s a couple of steps that you can generally follow to get rid of the majority of rogue antivirus infections, and actually most malware or spyware infections of any type. Here’s the quick steps:

• Try to use the free, portable version of SUPERAntiSpyware to remove the viruses.
• If that doesn’t work, reboot your PC into safe mode with networking (use F8 right before Windows starts to load)
• Try to use the free, portable version of SUPERAntiSpyware to remove the viruses.
• Reboot your PC and go back into safe mode with networking.
• If that doesn’t work, and safe mode is blocked, try running ComboFix. Note that I’ve not yet had to resort to this, but some of our readers have.
• Install MalwareBytes and run it, doing a full system scan. (see our previous article on how to use it).
• Reboot your PC again, and run a full scan using your normal Antivirus application (we recommend Microsoft Security Essentials).
• At this point your PC is usually clean.

Those are the rules that normally work.

Let’s Get to Removing Internet Security 2010

The first thing we’ll want to do is kill the virus that’s currently running on the system, and there’s a really easy way to kill Internet Security 2010 without downloading any special software just to kill it (we’ll still need to download something to clean it, however).

Open up the Start menu, click the Run button (or use the Win+R shortcut key), and then type in the following:

taskkill /f /im is2010.exe Hit the Enter key, and the main virus window should go away. After you’ve done that, you’ll want to quickly execute the following commands:

taskkill /f /im winlogon86.exe

taskkill /f /im winupdate86.exe

At this point the virus isn’t currently running on your system—but it’s still lurking in the shadows, but you can actually run any malware removal tools that you’d like.

Use SUPERAntiSpyware to Clean the Malware

Now that we’ve killed off all those processes, we’ll get to removing the actual malware from the system by downloading SUPERAntiSpyware and installing it. You should be able to grab the full version, or you can use the portable variety. If you grabbed the full version, make sure to use the Check for Updates button, and then click the Scan Your Computer button… make sure to perform a Complete Scan, and select all of your drives.  It should easily find and kill all of them. You’ll probably note that on this particular machine that I was using in the screenshot, there was a lot of other bad stuff that it caught as well. Woot! Once it’s done, it’ll let you remove them all in a click, and then prompt you to reboot. Job isn’t done, however!

Install Malwarebytes and Scan

Next you’ll want to install MalwareBytes and run it, making sure to run a full scan. The main reason to do this is because there’s no way a single malware removal tool can know about every single piece of malware out there, and you may as well make sure your system is clean. Install Microsoft Security Essentials

You should definitely install Microsoft Security Essentials and run another full scan once you’re done.

Note: If you used a thumb drive at any point during this process, you should make sure and scan that as well—I’ve had viruses hop over to the thumb drive, ready to infect the next machine.

Source: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/9487/how-to-remove-internet-security-2010-and-other-roguefake-antivirus-malware/

How to Update Your BIOS

Friendly Computers would like to share with you this article.

Updating your BIOS can cut boot times, fix compatibility issues, and improve overall performance--or brick your system if you do it wrong.

Your computer's BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) is the first software your PC loads. It sets the stage for your operating system, so to speak, by finding all your PC's various hardware components and letting the operating system know it can use them.

As with any software, your computer or motherboard manufacturer periodically updates the BIOS to fix bugs, add compatibility with new devices, improve caching functions, and make several other hardware tweaks that can speed up your boot time and fix annoying issues. These updates are available at the manufacturer's site. But if you make a mistake in the update process, you risk rendering your PC unbootable. Here's how to make sure your BIOS update goes without a hitch.
Step 1: Identify your current BIOS version.

The easiest way to find your BIOS version is to open up the System Information app in Windows--just type msinfo32 into the search bar (for Windows 7/Vista) or the Run box (XP), and click System Summary; your BIOS version should now show up on the right under your processor speed. Record your version number (and the date that appears afterwards, if applicable).

Step 2: Check your PC/motherboard manufacturer's Website for BIOS updates.

Most PC manufacturers handle BIOS updates based on your specific line and model, so head over to your manufacturer's support page and check its listings for your PC, because if you download and install a BIOS intended for a different model, your PC probably won't work (although most BIOS updaters are smart enough to notice if you try to install them on the wrong hardware). If there is a BIOS update file available, grab it--along with any documentation it comes with, because often warnings and specific instructions are contained in the Read Me docs.

Those of you who assembled your PC yourself will need to look for BIOS updates from your motherboard manufacturer's Website. If you don't remember your motherboard's model number, you can look it up without opening up the case by downloading and running CPU-Z and clicking on the Mainboard tab.

Step 3: Read the included documentation.

The BIOS updater's Read Me file will most likely include a list of fixes and new functions, often to support new hardware. Updating the BIOS for my Lenovo Thinkpad T500, for example, added support for a new AC adapter and a 1600-by-900-pixel screen resolution on an external monitor; the update also fixed fan speed and Webcam issues that could not have been handled by updating Windows or my specific device driver software.

More important, however, were these notes in the Read Me file: If I was running Vista on my T500, I'd need to make sure that I had a certain patch installed; and if my T500 had a certain graphics card, I would need to update its drivers above a certain version before updating my BIOS. Read and reread your docs, or you might make your PC unable to boot without even knowing why.
Step 4: Update your BIOS.

Most newer PCs have a fairly easy BIOS update procedure: Just download the .exe file from your PC manufacturer's Website, quit all open programs, run the .exe, and let it handle the patch; then reboot. If your PC suddenly shuts down in the middle of the BIOS update, you won't be able to boot up, so make sure you're not running off a laptop battery. Ideally, you're plugged into an uninterruptible power supply (UPS), especially if you're in an area prone to blackouts.

Older PCs, however, might require you to set up your own bootable disk to update the BIOS yourself. You might still be able to download an app that configures a USB thumb drive, blank CD/DVD, or even a floppy disk so that you can boot off of it to update the BIOS, or an ISO image file that can be used in your disc-burning app of choice (if you don't have such an app, try ISO Recorder for Windows XP or the version for Windows 7/Vista) to create a BIOS update CD.

Other systems will have you copy a few files to your bootable disk, restart, and open up the BIOS during startup (typically by pressing a specified key for setup options), and change the boot order so your system looks for a bootable USB drive or CD before loading the OS from your hard drive.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/187437/how_to_update_your_bios.html

How To Create and Publish Blog Posts in Word 2010 & 2007

Are you looking for a way to create and publish blog posts easier then using web interface? Friendly Computers would like to help you.Today we take a look at how to create quality blog posts in Word 2010 & 2007.

Setup Blog Account

Open Word 2010 and click on the File tab to access Backstage View. Click on New then double click Blog post. You’ll be presented with the option to register your blog account, find compatible blog services, or register later.

When you register your blog, select the provider from the dropdown menu. Next enter the blog URL, User Name, and Password.

Writing Blog Post

Creating your blog post is similar as it was in Office 2007, but now there are additional features. One of the cooler features is taking screenshots and placing them directly into your post.After you are ready to publish your post, go to the Publish button under the Blog Post tab. A confirmation screen will come up while Word is contacting the service.

Word 2007

Yep, you can also create and publish blogs in Word 2007, just minus the new editing features included in Word 2010. Word 2007 and 2010 have come a long way over the past few years, and include a lot of awesome document creation utilities. If you already use Word for your document creation, now you can create and publish blog posts too, without having to install and learn new software. Remember that Office 2010 Beta is available for anyone to download and use at the time of this writing.

Source: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/9120/how-to-create-and-publish-blog-posts-in-word-2010-2007/

Free Up Hard-Drive Space, Fast

Need to clear some storage space on your hard drive? Friendly Computers found this article very useful for that.

Your hard drive is full. Normally that isn't such a big deal, but what if you need to grab a coworker's files before she leaves for a vacation, or what if you want your massive overnight file download to go off without a hitch? Here are some short-term tips for clearing space on your hard drive until you have the time to do a proper cleanup.

Hard-Drive Spring Cleaning

Average hard-drive capacities are growing every year, so most people don't practice the same miserly storage habits that they did when megabytes (or even kilobytes) were scarce. But it's still a good idea to give your drive a fast sweep from time to time to reduce clutter and avoid filling it up prematurely. Follow these steps to eliminate junk and reclaim wasted storage quickly.

Before you do anything else, empty your Recycle Bin by right-clicking on it and choosing Empty Recycle Bin. Even the most hardened Windows veteran can occasionally forget that they left a few DVD images in there.

Open the Disk Cleanup tool; typing Disk Cleanup in the Start menu box should bring it up, or else you can find it under Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk Cleanup. Select the volume to clean. After it's done scanning your drive, it should tell you how much space you can free up by deleting different kinds of files, including cached Web pages, temporary application files, reports from Windows Error Reporting, and so on. Check and uncheck items at your pleasure, but keep in mind that the space you reclaim by clearing your temporary files or Web browser caches will fill right up as you start browsing again and using applications; if you need that space to store something else, you'll need to clean even more.

Disk Cleanup doesn't cover all of your PC's caches, either--especially if you're using a browser other than Internet Explorer. Here's how you can clear your cache with different browsers:

Firefox: Go to Tools, Advanced, Network. Click the Clear Now button to clear the cache, and adjust the amount of space that the cache uses down to what you can spare.

Safari: Enable the menu bar (click the gear in the upper-right corner and choose Show Menu Bar) if you haven't already. Then choose Edit, Empty Cache.

Google Chrome: Click the wrench icon in the upper-right corner, and go to Options, Personal Stuff, Clear Browsing Data. Here you can check what kinds of data to delete; check Empty the Cache and select Everything from the drop-down menu.

Find More Disks

Even if your hard drive is full, you probably have a handful of other disks that you can temporarily draft into extra storage duty. Obviously, other computers on your network can pull their weight, too; but if you're in an office or school environment, you might have access to a network drive for storing some stuff. Just check with a system admin to make sure it's okay before you start any file transfers.

Also, you likely own a handful of other devices that could help: A portable media player, a flash memory card, a USB thumb drive, or even the internal memory of a camera or phone can mount via Bluetooth or USB and act as a removable hard drive. Keep note of where you're storing your files, though, or you might find yourself missing something important later on.

Don't overlook your humble optical drive, either--any remotely recent computer should be able to burn CDs and DVDs, and even when most stores are closed you can still find blank optical media at an all-night pharmacy or convenience store.

If you don't have enough local storage, you can try to keep files on the Internet. Online storage services such as Box.net can provide you with an extra gig or two of storage space if you're willing to put up with the hassle of uploading and downloading your files. Also, Google recently expanded its Google Docs app to allow users to store any file up to 250MB, with 1GB of total file storage for free.

Manage Your Media

No matter how clean you try to keep your PC or how many extra disks you can bring to bear, you still can't clear away enough space without deleting something significant. Here's how you can minimize the painful choices.

For most home PCs, the only way you can possibly fill up a modern hard drive is to keep an archive of movies, music, and pictures, all of which you might have copies of elsewhere. Raw video and image files can take extraordinary amounts of space: A standard JPEG image captured with a 12-megapixel camera, for example, could consume about 6MB. Multiply that by the couple hundred pictures you take on a vacation, and you're looking at a pretty sizable chunk.

If you've already put those photos on Facebook or Flickr, however, you could clear them off your hard drive and redownload them later with Fotobounce, an app that lets you upload and download whole albums with ease. Likewise, if you have videos on YouTube and you don't need the uncompressed video files any longer, you can always get rid of them and redownload YouTube's compressed versions later.

The same goes for music files. If you keep most of your music files on your iPod as well as on your PC, delete them from the PC temporarily and get them back later with any iPod manager utility (see "Back Up Your iPod to Your PC" for more details).

Finally, delete all of the old episodes of Law and Order you have lying around your hard drive. If you haven't caught up on last year's TV viewing yet, you probably won't miss them--and chances are, you can stream the DVD on Netflix Instant Play.

If you've done all that and you still can't clear out space, you likely need to buy a new hard drive.

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/186754/free_up_harddrive_space_fast.html

How To Share Files and Printers Between Windows 7 and Vista

With three different versions of Windows being used now, you’ll probably find yourself trying to share files or printers between them. Today Friendly Computers take a look at how to share files and printers between Vista and Windows 7 machines.

Set Windows 7 Share Settings

On the Windows 7 machine we need to set up a few things in Advanced Sharing Settings. First type network and sharing center into the search box in the Start Menu and hit Enter.

Then click on Change advanced sharing settings.

Now in Advanced Sharing Settings, make sure to turn on network discovery, file and printer sharing, and public folder sharing. Make sure these are enabled in both the Home or work and Public profiles.

Depending on your setup, you might want to turn off password protected sharing. Other wise you’ll need to enter the password for each machine in, which isn’t that big of a deal. Turning it off while you’re setting it up makes things a bit easier though by saving a step.

Set Vista Share Settings

On the Vista machine we need to double check and make sure it’s sharing settings are ready to go. Right-click on Network and choose Properties.

The Network and Sharing Center opens up. Under Sharing and Discovery we need to turn on File Sharing, Public Folder Sharing, and Network Discovery.

Also on the Vista machine you might want to turn off password protected sharing … but it’s completely up to you.

Share Files Windows 7 View

Now that we have the correct settings on each machine, it’s time to put it to the test. Open up Network on the Windows 7 machine, and you should see all of the machines on the network. The Vista machine in this example is VISTA-PC.

There was no need to enter a password to access the Vista machine because password protection is turned off. But now you can go through and see the User Shared folders. In this example both public and Users directories are shared.

Share Files Vista View

Now on the Vista computer, double click on Network and you should see the Windows 7 machine (where in this instance it’s MYSTIC-PC).

I enabled password protection on the Windows 7 machine so we can take a look at the login screen that will be displayed before connecting.

Then you’ll see the folders and devices that are shared. And you can continue browsing through all available shared folders and files.

Printer Sharing

You can see the printer connected to Windows 7. Let’s make sure we can connect to it and print a test document. In Vista click on the Start menu and type printers into the search box and hit Enter.

Right-click on the shared printer and select Properties.

Under the General tab click on the Print Test Page button.

The following message is displayed while the test page prints out on the printer connected to your Windows 7 machine.

Another test you might want to perform is opening a test document and making sure you can print that to the Windows 7 printer.

Provided everything prints out successfully you might want to make it the default printer.

Troubleshooting

If your machines aren’t able to see each other or the printer isn’t working…here are a few steps you might want to use to determine where the problem is.

Double check to make sure Network Discovery and File and Print Sharing is enabled on both machines as shown above.

In this example both machines are connected to a Belkin home wireless router and IP addresses are dynamically assigned. If you are using Static addresses make sure you can ping the IP address of each computer. If not, double check the assigned IP Address and cabling of each computer…

If the printer isn’t working, double check to make sure you have the latest drivers for each OS installed

Source: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/9040/how-to-share-files-and-printers-between-windows-7-and-vista/

Your Passwords Aren't As Secure As You Think; Here's How to Fix That

Friendly Computers know that it’s very important for you to keep your private information secure. So we would like to share with you these useful tips.

If you allow applications to save your passwords, anyone with physical access to your PC can decode them unless you're properly encrypting them—and chances are pretty good you're not. Let's walk through the right and wrong ways to store your passwords.

For the purpose of this article, we'll assume that the people you allow into your house are trustworthy enough not to hack your passwords, and your laptop has been stolen instead—but the tips here should apply to either scenario. Regardless of how you choose to save your passwords, you should make sure to use great passwords and even stronger answers for security questions.

Once You Click "Remember Password" It's All Over

Almost any application that requires you to login to something will also provide an option to save your password, and once you've done that, your password may as well be plain text. Behind the scenes, even if the application encrypts the account information, it's doing so with a static key that can be easily deciphered through some reverse engineering, and somebody not only can, but already has created a utility to recover those passwords.

It doesn't even matter all that much if you've got a tough Windows password; anybody with physical access to your PC can use an Ubuntu Live CD to copy all of your data onto an external drive without modifying anything, and crack your files on another machine whenever they please (assuming you don't have your entire hard drive encrypted). If they had a little more time, they could use Ophcrack to figure out your password, or they could just be mean and use the System Rescue CD to change your Windows password.

Once that person has access to your files, they can recover your passwords with free tools easily—you can recover passwords in a few clicks from Outlook, Instant Messenger, Wi-Fi, Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, or any number of other applications. All it takes is a quick Google search to find even more cracking utilities.

Pidgin Stores Passwords in Plain Text

That's right, your favorite open-source, multi-protocol instant messenger client stores your passwords in plain text. If you don't believe me, just open up your %appdata%\.purple\accounts.xml file in your favorite text editor, and you'll see your passwords right there for anybody to read.

The decision to store the passwords in plain text is a deliberate one that's been thoughtfully considered, and while you might initially think it's a terribly insecure way to handle security, keep in mind that you can simply download any number of utilities like Nirsoft's MessenPass and recover the passwords from AIM, Windows Live Messenger, Trillian, Miranda, Google Talk, Digsby, etc. The Pidgin developers point out that their option is actually the preferred method for security:

Having our passwords in plaintext is more secure than obfuscating them precisely because, when a user is not misled by a false sense of security, he is likely to use the software in a more secure manner.

The best answer, of course, is to not allow your IM client to store your passwords at all—but if you must store them, you should at least use the built-in Windows encryption, if not a full-blown TrueCrypt setup. Either option would be better than the pseudo-protection most other applications provide.

Password Managers Are the Only Secure Storage

The only truly secure way to store your passwords is to use a password manager to securely track your passwords, combined with a a great master password to protect the rest of your saved passwords—if you use an easy password for your password manager, it would be easy to crack with a brute force attack. Don't lure yourself into a false sense of security by just using one—your password manager password should be at least 10 alpha-numeric characters if you really want to be secure.

You've got a number of great password managers to choose from, like reader favorite Keepass, a cross-platform tool which has many plugins that help you master your passwords and make using a password manager easier to deal with. And, of course, let's not forget that Firefox has a full password manager built right into the application.

Use a Firefox Master Password (With More Than 8 Characters)

If you want to use Firefox to save the passwords for all your web accounts, you should make sure to enable a Firefox Master Password by heading into Tools –> Options –> Security and checking the box for Use a master password.

Once you've done this, Firefox will store all of your passwords with nearly unbreakable AES encryption—providing you use a password with more than 8 alpha-numeric characters and at least one capitalized letter. If you used a weak and pathetic password like "secret", it could be broken in a matter of minutes with a brute force cracking tool, but a decent 8+ random character password will take at least 73 years for a brute force attack.

Each time you start Firefox and go to a site that requires a saved password, you'll be first prompted for your master password. By default, the master password authentication will be active for the entire session, but you can use the Master Password Timeout extension to lock your master password again after a certain interval, which is handy if you walk away from your desk without remembering to lock it with Win+L.

Use TrueCrypt to Encrypt Everything

Rather than deal with password managers or whether or not to save your passwords, you could simply create a separate, encrypted TrueCrypt drive, and use portable versions of your applications to keep everything totally secure. If you're even more paranoid, you can use TrueCrypt to encrypt the entire hard drive—you will be prompted for a password every time you boot, but you can relax knowing that anything you do will be encrypted, even if you use scripts with your passwords stored in plain text. If TrueCrypt isn't your thing, you can use the built-in encryption functionality in Windows—just keep in mind that if you change your password your data will be inaccessible, and your Windows password can be cracked, giving them full access to your files.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5445101/your-passwords-arent-as-secure-as-you-think-heres-how-to-fix-that

How (and Why) to Partition Your Hard Drive

Friendly Computers found this article very useful and would like to share with you.

Disk partitioning--separating one physical hard drive into multiple independent volumes--can relieve all sorts of computer-related headaches, and thanks to the Disk Management tool included with Windows 7 and Vista, you can perform the task without expensive third-party software. Here's how to use Disk Management to make the most of your hard drive.

Why Partitioning Your Hard Drive Makes Sense

Most PCs come from the factory with a single partition on their hard drive, meaning that it shows up as one drive in the Computer window (as C:, typically). But keeping your data, applications, and operating system on the same partition can be risky because, if something happens to the partition's index file (the file that tells your computer where the various pieces of your data are located), your computer won't be able to boot up off that drive--and even if you boot up with a recovery disc or external drive, you won't be able to access the rest of your data. Partitioning your hard drive essentially tells your computer to treat portions of that drive as separate entities. If you keep your system and apps on a partition separate from your data (documents, music, video, and the like), the data will be easier to back up (because your backup utility won't bother to copy the system and apps, which you can reinstall from the discs or redownload from an online source). In addition, you'll be less likely to lose your data in an accident; and if you ever need to reformat and reinstall Windows, you won't have to worry about restoring your data backups.

You can also set up an emergency partition. Suppose that Windows unexpectedly croaks and you don't have your emergency boot disc handy. If you've created a bootable partition that's large enough to contain a stripped-down OS and a handful of diagnostic tools, you can use it to rescue your data and salvage your computer. Some computer manufacturers (Lenovo, for example) supply a built-in emergency partition on some of their PCs, but you can make your own, if your PC lacks one.

Finally, partitioning lets you try out other operating systems--like Linux, for example. Generally, two operating systems can't coexist on the same volume without stepping on one another's toes, so you won't be able to dual-boot Linux or ease into Windows 7 if you're on a single-volume system.

How to Partition Your Hard Drive

Note: Users with complicated hard-drive configurations, RAID arrays, or the Windows XP operating system will likely need more-powerful partitioning software than Microsoft's Disk Management tool--EaseUs Partition Master is a good place to start.

First, back up your data. The partitioning process shouldn't delete any data, but you can't be too careful when working with your hard drive.Open the Disk Management tool by slecting Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management. An entry for Disk Management should show up underneath the Storage heading on the left-hand side.

Click Disk Management, and you should see a list of your existing drives and partitions (if applicable). To create a new partition, choose a disk that has free storage space, right-click it, and select Shrink Volume. Bear in mind that you can safely shrink only basic disks; if you try to shrink dynamic disks (such as RAID arrays) that are formatted with the NTFS file system, you'll risk losing your data.

Type in the amount of space you want to shrink the disk by. The number you choose depends on what you want to use the other partition for. If you plan to dual-boot another version of Windows, for example, you'll want a lot of space (Windows 7 requires at least 16GB of available space, for example); but if you're setting aside room for an emergency recovery partition, you won't need nearly as much space.

If you plan to install an OS in this partition (Windows or otherwise), you'll probably have to stop here--your operating system installer will likely insist on making the partition itself during the installation process. Once you've cleared the necessary space, it should show up in the Disk Management window as Unallocated Space. Right-click this entry, select New Simple Volume, and let the resulting wizard guide you through the remaiing steps of the process. Generally, you'll want to format the new partition as NTFS; and unless you're using this partition for archiving purposes, you won't need to enable file and folder compression for the whole drive. (If you decide to enable compression later, you can do it easily enough: In the Disk Management tool, right-click the partition and select Properties, Compress this drive to save space.)

Source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/185941/how_and_why_to_partition_your_hard_drive.html

Using Audit Mode in Windows 7

Friendly Computers would like to share with you this very useful article.

Audit Mode is a feature of Windows 7 (and Windows Vista) that will allow you to install and uninstall applications and drivers and make system changes without creating a user account or entering any computer information. Using Windows’ built-in Administrator account, you can install and uninstall programs, updates and drivers. When you’re finished you can repackage the OS using a program called Sysprep, which will delete the temporary Administrator account and display the Out of Box Experience (OOBE) setup wizard with which Windows users should by now be familiar.

Audit Mode is a tool that is useful only in specific circumstances, but it is very valuable to some – for example, maybe you’ve bought or built a new computer for a friend or family member, and you want to uninstall crapware or update some drivers while allowing the machine to keep that new-computer smell. Maybe you’re a small (or large) PC reseller who wants to customize a PC in certain ways before selling it or passing it to a client. In these and in other scenarios, Audit Mode can be a very valuable tool.

So, how to access it? Audit Mode can only be accessed when Windows is starting up for the first time, during the aforementioned OOBE process – this is the same whether you just installed the OS yourself from a DVD or whether you’re booting up a PC from someone like Dell or HP for the first time. When Windows asks you for your username, press CTRL + Shift + F3. This combo will stop the OOBE wizard and launch Audit Mode. When the PC boots, it will automatically login to the temporary Administrator account and launch Sysprep.

Windows 7 Audit Mode

Now, you can connect to networks, install and uninstall applications and drivers, and make other changes to the system just as you would as a normal user. Since Audit Mode runs using the built-in Administrator account, you will not see any UAC prompts as you make system changes – this is normal. You can also reboot the PC as many times as you want – it will continue to boot into Audit Mode until you run the Sysprep process.

The Windows 7 Sysprep tool

Now, let’s bring our attention to the Sysprep window, pictured above. It’s a simple tool to use, and it automatically launches in Audit Mode – once you’ve finished making changes to the operating system, you’ll need to run the tool to make the computer boot in normal mode.

Under the System Cleanup Action drop-down menu, make sure to select Enter System Out-of-Box Experience (OOBE), and to make sure that the Generalize box is unchecked - you only need to Generalize a system if you’re planning on making a disk image of the OS and deploying that image on computer with different hardware.

Under the Shutdown Options menu, I usually select Shutdown instead of Reboot – this shuts the PC down and allows you to pack it up or store it until it’s ready to be used. The next time the computer is turned on, it will ask the user for their desired account name and password just like any new PC.

Audit Mode becomes infinitely more useful and powerful when used in conjunction with other Microsoft deployment tools like the Windows Automated Installation Kit (WAIK, or just AIK), though these tools are of limited use to anyone but enterprise IT administrators. Still, complicated as these tools are, I hope to write follow-up pieces to instruct people on the basics of their use. Until then, I hope some of you find Audit Mode useful for deploying more professional-looking PCs.

Source: http://windows7news.com/2009/12/30/using-audit-mode-in-windows-7/

Keep Your PC Clean, Safe, and Backed Up in 2010

Friendly Computers would like to help you to keep your PC clean, safe and backed up in 2010.

It's the start of a new decade, and while you're busy making resolutions for yourself, you shouldn't forget about your PC. We suggest making a resolution to keep your PC clean, safe, and backed up for 2010. Here's how to make it easy.

Keep Your PC Backed Up Automatically

There's one thing that most users neglect or procrastinate on rather than actually doing, and it's also the most important system maintenance task you really need to do: Keep your PC backed up. The thing is, this doesn't need to be a time-consuming task; in fact, your best bet is to spend a small amount of time configuring automatic backups of your hard drive and just leave it alone.

A handful of great backup tools are available to choose from (MozyHome, Cobian Backup, SyncBack, Carbonite), but it doesn't really matter which one you use, as long as you make sure you're backing up your data the right way. The most important factor is that all your data exists in more than one place—you can't backup to second drive, get rid of the original files, and consider yourself backed up. Redundancy is key.

Setup Your PC to Clean Itself

Now that your data is safe, secure, and backups are totally automated, you should use some more automation to set your PC to keep itself clean, keep your hard drives healthy, and prevent problems from happening in the first place. If you're already using Windows 7 or Vista, your PC automatically keeps your drives defragmented.

Keeping your drives defragmented isn't nearly as useful if your PC is completely cluttered with temporary files and other junk that needs to be cleaned out on a regular basis. Your best bet is to setup CCleaner to run automatically on a schedule, keeping your PC nice and tidy without any action on your part. If you want to be able to trigger it manually, you can always setup a shortcut to run CCleaner silently.

Be Smarter About What You Install

With your data backed up and your PC cleaning itself automatically, the next step is to keep Windows running as fast as possible by avoiding junk software that you really shouldn't be installing—cluttered up dries from too many junk apps is the single biggest reason why people reinstall Windows on a regular basis when they shouldn't need to.

It's not only questionable software sources that you need to watch out for, however—you need to be careful when installing any piece of software to always use a Custom install, and carefully read every option. Too many people just hit the Next button through the install process, and end up installing toolbars, startup system tray apps, and other crapware components, even with popular software like Digsby (an app that, earlier this year, was taking advantage of people that don't know any better).

If you need to install a bunch of software at once, you should check out Ninite, which bulk-installs freeware applications while avoiding any of the optional toolbars that you wouldn't want.

Make Sure Your PC is Safe and Secure

Even if you carefully choose what you install, backup your PC regularly, and keep your system clean, you still need to make sure that you don't get hit with the latest security hole. Make sure that you keep Windows PC patched and updated, install important Firefox updates as soon as they come out, install Flashblock (not everyone would suggest this, but Flash is often the source of browser security holes), and get rid of Adobe Reader in favor of a better alternative. Once you've done that, you'll be a lot safer—but be sure to read our full guide to protecting your PC from a drive-by browser attack.

It should go without saying that you probably want to have an antivirus app installed, and if you won't take our recommendation of Microsoft Security Essentials, you've got a bunch of free utilities you can choose from. Just remember, you really should stop paying for Windows security.

You can't talk about security without mentioning passwords, and you should make sure to choose and remember a great password, use a password manager for those really complicated passwords, and up your savvy to avoid getting scammed online with a phishing attack.

Source: http://gizmodo.com/5439439/resolved-keep-your-pc-clean-safe-and-backed-up-in-2010