The Computer Doctor of Richmond

Microsoft’s free antivirus, “Security Essentials”

Microsoft released their free antivirus, Security Essentials a few days ago.  And to make a long story short, it aint half bad!  It is a decent replacement for other free solutions or the option of simply going naked with not AV software at all.  It is relatively fast at scanning and has a small foot print (meaning it doesn’t require a lot of horse power like some other brand name AV’s).  It also does an ok job of finding infections when compared to other AV’s.

We here at TCDoR.com have started testing it to see how it stacks up against some of the big dogs like Norton, McAfee, Vipre and others.  However, our initial tests have been relatively positive as with much of the rest of the industry.  In fact techreview.com agreed and said it is quite good.

If you’re interested in trying it out, go to www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/ and download it.

Does this look familiar?

personal AV

If it does, then you or someone you know has likely been infected by a fake antivirus.  We have seen a huge surge in infections of these fake AV’s over the past few weeks.  We’ve posted about them before and they are still very nasty and constantly evolving.  These fake AV’s infect your computer many different ways, one of the most common being peer to peer programs like limewire.  However, once you’re infected they typically will try to get you to “register” their product in order to clean your computer of whatever viruses it says you have.  The problem is that it is the virus and those viruses it says you have, you don’t.  It simply wants to hold your computer hostage for ~$50.  But whatever you do, don’t pay!  You’ll likely have your credit card number stolen and used on other purchases.
These fake AV’s are known to cause all kinds of problems, starting with killing your real antivirus and then slowing your computer to a crawl and in many cases disabling the internet followed by computer death (failure to boot).  If you see a screen like the one above of one similar (remember, there are tons of different variations of these fake AV’s) call us right away.  The longer you wait the more damage it will usually do to your system.
Not only can we help clean your system, we can educate you and give you the tools so this hopefully won’t happen again.

Virginia’s tax amnesty weekend is coming in a little over a week and this means that for just a few days people will be able to buy “school” supplies and the retailers waive the sales tax charges.   Some of these supplies are just what you’d expect like crayons, pens, paper and notebooks.  You also can save on clothes and shoes.
So why is a Computer Repair shop in Richmond Virginia talking about saving money on your undies?  You can also save on some computer related equipment too.  These things are computer storage media, diskettes, compact disks, handheld electronic schedulers, personal digital assistants, printers for computers, printer paper and printer ink.  Unfortunately no actual computers are included.  But you can save on a printer if you’re in the market.  Also, in previous years of this program, it’s not uncommon for stores to extend the amnesty program to include many other things including computers.  So keep an eye out for special promotions and you might be able to save some $$$ on your next computer.

So when does the magic begin?  August 7-9, 2009

for a full list of what is covered, see here

It’s official!  When you buy a new computer between now and October 22 you’ll receive a free upgrade to Windows 7 when it comes out.  However, this only applies to new computers with Vista Home premium, Ultimate and pro/business version.  This also means that Vista Home Basic version does not come with the certificate for the free upgrade.

So what about the rest of us that already have a Vista or XP computer?  You too are in luck in that you can get a discounted upgrade to Win7 Home premium or pro/business version.  If you act quickly you can preorder the upgrade for $50 for the Home Premium or $100 for Business.  However, this is only for another few weeks (until July 11th) and online only.  XP users will also have to do a fresh full install and not just and upgrade installation like vista users.

For more info see this article from PCWorld

A few days ago we talked about how you should be using bookmarks to help keep your internet life running smooth.  Today, we’re going to tell you about a fantastic way for you to keep your bookmarks backed up and in sync across multiple computers.   Xmarks, formerly known as foxmarks is an internet browser plug in for Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari that allows you to keep your bookmarks or favorites in sync.

So what exactly does this mean for you?  First install the xmarks plug in into your browser and create your free account.  Then xmarks does the rest for backing up and syncing your bookmarks up to the web.  Then install xmarks on any number of other computers, log into your xmarks account and it will take care of the rest.  This will synchronize your bookmarks between all of your computers.
This fantastic tool can be especially useful if you are working on something at the office, and need to continue reading it at home.  Just save yourself a quick bookmark, and when you get home it will pop into your bookmarks automatically.  Moreover, if you use the bookmarks toolbar like we talked about previously, xmarks will take care of synching these too.

For more info, please see xmarks website