Month: August 2010

Power2Go 7 This is one of the sections, but they all have a similar appearance – note the facility to rip and convert audio files, and also to launch LabelPrint, a companion utility. Power2Go 7 is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, and most importantly Windows 7. While working with this program, it is no different in the way it works from Nero or most of the free offerings. The main difference for me is that it is more reliable than other utilities of this genre. As you would expect, it can handle CD/DVD’s and Blu-Ray disks. Burning times: For … Continue reading Cyberlink Reviews

I like to put my computer into hibernation when I am going to be away form it for a while. Most of the time, it goes to hibernate and stays there, but not always. Why is this? The hardware and software configuration never changes. I don’t add or remove very much at all, especially hardware. I have all of the latest drivers installed, and all applications/programs are accredited with being Windows 7 compatible. I could understand if the computer never ever hibernated. Some older computers will not, but this older computer does at least 85% of the time. Should I … Continue reading Hibernation.. no rhyme or reason

During 2006, I bought a 19” 4:3 LCD Monitor. It was bright, clear and offered more real estate than a 19” CRT type. It took up less room on the desk and generated less heat into the atmosphere too. It replaced a seven year old 17” CRT which incidentally still works. It is not as bright as it once was, and it is maybe slightly fuzzy, but it still works and is still usable. This is more than can be said for the $300 LCD. It started to flicker during 2009, then displayed only 50% of the entire view, finally … Continue reading LCD monitor lifespan

Apparently, this file does not exist, even though a computer might tell you that it does. Certainly, I couldn’t find it. I even removed the laptop hard drive and attached it to another system, just in case there was something hiding it in the host OS. From what I can gather, it is a vestige left over from the installation of a rogue anti-virus program. Somebody had been working at removing the problem and, by the time that I was called in, the rogue AV program had gone. Unfortunately, it left a trail of a destruction which no XP or … Continue reading Win32.Patched.gq

DWL G122/132 USB Adapters On the basis of a post in MS Answers.. http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7hardware/thread/8856ddb5-ff72-4f32-9e6d-5d94e6aa5182 . I decided to try out my D-Link G132 on my 64-bit Windows 7 desktop. Surprisingly, it installed and was working within a couple of minutes. Why surprising? Well, it was discontinued in 2007 and there were never any 64-bit drivers officially released for it. The last drivers ever released were for XP and Vista 32-bit only during January 2008. The G122 was also discontinued in 2007, but drivers were released for Vista 64bit during September of 2009. I am fairly sure that the G132 was … Continue reading Hardware drivers

Why does Windows Update serve these up as optional? I  would have thought that updates for any security program like Microsoft Security Essentials would be essential at the very least.  Regardless of what some consider privacy issues, updates to anti-malware solutions should be installed at the same time as definition updates. I am all for the rights of people to privacy, but I am against the right to accumulate malware which in turn will affect whatever computer is attached either through LAN or WAN. A while ago, somebody connected to my wireless signal. The computer was so badly infected that … Continue reading MSE updates..

I had been playing a game, Zuma’s Revenge, that corrupted after a while. So I decided to uninstall it for a while because I had been playing it too much anyway. It is one of many annoying yet addictive games. Revo Uninstaller I used the advanced removal procedure which claims to to a deep scan for files and registry entries. After a while, I re-installed the game, and all of the names I had played under were still evident.   Did it remove the game completely? No, it didn’t. Total Uninstall 5 I then ran Total Uninstall 5, removed Zuma’s Revenge, … Continue reading Uninstallers

A real joker is this one. The obvious effect of Findgala virus is easy to stop. All one has to do is locate the Windows Hosts file and delete it. No more browser redirection. Yippeeeee. But wait,, the browser redirection ruse is just to let you know that it has infected you. Any attempt to use an IE results in a shutdown and restart  The same happens to Firefox. Malwarebytes finds lots of infections but can’t clear the problem entirely, and neither can Superantispyware. Running them in safe mode doesn’t help either. Anti-virus programs are rendered completely useless and can’t … Continue reading Findgala..

The Intel D101GGC is a motherboard used by OEM computer manufacturers. It has little by way of labels, and I only found out what it was because I installed SIW (the free version). It must have been quite a popular 775 base, ‘must have been’ because it is no longer supported properly. No kidding!!! Type ‘D101GGC’ in a search and what you get is a list of forum posts where owners are looking for motherboard drivers. The Intel website will do a scan of the motherboard, and it does procure a list of drivers for sound and LAN. For graphics, … Continue reading All drivers?

Needless to say, the removal of the Homegroup did nothing to help the wireless cause, and I knew that it wouldn’t. But one has to try these things anyway. This morning, I used SIW to identify the wireless NIC. It is a Realtek 8191SE, and it just so happens that Realtek have a driver for the adapter on their website. It installed without issue, and the Toshiba connected to the wireless router immediately. Not sure if this is a good sign, but fingers crossed that it will work. More to follow..