Tired of dealing with computer and network issues? Want to really get away? Stay at a lighthouse on an island!
27 February 2009
How to Unplug
Tired of dealing with computer and network issues? Want to really get away? Stay at a lighthouse on an island!
15 February 2009
Remove Google Toolbar
Are you a network admin with a restriction against installing unapproved toolbars on your network? If so, this will help remove the Google Toolbar from Windows workstations at login.
Run the following reg file in your login script to automatically remove the Google Toolbar upon login.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{00EF2092-6AC5-47c0-BD25-CF2D5D657FEB}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID{2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A
5CD4F}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{AA58ED58-01DD-4d91-8333-CF10577473F7}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Google]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX
Compatibility\{2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A5CD4F}]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar]
"{2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A5CD4F}" = -
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser
Helper Objects\{AA58ED58-01DD-4d91-8333-CF10577473F7}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A5CD4F}]
14 February 2009
Novell Visio Stencils
A fairly regular request we get in the Novell Community Chat Forum is for the Novell stencils that Microsoft removed from Visio after acquiring it. Here they are!
Novell Visio Stencils - GroupWise, Clustering and eDirectory
09 February 2009
Chocolate Truffle Cake
Here's a quick and yummy dessert, for the chocoholics amongst us!
1 18.25 oz box chocolate cake mix
1 1.4 oz box instant vanilla pudding
6-7 chocolate truffles
3 oz sour cream
1/2 cup oil
4 eggs
Combine cake mix, pudding, eggs, oil and sour cream. Beat with an electric mixer at medium until well-blended. Cut truffles into small pieces, and stir into cake mixture. Pour mixture into a greased and floured 9" round cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. Makes 2 cakes.
Novell Forums Software
If anyone is curious what the Novell/openSUSE forums run on:
NNTP:
Two typhoon servers connected by a cyclone router
http://www.highwinds-software.com/
servers: forums.novell.com and forums.opensuse.org (each contains the same content)
HTTP:
Two vBulletin servers http://forums.novell.com and http://forums.opensuse.org
http://www.vbulletin.com/
The content on HTTP and NNTP is connected via a gateway we downloaded by has been custom modified by Marcel Cox to serve our needs.
07 February 2009
Saving Your Assets
Need to track your IT assets? Here are some methods suggested by professional network admins.
Asset Navigator
Spiceworks
GLPI
OCS Inventory
Asset Navigator
Spiceworks
GLPI
OCS Inventory
10 Steps to a Clean Personal Computer
by Keith KlenkeAll of the below programs are free. There is no reason you should have to spend money on a seedy program that claims it may clean your computer. Said program may actually further infect your machine & you will never get a refund.
1) Ad-Aware SE - click where it says "download now"
Once it is downloaded, install it, it is basically a next/next/next install. At the end of the install it will ask you to update the program & run a scan - go ahead & let it do so, it will probably take awhile (1/2 hour or so) to scan your computer, at the end just let it delete everything it finds. If it is unable to clean everything off it may ask to run on next
reboot, tell it yes & then reboot, then rerun the scan. If your machine is clean it should come up with "negligible objects" for what it finds. Continue on with the rest of the steps as one spyware tool does not detect & clean 100% spyware.
2) Spybot search & destroy - this one has a few more steps, but it isn't that bad - click where it says "download now"
Once it is downloaded, install it, it is basically a next/next/next install, make sure the box for teatimer is checked (that is a program that will pop up & notify you if something is making a change on your system, then it is up to you to determine if it is legit or not).
After the end of the install open up the program & update the program (update/download updates) & run a scan (search & destroy/check for problems) - it will probably take awhile (1/2 hour or so) to scan your computer, at the end just let it delete everything it finds.
3) Microsoft Windows Defender - You'll need to download this one in Internet Explorer, the rest you can download using Firefox - click the box that says continue & follow the onscreen prompts from there.
Once it is downloaded, install it, it is basically a next/next/next install. At the end of the install update the program (check for updates now) & run a scan - go ahead & let it do so, it will probably take awhile (1/2 hour or so) to scan your computer, at the end just let it delete everything it finds.
4) Antivirus - Your choice, AVGfree or AntiVir Personal
Avira Antivir Personal - click download now! At the end of the install it will ask you to update the program & run a scan - go ahead & let it do so, it will probably take awhile (1/2 hour or so) to scan your computer, at the end just let it delete everything it finds. Run this even if you have a fully functional antivirus program already.
AVG Antivirus - this is a direct download. At the end of the install it will ask you to update the program & run a scan - go ahead & let it do so, it will probably take awhile (1/2 hour or so) to scan your computer, at the end just let it delete everything it finds. Run this even if you have a fully functional antivirus program already.
5) Spyware Doctor (part of google pack) - click where it says "Install Software". Select/deselect anything else you want, click Agree and Download, and at this point sit back and watch it install. After it is installed, run the updater & scan your system.
6) Hijack This This is the big bat you pull out when the previous apps fail. You really have to know what you are doing to use this application though.
7) Once you are "clean" you should be able to run Windows update - http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com - Spyware/viruses will sometimes prevent you from getting the security updates windows requires, so even if you have your windows update set to automatic, re-run windows update manually to double check. Once there update to the latest version if needed, then run a "custom" scan. Run all the updates, reboot when finished, rerun it again to triple check after rebooting.
8) Run the thorough system inspection from here - then update to the latest versions. Rerun the scan afterwards, and if it still says you have insecure versions uninstall them.
9) Run web-based antivirus scanners, these are run-time only scanners; they do not provide background protection.
Trendmicro
Symantec
Kaspersky
Panda
eTrust (CA)
Mcafee Freescan
BitDefender Free Online Virus Scan
10) Practice "safe computing" - consider change web browsers from Internet Explorer to Firefox or Opera, changing email applications from outlook/outlook express to Thunderbird or Google mail (Gmail can check all your mail accounts & put them in one place and has an amazing spam filter).
A great enhancement to this is OpenDNS. This is a free service for home or business use that will pre-filter out bad websites before your computer can even get to them. The website will walk you through configuring your home network for use with this free bad-website blocking service (adware/phishing/etc), as well as being able to block other types of sites. This is especially handy for parents who have trouble keeping kids off "those" kind of websites.
A great website to help you keep your kids safe is Laura Chappel's site covering Internet Safety for Kids training, for parents & kids. Real interesting things covered on predators and their methods, along with other very useful information.
This should help, it might take awhile, but it should clear up your problems. If you are *still* receiving pop-ups & problems, boot into safe mode & run these programs (to get into safe mode, shutdown the computer, turn it on & start hitting the F8 key, it will then bring you to a menu, where you can choose safe mode). If you are still having problems after that, let me know & I can make a house call. After you are done with all this & are sure your computer is clean, then I would highly recommend you change all eBay/online banking/etc account passwords.
Additional tools & advice -
McAfee AVERT Stinger
ClamWin Free Antivirus
Avast Free antivirus
NOD32 antivirus
F-prot antivirusMicrosoft Malicious Software Removal Tool
Ccleaner - - this one is not an antivirus/antispyware program, however it will clean out the temporary files & directories of your computer where some virus/spyware will hide files.
If you have broadband at home you should consider buying a firewall/router. Even if you only have one computer at home, putting it behind the firewall/router will give you another layer of protection. Having your computer "naked" (directly connected) on the internet is very inviting to spyware/malware/hackers.
05 February 2009
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