We have an entry to add on our list of free antivirus software.  I have just created a new Downloads page so that it would be easier to find software that I recommend you to download.  New on our free anti-virus software list is the Microsft Security Essentials.  Yes, its from Microsoft and its free.   It’s basically a revamped Microsoft Live One-Care but has been made very light on resources and based on some reviews, it’s actually quite effective and unobtrosive. 
 
Although Live OneCare has not gained that much popularity and trust from pc users, with MSE Microsoft has taken all the not so useful from OneCare and left all the essentials and a very simple UI which users might really appreciate.  It has virus, malware and spyware protection. The UI has been made really simple to navigate and understand. The UI is separated by multiple tabs,  a green monitor icon tells you that everything is OK with your system, or a red one which obviously tells you something’s wrong, or yellow if your potentially unprotected.  The buttons you need to press to fix issues are hard to miss, so this is very suitable to ordinay home users. 
 
If your looking for a free virus protection software then give Microsoft Security Eseentials  a spin or you can check out my first list of free anti virus software for more options.  Keep on checking our new downloads page for new free stuff which I will sure to update.

Download Microsoft Security Essentials here.

Note:  If you are using a non certified copy of Windows, MSE will know and wont allow you to download the software if you dont pass the verification process.

Got  a call a few days ago from an aunt who was on a business trip together with my uncle.  They called me saying that my uncle’s computer was not booting up to Windows, they had no recollection of what might have caused the problem.  Upon probing, I found out that it was a Blue Screen error.  I told them to try some basic troubleshooting like booting to Last Known Good Configuration and booting to Safe Mode but none worked.

They were in Korea that time and had none of the recovery disc for their Dell Computer.  I told them to just bring the system back here in the Philippines so that I can repair it myself.  My uncle ended up buying a new computer since he needed one for his business transactions.

Today, my aunt arrived (unfortunately my uncle had to stay) with the computer (and some other goodies.. ^^,).  I immediately got my hands dirty and started working on it.  The specific error was “STOP c000021a Session Manager Initialization fails with status 0xc000026c”.  I encountered this problem before and was sure that it was a Windows Update that caused it but can’t simply remember what it was.  Google to my rescue as always, and pointed my direction to  Windows Update KB925902.

So what needs to be done was to remove this update from the machine.  If the system were able to boot to safe mode, System Restore would have been the best option.  For this we had to boot to the Recovery Console to remove the update manually.  Here’s the guide on how I removed the Windows Update manually.

1. Boot with a Windows XP CD
2. Once on the Welcome to Windows Install screen, press the letter “R” to access the recovery console.
3. Upon entering Recovery Console it will ask you which Windows installation you want to log into, usually there’s only 1, so just press the number 1 then ENTER.
4. If asked for an Admin password, enter your admin password, or you can just leave it blank which is the default and press ENTER.
5. You will now see C:WINDOWS>, change the folder using this command CD $NtUninstallKB925902$\spuninst then press ENTER
6. Type this command: batch spuninst.txt
   
7. If the command executed properly, you should see a spuninst.tag file in the folder.  To check type DIR then ENTER.
8. Type exit then press ENTER to restart the computer.

After doing this the computer should now boot up properly.  Hope this would help someone out there encountering this problem.

Have you noticed that overtime that your computer is taking longer to boot up.  From the time your press the power button until you have a fully clickable desktop takes about 5 minutes or more? Most of the time this is due to the multiple programs that are also started up when you turn on your computer.  If you noticed that there are a lot of icons in your system tray (near the clock), those are the programs that are started automatically when you turn on your computer.  Each of those applications adds to the time your computer takes to fullly boot up.  And some of those applications continue to use up your resources while running in the background and slows your computer down to a crawl.  So here’s a guide on how to disable those applications wich you dont need from starting up automatically.  I mostly prefer to disable all except for the anti virus and firewall software.

Before making any changes to the computer it is strongly advised that you make a system restore point so that we can easily restore the computer to a working state just incase we mess something up.  Ok here’s how you do it.

Step 1: Open the System Configuration Utility

• for XP, click start > run, then type msconfig on the run box and press ENTER
• for VISTA, click start type msconfig on the search box then press ENTER
• alternately, you can just press the windows logo + R to open up the run box, this works for XP and VISTA

Step 2: Disable programs from startup

• with the System configuration Utility Open, click on the startup tab
• uncheck the boxes for the programs that you dont want to load automatically on startup.  just use your judgement on which programs you want to start automatically on startup.  unckecking these boxes does not mean that you are removing the program or uninstalling it from your computer.  this just disables the program from starting automatically.  for example – you disabled yahoo messenger from startup.  the icon for yahoo messenger will no longer come up in the system tray but you can still open up your yahoo messenger by clicking on the YM shortcut in your desktop.
• click on apply, then click close
• prompt will ask you if you want to restart the computer, just click on restart

Step 3: Disabling System Configuration Utility pop-up message

•  after the computer reboots and brings you back up to the desktop, a message will come up telling you that you have just edited the system configuration utility… blah.. blah.. blah.. just click on the checkbox Dont Show this message again the click on ok.

That’s it.  This should increase the bootup time of your computer.  Most of the time its your antivirus software or firewall that takes up much of the boot up time process, but it is recommended that you do not disable these from booting up bec. the risk of running without protection will not compensate for a small increase in boot up time. 

If incase after doing this your computer will no longer boot up, try running the Last Known Good Configuration or Run System Restore.

Here’s an easy fix for a computer not booting up to Windows. It’s called the Last Known Good Configuration feature which is part of your Windows startup options. The Last Known Good Configuration allows you to start your computer by using the most recent settings that worked for your machine. Every time you turn your computer off and Windows shuts down successfully, important system settings are saved in the registry. We can use this saved setting to start the computer up normally when we encounter problems booting up our machine.

This is very useful specially when you have installed a driver or software which is causing some problems on your machine.  Doing this will not affect your files.  Here’s the guide on how to do this.

1. Power on the computer.
2. As soon as the computer start turning on, keep tapping the F8 Key.
3. You should now see the Windows Advanced Options menu.  (if you don’t see this screen, then turn the computer off and back to step 1)
4. From the menu options, use your arrow keys and highlight Boot to Last Known Good Configuration (your most recent settings that worked), then press Enter.
5. If your computer has more than one operating system installed, use the arrow keys to highlight the operating system that you want to start, and then press ENTER. Windows will then resume starting normally.

This is the same procedure for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and even for Windows 7.  So hope this has been of help to you.

If you are planning on reinstalling the Operating System of your HP laptop, or considering on recovering your computer to HP’s default factory settings, HP usually includes a set of Recovery CD/DVD that you can use to restore the computer.  This contains the Operating System, drivers and the software that came with your computer.  However, if your laptop did not come with one,  then you may still create your set of recovery discs via the HP Recovery partition included in your system.  It may also be that you just want to have a backup in case you want to reinstall the OS of your computer, then having the HP Recovery CD’s is a must.  This guide will help you create your HP Recovery discs.

Step 1: Open HP Recovery Manager

• Click Start and type recovery in the search box.  Click on Recovery Manager from the list.  Click continue if prompted.  This Opens HP recovery manager.
• Alternately, click start > all programs > recovery manager.

Step 2: Click on Advanced Options. 

Step 3: Click on Recovery Disc creation, then click next.

Step 4: Follow the succeeding prompts.  The software will tell you the number of discs that you will need.  The disc creation process will take about 10 or more CD-R or up to 3 DVD-R or DVD+R discs.   The disk will burn, verify data, then eject each CD when complete. Take note,  it is advised not to use CD-R/W or DVD-R/W discs because the process will fail.

When the process is complete, you should have a working set of HP restore disks.  Make sure to label the CD after it is created and store them in a safe place.

Note: The software will only allow you to create one set of recovery discs.  If in case the Disc Creation process fails, you need to contact HP to request for a set of recovery cd.

I’m sure you already heard of the new Operating System Microsoft is releasing right?… Yup! Windows 7 indeed. For those who may not be familiar, Windows 7 is the latest OS that will be released by Microsoft this coming October 22, 2009.  A lot of people have already taken Windows 7 for a spin via the beta and RC versions, which unfortunately is no longer downloadable, but you surely can still find some torrents from the net.

Windows 7 promises to be everything Windows Vista was supposed to be and is touted as being the next Windows XP.   Windows 7 is basically just like Vista but has been extremely optimized, in fact is said to be as stable as Windows XP.   For those people still running XP, Windows 7 is a promising upgrade, even for Vista users.

Now the question before upgrading is whether your computer is compatible with 7.  If you are running Windows Vista right now, there is a good chance that your computer is compatible, but for XP users or others, you may download a compatibility checker from Microsoft here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=1B544E90-7659-4BD9-9E51-2497C146AF15&displaylang=en.

What? Your computers not compatible?  Don’t worry, all you have to do is follow some recommendations that the checker will provide you so that your computer would be able to run Windows 7.   Upgrading your memory or video card would be an easy fix, but if your motherboard does not meet the requirements, then it may be better for you to buy a new computer with Windows 7 preinstalled.

While waiting for the release of Windows 7, it would be a good idea to start backing up your files especially for Windows XP users since Microsoft preferred a full install rather than do an in-place upgrade.  If your running Vista, you may opt to do an upgrade to Windows 7 instead, but it is still preferred that you do a full install to prevent possible problems during the update.  Remember that it is always a best practice to have a backup of your files, whether it be on an external hard drive or on a CD/DVD even if you’re not upgrading or reinstalling your operating system.