PC Memoirs

My PC was attacked again. Somehow this program called System Security 4.51 installed itself in my PC and displayed a message saying it found over 30 infections in the system. Of course, the viruses were fake. This program only wants you to believe there are threats on your hard drive, so you can go ahead and buy their antivirus software to remove them.

I tried to close the program, but it only minimized itself into the taskbar. It wasn’t listed in the programs list, so I could not remove it (Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs). I tried to open the Task Manager by pressing CTRL ALT and DEL, but as soon as it showed up the window disappeared. If that had worked, I thought I could find the process that starts System Security 4.51 and close it. Now this looked like a more serious issue.

I tried to run msconfig and regedit to find the process or files connected to this program, but as soon as I typed in the name and clicked on OK, the program displayed another message in the taskbar, saying that application was infected! It blocked other applications as well, so that I couldn’t run my antivirus and antispyware software.

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If you want to ensure that only you can access a certain file, and users you allow access to the file, then the easiest way to do so is to zip (compress) a file with Winzip/Winrar or Windows’ own compression tool.

All you need to do is download Winzip or Winrar, install the program and select the file you want to protect. Depending on whether you want to use Windows or a third party tool to protect the files, follow one of the three instructions below. The process is very similar and the result is always the same – you ‘package’ the file and add a password to it, so that only users who know the password can open the file.

Windows’ Compression Tool:

• Right click on the file, select Send to and then in the new menu select Compressed (Zipped) Folder. A new folder/file with the same name will be created, but with a .zip extension.
• Next, right click on the new file and select Explore. Under File, select Add Password, enter something that you can remember and confirm it. Now only you will be able to open the folder and access the document (and users who receive your password).
• If you want to add another file (for example Doc2) to the compressed folder (the new file you created), simply right click on Doc2, select Copy, then right click on the new folder and select Paste. Repeat this step if you have more files to add to the new, protected folder.

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In one of my previous posts I listed 10 third party defragmenting programs and I mentioned that Windows includes its own defragmenter. One reader complained that I didn’t describe how and where this Windows tool can be found. So here it is:

In Windows XP, Disk Defragmenter can be found in Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools and Disk Defragmenter. You can analyze your disk first and based on the report, you can decide if you need to defragment or not.

Windows Vista comes with an automatic disk defragmenter tool that is enabled by default. It is set to run at 1am every Wednesday but you can disable or change this. To access Disk Defragmenter, click the Start button, Control Panel and then System and Maintenance. Choose Defragment your hard drive under Administrative Tools.

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Today I’m continuing with my top 10 list of recommended software. This time the topic is defragmentation.

Before I list my top 10 programs, it might be a good idea to explain why you should care about defragmenting. As stated in Wikipedia, ‘Defragmentation is a process that reduces the number of fragmentations in the file system. This is done by physically organising contents on the hard disk to store pieces of each file close together and contiguosly’. Basically, pieces of files are scattered over large spaces on the disk with gaps, and this can later affect the performance of the PC (it takes more time to find and access a file).

Defragmentation takes care of this by compacting all the pieces, storing them in sequence and as close together as possible. This way, files are found easier and faster. Without defragmentation, your computer would be seriously affected and this would lead to significant performance loss. For more information on Defragmenting, please visit Wikipedia.

You should defragment your disk regularly (about 4, 5 times a year) to optimize your disk and ensure your computer doesn’t slow down. If you don’t, eventually a full hard drive and inefficient storing of files will cause serious problems.

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Here is a new addition to my Fun with PC category. This time you can download an application that makes the victim think Windows has been deleted! This could be an awesome prank, provided you can install the file on a friend’s computer. Another option is, you send the file to your ‘victim’ and make them believe it’s some other, real file….and then suddenly, something goes very wrong.

All you have to do is visit Computer Pranks  and download the “delete windows” file. Next, you have to extract the file and install it, and that’s it. When the user opens the file, the fun begins.

It is only a small file but the Delete Windows prank is so popular that it’s been around for almost 10 years. For more pranks, please visit http://www.computerpranks.com/

This is actually only a basic message saying Windows has been deleted, and you can easily click it away by pressing the Esc button. If you want something more advanced, you should try the delete windows file by file prank from PC Advisor. This time, when you open the mystery file, the user has to confirm whether the Windows folder should be deleted. Even when No is clicked, the simulation begins anyway and gives the appearance of all files being deleted from the Windows directory. This is a real heartstopper.

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