5 Jan, 2009
Change can be a great thing. We’ve all heard fascinating tales of people who shed half their weight. But change can also be treacherous and destructive. A peek in history books would reveal us tales of great empires falling apart, leaving nothing but dust behind. Doubtless however, change is powerful.
Symantec’s history over the last few years seems to match the second definition. The huge security company, which just a few years ago has been the biggest and doubtless the most influencing security software developer around, witnessed a steep downfall in sales. The security giant, whose products were once installed in almost every new computer, was taunted by the Revolution of the Internet. Faster download speeds made it easier to find alternatives - some of which were free; so did online reviews and comparisons, which were available to everyone: not only in geeky computer magazines.
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8 Dec, 2008
Wow! 571 entries seems to confirm these backup drives are in hot demand. Reading those comments, a lot of you really need to develop a backup plan. If not an external backup drive, check out other options in our Home Backup Series, or even a cheap Fireproof Backup Soultion. Don’t wait until it’s too late folks!
We have contacted the winner, and received a reply with permission to use their full name. Congratulations to Ramkumar Venkatachalam of India! His comment (number 378), was drawn at random:
good old dvd’s in a pouch thats my backup strategy
It sounds like he’ll be putting the backup drives to good use.
Didn’t win? Don’t sweat it. Enter for a chance to win over $6,000 of HP hardware here, and at 49 other sites!
4 Dec, 2008
Welcome…
To the $6,000 Geeks to Go HP Magic Giveaway contest!
What?
One winner will receive a prize package valued at over $6,000! Including all of the following: 
Brought to you by HP, Microsoft, and geekstogo.com.
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25 Nov, 2008
Finding it a little more difficult to find the holiday magic this year? Still need something extra special for under the tree? HP and Microsoft have teamed up with 50 websites this holiday season to give away a total of $300,000 in prizes, in The HP Magic Giveaway. If you’ve done the math correctly, you already know that means we have a $6,000 prize package to award to one lucky winner. While the details of our contest won’t be revealed until later (subscribe to our feed), now we’ll share what’s contained in the prize package, and all 50 sites where you will have an opportunity to win!
If you’re new to this site, we share magical moments every day, by providing free tech help. Our magical moments come from helping someone solve a technology problem. It could be as simple as removing the Language Bar, or as complex as removing the latest rootkit that your antivirus missed. If you have some magic to share, or just want to learn more, please visit our forums.
The Holiday Magic Prize Package:
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What’s included? It’s an impressive array HP of hardware. An awesome 25″ touchscreen desktop, a notebook with a huge 18″ screen, a 14″ entertainment notebook, and an ultra small and light, Mini1000 netbook with a 10″ screen. Plus a MediaSmart Connect that makes it easy to share media from a computer with your HDTV (photos, music, even HD video). HP accessories include a wireless All-in-One printer/scanner/copier, and a Photo Value Pak.
Microsoft wraps up the software with Windows Vista Ultimate, Windows Vista Home Premium, and Windows XP (Mini 1000). Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition 2007 (1 DVD w/ 3 licenses), and Microsoft Windows Live. Completing the package is Corel VideoStudio X2, and the movie Kung Fu Panda (2 widescreen DVDs; 1 Blu-ray disc).
Yes, one lucky winner takes it all, and there are 50 chances to win. To see all 50 participating sites, visit the official HP Magic site, or view the complete list after the break…
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16 Sep, 2008
On several occasions I’ve had the chance to talk directly with Pat Moorhead, Vice President of Marketing at AMD. He is a very genuine, and honest person. He’s the kind of person you’d like to have as a next-door neighbor. How many marketing people can you say that about?
Recently, he was asked his opinions about netbooks. What is a netbook? The Asus Eee was probably the first to claim this new category. These $300-500 notebooks occupy a category previously dominated by small and light $2,500 notebooks. These minimal 9-10” systems are mostly geared to access the Internet. However, they have serious compromises. Pat argues that while netbook prices have gone up, notebook prices have come down. Battery life of the netbooks also fails to meet expectations, as well as no optical drive, small screen, and very small or no hard drive. What do you think about Pat’s comments, and about netbooks?
18 Aug, 2008
CastleCops.com has long hosted a number of databases essential for malware removal. These databases consist of information on components of wanted / potentially unwanted programs. They are especially useful when looking up suspicious entries in HijackThis logs. However, CastleCops has suffered from DDoS attacks and slow performance. Recently, its founder accepted a job with Microsoft, and the site has been unavailable for many days at a time. It’s future is uncertain.
Enter Systemlookup.com, a new home for these community contributed databases, hosted by Javacool. Javacool is the author of SpywareBlaster and other helpful tools. Systemlookup.com has an attractive, clean design, is very fast, and advertising free. While it’s still a work in progress, and new features are planned, it’s very useful.
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28 Jul, 2008
With the completion of our recent Home Data Backup Series, I found that many of the alternatives had the same downfall. They still relied on the user having to physically take the chosen backup media to a safe place for storage. While this could be as simple as taking a drive to a fireproof safe in the same office, it still took an extra step that really did not have to be necessary. It also limited access to the data. To combat this, I decided to “customize” my NewerTech miniStack NAS to make it fireproof. Throughout this article I’ll affectionately refer to this project as “The Tank”.
I have to start with a disclaimer. This unit has not been tested in an actual fire and this article will make no claims as to the amount of fire and heat this creation can stand. During the course of this article I am going to break the warranty on a few pieces of equipment. Follow these directions at your own risk. The author of this article and GeeksToGo.com assume no liability for those who choose to follow these directions.
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19 Jul, 2008
Many Yahoo Mail users report been getting a Google search results page that continuously pops up when trying to check their Yahoomail. The page title contains http://ad.yieldmanager.com/st?..
Since the first result on the search page is often for a topic in the malware removal forum of this site, some people even think we’re somehow responsible. While we’re not yet sure why these users are being redirected, we can tell you how to fix it.
- Download Trend Micro’s HijackThis
- Close your browser and Install HijackThis
- Open HijackThis, Select Do a system scan only button
- In the results, find this line:
O2 - BHO: Browser Address Error Redirector - {CA6319C0-31B7-401E-A518-A07C3DB8F777} - c:\windows\system32\BAE.dll
- Tick the checkbox next to that line, and select the Fix Checked button (DO NOT select any other lines without assistance).
- Restart your browser and navigate to Yahoomail. You should now be able to access it.
UPDATE: Thanks to Chris’ comment, it seems a number of people may be having this problem after Spybot Search & Destroy modifies their hosts file after using the “immunize” feature. Since editing your hosts file can be tricky for some, here’s an easy method to restore your hosts file:
Please download HostsXpert
- Unzip HostsXpert.zip
- Double click on HostsXpert.exe
- Then click on “Restore Original Hosts” to restore your Hosts file to its default condition.
- Click on Make Hosts Read Only to secure it against further changes.
- Close program when complete.
If you have any questions, or need further assistance, please read our malware cleaning guide.
29 Jun, 2008
In this, the third part of the home data backup series, we’ll discuss the various options one has in creating a backup solution using external Hard Drives. We’ll look at what’s available on the market and how best to use them. Ideally, a backup solution should be easy to create and even easier to use. Once we’ve looked over a little of what’s available, we’ll build a large capacity backup solution that will handle just about anyone’s requirements for secure data storage, will be easy to use, and will give more bang for the buck than most commercially available solutions. Let’s talk briefly about some of the devices available on the market.
Simple USB Enclosures: There are a wide variety of enclosures available that will utilize either a 2.5 inch or 3.5 inch hard drive to create an external drive of the size you choose. You’ll find everything from a “Plain Jane” box to cases that have bells, whistles, flashing lights, and sirens. Well…maybe not sirens, but there are some pretty flashy units available out there and you can build a viable backup solution that fits your tastes by simply adding an internal HDD to the enclosure of your choice. Prices range from less than $20.00 to over $150.00 (not including the HDD’s or backup software).
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19 Jun, 2008
This is the first part in a five part series aimed at helping home computer users ensure that their personal data is safe. Many home users take the safety of their data for granted. In a corporate environment, Network Administrators employ many different methods to ensure data 
viability. Unfortunately, the typical home user doesn’t have backup servers, Storage Area Networks, or mirrored drives to help ensure their data is safe.
Why is backing up your data important? Because no single storage place is really safe. Pictures of first steps, graduations, weddings, vacations, and many more irreplaceable memories are far too important to entrust in a single method of storage. Stuff happens. Taking precautions to protect your digital memories is a responsibility that comes with the digital age in which we now live.
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