Username: admin
Status: Site Administrator, Webmaster, Owner
Profession: Sales (non-computer related)
Location: U.S. Midwest
Age: 42 year old male
Moderates: All forums
Interests: Mountain biking, skiing, watching almost any sport, traveling, hunting, home improvement... and oh yeah, most anything to do with computers.
I've been married twelve years, and we have a daughter.

I've been involved with computers and on-line communities since the late 80's. Including building many of my own systems, and "chatting" on the old BBS bulletin boards using a 2400 baud modem. My first computing experience was an Apple IIc and some type of Tandy computer before that, but I think my first "real PC" was a Packard-Bell SX386 with a 40mb hard drive, a VGA monitor, and 256KB of memory.

Why Geeks to Go? Over the years I've gained a lot of computer knowledge through this "hobby" of mine -- and I really enjoy helping others!

What's a geek? From Whatis.com:
In computers and the Internet, a geek is a person who is inordinately dedicated to and involved with technology to the point of sometimes not appearing to be normal. Being a geek also implies a capability with the technology. Although historically, computer and Internet programming and hacking has been a male thing, there are now many "girl geeks." The term "hacker" generally connotes competence more strongly than "geek" does. The term "geek" emphasizes dedication and weirdness, although recent use of the term suggests greater social acceptance and tolerance for geeks. (Historically, a geek was a circus person whose role in the side-show was to bite off chicken's heads or perform other bizarre feats. Eric Raymond describes "computer geek" as "one who eats (computer) bugs for a living.") The term seems to be used by many in the general populace for anyone who spends a lot of or too much time at a computer.

In my opinion, the term geek has taken on an endearing meaning. Not someone who isn't normal, or socially inept, but someone that is very skilled with technology, and particularly computers. While no one is going to mistake geekstogo.com as a dating service, I hope that it does convey an image of expert computer help, available to everyone. I'm a geek, and proud of it!

Important note: Everyone you see hear is a volunteer, no one is paid. Please remember we donate considerable time and our expertise to assist you. Be courteous, polite and say thank-you to the person helping you! A few kind words that show appreciation for the service provided is always welcome.

* A note to all GeekU students: This thread is for Staff members only at this time. As soon as you have completed your training, and have become a Staff Member, we encourage you to post your introduction here*

Username: ditto
Real Name: Pat
Status: Visiting Consultant
Profession: College student
Location: Philly, PA
Age: 18 male
Interests: Web design, rowing, swimming, guitar, flash, counter-strike, comedy movies

I'll be a sophomore in college, majoring in mechanical engineering. I hope to extend my education and receive a doctorate in aeronautical engineering.

How did you find Geeks to Go!: One day I was searching for free computer support and I came here. I haven't left since. Nathan was the first to help me. I decided to become a staff member so that I could share my computer knowledge with others. There is a special feeling in doing so.

So whats next: Well for me, I'm just trying to get through my college career. I'll be here for a while though. "The term "geek" emphasizes dedication and weirdness"<-------thats me

User Name: coachwife6

Status: Global Moderator

Profession: Public Relations, Journalism

Location: Texas, by way of New Jersey

Age: Older than all of you

Mostly checks HJT and Spyware, Adware

Interests: Running, reading, fixing a number of computers in this small town (for free), gardening, watching my kids participate in sports and watching my husband coach.

I've been married 17 years, and we have four children, ages 8-15. I have mostly worked in journalism: seven years as an anchor/reporter/producer for a TV station in Texas and five years as a medical editor for a newspaper. I now get up every morning at 4 a.m. and search all the newspapers in Texas and the major ones in the U.S. for news on health and post them on our intranet system. It is my dream job. The other half of my week, I write news releases, put out the newsletter, and work as the media liaison for a state psychiatric hospital. My boss is awesome, and I truly feel blessed with my job.

My computer history: My brother is a computer programmer and I remember my father using a Radio Shack computer in the 1970s. I wasn't very computer literate - I used one at the newspaper and I remember flying to Atlanta to redesign the newspaper and there were people there talking about the Internet. They said one day, we would get all our news online, and I didn't believe it. 12 years later, here we are.
When I began working out of my home five years ago, I became my own computer technician and have learned via trial and error. It's really the only way to learn.

Why Geeks to Go? I was helping a friend and found Geeks To Go through Wilders Security. They had a list of society members and since I downloaded a great deal of programs off of Major Geeks, I picked Geeks to Go to submit my log.

Why am I here? If it was my computer, I would have donated cash for the great assistance, but since I put in so much time working on someone else's computer I thought I would repay the site by helping out. I don't know if it's something they desired, but I'm still here.

Am I a geek? I was in the band, and I played softball in high school and golf in college. I guess, compared to my husband, I am a geek. But my son and his friend saw a shirt in the mall and it said "I was uncool before uncool was cool." I am who I am.

Am I an expert? No way. I have so much to learn, but have already learned so much. I now must learn to balance helping people I don't know and meeting the needs of my family.

I guess I keep thinking back to how I was so desperate and these guys on the board: ditto, the other side, admin., soxrock helped out someone they didn't know. When I finish a log, I ask myself if it was worth it. But you know what, I always come back and do another one. So, yeah, it is.

Later.

Username: Yarnouth

Status: Visiting Consultant

Profession: Electrician & Telecommunications/ Data Engineer

Location: Kingston Upon Thames, England

Age: 28 year old male

Moderates: Anything i can tackle

Interests: Ok, what keeps me entertained. Music being the first choice, whether it's listening, playing, mixing, scratching or producing. It's something you can take anywhere. Scuba and Golf come second. Golf would just come out on top of scuba, because it's cheaper. Not for any other reason. Computers in general, are third. I love media and software. Hardware i just like to fix (electrical goods). Everything else, the arts, civilisation, further self education, architecture, ab-seiling, rock climbing, rugby, football, astrology, are all things i dable at, depending on my mood... All of which i try to balance. Time permitting. :smiley:gif
None of these however come before people.
That just goes without saying.

Why Geeks to Go? Well, stumbled across it in a search for pc problems. Loved the concept... Wondered if i could do it myself, and stuck with it. I started very late with computers, so it was like a new challenge that i could take on. The plethora of info availiable and uses for them has changed a lot of aspects of my life, making it easier or simply just changed the way i'd do things in general. Those that know me reckon it's a bad combination.
"Where've you been...pc boy?". they ask.
'Well... i managed to save 70 quid and a hangover, by staying in last night. And today i feel fresh and capable of kicking your arse's in the sporting activity we take on'

I don't do drugs. I get the same effect from simply standing up too fast.

I don't approve of political jokes. I've seen too many of them get elected.

Now that food has replaced sex in my life, I can't even get into my own pants.

I saw a woman wearing a sweat shirt with "Guess" on it. So I said. "Implants?" She hit me.

I got a sweater for Christmas. I really wanted a screamer or a moaner.

I live in my own little world. But it's OK. They know me here.


Ryan

Well I first found GTG when one of my friends gave me a Sony Vaio notebook, because her daughter slammed it shut and cracked the LCD. She was just going to throw it away and buy a new one. I asked if I could take a look at it and she said, "Sure, you can have it." Naturally I was pretty stoked about this (I mean a free computer who wouldn't be) I opened it up and saw some cracks across the monitor, but not really too bad, I could still read 98% of the screen and it started to boot. Sweet I thought. That is when all the fun began. It wouldn't boot into windows, after a couple hours of playing around with it, I got it to boot in safe mode, right on! I thought. I then formatted the hd and did a fresh install of XP Pro. Everything worked like brand new. I had it workin for a few days, and all of a sudden outta nowhere it just powered off and when I tried to reboot it said

PXE-E61: Media test failure check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting PXE ROM.

over and over and over.........

So I started looking for support all over the place, I came across Geeks to Go. I thought, "this is pretty cool".

I had been out of the Internet loop for a year or two, so all these forums everywhere were "somewhat" new to me, at least so many of them everywhere. I scoped the site awhile trying to figure out how things worked and asked for support. Everyone was very willing to offer their help, but I couldn't get it fixed. I've been in and around here ever since and have had much help with many problems. I've had more fixed problems here than anywhere else I have looked.

I used to live in Idaho until recently in July I moved to a town called Kaneohe, it's on Oahu in Hawaii. It's a pretty nice place, especially coming from way up north and dealing with bad weather for a good part of the year. I have been on and off PC's for about 10 years, the first PC I had of my own was a 486 DX/66 8MB ram, 4x cdrom and i can't even remember the size of the hd, but it surely wasn't even a gig. I think 540 mb. Anyways, I fell in love with figuring out how everything worked, I wanted to know more and more and wasn't happy until I felt I knew everything about a certain area (even though I never did). I remember going to school in 9th grade with MS-DOS 6 under my arm and reading it every spare second I got. Kids made fun, said whatever they wanted, but now who do they ask to fix their problems?... Anyways, I have a little problem with rambling on and on once I get started, so I'll get to the point. I am very happy to be the latest member of this site, and I hope I can learn alot from everybody here and meet some new friends. I am very anxious to help everybody I can to fix things that need fixin, help in the fight against spyware, adware, trojans, worms, viruses, etc....you know, and also teach others what I can. My real name is Patrick, I am attending Heald College Honolulu to get my MCSE and after that my CCNA, and I'm not really a "rotten" guy. I enjoy skateboarding, longboarding, playing the drums, listening to music (all kinds), good company, a good laugh, and of course computers.

Thanx everybody, and lets get this Geekshow on the road!

Oh and about that laptop, I've come to find out that the problem is most likely that the HD is bad. Who would've known.

Username: mpfeif101
Real Name: Matt
Status: Visiting Consultant
Profession: Student
Location: CA
Moderates: Everywhere
Interests: Sports and pretty much anything tech related
Discovered Geeks to Go: Google
Other Forums: Trusted Advisor at SpwareInfo, Slyware Warrior at TomCoyote, and I mod/do HJT logs at several other places as well

Username: Metallica
Real Name: Pieter Arntz
Status: Hijack This Expert and GeekU Moderator
Microsoft MVP Consumer Security since 2004
Profession: What I do from Monday till Friday between 08.00 and 18.00
Location: Netherlands
Moderates: at some other security boards
Interests: I like beta testing software & taking apart malware. Programming in PHP and learning VB.net
Discovered GTG: at the ASAP list

Homepage: How to remove & prevent spyware

Username: daveai
Real Name: Dave
Status: Expert
Profession: Retired geek ; now an EMT/Volunteer Firefighter
Location: Pacific NW
Other Malware Forums: SWW, SWI, TC, NI, BC
Interests: family, reading, antiques, computers, community service, HJT logs, tools, old maps, among other things
Discovered Geeks to Go: Matt

I'm older than most...sat down at my first computer in 1969. The first one I personally owned came in '82 (a Trash-80), and I've been 'rolling my own' since the mid-90's. I've been the 'fixer' for family and friends for years and years now.

Joined up in 'The Great Malware Wars' about six month ago, and have been hooked on the work ever since. It's extremely interesting, and a pleasure to help others along the way. One of the best thing about it is the people I've met...there are so many bright, talented and dedicated folks involved in this!

So now I'm looking forward to meeting the fine folks here

daveai

I'd like to take this opportunity to say hello to everyone here at GeeksToGo. I'm the new guy here. All "new guy" rules apply to me, except you can't pick on me.

Username: LineOFire
Real Name: Luis Solis
Status: HijackThis Expert
Age: 17
Profession: Student
Location: San Antonio, Texas, United States
Moderates: Nothing
Other Forums: I am registered at plenty of forums, but these are the ones I post at the most.

• Spyware Info Forums
• Spyware Warrior Forums
• TomCoyote Forums
• Tech Support Guy Forums
• Windows Forum

Interests:

• Computers - My passion, especially for fighting malware.
• Movies - I love watching movies and collecting the ticket stubs.
• San Antonio Spurs - The best team in the NBA!!!! The Spurs are looking dominant right now and they will win the title.
• Soccer/Cross-Country/Track - What can I say, I love to run.
• Music - Specifically progressive rock such as Rush, Yes, Dream Theater, Jethro Tull, etc. I can play guitar and am teaching myself how to play keyboard.

Found GeeksToGo: Through the Alliance of Security Analysis Professionals website.
Background Information: I am bilingual, speaking both Spanish and English, so if anyone needs help in Spanish out there, I can be of service.

I am actually relatively new on the malware scence. I first got infected by the CWS variant that uses secure.html in May 2004. I searched and searched through Google and finally found a fix.

Since then I have not had a single infection. A couple of weeks later I signed up for the Boot Camp at SpywareInfo. I learned so much information in the short time I've been doing this and I really must thank everyone else for the opportunities.

Needless to say, I hope to do a lot of helping around here.

This post has been edited by LineOFire: Jan 3 2005, 06:50 PM

I joined back in November and ever since then haven't managed to get to respond to a single log

I don't seem to have the hang of the responding system and I don't want to step on anyone's toes. So I've become a serious lurker.

I'm Australian. I'm an air conditioning and ventilation engineer with a diploma in music. I have had my own computers since 1983 and mostly worked on the huge network systems that run big commercial buildings but on the electronic/PLC side of IT in my job. These run plant and machinery rather than office networks. I spend a lot of time troubleshooting. I can remember 300 baud modems and bulletin boards and when viruses spread by floppy disks.

I've been fighting spyware since I first found out about it on Steve Gibson's site years ago and started to read up on it everywhere I could find information. Then a virus trashed my machine and I got a bit cross. I like my computers to be mine. I taught myself to track the infections. When a friend had a run-in with something I think was an early CWS or just a trojan but I didn't have a name. I started looking seriously into it. I did fix that one with very few tools as I didn't even know about HijackThis then. Just a basic process viewer and OS knowledge of what should be where. I have versions of HijackThis, Adaware and Spybot that are years old burnt onto CD along with some other programs that aren't around any longer. I can even remember when Adaware virtually disappeared for a few months.

I like investigating and tracking down answers.
I like opera and 60-70s rock
I like driving fast cars (and 18 wheeler rigs when I get the chance.)
I read heaps when I'm not on the net.

I had cancer three years ago and decided that I would do things I like and not waste time doing things I don't like.

I spend most of my spare time, when I'm not at work, on spyware and computer help forums - doing hijackthis logs and building and fixing friends' computers when they are in trouble. My husband built me a workroom specially for my hobby. I have three computers running and another in the process of being rebuilt. I work on volunteer crisis care telephone counselling in the rest of my spare time.

That's a bit long isn't it - sorry

Username: tj416
Real name: Terrin
Status: Visiting Consultant
Profession: Student in the 10th Grade
Location: Doha, Qatar (Latitude/Longitude: 25º 30N, 51º 51E)
Nationality: Indian
Age: 15
Other forums:

• Spyware Times Forums - Administrator (My site)
• Tech Support Guy Forums - Senior Member
• Tom Coyote Forums - Slyware Warrior
• Spyware Info Forums - Trusted Advisor
• 247fixes Forums - Advisor
• and a lot more.......

Interests: Fighting malware, Hardy Boys books, biking, web designing.

This post has been edited by Kat: Jan 29 2008, 03:02 AM

Username: Efwis
Status: spyware Expert
Profession: Web Designer, computer geek, at home dad
Location: somewhere in the midwest, where was it now?? Oh yeah Iowa
Nationality: Ameican
Age: 34
Other forums: TomCoyote.org, SWI, Besttechie, Therock247uk's forums, tech with dk, spyware Beware
Interests:computer building, website design, playing with our dog, hiking, biking, rock climbing.

I got interested in this great battle over a year ago, haven't quit since, got my first bit of help at SpywareInfo.com (SWI) adn decdied to start fighting back.

All in all just a good guy doing his job to help hapless victims of malware creators.

Username: ScHwErV
Status: Malware Expert - Geek U Mod - Geek U Administrator
Profession: Network Engineer / Computer Technician / Web Designer / Farmer
Location: Michigan, USA
Nationality: American
Age: 30
Moderates: Everything
Other forums: eoutdoorsman.com
Interests: Fighting Malware, Computers, Web Design, Playing with my puppy, Working on the farm, Gardening, PS2

I got my start fighting Malware at SpywareInfo and I continue to work there as a Trusted Advisor. Looking forward to getting to know the peeps here.

ScHwErV

username: Starjax
Status: IT Pro
Profession: IT security consultant
Location: Dallas, Texas
age: 36
forums: anandtech.com, bink.nu, neowin.net, slashdot.org, v4v.us
Interests: gaming, pc's, gadgets, trucks, hiking, cooking, theater, and movies

Been working on pc's for about 12 years. quickly built of strengths in software troubleshooting, customer service, ect. The harder the problem to solve, the more at home I am. Absolutely detest spyware/viri and the idiots that create them. I have been a security consultant for the last year. Been a member of this site since 2004.

Starjax

This post has been edited by starjax: Jan 29 2008, 11:14 AM

Username: rstones12
Real Name: Mark
Status: Staff Expert
Profession: Self-Employed (formally corporate world IT Pro)
Location: Arizona, USA
Age: Depends who's asking
Moderates: Myself when possible
Interests: Computers, Web Design, Competitve Softball, Music (not Karoke), My Own Humor ( )

Other Forums: Tom Coyote, Bleeping Computer, and a few others when they will have me.

I got started with computers about 12 years ago, my first laptop had a 20MB HDD
I also remember when MS Office was distrubuted on 25 Floppy's. I started getting involved in my spare time but now this has become a quest.


rstones12