Considering turning off UAC on your Windows Vista computer? You might want to think again.

UAC is Microsoft’s User Account Control. It’s a sometimes nagging interface that can help to protect your computer. It has specific rules on what an administrator can and cannot do. When UAC is turned on, the software on your computer is running without administrative permissions. If you or your computer attempts to perform an action that requires administrative privileges, UAC pops up a window asking if you want to elevate to administrator so the action can be completed.

The good – if left on, UAC can be an extremely effective defense against many infections. Most recently proven in a paper by AV-Test.org when they tried to infect a Windows Vista test system with rootkits. Rootkits are the nastiest of infections that work by installing a system driver that hides other infections as they steal your information or ruin your operating system. With UAC turned on, AV-Test couldn’t get any of the rootkits to install. In order to install the rootkits, they had to disable UAC.

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This site recently passed the five year mark. During that time, we’ve seen malware issues  explode. The malware removal forum has become by far the most popular forum on our message board.

At one time, removing malware generally involved running Ad-Aware, Spybot S&D and using HijackThis to clean up what was left over. However, these old standbys will not remove most of the current crop of infections.

Now we often use tools targeted at specific infections like Smitfraudfix, VundoFix, and FixIEDef. New removal tools like Malwarebytes’ Anti-malware (MBAM) and ComboFix (only to be used under supervision) are more effective at removing modern infections. New malware scanners like Deckard’s System Scanner (DSS) reveal things that HijackThis might miss.

Malware removal guides for common infections have also become popular. However, not all infections have removal techniques or tools that allow for these step-by-step instructions.

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I recently had the pleasure to review the Garmin Colorado 400t. When given the opportunity to purchase the new Microsoft Streets & Trips 2008 (S&T) with a GPS Locator included, I jumped at it. I take my laptop everywhere, literally. For me, turning my laptop into a turn-by-turn GPS seemed like the right thing to do.

I have used the Streets & Trips family of software for a few years now. I like the software. It’s always been easy to navigate, had good directions, some great features, and is easily configurable. Older versions of S&T were real heavy and burdensome on the system, but the more recent versions are lighter and run with a smaller footprint. Read the rest of this entry »

Trying to update your Zune software to the latest release (Version 2.5.447.0) and getting an “Installation Failed” message? If you are, try turning the Windows Firewall on. Yes, that’s right folks, you have to turn on a firewall to update a media player. Those power users who choose to use an alternative firewall, or an external firewall are being forced to enable the built-in Windows Firewall before the software will install.

In their infinite wisdom, Microsoft has decreed that you should enable a completely separate piece of their Operating System to be able to update your Zune Media Player. This is nothing new, its been a requirement for a few releases now, but I would have thought by now that Microsoft would have learned the error of its ways.

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Before someone gets to win it, I get to play with it. The HP Dragon arrived on my doorstep this morning. This thing is huge. By huge, I mean enormous. Literally gigantic. This is a notebook of epic proportions. You can’t call this thing a laptop, because no one has a lap this big.

This notebook will be given away via our contest. We are part of the 31 days of the Dragon sponsored by HP. Each day for 31 days, HP is going to give away one of these notebooks through a blog or other participating website. GeeksToGo.com was lucky enough to be chosen to be part of the contest. Our contest begins May 13th and will end May 20th.

On to the review. Did I mention that this notebook is big? They don’t call it a “Desktop Replacement” system for nothing. The standard size for a desktop monitor is still 17″. This monstrosity has a 20″ widescreen display. Even by desktop standards, this monitor is still big.

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Update: We have a winner! Please be sure to checkout the other contests!

GeeksToGo.com has been chosen to be part of the 31 days of the Dragon sponsored by HP. As part of this marketing campaign, each participating site creates their own contest to give away an HP Pavilion HDX Dragon notebook. If purchased, the package value is over $5,000! Package details here.

Contest Overview

Simply print the Geeks to Go logo. Take a picture or video of it. Reply in the contest submission forum topic (free registration required) with your picture or video. From the pool of contestants who properly enter the logo competition, a random entry will be chosen as the Grand Prize, HP “Dragon” notebook winner… In addition, the entries judged as the Most Creative Photo and Most Creative Video will be awarded Windows Vista Ultimate (full retail), courtesy of Geeks to Go. Have some fun with it! Take the logo somewhere interesting, exciting, or strange. Submit only a photo OR a video, not both. One entry per person.

Have fun creating your submissions, and enjoy viewing other entries. You can view contest rules, find logo downloads, and instructions for submitting your photos and videos in this topic: http://www.geekstogo.com/forum/31-Days-Dragon-Contest-Submission-Topic-t196838.html

Other contest have begun already, be sure to check them out!

http://www.31daysofthedragon.com/