Win32Vitro Virus is out and about - protect your computer. It's time to get concerned again, according to my favorite guru - Mike DeMichele - at Save My Butt. This time, it's a pretty big concern if you make a habit of trolling the web and downloading out of the ordinary video files from sites that are off the beaten path. Mike says this bug gets into your computer and your external or thumb drives. From there, it can infect every executable (.exe) program you have. That means all your software - whether the software came with your computer or you installed it...

Conficker, the worm, is in its third iteration this year and has been around in other guises since who-knows-when. Yes, it's of concern and really does inhabit a couple of million computers around the world. Is Conficker the end of computing as we know it? Nope. Here's what I know. If you maintain your computer properly, run auto update for Windows (if you have a MAC, you needn't keep worrying, but do keep reading, just for fun.) and have a good antivirus program, you're probably good. If you follow my advice and do the FREE self tune up every week, you're...

Gizmodo announced the most useful tool shaped like a pair of boobs. No Oscar for them, but the article is certainly worth a grin. I won't tell you what the bosom-shaped utensil is, but do go take a look. I nearly spit my coffee into my keyboard - which has happened to me more than once. Green MP3 player - low carbon footprint - this one is fun. Believe it or not, a wind-up MP3 player that uses no electricity. I haven't tried it, but I used to have a wind-up radio. It's the thought... The How to Geek says try this one...

I called HP tech support. My PC had a problem. HPs online chat was useless. Phone support told me pack up my computer, send it to them and they'd wipe the harddrive, then fix the problem.  I'll tell you what I learned. Problem - HP laptops, have a bar on the keyboard that permit control of media devices like sound and video. Mine stopped working. The offshore tech support person's command of English was so rudimentary that she did not understand. She told me to download Microsoft Quick Launch. The HP program is Quick Touch. The second tech support person did...

Need to cure a virus? Would you rather prevent getting one? Want to avoid spyware or learn what spyware is? What about making your PC typr computer run faster and better without spending a fortune? I have exactly the site for you - it's called SaveMyButt and it can really save your butt. The site, including a robust forum for questions and ideas, is run by an enthusiastic and energetic PC guru entrepreneur out of Chicago, Mike DiMichele (pronounced Mike De Michael). He has been featured for years on a radio program called "Website Wednesday Night" on WGN radio, which can be...

        We're all big fans of Vista, aren't we? Yesterday, when I was fanny-deep in work, I suddenly discovered that I had no recycle bin on my Vista desktop. What the...? After some websearch, I found that this is a pretty common problem with Vista. One day you'll have your recycle bin snug and cozy on the Vista desktop. The next moment, it simply vanishes. So what do you do? It's an easy fix - read this, then file it so when your's goes, you'll know what to do. (This also works if you happen to right-click the recyle, attempt to...

Expert tests on Vista OS, like those from InfoWorld last spring, clearly showed that Microsoft Vista is 40% slower than was XP. Now there's a reason to spend money on an upgrade, right? Well, add to that, as we pretty much all know now, that Vista is buggy as all get out and snarly to use, and you have the picture of how business has been for this pretty lame system from Microsoft. Ok, now they're going to release the latest Microsoft operating system. You'll see it called Win7, Windows 7, and Windows 7 M3. I haven't seen the OS yet, so...

MS Windows is still the reigning operating system, though a lot of people are jumping on Linux and no one can dismiss Apple's market share. I thought we'd look today at a couple of interesting tales. If you have regular headaches from Windows and MS Office, or you can't bring yourself to let go of Win98 - read on. Network World offers PC World mogul Steve Bass' tips about living in peace with weird email attachments, passwords and other bugaboos. I especially like his walk-through on resetting your Win admin or login password. It's not simple and requires a download, but...

Isn't running backup software a huge pain in the fusteris? Of course it is, but backing up your data regularly is the smartest thing you can do to avoid massive headaches when your hard drive crashes, (and it will) or you lose something you need, or in any eventuality. Backups are necessary. Backing up is not optional. Back up software is, actually, easy and inexpensive. Backup is pretty much automatic, too. Why Back Up Your Data? Once upon a time, I was away on a business trip and my mail and calendar programs crashed. I couldn't get the data back. I couldn't...

If you suddenly dumped anti-virus scanning from your computer, you could end up in dire straits. But what if I told you it might be in your best interest to lose the pay-for-it-annually type and go for freebies? Let me put you on to a couple of sites that offer free anti-virus programs, free updates and free medicine, should you acquire a computer illness. Read about AVG by Grisoft and Avast! Non-commercial users, that is, home users who don’t make a profit with their computer, may download a free version, fully functioning, and use it indefinitely. Avast does expire, and you have...