An oldie but goodie, running Chkdsk (Check Disk). This is worth doing once every 6 months or when required. Complete detailed instructions are included.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Spybot's Immunize function and the new MVPS HOSTS file
I have known for a long time that Spybot's Immunize function adds a considerable amount of data to the end of the HOSTS file which, in my case is the MVPS HOSTS file. I remember having an e-mail discussion with the author of the MVPS HOSTS file and telling him this. At the time he was not aware of this, and so we agreed I would send him supporting data (before and after Spybot's run HOSTS files). It is quite clear what Spybot's Immunize does (at least in this regard) when one takes a look at the before and after HOSTS files.
What am I talking about you may ask?
What I am getting at is that the author of the MVPS HOSTS file was not, at that time, impressed by what Spybot did, and he seemed to say it was a waste, most likely redundant data added to the end- I forget. In any case, I am doing something new now because of this.
This morning I noticed that the new July version of the MVPS HOSTS file was available. I took a look at my current HOSTS file (the June version) and it was, best I can recall, 597KB in size. I then ran Spybot (update, immunize, and sarch & destroy). My HOSTS file went from 597KB to nearly 1MB, a substantial increase. FYI, the entire HOSTS file is loaded into memory at boot time, so this is a substantial increase which buys one little or nothing.
My new approach is this. When the new monthly MVPS HOSTS file is made available, I will first do a full Spybot run and THEN install the new MVPS HOSTS file. I will thus wind up with a HOSTS file in size of about 600KB vs. one of about 1MB, knowing the larger version would do me little or no good. Capiche? If not, please ask.
What am I talking about you may ask?
What I am getting at is that the author of the MVPS HOSTS file was not, at that time, impressed by what Spybot did, and he seemed to say it was a waste, most likely redundant data added to the end- I forget. In any case, I am doing something new now because of this.
This morning I noticed that the new July version of the MVPS HOSTS file was available. I took a look at my current HOSTS file (the June version) and it was, best I can recall, 597KB in size. I then ran Spybot (update, immunize, and sarch & destroy). My HOSTS file went from 597KB to nearly 1MB, a substantial increase. FYI, the entire HOSTS file is loaded into memory at boot time, so this is a substantial increase which buys one little or nothing.
My new approach is this. When the new monthly MVPS HOSTS file is made available, I will first do a full Spybot run and THEN install the new MVPS HOSTS file. I will thus wind up with a HOSTS file in size of about 600KB vs. one of about 1MB, knowing the larger version would do me little or no good. Capiche? If not, please ask.
HOSTS News (worth bookmarking)
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool
I had 5 updates from Microsoft yesterday. You'll all have differing numbers, bu mine was 5. One of these was the monthly MS Malicious Software Removal Tool ( I call it MSRT for obvious reasons). I promised last month that I'd follow up with someI better information about this tool. This is what I found:
Microsoft will only run a Quick Scan with the tool after it is downloaded and installed. This is as I had thought and is why I have always recommended that we all manually run a Full Scan. MS will run a quick scan in stealth mode. You'll never know when it is running and you won't see any output from the tool - unless it finds a problem.
The first thing you should do once you have checked your updates (Check the update history to see if it was installed this week) is to run a Full Scan. There is a quick and easy way to do this, much simpler than the method I have posted in the past. First click on START, then RUN, and enter MRT (go figure why they left out the S) in the command line then click on OK.
Yes, you can click on that picture above to see the larger version.
In the resulting window note the month in the application banner at the top of the window.
In this case it says July 2010, and yours should as well. Click on Next and then select Full Scan. Just let it run. It takes forever but should not impact your use of your machine. It seems to have very low overhead.
As I post this, mine has been running for over 2.5 hours and it may run a lot longer. I don't care because it is very cheap insurance. Go for it!
Microsoft will only run a Quick Scan with the tool after it is downloaded and installed. This is as I had thought and is why I have always recommended that we all manually run a Full Scan. MS will run a quick scan in stealth mode. You'll never know when it is running and you won't see any output from the tool - unless it finds a problem.
The first thing you should do once you have checked your updates (Check the update history to see if it was installed this week) is to run a Full Scan. There is a quick and easy way to do this, much simpler than the method I have posted in the past. First click on START, then RUN, and enter MRT (go figure why they left out the S) in the command line then click on OK.
Yes, you can click on that picture above to see the larger version.
In the resulting window note the month in the application banner at the top of the window.
As I post this, mine has been running for over 2.5 hours and it may run a lot longer. I don't care because it is very cheap insurance. Go for it!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Summer Doldrums
Doldrums definition: a state or period of inactivity, stagnation, or slump. Things have been busy and I am having trouble trying to post to this blog on a daily basis.
So, instead of being totally idle, I will from time to time provide links to some oldies but goodies. I had a customer tell me recently that she forgot how to defragment her hard drive. It's important that you do this regularly, like maybe every 3 months or so. At this link you will find detailed instructions on how to do this. Do it even if the Analyze step says you don't need to do it.
So, instead of being totally idle, I will from time to time provide links to some oldies but goodies. I had a customer tell me recently that she forgot how to defragment her hard drive. It's important that you do this regularly, like maybe every 3 months or so. At this link you will find detailed instructions on how to do this. Do it even if the Analyze step says you don't need to do it.
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