In the Shop

Ipod and Iphone Repair

2011-07-30T12:13:00.001-05:00

We have the tools and are slowly gaining the knowledge required to repair ipods and iphones. We have successfully took apart 3 now and repaired them.

CGrafiks Computer Service Www.CGrafiks.Com (931)337-0023 / (931)335-0398 Tech@CGrafiks.Com

Playstation 3, Xbox, Ipods and Phones

2011-05-19T17:48:00.000-05:00

I guess we are starting to expand a little in to other fields. We fixed a PS3 today with video problems. It needed an internal cleaning BAD! THen we had to fix a black screen by resetting the video output on the device.

STEPS:
Turning It On -
Pressing and Holding the power button down for 3 beeps -
Light will go red - Then turn it back on again and wait.
It will reset the video and not show a blank black screen anymore!

GPS in Cellphones/ Smartphones

2011-04-18T19:30:00.000-05:00

Cellphones are underestimated. I took a trip the other day and needed directions on the fly. I was out of Crossville and didn't know which way to go, so I turned the GPS capability on in my cellphone, and downloaded a free app from Blackberrys AppWorld and whala! A perfect GPS that talked to me and everything! It showed the estimated time till arrival, the total miles till the destination, etc. I was impressed. Who needs an expensive GPS system when your smartphone can do it all!

Internal Computer Cleaning Event - April 5th 12pm-6pm

2011-03-27T09:37:00.000-05:00

Time Tuesday, April 5 · 12:00pm - 6:00pm
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Location CGrafiks
430 County Garage Road
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

HOW DUSTY IS YOUR COMPUTER?

Spring Cleaning Time! - You won't believe how dirty your computer can get in just a few months! Did you know that Overheating is the Leading Cause Of Death in computers? Whens the last time you looked inside yours? Did you know that with a little inexpensive maintenance, once a year, you could dramatically increase the lifespan of your computer!

INTERNAL CLEANING PC DAY!
...ONLY ONE DAY! Beginning at NOON - and - Ending at 6pm
Normal Value ($40 Laptop Systems) and ($20 Desktop Systems) each
SPECIAL ONE DAY PRICE - $9.99 Desktop System / $24.99 Laptops!
INSTANT SAVINGS! - No Limit! - No Appt Necessary but RSVP Preffered.
APPROX TIMEFRAME - Most Laptops * 30 - 45 minutes each! *
- Most Desktops - 10 - 15 minutes each!

DID YOU KNOW? - We offer this service FREE with the purchase of any other service! Visit Www.CGrafiks.Com for more details. See some pictures of what most computers look like inside at www.cgrafiks.com/dirtycomputer.htm!

NOTES:
* With Laptops on rare occasions (mostly sony vaios and some HP's) the process may take longer than expected to thoroughly and properly clean your laptop. In most cases your cleaning process will not take any longer than 2 hours and you will not be charged any more for the extra service.

CGrafiks Computer Service
Www.CGrafiks.Com
(931)337-0023 / (931)335-0398
Tech@CGrafiks.Com

Working with Diabetes

2011-01-17T08:47:00.001-06:00

I found out in July 2010 that I am a Type 1 Diabetic. Since then, I have been slowly making changes to the shop such as:

Set Hours Of Operation.
Mon, Wed, Friday - 12:30 - 6:30pm
Tues and Thursday - 8am - 12:30pm
I used to work non-stop. Some nights it was 9 or 10pm before I closed the shop, and then re-opened as soon as I woke up. I was constantly working on computers - trying to make my clients happy.... I've slowly learned that the majority of clients will never be happy and it was pointless for me to work myself to a grave to try and make them happy. No offense to anyone! I just have to pace myself now, or one day I will die and noone will ever get their computer fixed by CGrafiks again!

Hiring another technician to share some of the workload with.
Meet Rachel, my newest employee. She is primarily hired to keep up with my paperwork, and handle the accounting side of the business; however she is a decent tech too, and can answer many of your technical questions! She stared with us in October 2010, and I plan on keeping her as long as possible!

Melissa has enrolled in the Computer Class at TTC. (Jan 2011)
Many of you have met my wife Melissa during a dropoff or pickup of your computer. Well in 2012, she will be a bigger part of the CGrafiks business. She enrolled in Jan 2011 at the Technology Center to learn how to do basic operations on a computer! Welcome to the Team Baby!

Not taking on as much work during the week.
I have set our normal turn around time to be 2-3 days max. We can usually get them in and out quicker than that, but it's good to not be stressed and having to work all night to get a computer done for a client by the next day. Sadly, I just can't do that anymore. I have to take time out for myself. It takes alot of time to check my blood sugar and eat every 2 hours! Along with just taking some time out for myself.

Program the Charter Remote

2010-06-06T18:00:00.000-05:00

Program the Charter Remote

1. Turn on device
2. Press and hold Select (OK) button and the (TV) button (or whatever the device is that your programming) for 3 sec
3. Press and hold CH UP key until the device turns off
4. Release the CH key and press the power button to turn device back on.
5. Press the (TV) or device key again to set the code permantely.

DCOM Server Error Related to Printer Drivers

2009-10-05T16:23:00.000-05:00

DCOM errors related to HP Printers on the network. This is a result of having shared printers on the server that are no longer really on the server. For instance a shared HP Laserjet 1200 when there is no longer a laserjet 1200 model because you've updated to a 1400 model now.

OTHER OPTIONS: Start / RUN / dcomcnfg.exe (To View Info)
Open registry using REGEDIT 2. Open the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT branch 3. Search for the hex number {5A5AA0AA-1DEB-4683-96B0-B43301E83971} 4. When you get a match the folder name will give you a clue as to what program is causing this errror. 5. Go onto the vendor webiste and look for fixes

REMOVE PRINTERS FROM REGISTRY:

There is a problem with NT printer definitions that may cause you problems. You follow standard advice to uninstall and reinstall the printer driver. Sometimes this doesn't fix the problem and you have no choice but to remove a printer. When you use the Remove or Delete Printer options in Print Manager, the printer connection disappears immediately. However, the spooler simply marks the printer for deletion. NT doesn't actually delete the printer until you reboot the system. Sometimes NT will delete the definition if you stop and restart the spooler. Sometimes it doesn't. If this doesn't work, and you will find out when you try to redefine the printer. No issue for workstations. You can reboot. Unfortunately there are servers which can not be rebooted (or at least not for something like a printer definition). For servers which can not be rebooted, you can remove the printer definition from the registry by hand prior to the reinstall.

If it is a local printer (My Computer), go to the following registry keys and delete the respective entries:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\ Windows NT x86\ Drivers\Version-2\
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers\

If it is a network printer (network printer server or \\), go to the following registry keys and delete the respective and entries:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Printers\Connections\
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Providers\ LanMan Print Services\Servers\\Printers\

After the registry edit, you need to stop and restart the spooler service. At this point, you'll be able to reinstall the printer driver correctly.

CGrafiks Website Flagged by Norton as Unsafe

2009-10-03T09:27:00.000-05:00

Just a Minor Disagreement... Don't Worry! We're not getting a Divorce.

As many of you know we recommend Norton 2009 as a "Paid" Antivirus at the CGrafiks office. Recently ( I believe 3 days ago now ) the http://www.cgrafiks.com/ website was flagged by the Norton Internet Protection showing that it had several malicious programs on it and that it was unsafe to go to.

The Reason Is:

We have a section of our website that we use to hold software that we may need when at someones house working on their computer. Instead of us having to hunt for a program and waste your time (especially on dial-up), we can go straight to a webpage that has our tools handy. Some of the tools that are on this webpage are used for removing viruses, or scanning networks for intruders. These helpfull programs use the same algorithms as many of todays malicious software inorder to find the bad guys, and therefore get flagged by many virus programs. For instance if you run more than one malware removal program on your computer you see this happen. Your antivirus (AVG for example) may detect your spyware program (Spybot) as a malicious program. Or your Spyware program (Spybot) will detect your Adware program (AdAware) as a malicious program.

Www.CGrafiks.Com does not contain any viruses to our knowledge. If you ever do get an attack on your system while browsing the CGrafiks website please note the time and date and take a screen shot of the warning by pressing the PRINT / SCREEN button on your computer keyboard, then open Microsoft Paint found under START MENU / PROGRAMS / ACCESSORIES.. and PASTE it into paint by clicking EDIT / PASTE or (CTRL+V) in the top menu. Finally save the file to your desktop or somewhere safe by pressing FILE / SAVE or (CTRL+S). Send that picture to CGrafiks at the email found on our contact page at Www.CGrafiks.Com or contact us via our many affiliates such as MerchantCircle, GoLSN, etc.

Norton has been notified about the problem, and it will be resolved soon. Thank you for your patience and understanding, and if you have any further questions please contact us at 931-335-0398.

CGrafiks Management

October 3 2009

Theres a BUG in my Computer!

2009-09-26T13:19:00.000-05:00

There's A Bug In My Computer!

I had a computer come in to the shop just the other day that first off would not power on. It had a bad Power Supply Unit. Then after replacing the PS it was giving a beep error. It wasn't the standard memory beep error, so I went straight to the processor. I took the heat sink off only to find 3 dead roaches attached to the heatsink and processor. There were also 6 live roaches huddled around the CPU, and they began to scatter when I took the heatsink off. I wanted to take a picture of it for proof, but I also didn't want to leave the site of the computer and risk an infection of my shop. I panicked a little, but the first thing I could think to do was throw everything in a garbage bag, tape it up, and set it outside. I have never had to deal with bugs before. I always knew there was a possibiligy of having a real "bug" in your computer system, but as of the 3 years I've been in business , I had never seen this situation. I called some tech friends and they all said to just have the client come get their infected machine, but I didn't feel like that was the right answer.

So what I did was took the system outside on my table, and attached a garbage bag to the backside of the system case. I then used my high powered leaf blower to blow out the roaches that I could into the garbage bag...bombed the garbage bag and tied it up tightly. Then I began stripping out all the computer components such as hard drive, video cards, dvd drives, and processor.... spraying each component and the live bugs that were in them with roach killer. Each component had roach poop and eggs on it! Then removed the motherboard.... OMG. This is where a bunch was! During this process I counted a total of 19 cockroaches and successfully killed all of them before they escaped. The bugs were hiding in the cracks of the case and under the metal casing, under the motherboard, inside the cd drive, inside the power supply.... everwhere! They just kept coming out! It didn't stop at just 19!

I then put all the electronic equipment in static bags...put the static bags in a garbage bag,... put that garbage bag inside of another garbage bag, and then bombed the heck out of the machine.

At that moment I called a Pest Control company, and they came and exterminated my building that night, so hopefully if one of those nasty roaches got loose than it should die! I hate bugs! I guess I'm going to call the insurance company and see if this is covered by insurance, or if I need to bill the customer for the exterminating.

UPDATE: The Next Day:
I noticed a cockroach still alive in the heatsink and fan. I bombed it again, and successfully killed it. I also noticed 2 very small roaches scurrying in the static bag that held the hard drive. I squashed them inside the bag. So far I had not seen any in the shop.

Any suggestions are appreciated on this matter. Please contact us by going to www.cgrafiks.com/contact.htm. Thank you.

THE FIRST "COMPUTER BUG":

NOTE: The first documented computer "bug" was declared in In 1947, Grace Murray Hopper was working on the Harvard University Mark II Aiken Relay Calculator (a primitive computer). On the 9th of September, 1947, when the machine was experiencing problems, an investigation showed that there was a moth trapped between the points of Relay #70, in Panel F. The operators removed the moth and affixed it to the log. (See the picture above.) The entry reads: "First actual case of bug being found." The word went out that they had "debugged" the machine and the term "debugging a computer program" was born.
Although Grace Hopper was always careful to admit that she was not there when it actually happened, it was one of her favorite stories. Grace Hopper also reported that the term "bug" was used to describe problems in radar electronics during WWII.

DIAGRAM OF FIRST NOTED COMPUTER BUG LOCATED ABOVE.

REFERENCES: http://www.jamesshuggins.com/h/tek1/first_computer_bug.htm

Wikipedia Entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_bug

Change in Trends due to Technology

2009-09-15T19:21:00.000-05:00

Change in Trends due to Technology

* The first computers were almost the size of a house.. .now they are as small as a notepad!
* The wrist watch is now replaced by a Cell Phone or Computer
* The US Postal Mail is almost replaced completely by Email. (Who sends letters anymore?)
* Instead of waiting for the newspaper to be delivered once a week (how slow~)... we can now
check the news in real time via the internet and RSS Feeds.
* The Public Library and Card Catalog were practically replaced by Google, Yahoo, and other
Search Engines.
* Cash Registers and Tenders in our shopping centers have been replaced by electronic express
lanes where we can check out all by ourselves.
* We can order products directly from the comfort of our own home and have them delivered
directly to our door without ever having to go to a store, stand in line, or touch germy money!
* The telephone system is slowly being replaced by online telephones such as Vonage, or
Magicjack. Yahoo Messenger can allow you to communicate visually and audibly with family
in other states for free.
* You can now watch cable tv episodes if you miss them by going to www.hulu.com.
* We can rent DVD's directly from www.netflix.com and stream them over the internet within
minutes of ordering the movie!
* Instead of buying an entire music cd from a store like Walmart or BestBuy for $20.. you can
now buy an individual song directly from ITunes on the internet for $1 each!
* We can even order pet medicine such as Frontline and Rabies Shots online at vendors like
www.petsmart.com.
* Our radios, music players and cameras and alarm clocks are now all included in our cellphones
or "Smartphones".
* Robots are taking peoples jobs in factorys and on assembly lines.
* Our body parts can even be recreated by electronic parts now~!

Technology has advanced so much in the past 20 years. I am sure that I only covered a small portion of how technology has changed our lives. Can you imagine what it will be like in the next 20 years?

TELL US:
If you think of more ways that electronics have changed our lives please tell us at www.cgrafiks.com.

Gmail went down ... Everyone Panic!

2009-09-03T08:26:00.000-05:00

I guess that Gmail went down sometime the other day, and it caused the world to go into panic. It was down for 100 minutes according to many sites. Reference the OFFICIAL GOOGLE BLOG for more information. According to google this is what happened in summary:

Google took a small fraction of Gmail's servers offline to perform routine upgrades. They say that they do this all the time, and Gmail's web interface runs in many
locations and just sends traffic to other locations when one is offline. However, in this case they had slightly underestimated the load placed on the request routers — servers which direct web queries to the
appropriate Gmail server for response. At about 12:30 pm Pacific a few of the
request routers became overloaded and in effect told the rest of the system
"stop sending us traffic, we're too slow!". This transferred the load onto the
remaining request routers, causing a few more of them to also become overloaded,
and within minutes nearly all of the request routers were overloaded. As a
result, people couldn't access Gmail via the web interface because their
requests couldn't be routed to a Gmail server. IMAP/POP access and mail
processing continued to work normally because these requests don't use the same
routers.The Gmail engineering team was alerted to the failures within seconds
(we take monitoring very seriously). After establishing that the core problem
was insufficient available capacity, the team brought a LOT of additional
request routers online (flexible capacity is one of the advantages of Google's
architecture), distributed the traffic across the request routers, and the Gmail
web interface came back online.What's next: We've turned our full attention to
helping ensure this kind of event doesn't happen again. Some of the actions are
straightforward and are already done — for example, increasing request router
capacity well beyond peak demand to provide headroom. Some of the actions are
more subtle — for example, we have concluded that request routers don't have
sufficient failure isolation (i.e. if there's a problem in one datacenter, it
shouldn't affect servers in another datacenter) and do not degrade gracefully
(e.g. if many request routers are overloaded simultaneously, they all should
just get slower instead of refusing to accept traffic and shifting their load).
We'll be hard at work over the next few weeks implementing these and other Gmail
reliability improvements — Gmail remains more than 99.9% available to all users,
and we're committed to keeping events like today's notable for their rarity

Cell Phone Towers VS Wireless Internet

2009-08-30T13:22:00.000-05:00

Cell Phone Towers Vs. Wireless Internet:

I have a client that I was wanting to make wireless. His mom lives next door (50 feet away) and she has High Speed DSL. He has Dial-Up Internet at his house which is technically the same as his moms house. He had them built side by side and wired as one complete house when it was originally built. She has half of it with her own kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, and bedrooms, and he has the other half with all the same ammenities.

When first approched with this scenario, I thought it would be a piece of cake. His moms modem was located directly by a window which pointed to his house.... 50 feet away. No concrete walls, or even flourescent lighting to make any Electromagnetic Interference (EMI). This should be no problem!

I gathered up the information I needed for the quote. Purchased a Linksys Wireless N Router, and a DLink Wireless N Desktop PCI card. Scheduled a time to go out and hook it all up. When I arrived it was an easy configuration to get the wireless router working. The installation of the PCI Desktop card hung up a little while trying to install the total software package, so I stopped it and restored back to before I tried installing it... then only installed the driver and let the Windows Wireless Configuration utility take control from there. .... No Signal Detected!

Sadly I had forgotten to grab my laptop, so I unhooked his desktop system and took it to the laundry room which was the closest point to her router from within his house... only got 1 Bar! After a little bit of research I found that he had a huge Cell Phone tower only about 300 foot away from his house. I could almost throw a stone and hit it!

Well, I know that most cordless phones work on the 2.4Ghz frequency, and it just so happens that almost every router also works on that frequency. So I went to Staples and bought a Dual Band Wireless N Router from Netgear. This router allowed me to choose the frequency that it broadcasted on from a 2.4Ghz range up to the 5GHz range. So I configured it correctly.. set it up on the 5.1Ghz range, and then tried it again... only 2 bars now! Slight improvement, but still not enough. I was getting 2 bars from the laundry room... but still no signal back in his office!

I went back to staples and saw another device called the Netgear Powerline. This plugs up to an electric outlet by your router, and then run a cable from the router to this little PowerLine box, and then you go to an outlet by the other computer and connect another Powerline box to the desktop computer. This transfers the ethernet power over the electric lines and is supposed to work up to a 5000 sq ft home as long as the electric is all on one meter. I called the client, and luckily he had wired his house and his moms house together when he built it. I grabbed this and a Linksys Wireless G Range Extender. They did not have a Wireless N Range Extender yet, so this would cause me to go back down to a 2.4ghz range and a Wireless G speed. This was a last resort. I hoped that the powerline would work instead.

Drove back to the clients house (30 minute trip from staples) and tried the power line first. It worked great ... in the living room.. but not in his office. Both homes are only about 4,000 sq ft total... it should have worked!

I had to resort to putting the first router back in (Wireless N but a 2.4Ghz frequency) and the Wireless G Range Extender, to make it extend to his office. He still only got 3 bars with the extender, but it kept a constant connection to google at 25ms response time. We shut every door in his house and it still kept a good connection. At least the problem was solved, but it took several hours, and about $300 of experimenting with parts before we found the right solution.

This was a learning experience to say the least. I now know to check the surrounding areas for a cell phone tower when working with Wireless networks. I also learned about the cool device called the Netgear Powerline. Hope this helps someone!

Fake Antivirus Programs

2009-08-26T13:37:00.000-05:00

PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FAKE ANTIVIRUS PROGRAMS:

We have had at least 2 of these a week come in to the shop. Fake Antivirus Programs such as Personal Antivirus, Antivirus PRO 2009, Antispyware 2009, + Many More. They are all about the same in the fact that they give you alot of popups saying that you have tons of virus infections and then BUY NOW to remove them! This is a scam! Do Not Buy These Programs~! These programs are the "Actual Virus". You do not have as many infected files as it says.

Yes it is important to have your system looked at by a professional. Do Not leave these programs on your computer in hopes that they will just go away, or hoping that you can just wait a little longer before getting it fixed.... These fake antivirus programs are wanting to steal your Credit/Debit card information and possibly hit you with Identity Theft!

They are not real antivirus programs. You are not really infected with 50 trojans, and DO NOT CLICK ON ANYTHING or GIVE IT ANY CREDIT CARD OR PERSONAL INFORMATION. Do Not Buy the program to remove the viruses that it tells you that you have! In fact do not even click the “OK” button, or the “CLOSE” button. Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE and End the IExplorer process or application directly, and then contact us.

Most of these Fake Antivirus "Viruses" seem to be coming from Myspace, and other social websites such as MyYearbook, and Facebook. The most common reason is due to the "code" of these social websites. Many of you may have unintentially embedded virus code in to your Myspace layout by simply "copy" and "pasting" other Myspace code which allows you to change your Myspace backgrounds, add special effects such as hearts falling from the top of the page, or other "cool" themes. When other Myspace users visit your webpage they can become infected with these fake antivirus programs, or other malware; simply by viewing your page!

HOW DO I KNOW IF I HAVE A FAKE ANTIVIRUS?

* Fake anti-virus/spyware programs often generate more "alerts" than the software made by reputable companies.

* You may be swarmed with pop-ups, even when you're not online!

* These programs are very persisitent in making you BUY IT NOW!

* Normally your computer will dramatically slow down.

* Other signs of infection include:
new desktop icons; new wallpaper, or having your homepage redirected to another site.

Fake Anti Virus Prevention Tips

1. Use Firefox as your browser rather than Internet Explorer.

2. Keep your computer updated with the latest anti-virus and anti-spyware software, and be sure to use a good firewall. We recommend Norton 2009 as a Paid Antivirus, or AVG Free as a Free Antivirus. Also use SuperAntiSpyware or Malwarebytes for Free.

3. Never open an email attachment unless you are POSITIVE about the source. Actually call your friends and ask if they really sent that message about "The Party they saw you at"... rather than just opening it to see.

4. Do NOT click on any pop-up that advertises anti-virus or anti-spyware software, especially a program promising to provide every feature known to mankind. (Also remember: the fakes often mimic well-known brands such as Grisoft AVG, Norton)

5. If a virus alert appears on your screen, do NOT touch it. Don't use your mouse to eliminate or scan for viruses, and DON'T use your mouse to close the window. Instead, hit control + alt + delete to view a list of programs currently running. Delete the "rogue" from the list of running programs, and call your local computer repair center such as CGrafiks 931-335-0398!

6. Do not download freeware or shareware unless you know it's from a reputable source. Unfortunately, freeware and shareware programs often come bundled with spyware, adware or fake anti-virus programs.

7. Avoid questionable websites. Some sites may automatically download malicious software onto your computer.

8. Reset your current security settings to a higher level.

9. Although fake software may closely resemble the real thing, it's rarely an exact match. Look for suspicious discrepancies.

10. Check out this list of rogue/fake anti-virus and anti-spyware products.
http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm

If your computer is infected by a fake antivirus, immediately stop work, shut down, and unplug your ethernet connection from the computer. Then contact your computer manufacturer's tech-support hotline or CGrafiks Computer Service Center. Don't keep using the computer. This may further damage your machine and provide identity thieves with more information about you.
Use of fake anti-virus, anti-spyware software is a fast-growing scam, especially as more people become aware of the dangers of spyware, adware and malware. By following the tips above, however, you'll better protect yourself from becoming the next victim of scammers, identity thieves and hackers.

REFERENCED FROM: http://www.scambusters.org/fakeantivirus.html

Is my Processor (CPU) Overheating?

2009-07-24T18:59:00.000-05:00

What temperature should my processor be running at?

Depending on the type of processor, the manufacturer, how fast it runs, where the sensor is located, and what programs it is currently running will determine the temperature of what the processor should be. However, this document should give you a general idea of what the processor should be running at as well as what is acceptable and what is not.
The majority of today's desktop processors should not exceed temperatures of 95C and most will run between 70-90C. Below are some charts of many of the processors and their average temperatures. Keep in mind this is only to give our users a general idea of what their processor should be running at. If you believe your computer is running to hot, you may wish to skip to the bottom of this document for additional details on how to get exact information about what your processor should be running at.

Processors Average temperature:

AMD Athlon 90C - 95C
AMD Athlon64 65C - 70C
AMD Athlon64 Mobile 95C - 100C
AMD Athlon MP 90C - 95C
AMD Athlon XP 85C - 90C
AMD Duron 85C - 95C
AMD Opteron 65C - 71C
AMD Sempron 90C - 95C
AMD K5 60C - 70C
AMD K6 65C - 70C
AMD K6 Mobile 80C - 85C
AMD K7 Thunderbird 70C - 95C
Intel Pentium II 65C - 75C
Intel Pentium III 60C - 85C
Intel Celeron 67C - 85C
Intel Pentium Mobile 100C
Intel Pentium Pro 80C - 85C

Reference from: http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000687.htm

CD or DVD Media Typical Lifespan

2009-07-21T13:44:00.001-05:00

The Typical Lifespan of a CD is 3 years!
The Typical Lifespan of a DVD is ...

With proper care it is thought that CD-Rs should be readable one thousand times or more and have a shelf life of three to five years. Common handling practices can reduce shelf life to only one or two years. This seems to be the standard for DVD's also; however there are many variables that can come in to play...

When cleaning a CD: Dust can be removed from a CD's surface using compressed air or by very lightly wiping the information side with a very soft cloth (such as an eyeglass cleaning cloth) from the center of the disc in an outward direction. Fingerprints or stubborn dust can be removed from the information surface by wiping it with a cloth dampened with diluted dish detergent (then rinsing) or alcohol (methylated spirits or isopropyl alcohol) and again wiping from the center outwards, with a very soft cloth (non-linting : polyester, nylon, etc.). It is harmful, however, to use acetone, nail polish remover, kerosene, petrol/gasoline, or any other type of petroleum-based solvent to clean a CD-R; the use of petroleum based solvents will damage the polycarbonate surface and the CD-R will become unreadable.

MAM-A estimates their Gold label CD-R's have a life-span of 300 years and the silver CD-R's of about 50 years. Other discs that they have tested look like they'll fail in 2 years or less.
Due to differences in organic dyes between CDs and DVD's, Gold label DVD's have a lab-rated life-span of 100 years, if handled properly. MAM-A silver label CDs and DVD's can start to degrade after 20-30 years.

MAM-A also recommends to improve data integrity and compatibility, burn your disks more slowly. Burn CDs at 16x speed and DVD's at 2x speed.

The Real Culprit
If you have purchased quality media from a quality manufacturer, you are still not assured of 50-100 years of data life!

You are the greatest danger to the data longevity of your personal, family and business information that is stored on CD and DVD. Direct exposure to sunlight and intense heat can do dramatic damage. Rapid changes in temperature and humidity can stress the materials. Gravity can bend and stress the discs. Fingerprints and smudges can do more damage than scratches.
But by following a few Do's and Don'ts you can ensure your precious family and friend pictures, movies, family records and business files have the maximum data life.

Do
* Handle discs by the outer edge or the center hole
* Use a non solvent-based felt-tip permanent marker to mark the label side of the disc
* Keep dirt or other foreign matter from the disc
* Store discs upright (book style) in original jewel cases that are specified for CDs and DVDs
* Return discs to their jewel cases immediately after use
* Leave discs in their spindle or jewel case to minimize the effects of environmental changes
* Remove the shrink wrap only when you are ready to record data on the disc
* Store in a cool, dry, dark environment in which the air is clean -- relative humidity should be in the range 20% - 50% (RH) and temperature should be in the range 4°C - 20°C
* Remove dirt, foreign material, fingerprints, smudges, and liquids by wiping with a clean cotton fabric in a straight line from the center of the disc toward the outer edge
* Use deionized (best), distilled or soft tap water to clean your discs. For tough problems use diluted dish detergent or rubbing alcohol. Rinse and dry thoroughly with a lint-free cloth or photo lens tissue
* Check the disc surface before recording

Do not
* Touch the surface of the disc
* Bend the disc
* Store discs horizontally for a long time (years)
* Open a recordable optical disc package if you are not ready to record
* Expose discs to extreme heat or high humidity
* Expose discs to extreme rapid temperature or humidity changes
* Expose recordable discs to prolonged sunlight or other sources of UV light
* Write or mark in the data area of the disc (area where the laser "reads")
* Clean in a circular direction around the disc.
* Reliable Medium There is a lot of cheap CDR and DVDR media that has marginal quality. For some applications like games, quality isn't critical. For irreplaceable, vital data like family photos, special events, vacations and family/friends memories quality does matter. If you are backing up mission critical data on your home or business computer, quality matters. Then it is important to select a brand of media that will keep your data safe, secure and available for years to come.

Quality and low prices just don't seem to mix!

The next step to long-term data reliability is to handle and store the media with the respect your data deserves.

RESOURCES:
http://www.audioholics.com/education/audio-formats-technology/cd-and-dvd-longevity-how-long-will-they-last

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/107607/Storage_expert_warns_of_short_life_span_for_burned_CDs
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD-R#Expected_lifespan
http://www.larryjordan.biz/articles/lj_dvd_life.html
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_lifespan_of_a_DVD

Dell Optiplex GX280 wont work with case closed

2009-07-09T13:18:00.000-05:00

Ok. Had a weird issue today. I had to work on a system that would not power on at first, so I replaced the power supply, and then did some internal cleaning. Tested all the hardware with my diagnostic tools... all was ok. I even started up into the O.S. just to check the operating system and make sure it was up to date and had an antivirus. After everything was done, I shut it down, closed the cover and turned it back on just to verify everything was ok. .....

It did not show the Dell logo and just had the BIOS version at the top left corner of the screen, and the monitor kept flickering / degaussing kind of.

I opened the case up and powered it on without any problem! Closed the case,... same thing. Opened it back up and was looking carefully in the computer for anything that would be shorting out... but it only happened when the case was closed. Bypassed the case switch that tells if the chasis has been opened or not. Took everything off the motherboard except bare bone equipment, and it did the same thing. Used a power supply tester to test the voltages on everything when the case was closed... everything tested ok. I had the same exact model to test with, so the next step was to put this motherboard in a working computer case, and vice versa...
Well After that they both worked!

Long story short, it ended up being that the power supply cable was laying on the memory chips when the case was closed. The power cables were heavy and caused strain on the motherboard which caused the video problems and the computer not to POST. Once the power cables were strapped to the side and out of the way ... everything worked.

Virus Report June 2009

2009-06-08T10:22:00.001-05:00

Virus Report June 5 2009

AntivirusDoktor is designed to make users believe their computer is infected. This tool performs a false scan of the infected system. AntivirusDoktor then offers users the option to eliminate the malware by purchasing a paid version of the fake antivirus software.

Sinowal.WHZ is a trojan distributed via email that reports to have come from UPS. The email informs the user that the UPS servicde was unable to deliver the packet sent to a recipient on a specific date. Once the user opens the attached file, a trojan is copied in to their computer that steals the infected users bank details!

Another attack has been formed on twitter.com. Twitter is being used to distribute fake antiviruses such as AntivirusDoktor.

Remote Assistance

2009-05-28T10:19:00.000-05:00

WHAT IS REMOTE ASSISTANCE?

NORMAL RATES: $35 per Hour ($8.75 per 15 minutes)
15 minute Minimum Charge on all connections.

AFTER HOUR RATES: $60 per Hour after 8pm / On Weekends / Holidays!

If your Internet Connection is WORKING and you need a Technician to do software troubleshooting on your Windows based PC - Without needing any physical labor done on the computer..... then we can use Remote Assistance via Internet to help you without you having to pay a Service Call fee for a Tech to come to your home.

Often we can fix your computer problem over the telephone. Maybe you just need help updating your antivirus software, or fixing an uncompatable addon. We consider that a completed job, and also charge for a Remote Assistance session. The cost is only $25 per hour and your only charged from the time the Technician actually makes a connection to your computer via the internet, or for the length of the phone call. We will even give you the instructions below so that you can prepare everything for the Technican - Saving you even more money! Simply, follow the Instructions below and call CGrafiks when your done.

During your remote repair session YOU will be able to observe all repairs LIVE by watching your screen while we solve your problem. Your computer mouse will actually move around on your computer screen right before your eyes. You can even watch and learn! Plus, YOU will be able to assume control at any time. When we are finished, we will disconnect from your computer and will be unable to reconnect, unless YOU initiate the connection again. This entire process keeps you, our client in complete control at all times. We're happy to explain this process over the phone to clarify any concerns that you may still have

TO BEGIN A REMOTE ASSISTANCE SESSION: Visit Www.CGrafiks.Com

Read Before Installing Antivirus

2009-05-28T09:45:00.000-05:00

Read before installing an Antivirus!

Due to the conflicting nature of competing anti-virus and firewall programs, it is imperative that you:

* Verify your computer does not already have anti-virus software preinstalled.On most of our home computers we preinstall a free antivirus such as AVG. If your computer has this software, you must uninstall it before you install another anti-virus program (for instructions on how to do this, see the “NOTES” listed below). Failure to do so can cause your system tolock up or become unstable.

NOTE (for systems with the Microsoft® Windows® XP operating system): If your computer has AVG and you wish to uninstall it, click START, Control Panel, and Add or Remove Programs. Then click on AVG FREE and click theRemove button. Click Yes to confirm the removal. After the uninstall completes, it may be necessary to restart your computer.

NOTE (for systems with the Microsoft® Windows Vista™ operating system): If your computer has AVG and youwish to uninstall it, click the START button, Control Panel, and Uninstall a program (found under the heading “Programs”). In the following screen, click on AVG and click the Uninstall button. Then click Continue to proceed, and Yes to confirm you want to uninstall the program. After the uninstall completes, it may be necessary to restart your computer.

Even the most up to date antivirus is capable of letting a virus slip through. It's similar to a bullet-proof vest in that if a bullet hits you in the back or chest it will protect you; however if it hits you in the head or side ( even with a vest on ) your going to be hurt! An Antivirus works on the same principle. Virus signatures are updated daily because of new threats that are just being found. If a virus happens to find its way into your system before the virus signature is updated into your antivirus program... then you have just been infected and your antivirus will not see this even if it gets the latest virus signatures. Why you may ask.... simply put, the virus is already inside now, and is hiding behind your antivirus!

The most common ways of getting a virus are by:

A Floppy disk from a friend.
A download off the internet.
An email or email attachement.

*Downloading software such as Limewire, BearShare, Frostwire, Kazaa, Napster, and the hundreds of other peer to peer filesharing software is the most common way of infecting your PC! If you download music I definetely recommend using ITunes which is safe and legal!

How to Prevent Overheating of your Computer

2009-05-28T09:38:00.000-05:00

HOW TO PREVENT OVERHEATING:

*Heat is a vicious enemy of a computer. The large computers of yesterday were kept in special climate-controlled rooms because computer chips and other mechanical components had to be kept cool. While today's personal computers don't need such extraordinary care, they should be kept at a normal temperature and never be left in a car in the summer heat or in direct sunlight in high temperatures.

Today's computers have built-in cooling fans that keep the computer from overheating during normal use. If your computer's cooling fan malfunctions, the computer will overheat and cause irreparable damage. Keeping the computer fan in tiptop shape is fairly easy. Just follow these simple steps:

*Keep Cool Tips:

1. Do not block any air vents on your PC's case. You can also extend the life of your computer monitor by giving it a little breathing room. Don't block the air vents on your monitor by piling papers or books on top of it.

2. Most fans are on the back of the computer, so position the computer a few inches from the wall.

3. Keep draperies and other fabric away from the fan.

4. Keep the fan clean and free of debris.

5. Keep dogs, cats, and other hairy pets away from the computer.

6. Keep your computer in a clean, well-ventilated area.

7. Open your case once or twice a year and use a computer vacuum or can of compressed air to clean out built up dust and debris. Do this more often if you have a cat or dog that sheds a lot.

8. The room where your system is kept should never be too hot. How hot is too hot? If it's uncomfortable for you, it's probably uncomfortable for your PC as well.

9. Don't put the CPU unit of the computer on the floor. This is one suggestion that even I don't always follow. Yet, if this is feasible, your computer will accumulate less dust and dirt if kept off the floor

* CLEANING YOUR COMPUTER INTERNALLY:

As you have read, overheating inside the PC is the major cause of death of computers. However by simply cleaning your PC you can prolong if not completely rid the overheating process. I see it every week, computers overheating when their fans get clogged up with dust, or cigarette smoke residue. You can save a ton of cash and avoid costly repairs by taking a little time to clean up your computer.

However you must be aware of ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) when cleaning your computer, and also you must use appropriate chemicals and take precautions when performing this task. There are steps you must follow when cleaning your computer or you can seriously damage your internal components and otherwise destroy your computer! Make sure the computer is powered off and unplugged before proceeding any further!

Use only a vacuum cleaner with a rubber or plastic tipped extension hose to remove any dust bunnies, or animal hair from inside the computer.
NOTE: WHY NOT USE CANNED AIR?: The "canned air" can actually be harmfull when used on electronic devices because it causes moisture and if not completly dried can cause electrical damaage to your computer. Be carefull to not knock loose the components attached to the mainboard inside your compter with the attachement hose. Vaccuum the CPU (Central Processing Unit) fan in the center of the computer, also any external fans in the front, side and back of the computer. Vaccuum any vents you can reach, and also both sides of the Power Supply unit normally at the top of the computer case. If you are unsure about the process or do not have the neccessary supplies to clean your computer - contact us to set up a time for cleaning!

CGrafiks Computer Service Center
Www.CGrafiks.Com / Tech@CGrafiks.Com
(931) 335-0398 / (931) 337-0023

Importance of Recycling your Old Electronics

2009-05-28T09:32:00.000-05:00

THE IMPORTANCE OF RECYCLING:

*E-Waste

Electronics have revolutionized our lifestyle. Telephones, radios, TVs, computers and cell phones are items we use daily. These items make up the bulk of electronics that threaten the environment, because of their hazardous ingredients. Computing systems are comprised of more than 1,000 materials, many of which are highly toxic to our air, land and water systems.

These components include chlorinated and brominated substances, toxic gases, toxic metals, photo-active and biologically active materials, acids, plastics and plastic additives. This section of waste is referred to as ELECTRONIC WASTE, or
E-Waste.

* TOXIC COMPONENTS INSIDE COMPUTERS CONSIST OF:

* Lead and cadmium in computer circuit boards
* Lead oxide and barium in computer monitors' cathode ray tubes
* Mercury in switches and flat screens and
* Brominated flame retardants on printed circuit boards, cables and plastic casing.

* WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH THE OLD STUFF?

First it would be best to make sure the data is removed completely and properly. Then you can either give it to a friend or family member that could benefit from a change. Old to you, is new to someone else. There are also organizations that collect old electronics and donate them to charity or resell them for profit. According to Dataquest, a market research firm, less than five percent of all personal computers are donated to schools, charities or nonprofit organizations. However, donation can be an easy, tax-friendly way to dispose of your obsolete electronics. Contact Us for more information on recycling your old electronics.

Finally ... WHEN YOU DO BUY - BUY GREEN!

With the ever changing and growing field of technology, companies make better devices that are more aware of their environmental impact. Research a product before you purchase it and support businesses that are doing their part. Green purchasing involves deciding what electronic devices to buy based on their impact on the environment. This could include the materials used to make these products or how much energy they use.

* DID YOU KNOW?RECYCLE YOUR PLASTIC!
Fourteen 20oz bottles yield enough fiberfill for a ski jacket

RECYCLE YOUR GLASS!
Before you toss a glass bottle into the trash, consider this. The energy savings from recycling one bottle will power a computer for 25 minutes.

RECYCLE YOUR METAL!
Recycling one aluminum can saves the energy it takes to run a TV for 3 hours. By recycling 32,000 tons of aluminum you save enough energy to run 1 million TVs for 17 hours a day for an entire year!

THIS IS NOT AS HARD AS IT SOUNDS - So tune in and start recycling!

Always perform Hardware Tests First!

2009-05-20T17:53:00.000-05:00

When a computer comes in to the shop we always run hardware diagnostics on the computer before we treat it for any of the software symptoms. It does not do any good to reinstall your operating system, or try and remove viruses if your hard drive is failing, or your memory is causing the computer to lockup at various times. So a tip to anyone wanting to work on computers.... always perform hardware tests before you do ANYTHING else. Also don't rely on quick hard drive tests to give you an accurate result. If you feel that the hard drive is the problem, but the quick hard drive tests pass.... follow up and do a full hard drive test. It may take you all day to finish the full test, but it will almost definetely show errors that the quick test will skip.

Why are Dells so difficult and proprietary?

2009-05-20T17:46:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you have noticed this if you've worked on any Dell systems.

They are proprietary - which means that they make their own parts, and their computers are designed to only accept those specific dell parts! This is very aggravating!

For instance, if you work on a Dell that has a bad power supply.. you have to get a specific dell power supply to replace it. If you have to replace your Dell motherboard..than you must get the specific Dell model motherboard replacement for it to match up with your Dell case. Most of the front panel power buttons for Dells have a special power cable that must match up to a special port on the motherboard. It's just ridiculious!

I have to give my clients a $300 quote for motherboard replacements... and then they just decide it's cheaper to buy another computer... and guess what Dell... they are not getting another Dell!

If I buy a pre-built computer for a client I usually get HP's or an offbrand such as Systemax. This way if something goes bad in the computer it can be replaced without too much grief. Why don't Dell realize this is giving them a bad rep? Come on people!

Bad Motherboard or Bad Processor

2009-05-20T17:32:00.000-05:00

We worked on a Dell Dimension the other day. It was originally an onsite call. The customer said that it was powering off automatically, and just not working. They couldn't tell me much more.

When I first arrived it was actually up and working inside the O.S., but it was very sluggish, and ended up locking up hard and needed to be hard reset. Afterwards I opened it up and cleaned the dust out of the inside of the computer. It was terribly clogged with dust on all vents and the heatsink. (More than likely overheated). After cleaning the computer I decided to run a hardware diagnostic. It would not finish the tests. ... it kept locking up at different points of the test. First during the CPU, then it passed on the CPU and locked up on the PCI test... then it would lock up on the RAM test. So I began switching out components for 'known good' components, and still was unable to get it to cooperate. Sometimes it would not even POST... it would power on, but sound like a Cesna plane taking off... the fan would keep revving up faster and faster until I would unplug the power cord from the power supply. ( It sounded like the fan was going to explode because it was going so fast!) This is seeming more and more like either the motherboard or the processor.

I ended up taking it back to the shop where I could swap out parts and see what the problem was. After swapping out Power supply, Ram, and taking out all the PCI cards... it still was just revving up the fans, and no video. At this point I was pretty sure it was the processor or motherboard, but I actually had another socket 775 processor to test. I put the "working" processor in, and it still did not work. I took it back out, and put it back in the working system and it did the exact same thing!

So It ended up that the motherboard and processor was bad in this system. The bad motherboard fried my good processor... which sucks!

I bought them a new motherboard...specific for the dell model... and it ended up coming in D.O.A. (Dead on arrival). They ended up just having me spec them up a new pc and installing it in the place of this dang dell! Why are Dells so proprietary? View the next blog for this rant!

Recycling pickup of 50+ Pentium 3 Computers

2009-05-20T17:12:00.000-05:00

We had a call last week to pickup several 'pallettes' of used computers from a company about 30 minutes away in another city. We get there, and ended up loading up 50 computers + 50 CRT monitors and still only put a small dent in all the equipment! We have to schedule a time and go back for another load. The technician had already taken all the hard drives out for security purposes, so we will have to add hard drives and then go thru and find the working computers out of the donations... but we will have several computers to donate to charity this Christmas. Thank you!

Monitor wipes leave streaks

2009-05-20T17:10:00.000-05:00

Thanks Steve for this tidbit!

If you added water to your LCD Monitor wipes to try and "moisten them" a little more... now you are getting streaks because you used tap water. The chemicals in the tap water are destroying the minerals in the wipes therefore causing streaks! Use Distilled water which does not have the chemicals!

Dell Vostro 1400 Motherboard Replacement

2009-05-20T17:06:00.000-05:00

A Dell Vostro 1400 came in to the shop last week. It would not power on. The customer said that they took it to another computer shop and they told them it was the power jack on their motherboard. After carefully taking this laptop apart, and testing the ac adapter, the power jack, battery and various parts on the motherboard for continuity it was determined that the motherboard was bad. The next step was to find a motherboard replacement.. this is why I am writing this post. The cheapest motherboard (from a reputable vendor...not Ebay!) was $300.... then you add our labor to install the motherboard, and then fix the computer software... it would be close to $400. For that the customer can buy a new laptop. ... so that is exactly what they ended up doing. I ordered a $400 HP Laptop for them and all is well!

Check Recovery Disks for errors before using them

2009-05-08T12:45:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note on a system that we are working on right now.
It came in just needing to be recovered... the client even had the recovery dvd's that he created awhile back. It has a recovery partition on the harddrive (CTRL+F10) however; it will not work without having the Recovery DVD Disk 1 in the drive. ... well... it keeps getting to around 15% and erroring out! I took the disk out and cleaned it,... and that's where I noticed a large dark ring about 30% down the disc... a defective burn of the Recovery Disk 1... dang it!

Disk 2 looks great, but without disc 1 completing... disk 2 is not accessible. So just a note... before you format a hard drive and try to do a recovery with Recovery Media discs... check the backside of the disc for scratches or defective media.

Swine Flu Phishing Attacks

2009-05-06T06:42:00.000-05:00

There are an increasing number of reports regarding the swine flu and email scams. Unsolicited email messages are being sent with subject lines related to swine flu so recipients will open and click on harmful links or malicious attachments aimed at infecting PCs. To be safe, please ensure you take the following measures of protection:

• Beware of swine flu related emails and subject lines
• Do not follow unsolicited web links or attachments in email messages
• Maintain up-to-date antivirus software

Twitter Virus

2009-05-06T06:41:00.000-05:00

Twitter
Social networking is not safe from security threats. A new virus recently detected targets Twitter, the micro-blogging website. http://www.newstechzilla.com/2009/01/twitter-virus/

According to Zone Alarm - Conficker Worm

2009-05-06T06:40:00.000-05:00

A recent development regarding the Conficker virus has been detected, where it is now directing infected machines to download new, harmful files, thus activating the botnet. Here’s how this new behavior works:

Conficker sends out email spam without the PC owner’s knowledge. In addition, Conficker uses pop-ups to warn of PC infection and offers fake antivirus software, called 'SpywareProtect2009' at a price of $49.95. If purchased, credit card information is stolen and the virus downloads even more malicious software.

You can protect yourself from Conficker with ZoneAlarm Security Suite.It includes antivirus, anti-spyware and firewall protection for your PC.

If you encounter a pop-up like this, do not click on the pop-up at all - not even to close the box. To remove the pop-up without infection, open your Task Manager (Ctrl+Alt+Delete), and end the task from your Browser (Explorer, Firefox, etc.). You should take additional precautions to ensure you are not already infected and have adequate protection:

8 Custom built pc's

2009-05-05T19:06:00.001-05:00

Man! We got a big order a week or so ago from a local business. 8 Complete custom builds.
I specked up everything, ordered the parts and everything was here in just a couple days. We have all of them built already, and the operating systems installed on all but 2 now. We will be taking them to the business and setting up on the domain, printers, network shares, software, etc hopefully next week.

Weird DVD Drive

2009-05-04T19:20:00.000-05:00

8 Custom built computers; all identical parts.

1 DVD drive will not boot when it's in the case. It will boot when taken out of the case and laid on the counter. Tried another dvd drive that is working, and it did the exact same thing.....works fine outside of the case, but will not work inside the case! There is not normally anything that could cause a grounding issue on the computer case or the case of the DVD drive. It would not be a bad data cable because it works laying outside the case (using the same cables)... it would not be motherboard because it works outside the case.... what could it be?

It ended up that we tried another molex to sata adapter for the power cable, and it worked! Either both of the SATA power cables coming straight off the power supply are defective, or we have a defective power supply. The power supply tests good, and both of the SATA connectors on the powersupply test good on a tester.......

Recording Cassette Tapes to Digital Format

2009-04-24T08:36:00.000-05:00

Use a simple portable cassette tape player and a cable that has the normal headphone jack (1/8") on both ends to connect the cassette tape player (headphone port) to the Sound card (line in port) on your computer. Run speakers from the line out port as normal.

Download and install Audacity Free Media Player.. You will need a lame_enc.dll file also to be able to convert to MP3 format

Play your cassette and press the record button in Audacity.
When done - Click FIle - Export to MP3

Custom Installs! Please!

2009-04-14T16:31:00.001-05:00

The majority of customers that have spyware, adware, or worse... viruses on their computers say they do not know how some of the stuff ever got on to their system in the first place. Alot of the additional stuff such as extra toolbars, additional programs, trials, etc. can be prevented by using a Custom Install when you install programs off the internet or even a CD. When I install anything I always do a CUSTOM INSTALL. It may also say something such as Other Options, Advanced, but normally says Custom.

Take Yahoo Messenger For instance :
This is the default view when you install Yahoo Messenger. Notice that there is not a "Yahoo Toolbar" showing here. (Yahoo Toolbar is the bar in your Internet Explorer window that has icons for your mail and news, shopping, etc.... it takes up memory to use that by the way!)

Notice the CUSTOM INSTALL button at the top. Click it and ....

Whola! There is the Yahoo Toolbar hiding and waiting for you to just blindly click NEXT!
That isn't nothing major, but if your like me and only wanted the messenger... I get aggravated when I have to go back through and get rid of the junkware!

Below is one more that used to kill me, but now since they do the Live Essentials thing it's much better. They don't hide all the custom installs anymore. Image that you only want to install MSN Live Messenger, but instead you get (7) additional programs because they are hiding in the Custom Install box.

Just please be aware guys that all this stuff on your system had to have came from somewhere, and it normally doesn't install without the user starting it somehow. Hate to be frank, but if your reading this blog than you are wanting to hear the truth anyhow. Thanks, and I hope this helps someone.

For more information please visit the CGrafiks website at www.cgrafiks.com, or our HOT FIXES BLOG at blogger.com!

2009-04-11T14:32:00.000-05:00

Words of Wisdom!

Weird Memory Problem

2009-04-09T21:10:00.000-05:00

I had a virus removal today on an HP computer. I'm sorry, but I don't know the exact model right now. After the virus removal I noticed that it needed RAM. I had already called the customer and was expecting him within the hour, so I went ahead and was trying additional RAM before the customer arrived, so that I could be prepared and show him the difference in speed once the additional RAM was installed.

It already had 256mb DDR installed already, and I was going to add another 256mb stick to make it dual channel. It recognized the memory, but when booting in to normal mode it blue screens and restarts the computer. It happens so quick that I cannot read the blue screen for any technical information. I tried another stick of 256mb DDR, and I even replaced both sticks with 2 - 512mb sticks and it did the same thing. I tried it with only 1 stick of RAM in it (just like it originally was with the 256mb stick) and it still blue screens.

Now... I can boot in to Safe Mode with both sticks of RAM installed, and I tested both sticks with memtest... everything passes with flying colors. It just acts like the operating system will not allow it to run any more memory than what was originally installed. Would this be a BIOS upgrade that is needed? Or possibly one of the viruses that it was previously infected with is causing this? I am stumped at the moment and my only option is to try the BIOS upgrade, or completely reload the Operating System with the full amount of RAM installed before the reload begins. I have not seen a virus that does this yet. I'm sure there is a first for everything, but I am just curious as to what this could be. It stumps me that it works fine in Safe Mode, and with a live cd, but will not work in Normal mode with any more RAM than the original 256mb stick.

Windows 98 Systems - Argh!

2009-04-01T17:55:00.000-05:00

From time to time I still get a Windows 98 system come in to my shop. Dial up internet, buggy and usually missing .vxd files. The first computer I had was a Windows 95 computer... then I finally upgraded to Win98 and loved it! Gosh we have came so far since those days! Now I really am beginning to dispise the older 9X operating systems (95,98, ME).

I have had this particular Win 98 system in my shop for about 4 working business days (which is a lot for my shop). The customer wanted a 2nd hard drive installed, a dvd burner, and a used AGP video card capable of playing Diablo 2.

I installed the 2nd hard drive as slave... formatted and everything is fine on that. Then I installed the DVD burner and ImgBurn software to allow him to burn data. That went well. Everything went smooth until the video card.... The original video card was a 4mb card and uncapable of playing the game. I uninstalled the originial video driver before putting the other video card in.

Well I have went through a total of 4 video cards before I finally found one that this system would accept the driver for. The first 3 cards gave me various errors ranging from wrong drivers, to black screens upon reboot, blue screens of death... etc. I know the drivers are correct, because it took me and my tech hours to find the correct Windows 98 drivers for these video cards. Finally I found one that worked correctly and thankfully am done with this system.

I am now considering "Unsupporting Windows 9x" at my shop. What do you think?

Frustration of Computers

2009-04-01T17:45:00.000-05:00

It is not a good idea to take your frustrations out on your personal computer. By this I mean that if you get mad at your computer... don't physically stomp on it, beat it with a hammer, and throw it across the room a couple times and then expect it to work!

Conficker Worm Rereleased?!?!

2009-04-01T07:20:00.000-05:00

There are rumors that on April 1st the Conficker worm is to be rereleased! I'm fought this worm myself for a couple weeks. I'm not going to name where it was, but it was a nasty little bugger. I think I blogged it awhile back. Anyhow, lets hope that this rumor is a mean April Fools joke and nothing will happen. If it is true..I expect this to be alot worse than the first initial run. That was just a test run in my opinion. We will see I guess! Keep watching the news! I will update this page as I hear more.

UPDATE 4/1/2009 5:00 pm CST
I have kept a close eye on the firewall and have noticed that an incoming attempt to connect every computer on campus has happened on port 445 today. This is the same port that the conficker worm used a month ago when I first saw evidence of it. Notice the other blog post under Hot Fixes on how to protect yourself from the Conficker worm. According to the latest news articles online there are no major instances being found of it and everyone is disregarding it as a hoax, but I am afraid it is not a hoax... I will let you know more as I find it.

ARTICLE ONE: PC WORLD NEWS
ARTICLE TWO: INFORMATION WEEK
MORE NEWS ARTICLES: CLICK HERE

Router Replacement with old defective router?

2009-03-27T21:47:00.000-05:00

DEFECTIVE ROUTERS? ... brought back to life?

I think I have possibly blogged about this before, or twittered it or something, but it has happened again, and I'm confused!

About every month or so I have to replace my router. It just all of a sudden quits allowing a wireless connection but still allows a hard wired connection, or it will just start locking up every few minutes and I will have to power cycle the router to get internet access again. What I don't understand is that it does this quite often, and nothing I do seems to fix it. I have upgraded the firmware, positioned the equipment away from any EMI waves. I can go in and reset to default, reconfigure it with static ips or with dhcp either one, and it will still give me problems. I have tried to use the routers plugged in to a UPS and without the UPS..... this has been going on with different routers for about a year (if not more!). I have a crate of the old routers in the shed, and what is weird is when the router dies... I can go get another router (that was once dead) and plug it back up ... reconfigure it.. and it will work fine for a month or so until it does the same thing! Is it a conspiracy against me? Is it my ISP doing it because I have too many connections on my dsl line? Am I overloading my routers?.. different routers? Any suggestions?

Oh By the Way.. Window Update

2009-03-26T19:27:00.000-05:00

Sorry... I should have posted this before the motherboard blog.

I finally got my window put in on Friday. Exactly 15 days of patiently waiting. I have to say that it was done correctly...perfectly level, the colors and trim matched exactly with the other windows, and most importantly it did not leak. We had 2 days of rain this week on Wed and Thursday, and it did not leak a drop. So even though it took longer than expected, and I was getting aggravated because of the disorder... it was done great and I have no other complaints. It sure is nice to see out to the main road now!

Diagnosis of a Bad Motherboard!

2009-03-26T19:09:00.000-05:00

I hate telling someone that their motherboard is the problem, but sometimes it happens. For me personally it is hard to accept. I have spent many hours on a $20 diagnostic trying everything possible to bring a system back to life.... only to finally give in and tell the customer they need a new motherboard and most likely a new processor and RAM to fit that motherboard. From my experience, motherboard damage can be as small as the onboard video needing to be replaced with a video card to as major as bulged capacitors leaking residue on to the motherboard and it not powering on at all.

To determine a bad motherboard I follow a basic procedure of taking a part out at a time and powering on the system after each part is removed.

Test and Replace the Power Supply if necessary
Then Remove any PCI cards from their slots one at a time.
Remove video card / Use onboard VGA (or use another known good vga card)
Then disconnect the cd rom and dvd drives one at a time.
Then disconnect the hard drive(s) one at a time.
Remove a stick of RAM (Memory) one at a time.
Remove all RAM from the system (do you hear a beep code?)
Reseat the processor, replace with a known good working one if necessary.

If you are down to just the motherboard, a known good processor, a known good power supply and a known good video source and you still cannot get the computer to POST (or even power on at all) than you have a bad motherboard.

Patiently waiting, and loosing customers

2009-03-19T06:54:00.000-05:00

I have been waiting since the beginning of last week.. almost 10 days now for a window to be put in in my shop facing the road. My shop has been in disarray for this whole time now. They never called me last week to cancel.. they just didn't show up. I finally moved stuff back around on Monday so that I could work in there again.... then I called them Monday and Tuesday to ask when it was going to be put in.. on Wednesday he called me and said that he was on his way around 1pm. I waiting till 3:30 when he called and postponed again for tommorow! This is really ticking me off. I've had to move my whole front office around to compensate for them, and then yesterday I had to shut down the shop and tarp everything up... move what was needed to be moved.. ya know?! I mean, I'm loosing business while I'm being pushed around! If this building wasn't created by them in the first place then I would have already had someone else do it (for a cheaper price too!) I just wanted to comment on the level of service from some people here in Crossville. I hear this all the time from my clients who are upset because of another technician or business toying with them... rescheduling, or just not showing up at all. I am sorry guys! I promise I try my best to not be like that at CGrafiks!

Hacking Statistics

2009-03-03T09:07:00.001-06:00

I heard this statistics on Buzz Out Loud today.

Out of a study of the "Web Hack Incident Database 2008" on 57 incidents total:

1 out of 4 hackers will hack their friends
24% Hack just because they can - to make a stand against something
19% Steal Identity
16% Add malware to a system
13% Steal Money

Tricky Memory Upgrade - HP zv6000

2009-03-01T15:55:00.001-06:00

Wow! I had to actually research this one a bit!

I ordered memory for a client who told me over the phone that the laptop was an HP Pavilion dv6000... ( or at least I thought! ). It only had 256mb of RAM with Windows XP, so it was well overdue for an upgrade. After a few days the the memory upgrade came in. I went to install it and found out that the laptop was an HP Pavilion zv6000 not a dv6000 as planned! The dv6000 took DDR2 and the zv6000 takes DDR. Well.. that was ok I guess... I had the other type of memory available at my shop about 10 minutes away, so I left and came back to install the stick of DDR memory. I took the back memory panel off the laptop to find that it only had one DIMM slot to put the RAM in. ... ... I double checked ... and tripple checked! Only 1 slot! Well, I installed a 1024mb stick in this bay, and closed it up - thinking that it was just made with one memory slot. To verify this I went in to BIOS and found the amount of memory that it was recognizing... it was 1280mb. It was seeing an additional 256mb stick in the machine somewhere. Well... I only had the one stick of DDR memory in stock anyhow, so I left it at that and decided to go home and research it. Well.. I found out that I had upgraded the external memory chip but there was still an internal memory chip located somewhere underneath the keyboard. Why would they split the memory locations up like this? It's crazy!~

SERVICE GUIDE HP PAVILION ZV600 http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00364919.pdf

A POST I FOUND TO HELP: http://www.dinarius.com/commentable/index.php?id=45

A YOUTUBE VIDEO TO REPLACE THE EXTERNAL CHIP: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbgt5AgzbdE