Show Notes
Recording and editing sound on a budget
Here are a couple programs that you can used for some advanced audio recording on a budget.
Hey! What’s a rootkit?
We had a caller today who was afraid he had been infected by a rootkit. Find out more about rootkits here.
View compressed video on your computer
If you are having a hard time viewing certain kinds of videos on your computer. Here are acouple of links to codec downloads.
How to get into safe mode
We have told a number of callers today to run their utilities like scandisk, antivirus and antispyware in safe mode. Here is a quick reminder on how to do it. You can find more information on safe mode by searching for "safe mode" in our search box.
1. Turn on your computer
2. As your computer turns on press your F8 key over and over in about half second intervals until a menu of options comes up.
3. Choose Safe Mode using your arrow keys and press ENTER
Safe mode is a troubleshooting version of windows that disables unnecessary features that can get in the way of removing viruses, spyware and other problems.
Run spyware and anti-virus scans in safe mode
If your anti-virus finds a virus during a scan, reboot your computer into Safe Mode (push F8 repeatedly on your keyboard when the computer starts up) and run all anti-virus scans and anti-spyware scans in Safe Mode. This will help get rid of pesky viruses and spyware.
Open Office – The FREE Office Alternative
Microsoft Office has dominated the office space (spreadsheet, word processor, presentation creation, etc). Over the recent few years, Open Office has made huge strides. Backed by Sun Microsystems and now Google as well among others, this suite of office products is poised to take off.
Open Office includes a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation manager, database program, and graphics program.
The download is huge and can take up to seven hours with dial-up Internet…so don’t attempt it unless you have a fast connection or a lot of time.
Powerpoint Viewer – Opening PPS email attachments
When someone sends you an email attachment with a .pps extension. You need to download and install the PowerPoint viewer. It is a free program and it will let you view Microsoft PowerPoint sideshows…which is what a PPS file is.
Remove Bios Password
There are two solutions to this:
Solution 1:
Try some of the backdoor passwords that are often built into the BIOS following the setups on this site.
Solution 2:
- Turn off and unplug the computer
- Open the computer and look for a flat "watch" battery on the mother board
- Remove this battery. You may have to gently pry it out using a small tool.
- Plug your computer in and turn it on without the better.
- Turn your computer off and reinsert the battery and turn the system back on.