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It is quite difficult to deal with a slow computer. You may get annoyed because of the start up time your pc takes while you have a dead line to complete a task. If it takes forever to start up or shut down then you may use the following steps if you are a Vista user to speed up your pc.

Erase unnecessary programs from the start up process – While Windows Vista starts up a number of programs run either as a pop up windows or in the background. Many of them are useless. You should remove them from the start up process in order to increase the speed of computer. You should select the programs, which you need and load them into RAM memory and run in the background. To do this you should open the start menu, and then go to run and type ‘misconfig’. Then you need to select the Start up tab and uncheck the items, which you do not need to auto-load and click OK.

Deactivate UAC (User Account Control) – You may try to speed up your computer by disabling UAC (User Account Control), which uses a significant block of resources that is quite annoying to a number of users. To turn off the User Account Control you need to open the Control Panel and type ‘UAC’ into the field provided to input the search item. A search result will appear on the screen like “Turn User Account Control (UAC) on or off”. You need to follow the instruction to deactivate UAC.

Disable the graphic features – Turning down or disabling the Aero graphic features can be one of the best way to make the Windows Vista faster. Though these graphics are great they are also resources hogs. To disable graphics you need to open the Start menu and go to run and type ‘systempropertiesperformance’. You should uncheck the box “Animated Windows when minimizing and maximizing” on the Visual Effects tab.

Turn off index service – The new search features of Windows Vista are also the resources of hogs. To turn off the index service you need to right click on the C drive in the Windows Explorer. Then uncheck the ‘Index this Drive for Faster Searching’ option by clicking on the ‘General’ tab.

Deactivate the side bar – One of the best ways to speed up Windows Vista can be by disabling the side bar. Though these widgets and gadgets are quite funny they consume a large amount of resources. To disable the side bar you need to right click on the Windows sidebar option, which can be located in the system tray at the lower right corner of the screen. Choose the option to disable.

Tweak the programs – Often more than one program running can end up stealing resources. Sometimes programs suck as image editors, which are included with, print drivers runs from the startup when it is not even in use. You should uninstall the programs, which you do not utilize at all.

Allow advanced performance on a SATA drive – To speed up the Windows Vista you should allow advanced performance on a SATA drive. But this option is deactivated by default. To accomplish the process you should type ‘devmgmt.msc’ from the command line to open the Device Manager. Then you need to go to the disk Drives tab and right click on the SATA drive. Choose properties from the menu. Choose the policies tab and finally check the ‘Enable Advanced Performance’ box.

Clean the registry – Registry itself is often one of the most neglected parts of Windows. We often fail to realize that using registry cleaner software to clean the invalid entries, which makes our pc slow, can be the best way to speed up computer. Registry cleaner also eliminate the Windows error, which can pop up at the time of boot up.

Remove Trojans and spy wares to protect the system – This is one of the most important ways to increase the speed of Windows Vista. This is important because not only the system performance but also the safety and privacy of your data can be at risk. Using free tools like Spyboat for spy ware protection and removal, Avast for anti virus protection or Zonealarm for firewall can be good. But before using those you should be sure enough that they are not spy wares themselves.

If you can execute these above-mentioned steps successfully it will help to increase the speed of Windows Vista and it will become more productive while you will work.

BitDefender announces the availability of its new 2009 range of security products, as previously composed of three products: BitDefender Antivirus 2009, BitDefender Internet Security 2009 and BitDefender Total Security 2009. The range is enriched including additions to the high-end product, Total Security, which gets a module for the protection of sensitive data by a 256-bit AES algorithm and protection of instant messaging, allowing including encrypting exchanges. The real-time protection is in turn improved the level of defence proactive, and subsequently helps protect a centralized all PC LAN.

Other improvements include a “laptop” which automatically postpones maintenance tasks or analysis when programmed laptop batteries east mode, a new detection system integrated with the intrusions firewall (which also gets support for IPv6), a new interface standard mode, and improved performance and the conosmmation resources. The range BitDefender 2009 is available at a price of 35.95 euros for the TTC version Antivirus, 53.95 euros TTC for the Internet Security and 55.95 euros for the TTC version Total Security.

I purchased bitdefender Internet Security 2009 and it is a terrible product. It has caused problems with my internet connection, Gmail, the auto-scan does not work, customer service is terrible and they won’t refund my money. I will never buy another bitdefender product and suggest no one else does either.

How can this new iterateraition of an old threat get by up to date real-time anti virus scanners? I’ve now seen it infect systems running up to date Avast and also Micro Trend Officescan. I would image it has passed through others.

From what I understand, this is the same crap as XP Antivirus 2007 and 2008. Also have read that it morphs into Antivirus VIP. Anyway, I’m mainly confused as to how it it bypassing scanners? I suspect (because I was not present when the infection occurred) that when an infected web page popped up a message to click on a link to download a repair for the poor users infected system, that they clicked on it and {purposely} installed the virus. But still, it seems to disable resident scanners.

The Direct Access feature in Windows 7 allows an automatic access to a Virtual Private Network (VPN), once the system detects internet connectivity. This removes the overhead of having to explicitly connect to a VPN each time you want to access the specific domain. Based on Windows 2008 R2 capabilities and the internet protocols IPSec and IPV6, a bi-directional connection between remote client and the corporate network is established, enabling you to remain connected to your work platform and applications, and receive updates in real time.

There are other enhancements which facilitate management of the existing biometric security, apart from additional options for system backup and restore, which now include an expanded list of programs and time frames to choose from. Support for Wi-Fi too has been ramped up.

Basic security features from Windows Vista vis-a-vis Application integrity, Service execution, Kernel patch protection as well as the Address space randomization and Data execution prevention are active in this version of Windows too.

Microsoft has also introduced the Windows 7 Filtering Platform (WFP), using which third-party programs can make the most of existing windows firewall settings for their functioning, and also work in cohesion to protect the system.

In Windows 7 you can access the Windows firewall feature from the Control Panel instead of the Network Sharing Center.

Contrary to a few reports, Windows 7 does not have built-in Antivirus software. However, the re-vamped Firewall feature and the Windows Defender Utility provide basic security and malware detection/clean up facilities. Free Antivirus solutions from AVG , Avast, Avira, Comodo, and Bit defender have been in use with earlier version of Windows. You could check out if these offer support for Windows 7 too.

Trial versions of Windows 7 compliant antivirus software from a few other ISVs such as Norton, Panda, Trendmicro are also available.

Microsoft’s very own Security Essentials suite, though still very much in the beta state, has been tagged as ready for Windows 7.

More more information and resources visit: www.windows7-problem.com

So, you’ve bought yourself the shiny new operating system from Microsoft – Windows 7.

Do you feel secure with it?

Windows 7 certainly takes things seriously – it has several security features built in.

The question, though, is what other products work with the operating system that will allow you to keep yourself out of harm’s way?

Here is a list of 22 programs that I have found that seem to play nicely with Windows 7 -

AdAware
AppRanger
Ashampoo AntiSpyWare 2
avast! Professional Edition
AVG Internet Security
Avira AntiVir Premium
CA Anti-Spyware 2009
ClamAV
ESET Smart Security
K7 TotalSecurity 9.0
Kaspersky Anti-Virus 2009
Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware
McAfee Internet Security
Norton Internet Security 2009
Panda Internet Security 2009
Spybot – Search & Destroy
STOPzilla
Trend Micro Antivirus + Antispyware
Verizon Internet Security Suite
Webroot Spy Sweeper
WinPatrol 2009
ZONEALARM Internet Security Suite

Of course it goes without saying that the list is far from exhaustive and there will be many more additions now that the final retail version of Windows 7 has been released.

Whether you choose something I mentioned above, or pick an alternative, the point is that you should have some level of protection.

Just because Windows 7 is cool, hype and new it doesn’t mean that you don’t need a good antivirus program, a spam filter or an alternative firewall.

The bad guys are still out there, they’re still writing malware and looking for new ways to phish your personal information from you.

Whats more, they like a challenge and a new operating system release is just that.

Don’t forget either that Windows releases tend to have large number of updates and patches soon after they come out – there is a reason for that!

Many people are now getting fast broadband connections to ensure that they have the fastest surfing speed possible. However, getting a broadband connection is not a guaranteed way to be able to go on whatever site you want and have it load lightning fast. There are several different tricks & techniques you can use to boost the speed of your Internet which even a beginner can do:

1) Limit The Number Of Web Pages You Have Open At Once – With browsers such as FireFox and Internet Explorer allowing for “tabbed” browsing, it’s easy to load up many different websites at once. This actually slows down your Internet a lot because your PC is having to deal with opening all of these sites. If you want to visit a number of different sites, you should really only have one or two open at once – which will decrease the load on your Internet and speed up the connection.

2) Stop Internet Applications Running In The “Background” – Applications such as SKYPE & AIM are designed to continuously run without you seeing them, gathering data from the Internet. The reason why you can talk “instantly” to someone is because the application is using huge amounts of Internet bandwidth to constantly check for new messages and updates. This means that if you run these programs, they will take up more of the Internet connection than they need, slowing it down tremendously. You should install any program that you suspect is taking up too much Internet bandwidth OR limit their usage to a time when you can afford to have them check their servers all the time.

3) Monitor Network Usage – Having a network of computers might be a cheap and easy way to have several computers hooked up to the web, but it also means that you’ve effectively got to “split” your Internet connection between them all. This means that if someone is playing an on line game and watching movies on line, it’s going to make your connection seem very slow because their PC is taking the lions-share of it. If your Internet starts to run slow and you’re on a home (or office) network, then you would be best checking to see if anyone is doing anything that could slow it down.

4) Perform An Anti virus Scan – Viruses are a big reason why Internet connections run slowly. These are basically small software applications which do a number of undesirable things to your PC. The most dangerous of these is the way in which many viruses work to “send” information back to the hacker who made the virus. This uses your Internet connection and can take up a lot of bandwidth, making it run slower. In order to ensure your computer is free from any viruses or spy ware, you should download an anti virus tool and use it to scan your system. There are plenty of effective free tools out there, including “Avast”.

5) Clean Out The Registry – This is probably one of the most effective & least known methods of speeding up your Internet connection. The registry is basically a central database which stores information and settings about your computer, allowing it to recall all sorts of different settings and options that are on there. Information like your Internet favorites, browser settings and homepage are kept in the registry, making it a very important part of your system.

The registry database is used whenever you open up any web page. It’s basically a way for Windows to save and recall a variety of settings that your PC needs for the Internet, and is used constantly. The only problem with the registry is that since it’s constantly being opened and read, many of the important settings that are inside it are saved in the wrong way, making your PC unable to recall the files that it needs whenever it needs them. This is what makes many computer’s Internet connections seem to run slowly and can be fixed with a ‘registry cleaner’. Registry cleaners scan through all the registry settings in your computer and then fix any of the damaged files that are causing problems. You can download them from the Internet and are very easy to use.