SmitFraudFix

Author: S!Ri
The Authors Site
Size: 1.58 MB
License: Freeware
Requires: Win XP/2K
This tool removes Desktop Hijack malware: Advanced Antivirus, AdwarePunisher, AdwareSheriff, AlphaCleaner, AntiSpyCheck, AntiSpyware Expert, Antispyware Soldier, AntiVermeans, AntiVermins, AntiVerminser, AntiVirGear, Antivirus 2009, Antivirus 2010, Antivirus 360, AntiVirus Lab 2009, Antivirus Master, Antivirus Sentry, Antivirus XP 2008, AntivirusGolden, AVGold, Awola, BraveSentry, IE Defender, IE-Security, Internet Antivirus, MalwareCrush, MalwareWipe, MalwareWiped, MalwaresWipeds, MalwareWipePro, MalwareWiper, Micro Antivirus 2009, MS Antivirus, PC Protection Center 2008, Personal Defender 2009, PestCapture, PestTrap, Power Antivirus, Power-Antivirus-2009, PSGuard, quicknavigate.com, Registry Cleaner, Security iGuard, Smart Antivirus 2009, Smitfraud, Spy Protector, SpyAxe, SpyCrush, SpyDown, SpyFalcon, SpyGuard, SpyHeal, SpyHeals, SpyLocked, SpyMarshal, SpySheriff, SpySoldier, Spyware Guard 2008, Spyware Vanisher, Spyware Soft Stop, SpywareLocked, SpywareQuake, SpywareKnight, SpywareRemover, SpywareSheriff, SpywareStrike, Startsearches.net, System Antivirus 2008, TheSpyBot, TitanShield Antispyware, Total Protect 2009, Total Secure 2009, Trust Cleaner, Ultimate Antivirus 2008, UpdateSearches.com, Virtual Maid, Virus Heat, Virus Protect, Virus Protect Pro, VirusBlast, VirusBurst, VirusRay, Virus Remover 2008, VirusResponse Lab 2009, VirusTrigger, Win32.puper, WinHound, Vista Antivirus 2008, WinDefender 2009, XLG Security Center, XP Security Center, XPert Antivirus, XP Police Antivirus, Brain Codec, ChristmasPorn, DirectAccess, DirectVideo, EliteCodec, eMedia Codec, EZVideo, FreeVideo, Gold Codec, HQ Codec, iCodecPack, IECodec, iMediaCodec, Image ActiveX Object, Image Add-on, IntCodec, iVideoCodec, JPEG Encoder, Key Generator, LookForPorn, Media-Codec, MediaCodec, MMediaCodec, MovieCommander, MPCODEC, My Pass Generator, NetProject, Online Image Add-on, Online Video Add-on, PCODEC, Perfect Codec, PowerCodec, PornPass Manager, PornMag Pass, Pornovid, PrivateVideo, QualityCodec, Silver Codec, SearchPorn, SexVid, SiteEntry, SiteTicket, SoftCodec, strCodec, Super Codec, TrueCodec, VideoAccess, VideoBox, VidCodecs, Video Access ActiveX Object, Video ActiveX Object, Video Add-on, VideoCompressionCodec, VideoKeyCodec, VideosCodec, WinAntiSpyPro, WinMediaCodec, X Password Generator, X Password Manager, ZipCodec...

Editors Note: This may flag some antivirus programs like Avast and AVG. Running from safe mode would be best. Visit the authors homepage for detailed instructions on removal.

TeamViewer

Remote Desktop Sharing
TeamViewer establishes connections to any PC or server all around the world within just a few seconds.
You can remote control your partner's PC as if you were sitting right in front of it.

Ads popping up at start

Source
By Elvandil Moderator with 33,943 posts (Microsoft MVP)
06-Mar-2009
You can't remove Internet Explorer. It is part of Vista.
Try removing the toolbar.
Toolbar Cop

And check your startup entries with one of these:
Startup Control Panel
MZ Startup Manager
Startup Control Panel (Exe version for Vista)
Emsa Startup Manager
EM Startup Manager
WheresJames Startup Manager

Startup Programs Reference
If you have ads popping up, you are infected.
Scan with your anti-malware apps, and check your startups with a startup manager.
===================================
Free anti-malware scanners:
MalwareBytes trial
A-Squared
PrevX CSI Free Version
Spybot S&D
RunScanner
Ad-Aware 2007
SuperAntiSpyware
Spyware Eliminator
Emco Malware Destroyer
Spyware Doctor
Arovax Anti-spyware
Trend-Micro Rootkit Buster
F-Secure Blacklight
Bootzilla (Bootable anti-malware CD with many other tools.)

List of freeware security software

Can your computer run that game?

System Requirements Lab

	Get your complete report in seconds including suggestions for what to upgrade on your computer.
	Only your system's hardware and system software are evaluated.
	No personally identifiable information is collected.
	Works on Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Media Center, Vista.
	Works with Internet Explorer, Firefox & Netscape browsers.
	You will need to give your permission to download a secure ActiveX/Java browser component.
	You can easily uninstall the ActiveX/Java browser component when the analysis is complete.

What it does
This site provides a One-Click solution that looks at your computer's hardware and system software to determine whether or not your current system can run a product. Each of your computer's components is evaluated to see how well it meets the minimum and recommended requirements for specific products. Recommendations are made on how to update or upgrade each component which does not meet the listed requirements. Sometimes, a simple, free software download is all that is needed. Sometimes you'll find that you need a different video card to fully experience what the game has to offer.

For more information, see our FAQs.

This patent-pending technology is called "Instant Expert Analysis" and it is provided by System Requirements Lab.

KeyTweak

Source
Keytweak is a free keyboard remapper for Windows NT/2000/XP/Vista/Win 7. It makes use of Microsoft's Scancode Map registry key to remap your keyboard.
Download

Virtualization in Action

Stories of real businesses
(from www.linux-mag.com)

Improving Disk Performance

How to get the most out of your hard disks

by Roderick W. Smith Tuesday, November 15th, 2005
...
...
Filesystem Choice

Beyond adjusting the way the kernel talks to your hard disks, you can choose which filesystem or filesystems your system uses. Unfortunately, picking a filesystem for optimal performance isn’t an easy task. Too many variables exist that affect performance, such as disk throughput, disk head seek speeds, overall system load, how full the filesystem is, and whether you’re accessing large or small files. A few generalizations can be drawn, though:

*Journaling filesystems are preferable. Journaling filesystems (ext3fs, ReiserFS, JFS, and XFS) maintain a journal, or log of pending changes. Maintaining the journal slightly degrades performance, but greatly speeds recovery after a power failure or other uncontrolled shutdown. Most journaling filesystems include more advanced features than do non-journaling filesystems (such as ext2fs), which partly or completely counteracts the extra effort the journal requires to maintain. Overall, a journaling filesystem is a big improvement, particularly if you want to minimize boot times after a problem shutdown. An exception is small filesystems (such as /boot, if it’s on a separate partition), on which the journal consumes too high a percentage of disk space to be worth its while.

*Small files work best with ReiserFS. If a partition holds many small files, look into ReiserFS. Although it might or might not perform any better than other filesystems, ReiserFS is more efficient at packing small files onto the disk. The result is that you can fit more small files on a disk.

*ext2fs and ext3fs are dependable on all platforms. Fortunately, all the major Linux filesystems (ext2fs, ext3fs, ReiserFS, XFS, and JFS) are reliable on x86 systems. On other platforms, one or more of these may be sluggish or unreliable. If in doubt, stick with ext2fs or ext3fs; these are the most likely to be speedy and reliable.

If getting the absolute best speed out of your filesystem is important, you may need to perform some tests, ideally using the hard disk and applications you intend to use. For a typical single-computer desktop or even small server installation, such tests are likely to consume so much time that they aren’t worthwhile. If you’re deploying hundreds of identical desktop systems, though, it might be worth running a few tests to see how different filesystems cope with the sorts of tasks your systems will be performing.

Filesystem Layout
In addition to filesystem choice, filesystem layout can affect performance. Two factors are important to consider when designing a filesystem layout:
*Seek times. When Linux accesses data from different partitions on a single disk, the disk head must move (or seek) from one area of the disk to another. This action takes time, so if your disk layout is such that data from the start and end of the disk must be frequently accessed, performance will be degraded compared to a layout in which frequently accessed data lie close together.
*Disk throughput. As noted earlier, disk throughput varies from one part of a disk to another. As a general rule, earlier parts of the disk (partitions in low-numbered cylinders) perform better than do latter parts of the disk. Thus, putting frequently accessed data at the start of the disk generally makes sense.
Typically, the best performance can be achieved by placing the most-used partitions, such as partitions for /usr, /home, and swap space, in the middle of the disk. Partitions that are seldom accessed, such as /boot or a partition holding an emergency Linux installation, are best placed in the peripheral regions of the disk.
Figure One illustrates a good single-disk configuration. The assumption is that most accesses involve /usr, /home,, or swap space, with progressively less frequent accesses for partitions further from these. Such a layout will minimize disk seek times and therefore maximize performance. Of course, different systems might have different access patterns, so Figure One might be an excellent configuration for one system but poor for another.
Figure One: An optimized disk configuration places frequently accessed data near the center of the disk

In multi-disk systems, try to spread your access across disks. For instance, in a multi-boot configuration, don’t devote one disk entirely to Linux and the other disk entirely to the other OS. Splitting both OSs across both disks will improve performance for both OSs.

In a Linux-only configuration with multiple disks, put both commonly used and rarely used partitions on both disks. If /usr is on one disk and /home is on another, then a pattern of use that entails accessing files in both directories will require no head seeks to move between those two partitions (although of course there may be head seeks within each partition).

Advanced configurations take advantage of Linux’s support for Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID). This technology enables you to split a single virtual partition across two or more physical disks. This can be done to improve data security (in case one disk fails, a copy will exist on another disk), to improve performance (by spreading access across multiple disks), or both. Although RAID configuration is too complex to cover in this column, it’s well worth investigating if you need to get the most out of your disks.
Roderick W. Smith is the author or co-author of over a dozen books, including Linux in a Windows World and Linux Power Tools. He can be reached at
class="emailaddress">rodsmith@rodsbooks.com.
Roderick W. Smith is the author or coauthor of more than a dozen books, including Linux in a Windows World and Linux Power Tools. He can be reached at rodsmith@rodsbooks.com.