Your not a n00b

[ArmagoN]

Thought it might be worth starting a forum where peoople could ask me or anyone else in the forum about any aspect of computing, now I'm no expert .... but I know alot of common issues and repairs, for

Servers
Printers
Desktops

so if you have a question that you would like to ask pop it here and i will give you an answer that will not just rectify your issue (if I can) but i will give the best detailed evaluation of what has gone wrong and the Theory and technology behind it.

If I am repeating what other may have said before let me know, I just thought and educational Forum entry would help me retain the info i have better and dod what i enjoy most... Thats Fix stuff!!!!



Regards

ArmagoN

P.S. I am a I.T. Professional but I'm more of an all rounder than specialist..... will be one day

[ArmagoN]

Hmmmm to tidy that up a bit more, iwant to create a Journal of Fixes that don't just fix the problem they educate on the Theory and Technology behind what has gone wrong

[Merlin4458]

how about my post below urs m8?

[ArmagoN]

Spyware,

Spyware is a program that will attach to your computer to identify trends in your browsing. most of the time this is for market research and how companies can better reach their target audience. Some Ad ware will help generate money for people by throwing popups on you screen in the hope you will click them (most of these people get paid per X amount of hits) and hence forth generate a revenue. In previous cases of dial up your dialer could get hijacked and connected to a different ISP charging you Several £ per minute.

Below is an example of how you can stop some processes starting when your computer boots, once you have done this it is best to run some form of spyware removal tool. This should change any Registry keys changed via the Spyware back to what they were.

To identify process names use google as this can greatly help you when identifying such processes as ghzz (for a example) you would have no clue whether this is a Windows process or not unless you check. Or it may even be a process for one of your programs like QTT for quick time. WARNING Playing with your system config can cause some problems if unsure just ask

(please note i know the image is corrupt at the bottom will be uploading it again later, works upload rate isn't very good!)

"D:\Programs\gcasDtServ.exe "

-LOL i like the process google search on this one.. shows how much MS knows on supposedly "how to protect your pc" LOL

click on Start click on run and type in [without quotes] "msconfig" and click ok-
click on the "Startup" tab and Untick the following from the list

"realsched.exe" -Real One Player Server Scheduler- Dont need it at startup
"jusched.exe"- Java Environment Scheduler -Dont need it at startup
"LimeWire.exe" - LimeWire -because you aint gonna download everytime u start the pc

then click the apply button and click on "exit without restart" when u do restart the pc- it'll nag about using MS config tool -all u do then is just tick the box and click ok

The amount of pc's i have doen the above to is barbaric -lol
what people expect from software is to install and work rather than take up Memory and CPU usage when their not using it

Now the spyware issue
------------------------------

Download and install the following below
Ad Aware SE
Latest Firefox [US 1.5]
Suggestion to use FF all the time ONLY use IE for FTTP/ web server access
Spyware Doctor
Spyware Sweeper

use al lof the Anti spyware appz suggested please bud because all of them work differently and many peeps trust Ad Aware too much when al lthat does is dust lil bits of spyware when al lthe other find stuff that Ad Aware wont

hope this help bud

Vincent

Vincent kinda Covered that one, i will be adding useful links to other threads here to help others in future

[Pink Floyd]

hi guys...

im a newbie so i thought i would introduce myself, and say hi! i am currently studying electronics & software engineering, specialising in networking

so hi all

i have a question if you don't mind... i currently have not gotten onto studying the wireless module of my degree, but to be honest with you the whole MAC addressing etc really confuses me...

would anybody be able to explain it, a quick kinda just

i hope to be a techy after my degree, all being well

thanks guys!

[mark19632]

MAC Address. Every network interface has a unique (totally unique in the whole world) one. that's pretty much it for my knowladge!

The first few HEX charictors are usally assigned to a particular manufacture

[EDIT] and is short for Media Access Control address

[autopilot]

Thought it might be worth starting a forum where peoople could ask me or anyone else in the forum about any aspect of computing...

What are you going on about? Do you even know where you are?

Do you meen a THREAD, in which people ask about various problems? eh? Then you go off and start a (pretty dubious) guide on spyware. WTF?

EDITED: I was a little harsh, yes.

[Mako159th]

A bit harsh - but on the whole i would agree!

FYI - Spyware can include a serious risk to your personal security.

In a word spyware is used by companies and individuals to gain information from or about you or your browsing habits. At best these programes will gain information about your browsing habits - at their worst they (keystroke loggers) will gather any information you type into your machine and send it to a central server for collection by whoever droppped the spyware onto a website you visited. This information may and often does include bank account/credit card numbers.

Be under no illusions - You will not find spyware on your system that doesn't want to be found by looking in the sys conf!!!

Bottom line - load several anti spyware programmes on your machine and run/update them as regularly as possible.

And just in case you were interested as to why i feel i am able to talk about spyware - I work for a Security firm that makes one of the best anti spyware products out there....

No offence, but a jack of all trades shouldn't try to answer questions he knows little or nothing about. If you have a question, i would suggest starting a new post of your own and asking the community as a whole.

[TheAnimus]

hi guys...

im a newbie so i thought i would introduce myself, and say hi! i am currently studying electronics & software engineering, specialising in networking

so hi all

i have a question if you don't mind... i currently have not gotten onto studying the wireless module of my degree, but to be honest with you the whole MAC addressing etc really confuses me...

would anybody be able to explain it, a quick kinda just

i hope to be a techy after my degree, all being well

thanks guys!

ARP is probably what you need to read up on.

In a network, all packets are sent to a MAC address, in an internetwork, it gets more complicated.

An IP gets translated to a MAC address, and sent. A MAC (mediam access controller) will only listen for packets going to its MAC address. It then bothers to see if the IP is correct etc.

With an internetwork (where you ahve a router) the IP will be translated to the MAC of the router, or gateway depending on higher networking layers. Then the router recives the packet, does ARP again, before dispatching.

Networking is majorly boring. I learn't all i needed from the RFC's when i wrote my own network driver for a PIC and an rtl3189 network card.

[vincent]

thanks for the apprasials- LOL

but i've been a self skilled IT Technician for the past 4 years ever since my 1st pc in 2001

i found out the nasty drawbacks of spyware back in the ol' days where Kazaa Media Desktop was on everyones pc and the days of free AudioGalaxy -lol i noticied alot of too many processes- did a net search on them and thats where i learned the begginning from spyware disasters

Also i also offer a pc help /customer care 2 my closest of friends-the amount of timesi've edited their pcs msconfigs alot from stuff they really nedd [like webcam drivers to sound drivers] to crap that is just a watse of time [ Java Enviornment and Real Networks scheduler]

even one of me works mates asked for me help cos i offered it to him- he had a a64-felt like using a P2 he had so much crap installed at startup it took literally 5 mins to open the start XP menu :O - gave a good word around work - boss was on to me for me to install his BT broadband ,I did it- he got me a 6 pack of Guiness

And this goes back to what i said 2 the post- the average pc user doesnt know about spyware/scams/viruses/hacks within games/OS exploits -they want to just use it and not break it-lol if it does break/crash then let the anger come out-lol

i see a pc as a car -because when it;s sick - if u take it to the shop they rip u off- DIY for a more effective hobby- and do what i do sometimes- me mates pays me for my services- but not extortion prices- cheap things- like i did a hard drive failure diagnostics,managed 2 recover alot of Uni/photoshoots work for me mate- suggested which HDD to buy and fit it for her and reinstall everything- i got £30 for it [the jos is easy for me-not for them so im nto that greedy-lol]
the reason i start cos i was fedup of forkin out a standard charge of £35 labour charge everytime my pc broke so i rose up to the challenge

[vincent]

** Note- my 2 posts arent beign big heade-d their the exact truth*
for what i can do with a pc is...

-Printer maintanence
-Basic web site creation
-Internet Graphics[ Photoshop]
-Hardware parts [how they work]
-building a pc from scratch while on a low budget of £40 a week
-OS maintanence
-Hardware diagnostics
-a lil bit of overclocking experience
-Spyware
-how to properly protect people online rather than use Norton which takes up 2 much pc resources
-Online gaming[ been a interest since 1st pc back in 01]

i would love to have a qualification to show it but it costs too much

my only downfall- the logic behind networks
i knwo what a IP is, and a port and a MAC address and how they all work togetehr to gain acess and allow processes to acess the net -but forget everytihng else-lol

[nvening]

we are not camplaining about you knowledge but i dont think you really understand how a forums works.

A person has a problem and so makes a thread on the subject in the forum (hexus actually has sub forums, which help is one of, these sometimes have thier own sub forums too!)

You look at the forum, say once a day, when you are surfing, and see what problems people have, and answer them in thier own thread.

This way works very well as it organises information, and the new threads (either new or that have had new posts put in them) is put infront of the old, and out of date, threads.

[bertie]

What he said ^

I think quite a large proportion of the Hexus userbase have at least as much general PC knowledge as you, no offence

If anyone needs help they will post in the help forums

[vincent]

bah i hate it when this happens over the net- people making assumptions rather than not Fully readin the post...

it isnt a rant or something-lol
but thats my story - i wish to fortell -a forum isnt just about posting about a problem -a forums is your basic communication tower -open to a door of soley different conversations

[nvening]

How about, telling us all about you and what you know in the welcome forum and then keep browsing and posting everwhere else, i dont actually care so im gunna stop posting here now.

[ArmagoN]

Well the above is generally what I was trying to generate, a knowledge base in which anyone can add information, I was giving a general view on what each category is, which can then be further evaluated by others to not only fix the problem someone has, but also educate those who may want to fully understand the concept behind the problem.

For instance if I had a graphics problem any one could say bad card memory but then to take the theory behind memory and expand it so anyone could grasp the concept.

All I wanted to do was create a thread that could be used for learning and fixing at the same time, pulling problems out of different threads to generate a document at then end which someone may find useful either for research, Break fix, or just because they are enthusiastic about computers and want to know more.