Find your Fastest DNS Server [Downloads]

Namebench is a Google Code project that will pull in your existing DNS servers, query and benchmark them along with public and regional DNS servers to see which server would be fastest for you. The first time you run the DNS query you will receive the best results. Before changing your router’s settings, if a regional server is found to be your fastest option, know it may not be public.  The software is free and availble for Windows, OSX, and Linux.

Download Namebench

How to Remove Microsoft Office “Not Genuine” Notifications [Tips]

MyDigitalLife  has a great post containing the five different methods for disabling the: “This copy of Microsoft Office is not genuine” notification message that can be received after installing the Office Genuine Advantage update.  This message can come up when your license is legal, but may have been activated one too many times.  While you get that all sorted out you may want to remove the annoying messages.

This is the method I have used:

1. Run Registry Editor (RegEdit.exe).
2. Press Ctrl-F to open search box, and search for OGAAddin.connect registry key.
3. In the right pane, right click on Load Behavior and select Modify.
4. Change the value data from 3 to 0.
5. Repeat for each and every OGAAddin.connect found.

Five Best Free Malware Removal Tools [Favorites]

I honestly don’t know what some users do to get some of the infections I have seen. From multiple fake anti-virus applications to fake blue screens, I have seen it all.  I thought I would share my five favorite tools for getting rid of malware on an infected machine.

1. MalwareBytes – this is my “go to” application because it will find and remove the mild to medium infections in 5-20 minutes. It is free, easy to use, and through.  The best part is that it will install and run in Windows safe mode to help you regain control of the completely infected system.
2. Combofix – this is my favorite sidekick for MalwareBytes.  Disable the anti-virus on the infected computer and then run this software and it will find the stealthy malware that most of the rest of this list won’t remove.  One word of caution, running this program will disconnect any network connection before running, so don’t use this remotely.
3. Super Anti-Spyware – used to be my favorite tool before I found MalwareBytes, but it is still useful.  My favorite feature of this program is that it will run on server operating systems, when you have a user that was infected while using Roaming Profiles or Terminal Services.
4. AVG Free Edition – not only is AVG Free a great anti-virus program but it is better at catching malware than something like Symantec Endpoint.  My favorite feature of AVG Free is that I can connect an infected hard drive to my system with a USB kit and scan the hard drive at rest.  AVG also will do scans in safe mode using the command prompt if needed.  Out of the 5 listed, AVG is the least effective if the computer already has an anti-virus installed.
5. Remove Fake Antivirus – this program does one thing and one thing only: it will remove the fake anti-virus software from your machine so then you can run MalwareBytes to check it for additional infections.

Remember that no program is 100% so you should always manually check for remaining files in msconfig, the registry, or task manager.

Use FreeMyPDF to Remove Restrictions on PDF Files [Tips]

FreeMyPDF is a web application that will convert a pdf file that has a restriction on it, such as preventing printing or copying or annotating of text, and will create an unlocked copy of the pdf.  You do not have to wait for the cracked file to be emailed to you, the conversion happens almost instantly after you upload your pdf file.  This service will not work pdf files that require a password to view them.

FreeMyPDF.com

Fix Blackberry Address Book Syncing with BES Issues [Tips]

I had a client today where certain contacts that were in Outlook were not showing up on his Blackberry.  I tried resending the Service Book from the Blackberry Manager software on the BES Server, but that did not fix the problem.  Then I tried to activate the phone, but the address book would fail to synchronize.  I did not want to wipe and then activate the phone.  That is when I found this gem of a tip:

• On the Blackberry device go to Options->Advanced Options->Service Book
• Find the service: Desktop [SYNC] and press down on the option key (sometimes called Blackberry key) and select Delete
  
• Stay within the Service Book screen and now press the option key again and select Undelete
  
• Wait about 2 minutes and then check the address book for the missing contacts.

Use Autoruns to Examine Startup Programs and Plugins [Downloads]

Autoruns is a free Microsoft Sysinternals program that puts the built-in msconfig utility to shame.  View all the programs or files that autostart in the “Everything” tab or view each autostarting location via a tab separately.   Included in the downloadable .zip file is also autorunsc, a command line equivalent utility.

Autoruns.exe is a self contained .exe file and is a constant tool on my USB drive.

Download Autoruns from Microsoft

Hard Reset an iPhone [Tips]

Thanksgiving evening my iPhone was stuck at the Apple logo and would not budge past it.  When I plugged the phone into my computer not even iTunes recognized it.  I tried doing a soft reset where I held down the home and power buttons for about 10 seconds, and the phone will turn off and turn itself back on, but the Apple logo just would  not go away.  I knew that iTunes had done a backup of my phone just the day before, so I knew I could do a hard reset of my iPhone.

Doing a hard reset of an iPhone will solve almost any software problem occuring with your phone, it is also a good thing to do before selling an old iPhone.  The hard reset will return your iPhone to the initial factory settings:

• Turn off your iPhone
• Connect your iPhone via USB cable to your iTunes computer
• Hold the home and power buttons for about 10 seconds
• Release the power button but continue holding the home button
• You can release the home button once iTunes pops up with a message saying it has detected a phone in recovery mode
• Your phone will reactive and then you can restore from your last backup in iTunes.

Sometimes this is called putting your iPhone into recovery or DFU mode.  If you are going to sell your iPhone then don’t restore from backup.

Change the Default Boot Operating System via GRUB in Ubuntu 9.10 [Tips]

If installed Ubuntu 9.10 on a computer that already had an operating system installed, like Windows or even another distribution of Linux you will notice that the GRUB boot loader will set Ubuntu as the default operating system.  You may be getting tired of booting up your system and walking away and having Ubuntu 9.10 start because you missed the selection screen.  Changing the default operating system in GRUB is easy:

• Open up the Terminal by selecting Applications->Accessories->Terminal
• Into the Terminal type this line:
  sudo gedit /etc/default/grub
• Now the grub file should open in gedit, and right at the beginning of the file you will see:
  GRUB_DEFAULT=0
#GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT=0
GRUB_HIDDEN_TIMEOUT_QUIET=true
GRUB_TIMEOUT=10
GRUB_DISTRIBUTOR=`lsb_release -i -s 2> /dev/null || echo Debian`
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash"
GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX="“
• Find the GRUB_DEFAULT= parameter and enter in the number corresponding to the operating system you would like to boot by default.  Usually this is going to the be the number 4.
  Typically Ubuntu 9.10 is both 0 and 1, memtest is 2 and 3, and your other operating systems start with 4.
• Save the file with the new value
  GRUB_DEFAULT=4
• Go back to the Terminal and type:
  update-grub
  if you get a message that says you must run this as root type:
  sudo su
update-grub
• Reboot

Determine if your Processor is 64 bit capable from Windows Vista or Windows 7 [Tip]

With 64-bit operating systems being all the rage right now you may be looking at your computer with your 32 bit operating system and wondering if you can upgrade it to a 64 bit version.  From Windows Vista or Windows 7 there is an easy way to do this:

• Click Start
  
• Right click on Computer and select Properties
  
• Click on Windows Experience Index
  
  
• Vista: When the Performance Information and Tools box opens select View and Print Details
  Windows 7: When the Performance Information and Tools box opens select View and Print Detailed Performance and System Information
  
  
• Look under System and look for 64-bit capable and note whether or not your report says YES or NO
  

My office desktop is not 64-bit capable.  Which is sad, but the computer is almost 5 years old so I suspected that was the case. To read about the benefits of 64-bit check out the Wikipedia article.

Office 2010 Beta Available to the Public [Download]

Microsoft has made Office 2010 available to the public for free to use until October 2010.  If you decide to download the Beta, remember to remove your previous installations of Office before installing.  If you use Outlook, you do not need to backup your data, that will not be deleted in the removal process and Office 2010 will reconnect your mail profile.

I have been using Office 2010 since the Technical Preview and I am a big fan.  Each program is sleeker and less of a resource hog.  Keep in mind that this is a beta release and should not be installed on a production machine.

Office 2010 Professional Download Link

Office 2010 Professional Plus Download Link