Advanced Business Solutions                          131 Travois Rd.                                    Louisville, KY  40207

What's New  - Computer viruses

In the last issue, I said that I would discuss Windows 2000 Professional, the workstation version of Windows 2000.  However, I'm going to put that off in favor of writing about viruses.  I'm choosing to do this because the proliferation of viruses over the last six to nine months is staggering.  One source suggested that there has been a 10 -fold increase in virus incidences over the last year.   Our recent experience at Advanced Business Solutions suggests that this is true.  We have had several clients that have incurred virus related problems this last quarter and I expect it to get worse.  Hopefully we can take a proactive approach to this problem and minimize office disruptions that are caused by computer viruses.

Several of our clients that had

Anti-Virus software for all of your computers.  It runs about $30 per computer.  You can buy a "corporate version" if you have more than 12 computers.  Once you have installed the software, set the auto protect to scan only when a file is opened, otherwise your PC will run much slower.  Virus software needs to be updated regularly, once a month if possible.  In one instance, my virus software failed to detect a virus even though I had updated my software four weeks earlier.  You can update the virus "signature" free for one year by choosing the "live update" button inside Norton Anti-Virus.  You can also schedule the "live-update" to run automatically during off hours.  Finally, if you are replacing McAfee with Norton's, make sure you remove McAfee.

Funny Bone

A Mexican, a Texan & an Oklahoman are out walking along the Gulf together one day. They come across a lantern and after a gentle rub a genie pops out of it. "I will give you each one wish," says the genie.

The Mexican says, "I am a fisherman, my dad's a fisherman, his dad was a fisherman and my son will be one too. I want all the oceans full of fish for all eternity. With a blink of the genie's eye, 'FOOM' the Gulf of Mexico was teeming with fish.

The Texan was amazed, so he said, "I want a wall around Texas so that we can run our own state how we feel, and nobody can tell us what to do. I want it so nothing and no-one will get in for all eternity."
Again, with a blink of the genie's eye, 'POOF'. There was a huge wall around Texas.

The Oklahoman asks, "I'm very curious. Please tell me more about this wall." The genie explains, "Well, it's about 150 feet high, 50 feet thick and nothing can get in or out."
The Oklahoman says, "Fill it up with water."

Tech Tips

Contact Us

Lock Ups!  #@%*#@!  Your computer just locked up out of the blue.  No error message, nothing.   #@%#@!  Unfortunately this is all too common with computers and one of our hardest issues to deal with because so many things can cause lockups, and there isn't an error message giving us a clue about where to look first. To make things worse, the more you lock up, the worse it gets.  It gets worse because when a computer crashes, it does a little damage to the file system, which can cause more crashes, which causes more damage to the file system, which

causes more crashes. . .   You get the picture.  Fortunately, you can repair the damage that is caused to the file system by performing some minor maintenance.  First, open Windows Explorer and find the "temp" directory in the Windows folder. Delete all of the files that end in ".tmp".  Then, empty your recycle bin.  Next, run a scan disk. To do this, open Windows Explorer again and click on the c: near the top of the left side of the screen.  Click on file and choose properties.  Click on the tools tab.  Click on "check now".