Could The Way Your Computer Look Be What Is Slowing It Down?

Could it really be true that your computers look might be the real reason why it runs slow? Yes, and no. Its part of the reason you have a slow computer, well actually it’s a small part of the reason your computer runs slow. Your computer runs slow because of all of the junk that builds up on it, but Windows has tuned its operating system to look good so that it will have user appeal.
This holds especially true if you are using Windows Vista since Vista has a lot of unnecessary things that are running in the back ground that are designed to just make the computer look good. Here is how to tune down your computers looks to make it run faster:
If you are using Windows XP, click Start, right click on My Computer and select Properties. Select the Advanced tab and where it says “Performance”, click on the Settings button. In the Visual Effects tab select Adjust For Best Performance. What you are doing here is making Windows XP look more like Windows 98. If you would like your computer to look somewhat good and still be tuned for performance, select the Custom box, make sure that all of the other boxes are checked off, scroll down to the bottom and select “Use Visual Styles On Windows And Buttons”. Now select Apply and then OK.
If you are running Windows Vista, click Start, right click on Computer and select Properties. On the left hand side, select Advanced System Settings. In the advanced tab where it says Performance, click on the Settings button. Now in the Visual Effects tab, select Adjust For Best Performance. This will make Vista look more like Windows 98. If you would like to keep the way that Vista looks, and still have your computers look tuned for performance, just select the Custom box, make sure that everything is checked off and then select the box that says “Use Visual Styles On Windows And Buttons”. Click Apply and then OK.
The amount of a performance boost on your slow computer will vary greatly depending on your computers limitations, but I have used this tune up for many different computers and most of them saw a noticeable difference. Surprisingly most computer users never really take the time to tune their computers looks for performance and this can be one of the main causes of a slow computer. For the most part there really isn’t any loss at all to the person using the computer and most people will do just about anything to make their slow computer a bit faster, so feel free to give it a try.
Want to find out more about Registry Cleaners, then visit Gary Foster’s site on how to choose the best Registry Cleaners Reviewed for your needs.

Minister lends support to hacker

Welsh Secretary Peter Hain has suggested that British computer hacker Gary McKinnon should face trial in the UK rather than be extradited to the US.

He told the Daily Mail the offence was committed "on British soil" and should be "assessed in a British context".

Mr McKinnon's mother Janis Sharp said Mr Hain's words were "refreshing", but the Lib Dems called on the government to do more to prevent the extradition.

The 43-year-old is accused of hacking into US military computers in 2001/02.

Denies malice

Authorities in the US say Mr McKinnon accessed 97 government computers belonging to organisations such as the US Navy and Nasa.

They also claim he caused damage costing $800,000 (£487,000).

Mr McKinnon, who has Asperger's Syndrome, admits hacking, but says his actions were not malicious or damaging, and he was actually looking for information on UFOs.

He could face 60 years or more in prison if convicted.

Last week, he lost his latest appeal against extradition when two High Court judges ruled it was "a lawful and proportionate response" to his offence.

Mr Hain told the Mail the law was "just following its course," but said he "would have preferred it if I had been in the position to have a say on this".

"We could then have had a position where it could have been assessed in a British context - after all, he was sitting in his bedroom by a computer, as a kind of computer geek zapping the American defence system and therefore he was committing an offence on British soil," he said.

Home Secretary Alan Johnson said last week Mr McKinnon was accused of "serious crimes... immediately following the 9/11 attacks".

But Mr McKinnon's mother told GMTV: "I was so upset when the home secretary spoke about 9/11, spoke about the people who died and mentioned Gary's name.

"It was almost like he was trying to incriminate him in some way, so for Peter Hain to stand up and talk from the heart was so refreshing."

Leading lawyers

Mr Johnson has said it would be illegal for him to intervene in Mr McKinnon's case, but the Lib Dems claim he does have the power to do so.

Home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne said: "Now that leading lawyers have made it clear that they believe Alan Johnson has the power to stop the extradition of Gary McKinnon, the Home Office can't persist with its claim that he is powerless to act.

"Even Cabinet ministers like Peter Hain are concerned about the home secretary's claim.

"The Home Office must now publish the legal advice on which he is making this claim or find a different set of lawyers."

Lawyers for Mr McKinnon say his Asperger's Syndrome means the stress of extradition could result in psychosis and suicide.

original post: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8181830.stm

nternet Security: How Criminals Hack Other Peoples Computers

For those of you that work in Information Technology and started in the last 20 years or so, chances are you were inspired by movies such as War Games, Sneakers or even Hackers. Remember that 80’s T.V. show Whiz Kids? That was cool too. I so wanted to be one of those kids.

Of course, those movies were exaggerating the power of computers or how they worked, but it was fascinating! The idea of taking control of something or figuring out how it worked by poking around and analyzing it. It was this endless world of possibilities that got us pursuing some of the most thankless jobs in the world.

So how do criminals do things like hack other people’s computers? It really doesn’t take a lot of skill at all.

Let’s assume I’m the criminal for the sake of this story. Disclaimer: I have never been charged with any crime. I do not do the things I’ll talk about here. You shouldn’t either! Do not try this at home – do it somewhere else.

The easiest way to hack someone’s computer is to get your grubby little hands on it. If I got your computer AND found that your Windows XP accounts were password protected, I would simply use a bootable password reset disk to change or remove the passwords. Then I’m in. I’m not going to tell you where to get these utilities, however, I’m sure you can use Google.

If you had Windows Vista on the disk, with it’s BitLocker technology, it would be harder to get around the protection for certain. But it can be done. I’m sure this isn’t the only method out there.

“Okay smarty-pants! You’ve gotten into my account but I have passwords on all the documents that have my important information!”

Really? First, I don’t believe you since very few people even know that they can password protect documents. Second, there’s a good chance you use the same password for all the documents. Chances are you figure that having a strong password on the Windows account is good enough, that you’ve used a pretty weak one on your documents. Any sort of password cracker using a rainbow table or dictionary attack will get through those in a matter of seconds to minutes.

What if you had set a BIOS password, so that I couldn’t even get to the operating system without knowing it? Well, that’s another step in the right direction, but, yet again, it can be done. The thing is, now I have to do a lot of work. Steal the computer, crack the BIOS password, crack your Windows protection, and crack the document protection. Since most people who steal, steal from people they know, I’ll probably know that you do these things. I’ll look for an easier target. Lazy criminal laggards!

“But Guy!” you say, “what if I do all of that but you want to get at me over the Internet?”

First off, why do you keep calling me Butt Guy? (Seriously, I NEVER get tired of that joke!) Second, um, yeah, I could do that. However, I’m less likely to try to actually hack your computer. What I’m likely to do is hack websites that you use to gather the information I need to steal your information or money. Even with some creative web searching I can get an awful lot of information on you. Seriously. Try searching on your name and aliases you use on the web. You’ll be amazed by the social profile one could build on you, to steal your identity. So, be careful about what you put out there. It’s out there, pretty much forever.

If you would like to trace someone online MakeUseOf lists a numbers of really good free tools in the post about 15 Websites to Find People On The Internet.

Let’s say that I’m going to hack right into your computer remotely. The easiest way to do this is to trick you into downloading software that will allow me to take control of your computer. This kind of software is known as a Trojan Horse. I may send you an attachment, or link, in an e-mail that, once you open it, installs the Trojan program without you knowing it. Or, I may set up a web page on a popular topic, that will attack your computer and drop the Trojan Horse onto it. Here’s a story on exactly that.

Once that Trojan is on there, I can use it to take information from you, or I might use it to set up a proxy for me to get to other computers. The nasty part of that is that it is possible for you to then be implicated in whatever crime I committed. Sure, a good lawyer would get you exonerated, but how many lawyers are good enough with computers to understand what just happened? By the time you pay for the lawyer, and dealt with the embarrassment of being charged, you’re already done in. Then I’m long gone.

So what do you do? Well, you keep your operating system updated, you keep your software updated, you keep your antivirus and firewall on and updated. You should also disconnect your computer from the Internet when you are not using. But really, who does all that?

Every computer is like a house – locks on the door, but a glass window right beside it. Just as my dad often said, “Locks only keep out honest people.”

credit : http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/internet-security-how-criminals-hack-other-peoples-computers