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News
[Top] [News] [Net Watch] [Product
Review]
- Dog River Design has partnered
with a local Accounting firm, L. Hanger Tax and Accounting, to
create "The Computer Shoppe" providing computer
sales, service, and consulting for the Summerville South
Carolina area.
- Dog River Design has contracted
with Richard Baldwin, computer consultant and web designer
formerly with Dog River Business Solutions, to provide computer
support services and web design services for our clients in the
Vermont area.
Net Watch
[Top] [News] [Net Watch] [Product
Review] Do you ever
wonder what all those web sites are putting on your computer when
you are not looking? How about all the added “features” that are
included with that recent download. Recently I was working on a
client’s computer that was having real problems just viewing web
pages. Come to find out they had installed some file-sharing
software that contained “added features.” These added features
took over the address bar in the browser and no matter what was
typed in, it caused the browser to look at their own database of
sites before allowing it to go where the client wanted to go in
the first place. You can imagine the frustration this caused.
Well things were not easily
remedied. I spent several hours removing all the possible
offending software using the Add/Remove control panel, but still
could not correct the problem. After spending several more hours
on-line searching sites I managed to get some help and resolve the
problem, but it was not an easy fix. Whatever you do, do not
install Common Name,
http://www.commonname.com. Not only did it pre-empt addresses
typed into the browser address bar, but also associated itself
with Outlook and now Outlook no longer opens up when an email
address is clicked from a web page. This was only corrected by
reinstalling MS Office.
I was recently made aware of some
software that may help. Charles Hocker, owner of DRBS in VT,
mentioned a web site called www.lavasoft.nu. They have created an
application called Ad-Aware, winner of the PC World's 20th World
Class Awards 2002. This software identifies known “Spyware &
Adware” and allows you to selectively uninstall them from your
computer. It scans your registry, basic and deep, as well as any
local hard drives. They release regular updates, just like you get
for your antivirus software. The best thing about this software,
besides the fact that it works well, is that it is FREEWARE!
I decided to run Ad-Aware on my
client’s computer and found 200+ instances of Spyware and Adware.
I was able to easily remove all the offending components. You have
the option of backing up before you just go ahead and delete
everything. The computer really came back to life with all the
excess junk removed. Here are just a few of the programs that
Ad-Aware can safely remove from your computer:
All versions of Adware, AdBreak,
AdReady, Alexa, Aureate, Bulla.com, Comet Cursor, Cydoor,
Doubleclick, DSSAgent, EverAd, eZula, Expedioware, Flyswat,
HomePageWare, SEBar, OfferCompanion, Hotbar, OnFlow, TimeSink,
Web3000, Webhancer, Transponder, Wnad, ZapSpot, SurfPlus,
AdvertBar, NetPal, CashBar, WurldMediaBHO, MessageMates, EWA,
Ezsearchbar, CommonName, GoHip, DownloadWare, NetworkEssentials,
ImiServerIEPlugin, TopMoxie, Lop.Com, BDE Projector, UCmore,
OpenMe, JaypeeSysBHo, FlashTrack, NetRadar, NetZany, NetSource ,NowBox,
TrustToolBar, WinAd, many BrowserHijackers and more...
Please let us know how you like it!
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Product Review
[Top] [News] [Net Watch] [Product
Review] One of the
best kept secrets of PC computing today is the ability for Windows
to support dual monitors. The best way to describe having dual
monitors is to say that it is like having two computers for the
price of a second monitor.
Today’s computers are very fast and
powerful. The fact is that anything above 700 or 800 MHz is wasted
on the average business computer user. Why not put all that extra
power to work. This is how Dual monitors work. You need to get a
special video card. They start around $80 and go up from there.
Frankly if you are just using your computer for business
applications and not games, the $80 variety works just fine. Sue
and I are both using the ATI Radion VE 32 meg DDR cards purchased
from Circuit City, unfortunately they no longer carry the card.
There are several other options however, Matrox, and Nvidia just
to name a couple. Now I will warn you. If you choose to try this,
it will ruin you. You will not be able to live with just one
screen anymore.
Once the card is installed in the
computer and the video drivers are installed, things are a real
snap. Connect your two screens, I really recommend getting two
identical monitors although it is not necessary, and start up
windows. Once you are in windows you need to right mouse on your
desktop to pull up the menu, selecting properties from the list
will bring up the display settings for your computer. Here you
will be able to activate the second monitor, extend your Windows
Desktop to it, and setup any additional settings that you may
require.
Once everything is all set, you’ll
notice that your “primary” monitor has your taskbar, your
“secondary” monitor is empty, and your mouse will float between
the two screens. You can now use the second monitor to keep your
email open all the time, or to keep a web page with research
information open while editing your document on the other screen.
Having the ability to keep two applications open in full screen
mode is really nice. As a web page designer it has really made my
work less confusing and more efficient. I’ve found it useful for
just about every aspect of computing not just design. When I’m
catching up on my bookkeeping I can have QuickBooks open on one
screen and my spreadsheet open on the other.
Any way you cut it, it helps me be
more efficient. If you would like some more information regarding
setting up Dual Monitors for your computer, just give us a call or
send us an email. Here are some good choices of video cards:
Matrox 450 or 550 DualHead
http://www.matrox.com/mga/products/home.cfm
*VisionTek Xtasy GeForce4 MX 440
64MB DDR AGP Graphics Accelerator
http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=
11099087&m=488&cat=521&scat=522
ATI RADEON 7500 64MB AGP Graphics
Card
http://www.bestbuy.com/detail.asp?e=
11090904&m=488&cat=521&scat=522
*My personal choice would be the
VisionTek Xtacy card as it is powered by Nvidia’s GeForce4 chip
providing awesome gaming support as well as blistering fast
performance in an everyday office environment.
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