pctoolbox.co.uk » help

Generic steps to removing a virus from an infected PC

Alex — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 08:00:59 +0000

Ever been infected with a virus but not known what to do? Well have no fear…PCToolbox is here…with a tutorial to help you remove the virus!

Firstly download the free version of Malwarebytes
Now you need to turn off System Restore. Use the following tutorials to aid you:
For Windows 7
For Vista
For XP
Boot your machine into ‘Safe Mode’. This is done by restarting your computer and immediately when it starts to come on keep tapping F8 until you get a menu on the screen to choose Safe Mode.
Now install and run Malwarebytes. Remove whatever the software finds.
You may have to repeat step 4 a few times!
Now reboot your machine normally and run Malwarebytes 1 more time assuming it finds nothing
Turn ‘System Restore’ back on. Use the following tutorials to help you:
For Windows
For Vista
For XP

Please Note – This tutorial is designed for those who are competent computer users. All PCToolbox advice is produced in the best interest of the reader to help maintain a healthy working machine and therefore cannot be held responsible for any problems that may occur. If you’re unsure about any of the above advice please contact your local IT Technician.

Staying Connected … linking wordpress facebook and twitter

Grae — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:13:36 +0000

I think it is safe to admit that I am not the only one who has a wordpress blog, facebook account and a twitter profile, all of which get updated from time to time. Some more regularly than others and some with the same info!

In fact I have three wordpress blogs! Brandstar, PCToolbox and a Personal Blog. I also have a personal and business twitter profile and I was thinking, there must be a way of linking all this! After a bit of digging I found, there is!

Basically I decided that I want to get information, updates and more off the WordPress and Facebook accounts and published on Twitter. It seems like the logical way round to me.

The key tool for doing this is TwitterFeed as it makes it nice and easy with just these steps

Register for a TwitterFeed account (you only have to do this once and you can then link lots of RSS feeds to twitter through your TwitterFeed account.)

Link to your Twitter profile, (make sure twitter is open in another tab), then in TwitterFeed choose ‘Create New Feed’ and choose Connect your feed to your Twitter account
Give the Feed a name
Link to the RSS Feed of where the information is coming from! (more info below)

Ok, so the last bit might be the hardest for some people I admit. On WordPress you just have to look for the icon that looks like the orange one to the right (some themes have varied the style and colour but should be recognisable) or you can go direct to the feed by typing /feed after the blog address … e.g. for PCToolbox it is www.pctoolbox.co.uk/feed and the brandstar.co.uk feed is www.brandstar.co.uk/wp/feed (the wp is teh directory wordpress is installed in).

Facebook doesn’t make finding the feed that easy … so follow these instructions and you will be away

Log into Facebook
Click notifications in the bottom right hand corner of the screen
Press ‘See All’ when the notifications pop-up appears
Under all the tick boxes you will see ‘Your Notifications’, click that
You will then see a big list of ALL your notifications, this could be the feed you want, but if you just want YOUR status updates like I did then keep reading
The URL in the address bar at the very top will read something like “http://www.facebook.com/feeds/notifications.php?id=123456789&viewer=1234567891&key=t4654562v&format=rss20″
You need to change the word ‘notifications’ that I have bold-ed above to read ‘status’ so the URL reads similar to this “http://www.facebook.com/feeds/status.php?id=123456789&viewer=1234567891&key=t4654562v&format=rss20″
Hit ENTER and that will show you all your Status updates, copy that URL from the address bar and that is you FEED when you are setting up TwitterFeed to send info to Twitter!

I hope that helps, enjoy, have fun and stay connected!

Grae.

Site Of The Month – Money Saving Expert

Alex — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 08:00:52 +0000

This month’s site of the month is Martin Lewis’ MoneySavingExpert.com. The site has been around for years and now, in the time of financial crisis, it is well worth checking out for some great tips to save money. There are some amazing deals mentioned on the site which most of us would never believe! With Christmas coming up soon, money may begin to be tight so any tips available to save cash is worth looking into!

The physical website is nothing special and the layout can mean that it is hard to read at times, however the content available is fanastic and there are thousands of tips in a variety of categories, for example, cards, loans, shopping, insurance etc.

We really like the site and reckon its worth checking out to help save all those pennies!

Quick Tips – Winkey Shortcuts

Alex — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:48:55 +0000

This weeks quick tip is the last of the Shortcut Series. Today’s topic is Winkey Shortcuts. For those of you that don’t know the Winkey is the Windows Key on the keyboard. Usually the key is second in from the bottom left of your keyboard.

Winkey Shortcuts:

WINKEY + D – Bring desktop to the top of other windows
WINKEY + M – Minimize all windows
WINKEY + Shift + M – Undo the minimize done by WINKEY + M and WINKEY + D
WINKEY + E – Open Microsoft Explorer
WINKEY + Tab – Cycle through open programs on task bar
WINKEY + F – Display the Windows Search/Find feature
WINKEY + Ctrl + F – Display the search for computers window
WINKEY + F1 – Display the Microsoft Windows help
WINKEY + R – Open the run window
WINKEY + Pause/Break – Open the system properties
WINKEY + U – Open utility manager
WINKEY + L – Lock the computer (Windows XP & Later)

Have you found the Shortcut Series helpful? Are there any other shortcuts that you’d like us to do a quick tip on? If so, give us a comment and we’ll try our best!

Disclaimer: pctoolbox.co.uk cannot be held responsible for any problems that are caused from using the shortcuts. All shortcuts work to the best of our knowledge.

Quick Tips – Microsoft Outlook Shortcut Keys

Alex — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:31:17 +0000

Today’s quick tip is the penultimate of the Shortcut Series. Our category this week is Microsoft Outlook Shortcut Keys. We think that it is worthwhile remembering a few of these shortcuts because they are bound to come in useful! Please Note: Some shortcuts may not work in Outlook 2007.

Microsoft Outlook Shortcut Keys:

Alt + S – Send the email
Ctrl + C – Copy selected text
Ctrl + X – Cut selected text
Ctrl + P – Open print dialog box
Ctrl + K – Complete name/email typed in address bar
Ctrl + B – Bold highlighted selection
Ctrl + I – Italicize highlighted selection
Ctrl + U – Underline highlighted selection
Ctrl + R – Reply to an email
Ctrl + F – Forward an email
Ctrl + N – Create a new email
Ctrl + Shift + A – Create a new appointment to your calendar
Ctrl + Shift + O – Open the Outbox
Ctrl + Shift + I – Open the Inbox
Ctrl + Shift + K – Add a new task
Ctrl + Shift + C – Create a new contact

Next week is the last of the Quick Tip Shortcut Series. The Shortcut topic will be Winkey Shortcuts

Disclaimer: pctoolbox.co.uk cannot be held responsible for any problems that are caused from using the shortcuts. All shortcuts work to the best of our knowledge.

Quick Tip – Microsoft Excel Shortcut Keys

Alex — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:20:32 +0000

Week four of the Quick Tip Shortcut Series. This week we have Excel Shortcut Keys. We think that it is worthwhile remembering a few of these shortcuts because they are bound to come in useful! Please Note: Some shortcuts may not work in Excel 2007.

Microsoft Excel Shortcut Keys:

F2 – Edit the selected cell
F5 – Go to a specific cell
F7 – Spell check selected text and/or document
F11 – Create Chart
Ctrl + Shift + ; – Enter current time
Ctrl + ; – Enter current date
Alt + Shift + F1 – Insert new worksheet
Shift + F3 – Open the Excel formula window
Shift + F5 – Bring up search box
Ctrl + A – Select all contents of worksheet
Ctrl + B – Bold highlighted selection
Ctrl + I – Italicize highlighted selection
Ctrl + C – Copy selected text
Ctrl + V – Paste
Ctrl + D – Fill
Ctrl + K – Insert Link
Ctrl + F – Open find and replace options
Ctrl + U – Underline highlighted selection
Ctrl + Y – Underline selected text
Ctrl + O – Open options
Ctrl + N – Open new document
Ctrl + P – Open print dialog box
Ctrl + S – Save
Ctrl + Z – Undo last action
Ctrl + F9 – Minimize current window
Ctrl + F10 – Maximize currently selected window
Ctrl + F6 – Switch between open workbooks/windows
Ctrl + Page Up + Page Down – Move between excel worksheets in the same document
Ctrl + ‘ – Insert value of above cell into current cell
Ctrl + Space – Select entire column
Shift + Space – Select entire row
Ctrl + W – Close Document

Next week our topic is Microsoft Outlook Shortcut Keys!

Disclaimer: pctoolbox.co.uk cannot be held responsible for any problems that are caused from using the shortcuts. All shortcuts work to the best of our knowledge.

Quick Tip – Microsoft Word Shortcut Keys

Alex — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:42:15 +0000

This week it week three of the Quick Tip Shortcut Series. The topic for this week is Microsoft Word Shortcut Keys. We think that it is worthwhile remembering a few of these shortcuts because they are bound to come in useful! Please Note: Some shortcuts may not work in Word 2007.

Microsoft Word Shortcut Keys:

Ctrl + A – Select all contents of the page
Ctrl + B – Bold highlighted selection
Ctrl + C – Copy selected text
Ctrl + X – Cut selected text
Ctrl + N – Open new/blank document.
Ctrl + O – Open options
Ctrl + P – Open the print window
Ctrl + F – Open find box
Ctrl + I – Italicize highlighted selection
Ctrl + K – Insert Link
Ctrl + U – Underline highlighted selection
Ctrl + V – Paste
Ctrl + Y – Redo the last action performed
Ctrl + Z – Undo last action
Ctrl + J – Justify paragraph alignment
Ctrl + L – Align selected text to the left
Ctrl + Q – Align selected paragraph to the left
Ctrl + E – Align selected text or line to the center
Ctrl + R – Align selected text or line to the right
Ctrl + M – Indent paragraph
Ctrl + T – Hanging indent
Ctrl + D – Font options
Ctrl + Shift + F – Change Font
Ctrl + Shift + * – View or hide non printing characters
Ctrl + <– (Arrow Left) – Move one word to the left
Ctrl + –> (Arrow Right) – Move one word to the right
Ctrl + Arrow Up – Move to the beginning of the line or paragraph
Ctrl + Arrow Down – Move to the end of the paragraph
Ctrl + Del – Delete word to right of cursor
Ctrl + Backspace – Delete word left of cursor
Ctrl + End – Move cursor to end of document
Ctrl + Home – Move cursor to beginning of document
Ctrl + Space – Reset highlighted text to default font
Ctrl + Alt + 1 – Change text to heading 1
Ctrl + Alt + 2 – Change text to heading 2
Ctrl + Alt + 3 – Change text to heading 3
F1 – Open help
Shift + F3 – Change case of selected text
Shift + Insert – Paste
F7 – Spell check selected text and/or document
Shift + F7 – Activate the thesaurus
F12 – Save As
Ctrl + S – Save
Shift + F12 – Save
Alt + Shift + D – Insert current date
Alt + Shift + T – Insert current time
Ctrl + W – Close document

Next week is Shortcuts for Microsoft Excel!

Disclaimer: pctoolbox.co.uk cannot be held responsible for any problems that are caused from using the shortcuts. All shortcuts work to the best of our knowledge.

Quick Tips – Microsoft Windows Shortcut Keys

Alex — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 08:00:52 +0000

Continuing the Quick Tip Shortcut Series, this week we have tips for Microsoft Windows. We think that it is worthwhile remembering a few of these shortcuts because they are bound to come in useful!

Microsoft Windows Shortcut Keys:

Alt + Tab – Switch between applications
Alt + Shift + Tab – Switch backwards between open applications
Alt + Print Screen – Create a screen shot of the current program
F2 – Rename selected icon
F3 – Start find from desktop
F5 – Refresh contents
Alt + F4 – Close current open program
Ctrl + F4 – Close Window in Program
Ctrl + Plus Key – Automatically adjusts the width of selected icon or program
Alt + Enter – Open properties window of selected icon or program
Shift + F10 – Simulate right-click on selected item
Shift + Del – Delete programs/files permanently
Holding Shift During Bootup – Boot safe mode or bypass system files

Next week is week 3 and Microsoft Word Shortcut Keys.

Disclaimer: pctoolbox.co.uk cannot be held responsible for any problems that are caused from using the shortcuts. All shortcuts work to the best of our knowledge.

Quick Tip – Basic Shortcut Keys

Alex — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:37:59 +0000

We have decided to do a six week series on useful shortcuts for your computer. It’s worthwhile learning some of these as it will increase your speed and efficiency whilst using a computer.

Our topic this week is….

Basic Shortcut Keys:

Alt + F – Open file menu in current program
F1 – Universal Help (for all programs)
Ctrl + A – Select all text
Ctrl + X – Cut selected item
Shift + Del – Cut selected item
Ctrl + C – Copy selected item
Ctrl + Ins – Copy selected item
Ctrl + V – Paste
Shift + Ins – Paste
Home – Go to beginning of current line
Ctrl + Home – Go to beginning of current document
End – Go to end of current line
Ctrl + End – Go to end of current document
Shift + Home – Highlight from current position to beginning of line
Shift + End – Highlight from current position to end of line
Ctrl + <– (Arrow Left) – Move one word to the left at a time
Ctrl + –> (Arrow Right) – Move one word to the right at a time

Next week it will be Microsoft Windows Shortcut Keys!

Disclaimer: pctoolbox.co.uk cannot be held responsible for any problems that are caused from using the shortcuts. All shortcuts work to the best of our knowledge.

Quick Tip: Broadband Filters

Grae — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 07:11:03 +0000

Despite most ISP broadband setup instructions saying this there is still a misunderstanding somewhere when it comes to filters. So here is my Quick Tip attempt to help

When you are setting up broadband in your home of office you will be given some micro-filters, the amount depends on how generous your chosen ISP are feeling!

The reason you need these filters is because when you have broadband activated on your line you effectively have two signals coming down that one physical line. Therefore you need to separate (filter) them. The filter sends the analogue signal to the socket on the filter to which you plug in the phone or fax or old style dial-up modem. The other small socket has just the digital signal that is required by your broadband modem.

All that said there is still one important point to remember. You MUST have a filter on any phone in the house or office no matter if there is a modem connect to that socket or not! The reason for this is that otherwise the phone will interfere with the digital signal that your broadband modem requires to connect you to the internet and thus your internet will randomly drop out!

For some that seems obvious but for others hopefully that will help