Why are Windows Updates hanging?

Check your firewall and anti-virus software settings!

How to Check if You Have a Virus on Your System

If funny things happen when you are installing applications or if they do not run as expected, first thing to check is if you have a virus on your system.

The most common manifestation of a virus on your system is when files start getting corrupted.

Viruses commonly corrupt executable files and DLL files on your system when they are created or accessed. So any suitable file that you download from the Internet could probably be infected. Here are some steps to check before firing up that virus checker and checking your whole 80GB hard disk.

1. Get a nice MD5 checksum utility like WinMD5
   
2. Download an EXE file - WinZip installer comes immediately to mind - and save it to disk.
   
3. Download the same file again, BUT save it as a .TXT file. Yes, as a TXT file, because viruses normally DON'T infect non executable files, and they usually only tell by the file extensions.
   
4. Drag and drop the two files into the WinMD5 application window, assuming you have opened it in the first place. If the checksums don't match, then you are in trouble. Perform a full virus scan - there are some online scanners available - on all files and folders on all drives. Delete all affected files.
   
5. Despite 'common wisdom' advising to the contrary, you can still install and run an anti-virus program even if you have been infected with a virus. After all, this is the best you can do at this stage. I've tried McAfee evaluation version with good results.
   

If you are unwilling to shell out the bucks for anti-virus software, try AntiVir Personal Edition.

Hail ClearType Font Smoothing!

My computing well-being has dramatically improved since I started using ClearType font smoothing on Windows XP. Many thanks to Guangrong for showing me that! Oh, and I'll forget to tell you the amt we chalked up using the Singtel wireless access last Friday yeah?

How to Make Fonts Look Really Nice in Windows XP

WinXP uses Tahoma for icon and window fonts by default, which is aesthetically a much better choice than MS Sans Serif used in previous versions of Windows. Use the Clear Type method of smoothing edges of screen fonts.

To do this

1. Right-click on the Desktop and choose properties


2. Select the Appearance tab and click the Effects button


3. Select the checkbox to "Use the following method to smooth the edges of screen fonts"


4. In the drop down list, select "ClearType"


5. Click OK twice to accept the changes.

It even feels good working on a PC that has fonts looking this good. Even typing on the keyboard feels smoother.

Try it!

Windows 2000 / XP file and print sharing

To enable Win9x clients to use a printer shared from a Windows 2000 / XP machine:

1. Enable the Guest account on the WIndows 2000 machine


2. Right-click on the printer, choose properties, and in the Security tab, add Guest to the list of users allowed to print to the printer