There are several different variants of the K-Lite Codec Pack. Ranging from a very small bundle that contains only the most essential decoders to a large and more comprehensive bundle. The global differences between the 5 variants can be found below. Detailed differences can be found on the comparison of abilities and comparison of contents pages.

First step is to download the latest installation package from their website http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html.  Pick any of these mirrors by clicking on “download here”. You can save it to somewhere on your computer such as your downloads folder, or just click “run” or “open” when the file begins to download. The program has a feature that runs in the background called the “Tea Timer”. It is really a useful tool, but it needs a tutorial all to its’ self, so follow the instructions to install the program (basically just click ok, yes, install, or whatever the POSITIVE prompt is) and when you get to that option, just uncheck the box for the sake of this tutorial. The most important thing is that you get it installed, updated, and scan with it.

At the end of the installation you will click the finish button and that will start step one. I like to check the box that says “don’t show this again” on the legal stuff window you get to first.

It is recommended that you click the button that says “create registry backup” in the next window just in case something goes wrong during the scan (I have never had a problem related to this so I always skip it). The “next” button will grey out for a minute. Press the “next” button when it becomes available again.

On the next screen just click “search for updates.

In the next window you will be given a list of locations from which to choose where you will download the updates from. Just pick one from your country and click continue.
(Start here if you already have Spybot installed. Click the update button and your next screen is the one like below).

I always check all of the boxes in the next screen, but the ones underneath the “other files” are optional and not necessary to get the task done.

The next steps are kind of cluttered up by the many windows popping up, but don’t stress. Just click ok on all of them until you finally end up at the program window.

In the program window the first thing you want to do is click on the “Immunize” button. It will run down a list of how many files you are not protected from. As soon as it is done listing them, click immunize button.

When it is done click on the button on the left labeled ”Search & Destroy” and then click where it says “Check for problems”.

You may be prompted to delete temporary files to increase the speed of the scan. Click yes unless you understand what checking no would do.

The button that said “Check for problems” now says “Stop check” (don’t do that) and there is a green progress indicator at the bottom of the window. This can go on for quite a while if you have a slower computer or a lot of files on your hard drive.

When it is all done if no problems are found you are finished and can exit the program. If there are results in the list the “Fix selected problems button is now available. Click it and it will remove these exploits for you.

Now you are going to be prompted whether or not to fix the problems. I find this is a pretty silly question, but click yes unless you know what you are doing.

Now you will see the results of the process in a pop up prompt with an ok button. Click it and if you are not prompted for anything else, congratulations you are finished and can close the program.

You may be prompted with a choice of whether or not to allow Spybot to run at the next system startup to remove the exploits. If you are click ok. You should reboot your computer immediately. It can take a really long time for that to complete. When it is done it will say “zero problems found” and as soon as you close the program your computer will resume booting to the desktop and you are now fixed up and finished… for today. Don’t forget to update and scan this program weekly at least or you may be seeing me sooner than you would like.

Thanks for sharing my tutorials with you posse!

Getting Malwarebyte’s Anti-malware is a simple download from here http://greystonedigital.com/staples/mbam.exe. I try to keep it pretty current, but you update the program every time you run it anyhow so just getting it installed is the important step to begin. If you wish to purchase the program just call, email, or come by and I can get you a license at a discounted rated from what is offered online from the software developer’s online purchasing form. It’s $22.95 one time, forever. That is pretty cheap piece of mind for what it’s worth .

I am not going to go through the installation process in this tutorial as anyone who is a customer of mine who’s computer has been in the store already has it installed by me free gratis.  So, open the program from the start> programs> menu or the icon on your desktop if it is there.

The program window looks like this:

First on the row of tabs across the top we will click the one labeled “Update”.

A progress window will pop up if there is an update available like below, otherwise you will simply get a message saying there are no new updates with an OK button.

Next we go back to the top row of tabs and click the far left tab labeled “Scanner” and it is time to scan. Click the button that says “Scan”.

A typical quick scan takes about 10-20 minutes. There is not a progress bar, but the progress is displayed during the scan on the program window where highlighted below.

When the scan is complete you will either get a pop up notification saying that there are no threats (in which case just click OK and close the program as you are done and safe for now) or you will see a message indicating your status. Click OK.

Now you will be taken to a screen showing you the results in a list with a button that says “Remove Selected”. Click it.

You may get a results window saying that all of the threats have been removed, or you may be prompted to restart the computer to remove the threats like this.

Make sure all your stuff is saved and click yes and rejoice, you have made your computer a safe and happy place again, for now.

If you liked this tutorial share it!

Save the file somewhere you can get to easily like your desktop or in your downloads folder, or just click “open” or “run” after you click the download link to begin the installation.

We begin on the install by choosing a language and hitting the OK button.

Next we are presented with the license agreement. Click the I Agree button.

It will now give you the option of where to install it. Leave that as it is and click the Install button.

Now the installation is complete. Click the Close button to exit the installation.

Now you will find a program folder in your start menu that says NetDrive, and a shortcut on your desktop that looks like this.

Double click on it to open the main program window and click the button on the bottom left labeled “New Site”. A dialog opens and we put whatever we want to name our new site here (in my example it would be Greystone Safe, but you can put whatever you want).

Now we will fill in the details of the server we are connecting to. The site name is filled in automatically from what you chose in the last step and can be changed to your preference. In the Site IP or URL put the address “safe.beef2.net” as shown below. Pick a letter to signify the drive and put in your email address in the Account field, and in the Password field put the password you chose.

I prefer the drive be available to me anytime I am on my computer so I checked the boxes to have the program automatically login when the computer starts.

Now just click the “Connect” button and your new online drive will pop open in a new window similar to this.

Now you can begin dragging files from your documents folders into the freshly mapped drive and have an extra copy of anything you want to have safe in case of catastrophe! You can also log into this drive from any capable phone or computer on the internet by using the following address: ftp://safe.beef2.net and entering your email address and chosen password, great for showing family

This tutorial presumes you already have your login credentials for the server you are trying to connect to.

1. First click the Start button and then click My Network Places.
2. On the left, under the words Network Tasks, click Add a network place.
3. The Add Network Place Wizard starts. Click Next to continue. Click Choose another network location, and then click Next.
4. In the Internet or network address box, type the address of the ftp server that you want to use and click next.
5. In the Type a name for this network place box, type the name that you want, and then click Next.
6. Make sure the “Open this network place whein I click finish” is checked, then click Finish.
7. Now a window will pop open and you will be prompted for your username and password. Enter each, making sure that the “save password” box is checked, and click Log On.
8. Congratulations, you are now viewing your mapped ftp drive! You can now choose your synchronization software or backup program to schedule your local files to backup, or simply drag files from your computer directly into the window to store them on your ftp drive.Now you should be able to go into your My Computer shortcut and see your new online storage folder represented with it’s very own drive letter!Like so…

Like practically every program the options for IE8 are located from the menu bar at Tools>Internet Options. Now click on the privacy tab. If you only want to allow pop-ups from a select few websites click on the settings button. Type in the address of the website that you wish to allow pop-up windows and then click the close button, and finally click the ok button and you are done.

If you wish to allow pop-up windows globally (on all websites) go to tools> internet options> privacy> and uncheck the “turn on pop-up blocker” check box and click the ok button. Done again.

If you wish to block all pop-up windows, make sure the checkbox next to “turn on pop-up blocker” is checked, then click the ok button.

Have you ever wished there was just another icon in your computer that you could drag stuff onto and it was magically backed up and safe? This is one method of how to achieve this magic. This tutorial is made using Windows 7 but is very similar in all versions of Windows.

Step 1:

Either click on Computer from the Start Menu or click on Computer in Windows Explorer. Right-click anywhere in the blank area of the right-side pane, and choose “Add a Network Location”.

Step 2:

If there are more than one options seleckt “Choose a custom network location”.

Step 4:

If you are using this as a Greystone Digital customer enter “ftp://backupserver.greystonedigital.com” in the box and press the next button. If not, put the host name or ip address of your online drive.

Step 5:

Now enter your Greystone Digital customer number in the User name field.

Step 6:

You will be prompted to choose a name for this location. You can put anything you would like here.

Step 7:

Leave the box checkmarked and click finish.

Step 8:

Now you will be prompted to enter your password. Decide whether or not to save the password to automatically log in (you may not want to save the password if you are on a public computer, but you might want to at your personal workstation at home or office) and then click the “Log On” button.

Step 9:

Congratulate yourself. You are finished. You will now see a window that shows your online folder’s content. Most likely you will see nothing at all like in the image below, HOWEVER if you see 3 or 4 files already on it DO NOT delete, move, or change the name of them because it will disable you access to your online storage.

In every Windows operating system there is the “Computer” icon or window which shows all of your available storage locations. Setting up this same process in Windows XP would result in a box very similar to the one above that looks like this:

Congratulations, you have connected with your online storage service!

Nothing will prevent you from infection if you are the one that physically executing the malicious code sadly, but it is for that reason it is so important to have the right software already installed and up to date on your computer to undo what so often willingly and unknowingly you have done or may do. That is a long sentence… I am trying to keep this simple but there is much to say, my apologies. In practical terms you have to have had the vaccine before you are exposed to the sickness, or virus in this case.

There are lots of different terms out there that aim to simplify but only add to the confusion, adware, malware, spyware, trojans, etc. They all really have the same effect though through different methods, you getting your stuff ruined and personal information shared with the world.

First off, the most often (almost exclusive) repair that I have brought to me is from malware, or sometimes referred to as rouge anti-virus software. It pops up messages telling you that you have been infected and you must click the ok button to or you will be unprotected and even saying things like “someone could get your financial information” and cute things like that. They are cleverly and very well presented looking just exactly like a common computer screen security warning type of dialog that you have experienced that are legitimate.  Not fair huh? It gets better. They go so far as to change the action associated with trying to get it off of your screen. What I mean is, if you are looking at a windows that says “are you sure you want to navigate away from this page and remain unprotected?” and you click the X to close the window, you still clicked, and it might be the X that installs the virus. NICE. Malwarebyte’s is your (in my humble opinion) first line of defense for these types of attacks. The program does a very fine job of removing these intrusions from an infected computer but if it is not installed and up to date before the infection, often the only alternative is to pull the hard drive physically from the computer and attach it to another computer and attempt to remove it manually, risking data loss or permanent operating system damage requiring a complete format and new installation of the operating system which is timely and expensive. The full version of Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware actually runs in the background while you surf, continually updating itself from a database of networks and ip addresses which have been blacklisted for having malicious scripts on them. You can happily surf along and when you actually click on the thing that you really shouldn’t, it just pops up a friendly tool tip by your system tray (by the clock) that tells you that a blacklisted site has been blocked from sending data to your computer. It also runs daily scheduled scans of your entire hard drive for things that may have been introduced to your computer via email, compact disc, flash drives, etc. The full version is $24.95 on their website or I can sell it to you for a discounted rate of $22.95. Just call or email me and I will email you a license that will upgrade your already installed shareware version (that just scans and updates manually with no realtime protection) up to the full version. I have a discounted rate because I use and install it religiously in my pc repair shop.

I feel like I just wrote a book so I will save my next suggested software staple for the next article. Happy facebooking!
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I found this solution in this article Uninstall Microsoft .NET Framework with Aaron Stebner Cleanup Tool which warns “This tool is designed as a last resort for cases where install, uninstall or repair did not succeed for unusual reasons. It is not intended as a substitute for the standard uninstall procedure. You should try to perform an uninstall from Add/Remove Programs before using this cleanup tool. The last time I uninstalled .NET Framework was disastrous, so ONLY uninstall .NET Framework when you have no other choice”, which also talks too much.  ;)

Just the fix is —–> here  (sorry the link is dead on msdn’s side. i’ll update it when i find the new one)
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