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Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware ROCKS!

The other day I came across an unbelievable tool that I need to tell you all about…  Let me give you the two main reasons why I love this tool so much already:

1. It’s free.  :)

2. It works perfectly.

What tool am I talking about?  It’s called Anti-Malware and it’s from the guys over at Malwarebytes.  Let me tell you what happened though and what actually introduced me to this tool.  I was on some website just two nights ago, reading an article (actually it was another blog)…  nothing out of the ordinary…  I was on the site for a good 10-15 seconds when all of a sudden I get a window popping up (not a browser pop-up, more like a 3rd party application) asking me to accept the license agreement for an “antivirus program”…I think the name of the (bogus) program was ‘Vista AntiVirus 2008′.  It had an option to cancel, but not knowing what I was up against I simply hit CTRL-ALT-DEL to bring up Task Manager.  When I did this I could tell that my background bitmap was already changed!  It looked something like this (though not exactly, what i had was a variant apparently):

CRAP!!  I knew I had been taken for some spyware (probably an unpatched Firefox vulnerability - shame on me for not having the patch installed).  At any rate I did notice some strange looking files in the process list….which I promptly killed.  Also found those files referenced in my registry….took those out.  But as anyone who has dealt with nasty spyware can attest, rebooting my PC over and over again just seemed to bring the malware back….

Even worse, all my HTTP requests via a browser–be it Firefox or Internet Explorer–were being intercepted an sent off to some el-cheapo search engine loaded with sponsored result links…. grrr….   But for some reason, the malware was letting me bring up Google.com.  So I was able to do a google search, I just couldn’t click on any of the links without that request being intercepted….  So instead of clicking on the actual links in the search results,  I instead clicked on the Google cache of that link…. this enabled me to hit these sites and read up on what exactly I contracted….

Long story short, I found a thread right here that really helped me out…I read about the experience of someone who had apparently been hit with the same exact crap…and he’s the one who recommended the Malwarebytes tool.  So sometimes even crappy trying experiences can lead to good things…

Download this tool today!!

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Download DirectX 9 Here

DirectX, including Microsoft’s latest release, DirectX 9, is an amazing piece of software.  Here’s what Microsoft has to say about DirectX:

“Microsoft DirectX is a group of technologies designed to make Windows-based computers an ideal platform for running and displaying applications rich in multimedia elements such as full-color graphics, video, 3D animation, and rich audio. DirectX includes security and performance updates, along with many new features across all technologies, which can be accessed by applications using the DirectX APIs.”

I like that description…  “Applications rich in multimedia elements such as full-color graphics, video, 3D animation, and rich audio.”  LOL!  So if you’re a gamer, DirectX 9 is where it’s at!

Seriously, I have found that having the latest version of DirectX (currently DirectX 9) on your PC can make a world of difference in terms of performance.  If you’re game is choppy or isn’t as smooth as you think it should be, head on over to Microsoft’s site to update your DirectX 9 install.

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How To Clean Your Mouse

Everyone has experienced a computer mouse doing funny movements even without handling it or a mouse that “misbehaves” in the sense that it won’t do anything even if you’ve clicked on it for a few times. If this happens, better start learning how to clean your mouse.

Though a chewed up cable, a virus, or a bug in the system may also produce the instances mentioned previously, most of the problems that arise in mouse usage would be because of a dirty mouse. To clean your mouse, do the following:

Look at the underside of your mouse. There you will see a hole with the mouse ball inside it. To dislodge the ball out of the hole, remove the plate (the small part that covers the mouse) by twisting it in the arrow’s direction usually in a clockwise direction. Proceed to removing the mouse ball.

The mouse ball usually doesn’t need cleaning. The part that needs cleaning because of the dust and lint that accumulate inside are the so called wheels. If the dust is only minimal, a paper clip or a small edged object can be used for cleaning. However, you may also try using a small knife if you find the wheels really grimy.

You may also moisten cotton buds with rubbing alcohol to remove the dirt. If you see a few strands of hair, use tweezers to pull them out. If you’re done cleaning, place the mouse ball back to where it belongs, put the parts of the mouse back together and then turn the plate to lock it back into place.

As you can see, the procedure on how to clean your mouse will only take a few minutes and will definitely restore your mouse into a good working condition in no time.

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