desktop

A short time ago, I found a cool web service called CosmoPOD that allows you to run a remote Linux PC from your desktop without having to actually install a Linux operating system. Once you are connected to the remote Linux PC, you are able to surf ... the web anonymously, plus have immunity to Spyware or adware attacks. But that's just one of the benefits of CosmoPOD. Once inside your new CosmoPOD desktop, you will have access to dozens of free or open source applications. For example: Open Office is one of the many installed applications and it lets you use and create most of the common ... (view more)

Ascii Desktop If you are one of those persons who thinks that life was easier in the old days - and this was back then when monitors only had one color: green - then this tool might bring back that warm feeling. This small utility displays your ... desktop as ASCII art. It is a live display so everything you do on the desktop is reflected on the ASCII art display. http://www.viksoe.dk/code/asciidesktop.htm Hard Drive Indicator Displays a system tray load indicator for your local physical disks. Has a 5 bar resolution for both read and write operations. Has a small memory footprint and low CPU ... (view more)

Bring back 'far out' memories of the 1960's with "Drempels" -- a psychedelic celebration of color and motion for your desktop! From the Drempels website: " Drempels makes colorful, swirling, hallucinogenic patterns that resemble a hurricane or ... tornado. It normally runs in your Windows background or 'desktop', replacing your old still-image wallpaper with gently-animating visuals... and meanwhile, you can use your computer just like you normally would. It uses very little CPU overhead -- so little that it even runs smoothly on a 233 MHz system! Drempels can also be used as a screensaver; in ... (view more)

SpyFalcon is the latest rogue anti-spyware program that dupes unsuspecting users into registering (paying) for a full version of the program in order to remove a supposed Spyware infection. SpyFalcon operates in the same manner as SpyAxe and ... SpywareStrike by issuing fake warning messages similar (and almost identical to) Windows Update Notification balloons. Click here for an example. Like SpyAxe and SpywareStrike, SpyFalcon infects the host computer due to an exploit in MS Windows. The exploit can be resolved after infection is removed and after visiting Windows Update Web site. Both steps ... (view more)

Winfixer is also known as: Virtumonde, and Msevents, and more appropriately: Trojan.Vundo. Trojan.Vundo is a component of a Spyware program and is known to be installed by visiting a web site link contained in a spammed email. How To Remove Winfixer ... / Virtumonde / MSEvents Save these instructions to your desktop for later use. Download the Vundo Fix to your desktop. Go to your Desktop; double click VundoFix.exe. Place a check in the checkbox labeled 'Run VundoFix as a task'. You will receive a message stating that VundoFix will close and re-open in a minute or less. When VundoFix re-opens, ... (view more)

Wez's Evil Shell A replacement for the default Windows XP desktop, includes: graphical shell (taskbar, start menu and tray). The default explorer shell uses quite a lot of run-time resources and can be quite slow to use for "Power Users". This shell ... provides the lots of features but uses only a fraction of the resources that explorer.exe uses. http://evildesk.netevil.org/index.php Resize Desktop Icons Customize your desktop by resizing the icons to suit you. Included is the ability for 16px, 24px, 32px, and 48px sizes. http://www.veign.com (view more)

Great news! Just this past Wednesday, I received wind that Ashampoo has released their flagship tweak utility, "Powerup XP Platinum", version 2. Reminder: What is Ashampoo PowerUp XP Platinum? PowerUp XP Platinum takes the hassle out of optimizing ... and fine-tuning a Windows PC and combines everything into one easy to use, tidy package. Rated 5/5 by the editor's at Download.com, PowerUp XP Platinum 2 includes all the powerful features that made its predecessor the favorite tuning tool of many Windows users -- plus it adds many new terrific and unique features that yield even more ... (view more)

Winext Desktop Bar Customize your desktop with a horizontal bar that gives you easy access to all your programs and documents. WinExt is not an alternative to the windows shell, but a good expansion which gives your shell at set of new features. By ... letting you customize appearance, content, and features makes your desktop environment more personal and suited for your needs. http://winext.hulubulu.dk/ Quicktime Alternative QuickTime Alternative will allow you to play QuickTime files (.mov, .qt and other extensions) without having to install the official QuickTime Player. It also supports ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Jules E. writes: " Dear Dennis, I have a low-speed USB (Universal Serial Bus) connection on my computer. Can you tell me if there is a way to convert this to a high-speed USB adapter, and is it possible to do so without replacing ... the existing unit? I have an external USB DVD drive and would like to burn at 8x and 16x speed, but my current hardware configuration prevents me from doing this. Any help you can offer is greatly appreciated. " My response: It is not possible to "convert" a low-speed USB hub to a high-speed USB hub, per se. Also, most USB ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader 'Faskia' writes: " Dear Dennis, One of my PCs is now failing to connect to the Internet, and is showing a Security Warning screen on a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD). The blue background reads, 'A fatal error in IE has occured at ... 0028.C0011E36 in VXD VMM(01)+00010E36. Error was caused by Trojan-Spy.HTML.Smitfraud.c.' Would you please give me some simple steps to remove Smitfraud from my PC? " My response: The problem is that your computer has been infected with Spyware. According to the F-Secure web site, Trojan-Spy.HTML.Smithfraud.c is a phishing scam where "a ... (view more)