Some of the most prevalent viruses and malware this year are just old baddies finding new victims.

Here’s the current top ten malware reported by BitDefender many of these go by other names if detected by other Anti-virus software.

1. Trojan.Peed.Gen
2. BehavesLike:Trojan.Downloader
3. Win32.Netsky.P@mm
4. Trojan.Peed.A
5. Win32.Nyxem.E@mm
6. Win32.Sality.M
7. Win32.NetSky.D@mm
8. Win32.Virtob.2.Gen
9. Win32.Netsky.AA@mm
10. Trojan.Peed.P

This just goes to show that people are not getting the hint that YOU NEED SOME ANTIVIRUS PROTECTION!

The NETSKY virus was first introduced way back in 2000 and it’s still getting around! Unlike sexually transmitted diseases, there’s really only a handful that are real nasty and even fewer are deadly, but the average computer virus can do loads of damage to your system and/or wallet and you don’t have to be surfing porn to get infected!

My tip of the day is a bit overdue, but I heard today that nefarious malware writers are luring victims to view video footage of the recently murdered Pakistan political leader Benazir Bhutto. When the victim goes to download this footage an activeX control installs baddies into their computer. I ALWAYS assume that this sort of content (along with porn and many other sensational content) is a lure from malware authors.

If you’re still surfing the ‘net without protection then you are bound to get burned! After you download BitDefender antivirus you can read my post on surfing the internet safely.

Some of us can afford to run to our favorite computer outlet every 6 months and get the newest, fastest, computer package on the market. Then there is the rest of us.

With current computer hardware getting noticeably cheaper every 3 months It’s become very feasible for anyone to upgrade their computer and reap the rewards of faster more robust technology for a cheaper than ever price. The pros of upgrading components of your system are pretty obvious.

ITS CHEAPER THAN BUYING A WHOLE NEW SYSTEM!

Most people are simply using the PC just to surf the internet and check email (not too terribly demanding of a computer these days) If this is how you spend 80 percent of your computer time then you are a good candidate for an upgrade rather than buying ALL new. Now a computers upgrade potential entirely depends on how upgradeable your computer is right now!

Computers today or purchased within the last three-four years have upgrade potential. For instance manufacturers like to sell PC’s that have less than MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE out of the box. Basically these computers will retail with less RAM memory than the system COULD have, or less Hard drive space than it COULD have, or it may lack a BLU-RAY disc player. They do this in an effort to keep the price of the package PC more attractive.

Easily the best way to breath new life and performance into your PC is by getting more RAM memory for it. Unlike hard drive memory which wouldn’t give as noticeable a boost of performance. RAM memory is needed by every program that your computer uses. The more you have, the more programs can run effortlessly and QUICKLY! The motherboard in your computer has a limited amount of memory that it can be equipped with. Typically it isn’t maxed out when you purchased it unless you had it custom built. check with your motherboard or computer manufacturer to see how much and what kind of memory modules will fit your computer and it may be a good time to max it out if the price is right.

If you’ve already maxed out the RAM, you may be able to pump more life into that old PC with a new CPU or video card - if you are a gamer! Also CPU’s, which are the brain of your computer, are only compatible with certain motherboards, so again check on the manufacturers website.

Finally the ultimate upgrade you can do for your dinosaur PC is to get a whole new motherboard with CPU and memory!
Of course you may need to be sure any existing card attached to the motherboard is compatible with this new hardware so the motherboard upgrade option is a bit more intensive!

It’s possible that your PC will require too many little upgrades to really save any money by upgrading. At this point you may be better off to just buy a whole new system! The idea here is to keep the total cost of the upgrade to less than %15 of the total cost of a new system. Keep reading these posts and get new computer fix tips!

Protecting your computer equipment can be a tricky and costly endeavor. Most people have used a simple power strip to plug in multiple electronic devices. These are typically designed to work as basic surge protectors.

A surge protector simply is a device that dissipates excess high voltage to your ground wire - that third hole below the two long flat holes of a typical outlet.

Surges are caused by several things; High powered electrical devices like refrigerators or air-conditioners can cause spikes or surges in an electrical circuit. Most people assume lightening is the cause of spikes - actually it is the least common cause. Of course lightening strikes are a lot more destructive, and lightening strikes don’t have to hit your electric lines directly to cause surges in your equipment.

Surge protectors come in a variety of sizes shapes and prices. Of course the cheap $5 to $10 variety provide little or no real protection. The differences are usually in the reliability of the unit, and features. Since this device is obviously protecting a lot more expensive equipment it’s a good idea to spend a little money on it. I wouldn’t purchase any surge protector power strip for less than $25 - make sure you are getting an active light indicator that tells you the unit is actually protecting the circuit (at the very least). Other useful options are line conditioning - this smooths out small fluctuations in line voltage that can stress you computer components and lessen their lifespan.

A UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) is basically a battery. It is kept charged by the AC power from your outlet, and the computer itself plugs into the UPS unit. Good UPS devices can do what a surge protector does and protect against power “brown-outs” (when power voltage drops less to than 120 volts.)

A UPS can cost from $50 to hundreds! The best type of UPS is a continuous UPS. This UPS powers the computer full time through its battery and provides very stable “clean” power for all attached devices (Its battery recharges constantly as the connected devices draw power directly from the battery). A standby UPS on the other hand only switches over to its battery power when it senses problems with the power coming from your utility lines. Generally there is a small lag in the time that it takes a UPS to switch from wall outlet power to the battery. The better variety will do this switching very quickly.

There are many tools available to the cautious electronics owner beyond just simple surge suppressors and UPS, Some companies can install more complex devices to give you more complete protection, of course for a nominal fee. If you are serious about protecting your electronics from electrical damage you should own surge protectors and a continuous UPS, and always unplug your equipment when not in use. No device can completely shield your computer from a direct lightening strike into the electric transmission lines! Get more computer fix it tips here!

This debate is still being debated? I thought it was understood that: a typical PC bought from a typical retail store generally under performs a platform gaming console. At least within the first year of a new platforms release.

It’s all about processing power! The PS3 has a 550GHZ core clock speed with 700MHZ GDDR3 RAM - and that is better than the average specs of your mid-range tower PC out of the box at Best Buy. The PS3 is about a year older now and the PC videocard market is well beyond those specs! Just shopping around you can go out right now and buy a beautiful new 384 bit, 575 MHZ GPU, with 700MB of memory for about 400-500 bucks! Not cheap! and after you spend all that money you still need to spend another $1000 on the system that can utilize all that video power!

Typically a pc with comparable hardware to the PS3 will under perform in gaming. Simply because of the OS overhead. Your PS3 is optimized for a great gaming experience with minimal tweaking needed (or/and available). The average pc gamer has many options to tweak his gaming experience; adding more system RAM, overclocking memory-GPU-CPU, turning up or down graphic detail, anti aliasing etc. and my favorite thing about PC gaming is the ability to download endless MODS and add-ons!

The playstation is priced pretty well for the hardware that its got. The same performance with a stand alone Video card would cost more and would only get you 1/5 of the needed equipment to actually play a game. And lets not forget the BLU-RAY disc player it has that you can hardly find on the market for less than $350.

Bottom line is, for the money that extreme gaming costs, the PS3 is still the best gaming experience your going to get outside a $2500 PC power-tower. I feel the same about the Wii, it’s a little less powerful but delivers a great experience without the burden on the wallet. And even if you can afford the best gaming pc it isn’t going to be as error free as the typical console game - because Windows is likely to throw some error at you along the way. The MAC is likely to produce better gaming results than PC but the price tag there is even more astronomical!