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I was using the computer of my friend in encoding our research work. It took me 4 hours to finish typing, but suddenly the power went down. So Embarassing?!?, but anyway I can still recover it, I said to my self.

After 5 minutes I think, the power return. So I excitedly open the computer and found nothing to recover with. Ohhhhhh! I wanted to cry..... you know why? The MSWORD installed on the computer has no recovery option. Everything I typed with has lost. I should have:

1. to save my document every 5 minutes or often.
2. to use MSOFFICE XP or the latest version of it because they have the autorecover ability.

A contribution from Jun (jungrp@yahoo.com, Masbate, Philippines) which was posted at our guestbook, dated October 22, 2004.

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You have several secret files that you do not want to keep them in the Recycle Bin. To do so, press the Shift key while you press the Del key or click the Delete menu.

Since 2001, I am already using the printers of the Hewlett Packard (HP). My first printer was the HP 845, and it was already better than other printers around me. On 2003, I learned that there was even a new model of printer which was better, faster and cheaper than HP 845, it was the HP 3500 which I bought only for 2,200 Pesos. But I found problems using the latter printer especially when I would be printing documents from neighborhood computers.. So, I tried the HP 6500 and found it better than those two printers, although it was using the same type of cartidge with the HP 3500.

With regards to its ink cartridge, it is true that original cartridge and orinnal ink help the printer attain longer life than using refilled cartridges and cheap ink. But I have no choice but to use refilled cartridges for my printers since our printing shop offers P2.00/page only, and there were times that printing rate goes down up to P1.50/page especially if we are printing more than 200 pages with a customer. For more than 3 years of using HP printers, I learned a lot of things in handling these printers.

To maintain the good printing output of the printer using refilled cartridge, try to refill it immediately before it became empty. Even if you have nothing to print for, try to print a sample printout daily if possible inorder to avoid clogging its print head. Use clean cotton when cleaning the contact, and its head.

This afternoon, Ken Barcillano asked me what to do to recover his files on drive d:. He mistakenly deleted the partition of his hardisk, and later he realized that his important files were save on drive d.

Actually, I don't still know how to recover the files when the partitions are mistakenly deleted. What I know is that, when we want to recover files after we formatted the disk, we have the UNFORMAT.COM file which will be used to recover it.

I asked him, what may be the reason why he wanted to reformat his harddisk, and he told me that his computer was already performing too slow.

If that was the reason, there's no reason actually to reformat the disk, except if it was already severely infected with viruses. What he could do was to check and uninstall any spywares and adwares, even the unnecessary programs using the ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS option; Delete all temporary files, even the internet temporary files located at C:\\WINDOWS\TEMP and C:\\WINDOWS\INTERNET TEMPORARY FILES respectively; and lastly, remove all temporary files created by MSOFFICE applications softwares of which its file names are begin with ~ character.

If after doing such procedures, the computer still performed so very slow, then he can proceed to check the presence of viruses on its system. For sure, after cleaning the computer with the unnecessary files and programs including viruses, his computer will surely be running faster again.

I was using my computer which was connected to the internet using the SURF MAXX prepaid card when a warning dialogue appeared on my screen telling me that a computer with an IP Address 210.23.113.130 was trying to connect my computer using the Default Block Shiva Burka Trojan Horse.

Actually I didn't know what trojan horse was so I tried to open the Symantec info system and this was its report.

Trojan Horse are legitimate-looking programs that includes malicious programming. Attackers can use Trojan Horses to gain access to files on your computer or even take control of the computer.

I was alarmed while reading this report. So I investigated the said IP Address which was trying to connect my computer. And the following were the result:

210.23.113.130 (PI-PH Network, Philippines
inetnum: 210.23.113.130 - 210.23.113.255
netname: PI-PH
country name: Philippines
descr: Pacific Internet PH
descr: Dialup Pool
admin-c IA47-AP

This week, our computers suffered disturbance from a virus similar to that of what I called, the Hedda Marie Tolentino Virus. This virus infects utilize the role of the folder.htt and desktop.ini on the Windows(r) OS. But this time it has an additional accompanying file, ms-dos for games.pif (in long filename format) or ms-dos~1.pif (short filename format).

As to the date of writing this post, Norton anti-virus program couldn't identify it. So if you want to check your computer, try these steps:

1. Boot your computer directly to your Windows(r) OS. Then press START then RUN. Type on the blank field of the Run Dialogue, command, then press OK.
2. So you are already on the DOS environment. Go to root directory of your drive c: by typing cd \ then press ENTER.
3. Find the file desktop.ini by typing on the c prompt, dir desktop.ini /a /s /p then press ENTER. Originally desktop.ini will be found in the directories: c:\windows, c:\windows\system, c:\progra~1 and some web directories on your c: drive.
4. If your desktop.ini file was already scattered on your disk, there is a possibility that your system is already infected with this virus.
5. Check for ms-dos~1.pif file by typing dir c:\ms-dos~1.pif /a /s /p then press enter.
6. Check for the long filename format ms-dos for games.pif that will be shown after the date of the creation of the file. If you'll find even only one file, then for sure, your system is already infected.

Q. How can we removed this virus?
A. We can remove it manually until such time na madetect na ito ng Norton Anti-virus or other anti-virus programs. So sa ngayon mano-mano muna. Find the files: folder.htt, desktop.ini and ms-dos~1.pif using the search capability of the DOS system. Change the attribute of the files from +R +S +H and +A to -R, -S, -H and -A and then delete them.

Simple? Malaking trabaho to, since kailangan mong isa-isahin ito.

Q. Can we delete them using the SEARCH feature of the WINDOWS system and then deleting those files na nakita sa search?
A. No, because this virus configured your system para hindi sya makikita ng SEARCH feature of WINDOWS system.

Web Advertisers are earning money using popups technology. But it's an annoying and disturbing way in part of the computer users. Just imagine working with your office works for a long time, while internet explorer are poping out on your monitor, until came such time that your computer hang up and everything you've done lost.

You'll know your computer is infected with adwares when:

1. You are disturbed by those pop-ups.
2. Your computer slowed down.

Here are some tips to avoid the infection of computer viruses. (I will assume you are using Windows OS)

1. Install and activate anti-virus on your computer and update regularly its virus definitions.
2. Avoid visiting porno-sites. Porno sites contains scripts which automatically install on your computer and are already considered as viruses due to its functions.
3. Do not open or download the attachment on the email sent to you by an unknown sender, or even if sent by a friend but its attached files have extensions such as pif, scr, or exe.
4. Scan first the diskettes before using. Check if the diskette contains a file folder.htt using a DOS environment by typing dir a:*.htt /a. If you'll find this file on your diskette, delete it by doing the these steps: (a) type c:\windows\command\attrib a:folder.htt -r -s -h -a and press ENTER. (b) type del a:*.htt then press ENTER.
5. Do not open any documents of which its icon have been changed into an unknown icon.
6. Do not activate or open files which have extensions such as exe.exe, doc.exe, xls.exe, txt.exe. These files are the virus converted files.