Monday, December 22, 2014
Monday, November 17, 2014
Monday, August 4, 2014
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Friday, May 16, 2014
ig33ku's: Quick Guide - Antivirus Software
Let’s start this articles off with a question: When did you
do a full virus scan of your PC? For most users the answer would be, “I have an
anti-virus program installed and it did not detect anything or alerted me that
it caught the virus infection.” Unfortunately, anti-virus programs cannot catch
every single infected files that pass through your computer. Those files can
lay dormant in your drive waiting for you to set it lose with a double click
and depending how fast your anti-virus program can react or even still detect
the virus it can be over in a few seconds.
In the old days you had only one type of virus where it went
out of its way just to corrupt your data but today data theft is a major
business and virus have grown to reflect that. To quickly highlight, you have Trojan
Horses that make your computer available to the hacker for remote access
whether it is to see and record what you are doing or to utilise your computer
as zombie in a botnet attack on another computer system.
Then you have Ransomware or Crypto viruses which are viruses
that encrypt your documents, photos even music and video files then alerts you
with a message that to regain access to these files again you must paid a
certain sum to a certain account there then you are given a password or a key
file to decrypt your files. Like with most hostage situations it rarely turn
out well.
So what protection should you get? The general rule is: paid
is best but free is still good. Nearly all users except professional will end
using free AV programs even though they started with paid ones because mostly
because they do not want to be hassled by a yearly paid subscription. To cover
the wider audience we will focus on free AV programs.
When hunting for a good free AV program a user should
consider how good are its detection rates and how much system resources the
program uses. For determining how effective the detection rate of an AV program
you can check out http://chart.av-comparatives.org/chart1.php
for the latest scores.
System resources hogging is not really an issue anymore with
current computers being quad core systems with 4GB of RAM, for older systems
having your AV program lagging your productivity when it scans data from
websites and drives can be very annoying. Cloud Protection is something to look
into then when selecting an AV program. AV programs like Avira will send all
data to its server to scan for infections leaving practically no workload on
your computer. The only disadvantage is that if you lose your internet
connection you lose your protection. Another consideration is getting an AV
program with a minimal interface and avoid those with a lot of fancy animated
menus.
Other ways you can try to keep your computer up and running
clean is installing Malwarebytes as a secondary, manual AV scanner. Not only
does it detect viruses but Malwarebytes specialises in detecting naughty stuff
left over after visiting questionable websites.
Another safety precaution is to get a pop-up blocker
extension/plugin for your browser. Some questionable website will try to start a
virus infection going with pop-up window of an advert. Don’t forgot that you
should at least once a month run your AV programs’ Full Scan Mode for any
hidden infections, preferably once a week.
On my personal computer I have 360 Internet Security and
Malwarebytes which I set aside about one and half hours for the programs to
spend scanning (not at the same time) my drives for infections.
Finally, do not rely on Microsoft Defender and Security
Essentials as both programs are no longer really supported by Microsoft even
though there are updates for them.
Below is a personal detection test I ran of several popular
AV programs with the freshest viruses of the day (Feb 20 – Mar 3 2014) plucked
from Malware Tips’ Virus Exchange forum.
You can check out the AVs listed here in action on my YouTube channel ig33ku.
Friday, May 2, 2014
ig33ku's: Preliminary Hardware Troubleshooting. With the help of Linus Tech Tips forumers. Update: 07/5/2014
If your PC becomes unstable i.e. freezing, crashing, rebooting, then you can take these primary steps to self diagnose the problem.
Prep:
1. Power off your PC and unplug/remove the HDDS, SSDs,
DVD/Blu-Ray ROMs, graphic card (only if you have an APU or onboard graphics),
sound card, LAN card and any other cards for that matter. Also, unplug any case
except those that are directly cooling components like heatsink/radiator fans.
2. If you have two pieces/sticks of RAM or more remove all
except one.
Troubleshooting New Builds or suspected faulty parts:
-Resetting CMOS to Default-
1. Clear your CMOS, check your motherboard manual on how to
but the easy way to pop out the battery, pull out your PSU power cable and pump
the power button on the casing a few times then put the battery and cable back.
-Checking RAM-
1. a. Get a USB Flash Drive ready and download from
http://www.memtest.org the Auto-installer for USB Key (Win 9x/2k/xp/7).
b. Run the setup.
c. Boot to USB
(check your motherboard manual if you don't know how to boot from USB device,
should be F1, F2, F6, F11 or F12).
d. Run the test
for at least 4 passes. The more passes the surer you are it's not the RAM.
e. Do this for
each individually stick of RAM.
f. If all the RAM
passes to your satisfaction, run Memtest one more time with all the RAM
installed.
g. If all RAM sticks passes individually but
fail as a group you best bet is to manually set the voltage, timings and speed
in the BIOS to force a uniform RAM configuration.
Note: Some motherboards can only run RAM in certain
configurations. If your RAM have the same voltage, speeds and timing it is a
good idea to run them in dual channel. RAM that do have matching voltage,
speeds and timing should be run it single channel. Usually, if you have 4 RAM
slots then slot 1 and 3 are dual channel as well as slot 2 and 4. RAM in slot 1
and 2 will run in single channel in a 4 slot motherboard. Running RAM in single
channel it is a good idea to set the voltage match the RAM with the highest
needs and the speed and timings to the slowest RAM.
-Testing the system-
1. a. Reconnect/install your OS HDD/SSD and boot/install
Windows.
b. If there are no
problems install/connect the remaining hardware/parts one by one. If the system
fails then the newest installed/connected part is likely the fault and may need
to be taken back for warranty.
c. Make sure to
install an Antivirus software before going on the internet and/or connecting an
old media storage device to the PC since viruses might be sitting on your old
HDD/flash drive.
-Common problems-
1. PC won't turn on even though only there is only
motherboard, CPU and RAM are connected.
Check power cable to PSU and check power cable to
motherboard. Replace PSU.
2. My PC is beeping.
Check your motherboard manual for type of BIOS it has and
refer to this guide http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm
3. My PC works without the graphic card installed
(APU/onboard) but does not with one plugged in.
Check if graphic card fully seated/inserted into slot and
check if power cable to graphic card is missing or needed.
4. My LAN/Audio/Graphic is not working.
Use the provided drivers on the CD given with the
motherboard/graphic card/sound card. Then download newer drivers from the
internet.
5. When accessing/opening files on my HDD my system becomes
very slow or crashes.
The HDD maybe failing check the HDD's SMART info.
http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskInfo/index-e.html
6. My HDD light is always on, I can't download or open files
and my CPU usage is around 100%.
a. Possible virus
infection, if you can download get an Antivirus and if it can help. I have both
https://www.malwarebytes.org/ and http://www.360safe.com/ working together.
b. If you can't
download or your PC is very unresponsive you need access to another PC with an
Antivirus that is up to date and scan your HDD on that PC to hopefully cure the
infection or at least identify it so you can download toolkits for it.
7. My PC is giving errors/problems, I think it is the HDD
but I can't boot to Windows to install a HDD diagnostic tool.
a. You try
Ultimate Boot CD but it requires a little know-how or at least some
experimenting to work around the interface
http://www.pendrivelinux.com/install-and-boot-ultimate-boot-cd-ubcd-from-a-usb-device/.
Or you try (I haven't yet):
b. Bootmed
http://www.bootmed.com/bootmed/ make it USB Bootable
http://www.myfixlog.com/fix.php?fid=66
c. Lenovo
Diagnostic http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/downloads/detail.page?DocID=DS028698
d. Seagate Seatool
DOS bootable http://blog.nowherelan.com/2013/04/04/boot-seatools-off-of-a-usb-drive/
e. Western Digital
Data Lifeguard Diagnostic DOS bootable http://support.wd.com/download/notes/DLGDiagUSBInstructionsv3.pdf
8. I have reset or flashed my BIOS to the latest version or
but now Windows crashes on the startup logo.
Go to your bios and look under the menu window you should
see SATA 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. Select that SATA port that your HDD is mentioned, in
that menu see if there is mention of IDE or AHCI. Select and choose the
opposite. Save and restart.
9. My PC fans automatically start when turn on the power
from the main outlet or PC will not power on.
These problems are usually related to the either motherboard’s
chipset or power regulation components failing or a bad PSU. Easiest way to
figure out which it is to get hold of a working PSU, if the PC still have
problems starting without giving beep errors then it is the motherboard. If you
recently suffered a lightning storm or blackout before your PC displayed these
problems it can PSU and/or motherboard damage from a power surge through an
unprotected wall outlet or telephone line.
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Friday, April 4, 2014
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
What are the best AntiVirus software out there as of Feb 2014? Fixed image.
After 15 days of testing all the Antivirus software I could find here are my results for the world to see.
Notice that no single AV can fully remove or quarantine the virus payload I used. This means that you will a specialise removal tool or another AV in addition to your main one to try to catch the remaining infected files.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Monday, February 24, 2014
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Saturday, February 1, 2014
My idealistic socialist society.
1. Free housing (right to have at least a livable room per person, that has cooking, washing and toilet).
2. 3 Meals a day.
3. Free electricity.
4. Free water (daily quota).
5. Free clothing (free daily wear clothes provided that are not fashion brands, 20 sets of each article (shoes, shirts, etc., every year).
6. Free unlimited access to communication network (data, voice and video) ie free internet and phone services.
7. Free public transport.
8. Free education services (schools, university, online courses).
9. Free medical attention and treatment at government (not private ones) hospitals.
After that all other extra stuff (luxary items) you will have to get a job and work for it. If you want to just live and explore yourself intellectually no prob, sit at home and read up. If you want the cars, chicks and drugs you'll need to get a job then :P
2. 3 Meals a day.
3. Free electricity.
4. Free water (daily quota).
5. Free clothing (free daily wear clothes provided that are not fashion brands, 20 sets of each article (shoes, shirts, etc., every year).
6. Free unlimited access to communication network (data, voice and video) ie free internet and phone services.
7. Free public transport.
8. Free education services (schools, university, online courses).
9. Free medical attention and treatment at government (not private ones) hospitals.
After that all other extra stuff (luxary items) you will have to get a job and work for it. If you want to just live and explore yourself intellectually no prob, sit at home and read up. If you want the cars, chicks and drugs you'll need to get a job then :P
Friday, January 31, 2014
Mantle Beta/ BF4 Release - Impressions.
Well Mantle is out, kinda. DICE has enabled it on their patch and will continue to update their renderer with AMD updating their drivers and the Mantle API along the way.
Basically, you are expecting 10%-40% increase in performance depending on system configurations. Expect to see huge performance boost with high end 7000/R9 series card coupled with midrange CPUs/APUs. Once you reach the high range CPUs/APUs you get around 10% boost.
AMD's Master Plan:
1. Lock in their dominance console hardware market essentially ensuring their presence in the next gen console come 3-5 years.
2. Defeating NVIDIA's performance gains (brute force speed) by software optimisation rendering current NVIDIA's wins moot and turning the game devs to start exclusively build games on AMD's API (linked with point 1).
3. Fortify the low end and mid end CPU market share by draining consumers from the high end segments with longer longevity and better CPU performance. In other words steal gamers from Intel's highly prized high end CPU market to buy their cheaper mid range CPUs allowing them to spend more then on AMD high end graphic card market (Intel gets a double not only in losing i7 users but also their APUs). This also targets the laptop segment.
Well those are my impressions, AMD MAntle is out there to give you a boost in performance with the current gen of AMD products and not with promises of next gen ones. While at the same time crippling Intel's high CPU dominance and any dreams of challenging AMD on APU front and locking NVIDIA out of the graphic card market completely. And this is on the PC front we are not even talking about the console markets and possibly the ARM market (since they are testing the waters with their new ARM servers).
If this takes off just like the 64bit revolution they started all the way back with the Athlons CPUs you will see Intel making compatible GCN APUs sometime in the future.
Basically, you are expecting 10%-40% increase in performance depending on system configurations. Expect to see huge performance boost with high end 7000/R9 series card coupled with midrange CPUs/APUs. Once you reach the high range CPUs/APUs you get around 10% boost.
AMD's Master Plan:
1. Lock in their dominance console hardware market essentially ensuring their presence in the next gen console come 3-5 years.
2. Defeating NVIDIA's performance gains (brute force speed) by software optimisation rendering current NVIDIA's wins moot and turning the game devs to start exclusively build games on AMD's API (linked with point 1).
3. Fortify the low end and mid end CPU market share by draining consumers from the high end segments with longer longevity and better CPU performance. In other words steal gamers from Intel's highly prized high end CPU market to buy their cheaper mid range CPUs allowing them to spend more then on AMD high end graphic card market (Intel gets a double not only in losing i7 users but also their APUs). This also targets the laptop segment.
Well those are my impressions, AMD MAntle is out there to give you a boost in performance with the current gen of AMD products and not with promises of next gen ones. While at the same time crippling Intel's high CPU dominance and any dreams of challenging AMD on APU front and locking NVIDIA out of the graphic card market completely. And this is on the PC front we are not even talking about the console markets and possibly the ARM market (since they are testing the waters with their new ARM servers).
If this takes off just like the 64bit revolution they started all the way back with the Athlons CPUs you will see Intel making compatible GCN APUs sometime in the future.
Monday, January 20, 2014
Sunday, January 19, 2014
CES 2014: The Highs and Lows.
There were some Highs and Lows of CES 2014 expectations that were met and some that we disappointing.
Highs:
1. Mantle - AMD's Mantle API is amazing. AMD has taken Nvidia's innovation of replacing the CPU with the GPU for advance and specialised calculations to the consumer level. In other words, GPU acceleration not in the realm of Super Computer usage but in the realm of gaming something CUDA failed to ignite.
Another thought I was having is that now AMD is entering into the ARM market in the server end, maybe in the future we will be seeing APUs with 12-16 ARM 64bit core with 32-64 GCN cores on our desktops.
Check the video out at 23mins.
4. 4K Monitors - Dell providing cheap 4K monitors so if you need one for some good old 4K movie watching or just an awesome cheap monitor with fantastic colour reproduction and crystal sharp image.
Dell 4K Monitors
5. Utraslim Gaming Laptops - Nothing much to say but those skinny chicks are sexy beasts.
Gaming Laptops/Notebooks
Lows:
1. G-Sync - Nvidia is at it again making a Propriety product for should be a common feature. What do I mean? Well look at PhysX, Nvidia hype the hell out of it and it was only a Nvidia card feature. After a year no one really gave a shit because game developers were not going to go through the trouble to make a game that uses PhysX as a gameplay feature. Instead, it was regulated to the eye-candy category of features a game had something no one really cared or wanted except gloating Nvidia fanboys.
G-Sync is the same marketing swill. Nvidia is trying to capitalise early on what's going to be soon a common feature in monitors. Worst, they want you to pay 200 buck extra for it.
Asus G-Sync Monitor
2. Nvidia Game Streaming - Steam is doing it, Sony is doing it, Microsoft is doing it. I don't really give a crap if Nvidia is doing it.
Nvidia Streaming Games
3. Secret Gaming Laptops - Apparently, a few secret gaming laptops 'revealed'. As in they showed you the laptop but told you nothing of the specs. Since, all laptops practically have the same goddamn specs it is just the enclosures/housing and screen quality are different I see no reason to hide the specs.
4. Curved TVs - If it is good enough to watch it flat in the IMAX Cinemas it is good enough to watch it flat at home.
Highs:
1. Mantle - AMD's Mantle API is amazing. AMD has taken Nvidia's innovation of replacing the CPU with the GPU for advance and specialised calculations to the consumer level. In other words, GPU acceleration not in the realm of Super Computer usage but in the realm of gaming something CUDA failed to ignite.
Another thought I was having is that now AMD is entering into the ARM market in the server end, maybe in the future we will be seeing APUs with 12-16 ARM 64bit core with 32-64 GCN cores on our desktops.
Check the video out at 23mins.
Another demo without the lecture.
2. Freesync - You can have dynamic refresh rates for your monitor with the new Display Port 1.4 standard.
3. Trueaudio - Remember how awesome the Creative X-Fi cards were? But since EAX was so expensive for manufacturers to licence to make into their own soundcards game developers stopped adding those effects when everyone used the cheap onboard sound that only had DirectX. Expect the 3D Directional Audio and Environmental Effects back in Trueaudio games.
4. 4K Monitors - Dell providing cheap 4K monitors so if you need one for some good old 4K movie watching or just an awesome cheap monitor with fantastic colour reproduction and crystal sharp image.
Dell 4K Monitors
5. Utraslim Gaming Laptops - Nothing much to say but those skinny chicks are sexy beasts.
Gaming Laptops/Notebooks
Lows:
1. G-Sync - Nvidia is at it again making a Propriety product for should be a common feature. What do I mean? Well look at PhysX, Nvidia hype the hell out of it and it was only a Nvidia card feature. After a year no one really gave a shit because game developers were not going to go through the trouble to make a game that uses PhysX as a gameplay feature. Instead, it was regulated to the eye-candy category of features a game had something no one really cared or wanted except gloating Nvidia fanboys.
G-Sync is the same marketing swill. Nvidia is trying to capitalise early on what's going to be soon a common feature in monitors. Worst, they want you to pay 200 buck extra for it.
Asus G-Sync Monitor
2. Nvidia Game Streaming - Steam is doing it, Sony is doing it, Microsoft is doing it. I don't really give a crap if Nvidia is doing it.
Nvidia Streaming Games
3. Secret Gaming Laptops - Apparently, a few secret gaming laptops 'revealed'. As in they showed you the laptop but told you nothing of the specs. Since, all laptops practically have the same goddamn specs it is just the enclosures/housing and screen quality are different I see no reason to hide the specs.
4. Curved TVs - If it is good enough to watch it flat in the IMAX Cinemas it is good enough to watch it flat at home.
ig33ku's Quickie - USB Cable/Storage Unprotected.
I wonder why a USB cable can bypass the lock screen and allow a PC to gain access to the phone storage memory.
Saturday, January 18, 2014
CES 2014: My Thoughts.
Well CES 2014 is over much to the sigh of relief to all the tech journalists and although not real groundbreaking news was released some interesting trends and products did surface.
1. Drones/Robots: There were tons of them doing all sorts of things like jumping, 'running', dancing and most importantly flying around with cameras. The last part should interest video content makers on very low budget that want unbelievable aerial views.
DJI Phantom 2
2. Wearables and Fitness/Life Style Monitors: Apparently, we can't get enough of ourselves. It's either that or we don't seem to have the time or mental capacity to manage our time and lifestyles. I joke, but come 5-7 years you will have gadgets all around the house/office or on you consistently reminding you to do things or telling you how you are feeling today.
LG Gear
3. Curved TVs: Big names think they will be the bomb but in honesty the only question we are all asking is: when are we getting under 1K USD 4K OLED TVs running at 60p to 120p?
LG 105" Curved 5K TV
4. 3D Printers: They are under 1K USD now and they rock so hard. If you are a model maker, custom souvenir designer, modder or whatever these printers come in real handy and can earn you big bucks.
3D Printer Roundup
5. External Batteries: Surprisingly, it was not the usual suspects that was also showing off their wears but you got PC brands doing the same! I guess everyone needs a good battery handy.
Patriot Roundup
6. Cars: And finally the thing that really got people clamming about not to mention wish they had money for these prestige badges - cars! Tons of cars, all equally good and equally sexy. Main theme seems to be either smart in the brains or smart in the efficiency. Frankly, I take double helpings of both seeing how the fuel prices are rising here in Malaysia.
Cars
BMW i3
Ford
Toyota
P.S. The reason why I stop labeling the videos from CES 2014 was there were too damn many of them. Working on my review of the Poor Man's Smartphone: Lenovo A369i.
1. Drones/Robots: There were tons of them doing all sorts of things like jumping, 'running', dancing and most importantly flying around with cameras. The last part should interest video content makers on very low budget that want unbelievable aerial views.
DJI Phantom 2
2. Wearables and Fitness/Life Style Monitors: Apparently, we can't get enough of ourselves. It's either that or we don't seem to have the time or mental capacity to manage our time and lifestyles. I joke, but come 5-7 years you will have gadgets all around the house/office or on you consistently reminding you to do things or telling you how you are feeling today.
LG Gear
3. Curved TVs: Big names think they will be the bomb but in honesty the only question we are all asking is: when are we getting under 1K USD 4K OLED TVs running at 60p to 120p?
LG 105" Curved 5K TV
4. 3D Printers: They are under 1K USD now and they rock so hard. If you are a model maker, custom souvenir designer, modder or whatever these printers come in real handy and can earn you big bucks.
3D Printer Roundup
5. External Batteries: Surprisingly, it was not the usual suspects that was also showing off their wears but you got PC brands doing the same! I guess everyone needs a good battery handy.
Patriot Roundup
6. Cars: And finally the thing that really got people clamming about not to mention wish they had money for these prestige badges - cars! Tons of cars, all equally good and equally sexy. Main theme seems to be either smart in the brains or smart in the efficiency. Frankly, I take double helpings of both seeing how the fuel prices are rising here in Malaysia.
Cars
BMW i3
Ford
Toyota
P.S. The reason why I stop labeling the videos from CES 2014 was there were too damn many of them. Working on my review of the Poor Man's Smartphone: Lenovo A369i.
Friday, January 17, 2014
Thursday, January 16, 2014
AMD Mantle demo - Star Swarm 1080p demo | Engadget
Note at 0:47 mins they are using DirectX only. Then back to Mantle at 1:33.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Monday, January 13, 2014
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Friday, January 10, 2014
Thursday, January 9, 2014
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