Archive for the ‘Computer Repair’ Category

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Windows says You may be a victim of software counterfeiting

Posted by South City Computer

Windows counterfeit messageIf you are getting a message popping up on Windows that says “You may be a victim of software counterfeiting. This copy of Windows is not genuine and is not eligible to receive the full range of upgrades and product support from Microsoft” there is no need to be alarmed because you probably just need to activate your copy of Windows using your Windows license key. This error message can occur on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10 versions.

This Windows error message occurs if your copy of Microsoft Windows attempts to run Windows Updates but has not been activated. To fix this error message you will just need to simply activate your copy of Windows using your 25 digit Windows license key. The Windows counterfeit error message is common if your computer has had Windows restored, re-installed Windows, upgraded Windows, installed a new copy of Windows, or reset your computer back to the factory default settings. If none of the previous scenarios are true for you, then malware may have compromised the Windows registry on your computer.

Here is how to activate your copy of Windows online:

1. Click the ‘Start’ Button located at left side of the desktop
2. Right Click on Computer and then select Properties. It will let you go to the System Properties.
3. Click on “Activate Windows online now”.
4. Locate your Windows license key on your DVD installation media, or a license key sticker may be located on your computer. (Windows 8 computers do not have a license key sticker on the computer)
4. After entering the 25 character validation key, click ‘Next’ to activate Windows on your desktop or laptop. After a few seconds (depending on the speed of your Internet) your copy of Windows will be verified with Microsoft and the message should no longer appear.

Alternatively if you cannot activate your computer online you may call Microsoft to activate your copy of Windows over a phone. You will read your Windows license key to a Microsoft support attendant and they will give you a series of characters in return to enter in order to activate your copy of Microsoft Windows. This is pretty easy to do and no need to be alarmed. If you need help activating your copy of Windows contact a local computer repair store near you.

Avoid Phone Technical Support Scams

Posted by South City Computer

computer-repair-scams-600x520Cybercriminals claiming to be from Microsoft or an anti-virus company may call an unsuspecting victim on the phone. The victim’s information is usually obtained through publicly available phone directories so they scammer may also know other information such as the victim’s name and address when they call.

The victim will be informed that a virus or malware was detected on their computer or that their computer is having an issue. The cybercriminal may prompt the victim to check to see if certain files are on the computer that they will claim are a virus. They may prompt the victim to go to certain websites to convince them they need tech support.

The cybercriminal may prompt the victim for a user name and password, or to install software so they can access the computer in order to fix it. If the remote access software is successfully installed, the victims private data including passwords, user names, personal documents, images, financial information, and virtually all data on the computer has been compromised.

Victims of this scam are urged to secure their accounts including their financial accounts to ensure that they do not become further victim to the scam. It is recommended that the compromised computer be reset to the manufacturer default settings in order to ensure that the cybercriminal no longer have access to the computer. NOTE: Setting a computer to the manufacturer default settings will result in data loss,and may require technical support from a local computer repair company. Contact South City Computer today for professional computer technical support.

ALERT: Rombertik destroys your computer, avoids detection

Posted by South City Computer

Virus AlertA new destructive virus known as Rombertik avoids detection from most anti-virus software by making a computer unusable by deleting key files on a computer and filling the hard drive with extraneous bytes of data in order to overwhelm the anti-virus software from detecting it.

Security experts from Cisco say the virus steals login information and other private data. The malware infects the computer via a malicious email attachment.

The malware is also constantly monitoring the computer for security scans in order to avoid detection. The virus will initiate a “self-destruct” sequence that makes the computer unusable by erasing the master boot record (MBR) so that the computer only reboots and never gets into the Windows operating system most likely resulting in a full system restore in order to correct the issue.

How to fix a corrupt Windows user profile

Posted by South City Computer

Activate Hidden Administrator Windows userIf you are typing your password and press Enter and see the error message “The User Profile Service failed the logon” and “The user profile cannot be loaded”, and then are returned to the logon screen, your Windows user profile may have become corrupt.

A Windows user profile is a collection of settings that make the computer look and work the way you want it to. The Windows user profile contains your personalized settings for desktop backgrounds, screen savers, mouse pointer preferences, sound settings, and other Windows features.

While it is hard to say exactly why Windows user profiles become corrupt there are a few more common reasons that this happens. The antivirus software on the computer could have corrupted to profile by running a scan before the user profile was actually logged into the computer. Another reason the user profile can be corrupted is malware has messed up the registry settings for the user profile, and it no longer works and has become corrupt.

If you have recently attempted to log on to Windows and received an error message that says that your user profile might be corrupted, there are a few steps you can try to repair it.

WARNING: You should create a backup of your user files before attempting to fix your user profile. Contact a local computer repair store if you need help to backup your data.

Try a reboot

The first attempt you can try to fix your Window user profile is to simply reboot the computer. Sometimes a reboot will fix the issue, and you will be able to log in to the profile when the computer is completely rebooted.

Try creating an alternative user profile

If rebooting the computer doesn’t seem to fix the corrupt user profile, then a quick and easy fix is to create a new user profile on the Windows computer, and then copy the files from the existing profile to the new one. While this should get you back up and running you will lose all of the Windows user personalized settings by doing this such as the desktop, screensaver, etc. You will have all of your user files ie. Documents, Videos, Pictures, Music, etc.

To accomplish creating a new Windows user you will need to log in to an administrator account on the computer. If you have another administrator user account already created you could log in to this account, however if you only had one administrator account on the computer you will need to activate the default Windows user account.

First boot the computer into Safe Mode by pressing F8 during bootup. On the Windows loading screen choose Safe Mode from the menu. When the Windows desktop is launched, choose the start menu and search for cmd. When the computer finds the command prompt program right click and run the program as administrator.

When the command prompt program is launched type in the command: net user administrator /active:yes

This will activate the “hidden” administrator account on the computer after the computer is rebooted.

You should see a message that the command completed successfully. Log out, and reboot the computer and you’ll now see the Administrator account as a choice.

Log in with the new Administrator account. If you are prompted for a password it is probably not set and by not typing anything in the password input should log into the account.

When you are logged in as the Administrator account:

  1. Open User Accounts by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking User Accounts and Family Safety, and then clicking User Accounts.
  2. Click Manage another account. Administrator permission required If you’re prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
  3. Click Create a new account.
  4. Type the name you want to give the user account, click an account type, and then click Create Account.
  5. Restart the PC.

When the computer has rebooted

  1. Log on as the administrator user.
  2. Open the My Documents folder by clicking the Start button Picture of the Start button, and then clicking Computer. Double-click the hard disk drive that Windows is installed on (it’s usually your C: drive), double-click Users, double-click the folder with the name of the corrupt user profile account, and then double-click My Documents.
  3. Click the Tools menu, and then click Folder Options.
  4. If you don’t see the Tools menu, press Alt.
  5. Click the View tab, and then click Show hidden files, folders, and drives.
  6. Clear the Hide protected operating system files check box, click Yes to confirm, and then click OK.
  7. Locate the C:\Users\Old_Username folder, where C is the drive that Windows is installed on, and Old_Username is the name of the profile you want to copy files from.
  8. Select all of the files and folders in this folder, except the following files:

    Ntuser.dat

    Ntuser.dat.log

    Ntuser.ini
  9. Click the Edit menu, and then click Copy.
  10. If you don’t see the Edit menu, press Alt.
  11. Locate the C:\Users\New_Username folder, where C is the drive that Windows is installed on, and New_Username is the name of the new user profile you created.
  12. Click the Edit menu, and then click Paste.
  13. If you don’t see the Edit menu, press Alt.
  14. Log off, and then log back on as the new user.

    15. If you have e‑mail messages in an e‑mail program, you must import your e‑mail messages and addresses to the new user profile before you delete the old profile. If everything is working properly, you can delete the old profile.

    Attempt to salvage the corrupt user profile

    If you want to attempt to salvage your old Windows user profile, you can try this more complex solution:

    Restart your PC and boot into Safe mode by pressing F8 before you see the Windows loading screen and choosing Safe Mode from the menu that appears.

    1. To fix the user profile, click Start and type regedit into the search box and press Enter.
    2. In Registry Editor navigate to:
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\ProfileList
    3. Click each S-1-5 folder and double-click the ProfileImagePath entry to find out which user account it relates to.
    4. Once you have located the folder for the corrupt profile (and it doesn’t have a .bak ending), double-click RefCount and change the Value data to 0 and click Ok.
    5. Now double-click on State and make sure the Value data is again 0 and click Ok.
    6. Close regedit and restart your PC. You should now be able to log into your account.

    If you continue to get the corrupt user profile message you will need to attempt to create an alternative user profile and copy the data from the corrupt user profile into it.

    If you are unable to successfully create a new user profile, bring your computer to South City Computer or a local computer repair store near you.

How to fix Proxy Server Isn’t Responding issue

Posted by South City Computer

Fix the proxy server isn't respondingOne of the more common computer issues we see because of malware is a misconfiguration Proxy Server connection setting in the browser. You may be able to do a quick fix to get your Internet connection back up and running, however if this has gotten set and you don’t recall doing it, this is probably because your computer is infected with malware or a virus.

NOTE: This may only temporarily fix your Internet connection issue and malware may change this setting back on reboot. It is recommended you get professional computer repair services.

In Windows Search type inetcpl.cpl.

Right click and choose to Run as administrator.

Click the Connections tab, and then click LAN settings button.

Un-check the Use a proxy server for your LAN check box.

Make sure Automatically Detect Settings is checked.

If you have already attempted this fix, and are still getting a Proxy Internet connection issue then you may need computer repair service. Bring your computer to South City Computer or to a local computer repair service and support provider near you.

Why is the Proxy Server Setting enabled?

While every issue is different, malware is usual the culprit behind this proxy setting being changed on a computer. The setting allows for all Internet traffic to be rerouted and monitored through another computer. This is likely in order to serve pop-ups and/or search your Internet traffic for usernames, emails, credit card numbers,and passwords.

How to prepare your computer for repair

Posted by South City Computer

Mac Laptop Repair in St. LouisRemove computer from any computer case, computer box, computer packaging, or computer bag. Do not leave us with your computer case, computer packaging box, or computer bag. We do not have room to store this stuff for you.

Remove all usb drives, usb dongles, external hard drives, blue tooth dongles, and any extraneous hardware such as mouse, keyboards, printers, speakers, microphones, headphones, and monitors, attached to your computer or device before dropping off at South City Computer.

Remove all CD/DVD or other media from drives. We can not be responsible for your 2nd season of “Friends” DVD left in the DVD drive so please remove it before dropping it off at South City Computer.

Bring the power cord with your laptop, tablet, phone, all-in-one computer, or device. Most desktops use a standard power cord. Bring it, and the service technician will instruct you whether or not South City Computer will need it to perform your computer repair service.

Ensure your computer is clean and free of food, dust, and other debris. We know that most people eat, drink, and even pick their nose at their computer. Please do not bring us a computer covered in food, dust, boogers, and other unspeakable fluids! We are trying to provide you computer repair service, we are not a computer cleaning service. We will disinfect the computer at the time of drop off, however we do not want to have to scrub boogers and debris from the keyboard and cracks of your computer. If your computer is exceptionally disgusting, we may have to charge you a cleaning fee.

Let us know if you or somebody else is sick and has used the computer or if you are bringing your computer in because you or somebody else vomited on/in it. Let us know ahead of time so we can make special preparations to handle your computer with latex hospital gloves and respiratory masks.

Let us know if you dropped your device into a toilet or other unsanitary conditions so that we can prepare to handle your device accordingly with latex hospital gloves.

Provide the service technician clear and accurate description of your issue. Be sure to include what you were doing when the computer stopped working, any error messages you recall, any strange pop-ups, any strange behaviors or sounds your recall coming from the computer, any programs you installed or uninstalled before the issue started, also if there were any other anomalies such as power outages or electrical storms that could be related to the computer issue.

Provide all passwords and user accounts that South City Computer will need to access the computer.

Let us know if you need the data backed up on the computer. If data needs to be backed up, provide the service technician all files, file types, directories, and file names that you would like attempted to be backed up.

Inform the service technician of any programs you use that put their data files in places outside the Windows user directory such as Quick Books, Quicken, or Microsoft Outlook.

Be prepared to wait for service. Our typical turn around on a computer diagnosis is 2 to 5 business days. If you need expedited service talk to a support service technician about the options South City Computer offers customers who need computer repair service fast! Also, South City Computer Club Members always enjoy concierge services and get moved to the front of the line on most computer repair services. Don’t call or email constantly to check the status of your computer repair, this does not speed things up, as we are answering your phone calls and emails instead of repairing computers.

Bring cash, check, or credit/debit card to make the initial payment for service. We cannot begin work on your computer repair service until we receive payment up front.

Please know that we do not offer refunds on any payment you make to South City Computer, even if you choose to forgo the initial diagnosis or other service. If you are professional, friendly, courteous, and easy to do business with, we will most likely offer you in-store credit if you decide to not move forward with a repair, but this is not a guaranteed, and totally up to managements discression.

What free anti-virus software do you recommend?

Posted by South City Computer

Microsoft Windows Defender Anti-Virus SoftwareOften we are asked what anti virus software to use? While it is totally preference at this point since most anti-virus software’s do the task of scanning and monitoring your computer for suspicious programs, viruses and malware, not all anti virus softwares are free. We usually recommend a free anti-virus software since subscription renewals can be easily ignored, and it is better to have current anti-virus definitions than to have none at all.

Miscrosoft Security Essentials

Microsoft Security Essentials is anti-malware and anti-virus program put out by Microsoft for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7, but not for the Windows 8 operating system.

The software provides real-time protection and scans new files as they are downloaded or created, and disables detected threats. The software scans the computer routinely and updates the virus definitions database automatically. The software integrates seamlessly into the Windows operating system.

Microsoft Security Essentials license agreement allows home users to download, install and use it on an unlimited number of computers in their households free of charge, so long as each computer has a legitimately licensed copy of Microsoft Windows.

Unfortunately due to its popularity a few malware programs try to impersonate or resemble it to fool users into installing them instead of Microsoft Security Essentials. A few virus/trojan programs disguised as Microsoft Security Essentials called “Security Essentials 2010” and “Microsoft Security Essentials 2011” have appeared on the Internet and closely resembles Microsoft Security Essentials. The virus uses sophisticated social engineering to deceive users into infecting their systems, under the guise of five different fictional anti-malware products. It also terminates and prevents the launch of many popular programs, including Registry Editor, Windows Command Prompt, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari and Google Chrome.

If you think you may have a rouge anti-virus software that is trying to mimic Microsoft Security Essentials, take your computer to South City Computer or a local computer repair shop to be scanned for malware.

Windows Defender

Windows Defender is released by Microsoft and started out as an anti-spyware program for Windows XP, Vista and 7, however the most recent releases has expanded to an anti-virus, anti-spyware and anti-malware software and comes as the standard anti-virus on Windows 8.

Windows Defender provides real-time protection and integrates with Internet Explorer enables files to be scanned as they are downloaded to try to avoid accidentally downloaded malicious software. Microsoft Windows Defender does not scan files downloaded with other web browsers like Firefox or Chrome.

Windows Defender greatly resembles Microsoft Security Essentials and uses the same virus definition updates. As a result, Microsoft Security Essentials is not compatible with Windows 8.

There are seemingly new computer viruses created everyday, and while no anti-virus software can protect you 100% of the time, luckily, there are a few free anti-virus programs available that to attempt to make your computer safer.

Is Your Virtual Memory Low

Posted by South City Computer

Virtual Memory too low
Are you getting a Windows error message indicating that your “virtual memory is low”? This could be caused for a number or reasons and probably is a combination of several things causing the problem.

What is Virtual Memory?

Virtual memory combines your computer’s Random Access Memory (RAM) with temporary space on your hard disk. When RAM runs low, virtual memory moves data from RAM to a space allocated on the hard disk also called SWAP. Moving data to and from the allocated space on the hard disk frees up the RAM so your computer can complete its work.

What is the cause of Virtual Memory Low error message?

Oftentimes virtual memory errors occur because there is no longer any space left in the RAM and SWAP memory. This could be caused by several programs running in the background that may not be apparent. Another cause is that the hard disk on the computer has become so full that there no longer is room for the Operating System to write to the SWAP memory.

Why does Windows stop working when the virtual memory is low?

When the computer starts to use the Virtual Memory, the computer may become slower to respond but still may function. When the allocated SWAP space on the hard disk becomes too full Windows stops working all together.

How can I fix my Virtual Memory Low issue?

You can try a few things to try to fix a virtual memory issue.

Try changing the size of your allocated SWAP memory so that you can run more programs on your computer at once. This is known as a paging file in windows. You can run the command sysdm.cpl. Click “Advanced” and edit the Virtual Memory.

You can also try stopping all extraneous programs from running at Windows start up. Part of the problem could be several anti-virus software programs running at the same time, or lots of bloatware from printers, scanners, and other devices running at start up.

Freeing up space on the hard drive may also help to fix the virtual memory error issue. If your hard disk is more than 80% full, you should probably consider “cleaning house” a bit. Consider backing some of your data up to an external hard drive, or to cloud storage to free up some space. Ask a technician at South City Computer about our cloud storage options through our South City Computer Club membership.

Alternatively you can try to add more RAM to the computer. Throwing more hardware at the problem can sometimes resolve the issue.

If you need help with fixing a virtual memory issue on your computer, bring your computer to a local computer repair store, South City Computer in St. Louis.

Change a Windows Password using Linux Boot CD and Command Prompt

Posted by South City Computer

If you are unable to Administer a Windows Users password on a computer you may need to modify the way Windows normally functions in order to bypass this issue.

Using a Linux Boot CD, on the hard drive where the Windows operating system is installed.

cd /Windows/System32/

mv Ultilman.exe Utilman.exe.bak

cp cmd.exe Utilman.exe

So by switching Utilman.exe to be the cmd.exe program, we can get a command prompt when you click on the accessibility button on the log in screen.

Boot the computer into Windows. When you get to the log in screen click on the accessibility button, you will get the Windows command prompt.

In the Windows command prompt run the command:

net user Username password

To change a Windows User’s password using the command line, you must set the password to something, it cannot be left blank. So you could set the password to “password” if you like.

In the case that its Windows 8 and it is a Microsoft account, you cannot reset the password like the previous example, however you can use this command on the command prompt:

net user Administrator /active:yes
net user Administrator password

Then reboot the computer and log in to the new administrator account. Change the Windows User’s account to local, then set/unset the password.

This activates an Administrator account so you can go in and manually administer the users password through windows.

Does your computer have Malware?

Posted by South City Computer

Windows MalwareWatch out for a new piece of malware and spyware that has been popping up on many computers that are coming into our computer repair shop in St. Louis this past couple months. Malware is short for “malicious software” and is unwanted software that can hijack certain functions of your computer, steal sensitive information, and can put your personal information and data at risk. Malware is usually bundled with tojans, worms, rootkits, spyware, adware, ransomware and viruses. Unfortunately most malware can be very tricky to remove. The new malware we have been seeing has no easy removal method at this time and reeks havoc on the computer’s Windows registry. The Windows registry is the place where Windows stores Operating System and program configurations.

All malware is annoying and potentially harmful to the data and personal information on your computer. You should not continue to use your computer if you believe it has been infected with Malware, and should bring your computer into a local computer repair store like South City Computers for repair as soon as possible.

You should never attempt to download any programs that claim to remove or fix a certain malware program or virus you may have on your computer. Often times these programs just install more malware and viruses on your computer and make matters a lot worse.

You should never interact with malware programs since they are malicious in nature and could cause serious harm to your computer.

Signs that you may have Malware

When you attempt to go to certain “most visited” websites like Google.com, Facebook.com, or check your email the malware will redirect your browser to a malicious website and you can never get to the website you requested. This usually happens regardless of the web browser you attempt to use be it Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, or Firefox.

When you try to uninstall the malware through the Windows uninstaller, the malware will attempt to get you to actually install more malware onto the computer, or takes you to a website to download an “Uninstaller” program.

If you are noticing pop-ups and mysterious program notifications from programs that claim to be “Optimizers”, “Anti-Malware”, “Anti-Virus”, “Registry Cleaner”, or “System Repair” software.

Your computer is running slow, and seems to be doing a lot of processing even when the computer is sitting idle.

Your computer will not longer run Windows Updates.

Your computer is unable to run your Anti-Virus software.

Your computer is unable to run an anti-virus scan.

Your computer is unable to update your Anti-Virus software.

Your computer throws missing .dll errors when you try to launch certain programs.

Your computer will no longer connect to the Internet.

Your computer is prompting you for payment information to “fix” your computer.

Your computer will no longer print or communicate to external devices such as printers.

If your computer is doing any of the strange behaviors listed above, or you think that you may have installed malware on your computer bring it to the computer repair experts at South City Computers in St. Louis today.

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