DNS servers supply information to your computer about the locations of websites and how to go get to it. In general, the faster the response from a DNS server, the faster will be your internet experience.

Go here: http://code.google.com/p/namebench/

Download and run namebench. Use the recommended DNS servers in your TCP/IP settings and you’re most likely to see a very noticeable improvement to your browsing experience.

Softwares tend to leave records within the operating system registry that tells the operating system how and when to access certain files. Unfortunately many of the entries are not removed upon software removal or are just orphaned by the operating system.

The bottom line is that, the larger your registry is, the slower your system is going to get because the registry is accessed frequently by the operating system.  Therefore its a great idea to keep your Windows registry clean and de-fragmented

There are many registry cleaners available. I have used only one paid product and I think its a good one.

The first time I used Uniblue’s RegistryBooster I found a notable decrease in my system’s booting up time. You may also like to look for free registry cleaners. There is a good free registry cleaner available at Eusing.com. Its not in the same league as the Uniblue product but if you are not in the practice of cleaning your registry, this is sure to be worth your while.

The Uniblue RegistryBooster Dialog

Much of it was picked up while browsing dubious file-sharing sites. Some of these fake ad generators are so insidious that a person using an infected computer can do nothing more than buy the fake virus/trojan removal product that is being advertised by the malware.

What I did realize is that only Internet Explorer and Firefox users were typically the victims of these infections. I did not try Safari but Chrome seems impervious to malware such as  “Antivirus XP 2010″ which tries to trick you into buying a fake anti-virus product.

Some research revealed that Chrome’s got a sandbox mode of controlling content within each tab where malicious code on one tab cannot do anything outside that tab.

So, while you may like any particular browser, if you are browsing some strange websites, do use Chrome – even temporarily.  Personally, I like the Firefox interface best.

I needed an internet access point for a VoIP phone and I have a wireless network setup. At about $35 or so, the ZyXEL WAP3205 seemed to be the cheapest wireless router with abilities as a Repeater and Bridge router also.

With a little bit of tinkering, I was able to get the desired function as a bridge router/local access point working correctly out of this router. However the unit is poorly documented and the Quick Start guide is practically useless. I found a more extensive manual for the unit on the ZyXEL site. As a primary wireless router, avoid this unit. There is no DHCP.

But as a repeater or as a bridge router, this product shines. Just do the following below:

• Get into “Expert Mode”
• Go to Maintenance
• Click on SysOp Mode and change to “Client” or “Universal Repeater”.
• Now go to “Configuration” and click on “LAN”.
• Set an IP address that is not in use within your network for the router. For example 192.168.1.6. The manual will tell you to use 192.168.1.2 which probably is already being used by another device on your network.
• Now click on Wireless LAN and select the wireless network you wish to connect to.
  The rest is easy.

If you need to reset the router, just press the “Reset switch” with a sharp implement for more than 5 seconds and the factory defaults will be loaded up. For just a reboot of the device press the reset switch for about 1 second.

Just to make things clear:
When would you use a Wireless Repeater?
If you have a large house or office and you wished to extend the reach of your wireless internet signal you would use a Wireless repeater. It would be best if you used a wireless repeater from the same company that manufactured your primary wireless router. A lot of Netgear routers have a “Repeating Function” built in. Check if this is the case with either your current router or a spare router if you have one lying around before buying the ZyXEL or any other router.

When would you use a Wireless Bridge Router?
If you have a desktop PC or any gadget with no wireless internet capabilities that you wish to connect to a router using an Ethernet cable, you should get a wireless bridge router. The device would connect to a pre-existing wireless network and give you local access points to connect to using an Ethernet cable.

Anything better than the ZyXEL?
Of course. On eBay I saw some RangeMax series Netgear routers for under $20.

Today, The Zodiac is better know for its ability to play games from many different consoles from the last decade such as the Genesis, SNES, NES at terrific speeds. By “speed”, I mean the ability to play a game made for another system at exactly the kind of speed at which the game should be played (having a slow game performance beats the idea of playing video games doesn’t it?).

To play game, the first step is to get a free software for the Zodiac called “Little John Z”. Install this software on your first SD card slot on your Zodiac (for some reason this does not work on the second slot).

Get the software from here:
http://little-john.net/

Next, you need some ROMs. ROMs are packages containing code that used to come in cartridges many years ago. There are many such sites that can give you ROMs. ROMNation is one. Google for ROMs. and you’ll get a dozen sites that allow you to download ROMs for free. Get the edition of ROM for your region if possible.

While Little John plays ROMs from many old consoles, stick to the SNES and Genesis as they have the best games.

Drop these ROMs files into the SD card in the correct folder, using a SD card reader. Then insert the card onto slot 1 on your Zodiac.

You can launch these games using the Little John launcher icon now available on your Zodiac.

More recently, a Korean company, recognizing the market for a hand-held emulator friendly console, released the Linux based GP2x and the GP2x Wiz. The GP2x has the advantage of being an in-production unit but is more bulky than the Tapwave Zodiac. But I see that this platform is going to get very popular soon as vendors such as ThinkGeek.com carry the product now.

Here is a link to the GP2xWiz
http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/retro-gaming/bfc7/

The GP2X

Here is the link:
http://support.f-secure.com/enu/home/ols.shtml

I would suggest running this can along with atleast 2 more anti-virus/malware scanners such as AVG (Free Edition is fine) and MalwareBytes. Leaving the scanner to run overnight is a good idea as the process is time consuming.

AVG Free Anti-Virus
http://free.avg.com/download-avg-anti-virus-free-edition

MalwareBytes
http://www.malwarebytes.org/

Panda ActiveScan
http://www.pandasecurity.com/homeusers/solutions/activescan/

I decided to shop around for a new Wireless G router becuase I Wireless G was good enough for my needs provided it worked at optimal speeds.

After some research I came upon the Netgear WPN824NA Wireless G Router – 108Mbps, 802.11g, 4-Port. A recertified version was on sale for $20 at Compusa. This router is a RangeMax router that uses multiple antennas to compensate for interference. I also intended to replace an older Netgear router and so a newer Netgear was appealing.

Connecting it up took less than 1 minute. It has a wizard that auto detects the type of network you are on. in my case it’s PPPoE. I had my ISP’s username and password handy which is all you need to get connected and to replace an existing router.

The performance improvement is amazing. Wireless signal strength on a PC with 70% went to 95%. 380Kbps downloads became easy where 90Kbps was difficult. Connectivity just does not drop any more.

I can easily say that this will be the best $20 bucks I spent this year (considering the year is still young). The bottom line is, if you have several PC’s with a wireless G card, and you suffer from poor connectivity problems consider the Netgear RangeMax series of routers.

A few months down the road, I had a Vundo infection on my PC. Lots of advertisement windows started popping up all of a sudden due to the infection. AVG detected it and supposedly cleaned it. In addition I ran Symantec’s Vundo removal tool. Now hopefully I thought that my system was clean and all I had to do was to reboot XP. After the boot sequence the problem I encountered was that my desktop disappeared. More accurately it used to show up for a millisecond with all the icons and then it used to disappear.

So I used my Windows Task Manager interface to run Malwarebytes from its hard drive location (You can do this by clicking “File” > “New Task (Run) in your Task Manager window which is accessible by hitting CTRL+ALT+DEL simultaneously). I first updated the malware database and then ran the scan. Malwarebytes found stuff AVG did not, cleaned it all up and asked me to reboot once more to remove those infections that it could remove only at boot time.

And this time, after bootup, my desktop was as it should be.

Lately, I have become a fan of this product that runs fast, has frequent database updates and their server is actually available all the time unlike many other products that you simply cannot get updates for due to busy servers or whatever other reason.

For more information and to download this free tool:
http://www.malwarebytes.org/

If you live in an area with several wireless networks in the vicinity, chances are that your wireless connection is going to suffer from interference. Interference affects your throughput (quality of internet connectivity). What you should do is to check the throughput of your internet connection after changing the wireless channel on your router. Go from Channel 1-11 and check the throughput after each channel change (check your router manual one how to do this – usually all your need to do is to visit an IP address like “192.168.1.1″ enter the admin username and password and change wireless settings using only your browser).

There is a good online internet speed test here:
http://www.speedtest.net/

Test the upload and download speed using the same test location (the application will recommend the best location to test from) with all the wireless channels available on your router and then set your router to use the one that provides the best throughput. The speed test will tell you the channel that gives you the best upload and download speeds.

There are other techniques also to improve your internet connectivity and that involves messing with your TCP settings. Search for a product call Dr. TCP to explore that avenue.

If you use a PC and want to convert any document into a PDF file, just download and install doPDF. It will appear as a printer on your PC. Print to the doPDF printer and you end up with a nice PDF.

In a bind, like I was in, this is a quick and easy lifesaver

http://www.dopdf.com/