All Internet Explorer versions affected by newly-discovered critical flaw

All Internet Explorer versions affected by newly-discovered critical flaw

There's another hole in IE...which means more malware on the way

Find A Charitable Use For You Old And Nonfunctional Tech

As new technology rains down around your holiday festivities, make sure you do something good with the old stuff other than junking it. It's easy to toss away our old camera, mp3 player, or computer; but Dell wants to make it just as easy for you to donate it to charity through Dell reconnect.
Through a partnership with Goodwill, Dell is taking even dead technology and putting it to a charitable use. So, let's take our old monitors, scanners, printers and other assorted gadgetry and make them useful to someone in need. Dell will even give you a receipt for tax deducting, which is always a bonus.

Dell Reconnect

Microsoft's Free Antivirus Hits 2.0

Microsoft Security Essentials has been out for about a year now and recently MS has taken the wraps off the 2.0 version of the product. Deeper integration with Windows Vista and Windows 7 Firewalls and a brand new heuristics engine are under the hood. In testing we have found it to be competitive to other free antivirus offerings and Microsoft has gone a long way to address some of the major shortcomings of the original. Also, Security Essentials is very light on system resources, which is great for older, lower end machines. If you are running with no antivirus or something expired, take a look at Microsoft Security Essentials here

We're Social...

Just a reminder to our regular readers to check us out on Twitter and Facebook. Also, don't forget our main site at Nerdstogo.com and if in need of computer repair give us a call at 1-800-390-6373.

Google News Aplenty!

We're really excited to see Google's efforts in the OS space with the upcoming Chrome OS. It looks like a compelling product for the light internet user. If priced right, it could be a great companion to a home desktop or larger laptop. Nevertheless the speedup in the browser and the app store are enough to pique our interest now. It's going to be an interesting 2011. Check out the full piece on ChromeOS over at Slashgear.

Also outed recently was a Motorola tablet device running the next version of Android. From the video one can see it being a real iPad competitor. Offline maps and new intuitive interface are just the tip of the iceberg here. The specs under the hood are just as impressive with a dual core mobile processor and nVidia graphics.

Beware Bad AVG Update on 64-Bit Windows 7

On December 1st, 2010  AVG sent out an update that has a few issues with 64bit Windows 7 systems. The problem causes a “blue screen of death” when the system starts with the following message:

STOP: c0000135 The program can’t start because %hs is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem.

The makers of AVG have since removed the bad update (3292) and will be releasing a fix program in the coming days.
In order to repair the problem now, users can go into safemode and do a system restore back to a date before the update was downloaded. If users cannot get into safe mode, it is also possible to go into “Startup Repair”, “Repair Your Computer” and choose “View advanced options for system recovery and support” once it finishes scanning.
AVG has also posted additional repair details here if the above does not work.

Nerds to Go to Come

A nice article about our new location by the Killingworth-Durham-Middlefield Patch

Somewhere around the holidays, the computer superheroes will land in Killingworth – not by sleigh but in the unmistakable bright yellow and boxy Toyota Scion. Nerds to Go will also have a more stationary presence in Killingworth Village with a retail location.

Nerds to Go CEO and franchise owner of the Killingworth location, David Colella, said that Killingworth was selected as a site "because we look for small towns where people will appreciate the good service and appreciate the value for their time. Killingworth is also close to our mother ship in Guilford."

"A lot of people spend hours calling the major manufacturers with questions and problems," said Colella. "People spend anywhere between three and 30 hours. We try to look for towns which can appreciate our service."

Nerds to Go, headquartered in Guilford, caters strictly to residential computer users and small businesses. There are 19 locations in various parts of the country. 

"A big part of the business is residential users – mom who can't get onto her computer while the kids are at school, kids who need help with their homework, kids who are downloading music or games, can't get on the internet, can't print, computer running slow, all those types of things."

The majority of the work is house calls, although two years ago the nerds started opening retail locations to give customers another option.

"What we find is the customers really enjoy the fact that they can either call us and we'll be out to their location within 24 to 48 hours, or they can just stop by one of our stores."

Employees are trained at Nerd University in Guilford. "It's our training program. They have to go through a very specific two-week training program."

Nerds to Go can be found nationally. The goal is to take the concept internationally.

"We've had lots of inquiries from Canada and other countries as well. People hear about the company and want the best way to get established with a proven brand and model," he said. 

Nerds to Go will be open Monday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm, and can be reached either by phone at 1-800-390-NERD, by email at help@nerdstogo.com, or by visiting the new home at 184 Route 81, next to the Copper Skillet. The retail location is expected to open on or before January 1.

See original article by Susan Cornell