Making the Sale with Sales Pages e-book by Unique Blog Designs, LLC (2010)

Succeeding in affiliate marketing is by far no easy task. This e-book provides readers with the critical tips in creating a professional standard sales page. The content of ‘Making the Sale with Sales Pages’ e-book is direct and concise, addressing important sales converting aesthetics and copywriting issues. This saves you time in reading a lot of unnecessary affiliate marketing ‘how-to’ ramblings prevalent in other affiliate marketing e-books. Furthermore, you won’t find any website coding tips in here.

Now as you may already know, the biggest obstacle in affiliate marketing is finding people in your target market and lots of them. That part of affiliate marketing is beyond the scope of this ‘Making the Sale with Sales Pages’ e-book. Nonetheless, having millions of people in your target market is useless without a sales converting capable sales page. Hence the reason why this e-book will be very important for the beginner affiliate marketer in you.

Title: Making the Sale with Sales Pages
Author / s: Unique Blog Designs, LLC
Year published: 2010
Pages: 26
Chapters: 6 - from introduction, history to breaking down the components of a sales page
Format: Narrative ‘how-to’ guide
Estimated reading completion: 1 hour
Target niche: affiliate marketer wannabes, computer enthusiasts interested in the affiliate marketing business

‘Making the Sale with Sales Pages’ Content Glimpses

1. Research
• Laziness in not wanting to do research will shine through your sales page
• You’re not going to sound like you know what you’re talking about because you DON’T
• People are dumb but they aren’t that dumb!


2. Time, Money, Effort
• When people are buying a product or service, they almost always believe that they are gaining something that will give them a leg-up on either finances, gaining more time to do what they want to do, or just having to work less at whatever they do for a job


3. Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica
• Font wise for the body text, you can either go with what we suggest with the Tahoma font, or you can go with either Arial or Helvetica
• Whatever you do, though, don’t stray from any of those fonts for the body text


4. Big problem
• For instance, say you were selling a product that detailed how people can learn the basics and succeed quickly in the world of PPC (pay per click marketing) then you could suggest that, unlike many other things, failing to succeed with PPC early can be very, very expensive


5. Big solution
• Focus on how it will benefit them and feel free to further focus on how it will help them make more money, spend less time on a problem or expend less effort on whatever it is they’re looking for


6. 30 day guarantee
• Adding a 30 day money back guarantee will not only vastly increase the number of people who will ultimately purchase your product or service, but believe it or not, it will also help to reduce the number of refund requests that you’ll be getting


7. 5 step / reasons box
• A 5 step summary on how your product or service can help benefit the reader will not only be interesting to the reader, but it will also likely cut down on the overall length of your sales page
• Same thing with a 5 reasons section – just make sure that you title it with something attention-getting like, “The 5 Reasons You’ll Be Able to Quit Your Job after Reading My E-book!” Be original, be imaginative and put your own spin on it

*Note: You can get this e-book for free via email after signing up for a blogging report at uniqueblogdesigns.com or for tips & tricks over at affiliatetheme.net. Your sign-up entitles you to receive periodic reports as the likes of this one to your email address.

As a last resort, you can also Skype me at ‘ abaskamal ’ for access to my dissected notes & highlights done on this e-book as well as for further discussions. A sincere Paypal donation for my efforts will be much appreciated.

Illustrator Save Artwork for Web Tips

Illustrator CS4DPD Blitz Reference

When saving illustrations for the Web, keep the following tips in mind, which make the whole process much easier to use the illustrations:

• Keep the file size small
• Don’t forget that when saving illustrations for a Web page, many other elements will be on that page
• Try to conserve on file size to make downloading the page quicker for viewers with dial-up connections
• Most visitors won’t wait more than ten seconds for a page to download before giving up and moving on to another Web site
• When making choices, keep an eye on the file size and the optimized artwork in the lower-left corner of the preview window

On average, a GIF should be around 10K and a JPEG around 15K
These rules aren’t written in stone, but please don’t try to put a
100K JPEG on a Web page!

Can change the download time by selecting the panel menu in the upper-right corner of the Save for Web & Devices dialog box and choosing Optimize to File Size to input a final file size and have Illustrator create the settings in the Save for Web & Devices dialog box

Preview the file before saving it

• To see the artwork in a Web browser before saving it, click the Preview in Default Browser button at the bottom of the Save for Web & Devices dialog box
• The browser of choice appears with the artwork in the quality and size in which it will appear
• When no browser is selected, click and hold down the Preview in
• Default Browser button to choose Other and then browse to locate a browser that to use for previewing
• Close the browser to return to the Save for Web & Devices dialog box

Change the size

• Many misconceptions abound about size when it comes to Web artwork
• Generally, most people view their browser windows in an area approximately 700 x 500 pixels
• Depending on the screen resolution, this may cover the entire screen on a 14-inch monitor, but even viewers with a 21-inch monitor with a high resolution often don’t want to have their entire screen covered with a browser’s window
• So they still have a browser window area of around 700 x 500 pixels
• When choosing a size for the artwork, use proportions of this amount to help
• For example: When wanting an illustration to take up about a quarter of the browser window’s width, make the image about 175 pixels wide (700÷4 = 175)
• By noticing that the height of the image is over 500 pixels, whittle the height down in size as well, or viewers will have to scroll to see the whole image (and it will probably take too long to download!)

Use the Image Size tab to input new sizes

• As long as the Constrain Proportions check box is selected, both the height and width of the image will be changed proportionally
• Click the Apply button to change the size but don’t close the Save for Web & Devices dialog box
• Finish the save

When not finished with the artwork but want to save the settings, hold down the Alt and click the Remember button (When not holding down the Alt key, the Remember button is the Done button.)

• When finished, click the Save button and save the file in the appropriate location

Illustrator CS4 Save Artwork for Web

Illustrator CS4DPD Blitz Reference

Saving Illustrator Artwork for the Web

• Choose File->Save for Web & Devices
• The Save for Web & Devices dialog box appears, showing the artwork on the Optimized tab

Choose a tabbed view:

• Original, Optimized, 2-Up, or 4-Up
• As a default, the artwork is shown in the Optimized view, which previews the artwork as it will appear based upon the settings on the right
• The 2-Up view is probably the best choice because it shows the original image versus the optimized version

Choose a setting for the file from the options on the right

• To make it easier, choose a preset from the Preset drop-down list

Keep in mind these points:

• Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) is generally used for artwork with spans of solid color
• GIF isn’t a lossy format
• Artwork can be made smaller by reducing the number of colors in the image — hence the choices, such as GIF 64 No Dither (64 colors)
• The lower the number of colors, the smaller the file size
• Can also increase or decrease the number of colors in the file by changing the preset values in the Color text field or by using the arrows to the left of the Color text field

Dithering tries to make the artwork look like it has more colors by creating a pattern in the colors

• It looks like a checkerboard pattern up close and even far away
• It also makes a larger file size, so why use it?
• Most designers don’t like the effect and choose the No Dither option

Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) is used for artwork that has subtle gradations from one shade to another

• Photographs are often saved in this format
• When having drop shadows or blends in the artwork, select this format
• JPEG is a lossy file format — it will reduce the image to a lesser quality and can create odd artifacts in the artwork
• Choices such as High, Medium, and Low in the Settings drop-down list
• Make sure that to choose wisely
• Can also use the Quality slider to tweak the compression

PNG-8 is very similar to a GIF file format. Unless you have a certain reason for saving as PNG-8, stick with the GIF file format

• PNG-24 supports the best of two formats (GIF and JPEG)
• Not only does the Portable Network Graphics (PNG) format support the nice gradients from one tonal value to another (like JPEGs), but it also supports transparency (like GIFs)
• Not just any old transparency; e.g. an object 50 percent transparent in Adobe Illustrator and then save it with
• Save for Web & Devices as a PNG-24 file with the Transparency check box selected - the image shows through to any other objects underneath it on its destination page

The Shockwave Flash (SWF) graphic file format is a version of the

• Adobe Flash Player vector-based graphics format
• Because a SWF file is vector-based, its graphics are scalable and play back smoothly on any screen size and throughout multiple platforms
• With the Save for Web & Devices dialog box, can save image directly to SWF from Adobe Illustrator
• With the SWF choice, can preview and make decisions as to how to export to the file as well as make decisions about how layers should be exported

Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is an emerging Web standard for two-dimensional graphics

• SVG is written in plain text and rendered by the browser, except that in this case, it’s not just text that’s rendered but also shapes and images, which can be animated and made interactive
• SVG is written in XML (Extensible Markup Language)
• Can choose to save Scalable Vector Graphics out of
• Adobe Illustrator with the Save for Web & Devices dialog box
• Use the Wireless Application Protocol Bitmap Format (WBMP) format for bitmap images for mobile devices
• When satisfied with the chosen settings, Save

Photoshop CS4 Save Images for Web

Photoshop CS4DPD Blitz Reference

The image download time is based upon the preference of 56K per second
Can change the download speed by choosing Edit->Preferences selecting the Status Bar category, and clicking the Connection Speed drop-down list

Saving Photoshop Images for the Web and Devices [File->Save for Web & Devices]

• Resize the image to the right pixel dimensions
• Choose Filter->Sharpen->Unsharp Mask to gain back some of the detail lost when resizing the image and then save the image for the Web
• Use the GIF format for images with large areas of solid color, such as a logo

Saving a GIF

• Choose File->Save for Web & Devices
• At the top, click the 2-Up tab
• In the lower portion of the displays, see the original file size compared to the optimized file size, as well as the approximate download RMC
• Try to keep an individual image’s download RMC down to five seconds or less
• All the images on a page can add up to one monstrous wait for the viewer!
• Choose GIF 32 No Dither from the Preset drop-down list
• Photoshop supplies presets to choose from, or can customize and save one's own
• Many designers choose the No Dither option
• When image is on a transparent layer and desirable to maintain that transparency on a Web page, select the Transparency check box
• Using the color table in the Save for Web & Devices dialog box
• Based upon a color reduction algorithm chosen, the Save for Web & Devices feature samples the number of colors user indicates
• An image that has only a few colors desired to convert to Websafe colors, choose the Eyedropper tool from the left of the Save for Web & Devices dialog box and click the color, in the Optimized view
• The sampled color is highlighted in the color table
• Click the Web Safe button at the bottom of the color table
• A ToolTip appears when you hovers over this button with the text 'Shifts/ Unshifts Selected Colors to Web panel'
• A diamond appears, indicating that the color is now Web safe
• Lock colors not wanting to be deleted
• Select a color with the Eyedropper tool or choose it in the color table and then click the Lock Color button - a white square appears in the lower-right corner, indicating that the color is locked
• When locking 32 colors and then reduce the color table to 24, some of the locked colors are inevitably deleted
• However, when choosing to add colors, those locked colors are the first to return
• Use the arrows to the right of the Colors combo box or enter a number to add or delete colors from the color table
• When keeping colors Web safe is important, select the Restrictive (Web) option for the method
• When wanting image to look better on most monitors but not necessarily be Web safe, choose the Adaptive option
• When image uses transparency, select the Transparency check box
• Remember that transparency is counted as one of the colors in the color table
• Select the Interlaced check box only when GIF image is large in size (25K or larger)
• Selecting this option causes the image to build in several scans on the Web page, a low-resolution image that pops up quickly to be refreshed with the higher resolution image when it’s finished downloading
• Interlacing gives the illusion of the download going faster but makes the file size larger, so use it only when necessary

Saving a JPEG

• The JPEG format is lossy, so one shouldn’t open it, edit it, and save it again as a JPEG
• Because the JPEG compression causes data to be lost, the image will eventually look like it was printed on a paper towel
• Save a copy of the file as a JPEG, keeping the original image in the PSD format for later changes
• The JPEG format does not support transparency, but can cheat the system a little by using matting
• Choose File->Save for Web & Devices and then click the 2-Up tab
• Choose one of the JPEG preset settings from the Settings drop-down list
• Can choose Low, Medium, High, or customize a level in between the presets by using the Quality slider
• Leave the Optimized check box selected to build the best JPEG at the smallest size
• Leave the Embed Color Profile check box deselected unless a color-managed workflow and color accuracy is essential
• When have to have the file size even smaller, use the Blur slider to bring down some detail
• One JPEG that’s the exact same pixel dimensions as another may vary in file size because the more detailed an image, the more information is needed
• So an image of lots of apples will be larger than an image the same size that has a lot of clear blue sky in it
• The blur feature does blur the image so use this for only a Low Source image in Dreamweaver
• (Optional) Choose a matte color from the Matte drop-down list
• Because JPEG doesn’t support transparency, can flood the transparent area with a color that one chooses from the Matte drop-down list
• Choose the color to use for the background of a Web page by choosing Other and entering the hexadecimal color in the lower portion of the Color Picker
• Click Save

Saving a PNG

• PNG is not yet widely supported
• PNG-24 images have file sizes that can be too large to use on the Web - much larger than a JPEG file
• Can apply varying amounts of transparency in an image where the image shows through to the background
• PNG-8 doesn’t offer any advantage over a regular GIF file

Saving a WBMP

• WBMP (Wireless BitMap) is one-bit color (just black and white, without shades)

Matte

• Matting looks for pixels that are greater than 50-percent transparent and makes them fully transparent; any pixels that are 50 percent or less transparent become fully opaque
• Even though an image might be on a transparent layer, there will be some awkward pixels, the ones that aren’t quite transparent or not quite un-transparent
• Choose a matte color to blend in with the transparent awkward pixels by selecting Eyedropper, White, Black, or Other (to open the Color Picker)

Saving Settings

• Click the arrow to the right of the Preset drop-down list
• Choose Save Settings from the menu that appears and give your settings a name
• The named, customized settings then appear in the Preset drop-down list

Making a Perfect Transparent Watermark

Firstly open a new file in Adobe Photoshop which has transparent background & RGB color. Choose your font type & color. You may want to set a large font size so that it’s easier to reduce in size when required. Then write your watermark, crop it to size & save it in PNG file to maintain its transparency. Then reopen the file & right click the mouse to duplicate layer. Make one of the layers 0% opacity. The other layer should be around 40% to 60% opacity according to your desire. Merge visible the layers & drag it into your other image that you want watermarked. A perfect transparent watermark!

Protecting Children from Online Sexual Predators & Adult Rated Videos

Children nowadays are connected to the internet like syrup cordial with water. People including parents, police officers, politicians, teachers, & etc are concerned about the people children meet online. In some cases, individuals mask themselves as young children to take advantage of the young children after deciding to meet in the real world. The sexual predators are a worrying factor for parents with children who often use the internet as a social tool.

It’s not enough that parent should be concerned with the chatting programs, social networking sites & online chat rooms but also regarding online video websites. Many of the online video sites allow anybody to view videos with the simple click of a button be able to also access some adult rated content. Children tend to mimic the actions of adults so watching the crazy things that adults do is not a good example for children. There are parent control software available but most importantly, parents should talk to their children about the responsibility of not watching the videos with content that are not suitable for them.

Avoiding Internet Pornography

PARENTAL CONTROL SOFTWARE: Commercial softwares termed Parental Control Softwares like Cyber Sentinel, ishield, Net Nanny 5, & Optenet are able to filter images & advertisements of pornographic nature.

Pornography is a multi billion dollar industry. There is a constant production of lewd movies, images & sex tools because there is so much worldwide demand for it. The advancement of internet technology allows pornographic streaming videos to be downloaded quickly from the internet onto computers & hand held devices. Pornography is considered as Adult entertainment & deemed normal by liberal minded people. However, child pornography is illegal & scorned. All actors in a pornography production must be over the legal age of 18 years old. Also, people below 18 years of age are not allowed (albeit minimally enforced) to view pornography both online & in the real world.

Could the ease of exposure to internet pornography contribute to young children becoming sexually active? Recent statistics shows that 9 out of 10 children between the age of 8 and 16 actually visit pornographic sites over the internet. There have also been stories of children engaging in co-ed sex parties & orgies. It suggests that internet pornography is playing a part in building sexual curiosity in children at such an early age. Is it what we want for our children? Small children are human beings too and can also be naturally aroused sexually. However, children are more susceptible to misunderstand the complexities associated with performing sexual activities like pregnancy & sexually transmitted diseases (S.T.D.).

It is in reality not the problem of children actually visiting pornographic websites but instead lies in the issue of them being accidentally directed to such “adult” websites. A recent survey done by the University of Hampshire achieved similar results. “66 percent said that they did not want to view the images & had not sought them out”, said the researcher. A pornographic website may even be only a mouse click away. Banners, links, spam emails & other forms of online marketing are being misused as tools to lure even the most innocent of internet users. There are ways to prohibit pornographic content from being displayed even in the event of an accidental mouse click.

Commercial softwares termed Parental Control Softwares like Cyber Sentinel, ishield, Net Nanny 5, & Optenet are able to filter images & advertisements of pornographic nature. It can help in such a way to prevent our children from being led into pornographic websites.

However, parental control softwares are still unable to fully prevent online pornography from being presented to our children online. More & better measures are required to restrict the use of sophisticated methods of online pornography marketing. Therefore, parents should play an active role in educating their children about the consequences of viewing internet pornography. We should inform our children & show them about what they can & should not do on the internet. Also, inform them to question their actions before clicking on seductive advertisements which may lead them to the illicit pornographic websites.

Think of These Things before Purchasing a Computer System

What do you want to do with the machine? Provided the main purpose for you to buy a computer is to play games on it then you may want to buy the best machine you can afford. Gaming demands high graphic capable machines as the game makers constantly push the envelope in utilizing computer resources, especially in the graphics output department. A powerful video card and plenty of RAMs will definitely make a big difference in your gaming experience.

For the daily net surfers, the high speed internet connection in your area should be your primary concern. You can have any kind of computer, regardless of performance standard and still surf at a snail pace with bad connection from your internet service provider. Apart from that, you won’t need a high end computer system just to browse the web. An entry level setup computer system will suffice. Nonetheless, a computer with a decent level of multimedia capability can help for viewing fancy graphics on the web.

When work is on your mind, then buying a computer with bundled software of your choice should be your priority. Make sure you search for a computer system that comes with the bundled software you require and not just virtually useless bloat ware. There is no sense in paying for software that you won’t even use.

Are you fascinated by the large monitors advertised nowadays? Sure, 32” of prime viewing space real estate is tempting but it might not be the best option for you. The first thing to consider is the price. Extra large monitors cost significantly more as they increase in size by the inch. A 20” monitor can cost almost half the price as that of a 24” monitor. Test the various sizes of monitors at the shop before you buy one as then you may notice the value in paying more than a few hundred dollars extra for just a few inches gain in screen size. You may even realize that the value is not worth the price.

Some internet companies offer low prices for computer systems when you sign up with their internet packages. You got to read the fine print here because you might not get the deal that you expected. Find out how much the internet cost per month from the company will be. Do you have to pay a lump sum for a service contract? Perhaps you find over a couple of months that the internet connection from that ISP (Internet Service Provider) is indecent and you choose to terminate your account. Will the ISP incur a penalty for your early termination of your account? Remember that low prices can be deceiving.

You probably have seen some ads where computer systems are sold in a package together with a scanner and a printer. Before you buy the package ask yourself whether the scanner or printer is the model that you want and check the individual prices for the items at other shops when sold separately. You might find a better deal elsewhere as these packages are not necessarily cheaper then buying the computer system and the other items separately.

What kind of computer suits your lifestyle? Is it a laptop or a desktop computer? Unless you want to be moving about most of the time, you will be better off buying a desktop system which by the way, offer more power to price ratio. Of course, a large desktop computer system won’t make much sense in a small room. In such a case, a laptop computer will offer more comfort to you.

Now here’s the part where many computer buyers, even the experienced ones fall victim. You have found a computer system that is very well endowed with excellent specifications that you desire. A problem can arise in the form of after sales support, warranty and availability of technical support. It is no fun to have an expensive and powerful machine that’s broken sitting uselessly on the desk for days or even weeks as the owner is in limbo without support from the computer vendor. Make sure you receive excellent warranty protection, there is a service station nearby you, and that the technical support is always available by phone when you mostly use your computer.

Lastly, computer components keep getting better and better every six months or so. Soon enough, you find that your computer system is becoming a tad bit outdated in keeping up with the equally progressive and ever demanding computer applications that you use. You might only be able to afford to upgrade one thing in your computer system. That one thing should be computer RAMs. Extra RAM will be most helpful with whatever you will be doing on your computer.

Threat Alert!: PCTimeMachine Snapshots Eats Free Disk Space

PCTimeMachine claims to restore your computer to its functioning state with a few mouse clicks and a few seconds. PCTimeMachine takes snapshots of your computer's current state. PCTimeMachine is a freeware and available for download from www.pctimemachine.com. PCTimeMachine sounds good but wait till you use it. The snapshots will eat up all the available hard disk drive space even when you turn the 'dang' thing off. My hard disk had 14GB of free space in it. PCTimeMachine occupied ALL of it. You can see the free space in Windows Disk Defragmanter but Windows will show your hard disk drive as almost full. Plus, when using PCTimeMachine, I could not defragment the hard disk.

After PCTimeMachine has occupied the remaining free hard disk space with its snapshots (1GB to 988KB within a few hours), leaving about 1MB left - I tried to open a PDF document and my computer hanged. This, and along with the less than desirable continuous 'disk critically out of space' warnings from Windows, I decided to uninstall the PCTimeMachine software without even trying out its restoration function. I figure that with the junk its giving me, the supposedly nifty restoration purpose of PCTimeMachine is deemed useless.

Test Machine Operating System Specifications:
Windows XP SP3 installed from D:\ to C:\

How to Uninstall PCTimeMachine

1. Choose Uninstall from the Windows Program Panel or the Add/Remove Programs
2. Choose the snapshot you would like to have of your computer
3. Restart the computer
4. Uninstall and restoration will take about 20 minutes
5. PCTimeMachine will leave two files on your computer; using precious RAMs unnecessarily
shieldclnt.exe
shdserv.exe
6. To delete the files, you can run the Trend Micro HijackThis program and choose the ticked items like in the side image (click on the image for a larger view) and press the 'fix checked' button
7. Restart the computer
8. PCTimeMachine does not leave anything in start->Run->regedit so nothing to delete there

:-P On an easier note, you can simply re-enter Add/Remove Programs in Windows, select the PCTimeMachine, press Delete, and choose to delete the program (this is the second time doing so) in the dialog box after restarting the computer.

Thereafter you will find that the above 2 executable files are automatically deleted as well. What remains is the PCTimeMachine folder in C:\ and that you will have to enter c:\Program Files to manually delete it.

Transferring Photos & Videos Wirelessly Gets Better with the Eye-Fi Pro X2 Card

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Eye-Fi. All opinions are 100% mine.

There is surely no easier way to upload photos and videos from a digital camera to the computer or to Facebook, Flickr, etc simply by being in the vicinity of the computer! No more taking the memory card out of the digital camera, sticking it into the USB card reader, and clicking a few more buttons to finally get the files copied to the computer. Sounds familiar? Also - no more hooking up the digital camera to the USB cable to do the same. Those days are over! It is so much easier and efficient by using the Eye-Fi wireless SD memory card. What happens when my USB card reader ceases to work? No problem – I can use my Eye-Fi! What happens when the USB cable gets misplaced? No problem because I got my Eye-Fi! By using Eye-Fi, I can place the USB card reader and the digital camera’s USB cable in a safe storage without fear of losing them.


I take a lot of photos and videos outdoors so I can’t bring my wireless router with me. Neither can I expect to be always in a wireless hotspot. Furthermore, an Eye-Fi wireless SD memory card with a bigger storage size will do me better. The Eye-Fi Pro X2 card allows RAW uploads for streamlined workflow, Ad Hoc capabilities, and provides 8GB of storage size! This means with the card’s Ad Hoc capability, I don’t even require a wireless router or be in a hotspot to make file transfers from my SDHC capable digital camera to my computer. The files transfer directly to my computer and gets organized in date-based folders without a wireless access point or hotspot! Better yet, this card has an Endless Memory Mode, where space is automatically freed in the card after a safe transfer.

Deleting the w32USB Worm Virus off Your Computer

Worm virus occurrence date: 9/01/2007 02:02:00 PM

Another worm virus had found its way onto the notebook that I use frequently. It was an irritating virus which did not allow Mozilla Firefox to be used on the computer. When you start the Mozilla browser, you shall get a pop-up that looks like “I DNT HATE MOZILLA BUT USE IE OR ELSE…”, “USE INTERNET EXPLORER U DOPE”, & etc. Then you know your computer is infected.

You can try to scan it with Spyware or anti-virus software but the worm may probably not show up on the search results. Why would people have anything against the Mozilla Firefox browser & be so fanatical about Microsoft Internet Explorer to make the worm virus? As the name suggests, the w32USB Worm Virus had contaminated your computer from USB, Pen, or Thumb disc sources. As you may know by now, the worm virus cannot be deleted by Anti-virus or Spyware programs to date.

Be careful & clean your flash drives especially after you use it on public networks like University computer labs, cyber cafes & etc. Occasionally, I ask myself why the Anti-virus software that I use cannot detect such threats. The solution I found has to be done manually. Don’t worry it is straight forward, simple & just a few steps.

Below are the instructions to remove the irritating w32USB Worm Virus off your computer.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL and go to the processes tab

2. Look for svchost.exe under the image name. There will be many but look for the ones which have your username under the username

3. Press DEL to exterminate the files. It will give you a warning, Press Yes

4. Repeat for more svchost.exe files with your username and repeat. Do not delete svchost.exe with system, local service or network service!

5. Now open My Computer

6. In the address bar, type C:\heap41a and press Enter. It is a hidden folder, and is not visible by default.

7. Delete all the files here

9. Now go to Start --> Run and type Regedit

10. Go to the menu Edit --> Find

11. Type "heap41a" here and press enter. You will get something like this "[winlogon] C:\heap41a\svchost.exe C:\heap(some number)\std.txt"

12. Select that and Press DEL. It will ask "Are you sure you wanna delete this value", click Yes

13. Now close the registry editor.

Now the virus is gone. But be sure to delete the autorun.inf file and any folder whose name ends with .exe in the pen drive.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I did not find any problems regarding hidden files after doing the above instructions. Perhaps it was because I did not set my computer’s hidden files to be displayed in the first place. There are further instructions related to correcting the problem of not being able to see your computer’s hidden files on the referred website.

Reference:

Krishnan. "w32.USB Worm" Krishnan’s Blog 28 July 2007. (http://my.opera.com/krishnan/blog/2007/07/28/w32-usb-worm).

Getting Rid of Spylocked

Malware occurrence date: 7/13/2007 06:53:00 AM

I looked on the internet to find how was I going to get rid of the Spylocked Malware (marketing Trojan) embedded into my notebook. The simple suggestions did not work. In fact, most of the so called 'solutions' did not work. Also, a few suggestions also required you to manually search for dozens of files & delete them one by one.

Sorry, but the above process was too tedious even for me. I tried the simple ways to get rid of the Spylocked Malware which did not work, so I gave up & just let is stay on the notebook. After a few weeks, I realized that the Spylocked Malware had disappeared on its own. Perhaps its own unethical marketing expiry date had ended.

This is a Composite Software Security Problem - Combating Malware 030110 to 060110

It was when I ran the software install application that the PcTools anti-virus on the laptop alerted me to the Malware. Thinking that it was a minor Malware which Spybot Search & Destroy could handle like it had for me for the past couple of years; I did not have PcTools block the Malware as the software was in the midst of being installed; I did not want to disrupt the current installation - silly me. Only after the software installation and laptop restarted did the Windows really go haywire.

Now I can't really pinpoint a single culprit for this Windows XP software disaster. Anyway, I don't think that there is only one cause for the current problem. This is a composite software security problem. There are two strong perpetrators for the case. The first is placing the blame on a corrupted Windows update. You see, I had, a few months ago initiated an SP3 upgrade on another laptop and that too caused the WIndows XP SP2 to go haywire albeit not as bad as this one. So, it is reasonable for me to suspect that a corrupted Windows upgrade is a partial or perhaps a major culprit in the Windows XP software problem.

The second argument is that the extra computer where I do all the downloading, research, etc has Windows XP SP2 installed on it which was never updated - how this computer relates to the Malware on the laptop, I will write about now. I brought the USB flash drive from the now crazy laptop to my diagnostic cum research computer. I wanted to transfer some malware diagnostic tools. To my discontent, some crazy virus, malware, Trojans, etc (the whole gang!) hitched a ride on the USB flash drive, infecting my computer. Now I had two computers going insane.

So What? I Have another Computer - Combating Malware 030110 to 060110

This is the reason why I have an extra computer especially for the purpose of diagnostic, researching online, and solving any problems of another computer. Let me tell you that before all this happened to the laptop, I was on another computer - downloading software torrents. Most of it were decently clean or at least claimed to be cleaned. Usually, I don't bother scanning these downloads. Yeah, my bad! One of the torrent downloads, unlike normal was picked up as harboring a Malware by PcTools anti-virus.

The Malware was dormant when in the RAR file and in the install application. That was why the anti-virus did not detect anything wrong with it. Probably, some top of the line anti-virus might have picked up its scent even when it was dormant but hey, I'm cheap. Therefore, without any suspicion I brought the Malware along with a myriad of other torrent download software over to the newly reformatted, clean copy installed Win XP SP2, freshly updated to SP3 laptop. All is still well now.

The First Few Hours - Combating Malware 030110 to 060110

Last Sunday I was looking into a problem with a laptop that ceased to have its Windows XP SP2 function properly. The Windows XP SP2 installation on the laptop looked a bare self than its usual - missing its vibrant colors and glossy finish. Worse off, it could not start most of the applications including the security ones like Spybot Search & Destroy and PcTools anti virus. Being it unable to connect to the internet and I had no anti malware/spyware/adware tools (I doubt would be able to start on the laptop anyway), I then decided to have the important data on in the c: drive saved into the d: drive then reformat the c: hard disk partition and install a new clean copy of Windows XP SP2.

All went on as normal with the reformatting and installing a clean copy of Windows XP SP2, you know, like there is no better way to burn a few hours of your life playing with Micro-junk. Anyway, I then decided to do an online update for the new Windows installation. The first update went well and there were no problems, well, at least not any obvious ones. However, the second online update which was for upgrading the Windows SP2 to Windows SP3 did not result in a way I expected it too. The Windows XP just went crazy after the installation! Update.exe cmd windows started popping up like mad after a restart and the CPU is pushed to its limit with svchost.exe files racking up computer resources.

Food You Share Can Make Your Vacation Even More Special

Going on a vacation to an exotic location feels good. You know that is more than just seeing the beautiful locations. The food you share with your partner can make your vacation even more special. Where can you get the best experience of a vacation combined with the best gourmet dining experience? Here’s what you can look forward to in a Cancun All Inclusive vacation.

You can easily recall the place where you had the best gourmet grilled lamb cutlets for example. You recall how elegant the dish was presented to you that day - so nicely done that it brought you and your partner’s attention focused on the two tantalizing dishes served in front of the both of you.

You remember every juicy bite; how the tender pieces of lamb tasted in your mouth, you remember telling your partner how good it was and feeding her some of it, and you also remember the pleasure of washing it all down with a few gulps of your ice cold beverage. From there, you are transported back, into the company of your loved one to the very restaurant overlooking the beach, the cooling night wind brushing against your cheek, the smiling people around you, etc.

5 Things to Help Plan your Event Logistics

There are many logistics related things that you need to look out for when you are planning an event that will be a great success. You will want to take into consideration all the things that can go wrong so that you are prepared for the things that can make your event turn bad. You want to be prepared and able to take on any challenges that come your way. The below five things will help you.

1. The first thing that you need to do is make sure that you are able to keep your event on track. There are so many things that can go wrong when you are planning something. You do not want to get discouraged when it comes to planning something wonderful. You want to keep the event going the right way so that you do not give up and get frustrated. You need to keep patience and keep motivated so that you are getting exactly what you want and need for your event.

2. Make the event THE day. You have to make sure that you are not planning your event for a day that is already taken by another event. You want to keep the dates open so that you are not interfering with other big parties because you want everyone to show up to yours. You will want to check the dates that are best first so that you can start planning the big party. Once you have the right date, you can then start to book everything else so that you are able to make sure everyone can come.

3. Keep organized. Being on the right track is the best way to stay focused on what you need to get done? You will want to make sure that you are able to keep things running well and on track. The best way to do this is to stay focused. You will want to have accurate records of everything that you are doing so that you not wandering later. You will want to make sure that you get receipts for all your purchases. You will want this to ensure that you get the purchased items.

4. Keep aware of unexpected things that could happen. You will want to be on the lookout for any thing that can come up. You will be better off when you are prepared for the bad things and able to keep up on them. You will find that when you have things handled before they happen, you will be better prepared and able to handle anything that can come your way. This is the one reason why you need to make sure that you are going to have a back up plan.

5. Trying to make the best event ever is not going to happen on its own. You will want to be motivated and able to stay on track. Keeping on the right path is the best way to make sure that you are able to have the perfect event planned. You will feel better and get things done easier. You need to be ready to work and keep things moving. Staying committed to your cause is going to help you with your event planning and making things happen.

These are all great ways to make the event be a success. You will feel better and have a better experience when you are going to be prepared and organized. These are the top five things that make an event work and you will find it fun and exciting when you have the right tools. Happy Event Planning!