Last year Microsoft released the free Microsoft Security Essentials package. This is a free antivirus package for Windows XP SP2 and SP3 (32-bit), Windows Vista (32 and 64 bit), and Windows 7 (32 and 64 bit). This may be well worth a look for users who are considering a free antivirus software package. Microsoft Security Essentials is available for free download at www.microsoft.com/security_essentials .

When I click a website link within an email Internet Explorer opens and a message appears saying “Buffer overrun detected. C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.RXE” and then Internet Explorer closes down. In an attempt to fix this problem I updated Internet Explorer but now I am unable to access Internet Explorer at all as the same message appears all the time. How can I fix this problem? The computer is running Windows XP. (more…)

When I click on a website link in a Microsoft Outlook email, rather than going to the web page the following error message appears: “This operation has been cancelled due to restrictions in effect on this computer. Please contact your system administrator”. This has only happened recently. The computer is running Windows Vista Home Premium. (more…)

Some people may have noticed that the Windows 7 taskbar is quite high, compared with the taskbar in Windows XP and Windows Vista. If you are running a computer with a small screen then you may wish to make the taskbar smaller to maximise the amount of screen real-estate you have available. In this situation you can easily make the size of the taskbar icons smaller. Right-click on an empty space in the taskbar and select “Properties”. In the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties window, select the “Taskbar” tab. Under the “Taskbar appearance” heading, tick “Use small icons” and then click OK. You will notice that the taskbar and icons within the taskbar, become much smaller.

At home I have an insecure wireless network. A few weeks ago McAfee security asked whether I trust my network. Since I didn’t think that I have a network, I conducted some investigation and found Windows Vista was showing that several extra computers are appearing on the network. There is a hub using the IP address ending in .1 and three others ending in .2, .3, and (.2 is my own computer). I am unable to delete these computers. I will work on fixing the security issue once these computers are gone, but I cannot do any financial transactions until these are gone. In the meantime I do not trust my network and find that I get a message every few days about my computer not being secure. Can you help? (more…)