How I Removed Antivirus XP 2008 for Free

The latest virus that is sweeping the internet is the Antivirus XP virus which masks it's self as a Virus Protection Suite which resembles Microsoft XP.  Within minutes Antivirus XP 2008 will attach its self to your desktop and install as a program.  Here is what I did to remove it:

1.  First I started Microsoft XP in Safe Mode (Hold F8 and select Safe Mode)
2.  Once your desktop loads in Safe Mode (you will know you are in safe mode because of the black background with Safe Mode stamped all around it).  

• Go to your Program files within your hard drive and delete the Antivirus XP folder which may disguise its self under a series of numbers and letters.  In my case the folder was called jp4236...  
• The folder should stick out like a sore thumb because no other program will name its folder so oddly.   
• Make sure to inspect the contents inside the folder and that the Antivirus XP is contained there.  You should notice an icon that resembles the icon that Antivirus XP places on your desktop.  In my case the icon resembled some bricks and labeled "antivir08".  Delete the entire folder.

3.  Now make sure to update your antivirus.  In my case I updated AVG Free 8 and ran a full scan.

4.  Then you need to remove the Malware that the virus is using to hijack Google and Yahoo searches within your browser.  Go and download malware bytes.  I recommend going to download.com because the virus will hijack your attempts of visiting the site through Google or even sometimes directly.  Make sure to verify that the program that you are downloading is legit.  This is very important as you don't want to download or re-download another virus.

5.  Then you may want to download Spybot Search and Destroy to be extra safe that you are removing every trace of the virus.  Again use download.com to verify that you are downloading a legit copy of Spybot.  After downloading Spybot run a full scan.  Never run multiple programs and scans at the same time.  Usually after each scan you will need to re-start your computer.  You will not have to continually re-start in safe mode after deleting the files from your program directory.

6.  These above steps should remove all traces of the virus.  You should now have full control over customizing your desktop back to its original state including removing the Antivirus XP icons and image that is on your desktop.

Allot vs. A Lot

When writing and editing your blog grammatical mistakes will sometimes arise. Although in marketing rules are meant to be broken – rules in grammar must be obeyed. The trick is to catch these mistakes before someone else does. The use of “allot” vs “a lot”is a common mistake often found in blogs, web articles and forum entries.

1. Allot is a verb that means to distribute, to assign a portion, or to divide.

Example: He allotted himself 20 minutes to complete his blog entry.
Example 2: They allotted 30 GB of server space to each account during the site upgrade.

2. A lot (two words) is an informal phrase meaning a large portion or large quantity of something. According to style guides and English rule books it is proper to use “a lot” when describing non-countable quantities such as sand, water, ice, or time. The word “many” should be used when describing countable items such as hours, people, or items.

Example: A lot of time has passed since I first started this blog entry.
Example 2: I don’t have a lot of time to finish this blog entry.

3. Alot is not even a word in the English language and therefore should not to be used.

Backlink Counter: The Quickest Way to Count Links Pointing to Your Site

Do you want to know how many backlinks are pointing  to your site?  

With Yahoo's site explorer you can simply type in your url name and have it automatically fetch the links coming into your site.  It is quick and easy and if you are not up for creating a Google Analytics account it can be a real time saver.

Get Your Site Banned Faster Than Ever!

Here are some methods to get your site banned by Google:

• Keyword stuff your site by repeating keywords in the meta tags or in the text and of your website.
  
• Link exchange with a banned site or several banned sites
  
• Have you and several people report your site as Spam to Google
  
• Have a high keyword density for a particular keyword string
  
• Have several sites on the same IP address owned by the same entity with a high volume of link exchange. By putting all of your websites on the same IP address instead of spreading them around to several IP address - this will send a red flag to Google and get your site banned.

Small Business Branding Techniques: The Business Card

This business card was printed on 16 pt UV Coated Gloss first side, Matt second side (so the associate can write a quote out easily). The card is thick, heavy and the slick glossy texture on the front side feels and looks like a fresh coat of real paint. Notice the logo of a silhouette of a painter painting the card. Clever design really, rarely do you see smaller businesses exercising inventive branding techniques of this level.

All Purpose Painting of Mesa, Arizona does exceptional indoor and outdoor paint work in and around the Phoenix metropolitan area. Whether it is accenting a fence, garage or re-decorating a room with stylish new colors - All Purpose Painting delivers with Service, Reliability and Professionalism.

Small Business Branding Techniques: The Design of Your Website

The design of a website is essential to projecting the capabilities and integrity of your small business. Check out these two sites for inspiration: 

Imagine Wellness Chiropractic Center is a new facility offering spinal correction for individuals seeking health, wellness and healing.  Dr. Roxane Zamora treats sees her patients from her North Phoenix offices addressing everything from migraines to neck and shoulder pain to sports injuries using state-of-the-art chiropractic techniques.

Metro Maintenance offers plumbing and electrician work throughout the entire Phoenix, Arizona metropolitan area.  Owner / Operator Derman Brown has over 20 years experience with electrical and plumbing systems and works by the motto "prompt and effecient" service.  He offers a 24 hour emergency service. 

Death of the Music Industry

Today marks the 5th Anniversary of the death of the record label dominated music industry. Well not officially, but it seems like several years has passed since any major record label amounted to having any effect or presence in the industry it once ruled. The burden of promoting and marketing has been passed on to the artists. Distribution has lead way to all kinds of start-ups which are now gladly taking the reigns left by the labels and record stores.

Apple I-tunes is profiting like a medium sized country as they receive the compounding effect of artists joining their distribution chain and network. All this may seem obvious now, but let’s put this whole thing in context. What happened? What caused this?

The obvious catalyst was technology and the era of the mp3. Remember when bands like Metallica lobbied U.S. lawmakers and made public outcries to punish people that converted their songs to mp3s? You can’t fight a technological revolution. You can’t win against a format so portable so powerful so flexible it makes all other formats obsolete. There is no doubt the quality of vinyl records and CDs were better – but the portability factor was the same reason that tape killed its large shaped disc predecessor.

I like music now and I think it is better off today because of these changes. Not too long ago record companies would charge artists hundreds of thousands of dollars to record a record in minimal time. Now artists can spend as much time as they want recording on home studios which pump out broadcast quality music. Music is better for this. There is also more music to listen to. Yes lots of it is terrible I admit – scan myspace and the sh*t stacks high quickly, but there are some gems to be found and I find them everyday. It’s never been so good for music.  Death no, music has reincarnated.