Posted 11/04/09 at 02:45:45 PM by The Maximum PC Staff

PC MightyMax 2009 was included with the purchase of my new HP a6827c with Windows Vista. After trying out MightyMax I decided I didn’t want it due to its obscene costs. I obtained the instructions for removal—go to the Start menu, go to the PC MightyMax folder, and hit the uninstall button, but the software does not fully uninstall. Help! —Shannon Swank

Doctor, I managed to get two computers infected with AntiVirus2009, simply by following a link to a video review online. Both machines run Windows XP Professional SP3. One is a Dell Vostro laptop, the other is a desktop I built about three years ago.

I’ve run Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware, which removed a bunch of copies, Rogue Remover, SuperAntiSpyware, ThreatFire, and ZoneAlarm Internet Security, but every so often a new browser window will suddenly open and try to access AntiVirus2009.com. I’ve looked at every website on the Internet (well almost) and nothing I’ve tried will get rid of it on either computer. The only way I’ve been able to keep using the computers is to manually block antivirus200*.* in ZoneAlarm. Every time I check the log, there’s entry after entry where it tried to send an ICMP ping to that website or tried to open Firefox to access it. I’m at the end of my rope. I don’t know what else to do and I’m sure that there are other people out there having much the same problem as I am. Is my only hope to re-install Windows? —Steve Rugg

Read our advice for both Shannon and Steve after the jump.

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Posted 11/03/09 at 07:00:00 PM by The Maximum PC Staff

At first I thought it was a fluke, but when I first installed Win7 Beta on a new HDD on my laptop, one of my USB ports stopped working and performance of the others took a nosedive, with some USB devices not getting enough power. I tried a reinstall with Win7 RC and now three of my four USB ports are having the same issues. It may not even be an issue with Windows 7 but there seems to be a correlation that the problem started and got worse with each installation.

I have Windows 7 running on two other PCs with no issues and all I can find on the Internet are people with the same problems but no solutions. I’m sure you can imagine how much it sucks having to use a four-port USB hub just so I can connect more than one USB flash drive.

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Posted 11/02/09 at 08:15:53 PM by The Maximum PC Staff

I have a home-built PC that uses a Gigabyte GA-EG45M-UD2H motherboard. When I load it with 8GB (four 2GB sticks) of RAM, I find that I cannot install either Windows XP or Vista 64-bit. The installation process fails partway through the “expanding files” section, with a “corrupt files” error. I tried new install media to no avail. Eventually, on a hunch, I removed all of the memory except the module in slot 1, leaving 2GB on the system, and the install completed normally.

I tested all of my modules in slot 1 and all passed. I then tested a module in each slot and all four passed. So what could be the issue with this motherboard? The memory (Kingston DDR2-800) is listed in the compatible memory list and the motherboard supports up to 16GB. I could find no information about this issue on Gigabyte’s website.

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Posted 11/01/09 at 12:45:54 PM by The Maximum PC Staff

I was recently reviewing different graphics programs for showing video files when I noticed that Explorer now refuses to display a miniature version of video graphics files when I go to the thumbnail view. It still shows miniatures of picture files (.jpeg and .bmp) but not video files. What would cause this? Is it possible to fix it without reinstalling the OS (XP Pro)? The video files show the miniature version when exported to another computer, so there must be something different with my OS. I’ve tried everything I could think of but no luck.

See our advice for Stephen after the jump.

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Posted 10/30/09 at 07:30:11 PM by The Maximum PC Staff

I have a month-old computer with a 64GB Falcon SSD for my OS and my most frequently played games. After I first installed the OS and all my games I had roughly 13GB of free space. Everything I’ve downloaded and installed since then has gone on my secondary drive; I have not added anything new to the primary drive. Despite this, I now have just 137MB free on my primary drive and am getting warnings of low disk space. Where is my available space going? I did a disk clean-up and that hardly freed any space. I’m running 64-bit Vista SP1. Any help would
be appreciated.

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Posted 10/26/09 at 11:30:00 AM by The Maximum PC Staff

I decided to do some cleaning of unwanted files on my PC, which has had occasional stretches of non-use. I now get an “access denied” message on my D: drive. I have all the latest drivers and updates for Vista Ultimate 64-bit. I poked around the Properties menu and am getting confused about how to regain access permissions. The creator is not listed. I don’t even remember what’s on the drive; it could possibly belong to my old user/admin account before a restore or reinstall. I cannot get ownership of the drive to open it. Any suggestions?

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Posted 10/25/09 at 01:00:53 PM by The Maximum PC Staff

If I wear latex gloves to handle PC components like videocards, processors, memory, and hard drives, do I still have to worry about static electricity?

Read our answer to Reggie's question after the jump.

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Posted 10/22/09 at 09:30:00 PM by The Maximum PC Staff

I have a roughly year-old refurbished computer, and for the past few months the fan has been rather loud, and more recently the computer has been shutting down on its own, especially when I’m playing games, or even when I’m just on AIM or surfing the Internet.

I believe the computer might be overheating from dust caught in the fans, but I’m not entirely sure. If that is the case, how do you recommend I clean the computer? I’m quite comfortable working on the computer, but unfortunately I have very little experience working on the insides of my machine, so I have some fears about actually opening up my PC and accidentally breaking something or damaging it. Any advice, Doc?

Read our advice for Michael after the jump.

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