N Ideologics

Remember the game K240? Fragile Allegiance is K240, in the modern era of computing. Except, that modern has now become the past again, as does tend to happen in the world of computers.

Manage asteroids, dig ores, sell the ores for money, construct ships and missiles, destroy your neighbours. It’s all part of the game that is, Fragile Allegiance.

There is just something about this game that always keeps me interested. I go back every year and become addicted all over again. In fact, I love it so much, that I’ve been working on a Facebook game that takes some of its elements of game play directly from this.

Author: Gremlin Interactive
Year: 1996
Download: fragile.iso

Sometimes when you catch a virus, System Restore can present a quick fix.

To use System restore:

1. Go to the Start Menu. In Vista, type System Restore and the program should appear. Otherwise, go to Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore.
2. When it has loaded, choose ‘Choose a different restore point’.
3. Select a date where the infection wasn’t present.
4. Click Next, then Finish.

Hopefully, this will remove the infection. Use an anti-virus/spyware application to clean any remaining files.

It’s that time of the year again – the plethora of fake Antivirus applications is growing. Recently I’ve noticed many of my customers getting caught with this one.

Antivirus 2010 is usually caught from less-than-trustworthy websites. It disguises itself as a virus & spyware scanner. After it ’scans’ your computer it reports many dangerous viruses that need to be removed. This year, the designers have gone a step further and introduced a fake blue screen of death, and security center alerts.

To remove Antivirus 2010, simply follow these instructions:

1. First, you can try System Restore to restore yourself to a day when the virus wasn’t present. In many cases, this works. Otherwise continue to the next step.
2. Download and install Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware from here.
3. Once installed, Anti-Malware should start. If it doesn’t, load it manually.
4. Make sure you’re on the ‘Scanner’ tab. Select ‘Perform full scan’ and then click Scan.
5. Sit back and have a cuppa!
6. When it has finished, click the ‘Show Results’ button.
7. Make sure everything in the list is selected, and click ‘Remove Selected’.

At this point, Antivirus 2010 should be gone. If it isn’t, leave a comment and I’ll try to assist further.

Did you find this helpful? Consider donating to the author.

The original game of Civilization will keep you captivated while brewing new technologies, building cities and waging wars with your neighbours.

Author: Sid Meier
Year: 1991
Download: civilization-1.zip

If you like this, you might also like Freeciv.

Back in the days of the Commodore Amiga, I used to enjoy a game called UFO Enemy Unknown.

Alien races swarm to Earth and abduct people, build bases, and terrorise cities. It is your job to defend the Earth by scouting for alien ships, researching alien technology and eventually going to the source of the alien invasion and battling the Mother Brain.

It will provide endless hours of fun, and will have you flailing your arms as your men give in to alien mind control games.

You’ll most likely need DOSBOX to run this game, unless you have an old 486DX laying about.

Author: Mythos Games
Year: 1996
Download: ufo-enemy-unknown.zip

Great resources for this game:

• UFOpaedia.org

It’s probably no surprise that I spend my life repairing computers, amongst other computer related things. A common problem with laptops is broken DC power jacks. Another common problem is broken AC adapters.

If your AC adapter has broken and you’re looking for a replacement, you may have been tempted by the cheap AC adapters available on eBay. I ordered a couple and they were delivered from Hong Kong. This didn’t raise any alarm bells to me because the seller had very good feedback (99%+) and, of course, I was blinded by the blazingly low price that included delivery.

A few weeks after I ordered and paid for them, they arrived. Not longer than an hour of the adapter being plugged into a Toshiba laptop, it started smoking from the AC socket! This adapter would have found its way to a customer’s house had I not accidentally discovered this problem. Can anyone say LAWSUIT?

I’ve made a PayPal claim, but it’s really hit and miss with PayPal as I’m sure many of you know. (just check out PayPalSucks.com)

If you’re going to purchase an adapter, purchase a name brand adapter from a reputable seller (not to say that people in Hong Kong aren’t reputable, but at that price some bells should be ringing in your head that didn’t in mine!).

On another note, the BlueTooth adapter that arrived with the power adapters was of the utmost quality.

Windows Live / MSN Messenger is an application that allows you to chat to friends online by simply trading email addresses. To install it, follow the following instructions:

1. Go to http://download.live.com/messenger
2. Click the Download button to the right.
3. Follow the on-screen instructions. Make sure to choose Messenger for installation.

It’s a myth that you have to lose your data when you reinstall your computer. Computer shops do it because it’s easier for them, but you can save yourself the money and do it yourself.

What you’re going to need:

• Windows XP installation disc that came with your system (XP Home or Professional?)
• XP COA License on the side of your PC or bottom of your laptop, 25 characters long in sets of 5

Here’s the steps:

1. Insert your XP into the CD drive and turn on the computer. When you see ‘Press any key to start from CD…’, press a key on the keyboard.
2. If you don’t see the message, you need to check the boot order to make sure that your machine is trying to boot from the CD.
3. The XP setup should begin, it takes a couple minutes to get through the initial stage, so grab a cup of tea while you wait.
4. At the installation prompt, we need to enter the recovery console. Hit R.
5. Press C to enter the console.
6. Select the installation by pressing 1 and hitting enter.
7. If it asks you for a password, enter it. Usually the password is blank, so try hitting enter if all else fails.
8. Now we’re going to run maintenance on the disk, sometimes this actually fixes the machine and allows it to boot. At the prompt, type chkdsk c: /p and hit enter. The machine will scan the disk and repair any problems it finds. Once it has completed, type EXIT to restart.
9. If you like, you can wait and see if the computer will start now to save yourself the time it takes to reinstall. Otherwise, onwards we go.
10. Hit a key to start from CD again like in step 1, and wait until the installation prompt comes up.
11. This time we’re going to actually install, so press ENTER.
12. Hit the F8 key to confirm you agree to the terms.
13. Setup is now scanning for previous installations, if it finds any it will ask you if you want to repair it. Say no by hitting the ESCAPE key.
14. Choose the partition you want to install to (typically the C: partition).
15. When asked if you want to format the drive, select ‘Leave partition intact, no changes’.
16. Next follow the on screen instructions to complete the setup process. Note that you will probably be asked for the COA key that is 25 characters long, so be sure to have it ready!

That’s it for now.

Upgrading your computer’s memory is a cost effective way of improving performance. If you search eBay, you’ll see sticks of memory for sale at unbelievable prices – but the money you save comes at a cost that these sellers fail to advertise.

These memory sticks are more often than not cheaper high-density memory. Sometimes this type of memory won’t even work with your machine, and when it does it can actually be slower than what you already have! The density refers to how the memory is stored inside the chips, if you look at a stick you can tell if it is high density if it has ‘128Mx4′ written on the chips. Low density will appear as ‘64Mx8′.

When buying more memory for your computer, make sure you buy low-density memory. If in doubt, use Crucial’s memory advisor tool to find the ideal chips for your machine.

While it sounds simple, unplugging devices can increase your computer’s speed and decrease its memory usage.

Things you could unplug:

• Printers
• External CD/DVD drives
• External hard drives
• USB keys
• Internal dial up modems and other PCI cards that you no longer use