Anti-Spy Safeguard:

Last night I was delivered a laptop with AntiSpy Safeguard running on it.  As convincing as it looks while its running, this infections should be named Spyware Anti-Safeguard.  What I noticed right off the bat is that at start-up in both Normal and Safe Mode the the user is prevented from doing anything while this tool pretends to be scanning your machine.

What it is actually doing is displaying false scan results as a tactic to scare you into thinking that your computer is infected with viruses. This fake program is advertised through websites and popups that pretend to be online malware applications that find infections on your computer.

Microsoft System Configuration Overview:

The Microsoft utility MSCONFIG is a tool available in most currentWindows versions (XP, Vista and Windows 7) which is very helpful to maintain, troubleshoot and most importantly limit Windows startup programs. MSCONFIG provides a handful maintenance tasks, but the most common one is the ability to control programs that automatically start up when you boot your PC

How is the Microsoft system configuration utility useful?

As a Windows user you will install many programs over time. Some of these applications set themselves to automatically start up each time you boot your computer. Some of them are obvious but many of them will be hidden as background processes. Although many programs are necessary to be running at startup, many of them are not and just waste your computer's resources.  Loading unnecessary programs at the startup can lead to various problems such as:

• Taking unnecessary space of the computer memory.
• Slow down startup process
• Slow down the computer speed.
• Startup problems due to corrupted files.
• System crash.

Using the MSCONFIG utility for computer maintenance and troubleshooting

1. Click Start button and select "Run"
2. Then type MSCONFIG.

It should open a screen similar to below depending on your Windows version. I am using screens from Windows XP.