April 3, 2005

It is with great sorrow we announce that Mike Chukov, the founder of this site, and it's prolific source of ideas, humor, and insight, died in a motorcycle accident on November 18, 2004. Mike was, simply, one of those brilliant, funny guys the world needs more of. He was on his way to work at MikesHardware when the accident occurred. Mike is sorely missed by his wife, Arlynn, extended family and many friends. His absence is also deeply felt by those who depended on his professional services.

The future of this site is uncertain, although a number of possibilities are under consideration. Meanwhile, you can still use mike@mikeshardware if you have any thoughts
or questions.

Thank you for your support and prayers.

News, How to's, Reviews, Bug Reports, etc...

Review: Dell Inspiron 1000 laptop
11.25.04 - Dell's least expensive laptop. I got one for my 1 year long term review.

How To: Stop Spyware, Popups and the Nasties!
08.21.04 - The most common call I get is someone who has been hijacked by some Spyware, Popup or other infection. Here's a checklist I use to clean our clients systems...

Found: Furl It!
08.19.04 - Have you ever wanted to share your favorites or interesting articles and such with friends and fam? Well here's the answer. Furl It! Here's my growing list of favorites on Furl.net

Update: Windows XP Service Pack 2 is out!
08.11.04 - If you're like me and didnt wanna download and use the beta pack (for good reason, there were bugs, that's why its called Beta...) Microsoft put it up on the download site for you. Here it is!

Report: Is the door to your Wireless Network cracked open?
08.02.04 - You've most likely heard the stories about some hacker cracking open someone's wireless network and dismissing it because the writer said it would take a supercomputer.. well... they're heeeerrree!!!

Review: Radio Your Way
05.15.04 - I've been waiting for something like this for years. Record any radio broadcast (AM or FM, US or Europe) to an mp3 file for later listening enjoyment...

Utility: McAfee Avert Stinger
05.10.04 - Stinger is a stand-alone utility used to detect and remove specific viruses. It is not a substitute for full anti-virus protection, but rather a tool to assist administrators and users when dealing with an infected system. Stinger utilizes next generation scan engine technology, including process scanning, digitally signed DAT files, and scan performance optimization...

Humor: IPODs Dirty Secret...
12.31.03 - A hilarious Quicktime movie from a disgruntled ipod user. A must have download. Very talented and funny!

News: Microsoft stops support on some versions of its products
12.19.03 - We all knew this was coming. Here's a list of software from MS that is getting the axe.

Report: PowerQuest / Symantec get greedy and cut users off cold!
12.17.03 - Have you upgraded(downgraded) to a current PowerQuest or Symantec product lately? Their new activation scheme sucks. Better read the user agreement kids...

Review: Motorola MPx200 SmartPhone
11.03.03 - Mikey gets a new toy! It's a miniature Pocket PC phone and packed with goodies. Just what the doctor ordered for me!

News: Apple Ships Low-Cost G4 iBooks
10.22.03 - Apple does it again... Apple has the stamina and the momentum to keep pulling more rabbits from the infinite loop...

Alert: IEPlugin | MH Alerts
10.21.03 - This adware displays an advertisement when it sees a targeted keyword. It will also install a running process to update itself by contacting servers every few minutes. It may also add quite a few bookmarks to your Favorites menu.
I found this on one of my clients machines today. You should do a search on your system for this bugger and remove it!

Review: iTunes Music Store
10.19.03 - Apple hits another home run with this new music download service.

FYI: SBC/Yahoo DSL for $26.95, well, maybe...
10.17.03 - The devil is always in the details, you should know that...here's a link to the pricing page for the

Alert: Fake Microsoft Email Update with Virus Payload Attached!
10.04.03 - Microsoft doesn't send updates via email. Look out for this sucker!

Review: Apple iPod v2 reviewed - My Personal Favorite
06.17.03 - I now have a purpose for my moth balled Apple G4 tower!

FYI: Broadband Access - Whos The Best?
05.27.03 - DSL Reports has the list you wanna see before you call that number on that special offer mailer.

FYI: HP Inkjet Cartridge Usage Revealed
03.22.03 - Have you ever wondered how much ink you used after that HP cartridge expired?

Review: InterVideo vs. PowerDVD
01.13.03 - The day the plug in didn't work... I thought I would try out a referral from the Microsoft site for this $20 plug in for Media Player.. Not only did it NOT WORK the tech support (or lack of) was so bad I'm thinking of posting a very negative review on HUTBA.

How to: Copy your DVD Movie or Music CD
01.12.03 - Backup your DVD movies and Music CDs and put that original on the shelf.

Review: Spam Tool by MailFrontier - Matador - My Personal Favorite
01.12.03 - Spam is here to stay... at least for a while anyway. The guys over at MailFrontier have a new tool that works with Microsoft Outlook 2000 and others that helps you keep your mailbox clean.

Report: Windows XP Activation Nightmare!
10.08.02 - Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...

Report: Apple Screen/Keyboard Problem on PowerBook G4 Titanium's
08.26.02 - Another blow to the nose in the air Apple designers.

Review: Asus A7N266-VM Motherboard - My Personal Favorite
08.12.02 - A great little Micro-ATX board sporting a nVidia on-board video chip, Lan, and more...

Report: OL-248-A Quicken Error
07.06.02 - Seems like everyone who calls (XP Users) or writes has this error. Here's how to fix it...

Report: Dymo Label Printer Cut Me Off...
07.01.02 - Cuts off the label when I print and messes with my AM stereo station...

Report: Zone Alarm bug found with iPAQ and ActiveSync
06.12.02 - To sync or not to sync...

Review: Nextel Service and My i85s Nextel Phone
06.01.02 - Read about my experience with my overall happiness with Nextel...

Report: Quickbooks Backup Bug
06.01.02 - It's not Quickbooks, or maybe it is...

More Reports Reviews ...

MS Office 2003 is out
I just got a link to M$ about the new office.

MailBlocks
ANTI-SPAM SERVICE
Patent strong Spam service blocks spammers dead in their tracks.

ChoiceMail
SOFTWARE
My new discovery of SPAM filtering software. Similar to Matador but with a few more options.

Matador!
SOFTWARE
Eval'ing a new email spam tool from the guys at MailFrontier. Check out my review...

TotalRecorder
SOFTWARE
Record any audio stream; be it from the internet, CDs, anything you hear on your computer speakers, you can record. Yep... a license to bootleg boys and girls.

Windows XP Review
SOFTWARE
My long term review of Windows XP...

Shoutcast
WEBSITE
Man alive... this is one cool cool website. Check out the Groove Salad station and make sure you have a nice glass of wine and your Winamp is loaded cuz you're gonna like this...

Is your Hard drive wide open?
MikesHardware.com article
July 31st, 2001