Hp/Compaq is extending the warranty on many laptop systems that are having wireless and other issues. Apparently, HP is aware of an issue that causes the wireless devices to fail in some of their laptops. I have experienced this first hand with a Compaq Presario v6000. The wireless card was not connecting at all and always showed an amber light for the wireless card. I tried replacing the wireless card to no effect. After contacting HP, they explained that this is a known issue that is related to motherboard failure. It seems to be related to an overheating issue that damages the mainboard. Symptons include the amber light issue and Windows device manager not detecting the wireless card. Replacing the motherboard is the only fix.

If you are experiencing any of these issues, contact HP immediately. They should extend the warranty and fix the issue, free of charge.

Conficker, the new worm seizing the world, is already causing major havoc.

TheRegister.co.uk reports:

Exclusive Staff at hospitals across Sheffield are battling a major computer worm outbreak after managers turned off Windows security updates for all 8,000 PCs on the vital network, The Register has learned.

It's been confirmed that more than 800 computers have been infected with self-replicating Conficker code. Insiders at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust said they suspect many more machines are affected but have not been reported to IT.

The Trust told The Register it now has the outbreak under control and is engaged in "clearing up" remnants. Non-urgent appointments in the medical imaging department had to be canceled while its computers were disinfected. A Trust spokeswoman said no other direct impact on patient care was known.

The decision to disable automatic security updates was taken during Christmas week after PCs in an operating theatre rebooted mid-surgery. Conficker was detected on December 29.

David Whitham, the Trust's informatics director, said in a statement: "We do not know how the virus entered the network but at around the same time as the virus became evident the automatic update process had been temporarily disabled following problems with a number of PCs in theatres.

"This decision was taken by the IT Change Advisory Board to prevent further disruption in theatres which could have affected patient care." No individual was responsible for the move, the Trust added.

People close to the incident criticised the management decision to disable updates across the entire network rather than only where the reboots caused a problem. "Don't you just hate it when your boss is so computer illiterate yet has the power to veto the simplest of ideas to catastrophic end," said one, who asked to remain anonymous.

For the rest of the article go HERE

Think you might be infected? Call Southbridge (208) 308-6225 today to clean up this nasty worm and other harmful infestations! $85 Flat rate for cleanup. (also includes temp and junk file removal, startup item cleanup, and other performance tweaks)