Who viewed my FB profile? (K2 #14)

Question
I got an invitation to a Facebook page promising to show me the list of users who viewed my profile. I am dying to know! Should I accept?
-- Sonam, Wangdue

Answer
There is absolutely no way to know who viewed your profile. Facebook does not provide this functionality, so do not be tempted! Any Facebook Application or web page that claims to show who viewed your Facebook profile is a scam, plain and simple. Yes, many of us are curious to know who's "stalking" us - but resist the temptation and you will prevent your computer from getting infected by a virus.

Question
 I am getting a "Windows Genuine Advantage" warning. How to remove it from my PC?
-- S. J., Haa

Answer
In an effort to combat pirated versions of the Windows operating system, Microsoft has introduced a system that detects illegal Windows installations. This system is called "Windows Genuine Advantage", or WGA. If the system decided that your Windows copy is pirated, a pop-up window will often creep on the bottom right of the desktop with a message such as "This copy of Windows did not pass genuine Windows validation". In addition, it may cause your desktop wallpaper to turn black, which is annoying. Even worse, it will disable the Windows Update feature which is used to patch up your system for security vulnerabilities. So how should one go about this issue? Apart from the obvious solution of using a legal copy of Windows, the web is packed with information on removing WGA. Unsurprisingly, you are not alone! One place to start is tinyurl.com/K2RemoveWGA. And searching for "how to remove wga" on Google will fetch plenty of other links, including some YouTube tutorials. Be extra careful if you decide to take that route, especially when asked to download "WGA removers": these removers might actually be viruses in disguise; also, be careful when asked to edit the Windows registry. If you don't feel comfortable with these tweaks, it might be better to ask a PC technician.

Question
I have formatted my PC but now have two operating systems - both of them are Microsoft Windows XP Professional. How do I delete one of these?
-- Naku, DGPC, Tshimalakha

Answer
Just follow the steps in support.microsoft.com/?kbid=888023

Readers are encouraged to submit technology-related questions to boaz@thimphutech.com

Finalizing a CD

I recently discovered that the CD burning software that comes with Windows 7 does not allow you to "finalize" a CD after you burn files to it. Finalizing a CD means that you can no longer write to it. This is unfortunately true also for the burning software that comes with Windows XP and Vista. Their option "Close Session" does not finalize a CD.

Why do I need to finalize a CD? To avoid spreading malware (viruses, trojans, etc.). We use CDs for installing software on different machines, some of them might be infected by malware. A finalized (that is, un-writable) CD is safer than a USB pen-drive for this purpose, because even if inserted into virus-infected computers, the viruses will not transfer to the CD (whereas, they can transfer to a USB pen-drive or to an un-finalized CD!)

Note that CD-R does not mean that the CD becomes un-writable after burning, just like CD-RW.

The solution: Use a CD burning software that allows finalizing. We use Power2Go (paid). A free option that comes recommended (I haven't tried it) is CDBurnerXP. In the screenshot below you can see the option "finalize disc" (below "Device") in CDBurnerXP.