Is your computer sending out spam or viruses without you knowing it?

Posted on January 17, 2009 by wjimenez275

Sometimes computers seem to have a life of their own. In some cases, they do. Your computer may be part of a network of computers that are sending our spam and viruses to other computers, and you don’t even know it.

I’d like for you to read this article from the Free PC Security blog that explains what Bots are and how to find out if your computer is one: Botnets – Are You One?

PC security is critical in this day and age. There are plenty of free tools that will diagnose and protect your computers. I’ve posted a few earlier articles that address this. Take a look back.

Internet Security: What is it and why do I need it? and What Free Security Programs can Protect My PC?

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What Free Security Programs Can Protect My PC? – PC World

Posted on January 12, 2009 by wjimenez275

What Free Security Programs Can Protect My PC?

Lincoln Spector

Jan 12, 2009 3:44 pm

You really can protect your PC with free software, but there’s a price. Multiple free security programs usually aren’t as easy to use as one pricey suite. Your less likely to get decent support (perhaps I should say even less likely). And they lack features like antispam and child protection which you may or may not need. All of the companies that give away security programs sell more feature-rich versions, which come with better support and additional features.

On the other hand, they’re free. And they have less overhead than the big suites, so they won’t slow down your PC as much.

What do you need? First and foremost, a good firewall (the one that comes with Windows doesn’t qualify) and real-time antivirus protection. (The term antivirus is somewhat misleading. In their current versions, these programs protect you from all sorts of malware, not just viruses.) It’s also a good idea to get a second malware fighter–one that you don’t run in real-time. It’s like going to another doctor for a second opinion–except it doesn’t cost anything.

Start with the Comodo firewall. It regular beats out the not-for-free firewalls in independent tests. It’s not the easiest firewall in the world–it gets in your face an awful lot with questions that would confuse most novices–but PC World readers should be able to handle it.

Comodo recently added antivirus, making itself the first free suite. But I’ve yet to see any independent test results on Comodo’s antivirus, and therefore don’t trust it. So, when you install Comodo, uncheck the Antivirus option and just install the firewall.

That means you need separate antivirus software. Go with Avast. It’s free, uninstrusive, and did very well on AV-Comparitive’s last round of tests.

I’ll give you two choices for extra protection, and there’s no real reason not use both of them. They are SuperAntiSpyware and Malwarebytes. Scan your hard drive with one or the other of them every week or so–and if you suspect something.

via What Free Security Programs Can Protect My PC? – PC World.

By-the-way, the posts of another individual whom  I respect can be found here – http://freepcsecurity.co.uk/. Colin always has some fresh insight on security, which he tests out on his own systems. I’d recommend signing up for his blog.

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The bell tolls for your magnetic media | Tech Broiler | ZDNet.com

Posted on January 9, 2009 by wjimenez275

Don’t wait to try to retrieve the data and content from your magnetic media. Chances are, some of it may already be unrecoverable and highly degraded. Act now.

If you’ve got any kind of magnetic media (computer floppy disks or tapes), and you give a crap about anything that’s stored on them, I urge you to transition them off to a more stable digital storage medium immediately. We’re now at the cusp of which virtually any data from the 1990’s stored on floppy might be unusable, depending on the conditions in which they were kept. If you’ve got 5.25 inch floppies, you might even be completely out of luck, since it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find systems that can read them or haven’t lost their drive calibration to the point where doing a file dump is next to impossible. Many of the newer systems aren’t even capable of being cabled to a new floppy drive, but you can still buy USB-based units.

Magnetic storage degradation isn’t unique to floppy disks, either. With the HDTV transition, many people will have a renewed interest in being able to view their existing VHS libraries on the newer sets. While a number of low-cost solutions for viewing the material on the newer sets are available, there is still the issue of ongoing media degradation.

After about 15-20 years, VHS tapes will dramatically start to lose quality whether you watch them or not. So for those of you with wedding and home videos from the 1990’s, if you haven’t had them converted over to DVDs yet, you might want to think about doing so soon. If you had wedding videos done in the last 10 years and the videographer is still in business, you might even want to consider finding out if he still has the original Betacam masters and can convert it for you.

A number of companies will do a professional job on your VHS tapes with commercial equipment, particularly if you have certain videos that have special value to you, or need to have them digitally remastered. These companies will charge anywhere between $10 and $25 per tape if the source media is still relatively good. If you have a lot of videos, you might want to look into black box devices such as the ADS DVD Xpress DX2, which for about $80 will allow you to transfer directly from your VCR to your computer and burn DVDs.

via The bell tolls for your magnetic media | Tech Broiler | ZDNet.com.

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Tweak Internet Explorer’s Default Search Engine

Posted on January 7, 2009 by wjimenez275

Tweak Internet Explorer’s Default Search Engine

By default, Internet Explorer 7’s search box taps Windows Live Search–not the least bit surprising given that the latter is Microsoft’s baby. Unfortunately… hmmm, how to put this politely… Windows Live Search bites.

The good news is, there’s an easy to tweak Internet Explorer so it uses the search engine of your choice. Like, say, Google. Here’s how:

1. Start Internet Explorer.

2. Click Tools, Internet Options.

3. In the General tab, find the Search section and click Settings.

4. If Google is listed, click it and then click Set Default. If not, click Find more providers, then click Google and follow the instructions. As you’ll see, Google is just one of the available options.

That’s it! Now, when you click inside IE’s search box and type a query, you’ll get results from Google–or whatever search provider you set as the default.

Want to change it back? Click the pull-down menu on the right side of the search box and choose Change Search Defaults.

via Secret Tech Tips From Hassle-Free PC – PC World.

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Do you have a frozen Zune 30?

Posted on January 1, 2009 by wjimenez275

Zune 30’s all over the world locked up during the night and will not turn back on. Microsoft is aware of the problem and has this to say at the “official Zune” (http://www.zune.net/en-us/support/zune30.htm) site:

My Zune 30 is frozen. What should I do?

Follow these steps:

  1. Disconnect your Zune from USB and AC power sources.
  2. Because the player is frozen, its battery will drain—this is good. Wait until the battery is empty and the screen goes black. If the battery was fully charged, this might take a couple of hours.
  3. Wait until after noon GMT on January 1, 2009 (that’s 7 a.m. Eastern or 4 a.m. Pacific time).
  4. Connect your Zune to either a USB port on the back or your computer or to AC power using the Zune AC Adapter and let it charge.

Once the battery has sufficient power, the player should start normally. No other action is required—you can go back to using your Zune!

My Zune 30 has been working fine today. Should I be worried?

Nope, your Zune is fine and will continue to work as long as you do not connect it to your computer before noon GMT on January 1, 2009 (7 a.m. Eastern or 4 a.m. Pacific time).

Note: If you connect your player to a computer before noon GMT on January 1, 2009,  you’ll experience the freeze mentioned above—even if that computer does not have the Zune software installed. If this happens, follow the above steps.

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Ten Tips for Hassle-Free Tech Merchandise Returns

Posted on December 30, 2008 by wjimenez275

Retailers often play by different rules in accepting electronics returns. Here are some tips to help you navigate the tricky world of returns, exchanges, and warranties.

Erin Biba, PC World

Tuesday, December 23, 2008 08:00 PM PST

http://www.pcworld.com/printable/article/id,140902/printable.html

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Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam …..

Posted on December 22, 2008 by wjimenez275

Spam, Yuck. Well, okay, that Spam too. However, the spam that affects us daily is worse. Some stats from this past year from Symantec:
Top Trends in 2008
Spam: In 2008 the annual average spam rate was 81.2 percent, meaning a little over 81% of all email sent/received in 2008 was spam. An increasing proportion of spam originated from reputable web-based email and application service providers.
Viruses: The average virus level for 2008 was 1 in 143.8 emails, down from 2007 where levels averaged at 1 in 117.7 emails. The decline can be attributed to the transition to spreading malware using malicious content hosted on websites and drive-by installs rather than favoring email as the primary means of distribution.
Phishing: The number of phishing attacks was 1 in 244.9 (.41 percent) emails across 2008, compared to 1 in 156 emails in 2007.

With all of the spam and phishing emails coming into your inbox, wouldn’t it be nice to have a program that filters it out before you see it?
If you use Microsoft Outlook or Microsoft Outlook Express for your email program, I’d recommend a program called iHateSpam from Sunbelt Software. It’s an inexpensive program that filters a large majority of your incoming spam to a spam folder, where you can delete it without even touching it.

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Gadget trade-in services that pay off – CNET News

Posted on December 7, 2008 by wjimenez275

Posted by Elsa Wenzel December 3, 2008 8:45 AM PST

Web sites that promise to pay for your old gadgets look bright around the holidays, when every extra dollar can count toward new gifts or even utility bills. But are the services worthwhile? How much can you earn?

We examined nine services that pay for your unwanted digital wares. These are among the newest options to help keep electronics waste out of landfills, while uncluttering your closets.

We looked up what each service said it would pay for working iPods, PDAs, laptops, gaming consoles, and more, with cables but lacking their original boxes. For dead devices, some offer a pittance, or will connect you with willing recyclers and charity recipients. Our chart (at right) shows what each site claims it pays for specific equipment. Keep reading for highlights of the trade-in services.

To read the entire article, click here (http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10110288-2.html?tag=nl.e433)

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XP Service Pack 3 blocks .NET security patches

Posted on December 6, 2008 by wjimenez275

One more reason not to install XP Service Pack 3, or if you’ve already installed it to remove it…

XP Service Pack 3 blocks .NET security patches
By Susan Bradley

Installing SP3 on Windows XP eliminates the operating system’s ability to install important security patches for Microsoft’s .NET technology and possibly other software.

This problem forces XP SP3 users to apply patches manually to complete vital updates.

The new error is the latest in a long series of glitches relating to XP’s SP3, which Scott Dunn described in his Sept. 11 Top Story. The issues include spontaneous rebooting of systems based on AMD chipsets, as documented by Jesper Johansson in a blog post from last May.

To determine whether your XP SP3 system has a version — or multiple versions — of the .NET Framework installed, open Control Panel’s Add or Remove Programs applet and look for it among the list of currently installed programs. If you don’t see any .NET entries, you don’t have the framework installed on your system and needn’t be concerned about the update problem.

If you do see a listing for Microsoft .NET Framework, you need to use a third-party update service such as Secunia’s Software Inspector (described below) to patch the program.

To read the entire article, click here – http://windowssecrets.com/2008/12/04/03-XP-Service-Pack-3-blocks-.NET-security-patches/?n=story1

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Keep Your Laptop From Being Stolen

Posted on December 2, 2008 by wjimenez275

With laptops being such an important part of our lives, and many times businesses, it’s important to know how to protect them from being stolen, or if they are stolen how to get them back quickly. The following are a few ways to do so.

Laptop Alarm for PC’s. Laptop Alarm will emit a loud alarm whenever someone tries to steal your laptop. It sounds when your power cable or external peripherals are disconnected or when the mouse is moved.

Security Cables. Most laptops have built-in slots that accommodate a security cable. These cables come as key based locks or as combination based locks and allow you to physically lock your laptop to a table or desk, so if you need to leave it for a few minutes it’s actually locked in place.

Lojack For Laptops. Computrace® LoJack® for Laptops is a software-based computer theft recovery service that tracks and recovers lost or stolen computers. If your computer is stolen, their recovery team uses the software to track the stolen computer and provides local police with information they need to get it back and apprehend thieves. There is a small subscription cost for this program but it starts at just $39.95 per year.

Laptops are easy to steal. It’s important that you keep your important data backed up on an external drive so if your computer is stolen, you have a good copy of it’s data. Additionally, these options will help in either keeping it from being stolen, or if it is taken, in getting it back.

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