Discussion this week included problems receiving the Castellini on Computers newsletter, virtual memory questions, Mac G5 and two button mouse, Antivirus 2009 malware and much more. This week’s episode is brought to you by: Roo-Man, Craig, Karl, Debbie, Maci, Anne, Laureen, and Harold. Enjoy and keep the questions coming!
Prevention is the best medicine when it comes to avoiding illness in ourselves. Prevention in the computer world is no different. And like a newborn baby, a newly purchased computer is subject to many terrible diseases and problems if not properly cared from the moment it is taken from its cardboard box. I follow these steps when setting up a new computer system for my clients, and recommend this methodology for all new computer setups:
Create your Recovery CD set found in your manufacturer’s options or utilities folder (if required).
Enjoy your properly setup and safe, new computer!
An extremely slow and sick computer!
Today, again, I ran across a family who has multiple teenagers (3 in this case) who use a computer that has become polluted with spy and adware. I see this situation again and again, week after week. This computer was less than 2 months old!
Give the typical teenager a Windows based computer (doesn’t matter if it is XP or Vista) and within weeks (sometimes hours) the computer is almost useless. Parents always ask me the next logical question, “Why did it happen?”
The first problem is not enough or the right type of anti-virus and anti-spyware protection. For Windows users, I recommend using AVG Antivirus as the first line of defense. Windows Vista users also have the almost useless Windows Defender automatically installed, but also need to utilize the anti-spyware components in AVG and also either Super AntiSpyware and/or SpyBot Search and Destroy. These programs need to be updated weekly, at a minimum, and thorough scans be performed weekly as well. I have links to all these programs in the Links and Resources section listed at the top of this page.
The second problem is using the wrong browser. No teenager should be allowed to browse the web with Internet Explorer. Most of the junk that enters computers from the web comes in via the huge security holes found in Internet Explorer. Keeping up to date with Microsoft updates and patches helps, but most people simply don’t keep up with these updates leaving the computer like a wounded lamb. Instead, use a safer browser like Mozilla Firefox, Opera, or the new Google Chrome. These browsers prevent a large percentage of the junk programs that can easily penetrate Internet Explorer.
The third problem revolves around the general browsing habits of teenagers. Teens typically like to visit a combination of music download sites, wallpaper download sites, ring tone sites, social networking sites, games sites, and celebrity sites. Unfortunately, the Internet evil-doers know these patterns as well and will setup cheap knock-off sites that pretend to be legit, but throw adware and spyware as bonus add-ons to these unsuspecting computer users. Teens need to realize that their computer is not impenetrable and there are people on the web that are there to wreak havoc on their computers and wallets. Beware of deals that seem to good to be true…they are. Also, they should never give our their email address or IM (ask your kids what that is) info to any netizen asking for it. As with life, it pays to be vigilant and a little jaded when it comes to web sites and the people who run them.
My best advice to parents with teens in the household is to either invest in a Macintosh computer or install Linux on a computer that will be used strictly for the web and browsing. Linux and the Mac operating system are almost (not completely, but very close) immune from all these problems. These operating systems don’t give kids license to run rampant on the Internet, but certainly will cut down on the repair bills and down time that accompany Windows computers.
IF, parents and teens follow the steps outlined in this short article, any computer can be a safe computer. Prevention is the best medicine, but it is up to the computer user to administer and maintain the prevention.
In this edition of my videocast, I answer questions about wireless problems with Ubuntu, sending faxes via the Internet, WinAntivirus 2009, and many others. Take a look and listen…I’m starting to integrate more video with the answers so the answers have even more meaning.
Every year computer users using the Internet to check account balances, transactions, and even paying bills grows by nearly 30%. According to one Pew study, more than 50 million Americans use online banking services. 50 million sounds like a large number, but that still reflects less than 50% of online American adults. Bank web sites continue to evolve by becoming easier to use, more secure, and more helpful than ever before. In fact, many banks rather that their customers check their web site for answers rather than call or visit a branch. However, many people shy away from online banking because of security fears.
I?m going to outline, for you, five simple steps that you can take to keep yourself and your finances safe on the Internet.
Step 1 ? Computer Security
Before you do anything on the Internet, make sure your computer is secure by having solid, up-to-date anti-virus and anti-spyware software running. I recommend AVG Antivirus and Antispyware (www.grisoft.com). For high speed Internet users, make sure you have a firewall setup (the Windows firewall is ok) or use your connection through a router than can be purchased at any office or electronics store. If you have a wireless Internet connection in your home, make sure it is password protected. Lastly, I highly recommend that all computer users use Mozilla Firefox (www.firefox.com) as their primary browsers. Firefox?s security measures are much more effective than Internet Explorer?s.
Step 2 ? Strong Passwords
Most banks are good about requiring their customer?s to change their password every 3-6 months. If yours does not require a change, you should do it anyway. Changing your password frequently is a great way to keep your online financial data secure. Use these rules when creating a password:
? NEVER use the same password for your bank or financial institution that you do for your Internet service
? NEVER use any part of your name or birth date in your password
? ALWAYS use a combination of numerals, upper and lower case letters, and special characters (@,#,&, etc) in your password
? ALWAYS right your password down and keep it in a safe place?not on a sticky placed on your monitor
? ALWAYS change your password at least every 3 months
Step 3 ? Avoid Phishing attacks
Although most identity theft crimes occur offline, phishing attacks are the most common method of identity theft online. Phishing is the technique of sending emails or luring you to a web site that appears to be your bank?s, credit card company, or other financial institution then asking for all of your financial and personal data. These sites/emails will ask for your full name, online account user name and password, mother?s maiden name, social security number, account numbers and other personal data. NEVER give out this type of information on ANY web site. Your financial institution will never send these types of emails or ask you for this information via a web site. When in doubt, always call your bank.
Step 4 ? Use caution when traveling
If you travel with your own laptop and connect to the Internet via a secured wireless connection (requires a password), online banking shouldn?t be too much of a problem. When connecting to wireless Internet connections, make sure they are indeed coming from the proprietor of the hotel, café, etc. Some hacker types can ?pose? as a wireless provider, but really you are connecting through their computers and thus they can see what you are doing and typing. I highly recommend never using a public computer (library, Internet Café) to access financial web sites. Doing so poses too much of a risk that your data and identity can be stolen by an unscrupulous computer user using the computer to collect online information.
Step 5 ? Be smart
Never underestimate your intuition?if something feels fishy, it probably is. Bail out of whatever you are doing and then contact your bank and report the problem to the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) at http://tinyurl.com/2zl4eo US-CERT is a division of the Department of Homeland Security.
Overall, online access to your financial data will save you a lot of valuable time and is available 24 hours a day. Just use caution and these five simple rules to help insure that your online financial activity won?t cause you problems.
I subscribe to the school of practical and applied knowledge, but I still like to see my acquired knowledge backed up by some scientists every now and then. For years, I have been preaching the laurels of Mozilla Firefox and how it with AVG antivirus can keep your computer extremely safe. Today, an article by Stefanie Hoffman at Channel Web talks about a Swiss study that showed the security effectiveness of Mozilla Firefox. Give it a read and pass it on.
Extortionware? What is extortionware.
I have seen at least 10 computers in the past two weeks that have recently been infected with extortionware – viruses and spyware that infect your system by pretending to be an antivirus or other security program.
With names like Windows Antivirus, WinAntivirus, XP Antivirus 20008, etc. these programs appear to look and feel official. However, they are some of the worst virus or virus-like programs I have ever dealt with.
These viruses often come onto a computer via a pop-up advertisement that says looks like a Windows security or antivirus warning that reads something like, “Your computer is infected with one or more viruses and spyware programs. Click here to run a full scan.”
Up until you click on the button, your computer is likely 100 percent virus and spyware free. However, after clicking on the scan button your computer will be infected with dozens of viruses and spyware programs.
These programs scan your computer and appear to be looking for bad guys. When the scan finishes it shows a long list of discovered programs and informs you that to remove them you must pay $50 or so to remove the viruses.
This is why it is called extortionware. These programs infect your computer then expect you to pay to have the software removed. You should know though that even after paying the money, your computer will still be infected.
Removing these programs can be extremely difficult and time consuming. I have four infected computers sitting in my office right now awaiting a reformat due to these problems.
Removing the infection can be easy with the right tools, but so much damage is done to system files that often, a reformat is the quickest option for full repair.
Most of the infected systems have had full antivirus protection, the problem with these viruses is that they install like programs so antiviruses don’t often catch them during the install. Once they have been installed, the first thing they do is shut off the antivirus making them more difficult to remove.
Be careful. Unless the warning includes the name of your antivirus, you are best to just click on the X in the upper corner. Do not click on the CANCEL or CLOSE button if one is provided as these are often false links.
AVG released a new version of their popular AVG Anti-virus on Wednesday. An alert web site visitor alerted us to this yesterday, and I immediately downloaded and have been testing it since then. Here are some important facts you need to know about the upgrade.
I think that covers the basics, feel free to leave comments below and ask any questions you might have about this exciting new upgrade for AVG users. Click here to download the free upgrade to AVG antivirus 8.0 (for home users), it will bring you directly to the AVG download page saving you time and confusion. Then watch my short video below for exact installation and configuration instructions.
UPDATE
If you are having problems updating or getting AVG 8.0 to work properly, try this:
1. Double-click AVG
2. Double-Click Update Manager
3. Un-check the Start Automatic Updates box
4. Click the Save Changes button
5. Check the Start Automatic updates box
6. Click the Save Changes button
7. Click the Update now button
If that doesn’t work in your case, use one of the links above to download a fresh copy of AVG, then reinstall using the REPAIR function that will be presented to you during the install.
HelpMeRick.com started as a monthly tip site for beginners in 1996, and now supports our popular call-in computer show, and hosts thousands of useful computer tips and links.
Even if you are an experienced computer user, use our site as a resource to provide help to the friends, family members and co-workers you provide tech support for every day.
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