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Riding Shotgun with Rick

Beware of fake security software

Shell Game
photo credit: elmada

I write a similar article every few weeks not because I’m not creative, but because too many people aren’t listening yet. These past few weeks have been awful for folks getting fake security software on their computers. It often times gets on a computer as a result of other things you are trying to download or access including, but not limited to:

  • Free screensavers
  • Free wallpaper
  • Free games
  • Free security software (there are great products available, but make sure you know what you are getting and where you are getting it from).
  • Online credit checks
  • Online gambling
  • Online porn
  • Free music downloads
  • Free movie downloads

What happens is the bad guys have figured out how to take advantage of what is popular at any given time. As you install the programs listed above or access the services listed, you agree to put the junk on your system and it then stealthy slips by any existing security software you do have. If you follow a few simple rules, Read More »Beware of fake security software

Email of the Week – 015

Morning View
photo credit: bitzcelt

QUESTION

Name:  Grac

From:   Pittsburgh

OS:      Windows Vista

———————-
The computer has been shutting down and comes back with the Windows Error Recovery (black screen with print) with the choices of starting normally or in Safe Mode. One time after this I got message saying there was a display error (Error Code 0X00000001)which had recovered successfully. No problems for 3 days, then again it would shut off on it’s own or freeze and need to be restarted. Yesterday the following message came up after this: Display driver NVLddMKM stopped responding and has successfully recovered.
Can you help us with this?

ANSWER

Thanks for writing. Your question presents a great opportunity to not only help you, but demonstrate how other folks can handle a similar problem.

First, we need to define what a driver is. Drivers are Read More »Email of the Week – 015

Should you pay for AVG?

NOTE: This is an older article, please see my latest Computer Security recommendations here. Over the past few weeks, AVG has been a little more agressive in their attempt to get folks to convert to their paid product by showing advertising screens every 2-4 days that ask to upgrade your security. It is completely your perogative to upgrade if you… Read More »Should you pay for AVG?

AOL users: Save your money!

I just left a client’s home who pays for both a DSL connection AND AOL. They were paying $30+ per month for AOL and not using a dial-up connection or their support. In fact, take a look at the image at the bottom of this tip and note that although they were signed up for the AARP discount account of $23.01, they were actually being billed $30.01!

If you use AOL and have a high speed connection, there is no need to pay Read More »AOL users: Save your money!

CCleaner adds helpful new feature to cleaning results

ccleanerlogoTemporary files need to be cleaned from your computer from time-to-time. I recommend at least monthly. Temporary files are the support files created by Windows and the programs we use every day to perform the functions we ask of them. We don’t see these files because they created behind the scenes and can stack up over time and number in the tens of thousands.

Keeping these caches of small, numerous and expendable files cleaned out of our systems not only saves disk space, but also helps the peformace of the individual programs and the computer in general.

Over the past few years, I made it a habit to addRead More »CCleaner adds helpful new feature to cleaning results

Firefox reaches 1 billion downloads

1billionfirefoxAfter the great Internet Explorer (IE) vs. Netscape browser wars of the 90s, it didn’t appear that Internet Explorer would ever be challenged again…thus Microsoft’s complacency with updating IE. Then just 4+ years ago, Mozilla Firefox burst onto the scene with a small, fast, and safe browser that caught fire quickly. As spyware and other malware all but crippled IE users, Firefox became stronger and stronger and with the release of Firefox 2.0 in 2006, Firefox was here to stay.

This week, Firefox officially hit more than 1 billion download since its firs release. A huge accomplishment demonstrated by its nearly 25% market share (IE owned nearly 92% of the browser market just five years ago).  Site statistics for HelpMeRick.com show that more than 61% of my visitors use Firefox! I knewRead More »Firefox reaches 1 billion downloads

Barnes & Noble to Offer Free Wi-Fi

If you like working in coffee shops and book stores, you will be happy to know that soon, Barnes & Noble will offer free wi-fi in all their stores. They are hoping that it will encourage shoppers to buy more digital content for portable, digital readers. Complete story from CIO Today here: After Hours – Barnes & Noble Offers Free… Read More »Barnes & Noble to Offer Free Wi-Fi

Intel Helped Google with Chrome OS

This article seems to confirm a suspicion I had and wrote about upon Google’s initial announcement of the Chrome Operating System. Intel has been working with the Linux community for months developing a compelling operating system called Moblin. The Moblin project already uses the Chromium browser (Linux equivalent of Google Chrome) and seems like a natural starting spot for Google’s… Read More »Intel Helped Google with Chrome OS