Below is a real e-mail I received yesterday. It was not placed in my Junk e-mail folder because it came from a customer of mine who was listed in my address book. I have blocked out her e-mail address to protect her privacy.
So there it was in my Inbox and coming from a trusted source, so I opened it. You can see what the contents were. Someone had obviously taken over control of my client's e-mail. I am not sure what they expected to happen next. There are no instructions. Maybe they hit SEND too early, or maybe they were all set to collect any e-mails sent in reply. I don't know which, but this is just another good example of how and why you need to be very careful out there.
From: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, February 25, 2010 2:36 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: I hope you get this
Hope you get this on time,sorry I didn't inform you about my trip in UK for a Program, I'm presently in UK and am having some difficulties here because i misplaced my purse on my way to the hotel where my money and other valuable things were kept. presently i have limited access to internet,I will like you to assist me with a loan of 800 POUNDS to sort-out my hotel bills and to get myself back home.I have spoken to the embassy here but they are not responding to the matter effectively,I will appreciate whatever you can afford to assist me with,I'll refund the money back to you as soon as i return,let me know if you can be of any help.I don't have a phone where i can be reached.
Please let me know immediately.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
The Olympics run on Windows (XP)
Isn't this interesting. The following comes from a cnet.com news story I saw today. 6,000 PCs and all running Windows XP! And, they are all Acer PCs. As some of you know, I own 3 Acer laptops, and they have all performed flawlessly.
"VANCOUVER, British Columbia--The good news for Microsoft is that all the PCs powering the Olympics are running Windows. The bad news: it's the older Windows XP operating system.
Windows 7, it seems, was a bit too new to be used, while Windows Vista was, well, Windows Vista. So, instead, all the PCs are running an operating system that was first released before the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.
Representatives for Acer confirmed that the more than 6,000 notebooks and desktops that they delivered to Olympic organizers were all running Windows XP."
"VANCOUVER, British Columbia--The good news for Microsoft is that all the PCs powering the Olympics are running Windows. The bad news: it's the older Windows XP operating system.
Windows 7, it seems, was a bit too new to be used, while Windows Vista was, well, Windows Vista. So, instead, all the PCs are running an operating system that was first released before the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.
Representatives for Acer confirmed that the more than 6,000 notebooks and desktops that they delivered to Olympic organizers were all running Windows XP."
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
AVG Free Anti-virus
Just to clarify, I have nothing against the technical quality of AVG Free, and for those of you who have it, there is no reason to rush into something new like MSE.
I now recommend MSE as my anti-virus of choice. Like AVG Free, it is also free. There the similarity ends. I have often felt bad for all of you who followed my advice and went with AVG Free. The reason I felt bad was not the quality of the AVG Free product, we were all protected, but rather their incessant annoying marketing tactics that they used to try to get all of us to upgrade to their fee product. I think some of you even gave in to their undue pressure and signed up for the fee-bases professional version. If you did hat, I feel really bad about it.
MSE comes from Microsoft, and let's face it, they are the ones who know our operating environment better than any other company. They have come up with a product, MSE, that fits in so well with the Windows environment. I have been using it for several months now, and find it to be a very lean, clean, unobtrusive product.
I think MS has a real winner in MSE, and I would encourage all of you to look into it and consider it as your next anti-virus program. I don't think you'll be disappointed. It is a very easy product to install, and I find their optional settings easy to understand and change.
I now recommend MSE as my anti-virus of choice. Like AVG Free, it is also free. There the similarity ends. I have often felt bad for all of you who followed my advice and went with AVG Free. The reason I felt bad was not the quality of the AVG Free product, we were all protected, but rather their incessant annoying marketing tactics that they used to try to get all of us to upgrade to their fee product. I think some of you even gave in to their undue pressure and signed up for the fee-bases professional version. If you did hat, I feel really bad about it.
MSE comes from Microsoft, and let's face it, they are the ones who know our operating environment better than any other company. They have come up with a product, MSE, that fits in so well with the Windows environment. I have been using it for several months now, and find it to be a very lean, clean, unobtrusive product.
I think MS has a real winner in MSE, and I would encourage all of you to look into it and consider it as your next anti-virus program. I don't think you'll be disappointed. It is a very easy product to install, and I find their optional settings easy to understand and change.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Comments
A reader commented on my 2/17 post re. MSE. Since yesterday I have had several more questions on MSE, so I thought I'd post the questions that were asked and my answers. Here are the questions followed by my answers:
- Tom, I started installing MSE and stopped with these questions: 1) Should I really uninstall AVG before I install MSE? I can't find anyway to turn it off temporarily. 2) MSE says to remove antispyware programs, yet you still recommend Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware & SuperAntiSpyware. Is it OK to keep these programs and install MSE? 3) Will MSE change my current settings for Automatic Updates? I use "Notify me, don't automatically.....". 4) Will MSE program versions be automatically installed by Microsoft Updates? Thanks Joan.
- Answers: 1) Yes, uninstall AVG before installing MSE. 2) MSE is talking about realtime anitspyware monitoring programs, like Windows Defender. I doubt you have any other than WD.You don't have to remove WD. MSE will take care of disabling it for you without uninstalling it. Keep your "batch" antispyware programs. Neither is a realtime monitor. They detect and remove after the fact. 3)MSE will not change your Automatic Updates settings. 4) MSE updates, which are quite frequent, will be downloaded by MSE automatically and not Automatic Updates. After installing MSE meander through its settings. See the tabs in the image above? Check them out and select settings for your system.
Monday, February 22, 2010
MVPS HOSTS File Installation Process
There are 5 sequential blog posts that address the MVPS HOSTS file installation process, beginning with the first on January 27, 2009.
Click here to see the first and afterwards look at the other 4.
Please take heed and secure your system now!
I never have problems with viruses or malware or rogue programs. I use all FREE programs to secure all of my systems. These are the programs I use, and for faithful followers, please note that I am making some changes.
- Microsoft Security Essentials
- Windows Firewall
- MVPS HOSTS File
- CCleaner
- Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
- SuperAntiSpyware Free Edition
- Spybot Search & Destroy
The MVPS HOSTS file is not a nicety. It is a MUST, and must be kept up to date - by you checking every couple of weeks or monthly for an updated HOSTS file. CCleaner should be run weekly, alternate running Malwarebytes and SuperAntiSpyware weekly, run Spybot once a month, or when you see items found in either of the two above programs.
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