FBI wants records kept of Web sites visited

Big Brother 2010! This article can be found in full at the link below.

"The FBI is pressing Internet service providers to record which Web sites customers visit and retain those logs for two years, a requirement that law enforcement believes could help it in investigations of child pornography and other serious crimes.

FBI Director Robert Mueller supports storing Internet users' "origin and destination information," a bureau attorney said at a federal task force meeting on Thursday.

As far back as a 2006 speech, Mueller had called for data retention on the part of Internet providers, and emphasized the point two years later when explicitly asking Congress to enact a law making it mandatory. But it had not been clear before that the FBI was asking companies to begin to keep logs of what Web sites are visited, which few if any currently do."

More.............

Office Software Alternatives

I am writing in response to a reader's request to discuss this topic. Specifically, the discussion revolves around Microsoft (MS) Office 2003, MS Office 2007, and Open Office (http://about.openoffice.org/). In this case, the writer has MS Office 2003. Most people, I find, have the Student and Home Edition of MS Office 2003. This is/was a fee product ans most users got it to have MS Word and MS Excel.

If I had MS Office 2003 and Windows XP in place, and I had no plans to go out and get a new computer, I would stick with 2003 and XP. Remember, Windows XP will be supported through 2014, and Office 2003 should work just as well until that time. There is no reason you need to upgrade or change. Chances are good that Word & Excel are working well now, are compatible with the new version of MS Office 2007, and there is a free program from Microsoft that will let you read MS Word 2007 documents (Exchanging files between previous releases of Microsoft Office and the 2007 Microsoft Office release).

If I did not have Office 2003 but needed an office package, I would recommend Open Office and, if necessary, the above referenced compatibility pack.

Your input

I am glad that so many of you are visiting this blog as often as you do. I believe I can make this a more valuable resource for you if I could get some input from you all. Please consider letting me know of any questions or issues that are important to you, and I would hope others, that you would like to see me address on this blog. Just below the Blog Archives on the right side of this screen there is a CONTACT THE PC DOC link. Or, please write me directly at pcdoc at brpcdoc dot com. In either case, please use the subject "Suggestion for blog". Thanks.

Writing a daily (weekdays) blog can be tough. I sometimes think I am being redundant since I have been at this for so long and my memory ain't what it used to be! :-)

Of course, you can always write a comment to any blog post just by clicking on COMMENTS below each post.

Moving your Outlook data files

Are you a Microsoft Outlook user? If you are, do you back up your mail folders regularly, so that if your hard drive failed or became corrupted you would still be able to recreate your e-mail environment without losing much?

For several years I did not even know how or where Outlook stored my mail files and address book, or contacts as Outlook likes to call them. Once I had figured all of this out, I got to thinking and realized tht even though I was backing up My Documents to an external hard drive, I had not taken any steps to ever back up my e-mail. I asked around, on online forums and such, and found out that the nearly hidden, very hard to find, location of my e-mail could be changed. Changed, in fact, to a location such as a folder of any name I chose within the My Documents folder if that is what I wanted. It turns out that this is exactly what I wanted to do. With all of my e-mail stored within My Documents in a separate e-mail folder (I call it My Outlook Mail Folders), it would then be backed up on a regular basis whenever I backed up My Documents and all of its contents. This is such an easy thing to do that I recommend it for all Outlook users.

You can read about it here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA011124801033.aspx

Hands on with the Apple iPad

 

The Apple iPad was finally announced this week and the industry is all abuzz about it. I am providing a link below to a high level review of the iPad from a guy who got is hands on one on announcement day. I am sure we will get far more detailed reviews of it in time as we learn more about it, but I can't just ignore it at this point. There had been so much press in anticipation of the announcement.

Hands on with the Apple iPad  

Reliability & Service: Technology's Most Reliable Brands

From this article at pcworld

Reliability and Service rankings for Desktops, Laptops, and Printers. Click on any image below to see a larger version. Also included in the article, but not here: Cameras and HDTVs.

  

 

Rogue Programs

Rogue programs continue their relentless attack on our systems. Read this note (which I edited for the sake of brevity) that I received yesterday from a customer, and then read my comments below it:

Hi Tom:

A new attack on PC's has arrived.

Late in the day I received a notice that an update was available from Windows and that my machine had many high risk viruses. I was then prompted to scan which supposedly revealed the files that were infected. Again, this appeared to be a Windows program and offering. When I queried about removal, a message said that for $49.95 I could receive the software upgrade. Been there, done that, not twice fooled.

The name of the software is Internet Security 2010.

AVG obviously missed this, but perhaps the fee-based version would not have. I proceeded to use CCleaner and then Malwarebyte's Anti-Malware. The latter picked up a lot of problems.

I also ran SuperAntiSpyware and picked up an additional virus (Trojan.Agenct/Gen-InternetSecurity[Fake]. Process).

All of my previously reported issues have been corrected and the machine is working close to optimal.

I hope this helps others.

I am very grateful that this customer sent me this note. You should note, and can probably tell, that this man is a very technically competent PC user, and managed  (1) to avoid falling for the scheme and did not pay any money, and (2) recognized it for what it is - a scam - and immediately took corrective actions to rid his system of the rogue.

Security is an ongoing process. In my case I choose to use free programs to protect my systems. These are all well documented in this blog. Start out with my blog post of December 21, 2009, which can be found here: http://pcdocsblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/securing-your-pc-revisited.htmlhttp://pcdocsblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/securing-your-pc-revisited.html

One of the most valuable tools I recommend is the MVPS HOSTS file. In January 2009 I wrote a series of 5 (I think it was) posts on the HOSTS file. The first can be found here: http://pcdocsblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/hosts-file-post-1.html

If you do not make use of the HOSTS file, you should. Even if you do, remember that you are responsible for updating it. Frequent updates are available for this. Check out this site for the latest news on the HOSTS file: http://msmvps.com/blogs/hostsnews/ and visit it once a month or so and then download and install the latest update. Don't forget to disable the DNS Client service as instructed.

As you can see from the customer's note above, there are constantly new bad guys coming after us, so it is important to keep up to date, and it is YOUR responsibility to do so if you want to run a clean system free of problems.

Interesting list presented at Yahoo Finance. 

10 Things Not to Buy in 2010

Kim Komando Tip: Dump Internet Explorer for Firefox

The following comes from the Kim Komando web site. I like to check out Kim's site every day, and find the Tip of the Day to be the part I like best. The following was Kim's Tip of the Day on 1/23. Those of you who follow my blog know that I am a Firefox user, and have been for a long time. Firefox is free and virtually fully-compatible with Internet Explorer. My favorite download site these days is FileHippo.com, and you can download Firefox there.

"Internet Explorer is the default Windows browser. It’s also the most popular browser in the world. In fact, you may be using it right now.

But it’s plagued with security problems. And as recent news from China makes clear, they’re dangerous.
The Chinese found a flaw in Internet Explorer. They used it to wriggle into Google’s system and grab dissidents’ e-mail.

Microsoft quickly patched the flaw. But it is only the latest in a long list. Germany, France and Australia have recommended that citizens switch browsers. I second that.

My favorite is Firefox. You can get it right off my site. This switch is easy. You can keep your stuff—bookmarks, history and stored passwords.

When you first launch Firefox, it will automatically run the Import Wizard. Under “Import Options, Bookmarks, History, Passwords and other data from:” select Microsoft Internet Explorer. Click Next.
Decide whether to import your home page. You have two options. The first, labeled “Firefox Start, a fast home page with built-in search,” is the default home page. The second is “Import your home page from Internet Explorer.” Choose one, and click Next>>Finish.

You’re probably most worried about importing your bookmarks. All are transferred. But some may be in different places. Bookmarks stored in the Favorites Bar will not be moved to Firefox’s Bookmarks Toolbar. You’ll find them under Bookmarks>>Links.

The Import Wizard might not appear automatically. No problemo. Launch it manually. Click File>>Import.
The first window is the same as above. Under “Import Options, Bookmarks, History, Passwords and other data from:” select Microsoft Internet Explorer. Then, click Next.

You’ll get a list of items that can be imported from IE—Internet Options, Cookies, Browsing History and Favorites. Check the box next to each one you want. Click Next>>Finish."

Mozilla launches Firefox 3.6, calls it 'world's best browser'

I installed Firefox 3.6 this morning. As usual, the installation was simple and very fast. If you use Firefox,you can do the same at anytime. Simply click on Help in the Menu Bar up top and click on Check for Updates. I had been version 3.5.7 prior to the upgrade. I can also say that the 3.6 screen looks the same as the prior release, and I consider this a good thing. The last thing I need as a user is to have to learn how to use a new browser.

Of course, you can change the look and feel of it if you wish, but I wanted to start out simple, i.e., with no obvious changes.

 

Here are a couple of links if you wish to study up before upgrading:

Firefox 3.6 Brings Performance Improvements, a Few New Features

Mozilla launches Firefox 3.6, calls it 'world's best browser'

 

Patch arrives for IE hole targeted by Chinese

Look for this patch from Microsoft today (or soon) and be sure to install it!

From Windows Secrets:

"As of this writing, Microsoft is scheduled to release on Jan. 21 an update that fixes the Internet Explorer vulnerability behind the recent, highly publicized cyberattacks on Google and other major corporations.

The sophisticated "Aurora" exploit is delivered through common file attachments or links — typically in e-mail or other messages that appear to come from trusted sources — but proven security measures and a little common sense can negate all such threats.

The first reports of the cyberattacks that prompted Google to threaten withdrawal from China were alarming indeed. So was Microsoft's first official response, in MS security bulletin 979352, which described the scope of the newly discovered IE vulnerability.

The flaw permits remote code execution by what Microsoft describes as a "specially crafted attack" that affects most versions of Internet Explorer:

• IE 6 SP1 on Windows 2000 SP4
  
  
• IE 6, 7, and 8 on Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Server 2008 and Server 2008 R2"
  

Lots of luck with that! Didn't they try this once before? I know they have been near bankruptcy, but somehow manage to keep going. I for one wouldn't pay a nickel for this service let alone their paper. It'll be interesting to see if they really go forward with this or if they are convinced that they are out of their minds and decide to leave almost well enough alone.

New York Times plans to charge for some online access

Maine Vacation Rentals

My Maine Vacation Rentals web site has been updated by a very talented woman who has added color and life to the site. In addition to an ever-growing list of Maine homes for rent, the site now looks great! If you have ever had any interest in spending some time in Maine by the sea, please take a look at the revised site and check out our many listings.

Because it is a "For Rent By Owner" site, you can contact the owner directly and save money. There is no middle man!

Check us out at Boothbay Region For Rent By Owner

Thanks for looking!

MSRT

For those of you who, like me, may want to do an additional check of your system for malicious software, the January version of the Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool (which I call MSRT) is now available. If you have Automatic Updates enabled, it will be (or was) downloaded this week. I like to go out to the MS web site and download this program every month and do a Full Scan, one I can see and view the results of. MS says the tool, if downloaded thru Automatic Updates, runs in the background and will report IF it finds something. I guess it has never found anything on my systems because I have never seen any reports at all from its having been run for me. So, being a Doubting Thomas (funny, but I really am) I let it run its 3+ hour course and then see the results (always nothing found). If you want the extra insurance, at no cost other than your time, download the MSRT to your desktop, double click on it, select Full Scan, and let it do its thing. After it runs you will see the report that says what it found and fixed, if it found anything, or it will tell you it found nothing. Afterwards, close the report and delete the tool from your desktop (or from wherever you downloaded it to). You can download the MSRT here:

Download MSRT Here 

Back in town

Family trumped business for me for the past 4 days. I went to Atlanta to visit family last Friday and returned Monday. Other than finding a sub-freezing spell there which followed one inch of snow, the trip was perfect. It was so interesting to see how the inch of snow crippled the whole area. Schools were closed and there were many accidents. More interesting to me, patches of ice remained on the roads for all 4 of my days there, refusing to melt in the sub-20 degree weather. Apparently Atlantans do not make use of salt or sand or gravel down there as the icy patches continued to slow things down and probably are still causing the less careful drivers to slide out of control and hit something!

I was very pleasantly surprised by AirTran. I really didn't even know anything about them, but I experienced two non-stop, low cost, on time flights between Boston & Atlanta. I will fly them again.

Make tech rebates work for you, not against you

This article can be found on the Windows Secrets web site. Have you ever had trouble getting rebates when purchasing some tech item? I have. There is some good advice in this article.

Make tech rebates work for you, not against you

Facebook

I wonder if most of you are Facebook users. I have been a member for quite a while, and as more and more people join it gets more interesting. I just "discovered" through their Search facility a young woman I worked with at IBM in 1968-1975, so the last time I even saw her or heard from her or of her was 35 years ago. In her profile I learned that she went on to other companies and became a Vice President of a major tech company! How great for her. It was fun to see this and to send her a "hello" message with congratulations after all of these years. I think she was about 27 then. She too is retired now and enjoying her grandchildren, much the same as I am enjoying ours. What a nice thing this Facebook system can be when used like this. I look forward to discovering many other classmates and friends and co-workers whom I haven't seen or heard from in many, many years. It's a nice way to share and relive some good old memories.

Google Nexus One

Well here it is, the Google Nexus One, sure to be a big seller and competitor of Apple's iPhone.

The price tag is $530, or $180 with a 2 year T-Mobile contract.

Google Nexus One

This is a Computerworld.com story. If anyone out there has one of these Droids, please consider sharing your experience with it by commenting to this post. Just click on Comments below this post. I am quite interested in this myself, and I imagine others will be too, especially since service is provided by Verizon, the one servicer we all love to hate.

Google's own version, Nexus One, will be coming out soon, but I hear it'll only work through T-Mobile. Are they even available here in the Northeast? Please comment if you know.

Verizon sold 100,000 Droids over first weekend, analyst says

Happy New Year!

I wish you and yours a very happy 2010.

At a NYE dinner party someone at the table said he was in his 10th decade. I knew he was 80, and that he was born in 1929. So he had lived during the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 00s, and now the 10s decades. Count them up. That is indeed 10 decades.

I didn't like that idea but of course had to check my own, and found that I am entering my 8th decade! Now that is not a fun way to look at this new year, in which I hope we all may find peace, health, safety, and good times and memories with our families.

Happy New Year!

12000

I started this blog back in February of 2008. That's about 2 years now, and there have been over 12000 hits, or views, of the blog. That is more than 500 a month, or about 17 views a day. That is small potatoes for many web sites, but pretty good for a local PC Doc.

So I say thank you to those of you who are faithful regular visitors.

I have about 300 customers on my address list, however, so this number also shows that most are not regular visitors. I wish I could get more of my customer base to check in more regularly. A lot of what I post has to do with preventive steps we users can take to avoid problems, so the more one views the blog, the fewer problems one will experience. Please encourage others to look here once in a while. There are 5 posts on a page, so visiting once a week will show the viewer the past week's posts.

Search this site

I am happy to say that Google has finally made a fairly good search engine available for searching this blog. Just to the right of this post you will see a small Google search window. You can now enter a search argument and you will get all hits that are on this blog. Those of you who, like me, have had to go through the archive list, also to the right and lower down, to fine an old post, can now just use the new search facility. Note that when you do the results will be displayed with 3 tabs up on top. Be sure to check (view) the contents of all 3 tabs.

SeniorNet of Vermont Class Schedule

SeniorNet of Vermont has posted its schedule of computer classes for January & February. This is a great opportunity for seniors 50 and over to catch up with the younger generation in their use of computers! Classes are inexpensive, taught by volunteer professionals, and definitely worth checking out. View the offerings and register online at:

SeniorNet of Vermont Class Schedule

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

This pretty much says it all for me:

I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

(The photo is of the Our Lady Queen of Peace Church in Boothbay Harbor, Maine and was taken by Kevin Burnham of the Boothbay Register staff).

I will be taking a few days off from blogging to enjoy the holidays. Thanks for visitig here.

Top 10 Cell Phones

Wow, what a great article this is. All you would want to know about the top 10 cell phones available today. This comes from pcworld.com, and could be very timely for many of us. My only concern about all of this is twofold: initial cost of the phone and the ongoing monthly fees. I admit to feeling a bit hypocritical saying this after buying an Apple MacBook Pro.

Need a break from your laptop? These productivity phones offer a lot more than the ability to make calls. Here are the 10 best smartphones available today.

Edited by Ginny Mies, PC World 

Top 10 Cell Phones

Tip of the day: Move the My Documents folder - an oldie but a goodie

A customer asked how to move her MY DOCUMENTS in Windows XP to an external hard drive. It seems her C: drive was getting rather full, and she had aleady bought a large external drive.

I thought I had blogged on this. It is something I have done. I can't, however, find the blog post, so I am blogging it here today for those of you who may wish to do the same thing. This blogger offering I am using is from Google. Google bought blogger.com some time ago. Would't you think therefore that there'd be a good way to search my (or any other) blog? I guess Google doesn't see the payback in improving the search facility, which is practically useless.

In any case, if you would lie to move your XP MY DOCUMENTS, it's very straightforward. It may take a while if you have a lot of documents because they all have to be moved!

Use this link for the show me instructions: Tip of the day: Move the My Documents folder

A "thank you" and a tip of the hat to Ed Bott for having posted this on his blog.

Securing Your PC - Revisited

Protecting your computer from attack by viruses, rogues, malware or spyware is not rocket science. I promised I would re-post this information in response to several inquiries. On March 9 of this year, I posted all of the components I use to combat the bad guys and to keep my machines running smoothly.

Here is the link to that post:  http://pcdocsblog.blogspot.com/2009/03/securing-your-pc.html


I have been experimenting lately with Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) as an alternative to AVG Free. I have expressed my disappointment with AVG's marketing techniques in this blog, so I have no problem leaving them behind. If you are using AVG Free and feel the way I do about them, you can try MSE as well. Simply go to microsoft.com and download it there. It is free!

In answer to other questioners, YES, using a HOSTS file is an integral part of a good security package. The one I recommend is considered the best by many people, including me.

All of the software on my March 9 list is free.

My new MacBook Pro 17"

So what I did last night was finally bit the bullet and got myself a Mac. Quite a few of my PC customers have switched, and even I had recommended to several that they consider a Mac. I have heard so much good about them, and I wanted to be in a position where I could begin servicing them. Heretofore I have just responded "sorry" when asked if I could help with a Mac problem.

I bought a new MacBook Pro with a 17" screen. For those of you not familiar with the Apple product line, this is a laptop. Here are its specs:

• 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
• 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2X2GB
• 500GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
• SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
• MacBook Pro 17-inch Hi-Resolution Glossy Widescreen Display
• None
• Backlit Keyboard (English) / User's Guide

It is really a slick machine. I played with one at the Apple Store in Natick, MA before making my decision to buy. I always recommend getting hands-on before making your decision.

I still balk at the price. One of my sons replied that you could buy 5 Corollas for the price of a Mercedes! :-) Hmm.... For sometime I will be wondering if I did the right thing.

The Apple Store

Tonight I visited the Apple Store at the Natick (MA) Collection (Mall). Tomorrow, when I am sober (just kidding) I will tell you about my experience and what I did.

Shock

One of my laptops took quite a shock today when I dropped it. It was on a chair and had power cord attached. I lifted it up by the top of the open display with one hand. I inadvertently stepped on the power cord and that caused me to lose my grip on the laptop. I was really concerned. I have seen laptops get destroyed with lesser shocks, but this one survived and seems to be running well.

So thank you Acer. This TravelMate 4220 was my first Acer, and we now have 3. It was a risk when I bought it. It was one of the less expensive machines, and I figured that I, with my PC expertise, would be able to keep it running, and I have. However, I never expected to ever drop it, and I wouldn't have expected it to survive the shock it has apparently absorbed. So Acer, thanks again, and a tip of the hat!

MSE

Microsoft Security Essentials, that is. A while back I said that I had installed it on my Windows 7 machine as an experiment. It was very easy to install and so far seems trouble-free. I have also installed it on a customer's Vista machine, and likewise, a very easy install and seems to run well and SEEMS to do the job. I capitalized the word seems because I don't feel that I have enough experience to recommend it to anyone - yet.

So if you have been waiting for my comments on this product, I'd ask you to wait for a more definitive recommendation down the road a piece. If on the other hand you are anxious to try it out and ready to do so, I would not discourage you. As a security package, it has these things going for it: it is easy to install, it does in fact keep itself up-to-date, it seems to have less overhead than say Norton or McAfee, and it is free!

FBI: Rogue antivirus scammers have made $150M

Quite a few of you know what that subject is all about. I have spent many hours in 2009 working on your PCs that had become infected with one of the so-called "rogue programs", and I thank you for your business. I have developed a formula for ridding systems of these rogues, and so far the routine I use has worked 100%. Here is a surprise for you: all I use are the programs listed in my recommended security suite. Tomorrow I will repeat that list of programs that I recommend in another blog post.

In the meantime, I highly recommend this Computerworld.com article. Please take a few minutes to read it. Between this article and tomorrow's post, you have the opportunity to avoid these rogues and save yourself an emergency call to your PCDoc.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9142160/FBI_Rogue_antivirus_scammers_have_made_150M

Backing up your data

I have been preaching data backup forever, it seems. Still,  I have customers who do not back up their data and risk losing some or all of it.

Yesterday a customer asked me about a subscription service which, for a modest annual fee, will automaticaly back up all of your data on an ongoing basis. When you start with them, they will take a day or week or longer, whatever it takes, to backup all of your data over your high speed internet connection. They will do it gradually if you permit them, so that your system will not be down or extra slow while they do this backup. Thereafter they will do incremental backups, meaning they will back up your data that has been updated or added since the last backup. They will store your data in an encrypted format at some remote location of theirs. As far as I am concerned, this is all goodness. Having your data backed up and stored elsewhere at a reasonable cost is a good thing.

If you elect to go this route, you must also take the responsibility to make sure that all of your data is backed up. The emphasis there is on the word ALL. I had one customer who subscribed to a service like this, thought all of their data was being backed up, and when the you know what hit the fan, they found out that all of their 2008 business financial data had not been backed up. They were able to manually recreate the files by entering all of the data from paper back into the computer. They were lucky. At least they could recreate the data. You may not be so lucky, so be sure if you go this route that you are completely covered.

I do not recommend one of these backup services over another because I have no experience with any of them. Conceptually this sounds like a good deal.

My preference is to be in control and not spend money if I don't have to. You can read more about how I manage my backups at this earlier blog post: http://pcdocsblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/backing-up-your-data.html

Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT)

I am a member of AAA. I believe it is inexpensive smart insurance for my wife and me. In October I had a flat tire on my truck and it took a cell phone call and a 45 minute wait to get my flat tire removed and my spare tire installed and I was ready to go. That one call was financial justification enough for me to renew my membership.

When it comes to our computers, I feel the same way. I don't like paying for software, and rarely do I need to do that. A case in point of affordable insurance is Microsoft's MSRT. The price is right. It's free! Microsoft updates this program every month in an effort to keep its customers' PCs running trouble-free. It is distributed with your Automatic Updates. So why do I write about it here?

The answer is this. I just downloaded all of this Tuesday's updates and noticed that the December version of MSRT was included. However, I do not believe that the MSRT, when downloaded thru Automatic Updates does a full scan. I say this because every month I also download MSRT manually and run a Full Scan, and it takes several hours to run! So I suspect, but am really not sure, that the automatic download and install of MSRT  runs only a Quick Scan.

I like to download the tool monthly and let it run a Full Scan. I start this when I can let it run the full scan, maybe at bedtime or when I am headed out the door for a few hours. To me this is high quality and cheap insurance, and it makes sense to me to do this.

You can click on that image above to enlarge it.

The MSRT can be downloaded at http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.aspx. Go to this site and click on "Skip the details and download the tool". 

Apple customer collates 27-in. iMac display problems

Hmmmm.......  On second thought.........

Flickering, shattered screens lead iMac gripes, says data culled from Apple support forum

From Computerworld.com: 

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9141894/Apple_customer_collates_27_in._iMac_display_problems

Mixed Bag

I am sitting here working on 3 different laptops, two of them mine! One is running good old Windows XP, a second is running Windows Vista (a customer machine), and the third is running Windows 7.

I still am not a Vista fan, and again I encourage those of you who run Vista to download and run the Microsoft Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. It's a free utility, and you can get it here: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/upgrade-advisor.aspx. See how compatible your computer would be with Windows 7. If you pass the test, then I strongly urge you to watch for sales on Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade. My experience in doing that upgrade is that I shall not look back, and I really like Windows 7 a lot. Oh, and if possible, add 2GB of RAM to your machine first, although mine is running very well (better than it did when it was Vista) in just 2GB of RAM total.

I am not quite ready to upgrade my Windows XP machines, as I did my Vista laptop. I have a lot invested in my XP machines, in terms of applications installed and XP performance. In short, I see no need to upgrade my XP machines, although someday I probably will.

If you have questions about any of this, please comment on this post (click on Comments below) or write me.

Another chance to recycle used computers for Vermonters

Free computer drop-off at new Goodwill store in South Burlington

Cleaning out your closets? Got an old, dusty computer to get rid of? Bring it all down to the new Goodwill store opening Friday, December 11, at 1080 Shelburne Road (on the site of the former Tuscan Kitchen). They'll take it all for free--including the computers! Regular hours are Monday-Saturday 9-9, Sunday 9-7.

The building itself is constructed partially from reused materials salvaged from the former Tuscan Kitchen building, embodying Goodwill's own mission for keeping usable goods in use. It is on track for Energy Star certification with energy efficient heating, air-conditioning, and insulation features. Best of all, their drive-through donation zone makes it a breeze to drop off your lava lamp, broken-in jeans, and that faithful, old Commodore computer!

The new store is in addition to the existing Goodwill location at 329 Harvest Lane in Williston, which also accepts computer equipment for free.

Refurbished and Clearance Apple Items

I think I have posted more than once that I would love to get into and learn the Apple family of, I'm not even sure what term to use, Macs. I am not sure if the term Macs includes all of their "PCs", but that is what I mean for it to indicate. Apple does have a web site where they sell refurbished machines, and there doesn't seem to be a lack of good machines available here:

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals

There are also a lot of refurbished iPods at this site.

Hackers quick to exploit Tiger Woods crash

Interesting. Be wary of such sites. This comes from cbronline.com:

Cyber criminals are already exploiting the car crash involving golf superstar Tiger Woods by directing news-hungry surfers to malware-infested websites.

Both Symantec and Sophos have warned users to be on their guard when searching for news relating to the crash, which happened in the early hours of Friday morning at his home near Orlando, Florida.

Sophos has claimed that by early Saturday morning hackers had created webpages claiming to contain video footage related to the incident. Users visiting the infected sites are likely to see their PCs infected by a Trojan horse, which enablers hackers to use the PC to spread spam.

More on Windows 7

Windows 7 continues to impress. A real unexpected bonus is improved performance on this Acer laptop of mine. Even though I had dressed Vista down, using tips to make it more like XP, it was still quite slow. It now has new life, thanks to Windows 7, and is performing much better. I did not expect this at all, and have been pleasantly surprised.

If you are thinking of getting a new PC for Christmas, don't hesitate because of Windows 7. I am quite sure you will not be disappointed.

Like any new PC, it will need some customization, but this is not the fault of Windows 7 as much as it is the manufacturer's desire to generate a little more income by loading up your new PC with trialware and unnecessary programs.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you and yours have a very happy day. Thank you for reading my blog.

Christmas Dreaming

I have to say, after only 2 days, that I still like Windows 7 a lot. Microsoft has done some good things with this new product. I just hope it's stable and I hope that its Security Essentials is high quality and keeps the Windows 7 machines well-protected. It would be nice to have a stable Windows environment, pretty much free of worry about being attacked by the bad guys out there. It does get a little tiring having to worry about installing and maintaining a plethora of programs just to keep my Windows XP machines clean and running smoothly. What say you, Microsoft? More on this as I gain experience with Windows 7.

I can't get my mind, however, off of that 27 inch iMac! While it wouldn't quite fit into a Christmas stocking, it sure would look nice under the tree! But, as indicated earlier, the way I configured "mine", it came in at $3200, so I guess it will remain a dream!

Windows 7 - at last!

I finally have Windows 7 installed. Instead of building up an old desktop to use for this, I sacrificed my Vista laptop. I ran out of patience, and using the Vista laptop was the easiest way to get the job done. Besides, I don't foresee a need to have a working Vista system anymore. I have worked on enough Vista systems to know that I can handle Vista problems without having my own system.

So, on to Windows 7. I never was able to use the first DVD that Amazon sent me, and they sent me a replacement set. Windows 7 comes with a 32 bit version DVD and a 64 bit version DVD. My laptop had the 32 bit version of Vista installed, and everything I have read told me that the 64 bit version is unnecessary at this time because there are so few programs that will take advantage of the technology. The 32 bit version is recommended.

So I tried, but failed. The installation did not at all go the way it was supposed to go. I could not get the 32 bit version installed, and mind you, all I wanted was a CLEAN install, meaning all I wanted to do was lay the new system down on the drive overwriting my old system and destroying all of the data. I did not want tp upgrade my Vista to Windows 7. This latter install is the toughest, I have read, and a CLEAN install is recommended whenever possible.

I then decided to try the 64 bit DVD, and, to my surprise, I was able to get through the install, although not terribly smoothly. There were problems along the way, but I somehow managed to get through it.

Then, and this comes as no surprise, I had to sit through hours of Windows Updates. The DVD set was dated, as I recall, July 2009. Microsoft has been very busy patching Windows 7 since then, and there were tens, maybe even a hundred, updates to apply. Then I had to install Microsoft Office 2007, and it too had many, many updates, some quite time-consuming.

This is the Microsoft way, isn't it? It always has been and probably always will be.

Eventually I had all of the fixes applied, and thought I would try the new Microsoft Security Essentials. I had promised in an earlier blog post that I would give it a try. Supposedly, this one free package will do it all, anti-virus and spyware. The download and install of this package went very smoothly and quickly. Can it be that Microsoft has done this one thing right? I sure hope so.

So there you have it. I have to admit that I LIKE Windows 7. This may surprise some of you after what I have written above. I can and will recommend Windows 7. Microsoft has done a very good job at improving what they had in Vista. They may even have listened to users!

I can recommend Windows 7 to you now mostly because I know you will most likely be buying a new computer that already has Windows 7 installed on it. It is a very nice and user-friendlier interface. I simply can't recommend the upgrade from Vista to Windows 7. I am glad I have gone through it, but I had so many problems that it was painful, and to be honest, I don't even know if the 64 bit version I had to install will run well with the software I want to run. Time will tell.

Bottom line: Windows 7 is a very good product. Make sure your next computer has it. I think you will like it a lot, especially when compared to Vista.

Micro Center

Have you ever heard of the Micro Center? Living a sheltered life as we do in Northern New England, we don't get much exposure to places like this. Micro Center is a chain of 22 stores, and the nearest one to us is in Cambridge, MA. Spending some time in the Boston area as I have lately, one of my sons put me on to this store.

If you are into PCs or Macs (they sell both, and supplies and accessories for both), you may love this store. It is really amazing. Limited as we are up here to Staples and Best Buy plus some other outlets like Radio Shack and maybe BJs or Costco or Sam's Club, this was like entering candyland for me!

I recommend you check it out online and if in the Cambridge area, stop in to see it. It's right on Memorial Drive along the Charles.

http://www.microcenter.com/at_the_stores/cambridge.html

Google rides Chrome OS onto Microsoft turf

In case you haven't heard, Google is planning an operating system, in diect competition with Microsoft. Some of you have tried Google's Chrome web browser, but this takes it further into a full-blown operating system, browser-based. So while we all struggle with having to learn Windows 7, or how to keep our good old Windows XP machines running, or with the Apple vs. PC makers, Google is plodding along with development of their own operating system. It is expected that general availability of the new Chrome OS will be a year from now (in time for Christmas 2010?). In the meantime, we will all be reading about early versions of the Chrome OS. Here is one, for those of you who may be interested, from Computerworld.com.

Google's Chrome OS

Microsoft Answers

Microsoft maintains many, many forums (we used to say fora, but now forums is acceptable?) on Windows 7, Vista, and XP. The categories are listed here on this one page. If you have a Windows Live id (Hotmail, for example) you can even login and post your own questions. But, even without that you'll find discussions on most any topic within the operating system of your choice. It's definitely worth a look and even an add to your Bookmarks (I assume by now that everyone is using Firefox as your default browser, and thus the Firefox terminology). Okay, Favorites, if you still insist on using Internet Explorer!

http://social.answers.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/categories

Spam

These are actual subjects of e-mails in my Junk mail folder at my pcdoc address:

payment request from "Publix"
payment request from "Electric Boat" 
payment request from "Avnet"
payment request from "Nike" 

Unbelievable, but easy to see how one might get in trouble and wind up with a virus if you happened to get just one of these and from a company you do business with. These spammers are actually making money sending this junk out, and stealing from anyone who is gullible enough to open one of these e-mails. And if they don't steal from the gullible, who knows what virus they  may install on your system?

A word to the wise: check your spam settings, and if you get an e-mail such as one of these, be sure to mark it as spam - AND DON'T OPEN IT!

AVG Free Version 9

AVG is still free. I had a call earlier today from a customer who was having trouble entering his credit card information in the AVG ordering process. I was very upset. I am so upset with AVG for their aggressive marketing technique, scaring people into buying their product. Shame on them!

AVG is still free. Rather than risk getting to the wrong page on AVG's own web  site, download it at http://filehippo.com or http://download.com.

In both cases search for AVG FREE, with the emphasis on the word FREE! Do not be led into buying their for-a-fee version.

PLEASE do not ever pay for any version of AVG anti-virus. If/when the FREE version is withdrawn, you'll hear it from me here, and I will be quick to point you to another free anti-virus.

Not so fast: Look before you leap!

After marveling at the Apple MacBook Pro 13 inch notebook yesterday, and blogging about it, I measured my own Acer laptop's screen, and found that mine is 15 inches measured diagonally. I would have a hard time adjusting to a smaller screen. The older I get the larger the display I want. I recently bought a 22 inch display for my desktop PC.

I guess the moral of the story is that you should see in person what it is you want to buy before making any important (and expensive) decisions. Touch it, lift it, view it and try it out.

I previously blogged about the Acer Aspire One Netbook I purchased, could it be a year ago? I wanted to find out what the Netbook craze was all about. It's about size and weight. And cost! These tiny machines are real lightweights, and a joy for the traveler, especially someone like me who lugged an IBM ThinkPad around the world. That wasn't fun.

However, the weight, size, and convenience come at a price. The Acer Aspire One's screen is 8.9 inches measured diagonally. I could never use that, traveling or not. I gave the machine to my wife to test, and she is using it to this day as her fulltime computer. She goes nowhere without it, and the fact that it is such a lightweight is probably the single most important factor contributing to her satisfaction. She is in and out of airports and train stations the way I am in and out of Dunkin' Donuts! Oh, and it has Windows XP.

More about the Acer Aspire One Netbook

Apple MacBook Pro 13-inch Notebook

From wired.com, a very nice review of the new MacBook Pro, makes me rethink the affordability issue (as in can I afford to buy one?).

"The littlest MacBook Pro finally gets all the features of its larger brethren, making it pound for pound one of the most impressive laptops on the market today. For starters, the aluminum unibody construction is solid to an extreme: There's no wiggle or shimmy when you lift up this laptop. It's a high-tech brick that, if you gathered enough of, you could probably pave your driveway with."

MORE....................

 

No e-mail prgram included in Windows 7

From Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal:

Q: I have just bought a new computer with Windows 7, and not only can’t I download Outlook Express, I can’t even find it. Is it there? Where?

A: Sadly, Microsoft killed Outlook Express—its free, fast and simple Windows email program—long before Windows 7 came out. In Vista, it was replaced by something called Windows Mail. Now, there’s no email program at all built into Windows 7, unless a PC maker chooses to include one. But Microsoft offers for download a free product called Windows Live Email that is the latest successor to Outlook Express. You can get it, alone or as part of a suite of free “Essentials” programs that used to be routinely part of Windows, at: windowslive.com/desktop.

Review: 3 Windows 7 touch-screen laptops

It will be interesting to see if touch-screen sales begin to climb and ultimately take off or if the concept will fall by the wayside. I have to say I'd like to try one out. Read this Computerworld article at the following link:

Review: 3 Windows 7 touch-screen laptops

New iMac

As I have stated before, I would love to own an Apple computer. I guess their laptops are called Macs and their desktops are called iMacs? I'm not even sure about that, I know so little about them. I have only always known that they are pricey.

Today I went to apple.com and configured myself a nice new iMac with the highly touted 27" display. It starts out at $1695 or close to that, and that's not bad. However, I went step by step through their very nice configurator and wound up with a desktop machine, and I might say a beauty that I would be proud to own, but it came in at over $3200!

Maybe next year.

Windows 7 Update

Unable to get the Windows 7 DVD setup.exe program to run, I decided, after many dead-end trials (I tried to load the program on multile machines and it failed), to return the product to Amazon. I did request a replacement as opposed to a return because I had purchased this at a pre-order price of $49.

My DVD package was sealed and therefore I blame Microsoft for providing a non-functioning product DVD to Amazon. Now I realize that Microsoft probably never came near these DVDs, but obviously they are responsible for ensuring quality controls are implemented.

In the meantime I have decided to install Windows 7, after I get my replacement, on an older desktop unit instead of sacrificing my only working Vista machine.

Nice note from Amazon:

Hello,

I'm so sorry about the problem you had with your Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade.

It is certainly not our intention to ship defective products to our customers, and we will investigate the origin of this problem as soon as possible.

We always appreciate customer input on how we can improve our store, and I've forwarded your message to our shipping department, as I know they'll want to read about your experience.

In order to compensate for the inconvenience caused, I've placed a new order for you at no charge.

Windows 7 Disappointment

Well, my first day playing with Windows 7 didn't go well. I decided to sacrifice my Vista machine to Windows 7, stuck the Windows 7 DVD in the drive, and immediately found that setup.exe didn't work. I couldn't get the program to even begin. 

I quickly went to the appropriate Microsoft support forum, posted my problem, and got one response - all day long - wherein the guy just asked me if I did this and that, and I explained that I did this and that and then even some more!

Day one is a total washout!

Finally!

Well, it finally arrived late last week. Windows 7. After all my complaining about the shipping delay, I have to confess that I am not yet quite ready for it. I have yet to decide the machine I will use for the installation. I had been thinking my Vista laptop, but I only have one Vista machine, and lately I have been spending a lot of time with customers on their Vista machines. It might be wise for me to hang on to my Vista machine so I can use mine as a lab machine to try to replicate or simply explain what has happened when a customer has a Vista problem.

Operating Systems Offer New Choices in PC Shopping

If you will be shopping for a new PC or a Mac for yourself or a loved one this holiday season, you may find this article quite helpful. We do indeed have lots of choices.

Operating Systems Offer New Choices in PC Shopping

Windows 7 endless reboot answer evades Microsoft

It seems that there is a problem for some users who attempt to migrate an existing Vista machine to Windows 7. This comes as no surprise, since upgrading in place is always one of the toughest ways to go. It would be prudent to hold off on upgrading Vista to Windows 7 until problems like this one are all corrected.

ComputerWorld Article: Windows 7 endless reboot answer evades Microsoft

Comments

This new blog allows for comments on all posts. Look at the bottom right side of any post and you'll see the word "Comments". To leave a comment on any post simply click on that word and the rest is pretty simple. You do not need to register or enter a userid and password. Just enter your comment. You can even leave anonymous posts, but of course I'd prefer to know who you are.

I welcome any questions or general or specific comments on any and all posts. It would make my blog a much better place for you to visit if I had your comments to help me shape future posts.

Please think about it and then give comments a try.

Rootkits - Be afraid, be very afraid

I had heard of, and read about, rootkits. I have even used some free, standalone rootkit detectors on my own systems. However, I had never met a rootkit until this past weekend, when a customer said her machine had become unusable. I think rootkits came into existence about 5 years ago. This is from a 2005 Computerworld article:

"Microsoft Corp. security researchers are warning about a new generation of powerful system-monitoring programs, or "rootkits," that are almost impossible to detect using current security products and could pose a serious risk to corporations and individuals. The researchers discussed the growing threat posed by kernel rootkits at a session at the RSA Security Conference in San Francisco this week. The malicious snooping programs are becoming more common and could soon be used to create a new generation of mass-distributed spyware and worms."

The rootkit I encountered over the weekend blocked all of the tools I normally use to attack a virus-, rogue-, or trojan-infected system. I tried Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, Superantispyware, and Spybot. None of these programs would even start. They were completely blocked, as was AVG Free Anti-virus. So I went into Safe Mode (Windows XP) and lo and behold, they were blocked there too! I had never run into such a situation before, and didn't know what I was faced with other than a really tough cleaning job.

I had thought of using 2 approaches: one, a complete reinstall of XP, and two, removing the customer's hard drive, slipping it into an enclosure, and then attacking it as an external hard drive attached to my own machine. Fortunately, I didn't have to do either.

I was so frustrated at not being able to start any of the usual tools, that I kept trying different approaches. It was then that I noticed an option offered by SuperAntiSpyware called "SuperAntiSpyware Alternate Start". Have you ever noticed this option and wondered what it was all about? If you click on START/ALL PROGRAMS/SuperAntiSpyware, a menu appears and one of the entries in the menu is SuperAntiSpyware Alternate Start. I tried this and IT WORKED! I think what the folks have done is to start their program using a fabricated name, and this was not recognized by the rootkit. It's too late to make a long story short, but the Alternate version ran and found and eliminated the rootkit! Thank you, once again, SuperAntiSpyware.

It also found a bunch of viruses and trojans and killed them all. I then ran the vanilla flavor of Spybot and Anti-Malware, and as has been my experience, they both found additional serious problems and fixed them!

At this point the system was completely usable and I was able to continue with a badly-needed cleaning and tuning.

Rootkits have ingenious methods for making themselves undetectable to the operating system, but I also think that they open the door to viruses and trojans, and may even intentionally seek them and allow them to be installed. This belief is based only on this one experience.

I think today's security tools do a much better job at preventing rootkits from getting into our systems, but the hackers are working every day at finding other ways to "get us". So do be afraid, be very afraid. Take the steps I have recommended in this blog, and be careful out there. Just because you are not paranoid does not mean they are not out to get you.

Review my October 16 & March 9 blog posts for my security recommendations.

Windows 7 Delayed Ship - Intentional?

I blogged back in June, I think it was, that I had participated in a special pre-order opportunity to buy Windows 7 for $49.99. I expected the DVD to be in today's mail, or even yesterday's. First availability was yesterday.

But, at 5:30 PM today I received an e-mail from Amazon informing me that my order had shipped and is expected to arrive at my home on October 28! Now that is what I call a poorly-planned marketing effort. I was actually anxiously awaiting its arrival. Now I get to wait another week.

Microsoft Online Store

Of course today is a big day for Microsoft. Windows 7 is launched today!

I also read where Microsoft is starting to sell PCs online. This is an interesting turn. I thought at first that maybe they were selling their own line of PCs, but they are simply selling the big name brands. It might be worth a visit to their store at http://store.microsoft.com/microsoft/Computers/category/4 if you are now, or will soon be, in the market for a new machine. I have not done any comparison of prices so don't know if they will ever be the low cost supplier.

SeniorNet of Vermont

For my Vermont friends, are you aware of SeniorNet? This is a very valuable resource located within an easy ride to anyone living in Chittenden County, and when I was teaching there we had students who traveled in from other surrounding counties. They found it worth the trip.

SeniorNet is a non-profit staffed entirely by volunteers. It offers low-cost computer courses for seniors 50 and over. (With each passing year I think more and more of 50 year-olds as kids!) Take a look at the wide-ranging menu of courses and seminars offered this coming November. There are some excellent offerings there, being taught by seasoned professionals who love teaching others what they know. You should give SeniorNet a close look and seriously consider registering (online) for a course or seminar.

The SeniorNet web site can be found here: http://seniornetvt.org/

Vista

I worked on 3 customer machines today. All 3 had Vista installed, and were otherwise very nice machines. But if working on 3 Vista machines in one day isn't equivalent to a day in Hell, it surely must be equivalent to a day in Purgatory. Microsoft's Vista is an abomination, and I am thrilled that as of this coming Thursday no one will be sold a new machine with Vista on it.

If you are lucky enough to have an XP machine, keep it running and hang onto it as long as you can.

If you need to buy a new machine, from all accounts I have read the new Windows 7, available on new machines starting Thursday, 10/22, is much better. Even if you have to be a pioneer and be one of the first users, you should be better off.

Securing your PC - Revisited

I was looking for a certain post from some months ago, and with this new blog (thanks again Google!) it's easy to find the old stuff. On March 9 of this year I blogged on Securing Your PC with my recommendations for FREE software you can use for this purpose.

I did this because I was reading the latest Windows Secrets newsletter, and saw an article that explained how to get rid of a particularly vicious piece of malware. The following 3 paragraphs are taken directly from this newsletter and they read:

"As Peter discovered, if you try to remove the Advanced Virus Remover, you find that your access to Task Manager and the Registry Editor (Regedit) are blocked, making removal of this malware harder than normal. But there are several approaches to rid your system of this and similar kinds of malware. Even if you don't encounter this specific Trojan, the same techniques can work whenever a similar problem occurs.

The first and perhaps most-obvious step is to use one or more of the many free malware-removal tools that find and delete this Trojan. From user reviews online, two that do the job are Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and SuperAntiSpyware.

Users of Grisoft's free AVG, a full-on antivirus/anti-malware tool that prevents and disinfects — as opposed to the malware-removal tools and online scanners mentioned above — also report success in banishing the Advanced Virus Remover Trojan. Download your copy of AVG from the Grisoft site."

Well, this makes me feel pretty good, since they are talking about the same tools I have recommended to you. There are, of course, other tools in the basic security toolset I recommend. If you use all of these regularly, you can stay out of trouble, or, if you manage to get into trouble, these same tools will enable you to repair your own system.

See my March 9, 2009 post, Securing Your PC by clicking HERE.

AVG Anti-virus Free Edition Version 9.0

There is a new version of AVG Free named Version 9.0. I downloaded it (71MB) and installed it on my Windows XP laptop. Previously I had Version 8.5 installed. The installation went smoothly and took only 5 or 10 minutes. As before with earlier versions, I did not install the AVG Security Toolbar, nor did I elect to have Yahoo as my default search engine. At the end of the installation I was asked if I wanted to run their Optimization Scan. This is a scan they are doing right now as I write this that will (supposedly) greatly reduce future scan times, and that is good news. Apparently they eliminate, through this scan, some number of files that they know won't need to be scanned during a regular scan.

I would recommend you download the new version at download.com. Here is the link:

http://download.cnet.com/windows/

Once there, PLEASE do a search, using the search window at the top of the display for AVG FREE. Do not click on any buttons that may look like they will lead you to AVG Free. DO THE SEARCH! If you do, you will get a window that will contain the download link for the new version. Below you will see the product you want to download. (Click on the picture below to enlarge it.)

Click on the Download Now button over on the right, and your download will begin. I usually save files like this on my desktop for immediate use after the download is completed.

As I said, the install went very smoothly. I opted out of the AVG Security Toolbar and the Yahoo as my search engine option, and I did opt for the Optimization Scan at the end of the install. This scan only took about 10 minutes.

The new AVG User Interface looks very similar to the older version. See below.

I don't see a need to rush into this brand new version for all of you, but be alert to come-ons from AVG and possibly others that may try to get you to buy the professional versions. You don't need them for your home computers. 

It's fairly easy to write comments on any of my posts. Just click on Comments below and to the right of every post to add your comments. Note that anonymous comments are allowed, but I'd prefer it if you would identify yourself. That or write me an e-mail with your comments.

Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool

If you pay any attention at all to the updates that get downloaded from Microsoft on a fairly regular basis, probably through Automatic Updates, you may have noticed one called Malicious Software Removal Tool. I believe this is the situation with this tool: Microsoft issues a new version every month and it gets downloaded along with the updates. It turns out that you can download this tool manually. You can find it at this url: http://www.microsoft.com/security/malwareremove/default.aspx

Why, you might ask, would I ever want to do this? The answer, I believe, is this. If you download it and run it, you will be given the options of running a Quick Scan, a Full Scan, or a Custom Scan. This morning I went to the above web site and downloaded the October version of this tool. I ran it and elected the Full Scan. It ran for 3 hours! It found no problems, as I would have expected, but I thought this is a small price to pay for yet one more layer of security protection. I do not believe that the version one gets through Automatic Updates will run a full scan. I say this because I have never seen this program running at all, so assume it must be running the quick scan.

Note that when I began running it there was an indication that this was the October version. I'll do the same thing next month and run a Full Scan of the new November version.

Questions? Just submit a comment with your question or e-mail me. (Click on the image below for a larger version.)

Recapping

The buzz in the trade press  is all about Windows 7. Let's take a moment to recap where WE are.

Most of us have Windows XP, and we don't hate it. Some actually like it. In either case, there is no reason to leave it. Stay with XP. It will be supported by Microsoft until 2014, so if your hardware will last, you are all set for a while. I personally intend to stay with XP on my desktop and my primary laptop.

If you have Vista, I feel for you. You probably don't like it, but I know some of you do like it. If you are happy with Vista, there is no reason to change to Windows 7, although you will probably like Windows 7 more than Vista. If you do not like your Vista environment, than you should consider upgrading your machine to Windows 7. In both cases, I recommend you download, install, and run the Microsoft free program Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Beta by clicking HERE. This program will tell you if your current machine will run Windows 7. It's worth doing this even if you are undecided about what direction you want to take. I have one Vista laptop and I intend to upgrade it to Windows 7, mostly so that I can gain some experience with it and be of help to those of you who may wish to have some assistance with your upgade.

If you are going to buy a new machine soon, keep in mind that after October 22 you will have a difficult time finding a machine with anything but Windows 7. I'd suggest you wait a while if you can, give Windows 7 a couple of months in the hands of millions of others, and then jump in and buy a machine with Windows 7. There will probably be a lot of Christmas season sales promotions, and it may be a very good time to buy.

A Windows to Help You Forget

Forget Vista that is!

This is a really good Walt Mossberg article on Windows 7. Here is the first paragraph of his article:

"In just two weeks, on Oct. 22, Microsoft’s long operating-system nightmare will be over. The company will release Windows 7, a faster and much better operating system than the little-loved Windows Vista, which did a lot to harm both the company’s reputation, and the productivity and blood pressure of its users. PC makers will rush to flood physical and online stores with new computers pre-loaded with Windows 7, and to offer the software to Vista owners who wish to upgrade."

You can read the whole article here, and note the comments under it while you are there.

http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20091007/a-windows-to-help-you-forget/

Microsoft Security Essentials

Below is the introduction to an article in a paid subscription I have to Windows Secrets.

http://www.windowssecrets.com/

I read the whole thing and I must say I am impressed by what Woody has to say about the new Microsoft Security Essentials. I have an old laptop running XP, and I think I will download the Microsoft package and give it a try. I will report back on it in a couple of weeks.


Free MS Security Essentials are worth trying

By Woody Leonhard Fast, full-featured, and free, Microsoft's new security suite is drawing accolades from experts and howls of agony from competitors. If you're tired of your bloated and expensive security suite exhorting/extorting you for more money — and you can't stomach the way free AV products try to scare you into paying — it's time to try something new and better from an unexpected source.

Microsoft's new security suite in perspective

Last week, the 'Softies released the final version of Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE). The initial reports are remarkably upbeat, particularly for a Microsoft product labeled "version 1.0."

MSE takes over antivirus and antispyware duties while tossing in antirootkit features for good measure. If you have Windows Defender installed — Defender is a separate download for XP but comes with Vista and Windows 7 — MSE zaps it. There's no need for Defender if MSE is running.

Windows 7 Upgrade Chart

I wasn't sure who created this chart, but I found it on Walt Mossberg's All Things Digital web site, and he says Microsoft created it for him, so here it is. You can click on it to see a larger version.

I found it here: http://mossblog.allthingsd.com/20090804/deciphering-windows-7-upgrades-the-official-chart/

You can't teach an old dog new tricks?

I have just taken over another website, this time for a charity in Maine. It has been developed using Joomla. Heretofore all of the web sites I have developed were done using Microsoft's Frontpage 2003, and I always had the privilege of developing from scratch. This time I have inherited the existing web site and will be responsible for maintenance and improvements.

So far Joomla is a totally different animal to me, and I will have a lot to learn, but like any other learning experience, will probably wind up being a good one for me. I am fortunate enough to have an excellent support person who developed the web site and who is the owner of the hosting company. He has provided me with lots of support, which I need since I am new to Joomla and also HTML.

http://www.joomla.org/

The site is for Rebuilding Together of Lincoln County, Maine, and can be viewed at http://rebuildingtogether-lc.org/

Buying a new PC?

I think I might have addressed this subject not too long ago, but I have some new information to share with you, and mind you this is just my opinion!

This is a terrible time to have to buy a new PC because of the near imminent release of Windows 7 on October 22. I have recommended that you defer your purchase decision so that you wouldn't have to buy a Vista machine. I find likers of Vista are few and far between! It's been a very bad chapter in the evolution of Microsoft's operating systems.

The new news is that I have been reading a lot about Windows 7 experiences on the trade web sites, and the reports are almost all good. Apparently Microsoft has done a good job of addressing the weaknesses in Vista and corrected them in Windows 7. Windows 7 is also apparently faster than Vista, but that's not saying much!

If I really had to buy a new PC now or soon, I'd still delay for some time, like several months if I could, and then go ahead and buy a machine with Windows 7 on it.

For those of you who would rather not take the plunge this early in the lifecycle of Windows 7, and who can blame you, then take a look at manufacturer web sites for reconditioned machines. The bigger companies like Dell and HP, and I am sure most of the others as well, sell reconditioned machines from their web sites.

And don't overlook the possibility of finally switching to a Mac or iMac or other Apple machines. You know your kids are telling you to go ahead and do that, so maybe you can humor them, do it, and get your kids to support your new machine!

Verizon's $150 Netbook Deal Is No Deal at All

This is from today's pcworld.com. FYI, I own an Acer Aspire One Netbook, and would be glad to comment on that if anyone is interested. Write me. (See links below).

Jeff Bertolucci, PC World

Oct 1, 2009 5:15 pm

Attention, suckers: Verizon Wireless will soon offer a Gateway LT2016u netbook with the carrier's Mobile Broadband service built into the device. The Gateway mini-note costs $150 after a $100 mail-in rebate, and the deal requires a 2-year 3G contract. The plan is available starting Oct. 4.

Run, don't walk, from this offer. Even at $150, the Gateway netbook is overpriced, and subscribers will get a bum deal. Here's why:

The LT2016u is a ho-hum netbook. Its specs — a 10.1-inch SD 1024 x 600 display, Intel Atom N270 processor (1.60 GHz), 1 GB RAM, and a 160 GB hard disk — are virtually identical to those of the Acer Aspire One D250, which sells for about $300 at Amazon. The Gateway system does include built-in 3G broadband; but customers are locked into Verizon's usurious monthly fees. (More on those below.) Bottom line: The Gateway discount is far from spectacular.

You'll pay through the nose for broadband. Verizon offers two mobile broadband plans: $40 a month for a 250 MB monthly allowance, plus 10 cents per megabyte overage; or $60 a month for 5 GB, plus 5 cents per MB overage. The cheaper plan is deliberately wimpy, and most customers will choose the $60 package.

With the $60 deal, your out-of-pocket cost over 2 years totals $1590. Yowza. True, that figure includes the cost of 3G broadband service, not just the netbook. But remember that Verizon's 3G service is hard-wired to the Gateway mini-note, which you may not like. You'll pay a bundle for a run-of-the-mill netbook designed for basic tasks like e-mail, Web browsing, and loitering on social networking sites.

Wireless broadband in the U.S. remains overpriced, and carriers often disguise the true cost of their 3G plans by packaging them with seemingly cheap netbooks. But read the fine print, my friend. That bargain mini-note may be the most expensive system you ever buy.

IRS Scam E-mail

On 9/26 my blog post was about the IRS scam e-mail. I have received as many as 100 of these in my business e-mail accounts. Giving credit to my hosting service company (ICDSOFT), they have all wound up in my Junk Mail folder.

If you receive one or more of these, don't even think of opening it, but if you do open one, do not click on the link in the e-mail. This is a scam and will lead you nowhere but into trouble. For its part, the IRS has stated that they will never contact us by e-mail if ever there were such a situation (under reported income).

Here is what the e-mail looks like. Click on it to view a larger image. Since the image below is a jpg file, you will not be able to click on the link.

How to Tweak Outlook Email To Work for You

If you are an Outlook user (note: Outlook is different from Outlook Express), as I am, you may find some useful tips in this Katherine Boehret article posted on the WSJ's All Things Digital web site. For those not familiar with Outlook, it has traditionally been included as an integral component of the Microsoft Office suite, not including the Home & Student version of that package. Outlook is often used in corporate environments and offers many features not normally needed or used in the home.

How to Tweak Outlook Email to Work For You

IRS scam now world's biggest e-mail virus problem

If you get one of these e-mails from the IRS with a subject of "Notice of Underreported Income," or something to that effect, be aware it is a scam. If you are lucky, it will show up in your Spam or Junk folder. This article, from computerworld.com is worth reading.

Note the sentence in the article that includes "and they encourage victims to either install the Trojan attachment or click on a Web link in order to view their "tax statement." In fact, that link takes the victim to a malicious Web site." You can read the article here:

IRS Scam e-mail

Protect Your Privacy on Facebook and Twitter

If you are a Facebook or Twitter user, this PCWorld article is must reading.

http://www.pcworld.com/printable/article/id,172604/printable.html

New Blog Site

It is very nice not to have to worry about issues with blogging software. Thank you Google! I was using a free program called Wordpress, but for all that I wanted and needed, it was overkill, and the release I had installed (I had to install it on the servers at my hosting company) very soon was out of date. I didn't need all that, so here I am. It took me about 15 minutes to migrate all of my posts from the old site to Google. Very nice indeed.

Thanks for looking and I hope you will bookmark this site and visit often.

Tom

Picasa 3.5, now with name tags and more

I know that many of you use Picasa to manage and edit your photos. It's a heck of a lot cheaper than Adobe Photoshop Elements for sure (at $0), and it comes from a good home (Google).

I was just reading in Google's official blog (I never knew they had one) that there is a new release of Picasa with some nice new features.

Here is a link to the Picasa Announcement

Also, here is a link to the official Google Blog, worth bookmarking IMHO.

Official Google Blog

Google’s CHROME Disappoints - Again

I just posted this in a Google Chrome help blog:

I just downloaded and installed the latest Chrome version, 3.0.195.21.

I had tried Chrome a year or so ago and uninstalled it immediately when I realized I could not display my bookmarks in the same manner as Firefox, IE, and virtually any other browser does, meaning down the left hand side of my display. 

I find it hard to believe that Google has not responded to the public outcry to add this simple "feature".

I am now going to uninstall Chrome again, and maybe I'll try again in a year or so to see if Google has finally seen the light.

Your XP-to-Windows 7 upgrade path: Buy a new PC

A very interesting article on today's Computerworld.com web site has the above title.

It starts out with this: "Microsoft's leaders really, really want you to forget about Vista and move right on to Windows 7. And who can blame them? Vista was a train wreck. No one who knows what they're doing runs Vista, not even the Microsoft faithful. Windows 7, on the other hand, is a worthwhile desktop operating system. There's only one little problem. There's no good way to get from XP to 7." I think it is worth reading for those of us with Windows XP.

LINK TO THE ARTICLE

Rogue ad hits New York Times site

Just 3 posts ago I warned of rogue programs - yet again! Looks like they even got the New York Times! Just another warning to be alert, not fall for come-ons that tell you your system is infected and all you have to do is CLICK HERE to get it cleaned!

THEY REALLY ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

This is from cnet.com:

The New York Times Web site is grappling with problems created by "an unauthorized advertisement," but it is unknown how the ads appeared on the site and whether the Web site had been compromised.

The rogue ad warns readers that their computer may be infected with a virus and redirects them to a site that purports to offer antivirus software, according to a note posted to the newspaper's Media & Advertising section:

Some NYTimes.com readers have seen a pop-up box warning them about a virus and directing them to a site that claims to offer antivirus software. We believe this was generated by an unauthorized advertisement and are working to prevent the problem from recurring. If you see such a warning, we suggest that you not click on it. Instead, quit and restart your Web browser.

The site, best-antivirus03.com, is a hijacker that uses fraudulent strategies to promote fake security software, according to security site GeekPolice.net.

One CNET reader described how the pop-up ad essentially hijacked his browser, preventing him from navigating away from the site.

"They took me to an 'antivirus site,' which kept attempting to scan my computer and install software. Using the back button kept reloading the virus page," the reader said. "It was not possible to close the page, necessitating a force quit."

Representatives for The New York Times did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

We remember 9/11