From the BBC online today: Web hit by hi-tech crime wave.
Please make sure your systems are up-to-date and fully protected.
"Hi-tech criminals are racking up more than 100 attacks a second on the world's computers, a survey suggests.
While most of these attacks cause no trouble, the Symantec report suggests that one attack every 4.5 seconds does affect a PC.
The wave of attacks was driven by a steep rise in malicious software in circulation, said the annual report.
The number of malware (malicious software) samples that Symantec saw in 2009 was 71% higher than in 2008.
This meant, said Symantec, that 51% of all the viruses, trojans and other malicious programs it has ever seen were logged during 2009. In total, Symantec identified almost 2.9 million items of malicious code during that 12 month period.
The steep rise in malware was driven largely by the growing popularity of easy to use toolkits that novice cyber criminals are using to turn out their own malware, said Tony Osborne, a technology manager for the public sector at Symantec.
Some of the kits were available for free, said Mr Osborne but others cost a lot of money. One, called Zeus, was available for around $700 (£458) and many had become so successful that their creators now offer telephone support for those who cannot get them to work.
STAYING SAFE ONLINE
Use security software that can tackle viruses and spyware
Use a firewall
Apply operating system updates as soon as they become available
Be suspicious of unsolicited e-mails bearing attachments
This looks like a must-have for those of you who are more technically-inclined do-it-yourselfers. I would recommend downloading both versions (CD & Flash Drive). Be sure to follow through after the downloads and create the CD and Flash Drive and test them both out.
A WORD OF CAUTION: THIS SHOULD ONLY BE USED BY MORE TECHNICALLY-ADVANCED USERS!
"A powerful toolset for rescue & repair of infected machines.
The AVG Rescue CD is a powerful must-have toolkit for the rescue and repair of infected machines. It provides essential utilities for system administrators and other IT professionals and includes the following features:
Comprehensive administration toolkit
System recovery from virus and spyware infections
Suitable for recovering MS Windows and Linux operating systems (FAT32 and NTFS file systems)
Ability to perform a clean boot from CD or USB stick
Free support and service for paid license holders of any AVG product
FAQ and Free Forum self-help support for AVG Free users"
1) On those two machines I worked on over the weekend, the ones infected by the rogue programs, one machine had an up-to-date, fully-functioning copy of Norton 360 installed and the other had McAfee. These are two of the best security programs money can buy. I saw absolutely no problems with the Norton installation. This tells me, plain and simple, that Norton did not do the job it was being paid for, and allowed the rogue program to take over the machine and thereafter run wild. Not nice. On the McAfee machine, although the system tray icon was a red M, McAfee's indication that all was well (hey, since when does RED mean all's well McAfee?), in fact the McAfee security suite was NOT even running. It wasn't clear to me if this was as a result of the rogue program or if it was a bad installation, but the user had downloaded McAfee fom AOL and assumed that it was running. Hmmm.... It obviously wasn't!
2) As posted before, Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT) is downloaded to your system each month (an updated version) via Automatic Updates. It turns out that MSRT has an option for Quick Scan and one for Full Scan. I do not yet know which option Micosoft uses to run this tool in the background, or for that matter, if it runs it at all. I take it on faith that they do at least run the quick scan. However, being the Doubting Thomas that I am, I download MSRT manually every month and personally run a Full Scan. This is a one-time run once a month. The program takes a very long time to run, so I start it when going to bed and let it run. When finished it does not tell you how long it took, but on occasion when I have run it during the day I have seen it still active after more than 3 hours. It could take 6 hours for all I know, but it is a rather painless process for me to download it and install it and let it run once a month. I view this as an ounce of prevention. If you would like to do the same, you can download MSRT at one of the two following sites:
If you are not sure if you are running the 32 bit or 64 bit version of your operating system, download the 32 bit version of MSRT. If it runs, you have the correct version! If it doesn't, it will indicate that you need the 64 bit version.
I can't say enough good things about the non-profit SeniorNet organization. Locally, on Dorset Street in South Burlington, VT, you will find very inexpensive computer courses for seniors over 50 taught by a dedicated staff of senior volunteers.
The schedule of courses for May-June is now posted on their web site, and I encourage you Vermonters to take advantage of this opportunity by enrolling in one or more classses.
I spent most of my time this past weekend working on two customer machines that had been infected by rogue programs. One rogue was XP DEFENDER and the other was SECURITY TOOL.
If your system becomes a host to one of these unwelcome visitors, most of which are recognized by their scare tactics (like YOUR SYSTEM IS INFECTED WITH .....), I strongly recommend that you shut down your computer and call me or some other qualified PC Doc type person.
The reason for recommending this is that things can get worse if you try to get out of it yourself. Things can get MUCH WORSE!
To date these rogues seem to be only a shakedown for your money, and while they mess with system settings and make recovery very difficult the longer they are present, they have not yet, in my experiences with many of them, destroyed user data like pictures, music, or video. But I predict that is coming next, so take steps NOW to back up your valuable data to some external device that is not always attached to your computer.Thumb or flash drives are okay to use for backup as long as you have one large enough to contain all of your data. I use an external 1TB hard drive that I can attach via a USB cable whenever I want to do my backups. There are also service companies that provide backup of your data.
For those of you who feel qualified and might want to attempt to recover your system without assistance, I strongly recommend SuperAntiSpyware's Portable Scanner, available free here. I now use this as the tool of first choice when I get started in tackling one of these rogues.
When I first saw this I had to wonder if today was April Fools Day. It's not, and this was a deadly serious article. Boy, how crazy can it get. Anyway, until you apply the fix, if this applies to you, be careful.
While you are here, go to the bottom of this page and join your PC Doctor on Facebook. I can guarantee you'll not find any trickery there, but you will find my blog.
Last week I did my quarterly backup of "My Documents", which now take up an amazing 86GB. I have to admit, that even though I like being in control of my own data and ensuring that it really is backed up (to my 1TB MyBook external USB 2.0 drive), I began to realize how slow the transfer was. USB 2.0, which we have all come to know and love, is just fine for backing up or downloading data to a flash or thumb drive, but when it comes to working with 86GB or more, it would be nice to have a faster data channel so that the backups would move along more quickly.
Enter USB 3.0. It has been talked about for a long time but it is here now. However, as with most new technology it is not only expensive to migrate early but also the new technology may not be supported by your environment or work very well if it is.
So read up and get ready for the next generation of USB technology. This PcWorld article does a nice job of introducing the new technology.
I stumbled upon this web site today called Computer Hope. I realize that there are probably hundreds if not thousands of similar web sites out there. I found this one interesting and useful. It's worth a few minutes of your time and maybe a bookmark as well.
The lead-in to this PCWorld article is excellent. Here it is:
"Netbooks are perfect travel companions and meet basic computing needs, including e-mailing, Web surfing, and simple document creation. Best of all, these low-powered machines cost less than the standard-issue laptop."
A personal review: I bought an Acer Aspire One when they first came out, maybe close to 2 years ago? I think it weighs less than 3 pounds. I bought it with the larger (more expensive) 6 cell battery with a 6 hour life before recharging. It runs Windows XP and does all of the above very well. My wife uses it as her primary computer. She travels a lot and likes the fact that it is very light and can be tossed into a carry-on bag. With WiFi available most everywhere these days, including now on airplanes and trains, it is even more attractive. The downside, as far as I am concerned, is the screen size. I think it's 8.9" diagonally. You better have good eyesight or glasses always handy to use it, but it works and it works well. Most of the newer lightweight netbooks have larger screens now as you will see in this article. My advice: do a hands-on check of several and pay close attention to the weight.
I was hesitant about posting this article. I know my followers pretty well, for the most part anyway, and I don't ever want to see any of you getting in trouble trying things like these 21 tips. By trouble I mean messing up your machine. But I decided for the most part these 21 tips are mostly harmless. Besides, if you find one or two that really interest you I'd be surprised, but good for you if you do get some good info from some of these tips. It's actually all pretty good stuff that interests me, so here you go. Please write me if you have any comments on this post.
This Wall Street Journal article is consistent with the way I feel and what I have been saying. We all love Windows XP. I could add, for those of us who have or who have had Vista, I'd guess most of us hate Vista. As reported earlier, I had purchased a Vista laptop way back when so I could learn it, teach it, and support it, but believe me folks, Vista is a dog! If someone were to offer me a free Vista machine, I would want to run the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor on it to make sure the machine could run Windows 7 before I accepted the gift! Yes, Vista is THAT bad.
As posted much earlier on this blog, Microsoft will be supporting Windows XP until 2014, but there is no reason why one couldn't run it beyond that date. If you are an XP user, do be sure to upgrade to SP3 and keep your XP current with updates. And do yourself a favor and upgrade to 2GB of RAM or more if you are not already there.
Finally, I am still very satisfied with Windows 7. I would tell you unequivocally that you should NOT shy away from Windows 7. If you need a new machine, you WANT it to have Windows 7.
Then of course, there are hose who would rather have OS/X, but that's another story!
Microsoft provides a jumping off point to all of their support forums on this web site, which I recommend you bookmark. You will find forums for many Microsoft products here.
If you use Facebook, please become a fan of PC Doctor (that's me) at the bottom of this page. Just scroll down to the bottom. You can read my blog on Facebook.
This is an actual e-mail I received yesterday from the good folks at SuperAntiSpyware, makers of one of the staple products in my base security recommendations. As a reminder of what is included in that recommendation, visit my earlier posts which you will find here:
BELOW IS THE E-MAIL FROM SUPERANTISPYWARE. PLEASE READ. IMPORTANT!!
Tom,
Each year, the first week of April (coinciding with “April Fool’s Day”) brings an increase in spyware and malware infections. It’s become something of an annual tradition that causes havoc for computer users, lost productivity, and overall inconvenience. Not to mention potentially costing thousands of dollars in repairs.
We’re working hard to prepare for this onslaught and we’re up for the challenge. It makes sense, however, to remind computer users to be extra vigilant during this period of increased spyware activity:
Don’t open emails, files or attachments from people you don’t know.
Be extra cautious opening emails, files or attachments from people you do know.
Don’t be fooled by “scareware” tactics. Know what software you are using, and familiarize yourself with how it delivers warnings and alerts.
If you’re considering giving your social networking activities a break, now might be a good time. No one will miss you if you take a week off.
Stay away from websites that you haven’t visited before. Think before you click!
Run multiple layers of security software. There are many free and effective solutions that will co-exist well with each other. Remember, a single solution may not be enough, especially during this period of increased spyware activity.
We’re here and happy to help if you need anything. Our management team is happy to answer any questions you may have or address issues or concerns raised by your audience. If we can help, just let me know!
I use Google's free e-mail service called GMAIL. GMAIL supports POP (Post Office Protocol). POP allows you to use one of many e-mail clients on your PC. Among the supported client e-mail programs for which GMAIL supports POP are:
Apple Mail 3.0
Outlook Express
Outlook 2002
Outlook 2003
Outlook 2007
Thunderbird 2.0
Windows Mail
If you use one of these e-mail client programs, then you can use POP with GMAIL. The real beauty of these client programs is that they all have very friendly, easy to use, user interfaces. Each of them will keep all of your e-mail right on your own PC. As an added bonus with GMAIL, all of your e-mail will also be kept on Google's servers (Google claims without limit) and this is a big advantage for GMAIL, so you have built-in backup. That is, a full copy of all of your e-mail is on your PC and also on Google's servers.
The purpose of POP is simply to ensure that as e-mail comes into the Google server, a copy of it is downloaded to your PC when you start up your client program. I happen to use Outlook, and that is where I process all of my e-mail. When one has what is called a client-server relationship like this, one can process e-mail within the client when on one's own PC or use webmail, and process e-mail by using the Google web site to read and send e-mail. This is handy, of course, when one is using someone else's PC.
If you have any questions about this, please submit a comment below.
I received the e-mail below yesterday from my service provider, Comcast. It has motivated me to write this blog post. I have been putting it off for some time now. You can click on this "photo" to enlarge it.
Backing up your data is critical. No one of us wants to ever lose those family pictures or videos. None of us wants to lose our music libraries or our personal documents. If you are a small business, you cannot afford to lose all of those important business documents. I'm afraid the IRS just wouldn't understand!
So how do YOU back up your data (and I sincerely hope you do)?
There are several ways you could. Among these are:
1) Copying to your own hard drive, which is hardly effective should your hard drive fail.
2) Copying to your own external hard drive. This is what I have chosen to do. I am a control freak and want to be fully responsible for my own data and be fully aware of exactly what I have backed up and where it is. I also don't want to spend money for this service. Finally, there is a downside to this method, and it's a big one. If the external drive is kept within your home, the same home that houses your PC and all of its data, then both could be lost in the same physical event (flood, fire, theft, etc.). So I have chosen to keep my external drive in a location apart from my main computer, the one I am sure contains all of my data. I make a copy of "My Documents" once a quarter, so my method is not perfect. I could lose data from the current quarter before it's backed up.
3) You could subscribe to a service that automatically backs up all of your data once to their own remote hard drives, and thereafter will make backup copies of all added files and new versions of existing files. This is probably the safest option. All of your data is backed up and easily retrievable, your data is encrypted and stored at the service provider's site, and since it's a constant, you do not risk losing data from the recent quarter as explained in number 2 above. However, these services cost money, so you have to weigh the cost vs. the benefit before deciding. The 2GB of free storage Comcast is offering me (see above) is not very much considering "My Documents" now amount to over 80GB. So I'd have to read their fine print to see how much their service would cost.
Finlly, PC World has provided an evaluation of some of the services that will back up your data for you on their own hard drives. You can see what they have to say atThe Best Online Backup Services
I caution you, however, that this report is nearly 2 years old, so you might want to do some more research on your own should you wish to evaluate this backup option.
Here is a second review, dated October, 2009, of three backup service offerings. It's from consumersearch.com.Online Backup Services: Reviews
From time to time I like to remind my readers that this blog is just one man's opinion. Many of you who know me value my opinion, and I appreciate that. However, in this blog from now on, and only once in a while, I will post something I'll refer to as a "Guest Post". This is the first of such posts. The blog post below comes from the blog of Lisa Hendrickson, and her blog can be found at http://www.callthatgirl.biz/
I like to view Lisa's blog, named "Call That Girl" several times a week. I can always learn something new. Anyway, it's not a coincidence that for Lisa's first post I am choosing something we pretty much agree on, but it's nice for me, and I hope you too, that others feel the same way I do.
Lisa and i don't agree on everything. After all, each of us expresses our own opinions.
Posted by callthatgirl on March 15, 2010
"Many of us today are using Gmail, Google applications, AVG free, etc. Free software is usually great, but the support you get if you need help is usually not up to par. About a month ago, I decided to start using Google documents to store a few files because I needed to have them on 3 computers. I worked on a massive “to do list” and after I was done, I hit the “cut” button to move something and it all disappeared. I could not get it back, even though it had saved just a minute before! I was LIVID to say the least. I had been saving it too for a whole day or so and I’m not sure how easy it is to put in a support ticket to Google and have it checked out for a restore, but decided then and there…to only rely on myself for such needs from now on.
Support is very important when it comes to things you need to use.
Here are my opinions:
AVG free is a good product, but not a great product. The download for AVG 9.0 takes a very long time to install (up to 45 minutes) and we see that program on virus infected computers. It works, but I quit recommending it to folks who want free software because it doesn’t work either. Toss up on AVG free! AVG free offers online FAQ/Knowledge Base and Forum help. No email or phone support that I could find online. If you upgrade to the paid version, then you get the premium support.
Microsoft Security Essentials Antivirus so far is doing well with the clients who I have recommended using it. Only one client so far has had a problem with “real time protection” and Microsoft will support that issue via chat or email.
Google calendar can have glitches that can’t be fixed easily (from what my clients have told me, I am having success using it for now, but am looking at paid alternatives). Again they have the forum/FAQ help, but put in a ticket and wait a few days for help, if they help….Google decides if they support you due to the millions of users.
Gmail is not something I am fond of, but many of my networking friends use it frequently and are happy with the product. My problem with Gmail is, what if you woke up one morning and your emails were all gone. Do you have time to wait for Google to figure it out? Who do you call? With Gmail, you have to search their support and help forums first, then put in a ticket and wait a few days. If you’re using Gmail for business (or hotmail, yahoo, etc..) do you have a few days to wait? Business is on the line!"
I can't really tell you that the MVPS HOSTS file is updated monthly, but I think that is the author's objective. In any case, for those of you who have the February file or older, here is your chance to make sure you can update this file on your own. I have plenty of posts in this blog, as you followers know, on this subject and how to install the HOSTS file, so have a go at it!
This comes from the Kim Komando web site, http://www.komando.com/. Among many other interesting and useful tidbits, Kim posts a Tip of the Day. This web site is among those I visit every day. You never know what you may find. I am sure most of you know that Kim is also on the radio, and has a great show.
Q. My computer is acting funny. My photos are opening in Microsoft Word. My videos are opening in the wrong video program. What is going on? How can I get everything straight again? —Josie in Phoenix, listening on KFYI 550 AM
A. This problem is actually pretty common. It's also fairly easy to fix. File associations tie file types to specific programs. When you double-click a file, it opens in that program. Your file associations apparently are mixed up.
There are a couple of ways this happens. You can do it by accident. That's probably what happened to your photos. There's no other reason they should be opening in Word.
Installing new programs can also change file associations. Music and video programs are notorious for doing this. They want to take over the role of default player. And they'll do it if you're not careful.
Thankfully, resetting these associations is fairly easy. You didn't say if you were using a Mac or PC. So, I'll cover both. Either way the process is simple. First, find one of the files you're having trouble with.
In Windows Vista, right-click the file. Select Open With>>Choose Default Program. You'll see a list of programs. Select the program you want to use. Or hit Browse to add a program to the list. Check the box labeled "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file." Click OK.
In Windows XP, right-click the file. Select Open With. Find the program you want to use. Or click Browse to find another program. Again, check "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file." Click OK.
In Mac OS X, right-click the file. Select Get Info. Click the heading labeled "Open with." Use the dropdown menu to select a suggested program. Or click Other to browse for something else. Click Change All. Close the window.
Now those files will open with the correct programs.
Sometimes, a program isn't available to open a particular file. These free programs will handle common file types:
This is an interesting article, or at least it is of interest to me. I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I am on a month-to-month with Verizon Wireless and not happy with what I have to pay for their service. If anyone out there has an opinion, in favor or opposed, please add a comment below. This can be done anonymously if you like. No fancy necessary registrations with userid and password required here. Anyway this article is from the computerworld.com web site and appeared there today.
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Prepaid usage rises as recession-worn users seeks cheaper deals for wireless service, IDC says
Matt Hamblen
March 15, 2010 (Computerworld) The hottest market in wireless communications in the U.S. is for customers who pre-pay for their service, with that group accounting for 65% of all net new subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2009, research firm IDC said.
Pre-paid customers grew during the recession and its aftermath as wireless users sought ways to avoid long-term contracts and related costs paid by post-paid customers, said IDC analyst Richard Murphy.
Pre-paid plans can also result in tremendous savings over monthly costs for postpaid plans, Murphy noted. For example, a savvy consumer can get unlimited voice, text and Web access for $45 a month with the pre-paid TracFone Wireless Straight Talk plan, he noted.
By contrast, a postpaid subscriber can easily spend more than $100 a month for service for an iPhone or other smartphone, he noted. "Some customers are more driven by the phone they want, so if you go for an iPhone you are probably not going to really care about the monthly cost at 100 bucks or more a month," he said.
Some careful customers, however, might realize they only need a phone for voice and text messaging, and will reserve their Web browsing for a desktop or laptop to save on monthly costs, he noted.
"The prepaid market in the U.S. will remain very competitive," said Murphy, noting that several carriers are most active in the space. At the end of 2009, TracFone led with 14.4 million prepaid customers, Boost (with the addition of Virgin Mobile) had 10.6 million, T-Mobile USA had 7 million, MetroPCS had 6.6 million, and Leap Wireless had 4.9 million.
The nation's largest wireless carriers, Verizon Wireless and AT&T, both appear to be moving away from the prepaid model in recent months, even though they each had about 5.4 million prepaid customers at the end of 2009. AT&T actually lost 800,000 prepaid customers in 2009, while Verizon gained 500,000.
IDC recorded that 4.2 million net subscribers were added by all the nine largest carriers in the fourth quarter of 2009, with 65% of them pre-paid customers. Overall, there were 285 million wireless subscribers in the U.S. at the end of 2009.
Some carriers are focused on bringing in customers on post-paid plans, luring them to use smartphones that rely on data plans. "To keep their revenues up they have to focus on selling data plans," Murphy said.
"The first step for a consumer walking into a carrier's store is to pick out a phone and that often means getting the customer toward a smartphone that obligates the user to a data plan. That's just the way the marketing is, since the wireless business is very competitive and the carriers are competing for every dollar."
Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld.
I did two remote calls this week supporting 2 different customers. Both calls worked well. If you can connect to the internet from your computer, then I can connect with you, take control of your PC and fix what is ailing it. I do this while simultaneously calling your phone so we can discuss step by step what I am doing in response to what you describe as your problem. In this way you learn AND get a cleaner system!
For one customer I downloaded and installed the MVPS HOSTS file. Because I have done this so often, I can do it in less than one hour, and so have reduced my fee for this service to $40. Part of getting this done is to teach you how to maintain the file, i.e., how to find the latest version, download it, and install it. As a result you become self sufficient and can always have the latest protection against malware.
For the second customer, it was a matter of a poorly performing system, and so I did a typical cleaning and tuning. This customer did not have any security issues so I did not get into installing and running the malware detection and removal tools. I showed the customer that he had only 512MB of RAM, and we went to the Crucial.com site and I demonstrated how he could upgrade from 512MB to 2GB for $78. I think he is doing that and I will follow up with him. For this work, which took only 1.5 hours, my fee was only $60.
Next time you feel a need to call your PC Doc, think remote!
Finally, if you are a Facebook user, please consider becoming a fan of my PC Doctor page on Facebook. My PC Doc's Blog is automatically download to Facebook, so you can look at it there! Just click on the Become A Fan button over there on the right side of this screen!
Oh, and lest I forget, I do love Windows 7. It is extremely reliable and much faster than Vista, which I replaced on one of my Acer laptops. I still have my Windows XP Acer laptop, my IBM Windows XP desktop, and my Apple MacBook Pro.
For those of you in the know (I am not one of you!), my blog can now be viewed on a page I created, PC Doctor, under my profile. I know I can view my blog there, but not exactly sure if you will be able to do so just by clicking on "Become a fan" over to the right of this post.
I figured I would give his a try to see if it works.
It never ceases to amaze me at how three totally different tools are needed to eliminate malware on most systems. You might think if you had one good product that should do it. Of course I am talking about free software products, and make no comment about fee-based products. I know some of you use the latter, and I hope they do the job for you.
My recommended security suite includes SuperAntispyware, Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, and Spybot. Quite a long while ago I had thought that Spybot could be discontinued, but I was wrong. As I work on your systems, it has become very clear, as recently as this past Sunday, that all three tools are needed. It's equally important to make sure you apply all updates to these 3 products before running a scan. It took me all three tools on Sunday to clean a customer's system. In this case the system would freeze at the user account choice screen, meaning the customer could not even get into the system. It was only in Safe Mode that I was able to get in and begin to use the tools I needed (as above) to clean the system, and it took all three!
This is not to say that there isn't another PC Doc out there who has found a solution to these issues that involve different products, even different free ones. I am sure there are such differing solutions. I am only presenting to you my successes based on my own personal experience.
Sometimes we have to make choices, and we don't necessarily like those. I am taking care of a 93 year old Aunt of mine for a couple of days. She had surgery today and, thank God, she did well and will be okay in the near term. In the meantime I will be back there tomorrow spending time with her as she recuperates.
With all the traveling around I have been doing lately, I am going to start utilizing remote support more frequently, instead of making house calls. The only prerequisite to me being able to support you remotely is that you be able to connect to the internet. If you can do that, then I can support you. I have found that the most successful remote calls happen when we are also connected by phone. The usual sequence is that I will call you at your computer and we will stay on the phone for the duration, although I do not need you to stay on the phone if you have something else to do. We do need to talk while I connect to your computer, and this takes about 5 minutes. Once I have control of your PC I can go about doing my business, while you go about yours, if you wish.
Have you ever noticed th phrase "Next Blog" at the top of this page, right about dead center? This blog is hosted by blogspot and is a Google offering. You can have your own blog too, if you want. There is no charge from Google/Blogspot for this amazing service! Yes, it's free.
From time to time I click on that "Next blog" phrase up top and see some amazing things. It can be lots of fun, and I encourage you to try it if you have some time. You can flip through a lot of blogs very quickly, and from their look and feel and the contents of the blog post right there in front of you. It's easy to decide if you want to click on "Next blog" or maybe stay a while and look it over. I have found that there are many blogs like mine written by people just like me, and the most interesting thing, I think, is that the authors are from all over the world.
So give it a try and click up there and see what surprise you may find in your box of Cracker Jacks!
"Tom, Awhile back you asked for suggestions for topics you could write about in your blog. How about Internet Explorer v8? I exclusively use Firefox. I have IE v6 on my computer because I recall you told us to NOT install v7 nor v8. Microsoft Updates uses IE and sometimes I use IE to verify some strange web page appearance in Firefox. Should I install v8, to be up-to-date, even though I rarely use it?"
My reply:
Internet Explorer Version 7 was fraught with problems and vulnerabilities. On many of your machines I personally uninstalled V7. When one uninstalls V7, one is left with V6 in place. On my Windows XP laptop I still also have V6 installed, having decided to stay away from V7 & also V8.
However, things have changed now. V7 never got much better, but V8, although shaky at start, is now the most stable and secure version available.One other factor: Microsoft has announced reduction in support of V6, so now is a good time to upgrade to V8. Keep in mind that V8 is the current version and is the one that attracts most virus writers and system atackers.
But, Microsoft and Windows operating systems still rely on some of the settings in IE for systemwide operations, so the settings in IE are important and, for the moment, one can't run without having IE installed. In the best world, IE would be completely optional and you wouldn't have to have it installed at all.
How can you tell which version you have installed? Start IE, click on Help, and then About Internet Explorer.
Bottom line recommendation: install V8 but don't use it except when you have to do so (there are still some web sites that require IE). I use and recommend Firefox. You can download IE8 at microsoft.com.
This is some good advice for all of us laptop owners. Please check out the article and give some serious thought to following the advice. This comes from a web site known at The Consumerist.
This looks like a really useful tool, but I haven't yet found a use for it! Perhaps some of you more creative types can come up with some good uses. If you do, please use the Comments feature of this blog (below this post) to inform us all of your idea.
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.
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."
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.
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.
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
MSE replaces AVG Free Anti-virus. MSE replaces Windows Defender.
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.
As many of you know, BRFRBO is a little project of mine. It started several years ago when a friend, who wanted to rent their summer cottage at Ocean Point, in East Boothbay, Maine, asked me if I could create a web site for them, which I did, and this soon grew over the years to the point where I think we have 20 or so homes, cottages, condos, and apartments listed for rent. Most of these are summertime rentals, but a few properties are year-round. If you have never been to the Boothbay Region of Maine, you owe yourself a look. We looked in 1969, I think it was, back when we had 2 little boys, rented for a week in the summer, kept coming back, and the rest is history. Our 4 sons have lifelong friends at Ocean Point, and although our little cottage is too small to hold all of us anymore, they keep coming back, and we love having them.
It started as a summer vacation spot, and although we only go there in the summer, it is our real home, the place we all 6 of us have roots.I invite you to look over our listings, come for a week, and come back for a lifetime. You will not be disappointed.
I have several posts on this blog about Microsoft Security Essentials. (MSE). I use it on my Windows 7 laptop. (You can use the Search option on the right side of this blog's home page to view the other MSE posts.)
This machine is now my "home" computer, the one I use most, the one where I have all of my data (pictures, videos, music, documents, spreadsheets, etc.), and the one that has the latest bookmarks.
I have had MSE installed on this machine from the get go, as I recall. It's been a while, and I am very happy with the product. As a review, this replaced my AVG Free Anti-virus and Microsoft's Windows Defender. It is a very low overhead product, it would seem. I hardly even know it's installed. I have a full scan scheduled for 2 AM each day, so if the machine is powered on (it usually is) that scan is done. MSE is free, is totally a non-intrusive product. There are no marketing messages or pop-ups as there are with AVG Free. I have never noticed a slowdown on my machine due to MSE.
It is very easy to download and install, and it now has earned my blessing as a fine replacement for AVG Free and Windows Defender. I don't take recommending such a product lightly as you know, and feel I have tested it long enough to recommend it.
I found this e-mail in the junk folder of one of my e-mail addresses. I include it unaltered except that I have removed the link where it says "get report". The link was for a site registered in South Korea. Most of these spam e-mails come from outside the US.
Many people follow these links, and this is just one of many, many examples of how you might get infected by one of the rogue programs I write about so often. I do this so often because I continue to get phone calls, nearly every week, from yet another customer who has been infected.
PLEASE, be careful out there!
It is unbelievable to me that anyone would follow such a link coming as it does within such a piece of trash.
Note the e-mail comes from "Tax Comissar". WHAT????
Look at the Message ID# at the bottom of the note!
Just amazing that anyone would fall for this, isn't it? By the way, our tax folks at the IRS will NEVER send you an e-mail like this:
-------Original Message------- From: Tax Commissar
To: brfrbo@brfrbo.com
Subject: You are in a higher tax bracket
Sent: 13 Feb '10 01:21
Dear taxpayer,
The Federal income tax is a progressive tax, meaning that the more you earn, the higher your tax rate. Your tax rate depends not just upon your taxable income, but also upon your filing status (single, married filing jointly, etc.).
You're in a higher tax bracket because:
- your annual income for the last tax year has increased.
Please review your annual tax report immediately at:
get report
I include the entire article from computerworld.com because I think it is very important to my customer base. I have seen so many of you, with incomplete or outdated security suites, fall for such rogue programs. Most of these rogue programs have been rather difficult to eliminate from your systems. Please refer to my earlier posts on securing your systems and be very careful. Read this entire article as a refresher for those of you who have seen and been infected by a rogue, or for those of you who haven't been infected yet, a word to the wise.
"February 12, 2010 (IDG News Service) In an effort to boost sales, sellers of a fake antivirus product known as Live PC Care are offering their victims live technical support.
According to researchers at Symantec, once users have installed the program, they see a screen, falsely informing them that their PC is infected with several types of malware. That's typical of this type of program. What's unusual, however, is the fact that the free trial version of Live PC Care includes a big yellow "online support" button.
Clicking on the button connects the victim with an agent, who will answer questions about the product via instant message.
Symantec says the agent is no automated script, but in fact a live person. This lends an "air of legitimacy" to the program, said Marc Fossi, a manager of development with Symantec Security Response. "Obviously if they've got live tech support, it must be real," he joked.
The tech support doesn't help much, though. According to Symantec, the support staff simply try to convince victims to shell out between US$30 and $100 for the product.
This isn't the first time a fake security product has been spotted offering tech support. Another company called Innovative Marketing operated a call center to support its security products, including a program called WinFixer. According to security experts, Innovative Marketing's tech support technicians acted in the same way as Live PC Care's, trying to reassure victims that they were buying a legitimate product.
These so-called rogue antivirus products can sometimes lower security settings on a victim's computer. At best, they offer a false sense of security because the products never protect computers from the latest security threats.
Rogue antivirus has been a major headache for users over the past year. It is often installed via annoying pop-up ads that try to convince the victim that something is wrong with their PC. Symantec tracked 43 million rogue AV installation attempts between July 2008 and July 2009."
What I do each month, as noted in prior posts, is download Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool (MSRT), and run a Full Scan. This may be redundant since Microsoft may already be doing this in the background after one downloads the latest updates, but until I know for sure I continue with this monthly run. As noted earlier, this takes a couple of hours or more, but I prefer to err on the side of caution and let it run.
It's been a good week for Big Brother. We all should be aware of what is going on in Washington and its impact on our own privacy. There are big pluses for doing what the Feds want to do, as in the story in the article from cnet.com. There are also, of course, big negatives, as in invasion of our privacy.
Here is how the article starts out:
"Two years ago, when the FBI was stymied by a band of armed robbers known as the "Scarecrow Bandits" that had robbed more than 20 Texas banks, it came up with a novel method of locating the thieves.
FBI agents obtained logs from mobile phone companies corresponding to what their cellular towers had recorded at the time of a dozen different bank robberies in the Dallas area. The voluminous records showed that two phones had made calls around the time of all 12 heists, and that those phones belonged to men named Tony Hewitt and Corey Duffey. A jury eventually convicted the duo of multiple bank robbery and weapons charges.
Even though police are tapping into the locations of mobile phones thousands of times a year, the legal ground rules remain unclear, and federal privacy laws written a generation ago are ambiguous at best. On Friday, the first federal appeals court to consider the topic will hear oral arguments (PDF) in a case that could establish new standards for locating wireless devices.
In that case, the Obama administration has argued that Americans enjoy no "reasonable expectation of privacy" in their--or at least their cell phones'--whereabouts. U.S. Department of Justice lawyers say that "a customer's Fourth Amendment rights are not violated when the phone company reveals to the government its own records" that show where a mobile device placed and received calls"
If you have followed my advice and installed the MVPS HOSTS file on your system, you need to know that updates become available on a fairly regular basis, and that you have to go out and get the updated file and install it yourself. Once you understand the process, it shouldn't take you more than 10 minutes.
The important thing is that the updates will help you block the latest bad guys. I urge you to bookmark the HOSTS news web site, http://msmvps.com/blogs/hostsnews/default.aspx and to visit it once a week or so, looking out for the latest update. As we have seen and discussed herein, some of the bad guys just rename their programs, for example "2009 bad guy" is probably being renamed "2010 bad guy", and the updated HOSTS file will catch this.
This is a nice little web site. They perform a very unusual service. It's fast and it's free. I am not sure where you might want to use this, but I think it's a handy site to bookmark and have available for possible future use.
I recommend you go to the site, http://pdfmyurl.com/ and try it. Simply key in a url and click on the icon at the end of the line and presto, you'll get a pdf image of the web site.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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."
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:
"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.
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!
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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:
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.
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!
