Happy New Year

I wish each and every one of you a Happy & Healthy New Year in 2009!

I will resume regular posts on this blog on Monday, 1/5.

Tom

Blog Feedback

Dear Freinds,

For my family and me this is a very special time of the year. We all do our best to make sure we are together, as much as possible, on Christmas. I know the same is true for many of you.

To all I wish a Merry Christmas and a very Happy & Healthy New Year in 2009. To those of you of the Jewish faith, Happy Hanukkah.

I will be taking the next several days off from blogging. This is a good time for me to ask you your opinion. I welcome your feedback on this blog. Have you found it helpful? Would you suggest changes? Please let me hear from you at a special e-mail account I have set up for this purpose. It is blogfeedback@brpcdoc.com.

Thank you.

Tom

The Browns River PC Doctor

The Boothbay Region PC Doctor

Windows XP: Night of the Living Dead OS

The following was taken in its entirety from the All Things Digital website. It certainly lends credence to prior posts which stated that Windows XP would be supported through 2014, in fact this article states that same thing at the end.

It's very interesting that Microsoft has gotten themselves into this fix, but comforting to those of us who have stayed with our Windows XP base.

Windows XP: Night of the Living Dead OS

Published on December 22, 2008
by John Paczkowski

XP will hit an end-of-life. We have announced one. If customer feedback varies, we can always wake up smarter, but right now we have a plan for end-of-life for new XP shipments.”

–Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, April 24, 2008

Looks like Microsoft (MSFT) CEO Steve Ballmer woke up smarter again.

Microsoft had planned to cut off sales of its Windows XP operating system through the retail and original equipment manufacturer channels on Jan. 30, 2008–one year after the Windows Vista debut. But the poor reception given Vista and the unwavering loyalty of XP users caused the company to extend that deadline to June 30, 2008. A few months later, Microsoft extended the deadline further, to Jan. 31, 2009. And now, amid reports that more than a third of all new Vista PCs are being downgraded to XP, it extended the XP deadline again.

Microsoft (MSFT) will now stop distributing Windows XP to PC makers on May 30, 2009. ChannelWeb reports that while distributors must place their final orders for XP OEM licenses by Jan. 31, 2009, they can take delivery against those orders through May 30. And the company will continue to support the OS with security and other critical updates until April 2014 (that’s 13 years after XP was first released).

Which means it’s now not only possible to hang on to Windows XP long enough to upgrade directly to Windows 7 in 2010, but entirely realistic.

5000

Dear Viewers,

This morning we hit the 5000 number - the number of visitors to this blog as indicated at the bottom of this page! It's been 10 months since I started the blog. I try to post a new entry each weekday, but occasionally I miss.

Thank you all for visiting. I hope you find it worth your time and I hope that maybe by implementing some of my recommendations you can keep your PCs running smoothly.

Tom

Yet Another Rogue Program

Yesterday I spent most of the day fighting a rogue program that had installed itself on a customer's machine.  Lately I have spent lots of hours and days doing the same thing for other customers. This program carried the name SPYWARE GUARD 2008. One of its many windows looked like this:

This is not at all unlike many of the other rogue programs several of you have been inflicted with. The appearance is similar. The name is different. (See my post of December 11.)

The come-on is to make you believe that your computer is infected with spyware (in this case) or viruses, and "won't you please run our free scan?". Folks, DON'T DO IT! At this point it may already be too late. I really don't know because I have never been there when one of you got infected.

What I do know is that these things are very vicious and very difficult to remove. Fortunately no one of my customers has lost any data (MY DOCUMENTS) yet. I say 'yet' because who knows what they'll do next. They have the ability to simply erase all of your data but so far they seem to be satisfied messing up your system files and trying to shake you down for $40 or so and, even if you pay, you are left with the mess they have created.

Those of you who have been hit know what I am talking about. Those of you who have not been hit, exercise caution!

As I have urged in earlier posts, keep your anti-virus program current, install and run Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware and SuerAntiSpyware at least once a week to stay on top of it.

Also, you should have a firewall, Windows Defender, and the aforementioned HOSTS file installed.

Download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware here

Download SuperAntiSpyware Free Edition here

See my November 25 post for additional information.

Microsoft patches IE, but Firefox is still safer

The following article can be read in its entirety at Windows Secrets

If you have not switched to Firefox yet, why not? Here is a caution, however: Firefox will one day be attacked as much as IE is today most likely, but for now it's a safer bet. So switch now if you have not and continue to watch this space for more info.

Microsoft patches IE, but Firefox is still safer 

By Mark Joseph Edwards

Microsoft recently announced that a special, out-of-cycle patch would be released on Dec. 17 for Internet Explorer's latest security vulnerability, the so-called XML exploit.

If you'd like to avoid similar weaknesses that are certain to be discovered in IE in the future, the simple solution is to use a different browser, such as Firefox, with a few easy customizations that allow you to switch to Microsoft's browser only for sites that absolutely require IE.

Delta’s In-Flight Internet Service Ready for Takeoff

Here is some good news for travelers from the Fox Business news web site:

Delta Air Lines (DAL: 10.63, +0.13, +1.24%) said it’s launching WiFi Internet access in six planes beginning Tuesday.

The service, called Gogo Inflight Internet, will soon be available on over 300 domestic planes thanks to technology provided by Aircell, an airborne communication’s company.

“Broadband Internet access has long topped passengers’ lists of desired inflight services and now that Gogo has launched it looks like 2009 will finally be the year of Inflight Internet," said Aircell CEO Jack Blumenstein.

Access to the service will be free from Dec. 16 up until the end of the year. After the promotional period ends, it will cost $9.95 for unlimited access during flights less than three hours long and $12.95 for longer flights.

Delta said by the end of the year, 10 aircraft will have the technology. It also plans to expand the service to its recently acquired subsidiary, Northwest Airlines, by late 2009.

In the airline industry, there’s little “leg-room” for heavy equipment that takes lots of space. Thankfully, the Aircell system, according to Delta, is light and compact so passengers need not worry about having less room to stretch out while surfing the Web at 35,000 feet.

Microsoft sees ‘huge increase’ in IE attacks

Some customers ask me why they should use Firefox (or any other browser) and not Microsoft's Internet Explorer. The referenced article on today's ComputerWorld web site should provide the doubters among you with some good reasons.

 Microsoft sees 'huge increase' in IE attacks

Acer Aspire One

I have hinted that I might buy one of these tiny, lightweight netbooks, and I have done just that. About 2 weeks ago I purchased an Acer Aspire One. It is tiny. It is lightweight. I paid $399 at Amazon. Although the ads suggest a price of $349, keep in mind that this is for a three cell battery. I purchased the model with a 6 cell battery, and this is listed at $399.

If you are going to buy a netbook be sure to read all of the fine print about its battery. This one lasts 5 or 6 hours, depending on what one does with it. If you power it up in the morning and put it in standby when it's not being used, the battery would probably last all day. This is a real boon for travelers, and that is one reason I bought it.

Another reason I bought it was that it was advertised as being 2 pounds 3 ounces (as I recall). The one I purchased with the 6 cell battery weighs in at 43 ounces on my food scale, and that's 2 pounds, 11 ounces, making it still a featherweight in my opinion.

It comes with the very familiar Windows XP and 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard disk drive. This is a well-configured machine. Its microprocessor is an Intel Atom 720 with a rated speed of 1.6GHz, not a speed demon by any measure, but adequate for most work.

The most significant feature of this machine is its 8.9" display. Believe me folks, this is small. I would not want to use this on a regular basis, but it suits my wife just fine. She has excellent vision and only uses light reading glasses when using the Acer. I would not recommend buying this machine for anyone until/unless you try one out at a store. Make sure you can live with the screen size.

Otherwise, it's a neat little machine. It was sluggish when it came out of the box with XP SP3, IE7, and McAfee. The first thing I did was to get rid of McAfee and installed AVG Free in its place. Next I installed Firefox and stopped using IE7. Now it performs much better. I haven't looked into this yet, but I understand its max memory capacity is 1.5GB, but the upgrade from its standard 1GB to that is not (supposedly) something the user can do. If I were ordering again, I'd try to order from someone who could install the extra memory first.

A friend asked me if I recommend Acer generally, and although this is my third Acer machine, I have reservations about recommending Acer. I bought my first and then second Acers as teaching tools for classes and as a challenge to myself to see if I could keep them running (they are cheaper). So far I have been successful, but keep in mind these are not my first choice machines for personal use. I still revert to my old IBM desktop as my main machine. For my customers I mostly recommend Dell - for their support.

The Acer Aspire One

 

Backup Devices

Two kinds of devices I use to backup my data are flash drives, aka thumb drives, and external hard disk drives (HDD). Both connect to any PC via a USB connector.

Flash drives usually come in sizes like 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB. The lower the capacity the lower the price. I would recommend at least a 4GB thumb drive for the average home user. If you are big into digital photographs AND music downloads, you may be pushing this technology. Check the size of your MY DOCUMENTS folder (right click on it and then click on PROPERTIES). Mine is 43GB. A recent customer's was 80GB! We are both rather unusual, and you may find yours is only in the single digits of GB. If the latter, then a thumb drive, appropriately sized, is fine for short-term usage.

For higher volumes and longer-term backup storage I would recommend an external HDD. These typically come in sizes like 250GB, 500GB. 750GB, and 1TB (terabyte = 1000GB). I have a Western Digital MYBOOK with a 1TB capacity, and I bought this for $199, but prices are coming down pretty fast, so look for the maximum capacity you can afford. I wouldn't worry too much about the brand, but if you have a question, give me a shout.

Whichever type you choose, you can use it (or them) on any machine with a USB port, so if you have multiple computers in your home, you can move the device from PC to PC and do your backups. In between, you can disconnect the device and even power it off (if external HDD). Thumb drives are always off and get their power from the USB connection when you plug it in.

Questions? Please write.

What part of backup don’t you understand?

A lot of people are keeping me very busy these days. I have had at least 4 that I can remember whose machines have been attacked by what are now called "rogue" programs, rendering the machines unusable. These rogue programs, and the ones I have seen all seem to have a name in common (somewhat), have names which are variants of ANTISPYWARE2008 or 2009, ANTIVIRUS2008 or 2009, and ANTIVIRUSXPxxxx.

The first sign of these is a pop-up (the fact that you have pop-ups blocked on your system should be a clue that this is something radically wrong) asking you if you would like a free scan of your system, or words to that effect, and then after the FAKE scan they tell you that you have many serious problems with your machine. In fact the only real problem is that you are "listening" to them and doing what they say, some even going so far as to pay good money for their "solution".

Okay, it's bad enough that your system is rendered unusable and that you have to do a complete reinstall of the operating system or at least a REPAIR installation. You'll probably also have to reinstall all of the extra programs you have installed on your machine over the years. Where is the Microsoft Office CD and, even more basic, where is the Operating System CD set?

What keeps me in business is that so many of you are coming forward asking me to try to salvage your data on your hard drive because you have NO backups!

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE back up your data, usually everything contained within your MY DOCUMENTS folder, but sometimes more, like your e-mail if you use Outlook or Outlook Express, or your Firefox Bookmarks or IE Favorites, and even, for some of you who keep data folders on your desktop, your desktop contents itself.

If you are a pro at burning CDs or DVDs, back up to them. If not, get yourself a large capacity thumb drive (I have an 8GB and a 4GB but will soon get a 16GB or even bigger) and use it.

Ever wonder who owns a certain web site?

If you have ever wondered who owns a certain web site, you can find out easily and quickly. WHOIS is a web site maintained by Network Solutions. Just key in the url (address) of the web site in question, and you will soon know the owner.

WHOIS

Warehouse for Beginners Guides

After yesterday's post, I found the mother lode of Beginners Guides at pcstats.com. These may be quite technical, but you might just find one that apeals to your interests and which will work for you. It's worth a looksee anyway.

Beginners Guides 

Beginners Guides: 101 Tech Tips & Tweaks for Windows XP

It never ceases to amaze me how much stuff is available on the web. We'd all like to think that all of it is good, solid, tried and true advice, but until you try most of it you never know.

The following is meant for the more technically competent and adventurous types among you, but everyone be careful! You are on your own unless you seek advice from me.

This posting at pcstats.com is amazing in all that it contains, and I offer it to you with the warning that many of these tips are not really for beginners, but rather for the more technical and experienced among you. There is just too much contained here for me to say this is all good. Until I try some of them I won't really know. Be especially cautious with those that speak of updating your system's registry. If you see one you really want to try but are not sure about it, please e-mail me. Off to the right side of this blog page there is a contact link.

 Beginners Guides: 101 Tech Tips & Tweaks for Windows XP

Apple yanks antivirus advice from its Web site

From ComputerWorld.com:

Late Tuesday, Apple Inc. yanked from its Web site a controversial support document that had urged Mac users to run antivirus software. The recommendation was "old and inaccurate," a company spokesman said today.

The document, which had become the focus of considerable discussion among Mac users and security experts this week, is no longer available on Apple's support site. Instead, users who surf to its location are greeted with a generic message: "We're sorry. We can't find the article you're looking for."

"We have removed the KnowledgeBase article because it was old and inaccurate," Apple spokesman Bill Evans said in an e-mail Wednesday.

 Read the whole article here

Welcome to the Club

(I am sure they are not thrilled about becoming members!)

Apple suggests Mac users install antivirus software

In what appears to be a first, Apple is recommending that Mac users install antivirus software.

But don't read this as an admission that the Mac operating system is suddenly insecure. It's more a recognition that Mac users are vulnerable to Web application exploits, which have replaced operating system vulnerabilities as the bigger threat to computer users.

Apple quietly signaled its shift with an item titled "Mac OS: Antivirus utilities" posted on its Support Web site November 21: "Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple antivirus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one application to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult."

The item offers three software suggestions: Intego VirusBarrier X5 and Symantec Norton Anti-Virus 11 for Macintosh, both available from the Apple Online Store, and McAfee VirusScan for Mac.

Brian Krebs, who first reported on the Apple antivirus recommendation Monday in his Security Fix blog at The Washington Post, said an Apple store employee told him he didn't need antivirus software when he purchased a MacBook three months ago.

This is from CNET.COM.

Test Your Firewall

Every once in a while I like to go to the web site linked to below to test my firewall (I use Windows Firewall), just to make sure it is doing what it should be doing.

Click on the link below and once there click on  START TEST, then CONTINUE, then CONTINUE, and finally click on CONTINUE again. Then sit back and await the results. You should see a green "stealthed" for each port indicating all is well. The scan takes only a minute or two, and is worth it for the reassurance that you/I get in seeing the positive results.

PC Flank's Firewall Test

Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware

Okay, I am sold on this free program. It is very impressive. It scans quickly and finds things Spybot does not find. Yesterday I ran Spybot and it finished up with the Congratulations, no problems found message. I then ran Marwarebytes' Anti-Malware  and it found 11 problems.

I have run it enough now on various machines to feel confident in letting it remove everything it finds.

Download it at download.com (see link below). It is easy to install. I opt out of the two icons they offer, but do leave the update now and run options checked. When it opens up, it will look for updates. Then for your first run you might just do a Quick Scan to see how it operates. Later on sometime do a Complete Scan.

As your comfort level increases with usage, check out the tabs up on top of the scan window, oh, and do click on the update tab to check for updates before you run it for the second time and thereafter.

When it finishes a scan, it will show you a log file in a separate window that it will open. So far I have not seen any value in the log, and will find out how to disable it eventually.

Please write me if you have any trouble downloading, installing, or running this tool.

Download Malwarebytes" Anti-malware here

Happy Thanksgiving!

Over the river and thru the wood,
To grandfather's house we go;
The horse knows the way
To carry the sleigh,
Thru the white and drifted snow, oh!
Over the river and thru the wood,
Oh, how the wind does blow!
It stings the toes,
And bites the nose,
As over the ground we go.

Over the river and thru the wood,
To have a first-rate play;
Oh, hear the bell ring,
"Ting-a-ling-ling!"
Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day-ay!
Over the river and thru the wood,
Trot fast my dapple gray!
Spring over the ground,
Like a hunting hound!
For this is Thanksgiving Day.

 

I hope you all have a great day.

Keeping your system tuned and cleaned

I am not trying to convince you that you don't need my services, but folks, I am telling you in this blog just about everything I do when you hire me to tune and clean your system. So check out the tools I speak of. If you have problems installing or using them, just write me an e-mail for free assistance and avoid a costly house call.

If you don't use these tools or equivalent tools, yes, your system will slow down in time and will need a thorough cleaning. It's the old "stitch in time......." adage.