Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Quality

I have been back in Vermont for only a few short days, and I have been very busy serving my customers, some of whom have patiently awaited my return to the state. I am reminded again of just how beautiful this state is as I travel down long dirt roads and up long and winding driveways to reach your homes.

Thank you all for your business. It is my pleasure to serve you. Because everything I do is on a best effort basis, I am always interested in your feedback. If all goes well, please tell your friends, neighbors, and families. If not, please tell me. I stand behind my work and if you have problems after a service call I will do my darnedest to make things right.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Lavasoft’s AdAware

AdAware has long been a tool I have relied on to rid my system of spyware. However, I have found its value diminishing as time goes by. I rarely use it anymore. I did yesterday and it found no problems, so I am putting it at the bottom of my list of defensive tools I will use to protect my systems.

Leading the list is a newcomer I have talked about before, CCleaner.

Here is my list of tools to protect my systems:

CCleaner

AVG Free Anti-virus

Spybot

Windows Defender

Hosts File found at http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.htm

AdAware

Note that all of these are free and help me to keep my systems running virus-free and spyware-free. I am not sure I'll ever run AdAware again; maybe after a few months just to see if it finds anything the others didn't.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

Windows Vista A to Z

This link is to a wonderful resource for you Vista users. It contains many links to various areas of interest in the world of Vista.

Windows Vista A to Z

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Nice offer

I received this e-mail this morning, 10/2, and it appears that the offer ends on 10/4. Further, it looks like an Office Depot only offer. However, I consider this a good enough offer to inform my readers. This machine would satisfy the needs of most of my customers. It is not a high-speed, top-of-the-line machine, but has a pair of Intel 2.2 GHz microprocessors, 3GB of RAM, and a nice-size 320GB hard drive. It also comes with a 19" LCD display!

All in all, this is a nice machine that will satisfy many users out there. I have 2 Acer laptops, and they are doing better than I ever thought they would!







































fromACER <Acer@acer.delivery.net>
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dateThu, Oct 2, 2008 at 6:30 AM
subjectDo More This Fall with a Powerful Desktop for $399.99
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Acer®Forward to a friend
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Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Phishing

With credit tightening and all the talk about a financial crisis, it is especially important that we all remain vigilant and not fall for any phishing scams. What is phishing?

"The act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The e-mail directs the user to visit a web site where they are asked to update personal information, such as passwords and credit card, social security, and bank account numbers, that the legitimate organization already has. The Web site, however, is bogus and set up only to steal the user’s information."

The above definition is from http://www.webopedia.com.

Monday, September 29, 2008

AVG Free

This might be helpful to those of you who do not yet have AVG Free Anti-virus. A former student wrote last week:

"Hi Tom,

Hope all is well with you.  My Norton expires today and  I thought I would install AVG security which you said was free.  I found AVG security in two places but there is a charge for their services.  Maybe I'm in the wrong pew.  Can you give me a clue. Many thanks."

My reply:

You can download AVG Free Version 8 here: http://tinyurl.com/4e7jxt

After you download it to your desktop but before running it, I recommend that you download and run the Norton Removal Tool. You can get it here: http://tinyurl.com/3xdxhl

The reason for the Norton Removal Tool is that regular Add/Remove of Norton does less than a complete job and has been known to even fail.


After uninstalling Norton, install AVG.

Friday, September 26, 2008

Standby, Sleep, Hibernate, & Hybrid Sleep

This is a nice helpful tip from the Kim Komando web site, http://www.komando.com/ that may clarify for you the differences between Standby and Hibernate (in XP), and Sleep, Hibernate, and Hybrid Sleep in Vista.

Just as a FYI, I do not use any of these ever. The reason is that they all prevent any scheduled activities from running. For example, I run an anti-virus scan, Spybot, and other programs on a schedule while I sleep. If I were to be in Standby or Hibernate, they would not run. Instead, I use Display Properties (in XP) to turn off my monitor and hard drive after 15 minutes. In this mode, scheduled programs will run.



Q. Hibernate and Sleep seem mighty similar. Is there a notable difference? A friend suggested that prolonged use of Hibernate can damage a PC. Is that true?

A. Hibernate and Sleep (called Standby in XP) are both power-saving features. You’ll find them on both PCs and Macs in some form. I’m not surprised they have you confused. They appear to do the same thing.

When you shut down your computer, you turn everything off. All of your applications, windows and documents have to be closed. Starting up your computer again can take some time. And then you have to reopen everything you want to use.

To save time, you can use Hibernate or Sleep. Both of these save the exact state of your computer. You don’t have to close anything. All your windows, programs and documents are stored as-is.

When you start up the computer, everything is restored. All your windows are just as you left time. They’re even in the same place on your desktop. And you can pick up right where you left off.

They both still seem the same, don’t they? But each offers a different level of power saving and convenience.

Sleep

When using Sleep, your computer’s state is stored in RAM. The display is turned off. Your hard drive is stopped. And other components are shut down. But a minimal amount of power is still applied to the RAM. This allows the RAM to hold on to your computer’s state.

So, your computer isn’t completely off. Starting the computer from Sleep is almost instantaneous. That’s really convenient. You can jump right back into what you were doing.

The downside of Sleep is that it still requires some power. If you lose power for any reason, the RAM is wiped. You’ll lose your computer’s stored state. That could also mean losing any work you haven’t saved.

Hibernate

When using Hibernate, your computer’s state is stored on the hard drive. Your hard drive doesn’t require power to hold on to that information. So, your computer can turn off power to everything.

Starting from Hibernate has the same result as from Sleep. Your computer is restored to exactly where it was before. But coming out of hibernation takes longer. So, it’s less convenient.

But you don’t have to worry about losing power. Even if power is cut, the computer’s state is still stored. Nothing will be lost.

Mac OS X and Windows Vista tweak these features slightly.

Windows Vista has something called Hybrid Sleep. This is a cross between the standard Hibernate and Sleep. The computer’s state is stored in RAM and on the hard drive. Power is still given to the RAM. If nothing changes, the computer boots quickly from RAM. But if power is lost, it boots from the hard drive. So, it’s the best of both worlds.

There is no hybrid Sleep button. It can be turned on and off in the control panel. If it’s on, putting the computer to Sleep automatically uses Hybrid Sleep.

You can check if Hybrid Sleep is on by clicking Start>>Control Panel. Then click Classic View on the left side. Double-click Power Options. Look to the left, and click “Change when the computer goes to Sleep.” Next, select “Change advanced power settings.” A new Power Options window will open. Click the + next to Sleep. Then click the + next to “Allow hybrid Sleep” You can turn it on or off from there. Click OK when finished.

Macs do not have a Hibernate option. But starting with Mac OS X 10.4, Apple introduced Safe Sleep. This does the same thing as Vista’s Hybrid Sleep. This feature is always on. Just click the Apple logo at the top of the screen. Then, select Sleep.

Can Hibernate hurt?

I’m not sure why your friend thinks Hibernate can damage your computer. Hibernate and Sleep are just as safe as shutting down your computer. They offer energy savings and convenience. There's no reason you shouldn’t use them.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

PC Memory or RAM or DRAM

If you see any of those 3 terms used in a list of features of a PC, they are all the same, and what they are NOT is the amount of space available on a hard drive or disk drive.

I can't say this enough: for Windows XP you really should try to upgrade, if you are not already there, to 1GB (one gigabyte) of memory. Windows XP has grown, anti-virus and spyware programs have grown and need to do more and consequently use more of your computer's available memory. Windows XP runs very well with 1GB of RAM. Less than that and you are probably one of the people calling me and complaining about how your computer is running slower.

With Windows Vista, you need to have at least 2GB of RAM. I recently serviced a very nice new laptop running Vista which had only 1GB of RAM and was running Vista Home Premium. Best Buy should be sued for selling such a machine! Get at least 2GB and, if you can afford to go to 3GB or 4GB, do it!

So many people get confused about the difference between RAM and the size of their hard disk drive (HDD). Most HDDs on newer machines are at least 120GB for a laptop and maybe 250GB or more on a desktop. Either of these is fine, but do yourself a favor and get the model with the largest HDD you can afford.

I have upgraded my desktop to a 250GB internal HDD with a 1TB (one terabyte) external hard drive. Photos, music, and videos take up a lot of space, and it's very nice to have an external drive on which I can save quarterly copies of all of My Documents.

One bonus of having an external hard drive which connects via a USB port is that the drive can be used as a portable device, meaning one day you can plug it into your desktop, back up all of your data, and the next day plug it into your laptop and back up all of its data. You can use it on as many machines as you have.

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Simplify using your mouse: change double-click to single-click

And here's one for you folks using Windows XP.

I haven't tried this, but it looks easy, and knowing the trouble some of us more senior users (like me!) have double-clicking, it might be useful! :-)

 Simplify using your mouse: change double-click to single-click

Monday, September 22, 2008

19-essential-get-started-tips-for-windows-vista

If you have read this blog or otherwise know me, you know that I am not a big fan of Windows Vista. For those of you who like me have managed to avoid making a commitment to Vista, hang in there. Windows XP will be supported through 2014 by Microsoft, and well before that we will see the introduction of the replacement for Vista, so we may be able to avoid it all together.

However, I also realize many of you who have bought new machines lately have had (or felt you had) no choice and now have Vista as your primary operating system. I too have a Vista laptop I bought just so that I could offer you all the support you need getting to know, understand, and efficiently use Vista.

Here is a posting from Microsoft that may help some of you with your Vista environment:

19-essential-get-started-tips-for-windows-vista

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Symantec has a change of heart?

Symantec, makers of the Norton security product line, must have lost untold millions of dollars in the past few years as users like me and you replaced our fee security products, like Norton, with free products. It'll be a long time before I pay for a security product again, but Symantec is doing what it can to woo back lost customers and keep existing customers.

Walter S. Mossberg reviews Norton Internet Security 2009 on the All Things Digital web site at the following link:

Mossberg's review of NIS 2009


It appears from his review that Symantec has addressed performance and pricing as well, but it's still far from being a freebie! I assume he is addressing a brand new, and probably not yet available product, so it'll be a long time before this doubting Thomas believes it.


On a related subject, a customer asked me to download and install the newest version of Norton Antivirus for him this week. I did so, dutifully paid the $39.99 fee, which is an ANNUAL fee, and finished a very long and painful installation process. After this was done, and it seemed that I came to a nice clean end of the process, I was informed that the license had expired! I tried everything but could not get past this. I finally found Symantec online chat support and signed in. I was number 52 in the queue of people waiting to chat with an expert. Fortunately I was watching a baseball game on TV so I just kept an eye on the screen from time to time, and when my number came up, I entered a chat room with Suresh something. He/she took the time to understand my problem, and then indicated that he/she could help, and went ahead by taking control of the computer I was working on, worked his/her magic, and got the product going.


This was a HORRIBLE, but typical, and very time-consuming Symantec experience. It's like adding insult to injury after you pay your forty bucks. No thank you.


 

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Google Chrome Follow-up

I knew I was jumping into Chrome early. It's only a Beta (test) version after all. As reported earlier, it is quite different as browsers we know go. I had a major issue right from the start. I was willing to try something new, but wanted a comfortable feeling of "well, this isn't so different after all", but I didn't get that. One example is that I wanted to display all of my Bookmarks/Favorites on the left side of the window as one normally does in IE or Firefox, but Chrome can't do that! I posted my desire on a chat forum, thinking I was overlooking something simple, but apparently I wasn't.

See the forum chatter about this


I'm holding off on any more investigating until the first official version comes along. If you want to try Chrome now, and you really have nothing to lose other than your time, you can download it here:


Download Google Chrome


 

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Miscellaneous

I have been installing Windows XP SP3 on customers' machines in greater numbers now, and am not experiencing any problems. So far I am only doing this on Intel microprocessor machines, and avoiding it on AMD machines. Check your System Properties (see March 7 post) to see which microprocessor you have.

AVG Free Version 8 continues to run smoothly on my machines. I have a full scan scheduled every night at 10:30 PM.

If you leave your machine on most of the time, as I do, remember that it's very important to do a restart at least twice a week.

Spybot (now version 1.60) continues to be the most valuable player among the tools in my kit for ridding systems of the malware (malicious software) that so many of you seem to acquire along the way. It has regular updates so manages to keep up with the bad guys. I recommend running it once a week. Be sure to update and immunize before running the Search & Destroy program. Because there are so many bad guys out there intent on infecting our systems, Spybot S&D will run a little longer than it used to. It is now checking for the presence of nearly 300,000 items.

Spybot is so effective, I find I am running AdAware much less frequently these days, and again because Spybot is so good, AdAware rarely finds anything of any significance. As a result, I have stopped installing AdAware on my customers' machines. Also, have you installed AdAware recently? It ain't pretty!

Not very far behind Spybot in effectivenss for what it does is CCleaner. This small, fast-running tool will rid your system of all of the junk that accumulates on our systems just from daily normal use. This results in faster-running machines. I recommend running it weekly. If you do, it will only take a minute or two to do its job. As a warning, if you have not yet run CCleaner and have a system that is in need of a cleaning, the first run of CCleaner may take a while (15 minutes, possibly more). I always delete everything CCleaner identifies.

I continue to install Microsoft's Windows Defender, a free realtime spyware monitor, on all Windows XP customer machines. Windows Defender is an integral part of Vista. It gets updated through the regular Microsoft Automatic Updates process.

Questions or comments? Please write. I will respond.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Google Chrome

Google has done it again, coming up with something completely different. Google Mail is a completely different way of processing e-mail, and the new Google Chrome is a new way to do web browsing. This morning I downloaded the Beta (still in test) version and installed it. This was a snap and really required little decision-making on my part, and typical of Google, the process was very fast. Chrome has a completely new look and feel, and I am far from figuring it all out, but it's going to be fun doing just that. I have to say that I like what I have seen so far. If you'd like to install it yourself, you can download it here:

http://www.google.com/chrome 

 Since it is still in Beta testing, the more cautious of you may want to wait until it is available as a production program. I'll keep you posted on when that is and I will also report back on my experience using it.

Chrome will surely be making a dent in the number of users of Firefox and Internet Explorer, and most likely a rather large dent! 

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

XP SP3

I guess I can't say enough about this, but be very wary of XP SP3. A friend of mine, when coming out of Church on Sunday, asked me if I had heard anything about problems with XP SP3. He said that he installed it and has not been able to reboot his machine since. His plans were to reinstall the operating system from scratch. If only he'd been watching this blog!

His machine was a HP with an AMD microprocessor.

While I do not believe the problem is limited to HP machines, I do believe it is limited to AMD processors. I believe Intel microprocessors are not affected by the problem.

My position, and my advice to you all, is to simply avoid SP3, and instructions on how to do this are included in an earlier post, for a few more months. There are no good reasons to install it now.

In the late Fall I will do complete research on the issue and then install SP3 on my machines. After that I will post here how that all went. Questions about your situation? Please write.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Vista users rush for SP1, XP owners dawdle on SP3

This article appears on the ComputerWorld web site today.

I have both Vista and XP machines and am holding off on both until later in this year.

Vista users rush for SP1, XP owners dawdle on SP3

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Wi-Fi Tweaks for Speed Freaks

For those of you who have played around with wi-fi for some time now, you may find something useful in this Computerworld article.

Here's a pdf for you: Wi-Fi Tweaks for Speed Freaks

or for ease of following links within the article, go straight to the Computerworld Article by clicking here.