XP Users: Day 4

All is going well on my 2 machines.

I run Microsoft Updates every day, and today for the first time, I saw 3 0's on each machine, meaning there were no updates of any sort. This is to be the new norm from here on in, the only exception being I may see a MSE Definitions update file.

However, I run a full MSE scan on both machines at 2 AM every day. So far these scans have been clean, with no issues found. Prior to the scan I indicate that a check for updates should be performed, and I continue to get updates almost every day. This is all good.

What is not all good IMHO is the MSE window. Microsoft is sure out to scare everyone they can into buying a new computer. It is very likely that neither you nor I could run Windows 7 or Windows 8 on our older XP machines.

So I continue to ignore all of the red ink and keep a watchful eye on things. I always check the MSE History tab to make sure there were no problems found.

Yesterday I ran Spybot on both machines and again, no problems were found.

XP Users: Day 2

All went well on my 2 XP machines today. There were no XP updates except for MSE definition files. MSE runs a full virus scan at 2 AM each day. It did early this morning. No problems on the machines. I ran a Spybot scan today on both machines. No problems found.

I installed MSRT last night thru automatic updates. I ran the full MRT scan. Again no issues.

Things seem eerily quiet!

XP Users: Updates

I was surprised this evening to find 9 updates for one machine and 10 for the other. There was a wide variety of updates including Windows XP Security updates, MSE definitions update, MSRT, and some MS Office updates.

I am guessing the XP Security updates will be the last?

XP Users: 0 Days to go!

Well, it's here, the last day of support for Windows XP. Last night I checked for updates on both of my XP laptops, found one or two and installed them, and ran full virus scans on both machines. As of this moment, they live and appear to be fine.

I use Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) for my anti-virus program on both machines. As long as I see updated signature files coming from Microsoft I will keep on using MSE. When that changes I will change to another free anti-virus, but for now it's a daily watch on these machines.

Good luck to us all!

XP Users: One day to go!

Spend whatever time you can reviewing all that you should have done by now, by reviewing the blog posts below. Make sure you have backed up all of your data. The absolute worst case scenario would be that your machine gets corrupted and you lose all your data. In that case, it's probably time for a new machine.

I do not expect any real problems, but who knows? It is always best to be prepared. If you have any questions you can write me at pcdoc@brpcdoc.com.

XP Users: Just another 6 days to go!

Please be sure to read my 7 previous posts and check to make sure you have understood all of these recommendations and taken necessary steps to protect your system(s) as well as can be done..

From Microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/end-of-support.aspx comes these tidbits (both news to me):

Will Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool be supported after April 8, 2014?

Microsoft's Malicious Software Removal Tool is aligned with the company's anti-malware engines and signatures, and as such the removal tool will continue to be provided for Windows XP through July 14, 2015. However, any PC running Windows XP after April 8, 2014 should not be considered protected as there will be no security updates for the Windows XP operating system. 

Will Microsoft Security Essentials be supported after April 8, 2014?

 

Microsoft Security Essentials will not be available for download on Windows XP after April 8, 2014. If you already have Microsoft Security Essentials installed, you will continue to receive anti-malware signature updates through July 14, 2015. However, please note that PCs running Windows XP after April 8, 2014 should not be considered protected.

XP Users: Backup all of your data

For most of us this is the most important step. I have been backing up my data for years.

I am talking about:

all of my documents, like Word, Excel, Powerpoint, any other text documents, in my case I include my web sites in this (the local copy of what is out there on the web), etc. These include everything you'd expect to find like tax forms, wills, PC Doc class handouts, letters I have written over the years. etc. Even I am amazed when I see that this folder, containing many, many other folders, numbers over 58,000 files.

all of my pictures. I am talking digital photographs. I am talking about the 46000 +/- digital photos I have taken since 2001 when I got my first digital camera. Also included are many old photos I have scanned and converted into digital files.

all of my videos. I don't remember when I bought my Flip Video Recorder. but as I look at the My Videos directory I see I have videos in the Flip folder dating back to 2005, so I am working on year 10 of these. I also see many other videos. Some are YouTube downloads, others make up the old Super 8 videos my son had converted to digital videos, some videos taken by my family which were given to me, and more than a handful of miscellaneous videos saved from various sources over the years. There are roughly 1400 of these (quite large) files.

all of my music. I have over 3000 individual songs (files) in several categories (folders) like Christmas, Kids, my old favorites, Patriotic, etc.

If you are fortunate enough to have organized your files on your PC, as I have over the years, the rest is pretty easy. I realize, for most of you, you will have some preliminary steps to get through this. Start by moving files into the proper one of the 4 folders named above (Documents, Pictures, Videos, and Music).

When ready to back up your files, right click once on the Start button (lower left), and select Explore from the resulting pop-up menu. You should have an idea of how much data you need to backup. I am talking about how many gigabytes (Billions of characters).

Doing what I just laid out, I see this window:

Above you can see the data folders we are talking about - the four of them.

Next, determine how much data you want to back up. To see the size of your aggregated data, right click once on the upper (there are 2) folder named My Documents. Select Properties from the drop down menu. You will then see a window that looks like this:

On this new window note that I have selected the General tab at the top of the Properties window. For me, then, I see that I have a total of 114 GB that includes almost 108,000 files.

I do not expect most of you will have nearly this many, but you need to find out how much data you have on your PC and you MUST have an ironclad plan to back up all of this data before April 8!

The next step is to determine onto what device you will back up your data.

Do not, under this April 8 circumstance think of simply making a duplicate copy on your hard drive! Think in terms of your whole PC being destroyed. Think about backing up your data to an external device, one which can be easily removed and stored (off site - out of the house is best).

Three types of storage media come to mind.

1) A thumb, aka flash, drive

2) A portable external hard drive. These are small, attach via a USB connection, and are pretty affordable these days.

 3) A back up service in "the Cloud", meaning you store your data at a servicer's location. There are many of these in the business. I do this and I use SOS Online Backup, http://www.sosonlinebackup.com/. I am very happy with SOS. I am so comfortable with them that I now just run my backups once a week. I can view my data at any time, and I can restore a file at will - easily. I really love SOS. Find a company you are comfortable with if you want to back up your data in the cloud. It is very reassuring doing this.

However, you may choose to use a thmb drive. Just make sure you buy one that is big enough to hold all of your data.

A Micro Center 64GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive can be bought today for $25.99! (I am amazed at this low price). They make quality stuff and you can buy it online from your easy chair at http://www.microcenter.com/product/388688/64GB_USB_20_Flash_Drive

If you need larger, I have seen 128 GB flash drives advertised too! Simply amazing. That would handle my 118 GB easily.

However, if you decide to go to a flash drive I would urge you to buy 2! Use one for your first backup, and then a week or several weeks later use the second one for your second backup. Always sight verify the backed up results and be sure you can easily restore a file from the flash drive.

Or, you may choose to use an external portable hard drive.

These are priced all over the board. Here is one that seems to be mid-priced, but shop around and ask questions: Matsunichi Inc. 500 GB Portable SuperSpeed USB 3.0 External Hard Drive. The writeup says it also supports USB 2.0. http://www.microcenter.com/product/418095/500GB_Portable_SuperSpeed_USB_30_External_Hard_Drive

If you use a flash drive or a portable hard drive, get the device out of the house after you are satisfied that you have backed up everything you intended to back up!

XP Users: Run the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool

This also goes for everybody.

Although I have written about this several times in this blog, I find it's one that is easy to forget. Microsoft makes available, on a monthly basis through its Automatic Updates, a tool called the Microsoft Malicious Software Removal Tool. You'd think that might be MSRT for short, but they take it a step further and name the executable program MRT.

If you have Automatic Updates enabled, this tool is downloaded each month, and the best information I once found said that they (Microsoft) ran it but uses the Quick Scan option. What I have recommended and recommend strongly now, is that you run a Full Scan. It takes a long time, but it shouldn't bother you much as it runs.

To run it, and you can do that at any time, click on Start, then Run, and enter MRT in the box and click on OK. That will get it going, but you need to specify Full Scan. If you do nothing but run it, the default is Quick Scan.

This is just one little bit more insurance. You are betting, remember, that your Windowxs XP machine will run indefinitely after April 8. Or at least I am! :-)

This is the screen displayed at the end of a Full Scan:

XP Users: MVPS Hosts File

Come to think of it, this applies to everybody.

I have been using the MVPS Hosts File for years. There is a new one just about every month. Sometimes I forget to get the latest month, and that is not a big deal, I manage to stay on top of it and get next month's. Each month the new file, which replaces the old, has updates based on the author's research during the time between versions.

The HOSTS file is simply a list of web sites that the author has determined are troublesome, and may even result in the user (you and me) getting a virus should we visit that web site. So the author is doing us all a very big favor, and I strongly recommend you to get, install, and update with each new version as it comes along, the HOSTS file that resides on your system. The HOSTS file is loaded into your computer's memory when you power on and it is searched for every web site you try to visit - before you get there. If the web site is on the HOSTS file list, your access will be blocked thanks to the author.

In all my years of using this, its use has never caused me a problem. NEVER! So don't let the description of the file scare you. Believe me, you don't want to visit these web sites anyway, and having the access blocked does not cause you a problem.

Here is the site where you can get the HOSTS file: http://msmvps.com/blogs/hostsnews/default.aspx

This is what appears today on that page:

Mon, Mar 17 2014 10:59

MVPS HOSTS File Update March-17-2014

The MVPS HOSTS file was recently updated [March-17-2014]
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm
Download: hosts.zip (133 kb)
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.zip
How To: Download and Extract the HOSTS filehttp://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts2.htm
HOSTS File - Frequently Asked Questionshttp://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hostsfaq.htm
Note: the "text" version makes a great resource for determining possible unwanted connections ...
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.txt (506 kb)
Get notified when the MVPS HOSTS file is updated
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/updates.htm


It goes without saying that this is very good timing for us all in that April 8 is just around the corner.

If you need help in doing this, contact me via my web site contact form at http://www.brpcdoc.com/brpcdoc2.htm

XP Users: Enable Firewall in Preparation for April 8

I guess I have thought it goes without saying, but be sure to have the Windows XP Firewall enabled. You can do this at either the Control Panel (look for Firewall) or in the Security Center, also on the Control Panel, where you will see the current status of the Windows Firewall.

Many people have a different firewall, and if you do you will likely find the Windows Firewall disabled. If you have a "for a fee" anti-virus, it may include a Firewall and that is fine. Or perhaps you have another standalone firewall, free or fee. Okay too. If you have any doubts about this, please write me. There is a contact form on my web site at http://www.brpcdoc.com/brpcdoc2.htm. 

XP Users: Clean House

25 or so days to go! Ain't this fun? I can't wait.

Getting rid of the clutter on your Windows XP machine is always a good idea.The detritus left behind by your browser and other programs that you run can really slow down your machine and those folders where this junk is kept can be a good hiding place for a virus or piece of malware.

Quite a few years ago I somehow learned about a free software product called Crap Cleaner. I was quite impressed by it and began to use it regularly, like once a week or so. In time it became very popular and the owner renamed it CCleaner.

Although there are other such cleaners available, even for free, my feeling is that this is the best and it is the only one I use. It is a very simple to use program and it is very fast, and of course it is free.I like free!

If you don't have CCleaner installed on your machine, you can get it at http://www.filehippo.com/, my favorite place for downloading software. The best part about Filehippo is that they give you the product you want without all of the extra junk that is sometimes included when you download from other sites. So always check with http://www.filehippo.com/ first, and if they have what you want, download it there. As with other programs, you can search http://www.filehippo.com/ for CCleaner, but I notice today that it is number 1 on their list of popular software, so no search is necessary.

Download it, install it, and run it weekly to keep your system clean of the "crap" left behind by almost all programs. In use take a look at the list of things it deletes. You may be surprised by the total size of the deleted files and also from whence they come. My favorite browser, Firefox, is one of the biggest culprits, allowing its cache to get quite out of hand if you ask me. The good news is that everytime you run CCleaner it will wipe clean the Firefox cache.

Although CCleaner can be run in one step, I prefer to run it in 2 steps, Analyze and then Run Cleaner.

There is one piece of bad news. You may be erasing some saved pieces of data like your userid or password for some applications, so don't be surprised if you are asked to enter them the next time you visit their web site. It goes without saying that a user is expected to know his or her userids and passwords anyway! Right?.

XP Users: Checking for and removing malware

As stated earlier, work on your anti-virus program over these last days before 4/8. Update it and be sure to run several full scans.

Additionally, I strongly urge you all to download, install, update with the latest definitions available, and run FULL scans with several malware detection and removal programs. There are many programs in this category. Many are free and many charge a fee. I have always preferred the former, being a cheapskate! :-)

Those of you who have followed this blog for some time know that I like Malwarebytes, Superantispyware, and Spybot. If you do not have these 3 free programs, and want to get them, the best place to get them IMHO is Filehippo, http://www.filehippo.com/.

Once at the http://www.filehippo.com/ web site, simply go to the top of the page to their search window and search for, one at a time, Malwarebytes, and when the results appear click on the DOWNLOAD button. Then Superantispyware, and click on the download button. In these 2 cases you will be getting the latest version, and that is good. For Spybot, it's a little different, mostly because I have never liked their version 2.x products and prefer and recommend their Version 1.6.2. (Go ahead and get the latest version if that makes you happier.)  Again, at the Filehippo web site, search for Spybot. When you get the results page from the search, do not click on the Download button. Over to the right, under the Old Versions list click on View More. Then keep scrolling down (next page too) until you find Spybot Version 1.6.2. Click on that and then on the next page click on Download. Download and install it and update it and any of the others you have downloaded from above.

I like these 3 because, at least this was true when I first decided on them, they come from different personnel teams, working for differest companies, and they are/were located in 3 different countries. This is/was important to me because I figured each team had different outlooks, different levels of knowledge of what was going on outside of their walls, and they had different sources of information. I figured 3 was a good number to provide these advantages, as I saw them, but feel free to use more than 3 if you wish.

I have been proven right on my beliefs listed above when I run all three on a heavily-infected customer machine and each one finds some malware and the items found are different, one product from another. Know what I mean? If not, please write me. There is a contact form on my brpcdoc.com web site.

If you are new to these products you may find some difficulty in installing, updating, and running full scans with all 3, but that is just what you must do. On subsequent scans you must do an update to get their latest lists of the bad guys from them, before you run your full scan.

As April 8 approaches, be sure to update and run full scans with each of the 3. A full sacn with any one product may take more than an hour, so please allow yourself a few days to do this, like maybe April 4, 5, & 6. Then on the 7th be sure to run a Windows Update and do a full scan with your anti-virus on the 7th and on the 8th and on the 9th.

Why go through all of this? It is all good insurance at a very low price - your time. The actual running of the scans can be unattended, so your time is minimal.

Let me hear from you if you have concerns.

XP Users: One Month to go!

The final countdown begins today. There is just one month to the day when Microsoft stops supporting Windows XP. There is much being written about this.

As I understand it, and I may be wrong, after April 8 Microsoft will no longer issue security fixes or updates. I do think they would fix something that was broken, although what can break probably has already broken and has likely been fixed.

Nonetheless we move forward. As noted elsewhere and often, I maintain 2 Windows XP laptops in my home office area. I intend to keep these going as long as the hardware lasts or until XP itself fails. I think the former will happen sooner, but we shall see.

My first recommendation to everyone in this situation is twofold:

1) Be sure you have been getting the latest Windows updates and manually run an update check as late as April 7 and also on April 8. Just for the fun of it I will continue to run it after the 8th.

2) Make sure your anti-virus program is up to date as well. I may suffer double jeopardy in that I use Microsoft's Security Essentials on both laptops I can't believe, however, that Microsoft would stop providing updates to their own MSE even if it is running on XP. My assumption is that these MSE updates will continue beyond 4/8.

My expectation is that all of the applications I have installed on my 2 machines will continue to run and be updated by the manufacturer. I am fortunate enough to have Microsoft Office 2007. I believe support for Office 2003 expires on the same date (4/8) but support for Office 2007 will continue.

The proof is in the puddiing

Here is what everybody would like to see, incontrovertible proof that FIOS beats Xfinity hands down.

I have made the switch from Verizon FIOS to Comcast Xfinity. It is done! It was done today. Yes, you read that correctly!

The figures at the top are FIOS and at the bottom Xfinity. The results are quite in line with what you'd expect. On FIOS I paid for 50 MBPS down and 25 MBPS up and did better in both cases.

On Xfinity I pay for 25 MBPS down and 5 MBPS up, and for the most part did better in both.

You know what, for my more casual use I see no difference, but I am sure I will if/when I have to upload a sizable file.


I ran Speedtest.net several times with my FIOS hard-wired desktop and on the same machine this afternoon after making the switch to Xfinity. Here are the results:

	MBPS	MBPS
	Download Speed	Upload Speed	Latency
2/26/2014 13:44	58.37	30.79	20
2/26/2014 13:47	58.38	31.54	17
2/26/2014 13:48	58.25	32.04	17
2/26/2014 13:49	58.16	33.02	15
2/26/2014 13:50	58.32	33.05	15
2/26/2014 20:41	28.49	4.99	45
2/26/2014 20:43	28.48	5.48	22
2/26/2014 20:46	28.49	5.62	45
2/26/2014 20:47	28.54	5.66	45

Why your cable bills are so high, and what you can do

This article was written by Kim Komando for USA Today, where I found it. It has some good nuggets worth reading about.

We are in the middle of switching from Verizon FIOS to Comcast. It's nice to have some competition in our town. I tried very hard to get Verizon to give us a better deal. We have their Triple Play bundle. They would do nothing for us. My last attempt to get them to budge was with their Retention Department, supposedly the last resort and best chance place to get a better deal.

I found Comcast very accommodating and willing to get the best package for us at prices lower than Verizon. We will be getting all new in-house equipment of course (modem/router/set top boxes, DVR, etc.). We will be replacing 3 year old Verizon equipment.

We have been thinking a lot lately about getting rid of the land line, and finally have done that! We will see how we do with just our 2 cell phones and, if necessary will use a different approach to a land line. There are several out there.

We will be leaving behind Verizon's Quantum internet service and going to the much slower Comcast high speed internet. With Verizon we have actual recorded speeds of 68 MBPS download and 42 MBPS upload as measured by speedtest.net. We will settle for Comcast's 25 MBPS download and 5 MBPS upload. We believe that, although Comcast is considerably slower, it is plenty fast for what we do at home.

Here is the link to the USA Today article

Is April 8 the end of the road for XP users?

Great video! Very well done. Don't let it scare you though. You can read the whole story on USA Today. The link for the story is below the video.

OR, you can contact me! I have 2 PCs running Windows XP and I have been working with XP ever since it first came out. I have supported hundreds of XP customers in VT, ME, and MA, as well as several remote sessions to CA, NJ, etc. You get the picture.

If you have questions or problems with XP now or after April 8, just contact me. You will find that info at http://brpcdoc.com

Enjoy the video!





You can read the whole story on USA Today here: Windows XP: Prepare for the end

Mozilla's Planning to Splash Ads in Empty Firefox Tiles

I am not at all happy about this. I hopeit doesn't happen, but if it does, bye bye Firefox. Perhaps it'll be as the article says, only for new users.I hope.

"Mozilla has decided that the best course of action going forward is to fill all those blank squares in new tabs with sponsored content (ads, for the layman). The new initiative is called Directory Tiles and it's intended to "improve the first-time-with-Firefox experience," or at least that's the sales pitch from Darren Herman, Mozilla's Vice President of Content Services. It's his job to diversify revenue and sustain Mozilla's mission through innovation in content and personalization products, and this is one way he plans to do that.

As explained in a blog post, Directory Tiles will feature "pre-packaged content for first-time users." Some will come from Mozilla's own ecosystem, while others will be popular websites in a given geographic locations. Directory Tiles will also include "sponsored content from hand-picked partners."

A well-timed satirical article in The Onion titled "Compromising Company's Values for Advertising Revenue Referred to as 'Partnering'" is worth a read if you're need of a good laugh, though this is serious business to Mozilla. Most of Mozilla's revenue comes from its search agreement with Google that's worth around $300 million per year. Through advertising, Mozilla will gain a new revenue stream and perhaps not be so reliant on Google, which offers its own browser in Chrome.

Even so, it's a surprising move, especially considering that Mozilla championed the blocking of third-party cookies by making it a default option starting in Firefox 22. Firefox has also been a fan favorite for several years."

This comes from Maximum PC.

MVPS HOSTS File Available for February

Sun, Feb 9 2014 17:00

MVPS HOSTS File Update February-09-2014

The MVPS HOSTS file was recently updated [February-09-2014]
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm
Download: hosts.zip (133 kb)
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.zip
How To: Download and Extract the HOSTS file
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts2.htm
HOSTS File - Frequently Asked Questions
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hostsfaq.htm
Note: the "text" version makes a great resource for determining possible unwanted connections ...
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.txt (506 kb)
Get notified when the MVPS HOSTS file is updated
http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/updates.htm

Windows 8.1 Update

After 2 months on my new Dell Inspiron 15R and using Windows 8, I decided today was the day to do the update to Windows 8.1. Technically the update was perfect. There were no glitches. 

However, the process took about 2.5 hours. It was painfully slow. Did I say it was slow? It was awful. I couldn't stand how long it took, and I didn't even sit around and watch it for the first hour and a half. I returned to the machine when, as it turned out, there was about an hour left in the process.

I have absolutely no idea why it should have taken so long. At least it was free. Now to see what the differences are. Truth be told, I did it today because I am excited about the prospects of the update described in my last post below. I assume that will require 8.1 as a prerequisite. Also, I needed to be able to understand this update experience for others who might be considering it and who might seek my help.

Microsoft finally realizes that people hate Windows 8′s live tiles

Sounds like Microsoft is listening to us. Strip away all the apps and start up by going directly to the desktop, sounds a lot like Windows 7!  Now if they would just add a START button lower left .....

This comes from bgr.com:

"It’s official: Microsoft realizes that most desktop users have no use for the Live Tiles interface. The Verge reports that the next update of Windows 8.1 will make the platform boot up to desktop mode by default, which means that people who buy new Windows 8.1 PCs with the latest update won’t have to look at Live Tiles when they first flip on their computers.

“We understand that Microsoft has been paying close attention to telemetry data that shows the majority of Windows 8 users still use a keyboard and mouse and desktop applications,” The Verge writes. “This same telemetry data was used to justify the removal of the Start button shortly before the Windows 8 release, and contributed to its eventual return in Windows 8.1. Microsoft may have wanted to push touch computing to the masses in Windows 8, but the reality is that users have voiced clear concerns over the interface on desktop PCs.”

This takes us back to Apple CEO Tim Cook’s joke about how trying to merge a desktop OS with a tablet OS was the equivalent of trying to merger a toaster and a refrigerator. While Microsoft’s attempt to create one common interface for all its devices was certainly a noble experiment, it hasn’t exactly been a successful one so far and the company seems to know it."