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Enjoy Your Internet Experience By Protecting Your Investment
The Helpful Neighbor
By Ray Wilson, For The Bulletin
“I have trashed my computer. Last month it cost me $170 to get out of a crash and yesterday it crashed again. That was it!”
This really disturbs me that there are those who disregard the necessary precautions only to surrender the use of a computer.
We are sneaking up on the buying season of the year with computers being a priority on a lot of lists. Before any determination of what to buy is made, potential users should be apprised of what they have to do to protect their investment and enjoy the experiences of the Internet. Right out of the box, a computer can be loaded with a lot of garbage that must be eliminated. This can be a baptism of fire to a new user.
Tell your friends, relatives, and neighbors, this column is available every week in The Bulletin, both in print edition and online. If you or anyone you know are having a problem with a computer, send me an email at IMHelpful4u@aol.com. I have received one from a reader saying, “Ray, I used the Norton Suite and Webroot Spysweeper for years until they became so time consuming that I had to delete them. Following your advice, I installed VIPRE. It works beautifully and my computer is its old self again. Thanks.”
Accomplishments are limited to what can be done through e-mail. If necessary, with your phone number, I will call and work with you. Most software problems can be handled this way, but hardware is another story. I work on a first-come basis, so please be patient.
Along with the positive comments, I have also been receiving another kind asking, “How many of these program companies are you in bed with?” “What do they pay you to push their products?” Unfortunately, we live in a world where such implied accusations are true, but there are also still people in the world who care enough for others to help them in whatever way they can. I receive nothing from any of the manufacturers’ products that I review except a license to avail me of the full virtue of the products I am testing. I am a freelance writer and, therefore, am not beholden to any one. My only focus is to keep within the limits of honest reporting and within the guidelines of The Bulletin’s policies.
With the longevity of my experience, I have had computer problems and made many mistakes. My journey now is to help my readers, if possible, by preventing them from having any similar experiences. E-mails, like the above, explicitly suggest the importance of getting the information out timely and efficiently. This e-mail is just one of the instances where readers have related their appreciation. And now, on to what is boiling in the pot! Remember, those ghosts and goblins can get into your machine anytime 24/7, not just at this time of the year.
Hackers are fond of Adobe systems. Hackers have found it to be easier to hack Adobe than other places. Adobe knows it all too well and they have made another promise to shore up their software. However you can switch to “Foxit Reader. “ It’s free.
Gone Phishing: If you should happen to receive correspondence reading “Notice of Underreported Income,” or the like on an official looking letterhead, that is the bait. You will be pressed to install the attachment or click on a Web link to view your tax statement. This takes you to their trap du jour. How many who are not aware of this scam, on seeing the inference to IRS, will follow a knee-jerk reaction and click it. What is really ugly about this fake IRS message is the Zeus Trojan you can acquire which is best known for emptying the bank accounts of the victims of millions of USDs a day. Zeus is very evasive. Only five of 41 AV detection systems found it. It also has the ability to make daily adjustments. Very mean. As the economy continues to weaken, expect to see more and more of these sophisticated ITDs.
IDG News Service: The Payment Card Industry’s Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) has recently finished a survey of 560 American multinational organizations, 55 percent of which have not adhered to the security measures set-down by PCI DSS. They do nothing about Social Security and driver’s license numbers or bank account details. Only 28 percent of companies with 501 to 1,ooo employees comply, whereas in companies of 75,000 employees, or more, 70 percent claimed compliance. What does this mean to us? Larger companies are more secure as long as you do not end up with one in the 30 percent range that cannot afford compliance.
So What? A perfect example of this appeared in Trade Magazine. Tests were conducted by a large well known, and trusted, American technology company. The results: Windows 7 starts 42 percent slower than Vista by 28 seconds, 1:34 as opposed to 1:06. The comparisons were made to the time the machine was fully usable. Of what significance is Vista being a sneeze faster than W7, when Vista was not worth a tinkers dam? And as usual, MS jumps right in with an explanation. I wonder what it cost to make this inane and useless test and why would MS feel it had to justify this idiocy?
Newegg.com is running a sale on OEM editions of Windows 7: Home Premium $99.99 half off the list of $199.99, Pro goes for $134.99 and Ultimate $174.99 (plus tax). However, OEM versions have limitations. The license bans user from transferring the system from machine to machine. It comes without support of any kind and can only be used with a clean install” This requires your data and other settings to be installed from backups and such. You can hardly resist such a bargain. Caveat Emptor!
Suggestion: One of the major causes of a slowdown in processing is clutter that is caused by your everyday operations. Instead of using one of your all-encompassing programs, here is an easy way to clear away a lot of detritus.
Go to Control Panel, click Internet Options in the center of the page click Delete. This gives you a page of selections for deletions: Temps. Internet files, Cookies, History, Form data, Passwords, and InPrivate filtering data. This is just one of the many opportunities to tune your system to fit your style and needs. It is here that you can set the tone of your everyday use of the Internet. Take the minute to do this before you shut down to get rid of a lot of clutter. But remember, the full scan of the clean-up programs is still a must.
Facebook: Are you Facebook users aware of the Court rule? If you are over the age of 16, do not “poke” seriously on Facebook. Penalty: 1 year in the slammer with a $2,500 fine.
Netbooks have made a meteoric rise in popularity. They are light-weight, easy to handle and transport and a good place to start children, right? It doesn’t take long for the serious user to tire of the small screen and lack of performance, which are two reasons for the disenchantment. Hopefully, the light at the end of the tunnel is W7 to put the emphasis back to PCs. Is W7 that good? It should be until W8 arrives, followed by “9?” Microsoft lives in our bank accounts.
Netscape Navigator, the first successful browser, appeared on Oct. 13, 1994, which, in essence, was the start of the browser wars. Today, five browsers are vying for superiority: Internet Explorer, the leader, is being chased by Chrome, Opera, Firefox and Safari. Now entering the foray is the original Netscape Navigator that had gone to AOL. Recently, a new company has acquired Netscape and is eager to join the competition.
Opinion: All will get a taste of the market, but IE8 will still hold on to first place. The others cry foul as Microsoft includes it in all of their systems. How about that? Apple found a place for their browser in Snow Leopard. This reminds me of a person sharing a pie. The person waiting said, “You took the biggest piece. If I were doing the sharing I would have taken the smallest piece.” The other person replied, “What are you complaining about? You got the smaller piece!”
Norton: If you are using this product and like it, go to the your room. If you are like most that I encounter, listen up. You have no doubt come upon the use of Norton that was bundled with a lot of other stuff on your new machine. This is the way a neighbor came about getting it and wanted to get rid of it. It is ubiquitous by nature and its removal is not easy. If you have REVO Uninstaller, this is a start. When you finish this process run the special “Norton Remover” program for good measure (Google it). Having completed the removal, I took a trip to the Registry and, yes, I found six instances that had not been removed. However, these would have caused no trouble. There are alternatives: Vipre, MS Essentials (these are consoles with AV and Spyware removal). Remember, only one AV running at a time. Next week? W7 will be three days old — another new era in the life of Microsoft. Will an encore be far behind? Stay well and hold good thoughts. IMHelpful4u@aol.com.
Ray Wilson was raised in Upper Darby and has lived in Chester County since 1973. He has more than 40 years of experience in computing and he has been testing virus and Spyware programs for eight years. He can be reached at IMHelpful4u@aol.com.
This really disturbs me that there are those who disregard the necessary precautions only to surrender the use of a computer.
We are sneaking up on the buying season of the year with computers being a priority on a lot of lists. Before any determination of what to buy is made, potential users should be apprised of what they have to do to protect their investment and enjoy the experiences of the Internet. Right out of the box, a computer can be loaded with a lot of garbage that must be eliminated. This can be a baptism of fire to a new user.
Tell your friends, relatives, and neighbors, this column is available every week in The Bulletin, both in print edition and online. If you or anyone you know are having a problem with a computer, send me an email at IMHelpful4u@aol.com. I have received one from a reader saying, “Ray, I used the Norton Suite and Webroot Spysweeper for years until they became so time consuming that I had to delete them. Following your advice, I installed VIPRE. It works beautifully and my computer is its old self again. Thanks.”
Accomplishments are limited to what can be done through e-mail. If necessary, with your phone number, I will call and work with you. Most software problems can be handled this way, but hardware is another story. I work on a first-come basis, so please be patient.
Along with the positive comments, I have also been receiving another kind asking, “How many of these program companies are you in bed with?” “What do they pay you to push their products?” Unfortunately, we live in a world where such implied accusations are true, but there are also still people in the world who care enough for others to help them in whatever way they can. I receive nothing from any of the manufacturers’ products that I review except a license to avail me of the full virtue of the products I am testing. I am a freelance writer and, therefore, am not beholden to any one. My only focus is to keep within the limits of honest reporting and within the guidelines of The Bulletin’s policies.
With the longevity of my experience, I have had computer problems and made many mistakes. My journey now is to help my readers, if possible, by preventing them from having any similar experiences. E-mails, like the above, explicitly suggest the importance of getting the information out timely and efficiently. This e-mail is just one of the instances where readers have related their appreciation. And now, on to what is boiling in the pot! Remember, those ghosts and goblins can get into your machine anytime 24/7, not just at this time of the year.
Hackers are fond of Adobe systems. Hackers have found it to be easier to hack Adobe than other places. Adobe knows it all too well and they have made another promise to shore up their software. However you can switch to “Foxit Reader. “ It’s free.
Gone Phishing: If you should happen to receive correspondence reading “Notice of Underreported Income,” or the like on an official looking letterhead, that is the bait. You will be pressed to install the attachment or click on a Web link to view your tax statement. This takes you to their trap du jour. How many who are not aware of this scam, on seeing the inference to IRS, will follow a knee-jerk reaction and click it. What is really ugly about this fake IRS message is the Zeus Trojan you can acquire which is best known for emptying the bank accounts of the victims of millions of USDs a day. Zeus is very evasive. Only five of 41 AV detection systems found it. It also has the ability to make daily adjustments. Very mean. As the economy continues to weaken, expect to see more and more of these sophisticated ITDs.
IDG News Service: The Payment Card Industry’s Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) has recently finished a survey of 560 American multinational organizations, 55 percent of which have not adhered to the security measures set-down by PCI DSS. They do nothing about Social Security and driver’s license numbers or bank account details. Only 28 percent of companies with 501 to 1,ooo employees comply, whereas in companies of 75,000 employees, or more, 70 percent claimed compliance. What does this mean to us? Larger companies are more secure as long as you do not end up with one in the 30 percent range that cannot afford compliance.
So What? A perfect example of this appeared in Trade Magazine. Tests were conducted by a large well known, and trusted, American technology company. The results: Windows 7 starts 42 percent slower than Vista by 28 seconds, 1:34 as opposed to 1:06. The comparisons were made to the time the machine was fully usable. Of what significance is Vista being a sneeze faster than W7, when Vista was not worth a tinkers dam? And as usual, MS jumps right in with an explanation. I wonder what it cost to make this inane and useless test and why would MS feel it had to justify this idiocy?
Newegg.com is running a sale on OEM editions of Windows 7: Home Premium $99.99 half off the list of $199.99, Pro goes for $134.99 and Ultimate $174.99 (plus tax). However, OEM versions have limitations. The license bans user from transferring the system from machine to machine. It comes without support of any kind and can only be used with a clean install” This requires your data and other settings to be installed from backups and such. You can hardly resist such a bargain. Caveat Emptor!
Suggestion: One of the major causes of a slowdown in processing is clutter that is caused by your everyday operations. Instead of using one of your all-encompassing programs, here is an easy way to clear away a lot of detritus.
Go to Control Panel, click Internet Options in the center of the page click Delete. This gives you a page of selections for deletions: Temps. Internet files, Cookies, History, Form data, Passwords, and InPrivate filtering data. This is just one of the many opportunities to tune your system to fit your style and needs. It is here that you can set the tone of your everyday use of the Internet. Take the minute to do this before you shut down to get rid of a lot of clutter. But remember, the full scan of the clean-up programs is still a must.
Facebook: Are you Facebook users aware of the Court rule? If you are over the age of 16, do not “poke” seriously on Facebook. Penalty: 1 year in the slammer with a $2,500 fine.
Netbooks have made a meteoric rise in popularity. They are light-weight, easy to handle and transport and a good place to start children, right? It doesn’t take long for the serious user to tire of the small screen and lack of performance, which are two reasons for the disenchantment. Hopefully, the light at the end of the tunnel is W7 to put the emphasis back to PCs. Is W7 that good? It should be until W8 arrives, followed by “9?” Microsoft lives in our bank accounts.
Netscape Navigator, the first successful browser, appeared on Oct. 13, 1994, which, in essence, was the start of the browser wars. Today, five browsers are vying for superiority: Internet Explorer, the leader, is being chased by Chrome, Opera, Firefox and Safari. Now entering the foray is the original Netscape Navigator that had gone to AOL. Recently, a new company has acquired Netscape and is eager to join the competition.
Opinion: All will get a taste of the market, but IE8 will still hold on to first place. The others cry foul as Microsoft includes it in all of their systems. How about that? Apple found a place for their browser in Snow Leopard. This reminds me of a person sharing a pie. The person waiting said, “You took the biggest piece. If I were doing the sharing I would have taken the smallest piece.” The other person replied, “What are you complaining about? You got the smaller piece!”
Norton: If you are using this product and like it, go to the your room. If you are like most that I encounter, listen up. You have no doubt come upon the use of Norton that was bundled with a lot of other stuff on your new machine. This is the way a neighbor came about getting it and wanted to get rid of it. It is ubiquitous by nature and its removal is not easy. If you have REVO Uninstaller, this is a start. When you finish this process run the special “Norton Remover” program for good measure (Google it). Having completed the removal, I took a trip to the Registry and, yes, I found six instances that had not been removed. However, these would have caused no trouble. There are alternatives: Vipre, MS Essentials (these are consoles with AV and Spyware removal). Remember, only one AV running at a time. Next week? W7 will be three days old — another new era in the life of Microsoft. Will an encore be far behind? Stay well and hold good thoughts. IMHelpful4u@aol.com.
Ray Wilson was raised in Upper Darby and has lived in Chester County since 1973. He has more than 40 years of experience in computing and he has been testing virus and Spyware programs for eight years. He can be reached at IMHelpful4u@aol.com.
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